Tuesday, June 14, 2016

About those reported arrests . . .

I get so tired of the stupidity and lying with regards to Iraq.  Don't you?

I saw the 'report' from REUTERS yesterday and was too angry to write about it.


The headline is "Iraq makes arrests over reports of Sunnis executed in Falluja."

That would be great news -- if it were true.

So what is REUTERS basing that breathless headline on?


Here's their 'proof':

The authorities "are following up on the violations and a number of arrests have been made," government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said on Monday after a regional governor said 49 Sunni men had been executed after surrendering to a Shi'ite faction.


Oh, a spokesperson said arrests were made?

Oh, that must be truth then, right?

How many arrests?

I guess that's being picky, asking for actual facts and figures.

We know the Iraqi government routinely broadcasts the confessions ('confessions' -- the people are tortured) of those arrested on TV so, REUTERS, did you view confessions on TV?

With nothing but a generic claim, REUTERS lies and claims arrests have been made.

Most of the non-Arab world ignored the mass arrests of Sunnis and the way they were disappeared in Iraq's prisons and jails during Nouri al-Maliki's second term.

These Sunnis included women and girls whose 'crimes' were being the sisters, wives, mothers and daughters of men who were wanted.

When the outcry became so much, Nouri 'released' the women.

At least, that's what AFP and other outlets 'reported.'

And at least their they had Nouri's for show press conference with a handful of women.

Thing is, the press failed to follow up.

Those women never made it to their homes -- as the Iraqi press (but no one else) widely reported.

Where did those women go?

Back to prison?

Were they killed?

No one in the western press cared enough to find out.

They'd gotten their headline and moved on.


Kind of the way Haider al-Abadi got headlines for announcing he would end corruption in Iraq . . . right before he appointed a person from his political party (Dawa) to head the 'fight' -- thereby guaranteeing that neither he nor the previous prime minister Nouri al-Maliki (also Dawa) would be implicated.

Is it any surprise that there has been no progress on ending corruption in Iraq?

And Haider himself?

Zaid al-Ali shares his view at Australia's ABC:

 When Haider al-Abadi became prime minister [in 2014] many people asked me what I thought of that. I had worked with him on a project in parliament, so I know him fairly well, not very well.
Based on that experience, my assessment was there was no way he was going to be able to achieve anything because of his character: he's a bit lazy, he doesn't understand how government works, he doesn't admit to making mistakes. Everything I assumed to be right about him continues to be right today.



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