Interpreting Soldier's Lives

A former Army Infantryman discusses the impact of torture on those called upon to fight in Iraq:

If America continues to erode the meaning of the Geneva Conventions, we will cede the ground upon which to prosecute dictators and warlords. We will also become unable to protect our troops if they are perceived as being no more bound by the rule of law than dictators and warlords themselves.

Plainly, he hates America and wants the terrorists to 'win'..

Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat

This just in from our man in the field, Captain Obvious: brown people can be nationalistic, too! They are angered when they are attacked, their countries invaded, and their families killed. And just as some Americans wanted to lash out after 9/11, many of them are motivated to take up arms when attacked.

Also, the sky is blue, water is wet, and stone is hard. But don't worry, old media has a plan - blame Clinton! After all, he had three months between the USS Cole and leaving office, and he tried and failed to kill bin Laden. And, of course, Bush had three times as long between taking office and 9/11 and did nothing at all, but - hey! Look at the monkey!

We can't allow voters to be distracted by the facts, after all. There are midterm elections coming up. But there's one question I'd love to hear Chris Wallace ask. If Iraq is such a massive terror recruiting aid, and we continue to send more and more troops into Iraq - who, exactly, is helping the terrorists, now?

The Path To The Midterm Elections

ABC's paving the way for the Republicans, placing the blame for the events of 9/11 squarely where it belongs:



However, reality has a nasty way of intruding on spin:

During his term President Clinton considered Osama Bin Laden to be a grave threat and top priority. He vastly increased counter-terrorism funding, refocused priorities including creation of the "Bin Laden Desk" at CIA which was headed by Michael Scheuer - but the fact is that Clinton not only had enemies in the Republican Congress, he had enemies within the goverment and military who sloughed off his requests and even dragged their feet when given direct orders to Kill Bin Laden.

Think Progress has a page devoted to this hack job.

Labor In America: 112 Years On

Bradford Plumer offers a brief history lesson on this most unusual - for America - holiday. Something to talk about around the barbeque or between quarters:

...Sadly for the politicians, though, gunning down the working class has never looked good right before an election year. And 1894 was an election year. So Congress rushed to pass legislation establishing Labor Day, and Cleveland signed the bill in an attempt to look kinder and gentler to the voters. It didn't work—Cleveland lost—but now we have a holiday that both celebrates a good cause and was essentially a political gambit meant to paper over state-backed repression of organized labor.



The struggle continues, I suppose.