Saturday, November 18, 2017

How does the governor of Texas get away with ignoring the deaths of service members?




"Upside Down" is one of the 19 number one pop songs (BILLBOARD US singles chart) that Diana Ross has sang on.   November 19th, she'll be on the live broadcast (ABC) of The American Music Awards to perform and to receive the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement.  Motown Classic issued DIAMOND DIANA: THE LEGACY COLLECTION November 17th to note this monumental achievement.  That's this Sunday and her daughter Tracee Ellis Ross (BLACKISH, GIRLFRIENDS) will be hosting the broadcast.




THE DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL notes, "In operations related to Iraq, a total of 4,532 members of the U.S. military have died. Another 32,310 U.S. service personnel have been wounded in action. [. . . .] Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lee M. Smith, 35, of Arlington, Texas, died Nov. ‎11 at Camp Taji, Iraq, as a result of a noncombat-related incident. He was assigned to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky."

And there is another death.  Richard Schapiro (NEW YORK DAILY NEWS) reports:


Sgt. 1st Class Hughton Brown, 43, was on his second deployment when he died on Nov. 14 at Camp Buehring, a base along the Iraq border.
The Defense Department did not disclose the circumstances of Brown’s death, saying the incident was under investigation.
But his family told media in Jamaica, where Brown was born, that the military told them he collapsed and died during a two-mile jog with colleagues.


Now let's go back to Lee Smith.  Kentucky Governor Matt Blevins' office issued the following:


Gov. Matt Bevin Recognizes Sacrifice of Fort Campbell Soldier


Contact: Woody Maglinger
502-564-2611
Woody.Maglinger@ky.gov

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Nov. 13, 2017) – Gov. Matt Bevin today recognized the sacrifice of a Fort Campbell soldier, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lee M. Smith, 35, of Arlington, Texas, who died while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
According to the Department of Defense, CW2 Smith died Nov. ‎11 at Camp Taji, Iraq, due to injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Service arrangements for CW2 Smith are not yet complete. Gov. Bevin will order flags lowered to half-staff in honor of CW2 Smith on the date of interment, and encourages individuals, businesses, organizations and government agencies to join in this tribute.
For more information regarding CW2 Smith, media may contact the 101st Airborne Division public affairs office at 931-217-5074 or martin.l.odonnell.mil@mail.mil.


That's the governor of Kentucky.  Lee Smith is from Texas -- a damn shame that the governor of Texas, Gregg Abbott, couldn't issue a statement.

For those attempting to keep track, Texas' Republican governor has now refused to note the passing of two servicemembers since October 1st: Lee Smith and Alex Missildine.  Both were from Texas but apparently Gregg Abbott's been too busy to note their passings or maybe he just doesn't consider the deaths very important.

Does this really fly with Texans?

Their governor issuing statements on what happens in other states but refusing to even acknowledge the deaths of Texans who die when serving overseas?

He's running for re-election in 2018.  Does no one think his refusal to acknowledge these deaths matters?

Seems like this is a campaign issue just waiting to be highlighted.


Yesterday, Chris Lamphere (CADILLAC NEWS) reported:

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Lee M. Smith, 35, of Arlington, Texas, died Nov. 11 at Camp Taji, Iraq, due to injuries he sustained.
Smith's mother, Sonya, said her son grew up in Cadillac and graduated from high school in 2000.
Sonya said her son began attending Cadillac Area Public Schools in the second grade.
During his time growing up in Cadillac, Smith enjoyed playing soccer, hockey, tennis and basketball.





Meanwhile,  Azmat Khan and Anand Gopal "The Uncounted" (NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE) is garnering more attention.





For US bombers in Iraq, targets hit (usually precisely) are ISIS until proven otherwise. Result: civilian death rate is 31 times higher than US admits.






