this is sickening

and despicable. it's outrageous. it's disheartening. it's these things and so much more. we have now become those who we have fought off all along

Asylum Program Falls Short For Iraqis Aiding U.S. Forces

By Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writer
Thousands of Iraqi translators have assisted U.S. forces since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, risking their lives and leaving their families vulnerable to retaliation from insurgents who see them as accomplices of American troops.
More than 250 of the interpreters working with the United States -- or with U.S. contractors -- have been killed. But the U.S. asylum program for translators seeking to leave the country has fallen far short of demand and, at times, short of what other coalition countries have offered their Iraqi staff.
This month, Denmark will complete the process of granting asylum to 120 Iraqi interpreters who worked for Danish troops in Iraq, as well as their families. "Interpreters who had been working for the Danish military were given the choice of resettling within [Iraq] with financial help, of being given jobs at Danish mission in the region, or of going to Denmark to apply for asylum with their families," said Thomas Bille Winkel, representative of the Danish Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs. Most chose to go to Denmark, he said. ..........

i am begging you

to please get down on your knees (literally) and pray (literally) this story is NOT true

For sale: West’s deadly nuclear secrets
A WHISTLEBLOWER has made a series of extraordinary claims about how corrupt government officials allowed Pakistan and other states to steal nuclear weapons secrets.
Sibel Edmonds, a 37-year-old former Turkish language translator for the FBI, listened into hundreds of sensitive intercepted conversations while based at the agency’s Washington field office.
She approached The Sunday Times last month after reading about an Al-Qaeda terrorist who had revealed his role in training some of the 9/11 hijackers while he was in Turkey.
Edmonds described how foreign intelligence agents had enlisted the support of US officials to acquire a network of moles in sensitive military and nuclear institutions.
Among the hours of covert tape recordings, she says she heard evidence that one well-known senior official in the US State Department was being paid by Turkish agents in Washington who were selling the information on to black market buyers, including Pakistan.
The name of the official – who has held a series of top government posts – is known to The Sunday Times. He strongly denies the claims. ........

found via the brad blog

.....................While that "well-known senior" State Department official is not named by the paper, Australia's Luke Ryland, who writes at a number of sites as "Lukery", is perhaps the world's foremost expert concerning the Sibel Edmonds story. Ryland has told The BRAD BLOG that the official, unnamed by the Times, is Marc Grossman. .

i don't know

does THIS sound like things are getting better in iraq to YOU? it sure as shite doesn't to me.
a us state department motorcade being fired upon? a PRIVATE security firm (wonder which one it was. they are not releasing any names yet) firing AND KILLING innocent civilians. suicide bombers everywhere. al-qaeda in iraq everywhere...........and blood fills the streets

State Dept. Convoy Attacked in Baghdad, Sparking a Shootout
Security Guards Kill 9 Civilians, Iraqis Say


By Joshua Partlow Washington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD, Sept. 17 -- A U.S. State Department motorcade came under attack in Baghdad on Sunday, prompting security contractors guarding the convoy to open fire in the streets. At least nine civilians were killed, according to Iraqi officials.
The shootout occurred in the downtown neighborhood of Mansour at midday after an explosion detonated near the convoy, police said. In response, the security contractors "escalated the force to defend themselves," a U.S. Embassy official in Baghdad said.
Iraqi officials alleged that the response by the security company, which was not named, involved excessive force and killed innocent civilians. The Iraqi government will investigate the incident and "probably will withdraw the authority for this security company in Baghdad," said Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman...........

in another time (and place)

this would be funny. of course it's NOT, it's absurd.

there must be a TON of rodrigo sanchez' in the world. to be denied entry into the united states (to perform music mind you, NOT for citizenship. after all his skin is NOT quite white enough for most) simply because your name is rodrigo sanchez is absolutely absurd

Guitarist 'is denied entry to US'

A Mexican guitarist who has become a star on the world music scene has said he has been denied entry to the US.
Rodrigo Sanchez of the group Rodrigo y Gabriela said his application to renew a visa had been refused and they had been forced to cancel part of a tour.
The US State Department refused because Sanchez has a similar name to a man who is banned from the US, he said.
Eight US gigs have been called off so far and Sanchez said it may take up to three months to resolve the situation.
A statement from the duo's record label ATO said Sanchez had been going in and out of the US with no problem during the last nine months before his P-1 Entertainer Visa ran out............