The Biggest Document leak in History and what it means.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), a UK website, has the entire set of Wikileaks Iraq War Logs online, other than Wikileaks itself. The corporate news sites like the NYT, The Guardian and Der Speigel and several others, all give you their interpretations of the thousands of pages, but TBIJ site seems the most comprehensive to me. From their site, the section which tells us what exactly the thousand upon thousands of pages of doc’s, (400,000 pages), videos and military logs mean and their accompanying short video below:

Twelve weeks ago the Bureau of Investigative Journalism was given access to the biggest leak of military documents in history.

These documents formed a database of nearly 400,000 military logs recorded over six years of the Iraq war and covering the years 2004 to 2009.

There are over 37 million words used to recount military significant actions that took place across the entire country. This material provides an unrivaled portrait of one of the most controversial wars of the modern age.

For the first time the files reveal just how much the American military detailed the escalating violence in Iraq, and how this contrasts markedly to what the politicians said in public. This is the story behind the pronouncements – the uncensored detail Washington did not want us to know.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=16102857&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0
PROMO from TBIJ on Vimeo.

First off, the number of unreported civilian deaths just boggles my mind. The Iraq Body Count site estimates that this leak uncovers 15,000 more civilian deaths than our government reported. This of course raises the total level of deaths, regardless of group, country affiliation and including combatants to more than 150,000.Another quote to blow your mind:

Following the release of the US military war logs, the civilian death toll has risen from 107,000 to 122,000, according to Iraq Body Count.

I have been perusing the TBIJ site most of today and it just gets more ugly, grim and nightmarish with each page/story.  The following line, from this page, just took my breath away:

On the same day 123 secret logs, including reports of the murder of 128 civilians, were filed.*

Holy fuckamoly, I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around everything I read there. Bear in mind that all the civilian deaths were not caused by US or Coalition troops. But…. Hundreds of civilians were gunned down in error at checkpoints…their deaths never reported to anyone.

Mutha Fuckas..Our government lied and continues to lie to us about the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Why do I say they continue to lie? Well because, for one thing, the Obama administration handed over detainees despite reports of torture by Iraq government authorities. This is a clear violation of international law, drawn up by the United Nations Convention Against Torture, ratified by the US in 1994, for any government to transfer detainees to a regime at whose hands they face torture or other serious human rights violations.

That last paragraph above should make your friggin day…it sure as fuck made mine. A small price to pay my ass.

Army suicides spike in June..but the Wars go on.

CNN has historically kept the heat on this issue, which I follow as well, specifically in the video I created for the Iraq War Blogswarm in 2008. From CNN’s latest on this horrific issue, a short blurb(emphasis mine of course):

More U.S. soldiers killed themselves last month than in recent Army history, according to Army statistics released Thursday, confounding officials trying to reverse the grim trend.

The statistics show that 32 soldiers killed themselves in June, the highest number in a single month since the Vietnam era. Twenty-one of them were on active duty, while 11 were in the National Guard or Army Reserve in an inactive status.

Seven of those soldiers killed themselves while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Army numbers.

        *snip*

 Including the June numbers, 145 soldiers have killed themselves this year, more than half of the total number for all of 2009, according to Army statistics.

In 2009, a record-breaking year for suicides in the service, 245 soldiers killed themselves.

These numbers even beat out the highest recorded number of suicides during the height of the Iraq War.

First, the families have to deal with loved ones being in harm’s way in these fucking wars created by the Bush Administration and the boys in the PNAC….then…they get the news that their loved one couldn’t take it anymore and ended his or her life.

Second, the numbers of permanently injured both mentally and physically are off the fucking charts…as is the numbers of deaths in action…Holy fuckamoly people, when will this bullshit stop? – That’s a rhetorical question as Obama shows no sign of abating this carnage which affects an entire generation of young adults.

Lara Logan goes off the deep end.

I really had a lot of respect for her during her reporting in Iraq the last couple of years. She didn’t seem to pull any punches….the operative word is seem.

Logan recently blasted the Rolling Stone reporter, Michael Hastings, who wrote the scathing essay on McChrystal for not ‘holding back’ some of the more inflammatory comments he printed that cost ole Stanley is job. The money quote from this dirtbag:

“Michael Hastings has never served his country the way McChrystal has,” she told CNN’s Howard Kurtz.

WTF woman? What in the blue hell does that have to do with anything when it comes to reporting the truth? Jesus-fucking-Christ…I would hazard a guess that neither has she.

