Kinda Like Baseball Cards, But Illegal and Sadistic Despite meek mumblings of "isolated incident" and "only a few out of thousands," it is being reported by the BBC that photos of abused Iraqi prisoners were numerous and "swapped" like baseball cards. Said one soldier to the Mirror, "Maybe the officers don't know what is going on - but everybody else does. I have seen literally hundreds of pictures." Britain is trying to claim that the photos are faked, but the Mirror is standing by their story which is being confirmed by more and more soldiers. Amnesty International released a statement saying that the abuse was not an isolated incident and said that they received frequent claims of abuse over the past year, the New York Times (for whatever it's worth) is reporting that the Iraqi prison suffered from "a virtual collapse of the command structure" and the New Yorker just published a huge and well written article on the abuse at Abu Ghraib. Meanwhile an Iraqi who went to Abu Ghraib twice under Saddam Hussein and once under the Coalition Forces claims to have preferred it under Saddam. You know, less gay pyramids and all.
From Ted Rall
I Could Learn To Love My New Canadian Motherland, Eh. In a Pentagon proposal from February 2003, Selective Service recommended including women in any potential draft, as well as upping the maximum draft age from 25 to 34. Those registered with Selective Service would also have to inform the government about their niche skills needed by the military. Several Senators have proposed reinstating the draft and last month DOnald Rumsfeld commented that a draft "is not useful to do at the present time," making us wonder how useful it would get after a Bush re-election...
Great Economic News! With gas prices soaring and milk close to $4 a gallon, many consumers are being forced to make a choice between buying fuel for the car or fuel for the body. According to one food industry analysis, gasoline is the preferred choice over the grocery store. Is this what is meant by "strong economic recovery?"
-The Sikh Geek
