PanettaTo CIA, Franken “Wins?” Gaza War Escalating

January 6th, 2009 - by: danny

– BREAKING –

Reid And Durbin Say Franken Won’t Be Seated With New Senate Class

AP: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yielded to Republican threats and agreed on Monday not to immediately seat fellow Democrat Al Franken, whose razor-close victory in Minnesota faces legal challenges.”

***

HuffPo: “Republicans will object to trying to seat him,” said Reid spokesman Jim Manley. Later in the day, Manley said that Democratic leadership would not seat Franken when the new class of Senators was sworn in on Tuesday. “Now that the bipartisan state canvassing board has certified Al Franken as the winner, we hope Senator Coleman respects its decision and does not drag this out for months with litigation… However, there will not be an effort to seat Mr. Franken on Tuesday.”

NOTE TO READERS: The amazing Cherie Welch, upgrader-in-chief of the News Dissector blog, is on self-assignment, parts unknown.

So, it is somewhat back to my pre-multimedia era, scaled down approach, with but a few pre-produced sections. Sorry …

Danny Schechter

MARCH OF THE DEAD TO GREET CONGRESS ON TUESDAY

A long column of figures dressed all in black with white death masks and bearing the names of those killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine.

The march will be followed by a dramatic nonviolent action intended to awaken Congress to the need to end the wars. March from noon to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. Additional dramatic action 2:15 p.m.

PANETTA TO CIA, FRANKEN TO SENATE?
ON THE COVERAGE OF GAZA
MANY ACCUSED OF CORPORATE CRIMES SETTLE CASES

The US news machine is a twitter (and not in the software sense) with Obama’s move to Washington and move on Washington with a flurry of meetings and a big new appointment. Once again, another Clintonista gets the nod, this time to head the CIA. It’s Democrats this time who have eyes raised.

• CLINTON WINS ANOTHER ONE Obama Picks Former Clinton Aide Panetta for CIA

Reuters: “President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Leon Panetta, who was White House chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, to lead the CIA, Democratic officials said on Monday.”

One Good thing: Panetta has spoken out against torture!

BUTÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

• Dianne Feinstein Not Too Pleased With Panetta Pick By Spencer Ackerman – The Washington Independent, DC

Feinstein: “I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA Director. I know nothing about this, other than what I’ve read,” said Senator Feinstein, who will chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the 111th Congress.

MORE ON PANETTA:

• PBS backgrounder

• MSNBC: “He served on the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel that released a report at the end of 2006 with dozens of recommendations for the reversing course in the Iraq war.”

• NYT-OpEd: What About Those Other Iraq Deadlines? by Leon Panetta – 04/04/2007

The Iraqis promised to achieve, by the end of 2006 or early 2007, the approval of a provincial election law (so far, no progress); approval of a law to regulate the oil industry and share revenues (while the Council of Ministers has approved a draft, it has yet to be approved by the Parliament); …

What that “law” Mr. Panetta refers to actually means, in simple terms, is satirically summed up by Jim Hightower asking: What Is Our Oil Doing Under Their Sand?

The law: Text of H.R. 2206: U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations…, which contains, as a benchmark, the underreported Iraq Hydrocarbon Law:

Sec. 1314, (b) Conditioning of Future United States Strategy in Iraq on the Iraqi Government’s Record of Performance on Its Benchmarks-

IN GENERAL-(A) The United States strategy in Iraq, hereafter, shall be conditioned on the Iraqi government meeting benchmarks, as told to members of Congress by the President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and reflected in the Iraqi Government’s commitments to the United States, and to the international community, including:

(iii) Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources of the people of Iraq without regard to the sect or ethnicity of recipients, and enacting and implementing legislation to ensure that the energy resources of Iraq benefit Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, Kurds, and other Iraqi citizens in an equitable manner.

• Iraqi oil law history

12/07/2006 – Discussion pertaining to the oil aspects of the Iraq Study Group with leading oil industry expert and critic who also specializes in international trade and finance policy, Antonia Juhasz, and Amy Goodman on Democracy Now:

NOTE: A law that irrefutably favors big oil in ways unprecedented in the industry is “buried” in a list of so-called “benchmarks” while the benefit to big oil rarely receives a mention in the MSM. Cannot hep but wonder why. Hmmm.

