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Independent journalist/blogger in Iraq....

Posted By: Observer on 2007-11-29
In Reply to:

I don't know this guy's politics and I don't care.  He is imbedded with the 82nd Airborne.  At any rate, it seems to be just the unvarnished truth with no slant in either direction that I can see.  There is a bit of language because he directly quotes some of the soldiers...but I think this is a positive story and I am sure there are many like it that never see the light of day.  Thanks in advance for looking at it.


July 24, 2007



In the Wake of the Surge


By Michael J. Totten



In


BAGHDAD – 82nd Airborne’s Lieutenant William H. Lord from Foxborough, Massachusetts, prepared his company for a dismounted foot patrol in the Graya’at neighborhood of Northern Baghdad’s predominantly Sunni Arab district of Adhamiyah.


“While we’re out here saying hi to the locals and everyone seems to be getting along great,” he said, “remember to keep up your military bearing. Someone could try to kill you at any moment.”



Gearing


I donned my helmet and vest, hopped into the backseat of a Humvee, and headed into the streets of the city with two dozen of the first infantry soldiers deployed to Iraq for the surge. The 82nd Airborne Division is famous for being ready to roll within 24 hours of call up, so they were sent first.


The surge started with these guys. Its progress here is therefore more measurable than it is anywhere else.


Darkness fell almost immediately after sunset. Microscopic dust particles hung in the air like a fog and trapped the day’s savage heat in the atmosphere.


Our convoy of Humvees passed through a dense jungular grove of palm and deciduous trees between Forward Operating Base War Eagle and the market district of Graya’at. The drivers switched off their headlights so insurgents and terrorists could not see us coming. They drove using night vision goggles as eyes.



Night


Just to the right of my knees were the feet of the gunner. He stood in the middle of the Humvee and manned a machine gun in a turret sticking out of the top. I could hear him swiveling his cannon from side to side and pointing it into the trees as we approached the urban sector in their area of operations.


This was all purely defensive. The battalion I’m embedded with here in Baghdad hasn’t suffered a single casualty – not even one soldier wounded – since they arrived in the Red Zone in January. The surge in this part of the city could not possibly be going better than it already is. Most of Graya’at’s insurgents and terrorists who haven’t yet fled are either captured, dormant, or dead.


A car approached our Humvee with its lights on.


“I can’t see, I can’t see,” said the driver. Bright lights are blinding with night vision goggles. “Flash him with the laser,” he said to the gunner. “Flash him with the laser!”


A green laser beam shot out from the gunner’s turret toward the windshield of the oncoming car. The headlights went out.


“What was that about?” I said.


“It’s part of our rules of engagement,” the driver said. “They all know that. The green laser is a warning, and it’s a little bit scary because it looks like a weapon is being pointed at them.”


We slowly rolled into the market area. Smiling children ran up to and alongside the convoy and excitedly waved hello. It felt like I was riding with a liberating army.


Graya’at’s streets are quiet and safe. It doesn’t look or feel like war zone at all. American soldiers just a few miles away are still engaged in almost daily firefights with insurgents and terrorists, but this part of the city has been cleared by the surge.


Before the surge started the neighborhood was much more dangerous than it is now.


“We were on base at Camp Taji [north of the city] and commuting to work,” Major Jazdyk told me earlier. “The problem with that was that the only space we dominated was inside our Humvees. So we moved into the neighborhoods and live there now with the locals. We know them and they know us.”


Lieutenant Lawrence Pitts from Fayetteville, North Carolina, elaborated. “We patrol the streets of this neighborhood 24/7,” he said. “We knock on doors, ask people what they need help with. We really do what we can to help them out. We let them know that we’re here to work with them to make their city safe in the hopes that they’ll give us the intel we need on the bad guys. And it worked.”


The area of Baghdad just to the south of us, which the locals think of as downtown Adhamiyah, is surrounded by a wall recently built by the Army. It is not like the wall that divides Israel from the West Bank. Pedestrians can cross it at will. Only the roads are blocked off. Vehicles are routed through two very strict checkpoints. Weapons transporters and car bombers can’t get in or out.


The area inside the wall is mostly Sunni. The areas outside the wall are mostly Shia. Violence has been drastically reduced on both sides because Sunni militias – including AL Qaeda – are kept in, and Shia militias – including Moqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army, are kept out.


Graya’at is a mixed Sunni-Shia neighborhood immediately to the north of the wall.


We dismounted our Humvees and set up a vehicle checkpoint on the far side of the market area. Curfew was going into effect. Anyone trying to drive into the area would be searched.


Dozens of Iraqi civilians milled about on the streets.


“Salam Aleikum,” said the soldiers and I as we walked past.


“Aleikum as Salam,” said each in return.


They really did seem happy to see us.



Three



Two


Children ran up to me.


“Mister, mister, mister!” they said and pantomimed the snapping of photos. I lifted my camera to my face and they nodded excitedly.



Kids



Cute


A large group of men gathered around a juice vendor and greeted us warmly as we approached. A large man in a flowing dishdasha spoke English and, judging by the deference showed to him by the others, seemed to be a community leader of some sort.



Fat


Kids pulled on my shirt as Lieutenant Lord spoke to the group about a gas station the Army is helping set up in the neighborhood. Gasoline is more important to Iraqis than it is to even Americans. Baghdad is as much an automobile-based city as Los Angeles. They also need fuel for electric generators. Baghdad’s electrical grid only supplies one hour of electricity every day. It is ancient, overloaded, in severe disrepair, and is sabotaged by the insurgents. The outside temperature rarely drops below 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, even at night. Air conditioners aren’t luxuries here. They are requirements. No gasoline? No air conditioner.


“The gas station on the corner should be opening soon,” the lieutenant said to the group of men. “Do you think the prices are fair?”


