From the Washington Post:
The U.S. military is holding five U.S. citizens suspected of insurgent activities in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.
They were captured separately and don’t appear to have ties to one another, spokesman Bryan Whitman said. He declined to identify them, citing a Pentagon policy that prohibits identification of detainees.
Three of those being detained are Iraqi-Americans; another is an Iranian-American; the fifth is a Jordanian-American, Whitman said. The three Iraqi-Americans were captured in April, May and June, officials said. The Iranian-American was captured May 17, one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the cases.
One of the Iraqi-Americans allegedly had knowledge of planning for an attack, and another was possibly involved in a kidnapping, Whitman said. The third was “engaged in suspicious activity,” he said, declining to be more specific.
Whitman said the Iranian-American was captured with several dozen washing machine timers in his car—items that can be used as components in bombs.
Well, traitors, sure. But at least these brave insurgents were actually fighting for what they believe in. Unlike some others I could name. So what’s say we cut them some slack and get back to the important business of identifying and shaming chickenhawks.
Y’know, because of the hypocrisy.
(via The Jawa Report, who has much more; see also Say Anything, Wizbang, Volokh, Riehl World, Caerdroia, and In the Bullpen)
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update Reason has more on Cyrus Kar, suggesting he could be an innocent caught up in the system (thanks Tall Dave).
I’m sensing that your patience with our brothers on the left has run out, JG.
Dissent being patriotic and all, I’m OUTRAGED that these brave DISSENTING PATRIOTS are being held by the military!!!!!
Who are we to decry that they are on the wrong side? <hangs head in shame>
NOT!
O’Creator of worlds, JG is hardly out of patience, he only wants to make sure that he doesn’t question their patriotism, see.
Patriotic towards fanatic suicide cult savages, but patriotic nonetheless.
HOW DARE YOU QUESTION THEIR PATRIOTISM!!!
RACIST!!!
I, I don’t want to question their patriotism. I know how deeply they love America; I feel it anew with each and every Bush/Hitler comparison.
But, God forgive me, sometimes I think….
Sometimes I think they want us to lose in Iraq!
Reason has a somewhat more sympathetic take on the Iranian:
Cyrus Kar is a 44-year-old documentary filmmaker who lives in my neighborhood. An immigrant from Iran who came here at age nine, Kar served for four years in the U.S. Navy, supports the war in Iraq, and sleeps under a large American flag.
Does sound like maybe he’s getting a bum rap.
Losing in Iraq would, in their perverse world, validate all of their negative feelings towards this administration, the war, the military, and the supporters of any of the above.
THe War is over. Bush fought a war for oil and we lost. Those of you who are not jeebus neocon chickenhawks should read this [link to this genius’ blog reformatted and corrected – ed.]
The rest of you who are cowardly white christian fucks should not bother, just stick to the Rovian message machine talking points.
You forgot some stuff. But don’t worry: protein wisdom is here to help out those leftwingers too lazy to complete the litany of complaints before dropping off-topic links into the comments section of a hundred or so rightwing blogs:
No, please, don’t thank me. Or if you really must, try taking a bath and reading a book not written by Michael Moore or Al Franken.
I think our conscientious objector du jour should try honey rather than vinegar.
SW: true
I don’t know, Tall Dave, the explanations and the background of Karr sound like the prototypical “sleeper”.
A large American flag hangs over his bed? PLEASE. I gotta give credit to his lawyers, they’re certainly setting up the scenario of an innocent person quite well… BTW, I’m no legal expert, but American citizens aren’t afforded American rights in foreign countries no matter who’s holding them. Keep complaining, Kar, maybe they just turn you over to the Iraqi government.
Blog review:
Since jeebus neocon chickenhawk doesn’t apply to me, I checked that blog out. The guy’s a novelist so it’s semi-well written, but he writes Star Wars books so between that and the blog it’s likely he’s never written a creative or interesting sentence before despite a sizable output. Long story short, cowardly white christian fucks aren’t missing much. 1/2 star.
Hmmm. Cain. Now where have I heard that name before…? No, don’t tell me. Damn, right on the tip of my tongue.
Original sin? No, that’s not it. Uh…am I close?
Well, sheeeit. It was right there in front of my face!
cowardly white christian fucks
Cain!
The ACLU has already filed a lawsuit on their behalf.
Here’s the brief:
1. He is quiet and religious and nice to neighbors.
2. It was a wedding party.
3. He thought the taxi driver was a Maytag repairman.
4. He’s working for Karl Rove.
5. Abu Ghraib!
I’m really tired of all this racial crap. “Iraqi-Americans”, “Iranian-Americans”, “African-Americans”… etc.
You either are AMERICAN or you aren’t. Any American classifying themselves as something other than just “American” can GTFO. If you want to be African or Iraqi or Iranian or Japanese or whatever I’m sure those respective geographic locations would love to have you.