Tuesday, February 24, 2015. Chaos and violence continue, Amnesty International releases a report documenting abuses in Iraq, the media looks away as they did with the United Nations report on Monday, we note some of the US reporters who have really reported from Iraq, we (again) dispel the myth of McClatchy, and much more.
Today Amnesty International issued "Amnesty International Report 2014/15: The State of the World's Human Rights." The section on Iraq opens with:
There was a marked deterioration in
human rights as armed conflict intensified
between government security forces and
fighters of the Islamic State (IS, formerly
ISIS) armed group, which gained control
of large parts of central and northern
Iraq. IS fighters committed widespread
war crimes, including ethnic cleansing of
religious and ethnic minorities through
a campaign of mass killings of men and
abduction and sexual and other abuse of
women and girls. Government forces carried
out indiscriminate bombing and shelling in
IS-controlled areas, and government-backed
Shi’a militias abducted and executed scores
of Sunni men in areas under government
control. The conflict caused the deaths of
some 10,000 civilians between January and
October, forcibly displaced almost 2 million
people and created a humanitarian crisis.
This was exacerbated by the continuing
influx of thousands of refugees from Syria,
mostly to Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan
Region. The government continued to hold
thousands of detainees without charge or
trial, many of them in secret detention with
no access to the outside world. Torture and
other ill-treatment in detention remained
rife, and many trials were unfair. Courts
passed many death sentences, mostly
on terrorism charges; more than 1,000
prisoners were on death row, and executions
continued at a high rate.
That the Islamic State is committing crimes and overseeing horrors is not hard to discover in reports and 'reports' in the western media.
The fact that Iraq's government forces are doing the same?
Much harder to find reported in the western media.
For example, starting in January of 2014, then-prime minister Nouri al-Maliki began bombing the civilian areas of Falluja -- a Sunni dominate city. Bombing civilians areas as collective punishment? Legally defined as War Crimes. These bombings quickly became daily bombings.
The western press looked the other way until September 13, 2014 when new prime minister Haider al-Abadi announced these bombings had been stopped.
That the western press rushed to cover.
But, thing is, bombings continued the next day and ever since. The bombing of the residential neighborhoods in Falluja has never stopped.
These bombings are acknowledged in a sentence in the Amnesty report:
Government forces
used indiscriminate shelling to regain control
over Fallujah and parts of Ramadi from ISIS,
killing civilians and causing damage to civilian
infrastructure. Anbar province remained in
conflict throughout the year amid allegations
that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had
undermined efforts by tribal leaders to broker
a solution.
The government’s failure to resolve the
crisis, among other factors, left Anbar unable
to stem the rapid military advance of ISIS,
whose fighters seized control of Mosul, Iraq’s
second largest city, in June and then much
of Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninevah and Salah
al-Din provinces. This sparked a dramatic
resurgence in sectarian tensions and massive
displacement of communities at risk from
armed attacks by ISIS or government air
strikes. Ethnic and religious minorities were
particularly targeted by ISIS, which forced all
non-Sunni and non-Muslims out of the areas
under its control.
The report also notes:
Government forces and Shi’a militias armed
and backed by the government committed
war crimes and human rights violations,
predominantly targeting Sunni communities.
In Anbar, Mosul and other areas under
IS control, government forces carried out
indiscriminate air strikes in civilian areas,
including with barrel bombs, that killed and
injured civilians. In September, Prime Minister
al-Abadi called on the security forces to cease
all shelling of civilian areas, but air strikes in
IS-controlled areas continued, with ensuing
civilian casualties.
Security forces and Shi’a militias abducted
or detained Sunnis and carried out scores
of extrajudicial executions with impunity. In
areas where they regained control from IS,
they also destroyed homes and businesses
of Sunni residents, in reprisal for the
alleged support for IS by members of those
communities. KRG Peshmerga forces also
carried out reprisal destruction of homes of
Sunni Arab residents in areas they recaptured
from IS.
Will any of the above get serious attention from the western press?
