What is an Iraqi life worth? Well, evidently $2,500. Now tell me, why would we pay Iraqis $2,500 for each of the 24 murders, if we were not guilty?
"Despite blaming insurgents for the killings, the U.S. military gave the families $2,500 for each person killed in the incident about a month later, except for four brothers, all of fighting age." "It's a small sum that does not match the magnitude of the disaster" one survivor lamented.
Well, there goes winning the hearts and minds of the citizens of Iraq.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060603/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_haditha
What to know how the Government is going to stop you in your tracks from suing them?
Invoking Secrets Privilege Becomes a More Popular Legal Tactic by U.S.
WASHINGTON, June 3 — Facing a wave of litigation challenging its eavesdropping at home and its handling of terror suspects abroad, the Bush administration is increasingly turning to a legal tactic that swiftly torpedoes most lawsuits: the state secrets privilege.
In recent weeks alone, officials have used the privilege to win the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a German man who was abducted and held in Afghanistan for five months and to ask the courts to throw out three legal challenges to the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program.
But civil liberties groups and some scholars say the privilege claim, in which the government says any discussion of a lawsuit's accusations would endanger national security, has short-circuited judicial scrutiny and public debate of some central controversies of the post-9/11 era.
"This is a very powerful weapon for the executive branch," said Mr. Weaver, who has a law degree and is a co-author of one of the few scholarly articles examining the privilege. "Once it's asserted, in almost every instance it stops the case cold."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/washington/04secrets.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=login
You just cannot win with these fuckers.
Posted by Judith at June 4, 2006 04:41 AMBy-the-way all you military personnel. It was not only veterans names that were stolen, but also those who are in active duty.
Posted by Judith at June 4, 2006 05:06 AMBefore this is over, George Walker Bush will be the greatest President that ever lived, if Fox has anything to say about rewriting history.
Bill O'Reilly: A dangerous demagogue of deceit
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_8778.shtml
Posted by Judith at June 4, 2006 05:32 AMGod, I have got to stop getting up so early. (smile)
Posted by Judith at June 4, 2006 05:35 AMi'll say .... :)
Posted by mark miller at June 4, 2006 07:23 AMHistorically, the federal courts succeeded in checking the misdeeds of the executive. But with virtually all the federal appellate courts controlled by the radical right, the days of checks and balances by the judiciary are over.
The loss of an independent judiciary is always the precursor (and a crucial element) of modern dictatorship.
Posted by euzoius at June 4, 2006 07:54 AMJudith: Did you catch Keith Olberman's RANT on Bill the pill getting the WWII Malmedy massacre BACKWARDS? Falafafuk had US soldiers mowing down SS prisoners, instead of the reverse, to justify Haditha.
Posted by TIKI AL at June 4, 2006 12:07 PMTIKI AL, I just read about it this morning. No, I didn't get to catch Olberman's rant, but it must have been something. Bill's so tolerant when other people are being murdered, isn't he. Oh hum, just another day of war.
Posted by Judith at June 4, 2006 02:16 PMDid you catch Keith Olberman's RANT on Bill the pill getting the WWII Malmedy massacre BACKWARDS?
It was a brilliant moment. I had fallen asleep on the couch and was awakened by the sound of Keith's voice. His tone was so measured and seething, it woke me up right away. It's been a long time since I've heard that level of emotion from a journalist. I hope we see more of it. Someone needs to express the growing rage in this country.
Posted by ann at June 4, 2006 05:03 PMStephen Colbert gives a commencement address
Posted by Sharon at June 4, 2006 06:42 PMGlad you got to hear Keith in his Murrowesque mode, ann. Judith, got TIVO? (once you go TIVO, you'll never go back)
Sharon, thanks for the Colbert link!
Posted by TIKI AL at June 5, 2006 08:49 AM