contributions

By Robert Jablon CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. A Marine in charge of a camp where an Iraqi prisoner died from a crushed windpipe testified Wednesday that guards commonly punched or kicked inmates as part of a sleep-deprivation tactic to soften them up for military interrogators.
But Staff Sgt. Fredy Tellocastillo, the noncommissioned officer in charge of Camp Whitehorse in Iraq, said he never saw unnecessary force used on the man.
Tellocastillo testified under immunity in the trial of Sgt. (…)

20-Year-Old Marine Was On Second Tour Of Duty In Iraq
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — A Hollywood man who had just been told his Marine son had been killed in combat in Iraq set fire to a Marine Corps van and suffered severe burns Wednesday, police said.
Carlos Arredondo, 44, sustained second-degree burns over 50 percent of his body and was being transferred to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami after being taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.
He was listed in serious condition with severe (…)

Max Cleland Tries to Deliver Letter Protesting Anti-John Kerry Ads to President Bush in Texas
CRAWFORD, Texas - Former Democratic Sen. Max Cleland tried to deliver a letter protesting ads challenging John Kerry’s Vietnam service to President Bush at his Texas ranch Wednesday, but neither a Secret Service official nor a state trooper would take it.
The former Georgia senator, a triple amputee who fought in Vietnam, was carrying a letter from nine Senate Democrats who wrote Bush that "you (…)

By Tim Whitmire
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a former Army reservist from suburban Raleigh does not have to report for recall to Iraq by Friday, granting a temporary restraining order at least until a hearing next week.
Todd Parrish of Cary is locked in a legal battle with the Army over his status. He says his Army commitment expired Dec. 19, after four years of active duty and another four years in the reserves.
But the Army says Parrish never formally resigned his commission (…)

by Amanda Luker
A federal judge yesterday denied a permit to groups wishing to protest the Republican National Convention on the Central Park’s Great Lawn out of concern it would destroy the grass. Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition and The National Council of Arab Americans petitioned for the right to rally on the Great Lawn or Sheep Meadow from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. next Saturday, two days before the beginning of the RNC.
The groups estimated attendance at 75,000 (…)

by Chris Shumway
A commission of civilian military advisers established by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says that soldiers running Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq deserve most of the blame for acts of torture and abuse committed there, while high-ranking Pentagon officials are guilty only of mismanagement.
The panel also suggests that much of the torture was the result of "freelancing" by guards working the night shift rather than part of an effort to gather intelligence from prisoners. (…)

By Michael Conlon
John Kerry renewed his call on Wednesday for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation and said the official investigation into abuses at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison demonstrated a failure of civilian leadership.
"It’s about leadership and it’s about accountability," Kerry told supporters packed into a Philadelphia steamfitters’ union hall. Americans "want the truth and they want accountability," he said.
The report issued on Tuesday by an independent four-member (…)

Lawyer Advising President Bush and Veterans Group Running Anti-John Kerry Ads Quits Campaign
One of President Bush’s top lawyers resigned from his campaign Wednesday, a day after disclosing that he had given legal advice to a veterans group airing TV ads against Democrat John Kerry. The guidance included checking ad scripts, the group said.
Benjamin Ginsberg, who also represented Bush in the 2000 Florida recount that made the Republican president, told Bush in a letter that he felt his (…)

By Donald Macintyre in Najaf
Psychological and military pressure on insurgents led by by the Shia cleric Muqtada Sadr intensified yesterday with a US bombardment and a ministerial warning that the battle for Najaf was in its "last hours".
As fierce fighting continued in and around Najaf’s old city, Iraqi National Guard troops, who the interim government has said will spearhead an assault on the Imam Ali mosque if it judges one necessary, appeared on the streets here for the first time. (…)

Fahrenheit 9/11 has touched millions of viewers across the world. But could it actually change the course of civilisation?
by John Berger
Fahrenheit 9/11 is astounding. Not so much as a film - although it is cunning and moving - but as an event. Most commentators try to dismiss the event and disparage the film. We will see why later.
The artists on the Cannes film festival jury apparently voted unanimously to award Michael Moore’s film the Palme d’Or. Since then it has touched many (…)