CINDY SHEEHAN, via Laurie Dobson Available for a limited number of interviews, Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in the Iraq war, drew global interest when she attempted to confront a vacationing George W. Bush at his Crawford ranch in August 2005. She went on to write Peace Mom: A Mother’s Journey through Heartache to…

As violence in Iraq increases, the Washington Post reports: “U.S. troops could be forced by Iraqi voters to withdraw a year ahead of schedule under a referendum the Iraqi government backed Monday.” CHRIS HEDGES LAILA AL-ARIAN Hedges and Al-Arian are co-authors of the book Collateral Damage: America’s War Against Iraqi Civilians. A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter,…

On Monday, in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, President Obama stated: “But as we all know, much of our defense establishment has yet to fully adapt to the post-Cold War world. … Twenty years after the Cold War ended, this is not simply unacceptable. It is irresponsible.” — NY Times DARYL KIMBALL…

The presidential election in Afghanistan is scheduled for August 20. REESE ERLICH Erlich, who has reported from Afghanistan and the region more than a dozen times, was among the first to report in major media that the heroin trade finances not only the Taliban but also top officials in the Afghan government. He said today:…

CHIP BERLET Berlet is senior analyst of Political Research Associates and co-author of Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort. He said today: “The town meeting confrontations over health care are an example of right-wing populist protests that periodically sweep across the United States. The anger, fear and resentment are often mobilized by cynical…

Billy Tauzin “is chief of PhRMA, the biggest pharmaceutical trade group. In the 2008 campaign, Obama ran a television ad pillorying Tauzin for his role in preventing Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices. Last week the Los Angeles Times reported — and the New York Times confirmed — that Tauzin, an active player in…

“Former White House political adviser Karl Rove played a central role in the ouster of a U.S. attorney in New Mexico, one of nine prosecutors fired in a scandal in 2006 over political interference with the Justice Department, according to transcripts of closed-door testimony released Tuesday.” — Associated Press, 8/11/2009 SCOTT HORTON Horton is adjunct…

U.S. Army Specialist Victor Agosto has received a court martial for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan. DAHR JAMAIL Jamail, an independent journalist who has covered Iraq extensively, is author of The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said today: “Specialist Agosto stands as a model for soldiers who…

The New York Times reported Thursday that “the Obama administration is struggling to come up with a long-promised plan to measure whether the war [in Afghanistan] is being won. Those ‘metrics’ of success, demanded by Congress and eagerly awaited by the military, are seen as crucial if the president is to convince Capitol Hill and…

RUSSELL MOKHIBER Founder of Single Payer Action, Mokhiber said today: “Obamacare will cost $1 trillion over ten years and not cover 37 million Americans. By contrast, a single-payer system cuts out the private health insurance corporations and thus saves $4 trillion in administrative costs and waste over ten years. Those savings would be used to…