From today's LA Times -

The war crimes case against Salim Ahmed Hamdan today goes to a jury of his enemies, hand-selected by the Pentagon official who charged him on behalf of a president who has ordered him imprisoned even if acquitted.

Even in Kangaroo Court, if you some how manage to get acquitted, you get to go free. What a sham ...



Update: Breaking news!! Hamdam convicted of four counts of supporting terrorism. Well, duh!

Update2: Here's a traffic stop excuse you don't hear everyday -

The six senior U.S. officers serving as jurors in the first war crimes trial here watched with rapt attention as an unseen interrogator asked Hamdan about two SA-7 surface-to-air missiles found in the car he said he had borrowed for the trip out of Kandahar.

Hamdan acknowledged that the missiles were in the Toyota but said they belonged to the friend who had lent him the vehicle, as did a weapons license and other documents found inside.

Episodes 5 and 6

"Just 'cause they're in the streets doesn't mean that they lack opinions" - Ep.5

"If you got a problem with this, I completely understand" -Ep.6

I've been reading a fair bit about season five on other blogs and Salon. There's been alot of criticism about Scott Templeton's character and McNulty's serial killer, specifically that Templeton is a very two dimensional character and that the whole serial killer storyline is way out of character for McNulty. On the first criticism, I'd have to agree. One blogger mentioned that David Simon was involved in "outing" a reporter who fabricated stories during his time at the Balitmore Sun. Clearly Simon has some unresolved resentments against the newspaper business and he left long before people like Conrad Black started snatching up every paper they could get there hands on, laying waste to the staff and politicizing the content. I'm not entirely onboard with the serial killer criticism. True, it does seem pretty out of character for McNulty to start something this ... well, stupid, but McNulty has never been very good at reigning in his impulses. And he always has a typical alcoholic justification for why his self-destructive and selfish actions are really the logical result of the incompetence of others.

One one thing I haven't seen discussed in these other forums, and it is particularly evident in episodes 5 and 6, is how incredibly funny this season has been which speaks directly to the serial killer storyline. I have no doubt that the serial killer story is going to have tragic results but its still delivered us lines like "How do I write that into my bullshit homeless killer's M.O.?" and "I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I can see why Daniels cringed every time you opened your fucking mouth. You’re a supervisor's worst nightmare.". On top of that there's all the great facial comedy - Lester's look when Bunk starts talking about the homeless guy they kidnapped and Bunk almost constant look of impending meltdown whenever the homeless killer is mentioned. Its the kind of comedy that I've loved in The Wire - the best kind of situational comedy - a believable situation gradually becomes more and more ridiculous and only escalates as the characters struggle to hold it together for "a couple more days".

I've also been intrigued by the co-op storyline. I find it a bit unbelievable that the other dealers in the co-op have put up with Marlo for as long as they have. It was a real struggle to them to put aside there differences for the common good and just because Marlo has the best muscle, I don't see them taking this shit lying down and I think its starting to show. I'd be a bit surprised at this point if Marlo even survives long enough to get caught. No connect is so good its worth getting picked off one by one.

And that certainly was some "Spiderman shit" from Omar at the end of episode five. I've seen Omar pull off some pretty spectacular stuff but that must have been a five or six story drop, followed by an immediate retreat back into the building. It was sad to see someone finally get the drop on old Omar but he's started to turn the tables in episode six and hit Marlo where it hurts - his reputation.

As the world turns ...

Wow, you take one family day off and come back to a Cuba without Castro and a Pakistan without Musharraf. Sometimes the world turns very slowly and sometimes the whole landscape changes in a day.

Another Omar

I'm the first to admit I'm a bit confused about the Omar Khadr trial. Let me start by saying I have very little sympathy for the Khadrs. There is no question their father was knowingly involved in the financing of terrorism. Here's what we know, which I don't believe is being disputed - The US government sent US soldiers to Afghanistan to remove the Taliban regime by force and to capture or kill as many members of Al-Qaeda as possible, as the primary response to September 11 attacks. There's pretty good reasons to believe that this is exactly the response Osama Bin Laden was hoping 9/11 would provoke. Either way, a lot of people make the mistake of confusing al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization with the Taliban, the government of Afghanistan, but in this case it doesn't really matter. The Khadrs were members of Al-Qaeda. They were part of a terrorist organization. So I have no problem with US forces killing Ahmed Said Khadr, he's about as fair game as Ayman al-Zawahri or Bin Laden himself. I think we can agree on that. Honestly, in the heat of the battlefield, I don't even have a problem with shooting and killing a fifteen year old boy. These things happen; its an unfortunate fact of war. But in Omar's case things get a bit fuzzy especially with the release of this today -

It has long been assumed by many that Mr. Khadr was the only combatant alive, and so must have been the one who threw the grenade. But the first U.S. service member on the scene described coming across another living fighter, and shooting him dead with a bullet to the head, before finding the wounded Mr. Khadr and shooting him twice in the back but not killing him.

