Saturday, January 08, 2011

Moqtada al-Sadr advocates violence in speech

Roy Gutman and Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) state that "Muqtqada al Sadr called on his followers Saturday to abandon the use of violence" -- but he did no such thing. If Isaac Newton were a modern-day reporter can you imagine the trouble the whole earth would be in right now. You get Nouri stating that the SOFA stands UNLESS Parliament pushes for a new agreement. Sam Dagher and Kelly McEvers run with that claiming that Nouri said the SOFA stands and leaving out the "unless." Moqtada al-Sadr calls on Iraqis not to attack one another but to instead focus their anger and violence on Americans and Gutman and Hammoudi are calling that a cry "to abandon the use of violence". Again, what kind of world would we be living in today if Isaac Newton were a modern-day reporter?

In his report of the speech, Jim Muir (BBC News -- video) observed that "he said the resistance goes on by whatever means and so on." (For a text report by Muir, click here.) Here's Aaron C. Davis (Washington Post): "His followers, he said, must continue to focus on fiercely resisting the United States, but perhaps also targeting their own government if it cannot restore services or security and hold to a timeline for a full U.S. military withdrawal by the end of 2011." Does that sound like the end of violence? No, it does not. And here's Ned Parker, Saad Fakhrildeen and Raheem Salman (Los Angeles Times):

Sadr once more sounded the call of war against U.S. forces, and was answered back with a hearty, "Down, down, America!" But if before he encouraged violence, many would say recklessly, now he weighed his every word, emphasizing the need for discipline.
"Resistance, yes, resistance, but not everyone will carry weapons," he told the crowd. "Only those qualified will carry weapons."

Anthony Shadid files a strong report for the New York Times
:

Mr. Sadr's challenge now is to reshape a powerful street movement into a political one, and to reconcile its self-image as the permanent face of opposition even as its ministers and deputies fill the government.
In his 28-minute address, delivered in a warren of streets near his home in this sacred city, Mr. Sadr sought to have it both ways, calling for the expulsion of American troops but allowing time for a withdrawal, and offering support for a new government but conditional on its effectiveness.
"We are with it, not against it," he said, speaking forcefully and deliberately, with a confidence he once lacked. "The government is new, and we have to open the way for it to prove it will serve Iraq's people."

Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) notes that the speech's end may not have been its intended ending, "It appears however that the crowd was a bit too much to handle for the cleric, and as the cheers and chanting grew more and more raucous, the cleric made a final call for the release of Mahdi Army detainees from Iraqi prison and abruptly left. Some reports suggest that was not designed to be the end of the speech but that the cleric decided to end early to avoid riling up the crowd even more." AP's report notes that the US Embassy in Baghdad has stated the speech was "nothing new."

What would be really good right about now would be some sort of analysis. Moqtada al-Sadr has people in his movement, in leadership, who have been leading and aren't thrilled he's now present in the flesh. His movement includes people who do not agree with renouncing violence against other Iraqis. His movement includes people who feel that their families were targeted and Moqtada al-Sadr did nothing about it. (Or did nothing about it until he was ready to return to Iraq.) There are some who have lived with the ideal of Moqtada as opposed to the reality they'll now be present with. The strongest rallying point for him in the last five years was in 2008 when he decried the assault on Basra and Sadr City. Equally true, any manager or leader used to issuing orders from afar has to readjust once he's no longer at a distance from those he or she supervises.

And, equally true, though the Najaf appaerance Wednesday was an attempt to soothe relations, he and al-Sistani are still not close and, especially with al-Sistani's advanced age, there are a number who might feel they were next in line when al-Sistani passes and look to the non-Ayatollah al-Sadr as someone dashing back into the country to usurp what should be the natural chain of order among the religious clerics.

Those are only some of the variables at play -- and we've ignored Nouri and Ayad Allawi's variables with al-Sadr but they do exist -- but the print press really isn't providing analysis at this point. Hopefully several columns -- either by their own reporters or by outsiders -- will be written and published next week. And before someone e-mails a bad analysis by a wire service, that's not the kind of analysis I'm talking about. Like the reporting, it treats Moqtada al-Sadr as a rock star. Daily reporting can be influenced by the crowds and the throngs. That's understood. But everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Moqtada al-Sadr's -- especially if he's as important as the press is making him out to be -- need to be analyzed. The wire service piece presumes that the hype is true -- a sign of a shoddy mind. Any real analysis questions all premises and only accepts as factual actual facts.

Reuters notes an Abu Ghraib roadside bombing which injured eight people,
a Khan Bani Saad roadside bombing which claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier and left another injured, a Baquba bombing which claimed the life of 1 woman "and her four-year-old nephew," 1 police officer was shot dead in Taji and, dropping back to Thursday night, 1 Ministry of Health employee was shot dead in Baghdad. Press TV notes a Diyala Province chicken coop bombing claimed the lives of 2 Iraqi children and, dropping back to Friday for both that follow, a Dhi Qar car bombing claimed the lives of 2 men and a bombing at a military checkpoint wounded one Iraqi soldier.

Meanwhile, AP reports, "Joseph Daniel Rios has been listed as AWOL by his unit at Fort Riley in Kansas since November 2008. He contacted The Associated Press through e-mail from South America to tell his story and his desire to return to Kansas to face his punishment." Jeff Hanks went AWOL when the military failed to provide treatment for his PTSD and turned himself in on Veteran's Day. CBS News reports that he's been order to deploy to Afghanistan in the coming days and he states he feels he has no choice but to deploy (despite suffering from PTSD). CBS News notes these two previous reports they've done on Jeff Hanks:

AWOL Soldier Returns on Veterans Day
Army Reports Record Number of Suicides



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Iraq and Iran

AFP is reporting that there are claims that Camp Ashraf was attacked again on Friday. According to National Council of Resistance of Iran's president Maryam Rajavi, 176 Camp Ashraf residents were injured. BBC News reports that Camp Ashraf supporters in London have protested outside the embassy today stating the attack took place adding, "The committee's chairman, Lord Corbett of Castle Vale, called on American troops and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq to intervene." Llong before the start of the Iraq War, Iranian dissidents have lived in Iraq. Following the US invasion, the US made these MEK residents of Camp Ashraf -- Iranian refuees who had been in Iraq for decades -- surrender weapons and also put them under US protection. They also extracted a 'promise' from Nouri that he would not move against them. July 28th the world saw what Nouri's 'promises' were actually worth. Since that Nouri-ordered assault in which at least 11 residents died, he's continued to bully the residents. As the BBC notes, "They have 'protected persons' status under the Geneva Convention."

