CROSS THAT ONE OFF YOUR READING LIST

Remember that DoD document dump you just haven't quite found time to read yet? The 8,000 pages of documents on how they prepped army folks to act as outside "military analysts" while laying out the White House line on Iraq? I'm sure you have all 8,000 pages printed out and stacked someplace prominent around the house, ready to read any time now. But have no fear - LWB friend (and one-time guest blogger) Alyssa Rosenberg is reading them so you don't have to. Check it out:

So it's downright creepy to read the anecdotes about women pushed in the DOD talking points released last week--especially when they're interspersed with terse updates on the U.S. military's attempts to rewrite its pathetic sexual assault policies. When it comes to exploiting imagery of Iraqi and Afghan women, the talking points read like a combination of Pippi Longstocking stories and Lifetime movies. In a July 4, 2004 briefing, a group of peppy Afghan schoolgirls buttonhole Donald Rumsfeld on their way to sports camp (can it get any more girl-power than that?): "After being introduced, young Roia wasn't shy about sharing her feelings with the secretary. ‘Mr. Secretary, all the girls we are very, very happy and pleased to be here,' she said through a translator. ‘We have one message for you ... Please don't forget the Afghan girls and Afghan women.' Rumsfeld's answer was simple, but carried a lot of weight. ‘We don't,' he said. ‘You can count on it.'"