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June 2014

Posted by Mandy Nagy on June 04, 2014 43 Comments
The U.S. military indicates it will conduct a new review into the circumstances of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's disappearance and captivity. From USA Today:
The U.S. Army said Tuesday it will launch a new review into the circumstances surrounding Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl leaving his post and subsequent capture by the Taliban now that he has been released and can be interviewed. The new investigation comes amid mounting allegations by fellow soldiers and politicians that Bergdahl deserted his post and the search for him put additional troops at risk. The review "will include speaking with Sgt. Bergdhal to better learn from him the circumstances of his disappearance and captivity," Army Secretary John McHugh said in a statement. The Army had already completed an earlier review that involved speaking with soldiers in his unit. Separately, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a Facebook posting that Army leaders would "not look away from misconduct if it occurred" in connection with the capture of Bergdahl.
A statement posted Wednesday at the Dept. of Defense website from Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno also promised a "thorough, transparent and complete review of the circumstances surrounding [Bergdahl's] capture." Fellow soldiers who claim to have served with Bergdahl have been speaking out in recent days, many of them critical of the circumstances surrounding Bergdahl’s disappearance and of the possible impact of subsequent search efforts. Some say the deaths of other soldiers could have been indirectly related to those search efforts.

Posted by David Gerstman on June 04, 2014 11 Comments
David Horovitz, the editor of the Times of Israel has written a scathing critique of the Obama administration's treatment of Israel. In the aftermath of the administration's acceptance of the Fatah/Hamas unity government in defiance of the letter of American law, Horovitz wrote yesterday,  12 ways the US administration has failed its ally Israel. Horovitz's criticisms can be broken down into three categories: mistakes in proceeding with the peace process, primarily blaming Israel for the failure of the peace process and other breaches of faith with Israel regarding Israel's enemies in the Middle East. In that last category (the last three of Horovitz's examples) he observes that rather than keeping quiet about reported Israeli air strikes against Syrian arm shipments to Hezbollah, the administration attributed the strikes to Israel risking possible Syrian retaliation against Israel and blasts the administration for "rushing to support Islamic extremists ... when they come to power in a neighboring state," referring to the Muslim Brotherhood's brief stint as rulers of Egypt. But he's harshest in his criticism of the Obama administration for its handling of Iran arguing that "[t]he central goal of US policy in this regard should not be merely denying Iran nuclear weapons but denying Iran the capacity to build nuclear weapons." Regarding the peace process Horovitz faults the administration for looking to solve the conflict in just nine months instead of just working on trying to build a climate of trust:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 04, 2014 4 Comments
I've covered many campaigns over the past several years here at Legal Insurrection. The campaign of Martha Robertson, challenging incumbent Republican Tom Reed, is one of the most bizarre so far. They are completely non-responsive. Even when I write to them or call seeking a statement so I can present their side of a story, there's silence. Even before I exposed problems with the campaign's communications and positions, they were non-responsive. It's just plain weird. Robertson also is hard to find on the campaign trail. If not for her stop at Cornell, I don't think I ever would have been able to get any response from her or her campaign on the issue of the campaign's false claim that GOP operatives hacked her website during a key fundraising period. Even then, her response was non-responsive. Maybe it's me? Maybe I've offended them by asking questions and trying to find out the campaign's position on important issues, like her support for Obamacare as a stepping stone to single payer and her complete misunderstanding of the Veterans Administration scandal. No, it's not just me, as this campaign ad just released by Congressman Tom Reed demonstrates: Reed's campaign issued the following statement, via Communications Director Kathering Pudwill:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 04, 2014 4 Comments
When I voted in California's June primary, I chuckled when I turned to the "Secretary of State" race and found a familiar name: Leland Yee. Yee  did not make it to the general election (under California's rules, the top two regardless of party compete in the general election). But it's a sad commentary on the quality of California politics that Yee managed to pull nearly 10 percent of the vote! California Secretary of State Primary results 6-3-2014 Legal Insurrection fans may recall that Yee is California's former state senator who was recently charged in a federal gun-trafficking case. As I mentioned that Mexican authorities were reported to be giving former US Marine Andrew Tahmooressi the legal treatment reserved for gun-runners, I thought it was time to check up on what was happening to a potentially real one. The federal judge handling the case issued a gag order on the evidence:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 04, 2014 1 Comment
We previously wrote about a partial victory at the Modern Language Association House of Delegates during the annual meeting in January.  An anti-Israel resolution regarding alleged travel restrictions on academics was significantly watered down, and another resolution defending the American Studies Association's academic boycott of Israel was rejected. The Executive Council of MLA decided to send the travel resolution to the membership for an online vote.  The final travel resolution read:

