Following months of silence, Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr
called for his supporters to hold a unified Friday prayer today in
Baghdad and a number of other cities.
The prayer was preceded by a speech written by Sadr himself,
according to Sadrist Telegram channels, which distributed the text of
the speech.
Moqtada the runaway returns. This time he hadn't run because he was a coward. Unlike previous times, he quite, he didn't run and hide in Iran.
Probably because Iran wouldn't have him right now -- they aren't getting along.
But, this time, no, this time he left after stamping his feet and throwing a hissy fit because he didn't get his way. After repeatedly failing at forming a government for months and months, he got left in the dust as another group formed a government. He was mad at that he was beaten to the punch, he was upset that the press called him a king maker while reality marked him only a loser, he was angry that he was revealed to be so small and impotent.
He stamped his feet and stormed off.
And no one begged for him to come back. So he probably waited a little longer to return but return he did.
And he wonders why his influence can't expand beyond his dwindling cult?
Poor Moqtada. He is the family failure. And not just when compared to his late father. There's also his cousin.
Musa Al Sadr’s cousin is Iraq’s Muqtada Al Sadr. They are absolutely different people with different principles, morals, and approaches to life. Musa Al Sadr was a visionary statesman who was a beacon of hope for Shias across the region. He was a gentle giant who never killed. pic.twitter.com/G8obuarY1I
No wonders he's mocked by so many today. Check out the right photo below.
Muqtada al-Sadr is so unpredictable especially during his hormonal change. Saraya Al Salam could be looking for a name change that better fits the changes. If Sadr and his terrorists are crying sing Shaun Cassidy songs. “Da Do Run Run Run” #Iraq#Iranpic.twitter.com/5btKZ41Jbl
That drawing of him is funny. Sadly, the picture on the left is funny too -- look at his nipples. We told you he had man boobs (MOOBS). Poor, little Moqtada. His enemies should send him training bras in the mail.
Thank you for all for being here and for including me.
We know the risks. They’re no secret. The Doomsday clock has almost nowhere to go but oblivion.
We know what’s needed. We’ve made a national holiday of a man who said he would oppose all nukes and all wars without any regard to whether it was popular, who said the choice was between nonviolence and nonexistence.
We are so aware of what’s needed that we all routinely tell our kids to be radical peacemakers, to deescalate, to back away, to apologize, to compromise.
We know what war is and at long last (with white Christian European victims to blame on Russia) we see its images in the news media. We also finally hear what it costs financially.
But we hear what it costs financially not in terms of the tradeoffs, of the human and environmental good far greater than ending war that could be done with the funding now spent on war — Rather in the ridiculous terms of spending money, including on human and environmental needs, somehow being an evil in itself.
Victims of war are presented, not as reasons to end war, but as reasons to continue it.
Guidance you would give to children is widely shunned. In fact it’s tantamount to treason to even suggest the sort of wise steps one would insist on children learning.
In our government, a tiny group of rightwingers actually exercise power for the good of cutting military spending combined with the evil of cutting human and environmental spending, and some of those who supposedly care about the future of life on Earth find that worthy of mockery.
The value of the day is inaction. The supreme attribute is cowardice. So-called progressives inside and outside of Congress support endless mountains of weapons shipments to keep a war going, to starve children who need those same resources, and to heighten the risk of nuclear apocalypse, while making the quietest little self-contradictory peeps about negotiating peace — and when anyone objects to that, these progressives run screaming from their own shadows or blame a staffer for the misunderstanding that they ever meant to attempt anything at all.
MLK Day should be a day for courage, for independence, for nonpartisanship, and for nonviolent action for the complete ending and abolishing of participation in any war. The rightwing in the U.S. government will not cut war spending without public pressure. