The Common Ills: Hejira

Sunday, May 03, 2015

Hejira

Pack your bags, we're going on a rant.

Is it sexism?

Or just ignorance?

I have no idea.

But Paul Schemm (AP) reports today that Moqtada al-Sadr was the first to slam a defense bill in the US House of Representatives and that "Al-Sadr's statement precipitated a cascade of condemnations by members of the Shiite-dominated government and its allied militias."

No.

It was State of Law that got the ball rolling.

It was MP Hanan al-Fatlawi who went public with her criticism immediately to the media.

Moqtada did not speak to the media.

He issued a statement.

Before he had, Alsumaria was already reporting on Hanan al-Fatlawi's denunciation of the bill.

At any rate, US Vice President Joe Biden has assured the Iraqi government this bill won't happen.

Really, Joe?

You're going to lie again?

You lied in 2010. Your behavior with regards to Iraq in 2010 is why you can't run for president.

The US press treats you as a joke and doesn't want to explore what you did in 2010 which wasn't funny, which wasn't silly, which was an abdication of oversight and an assault on democracy.

That's the reality.

So forgive me if I can't endorse your latest lie to the Iraqi people.

Liars all around us when it comes to the United States.

AP for example, headlines Paul Schemm's 'report' "Congressmen to reconsider separate funding for Iraq factions."

Is that accurate?

No.

The first paragraph, the first damn sentence, says, "Congress may reconsider a provision . . ."

May.

There's no "may" in the headline.

Just more lying to the Iraqi people.

Did AP cover the two House hearings on Iraq this week?

No, I don't believe they did.

So they really don't know what's going on.

There is Democratic and Republican support -- unlike the lazy press, I was at those hearings -- for the Defense bill.

And, Paul Schemm, your Chair of Homeland Security, Michael McCaul?

He's not Chair of the Armed Services Committee, US House Rep Mac Thornberry is the Chair.

McCaul doesn't even serve on the Armed Services Committee.

That's where the bill originated so maybe you should include that fact in your so-called reporting -- or is AP now promoting a fact-free diet of news?

It's not a Republican bill either.

That's another lie the press can't stop repeating.

I'm so damn tired of all the lies about Iraq.

There's Patrick Cockburn's ridiculous lie that Iran installed Nouri for a second term when it was the United States, when it was Barack Obama. The Erbil Agreement -- not Iran -- gave Nouri a second term.

But people keep repeating the lie because (a) they're uninformed or (b) they're uncaring or (c) they're serial liars or (d) they're all of that and more.

I'm so damn tired of US press that is lazy, dishonest and stupid.

Starting in November of 2008, we noted that the SOFA did not mean all US forces left Iraq. It only meant a three year contract had been negotiated and that, at the end of the three years, another contract might be negotiated.

The press, by contrast, lied and lied some more.

I don't think we can call them stupid on this, I think it was deliberate lying.

And then, in mid-2011, when Barack was going through the motions of negotiating a new SOFA, the same lying US press had to scramble to try to explain what was going on since they'd spent nearly three years lying about the 2008 SOFA.

I'm tired of it, I'm tired of all the damn lying.

I'm tired of the US press refusing to do their job.

I'm tired of them deceiving the American public out of desire to lie or a natural stupidity.

I don't care what the reasons are anymore, I'm just sick of it.

Now I spoke to Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee after reading the idiotic AP article earlier today.

The Dems I spoke to said their support for it stands.

The Dems I spoke to pointed out -- something I'd already pointed out -- that they're glad Iraq's Shi'ite dominant government is freaking out over the bill because maybe, to avoid that bill passing, they'll do what they were supposed to have done all along: Deliver adequate numbers of weapons to Sunnis and Kurds. That is what the US Congress had approved and if you think I'm pissed about the reporting or 'reporting' you might try to speaking to some Democrats who serve on that Committee and consider, kindest word for the US reporting, the coverage to be "shoddy."

The press has done it's usual awful job.

Why?

Who the hell knows, who the hell cares?

Maybe they lie to create drama?

Maybe being glorified general studies majors they have no ethics and no real academic background?

Again, I don't know. And I honestly no longer care.

They've told you this a Republican proposal.

I've reported otherwise.

A Democratic friend on the Committee asked me today if I saw the press release?

No, I hadn't.

Here it is:

H.R. 1735 Passes
House Armed Services Committee

60-2

WASHINGTON - The House Armed Services today passed H.R. 1735, the National Defense Authorization Act for 2016 by a vote of 60-2. Details of the bill can be found here. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the Committee, made the following statement on passage:

"This is a bill the entire Committee can be proud of. After a day of extensive debate, we have produced legislation that is the first step in a process of substantial reform at the Department of Defense. Those reforms will enhance our military's efficiency and begin restoring its agility. I look forward to bringing this legislation to the floor in the weeks ahead."

Did you see that?

What the press hasn't told you?

Only two members of the Committee didn't support the bill.