Did the findings in the United Nations report issued on Monday get any serious western press attention?
No, they did not.
The reports was issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq and is entitled [PDF format warning] "Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Iraq: 11 September - 10 December 2014."
The report notes:
During
the
reporting
period
UNAMI/OHCHR
continued
to
receive
reports
alleging
civilian
casualties
attributed
to
airstrikes
and
shelling
by
Government
security
forces
and
those
supporting
them
-- that
at
times
appear
to
have
been
carried
out
against
civilian
targets
or
heedless
of
the
disproportionate
effects
of
those
operations
on
civilians,
in
which
case
it
would
amount
to
war
crimes.
Hundreds
of
civilians
were
reportedly
killed
(including
at
least
3
children)
from
airstrikes
and
shelling
during
the
reporting
period.
However,
in
many
cases,
UNAMI/OHCHR
has
not
been
able
to
verify
these
reports
nor
the
number
of
civilian
casualties
that
may
have
caused
.
On
13
September,
Prime
Minister
al
-
Abadi
released
a
statement
that
he
had
ordered
the
Iraqi
Air
Force
to
s
uspend
bombardment
in
civilian
areas,
including
those
controlled
by
ISIL,
and
expressed
his
commitment
to
protect
civilians. The
statement
was
ostensibly
in
response
to
increasing
concerns
regarding
civilian
casualties
stemming
from
airstrikes
and
shelling
by
Government
forces,
Did CNN rush to cover the report?
No.
Did the Washington Post, McClatchy or the New York Times?
No.
Now it took forever for the report to get back to Falluja.
Because the United Nations is so cowardly -- especially UNAMI.
So you went from the bombing of civilian areas in Falluja to other bombings by forces -- Iraqi as well as the US-led foreign fighters -- before the report would (briefly) get back to Iraq.
ISF,
and
coalition
forces
32
assisting
the
Government
of
Iraq,
are
bound
to
respect
applicable
humanitarian
law
in
the
conduct
of
military
operations. These
norms
include
the
principles
of
distinction
and
proportionality,
and
the
requirement
to
take
all
reasonable
precautions
to
avoid
and
minimize
incidental
loss
of
civilian
life,
injury
to
civilians,
and
damage
to
civilian
objects.
UNAMI/OHCHR
notes
one
confirmed
case
(and
there
have
been
a
few
other
similar
reports
cited
in
local
media),
where
the
Iraqi
Air
Force
dropped
leaflets
from
the
Ministry
of
Defense
advising
civilians
to
evacuate
areas
occupied
by
ISIL
that
may
be
potential
targets
in
military
operations.
As
noted
above,
ISIL
continues
to
deliberately
position
itself
in
civilian
areas
and
within
civilian
infrastructure,
such
as
schools
and
hospitals,
either
to
use
the
presence
of
civilians
to
shield
their
forces
from
attack
or
to
cause
civilian
casualties
in
the
event
of
attack.
Salah
al-Din
governorate
reported
the
highest
number
of
civilian
casualties
due
to
airstrikes,
with
allegedly
67
civilians
killed
during
the
reporting
period.
Subsequent
to
ISIL
complex
attack
on
the sub-district
of
Dhuluiya
on
8
September,
ISF
began
a
series
of
airstrikes
in
defense
of
the
area.
Several
aerial
bombardments
of
the
area
during
the
remainder
of
September
allegedly
resulted
in
the
deaths
of
at
least
11
civilians
,
and
the
injury
of
two
others.
On
8
October,
ISF
shelling
on
Tikrit
reportedly
killed
at
least
14
civilians.
On
9
and
10
November,
shelling
allegedly
by
ISF
in
al
-
Alam
sub-district,
including
in
a
market
area,
reportedly
killed
at
least
seven
civilians
and
wounded
14
more.
On
14
October,
in
the
Kahrabaa
area
of
Baiji
district
,
an
air
strike
reportedly
hit
two
houses,
killing
18
persons,
most
allegedly
civilians.
