In Iraq today? XINHUA reports, "The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Friday 1,140 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide infections to 589,943." AFP notes, "Pope Francis in his Christmas message on Friday called for 'vaccines for
all, especially the most vulnerable and most in need in all regions of
the planet' for the coronavirus, which he said had exacerbated existing
global crises."
Meanwhile, at IRISH TIMES, Michael Jansen offers, "Although Baghdad would welcome US return to the nuclear deal, Biden’s
election has had a mixed reaction in Iraq. He is viewed with suspicion
for supporting the 2003 US war on that country and for calling in 2006
for its division into Shia, Sunni and Kurdish regions as this could
would lead to massive ethnic and sectarian cleansing."
2020 is winding down and a few e-mails are asking about 2021? What are we going to be doing here, etc? We'll presumably do what we always do. That would be cover Iraq.
A community member who is an activist in Iraq writes to say that he believes the Trump pardons on Blackwater get the attention they get in the west because the west likes to pretend it cares and that it's wonderful (he's correct there) so when something from "over a decade ago" comes up they get to grandstand and pretend. He wonders if they get how pathetic they look to the Iraqi people?
I doubt it. But I also doubt that they'd care one damn bit. Self-stroking is about self-stroking, it's not about caring what others think about you. The community member is correct, though, this is a decades old event that was heavily covered in real time. Many didn't express any regret at all in real time. We were the only ones, let's be honest, in this country that called out Gwen Ifill for laughing about this assault on PBS. We called her out. She thought it was funny. Bottles of water tossed out the window of a car, that's what she compared it to.
So I agree, save me the pretend caring. You didn't care then, you don't care now. You just want to pretend that you're somehow up to date on the news and it's a Trump thing so you want to spew.
You didn't say a word about Abeer all those years. You haven't said a word as the protests in Iraq have now lasted over a year and over 600 have been killed. You haven't said a word as the government has persecuted the protesters and you ignored the government's attack on the protesters that has expanded to tearing down their tents, to setting them on fire, in the last weeks.
So, yeah, America, you're a fraud and the Iraqi people aren't fooled.
It's the fraud characteristic that made a hero out of a racist like Rukmini Callamachi. It's this same fraud that allows you to invent this or that spin each day to try to justify Rukmini's racism and her 'reporting.'
There's no real concern for the Arab world in the US. Jane Fonda might have been forced to apologize for Vietnam but she was never forced to apologize for any of her anti-Arab remarks. One example, she stated, "If we aren't afraid of Arabs, we'd better examine our heads. They have strategic power over us. They are unstable. They are fundamentalist, anti-woman, anti free-press."
At what point does promoting a film (ROLLOVER) justify your preaching hatred at an entire group of people?
At what point does an 83-year-old woman grasp that she needs to apologize for her hateful remarks about Arabs?
Now I get it, I know Jane, this was her being an idiot for Tom Hayden who was up the ass of the government of Israel and who intended ROLLOVER to turn the world against Arabs. Maybe that's why it flopped? Maybe hate really doesn't sell tickets? But she said those statements and more. And it's past time that she apologized for them.
Does she not get that the anger at John Wayne over his homophobic statements is going to be similar when she's gone to anger over her anti-Arab statements? Does she not get that her laughable claim when she grandstanded in DC at an Iraq War protest in January of 2007 made Arabs laughs because they were aware of these statements?
I wasn't aware. It was Arab community members who made me aware.
There's a lot of hatred of the Arab world and there's a lot of ginned up hatred on the parts of certain politicians and performers who want to please Zionist zealots.
Rukmini tapped into the hatred of Arabs that's always there on the surface in American popular narratives. It's not hidden. Let's not pretend that it is. I watched WONDER WOMAN 1984 today, it was right there on HBO MAX. Time to show the true evil? Let's go to the Arab world.
That's what sells, it's what always sells in the US.