• 06/01/07 - Defense Secretary, Top General Endorse 50-Year U.S. Presence In Iraq

• 06/01/07 - Kucinich Exposes Iraqi “Hydrocarbon Act” Privatization — Speech

• 08/18/08 -Iraq “Abandons” Contracts from Oil Change International.

THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA REPORT: FRANKEN WINS MN

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota board has certified results showing Democrat Al Franken winning the state’s U.S. Senate recount over Republican Norm Coleman, but a legal challenge probably will keep the race in limbo.

The Canvassing Board’s declaration Monday starts a seven-day clock for Coleman to file a lawsuit protesting the result. If he doesn’t, Franken will get the election certificate he needs to take the seat in Washington.

Franken, a former “Saturday Night Live” personality, ended the recount up by 225 votes.

Coleman’s lawyers have argued that some ballots were mishandled and others were wrongly excluded from the recount. After a Minnesota Supreme Court decision went against Coleman earlier Monday, lead attorney Fritz Knaak (kuh-NOCK’) said a lawsuit was inevitable.

Al Franken: Campaigns on ‘Freedom from Fear’ and quotes:

“The Future Belongs to Those Who Are Passionate and Work Hard“

• AL FRANKEN WINS, BUT WHAT HAS HE WON?

BRAD BLOG: Franken Declared ‘Winner’, But Final Certification Will Likely (and Appropriately) be Delayed — Excellent provision in MN law requires election challenges settled before U.S. Congress is given jurisdiction over Senate seat

The state canvassing board in Minnesota has now certified Al Franken (D) as the winner over incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R) in the race for the U.S. Senate. Barring a successful legal challenge by Coleman, Franken will have won the seat by an astoundingly close 225 votes, out of some 2.9 million cast.

But there’s still a chance, albeit a slim one, for Coleman to reverse his fate. A very good provision in MN’s law — not found in most other states — may delay Franken’s seating, meaning he will not be sworn in with rest of Congress at the beginning of the new session slated to start tomorrow. Ultimately, however, the provisions should ensure that whoever is eventually sworn in to serve as the state’s Senator will not be forced to serve under a cloud.

The voters of MN deserve that much, no matter how long it takes, and thankfully, like its hand-count laws, the state’s provision requiring the completion of legal challenges before final certification is sent to Congress by the Sec. of State, is a model for the nation.

FRANKEN ALSO SILENT ON GAZA

• Where’s Al? By Bob Collins – Minnesota NPR

“Does he have any positions or comments on the last two months of political news and events that have gone on? What is his stance on Israel’s incursion into Gaza?”

WORLD NEWS:

CBS: Doctor Decries Israeli Attacks

Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor in Gaza, tells Sky News that the number of civilians injured and killed in Gaza proves that Israel is deliberately attacking the population.

“We have been doing surgery around the clock,” Gilbert replied. “I just talked to one of my colleagues in the ICU who has not been sleeping for three days and the hospital is completely overcrowded and we are running six, seven OR’s and there are injuries that you just don’t want to see in this world. Children coming in with open abdomens and legs cut off.

“We just had a child who left. We had to amputate both legs and the arms and the only crime they have done is been civilians — Palestinians living in Gaza. The relief now is not more doctors and more drugs; the relief now is to stop the bombing immediately. This cannot go on. It is a disaster.”

Israeli Troops Killed By ‘Friendly Fire’

Three Israeli soldiers have been killed and 24 wounded by one of their own shells as the bloodshed continues in Gaza.

ISRAEL REBUFFS GAZA CEASE-FIRE OVERTURES, HAMAS FIGHTS ON

AP: GAZA CITY, Gaza – Israel ignored mounting international calls for a cease-fire Monday and said it won’t stop its crippling 10-day assault until “peace and tranquility” are achieved in southern Israeli towns in the line of Palestinian rocket fire.

