Wednesday, May 09, 2012

7 dead, 16 injured

Citing security sources, Alsumaria reports that Diyala Province saw an attack on a home that left the home owner and his son dead and that the home invasion was followed by a bombing aimed at the police and citizens who rushed to assist -- 3 civilians were killed and six more injured in hte bombing. They also report a Baghdad car bombing late yesterday claimed 3 lives (including Amir Muhammad Abd Mutlaq) and left six people injured.  Covering these events, Xinhua notes the home invasion was of a police officer's home (the officer wasn't at home) and they count 7 dead and sixteen injured in the violence Alsumaria noted.  Alsumaria also informs that a police officer was shot dead Tuesday in Tal Afar.


Yesterday's snapshot included:  "In other news, Kitabat reports thousands poured into the streets of Erbil today as people demonstrated against the magazine Al-Hamsa which some are convinced is anti-Islam.  Demonstrators threw bottles of water and stones and attempted to climb the barriers around the compound.  52-year-old demonstrator Said Ahmed Ali stated that the government was allowing insults to Islam and the Koran.  The editor of the magazine was arrested." Al Rafidayn reports the demonstrators attacked social clubs, liquor stores and a hotel among other establishments.  They smashed the windows of the hotel.  How that 'helped' Islam is not clear in the report nor is how it made the protesters come off as 'holy.' The paper reports they then charged the Kurdistan Parliament and security forces used tear  gas.  Dar Addustour reports that the protesters set fire to liquor stores and when they charged the Kurdistan Parliament, they were hurling stones.



 Yesterday's snapshot also noted, "Al Sumaria reports a Sahwa leader in Diyala Province, Sami al-Khazraji, has revealed his monthly salary has been cut and that was on the orders of Nouri and his Minstry of Reconciliation.  Other Sahwa have been cut by 20% in the province and there are said to be over 7,000 Sahwa in the province with most in Baquba." Today Alsumaria reports that over 30 Sahwa in Diayal Province walked off their posts yesterday to protest the cuts.


Yesterday's biggest Iraq news was that INTERPOL issued a red alert (not an arrest warrant) on Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.  Alsumaria is one of the few outlets this morning getting it right (not an arrest warrant) and they note that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared yesterday that al-Hashemi came to Turkey for medical treatment and that Turkey will continue to offer him support.  Al Mada notes that the issue of Tareq al-Hashemi is one that political blocs want to resolve and that it is thought there is a political solution.  The article wrongly states INTERPOL issued an arrest warrant and then gives a large amoung of space to MP Hassoun Fatlawi blustering about how this is a test for Turkey.  Fatlawi doesn't know what he's speaking of and he has carried Nouri's water publicly for years.  (He's not a memeber of State of Law, he is a member of the National Alliance.)  In fairness to Press TV, they also get the Red Alert correct: 

Erdogan's remarks came shortly after the international police organization, Interpol, issued a "Red Notice" for Hashemi’s arrest “on suspicion of guiding and financing terrorist attacks” in Iraq.
Interpol's “Red Notice,” which is non-binding, is a request for local police to detain a wanted person with a view to their extradition.

Today The Takeaway has an interresting discussion on Post-Traumatic Stress. And AP reports that US support for the Afghanistan War has cratered.  Also Trina's "The nightmare unemployment numbers" went up last night.  Lastly, Debra Sweet's receiving a deserved honor so congratulations to her.  She worked very hard to fight Bush's wars and she works very hard to this day to fight Barack's wars:



For immediate release
May 7, 2012
Contact: Lina Thorne 718 825 9119
lina@worldcantwait.net

Debra Sweet, World Can’t Wait Director, will receive the 2012 American Humanist Association’s (AHA) Humanist Heroine Award. The award will be presented at the AHA national conference on June 9 in New Orleans and is a joint presentation of the AHA and its Feminist Caucus. Since 1982, this award is given annually to women who promote and advance the ideals of human rights and gender justice using a non-theological approach. Past awardees have included Judy Norsigian, Robin Morgan, Julia Sweeney and Amy Goodman.
Debra Sweet helped establish and continues to lead World Can’t Wait in its mission to “stop the crimes of our government,” including unjust military occupations, covert drone wars, torture and indefinite detention as well as reversing the fascist direction of U.S. society.  She has worked with abortion providers for thirty years, organizing community support and helping them withstand anti-abortion violence.  Since the age of 19, when she confronted Richard Nixon during a face-to-face meeting and told him to stop the war in Vietnam, Debra has been a leader in the opposition to U.S. wars and military occupations.

Sweet will be leading World Can’t Wait’s efforts in protesting  NATO’s meeting in Chicago, May 20-21, where  the U.S. and its military allies will discuss the continuation of US/NATO presence in Afghanistan until 2024.

Annie Laurie Geller, Co-President, Freedom from Religion Foundation, nominated Debra for this award. “Debra Sweet, more than any person I know, embodies heroism: for women, for peace, for the progression of humanity,” she says. “She inspired me, her classmates, the city of Madison, Wisconsin and the entire nation when, as a student, she met President Richard Nixon. Her courage to openly express the views of most Americans toward Nixon and the war was an electrifying moment that touched many and opened our eyes to personal activism. She has gone on to dedicate her life to peace and progressive causes, including feminist issues.” 

On Friday, May 4, Sweet was convicted with 19 others of disorderly conduct for a 2011 protest against the NYPD’s “stop and frisk” policy.  “700,000 people were stopped, questioned and frisked by the NYPD last year, the great majority of them Black and Latino, in violation of their constitutional rights and their humanity,” said Sweet. Fellow defendants in the non-violent civil resistance were Dr. Cornel West of Princeton University; Vietnam war resister and revolutionary leader Carl Dix; clergy, students and residents of the Harlem community who had been victimized by the policy.  Dr. West called Sweet “a long-distance freedom fighter whom I deeply respect and love.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION about The American Humanist Association, contact: Brian Magee, (202) 238-9088 extension 105, Mobile: (202) 681-2425.   FOR MORE INFORMATION about Freedom from Religion Foundation, contact: Annie Laurie Gaylor (608) 256-8900.



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