On
17
October,
an
airstrike
in
the
Albo
-
Tuama
area
of
Salah
al
-
Din
was
alleged
to
have
killed
five
people
from
one
family,
including
one
woman
and
three
children.
On
21
October,
a
building
collapsed
in
the
central
part
of
Baiji
district
after
it
was
targeted
in
an
airstrike.
According
to
one
source,
a
second
air
strike
killed
at
least
five
people
and
wounded
at
least
10
others
who
had
gone
to
the
site
to
retrieve
those
killed
and
injured
by
the
first
strike.
On
29
November,
an
airstrike
allegedly
targeted
a
vehicle
in
Yathrib
sub-district,
killing
one
civilian,
with
a
second
strike
targeting
a
house
where
a
family
had
allegedly
gathered
for
a
funeral.
It
was
reported
that
at
least
15
civilians
(including
four
children)
were
killed
and
another
25
were
injured
in
the
attack.
Local
sources
have
reported
that
a
predominately
Sunni
Arab
area
of
Yathrib
sub-district
has
been
under
regular
attack
by
ISF
and
government-affiliated
forces
from
Balad
Air
Base
(formerly
the
al-Bakr
Air
Base)
over
the
past
several
months.
Approximately
15
-
20
villages
have
been
affected,
with
the
most
severe
impact
on
al-Jami’y
a
area,
where
it
is
alleged
that
almost
half
of
the
600
homes
were
destroyed
by
shelling.
Number
of
casualties
could
not
be
verified
due
to
lack
of
access to
the
affected
area.
Residents
have
claimed
that
they
are
under
threat
of
being
shot
if
they
entered
their
fields
for
agricultural
purposes.
It
is
alleged
that
the
main
actor
conducting
military
operations
in
the
area
is
the
Asa’ib
Ahl
al
-
Haq
(AAH).
Sources
in
Ninewa
also
alleged
that
the
governorate
had
experienced
a
high
number
of
air
attacks
during
the
reporting
period.
On
the
morning
of
10
September,
an
air
strike
allegedly
hit
al-Majmoua
area,
north
of
Mosul,
reportedly
killing
11
civilians.
In
the
afternoon
of
the
same
day,
two
additional
air
strikes
in
al
-
Shurta
and
Ba’aj
areas
allegedly
killed
at
least
seven
civilians
and
wounded
three
more.
Air
strikes
carried
out
on
17
October
north
of
Mosul
allegedly
killed
at
least
26
civilians.
It
was
further
reported
that
on
7
November,
two
air
strikes
killed
10
civilians,
including
two
children
in
Qayyara
district.
UNAMI/OHCHR
received
several
reports
of
air
strikes
in
Anbar
governorate,
but
due
to
the
security
situation
was
not
able
to
verify
these
incidents
or
the
casualties
that
are
alleged
to
have
resulted.
On
6
October,
an
air
strike
allegedly
hit
civilian
buildings
in
Heet,
killing
at
least
18
civilians
(including
three
women
and
eight
children),
with
an
undetermined
number
of
wounded.
Other
sources,
however,
reported
that
the
target
of
the
air
strike
was
ISIL,
and
that
the
three
civilian
houses
had
been
hit
with
resulting
civilian
casualties
in
subsequent
shelling
of
the
area.
It
was
also
alleged
that
on
4
November,
an
air
strike
hit
a
market
in
al-Qaim,
western
Anbar,
killing
at
least
five
civilians
and
wounding
at
least
27
more.
Four
days
later
on
8
November,
another
strike
reportedly
killed
at
least
13
civilians
in
the
same
area.
Sources
in
Fallujah
General
Hospital
reported
that
144
bodies
(including
18
children)
had
been
received
during
September,
398
(including
26
children)
during
October,
and
2
94
bodies
(including
8
children)
during
November.
Sources
in
the
hospital
alleged
that
most
of
these
casualties
had
resulted
from
shelling
carried
out
by
the
Iraqi
army
and
associated
forces.
UNAMI/OHCHR
was
not
able
to
verify
these
figures.
