Monday, June 07, 2010

Iraq snapshot

Monday, June 7, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, at least 12 people are dead and 66 wounded in violence today, over the weekend Iraqiya sees two party members assassinated, Sahwa is stripped of the right to carry guns, the military arrests someone over the Wikileaks assault video, the Iranian military reportedly sets up a base in Iraq, and more.
 
 
Monday April 5th, WikiLeaks released US military video of a July 12, 2007 assault in Iraq. 12 people were killed in the assault including two Reuters journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. Mark Memmott (NPR) reports that an Army intelligence analyst has been arrested and quotes this Army statement:


"United States Division-Center is currently conducting a joint investigation of Spc. Bradley Manning, 22, of Potomac, Md., who is deployed with 2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division, in Baghdad, Iraq. He was placed in pre-trial confinement for allegedly releasing classified information and is currently confined in Kuwait. The Department of Defense takes the management of classified information very seriously because it affects our national security, the lives of our Soldiers, and our operations abroad. The results of the investigation will be released upon completion of the investigation."
 
Steven Aftergood (Secrecy News) provides this context, "His arrest is the third known apprehension of a suspected leaker during the Obama Administration, after Shamai Leibowitz and Thomas A. Drake, and seems to reflect an increasingly aggressive response to unauthorized disclosures of classified information." Michael Evans (Times of London) reports, "Specialist Manning, who had clearance for top secret material, was arrested two weeks ago after Adrian Lamo, a former computer hacker-turned-whistleblower, alerted the FBI to an online conversation that he had had with the intelligence analyst." Luis Martinez (ABC News) quotes Lamo from his Twitter account writing, "I outed Manning as an alleged leaker out of duty. I would never out an Ordinary Decent Criminal. There's a difference."  Someone tell the snitch to climb down from the cross already -- he's neither overseen a miracle nor suffered for anyone's sins. Judas brags to the BBC, "I like to think I prevented him from getting into more serious trouble."  In Spanish, Adrian Lamo's last name translates to "I lick."  Today he demonstrates it also stands for "I suck."  Ellen Nakashima and Julie Tate (Washington Post) quote journalist Namir's sister Nabil Noor-Eldeen: "Justice was what this U.S. soldier [Manning] did by uncovering this crime against humanity. The American military should reward him, not arrest him."  Jeff Stein (Washington Post) takes a historical look at leaks and observes, "Two of the most important factors in a mole's decision to steal secrets were present in Manning's situation, [ . . .]: The 22-year-old's alleged emotional distress, and lax military security." WikiLeaks tweated this statement: "If Brad Manning,22,is the 'Collateral Murder' & Garani massacre whistleblower then, without doubt he's a national hero."  They also state: "Statement: Washington Post had Collateral murder video for over a year but DID NOT RELEASE IT it to the public."  And: "Did Wired break journalism's sacred oath? Lamo&Poulson call themselves journalists.Echoes of Olshansky shopping Diaz?" And: "@6/@kpoulson There's a special place in hell reserved for "journalists" like you and "lawyers" like Barbara Olshansky" Barbara Olshanksy is a friend and co-writer of David Lindorff's.  She used to be with the Center for Constitutional Rights, however her actions -- snitchery -- saw to it that Lt Commander Matthew Diaz was court-martialed.  Diaz sent her a list with the names of over 500 Guantanamo prisoners on it.  The Center was very interested in getting this sort of information but Olshansky decided to snitch out Diaz to the Feds. Diaz was discharged, served six months in prison and was awarded the Ridenhour Prize in 2008 for his brave actions.  The US not having a prize per se for snitchery but Barbara did get hired by Stanford and for some strange reason the laughable International Justice Network took her apparently to assist her in the outing of other whistleblowers.
 
Saturday Anthony Shadid (New York Times) reported that assailants (in Iraqi soldier and officer uniforms) have shot dead Faris Jassim al-Jabbouri who is a member of Iraqiya and had been a candidate (unsuccessful) for Parliament in the March elections. He is the third Iraqiya candidate to be shot dead. Moreover, Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) observed, "Al Jubori is the third candidate killed in Mosul from the same bloc."  Jamal al-Badrani, Muhanad Mohammed, Matt Robinson and Jon Boyle (Reuters) reported on the assassination but with a different twist, "A police source, who asked not to be named, said Jubouri was shot dead by gunmen in police uniform overnight in his home near the restive northern city of Mosul."  Oliver August (Times of London) added that hee "was executed in front of his family by a group of 20 men in police uniforms [. . .] The Killers searched an entire neighbourhood for Mr Jassim, aided by a masked informant, before finding him, tying up his brother and his son and killing him."  He was the third Iraqiya candidate assassinated. In February, Abdullah Jarallah became the first Iraqiya candidate assassinated and the United Nations condemned the murder here. In May, Bashar Hamid Al Ukaidi was assassinated. Alsumaria TV reported on the murder here. Amnesty International called the murder out here. That made three. The assassinations did not end Saturday. Adam Schreck (AP) reported Sunday that Ehab al-Ani, a member of Iraqiya, was killed by a Qaim roadside bombing and that "[t]he initial investigation indicated that al-Ani was not a random victim, as is often the case with such bombings, but was targeted because of his ties to Iraqiya, a police official said."
 
For those late to the party, Iraqiya is the political slate which won the most seats in Parliament in the March elections. It is headed by former prime minister Ayad Allawi. They won 91 seats. 163 seats are needed to form the executive government (prime minister and council of ministers). When no single slate wins 163 seats (or possibly higher -- 163 is the number today but the Parliament added seats this election and, in four more years, they may add more which could increase the number of seats needed to form the executive government), power-sharing coalitions must be formed with other slates, parties and/or individual candidates. (Eight Parliament seats were awarded, for example, to minority candidates who represent various religious minorities in Iraq.) Second place went to State Of Law which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89 seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place winner Iraqi National Alliance. Together, the two still lack four seats necessary (or so it is thought) to form the government.
 
At Inside Iraq last week, an Iraqi correspondent for McClatchy interviewed a section of Iraqis about the long delay (three months tomorrow) in forming a government. We'll note 25-year-old Aseel because Iraqi women remain under represented in the press which appears stuck in some sort of Eisenhower era, 'man' on the streets type inquiry:
 
"Our situation is very bad. No security at all. No jobs opportunities and no basic services. Nothing will change whether the politicians form the government or do not. In fact, it would be better for us if Iraq remains without a government because they political parties will keep discussing their demands and they will not fight each other. I believe that forming the government will take another six months because all the politicians work for their interests. I am sure God will send us to heaven after we die because we live in hell now."

 
In an editorial, Gulf News notes Sunday's massive violence and the gridlock gripping Iraq currently while advocating for Nouri al-Maliki and Ayad Allawi to meet and come to some form of understanding. This, of course, overlooks the press reports of last week that Nouri had repeatedly canceled face to face meeting with his rival and was doing so at the request of the Iranian government.  Alsumaria TV reports today, "While Iraqi Parliament is close to convene its first session, some signs are looming over regarding the disintegration of some political parties."
 
Today, it's three months since the Iraqi elections concluded (early voting began March 4th and all voting concluded March 7th) and they've got nothing to show for it but continued violence. The rules are not followed and the US, with no "stick" left, has no functioning Ambassador in Baghdad who can offer "carrots." Two more US service members died last week due to the Iraq War (possibly three, one died of a brain injury and it's thought to stem from his TBI). And three months later, still no government. As noted at Third Sunday, "Some point to the 2005 experience and note the elections were held in December and the prime minister (Nouri) not selected until April. Four months later. By that schedule, they may be on track. But haven't we heard how much better things allegedly are? Haven't we repeatedly been told the bad days of the 'civil war' are over? With all the supposed improvements, shouldn't the process have moved a lot smoother and a lot more quickly this time?"
 
Nothing is going smoothly in northern Iraq which is under assault from both the Iranian military and the Turkish military.  Starting with the latter to pick up KRG President Massoud Barzani's historic visit to Turkey.  The five-day visit is Barzani's first since 2004. Hurriyet Daily News reported Saturday, "Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani on Saturday urged all parties including the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, to stop violence and support the Turkish government's initiative to solve the Kurdish problem, adding that the PKK's decision to end the cease-fire was a negative development." Today's Zaman adds, "During the meeting with journalists when Sedat Ergin from the Hürriyet daily asked him about the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) declaration in which it announced that it ended its unilateral decision concerning a de-escalation of violence, Barzani got upset. Ergin said Barzani got upset because the PKK made this declaration when he was visiting Ankara." The KRG notes that Barzani met with commerce leaders on Sunday and declared, "We see Turkey as a gateway for us to Europe and the wider world, just as we believe the Kurdistan Region can also become a gateway for Turkey to the rest of Iraq and futher south to the Gulf countries." Reuters noted armed clashes between the PKK and the Turkish military not far from the bordertown of Uludere resulted in the deaths of 3 PKK on Sunday. The Turkish military continues shelling northern Iraq.  So does the Iranian military.  (Both share Iraq's northern border.)  Yassen Taha and Hannah Allam (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the shelling is causing outrage in Iraq as is the decision last week to send the Iranian military "about a mile into Iraqi territory, a brief incursion that Kurdish officials said elicited not a word of protest from the Iran-friendly administration of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, who like Iran's ruler is a Shiite Muslim." Yahya Barzanji (AP) adds that a protest of some sort has finally been lodged, "Deputy Iraqi Foreign Minister Labeed Abawi told The Associated Press he summoned the Iranian ambassador to complain about shelling in the Kurdish region, which enjoys considerable autonomy from the rest of Iraq." The right-wing World Tribune carries an unsigned report which maintains, citing Jabar Yawar, the Deputy Kurdish Interior Minister, that not only did the Iranian military enter Iraqi space but that they "established a base in the Kurdish village of Predunaz on June 3" and remain there.
 
 
In other news ov violence, the targeting of Sunnis by the government or 'government' continues. Hilmi Kamal (Reuters) reports that the country's military states that Sahwa ("Awakenings" or "Sons Of Iraq") are no longer allowed to carry weapons, "Today, Saturday, we received an order from the Defence Ministry ground forces leadership to withdraw all the badges of Sahwa personnel and replace them with new ones that do not authorize them to carry weapons." It's certainly interesting timing. One could even argue Nouri was planning an assault on the Sunnis -- as opposed to these one at a time killings -- and that's why he was disarming the Sahwa. There is a context that this is taking place in: Nouri's refusal to stand down. As with everything else he's done in the last three months, this has to do with his desire to hold onto the position of prime minister. Since the Parliament is supposed to be sitting (for the first time, new Parliament) within two weeks, why is Nouri issuing orders? Again, there's a context, it's the same one that goes to the deals he's signed after elections concluded March 7th -- deals with foreign corporations and on control of Iraqi assets. There is a context for this. And today Reuters reports a Sunday evening attack on Sahwa members in Jurf al-Sakhar which saw 3 shot dead in their homes with a fourth injured.
 
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
 
Bombings?
 
Reuters notes a series of Qaim home bombings targeting a Sawha leader and his son and claiming the lives of 2 police officers (three more injured), a Baghdad car bombing which claimed 3 lives (nine injured), a Baghdad roadside bombing which claimed the lives of 2 police officers (seven people injured), another Baghdad roadside bombing which injured five, a Mansouriya roadside bombing which injured two police officers, a combed shooting and bombing Falluja attack on police officers homes which claimed 1 life (twenty injured), two more Baghdad roadside bombings which left ten people injured, a Mosul roadside bombing which left two people (father and son) injured.
 
Shootings?
 
Reuters notes 1 shop owner shot dead in Mosul and an attack on an Imam in Abu Ghraib in which he and two sons were killed, his wife was injured as was their youngest son.
 
Sunday Alsumaria TV reported what can only be dubbed "a major understatement," "US Forces spokesman in Iraq General Steven Lanza announced that Iraqi security forces are not in a perfect position security and military wise. They need intensive training in order to take full command of Iraq's internal security following the full withdrawal of US troops from Iraq."
 
Meanwhile in the United States, Michael O'Brien (The Hill) reports, "A senior House Democrat likened President Barack Obama to former Vice President Dick Cheney over his handling of the war in Iraq."  US House Rep Charlie Rangel spoke with the New York Daily News criticizing Barack Obama for the continuation of the illegal war and Rangel stated, "I challenge anyone to tell me we aren't there [Iraq] because of the oil. The lack of an honest explanation [for the war] is consistent with Bush and Cheney." Today Erin Einhorn (New York Daily News) reports that at a rally yesterday, New York Governor David Paterson showed his support for Rangel and Rangel repeated his remarks about the Iraq War adding, "The fact that I can have an issue with even a great President, I really don't think warrants the headlines but . . . whatever makes you feel good, it's okay with me."
 