The revelations, mistakenly released in never-before-seen documents, came during a military tribunal hearing for Mr. Khadr yesterday at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

Documents that were supposed to be censored in their entirety were accidentally handed out to reporters in the courtroom, taking both defence and prosecution lawyers by surprise.

Somebody's gonna get shot in the face over letting that dossier split out.

Omar was fifteen years old at the time and he didn't exactly choose to live as a jihadist in Afghanistan. Maybe he's a sociopathic killer - I don't know but he was fifteen years old. And he's been held in Guantanamo for over five years because he killed a US soldier. A US soldier who was sent to Afghanistan to kill him and his kind. Now we find out that not only is it possible he didn't throw the grenade that killed the soldier but another soldier shot him in the back. Twice. So I'm a bit confused - isn't Omar Khadr supposed to be trying to kill American soldiers? Isn't that how war works? How does this constitute a "war crime"? It seems that "unlawful combatant" also means its "unlawful" for you to actually participate in a "combatant" role i.e. fighting back. Providing material support for a terrorist organization make him a criminal. A common criminal not a war criminal but, of course, if he was a criminal he'd be entitled a regular trial.

And don't even get me started on how the inmates at Guantanamo are the "worst of the worst" yet the US has "discharged" two thirds of the estimated 750 inmates since 2002 without charges. Three people have been charged. Three.

S5, Episode 4

OK so I've only had my blog for less than a month and I'm already falling behind on my Wire commentary. Things certainly are heating up. To backtrack abit to the previous two episodes, it was great to see Avon back in the game. After a full season with no mention of Avon, I assumed he would not be back but it only seems fitting that he make his presence felt as a "what you call ... an authority figure" in the final season. I'm not exactly sure why Marlo called Sergei Boris but it was a nice little inside joke ("Why is it always Boris?").

Episode 4 also contained a great scene between Beadie and McNulty. It's been obvious the relationship between Beadie and McNulty is deteriorating but we finally get to see where it currently stands and it elaborated on further in episode 5. Props to Amy Ryan (Beadie Russell) for her Oscar nomination for her role as Helene McCready in "Gone Baby Gone". She does an excellent job in the part and it's a fine film. Probably not co-incidentally, "Gone Baby Gone" was based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River), who has been working as a writer on the Wire since season 2.

One of the things I read prior to this season starting was David Simon saying the only character who escapes without being drawn into corruption or scandal is Sidner. Of course that probably doesn't include Bubbles or my man Omar. I find it hard to believe Omar is going to go down. I loved Prop Joe's line about Omar coming back - "Out of respect for the man’s skill set, I’m gonna take myself out of the line-up tomorrow after the meeting." . This week's episode shook my confidence a bit and while Omar may not have met his match in Chris and Snoop, he's definitely found worthy opponents.

Mostly I've been thinking about Marlo - about that blank expression on his face as Prop Joe gets one in the back of the head. He doesn't look like it pains him to kill Joe, a man who has gone out of his way to help Marlo, but he also doesn't look like he enjoys it either. It just needs to be done. There's a lot of emphasis in previous seasons on the streets not being like they used to be, how there's no code, no rules, everyone is ruthless and without remorse. "These corner kids today ..." Marlo seems to be the epitome of that ethic - hard just for the sake of hard and totally, completely without emotion. However Marlo and others have made a few references to the crown and the burdens which come with it and it makes me wonder if that will be Marlo's downfall. I don't think Marlo even does it for the money. I think Marlo wants the crown and he wants the power. The money is a means to that end but I don't think its an end in itself for Marlo. And I keep wondering how long the other members of the co-op are just going to take this shit from Marlo.

Right now Omar has been manipulated by Marlo to come out of retirement by Butchie's murder but Omar knows he's being setup now, or atleast he should. I expect tonight to see Omar's game plan change and like most Wire plots, we probably won't know exactly what's going down until its almost upon us.