Took them five paragraphs to get back to Falluja but eventually they did.
Again, did the western press rush to cover the UN's report?
No.
Nor will they rush to cover Amnesty International's report.
There's nothing in it for them.
First off, it would require getting honest.
They've lied and whored for years now. Nouri's crimes didn't happen cloaked in darkness.
He did what he did out in the open.
And most western reporters were like the Whore of Baghdad herself, Jane Arraf, willing to look the other way over and over and over.
Of course, Whore of Baghdad Jane Arraf spent the 90s doing the same thing, looking the other way while the Iraqi government carried out crimes against the citizens. She did that throughout Saddam Hussein's tenure as ruler.
So it's no surprise that she would do the same under Nouri al-Maliki.
Now the attacks on civilian and civilian areas didn't stop when Nouri al-Maliki was replaced as prime minister. The following from the UN report occurs once Haider al-Abadi takes over as prime minister:
Airstrikes
were
also
reported
from
Kirkuk
and
Diyala
governorates.
On
18
September
,
in
Diyala
province,
five
mortar
rounds
reportedly
impacted
Dhubab
village,
killing
three
civilians
and
injuring seven
others.
According
to
a
security
source,
the
mortar
rounds
had
bee
n
fired
mistakenly
by
ISF
and
a
militia.
An
airstrike
on
19
November
in
Qara
Tapa
allegedly
killed
four
civilians
and
wounded
15
more
in
an
area
where
a
large
number
of
displaced
persons
from
Jalawla
had
reportedly
taken
refuge.
According
to
applicable
rules
of
international
humanitarian
law,
civilian
infrastructure
remains
immune
from
attack
,
unless
and
for
such
time
as
they
are
used
by
a
party
to
the
conflict
for
military
objectives.
UNAMI/OHCHR
has
received
reports
that
ISIL
and
associated
armed
groups
have
deliberately
positioned
themselves
in
civilian
buildings,
including
hospitals,
in
order
to
conduct
operations
and
in
an
attempt
to
shield
themselves
from
attack.
On
6
September
an
airstrike
reportedly
struck
Hawija
hospital
in
Kirkuk
governorate
,
killing
two
women
and
five
children
hospitalized
in
the
children's
ward
and
wounding
two
medical
staff.
As
a
result
of
the
attack,
the
pediatric
and
neonatal
intensive
care
unit
was
temporarily
closed.
On
13
September,
an
airstrike
reportedly
hit
a
storage
shed
containing
oxygen
cylinders
in
al-Salam
Hospital,
eastern
Mosul,
killing
one
worker
and
wounding
six.
UNAMI/OHCHR
received
unverified
reports
that
on
the
evening
of
29
October
several
rockets
were
fired
on
Fallujah
General
Hospital
by
the
Iraqi
army
and
associated
armed
forces,
wounding
one
staff
member
and
causing
material
damage
to
hospital
equipment
and
infrastructure.
On
22
November
and
4
December,
ISF
and
associated
forces
once
again
allegedly
shelled
Fallujah
General
Hospital.
No
casualties
were
reported,
but
the
shelling
allegedly
resulted
in
material
damage
to
the
infrastructure,
including
the
dialysis
unit.
On
5
November,
an
airstrike
is
alleged
to
have
hit
a
gathering
of
people
near
a
hospital
in
al-Qaim,
western
Anbar,
killing
three
and
wounding
14
others.
Falluja General Hospital has been repeatedly targeted -- under Nouri al-Maliki, under Haider al-Abadi. It's not the only hospital in Falluja that has been.
And these attacks are either completely ignored by the western media or they are mentioned in passing and never called out.
They need to be called out.
I'm not the weak ass United Nations. Bombing hospitals? War Crimes.
Legally defined as such.
Not just 'against international law,' War Crimes -- considered to be the most outrageous of crimes.
The Amnesty report notes:
The authorities held thousands of detainees
without charge or trial under provisions of the
anti-terrorism law. In February, the head of
the Parliament’s Human Rights Committee
alleged that around 40,000 detainees
remained in prison awaiting investigations.