Rumors of the alleged attack come as the governments of Iraq and Iran strengthen ties. The Tehran Times reports Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi is praising three new joint-committees the two countries are establishing, "In this visit, we frankly talked about issues . . . and subsequently made some decisions, like the establishment of a joint supreme economic committee, a joint political committee, and a supreme committee on border issues to examine the two countries' border issues and problems." And this takes place as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling for actions in support of Iraq and in objection to Iran. Lachlan Carmichael (AFP) reports, "US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to leave Saturday for a tour of Gulf Arab allies in a bid to tighten sanctions against Iran and win greater support for Iraq's new government, officials said." Jill Dougherty (CNN) quotes an unnamed State Dept official stating, "What we're really hoping to do is elicit more expressions of support for the Iraqi government. We now have a government on the ground in Iraq after a very long and somewhat tortuous process. It is important for the region to step up and provide them support. It is important for Iraq, frankly, to be reintegrated back in the region."

The following community sites -- plus Green Change, Military Families Speak Out, Cindy Sheehan and Jane Fonda-- updated last night and today:




We're closing with this statement US Vice President Joe Biden issued today:

The horrific attack in Tucson, Arizona, this morning has taken the lives of at least five people, including a federal judge and a young girl, and left many others wounded, among them a dear friend, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Gabby is one of the finest members of Congress I know. She is a principled leader and a consensus-builder. She has spent her time in office working her heart out to improve the lives of the people she represents. And she loves her husband and family above all else. On this tragic day, Jill and I are praying for Gabby’s recovery, and we hold her family in our hearts.

Chief Judge John Roll was a dedicated jurist whose death is a terrible loss to Arizona and to the country.

We do not yet know the motivation behind these shootings. But what we do know is that there is simply no justification, no rationale for such senseless and appalling violence in our society.

Please join Jill and me in praying for each of today’s victims and for their families and loved ones.




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Friday, January 07, 2011

Iraq snapshot

Friday, January 7, 2011.  Chaos and violence continue, some movement in Iraq's Parliament, some stalling as well, Robert Gates plays the fool, and more.
 
Since long before the start of the Iraq War, Iranian dissidents have lived in Iraq. Following the US invasion, the US made these MEK residents of Camp Ashraf -- Iranian refuees who had been in Iraq for decades -- surrender weapons and also put them under US protection. They also extracted a 'promise' from Nouri that he would not move against them. July 28th the world saw what Nouri's 'promises' were actually worth. Since that Nouri-ordered assault in which at least 11 residents died, he's continued to bully the residents.  The Women's International Perspective features a post by Elham Fardipour:
 
My name is Elham Fardipour and I am an Iranian refugee living in Camp Ashraf, Iraq. Not only is Camp Ashraf my home, yet it is also home to 3400 Iranian dissidents, including 1000 women. Many years ago, I joined the nationwide resistance against the Mullahs and came to Camp Ashraf with the goal of bringing freedom to my country, Iran, and saving the lives of Iranian men and women living under the cruelty and suppression of the religious dictatorship ruling Iran, which posses as a serious threat to world peace through its nuclear program and state sponsoring of terrorism. From 1989 to 1993, I lived in the UK studying in the field of electronics. You might be surprised, and ask why a woman alone leaves her life in Europe and cemes to Iraq. However, while witnessing the ruthless suppression of women in Iran, fathers who selling a kidney to make ends meet, the trafficking of 9 year-old girls in Kuwaiti markets, selling eye corneas to pay house mortgage and…, a comfortable and leisured life was no longer tolerable for me.
Following the occupation of Iraq, the responsibility of Ashraf residents' protection was on the shoulders of US forces, under an agreement signed between the US government and each and every resident in Ashraf, continuing until 2009. After the transfer of protection from US forces to the Iraqi government in the beginning of 2009, this camp has been placed under an inhumane siege by Iraqi security forces under the command of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom has very close ties to the tyrannical regime in Tehran. Camp Ashraf has been placed under an all-out blockade, and the common goal of Tehran's Mullahs and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is to make living conditions for residents intolerable, forcing them to return to Iran where all the Ashraf residents will face definite execution and torture.
Although the blockade, due to the widespread international auspices by human rights organizations and numerous MPs of democratic countries from around the globe, has not reached its final goal of suppressing the camp's residents and having them expelled from Iraq, it has actually caused mental and physical damages to Ashraf residents. It has also brought about restrictions in Ashraf residents' free access to medical services and treatment. As a result, a number of my best friends, due to the Iraqi government's prevention of their access to medical treatment, have lost their lives.
 
Dar Addustour reports that Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebair declared that the country's consitution does not allow for terrorist organizations and that this would apply to the MEK.  As noted in Wednesday's snapshot, Spanish Judge Fernando Andreu is overseeing an international probe (or is supposed to -- who knows if this will be shut down) into the assault on Camp Ashraf.  At present, he has ordered Iraq's Lt Gen Abdol Hossein al Shemmari to provide testimony March 8th. Attorney and conservative Allan Gerson (of Gerson International Law Group) writes at The Huffington Post in praise of Spain's decision: "To its credit, Spain takes seriously its law providing for universal jurisdiction of war crimes, recognizing that it can be misused for political ends.  Having viewed the attack that occurred at Camp Ashraf in July 2009 as a war crime against protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Spain is ready to take action.  Were the Spanish court to find that Lt Gen Shemmari had been complicit in war crimes, it could ask for an investigation and prosecution at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. This is good news for all who favor the application of international law to combat and deter gross human rights abuses."    Press TV reports that a protest of the MEK took place today.  Their report states that there were family members of residents of Camp Ashraf protesting and insisting that residents were being held against their will. 