You Gotta Love The Onion

TV Critics Admit To Never Having Watched The Wire

Heath Ledger

I have to say I am truly shocked at the news of Heath Ledger's death. I first saw him in The Patriot but it was Monter's Ball where I really took notice. It was a pretty small role but an integral part of the plot and I thought he was totally convincing in the role. Although I wasn't big fan of Lords of Dogtown or even Brokeback Mountain, it was clear Ledger was much more than a pretty face. He had a way of making a character his own by creating a distinct look, demeanor and voice for each one. In Lords of Dogtown I remember thinking his portrayal of Skip was kind of like watching Heath Ledger playing Val Kilmer but when my brother suggested I watch Dogtown and Z-Boys again I realized how close his performance was to the real Skip Engblom. I probably can't name more than five actors under thirty who I really look forward to seeing in a film but Ledger was one of them because even if the film was bad (and he did some awful ones) he always seemed to bring his all to the project.

I was always a bit disappointed in the Tim Burton Joker played by Jack Nicholson, partly because we've seen Nicholson play that same basic character several times but also because I didn't think it captured the essence of the Joker in the Batman comics. There were rumors before Nicholson was cast that Ray Liotta was being considered. Now Ray Liotta has the laugh of the Joker. Whenever I see him being interviewed and he laughs, it gives me the chills.

Even before the Dark Knight series, the Joker was supposed to be a homicidal maniac. He was the face of madness. He wasn't motivated primarily by power or money; he was crazy and took pleasure in causing pain and destruction for its own sake. There was a bootleg trailer floating around the internet awhile ago, which has now been released on the official website, that makes it look like Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight captures the true madness of the Joker. "Nothing in his pockets but knives and lint". I'm a big Christian Bale fan and having Ledger cast had me doubly sold. It looks like a great performance by Ledger and it's sad to think he won't be around to appreciate the accolades. The saddest part for me (besides the impact this will have on his young daughter) is the fact that I don't believe we have seen anything close to Ledger's best work. And I don't think he will be remember as the great actor he truly was.

The Unix way of life

OK, I'm all for the continuation of the Unix way of life, the CLI and such things but this is a bit ridiculous.

S5, Episode Two

"This ain't Aruba, Bitch" -The Bunk

When exactly did Bunk become The Bunk? He's moving up in the world.

It's good to see that this season is going to be taking a more indepth look into Bubbles' struggle with recovery and his relationship with his sponsor, Waylon, played by Steve Earle. Waylon was first introduced in season one when Bubbles hears him speak at an NA meeting he is forced to attend as a condition of his parole. They talk in a couple episodes and it is clear they have a mutual understanding even though Waylon is clean and Bubbles is not. Then he reappears in the season finale of season four, setting up the dynamic to come in this season. David Simons mini-series "The Corner", like The Wire, dealt with the Baltimore drug trade but it revolved more around the users and hoppers, with police and major traffickers barely registering as minor characters. It is also based on a real-life Baltimore family (whom director Charles S. Dutton interviews at the end of the final episode) and their struggles with drug addiction. Fran's brother Scoogie has been clean for some time and Blue and Fran makes attempts to get clean throughout the course of the series but there's very little information about the process of seeking to recover from drug addiction. I am interested to see how Bubbles recovery is portrayed during the rest of this season.

And ofcourse the other side of Bubbles' recovery from heroin addiction is Jimmie McNulty's descent back into alcoholism and the disastrous effects it threatens to have on everyone around him. The one positive thing you could say about a low-bottom dope friend like Bubbles is he is so withdrawn from and marginalized by society that his addiction has minimal effects on anyone but himself. The same is not true of McNulty and I suspect it will become more evident as the season goes on that high-functioning addicts/alcoholics manage to bring more people down with them because they are still an active member of their community. I found it very realistic that while McNulty was sober, Bunk and others seemed to resent his abstinence and now that he is drinking again they have quickly realized that they were better off when he was sober.

I'm glad to see Marlo and Omar will be getting back in the mix soon. Omar is one of the few characters on the show who almost always comes out on top so I'm not too concerned for his safety, even with Chris and Snoop gunning for him.