We need to take a hard look at ourselves. We are not the caring, good people we hope to be as a nation. We regularly demonize whole groups of people.
The supposed 'liberal' NEW YORK TIMES has demonized Arabs for decades and gotten away with it. Jane Fonda, a noted and talented actress, has still not been held accountable for her offensive and racist remarks about Arabs. These were public remarks. They are out there and they exist. Scholars like Michael Parenti have noted these remarks over the years. She will apologize for some of the actions she took in protesting the illegal war on Vietnam but she won't apologize for her anti-Arab remarks made to promote a film that she conceived of and that she produced as well as starred in.
Right now, we're hearing that the worst US crime in Iraq was a drive-by shooting by Blackwater. The reality is, Blackwater (and other US companies) did this all the time. This one got some attention because the US government stonewalled the media. When the story broke, the press was interested in finding out what US dignitary was being protected. It's what forgotten in the story today, by the way. Supposedly, Blackwater had to protect some US dignitary. But that name's never come forward and the press no longer cares to ask. But these events were common. They're criminal, don't think I'm saying that they're not. But they were common.
They happened regularly.
To this day, the US media and the 'caring opiners' have still not given Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi even a 100th of the attention they've given the Blackwater drive-by. And noted 'good people' like Mark Cuban (he's not a good person) have been embraced by the left despite the fact that he went out of his way to harm Brian De Palma's REDACTED -- a fictional film that dealt with an Abeer type crime.
No surprise, Mark Cuban polices his own WIKIPEDIA entries. I just went to the one on REDACTED and his handlers have lied very well. Very, very well. Here's some reality from the September 4th, 2009 snapshot:
Turning to the United States and what may be the only accountability for the crimes in Iraq. May 7th Steven D. Green (pictured above) was convicted for his crimes in March 12, 2006 gang-rape and murder of Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi,
the murder of her parents and the murder of her five-year-old sister
while Green was serving in Iraq. Green was found to have killed all
four, to have participated in the gang-rape of Abeer and to have been
the ringleader of the conspiracy to commit the crimes and the conspiracy
to cover them up. May 21st,
the federal jury deadlocked on the death penalty and instead kicking in
sentence to life in prison. Today, Green stood before US District Judge
Thomas B. Russell for sentencing. Kim Landers (Australia's ABC) quotes
Judge Russell telling Green his actions were "horrifying and
inexcusable." Not noted in any of the links in this snapshot (it comes
from a friend present in the court), Steven Dale Green has dropped his
efforts to appear waif-ish in a coltish Julia Roberts circa the 1990s
manner. Green showed up a good twenty pounds heavier than he appeared
when on trial, back when the defense emphasized his 'lanky' image by
dressing him in oversized clothes. Having been found guilty last
spring, there was apparently no concern that he appear frail anymore.
Italy's AGI reports,
"Green was recognised as the leader of a group of five soldiers who
committed the massacre on September 12 2006 at the Mahmudiyah check
point in the south of Baghdad. The story inspired the 2007 masterpiece
by Brian De Palma 'Redacted'." BBC adds, "Judge Thomas Russell confirmed Green would serve five consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole." Deborah Yetter (Courier-Journal) explains,
"Friday's federal court hearing was devoted mostly to discussion of
technical issues related to Green's sentencing report, although it did
not change Green's sentence. He was convicted in May of raping and
murdering Abeer al-Janabi, 14, and murdering her parents, Kassem and
Fakhriya, and her sister, Hadeel, 6, at their home outside Baghdad."