Staying on Iraq and Iran relations, al-Furat's big story is that WikiLeaks released documents indicates the government of Iran has been providing visiting Iraqi tribal leaders with women for "temporary marriage" "in order to strengthen its influence in Iraq" -- possibly via blackmail since these 'temporary' arrangements are frowned upon in Iraq. Meanwhile Press TV states, "Iran's relations with Iraq entered a new stage with the Iranian caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi's trip to the latter and warm official and popular reception of the official. Because the unequaled acknowledgment of the visit signals that the ties have reached a heartwarming point." Of course, for most observers, it's Moqtada al-Sadr's Wednesday return to Iraq that really puts that message across.  Though it's yet to rival an entrance by Lady Godiva, al-Sadr's entrance is almost as attention getting as the courtroom entrance of Alexis (Joan Collins) on the first episode of the second season of Dynasty.  Today on  The Diane Rehm Show, Diane discussed al-Sadr's return with Nadia Bilbassy (MBC), Susan Glasser (Foreign Policy) and James Kitfiled (National Journal).
 
Diane Rehm: We have an old friend coming back to Iraq from his so-called exile in Iran.  What has prompted Moqtada al-Sadr to come back to Iraq, Susan?
 
Susan Glasser: Well you know after months and months of political uncertainty, there's now the formation of a new government in Iraq and I think you have a moment where we're going to see actually whether the Islamic parties in Iraq take the center stage again, whether they make a full throttle sort of challenge to steer the course of the new Iraq.  And I'm curious to see what happens.  He was greeted as a -- almost a conquering hero in a way.
 
Nadia Bilbassy: Yeah
 
James Kitfield: You know this -- I was actually in Iraq in 2004 with a unit that was given orders to capture or kill him and that was rescinded.  This guy is virulently anti-American.  I think it's less an Islamic issue than a Shi'ite versus Sunni issue. He's very closely aligned with Iran. He's a Shia.  He has his militia.  But his militia was defeated twice by the Iraqi army so he --
 
Diane Rehm: Right
 
James Kitfield: And then he kind of went underground.  And his party kind of joined the political process and they won 40 seats.  He became a king-maker in this last election and he was able to throw his 40 seats in the coalition with Maliki so Maliki -- the former prime minister is going to be the future prime minister -- so he's a king-maker and that's why I think he returned.  He saw that he now, he's going to have, I think, 8 of the three dozen ministries in the new government.  So the time is ripe for him to sort of  come back and play sort of the political champion of his party. It can't bode very -- I can assure you the Americans and the United States is very worried about his ties to Iran. That's the bad news.  The good news is if he -- if he decisively decided to play politics, to try to exert influence through politics,  that's probably something we can live with.  It's when his militia was a Hezbollah-like armed group --
 
Diane Rehm: Sure.
 
James Kitfield:  -- outside of politics that he was sort of public enemy number one to the Americans.  But he's not -- he's not doing that now.
 
Diane Rehm: Except that you worry whether it could lead to some sectarian violence.
 
Nadia Bilbassy: It could.  And I think the people who are worried the most are the Sunnis because don't forget that his army, Jaish al-Mahdi, has been responsible for some of the most grotesque, terrible massacres in 2006 and 2007.  But you asked, Diane, why he returned?  I think he returned because of the blessing of Iran.  The day he returned to Najaf as a hero, he visited the grave of Iman Ali and he was surrounded by all of his supporters.  And it coincided with a visit of the Iranian Foreign Minister who the Ambassador to Baghdad said that Moqtada al-Sadr is a stabilizing force in Iraq now.  Also, he made peace with his old nemesis which is Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.  Let's not forget that Maliki ordered the security forces to unleash a campaign against his Mahdi army in Basra and almost wiped them out.  So he did not forget that.  But because of this realliance with Iran and I think he was given also assurance that he's not going to be on trial for a killing of another assassination of another Shi'ite leader, he was allowed to come back. Now his self-imposed exile was for religious reasons.  He went to Qom, which is the most revered religious Shi'ite city in Iran to learn because he wants to be an Ayatollah.  He did not reach that degree.  He's coming back now not as a firebrand rebel trouble maker but as a respected politician who -- as James said, he has forty seats in Parliament, he might have influence. And I think he will give every reason for the Americans to be worried about but I think his argument will be he will influence the Iraqi government in not keeping any American bases after the withdrawal of 2011.  And it also demonstrates that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is showing some kind of independence from the Americans to allow somebody so vehemently against the Americans to come back as a hero.
 
Susan Glasser: Well I think that's the real point that we'll all be looking at this year: At what price did Maliki purchase, in effect, this renewed scene.  Remember that came after months and months of months of political stalemate.  It was only broken by making what some people -- certainly here -- saw as a deal with the devil.  This is the price of that deal.  For now they're talking reconciliation.  For now they're repositioning Sadr as a political leader and, you know, respected parliamentarian. What happens if Maliki doesn't do his bidding sufficiently?  If Iran turns away?  If he's too conciliatory towads the Sunnis ? Then I think is when you face the renewed violence, not immediately --
 
Nadia Bilbassy: Yes.
 
