The Common Ills: Hejira

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Hejira

The violence never ends in Iraq. In just some of today's violence, Alsumaria reports 2 people were kidnapped in Baghdad -- the corpse of one was discovered later dumped in the street, 2 corpses were discovered dumped south of Baghdad, and 2 Turkish police officers were killed and five more left injured on the border between Iraq and Turkey. Iraqi Spring MC adds that a Sadr City sticky bombing left 1 person dead and four more injured. Xinhua notes, "In the early morning hours, fierce clashes erupted in Fallujah University compound and the nearby Haiyakel area, just south of the IS-held city of Fallujah, which located some 50 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The several-hour battle resulted in the killing of 12 IS militants and the destroying of several of their vehicles, the source said without giving details about the casualties among the security forces."

Like the violence, the protests continue. Alsumaria reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is denying reports that he has ordered protesters participating in a Babylon sit-in to disperse.

Is Haider telling the truth?

Or is it another repeat of Nouri al-Maliki?

When Nouri was prime minister, he frequently insisted that he had given no orders to disperse (or harm) protesters but then it would turn out that he had.

When Nouri was prime minister, this time of the year was infamous for something.

Even when the western press began ignoring it, this time of year meant cholera outbreaks.

And the Ministry of Health has announced there are 12 cases of cholera currently.

Why the cholera outbreaks?

Because of the lack of potable water.

Instead of fixing the public infrastructure, the Iraqi government has taken the attitude that the people can have unsafe water and it's up to them to boil the water before consuming it.

Lastly, CartoonistRights.org notes:

An article by Omar al-Jaffal for the online journal Al-Monitor has shone a light on the dire situation of some of Iraq’s political cartoonists. Ahmed Falah — several of whose cartoons were brandished in poster form at a recent Bhagdad protest — told the writer “It is weird how my caricatures are used during protests, while none of the country’s newspapers have published any of them. This proves that the freedom of the media in the country is a big lie.”
Falah, producing cartoons that target corrupt politicians and clergy alike, left Iraq in 2014 following death threats stemming from his work. “I decided to flee Baghdad to Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta for a short period of time, until the militia forgot about me,” Fallah told Al-Monitor. “Yet I could not remain silent for long. The political situation is getting worse in Iraq and keeping silent about the ruling parties is a disgrace in my eyes.”

So much for free and liberated Iraq.

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] 4497.

The following community sites updated: