THE TERRI AFTERMATH
SETBACKS IN IRAQ
THE GIULIANA “INVESTIGATION”

It’s Good Friday for some in a deep religious sense, and its PSP day for good consumers as the long awaited Sony’s PSP (PlayStation Portable) goes on sale. (Warning, some critics find it disappointing.)

On to the latest on the tragic Terri Schiavo tale (as of 6 AM):

The soap opera that has been playing itself out all week is not over yet. Terry’s parents have a new witness, a doctor named Cheshire associated with a Christian Bio Ethics Institute who declines all media interviews who has not examined or personally diagnosed her condition personally but has, nonetheless, submitted an affadavit asserting that she has been misdiagnosed, His claims have been presented as “new evidence” to a Florida Federal Judge who had earlier turned them down. He had not ruled when I began writing.

Many media outlets are still milking this matter and leading with the story. The Living Will industry is going into overdrive while the rhetoric and desperation of the Save Terri movement is also overheating. Some in the Save Terri Movement are comparing her to a concentration camp victim. They are protesting this morning at Governor Jeb Bush’s office. Many are enraged. Terri may in the end be the loser but the Florida Governor appears a winner. Bush the younger has used the “crisis’ to establish credentials reports today’s NY Times:

“The Florida governor’s intervention in the case of Terri Schiavo may have so far failed in a legal sense, but it has helped cement his conservative and religious credentials.”

Check out this warning that was sent to me if you want to to gauge the tempers and the temperament of the “movement.”

“IT WILL BE BAD”

This one comes from some called Marsha McClelland of Cuyahoga Falls Ohio:

” WE WILL NOT GIVE UP… IF SHE DIES THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY…WE KNOW THE JUDGES ARE COVERING FOR ALL THE CORRUPT INVOLVED…THEY ARE STICKING TOGETHER, AS USUAL …

… WE ARE COMING FOR THE CORRUPT AND GUILTY ONES…SOONER THAN LATER IF TERRI DIES…IT WILL BE BAD

WE WILL EDUCATE AMERICA WITH FACTS AND TAKE BACK OUR GOVERNMENT… THANK GOD THERE ARE STILL THOSE IN HIGH PLACES WITH INTEGRITY THAT SPEAK AND HOLD TRUTH WHO WILL STAND WITH “US”

“WE SALUTE THEM. EUTHANASIA IS BEHIND THIS AND WE BELIEVE THAT…POOR TERRI… WHY CAN’T THEY PUT HER TO SLEEP LIKE A DOG… THAT WOULD BE MUCH MORE HUMANE AND PAINLESS FOR ‘US’ ALL”

That’s the reaction on the right. Here’s what the NATION magazine is saying left of center:

“The real outrage here,” insists Editor Katrina vanden Heuvel, “was the Republicans’ decision to violate conservative ideals about state rights, limited government, and the sanctity of marriage by muscling into the Terri Schiavo tragedy.”

David Corn notes in Capital Games, “the GOPers tossed the reddest of meat to their reddest of supporters. (You gotta keep them fed!)”

Native Americans are contrasting President Bush’s silence on the recent killings on a reservation to his outspoken involvement in the Schiavo case. They are not happy about it.

PEOPLE’S POWER:

Kyrgyzstan’s opposition has declared itself in power after seizing key buildings as veteran president Askar Akayev vanished from view following days of violence. The TV station was seized as well. This is the third “revolt” in a Soviet Republic in 16 months.

MORE CRITICISM OF WOLFY 2

Jesse Jackson raises a key question about the selection of Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank:

“The Bush administration in general, and Paul Wolfowitz in particular, would have you believe that 1,500 Americans have died, perhaps 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed, and more than $200 billion has been spent on invading and occupying Iraq, in the name of “democracy.”

“Funny, then, that Paul Wolfowitz is now being promoted in a secret, opaque, closely held process that freezes out most of the world. Of special note, the selection of the new World Bank head freezes out the 1 billion people who live on less than $1 per day, and the 3 billion who live on less than $2 per day. It freezes out the entire Southern hemisphere, Africa, Asia and South America. In fact, it freezes out everyone who is not a Bush loyalist in the United States, or a nervous European elite.