The fat man understood the question. Our young interpreter from Beirut, Lebanon, who calls herself “Shine,” translated for everyone else.



Lebanese


Most gasoline in Iraq has to be purchased on the black market for four times the commercial and government rate partly because there is an acute lack of proper places to sell it. A new gas station in this country is actually a big deal.


The men thought the price of gasoline at the station was reasonable. The conversation continued mundanely and I quickly grew bored.


Everyone was friendly. No one shot at us or even looked at us funny. Infrastructure problems, not security, were the biggest concerns at the moment. I felt like I was in Iraqi Kurdistan – where the war is already over – not in Baghdad.


It was an edgy “Kurdistan,” though. Every now and then someone drove down the street in a vehicle. If any military-aged males (MAMs as the Army guys call them) were in the car, the soldiers stopped it and made everybody get out. The vehicle and the men were then searched.



Searching


Everyone who was searched took it in stride. Some of the Iraqi men smirked slightly, as if the whole thing were a minor joke and a non-threatening routine annoyance that they had been through before. The procedure looked and felt more like airport security in the United States than, say, the more severe Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza.



Four


“What are you guys doing out after curfew?” said Sergeant Lizanne.


“I’m sorry, sorry,” said a young Iraqi man in a striped blue and tan t-shirt.


“There is no sorry,” said Sergeant Lizanne. “I don’t give a s**t. The curfew is at the same time every night. I don’t want to have to start arresting you.”


“Why are you stopping these guys,” I said to Lieutenant Lord, “when there are so many other people milling around on the streets?”


“Because they’re MAMs who are driving,” he said. “We’re going easy on everyone else. We’ve already oppressed these people enough. They have a night culture in the summer, so if they aren’t military aged males driving cars we leave them alone. We were very heavy-handed in 2003. Now we’re trying to move forward together. At least 90 percent of them are normal fun-loving people.”


“Do they ever get p****d off when you search them?” I said.


“Not very often,” he said. “They understand we’re trying to protect them.”



Suspect


“This is not what I expected in Baghdad,” I said.


“Most of what we’re doing doesn’t get reported in the media,” he said. “We’re not fighting a war here anymore, not in this area. We’ve moved way beyond that stage. We built a soccer field for the kids, bought all kinds of equipment, bought them school books and even chalk. Soon we’re installing 1,500 solar street lamps so they have light at night and can take some of the load off the power grid. The media only covers the gruesome stuff. We go to the sheiks and say hey man, what kind of projects do you want in this area? They give us a list and we submit the paperwork. When the projects get approved, we give them the money and help them buy stuff.”


Not everything they do is humanitarian work, unless you consider counter-terrorism humanitarian work. In my view, you should. Few Westerners think of personal security as a human right, but if you show up in Baghdad I’ll bet you will. Personal security may, in fact, be the most important human right. Without it the others mean little. People aren’t free if they have to hide in their homes from death squads and car bombs.


In another part of Graya’at is an area called the Fish Market. Gates were installed at each entrance so terrorists can’t drive car bombs inside. The people here are extraordinarily grateful for this. Businesses, not cars, are booming now at the market. Residents feel free and safe enough to go out.



Smiling


“The kids here do seem to like you,” I said to Lieutenant Lord.


“They do,” he said. “In Sadr City, though, they throw rocks and flip us off.”


The American military is staying out of Sadr City for now. The surge hasn’t even begun there, and I don’t know if it will.


I wandered over to the man selling juice at a stand. An American soldier bought a glass from him.



Buying


“Have you tried this juice?” the soldier said to me. “It’s really good stuff. Here have a sip.”


He handed me the glass. It was an excellent mixture of freshly squeezed orange juice and something else. Pineapple, I think.


The kids kept pulling my shirt.


“Mister, mister!” they said, wanting me to take their picture.



Two


The same kids kept pestering the soldiers, as well. They seemed to get a big kick out of it.



Soldier


A small group of soldiers continued talking to the locals about community projects they’re helping out with.



Three


I tried to listen in but the kids wouldn’t leave me alone. Finally one of the adults took mercy on me and shooed the children away so I could listen and talk to the grownups. The conversation, though, was mundane. The soldiers were talking and acting like aid workers, not warriors from the elite 82nd Airborne Division.


“Man, this is boring,” one of them said to me later. “I’m an adrenaline junky. There’s no fight here. It won’t surprise me if we start handing out speeding tickets.” So it goes in at least this part of Baghdad that has been cleared by the surge.


“When we first got here,” said another and laughed, “s**t hit the fan.”


It was all a bit boring, but blessedly so. I knew already that not everyone in Baghdad was hostile. But it was slightly surprising to see that entire areas in the Red Zone are not hostile.


Anything can happen in Baghdad, even so. The convulsive, violent, and overtly hostile Sadr City is only a few minutes drive to the southeast.


“Want to walk past your favorite house?” Lieutenant Lord said to Sergeant Lizanne.


“Let’s do it,” said Sergeant Lizanne.


“What’s your favorite house?” I said.


“It’s a house we walked past one night,” said Sergeant Lizanne. “Some guys on the roof locked and loaded on us.”


Gun shots rang out in the far distance. None of the Iraqis paid much attention but the soldiers perked up and stiffened their posture like hunting dogs.


“Gun shots,” Lieutenant Lord said.


“I heard,” I said. “You going to do anything about it?”


“Nah,” he said and shrugged. “They were far away and could be anything, even shots fired in the air at a wedding. A lot of these guys are stereotypical Arabs.”


The gun shots were a part of the general ambience.



*


We walked along a narrow path along the banks of the Tigris River in darkness. “The house,” as they called it, where someone locked and loaded a rifle, was a quarter mile or so up ahead.




“What will you do when you get to the house?” I asked Lieutenant Lord.


