Late Edition

Blogging may be erratic over the weekend, since I'm a temporary dog-owner until Sunday night. (Dogs are just so needy)

But here's some stories you might want to read.

England's lawyers plan to call Rumsfeld, Cheney

England's lawyers acknowledge that they can't force Cheney or Rumsfeld to appear because there is no subpoena power for Article 32 hearings.

The best they can hope for is that the two might be required as public servants to appear if called.

President Bush is not on the list, attorney Rose Mary Zapor said, because there was no evidence that he was involved in the chain of command that she believes ordered England and at least six other guards at the prison near Baghdad to "soften up" Iraqi detainees before interrogation.

Yeah, like those two will ever testify under oath about anything...

On that note:

Cheney Reportedly Interviewed in Leak of C.I.A. Officer's Name

WASHINGTON, June 4 — Vice President Dick Cheney was recently interviewed by federal prosecutors who asked whether he knew of anyone at the White House who had improperly disclosed the identity of an undercover C.I.A. officer, people who have been involved in official discussions about the case said on Friday.

Mr. Cheney was also asked about conversations with senior aides, including his chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, according to people officially informed about the case. In addition, those people said, Mr. Cheney was asked whether he knew of any concerted effort by White House aides to name the officer. It was not clear how Mr. Cheney responded to the prosecutors' questions.

...

It is not clear when or where Mr. Cheney was interviewed, but he was not questioned under oath and he has not been asked to appear before the grand jury, people officially informed about the case said. His willingness to answer questions was voluntary and apparently followed Mr. Bush's repeated instructions to aides to cooperate with the investigation.

Like I said... someone wake me up when anyone in this administration actually agrees to take an oath to tell the truth.

Here's an interesting Op-Ed in the NYT about the value of microlending to women to rebuild economies, in this case, in Iraq. I'd like to go on record as approving and encouraging the practice of lending women money to start their own businesses in Islamic (or other) countries. Wonder if I'll get Fatwa-ed?

Must Read: Beating Specialist Baker

The prison abuse scandal refuses to die because soothing White House explanations keep colliding with revelations about dead prisoners and further connivance by senior military officers — and newly discovered victims, like Sean Baker.

If Sean Baker doesn't sound like an Iraqi name, it isn't. Specialist Baker, 37, is an American, and he was a proud U.S. soldier. An Air Force veteran and member of the Kentucky National Guard, he served in the first gulf war and more recently was a military policeman in Guantánamo Bay.

Then in January 2003, an officer in Guantánamo asked him to pretend to be a prisoner in a training drill. As instructed, Mr. Baker put on an orange prison jumpsuit over his uniform, and then crawled under a bunk in a cell so an "internal reaction force" could practice extracting an uncooperative inmate. The five U.S. soldiers in the reaction force were told that he was a genuine detainee who had already assaulted a sergeant.

Despite more than a week of coaxing, I haven't been able to get Mr. Baker to give an interview. But he earlier told a Kentucky television station what happened next:

"They grabbed my arms, my legs, twisted me up and unfortunately one of the individuals got up on my back from behind and put pressure down on me while I was face down. Then he — the same individual — reached around and began to choke me and press my head down against the steel floor. After several seconds, 20 to 30 seconds, it seemed like an eternity because I couldn't breathe. When I couldn't breathe, I began to panic and I gave the code word I was supposed to give to stop the exercise, which was `red.' . . . That individual slammed my head against the floor and continued to choke me. Somehow I got enough air. I muttered out: `I'm a U.S. soldier. I'm a U.S. soldier.' "

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Meanwhile, a military investigation concluded that there had been no misconduct involved in Mr. Baker's injury. Hmm. The military also says it can't find a videotape that is believed to have been made of the incident.

Most appalling, when Mr. Baker told his story to a Kentucky reporter, the military lied in a disgraceful effort to undermine his credibility. Maj. Laurie Arellano, a spokeswoman for the Southern Command, questioned the extent of Mr. Baker's injuries and told reporters that his medical discharge was unrelated to the injuries he had suffered in the training drill.

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If the U.S. military treats one of its own soldiers this way — allowing him to be battered, and lying to cover it up — then imagine what happens to Afghans and Iraqis.

President Bush attributed the problems uncovered at Abu Ghraib to "a few American troops who dishonored our country." Mr. Bush, the problems go deeper than a few bad apples.

Finally, today's NYT has a lengthy article about war re-enactors, typically thought of as Civil- or Revolutionary-War buffs, who are now moving on to re-enact twentieth-century wars, notably WWII and Vietnam, sometimes to the hostility of living veterans of those wars. Curious hobby: read the article here.