Thousands of anti-war protesters en route to D.C. from major Northeast cities were delayed for hours due to an Amtrak power failure.

In a hitch for some coming to the protest, 13 Amtrak trains running between New York and Washington were delayed for up to three hours Saturday morning for repair of overhead electrical lines. Protest organizers said that held up thousands coming to the rally.

Organizers delayed the start of the march, originally planned to begin at 12:30 p.m., to wait for protesters arriving on the Amtrak trains. There were other reports of Metro delays in northern Virginia on the Blue and Yellow lines.

Coincidence?

by TChris

A new report by Human Rights Watch, relying on interviews with members of the 82nd Airborne, concludes that "Army troops subjected Iraqi detainees to severe beatings and other torture at a base in central Iraq from 2003 through 2004, often under orders or with the approval of superior officers."

Three U.S. army personnel—two sergeants and a captain—describe routine, severe beatings of prisoners and other cruel and inhumane treatment. In one incident, a soldier is alleged to have broken a detainee’s leg with a baseball bat. Detainees were also forced to hold five-gallon jugs of water with their arms outstretched and perform other acts until they passed out. Soldiers also applied chemical substances to detainees’ skin and eyes, and subjected detainees to forced stress positions, sleep deprivation, and extremes of hot and cold.

Mistreatment was ordered by Military Intelligence personnel as an interrogation tactic, but was also used to "relieve stress," according to the soldiers.

Arianna has an important post up about Abdul Amir Younes Hussein, a 25 year old CBS reporter who has been imprisoned without charges for five months in Iraq. CBS is not getting answers about his case.

For 25-year-old CBS cameraman Abdul Amir Younes Hussein, being shot and wounded by American forces in Iraq was just the beginning. On April 5, Mr. Hussein, a freelancer employed by the network in the northern city of Mosul, went to the scene of a car bombing to film the aftermath. He was standing near an armed insurgent when U.S. forces opened fire, killing the militant and wounding him lightly. The military released a statement that expressed regret about the incident and said it was under investigation.

Three days later, the military released a second statement saying that Mr. Hussein had been "detained for alleged insurgent activity" and there was probable cause to believe he posed "an imperative threat to coalition forces."

Ultimately, no charges were brought by the Iraqi authorities. Yet, Hussein still was not released. He was supposed to have a hearing yesterday, but it was canceled. Arianna reports,

by TChris

Tony Blair's decision to use force to free two British soldiers who were arrested in Iraq hasn't endeared him to the Iraqi police.

Hundreds of Iraqi civilians and policemen, some waving pistols and AK-47s, rallied Wednesday in the southern city of Basra to denounce "British aggression" in the rescue of two British soldiers.

The Basra governor threatened to end all cooperation with British forces unless Prime Minister Tony Blair's government apologizes for the deadly clash with Iraqi police. Britain defended the raid.

The Buffalo Springfield:

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

Today: Battle Lines Behind the Battle Lines

In military communities across the United States, a debate over the Iraq war is being waged by reluctant, neophyte activists. Their microphones chirp and squeak, or don't pick up their quiet voices at all. Their signs are too small. They forget the banners.

"This is my community. I don't want to offend people here. But my husband is a soldier; he can't say anything. So it's my duty as a citizen to speak up," Kara Hollingsworth, a D.C. native and Army wife at Fort Bragg whose husband served two tours in Iraq, said as she took a seat on a panel of antiwar activists last week.

1,900 dead and counting.

Facing ever-increasing recruiting problems, and a death toll of U.S. soldiers of more than 1,900, the Army announced a big change today. It will now accept high-school dropouts who don't have GEDs:

Army recruiters now have a wider pool to find future soldiers in. The Army is reaching out to a slice of America’s youth long ineligible to serve: non-high school graduates who don’t have a General Equivalency Diploma. Recruiters can now go after that demographic through the “Army Educations Plus” option, the Army announced Tuesday.

The Army will pay for the cost of the GED. Of course, at the heart of the matter is the recruiters' failure to meet its goals:

Trial begins Tuesday morning for Lynndie England, accused of abusing inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison:

Three months after England's attempt at a plea agreement fell apart, her lead defense lawyer, Capt. Jonathan Crisp, said "there's not going to be a deal."

Crisp said he plans to base much of his defense on England's history of mental health problems that date back to her childhood. He said he also will focus on the influence exerted over England by Pvt. Charles Graner, the reputed abuse ringleader. Graner, who England has said fathered her young son while they were deployed, is serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted at trial in January.

As TChris reported here, her statements have been suppressed and can't be used as evidence against her. Other case highlights worth revisiting include: Judge Halts Guilty Plea and Deprived of Oxygen at Birth. All of TalkLeft's coverage of the case is accessible here.

Eric Alterman: "Nope, Nothing at all like Vietnam."

Using enemy body counts as a benchmark, the U.S. military claimed gains against Abu Musab Zarqawi's foreign-led fighters last week even as they mounted their deadliest attacks on Iraq's capital.

But by many standards, including increasingly high death tolls in insurgent strikes, Zarqawi's group, al Qaeda in Iraq, could claim to be the side that's gaining after 2 1/2 years of war. August was the third-deadliest month of the war for U.S. troops.

by Last Night in Little Rock

In what was described by Iraqi officials as the largest theft in history, the UK Independent reports that $1B has disappeared from the Iraq Defense Ministry, compromising Iraq's ability to defend itself against insurgents.

One billion dollars has been plundered from Iraq's defence ministry in one of the largest thefts in history, The Independent can reveal, leaving the country's army to fight a savage insurgency with museum-piece weapons.

The money, intended to train and equip an Iraqi army capable of bringing security to a country shattered by the US-led invasion and prolonged rebellion, was instead siphoned abroad in cash and has disappeared.

by Last Night in Little Rock

Cindi Sheehan, another person who was almost lost in the aftermath of Katrina, who camped out at Crawford, TX during the last interminable Presidential vacation, was in Brooklyn yesterday saying the Sen. Hillary Clinton "knows that the war is a lie but she is waiting for the right time to say it."

by TChris

Is the military preparing to declare victory in Iraq? Based on body counts, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch assures us that the military has achieved "great successes" against insurgents.

But by many standards, including increasingly high death tolls in insurgent strikes, Zarqawi's group, al Qaeda in Iraq, could claim to be the side that's gaining after 2 1/2 years of war. August was the third-deadliest month of the war for U.S. troops.

by TChris

Four protestors poured their blood over an Army recruiting center in Ithaca, New York in 2003. They hoped recruits would think about the blood -- Iraqi and American -- that they would be destined to shed if they enlisted.

The protestors were charged with felony malicious mischief. Refusing a plea bargain, they went to trial in 2004. A judge who understood the historic role that juries play as a check against the government's power allowed the protestors to explain their motivations when they testified. As a result, the jury deadlocked 8-4 for acquittal.

What should have ended as a symbolic victory for peace -- the prosecutor didn't have the stomach to try the case again after the jury hung -- instead resulted in a federal prosecution. The four Catholic Worker activists will go on trial again Monday, where they face a maximum sentence of six years in prison.