“We’ll do a soft-knock,” he said. “We’re not going to be dicks about it.”


I couldn’t see well, but I could see. Even my camera could see if I held it steady enough.



Palm


The soldiers had night vision goggles. They could see perfectly, if “green” counts as perfect. One of them let me borrow his for a few minutes.



Night


Putting on the goggles was like stepping into another world. The soldiers’ rifles come with a laser that shoots a light visible only to those wearing the goggles. It helps soldiers zero in on their target. It also lets them “point” at things in the terrain when they talk to each other. Some used the green rifle laser to point out locations in the area the way a professor points at a chalk board with a stick.



Night


We walked in silence and darkness toward “the house.” I could just barely make out the silhouettes of the soldiers’ helmets and rifles and body armor in front of me.


“Where should I be when this goes down?” I quietly said to the lieutenant.


“Just stay next to me,” he whispered back.


We stopped in front of the house. It was shrouded in total darkness on the bank of the river.



The


Lieutenant Lord quietly signaled for half his platoon to go around to the other side of the house. I scanned the roof looking for snipers or gunmen, but didn’t see anyone. Still, I still decided to step up to the outer wall of the house so no one could shoot me from the roof.


We waited in silence for ten minutes. The area was absolutely quiet and still. The curfew was in effect and we were away from the main market area where pedestrians were allowed out after dark.


Feeling more relaxed, I stepped away from the house and toward the river. Once again I checked the roof for snipers or gun men. This time I saw the black outlines of two soldiers standing up there and motioning to us below.


It was time to walk around to the other side, to the front door, and go in. I stayed close to the lieutenant.


The other side of the house, the front side of the house, was lit by street lights. Children laughed and kicked around a soccer ball.


Gun shots rang out in the night, closer this time.


“Take a knee,” Lieutenant Lord said to one of his men.


The soldier got down on one knee and pointed his weapon down the street in the direction of the gunfire. The children kept playing soccer as though nothing had happened. I casually leaned against the wall of the house in case something nasty came down the street.


We heard no more shots. It could have been anything.


A soldier pushed open the gate and moved up the stairs toward the front door. I followed cautiously behind the lieutenant to make sure I wouldn’t get hit if something happened.


Up the stairs was an open area in the house that hadn’t yet been finished by the construction workers.



Inside


Lieutenant Lord had gotten far ahead of me. I found him speaking to an old man and his family. He, his military age son, his wife, and some children were herded into a single small room where everyone could be watched at the same time.



Kids


“We’re not going to be dicks about it,” he had said, and he lived up to his promise. The family was treated with utmost respect. The old woman blew kisses at us. The children smiled. This was not a raid.


I stepped into the room and noticed a picture of the moderate Shia cleric Ayatollah Sistani on the wall. It suddenly seemed unlikely that this family was hostile. Still, someone in the house had locked and loaded on patrolling American soldiers.


“We have tight relationships with some of the people whose sons are detainees,” Lieutenant Colonel Wilson A. Shoffner had told me earlier. “They don’t approve of their children joining Al Qaeda or the Mahdi Army. The support for these groups really isn’t that high.”


Perhaps the man’s son was the one who had locked and loaded.


The old man handed Lieutenant Lord an AK-47. The lieutenant pulled out the clip.


“Do you have any more guns,” he said. Our Lebanese interpreter translated.


“I have only one gun,” he said. “I am an old man.”


“I have a pistol,” said the man’s son.


“If you go down into Adhamiyah do you take your pistol with you?” said the lieutenant. Adhamiyah is a Sunni-majority area, and this family was Shia.


“No,” he said. “Of course not.”




“Someone here locked and loaded on me when we did a foot patrol along the river a while ago,” Lieutenant Lord said. “Who was it?”


The old man laughed. “It was me!” he said and laughed again. He couldn’t stop laughing. He even seemed slightly relieved. “I thought it might have been insurgents! It was dark. I couldn’t see who it was. All Americans are my sons.”


Lieutenant Lord looked at him dubiously.


“What did you see?” he said. “Tell me the story of what you saw.”


“I heard people walking,” said the old man. “I did not see Americans. I looked over the roof and heard who I guess was your interpreter speaking Arabic.”


“Sergeant Miller,” Lieutenant Lord said.


“Sir,” Sergeant Miller said.


“Does that sound right to you?”


“Sounds right to me, LT,” he said.


“If this is a nice neighborhood,” Lieutenant Lord said, “why did you lock and load?”


“I thought maybe there were insurgents down there,” the old man said.


Are there insurgents here?”


“Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t think here, no.”


“Then why lock and load?”


The old man mumbled something.


“Sergeant Miller, I want to separate the old man from his family,” Lieutenant Lord said. “Keep an eye on them.”


The lieutenant walked the old man to the roof. I followed.


“I’m very concerned about what you’re telling me,” he said. “Who is making you live in fear?”


“I’m a good guy,” said the old man.


“I’m not saying you aren’t,” said the lieutenant. “I’m just very concerned that you are afraid of somebody here.”


“It was the first time. It was dark. I couldn’t see. I’m very sorry.”


“It’s okay,” said the lieutenant. “You don’t need to be sorry. You have the right to defend yourself and your home. Just be sure if you have to shoot someone that you know who you’re shooting at. Thank you for your help, and I am sorry for waking you up.”


The old man hugged the lieutenant and kissed him on his both cheeks.


The family waved us goodbye.


“Ma Salema,” I said and felt slightly guilty for being there.


We walked back to the Humvees.


“Do you believe him?” I said to the lieutenant. I have no idea how to tell when an Iraqi is lying.


“I do,” he said. “I think he’s a good guy. His story matched what happened.”


“He didn’t want to answer your question, though,” I said, “about who he is afraid of.”


