THE PEACOCK REPORT (TPR)

AP: N.J. State Police to Review Arrests of Protesters

The Associated Press today reported that the New Jersey State Police intend to "review circumstances" of the arrests of protesters outside of a public meeting attended by Gov. Jon Corzine (Asbury Park Press, 01/24). Police last week charged radio personality Seth Grossman and former mayor of Bogota Township Steve Lonegan with defiant trespass after holding up signs and distributing protest literature, respectively, outside the meeting in Middle Township.

A video clip of the arrests is avaialable via the MoreMonmouthMusings blog.

Happy 4th? Try "72"

Upon hearing "Happy 4th" or "Happy Holiday" this week, I intend to respond, with intentional puzzlement in my voice, "Happy 4th? Nah. Seventy-two."

"Um, 'seventy-two'? some might say with equal puzzlement.

"Yeah, 'seventy-two'.... Out of nearly 4,000 soldiers who died for no damn good reason in Iraq, 'seventy-two' are from New Jersey, my home state. Seventy-two young men -- and women -- from Jersey, sent to their early graves, all for a war based on lies."

Eeesh. Seventy-two Jersey-dead. For what?

Another four fatalities from the Garden State just in June, namely:

Sgt. Trista L. Moretti of South Plainfield;

Pfc. David J. Bentz III of Newfield;

Sgt. Eric L. Snell of Trenton;

Spec. Farid Elazzouzi of Paterson.

Where are you from? And how will you respond to "Happy 4th" this holiday?

If you're from California, try saying, "Four-hundred nineteen," the highest number of dead from any state in the nation.

From Texas? Say: "Three-hundred forty-three."

Pennsylvania: "One-hundred eighty-one."

New York?: "One-hundred seventy-eight."

Florida?": "One-hundred seventy."

Ohio?: "One-hundred sixty-six."

This is just too painful to continue to list.

For a list of all U.S. military personnel whom have perished in the so-called Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, check out Faces of the Fallen, a project of the Washington Post.

Goodbye

Goodbye, USMC Pfc. Vincent Frassetto. No, I did not know you, and I am admittedly troubled as to why your death somehow has pained me more than any other casualty sustained thus far during our nation's occupation of Iraq. I guess our mutual geography literally and figuratively brings the war closer to home. Maybe I have no right to be so upset. Then again, maybe I do. I don't know. What I do know is that I've cried every time I've seen the headlines about you getting killed in action, and cried again this morning when I saw the picture of your family standing at your graveside during the funeral.

What an injustice your death represents. May the power brokers in Washington, D.C., someday pay dearly for sending you and over 2,600 other American soldiers to their untimely graves.

New Jersey Marine Dies As Senate Panel Refutes Iraq-al Qaeda Link

The same week that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a declassified report formally refuting any link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda -- and hence refuting the Bush Administration's false justification for invading Iraq -- a soldier near my home turf has been killed in action in Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Vincent M. Frassetto, a 21-year-old from Toms River, N.J., died while conducting combat operation in the Al Anbar province, according to a Dept. of Defense press release quoted by the Ocean County Observer.

The document once and for all refutes the alleged links between Osama bin Laden, Saddam and the 9/11 attacks that war hawks cited prior to the Iraq war. More importantly, as The Washington Post pointed out this past week, U.S. intelligence agencies warned the White House prior to the invasion that no such connection existed.

The "faulty intelligence" line that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Defense Secy. Rumsfeld, and Secy. of State Rice have been throwing around is finally a dead issue.

Could it be any more clear that Pfc. Frassetto's blood is on the hands of Bush, Inc., as well members of Congress and the American public who supported -- and continue to support -- the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq?

Justice must be served. It's time to impeach the president and put his cabal of cabinet members and appointees behind bars.