From the House to the Senate, we'll note this from the Senate Democratic Policy Committee:
 
On May 27th, Senate Democrats led the effort to pass a bipartisan supplemental appropriations bill that funds key counterterrorism and national security missions and supports disaster recovery initiatives by a vote of 67 to 28.  The bill provides a total of $58.96 billion in emergency funding for Fiscal Year 2010 in support of ongoing missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the addition of 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan as well as $2.6 billion for the Afghan Security Forces Fund and $1 billion for the Iraqi Security Forces Fund; more than $5.5 billion for continued and emerging disaster relief and recovery initiatives for affected communities across the United States; $2.8 billion to support relief efforts in Haiti; and $68 million in initial disaster response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The supplemental bill provides a total of $32.8 billion in funding, as requested, for the Department of Defense (DoD) for operations, personnel costs, and equipment related primarily to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan , but also in support of ongoing operations and continued drawdown efforts in Iraq. 

Providing our troops with the resources and tools they need to fulfill their missions.  Funding provided in the bill will ensure that our forces engaged in critical national security missions in Iraq and Afghanistan have the most effective weaponry, communications, and other equipment they need on the battlefield.  It fully funds key readiness programs necessary to prepare military forces for combat operations and other missions and also funds vital initiatives that support our forces in theater, including high priority intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.

Protecting our troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan .  The supplemental bill ensures that our deployed service members are armed with the best force protection equipment available.  It provides a total of $1.1 billion for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and funds key upgrades to equipment and detection systems to safeguard troops in Iraq and Afghanistan from the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).  The bill also supports the Army's Ground Standoff Mine Detection System for convoy protection and road clearing in Afghanistan and fully funds the Special Operations Command's requirement for additional protective equipment.

Ensure our troops are provided first-rate care and services.  The supplemental bill provides $1.8 billion for military personnel, including special pay and allowances, for Active, Reserve, and Guard troops activated for duty in Iraq , Afghanistan , and other contingency operations.  It also includes $33.4 million for the Defense Health Program.

 
One way to protect the troops is, of course, to immediately withdraw them.  We don't have room for the full press release in the snapshot.  We'll run it almost in full tomorrow morning.  Almost?  I don't allow "Oh my G--" or any similar things here (and it's why we didn't participate in the make fun of Allah day recently as well) that insult someone's religion.  I also don't allow a certain (non-religious) phrase here and have never allowed it here.  Noam Chomsky rightly called that phrase out during the first Gulf War.  It does not appear here.  (It's a bumper sticker and intended to silence dissent, as Chomsky rightly pointed out.)  Outside of curse words, there's very little that's censored but we don't mock the religious deities people worship (or take their names in vain) and we don't use that phrase Chomsky's has rightly decried.
 
"Is justice a property of the strongest? Is this a case of might makes right?" asked Jasim Azawi on the latest Inside Iraq (Al Jazeera, began airing Friday and the show's not up at the website yet).  Jasim's guests were Brad Blackeman who used to run a front group for the Bush White House and former Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Hassan Issa.
 
Jasim Azawi: Ambassador Hassan Issa, a simple question, why should former president Bush and prime minister Blair should be tried as War Criminals?
 
Hassan Issa: We have a million reasons in the form of a million anihalted Iraqis by the American decision to invade Iraq. I have four million reasons in the form of four million displaced Iraqis inside and outside Iraq. I have a country that is completely destroyed, beyond repair. Because of the decision made by President Bush, ex-President Bush and his follower Prime Minister Blair who still insists that they were right up to this day. This is a disgrace in the face of humanity and it is about time that somebody calls both of them to be tried as War Criminals.
 
Brad Blakeman, you heard the man. He called your former boss, President Bush, a War Criminal.  This indictment is not limited to Hassan Issa. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in the Arab world and Africa and Latin America as well as part of Europe, they consider President Bush and Prime Minister Blair as War Criminals.  Are they all wrong?
 
Brad Blakeman: Yes, they are. There are hundreds of millions who think that President Bush and Prime Minister Blair and our coalition partners did exactly the right thing. Where was the outrage with Saddam's regime which punished its own people, prevented people from voting, killed people, raped people, in fact used Weapons of Mass Destruction against his own people. Where was the outrage? And let me say this,
 
Hassan Issa: Oh my goodness, oh my goodness.  Mr. Blakeman, you're still talking about Weapons of Mass Destruction?  This doesn't exist.  It never existed.
 
Brad Blakeman:  Yes, but let me --
 
Hassan Issa:  Up to this day, you're still talking about --
 
Brad Blakeman: Let me conclude my point, let me conclude my point.
 
Hassan Issa:  Oh my goodness.
 
Brad Blakeman:  Let me conclude my point. And my point is this: We could not have been successful in removing Saddam Hussein without our Middle East partners.  If you're going to indict President Bush and Prime Minister Blair, then you must indict as well the Emir of Qatar [Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani]. We have our largest base there. Without our Middle East partners, like the Saudi government, we could not have been successful. Without the King of Jordan [King Abdullah II]. Without Egypt. There are many Middle Eastern countries who encouraged us to take the action we did against Saddam. In fact, they gave us aid to do so.
 
Jasim Azawi: How about that, Ambassador Hassan Issa?
 
[crosstalk]
 
Hassan Issa: For heaven sake --
 
Brad Blakeman: You must indict --
 
Hassan Issa: For heaven sake
 
Brad Blakeman: -- them as well.
 
Hassan Issa: For heaven sake, who ever encouraged you to anahilate a million human beings in Iraq, who ever encouraged you to displace four million Iraqis, who ever encouraged you to destroy a country, an Arab country -- you cannot blame Arab countries for supporting you.
 
Brad Blakeman: We freed an Arab country, my friend!
 
Hassan Issa: We never supported President Bush.
 
Brad Blakeman: We freed an Arab country! Tens of millions of people are now free because the action that the United States, Britian and our coalition partners.  Where's the indictment of --
 
Hassan Issa: Free where, Mr. Blakeman?
 
Brad Blakeman: -- of the thirty or so nations?
 
Hassan Issa: Free where? In Iraq? Free in Iraq?
 
