Monday, November 19, 2007

Operation Happy Talk never ends

Military officials said the attacks were directed against American and Iraqi forces, as well as civilians. But since the source for the data is American military reports, and not the Iraqi government, the figures do not provide an exhaustive measure of sectarian violence.



Cara Buckley and War Pornographer Michael R. Gordon pen the above in this morning's "U.S. Says Attacks in Iraq Fell to the Level of Feb. 2006" (New York Times). Having written that, why do they then waste everyone's time by writing more? The figures do not provide an exhaustive measure of sectarian violence? But they do provide more than enough apparently for a lengthy Times article that itself admits that we're dealing with claims that really can't be substantiated. They go on to note:



To be sure, the level of violence in Iraq is still high. Even as military officials announced the figures, Iraq had one of its deadliest days in weeks, with at least 22 people killed.



To be sure. Got to cover your butts while still rushing to get the military brass' talking point into print. Independent verification never happens (even when the puppet government releases figures) because you can only see so much with a military escort -- in or out of the Green Zone.
Or as Al Jazeera puts it, "Deaths as US says Iraq less violent."


In the real world, audio of a speech David Bacon gave October 23rd on NAFTA and Migration -- Part of the Same System (International Conference on the North American Free Trade Agreement) is available online. You can also refer to the section of his website on immigration for more on the topic and his Communities Without Borders.


Staying in the real world, Shamal Aqrawi and Aseel Kami (Reuters) reports:

Iraq's northern Kurdistan region have banned journalists from travelling to Kurdish rebel bases, officials said on Monday, accusing the media of aggravating the crisis with Turkey. Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesman Jamal Abdullah said the semi-autonomous KRG would stop journalists going to Iraq's northern border and interviewing Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels who have launched attacks against Turkish soldiers.

So the problem was the media? No, the problem was that the media reported a reality that the KRG denied. Best way to deal with the issue? Ban the media! 'Democracy' comes to the Kurdish region!

And things are safe! And better! And freedom reigns! And whatever other lie's being told about Iraq today by the latest wave of Operation Happy Talk. But AP reports:

Three members of Iraq's Olympic soccer team and an assistant coach are seeking asylum in Australia.
Iraq's soccer federation secretary-general, Tariq Ahmed, said Monday that the four disappeared at dawn Sunday from the home of colleagues in Australia, where they were staying after playing Australia's Olympic team.

Guess the 'news' of 'improvement didn't reach those four.

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