Many were held in prisons and detention
centres run by various government ministries.
A letter sent by the Central Investigation
Court to the Head of the Supreme Judicial
Council in 2013, published in April 2014,
reported that authorities continued to carry
out unlawful arrests using a list containing
partial names of thousands of suspects that
the Anti-terrorism General Directorate had
sent to police stations in connection with sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007. This
was believed to have led to the detention of
the wrong people on the basis that part of
their names corresponded to partial names
on the list.
You may remember when the western press was interested in the above . . .
When Nouri made a for-show 'release' of a handful of detainees.
The western press didn't give a damn about it otherwise.
They were silent.
They looked the other way.
This is one of the factors in Iraq's ongoing political crises.
But the western press only covered it when Nouri did a for-show release.
The Amnesty International report notes:
Torture and other ill-treatment remained
common and widespread in prisons
and detention centres, particularly those
controlled by the Ministries of the Interior
and Defence, and were committed with
impunity. These centres were blocked
to inspection by the Independent High
Commission for Human Rights. Interrogators
tortured detainees to extract information and
“confessions” for use against them at trial;
sometimes detainees were tortured to death.
Government representatives attending the
Universal Periodic Review of Iraq at the UN
Human Rights Council said the authorities
had investigated 516 torture cases between
2008 and 2014, with many resulting in
prosecutions, but provided no details and did
not identify the security agencies responsible.
’Uday Taha Kurdi, a lawyer and father of
two, died in June after 15 days of detention
by Anti-terrorism General Directorate officials
in Baghdad. In a letter to the Iraqi Lawyers’
Union in July, the Ministry of the Interior
said that ’Uday Taha Kurdi had suffered
a “health problem” in detention and had
been taken to hospital, where he died. The
Ministry also said that a judge had concluded
that ’Uday Taha Kurdi, whose brother was
held on terrorism charges, was “from the
IS leadership” and belonged to “a terrorist
family”, and that he had told the judge, when
asked, that he had not been tortured. The
Supreme Judicial Council said his death
resulted from kidney failure, not torture as
alleged. However, photographs of ’Uday
Taha Kurdi’s body taken at the morgue and
obtained by Amnesty International showed
that he had sustained bruises, open wounds
and burns - consistent with allegations of
torture - prior to his death.
Again, the western press didn't give a damn.
They only really turned on Nouri after Barack did in June of 2014.
Two notable exceptions: Ned Parker and Dexter Filkins.
Ned Parker's done the best western reporting out of Iraq -- first for the Los Angeles Times and now for Reuters. Dexter Filkins was 'late to truth' -- I'm trying to be nice -- but in 2014 began a series of truth telling articles that surpass anything most outlets have done. By the way, hallmark of an idiot talking about western reporting?
They compose sentences that include crap like this:
McClatchy - one of the few news outlets with a long record of skeptical war coverage - pointed to a mountain of evidence
I get it. Old whore Bill Moyers pimped the lie and it's all about repeating what some whore told you -- that is the modern western press -- as opposed to doing your own actual work.
McClatchy has no "long record of skeptical war coverage."
It did nothing to question war on Iraq in 2002 or 2003.
Now some idiot -- who probably viewed multiple episodes of programs hosted by Bill Moyers -- so blame PBS for letting him lie repeatedly -- will insist, "McClatchy was the only outlet who told the truth in the lead up to the Iraq War."
No, it did not.
And you're a damn liar or a damn fool if you repeat that claim.
McClatchy Newspapers has been around since 1857.
Find me the brave coverage in the 20th century?
It doesn't exist.
And they also weren't skeptical of the lies told to start the war on Iraq.
Knight-Ridder was.
And that's the real story of journalism in the US.
Tell the truth about Poppy Bush, for example, the way the Houston Press did?
You end up out of business, you end up bought out by the Houston Chronicle which has buried one Bush scandal after another over the years.
Tell the truth about Iraq?
Knight Ridder got bought by McClatchy in the middle of 2006.