There are terrible stories around here about the masked men of the death squads. Sometimes they break into people’s houses and asking the children who they’re afraid of. If they name the enemies of the death squad, they are spared. If they name the death squad itself, they and their families are killed. It’s a wicked interrogation because it cannot be beaten – the children don’t know which death squad has broken into the house.


“He didn’t want to say who he’s afraid of because he’s afraid,” Lieutenant Lord said. “If the insurgents find out he gave information to us, or that he helped us, he’s dead.”


I was particularly impressed with the fact that this battalion had suffered no casualties, even wounded, in 7 months.  That is an improvement, no matter how you look at it, and there are obviously Iraqis who are still glad we are there.  That is what I meant in previous posts.  The plain old everyday Iraqis like you and me; not the militants, the insurgents, the militias...just everyday folks like you and me.  Those are the ones who will suffer most if we pull out en masse, too quickly.  That is all I was ever trying to say.


 




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This is interesting, a recent journalist poll on Iraq.

This was pulled from journalism.org.


After four years of war in Iraq, the journalists reporting from that country give their coverage a mixed but generally positive assessment, but they believe they have done a better job of covering the American military and the insurgency than they have the lives of ordinary Iraqis. And they do not believe the coverage of Iraq over time has been too negative. If anything, many believe the situation over the course of the war has been worse than the American public has perceived, according to a new survey of journalists covering the war from Iraq.


"Above all, the journalists—most of them veteran war correspondents—describe conditions in Iraq as the most perilous they have ever encountered, and this above everything else is influencing the reporting. A majority of journalists surveyed (57%) report that at least one of their Iraqi staff had been killed or kidnapped in the last year alone—and many more are continually threatened. “Seven staffers killed since 2003, including three last July,” one bureau chief wrote with chilling brevity. “At least three have been kidnapped. All were freed.”


A majority of journalists surveyed say most of the country is too dangerous to visit. Nine out of ten say that about at least half of Baghdad itself. Wherever they go, traveling with armed guards and chase vehicles is the norm for more than seven out of ten surveyed.


Even the basics of getting the story are remarkably difficult. Outside of the heavily-fortified Green Zone, most U.S. journalists must rely on local staff to do the necessary face-to-face reporting. Yet nearly nine out of ten journalists say their local staff cannot carry any equipment—not even a notebook—that might identify them as working for the western media for fear of being killed. Some local staffers do not even tell their own families.


Most journalists also have a positive view of the U.S. military’s embedding program for reporters. While they acknowledge the limited perspective it provides, they believe it offers access to information they could not otherwise get.


And most journalists, eight out of ten, feel that, over time, conditions for telling the story of Iraq have gotten worse, not better.


The survey, conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism from September 28 through November 7, was developed to get a sense of the conditions journalists have faced in trying to cover the war over the last couple of years. It was not designed to poll their sense of the situation in Iraq at this one or any other particular moment in time, or to offer a referendum on the success of the surge. It will be followed, later this year, with a content analysis of coverage on the ground from Iraq.


The survey included responses from 111 journalists who have worked or are currently working in Iraq. The vast majority, 90 of them, were in Iraq when they took the survey or have worked there in 2007, and most have spent at least seven months in the country cumulatively since the war began.


The journalists are from 29 different news organizations (all of them U.S. based except for one) that have had staff in Iraq—including newspapers, wire services, magazines, radio, and network and cable TV. This represents, by best estimates, every news organization in the U.S. save one that has had a correspondent in Iraq for at least one month since January 2006.1


Nearly everyone surveyed also responded to open-ended questions – often at length – offering a vivid and sobering portrait of trying to report an extraordinarily difficult story under terrifying conditions.


“The dangers can’t be overstated,” one print journalist wrote. “It’s been an ambush – two staff killed, one wounded – various firefights, and our ‘home’ has been rocked and mortared (by accident, I’m pretty sure). It’s not fun; it’s not safe, but I go back because it needs to be told.”


Whatever the problems, a magazine reporter offered, “The press….have carried out the classic journalistic mission of bearing witness.”


“Welcome to the new world of journalism, boys and girls. This is where we lost our innocence. Security teams, body armor and armored cars will forever now be pushed in between journalism and stories,” one bureau chief declared.


The Project for Excellence in Journalism, which is non-partisan and non-political, is one of eight projects that make up the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C., a “fact tank” funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Princeton Survey Research was contracted to host and administer the online survey.



Doesn't much sound like the increased troops made things that much safer in general does it?  I think they have tried really hard to report it, but lends credence to the fact that much of what is really going on is not getting out.  I commend them. 

When Iraq is set up as an independent democracy and we have withdrawn sm

how in the world can we dictate what they do with their prisoners?  You have to take a wider view of this bill.  It is nothing like what you have presented here.  It's a bill about democracy and a democratic nation. 


Olbermann is a commentator...not a journalist...
and he was removed from his "journalism" spot on MSNBC to a strict commentator position because of his obvious bias toward Obama and playing fast and loose with the truth. He doesn't know if it is true or not, he just repeated rumor. It is a fact that she has not belonged to the assembly of God church since 2002. Her present pastor confirmed that, as did her former pastor. No one disputes that...except maybe Olbermann, but the only truth he recognizes is something that supports Obama.
I_Rhyme blogger

She is Sarah Palin.
She don't have to talk to you.
Just replay her Big Convention Speech
If you want her point of view.

Her new pals from dear John's campaign
They said she should lie low.
It's not to their advantage now
To compare her with "that Joe".

Why should she answer questions
When it's already been made clear.
She's for guns and nuns and moose in buns
No choice, No voice, No fear.

Don't ask her about the Middle East.
Don't ask her about Tibet.
Don't ask her about the housing crisis
Don't ask her about the Debt.

Don't ask her about the Shiites
Don't ask her about the Sunnis.
From her personal perspective
They are all a bunch of loonies!