Season 5, Episode One

"the bigger the lie, the more they believe" - Bunk

I recently re-watched season 3, including some of the DVD extras. One of the comments David Simon made during a panel discussion was people complained "nothing happened" in the season three premiere. The audience had just finished watching the premiere prior to the panel discussion so he reviewed the new characters and themes being introduced. Knowing how the story unfolds and looking back on the premiere, I could clearly see how the groundwork was being laid for the next twelve episodes. They mentioned two other interesting facts - the actors receive scripts one episode at a time and they are never sure if the series will be picked up for another season. Season four in particular seemed as though it was moving toward a series finale until the final two episodes when it became clear they were going to get the old gang back together again for one more go. I often wonder about the process of developing a story arch over a season of episodes (particularly on shows like Lost). How much is determine by the time the premiere is completed and how much is developed from episode to episode?

So I went into this season's premiere assuming it would setup up the characters and themes which will play out over the next twelve episodes. I also assumed, since it has been acknowledged season five is the final season, the story line over this season is probably more fully developed from the beginning, so the premiere would be expected to have even more foreshadowing of the events to follow.

The Wire, in general terms, deals with the heroin trade in Baltimore, Maryland but each season has additional themes specific to the season. For more details on the themes explored in each season see the Wikipedia entry. Season five will presumably continue to look at wiretap technology, the drug trade, political corruption, police bureaucracy and the corner kids from season 4 while introducing the new theme of the media. Since Dave Simon worked for the Baltimore Sun for twelve years it should prove to be an interesting look at the MSM (as the bloggers say) or main stream media. It was good to see Clark Johnson has joined the cast as a veteran journalist. Johnson is probably best know for playing Detective Meldrick Lewis in all seven seasons of David Simon's other police drama Homicide: Life on the Street. He has also directed episodes of The Wire in season one.

Beyond the introduction of the media as a theme we know the "new day" promised at the end of season four has not materialized, McNulty is back to his old ways in more ways than one, Carver has been promoted to SIC, Herc has been busted out of the force and is doing PI work for Levi (former house counsel for the Barksdale crew) and Bubbles is staying clean. Marlo is stirring up trouble in the co-op and scoping out Prop Joe's connect in an attempt to get that good package all to himself. And, sadly, no Omar. Oh yeah, the photocopier/lie-detector bit was priceless.

I can't say I cared much for Steve Earle's version of the theme song but its better than the version by DoMaJe. Steve Earle's version will probably grow on me over time.

Steve at The Sneeze gives the best Xmas presents

The kids love this one
Be sure to peruse the best of the Sneeze (I, II and III) on the right. He's got some classic stuff in there, especially the "Steve, don't eat it" series.

Iowa

I guess it's a good thing that Obama took the Democratic race in Iowa. Personally I would like to see Edwards stay in the race. My problem with Obama is that he keeps talking like he's going to win the presidency and then all the kids in the schoolyard are going to play nice and that's just not going to happen. One side of a bitter feud can't end the feud alone by deciding to be civil. The Republicans thrive on being the opposition party because ... well they can't govern for shit and they like to think of themselves as the victims of big government. Other than that I like Obama just fine. At a different time in history I think he would make a great president and maybe he will in 2009. Edwards clearly understands that he's going to have to go to the mat to make real changes and sounds like he's prepared to do what's necessary even if the other guy calls foul - over and over and over again, everytime Edwards so much as clears his throat.

I'm opposed to Hilary simply because I'm against the idea of another Clinton presidency. According to Harper's index for Jan.2008, a quarter of Americans have lived their whole lives under presidents named Bush and Clinton. If Hilary wins the presidency and manages to server two terms, that number goes up to a third. There's just something fundamentally flawed in a system where two families control the presidency for twenty years. Add on eight more years for Hilary and George H.W. Bush's terms as Vice President and you get two families running the country for 36 years. That's certainly not a recipe for change. Besides we all know the Clintons are evil hillybillies who sell drugs and murder their friends and associates at the slightest provocation and I'm not sure I can stand that in the news for even another four years. God knows they'd probably decide to re-open Whitewater.

On the Republican side I have to agree with Tristero that Huckabee's rise is a very, very bad sign of the state of the Republican party. The only positive I can find, other than the fact that I don't believe he has a hope in hell of actually winning in November, is the fact that he's a bass player.

Some Wire related stories

Just a few stories related to The Wire I found over the past couple of months.

First the real life Fran Boyd, whose life and struggle with addiction is chronicled in the book and HBO mini-series The Corner (also co-written by The Wire creators David Simon and Ed Burns), married Donnie Andrews this past summer. Andrews is one of the real life characters on which Omar Little is based. Their story was featured in this NY Times article.

