Saturday, September 24, 2005

Playing the Shame Game

As bad as the Army's looking lately, there's still plenty of shame to go around. It seems that my United States Navy has been part and parcel of the "extraordinary rendition" business. From the AP:
A branch of the U.S. Navy secretly contracted a 33-plane fleet that included two Gulfstream jets reportedly used to fly terror suspects to countries known to practice torture, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press…

At least 10 U.S. aviation companies were issued classified contracts in 2001 and 2002 by the obscure Navy Engineering Logistics Office for the "occasional airlift of USN (Navy) cargo worldwide," according to Defense Department documents the AP obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Contracts issues in 2001 and 2002? Interesting time frame. Do you wonder if 'Berto Gonzalez maybe wrote a memo saying it was okay to issue those contracts?

Neither the CIA nor a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon would comment for this story. Officials at the Navy Engineering Logistics Office, or NELO, in Arlington, Va., didn't respond to messages requesting comment.

No comment? Shock! Awe!
Joseph P. Duenas, counsel for the logistics office, declined to provide the contracts, saying they "involve national security information that is classified."

What information held by any office of the executive branch isn't classified these days?
The permits list 31 planes under NELO contract other than the two Gulfstreams. They include a small Cessna; three huge Lockheed Hercules cargo planes; a Gulfstream 1159a; a Lear Jet 35A; a DC-3; two Boeing 737s; and a 53-passenger DeHavilland DH-8 photographed by plane spotters in Afghanistan. Ownership of the planes is shielded behind a maze of paperwork and elusive executives.

Our entire administration seems to be shielded behind a maze of paperwork in the elusive executives.

Are we ready to take our country back from these people yet?

9 comments:

  1. We need a recruiting slogan.

    This land is our land, not George W. Bush's?

    Proposals welcome.

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  2. Anonymous10:06 PM

    Thank you seems insufficient but I need to say it. Thank you for your blogging. It is incisive and I believe, honest. As a Canadian living close to the border (most of us do!) I see a lot of US Media reporting. Even without your stats and sources, the media presentation (primarily CNN) leaves me cold and wondering "Huh? Doesn't anyone get it? This is far too biased."
    Your blog helps the reader become better informed and lists sources for further research. It is very important in such times to ensure that we have accuracy and truthfulness, since the USA has so much power.

    I salute your work. Bravo!

    R. Johnston

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  3. Anonymous10:24 PM

    I'm past ready.

    One of those front companies is headquartered here in Portland. Which was known about before. This latest report is noteworthy mostly because what they've uncovered shows that the extent of this program was much more extensive than previously thought.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Remember that weight loss gal, kinda like a blonde Fran Drescher? Her phrase (in reference to fad diets, I think) was "Stop the Insanity". I think it would work well here, too.

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  5. Anonymous5:56 AM

    Those with rusty pitchforks, chainsaws, torches and other implements - step over here on the left.

    Those with prior military training, especially those with specialized rifle and weapons training, step over here on the right - those with special rifle and weapons training to the front, please.

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  6. Barndog,

    What's the Kenny Mars line from Young Frankenstein?

    Something like "An angry mob is an ugly thing, but I think it's about time we had one."

    Doug,

    IMO, we not only need to lose a lot of fat cats, we need to put their intellectual/philosophical core in a box: PNAC, Heritage, Hoover, AEI, etc.

    R.J.,

    How nice of you to say, thanks. IMO, we need to learn to use/wield our power wisely before we squander it, and we need to do so quickly.

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  7. Kevin,

    I can't help but think What the hell are we doing here?

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  8. Anonymous11:46 AM

    Jeff,
    I gotta wonder about what they're going to start teaching at FASO/SERE. Giving up the Geneva Conventions sure takes a lot of the curriculum down. Is it now going to be all about Survival (DWEST/JEST etc) and Evasion? Because the Resistance and Escape (dead men don't run) parts seem to have become OBE (Overcome By Events). I have often figured that had Abu Gonzales ever gone to SERE, he never would have written those memos. IIRC, most military lawyers opposed them pretty vigorously citing not present abuse, but future treatment of American Personnel in captivity.

    I can't believe that we've descended so from the nobility of Republic to the cartoonish savagery of professional wrestling in three years and one Preznit. When the bill finally comes due, it's gonna be huuuuge.

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  9. I'd bet they're having a tough time figuring out just exactly what to teach, Jo.

    "We've descended from the nobility of a Republic." I like that.

    ReplyDelete