Images of Hanging Make Hussein a Martyr to Many

Images of Hanging Make Hussein a Martyr to Many: "In the week since Saddam Hussein was hanged in an execution steeped in sectarian overtones, his public image in the Arab world, formerly that of a convicted dictator, has undergone a resurgence of admiration and awe.

On the streets, in newspapers and over the Internet, Mr. Hussein has emerged as a Sunni Arab hero who stood calm and composed as his Shiite executioners tormented and abused him.

'No one will ever forget the way in which Saddam was executed,' President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt remarked in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot published Friday and distributed by the official Egyptian news agency. 'They turned him into a martyr.'"

(Via NY Times.)

How ExxonMobil Funded Global Warming Skeptics

How ExxonMobil Funded Global Warming Skeptics: "According to a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, oil company ExxonMobil 'has funneled nearly $16 million between 1998 and 2005 to a network of 43 advocacy organizations that seek to confuse the public on global warming science.' The report compares the tactics employed by the oil giant to those used by the tobacco industry in previous decades, and identifies key individuals who have worked on both campaigns. Would a 'global warming controversy' exist without the millions of dollars spent by fossil fuel companies to discredit scientific conclusions?"

(Via /.)

10% of Active Journalists in Iraq Were Killed in 2006

10% of Active Journalists in Iraq Were Killed in 2006: "After an estimated 10 percent of active journalists in Iraq died in 2006, the rest are asking themselves what lies ahead for them in the New Year.

A report released by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RWB, also known as Reporters sans Frontieres), on the last day of 2006 described Iraq as 'the world's most dangerous country for the media.' The group said it had called upon Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to put a stop to 'hostile accidents' against journalists.

The RWB says 64 journalists and media assistants were killed in Iraq during 2006, 'more than twice the number in the 20-year Vietnam war.' Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, 139 journalists have been killed in Iraq, 90 percent of them Iraqis, RWB says.

The survey says what journalists in Iraq know too well.

'The security situation in Baghdad and other insecure parts of the country made journalists suffer heavily, and be victimised in the worst possible form in the conflict in 2006,' Hamid Mohammed Ali, member of the administrative council of the Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate (KJS) told IPS. The KJF is one of the two press unions in Iraq, with the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, that are recognised by the International Federation of Journalists."

(Via AlterNet.)

Second NORK Nuclear Test?

Second NORK Nuclear Test?: "ABC's Jonathan Karl is quoting a 'senior defense officials' claiming that North Korea has made preparations for a second nuclear test.

...

But, first, my favorite Clinton-era Defense Department joke:

Q. What would you do if the North Koreans tested a nuclear weapon?

A. Tell them to test the other one.

That, of course, isn't funny now that the Bush Administration has let these guys separate another 20-43 kilograms of plutonium — enough for several more nuclear weapons beyond the one, possibly two, that North Korea had in January 2001."

(Via ArmsControlWonk.com.)

FBI Details Possible Detainee Abuse

FBI Details Possible Detainee Abuse : "FBI agents documented more than two dozen incidents of possible mistreatment at the Guantanamo Bay military base, including one detainee whose head was wrapped in duct tape for chanting the Quran and another who pulled out his hair after hours in a sweltering room.

Documents released Tuesday by the FBI offered new details about the harsh interrogation practices used by military officials and contractors when questioning so-called enemy combatants.

The reports describe a female guard who detainees said handled their genitals and wiped menstrual blood on their face. Another interrogator reportedly bragged to an FBI agent about dressing as a Catholic priest and 'baptizing' a prisoner.

Some military officials and contractors told FBI agents that the interrogation techniques had been approved by the Defense Department, including directly by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld."

(Via Salon.)

POLL: Active Duty U.S. Soldiers Disapprove Of Bush Handling Of War, Do Not Support Escalation

POLL: Active Duty U.S. Soldiers Disapprove Of Bush Handling Of War, Do Not Support Escalation: "The Military Times released a new poll yesterday of 6,000 active duty U.S. military personnel. The results were revealing. Some highlights:

- Only 35 percent said they approve of the way President Bush is handling the war, while 42 percent said they disapproved.

- 50 percent believe success in Iraq is likely, down from 83 percent in 2004.

- 38 percent believe the United States should send more troops to Iraq. 39 percent believe we should maintain current levels or reduce the number of troops, including 13 percent who support complete withdrawal.

- 72 percent believe the military is 'stretched too thin to be effective.'"

(Via Think Progress.)

President Bush’s Deep Respect for the Rule of Law

President Bush’s Deep Respect for the Rule of Law: "The President is certainly right that it is is a good thing that Saddam Hussein was given a trial, represented by lawyers, with an opportunity to contest his guilt, before being deemed to be guilty. That is how civilized countries function, by definition. In fact, allowing people fair trials before treating them as Guilty is one of the handful of defining attributes — one could even say (as the American Founders did) a prerequisite — for countries to avoid tyranny.

That is why it is so reprehensible and inexpressibly tragic that the Bush administration continues to claim — and aggressively exercise — the power to imprison and punish people without even a pretense or fraction of the due process that Saddam Hussein enjoyed. The Bush administration believes that it has the power to imprison whomever it wants, for as long as it wants, without even giving them access to the outside world, let alone 'a fair trial.' The power which it claims — which it has seized — extends not only to foreign nationals but legal residents and even its own citizens"

(Via Crooks and Liars.)

A Lynching...

A Lynching...: "It's official. Maliki and his people are psychopaths. This really is a new low. It's outrageous- an execution during Eid. Muslims all over the world (with the exception of Iran) are outraged. Eid is a time of peace, of putting aside quarrels and anger- at least for the duration of Eid.

This does not bode well for the coming year. No one imagined the madmen would actually do it during a religious holiday. It is religiously unacceptable and before, it was constitutionally illegal. We thought we'd at least get a few days of peace and some time to enjoy the Eid holiday, which coincides with the New Year this year. We've spent the first two days of a holy holiday watching bits and pieces of a sordid lynching."

(Via Baghdad Burning.)

Executing Saddam on Eid al-Adha is a Mistake

Executing Saddam on Eid al-Adha is a Mistake: "However, the timing of Saddam's execution has a deleterious effect that is more difficult to measure empirically. Eid al-Adha is one of Islam's two most important holidays, and today throughout the Muslim world the holiday is being overshadowed by Saddam's execution. A source in the Muslim community reports that in Saudi Arabia, some Muslims simultaneously watched the Eid salat on one television channel and Saddam's execution on another. One woman in Saudi Arabia commented that she found this 'unsettling,' and not because she has any warm feelings for Saddam. Rather, for many Middle Easterners, Saddam's execution seemingly intrudes on what should be a time of celebration for them: it is an intrusion because the Iraq war is extremely unpopular throughout the Middle East, and the televised execution is a stark reminder that the war is still raging. (Reuters also reports on Middle Eastern consternation about the timing of the execution.) The same Muslim source speculates that for other Middle Easterners, the execution may be a painful reminder that they have little recourse against the dictatorial regimes that rule them without the United States. The negative symbolism is heightened by linking the execution to Eid."

(Via The Counterterrorism Blog.)