McClatchy had numerous papers in 2002 and 2003.
They did not file skeptical coverage of the Iraq War.
Knight Ridder did.
So when someone like the Guardian's Trevor Trimm writes "McClatchy - one of the few news outlets with a long record of skeptical war coverage - [. . .]"? They're confessing to being either a liar or an idiot.
Most of the Knight Ridder's reporters that worked on the Iraq coverage are gone.
The ones who mattered.
Warren Strobel, for example, is at Reuters. Margaret Talev is now with Bloomberg.
Jonathan S. Landay is really the only one who remains.
For awhile, Nancy A. Youssef was still there (she's now at The Daily Beast).
But Youssef wasn't important for the bulk of her career. She filed one report that mattered -- it was published on Knight Ridder's last day.
But what Landay and Youssef did beginning in 2009 especially, would never have been allowed at Knight Ridder.
At Knight Ridder, their public devotion and embrace of Barack Obama -- in one Diane Rehm show appearance after another -- would have gotten them disciplinary action because as reporters they were supposed to be seen as objective.
Knight Ridder was about journalism.
McClatchy's really not.
There's been some good reporting from Iraq by McClatchy over the years. Good, not great. Leila Fadel's overall work -- especially originally -- was probably among the best.
Roy Gutman -- and his notorious chuckle on Diane Rehm's show -- was among the embarrassments.
So was the way McClatchy walked away from the Iraqi journalists who did the bulk of the work in Iraq -- often with no or little credit. And, yes, Hannah loves to give speeches about not abandoning those reporters but she can't write about them, she can't even Tweet about them.
Which is why so many concerned about Iraqi refugees -- so many working on the issue in this country -- see Hannah's embarrassing little speeches as not really being about the Iraqi people but about selling herself as 'caring' and 'wonderful.'
And if that hurts Hannah Allam's feelings she can certainly prove me (and many others) wrong by at the very least using her Twitter account to get the word out on Iraqi refugees.
By the way, a real news outlet wouldn't let Hannah Tweet the way she does.
A real news outlet would object to the Circle Jerk.
In fact one did.
That's why Ezra Klein's at his laughable Vox (is it really about to go under?) after being 'freed' (fired) by the Washington Post.
Any day of Hannah's Circle Jerk Tweets demonstrate a liberal agenda.
Now it's a corporate liberal agenda to be sure.
But none the less, the bias is on full display in one Tweet after another.
Knight Ridder wouldn't have allowed it.
McClatchy's such a joke they don't even notice.
In fairness, the right wing media critics don't seem to notice either.
The Twitter feeds by individual MSM journalists are where to go to see the bias blatantly displayed. But Newsbusters, et al, never seem to notice.
Once they do, news outlets might start clamping down -- as they should -- on so-called reporters who think they can act like columnists.
I could care less what a Paul Krugman or a Michelle Malkin Tweet on. They're columnists, they're supposed to traffic in opinion.
But for so-called reporters to be Tweeting like their MSNBC hosts?
That's disturbing.
And it'll be disturbing when a Republican's in the White House because then they'll go back to sucking up to the GOP.
That's the thing about media whores -- look at Brian Williams -- they go to bed with whomever's in power.
Let's drop back to the December 30, 2013 snapshot:
Sunday, December 22nd, Nouri yet again called peaceful protesters 'terrorists' and announced he would stop the protests.
He wanted to attack last Tuesday
but a last minute flurry of meetings by various officials and political
blocs caused Nouri to withdraw the forces he had encircling the Ramadi
protest square. Then came Friday. From that day's snapshot:
Wael Grace (Al Mada) reports Nouri
al-Maliki again threatened the protesters today. He declared this will
be their last Friday protest and that he will burn the tents in the
protest squares down. He declared that the protesters were guilty of
sedition. Sedition? Nouri as William Bligh? I can see it. Kitabat notes
that he made these remarks in a televised interview. Kitabat also
notes Nouri's been insisting 30 terrorist leaders are hiding in protest
tents.