Sixty members did.

Now AP's lied all last week.

So did everyone else.

With the SOFA, everyone wanted to lie and that's all they do today.

And sadly, I'm not even talking about the MSM. I'm talking about The Nation magazine, I'm talking about Antiwar.com, I'm talking one idiot after another who always insists that we can't trust the MSM but repeatedly do just that instead of doing the basic work required.

The SOFA was released, in the US, the evening of Thanksgiving.

I didn't know we were doing a snapshot until I was e-mailed a copy of the SOFA.

Due to the cancer scare, I don't smoke anymore.

Except that night as I had to pour over a legal document and do so quickly to break down in the snapshot what it said and what it meant.

There was no way I could have sped-read through that legal contract without cigarettes.

Did any of the many misreporting and lying on the SOFA ever even read it?

No, apparently not.

And the so-called 'independent' media, the Greg Mitchells, et al? The ones who slam the MSM? They were the first to repeat the lies.

It's happened again.

And I'm sick and tired of having to carry all the weight because Antiwar.com or The Nation magazine or The Progressive or FAIR is too damn timid or lazy or dishonest to tell the truth.

The bill passed the Committee -- on a sixty to two vote.

Quit lying that this is the Republicans.

Democratic members that I spoke to still can't believe that the press can't get it right.

I am one voice.

I have other things to focus on.

I have to repeatedly spend significant time going over The Erbil Agreement several times a month because lazy asses at Antiwar.com and elsewhere won't do their part.

Now maybe you can't attend Congressional hearings. Maybe you can't watch them on CSPAN or stream them or whatever.

And you may not be friends with anyone in Congress.

But you can still apply yourself so that you're not just reading an AP article and then spending five minutes repurposing it for a post at The Nation or Antiwar.com or whatever.

You know, do a little work.

Do a little more than pretend you're 'reporting' because you spat back out the AP report but in slightly different words to avoid being sued for copyright infringement.

Why didn't we cover the monthly death totals?

A number of e-mails asked that.

Good question.

When others don't do the work required, we have to.

And then I have to balance what's important.

The totals?

They can wait.

We spent years going over how the government (Iraq) totals were lies.

We used to keep our own count -- I think we stopped in 2011 but it might have been 2012.

We established that the government lied and lied repeatedly.

We established that United Nations regularly and repeatedly low-balled the number of deaths.

In 2015, we can put all of our focus into repeats -- the way the useless Gregg Mitchell does -- or we can try to cover the stuff that's not being covered.

Antiwar.com has devoted how many articles to the ongoing bombing of Falluja's residential areas? These bombings meet the legal definition of War Crimes, they're carried out by the Iraqi army and they're retaliation for the Islamic State being in the city. When you do that, when you attack civilians in that manner, that's a War Crime.

So how many columns and how many blog posts has Antiwar.com devoted to just this important topic?

The bombings started in January 2015. It's nearly a year and half later.

So how much time have they spent raising attention to this issue?

The Nation's done nothing.

This is why I get so pissed when idiots on Twitter or idiots writing columns want to whine about 2003.

Yes, the illegal war started then.

Guess what?

It continues.

Why don't you get off your useless asses, stop jawboning about 2003 and focus on what's taking place in Iraq right now?

Oh, that's right, you don't care about Iraq.

You just want to trash Bully Boy Bush some more.

Based on the historical record, Bully Boy Bush will never be tried for War Crimes.

I think he should be, but he probably won't.

So I don't know what purpose you believe you're serving today by obsessing over 2003 and ignoring the plight today?

Maybe we'll need a new US president for so many pathetic bloggers, Tweeters and writers to suddenly re-discover the ongoing tragedy that is Iraq?

Maybe if Hillary really is the shoe-in the MSM says (she's not), a President Hillary will mean the left suddenly comes back to life and gives a damn about the suffering of the Iraqi people under a divisive government that the US has installed?

And for those who argue -- legitimately and otherwise -- in e-mails to the public account that we missed that or we missed that due to what I'm choosing to cover based upon what's not being covered or is not being coverage accurately, you're probably right.

But I don't give a damn.

I give a damn that Mike went out on a limb calling out a liar on Iraq weeks ago and I've still not found the time to back him up by fact checking the liar.

That I care about. Letting down Mike because we've had to focus on so many other things.

You'll notice sites are missing. More will be coming down.

I'm just not in the mood.

Law and Disorder?

Gone.

That Communists can't call out Barack is appalling to me. They can't cover Iraq, they can't do anything of value.

They're part of f**king circle jerk of useless nonsense.

I'm not in the mood.

I like Joe Biden. I've known Joe for years.

Did you read what I wrote about him above?

Does it feel like I pulled any punches or played favorites?

No.

Nor should it.

I don't expect anyone to be a monument to ethics. I do expect them to at least meet my ethical standards. If they can't, they're really useless.

I don't have time for the useless, the cowardly and/or the unethical.

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] 4495.

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