Susan Glasser (Con't): -- but over the course of this year you face that potential.  And I'm glad you spotlighted this issue of the renewed American presence.  Things have not worked out as the Americans anticipated they would after the "withdrawal." They expected to maintain a very robust military presence inside Iraq for the foreseeable future but, in fact, you could see that this was not going to be the case and that you may see almost no American military presence after the end of the year --
 
Nadia Bilbassy:  Like South Korea.
 
Susan Glasser (Con't): -- which would be a big change. Yeah.
 
James Kitfiled: That is the thing to watch.  There are two things to watch.  Do the -- because he comes back into the government, do the Sunnis bolt? We haven't seen that yet.  If they bolt from the government that's very bad news because that's the sectarian divide that almost plunged the country into civil war.  Hasn't happened yet.  Allawi's got also a lot of seats and ministries in this new government. So if the Sunnis stay as part of the political process that will be a good sign.  If they bolt?  Bad sign. Also the American base is an interesting point.  And we have 50,000 troops still in Iraq.  We did expect that we would negotiate a new Status Of Forces Agreement with Iraq so there would be some residual US presence there because they don't have an army that can really defend their own borders.  And they're in a pretty bad neighbourhood.  If all the Americans leave at the end that certainly means that our strategic relationship with Iraq will be damanged, it means -- I don't expect that to happen because we have a lot of leverage with them.  Basically, their whole arsenal now is American weapons, they need our Air Force, they don't have their own air force, they don't have a navy.  So basically watch what happens with the American presence.  If it goes down to zero, I take the point, it will be a blow to the strategic relationship.
 
 
I would like to pick back up with Nadia next week from another section of the broadcast.  But staying on al-Sadr, Aaron C. Davis (Washington Post) reports, "Lawmakers across Iraq's political and ethnic spectrums waited Thursday for word from anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying his first address after returning from nearly four years of self-imposed exile in Iran would likely say a lot about his intended approach to Iraq's fragile new government." The speech is supposed to be delivered Saturday. W.G. Dunlop (AFP) reports that Baghdad residents appear split on Moqtada al-Sadr with some highly supportive and others, like Khaled Abdul Rizak, against it.  Rizak states, "I am against his return and I am against the government in general -- all of them, including Moqtada al-Sadr are stealing this country."  Joel Wing (Musings On Iraq) offers:
 
 
What Sadr does next is the big question. He's supposed to make his first address after arriving in Najaf on January 8, to lay out his program. Some early targets for the Sadrist camp are probably finding jobs for their followers through the ministries they control, asserting themselves in parliament, and building up patronage systems to bring in new recruits. Sadr can only hope to build upon his success, as he definitely aspires to be a national leader. He could become a rival to Maliki without holding any official office. That will only happen if the Trend continues to focus upon politics and services. That's always been a problem for Sadr. In 2005 when he tried to join the new government after the U.S. handed over sovereignty, his movement split, and he ended up turning his back on politics to try to win back the street. That backfired as well as his followers became predators on their own people after they'd purged many Sunnis from various neighborhoods across central Iraq.
 
Azzaman reports that while al-Sadr was making a splash in Iraq Wednesday, former Iraq prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari was in Tehran on a visit and that an outstanding warrant exists in Iraq for al-Sadr in the killing of Abdul Majeed al-Kholi.   For obvious reasons, Hayder al-Khoei (Guardian) doesn't forget the warrant:

However, there was another thorny issue behind his absence: Sadr is still wanted by the Iraqi judiciary for his alleged involvement in my father's murder eight years ago.
The arrest warrant for Sadr stands to this day as Iraqi judge Raed al-Juhi signed it in April 2004. Juhi is the investigative judge who presided over the first hearing of the Dujail massacre that eventually led to Saddam Hussein's execution in December 2006.
The fact that Sadr was not arrested upon his arrival this week says a lot about Iraq's new government and its claimed dedication to integrity.

Maad Fayad (Asharq Alawsat) reports: "Khoei, the former secretary-general o fthe Imam al-Khoei Foundation in London who was assassinated in 2003 in Najaf has threatened to internationalize this case if the Iraqi judiciary fails to take lega action against Moqtada al-Sadr, whom the family consideres to be 'the prime suspect in the murder of al-Khoei.' Al-Khoei was killed in the holy city of Najaf on 10 April 2003 at the hands of the followers of Moqtada al-Sadr." Today the editorial board of the Christian Science Monitor weighs in on what Iraq 'needs':
 

The newly formed government in Iraq faces a to-do list as long as the Euphrates River that courses through this bomb-battered country. As tempting as it may be to tackle every need at once -- they all seem so urgent -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki must set priorities.
He acknowledges that. But the ministers in his vast "unity government" -- there are 42 cabinet posts -- will undoubtedly have their own agendas. After parliamentary elections last March, it took nine months of negotiation to piece together a government of Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds, announced Dec. 21.
Now the really hard part begins, bettering the lives of the governed. But where to start?

Where to start? How about with the fact that there's no Cabinet still.  42 post.  Ten empty.  Three filled posts are filled by Nouri al-Maliki (in addition to his holding his post as Prime Minister).  Hey, when were those elections?  Oh, yeah, March 7th.
 
What's today, Christian Science Monitor?  Uh, January 7th.  We're two months away from when Iraq held elections and it's past time for Nouri to have a full cabinet.  When he skirted the Constitution last month (December 21st), the assumption was that he was hard at work filling those additional 13 posts.  There's been no evidence of that in the weeks that have followed.  And it's not as though he hasn't already promised the posts to people (of course, he's promised way more than 13 people the 13 posts -- that does create a problem).
 