Don't ask her who world leaders are.
It's hard to keep them straight.
Is that cute Tony Blair still there somewhere?
Isn't Putin a head of State?

Yes, she is Sarah Palin!
She need not be interviewed.
She's just much more content you see
To be cheered rather than boo'd !


It is probably not an MT and a paid blogger. sm
They are on all the political boards. The first hint was CV. You brought up some topics that are a no-no. I know it is hard, but try to ignore and not respond to posts attacking you. People need to question. I hope people do their research and there is some discussion on these topics. It is crucial that everyone understand the monetary system.
And that statement is ridiculous, Iran and Iraq enemies, remember the Iran-Iraq war? Iraq would jus
nm
Trigger-happy-civilian-aid-worker-journalist-slaughtering Israel
with a little help from their (only) US allies. As long as that is the case, any other country in the region who chooses to level the playing field by arming themselves in self defense with nuclear weapons has a much more plausible case than "do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do."
Anti-choice movement gets duped in a Blogger Baby Hoax

The unmarried mother's story about giving birth to a child diagnosed as terminally ill in the womb hit a major nerve on the Internet.


Every night for the last two months, thousands of abortion opponents across the nation logged on to a blog run by the suburban Chicago woman who identified herself only as "B" or "April's Mom."


People said they prayed that God would save her pregnancy. They e-mailed her photos of their children dressed in pink, bought campaign T-shirts, shared tales of personal heartache and redemption, and sent letters and gifts to an Oak Lawn P.O. box in support.


As more and more people were drawn to her compelling tale, eager advertisers were lining up. And established parenting Web sites that oppose abortion were promoting her blog -- which included biblical quotes, anti-abortion messages and a soundtrack of inspirational Christian pop songs.


By Sunday night, when "April's Mom" claimed to have given birth to her "miracle baby" -- blogging that April Rose had survived a home birth only to die hours later -- her Web site had nearly a million hits.


There was only one problem with the unfolding tragedy: None of it was true.


Not the pregnancy, and not the photos posted on the blog of the supposed mother and Baby April Rose, swaddled in white blankets. The baby was actually a lifelike doll, which immediately raised the suspicion of loyal blog-followers.


"I have that exact doll in my house," said Elizabeth Russell, a dollmaker from Buffalo who had been following the blog. "As soon as I saw that picture, I knew it was a scam."
--
She had expected only a handful of friends to read it, but when her first post got 50 comments, she was hooked.


"I've always liked writing. It was addictive to find out I had a voice that people wanted to hear," Beushausen said.


"Soon I was getting 100,000 hits a week, and it just got out of hand," she said. "I didn't know how to stop. ... One lie led to another."


So the lie isn't the problem, but the fact that she got addicted to blogging made her continue on. What a sad and disgusting tale. Using a phony story to whip up the anti-choice movement is pretty vile. A woman has the right to choose in this country, but the religious right will do anything it can to try and take that right away. You never hear them talk about the mother in any of their debates. It's like the woman is only a "vessel" to carry a child and doesn't exist in any other manner. "Bring the vessel here." "How dare the vessel speak out."


True to their newest stand, right wing blogger smears family of murdered soldier.

Predictably, falling right in line with Tony Snow and his *2,500 is a number* statement on June 15, followed one day later by the fiercely *patriotic* Rush *I'dLoveToServeMyCountryButCan'tBecauseOfThisPimpleOnMyButt* Limbaugh, reminding them that aborted fetuses are more important than murdered American soldiers (as was posted on the *other* board on June 16), all the while publicly declaring that all liberals who post on this board don't care about our troops.  *Profound* indeed.


http://www.prospect.org/horsesmouth/2006/06/post_134.html#002858 


The Horse's Mouth
A blog about the reporting of politics -- and the politics of reporting. By Greg Sargent






« | Main | »






WINGNUT JOHN HINDERAKER SMEARS DEAD SOLDIER'S UNCLE. A couple of minutes ago I came across this Associated Press story saying that the uncle of Kristian Menchaca -- one of the U.S. soldiers who was missing and is now said to be dead -- criticized the United States for Menchaca's disappearance and death. My first thought was to do a post asking how long it would take before the wingnuts started smearing the grief-stricken uncle.


Alas, I'm too late. Over at Powerline Blog, John Hinderaker has already cranked up the slime machine and let fly:


In a sick coda, Menchaca's uncle, Ken MacKenzie, appeared on the Today show and recited weirdly inapplicable Democratic Party talking points in relation to his own nephew's death...No shame.


I've asked this before, but what is it about the relatives of people killed by terrorists that these wingnuts hate so much? Recall that Ann Coulter smeared the widows of 9/11 victims and that many righty bloggers smeared the father of Nick Berg, who was beheaded in Iraq. Their sin, of course, was that they criticized America and George Bush.


Let me put this as clearly as I can: To the likes of Hinderaker, the pain of those who lost loved ones to this war only matters to the extent that the bereaved allow their grief to be used to prop up the war effort and Bush himself. If the bereaved relatives don't allow their grief to be used in this fashion, their sacrifice and loss no longer matter a whit -- they're not to be pitied or empathized with, but scorned and humiliated as brutally as possible. Despicable.


--Greg Sargent




Bush didn't destroy Iraq. He helped to liberate Iraq.
m
I am independent....independent of either party.
I am registered with neither. And I am not really interested in your interpretation of what a Republican is or is not.

I was talking about Obama's stand as an Illinois state senator. Since I do not live in Illinois and was not one of his constituents that rather rude indictment of what I would or would not do is moot. Had I been a resident of Illinois you can bet your sweet bippy there would have been plenty of senator/representative contact.