Brad Blakeman: Yes, free in Iraq! Yes, sir! Free elections! Free from tyranny.  Yes. We are proud of what we did.  We are proud of what we did. And we'd do it again. We think the Emir of Qatar [C.I. note, if the idiot really thanked the Emir, he would know the Emir's name, the same with King Abudllah II]. We thank the President of Egypt [Hosni Mubarak]! We thank the King of Jordan! We think the Saudis! We thank --
 
Jasim Azawi: I am sure the list is very long, Brad Blakeman.  Many, many Arab countries, they consented if not given the green light for this invasion. To their chagrin and their regret right now.  Ambassador Hassan Issa, you have a bone to pick with Brad Blakeman and the people who espouse his views. But let me ask you, why don't  you listen to what President Bush said? He said he did not invade Iraq simply because he wanted to, he was told by God -- he said by Providence, Providence gave me the green light
 
Hassan Issa:  He what?  Please. No, no, no, no. Please repeat this again because I can't believe what you said.
 
Jasim Azawi: He said Providence gave me the green light to launch this war.  God talked to him to say this is a righteous cause.
 
Hassan Issa: [Laughing] Oh, my goodness.
 
Brad Blakeman: Please! Don't take his words out of context!  Come on, you know better than that!
 
Hassan Issa: Are you kidding me?
 
Brad Blakeman: We operate under a rule of law!
 
Hassan Issa: Honest to God, are you kidding me? Are you joking?
 
Brad Blakeman: No, I'm not joking. We operate under the rule of law unlike the person we removed from power, a brutal dictator. Where is the outrage on your part for what Saddam has done to his country? To his people? Where is the outrage for that, Mr. Ambassador? You don't have it! You --
 
Hassan Issa: Sir, sir, you removed him and you replaced him by 150,000 dictators. 150,000 American troops.
 
Brad Blakeman is just a fat liar.  And, repeating, if you think someone needs to be thanked, you learn their damn name.  What an idiot. And I'm getting really tired, as an American, in seeing Americans go on this show and show their ass.  They need to grasp that this goes out through the Arab world and screaming and shouting and throwing tantrums is not conveying a good impression of the United States.
 
Since the Providence remark especially seemed to set Blakeman off, we'll note that this was not one comment at one time.  Judy Keen's "Strain of Iraq war showing on Bush, those who know him say" (USA Today, April 2, 2003): "Bush believes he was called by God to lead the nation at this time, says Commerce Secretary Don Evans, a close friend who talks with Bush every day."  Tom Carver's "Bush puts God on his side" (BBC News, April 6, 2003): "He became convinced that God was calling him to engage the forces of evil in battle, and this one time baseball-team owner from Texas did not shrink from the task." Ewen MacAskill's "George Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq'" (Guardian, October 7, 2005):
 
George Bush has claimed he was on a mission from God when he launched the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a senior Palestinian politician in an interview to be broadcast by the BBC later this month.      
Mr Bush revealed the extent of his religious fervour when he met a Palestinian delegation during the Israeli-Palestinian summit at the Egpytian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, four months after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.            
One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."
 
Matthew Rothschild's "Bush Salutes Ted Stevens, Invokes God's Will Again in Iraq War" (The Progressive, August 5, 2008):
 
As in many of his speeches post-9/11, Bush again invoked God as a justification for the Iraq War. Speaking to troops who will soon be going to Iraq, Bush said: "I believe there's an Almighty, and I believe a gift of that Almighty to every man, woman, an child on the face of the Earth is freedom." Implying that he is doing God's will, he said, "It's in our national interest to help others realize the blessings of a free society."
 
 
 
 
 

Posted by at 4:11 PM Links to this post

Violence continues and military whistle blower arrested?

The violence of Sunday continues today in Iraq. Lu Hui (Xinhua) reports the violence claimed at least 10 lives and with an additional thirty-seven injured with an Anbar Province roadside bombing claiming the lives of 2 Iraqi military officers (two more soldiers wounded), Falluja home bombings (police officer homes) resulted in five people being wounded and a Falluja checkpoint attack left four Sahwa wounded. Reuters notes the Falluja home bombings resulted in 1 death and twenty injured, 2 Baghdad roadside bombings which injured ten people, a Baghdad car bombing which claimed 1 life and left six people injured, a Mosul roadside bombing which injured a father and son, 1 person shot dead in Mosul, 1 Iman shot dead in Abu Ghraib, his two sons were also killed and his wife and their two-year-old were left injured, and, dropping back to Sunday, a Jurf al-Sahkar attack in which 3 Sahwa were killed and another was injured.

Monday April 5th, WikiLeaks released US military video of an assault in Iraq. 12 people were killed in the assault including two Reuters journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. Mark Memmott (NPR) reports that an Army intelligence analyst has been arrested and quotes this Army statement:


"United States Division-Center is currently conducting a joint investigation of Spc. Bradley Manning, 22, of Potomac, Md., who is deployed with 2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division, in Baghdad, Iraq. He was placed in pre-trial confinement for allegedly releasing classified information and is currently confined in Kuwait. The Department of Defense takes the management of classified information very seriously because it affects our national security, the lives of our Soldiers, and our operations abroad. The results of the investigation will be released upon completion of the investigation."


Meanwhile US House Rep Charlie Rangel spoke with the New York Daily News criticizing Barack Obama for the continuation of the illegal war and Rangel stated, "I challenge anyone to tell me we aren't there [Iraq] because of the oil. The lack of an honest explanation [for the war] is consistent with Bush and Cheney." Today Erin Einhorn (New York Daily News) reports that at a rally yesterday, New York Governor David Paterson showed his support for Rangel and Rangel repeated his remarks about the Iraq War adding, "The fact that I can have an issue with even a great President, I really don't think warrants the headlines but . . . whatever makes you feel good, it's okay with me."

Little fluttering War Hawk Amitabh Pal writes for The Progressive and the only thing more ridiculous than his writing is catching him on the radio -- in 2006, ahead of the mid-terms, he was insisting on air to Andrea Lewis (KPFA Morning Show) that Iraq would have no impact on the way people voted. Of course, Iraq resulted in turning control of both houses of Congress over to the Democrats. More recently the War Hawk decided he knew something about the British elections when he didn't know a damn thing. Last month, the whore scribbled, "But it wasn't the Iraq War that did the Labour Party in, since the British people, like their American counterparts, are keen to forget that fiasco." I'm sick of little neoliberal whores pushing agendas from supposedly fully left organs and getting away with it. Pal's a damn liar and it's not incompetence, it's a desire to lie. Freak show wrote how much about the Iraq Inquiry? NOT A DAMN WORD. But freak show wants to pretend he knows a damn thing.

He would be embraced by The New Republic and with his own at that magazine. He sticks out like a sore thumb at The Progressive (or the so-called Progressive). The idiot didn't know what he was talking about. The Iraq War had a huge impact on the elections and was key in sweeping Labour out of power.