Sabah reports rumors this week that the distribution of the posts is being criticized and that there is a demands that certain ministers be replaced with Tarqi al-Hashimi stating that some are forgetting the national duty to the country. The article is primarily about Parliament and the back and forth bickering there.  Dar Addustour also notes the bickering in Parliament over the ministries and attributes it to the National Alliance and Iraiqiya with the National Allaince wanting it to be  based on "experience" and not "in accordance with the quota system."  In addition, Iraiqya has provided Nouri with a list of nominees for the Minister of Electricity -- a post which they expect Nouri to name by next week.   Al Sabaah reports that Parliament has moved forward on some things, such as approving money to pay those who provide tips about terrorists. Dar Addustour adds that the Parliament also changed the British Embassy in Erbil to one for the KRG and that -- "with the principle of reciprocity -- they resolved to open an Iraq consulate in England and they passed legislation to give the Minister of Justice "the power to negotiate and sign" new agreement on civil and criminal matters including regarding extradition between Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.  Leila Ahmed (Iraqhurr.org) reports that the Speaker of Parliament, Osama Nujafi, has put on hold (suspended) filling the  compensatory seats until the federal courts can make a ruling.
 
Meanwhile al-Rafidayn reports that Nouri and Iraqiya's Ayad Allawi will meet at the home of Ibrahim al-Jaafair with other leaders to discuss the creation of the National Council -- the body that Allawi is supposed to head and that is supposed to be independent and was the deal maker that allowed Nouri to (almost) put together his Cabinet.  Issues to be addressed include the Council's legal value and its powers.  The meeting comes amidst rumors that Allawi has withdrawn his support for Nouri's administration.
 
AFP reports an attack on a police officer's Baghdad home this morning resulting in 5 members of his family being killed. The violence has not faded with the so-called formation of a Cabinet by Nouri al-Maliki. Alsumaria TV reports, "Al Qaeda in Iraq is targeting Christians in their homes after Iraqi authorities increased protection around the minority group's churches, said Lieutenant General Robert Cone, the U.S. deputy commanding general for operations in Iraq. 'Al Qaeda has shifted to try and go after the Christians where they live,' Cone told Reuters." Exactly. (See December 31st entry: "Something to remember about yesterday's attacks is the climate Iraqi Christians in Baghdad (and Mosul) were already living in. Many families had stopped sending their children to school in the weeks following the October 31st attack on Our Lady of Salvation Church, thinking that their homes could provide the safety the government could not.
 
Turning to the issue of journalistic freedoms, Reporters Without Borders issued the following:
 
Reporters Without Borders today welcomed the announcement by President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Massoud Barzani in an interview with the pro-KDP daily Khebat that he is to withdraw a complaint made by his party against two columnists on the non partisan newspaper Awene, Marwan Wrya Qani' and Aras Fatah, over their article that appeared in June 2010, "What did the president of the autonomous region of Kurdistan say?"
The worldwide press freedom organisation, which has several times expressed its concern at a surge in legal proceedings against non-party journalists and media in Iraqi Kurdistan, repeats its support for all initiatives intended to defend freedom of the press in the region.
 
Tuesday's snapshot included a critique of Peter Maas' bad article in The New Yorker. We're covering it again -- actually running it again.
 
 Tuesday Max Brantley (Arkansas Times) recommended: "Try Peter Mass' reconstruction in the New Yorker of the most famous image of the war in Iraq -- the toppling of a massive statue of Saddam Hussein after troops rolled into Baghdad."  US forces assisted Iraqi exiles -- flown in that weekend -- with taking down Saddam Hussein's statue.  It was staged and it was always known to be staged by press present.  They narrowed the focus of the square for all photos and video to make it appear that a huge crowd was present when, in fact, it was just a few people (US service members and the exiles).  Peter Maas really can't state that -- or won't.  But he paints a picture of a number of reporters willing to lie to themselves (John F. Burns among them). As usual Glenn Greenwald finds the article earth shattering.  I find it revisionary.  Let's drop back to NPR's The Bryant Park Project April 9, 2008 (and it has text and audio):
 
Rachel Martin: Five years ago today, Baghdad fell to the invading forces led by the United States. For many people, the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad's Firdos Square crystallized the end of his rule, and it's an image that's been broadcast many times in the last five years, over and over. You'll probably see it again today as people remember this grim anniversary. But next time you watch it, bear this in mind.
Nearly four years ago, a Los Angeles Times writer revealed that according to a study of the invasion published by the U.S. Army, the statue toppling was not necessarily the spontaneous event that it appeared to be. David Zucchino is the national correspondent for the LA Times. He first reported that story back in 2004 and he's on the line with us now. Hey, David. Thanks for being with us.
 
Mr. DAVID ZUCCHINO: (Journalist, Los Angeles Times) Good morning.
 
MARTIN: Good morning. So David, you were in Baghdad on this day five years ago, but not in Firdos Square. When and how did you hear about that big Saddam Hussein statue falling?
 
Mr. ZUCCHINO: Well, actually, even though I was in Baghdad that day, I was across the river about a mile or two away and had no idea that was going on, and in fact, the Army troops I was with also had no idea, and I didn't find out about it until several weeks later when I got back to the U.S.
 
MARTIN: When you found out about it, what was the narrative attached to it?
 
Mr. ZUCCHINO: My impression was that there was a spontaneous rally by Iraqis and they jumped on the statue and basically pulled it down. I knew there was some U.S. soldiers or Marines in the area, but I was not clear on exactly what their role was, whether they were just providing security or were taking part. It was fairly nebulous.
 
MARTIN: So you dug up more specifics that cast light on those circumstances surrounding the toppling of the statue. Explain what you found out.
 
Mr. ZUCCHINO: This was part of a five-hundred-and-some page review, or report, by the Army on the entire invasion, what went wrong and what went right. It was sort of an After Action Report, and this was just sort of a one or two page sideline, almost a footnote.
They had interviewed an Army psychological operations' team leader and he described how a Marine colonel - the Marines were in charge of that area and had just come in, and this Marine colonel had been looking for a target of opportunity, and seized on that statue.
And according to this interview with the psy-ops commander, there were Iraqis milling around the statue, and in fact, had been beating it with sledgehammers and apparently thinking about trying to bring it down, but it was a huge statue and they had no way to do that. So the Marines came up with the idea of bringing in a big recovery vehicle, like a wrecker, and trying to bring it down that way.
 
