Buck Naked Politics

President Obama Takes First Steps on Gitmo, Considers How to Go About Re-Balancing the Scales (News & Commentary Round-Up)

by Damozel | AOL News reports that Obama is already circulating a draft order to close Gitmo (via bmaz).  "Closing the facility in Cuba "would further the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice," read the draft prepared for the new president's signature." (AOL News) 

Meanwhile, Obama has asked military prosecutors for a 120-day halt in their proceedings against Guantanamo prisoners (AP).   Peter Finn at The Washington Post reports:

Average GOP Joes: Joe the Plumber & Joe the Scarborough Reminds Us of How Republicans Are Different from You and Me

by Damozel |  Yeah.  Send in the clowns.  There ought to be clowns!...Whoops, er...don't worry.  They're here:

First, Joe Scarborough, maintaining for over 5 minutes---despite the great weight of expert evidence --- that torture works, because it must work, because Bush says so and because he, meaning Joe S, "knows it for a fact."  Furthermore, waterboarding and stress positions aren't torture.  Ali Frick at Think Progress comments:

In fact, the interrogator who successfully brought down Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — and who has written and spoken publicly about how torture doesn’t work — told Laura Ingraham last month he broke one insurgent after he gave him a copy of Harry Potter. 
<

At FDL, Jane Hamsher sets out the evidence in rebuttal.

Obama's Plans to Close Gitmo

by Damozel | Though he plans to issue on his first full day in office the executive order that will ultimately shut down Guantanamo Bay, the actual process is likely to take a year or so.  (NYT)   Transition officials evidently say that plans are on track to suspend immediately the Bush administration’s military commissions system for trying detainees. (NYT)  But then what happens?

[E]xperts say it is likely to take many months, perhaps as long as a year, to empty the prison that has drawn international criticism since it received its first prisoners seven years ago this week. One transition official said the new administration expected that it would take several months to transfer some of the remaining 248 prisoners to other countries, decide how to try suspects and deal with the many other legal challenges posed by closing the camp....

Gaza: Strategy, Tactics, & Underlying Wrong Assumptions (A Round-Up of News & Commentary)

by Damozel |  If Israel wins the war, what does it win? The Center for Strategic International Studies raises the question of the Israeli's strategic purpose in Gaza, after acknowledging that Israel have apparently made significant tactical gains and that Hamas's continuing rocket and mortar attacks were a threat, Anthony M. Cordesman addresses some of the other questions.

The fact remains...that the growing human tragedy in Gaza is steadily raising more serious questions as to whether the kind of tactical gains that Israel now reports are worth the suffering involved. As of the 14th day of the war, nearly 800 Palestinian have died and over 3,000 have been wounded. Fewer and fewer have been Hamas fighters, while more and more have been civilians.....

Has Israel somehow blundered into a steadily escalating war without a clear strategic goal or at least one it can credibly achieve? Will Israel end in empowering an enemy in political terms that it defeated in tactical terms? Will Israel’s actions seriously damage the US position in the region, any hope of peace, as well as moderate Arab regimes and voices in the process?...

The Torture Administration

by Damozel | Joe Klein has written a useful piece on the Bush administration's policy of permitting torture in situations when they and their operatives decided torture was authorized.  In addition to all the other evidence which has mounted up, the Senate Armed Services Committee released what Klein calls "the most definitive official account" just before Christmas.  

Much of the committee's report remains secret, but a 19-page executive summary was published...   The story begins with an obscure military training program called Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE), in which various forms of torture are simulated to prepare U.S. special-ops personnel for the sorts of treatment they might receive if they're taken prisoner. Incredibly, the Bush Administration decided to have SERE trainers instruct its interrogation teams on how to torture prisoners. (Read "Shell-Shocked at Abu Ghraib?")

Incoming Obama Administration May be Willing to Initiate "Low-Level" Talks with Hamas

by Damozel | According to The Guardian, at least three incoming officials in the Obama Administration say that Obama is willing to talk with Hamas.  Such a policy is supported by Obama's choice for Middle East envoy, Richard Haass, who has been a diplomat under Bush 41 and 43.  (The Guardian)  

I don't understand why there are any objections to this.  It isn't as if Bush's policies have exactly gone a long way toward bringing peace to Israel or the Middle East generally.  I can't understand the people who think that the best way to address failed policies is to do more of the same, only more so.  Isn't that meant to be a marker for insanity?  And apparently even some Republicans are coming round to the idea that a change of policy is going to be required. 

