For the Operation Happy Talkers they might grab on the 'good news' of the rains. All Iraq News notes the weather is predicted to be cloudy with chances of rain for the next four days and that the rains have helped the Tigris River's water level rise which Maysan Province Governor Ali Douai sees as a way to eliminate water scarcity in the coming months. Of course, the full portrait of the rain isn't so pleasing. Dropping back to Wednesday's snapshot:
In Iraq, the rains have been falling with significant consequences. Tuesday, All Iraq News reportedJoseph Muhammadwi and Mahmoud Raouf (Al Mada) reported Dar Addustour noted
that many of the cities, such as Kut, have been hit with the heavy
rains. Baghdad residents protested the lack of public services --
proper sanitation (i.e. drainage) would alleviate a great deal of the
standing water. Nouri's had six years to address Baghdad's sewer system
and done nothing. AFP reports
today the heavy rains in Kut led to houses collapsing resulting in the
death of six children and leaving one adult male injured.
that the rest of the week would be rainy and foggy. And Iraq had
already seen heavy rain fall. Sadr City was one of the areas
effected.
on the flooding of Sadr City and included a photo of the water up to
the frame of a mini-van. Despite the flooding and continuing heavy
rains, traffic police stand outside directing vehicles. One resident
jokes that Nouri can replace the food-ration cards with free small
boats. The water's flooded the streets and also gone into homes and
schools and a makeshift bridge of bricks has been constructed to allow
access to one school.
With the lack of proper sanitation (Nouri's had over six years to address that) the flooding will continue and more homes may collapse.
Not as pleasing when those realities are factored in which is why the city of Baghdad is creating an operation room to address the rain water and attempt to provide the sewage plants with continuous power.
The tensions between Erbil and Baghdad continue. Nouri al-Maliki turned a tense situation into a crisis by sending forces (Tigris Operation Command) into the disputed areas in northern Iraq. The Kurds see this as an attempt by Nouri to seize control of the areas. Due to Nouri's past record and his refusal to honor the Constitution he took an oath to (specifically to implement Article 140 of the Constitution to resolve disputed areas), they're wise to see this as yet another power grab on Nouri's part.
Things are now so tense between the Kurdistan Regional Government out of Erbil and the Baghdad-based central government of Iraq that rumors usually used to justify the start of open war are flying around. Al Rafidayn reports rumors being spread that the Kurds are sending shooters into Kirkuk in plain clothes to kill people. This is the sort of thing the US government has repeatedly used to justify moving on the Syrian government. While rumors fly, Kitabat notes that efforts to de-escalate the situation and prevent armed conflict continue with talks continue.
But Nouri never plays fair. Alsumaria reports that Nouri has announced the issue is one for the federal courts. That would be the federal courts he controls. As noted by the RAND Corporation and numerous human rights organizations. The federal court has always been happy to ignore the Constitution or 're-interpret' it to give Nouri the legal finding he wants.
All Iraq News notes that Jabbar Yawar, Secretary General of the Ministry of Peshmerga (Kurdish elite forces) has stated that their demand is that Nouri's forces leave the disputed areas. Alsumaria adds that Nouri has sent in six more additional military helicopters to the area.
No one seems to grasp what this means in the press outside of Iraq. That's not true. A number of people do grasp it but they look the other way. We'll pick up on what it means in today's snapshot. There were always warnings about what's taking place. We'll cover it later today.
Bonnie reminds that Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The Idiotic Susan Rice" and "Sunset Jackson" went up yesterday. "Tom Hayden Democrats" went up yesterday. On this week's Law and Disorder Radio, an 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 addressed include Jeremey Hammond, Gaza, Israel being the third largest arms seller worldwide, Iyad Burnat on Palestine, and Jim Douglas on JFK.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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