We still can't get to today yet.
That's Falluja on Saturday as tons poured into the street to protest Nouri's latest stunt.
They were protesting the Saturday dawn raid that Nouri's forces carried
out on an MP. MP Ahmed al-Alwani was illegally arrested. But there's
more. Alsumaria reported that his home was stormed by Nouri's SWAT forces at dawn and that 5
people (bodyguards and family) were killed (this included his brother)
while ten family members (including children) were left injured.
By now, we all know the drill.
What is al-Alwani?
Yes, he's Sunni.
And he's also, we all know this, a member of Iraqiya.
If you're targeted by Nouri, then you are both things.
Or, as conservative Max Boot (Commentary) put it today, "If it’s the end of December or the beginning of January, it must be time
for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to arrest another prominent Sunni
politician."
The people of Anbar did not respond well to Nouri breaking the law and arresting an MP.
I've often criticized and ridiculed Max Boot.
But I've also noted it any time I've seen him get it right.
While one outlet after another couldn't get their act together, Boot got it right (noted above).
From the November 24, 2014 snapshot:
Today, All Iraq News reports
it's been decided to put former MP Ahmed al-Alwani to death. He was
arrested December 29, 2013 the outlet notes. His brother was killed in
the arrest ordered by thug Nouri al-Maliki, an arrest that was actually a
raid in the early, pre-dawn hours of the morning.
This will have huge implications.
For example, the tribe he belongs to is one of the key tribes in the
fight against the Islamic State. Equally true, his arrest (and the
murder of his brother) outraged the Sunni community.
This is the wrong time to be executing a Sunni politician -- with the
new prime minister Haider al-Abaidi having done nothing of significance
to improve Sunni relations or to include them in the government.
We note that because Amnesty International's report notes the Iraqi 'justice' system and Ahmed al-Alwani:
The criminal justice system remained deeply
flawed. The judiciary lacked independence.
Judges and lawyers involved in trials of
members of armed groups continued to be
targets for killings, abductions and assaults
by armed groups. Trials, particularly of
defendants facing terrorism charges, were
frequently unfair; courts returned guilty
verdicts on the basis of torture-tainted
“confessions”, which were often broadcast
on the government-controlled al-Iraqiya TV
channel. Other guilty verdicts were based
on evidence from secret, unidentified
informants, including in cases that resulted in
death sentences.
In November, a Baghdad court sentenced
former leading Sunni parliamentarian Ahmed
al-‘Alwani to death on terrorism-related
charges after a grossly unfair trial. Security
forces had arrested him in December 2013
after they forcibly dispersed a year-long
protest in Anbar.
Again Nouri's actions were public. They weren't hidden. They weren't covert.
The Iraqi press -- who had the most to risk -- were the ones who could and did report the truth: All Iraq News, National Iraqi News Agency, Alsumaria, Al Mada and Dar Addustour among them.
But the western press -- especially the US press -- can't make the same claim.
You can give credit to Liz Sly (Washington Post) and to Kelly McEvers (NPR) for some strong reporting on Iraq in the last years of Nouri's reign of terror.
But that's really about it.
And that's why there's no work on real solutions for Iraq today.
The American people are largely unaware of what Nouri spent his two terms -- especially his second term -- doing and how it tore apart Iraq.
They're unaware -- but not because they're 'stupid.' They're unaware because the western media largely and repeatedly refused to tell the truth.
And for those who don't have the time to go back and research that coverage, grasp that United Nations released a report on Monday and Amnesty released one today and that both document Iraqi government attacks on the Iraqi people but the western media really doesn't see that as news or worthy of coverage. The laughable SITE issues some 'alert' and the media runs with it. Because SITE promotes war. But anything that might complicate a rush to further war in Iraq?
The western media isn't interested as they make clear day after day.
At Foreign Policy, David Kenner interviews thug Nouri and others for a piece entitled "Nobody Puts Nouri in the Corner." And Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com) notes at least 197 violent deaths took place across Iraq today.
antiwar.com
margaret griffis
