do you, torturer, take this torturer?

* "The Air Force said yesterday it is creating a task force to address the religious climate at the U.S. Air Force Academy, following allegations that its faculty and staff have pressured cadets to convert to evangelical Christianity... In 2003, dozens of former female cadets came forward to say they had been sexually assaulted at the academy" LINK
who would jesus rape?

* "(The day after he was killed), Tillman's Ranger body armor was burned because it was covered in blood and was considered a "biohazard." His uniform was also burned. Jones noted that this amounted to the destruction of evidence.
Soldiers reported they burned the evidence because "we knew at the time, based on taking the pictures and walking around it it was a fratricide. . . . We knew in our hearts what had happened, and we weren't going to lie about it. So we weren't thinking about proof or anything."" LINK

* and lets not forget this great moment in punditry from Tillman's brother @ the funeral: "Pat isn't with God, He's fucking dead. He wasn't religious. So thank you for your thoughts, but he's fucking dead." LINK

* "The Rand researchers found that the "shock and awe" air attacks against the enemy leadership did not achieve the advertised objectives of "decapitating, isolating or breaking the will" of that leadership. They added that future operations should not be predicated on expectations of fast regime collapse through air attacks because of a host of limitations, some self-imposed to avoid civilian casualties." LINK

* " George Tenet said he regretted assuring President Bush in 2002 that he had "slam dunk" evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
"Those were the two dumbest words I ever said," Tenet told about 1,300 people at a Kutztown University forum Wednesday." LINK

* "If any lesson can be drawn from the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse legal fallout so far, it may be this: The lowest-level soldier has the highest level of responsibility. The rank and file must clearly know right from wrong - both in terms of their own actions and orders from superiors." LINK

* "No weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in March 2003." LINK
i really wish the media would stop using this line - even bloody KR uses it here. its not that none have been found - THERE ARENT ANY WMD.

* "A different story has emerged of the capture in Pakistan of Abu Farj al-Libbi, hailed by President Bush as a major coup in the war on terror.
Pakistan security forces claimed that they seized the al-Qaeda third in command after a two-day gun battle at a farmhouse in the Waziristan region. In fact, it appears that the chase lasted only a few minutes, as secret agents - some of them disguised in burkas - chased the terror mastermind over back walls." LINK
just once i wanna hear a story thats actually true. just once.

* "David Hackworth, a decorated Vietnam veteran who spoke out against the war and later became a journalist and an advocate for military reform, has died, his wife said Thursday." LINK
:-(

* "If Vanunu were Iranian instead of Israeli, the U.S. press would be hailing him as a hero instead of giving him short shrift.
Like almost every other mainstream U.S. media outlet, the New York Times has provided little coverage of Vanunu, so the American public has scant knowledge of his real-life experience with truth and consequences." LINK

* "Years from now, when historians look back at agenda-building for a missile attack on Iran, they should closely examine a story that took up the USA's most coveted space for media spin -- the upper right corner of the New York Times front page -- on the first day of May 2005... But the New York Times has not skimped on coverage that adds to momentum for a military attack on Iran. And evidently the newspaper of record is just getting started." LINK
this is the point ive been making this week - particularly wrt the wapo A1 and lehrer

* naomi klein: "(the anti-war movement needs) to echo the policy demands made by voters and demonstrators in the streets of Baghdad and Basra and bring those demands to Washington, where the decisions are being made." LINK

* mcgovern: "Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would see those words ("Intelligence and facts are being fixed around the policy") in black and white—and beneath a SECRET stamp, no less. For three years now, we in Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) have been saying that the CIA and its British counterpart, MI-6, were ordered by their countries' leaders to "fix facts" to "justify" an unprovoked war on Iraq. More often than not, we have been greeted with stares of incredulity." LINK

* " A Marine corporal captured on video shooting an apparently wounded and unarmed Iraqi did not violate the rules of engagement and would not face a court-martial, the Marine Corps announced... According to the Marine Corps, an enhanced videotape of the shooting supports the corporal's claim that the wounded Iraqi was concealing his left arm behind his head." LINK
...concealing his left arm behind his head... (there were actually 4 folk murdered, but just one on tape)

* " Just weeks ago while in prison, Graner married another woman implicated in the scandal, Megan Ambuhl. She was also his lover in Iraq and pleaded guilty to abuse charges, but was not sentenced to prison." LINK
ha ha ha