Well, I did find this gem of a video over at Crooks and Liars of Jamie McIntyre and he really rips her a new ass for several of her statements. Mr. McIntyre is a former CNN reporter who covered the Pentagon for 16 years…a damn site longer than old Lara baby.

http://embed.crooksandliars.com/v/MTc0MTgtMzgxNTY?color=173466

McIntyre also let it rip against her and Hastings in a blog posting here. He also gives her a ration of shit for the ‘serve his country’ fuckery too. He does agree with a few of her points, but I take issue with many of them. His money quote:

“In defending herself and her compatriots in the press corps, against charges they are too chummy with the military, Logan wounded them grievously with misaimed friendly fire. She unfortunately reinforced the worst stereotype of reporters who ’embed’ with senior military officers but are actually ‘in bed’ with them,”

So Lara Logan is our douchebag…aka Fuckwit of the week. Evidently she is a proud member of the Corporate Media since she now, because of her statements on the CNN show, gives the appearance that she protects the military leaders that she has covered.

I would like to add that McIntyre’s blog Line of Departure is a great read and has very illuminating articles about the press and it’s job. I highly suggest it as a regular place to stop during your online journey’s for truth, justice and a free and accurate media.

Madoff gets his due and other noteworthy news.

Bernie was sentenced to 150 years this morning. That was the maximum he could be given.

I wonder if that sentence will make his victims feel better, somehow I doubt it. His wife Ruth finally released a statement this morning about her husband’s crime. You can read the entire statement here. I really can’t muster any sympathy for Ruthie.

Joe Jackson is lower than pond scum. He is already getting his worthless, child-beating ass on the tv as much as possible, showing up at the BET awards show last night and having a daily presser when possible out in front of the families Encino enclave. Al Sharpton is also getting his share of tv time as is Jesse Jackson (no relation but I bet he wishes he was).

The biggest media circus in the last decade will now start. Who gets those three little children that lived in a fairytale bubble? Who gets any money..or rather.. is there any money to hand out? Not waisting any time, Joe and Katherine Jackson have filed a probate order and gotten temporary custody of the three children. It’s gonna get real ugly.

Iraq is preparing for our soldiers to start pulling out of their cities tomorrow. This news is scary in that all hell might break loose now that Iraqi police will be in charge. I worry about this, I worry that the innocent will suffer. I worry that our soldiers will be sitting ducks. I just worry period. But I want them all home now..all our soldiers. Don’t leave them sitting in fortresses, just bring them home..NOW.

Finally Tricky Dick Nixon has more of his musings released. I have been reading the transcripts over at the NYT and they are a friggin trip. Get this quote from a Philippines head honcho during the time Marcos took control of the government:

ROMULO: You see, democracy, really, American democracy, is for a mature, highly developed, affluent society.

NIXON: Yes.

ROMULO: For a developing society, you need someone with strength.

Affluent society? Give me an effin break dude. Did anyone know there is a website devoted to the Nixon tapes? Yep…check it out here.

11,000 Iraqi’s still being held by US Government

From Jurist:

The US-led Multi-National Force in Iraq said Tuesday that it is still holding 11,057 Iraqi prisoners in three separate camps throughout the country. The prisoners currently held in the three US camps, Camp Taji, Camp Cropper, and Camp Bucca, will either be released or transferred to Iraqi authorities as the military works to transfer control of the prisons to the Iraqi government. Camp Bucca, in southern Iraq, is expected to be the first to close when the total prison population drops below 8,000. The other two facilities will close by August 2010, in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that went into effect in January and requires all US troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2001. A fourth US-run prison, Abu Ghraib, was transferred back to Iraqi control in 2006 following the release of photographs depicting prisoner abuse by US military personnel.

In November, Iraqi human rights activists said they were concerned about the treatment of detainees due to be transferred from US military custody to Iraqi authorities under the then-proposed SOFA. In August, the US military said that it has released more than 10,000 Iraqi detainees over the past year. In November 2007, US military forces in Iraq released 500 detainees at a joint ceremony with the Iraqi government at Camp Victory outside Baghdad.

The Iraq government isn’t known for it’s judicial system. Of course our methods, via the military tribunals, were horrific as well. The prisoners will most likely be dealt with according to whether they are Shiite or Sunni. This doesn’t bode well for any Sunni prisoners.