Rebecca, who, unlike Pal, went to London and actually did work for the Labour Party in the lead up to the elections, called the liar out here. He's had more than ample time to correct his lies and he refuses to do so. That Matthew Rothschild hasn't weighed in goes to a lack of integrity in the magazine, at the top.

As noted here, Nick Clegg became a media sensation during the debates and what topic made him that? The Iraq War. Today Clegg's returned to the topic. John Bingham (Telegraph of London) reports:

The Deputy Prime Minister warned that the legitimacy of the inquiry, led by Sir John Chilcot, would be in doubt unless there was “real, meaningful, thorough disclosure”.
He also launched an outspoken attack on Tony Blair's government, accusing it of being “hell-bent on going to war” and able to "bamboozle Parliament and the British people".
In opposition Mr Clegg accused Gordon Brown’s administration of attempting to “gag” the inquiry by keeping vital documents classified, something he said had “all the hallmarks of a cover-up”.

You know what? We don't need Pal's disinformation. He wasn't just wrong, he was grossly wrong, he was insanely wrong and The Progressive refused to correct the record; however, the only real correction a magazine worthy of the name "The Progressive" could make would be to fire Amitabh Pal who doesn't belong there. It's amazing that Rothschild allowed Nat Hentoff to leave the magazine but keeps Pal. (I know Nat. We clearly disagree on abortion rights. There's a difference between disagreeing on opinons and a refusal -- Pal's case -- to get the facts right -- a repeated refusal.)

The legendary Grace Slick is the subject of a Biography (A&E) that Hulu has posted. For more about Grace, you can check out the Jefferson Airplane website. Bonnie notes Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Working It For BP" went up last night.

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Posted by at 4:45 AM Links to this post

The suffering of the military families and the stupidity of the press

The story of war is not just about combat on the battlefield. It's also about the families that remain behind to fight their own private battles.
It's the story of Aimee Ybarra, a mother of two grade-school children, whose husband came home after his fifth combat tour and told her he wanted to leave their 15-year marriage because he had gotten used to being gone. It's the story of Lisa Bernreuther, who's steeling herself for her husband's sixth deployment; he's only been home from his last tour since April. She keeps his Army boots by the door, she says, "because sometimes I forget I even have a husband."
And it's the story of Gwendolyn Roberts, a bright, outgoing sixth-grader and "Daddy's girl." When her father left for war for the third time in five years, the spark went out of her and she tumbled into severe depression.

The above is from David Tarrant (text) and Sonya N. Hebert (photos)'s "Military families face private battles as loved ones are sent to war" (Dallas Morning News) which announces a new series of reports the paper will be doing over the coming months on military suicides, on the stress deployments have on children and spouses and on the family's adjustment to caregiver roles. The first in the series by Tarrant and Hebert is "Texas' 100,000 military kids stuffer during parents' long deployments" which focuses on children like Gwendolyn Roberts whose father started his first of three deployments when she was four-years-old:

With more than 20 years of military service, Glenn Roberts was eligible to retire. He had promised Gwendolyn he would do so by the time she turned 11. But he still had one last tour to complete. This deployment was extra hard on the family because there was a newborn in the house. Gwendolyn's younger brother was named Glenn after his father.
A friend told Martha Roberts about the free counseling offered for Fort Hood families at Military Homefront Services. Gwendolyn started seeing a therapist there in summer 2008, about halfway through her father's deployment.
Gwendolyn talked about her fears to her counselor. Drawing became part of her therapy, another way to express her feelings. She mailed many of her drawings to her father – "pictures of me and him holding hands," she said.

Meanwhile Tom Vanden Brooks (USA Today) reports on the increase in sleeping disorders among veterans, "More than 63,000 veterans receive benefits for sleep apnea, a disorder that causes a sleeping person to gasp for breath and awaken frequently. It is linked to problems ranging from daytime drowsiness to heart disease. The top risk factor for contracting the disorder appears to be obesity, though a sleep expert at the VA and a veteran's advocacy organization cite troops' exposure to dust and smoke in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq as contributing factors."

File it under "Because They're Stupid." Waterdown Daily Times has always been a cess pool and occasionally it contaminates the local population but mainly they long ago learned to shrug it off. Today the editorial board flaunts that up-is-down,red-is-blue psychosis it is so very infamous for in an editorial laughing entitled "Progress in Iraq." Remember folks, if they could get real jobs, they wouldn't work for the Waterdown Daily Times. Are they really so stupid that they mean to infer al Qaida was in Iraq before the US invasion? Maybe, they're not smart people, the editorial board is so in-bred you expect to see a two-headed calf sitting in on meetings. But they also like to lie and they've lied for years and years. The editorial reveals a lack of comprehension regarding al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a lack of comprehension regarding terrorism and pretty much an inability to do anything other than publicly go down on Odierno. Watch the teeth, Watertown, watch the teeth.


The legendary Grace Slick is the subject of a Biography (A&E) that Hulu has posted. For more about Grace, you can check out the Jefferson Airplane website. Bonnie notes Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Working It For BP" went up last night.

The grand compromise would form the crux of the recommendations by the new 18-member National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility that was set up to find ways to reduce the federal budget deficit.
Commission co-chairmen are former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., and Erskine Bowles, a former chief of staff in the Clinton White House.
The panel's recommendations are scheduled to be announced in December, safely after the November elections. A recommendation requires a minimum of 14 votes among the commissioners.
If Obama agrees to ask Congress to cut Social Security benefits, it would amount to a sellout by a president of the same Democratic Party that embraced Franklin D. Roosevelt, the father of Social Security, in 1935.





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Posted by at 4:30 AM Links to this post

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Working It For BP"

Working It For BP
Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts "Working It For BP." As the Gulf Coast Disaster continues, BP CEO Tony Hayward gets a lap dance from Adm Thad Allen and declares, "Throw a little money at it. It's the BP way." Thad says, "I hope this never ends." Meanwhile, holding some cash, Barack gets a grind job from White House spokesmodel Robert Gibbs. Barack states, "Can't talk right now, Tony. Gibbs is creating an oil spill!" Isaiah archives his comics at The World Today Just Nuts.










Posted by at 8:54 PM Links to this post

And the war drags on . . .

A candidate in the recent Iraqi election was executed in front of his family by a group of 20 men in police uniforms who raided his home.
Faris Jassim, a member of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s party that won the March 7 election, was shot near the northern city of Mosul, which has become the centre of the Al Qaeda-led insurgency in Iraq.
The killers searched an entire neighbourhood for Mr Jassim, aided by a masked informant, before finding him, tying up his brother and his son and killing him.

The above is from Oliver August's "Iraq election unrest continues with killing of another candidate" (Times of London). He was the third Iraqiya candidate assassinated. In February, Abdullah Jarallah became the first Iraqiya candidate assassinated and the United Nations condemned the murder here. In May, Bashar Hamid Al Ukaidi was assassinated. Alsumaria TV reported on the murder here. Amnesty International called the murder out here. Yesterday, noting the assassination of Faris Jassim al Jabbori, Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) observes, "Al Jubori is the third candidate killed in Mosul from the same bloc." That made three. The assassinations did not end yesterday. Adam Schreck (AP) reports that Ehab al-Ani, a member of Iraqiya, was killed by a Qaim roadside bombing and that "[t]he initial investigation indicated that al-Ani was not a random victim, as is often the case with such bombings, but was targeted because of his ties to Iraqiya, a police official said."

For those late to the party, Iraqiya is the political slate which won the most seats in Parliament in the March elections. It is headed by former prime minister Ayad Allawi. They won 91 seats. 163 seats are needed to form the executive government (prime minister and council of ministers). When no single slate wins 163 seats (or possibly higher -- 163 is the number today but the Parliament added seats this election and, in four more years, they may add more which could increase the number of seats needed to form the executive government), power-sharing coalitions must be formed with other slates, parties and/or individual candidates. (Eight Parliament seats were awarded, for example, to minority candidates who represent various religious minorities in Iraq.) Second place went to State Of Law which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89 seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place winner Iraqi National Alliance. Together, the two still lack four seats necessary (or so it is thought) to form the government.

At Inside Iraq last week, an Iraqi correspondent for McClatchy interviewed a section of Iraqis about the long delay (three months tomorrow) in forming a government. We'll note 25-year-old Aseel because Iraqi women remain under represented in the press which appears stuck in some sort of Eisenhower era, 'man' on the streets type inquiry:

"Our situation is very bad. No security at all. No jobs opportunities and no basic services. Nothing will change whether the politicians form the government or do not. In fact, it would be better for us if Iraq remains without a government because they political parties will keep discussing their demands and they will not fight each other. I believe that forming the government will take another six months because all the politicians work for their interests. I am sure God will send us to heaven after we die because we live in hell now."

In an editorial, Gulf News notes today's massive violence and the gridlock gripping Iraq currently while advocating for Nouri al-Maliki and Ayad Allawi to meet and come to some form of understanding. This, of course, overlooks the press reports of last week that Nouri had repeatedly canceled face to face meeting with his rival and was doing so at the request of the Iranian government.

Tomorrow, it's three months since the Iraqi elections concluded (early voting began March 4th and all voting concluded March 7th) and they've got nothing to show for it but continued violence. The rules are not followed and the US, with no "stick" left, has no functioning Ambassador in Baghdad who can offer "carrots." Two more US service members died last week due to the Iraq War (possibly three, one died of a brain injury and it's thought to stem from his TBI). And three months later, still no government. As noted at Third today, "Some point to the 2005 experience and note the elections were held in December and the prime minister (Nouri) not selected until April. Four months later. By that schedule, they may be on track. But haven't we heard how much better things allegedly are? Haven't we repeatedly been told the bad days of the 'civil war' are over? With all the supposed improvements, shouldn't the process have moved a lot smoother and a lot more quickly this time?"




They're just there to try and make the people free,
But the way that they're doing it, it don't seem like that to me.
Just more blood-letting and misery and tears
That this poor country's known for the last twenty years,
And the war drags on.
-- words and lyrics by Mick Softly (available on Donovan's Fairytale)

Last Sunday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4400. Tonight? 4402.

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad suicide car bombing claimed the life of the drive and claimed the lives of 4 police officers (twelve more injured), a Baghdad sticky bombing injured two people, a Baghdad roadside bombing that was an assassination attempt on Judge Sadoon Jabbar ended up injuring two bystanders, a Baghdad roadside bombing aimed at a local council member left him, "his deputy and six other employees" wounded, a Baghdad car bombing left six police officers wounded, and, dropping back to last night, a Baquba roadside bombing which left five people injured.

Shootings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an armed clash in Mosul in which 1 Iraqi soldier was killed and another wounded.

Alsumaria TV reports what can only be dubbed "a major understatement," "US Forces spokesman in Iraq General Steven Lanza announced that Iraqi security forces are not in a perfect position security and military wise. They need intensive training in order to take full command of Iraq’s internal security following the full withdrawal of US troops from Iraq."


New content at Third:



Isaiah's latest goes up after this. Pru notes "Deepwater Horizon disaster: Our seas sacrificed for their profits" (Great Britian's Socialist Worker):

As millions of gallons of oil turn the Gulf of Mexico black, Simon Basketter looks at BP and the causes of what could be the worst environmental disaster in history

It’s hard to grasp the awesome scale of the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. It is definitely the US’s biggest ever environmental disaster – and by some estimates may be the worst in world history.

Oil firm BP and the US government first claimed that a “mere” 1,000 barrels (42,000 gallons) a day have poured into the ocean. Then they increased the guess to 5,000 barrels a day.

They now say it is 17,000. But some scientists believe the amount could be 60,000 or 70,000 barrels, making it by the far the worst oil disaster ever.

The region’s fishing industry will be destroyed. The full effect of the spill on fish, birds and marine mammals will not be known for generations.

Oil is pouring into the deep currents of a semi-enclosed sea, poisoning the water and depriving it of oxygen so that entire classes of marine species are at risk of annihilation.

It is as if an underwater bomb has struck the Gulf of Mexico, causing some damage on the surface but destroying the living creatures below. And most of the methods to deal with this process have made it worse.

The reason for the different estimates on how much oil has leaked is money. Under the US Clean Water Act, BP could be fined up to £3,000 for every barrel of oil gushing into the Gulf. If its lower estimates are accepted it will save BP millions of dollars.

So it was not just arrogance that led Tony Hayward, the boss of BP, to claim, “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.”

BP won’t even say how much oil it thinks is in the field it was exploring. It claims this is commercially sensitive information.

The 20 April explosion happened because BP was in a hurry to seal off the oil well so it could move the rig to another drilling location. Eleven workers died as a result.

BP, which has boasted of its success in boosting oil production in the gulf, has a sordid history when it comes to safety. Last October it was fined $87 million (£60 million) for failing to correct safety problems discovered after a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers at BP’s Texas City refinery.

Emphasis

Like every other oil company, BP has also sought a blanket exemption from requirements that it conduct an environmental impact assessment for each new offshore well it drills.

BP and its subcontractors were able to drill because the US government, under George Bush and then Barack Obama, encouraged them.

Obama has been critical of his predecessor’s environmental policies and promised to place fresh emphasis on developing alternative fuels – but nothing changed.

In 2009 BP spent nearly £11 million on lobbying the US government – and the leases for offshore drilling in the Gulf kept flowing.

Oil drives the global capitalist economy, and the competition for this “black gold” breeds conflict and corruption.

A handful of massive corporations and producer countries control the industry, backed to the hilt by powerful states – and they are willing to organise coups and wars in the pursuit of profit and power.

Even on its very best day, the oil industry is a series of violent, toxic horrors. Drilling, shipping, refining and burning oil is destroying the planet – at the local level through poisoned air and water, and globally by fuelling climate change.

Explosion

The latest disaster is merely an extreme version of this norm in which accidents and pollution are routine. In January a tanker collided with two barges at Port Arthur, Texas, dumping 450,000 gallons of oil into the gulf. In Ecuador, Texaco leaked 19 billion gallons of toxic wastewater and 17 million gallons of crude oil in pristine forests.

And there are echoes of a 1979 accident off the coast of Mexico that caused what was the world’s worst oil spill – until now.

Both then and now, natural gas flowed unnoticed into the well being drilled, causing an explosion. And, then and now, the same critical piece of fail-safe equipment failed – the blowout preventer.

The 1979 Ixtoc spill belched crude oil for 297 days. And, importantly, it continued to leak oil more than three months after the spill was “fixed”. Mexico’s Ixtoc well was only 150 feet below the sea surface. The current Deepwater Horizon disaster is 5,000 feet deep.

The scale of the catastrophe is prompting some newspapers to call it “Obama’s Katrina”.

More than a month since the start of the disaster, the US government has been completely unable to get a grip on it.

Obama says BP will pay “every cent” of the clean-up cost. But it was his administration that last year intervened to support the reversal of a court order that would have halted offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama’s interior secretary Ken Salazar named an example of an important project that must be allowed clearance – BP’s Deepwater Horizon.

BP: profiting from destruction

BP started as the British Persian oil company, exploiting the oilfields and markets of the British empire.

The firm got a monopoly of Iranian oil on the back of a £20,000 deal – and a £5,000 bribe to Winston Churchill.

The carve-up culminated with secret agreements between the major companies to ensure their profits.

Throughout the oil company’s history, its desire for profits and control led to the disaster of imperialist intervention and wars in crucial parts of the world, particularly the Middle East.

The British multinational is the third largest global energy company and the fourth largest company in the world.

The total cost of the cleanup will be $760 million – but for BP that is just 12 days’ profits.

The great toxic clean up

Marine scientists have discovered a massive new plume of oil, stretching 22 miles from the leaking well.

It is the second such plume discovered by independent researchers within weeks.

Some believe it may be from a second leak. But a more likely scenario is that it is caused by the attempts to clean up the mess.

The main method used to “clean up” the spilled oil is chemical dispersant.

Oil company crews are injecting the surface of the oil slick with toxic dispersant chemicals, which are designed to break up the oil.

This can do more harm than good. It hides the extent of the catastrophe by dividing the oil into smaller parcels that sink to the seafloor.

The Gulf of Mexico is filling with globs of heavy, black oil that will be harder to clean up – and will be carried to shore on currents and tides for decades to come.

BP is pumping a dispersant called Corexit – which it helped develop – into the sea.

The US government told the company to stop using Corexit as it is more toxic than competing products, but BP has ignored this.

The US Coast Guard recalled all 125 fishing vessels working on cleaning up the oil spill last week because the workers on the ships became ill.

BP made workers sign waivers saying they wouldn’t sue before they were given work in the clean-up operation.

Marine toxicologist Riki Ott said the chemicals used by BP can wreak havoc on the body and even kill.

“The volatile, organic carbons, they act like a narcotic,” Ott said.

“At high concentrations, we learned in Exxon Valdez from carcasses of seals and sea otters, it actually fried the brain [and there were] brain lesions.”

Why did it happen?

The cause of the oil spill is simple – the pursuit of profit at all costs.

BP has tried to pin the blame on the survivors of the disaster. But the real culprit was the firm’s cost-cutting.

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig came after the well was capped with a cheap type of casing, produced by Halliburton.

BP rushed as it was leasing the rig for half a million dollars a day.

Rig chief mechanic Douglas H Brown told a US investigation that BP was constantly pushing for work to be speeded up.

BP has known of the problems with rigs’ safety preventer valves for ten years – but wouldn’t spend the money to fix the problem.

Walruses of Mexico

BP’s official response plan for oil disasters in the Gulf of Mexico is studded with inaccurate nonsense – but was approved anyway.

The “BP Regional Oil Spill Response Plan – Gulf of Mexico” lists “sea lions, seals, sea otters [and] walruses” as “sensitive biological resources” in the Gulf. None of these animals live anywhere near it.

It also gives a website for its “primary equipment providers for BP in the Gulf of Mexico Region [for] rapid deployment of spill response resources”. The link leads to a Japanese home shopping website.

But there is some honesty. It directs media spokespeople to never make “promises that property, ecology, or anything else will be restored to normal”.

Culture of bribery

The US oil drilling regulator, the Minerals Management Service (MMS), was a tool of the oil companies.

It provided leases without making the companies, including BP, obtain required environmental permits.

It has approved 27 new offshore projects since the Deepwater Horizon explosion – and 26 were exempt from review.

The reason is simple. An investigation into MMS found “a culture where the acceptance of gifts from oil and gas companies was widespread”.

Some MMS inspectors had allowed oil company officials to fill out inspection forms. The inspectors would then sign the forms and turn them in as their own.

In 2008, one inspector used his government email to conduct job negotiations with Island Operating Company (IOC), an offshore oil services company he had repeatedly cited for breaking safety rules.

After the employment negotiations began, he conducted four inspections of IOC oil platforms, none of which resulted in any criticism. Soon afterwards, IOC hired him.

Asked if he ever takes bribes, another former inspector said he didn’t – but added that he did take “gifts’” from “good friends that I wouldn’t write up anyway”.

The following should be read alongside this article:
» Oil still gushing into deep water in Gulf of Mexico


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Posted by at 8:50 PM Links to this post

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Iraqiya candidate assassinated, Sahwa stripped of right to bear arms

In Iraq, the violence never ends. Anthony Shadid (New York Times) reports that assailants (in Iraqi soldier and officer uniforms) have shot dead Faris Jassim al-Jabbouri who is a member of Iraqiya and had been a candidate (unsuccessful) for Parliament in the March elections. He is the third Iraqiya candidate to be shot dead. Moreover, Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) observes, "Al Jubori is the third candidate killed in Mosul from the same bloc." [Correction 6-6-10, One month] before the election, one was shot dead and last month another was shot dead. Jamal al-Badrani, Muhanad Mohammed, Matt Robinson and Jon Boyle (Reuters) report on the assassination but with a different twist, "A police source, who asked not to be named, said Jubouri was shot dead by gunmen in police uniform overnight in his home near the restive northern city of Mosul." Reuters also notes a late Friday Baghdad roadside bombing which injured 6 people. In other Friday violence, Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) notes a Diyala Province roadside bombing which claimed 2 lives and a Mosul roadside bombing which claimed 2 lives (four more wounded) -- these are in addition to bombings noted in yesterday's snapshot and today Mohammed Al Dulaimy notes a Baquba roadside bombing today which left two Iraqi soldiers wounded.

Meanwhile the targeting of Sunnis by the government or 'government' continues. Hilmi Kamal (Reuters) reports that the country's military states that Sahwa ("Awakenings" or "Sons Of Iraq") are no longer allowed to carry weapons, "Today, Saturday, we received an order from the Defence Ministry ground forces leadership to withdraw all the badges of Sahwa personnel and replace them with new ones that do not authorize them to carry weapons." It's certainly interesting timing. One could even argue Nouri was planning an assault on the Sunnis -- as opposed to these one at a time killings -- and that's why he was disarming the Sahwa. There is a context that this is taking place in: Nouri's refusal to stand down. As with everything else he's done in the last three months, this has to do with his desire to hold onto the position of prime minister. Since the Parliament is supposed to be sitting (for the first time, new Parliament) within two weeks, why is Nouri issuing orders? Again, there's a context, it's the same one that goes to the deals he's signed after elections concluded March 7th -- deals with foreign corporations and on control of Iraqi assets. There is a context for this.

The Independent of London reports that following his description on BBC1's Question as one of "the two most duplicitious men in public life" (Peter Mandelson being the other one), War Hawk and Tony Blair's platonic lover Alastair Campbell sniffed, "It doesn't bother me. It just doesn't bother me. If you've been compared to Goebbles, and occasionally Hitler, and Pol Pot and Rasputing -- it doesn't bother me." Gee, if all these comparisons are being made, might it be time for you to do a serious self-inventory?

This week, the wall-to-wall was Israel and Palestine. Iraqi Pundit raised some issues that you can be sure other people (especially Iraqis) noticed as well:

This news was greeted with anger and several demonstrations and protests against in several Middle East capital cities. The TV stations have non-stop coverage of this story. Who can blame them? Nobody deserves to be killed. But I do understand that the activists had to know there would be trouble when they heard the Israeli warnings. And the Israeli soldiers know they face death every day when they put on their uniforms. I repeat, nobody deserves to be killed. But why is it that so often people are more horrified by the deaths of Palestinians than others?
This brings me to ask again where are the protests when Iraqis are killed while buying vegetables at the market, offering condolences at funerals, going to school, or engaging in other ordinary civilian activities. The message is when Palestinians or their supporters die, it's a tragedy. When Iraqis die, it's just another news story. Why?



And we'll close with this from Sherwood Ross' "USA: Acronym for United States of Assassinations?" (CounterCurrents):

What the United Nations independent investigator on extrajudicial killings would like is for countries that employ surprise drone attacks to first prove they have attempted to capture or incapacitate suspects. The investigator, Philip Alston, issued a 29-page report Wednesday that the New York Times termed “Highly Critical” of such attacks by the U.S. and, says the Associated Press, “called on countries to lay out rules and safeguards for carrying out the strikes.” By going after terrorist networks, Alston warned, the U.S. example “could quickly lead to a situation in which dozens of countries carry out ‘competing drone attacks’ outside their borders against people ‘labeled as terrorists by one group or another,’” Charlie Savage reported for the Times. “I’m particularly concerned that the United States seems oblivious to this fact when it asserts an ever-expanding entitlement for itself to target individuals across the globe,” Alston is quoted as saying. “This expansive and open-ended interpretation of the right to self-defense goes a long way towards destroying the prohibition on the use of armed force contained in the U.N. Charter,” Alston pointed out.

Alston can demand restraint all he likes but the administration of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Barack Obama is not apt to listen. Obama has dramatically stepped up such attacks by the CIA over the occasional sorties resorted to by his predecessor. Washington’s thinking appears to be, Why should U.S. troops risk storming some alleged terrorist hideout when a CIA operator in far-off Langley, Va., needs only to manipulate a computer screen to have a drone wipe them out?

Reasons against using the drones include the possibility there may be innocent persons in the same building as the alleged terrorists. Only a week ago the military conceded its own drone operators called in an airstrike in February that killed 23 Afghan civilians, including women and children. Another argument against drones is that the alleged terrorists have no opportunity to surrender or to get a jury trial. The U.N.’s Alston also warns that for CIA operators thousands of miles from the point of attack “there is a risk of developing a ‘PlayStation’ mentality to killing.” Yet another argument against the drones is that the survivors of those killed regard such attacks as cowardly and each successful (from the CIA’s viewpoint) air strike only increases the public’s resolve to resist the U.S. occupation. Friends and relatives of the slain innocents turn bitterly against the U.S. This situation, by the way, is nothing new. U.S. and British air attacks on German facilities in occupied France during World War II were frequently so off target that the French Resistance pleaded with the U.S. to stop the bombing and to let them take out the Nazi targets from the ground, even at great risk to themselves. Sadly, 70,000 French civilians were killed by Allied aerial bombardments gone awry. “So far,” says international legal authority Francis Boyle of the University of Illinois at Champaign, “all CIA drone attacks have been murders, assassinations, and extrajudicial executions--a grave violation of international human rights law, the laws of the countries where the attacks took place, and of US domestic law.” Boyle added, “All CIA drone strikes in Pakistan are criminal and a grave violation of international human rights law.”



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