Again, the usual TV activists are writing lengthy pieces (I'm not referring to Brantley who just wrote a paragraph) on Maas' bad article.  It's ten pages.  The New Yorker's long been doing photos -- and were doing it before Tina Brown turned the magazine upside down.  Many websites long ago -- and I believe In These Times as well in its print edition -- showed the narrowed version of the photos versus what we'll call "widescreen" option which proved how tiny the turnout was.  The New Yorker offers ten long pages with no photos.  Maas offers ten long pages where he's never aware of the Psyops report.  All these years later.  After it was reported on in the Los Angeles Times.  After it was covered by NPR and others.  All this time later.  Maas shows up to talk about scared little journalists like John F. Burns.  Was Burnsie really scared or is this itself a Psyops that's supposed to make us feel sorry for Burnsie and think, "He's not a liar, he was just scared."  He was there.  He lied.  Reality.
 
The TV activists -- they play them on Democracy Now and other programs -- are all glooming on and praising Maas' bad article.  In reality, most have ignored the biggest lie about Iraq that was amplified by the media last week.  The lie continues to be amplified.
 

As for whose idea it was to bring down the statue, Maass traces it to a lowly sergeant who, out of the blue, came up with the bright idea all by his lonesome, but there are several holes in Maass's story.

To begin with, long shots of the square show the area around the statue completely blocked off by US tanks, and yet, according to Maass's own account, "a handful of Iraqis had slipped into the square" – at precisely the moment the sergeant asked permission to take the statue down.

Who were these Iraqis? Reading Maass, one would simply assume they were random residents of Baghdad, curiosity seekers out on a lark, but a look at these photos disabuses us of this notion. They were members of the Iraqi National Congress – those now-infamous "heroes in error" – who had played a key role in the "weapons of mass destruction" deception and were being groomed by the neocons to take power in post-Saddam Iraq. Along with their leader, the wanted embezzler and suspected Iranian agent Ahmed Chalabi, 700 INC "fighters" were flown into Nasiriyah by the Pentagon a few days before, and were whisked to Baghdad, where they arrived just in time for their Big Media Moment.


That's a very important point and Justin Raimondo has more in his column.  Ralph Lopez has an important piece of writing at David Swanson's War Is A Crime.  Excerpt:
 
 
This is an exciting time for the anti-war movement, but also a time to not drop the ball. Support for the war in Afghanistan has been driven down to 34% thanks to peace activist education and opposition, which could be anyone who cares enough to send an informative email to his or her pro-war relative.  But how low must it get before Congress stops passing budgets in support of continued military operations?  The problem is that the disapproving yet relatively uninformed public is not making the link between the wars and their own representatives, and Obama, without whom the wars could not continue.  

Look around you.  How many people that you know or work with will roll their eyes and say "What are we even doing there?  We should get out" - when asked about our military presence in Afghanistan.  How many of these same people, asked about their congressmembers, will say, "he seems like a good guy."  An appalling number of Democratic congressmen with purportedly liberal credentials, at least in the eyes of many in their districts, voted for the largest Pentagon budget in history, without debate, last Dec. 17, which passed 341 - 43, and of course will wind up supporting continued military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Among the Democrats voting for war were Rangel, McGovern, and Tonko.  Among the few Republicans voting against were Ron Paul and Jeff Flake.  

I have also spoken to peace-minded people, Quakers for heavens' sake, who still think Obama is relatively liberal, and have no idea that he has claimed authority to keep a list of Americans to be killed on sight, without a trial.  That one always gets them.  

The anti-war movement is a little like an electric circuit not making that last connection.  It's time to take it, not to the street, but to the doors.  We've taken it about as far as we can on the Internet.  Fantasy football, the AOL Dancing with the Stars fan page, online poker, and that's about it for a lot of America.  Many are not on the peace listserves or read HuffPo.  But that doesn't mean they don't care, or wouldn't be surprised at their congressmember's vote.

 

 

Robert Gates would just be a sad joke were it not for the fact that the liar/idiot left academia (administration, not teaching) to become Secretary of Defense when Bully Boy Bush nominated him. Idiot or liar, someone else can make that call. But the War Hawk show boated on The NewsHour (PBS) last night and made this ridiculous statement:

And my argument is, ever since World War I, when we have come to the end of wars, we have dramatically reduced our defense spending, cut our military forces, and then ended up in another war. And what we have to understand is, a strong military is a deterrent to war, not a cause of war.

 

 

Damn liar or damn fool, he's arguing for a perpetual warfare state. And let's see the US "dramatically rdueced our defense spending." The Korean War is said to have gone from 1950 to 1953.

Military spending by the US in 1951 (first full year of Korean War) was $224.3 million, 1952 it rose to $402.1 million, 1953 it rose to $442.3 million, 1954 (first full year of no official Korean War) it 'drops' to $430.9 million. 1955 sees a 'drop' as well -- to $376.9 million. We call that a 'drop' because? The drop is still higher than the amount spent the first full year of the Korean War (1951, $224.3 million). Until 1965, it never drops below $344 million. (All higher than the first full year of the Korean War). Then, in 1965, it drops or 'drops' to $333.1 million (which is still higher than the first full year of the Korean War). Some historians count 1965 as the start of the war on Vietnam. In other words, spending didn't go down. In reality, after the start of the Korean War, military spending never returned to anything remotely 'normal.' (And it was already too high prior to the Korean War.)

The US has never dramatically reduced military spending. Has it reduced the number of people serving? Yes, and that never brought the costs back down. But they have reduced numbers when no 'active' war is taking place (post WWII, it's very difficult to call them "declared" wars which requires a declaration of Congress).