Resolution 2014-1

Whereas Israel has denied academics of Palestinian ethnicity entry into the West Bank; Whereas these restrictions violate international conventions on an occupying power’s obligation to protect the right to education; Whereas the United States Department of State acknowledges on its Web site that Israel restricts the movements of American citizens of Palestinian descent; Whereas the denials have disrupted instruction, research, and planning at Palestinian universities; Whereas the denials have restricted the academic freedom of scholars and teachers who are United States citizens; Be it resolved that the MLA urge the United States Department of State to contest Israel’s denials of entry to the West Bank by United States academics who have been invited to teach, confer, or do research at Palestinian universities.
There were complaints that the MLA leadership was not evenhanded in distributing materials to the membership, to the prejudice of pro-Israel members. Also, an online chat forum was disclosed in which gross anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic statements were made by MLA members. The results of the vote were just posted, and it failed to pass because less than 10% of the 30,000+ members voted.   Any resolution must be ratified by a majority vote in which the number of those voting for ratification equals at least ten percent of the association’s membership, which was 2,390 votes this year. There were 1,560 votes in favor of ratification and 1,063 votes against ratification. This is, in many ways, even more devastating than a simple loss.  It shows that the anti-Israel agenda of some radical academics simply isn't of much interest to the broader academic community.  The lack of interest by the overall membership is most telling of all. Prof. Cary Nelson of the University of Illinois issued the following statement on behalf of MLA Members for Scholars' Rights, a group opposing the resolution:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 04, 2014 10 Comments
Despite the fact that when half-Asian Elliot Rodger went on his murder spree, he knifed three of his victims to death, the response of progressives has been primarily focused on two topics: "White Male Privilege" and "Gun Control". Legislation to outlaw either being white or male cannot be proposed...yet.  However, one of the most progressively activist of all of California's elected representatives offers a new set of gun control rules: The "Pause for Safety Act". Fascinating, I think, that "gun" does not appear in the title of Senator Barbara Boxer's latest masterpiece. Her proposed rules would do the following:
• One, it would help ensure that families and others can go to court and seek a gun violence prevention order to temporarily stop someone close to them who poses a danger to themselves or others from purchasing a firearm. • Two, it would help ensure that families and others can also seek a gun violence prevention warrant that would allow law enforcement to take temporary possession of firearms that have already been purchased if a court determines that the individual poses a threat to themselves or others. • Three, it would help ensure that law enforcement makes full use of all existing gun registries when assessing a tip, warning or request from a concerned family member or other close associate.
According to Boxer: “We have a function here not to allow someone who is unstable or violent to get a weapon." So, how would this legislation have prevented Rodger from gaining access to knives? And, by the logic that produced this chestnut, perhaps we should regulate the distribution of hot coffee?:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 04, 2014 11 Comments
The Taliban have released a video of Bowe Bergdahl being released to U.S. Special Forces soldiers who arrived by helicopter. Five high ranking Taliban members were released from Gitmo in exchange. The release of the video is part of the Taliban victory lap: (full propaganda video here) Statements from Bergdahl's fellow soldiers about the circumstances of his departure from his base are very troubling, as are the Obama administration's ridiculous refusal to acknowledge the issues. There are heroes in this video. The Special Forces soldiers who risked their lives landing into what could have been a trap, in order to rescue someone who may turn out to be a deserter who caused the deaths of other Americans searching for him. The image of these Special Forces soldiers reminds me of men like Johnny "Mike" Spann, a CIA officer who was the first American killed in the Afghan war during a prisoner uprising.  We have written of Mike Spann several times before, Remembering Johnny “Mike” Spann:
The story of this small band of men has been told, but not told enough. Spann was killed during the Battle of Qala-i-Jangi when Taliban prisoners gained access to weapons and attacked.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 03, 2014 14 Comments
