The afternoon’s news and open thread.

1. A Tale of Two Iraqs. There are two differing stories coming from Iraq in today’s papers. The first comes from Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post who reports Members of one U.S. unit are tired, bitter and skeptical after 14 months in a Baghdad district torn by mounting sectarian violence. “Their line of tan Humvees and Bradley Fighting Vehicles creeps through another Baghdad afternoon… A bomb crater blocks one lane, so they cross to the other side, where houses are blackened by fire, shops crumbled into bricks. The remains of a car bomb serve as hideous public art. Sgt. Victor Alarcon’s Humvee rolls into a vast pool of knee-high brown sewage water…”

   Asked if the American endeavor here was worth their sacrifice — 20 soldiers from the battalion have been killed in Baghdad — Alarcon said no: “I don’t think this place is worth another soldier’s life.“

   The second story is from Tina Susman of the Los Angeles Times with Marines declare war on garbage. The U.S. Marines see “trash pickup as the key to maintaining security in Ramadi, where a decision last year by Sunni Arab tribal leaders to turn against insurgents has brought calm to the once-violent capital of Anbar province… The desire for clean streets and pleasant surroundings has overtaken security concerns in Ramadi, where the population has declined by 100,000 residents since the war began four years ago.”

   “This is the fight — sewage, water and trash,” Lt. James Colvin said as he showed the landfill to a visitor. “I was a poor math major in college. I come here and they tell me: ‘OK, fix the sewage system!’ ” said Colvin, remembering how shocked he was to return to Ramadi and find that he could walk down streets that he once dreaded crossing in an armored vehicle. “But there’s no enemy to hunt down now, so this is our line of attack.“

   I think these two different stories explain a lot why the occupation continues and Congress remains divided.

Below the fold today are stories about a Guantánamo military lawyer brave whistle blowing, CIA ‘ghost prisoners’, a conversation with Castro, “Guns of Greed”, and a “bonus” story of delayed justice for 28 African-American soldiers from World War II.

2. Two stories about Guantánamo Bay and U.S. secret prisons today. The Independent reports a Guantanamo military lawyer breaks ranks to condemn ‘unconscionable’ detention. “An American military lawyer and veteran of dozens of secret Guantanamo tribunals has made a devastating attack on the legal process for determining whether Guantanamo prisoners are ‘enemy combatants’. The whistleblower, an army major inside the military court system which the United States has established at Guantanamo Bay, has described the detention of one prisoner, a hospital administrator from Sudan, as ‘unconscionable’… The officer they interviewed was so frightened of retaliation from the military that they would not allow their name to be used in the statement, nor to reveal whether the person was a man or woman.”

   And the Washington Post reports From CIA jails, inmates fade into obscurity. “On Sept. 6, 2006, President Bush announced that the CIA’s overseas secret prisons had been temporarily emptied and 14 al-Qaeda leaders taken to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But since then, there has been no official accounting of what happened to about 30 other ‘ghost prisoners’ who spent extended time in the custody of the CIA. Some have been secretly transferred to their home countries, where they remain in detention and out of public view, according to interviews in Pakistan and Europe with government officials, human rights groups and lawyers for the detainees. Others have disappeared without a trace and may or may not still be under CIA control.”

3. The Guardian has “an exclusive extract” from Ignacio Ramonet’s Conversations with Fidel Castro. Here’s one question and Castro’s answer.

   Do you agree that terrorism is the biggest threat to the world today?

   Cuba condemned the crime committed on September 11 in no uncertain terms. And we have reiterated our condemnation of terrorism in all its shapes and forms. The US has cynically included Cuba among the countries sponsoring terrorism, but Cuba will never allow its territory to be used for terrorist actions against the people of the US or any other country.

   I agree that terrorism is a serious threat to the world today, but I believe humanity is facing other threats of equal or greater seriousness: the accelerating destruction of the environment; the deepening of poverty; the lack of health care. To all of which one would have to add the hegemonic designs of the only superpower that aspires to become the ruler of the planet, and its arrogant policy of domination.

   Also, Castro said he has given up smoking cigars to “teach by example” to help promote “public health in Cuba”. He wears his uniform “for practical reasons”. He doesn’t “have to put on a tie every day” or decide what to wear.

4. Today’s “Guns of Greed” is mostly loose ends.

   • The Washington Post reports Agency says Blackwater employee ruling not related to tax status. “The Small Business Administration said yesterday that its ruling that Blackwater Worldwide’s workers are independent contractors instead of company employees should have no bearing on the security contractor’s tax liability… Blackwater classifies its armed guards as independent contractors, allowing it to avoid paying certain federal taxes.”

   • The Danger Room blog at Wired wonders Blackwater = Fire-Fighter? Blackwater “is saying that it wants to help fight California’s forest fires… Brian Bonfiglio, vice president of Blackwater West, notes that the complex’s proposal includes water tanks capable of holding 35,000 gallons. ‘I see a tactical operation center for East County fires,’ he says. ‘Can you imagine how much of a benefit it would be if we were operational now?'”

   • The AP reports UN expert to look into allegations of illegal killings by US military, contractors. “The U.N. expert investigating extrajudicial executions said Friday he plans an official visit to the United States to look into allegations of illegal killings by members of the U.S. military, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as by military contractors like Blackwater. Philip Alston, a professor at New York University law school who has been the U.N.’s independent expert on killings outside the law since 2004, welcomed the positive responses from the United States and Brazil to his requests to visit… During his U.S. visit, Alston said he may also look into the use of the death penalty.” Reuters has more.

   • Lastly, Blackwater warlord Erik Prince visits The Virginian-Pilot as part of his PR tour. The full interview will run on Sunday, but here are some of the paper’s teaser excerpts, Debate ‘more than we bargained for’. Prince: “Getting caught in the plate tectonics of the political fights in Washington is certainly more than we bargained for. We got to where we are not through politics or political connections; we’ve been successful because we executed what our customers needed us to do. We are not policy guys; we’re another tool in the toolbox for the U.S. government to use — or not to use. It’s their choice.”

5. The Seattle Times reports U.S. Army overturns convictions of Fort Lawton soldiers court-martialed in 1944 after riot, lynching. “In an extremely rare move, the U.S. Army has overturned the convictions of 28 World-War-II soldiers who were court-martialed in 1944 after a riot and lynching at Seattle’s Fort Lawton. The decision, released this morning, found the trial, held in the segregated Army of the time, was ‘fundamentally unfair’ to the African-American soldiers, who were denied access to their attorneys and to critical investigative records… Only two of the 28 soldiers are still alive.”

So, what else is happening?