Want to save money? End the endless wars. Stop paying thugs and drug lords with US tax payer dollars. Stop using US tax dollars and US citizens to support regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan that degrade and damage their own native populations.

 
TV notes. On PBS' Washington Week, Gwen sits around the table chewing the fat. Gwen now has a weekly column at Washington Week and the current one is "OF SYMBOLS AND MEANING: Or, how to read too much into anything." This week, Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Debra Carmajam. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Tara Setmayer and Genevieve Wood to discuss the week's news on the latest broadcast of PBS' To The Contrary. And this week's To The Contrary online exclusive is about NOW vs. Hooters. Turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:

The Big Gamble
Lesley Stahl reports on the proliferation of gambling to 38 states and its main attraction, the slot machine, newer versions of which some scientists believe may addict their players. | Watch Video

Silver or Lead
Byron Pitts reports on the murder of the mayor of a Mexican city, where powerful drug gangs seem to be giving authorities a choice of "silver or lead" - join us and we will pay you or don't and we'll kill you. | Watch Video


A Living For The Dead
Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Elvis are dead and so is Michael Jackson. But as Steve Kroft reports, they are very much alive when it comes to earning money for their estates. | Watch Video


60 Minutes, Sunday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

 
 

Iraqi Christians (and an editorial board practicing avoidance)

AFP reports an attack on a police officer's Baghdad home this morning resulting in 5 members of his family being killed. The violence has not faded with the so-called formation of a Cabinet by Nouri al-Maliki. Alsumaria TV reports, "Al Qaeda in Iraq is targeting Christians in their homes after Iraqi authorities increased protection around the minority group's churches, said Lieutenant General Robert Cone, the U.S. deputy commanding general for operations in Iraq. 'Al Qaeda has shifted to try and go after the Christians where they live,' Cone told Reuters." Exactly. (See December 31st entry: "Something to remember about yesterday's attacks is the climate Iraqi Christians in Baghdad (and Mosul) were already living in. Many families had stopped sending their children to school in the weeks following the October 31st attack on Our Lady of Salvation Church, thinking that their homes could provide the safety the government could not. Now their homes themselves have become targets.") Rhodri Davies (Al Jazeera) reports:

The Bishop of the Chaldean Archdiocese of Irbil in northern Iraq denied my request to talk to him about Christians in the country.
"You can see the life of the community here," he said, before finishing post-service greetings and embraces with his flock at St Joseph's church in Ainkawa, a Christian suburb of Iraqi Kurdistan's capital.
He was right. I had just seen a 500-stong Chaldean congregation - an independent Christian Church that has been in Iraq since the 2nd Century - attend Sunday evening mass.
It appeared to be a resilient and devout community that conveyed buoyancy and longevity.
Septuagenarian women in traditional red and black local dress sat alongside teenage girls adorned in perfume.
A choir of 30 members sang hymns from a balcony, above families who arrived from the darkness outside to acknowledgements from community members within.
Collection plates were filled and warm interactions conducted post-service.
But the bishop was correct in another perhaps unintended sense about the life of Iraq's Christian community.
There were also four guards carrying Kalashnikov rifles on the gates to the church compound. This presence at evening time was up from the two armed men that patrolled during the day.

The editorial board of the Christian Science Monitor completely ignores the targeting of Iraqi Christians in an editorial supposedly on where Iraq should go next:

The newly formed government in Iraq faces a to-do list as long as the Euphrates River that courses through this bomb-battered country. As tempting as it may be to tackle every need at once – they all seem so urgent – Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki must set priorities.
He acknowledges that. But the ministers in his vast “unity government” – there are 42 cabinet posts – will undoubtedly have their own agendas. After parliamentary elections last March, it took nine months of negotiation to piece together a government of Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds, announced Dec. 21.
Now the really hard part begins, bettering the lives of the governed. But where to start?

Where to start? Obviously not with the persecuted but, rest assured, the editorial board does remember Iraqi oil. Strangely for a supposed look at the state of Iraq, the issue of justice or the courts never shows up in the editorial. We'll again note this from Hayder al-Khoei (Guardian):

However, there was another thorny issue behind his absence: Sadr is still wanted by the Iraqi judiciary for his alleged involvement in my father's murder eight years ago.
The arrest warrant for Sadr stands to this day as Iraqi judge Raed al-Juhi signed it in April 2004. Juhi is the investigative judge who presided over the first hearing of the Dujail massacre that eventually led to Saddam Hussein's execution in December 2006.
The fact that Sadr was not arrested upon his arrival this week says a lot about Iraq's new government and its claimed dedication to integrity.

Maad Fayad (Asharq Alawsat) reports
:


Khoei, the former secretary-general of the Imam al-Khoei Foundation in London who was assassinated in 2003 in Najaf has threatened to internationalize this case if the Iraqi judiciary fails to take legal action against Moqtada al-Sadr, whom the family consider to be "the prime suspect in the murder of al-Khoei." Al-Khoei was killed in the holy city of Najaf on 10 April 2003 at the hands of followers of Moqtada al-Sadr.
Haidar al-Khoei, who is the son of the late Imam, spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat in London on Wednesday, following news that Moqtada al-Sadr had returned to Najaf after spending almost four years in Iran. Haidar al-Khoei told Asharq Al-Awsat that "our family trusts the Iraqi judiciary. However the Iraqi judiciary and government are facing an important practical test today to undertake legal proceedings and enforce the law by arresting Moqtada al-Sadr, as an arrest warrant was issued for him by an investigative judge in Najaf in 2004. If this does not happen, we will be forced to go to the United Nationals, on the basis that the Imam al-Khoei Foundation has a seat at the UN, as a non-governmental organization. We will also go to human rights organizations and the European judiciary. We are also relying on the leaders of sisterly and friendly Arab and Islamic states to activate this case."
Al-Khoei added: "We have verified that a leading figure in the Sadrist movement, a member of the Iraqi parliament, has requested one of the investigative judges in Baghdad to change the course of the case, via false witnesses, in order to steer the blame away from the leader of the [Sadrist] trend [Moqtada al-Sadr] and instead implicate other members of the [Sadrist] trend. This is in order to move closer to al-Sadr, and also win the internal conflict within the Sadrist movement, between the Mullahs and other members. We will disclose the name of this member of parliament, as well as those of the investigative judge, and the false witnesses, who have been involved in perverting this case."


