Sunday, December 02, 2012

Hejira

Wrongly, I thought by now, nearly 24 hours since last night's entry, someone might pick up the ball -- someone writing in the English language -- and we could just highlight him or her.  My mistake for underestimating the stupidity of the chattering class where few know a foreign language and even fewer feel they're obligated to read the foreign press.

So Iraq's lsiding right off the cliff and no one's noticing. 

I'm confused how Iraq Oil Report justifies the fees it charges those of us who read it when it can't even report on what's taken place?

Jason Ditz writes at a free site (Antiwar.com) but one that forever begs for money.  So I'm confused as to why he's writing some garbage about searching Syrian flights (that seems unaware of, among other things, this Xinhua report filed Saturday) while ignoring what took place Saturday in Iraq?

Maybe the problem's xenophobia?

Maybe, yet again, Westerners are imposing their assumptions of what's important?

Then again, Ditz is also a frequent apologist for Nouri al-Maliki, especially when doing radio with the mouth from the south. 

I think when discussions about the torture of women in Iraqi prisons results in Nouri's State of Law starting fistfights in the halls of Parliament, you've got a story.  When it escalates to Nouri threatening on Saturday to arrest those who discussed the issue, I think you've got a major story.  When any leader says what Nouri said Saturday, you've got a major story.


Ayad al-Tamimi (Al Mada) reports that Nouri's speech has been dubbed "the death of democracy declaration."  Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi calls the remarks "unprecdented in democracies."

Sort of seems like that should be covered by more than the Iraqi press.  Saturday's report on it at Al Mada is their most read article.  Clearly Iraqis take the story seriously.

I guess xenophobia allows people to look the other way, that and a desire to provide cover to Nouri.  The US puppet sure is supported by a large number of people and let's hope beggar media doesn't decide to slam corporate media because while corporate media has been silent so has beggar media.

Remember that when they're screaming for your money next.  Remember that Nouri stood in front of cameras and threatened to arrest members of Parliament for discussing what's taking place in Iraqi prisons.  Remember that when he announced that he would take various efforts against any who moved for a vote of no cofidence in the same speech that beggar media was silent.

They can take comfort though, the beggar media, in the fact that they didn't do the scrub job on Nouri's speech that AFP did.  The story is an embarrassment.  Most that usually carry AFP are ignoring their 'coverage.'

Al Rafidayn is emphasizing the attacks on Jalal Talabani in Nouri's remarks.  There's so much to emphasize.  If you care about the topic.

If you don't, you just whore and there are a lot of whores.  Again, you can't read Iraqi media in the last 24 hours and not see coverage of Nouri's remarks.  But let's all pretend that the blackout on the speech is normal -- like it's normal that Robert S. Beecroft, US Ambassador to Baghdad, rushed to speak to Jalal today.  (Of course he did, if Jalal takes away the fig leaf, Nouri's exposed and the US puppet crumbles.)

Remember what caused Nouri's anger?  He's got his judges and ministries out in full force to insist women are fine in Iraqi prisons.  Aswat al-Iraq runs a story about how the judges are insisting that "only" 46 Iraqi women are being held right now for questioning.

46 women who are not charged with one damn thing shouldn't be held to begin with.  But they want to happy talk it and tell you that it's "only" 46.

The Crazy has been let out and it is running free and, if you doubt that, note that the story continues that, oops, one of the women was pregnant.  And she went into labor during questioning.

Don't worry though.  They're going to let her go just as they're done questioning her.

They have held a pregnant woman without charge, they have upset her and she went into labor.  She is still not released from custody.

In what world is that acceptable.

If Barack were the man his supporters believe he is, he would have been calling these violations out publicly.  But he's not the myth, he's the man who insisted Nouri remain as prime minister despite the results of the 2010 election.




For what took place before Saturday, how Nouri created the latest crisis, you can refer to Mohammad Akef Jamal's piece for Gulf News.







Xinhua notes that Al Jazeera's reporting a 'top al-Qaeda leader in Iraq' has been caught.  It's like the day of Bush all over again, isn't it?  In news that actually matters, Tang Danlu (Xinhua) reports 3 people were shot dead today in Mosul.




I'm traveling in some vehicle
I'm sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
That shell shock love away
-- "Hejira," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her album of the same name

 The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4488.
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Isaiah's latest comic goes up after this.  The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.




 
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