A once secret archive, assembled by a Pentagon task force  40 years ago has been declassified revealing documented abuse by U.S. military during the Viet Nam War.  In a special to the LA Times  by Nick Turse and Deborah Nelson you will read - to the dismay of John O'Neill and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth - that the incidents that John Kerry testified to during that infamous Senate hearing were in fact carried out by American soldiers in Viet Nam. 

The documents detail 320 alleged incidents that were substantiated by Army investigators — not including the most notorious U.S. atrocity, the 1968 My Lai massacre....

Abuses were not confined to a few rogue units, a Times review of the files found. They were uncovered in every Army division that operated in Vietnam.

Just makes me wonder if the Swifties will now face charges of slander and libel.  And will they decide to back off their ludicrous and meretricious law suit against Rep. John Murtha.

Retired Brig. Gen. John H. Johns, a Vietnam veteran who served on the task force, says he once supported keeping the records secret but now believes they deserve wide attention in light of alleged attacks on civilians and abuse of prisoners in Iraq.

This cat is out of the bag, for better or worse.

On neimanwatchdog.org Saul Friedman, wrote, among other things, about the gratuitous insult Tony Snow visited on Helen Thomas a while back.  It really made me mad. So I was pleased to read this:

While I have your attention, let me recall the White House press made no protest at the regular briefing when Press Secretary Tony Snow, who was a flack for Bush when he worked for Fox News, casually tossed a gratuitous insult at Helen Thomas, who was pressing him on why the administration didn't favor a cease fire to save lives.

She pointed out, correctly, that the U.S. was perceived to have endorsed "collective punishment," against Lebanon and Palestine. His reply: "Well thank you for the Hezbollah view." Then he misinformed reporters by claiming the G8 meeting had endorsed the American position.

Not since the Vietnam war when an American official asked the press, "Which side are you on," have I heard a presidential flack insult an impugn a reporter's integrity for asking a legitimate question. Never in my dozen or so years asking tough questions of Larry Speakes, Marlin Fitzwater, Mike McCurry and even Ron Ziegler during Watergate, did I hear such a snide insult.

Helen Thomas could teach Snow about integrity and manners. Helen's roots are Lebanese, but as the longtime White House reporter for UPI, she would grit her teeth as she listened to the likes of Menachim Begin and Itzakh Shamir ask a couple of provocative questions, then write a clean, straight account of what they had to say.

Mel Gibson's drama seems to have captured at least some of the headlines for the past few days and certainly much of cable television's attention.  His pleas to the Jewish community to help him with his healing process struck a familiar chord as I read it.  After a while I recalled exactly what it was.

Do you remember the scene in "Red October " when the "Dallas"  is under attack and the American Captain (Scott Glenn) tells his crew what the Lithuanian Commander of the Red October (Sean Connery) who is at the helm is doing"?

"Tactics.  Military Tactics. By turning into the path of the torpedo he is shortening the distance it takes for the torpedo to arm itself."

And so the unarmed torpedo hits the submarine and breaks apart harmlessly.

Pretty clever eh?