Yesterday evening, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (NPR) explored the issue:

ELISE HU, HOST:
The war in ISIS in Iraq and Syria is one that for the U.S. is mainly an air war. Officials say it's a very precise air war. But a recent investigation for The New York Times magazine finds it's not as precise as officials say. The report finds that 1 in 5 coalition airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq resulted in civilian deaths. That rate is 31 times higher than what the U.S. has acknowledged.
KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
Azmat Khan and her colleague Anand Gopal spent 18 months investigating this, going door to door in the Iraqi city of Mosul. And they found that while some of the civilian deaths were because of a proximity to a legitimate ISIS target, many others appear to be the result of flawed or outdated intelligence. And the military is not keeping accurate logs of its actions. Azmat Khan told me about one Iraqi man named Basim Razzo and what happened to him on a night in 2015.
AZMAT KHAN: Basim wakes up in the middle of the night at around 1:45 a.m. in his house. And he realizes his bed is snapped in two. He feels this incredible pain. He can taste blood in his mouth. And he looks up, and he sees the stars over Mosul. He calls for his wife, and he calls for his daughter. And he doesn't get an answer. And he learns that his wife, Mayada, his daughter, Tuqa, his brother, Mohannad, and his nephew, Najib, have all been killed in an airstrike.
And not long after he leaves the hospital, a video is uploaded to the U.S.-led coalition's YouTube channel showing two airstrikes hitting two homes. And the video dubs this an ISIS VBIED facility, a car bomb factory. So Basim, who sees this video, later immediately recognizes these two homes as his and his brother's.
MCEVERS: And did the U.S. coalition count Basim's family as civilians - people who'd been killed as civilians?
KHAN: Not for a year and a half, and they very likely would not have counted them as civilians had we not pushed his case. He and his family members, the four members who died, were tallied as ISIS.






  1. Civilian Deaths 31x's Higher. Destroying Hospitals Government Buildings Crippling Societies Infastructures to keep the "Endless Wars" & need of presence Remember they are "Liberating You" Do you feel liberated?





The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley --  updated:











A round of applause for Hillary, Obama and McCain for bringing such a 'revolution' to Libya

Some Tweets from Sarah Abdallah:



  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted IOM
    A round of applause for Hillary, Obama and McCain for bringing such a “revolution” to Libya.
    Sarah Abdallah added,