Not voting for Obama DOES give me a clear conscience. Whatever calamity he wreaks, it will not be because I put him in charge. If he gets his way we will become a socialist state. That is something I do NOT want to be a part of. PERIOD.
Sam, how can you say you are an independent? sm
From your posts it appears you are a staunch republican. You know the saying, if it walks and quacks like a duck, Quack, Quack!
I too am an independent
In independent to me means not belonging to either party. You can be an independent and fervently support one candidate over the other. It means finding the better of the worst and not buying into the party line. I think people need to start comparing Obama's expereince with McCain's experience. If you want to compare Palin with anyone you need to compare her with the opposite parties VP candidate. But people are comparing Obama to Palin because there is no way they can win if they compare him to McCain. I am an independent, but the more I read, the more I listen to all the networks, the more I hear Palin's family getting "politically gang raped" the more I want to know why and the less I trust the liberals. I am an independent. Years ago I supported Bill Clinton til the end, I didn't support either Gore or Bush and the next term I didn't support either Kerry or Bush. Now I support McCain. That is because I can stand back and look at what both McCain & Obama have done. How they have voted in the senate, what they have done with their careers, how they want to lead the country, etc. and I can view it all with an open mind. That makes me and independent.
I am an independent with....
conservative values and some liberal ideas. Extremest? Don't know what that means. Never been called an extremest. When I hear that I keep thinking about some person who ties themself to a tree so it won't be cut down, but if it means I'm open to anything and will listen to all viewpoints and think on my own then yes that I am and glad to be one.

There's a lot I don't like that the republicans have done, but so much more I don't like that the democrats have done. However, what's worse is I don't like what the media and some of the posters on this board have come to. It is unbearable and they just pick and pick about absolutely nothing and spew lies and because of them I don't think I would ever vote for Obama.

As for Ms. Couric? She is a complete and utter moronian. No she is not running for president. She is not even qualified to give a decent interview and be respective of the people she interviews. If she thought Kissinger said that they she didn't do her research and should be the last person to interview anyone. She should go back to the morning show and gossip. She is a far left liberal and her condescending attitute exuberates. She is never that disrepectful to the democrats that she interviews. The media is so one-sided (on both sides - I'm not excluding anyone from blame), but at least I have the fortitude to listen to both sides and decide for myself who I like better.

I made one comment and you think I'm going to vote for McCain? Oh, boy do you have that one wrong. I have mixed feelings about the debate and I thought Obama did well on certain issues and I thought McCain did well on other issues. I hear the liberal media trashing McCain and for what (the way he looked, because he wasn't wearing a flag pin?) The liberals are too interested in "looks" they ignore the issues. I close my eyes and listen to each candidate, that way I don't see if they look to the right when the should look to the left, smile at an inapproate moment or any of that utter nonsense each accuses the other of.

I'll tell you I do not like the democrats proposal to the bail out. They want to give a free pass to the people who created the mess and have the average working american pay for it. Maybe seeing as you are so "for" this, you can supply your address and they can bill you the $10,500 it will cost each family and you can pay my share cos I don't have that kind of money!

As for the debate, I understood Obama more on what he was saying. McCain's answers were too complicated and left me wondering what he was talking about. However, it does not mean I liked what Obama was saying. As for foreign policy, sorry but taking a vacation in a foreign country doesn't qualify you as being knowledgeable in foreign policies.

McCain stated perfectly well and it's on record that he voted against a lot of what Bush was proposing. To say its going to be more of the same is a scare tactic and lie and you are just going along with the party line.

I hate Rush Limbaugh! I think he's a biggoted pig who can't listen to the truth if it stood in front of his face, and he puts down anyone who doesn't agree with him. At the same time I can't stand Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, Mike Savage, Ray Talafero, Keith Oberman, Rachel Maddow (well she's actually not too bad) or any other right or left wing slime-bag who doesn't look at the whole picture with open eyes and trashes one side with false information while propping up their side with inflated opinions.

I do have to admit - Obama does seem to be on the side of the average americans, but cripes....look at his voting record. Sure, anyone can say their going to do this and that for you, but look at what they have done in the past, how they have voted, etc.

Here are my likes and dislikes -
What I like about Obama - He seems to have fresh ideas (which we can use right now). He's a very eloquent speaker, nice looking, nice looking family. When he says he cares about you I believe it. If he becomes president I can deal with that. I'm not against him, just people need to know what are his plans and he needs to stop lying to us. When he lies about one thing what else is he lying about. And he never said he would cut out unnecessary things that we don't need. So that tells me he's going to have all these programs and we will end up paying for them just like when Clinton was in.

What I don't like - I don't trust that he will do all the things he promises. We will be taxed to the hilt to pay for all the programs that we will not benefit from. While I like that he is willing to talk to our enemies I don't think he's knowledgeable enough about foreign policies, etc.

While I like that he's knowledgable about the economy I don't like his solutions for how to fix it (it screws us while keeping his rich friends rich!)

What I like about John McCain - He doesn't vote straight republican. He is in the middle. His comment about Obama being so far to the left he couldn't reach over was stup!d. To call someone left or right is just a gimmick. It means nothing (at least to me). I like and feel safe with McCain's knowlege of foreign policies. I feel that McCain will fight for the Americans so we don't end up paying for congresses mistakes. To say that if McCain gets in only the rich will get richer because its the same exact thing if Obama gets in there. Obama is rich and surrounds himself with the rich and those 1% rich they are always talking about with the republicans, well they have their 1% richest friends too. We saw it when Clinton was in office.

What I don't like about McCain is I wish he was younger (although Biden is around the same age). I wish he had a little more color (his skin is very white). I wish he would talk in simpler terms I could understand, and I wish he would stop saying "my friends" in every other sentance.

All in all I believe presidents are just talking heads. They surround themselves with the people who make the decisions. They don't think on their own. They carry out their orders from their superiors.

