The Observer has an article on the new type of Iraqi prison camps. Torture certainly didn't end with Saddam.

Secret torture chambers, the brutal interrogation of prisoners, murders by paramilitaries with links to powerful ministries... Foreign affairs editor Peter Beaumont in Baghdad uncovers a grim trail of abuse carried out by forces loyal to the new Iraqi Goverment.

[link via Buzzflash, which adds, "The un-American new world of Bush's Iraqi torture camps. Bush replaced Saddam's torture chambers with American sanctioned ones."]

"This Fourth of July, I ask you to find a way to thank the men and women defending our freedom by flying the flag..." -George W. Bush

Hit the freeways. Cardboard and paint is all it takes. Join Freeway Blogger's Summer of Truth.

Signpainting parties against the war are being organized across the country over the 4th of July weekend with posting scheduled to start on the 5th. So far we have over 400 confirmed freewaybloggers for this action and should have well over a thousand by week's end.

52 House members have filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking documents related to the Downing Street minutes. Raw Story has the details and the letter, which is reproduced below:

Elizabeth Holtzman has a new article in the Nation, Torture and Accountability. It blows the cover off the "few bad apples" meme and makes a case for a war crimes prosecution of higher-ups.

The key question is not whether detainees in Iraq were subjected to inhuman treatment in violation of the War Crimes Act, but how high up the responsibility goes for those abhorrent acts. Under well-established principles of international law, officials in the chain of command who order inhuman treatment or who, knowing about it, fail to stop it are responsible. The "chain of command" doctrine is undoubtedly applicable to War Crimes Act prosecutions. But even if it weren't, higher-ups could be held responsible under the principles of conspiracy or aiding and abetting the crime under normal federal criminal law. This was surely the reason that Gonzales wanted to block future prosecutions of higher-ups by "prosecutors and independent counsels."

It's a long but powerful article, and well worth reading.

Former presidential candidate Wesley Clark is now a Fox News military analyst. He was on O'Reilly tonight.

O'Reilly: You don't think 50 news stories in the New York Times about Abu Graib undermined the war effort?

Clark: I think Abu Ghraib undermined the war effort.

Crooks and Liars watched Olberman who said the ratings for Bush's Iraq speech were a flop. [link fixed]

Only 23 million saw the show, down from 34.7 million for his Social Security speech. It sure looks like he was preaching to the choir.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich says it's critical that we have a withdrawal plan from Iraq.

The longer we stay in Iraq, accidentally killing tens of thousands of civilians, we create more people who swear vengeance against America. Pre-war intelligence, including the c.I.A., saw no serious link between Osama Bin Laden and Hussein.

....Everything about the war in Iraq has been wrong. It was wrong to go in. It is wrong to stay in. It is wrong to keep our troops in harm's way. H.J. Res. 55 gives us a chance to right the wrong and exit with a plan which is sensitive to the security concerns of both the Iraqi people and the American people, because the truth is that this war is making people in both countries less safe.

Contact your Congressperson and ask him or her to support H.J. Res. 55, a binding congressional resolution calling on President Bush to begin withdrawing the United States Armed Forces from Iraq on or before October 1, 2006. Let's start the exit process.

Bump and Update: 6:00 pm: All 17 soldiers on board the helicopter downed in Afghanistan are believed dead. May they rest in peace. It's time for an exit stratgegy. Or at least a workable one. Go here and sign Sen. Ted Kennedy's petition.

Our soldiers in Iraq need more than vague assurances of progress from the President. They need an effective plan to end the violence, bring peace and stability to Iraq, and return home with dignity and honor. Unfortunately, the Administration’s view of the war is ignoring reality. Our soldiers need more than a public relations campaign from the Administration to win this war. They need honesty and leadership.

Bump and Update: 20 hours later and still no word on the fate of those aboard? Why?

Received by e-mail from some Democrats on Capitol Hill:

" This morning on CNN Daybreak (scroll to bottom for transcript) Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC) directly asserted multiple times that there is a connection between 9/11 and Iraq/Saddam Hussein. Last night, President Bush alluded to it 6 times and today other Republicans are asserting that evidence that no one can see exists as to the connection between 9/11 and Iraq exists.

The facts, however, completely undermine all of these fictitious assertions. Among the many sources refuting Rep. Hayes and others claiming Iraqi ties to 9/11 are:

• President George Bush: "No, we've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th." [FNS, 9/17/03]

• NSC Chair Condaleeza Rice: "...We have never claimed that Saddam Hussein had either, that Saddam Hussein had either direction or control of 9/11." [ABC, 9/16/03]

• Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: "I've not seen any indication that would lead me to believe that I could say that [Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11th attacks]." [CNN, 9/16/03]

[Via Wall Street Journal]

Bush says in his speech:

"Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is horrifying and the suffering is real," Bush said, according to excerpts released ahead of time by the White House. "It is worth it."

Who is he kidding? This war was not worth a single life or one single survivor's lifetime of grieving - for their lost loved ones or lost limbs.

This war has not done one iota to make us safer. Nor will it.

Think Progress has the full text of the speech (prepared remarks) and is live-blogging.

Update: Rep. Charlie Rangel writes today on the Huffington Post that the war is going to get much worse.

Bloomberg News reports more than half of Americans think the War in Iraq was a mistake and we should set a timetable to bring the troops home:

About a third of Americans say they think the U.S. and its allies are winning the war against insurgents in Iraq, the lowest level yet, according to a poll by Gallup for USA Today and Cable News Network.

More than half of Americans say the war in Iraq was a mistake, almost half think the war has made them less safe from terrorism, and nine out of 20 say they think the U.S. won't ever be able to establish a stable government in the middle eastern nation, according to poll data published on the Gallup Web site. More than half said the U.S. should set a timetable for removing its troops from the country.