Monday, July 28, 2014

Nouri wants a third term and a nation of clones and drones

As so many lose faith in Nouri al-Maliki, he turns to televised propaganda.  The prime minister and chief thug of Iraq has thus far resisted calls from Kurds, Sunnis and even some Shi'ite politicians (most notably cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr) to step aside and let someone else govern Iraq.  Nouri's desire for a third term as prime minister has led him to ignore the religious authorities as well (most notably Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani).  He's also rumored to have lost the support of the Iranian government (after they met with key Shi'ite politicians from Iraq).

None of it has had any effect on Nouri who appears to be more determined to grab that third term and run the country further into the ground.

Now, like his predecessor Saddam Hussein, Nouri's using state television in an attempt to enlist the people in his vanity campaign.  Maggie Fick (Reuters) reports:

  Since the humiliating loss of much of Iraq's north to Islamic State insurgents, the official Iraqiya channel has been churning out patriotic videos of marching soldiers, heavily-armed commandos and even singers and actors to rally the public behind the government.
The theatrics are reminiscent of life under Saddam Hussein, whose propaganda machine put a positive spin on disasters like his 1990 invasion of Kuwait or 1980-88 war with Iran.
Instead of increasing confidence in Maliki, the campaign has highlighted what critics say is the Shi'ite Muslim premier's failure to unite Iraq against Islamist insurgents who have put the country's survival as a unified state in jeopardy.

Meanwhile Fars News Agency reports 31 corpses of rebels were found in Baquba.  And National Iraqi News Agency reports the Iraqi military says they killed 150 'terrorists' in a Mosul bombing (from a plane).

As you start to really think about that -- just two bits of reported violence today -- and how there are so many people Nouri's government claims to kill each day in this 'campaign,' it's worth pondering what the cut off is?  What is the magic number for Nouri to claim is against him and Iraq before you start to wonder if that many people constitutes the reality of Iraq today?  If the minority isn't really Nouri.  (It is and that's been obvious long before the latest wave of violence got the world's attention.


 On this week's Law and Disorder Radio,  an hour long program that airs Monday mornings at 9:00 a.m. EST on WBAI and around the country throughout the week, hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian, Michael S. Smith and Michael Ratner (Center for Constitutional Rights) topics addressed include?  Gaza.  It's a little comedy show from three attorneys who ignore Nouri al-Maliki's use of collective punishment -- a legally defined War Crime.  Instead of linking the two and increasing awareness of both topics (Iraq and Gaza), they go off into the rabid yet again.  And don't miss their embrace of insane Naomi Wolf who deserves applause -- they argue -- for walking out.  Oh, the bravery!  She walked out of a synagogue.

Such skill, such power.

You know, come to think of it, you walk into a synagogue, you do so knowing you'll be walking out.  But clear heads are in short supply when Gaza crazy strikes the radical left every few months.

(My ridicule and scorn is aimed at the American 'Red Cross' of the left which repeatedly drops every story every few months to focus on Gaza and does little with their rabid froth but make people want to step away from these US spokespersons.  They do so much -- unintentionally, but still -- to ensure the Palestinians continue to suffer.)



The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.






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