Israel Gears Up for a Ground War in Gaza (News Round-Up & Commentary)

by Teh Nutroots | So says The Murdoch Times.

Israel is poised to launch a major ground offensive into Gaza tonight after allowing hundreds of foreigners living in the devastated territory to evacuate.

After a week of air strikes that have killed at least 420 Palestinians and left scores of buildings in rubble, the Israeli army was set to fling hundreds of troops and tanks into a blitz to stamp out Hamas’s military wing, The Times understands (Times of London).

The UN says that more than a quarter killed so far have been civilians.  (Reuters)  Their sufferings continue to be severe.  Meanwhile, Hamas does its all to keep the violence going:

Power Vacuum: Obama Sits on the Sidelines in Deference to Bush, Who Refuses to End His Vacation to Deal With the Mideast Crisis & Looming Confrontation Between Pakistan and India

by Teh Nutroots | Useless to the end----that's W.  You'd think he'd be satisfied with the very long vacation he has coming up, which will last till he, like Brother Jeb, decides to run for Congress.  Meanwhile, Israel rages through Gaza and---whatever you think about the justice of its action---the US sits on the sidelines, with neither the sitting president nor the president-elect apparently willing to make a public statement. (Think Progress)

Israel Gearing Up for Long-Term Action Against Hamas (UPDATED: News Round-Up & Commentary)

by Damozel | The current death toll is 225, according to The New York Times.  And there are more airstrikes to come.

Israeli military officials said the airstrikes, which went on into the night, were the start of what could be days or even months of an effort to force Hamas to end its rocket barrages into southern Israel. The operation could include ground forces, a senior Israeli security official said.

Palestinian officials said that most of the dead were security officers for Hamas, including two senior commanders, and that at least 600 people had been wounded in the attacks.  (NYT)

Barak Ravid, Haaretz correspondent, says that the operation has been in preparation for six months and was the fruit of "[l]ong-term preparation, careful gathering of information, secret discussions, operational deception and the misleading of the public."

Time Magazine on Bush's Costly War(s): what about Private Profiteers?

by Deb Cupples |  Yesterday, Time Magazine reported:  

"A trio of recent reports — none by the Bush Administration — suggests that sometime early in the Obama presidency, spending on the wars started since 9/11 will pass the trillion-dollar mark.

"Even after adjusting for inflation, that's four times more than America spent fighting World War I, and more than 10 times the cost of 1991's Persian Gulf War (90% of which was paid for by U.S. allies). The war on terrorism looks set to surpass the costs the Korean and Vietnam wars combined, topped only by World War II's price tag of $3.5 trillion."

More Evidence of Bush Administration Untruths re: Iraq

by Deb Cupples |  God, I'll miss Rep. Henry Waxman when he leaves the House Oversight Committee next  month.  He digs up information -- better than most members of Congress and even our FBI, it seems-- and he doggedly ensures that we taxpayers hear about it. 

As a good-bye gift, Rep. Waxman gives us an 11-page memo, outlining evidence that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may have lied to Congress when arguing that our nation should invade Iraq partly on the grounds that Iraq was (allegedly) enriching uranium.

Here's an excerpt from that memo:

Department of ValeDICKtions: Dick Cheney---Going Out with a Growl, Not a Whimper

 by the Guys from the Annex| We're all caught up in holiday activities at the moment, but who could resist all these cherishable final moments of the Cheney Administration?   Certainly not us.   It's just the right time for the Anti-Claus!

As Jon Stewart has so rightly said, we don't know Dick.  Yes, he's still a douchebag wrapped in an enigma and dipped in a  mystery! And---in the immortal words of the Turtles, c. 1960-something---the more we see, the more we see there is to see! 

 by the Guys from the Annex| We're all caught up in holiday activities at the moment, but who could resist all these cherishable final moments of the Cheney Administration?   Certainly not us.   It's just the right time for the Anti-Claus!

As Jon Stewart has so rightly said, we don't know Dick.  Yes, he's still a douchebag wrapped in an enigma and dipped in a  mystery! And---in the immortal words of the Turtles, c. 1960-something---the more we see, the more we see there is to see! 

Angry Iraqi Journalist Throws His Shoes at Bush

by Damozel | Bush's surprise visit to Iraq seemed to be going along all right till this.

