Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 79

How the U.S.Tried to Nab Snowden

Quite an account in Wash Post tonight, full details on the frantic attempts, hoping he'd do something stupid--like get on a plane to Bolivia or some such (and they did divert one flight). 

As it crossed Austria, the aircraft made a sudden U-turn and landed in Vienna, where authorities searched the cabin — with Morales’s permission, officials said — but saw no sign of Snowden.

The initial, official explanation that Morales was merely making a refueling stop quickly yielded to recriminations and embarrassment.

Austrian officials said they were skeptical of the plan from the outset and noted that Morales’s plane had taken off from a different airport in Moscow than where Snowden was held. “Unless the Russians had carted him across the city,” one official said, it was unlikely he was on board.

Even if Snowden had been a passenger, officials said, it is unclear how he could have been removed from a Bolivian air force jet whose cabin would ordinarily be regarded as that country’s sovereign domain — especially in Austria, a country that considers itself diplomatically neutral.

“We would have looked foolish if Snowden had been on that plane sitting there grinning,” said a senior Austrian official. “There would have been nothing we could have done.”

Manning Up at 'NYT'

Well, didn't expect to see a Chelsea Manning op-ed at the Times tonight but here you go.  Mainly on journalists and the "embed"  (or "in bed") program.  (Our updated book on Manning.)  From the  "Fog Machine of War" op-ed: 

Among the many daily reports I received via email while working in Iraq in 2009 and 2010 was an internal public affairs briefing that listed recently published news articles about the American mission in Iraq. One of my regular tasks was to provide, for the public affairs summary read by the command in eastern Baghdad, a single-sentence description of each issue covered, complementing our analysis with local intelligence.

The more I made these daily comparisons between the news back in the States and the military and diplomatic reports available to me as an analyst, the more aware I became of the disparity. In contrast to the solid, nuanced briefings we created on the ground, the news available to the public was flooded with foggy speculation and simplifications.

Remorse But No Guilt

The parents of Jared Padgett, who shot and killed a classmate at that Oregon school this week--and hoped to kill many more, it seems--have issued a statement expressing their sadness and blah blah blah.  You'd never know that he got the weapons--yes, one was an AR 15--from his home.  From their home.  Don't look for any mention of personal responsibility in their note.  As in other cases, the parents should be locked up--tighter than they locked the weapons away.

'NYT' Urges Caution on Iraq--But Kristof Flails

Update: New column by Nick Kristof at the Times does the impossible--almost lets Bush off the hook on Iraq because, you know so many are to blame.  He cites McCain and others blaming Obama--and with classic "balance" states that "some on the left" somehow find "fault" with Bush.  As if that's all, in the U.S., who blame Bush for setting all in motion with his invasion.  Just the latest Kristof embarrassment. 

Earlier: So how would the NYT (so responsible for getting us into Iraq in the first place  ack in 2003) come down on urging action by Obama now to stem the tide there?  In an editorial posted tonight the Times declares:

The United States has a strategic interest in Iraq’s stability and Mr. Obama on Thursday said America was ready to do more, without going into detail. But military action seems like a bad idea right now. The United States simply cannot be sucked into another round of war in Iraq. In any case, airstrikes and new weapons would be pointless if the Iraqi Army is incapable of defending the country.

Why would the United States want to bail out a dangerous leader like Mr. Maliki, who is attempting to remain in power for a third term as prime minister? It is up to Iraq’s leaders to show leadership and name a new prime minister who will share power, make needed reforms and include all sectarian and ethnic groups, especially disenfranchised Sunnis, in the country’s political and economic life — if, indeed, it is not too late.

Meanwhile, David Brooks in a new column tonight blames it all on....Obama.  Of course, he leaves out the part about the Iraqi ordering us to get out.   "The president says his doctrine is don’t do stupid stuff. Sometimes withdrawal is the stupidest thing of all."

The Other 'Isis'

White Stripes demo 2002 of Dylan's "Isis."  I saw Bob's first performance of the song, Plymouth, Mass., 1975. 