As for "big government getting cutbacks under Bush". Big government was getting cutbacks under Clinton. This is not anything new and not prone to one party or the other. However Clinton's legacy is that we saw NAFTA and the beginning of our jobs being shipped overseas.

As for talking about Obama and Palin's inexperience. They are both inexperienced. But I also remember...so was John Adams, George Washington, and all the other leaders in the beginning. The difference for me is that Obama is running for President. Palin is only running for VP. And I trust the people that McCain will surround himself with more than the people that Obama will surround himself with.

So because I bring up that I heard Kissinger interviewed and he said that he never said he would sit down and talk to enemies without preconditions you make an assumption that I'm an extremist and conservative. If I heard on the news that something McCain said was a lie you would probably be cheering me on. You just don't like when your candidate does something wrong and points it out.

I think you should read a post and keep your hatred to yourself, and who is Henry?

I am independent and a free thinker and I am proud of it!
I am independent as well and see what happens
!!
I am an independent. s/m
I lean left sometimes, yes.  Sometimes I lean far right.  I personally do not believe in abortion and I believe homosexuality is a sin and a choice people make.  That's pretty right, isn't it?
My take......from an independent
When you factor in ALL the illegals that should NOT be voting that were voting and then factor in ALL the pushed in fraudulent voters who didn't even know who Obama's running mate was (they thought it WAS Palin), then it's no surprise Obama won. After all, he did promise all "illegals" they could get a drivers license and all moochers they could get free money, so gee, what motivation! A no-brainer!!

Factor in the hard working folks who were voting out of shear fear of the economy, the women who were afraid they wouldn't have the "right" to murder an unborn child, and you have yourself a president, for good or for bad.

Flame all you want....the truth usually does incite.

I still say Ron Paul would have been much better for this country. Much smaller government, no IRS, close our borders against illegals....the list goes on and on.
I'm independent
nm
Independent?
It does not sound like you (sm) are an Independent.  I don't see anything but praise for Obama and hate for Republicans and Bush.  Where are your posts supporting anything conservative?
I am independent as well, which is why
I don't fall for all this garbage going on!! Where did you get off with the Palestinian people? We weren't talking about the Palestinian people... if you wanna do that, then start a thread on that! And, somehow, I doubt seriously you know better than me! HOW POMPOUS!

I am definitely not confused! If Obama wants to stay out of Iranian problems, then he should stay out of everything else as well.... he can't simply pick and choose when it's a Muslim country involved, which is exactly what he does.
You certainly are no independent
You are a staunch democrat through and through. You should not be so ashamed of it that you won't admit it.

Just because you know a Patrick Henry quote doesn't make you an independent.
My view as an independent.
I don't see Michele as hard, negative or loud. I see her as passionate and a go-getter. I have seen her speak at different things and have always enjoyed her.

Cindy I see as not weak, but just more quiet. I wouldn't say she was weak though.

Maybe this has something to do with their age differences, different generations?
Independent candidates have to
have at least 15% in opinion polls in order to participate in the presidential debates.  Right now....the only candidates eligible to participate in the debate are, of course, McCain and Obama.  To me....that says that no independent has enough backing to do any good except for take votes from the other two.  There is nothing wrong with voting for an independent though.  If you feel Ron Paul is a better candidate, you have the right to vote for him.  However, some say it would be throwing your vote away since the likelihood of him actually win is slim.  You never know though.  Do what you feel is best and go with your gut.  If you truly believe in Ron Paul, vote for him.  No one can knock you for that.
INDEPENDENT PARTY
The independent party has voted that they will back McCain.  They have NO votes to back Obama whatsoever!!!!
which independent party?
Which one? There are a couple, at least:
The American Independent Party
The Independent American Party
Independence Party of America

I thought being an "independent" meant you didn't belong to any party...
Okay, but for the Independent Party, do
xx
Well, I am independent, but would understand the
nm
Sorry, but I am independent. As far as hatred,
nm
I am independent, but have seen just the opposite
nm
I make less than that....and I am an independent....
voting Republican this time. Obama is a socialist and I do not agree with where he wants to take this country. Has absolutely nothing to do with his color. I would not vote for a white socialist, a Hispanic socialist, an Asian socialist, a polka-dotted socialist or a 3-eyed wombat socialist.
Independent for McCain
Okay, now I have to say I would have done the same thing in Obama's case. Those newspapers were toxic to his campaign. He's had trouble with them many times in the past--bias.

As far as whether he's African American or not, who cares? The only one who's going to fight that one is a racist, and I could care less to hear their sorry posts.

Newflash: BOTH of them are being caught in lies. That's why this election was so difficult for me. All politicians lie--meaning they make promises maybe with the right intentions, but they just don't keep them. You have to remember congress is in the equation here.

His father was African American. Therefore, he has every right to call himself such.

I've read about McCain losing his temper a time or two. Don't forget these two candidates are still human.
I'm glad to know Sam is an independent
I would  have sworn she was a "rabid" Republican.  LOL 
I'm no concerned about the GOP..I'm an independent...

the sorry's will be from O when he can't fulfill his many promises to his starry eyed followers who elected him. Pelosi herself has already said that many of the things they want to do won't get done and he hasn't even been sworn in yet.


Ditto. I am with you. --and independent too.
nm
Haters? I am independent, but have seen
nm
Sorry, I'm independent.......thus, the reason I think
I do find it hilarious that you immediately believe that ANYONE who objects to Obama's garbage is a republican. Matter of fact, I do know lots of dems that despise him for obvious reasons. What I do see are those like yourself, who wants government to think for them, believing that everyone MUST be into Fox or whatever. If I want to know what's going on for real, your TV won't do it for you, especially the liberal news station.