“It is as if fighting world poverty were a ping-pong game between the United States and Europe, a game in which the poorer nations are not even allowed to enter.

“But why? Why should the world’s poorest people be excluded from the process of selecting one of the most important leaders who will affect their lives? Why are the nations most controlled by World Bank and International Monetary Fund policies not allowed to nominate — or even participate in any meaningful way — in the selection of new leadership? ”

http://www.ips-dc.org/comment/jj_openletter_wolfowitz.htm

DEPARTMENT OF WAR: 5 STORIES FROM THE FRONT

Yesterday, I reported on that big attack by US and allied soldiers on a reputed terror base. It was offered up as “good news,” a sign that the bad guys were dead or on the run. Today’s news is different. Very different. For more on the insurgents and how they should be covered see: www.niemanwatchdog.org

Iraqi fighters regain control of camp:

“About 30 to 40 fighters were seen Wednesday at the lakeside training camp attacked by US and Iraqi forces. One of the fighters, who called himself Muhammad Amer and claimed to belong to the Secret Islamic Army, said they had never left the base. He denied that scores of his fighters had been killed and said only 11 of his comrades perished in airstrikes on the site.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BC0C5535-3F85-467F-862A-06730D3A9A77.htm

FOG OF WAR: Five die in friendly fire gun battle

“Police mistook a group of Iraqi soldiers for rebels today and opened fire, sparking a ten minute gun battle that left five dead.”

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2005/03/24/story195146.html

Army Orders Further Involuntary Troop Call-Up

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army is ordering more people to serve in Iraq …They are part of the Army’s Individual Ready Reserve, made up of soldiers who have completed their volunteer active-duty service commitment but remain eligible to be called back into uniform for years after returning to civilian life.

The Army, straining to maintain troop levels in Iraq, last June said it would summon more than 5,600 people on the IRR in an effort to have about 4,400 soldiers fit for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan after granting exemption requests for medical reasons and other hardships.

Lt. Col. Pamela Hart said on Wednesday the Army has now increased the number of IRR soldiers it needs to about 4,650, which means a total of about 6,100 will get mobilization orders.

The IRR differs from the part-time Army Reserve.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7989189

GENEVA CONVENTION ANYONE?

NEW YORK - The U.S. Army says it has reopened an investigation into the suspected bludgeoning death of a key Iraqi scientist in American custody, a chemist who allegedly experimented with poisons on prisoners in the days of Saddam Hussein Mohammad Munim al-Izmerly, 65, is the only known weapons scientist among at least 96 detainees who have died in U.S. custody in Iraq When it first came to light in press reports last May, the U.S. military, newly under fire for prisoner abuse in Iraq, refused to answer queries about the chemist’s death. Now, months later, the Army says an investigation has begun.

“The case was initially closed, but after further investigative review a determination was made to reopen the investigation,” Army spokesman Christopher Grey told The Associated Press.

SPOOKS R’US

Mark Mazzetti and Greg Mille of the LA Times report:

“The Pentagon’s new emphasis on intelligence gathering overseas has led to a major expansion of espionage operations and a more prominent role for intelligence officers in military decision making and war planning, Defense officials said Wednesday.

“As part of the plan, the Pentagon is expanding the number of spies and special operations forces abroad and creating new intelligence analysis centers inside military commands worldwide, the officials said.

“Providing new details about the Pentagon’s expanding role in intelligence operations, the officials also acknowledged that the effort is controversial in Washington. The ramped-up activity “rubs some people the wrong way,” said a Defense official involved in the expansion.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fg-intel24mar24,0,5181139.story?coll=la-

STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT

Foreign Policy in Focus reports “On the second anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, the U.S. finds itself virtually isolated in the international community, facing a bloody counter-insurgency war, with no end in sight. Neither U.S. military action nor the Iraqi elections held on January 30 have thus far done little to calm the insurgency and have appeared to exacerbate ethnic tensions.

“Alternatives other than maintaining the current disastrous counter-insurgency military campaign by U.S. forces and advocating a precipitous American withdrawal from Iraq exist. But no matter what the alternative becomes, it is crucial that U.S. policy in Iraq continue to be scrutinized and challenged. U.S. elected officials who continue to support the current policy should be held accountable.”

http://www.fpif.org/papers/0503iraq.ann.html