The Common Ills: Anbar remains under assault and hard times for Sahwa

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Anbar remains under assault and hard times for Sahwa

Nouri al-Maliki's assault on Anbar is months old and still continuing. Nigel Wilson (IBT) notes, "The violence in Anbar began when government forces stormed a protest camp last December. The protestors had been there for a year, disgruntled by government neglect and withholding of regional funds." It was a bit more complex than that -- there was the issue of the rape and torture of Iraqi girls and women in detention centers and prisons, there was the lack of public services, the lack of jobs . . . But the storming of the camp, the murder of protesters, did kick off this assault.

In his continued shelling of residential neighborhoods in Falluja, Nouri has killed 2 civilians and injured five more (including children). This is the dictator Barack insisted Iraq must keep in 2010, even though Nouri lost that election. Barack knew better than the people of Iraq. Strange because after insisting Nouri remain prime minister, Barack's not visited the country once.

He won't visit a country where a thug like Nouri is in charge but he'll inflict Nouri on the people of Iraq who've already suffered more than enough.

Nouri kicked off his assault in December 30th and he (and the western press) insisted it would last a few weeks. That was December, this is April.

And still the assault continues with no end in sight.

April 30th was the day when parliamentary elections were supposed to take place across Iraq. Guess what?
Anadolu Agency reports, "Residents of militant-held cities and towns in Iraq's western Anbar province will have to leave their neighborhoods to cast ballots in upcoming parliamentary elections, Anbar Governor Ahmed al-Dulaimi said."

So cry for me . . . take a little time . . . and then stop
It's just something that you cannot see . . . so stop!
She swings around on the second story . . .
"I'll get down," she says
Well there is no fire burning . . . just a soul crying
-- "Fire Burning," written by Stevie Nicks, Mike Campbell and Rupert Hine, first appears on Stevie's The Other Side of the Mirror

Nouri's Iraq, where drinking water is in short supply but the streets flow with blood. National Iraqi News Agency reports 1 SWAT member was shot dead in Kut (and one civilian was injured), 1 person was shot dead in Taji, Baghdad Operations Command announced they killed 1 suspect in Baghdad, a security source states 3 suspects were killed in Ramadi, Desert and Island Operations Command stated they killed 1 suspect in Anbar, Nineveh Operations Command announced they killed 11 suspects, 2 police members were shot dead in Mosul, 1 police member was shot dead in Ramadi, a University of Baghdad teacher was injured by a Baghdad sticky bombing, an Abu Ghraib roadside bombing left 2 Sahwa dead and two more injured, a Kirkuk roadside bombing left 5 Iraqi soldiers dead and three more injured, another Kirkuk bombing left 1 Iraqi soldier dead and eight more injured, 2 Sahwa were shot dead in Anbar and two more left injured, a Mosul roadside bombing left six Iraqi soldiers injured, a Hit roadside bombing killed 1 police member and left three more injured, 1 police officer was shot dead in Wadi Hajar, 1 person was shot dead in Mosul, a Lakes Region of Alexandria armed battle left 4 rebels and 1 police officer dead, and a Karbala shooting left "Anti-Crimes police chief of Karbala Col. Aqeel Al-Kurtani injured, IANS adds, "At least five people were killed and 16 others wounded in a suicide attack at a recruitment centre in Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk Wednesday."

It wasn't a good day for Sahwa. Not only did they see multiple attacks in Iraq, a verbal grenade was lobbed from Syria. Speaking to a group of so-called rebels (including a leader who whines about the lack of US support -- they only got $250,000, you understand, just $250,000 from the US government), Isabel Hunter (The Independent) is told:

“If we get support from the US, then people will say we are sahwat”, says al-Sheikh. Sahwat is a derogatory term used in reference to a group of Sunni tribesmen in Iraq who joined forces with US troops and rebelled against al-Qa’ida from 2006 to 2009. Al-Sheikh insists Jabhat al-Nusra and its members are “brothers”.

(And, yes, The Independent is attempting to sell war on Syria. As we noted yesterday, they are a war paper for all their pretense of independence.)

The following community sites -- plus Jake Tapper, Ms. magazine's blog, Black Agenda Report, Susan's On the Edge, KPFK, Antiwar.com and Pacifica Evening News -- updated: