Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Iraq snapshot

Tuesday, November 22, 2022.  More details about the attack on the Colorado Springs night club, the Kurdistan continues to be targeted by bombings and drones, and much more.


Julia Conley (COMMON DREAMS) reports:


A mass shooting that killed at least five people and injured at least 18 late Saturday at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado will be investigated as a hate crime, a local district attorney told reporters Sunday.

"This will be investigated and is being investigated in that lens," Michael Allen, the district attorney for Colorado's 4th Judicial District, said, adding that authorities will consider a number of factors before charging the suspect with a hate crime. Police have not yet described a motive for the shooting.

The FBI is assisting in investigating the shooting.

A shooter, who was identified as 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, reportedly entered Club Q shortly before midnight wearing body armor and armed with an AR-15 style assault rifle. Police said a "long rifle" was used in the shooting and at least two firearms were found at the scene.

On Sunday morning at least two injured victims were in critical condition.

Police said the suspect was subdued by at least two patrons at the club, who stopped him from shooting more people.


The two who stopped the shooter were Thomas James and Rich Fierro.









As Diana Ross says, so much better if the world just danced.




Instead, hate.



REUTERS notes, "Fierro’s wife Jess Fierro said Monday that her husband, a decorated U.S. Army Afghanistan and Iraq veteran and microbrewery owner, hit the shooter with the suspect’s pistol before he and the other man pinned down the gunman after five people were killed and 17 wounded." Cheynne R. Ubiera (THE SUN) reports:


The nightclub's owners said "dozens and dozens of lives" had been saved by their [Thomas James and Rich Fierro] actions.

"We owe them a great debt of thanks," added Colorado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez.

One of the victims in the shooting was Raymond Green Vance, boyfriend of Fierro’s daughter Kassy.

“Boyfriend is an understatement,” she wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook post, along with a photo of her and Raymond.

"You are my forever. My future. My everything. I love you."

Kassy injured her knee after slipping and falling while trying to run away.

"My dad has always been a hero," she wrote in a separate post.



Meanwhile, the US State Dept notes that it is Iran and Turkey bombing northern Iraq.


Press Statement

Ned Price, Department Spokesperson

November 21, 2022

The United States expresses its sincere condolences for the loss of civilian life in Syria and Turkey.  We urge de-escalation in Syria to protect civilian life and support the common goal of defeating ISIS.  We continue to oppose any uncoordinated military action in Iraq that violates Iraq’s sovereignty.


If only the US media could also grasp this reality.  Julian Bechocha (RUDAW) notes, "Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said that Turkey's latest aerial campaign targeting Kurdish fighters in the Kurdistan Region and northern Syria is not limited to an aerial operation, hinting that a ground operation will follow." 





Dilan Sirwan (RUDAW) reports:

The president of the Kurdistan Region on Tuesday met with the Iraqi prime minister in Baghdad, during which both sides emphasized the importance of cooperation in facing repeated violations on Iraq’s sovereignty.

According to a joint statement from Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s and President Nechirvan Barzani, one of the topics of the meeting focused on discussing security on the Iraqi border areas.

“They emphasized cooperation to protect Iraq's sovereignty, reject repeated violations, and work to prevent using Iraqi territory as a platform for attacking any neighboring country,” the statement read.

The meeting comes as the Kurdistan Region’s borders have become an arena of instability with Turkish bombardment in the north and Iranian drone and missile attacks coming from the east.

Turkey launched an aerial operation, code-named Claw-Sword, early Sunday, targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region’s mountainous areas, mostly Sulaimani province, and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria. One day later, Iran attacked Iranian-Kurdish armed groups, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and Komala, in the Region’s Erbil and Sulaimani provinces with missiles and drones. Both campaigns have claimed the lives of several people, including civilians.

The Iraqi foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday that it “categorically rejects and strongly condemns the Iranian bombardment of the Kurdistan region of Iraq with drones and missiles.”

“The repeated attacks carried out by the Iranian and Turkish forces with missiles and drones on the Kurdistan region are a violation of the sovereignty of Iraq, and an act that contravenes international covenants and laws that regulate relations between countries,” it added.






Closing with BROS.



Many love the movie BROS and today it's out on DVD and BLU-RAY.











The following sites updated:





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