Weekend Reading

Ted Rall is going to cop a lot of flak for challenging the myth that you can oppose the war and still support the troops:

The military used to be an honorable calling. Not under Bush. Ethical Americans considering a military career should seek a civilian job until a lawful, elected government has been restored in Washington and we have withdrawn our forces from occupied Afghanistan and Iraq. Those who are already enlisted should refuse to reenlist. Soldiers trapped by "stop loss" orders should apply for conscientious objector status (which is difficult to obtain) or refuse deployment based on the unlawful order principle. And if all else fails, there's always desertion.

Condi has left Germany but the debates rumble on in her wake. Common Dreams reviews the German press, including this from Süddeutsche Zeitung:

"Injustice remains injustice and a wrong policy remains a wrong policy," writes the paper. "On this basis you can't re-launch the trans-Atlantic relationship." The debate over secret CIA flights and prisons shows how far Europe and the US have drifted apart since Sept. 11 when it comes to what methods are acceptable in waging war on terror. "Condoleezza Rice gave the best example of this by adopting what almost seemed like a blackmailing tone in saying that whoever discloses the work of their intelligence services would have to live with a higher threat of terror," the paper writes. "American secret service information would only be available to allies that could keep silent about how that information was obtained. The message can also be translated thus: The end justifies the means, terrorism can be fought with borderline methods on the outer edges of legality." The paper concludes: "Rice came to Germany to begin a new era. She has resoundingly failed to do so."