TV notes. On PBS' Washington Week, Gwen sits around the table chewing the fat. Gwen now has a weekly column at Washington Week and the current one is "OF SYMBOLS AND MEANING: Or, how to read too much into anything." This week, Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Debra Carmajam. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Tara Setmayer and Genevieve Wood to discuss the week's news on the latest broadcast of PBS' To The Contrary. And this week's To The Contrary online exclusive is about NOW vs. Hooters. Turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:

The Big Gamble
Lesley Stahl reports on the proliferation of gambling to 38 states and its main attraction, the slot machine, newer versions of which some scientists believe may addict their players. | Watch Video


Silver or Lead
Byron Pitts reports on the murder of the mayor of a Mexican city, where powerful drug gangs seem to be giving authorities a choice of "silver or lead" - join us and we will pay you or don't and we'll kill you. | Watch Video


A Living For The Dead
Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Elvis are dead and so is Michael Jackson. But as Steve Kroft reports, they are very much alive when it comes to earning money for their estates. | Watch Video


60 Minutes, Sunday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.





Radio note. The Diane Rehm Show begins airing on most NPR stations (and streaming live) at 10:00 a.m. EST. Her guests for the first hour (domestic news roundup) are Naftali Bendavid (Wall St. Journal), Susan Page (USA Today) and David Welna (NPR). For the second hour (international roundup), Diane's joined byNadia Bilbassy (MBC), Susan Glasser (Foreign Policy) and James Kitfiled (National Journal).


The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.










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Moqtada's return

Press TV states, "Iran's relations with Iraq entered a new stage with the Iranian caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi's trip to the latter and warm official and popular reception of the official. Because the unequaled acknowledgment of the visit signals that the ties have reached a heartwarming point." Of course, for most observers, it's Moqtada al-Sadr's Wednesday return to Iraq that really puts that message across. Aaron C. Davis (Washington Post) reports, "Lawmakers across Iraq's political and ethnic spectrums waited Thursday for word from anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying his first address after returning from nearly four years of self-imposed exile in Iran would likely say a lot about his intended approach to Iraq's fragile new government." The speech is supposed to be delivered Saturday. Anthony Shadid (New York Times) attempts to take on al-Sadr's statement released yesterday and fails miserably. It's a scolding. It's not lively, it's not 'fresh,' and it's not 1991 so "Or, translated more loosely, this is not yesterday's movement" is neither interesting nor accurate. What that note calls for, if more than a sentence is spent on it, is a discussion of cult of personalities and their abilities to use negative reinforcement or not. It doesn't need half-baked, day-old Thomas Friedman-isms and that, honestly, cheapens journalism when it runs in a news article. A column? We could all shrug over the embarrassing attempts at humorous and trendy. When it surfaces as the third paragraph of your news article, that's going to why people still see more flash than substance in your body of work.

Contrast that with observations from Mohamad Bazzi (Al Arabiya):

Now, Mr al Sadr has returned home to play a central part in Iraqi politics and to oversee his movement's transition from a militia force to a powerful political group with 40 seats in Parliament. But his ascendance threatens to stoke sectarian tensions in Iraq: his followers were responsible for some of the worst atrocities against Sunnis during the country's recent civil war. Mr al Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, unleashed death squads that assassinated Sunnis and drove them out of Shiite neighbourhoods.
It is not clear if Mr al Sadr has decided to return permanently to Iraq, or whether he intends to go back to Iran to resume his religious studies. In either case, his arrival on the Iraqi scene is carefully timed and intended to ensure that Mr al Maliki follows through on the promises he made to win the support of Mr al Sadr's parliamentary bloc.

Absent from the some of the coverage is the arrest warrant. For obvious reasons, Hayder al-Khoei (Guardian) doesn't forget the warrant:

However, there was another thorny issue behind his absence: Sadr is still wanted by the Iraqi judiciary for his alleged involvement in my father's murder eight years ago.
The arrest warrant for Sadr stands to this day as Iraqi judge Raed al-Juhi signed it in April 2004. Juhi is the investigative judge who presided over the first hearing of the Dujail massacre that eventually led to Saddam Hussein's execution in December 2006.
The fact that Sadr was not arrested upon his arrival this week says a lot about Iraq's new government and its claimed dedication to integrity.


The following community sites updated last night:

Tuesday's snapshot included a critique of Peter Maas' bad article in The New Yorker. We'll close with this from Justin Raimondo's critique at Antiwar.com:

As for whose idea it was to bring down the statue, Maass traces it to a lowly sergeant who, out of the blue, came up with the bright idea all by his lonesome, but there are several holes in Maass’s story.

To begin with, long shots of the square show the area around the statue completely blocked off by US tanks, and yet, according to Maass’s own account, “a handful of Iraqis had slipped into the square” – at precisely the moment the sergeant asked permission to take the statue down.

Who were these Iraqis? Reading Maass, one would simply assume they were random residents of Baghdad, curiosity seekers out on a lark, but a look at these photos disabuses us of this notion. They were members of the Iraqi National Congress – those now-infamousheroes in error” – who had played a key role in the “weapons of mass destruction” deception and were being groomed by the neocons to take power in post-Saddam Iraq. Along with their leader, the wanted embezzler and suspected Iranian agent Ahmed Chalabi, 700 INC “fighters” were flown into Nasiriyah by the Pentagon a few days before, and were whisked to Baghdad, where they arrived just in time for their Big Media Moment.




The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.