Democracy for Vancouver

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he’ll recommend that Bush veto Jim Webb’s legislation granting troops equal time home for each month spent on deployment:

“It would be extremely difficult for us to manage that. It really is a backdoor way to try and force the president to accelerate the drawdown,” Gates said.

And the problem with that is…?

But seriously: for once, Dems seem to have the backbone to force a vote even when they don’t have a veto-proof majority; supporters of Webb’s bill say they have at least 57 Senators on board, needing only 3 more to block a filibuster.

Please call/email your Senators and tell them you want this bill passed. Otherwise, we really may have war without end:

Gates on Friday raised the possibility of cutting troop levels to 100,000 or so by the end of next year, well beyond the cuts Bush announced, in what appeared to be a conciliatory gesture to anti-war Democrats and some wary Republicans.

And that’sn supposed to be good news? That we’ll have only 100,000 troops there in another 15 months? How many contractors will be hired to replace the other 69,000?

Well, at least BushCo will be a little hamstrung after this weekend’s fatal contractor fuck-up:

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi government said Monday that it was revoking the license of an American security firm accused of involvement in the deaths of eight civilians in a firefight that followed a car bomb explosion near a State Department motorcade.

The Interior Ministry said it would prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force in the Sunday shooting. It was the latest accusation against the U.S.-contracted firms that operate with little or no supervision and are widely disliked by Iraqis who resent their speeding motorcades and forceful behavior.
…
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said eight civilians were killed and 13 were wounded when contractors believed to be working for Blackwater USA opened fire in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood of western Baghdad.

“We have canceled the license of Blackwater and prevented them from working all over Iraqi territory. We will also refer those involved to Iraqi judicial authorities,” Khalaf said.
…
The secretive company, run by a former Navy SEAL, has an estimated 1,000 employees in Iraq and at least $800 million in government contracts. It is one of the most high-profile security firms in Iraq, with its fleet of “Little Bird” helicopters and armed door gunners swarming Baghdad and beyond.

It’s good that Blackwater will be out of Iraq - that is, IF the Bush Admin. respects the sovereignty of the Iraqi government in its decision to oust the contractor. And that’s a big, fat IF.

But even if Blackwater does get shitcanned, it’s doubtful that those wounded, and the families of those killed, will get justice:

The question of whether they could face prosecution is legally murky. Unlike soldiers, the contractors are not bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Under a special provision secured by American-occupying forces, they are exempt from prosecution by Iraqis for crimes committed there.

Nice little junta we’ve got there. What country is this again?

Jane Smiley’s piece on HuffPo today gives good background to the privatized bullshit being done in our name over there.