A US soldier who went absent without leave a year and a half ago to avoid returning to Iraq has applied for asylum in Germany. Specialist Andre Shepherd served in Iraq between September 2004 and February 2005 as an Apache helicopter mechanic. When his unit was called up to return to Iraq in early 2007, he went AWOL to avoid redeployment, calling the war “illegal.” He lived underground in Germany for a year and a half before applying for asylum two weeks ago.
The New York Times has obtained an internal governmental report detailing the failure of US reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The report highlights Defense Secretary Donald Rumseld’s failure to grasp the costs of the reconstruction. In 2003, Rumsfeld was presented with several rebuilding plans. When he was told it would cost billions of dollars, Rumsfeld said, “My friend, if you think we’re going to spend a billion dollars of our money over there, you are sadly mistaken.” Since then, over $117 billion has been spent on reconstruction efforts. But the report found that the rebuilding has not done much more than restore what was destroyed during the invasion and the looting that followed. The report also quotes former Secretary of State Colin Powell, saying that in the months after the 2003 invasion, the Pentagon “kept inventing numbers of Iraqi security forces.” Powell said the number would sometimes jump 20,000 in a week.
The Washington Post reports recent efforts by Congress to limit executive pay may fail because of a major loophole in the law. When Congress approved the $700 billion financial bailout, lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules. But at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the provision. The change stipulated that the penalty would apply only to firms that received bailout funds by selling troubled assets to the government in an auction. At the time, the Treasury Department had said it planned to use auctions, but since then it has reversed course. The change has effectively repealed the only enforcement mechanism in the law dealing with lavish pay for top executives. Republican Sen. Charles Grassley said, “The flimsy executive-compensation restrictions in the original bill are now all but gone.”
In bailout news, the taxpayer-rescued insurance giant AIG has admitted it continues to offer multi-million-dollar payouts to senior employees. According to Bloomberg News, AIG has offered payments of up to $4 million in what it calls a “retention” program for top managerial workers. But Democratic Congress member Elijah Cummings says the so-called retention payments could be a way of paying out bonuses. AIG’s taxpayer bill stands at over $152 billion.
Well first of all, these managerial workers should be fired anyway. If AIG is in the deep water, its the result of bad policies in place. Reward for excellence not misleadership.
Well duhhhh…read on
A top UN human rights official says Israel’s policies towards Palestinians amount to a “crime against humanity” and should be stopped by international action. Human Rights rapporteur Richard Falk made the comments in a report to the UN Human Rights Council. Falk urged the UN to invoke “the agreed norm of a responsibility to protect a civilian population being collectively punished.” He also called for an International Criminal Court investigation of Israeli military and civilian officials for potential prosecution. Meanwhile, limited numbers of food supplies have begun reaching the Gaza Strip after Israel partially lifted an ongoing blockade. A boat carrying activists with the “Free Gaza” movement docked on Gaza’s shores Tuesday in their fourth successful defiance of the Israeli siege. Journalist and activist Ewa Jasiewicz was among those aboard.
Ewa Jasiewicz: “I am delighted to be here, because I have been banned from Palestine by the Israeli authorities. I’m a journalist as well, and I think it’s really important that journalists write about the situation in Gaza in an independent way, that they are here on the ground with the people, not in fancy hotels, but in the camps, and working with the people. And this is what I’m going to do with Free Gaza.”
And President Bush has bought a new home in an exclusive section of Dallas. Up until 2000, the gated community had a neighborhood association covenant that allowed only whites to own property. The document said the area’s land “shall be used and occupied by white persons only except these covenants shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race or nationality in the employ of a tenant.”
Listen to this.
The Jerusalem Post is reporting the Israeli military has drawn up new plans for an attack on Iran that do not include cooperation with the United States. An Israeli official said Israel would prefer to cooperate with the US if it bombs Iran but would still draw up plans in case it decides to act alone. It’s the latest in a series of news reports said to originate from anonymous Israeli government officials on plans to strike Iran.
I say a big fat NO to the bailout. I would tell the 3 automakers to start making some decent cars. I mean who drives a Ford Focus these days…?? Anyone??
General Motors, Chrysler and Ford submitted plans Tuesday formally requesting a $34 billion bailout from taxpayers, $9 billion more than what the companies requested just two weeks ago. General Motors warned that it could collapse by the end of the year if it doesn’t receive an immediate injection of $4 billion. GM says it also needs another $18 billion in 2009. Chrysler requested $7 billion, and Ford is seeking $9 billion. In exchange for the bailout, GM is promising to create what it called a “new General Motors.” The company pledged to close eleven North American factories, slash at least 20,000 jobs and possibly sell off or close down its Saturn and Saab brands. The Big Three revealed their bailout request on the same day that the auto industry reported November had been its worst sales month in twenty-six years.
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