'NYT' Urges Caution on Iraq

So how would the NYT (so responsible for getting us into Iraq in the first place  ack in 2003) come down on urging action by Obama now to stem the tide there?  In an editorial posted tonight the Times declares:

The United States has a strategic interest in Iraq’s stability and Mr. Obama on Thursday said America was ready to do more, without going into detail. But military action seems like a bad idea right now. The United States simply cannot be sucked into another round of war in Iraq. In any case, airstrikes and new weapons would be pointless if the Iraqi Army is incapable of defending the country.

Why would the United States want to bail out a dangerous leader like Mr. Maliki, who is attempting to remain in power for a third term as prime minister? It is up to Iraq’s leaders to show leadership and name a new prime minister who will share power, make needed reforms and include all sectarian and ethnic groups, especially disenfranchised Sunnis, in the country’s political and economic life — if, indeed, it is not too late.

Meanwhile, David Brooks in a new column tonight blames it all on....Obama.  Of course, he leaves out the part about the Iraqi ordering us to get out.   "The president says his doctrine is don’t do stupid stuff. Sometimes withdrawal is the stupidest thing of all."

Stasiland and the 'Lives' of Others

Gearing up for my next book, just finished Stasiland and about to finish The Spy Who Came In From the Cold.  Here's one of the many highlights from our trip recently to the DDR Museum in Berlin--a recreated East Berlin living room with propaganda film on TV.  That's actually a live person on the couch.  Below that a Stasi interrogation room.

Baby Sings the Blues

I guess this has gone viral but so great here it is--check out the kid, age 2, with the facial expressions and inflections and even the harp playing.   For a sequel she will do "Good Morning Little Pre-School Girl."   Or "Shake Your Poopymaker."

44 Years Ago Today: Dock Ellis's No-Hitter--On Acid

I missed "Talk Like a Pirate Day" last year (this is where you say arrrrrgh), but if you've never seen one of the great moments in baseball history, 1970, captured in hysterical animation and famed Pittsburgh Pirate, Dock Ellis,  narrating.  I'm re-posting today by request. 

Iraq Splinters

Thursday updates:   Wash Post:  Insurgents stopped at Mosul bank--and withdrew $435 million!  And more at other banks.  Making them the world's best-funded terrorist operation, the Post declares.

And now: The Kurds.  They take Kirkuk as Iraqi soldiers abandon it. 

Update #3  NYT counters WSJ with story that claims Iraq asked fo U.S. bombing last month and Obama refused--and still declining.  But story is co-authored by Michael "Always Wrong" Gordon so who knows. 

Update #2   WSJ reports that Iraq is asking U.S. if we might bomb al-Qaeda positions there and that the U.S. is actively considering it.  Oh, boy, here we go.  Shock and Aw' Shit.  "The Obama administration is considering a number of options, including the possibility of providing 'kinetic support' for the Iraqi military fighting al Qaeda rebels who seized two major cities north of Baghdad this week, according to a senior U.S. official who added that no decisions have been made. Officials declined to say whether the U.S. would consider conducting airstrikes with drones or manned aircraft."



Update:  Juan Cole puts the fall of Mosul into perspective--and Bush bringing al-Qaeda to Iraq.

Earlier: Five American special ops and an Afghan killed in accidental air strike in Afghanistan overnight.  And, eleven years on:  Insurgents take control of key parts of Mosul as deaths escalate again Iraq.  Well, as Bush and gang say:  history will judge.   Or as Neil Young sang, "History was a cruel judge/ of overconfidence."

Iraqi police and army forces abandoned their posts in the northern city of Mosul after militants overran the provincial government headquarters and other key buildings, dealing a serious blow to Baghdad’s efforts to control a widening insurgency in the country, a provincial official and residents said Tuesday.

The insurgents seized the government complex — a key symbol of state authority — late on Monday, following days of fighting in the country’s second-largest city, a former al-Qaida stronghold situated in what has long been one of the more restive parts of Iraq. The gunmen also torched several of the city’s police stations, freeing detainees held in lockups.

The fighters are believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaida splinter group that is behind the bulk of the bloody attacks in Iraq and is among the most ruthless rebel forces fighting to topple President Bashar Assad in neighboring Syria. The group has also tried to position itself as a champion for Iraq’s large and disaffected Sunni minority.