Israeli forces seized control of high-rise buildings and attacked smuggling tunnels and several mosques in a campaign against Hamas militants that took an increasing toll on civilians. Three young brothers were reported killed during shelling. Palestinian wounded filled hospital corridors.

Arab delegates met with the U.N. Security Council in New York Monday, urging members to adopt a resolution calling for an immediate end to the Israeli attacks and a permanent cease-fire. At the same time, diplomats and European leaders traveled the region in an effort to stop Israel’s expanding ground and air offensive.

WAR IN CONTEXT, A VALUABLE SITE: GAZA: Quatar, considered a US ally, is calling for an Arab summit on Gaza.

FT: Israel Says NO to EU calls for ceasefire

Israel rebuffed a call from visiting European foreign ministers on Monday for an immediate ceasefire in its Gaza offensive, as troops engaged in their heaviest clashes with Hamas fighters and the civilian death toll mounted. At least 14 children were reported to have been killed.

PERSPECTIVES

If Obama Is Serious, He should get tough with Israel by Aaron David Miller, Newsweek

Jews worry for a living; their tragic history compels them to do so. In the next few years, there will be plenty to worry about, particularly when it comes to Israel. The current operation in Gaza won’t do much to ease these worries or to address Israel’s longer-term security needs. The potential for a nuclear Iran, combined with the growing accuracy and lethality of Hamas and Hizbullah rockets, will create tremendous concern. Anxiety may also be provoked by something else: an Obama administration determined to repair America’s image and credibility and to reach a deal in the Middle East.

US ROLE IN GAZA WAR: Bush Plan Eliminated Obstacle to Gaza Assault Analysis by Gareth Porter

WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (IPS) – Until mid-2007, there was a serious political obstacle to a massive conventional war by Israel against Hamas in Gaza: the fact that Hamas had won free and fair elections for the Palestinian parliament and was still the leading faction in a fully legitimate government.

But the George W. Bush administration helped Israel eliminate that obstacle by deliberately provoking Hamas to seize power in Gaza. That plan was aimed at getting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the democratically elected Hamas government — something Bush had tried unsuccessfully to do for many months.

Hamas won 56 percent of the seats in the Palestinian parliament in the January 2006 elections, and the following month, the Palestinian Legislative Council voted for a new government under Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The Bush administration immediately began to use its control over the “Quartet” (the U.S., European Union, United Nations and Russia), to try to reverse the results of the election.

The Quartet responded to the Hamas victory by demanding that Hamas renounce all armed resistance to Israel and even “disarm” before a political solution was reached. That was in effect a demand that Israel be allowed to use its military and economic controls over the West Bank and Gaza to impose its own unilateral solution on the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration and the Europeans cut off all financing for the Palestinian government, while Israel refused to hand over to the Palestinian authorities the VAT and customs duties it collected on behalf of the Palestinians under the Paris Protocol signed with the PLO as part of the Oslo Accords.

When Abbas continued to resist U.S. demands for an end to the elected government, both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told him at the United Nations in September 2006 that they would not accept a Palestinian government with Hamas participation.

ISRAEL CROSSES THE LINE

FINANCIAL TIMES: Gideon Rachman: By sending ground troops into the Gaza Strip, Israel has crossed a line that brings it perilously close to strategic failure.

ISRAEL MESSAGING FOCUSES ON HAMAS ROCKETS

Some grandstanding in Israel by New York Mayor Bloomberg: big picture of him going into a shelter in Israel in the New York Post next to a column call on to Israel to wipe out Hamsas.

I am being sent stories like this to win sympathy for Israel.

Another Day, Another Rocket

“I am presently at home in the northern Negev spending much of the day going in and out of the bomb shelter in my home as Grads drop from the sky nearby. The small space is shared with 6 grandchildren and parents. We make the best of it. We actually welcomed in the new year in the place as another missle was landing nearby. Spending time in the shelter is actually less troubling this time since we have not yet been asked to put on our gas masks. When we exit and see foreign newscasts, the BBC and Sky for example, we wonder what reality are they describing. It certainly is not ours.”