  •   Retweeted
    Nina  ☦️Byzantina Retweeted IOM
    Thanks, Hillary.
    Nina  ☦️Byzantina added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Emma Beals
    Yeah. Syrians rebuilding a Syrian city once occupied by Obama-backed jihadists really sounds like a horror movie. 🙄
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  •   Retweeted
    The media and Democrats now calling for Bill Clinton to resign 20 years later tells you everything you need to know about them
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted The Associated Press
    Millions face starvation in Yemen. 130 children die every single day. This is the worst atrocity in recent years. No more military support to Saudi Arabia and remove it from the UN Human Rights Council.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Chrystia Freeland
    A war criminal who said it was “worth it” to sanction over 500,000 Iraqi children to death isn’t a role model for anyone, let alone politically involved young women.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  •   Retweeted
    Beyond morally repugnant, there's something so psychologically broken about the desire to cowardly slaughter animals and parade them as trophies. Get your self-esteem elsewhere
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted John McCain
    Someone clearly isn’t too happy with Russia being such an effective force in defeating his jihadist buddies all across Syria.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  •   Retweeted
    Well, this is awkward....
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Newsweek
    Coming from a woman whose presidential campaign and foundation were bankrolled in the millions by ACTUAL dictatorships like Saudi Arabia, that’s rather hilarious.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted John McCain
    CNN, BBC and VOANews all portrayed the head-chopping jihadists in Syria and Libya as “freedom fighters” or “moderate rebels”. But sure, let’s keep pretending US/UK mainstream media is totally objective and doesn’t have any agenda. 🙄
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  •   Retweeted
    Caitlin Johnstone Retweeted Ezra Klein
    DNC sabotaging Sanders helped Sanders. Elites clearing the field for Clinton isn't rigging. Up is down. Day is night. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
    Caitlin Johnstone added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted CNN
    Says the woman who “weaponized” Saudi Arabia to bomb, starve and destroy Yemen.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  • Welcome to Hillary Clinton’s “liberated” Libya, where human beings are being sold as slaves and slaughtered based on the color of their skin by jihadist “rebels” that she and Obama helped bring to power.
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Evan McMullin
    Your colleagues at the CIA have been rigging elections and toppling governments for more than 6 decades.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  •   Retweeted
    Julian Assange  ðŸ”¹Retweeted Evan McMullin
    No surprise that the CIA supports election rigging. It has attempted to rig at least 81 elections, not including coups, according to Carnegie Mellon.
    Julian Assange  ðŸ”¹added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Samantha Power
    Then why did you cover up Saudi Arabia’s crimes in Yemen when you were Obama’s Ambassador to the UN? Spare us the faux moral outrage.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted NBC News
    Dig deep. When it comes to the Clinton Foundation, there’s an unthinkable amount of corruption everywhere you look.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  •   Retweeted
    I think what wrote to is perfectly fine. Who’s surprised? He doesn’t like Hillary. She wanted to assassinate him with a drone for publishing the truth. And he’s fishing for information like any good editor. We wanted to prevent Hillary and we did!
  •   Retweeted
    Paul Joseph Watson Retweeted Donald Trump Jr.
    How many times are drama queen journalists gonna lose their shit over innocuous stuff like this and end up looking completely hysterical & stupid?
    Paul Joseph Watson added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Joy Reid
    So... Snowden exposes mass illegal NSA surveillance of millions of Americans and citizens across the globe... And what is the only thing Joy Reid is concerned about? Russia! 🙄
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Teen Vogue
    Yeah. Because someone who is pathologically corrupt, steals elections and destroys entire countries is totally the ideal role model you want for the young women reading your magazine. 🙄
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted John McCain
    A man who has spent the last 6 years pushing interventionist wars that empowered Al-Qaeda and ISIS jihadists is the very last person in the world to talk about “America First”.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  •   Retweeted
    Replying to 
    Despite all the ugly smears, those urging caution on Russia have been invoking 2 basic precepts: 1) Journalism should require evidence before treating official assertions as true; 2) The dangers of rejuvenating a Cold War are extremely high.
  •   Retweeted
    When will all the haters and fools out there realize that having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. There always playing politics - bad for our country. I want to solve North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, terrorism, and Russia can greatly help!
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Michael McFaul
    You mean the same CIA that manufactured and spread the lies which led to the destruction of Iraq, Libya and Syria?
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted The Hill
    John McCain - The world’s “human rights” conscience who loves head-choppers of all sorts, from jihadists in Libya and Syria to the tyrannical regime in Saudi Arabia. 🙄
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Joy Reid
    To be clear: The “17 intelligence agencies” canard has been repeatedly debunked. And even multiple mainstream media outlets which originally pushed the lie have now since retracted it. Let that sink in.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  •   Retweeted
    Our alliance with Saudi Arabia contradicts the objectives of our so-called "War on Terror." Saudi's support for Wahhabi Salafist ideology spreads terrorism and undermines national and global security. Foreign policy should not be brokered according to fossil fuel interests.
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted The Associated Press
    Millions face starvation in Yemen thanks to Saudi Arabia. But the UN humanitarian chief still won’t call for this horrible regime to be removed from the UN Human Rights Council.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  •   Retweeted
    U.S. National Archives publishes 13,213 more government records related to the JFK assassination investigation
  •   Retweeted
    Glenn Greenwald Retweeted The Independent
    Great article on the truly deranged Russia conspiracists who have built up a big online following & are still cited by reckless journalists: , , , , , etc.
    Glenn Greenwald added,
  • Wikileaks reveals that the CIA designed a hacking tool to “impersonate” Russia’s Kaspersky Labs. Everyday, the Russiagate narrative keeps on falling apart.
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Newsweek
    This so-called “conspiracy theorist” is in fact an ex-NSA officer, with more than 30 years of experience, who firmly denies any Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted CNN
    You helped spy on millions of Americans and bring Neo-Nazis to power in Ukraine. Save us the hypocritical lectures on what’s politically “coarse” and “vile”.
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  •   Retweeted
    Despite McCain and co.'s best efforts, ISIS as a 'state' is now over in Syria.
  •   Retweeted
    I appreciate all of the support from everyone. A medical update: final report indicates six broken ribs & new X-ray shows a pleural effusion
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Adam Schiff
    The Bushes invaded Iraq on lies, murdering and displacing millions. Bill Clinton dismantled Yugoslavia and sanctioned over 500,000 Iraqi children to death. Obama was bombing no less than 7 countries throughout his entire presidency. But yeah, Trump’s totally the worst. 🙄
    Sarah Abdallah added,
  • for showing what a massive hypocrite you are by shrieking about Russia day and night for over a year when it was you in fact who rigged the DNC. 😉
  • Sarah Abdallah Retweeted Dilyana Gaytandzhiev
    The Obama administration spent $42 million on social media projects that contributed to the utter destruction of Syria and Libya. But Russian media outlets bought thousands of dollars worth of social media ads and it’s the end of the world. 🙄
    Sarah Abdallah added,