Speaking of looking around, unfortunately I see a complete debauchal of our constitution and our freedoms. I don't let one group do my thinking for me as you obviously do, which is why I don't care if it's republican or democrat, as long as they tax me, dictate my state rights, impose their garbage on my life, they are no better than scum and have no loyalty to our constitution. Unlike you, I detest stinch......
To clarify...I'm an independent who

leans conservative.  I don't care for either far left or far right.  I think that there are nut jobs in both extremes.


There are many things that run through my head when I think of President Obama.  To me, Obama is too far left for my taste. 


Some things that we should do right away is get the heck out of the middle east.  Use our troops in rotation to guard our border with Mexico.  Honestly, if we would keep our nose out of the middle east's business, maybe they would just keep fighting amongst themselves and we would have less to worry about.  I know that sounds horrible, but there has been fighting in that region since the beginning of time.  No amount of money we spend is going to change that.  We need to worry more about our problems at home including illegal immigrants.  They are costing us WAY too much money per year.


I do not want big government.  I do not feel that government should have to bail us out.  I believe that government created this problem allowing bad loans to be given out to people who couldn't afford to pay them.  However, I feel that these "programs" that Obama wants to enforce really won't help the middle class he professes to be looking out for.  Bigger government and more government programs does nothing more than promote and reward irresponsibility and laziness.  Our coutry cannot afford to continually bail banks, companies, and people out.  We have no money.  China won't even help us out any more....not that I really like the idea of getting money from China...but you get my point.


What I want is for government to stop handing out and stop spending money it doesn't have.  Get rid of our tax code and have a flat tax for everyone.  You pay more based on the more you earn.  That way it closes loopholes for crooks so they don't have to pay their taxes or they "make a mistake" and don't pay their taxes. 


I'm tired of packages filled with pork and I'm pointing fingers at both dems and pubs on this one as both parties are guilty.  Get rid of the pork and the pet projects. 


The idea of Obama wanting to do away with secret ballots in union votes....I totally disagree with.  Why shouldn't they continue to be secret?  Making that information known just gives unions the chance to bully people and that isn't looking out for employees like the unions claim to do.....even though it is proven that unionized states show less production and less job growth than states without unions. 


Bigger government also scares me because obviously politicians are too crooked....how can we trust them to run everything in this country. 


We also need to reform welfare.  I was truly upset when I heard Obama wanted to get rid of the reform that Clinton had done on welfare.  We need some regulations and limitations to our welfare system. 


I do not have much hope in change.  So far all I see are the same old cronies that were in Washington before.  We have too many crooked politicians and too many people giving money to them in order to get them elected so they have a puppet in Washington to do their bidding.


I'm not an independent and I feel the same way.
I'm a registered republican, but I've voted democrat many times (Clinton twice, Zack Space twice, etc).

But I am also sick and tired of both parties with the way they keep vilifying each other. You don't need to be a democrat or a republican or an independent or a libertarian to just be fed up with Washington right now.
I'm not an independent and I feel the same way.
I'm a registered republican, but I've voted democrat many times (Clinton twice, Zack Space twice, etc).

But I am also sick and tired of both parties with the way they keep vilifying each other. You don't need to be a democrat or a republican or an independent or a libertarian to just be fed up with Washington right now.
Better independent than letting others do the
--
Please, JTBB. I am an independent, and all you
nm
I've ALWAYS BEEN AN INDEPENDENT....
unlike dems and republicans, i would rather think for myself.... you should try it sometime!!!
Individual independent investigation
I agree it is important to look at raw facts and draw conclusions for yourself. So much of what we see and hear out of the mainstream media is slanted to one side or the other. I believe it is very important for one to get info from independent sources in order to draw enlightened conclusions. I think it's naive at best to trust solely the mainstream media and even partisan sources exclusively for your news. Things can be spun so many different ways. This is one area where we agree.
Good post, Independent! nm
nm
I am independent and considered Obama, but
nm
and Democrats are independent thinkers?
pull the other leg. lol.
A Repub in Independent's clothing. You know
OINK
I never said as an independent I looked objectively....
at both sides. I am an "independent" meaning independent of the major parties. You have to register as something to vote in this country and I chose Independent. As far as objective...none of us are objective. All of us have taken a stand on one side or the other. What I do is present the other side of things posted here on the Dem side. Instead of refuting the posts, generally I just get attacked. That is generally what happens when a point can't be refuted, so all that is left is to attack. It works itself out here nearly every day.

As to the "you can't have it both ways," that was originated by a Dem poster. I just turned it back to them and I will turn it back to you...you can't have it both ways.
Go Ron Paul....now running on an independent
xx
First, let me explain what independent means...
it means you are not registered Republican or Democrat. I am NOT registered Republican OR Democrat. You have to, in this country, be registered to vote, and since I do not agree totally with the platforms of either major party, I registered independent. In this election I am supporting the Republican. I'm sorry if that chaps you but...oh well. I don't support anyone because of the party they are in. THAT is independent.

I have no "party." I am a registered Independent.
And I look at more than how someone speaks. Obama has had 18 months to get polished and up to speed. She has had a couple of months. As far as running a government, if something happened to McCain Palin would surround herself with advisors, just like Obama has done...Biden for foreign policy, plus the other 300 he has on staff, and we get Obama on day one. I have no doubt she would do every bit as well as Obama would. There is more than giving a blazing teleprompter speech than running the country. She has ably run a state, balanced the budget and given refunds on budget surpulses to her constituents. You are not able to do that if you are stupid. Again, I have no party...but I am confident in John McCain and if, God forbid, something happened to him I would be confident in Sarah Palin. At least I know she does not have an agenda to turn this country into a socialist nightmare, and Barak Hussein Obama has demonstrated he wants to do that, it is evident in what he says he WILL do, and that is why NOBAMA, NO WAY, NO HOW.