A discussion group called politics 2302: Draft the Children of the Elected Elite started Monday over on the WELL with the following statement from evan:

"I want to start a movement.  I want to start a movement to have every
draft-age child of every elected Federal officeholder and every Federal
appointee immediately drafted, trained and sent to a combat unit in
Iraq.

I want to see that the relevant legislation specifies that the very
first two people to be drafted are Barabara and Jenna Bush.  I want to
see them in uniform in a foxhole.  

I'm dead serious.  We need to organize a movement demanding this thru
every venue possible.

Who's up for it?  I am."

More:

In today's Wahington Post the Army is denying the Combat Infantry Badge to GI's retrained as Infantry, put out on the Baghdad street as Infantry, and fighting up close and persaonal as Infantry because their Military Occupatinal Specialty is something else. Are any other vets pissed off at this?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57435-2004Oct23.html?sub=AR

It struck me the other day that I know a lot of stuff I'm not supposed to know. Like: there were 18 othe rcase officers in Valerie Plame's class at the "Farm", a school whos name is classified; that there were memos discussing torture prepared in three offices of the executive branch (I have copies of two of them); that post war plans were prepared and rejected for the war in Iraq. Now this

http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?ref=perelman20040909327

pops up in The Forward

Yesterday there was a good deal of discussion about John Kerry "approving of the war". The Sacramento Bee is the first news source I have found with the full quotation of his remarks. I keep having my shaky faith in Kerry renewed by what he actually says.

http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/politics/story/1555628p-9126654c.html

"Yes, I would have voted for the authority. I believe it was the right authority for a president to have."

Not exactly what Wolf et al said he said.

More from the BEE:

Then he had a few barbed questions for Bush.

"Why did we rush to war without a plan to win the peace? Why did you rush to war on faulty intelligence and not do the hard work necessary to give America the truth?

"Why did he mislead America about how he would go to war. Why has he not brought other countries to the table in order to support American troops in the way they deserve it and relieve the pressure on the American people?"

It posits, in my mind, further questions concerning what has come to be called "nuance". Certainly the word "authority" is one of the 1,200 allowed in American Journalism?

Over at David Hackworth's SFTT.org they have published a copy of the reply to the Taguba report by the Capt. who was the operations officer of the 800th MP Brigade. I have been upset for a long time that they are going to pin this on 7 enlisted personnel and that, if they need to get a higher officer it was going to be General Janice Karpinski.

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Unlisted.db&command=viewone&id

The letter is long and I was going to excerpt parts but the excerpts just kept coming. I recommend the letter. Essentially, she sent this as a rebuttal to congress so we should have known about it some time ago. Among her main points:

1. The entire reserve MP force in the Army used up their training budget in 2001 and 2002 guarding airports so, when Taguba complains about poor training he's talking about units who could not train because of lack of funds.

2. The 800th MP Brigade was trained and equipped to handle Prisoners of War in the communications area behind the battlefield. The Army expanded their responsibility to include rebuilding the Iraqi prison system, handling all of the criminals  and terrorists detained in the country, providing personnell to the CPA, providing infantry mission defense at the prisons, and myriad other tasks for which they were not trained, equipped or manned.

3. When their officers requested training equipment and manpower they were told that there was no chance because there was a political reluctance to increase manpower in Iraq.

4. When Gen. Miller implemented the torture regime at Abu Graihb the staff and command of the 800th was not even told about it because, being MP's, everybody knew they would report to the IG that Geneva violatiions had been ordered, a central doctrine in MP units.

5. The orders implementing the abuse were issued in now classified fragmentary orders by Gen Sanchez.

I guess its just more outrage but I want to know why I have to find this out myself?