Green
was tried in civilian court because he had already been discharged
before the War Crimes were discovered. Following the gang-rape and
murders, US soldiers attempted to set fire to Abeer's body to destroy
the evidence and attempted to blame the crimes on "insurgents." In real
time, when the bodies were discovered, the New York Times was
among the outlets that ran with "insurgents." Green didn't decide he
wanted to be in the military on his own. It was only after his most
recent arrest -- after a long string of juvenile arrests -- while
sitting in jail and fearing what sentence he would face, that Green
decided the US Army was just the place he wanted to be. Had he been
imprisoned instead or had the US military followed rules and guidelines,
Green wouldn't have gotten in on a waiver. Somehow his history was
supposed to translate into "He's the victim!!!!" As if he (and the
others) didn't know rape was a crime, as if he (and the others) didn't
know that murder was considered wrong. Green attempted to climb up on
the cross again today. AP's Brett Barrouguere quotes
the 'victim' Green insisting at today's hearing, "You can act like I'm a
sociopath. You can act like I'm a sex offender or whatever. If I had
not joined the Army, if I had not gone to Iraq, I would not have got
caught up in anything." Climb down the cross, drama queen. Your entire
life was about leading up to a moment like that. You are a sociopath.
You stalked a 14-year-old Iraqi girl while you were stationed at a
checkpoint in her neighborhood. You made her uncomfortable and nervous,
you stroked her face. She ran to her parents who made arrangements for
her to go live with others just to get her away from you, the man the
army put there to protect her and the rest of the neighborhood. You are
one sick f**k and you deserve what you got. Green play drama queen and
insist "you can act like I'm a sex offender" -- he took part in and
organized a gang-rape of a 14-year-old girl. That's a sex offender. In
fact, "sex offender" is a mild term for what Green is.
Steven
D. Green made the decision to sign up for the US military. He was
facing criminal punishment for his latest crimes, but he made the
decision. Once in the military, despite his long history of arrests, he
didn't see it as a chance to get a fresh start. He saw it as a
passport for even more crimes. What he did was disgusting and vile and
it is War Crimes and by doing that he disgraced himself and the US
military. His refusal to take accountability today just demonstrates
the realities all along which was Green did what he wanted and Green has
no remorse. He sullied the name of the US military, he sullied the
name of the US. As a member of the army, it was his job to follow the
rules and the laws and he didn't do so. And, as a result, a retaliation
kidnapping of US soldiers took place in the spring of 2006 and those
soldiers were strung up and gutted. That should weigh heavily on Steven
D. Green but there's no appearance that he's ever thought of anyone
but himself. He wants to act as if the problem was the US military
which requires that you then argue that anyone serving in Iraq could
have and would have done what he did. That is not reality. He does not
represent the average soldier and he needs to step down from the cross
already.
AFP notes,
"During closing arguments at his sentencing, Green was described
alternately as 'criminal and perverse' and deserving of the death
penalty, and as a 'broken warrior" whose life should be spared'." Brett Barrouquere (AP) has been covering
the story for years now. He notes that Patrick Bouldin (defense)
attempted to paint Green as the victim as well by annoucing that Green
wanted to take responsibility "twice" before but that Assistant US
Attorney Marisa Ford explained that was right before jury selection
began and in the midst of jury selection. In other words, when
confronted with the reality that he would be going to trial, Steven D.
Green had a panic moment and attempted to make a deal with the
prosecution. (The offer was twice rejected because the 'life in prison'
offer included the defense wanting Green to have possible parole.) Steve Robrahn, Andrew Stern and Paul Simao (Reuters) quote
US Brig Gen Rodney Johnson ("Commanding General of the U.S. Army
Criminal Investigation Command") stating, "We sincerely hope that
today's sentencing helps to bring the loved ones of this Iraqi family
some semblance of closure and comfort after this horrific and senseless
act."
2009 is when Steven D. Green went on trial and was convicted. It's cute of Mark and his assholes to lie in the CRAPAPEDIA entry that when the 2007 film was released Steven was on trial and facing the death penalty. And if you're going to lie, the place to do it is CRAPAPEDIA.
As disclosed before many times, Brian De Palma is a friend. Mark Cuban is scum.
Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Grinch Who Stole The Stimulus and Christmas" went up earlier. The following sites updated:
