The Center for American Progress


NEW POLL
Is Rumsfeld the Best Ever?

In response to the burgeoning scandal surrounding the torture of Iraqi prisoners, President Bush yesterday "lavished praise" on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying Rumsfeld is doing a "superb job." The praise came only two days after the Washington Post reported many rank-and-file military officers see Rumsfeld as directly "responsible for a series of strategic and tactical blunders" and there is "a profound anger building within the Army at Rumsfeld." But that has not stopped the White House from upping the ante even further: Vice President Dick Cheney now refers to Rumsfeld as " the best secretary of defense the United States has ever had." Which of the following defense secretaries do you think was the best?



IRAQ
Contractor Problem Expanding

Top officials in the Bush administration predicted that we would be greeted by Iraqis as liberators with sweets and flowers. Thus, the military was not prepared for the harsh realities on the ground and was forced to rely on civilian contractors to conduct the intelligence and interrogation work. Now, "the military's reliance on civilians to serve as interrogators and translators in Iraq is so great that many people are being sent abroad without complete background investigations or full qualifications for the positions." While on the job in Iraq, "many of the contractors are barely supervised." Two such contractors have "been implicated in the Abu Ghraib prison abuses." The Pentagon's failure to plan for the aftermath of war – and the chaos that has resulted – has led the Army Times to join a chorus of prominent voices calling for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's resignation. According to the publication, the prison abuse "was not just a failure of leadership at the local command level...[it] was a failure that ran straight to the top." Meanwhile, President Bush yesterday stubbornly maintained that Rumsfeld is "doing a superb job" and that America owes him a "debt of gratitude."

TAXI DRIVERS HIRED FOR SENSITIVE MILITARY WORK: A major supplier of translators for the military, the Titan Corporation of San Diego hires individuals "with unlikely professional backgrounds, like taxi drivers, for positions in Iraq and elsewhere." A taxi driver Titan hired to work in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba "was arrested on charges of espionage last year." Another Titan translator – a man with no security clearance who was working with interrogators trying to obtain sensitive information from prisoners in Abu Ghraib – has been implicated in the prison abuse case.

SOLDIERS TRY TO SCRAPE BY, CONTRACTORS RAKE IN THE DOUGH: The average income for a military household is about $3300 a month. The president has tried to reduce the modest monthly stipend that soldiers get for working in imminent danger from $225 a month to $150 a month. Private contractors, however, rake in up to $1500 a day. Industry can afford to pay excessive salaries because up to 30 percent of the $87.5 billion supplemental appropriations law passed in November will find its way to private contractors.

CIVILIAN CONTRACTORS MAY GET AWAY WITH ABUSING PRISONERS: It is far from certain that civilian contractors involved in the prison abuse will even be brought to justice. The Civilian Provisional Authority, led by Paul Bremer, issued an order last year that protected civilian contractors "from local criminal prosecution, even for crimes such as murder, torture and rape." The U.S. Constitution prohibits private contractors from being brought before military tribunals. While the contractors involved in the abuse at Abu Ghraib could theoretically be prosecuted in United States civilian courts, Attorney General John Ashcroft "has not indicated that he actually plans to bring such cases."

ASHCROFT INACTION THREATENS PROSECUTION OF CONTRACTORS: Disturbingly, Ashcroft hasn't sent any FBI agents to Iraq to investigate and has said "federal prosecutors would await the result of the Pentagon's investigation." But Pentagon investigators are gathering evidence to prosecute a military court-martial, which has different requirements than a civilian trial. That is why, in 1998, "after the bombing of the two U.S. embassies in Africa, more than 900 FBI agents were sent on-site to investigate." There are other logistical problems: "who would, for example, bring the victims to the United States to testify?"

ECONOMY
Waging War on the Middle Class

In a visit to a business owned by a top Republican campaign donor, Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday said the White House tax policy was working for all Americans and "don't let anyone tell you otherwise." But according to a new poll last week, 90% of Americans say they have felt little or no federal tax cut (a number consistent with earlier polling), while many are feeling the squeeze from increased state/local taxes. On the wage front, the news is no better: Bloomberg reports that while "U.S. corporate profits surged 87% between 2001 and 2003," wages/salaries grew by just 4.5% - "the smallest for the first nine quarters of any recovery since World War II." Instead of taking proactive steps to address the wage crisis, the administration has instead sought to reduce overtime pay protections for millions of workers, while touting the virtues of Wal-Mart – a company infamous for using its size to undercut local economies and paying such low wages that its employees are often forced to seek public assistance. As the WP notes, while the president wraps his economic policy "in talk of rewarding hard work and initiative" his agenda has done exactly the opposite, rewarding owners of vast wealth while squeezing the middle class.

SAVINGS PLAN MAKING MATTERS WORSE: The administration is now putting its "soak-the-rich" ideology into overdrive: As Daniel Altman notes, the White House is seeking tax reforms that would "make it more attractive to accumulate wealth than to spend money." The White House's proposals for tax-free savings accounts for the wealthy would "give people every incentive to receive all their income from financial assets rather than wages and salaries." Ultimately, the policy "could lead to a whole new way of classifying people: working and upper-class would be replaced by taxpayer and free-rider. Titans of industry, heirs and heiresses, and wizards of Wall Street wouldn't pay for national defense, cancer research, or President Bush's trip to Mars. All those costs would be borne by America's breadwinners."

SENATE CONSERVATIVES STILL OUT OF TOUCH: In two recent instances, Senate conservatives have shown just how out of touch with economic reality they are: Last week, while pushing a bill providing massive tax breaks to large corporations, conservatives tried to stop a bill that would preserve current overtime regulations, instead of reducing them, as the White House proposes (fortunately, the bill passed the Senate). And now this week, on the same corporate tax bill, CongressDaily reports that conservatives are still threatening to block a vote on extending unemployment insurance, despite a record number of Americans exhausting their unemployment benefits.

CONSERVATIVE SAYS HIGH WAGES ARE THE PROBLEM: With thousands of workers in Michigan struggling with stagnating wages, one of the leading conservatives last week actually said the biggest problem facing the state is that workers are paid too well. State Republican Chairwoman Betsy DeVos issued a press release claiming, among other things, that "many, if not most, of the economic problems in Michigan are a result of high wages."

CORPORATE EXECUTIVES MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN BUSH ON JOBS: While the Bush administration has refused to consider legislation to address the negative side effects of offshoring, a new poll finds that many corporate executives would actually support such legislation. All told, 40% of technology company executives said they would support "paying higher taxes to compensate for jobs they send offshore." These executives agree that companies should be required to pay a "per-head tax" for every position sent to another country. The poll also suggests that companies would be willing to help pay for improvements in the quality of American education and worker retraining to help the United States maintain its competitive edge in technology.

AFGHANISTAN
The Other War

The ongoing war in Afghanistan has too often been merely tacked on to the war in Iraq as almost an afterthought. As the high-profile war in Iraq takes the spotlight, the shaky situation in Afghanistan threatens to bring back instability. President Bush likes to claim the Taliban has been vanquished. Unfortunately, that's far from true. The group continues to take credit for killings and mounting insecurity while maintaining strongholds in crucial parts of the country. The White House must refocus efforts on Afghanistan before the U.S. snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. (For more on the need to refocus attention on Afghanistan, read this new column from the Center for American Progress.)

PRISONER ABUSE - WILL THE OTHER SHOE DROP?: While no photographs have surfaced to capture national attention, repeated reports show there was a pattern of abuse and misconduct at Afghanistan prisons as well as those in Iraq. In December 2002, two Afghans were beaten to death while in U.S. custody in Afghanistan. The U.S. military has determined both were homicides. Another Afghan died in June 2003 at a detention site near Asadabad. However, no arrests have been made or charges brought.

SYSTEMIC ABUSE IN AFGHANISTAN: According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, inmates in Afghanistan were crammed into Bagram prison at 10 times its capacity. After one visit, the Red Cross found malnutrition was so severe, the group "began an emergency feeding program at the prison similar to those used to care for African famine victims." A report in March from the group Human Rights Watch stated that "Afghans detained at Bagram airbase in 2002 have described being held in detention for weeks, continuously shackled, intentionally kept awake for extended periods of time, and forced to kneel or stand in painful positions for extended periods." Shady interrogation practices were also the norm: Reports show the CIA conducted interrogations "in a cluster of metal shipping containers at Bagram air base protected by three layers of concertina wire. It is unclear whether that center is still open, but the CIA's main interrogation center now appears to be in Kabul," at a location called 'The Pit' -- nicknamed for its "despairing conditions."

HEROIN AND TERROR: "While the U.S.-led military coalition ousted the hard-line Taliban regime from power almost three years ago," the exploding drug trade and the billions it is raking in – much of which goes straight to terrorists – makes it increasingly difficult for the U.S. to create "a political climate that might prevent the terrorists from returning." This year's crop alone will provide about 75% of the world's opium, up 200 tons from last year's production. That'll pull in well over $2 billion in drug money. Where does the money go? Besides contributing to a general culture of lawlessness, drug trafficking money finances terrorists, meaning a likely windfall to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

WARLORDS' PRIVATE ARMIES: According to the San Francisco Chronicle, some sections of the Afghan army are under the command of individual warlords who battle one another. They are "de facto private armies whose soldiers draw government paychecks and wear army uniforms." Such factional fighting has "killed at least 2,000 people since the fall of the hard-line Taliban regime two years ago, undermining international efforts to rebuild Afghanistan and further destabilizing the volatile, war-devastated nation."

STATE OF AFGHAN ELECTIONS: As security in Afghanistan remains out of reach, the country's prospects for a democratic election are threatened. The United Nations needs to register 10 million voters across the country before the elections in September. With only four months to go, the United Nations has thus far been able to register fewer than 2 million. The problem: there is a limited international security presence outside the capital city of Kabul and election workers have only been able to access the eight safest cities.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS GONE WRONG: In 2001, Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "The recovery of Afghanistan must entail the restoration of the rights of Afghan women. Indeed, it will not be possible without them. The rights of women in Afghanistan will not be negotiable." The new Constitution did promise equal rights. But the language hasn't lived up to the reality. "The harsh Taliban restrictions that silenced Muslim women, forced them to stay mostly out of sight and treated them like chattel are creeping back in much of the country." For example, "just recently the southeastern province of Nangahar banned women from performing on TV and radio, declaring female entertainers to be un-Islamic... Ismael Khan, the warlord who rules the western city of Herat, has brought back many repressive rules, including forbidding women from working or from being seen with men who are not close relatives."







HOMELAND SECURITY – BUSH'S TIES TO SAUDIS UNDERMINE COUNTERTERRORISM: President Bush has engaged in strong rhetoric about cracking down on states subsidizing terror, saying on 9/10/03, "We're holding regimes accountable for harboring and supporting terror." Today, the U.S. Treasury Department designated an Islamic charity with ties to a Saudi religious organization as a terrorist entity, but, the WSJ reports, "According to current and former U.S. officials, proposals by Treasury to designate other Muslim World League bodies as terrorism supporters have been blocked by officials from other U.S. agencies." Considering the president's "deep personal ties" to the Saudis, it comes as no surprise that the Treasury's designation is only the second time since Sept. 11 that the U.S. "has moved against an entity controlled by the [Muslim World] League, which has tremendous clout within Saudi Arabia's deeply religious society." It's not the first time the administration's personal connections to Saudis have undermined America's ability to effectively pursue terrorism abroad.

WAR ON TERROR – SUCCESS IS NOT COMPUTING: AP reports, "The FBI's nearly $600 million effort to modernize its antiquated computer systems to help prevent terrorist attacks is 'not on a path to success,' according to an outside review completed weeks after the bureau director gave Congress assurances about the program." The report, which will be released next week, "found that the FBI's Trilogy project did not adequately reflect the bureau's new priority on terror prevention since the Sept. 11 attacks. It urged the FBI to build new systems from scratch to help in this role." The study was conducted by technology experts for the National Research Council, a nonprofit research board operating under the National Academies of Science.

IRAQ – CONSERVATIVES PROBE ADMINISTRATION'S USE OF FUNDS: Conservative congressmen, including Reps. David Hobson (R-OH) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), successive chairmen of the House Appropriations Committee's panel on military construction, are questioning the Bush administration's failure to keep congress informed on the way it used funds appropriated for military construction in the Middle East. "President Bush has acknowledged that months before Congress voted an Iraq war resolution in October 2002, he approved about 30 projects in Kuwait that helped set the stage for war, with 'no real knowledge or involvement' of Congress." Now senior lawmakers are charging "that, at the least, the Pentagon failed to follow the spirit of the laws requiring consultation." Pentagon officials claim to have provided briefings to congressional staffs on construction plans in Iraq, but "congressional aides, who asked not to be named, said the details were still often spotty, even allowing for the need to safeguard the security of U.S. facilities and avoid political difficulties for Muslim governments providing secret support to the United States."

HEALTH CARE – TO THE VICTORS GO THE SPOILS: According to AP, just a "few weeks after the Bush administration named Medco to be one of the first Medicare drug card providers, a company executive helped throw a $100,000 fund-raiser for the president that was headlined by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson." The drug companies, which will benefit handsomely from the Medicare legislation pushed by the president, enjoy close ties with conservatives and the White House. "For instance, PacifiCare's lobbyists last year included Tom Loeffler, who raised at least $200,000 for Bush's 2004 campaign, and Jack Howard, a former White House employee who worked as deputy assistant to the president for legislative affairs. United Health Group's chairman and chief executive, William McGuire, earned the label Bush 'Pioneer' by raising at least $100,000 for Bush's campaign, as did Todd Farha, chairman and CEO of Wellcare Health Plans, and Samuel Skinner, a member of card provider Express Scripts' board of directors. Michael Hightower, who collected at least $200,000 for the Bush campaign to become a Bush fund-raising 'Ranger,' is vice president of government relations for Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida."

IF YOU HATE SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION, SKIP THIS ITEM: It turns out the Progress Report does more than clog your inbox. The Chicago Reader originally had the story that top Iraq administrator Paul Bremer had spoken at a Robert B. McCormick Tribune Foundation conference six months before 9/11 and accused the Bush administration of "paying no attention" to terrorism. The story, the site now says, went "nowhere." Nowhere, that is, until it entered the Progress Report. The quote, the Reader writes this week "showed up as an 'Under the Radar' note at the bottom of the American Progress report the Monday after Hot Type ran. It reappeared Thursday" in a larger item. And "Bingo. Bremer made the networks' Thursday news shows. Catching the story on TV, the Associated Press prepared its own version. So did Reuters. I woke up Friday morning to hear my week-old story broadcast on WFMT, then read it in the Sun-Times and New York Times." The result? "By Sunday the story had advanced to its next phase: Bremer was taking everything back."




____________________________________________________________________