Also in the "real life basis for the character" category is "Little Melvin" Williams. Williams is the primary model for the character Avon Barksdale. He has an IQ around 160 and is often credited as the man who brought heroin to Baltimore. He was brought down in a wiretap case by The Wire co-creator Ed Burns and server 26.5 years in prison. He currently plays the role of the Deacon on the Wire.

And finally Felicia "Snoop" Pearson who plays Felicia "Snoop" Pearson in seasons 3 & 4 of The Wire has released an autobiography detailing her life. She was a three pound crack baby at birth and was sentenced to 8 years for second degree murder when she was 14 years old. In season 4, Snoop and her partner (in crime) Chris were murdering their competition, dumping the bodies in vacant homes and nailing them shut again to hide the evidence. Here's Snoop in the first scene of the season 4 premiere -



If women come any harder than Snoop, I don't want to know about it.

The Wire: The Chronicles on HBO's website

There are few good The Wire "historical" vignettes on the HBO website. Of course I particularly like the episode with Omar. Does anyone remember who Anthony (part of the stickup crew) is? He is mentioned at least three times in season one.

Youtube also has the following teaser for season 5 (The music sounds like The Roots to me) -



As well as this behind the scenes look at season 5 -



McNulty is drinking again ... I heard this was going to be a bleak season.

Was Iraq all about Oil?

I've read in many different places that the Iraq war was not "all about oil". I consider Gwynn Dyer (and Scott Ritter) proof that not everyone, prior to the Iraq war, believed Saddam had weapons of mass destruction as frequently asserted by the Bush administration. In Ignorant Armies Dyer describes in great detail why the impending war is not about weapons of mass destruction and what is likely to follow. However all of his books on the Iraq War (Ignorant Armies, Future Tense and The Mess They Made) argue that oil is sold on the global open market so it unnecessary for the US to invade Iraq to get Iraq's oil - they can just buy it. I have alot of respect for Dyer's opinion so for a long time I was inclined to accept this view. He points out that Iraq continued to sell the majority of its oil to the US right up until the invasion in 2003. But I've always felt there was something missing. And I think I know what it is.

The difference between Iraq selling its oil on the open market and any other oil producing nation is Iraq (under Saddam) doesn't get the money. The Food for Oil program run by the UN receives the money. Saddam managed to siphon some money off, funnel some into bribes and kickbacks and the UN would spend some on medicine, etc. But the majority of that money went into the Food for Oil fund. According to this 2005 article in the Guardian -

The US Congress also voted to spend $18.4bn of US taxpayers' money on the redevelopment of Iraq. By June 28 last year, however, when Bremer left Baghdad two days early to avoid possible attack on the way to the airport, his CPA had spent up to $20bn of Iraqi money, compared with $300m of US funds. The "reconstruction" of Iraq is the largest American-led occupation programme since the Marshall Plan - but the US government funded the Marshall Plan. Defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Bremer have made sure that the reconstruction of Iraq is paid for by the "liberated" country, by the Iraqis themselves.

So the reconstruction of Iraq involved spending up to $20bn in Food for Oil money, which rightfully belongs to the Iraqi people. Had this money been used for "reconstruction", this expense might be justified but if you see the film No End in Sight or read "Imperial Life in the Emerald City", its clear that little or no reconstruction took place. Or better yet read Matt Taibbi's The Great Iraq Swindle. He refers to screwing the American public out of taxpayer money but keep in mind that its $20bn of Iraqi's oil revenue to $300 million of US taxpayer money. That money goes directly to US contractors (virtually no Iraqi's are directly involved in Iraqi reconstruction ... go figure) who provide little or no services in return. These contractors, such as KBR (and its parent Halliburton), Bechtel, Custer-Battles, DynaCorp and Blackwater, in turn make huge contributions to the campaigns of Republican politicians and the Republican party itself. The US buys oil from Iraq and a large percentage of that money goes directly back to US companies and Republican politicians. So the US, in effect, buys the oil and gets to keep the money - including the money for all of the Iraqi oil it has bought in the previous 10 years.

Its sort of like if I bought your house and when the transaction was finished I got the house and, minus a few transaction fees, I also got to keep my money. And you basically get nothing.

Day one on A Man Gotta Have a Code

I've been thinking about setting up a blog for awhile now so today is the day. I was prompted by this article - http://salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/01/03/pakistan_policy/(via digby). Why is it the Bush administration thinks a free and democratically elected Pakistani government is going to make peace with Isreal? I'm pretty sure that's not a priority for the population of Pakistan. Not that I believe for a minute that the US cares if the elections are free or fair.

Discuss ....