In Iraq, Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports that government officials state a Ramadi suicide bomber last night entered the home of a Sahwa (Awakening, Sons Of Iraq/Daughters Of Iraq, etc.) leader who was also his cousin and, in the midst of a family gathering, set off the bomb killing himself and 6 other people (Sahwa leader, his wife, three of their children, and two other relatives). AFP adds that twenty-two people were injured. Reporting on Friday's violence, Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com) reports 22 people were killed and fifty-eight injured "in mostly Sunni regions." Meanwhile Alsumaria reports on an assassination attempt on the Director of Intelligence in Nineveh Province which left two of his bodyguards injured (the director was apparently not hurt). Unknown assailants used machine guns. Alsumaria adds that a Kirkuk sticky bombing injured four members of one family. All Iraqi News notes a Mosul roadside bombing injured two people.
On the topic of Sahwa, Alsumaria reports an apparent victory for the Daughters Of Iraq in Diyala Province. The 300 women are part of a force established in 2007 and have been calling attention to the work they do and the need for it. It has been agreed to formally recognize the DOI and to link it with the Ministry of the Interior. Dar Addustour reports on the development here.
As noted in yesterday's snapshot, Moqtada al-Sadr delivered a major speech yesterday. Al Rafidayn is one of the few to report on it and the emphasize Moqtada's call for a law limiting the three presidencies (President of Iraq, Prime Minister of Iraq and Speaker of Iraq) to two terms. This has alarmed State of Law. Alsumaria reports State of Law MP Haitham al-Jubouri is insisting this must be done by a Constitutional amendment and not by a law. Actually, it is done by law. But if you try to force it to a Constitutional amendment, you know there's even less chance of it passing. Alsumaria notes that Kurdish MP Mohsan Saadoun insists that this is a measure that would be done by law, through Parliament.
On the issue of Camp Ashraf -- Iranian dissidents who have been in Iraq for decades -- the US is angry that only 2,000 of the approximately 3,500 have been moved to Camp Liberty. AFP reports, "The United States on Friday again urged members of an exiled Iranian opposition group to leave their long-time base in Iraq, saying a move could facilitate their removal from a US terror blacklist." Regardless of your feelings on this issue and the residents, you should be offended that the US government -- and they're revealing this publicly -- assigns someone to the terrorist list or not on something other than whether or not the group is a terrorist. The US goverment is saying, 'Move to Camp Liberty and the group you belong to, MEK, can be taken off the terrorist list.'
The terrorist list, the US government is making very clear, is about politics and not about terrorism. You'd think people would be outraged by the little dance taking place in public.
Odds and ends, the absentia trial or 'trial' of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi resumes tomorrow and Parliament goes back into session Tuesday.
The following community sites -- plus Pacifica Evening News -- updated last night and today:
Kat's "Roberta Flack sets San Diego on fire again tonight..." isn't showing up above but it went up today. We'll close with this from Phillip Faruggio's "Phony Conservatives" (Dissident Voice):
The so called progressives on MSNBC. I sat there the other night as Ed Shultz lambasted those of us who are against what is known as Obamacare: the cave-in to the private insurance megalith that rules health care forever. Shultz was indignant at the Republicans who are trying to derail this new law. Yet, he never will acknowledge that Obamacare, as it is called, will destroy the only hope we have for real health insurance reform, which is a Medicare for All first step. Of course, the Republicans are against the law for their own political reasons. After all, do you think a right wing ideologue like Justice John Roberts would vote to keep Obamacare if not for the fact that it ultimately will increase profits for the private health insurers? Trust me on this one: If the insurers do not like any part of the new law as hurtful to their profits, they will simply raise deductibles and co-pays. They will have millions of new customers too, mandated by law with threat of a tax for evasion. Yet, this is not the key reason why I for one have absolutely NO connection with the phony progressives out there…
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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