In the middle of the news conference with Mr Maliki, Iraqi television journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi stood up and shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," before hurling a shoe at Mr Bush which narrowly missed him.

Showing the soles of shoes to someone is a sign of contempt in Arab culture.

With his second shoe, which the president also managed to dodge, Mr Zaidi said: "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq."...  (BBC News)

Damning Report on Iraq Reconstruction Efforts: Waste & Deception Involved

by Deb Cupples |   Based on more than 500 interviews and 600 audits, an unpublished report is circulating in Washington about our nation's reconstruction efforts in Iraq.  It doesn't reflect well on the people involved.

There was waste, there was bureaucratic squabbling, there was even deception.  The New York Times reports:

Pakistan & The Dance of Denial

by Damozel | Pakistan is the most dangerous place in the world today, according to this source,  this source, this, and many others.  

Your average newspaper reader, or "ignorant layperson" (such as yours truly) could easily miss the key to why the Pakistani government---however much lip service it might pay to the goal of fighting terrorism---isn't really very effective at doing so. 

Surviving Mumbai Gunman Traced to Pakistan; Increasing Strain In Chronically Strained Relations Between India and Pakistan

by Damozel | Though Islamabad denies it, Saeed Shah, a reporter for The Guardian, believes he has found the surviving gunman's home:  a poor village called Faridkot in Pakistan.  According to some villagers, Faridkot is a recruiting center for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group which is believed to have orchestrated the terrorist attack. (The Guardian)  In nearby villages, there are radical madrassas.  "The nazim (mayor) of Tara Singh, Rao Zaeem Haider, said: 'There is a religious trend here. Some go for jihad, but not too many.'" (The Guardian)   

Shinseki Selected to Lead Veterans' Affairs

by Damozel | Obama will name Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, the first Asian four-star general to head the Department of Veterans' Affairs.  Ambinder:

The general who had the most conspicuous premonition about Iraq, and who lost his job because of it, will now be overseeing the care of those maimed and wounded in the war.

Eric Shinseki will be named tomorrow, Pearl Harbor Day, as Obama's nominee for Veterans Affairs Secretary.

Five War Contractors Indicted For Killing 17 Random Iraqi Civilians: A Retrospective

by Damozel |  The September 2007 massacre in Nisoor Square was one of many shameful chapters in a long history of discreditable/tragic incidents. Private contractors ---or, as some call them, "mercenaries" --- spooked by an unfortunate incident, opened fire into a crowd of civilians who were milling around the street trying to go about their lives. 

We're relieved that some of those responsible are being made to answer for this act of recklessness and indifference to human life and we hope that some or all will be held accountable for it.  It won't bring back the dead, but it will show that there is a line that even private contractors (whose accountability to anyone but their corporate masters has seemed almost nil) may not cross.

Meanwhile, How Goes the Transition? (News Round-Up)

by Damozel | According to a USA Today poll, Americans are feeling pretty happy with how well Obama is doing before taking office.  I am pleased to hear it, but I can't help laughing at this:

President-elect Barack Obama gets soaring marks for his handling of the transition and his choices for the Cabinet, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, even at a time the public is downbeat over the economy.

More than three of four Americans, including a majority of Republicans, approve of the job Obama has done so far — broad-based support he'll need as he faces tough decisions ahead. (USA Today; emphasis added)

The public already thinks he's doing a great job before he's even started.  Yay!

Former Interrogator Still Tormented by Recollections of Practices Used in Iraq

by Damozel | "Matthew Alexander"---writing under a nom de guerre for security reasons---led the team of interrogators hunted down the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq (Abu Musab al-Zarqawi) and authored a book called "How to Break a Terrorist." (WaPo)  Despite his success, he continues to be tortured (his word) by recollections of what he saw as an interrogator in Iraq.

Nothing he says in this article is different from what opponents of torture, including military opponents of torture, have been saying all along.   But as it's a powerful statement of the case against torture---or, as I believe they're known, "enhanced interrogation techniques"---I think it should be added to the accumulating evidence that torture is the last refuge of chickenhawks who think real life is well portrayed by what they see in "24."  But Alexander, an interrogator who has served 14 years in the Air Force, says:  "What I saw in Iraq still rattles me---both because it betrays our traditions and because it just doesn't work....." (WaPo)