Gene Lyons in Salon on the myriad forces that insist we can't afford health care, but just as strongly assure us that $6.73 trillion for the war in Afghanistan is perfectly doable. (That's $1 million per soldier, per year.) Go read the whole thing:

For all its brutality, the Taliban rebellion is mainly a localized, nationalist effort to expel foreigners -- one reason Gen. McChrystal hopes to be able to pacify them, as his mentor Gen. David Petraeus bought off Iraqi insurgents. With winter approaching, Taliban fighters will soon be forced into semi-hibernation. Any U.S. buildup will take at least a year to complete.

The big rush, in other words, has less to do with military necessity than with Washington political theater: specifically, the war lobby's ability to force President Obama's hand. Actually, "war industry" might be more apt. It's both more concise than the "military-industrial complex" President Eisenhower warned against and it takes into account the "privatization" of military jobs once done by soldiers -- such as driving supply convoys (Halliburton), guarding embassies and other U.S. facilities (Blackwater) and training Afghan soldiers (DynCorp International).

[...] Following upon David Barstow's 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times exposé about blatant conflicts of interest among Pentagon-coached retired generals posing as disinterested "military analysts" on every TV news network you can think of, Americans can no longer afford to be blasé about the war industry.

They're selling us endless war the way they sell cellphones and Viagra.

The question is: How much is President Obama buying?

(h/t Andy K)

Erik Prince's company Blackwater (now known as XE) has been embroiled in controversy for years. Company employees have posted videos online of their own ruthless behavior and abuses against Iraqi citizens, and can be heard laughing off camera. We're now finding out that this brutality most likely came from the top, down from Prince himself -- former employees are finding their consciences and telling horrifying stories about their former boss:

A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company's owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," and that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life."

In their testimony, both men also allege that Blackwater was smuggling weapons into Iraq. One of the men alleges that Prince turned a profit by transporting "illegal" or "unlawful" weapons into the country on Prince's private planes. They also charge that Prince and other Blackwater executives destroyed incriminating videos, emails and other documents and have intentionally deceived the US State Department and other federal agencies. The identities of the two individuals were sealed out of concerns for their safety.

These allegations, and a series of other charges, are contained in sworn affidavits, given under penalty of perjury, filed late at night on August 3 in the Eastern District of Virginia as part of a seventy-page motion by lawyers for Iraqi civilians suing Blackwater for alleged war crimes and other misconduct. Read on...

Sadly, I can't imagine what on earth could motivate Americans to so strongly protect their rights. And of course, a brutal crackdown in Iran is inevitable:

An uneasy calm settled over the streets of Tehran Sunday as state media reported at least 10 more deaths in post-election unrest and said authorities arrested the daughter and four other relatives of ex-President Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran's most powerful men.

The reports brought the official death toll for a week of confrontations to at least 19. State television inside Iran said 10 were killed and 100 injured in clashes Saturday between demonstrators contesting the result of the June 12 election and police wielding truncheons, tear gas and water cannons.

Iran's regime continued to impose a blackout on the country's most serious internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

But fresh images and allegations of brutality emerged as Iranians at home and abroad sought to shed light on a week of resistance to hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The New-York based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said scores of injured demonstrators who had sought medical treatment after Saturday's clashes were arrested by security forces at hospitals in the capital.

It said doctors had been ordered to report protest-related injuries to the authorities, and that some seriously injured protesters had sought refuge at foreign embassies in a bid to evade arrest.

"The arrest of citizens seeking care for wounds suffered at the hands of security forces when they attempted to exercise rights guaranteed under their own constitution and international law is deplorable," said Hadi Ghaemi, spokesman for the campaign, denouncing the alleged arrests as "a sign of profound disrespect by the state for the well-being of its own people."

"The government of Iran should be ashamed of itself. Right now, in front of the whole world, it is showing its violent actions," he said.

State-run Press TV reported that Rafsanjani's eldest daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, and four other family members were arrested late Saturday. It did not identify the other four. Last week, state television showed images of Hashemi, 46, speaking to hundreds of supporters of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Michael from The Reaction here. So much good stuff, let's get right to it:

Mustang Bobby at BBWW: Don't ignore the Malkins and Coulters of the world, make fun of them. (And, I would add, call them out on their bigotry and stupidity.)

Pam with the steamin' House Blend: Oh no! Sexual addition among female fundies! Internet porn! Masturbation! Good times.

Maha of Mahablog: Dalai Lama Derangement Syndrome.

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic (who also blogs at my place and at the very fine Newshoggers): Bush's new "Family Planning czar," yet another anti-sex wingnut. See also Thought Theater.

The Gun Toting Liberal: American Oligarchy -- Verizon, AT&T, and the corporatist police state.

Eric at Total Information Awareness: The insurgency in Somalia, and the brutality of America's allies in the region. (Yes, Bush is destroying America's image everywhere.)

Finally, L-girl at We Move to Canada reacts positively to the Doris Lessing Nobel win.

