Bad Deeds for 4-7-2008

John McCain Gets Facts Wrong on Iraq Two More Times This Past Sunday – Appearing on Fox News Sunday, the Arizona Republican stated that the recent flair up of violence in Basra was ended after Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr declared a ceasefire. This, he said, “was proof that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government was gaining the upper hand, both militarily and politically.” However, it was the Iranian government and members of Maliki’s government who brokered the ceasefire, not Sadr.

McCain also said, “the Iraqi military performed pretty well. … The military is functioning very effectively.” However, in the process of fighting Sadr, at least 1,000 of Maliki’s troops deserted the battle. McCain tried to put a good face on this too, by reminding viewers that, slightly more than a year ago that number would have been much higher. But that too ignores the testimony of many Iraq experts who suggest that far from showing the strength of Maliki’s forces, the recent battle in Basra did little but make Sadr stronger.

Iranian general played key role in Iraq cease-fire

In backing the Basra assault, the US has only helped Sadr

And it’s not the first time that McCain has been confused about Iraq:Â Here’s two more:
McCain Clueless, Contradictory On al-Sadr’s Influence In Iraq
McCain’s Iraq Barack Attack Shows A Crack

Bad Boys – They’re all here: Tom, Jack, Duke, and many others.

The Media Thinks Obama’s Bowling Score is Much More Important Than the Administration Trying to Legalize Torture – Here are the number of times, according to NEXIS, that various topics have been mentioned in the media over the past thirty days:

“[John] Yoo and torture” – 102
“Mukasey and 9/11” – 73
“Yoo and Fourth Amendment” – 16
“Obama and bowling” – 1,043
“Obama and Wright” – More than 3,000 (too many to be counted)
“Obama and patriotism” – 1,607
“Clinton and Lewinsky” – 1,079

How Torture and Military Commissions are Hurting Us – For years, the Bush Administration justified its reliance on military commissions as a means of expediting the prosecution of terrorist suspects.  “As soon as Congress acts to authorize the military commissions I have proposed,” said President George W. Bush in September 2006, “the men our intelligence officials believe orchestrated the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans on September the 11th 2001, can face justice.”1 In fact, just the opposite has occurred. More than six years after the first men were brought to Guantánamo Bay, prosecutors have sought charges against just fifteen men and convicted only one.

Appalling Spread of False Information Requires Stronger Media Accountability – “A free press is supposed to function as our democracy’s immune system against . . . gross errors of fact and understanding,” wrote Al Gore in his book, The Assault on Reason. But it doesn’t – as Gore explains — and that is what makes the mass media one of the most important obstacles to social and economic progress in the 21st century.

Regards,

Jim