Monday, March 05, 2012

Emo kids in Iraq targeted for death

Early this morning in Iraq, police forces were attacked in Haditha. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) notes one of the assailants was killed in the attacks. Jack Healy (New York Times) reports that there were approximately 40 assailants and that they wore police uniforms and used vehicles which were like or were similar (or actually were) police vehicles and that they passed through police checkpoints by claiming "they had arrest warrants for criminal suspects." AFP states they were "stolen army vehicles," that they had others dispersed throughout the city in civilian cars and that police Col Mohammed Shauffeur and Captain Khaled Mohammed Sayil's homes were attacked with both men kidnapped and three bodyguards killed. Later Shauffer's corpse turned up in with "gunshots to the head." Fadhel al-Badrani (IOL News) reports, "Three policemen survived the attacks with wounds and were being treated at Haditha hospital. A medical source at Haditha hospital confirmed the hospital received 27 bodies of slain victims and was treating three wounded." BBC News reports both Col Mohammed Shauffeur and Captain Khaled Mohammed Sayil corpses were discovered ("shot dead") shortly after they were kidnapped, "According to the Associated Press news agency, an al-Qaeda flag was raised at one of the checkpoints that was hit." NPR, in their hourly news updates, notes that "reportedly" the flag was raised.

I think "reportedly" is correct. As you go through the various AP updates, the "al Qaeda flag" pops up in later updates and is never attributed to anyone. (And we all know, or should know, that Sameer N. Yacoub was not in Haditha to witness the events being reported.) Pay attention to this AP report and specifically this section: "Fierce gunfights ensued at each checkpoint, and the gang raised the black flag of al-Qaida at the second one, the lieutenant said." They sourced it! No, they didn't. There's not a "lieutenant" anywhere else in the article other than that sentence -- they had been quoting "Mohammed Fathi, spokesman for the governor of Iraq's western Anbar province." Is he suddenly a "lieutenant"? Maybe so. But I love how this goes up when the second police checkpoint is attacked where, in later versions, AP insists, "The killings began with the gang kidnapping two police commanders from their homes in the western Iraqi city of Haditha around 2 a.m. It ended with the gang raising the flag of al Qaeda at a police checkpoint in the latest bloody strike against Iraq's security forces." So which is it? The flag went up after the second police checkpoint was attacked or ended with the flag going up? Were only two police checkpoints attacked? That stands at odds with what all the other outlets are reporting. Could, possibly, this detail have been so irresistible to AP that they worked and massaged it and improved on it? It certainly appears that way.

Alsumaria TV notes that, using "machine guns and grenades" the assailants carried out the attacks and quotes an unnamed "source in operational command of Anbar province" stating that "the gunmen took control of the majority of the checkpoints in the judiciary." That would seem to indicate more than two checkpoints. So if more than two checkpoints were attacked, a flag reportedly being raised at the second checkpoint attacked really wouldn't be the end of the violence. (Most, I would think, would see the discovery of the two corpses of kidnapped police officers as marking the end of that wave of attacks.)


Healy notes, "Local police said they had seized two of the assailants’ vehicles and found books and other materials suggesting they were connected to Al Qaeda in Iraq, an insurgent group composed largely of Sunni Iraqis. Al Qaeda in Iraq did not claim responsibility for the attack but posts on its online message board hailed the bloodshed as a great victory." And they may end up claiming it and they may even have been responsible but that won't change the 'detail' AP has massaged. I do like the cars being full of "books and other materials" as though al Qaeda was going door to door and handing out The Watchtower.

Alsumaria explains that there is a vehicle and pedistrian ban in Haditha currently as a result of the attacks.

In addition to the above, Alsumaria also notes a Mosul home invasion in which a soldier was shot dead in his own home. There's enough violence, by the way, that Reuters might -- MIGHT -- get off their lazy butts and do a "Factbox" on violence today -- something they've avoided for about a week now (despite the continued violence). Alsumaria adds that a Kirkuk roadside bomb apparently targeted Judge Assem Omar who emerged without any injuries; however, his driver was wounded. In addition, they note that the corpse of Baquba fuel station worker Ali Hussein was discovered dumped by the side of the road and he apparently died from the gun shots to the head and chest and that this follows the discovery yesterday of the corpse of a young man who was executed by a Baquba 'firing squad' made up of gang members.

In the meantime, the attack on Emo youth or suspected Emo youth in Iraq continues. Wael Grace (Al Mada) reports that those with longish hair, suspected of being Emo are being threatened and killed. Grace notes that there are lists of Emo youth (or accused of being Emo youth) publicly displayed in Sadr City, Shula and Kadhimiya with the promise that, one by one, each will be killed. An unnamed official in the Sadr City municipal court states that people have, on their cell phones, the names of young people to "liquidate" because they are Emo. This is beyond insanity and what happens when the US government turns a country over to thugs. And where is Nouri calling this out? Oh, that's right, he's not a leader. Well where's the United Nations? A segment of Iraqi youth is being targeted for "liquidation." That's pretty disturbing. Note the silence. Forever the silence.



That's Tori Amos covering Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence" (see the Strange Little Girls album).

And we'll also include My Chemical Romance's "Sing." My Chemical Romance is an Emo band.




Bonnie reminds that Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Jim Moron." On this week's Law and Disorder Radio -- a weekly hour long program that airs Monday mornings at 9:00 a.m. EST on WBAI and around the country throughout the week, hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian, Michael S. Smith and Michael Ratner (Center for Constitutional Rights) -- topics explored include Mumia Abu-Jamal, Egypt NGOs, Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and, with attorney Maria LaHood, the Olypia Food Co-op's legal victory.


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