Saturday, January 05, 2013

'He can barely point to a single success . . .'

Protests coninue in Iraq.  Today security forces attempted to prevent protesters from entering Liberal Square in Mosul, Alsumaria reports; however,  Nineveh Province Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi (also spelled Ethyl) ordered that the square be opened and that protesters be allowed to demonstrate there.  All Iraq News adds that al-Nujaifi and other Iraiqya deputies took part in a demonstration in Liberal Square last Sunday.  Alsumaria quotes MP Jawad Alshahyla of Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc stating that Moqtada has sent delegations to Anbar Province and Salahuddin Province to speak to protesters and to be clear on what their demands are.

Meanwhile Reuters notes, "Saudi Arabia on Saturday warned against sectarian extremism after two weeks of protests."    Al Arabiya reports Ayad Allawi, leader of Iraqiya, continues his call for prime minister and thug Nouri al-Maliki to step down stating that the country needs "radical solutions" and it "does not belong to one person."  World Bulletin quotes Allawi stating, "Maliki government cannot take the country out of economic and political crisis."




Detsche Welle offers an opinion piece on Nouri which includes:

He's one of the most powerful men in Iraq - and one of the least popular. Nuri al-Maliki has, for many Iraqis, forfeited his credibility as prime minister. His allegedly authoritarian and inefficient leadership style has even been criticized by members of the parties that make up the government coalition.
No wonder - a year after the withdrawal of the US army, he can barely point to a single success. Unemployment is high, terrorists have infiltrated security forces and corruption is widespread. Some of his coalition partners are even accusing Maliki of behaving like Iraq's former dictator Saddam Hussein.


". . . he can barely point to a single success."  Can he point to one?  Does even one exist?


And those 'accomplishments' are even worse when you factor in that Nouri's been prime minister since spring 2006. All this time to improve the lives of the Iraqi people but nothing to show for it.  Can't claim that, like many countries, Iraq was suffering economically.  No, the government rakes in billions and billions each year off the oil exports.  But what do Iraqis have to show for that?


Nouri's political slate is State of Law.  Tomorrow, a special seassion of Parliament is supposed to take place (called by Speaker or Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi and Deputy Prime Minister).  All Iraq News notes that State of Law is stating that they won't attend any such session.

Violence continues today.  All Iraq News reports that a Karbala car bombing claimed 1 life and left twenty-three people injured.  Xinhua adds a Kan'an car bombing claimed 3 lives and left six people injured, a Sa'diyah roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier with four more left injured and 1 person was shot dead in Baquba.

In other news, AP notes that the office of Iraq President Jalal Talabani has finally issued a statement identifying the incident that led to Talabani's hospitalization: a stroke.  The incident took place late on December 17th (see the December 18th snapshot) and resulted in Jalal being admitted to Baghdad's Medical Center Hospital.    Thursday, December 20th, he was moved to Germany.  He remains in Germany currently.














The following community sites -- plus Antiwar.com, Jody Watley,  Great Britain's Socialist Worker and NYT's At War -- updated last night and today:






Lastly, Law Professor Francis A. Boyle is an expert on international law and human rights.  He has written the following:


2013 Nobel Peace Prize Nomination of Governor George H. Ryan
University of Illinois College of Law Professor Francis A. Boyle nominated retired Illinois Governor George H. Ryan for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize because of his courageous, heroic, and principled opposition to the racist and class-based death penalty system in America.
The Illinois General Assembly and Governor Pat Quinn recently abolished the death penalty--a life-long objective of Professor Boyle, a Native Illinoisan. See his article "Teaching Against the Death Penalty," 21 J. Development Alternatives & Areas Studies, No. 1 & 2, at 90-96 (March-June 2002), which recounts his experiences at teaching against the death penalty since his arrival at the College of Law in August of 1978.
Together with his former student Karen Conti and her late partner Greg Adamski, they served as Co-Counsel to prevent the execution of convicted mass-murderer John Wayne Gacey by then Illinois Governor Jim Edgar. The three of them won a Request for a Stay of Execution by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Governor Edgar on the grounds that the Illinois lethal injection procedure constituted torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. Nevertheless, Governor Edgar violated this Request and illegally tortured Mr. Gacey to death over a period of eighteen minutes.
But thanks to Governor George Ryan there had been no similar executions by the State of Illinois for over a decade and now never again!
Boyle was elected by the 200,000 members of Amnesty International USA to serve two two- year terms on their Board of Directors from 1988 to 1992. The Nobel Peace Prize Winning Amnesty International is an abolitionist organization that will work to prevent the execution of any human being for any reason. So will Professor Boyle. Amnesty International also opposes the torture of human beings for any reason. So does Professor Boyle.
For information :
Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (Voice)
217-244-1478 (Fax)
(personal comments only)



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