I'm sorry I can't link to everyone, but keep the e-mails coming: mjwstickings [at] yahoo [dot] ca

NY Times (reg. req.)

The year 2006 was the deadliest for journalists and news media workers worldwide, with at least 155 killings and unexplained deaths, the International Federation of Journalists said Sunday.

The group, which represents half a million journalists in more than 100 countries, said in its annual report that Iraq continued to be the most dangerous place to work; 68 media staff members were killed there in 2006, bringing the total since the war began in March 2003 to 170.

The federation also pointed to continuing attacks on journalists in Latin America, where 37 media staff members were killed. Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela stood out.

Thirteen journalists died in the Philippines, pushing the total of such deaths in Asia up to 34, the federation said.

"2006 was the worst year on record, a year of targeting, brutality and continued impunity in the killing of journalists," said the federation's general secretary, Aidan White. Read on...

Sydney Morning Herald :

A Russian journalist renowned for probing corruption and the brutality of Russia's military campaign in Chechnya has been gunned down and killed in the lobby of her apartment building.

Anna Politkovskaya, 48, who had chronicled nearly every major story in Russia in the past decade, was killed on Saturday. Her reports often clashed with official versions of such events as the hostage crisis at a theatre in Moscow in 2002 and the bloody end of a school siege in Beslan in 2004.

[..]She was a harsh critic of President Vladimir Putin's rule and was working on a story about torture in Chechnya, where a Kremlin-backed strongman has all but routed a separatist movement that sparked two bloody wars, but at a cost to Russia that has yet to be measured. The article was to be published Monday, according to her newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, one of the few independent media outlets in Russia. Read on...

Defining Brutality Downwards...next they'll come for the Americans...and outsource the torture. BTW, this is what waterboarding looks like

The National Interest : Michael Scheuer, the former head of the bin Laden desk at the CIA, interprets the National Intelligence Estimate document on the global terrorist threat

The Aristocrats: What's wrong with Washington is right here...

Looking for Someone to Lie to Me: Like a monster that can't be killed, Bolton may yet be back

American Prospect Online: Iran/Contra--era fabricator and his associate appear to have opened a new channel to Washington.

The Satirical Political Report : A letter from Jesus camp...

The Recovering Liberal was hacked early Thursday and will be down a few days. Give 'em some support next week...

I've done my own review of the AP pictures that were taken: These are my first impressions. I'm no critic. Please take a look for yourself:

1)-shows the brutality of the insurgents for killing civilians. 2)-shows the care and bravery of our troops in trying to save a fallen brother.3)-shows the deep commitment and respect our soldiers have for each other. 4)-shows the innocent that are taken in war. 5)-a mother loses her son to a suicide bomber. Heartbreaking. 6)-interesting still of a dove on an insurgents shoulder. Oddity of war 7)-great shot of a soldier using ingenuity in the line of fire. 8)-An Iraqi woman's desperation as she awaits the release of a family member. Powerful. 9)-Iraqi's rescue a man after another car bombing. Horror's of war. 10)-Iraqi men mourn the loss of life from another car bombing. Pain and suffering is captured in vivd colors. 11)-US Marines pray for a fallen brother. A powerful shot that shows the bond these men have. 12)-Soldier with good luck mascot in his backpack. Shows the human side of our troops. 13)-Intense faces of Iraqi children. The eyes lead to the soul. 14)-US soldiers taking cover. Depicts how hard our boys are fighting. 15)-Insurgents fire mortar shells. Black ski masks hide their faces. Determined foe, but must remain hidden. 16)-Soldier arrests insurgent. Shows strength and determination. 17)-Caged prisoner/A look at Abu Ghraib from the outside amidst sand and desolation. 18)-bomb blasts- Intense picture of destruction and self preservation. 19)-Crazed insurgent standing on a Humvee-incredible shot/ shows visciousness of insurgents. 20)-Execution of Iraqi election worker. Savage.

All in all these are incredible pictures. The right wing bloggers wants to control the pictures that are shown. They see bias in everything. I wonder when the guys at Powerline by an ice cream cone, are they thinking "How can I make this into a liberal cone?" These pictures do not put a happy face on the insurgents, but rather show how brutal they are towards their own people. They also portray the realities of war. The picture of our troops praying is extraordinary. The wingnuts don't understand the role of a free press. Their role is to question everything. They seem to believe in a politburo style press. The AP isn't an extension of our military.

via Eschaton and Attywood

The AP's crime? In so many words, they are guilty of showing the conflict in Iraq the way that it is, and not the way that the conservative blogosphere wishes that it were. The right wants those pictures of rose pedals and liberation parades that Dick Cheney promised them three years ago, and now they're mad they didn't get them.

Slate.com has a good round-up (third item -- scroll down) of the conservative complainers. The usual suspects include our favorite Daily News op-ed contributor, Michelle Malkin, and the good people at Powerline, which calls it "The Pulitzer Prize for Felony Murder."...read on

NANOOK AND ME