UPDATE -- Chris McDaniel won by less than 1% of the vote, but didn't break 50% so there will be a runoff election on June 24. ------------ The key race we are watching is the Mississippi Republican Senate Primary between incumbent Thad Cochran and Chris McDaniel.  Polls close at 7 p.m. Central. The race has been marked by a bizarre scandal of McDaniel supporters taping Cochran's wife in a nursing home.  Because the Cochran campaign waited at least two weeks to go to authorities, the scandal broke relatively close to the election.  We don't know what other shoes -- if any -- might drop.  We also don't know if the McDaniel campaign will be completely exonerated; as of now there is no evidence linking it to the taping.  I also never got an answer to the question, What did the @NRSC know, and when did it know it? We will post results as soon as meaningful numbers come in, so refresh your screen every 5 minutes or so. If not one gets 50%, there will be a runoff held June 24. You can follow the Twitter feed below:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 03, 2014 8 Comments
Martha Robertson, the Emily's List-backed, DCCC "red to blue" challenger to Republican Tom Reed in NY-23, is a big supporter of single payer healthcare, although she's dodged the issue during her campaign. Robertson has stated openly prior to running that she see's Obamacare as a stepping stone to single payer:
"We'll get to single payer soon, but in the meantime, [Obamacare] is what we need to do."
The Veterans Administration scandal poses a problem for Robertson, as it raises fears of what healthcare will be like if the government gains total control. Robertson appeared recently with Nancy Pelosi, and was interviewed on local television. Robertson blamed the VA scandal on what she called decades of underfunding (emphasis added):
“And we see it’s not a matter of the care that they get once they get access to the care,” said Robertson. “There’s no question that they’re getting quality care and responsive care once they’re in the system. This is a problem of decades of underfunding the system altogether.”
Robertson could not be more wrong. The VA's problems are systemic, inherent to government bureaucracy running healthcare, not funding. According to a recent budget submission for fiscal year 2015, VA funding has increased dramatically year-over-year:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 03, 2014 13 Comments
And so it continues. All eyes have been focused on the increasingly bizarre facts of the exchange of 5 top Taliban Gitmo detainees for Bowe Bergdahl, someone who may very well be a deserter if reports by soldiers who served with him are accurate. Yet an even bigger event took place just yesterday, as the State Department announced the U.S. was embracing the new Palestinian Authiority coalition government which for the first time includes Hamas, a recognized terrorist group which remains sworn to the destruction of Israel.  Reuters reports, U.S. says to work with, fund Palestinian unity government:
The United States said on Monday it plans to work with and fund the new Palestinian unity government formed after an agreement by the Fatah and Hamas factions, and Israel immediately voiced its disappointment with the U.S. decision. he United States views Hamas as a "terrorist" organization and the U.S. Congress has imposed restrictions on U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority, which typically runs at $500 million a year, in the event of a unity government. Senior U.S. lawmakers said on Monday Washington should suspend aid to the new unity government until it is sure of the Islamist group's commitment to pursuing peace with Israel. In its first comment since the Palestinian government was sworn in, however, the State Department stressed that it regarded the new Cabinet as made up of technocrats and that it was willing to do business with it.
Following the U.S. lead, the EU and U.N. quickly announced acceptance of the coalition. We now have open conflict between the U.S. and Israel based on the U.S. backing out of understandings with regard to Israeli refusal to negotiate with the PA if Hamas were part of the coalition. Via The Times of Israel:

Posted by Mandy Nagy on June 03, 2014 22 Comments
Since the news broke over the weekend regarding the recovery of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five detainees held at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, there have been mixed reactions from the public.  Many are obviously very critical of the decision to exchange what are now known to be some pretty bad guys. But there is also much discussion about the circumstances surrounding Bergdahl’s initial disappearance, much of which has been unconfirmed and unclear over the years. News reports are now surfacing that offer accounts from soldiers who claim to have served with Bergdahl. From CNN:
The sense of pride expressed by officials of the Obama administration at the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is not shared by many of those who served with him, veterans and soldiers who call him a deserter whose "selfish act" ended up costing the lives of better men. "I was pissed off then, and I am even more so now with everything going on," said former Sgt. Matt Vierkant, a member of Bergdahl's platoon when he went missing on June 30, 2009. "Bowe Bergdahl deserted during a time of war, and his fellow Americans lost their lives searching for him."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 03, 2014 4 Comments

Sounds like the plan....

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