Violence last month, Iraq saw two prison breaks. All Iraq News reports, "The Premier, Nouri al-Maliki, issued a general amnesty for the escapee security elements or who joint terrorist groups." This was quickly followed by another report as Nouri rushed to change his earlier remarks, "A statement by Maliki’s office received by AIN cited 'The mistake is that he said the amnesty involves those who joint terrorist groups while the intended are those whose absentees exceeded the limits'."
Considering how the prison breaks are seen as a major indictment of Nouri's so-called leadership, it's no real surprise that he fumbles even when speaking of them.
Violence has people considering different approaches. From the July 16th snapshot:
On the violence, ABC News Radio quotes Baghdad University professor Nabil Mohammed stating, "People can’t say that things are getting better or are going to be better in the near future. People are just looking for something to help them survive."
Hence the return of the proposed 'moats.' This time the 'protective trench' would be around dispute Kirkuk. Yerevan Saeed (Rudaw) reports:
Two months ago Kirkuk’s Provincial Council decided in a majority vote to dig a 58-kilometer security trench around the city, in a controversial decision to control entrance into the oil-rich and violence-wracked area which is at the center of a dispute between Iraq’s different ethnic and religious groups.
This plan would leave the city with four main entrances, which are to be monitored by surveillance cameras. The trench itself is to be reinforced with barbed wire and regular police patrols.
Hassan Turhan, a Turkmen official in Kirkuk’s provincial council, first proposed a security trench in 2012. But Kirkuk officials only put the plan into action this year, particularly after a series of deadly bombings that killed dozens and wounded hundreds.
Nouri began proposing the idea of a moat around Baghdad to protect the city. That idea never took off. Whether or not it will take off this time remains to be seen. World Bulletin notes:
Iraqi Turkmens are the third-largest ethnic group in Iraq and live primarily in Kirkuk and Tuzhurmatu. Kirkuk Province is a historically diverse area; in addition to ethnic Turkmens, there are also many Arabs and Kurds. Friday's blast in the city took place in an area of previous ethnic, sectarian and political clashes.
Mehmet Tütüncü, the general director of the İstanbul-based Iraqi Turks Culture and Mutual Aid Society (ITKYD), told Today's Zaman that there is a bomb blast every day of the week in Iraq and pointed out that there are many more attacks occurring in predominately Turkmen areas as compared to other ethnic groups in Iraq.
“It is very hard to say who is behind the attack in Kirkuk, but I can easily say that there are many attacks directed at areas where Turkmens live,” Tütüncü said, underlining the fact that the Turkmen community is the only unarmed ethnic group in Iraq.
The plan was put forward weeks ago. Today, it suddenly finds objection. AFP reports today that the "unusual plan" is provoking anger among "Arab leaders." Two minor 'leaders are quoted near the end of the article and their complaints are that this is a land grab. That's an interesting call that is not backed up -- not even a faulty argument is presented on how it would be a land grab. So file the whole thing under the failures of Nouri (in 2007, he was supposed to implement Article 140 of the Constitution -- he refused to do so and has continued to do so putting him in violation of the Constitution and his oath to uphold it).
Kirkuk is oil-rich disputed territory. The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government claims Kirkuk as their own as does the central government in Baghdad. The Kurds are thought to be the largest ethnic group in the world without a homeland. That could change and some fear an event this month might be leading to such a change. Dropping back to the July 31st snapshot:
As a global representative of the KRG, [President Massoud] Barzani is also a leader to many Kurds across the world. Arabic News Digest notes, "Mr Barzani called Kurdish political parties in Syria, Turkey and Iran to a "nationalist convention" to be held in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, in order to discuss the Kurdish situation in these countries and examine the possibility of establishing autonomous rule there, as a prelude to a future territorial unification." Dr. Kemal Kirkuki (Rudaw) notes, "The idea of a National Conference was first initiated years ago by President Barzani, who also heads the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Abdullah Ocalan, head of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the late Idris Barzani, and Jalal Talabani, secretary general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Iraq’s president. But political turmoil and different regional and international factors always posed a barrier to making this goal a reality. What is happening now is the revival of the ideas of those four leaders."
Yesterday, Aso Fishagi (Rudaw) reports:
As Kurdish leaders across the Middle East prepare for a National Conference due later this month, some Iraqi leaders have voiced concern about the true intentions of the meeting.
An official from Iraq’s ruling State of Law coalition says that Baghdad has no objection to such a conference as long as it does not debate the separation of Kurdistan, and that outcome of the talks do not mean a threat to Iraq or the region.
“If a National Conference is to find a better life for Kurds in Iraq and the region, we have no issues with that,” State of Law spokesman Ali Shalla told Rudaw. “The era of dictatorship and marginalization is over and no one should be able to control what we want to do.”
However, if the intention is to separate Kurdistan from Iraq, then Baghdad will certainly take a stance, Shalla added. He said that the organizers should invite some Iraqi MPs to attend the event.
“We hope that some Iraqi MPs, especially those who are known to be friends of the Kurds, get invited to the conference so that Baghdad knows what is discussed there and avoids any suspicions,” he said.
Hiwa Barznjy (Niqash) reports:
Kurdish groups and political parties
from various different countries will finally come together in Iraqi
Kurdistan at the end of August to work out how to form a united front in
the face of regional conflict. Its the first time in recent history?
Finally the meeting that many people of
Kurdish ethnicity had been trying to organise for years will happen. On
July 22, representatives from 39 different Kurdish parties met near
Erbil in the semi-autonomous state of Iraqi Kurdistan to prepare for
just such a meeting in August. The meeting gathered parties from the
four parts of the region that many Kurds like to call “greater
Kurdistan” and which involve Kurds from areas in Iraq, Iran, Turkey and
Syria.
The Kurdish people are one the largest ethnic
groups in the world without an actual homeland and Kurdish living in
Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey share a language, culture and ethnicity.
For many, the idea of a nation of their own, a greater Kurdistan, is
something to strive for – and in fact, this is one of the biggest
conflicts between militant Kurdish fighters who believe in that dream
and the governments of the various countries in which they live, such
as, for example, Turkey.
During this first meeting a preparatory
committee was formed. It was made up of 21 representatives of Kurdish
groups, with six from Turkey, five from Iraqi Kurdistan, five from Iran,
four from Syria and one representative from the Kurdistan National
Congress, a coalition of organisations from across Europe, formed by
exiled Kurdish politicians, lawyers, and activists.
The last thing the meet-up needs is non-Kurds -- especially unneeded is Nouri's State of Law. The meet-up, if it takes place, will be a huge moment for the Kurds -- their moment. A great deal will need to be discussed and it needs to be a Kurdish conversation.
The follwoing community sites -- plus Dissident Voice, The Diane Rehm Show, Pacifica Evening News, C-SPAN, Susan's On the Edge and Antiwar.com -- updated last night and today:
Wally's "THIS JUST IN! HE HAS AN EVIL TWIN!" is not showing up yet.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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