Email from Professor Ilan Troen of Brandeis University, January 1, 2009

ON THE MEDIA COVERAGE

JUAN COLE: THE MEDIA COVERAGE OF GAZA IN THE US

“The Israeli leadership knew that it could not reply to Hamas’s microwar without engaging in total war on the Gaza population, and that this step would be unpopular with the world’s publics. But the Israeli leadership has successfully thumbed its nose and world public opinion so often and so successfully that this sort of consideration does not even enter into their practical calculations (except to the extent that they are careful to do a lot of propaganda for their war effort). Their estimation that they will suffer no practical bad consequences of attacks on civilians is certainly correct in the short to medium term.

“The Israel lobbies are wealthy and powerful, and the US congress depends heavily on them for campaign funding…”

[SNIP]

“The big long-term problem Israel has is that its assiduous colonization of the West Bank has made a two-state solution almost impossible, turning it into an Apartheid state. And if you go on practicing Apartheid long enough, that begins to attact boycotts and sanctions. And forestalling a Palestinian state means that likely the Palestinians will all end up Israeli citizens.”

[SNIP]

“You can’t keep them stateless and virtually enslaved forever, occasionally exterminating some of them as though they were vermin when they make too much trouble. That, sooner or later, will lead to boycotts by rising economic powers and by Europe that could be extremely damaging to Israel’s long-term prospects as a state.

“It may still be 10 or 20 years in the future. But because of Israel’s economic and demographic vulnerabilities, for it to lose the war of global public opinion may ultimately be more consequential than either macro-war or micro-war.”

IN THE US, GAZA IS A DIFFERENT WAR h/t to Sarah Meyer

Gazans flee homes and seek refuge in UN schools

More Video:

• Waiting to treat Gaza’s wounded

• Gazan Father Mourns baby’s death

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER: Media Commentary Muted as Israel Invades By Greg Mitchell

NEW YORK (Commentary) Israel launched its much-anticipated invasion of Gaza on Saturday. For over a week, U.S. media had provided largely one-sided coverage of the conflict, with little editorializing or commentary arguing against broader Israeli actions.

Most notably, after more than eight days of Israeli bombing and Hamas rocket launching in Gaza, The New York Times had produced exactly one editorial, not a single commentary by any of its columnists, and only two op-eds (one already published elsewhere). The editorial, several days ago, did argue against the wisdom of a ground invasion – - but even though that invasion had become ever more likely all week the paper did not return to this subject.

Amazingly, the paper has kept that silence going in Sunday’s paper, with no editorial or columnist comment on the Israeli invasion. The Washington Post did manage to work up an editorial for Sunday which, in the usual contortionist manner, found the invasion “justified” but also highly “risky.”

The invasion, to no one’s surprise, did begin on Saturday — so any further criticism will now come too late. As in the past, U.S. media coverage and commentary has overwhelmingly backed the Israeli actions (as it did in the Lebanon war in 2006, which turned into a fiasco). CNN has provided some helpful balance, starting late Saturday, but on the Sunday morning talk shows Democratic leaders said little, or nothing, critical of Israel.

Of course, most on-the-scene coverage of civilian casualties in Gaza has been hindered, to say the least, by Israel barring foregin journalists from entering.

On Friday, Amnesty International condemned the U.S. response to the “disproportionate” Israeli bombing of Gaza — with largely U.S. weapons. Some of it amounts to U.S.-backed “human rights abuses,” it charged.

The group recalled that the U.S. supplied most of the millions of cluster bombs dropped by Israel in the Lebanon war in 2006.

• Ron Paul: Israel had US OK for war on Gaza

• White phosphorus added to Israeli fire

PERSPECTIVES

• An Eyewitness Account of Conditions on the Ground in Gaza By ABC News

What we are seeing now is like nothing that’s ever been seen before in the Gaza Strip.

• Gaza: The Death and Life of my FatherBy Fares Akram in Gaza

For Fares Akram, The Independent’s reporter in Gaza, the Israeli invasion became a personal tragedy when he discovered his father was one of the first casualties of the ground war.

The News Dissector