Iraq now (sort of) sovereign
(Sort of) pregnant woman makes medical history

As of June 30, all U.S. troops have left Iraq’s cities – except for Baghdad where municipal borders were redrawn so a U.S. base doesn't have to move, Mosul where some troops will remain as "advisers," and other cities we haven't heard about at this point.

A year from now, the U.S. will still have upwards of 50,000 ‘non-combat’ troops in Iraq – a rather bizarre concept to any soldier who has been in a combat zone. Not until the end of 2011, two and a half years from now, are U.S. troops finally scheduled to be gone, and even that distant deadline could change.

Such a lengthy timetable is simply not good enough. The presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is what fuels the instability and violence. Keeping tens of thousands of military personnel there for at least another 18 months will insure the killing and wounding, the political instability and the economic chaos will continue that much longer.

“From now on, the war they started is ours.”

Seemingly these words of an Iraqi soldier, noted in a Guardian U.K. story, were uttered in pride. This was on June 30: National Sovereignty Day, the day U.S. troops withdrew from Iraqi cities. Sorry, but it sounds more like someone enthusing over a case of venereal disease.

Oh national sovereignty! Could its inadequacies as a concept – as a means of dividing and governing the human race – be more painfully exposed than in Iraq on its day of faux-celebration? Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki got his chance to strut and reclaim some of the old glory from the, ahem, Saddam era. Fireworks went off. Troops marched in review. Trucks hauling scud missiles were part of the day’s show-and-tell.

“The war-ravaged state’s new military and police force rolled around the giant war memorial that its executed president built,” the Guardian article explained.

“Yesterday’s parade started and finished near Saddam’s crossed swords. . . . Iraq’s new leaders seemed willing to stake a claim on their country’s former glory, but not by stirring too many ghosts of its past.”

Coleman's appeal rejected by state's high court; Say Franken 'entitled' to certification...

The Minnesota Supreme Court has just ruled that Democrat Al Franken will be the state's next U.S. Senator bringing the months long contest against former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

The decision was a unanimous 5 to 0 ruling, finding that Franken was "entitled" to be certified by the state's Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and its Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

Pawlenty has recently said he would sign the certification for Franken, if ordered to do so by the MN Supremes. The state requires a signature for certification from both the Governor and the Sec. of State before Congress members may be seated. State law also allows for all election contests to be settled in the state before certification is signed.

Franken's seating would give Democrats a theoretical 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, following Arlen Specter's recent move to the Democratic party.

Demand the Release of Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, all aid workers and supplies NOW! Last night, Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel. The seizure of humanitarian supplies and abduction of human rights workers is an act of piracy, a crime under international law. When the boat was attacked, it was not in Israeli waters and was on a human rights mission to Gaza. Israel's deliberate and premeditated attack on an unarmed boat in international waters is a clear violation of international law. The U.S. government and corporate media has largely ignored or buried this story due to racism against Cynthia McKinney and the people of Palestine. It is up to us to get the word out.