May 7th, Mustafa al-Kadhimi became the latest prime minister in Iraq. Middle East Institute offers a discussion on the new prime minister and various issues facing Iraq. Host Alistair Taylor speaks with Hafsa Halawa, Shahla al-Kli and Yesar al-Maleki about these issues.
Also serving up a discussion is Carnegie's PROXY WARS which features journalist Jane Arraf, AEI's Kenneth Pollack, Mohammed al-Hakim and Mohammed Radhi and is moderated by Dr. Ranj Alaaldin.
Simona Folytn (ALJAZEERA) reports on the slow movement regarding the new prime minister's promise/order that all protesters in state prisons should be immediately released.
Protests continue in Iraq:
At least ten arrested at salary protest in Duhok; strict security measures in place
nrttv.com/En/News.aspx?i #NRTnews #Iraq #TwitterKurds #Duhok
NRT reports:
Teachers and public sector employees protested in Duhok on Saturday (May 16) over delays in the disbursement of their salaries, with strict measures taken by the security forces to contain the demonstration.
An NRT reporter said that the protesters gathered in Azadi Park just after 3 p.m. as planned, but that the security forces intervened to prevent additional people from joining.
Approximately one hundred people were arrested, including organizers and participants, according to an outlet affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Blocked from joining, some demonstrators gathered on nearby streets.
Some scuffles broke out during the arrests, according to video sent to NRT.
In the hours before the demonstration, organizers Badal Barwari and Omed Baroshky were arrested at their homes in the city.
During the demonstration, the security forces prevented reporters from entering the park to interview protesters or use their mobile devices to collect video.
Abdulla Hawez observes:
It is arguably more difficult to protest in Duhok than anywhere in all Iraq; Duhok is in Badinan region who speak a form of Kurmanji and make up 1/3 of KRI’s population; The region is tightly controlled by Barzani thru a website of tribal alliances and strict patronage system.
Changes in Iraq? Not seeing it. The lip service of the new prime minister isn't followed by actions, is it? Protesters are still being arrested and Iraqi forces continue to harass the press to prevent actual journalism from taking place in Iraq.
Protests also took place in Sulaimani where, as explained in the video below, the disabled protested.
On the topic of prisons, Lawk Ghafuri (RUDAW) reports:
Islamic State (ISIS) militants will launch a campaign to break their supporters out of jails across Iraq, the jihadist group said in a new propaganda film on Friday.
In the 49-minute video titled ‘Strike the Necks’ – published on messaging app Telegram – a masked militant holding an assault rifle says ISIS will scale up its attacks on Iraqi police and security forces.
The militant also says the group will stage mass prison breaks to release ISIS supporters held in Iraq’s jails. A mass prison break could quickly swell the group’s ranks and undo years of counter-terror work.
“We came to behead you and burn your houses, and I want to let our brothers and sisters in the prisons of infidels know that we have not forgotten you and we ask you to be patient, as we will come for you, because it is an obligation to set you free from the infidels,” the ISIS militant says.
In August 2019, ISIS militants were among 15 prisoners who broke out of Rusafa prison in Baghdad.
In other ISIS news, Firdeves Bulut (ANADOLU AGENCY) reports 2 Iraqi soldiers were killed by ISIS in Saladin Province today. Hamdi Yildiz (ANADOLU AGENCY) adds that ISIS killed 1 police officer in Kirkuk.
Now on the topic of Tara Reade. There are seven e-mails that I've seen telling me that I have let Tara down by not sticking up for her. Excuse me?
Since I learned of POLITICO, PBS and professional troll Michael Tracey launching their attacks on Tara, I've posted the following to this site:
"Trump's 'Reoping' Is a Red Hearring" is IN THESE TIMES about various issues the magazine is reporting on. "Elaine's must read . . ." is something I wrote. I wrote the intro to the Lisa Bloom post, the Danni Askani and Wagatwe Wanjuki posts are about Tara.
I'm not your sin eater. I'll take responsibility for what I do but I'm not taking responsibility for what others do.
I haven't been silent about Tara. Nothing that was published Friday says Tara wasn't assaulted. I have kept the focus on her. I haven't weighed in on PBS because Ava and I cover TV for THIRD and we already decided we'd be covering THE NEWSHOUR and a new movie that both are dishonest and hypocritical.
Here? I have covered Tara repeatedly in the last 24 hours.
I'm not Katie Halper. I'm not Krystal Ball. I'm not Rich McHugh. I'm not Ryan Grim.
Instead of taking your hate out on me for wrongly deciding I'd walked away from Tara, why don't you e-mail them?
Unlike them, I'm not paid. I didn't make money off supporting Tara. Those people were happy to make money off her. Now she needs defending and it's feminists like me who are stepping up while our journalistic heroes -- Katie,Krystal, Rich and Ryan -- stay silent. Oh, yeah, Katie reTweeted a Tweet defending Tara.
She must have broken a sweat doing that, right?
I've done my job. I do my job. I was part of a feminist roundtable today about Tara. I will continue to defend Tara.
None of the smears go to anything that's pertinent to her case. Are the smears accurate? I don't know. But even if they are, they do not go to her allegations. Real feminists grasp that. Real feminists have been the forefront of this issue unlike celebrity feminists.
Anthony Zenkus is one of the people -- and, yes, he is a feminist -- who is not being silent. This Tweet is just one example:
So
@SenGillibrand
forced Al Franken to resign over sexual assault allegations w/far less corroboration than Tara Reade has. And Reade has alleged actual rape. I stood with Sen. Gillibrand at
@UsmmaO
when she called them out on sexual assault. Today, Gillibrand is a #MeTooFraud.There are people speaking out in support of Tara. I wish I had time to note all of them. I don't. I have done what I can and I will continue to do so. Tara has every right to tell her story. If her story is not accurate, the media can certainly report on that. However, what her landlords think of her or what people who have been smearing her online think of her or how POLITICO worked with a Biden supporter to put together their hit piece on Tara -- a collaboration that they failed to make public.
That's something FAIR should be addressing but FAIR and COUNTERSPIN have been silent all along regarding Tara Reade. I guess that's better -- silence -- then when they lied about a woman to protect the US government and a conspiracy that ended up pinned solely on the FBI. Yeah, Ava and I plan to go there. There are too many whores trying to pretend that they're trust worthy when they are not. FAIR is a knowing distraction from actual facts -- including the persecution of a US citizen. They lie so Tara's damn lucky that the incest couple at FAIR chose to ignore her all these weeks.
Can you feel the rage I'm typing with?
Again, if you're e-mailing and you're upset about Tara, I'm right there with you. So don't confuse me with someone who has profited off of Tara and now chooses to hide and wait and see which way the wind blows.
The following sites updated:
Mediterranean Lima Bean in the Kitchen
16 hours ago
What I can say
18 hours ago
they're trying to intimidate people into silence
20 hours ago
