When does the world collectively call Nouri out and say no more. He's killing civilians. These are War Crimes, legally defined as such, recognized internationally as such.
And Nouri's been committing these War Crimes since the start of the year. The number of civilians in Falluja he's wounded and killed increase each day.
And the world is largely silent.
Especially the War Hawks.
"Never again!" the Cruise Missile Left (Samantha Power, et al) loves to proclaim.
But civilians are being slaughtered and killed and where are they?
Oh, that's right they're the ones screaming for war and destruction -- in the administration and advising the administration -- in Syria, Libya, Ukraine and elsewhere.
But not a word on Iraq.
Iraq which the US invasion destroyed isn't a topic of concern for them.
Remember, their cries for war are never about helping the people of a country. They pretend to have humanitarian concerns. But the response they always call for is war and more war. War is not a humanitarian action -- a point the Cruise Missile Left always thinks everyone's too stupid to grasp.
Other violence in Iraq today, National Iraqi News Agency reports Samarra Operations Command announced they killed 12 suspects, a mortar attack on Salahuddin Operations Headquarters left 1 Iraqi soldier dead and four more injured, 2 Mosul mortar attacks left 7 people dead, a bombing near the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan killed 20 people in Baquba and left forty more injured, a Tikrit car bombing left 3 people dead and nine injured, Joint Operations Command announced they killed 30 suspects in Mosul, a Mosul roadside bombing left the Civil Affairs Director of Nineveh Operations Command injured, and military forces killed 2 suspects in a;-Zahra.
Through yesterday, Iraq Body Count counts 444 violent deaths so far this month.
And Nouri wants a third term as prime minister.
The hallmark of his second term as prime minister -- when he failed to nominate anyone to head the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of National Security or the Ministry of Interior -- has been a huge increase in violence.
MWC notes, "Iraq is grappling with its worst surge in violence since 2006 and 2007, when the country was pushed to the brink of civil war in sectarian conflict between the Shia majority and Sunni Arab minority." WG Dunlop (AFP) reports:
Kirk Sowell, the Amman-based publisher of the Inside Iraqi Politics newsletter, said the violence shows that militants are “very strong.” But the question is why “they have maintained this strength ... why are the Iraqi security forces not more capable of dealing with this?”
One issue is widespread arrest campaigns by security forces that he said sweep up many people who are likely innocent, terming it a “completely ineffective security policy.”
Sowell also said the high rate of turnover among senior officers is problematic, noting that there have been five different top commanders in restive Anbar province in roughly two years.
“They keep recycling these generals ... but there’s no change in tactics, there’s no evidence that they’re learning,” he said.
And instead of addressing these issues, the White House just wants to provide more weapons to thug Nouri. World Tribune reports, "On June 5, Lockheed Martin delivered the first of 36 F-16 Block 52 aircraft to the Iraq Air Force. In a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas, L-M said the F-16 was configured to meet the requirements of Iraq’s military."
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] 4489.
Kat's "Kat's Korner: Chrissie Hynde rocks out" went up this morning. Isaiah's latest goes up after this.
New content at Third:
- Truest statement of the week
- Truest statement of the week II
- A note to our readers
- Editorial: Iraq gets its first F-16
- TV: When comedy curdles
- The fist of American diplomacy
- Tweet of the Week
- This edition's playlist
- Turntable Triumphs
- Film Classics of the 20th Century
- Yes, we listen
- VETERANS: Murray Joins Bipartisan Group of Senator...
- LBJ AND J.E. HOOVER BEHIND MLK MURDER, NEW BOOK CH...
- REP. LORETTA SANCHEZ: END THIS WAR AND BRING OUR T...
- Disability rights: A rich theater of the class str...
- CIA-backed general makes a bid for power in Libya
- Highlights
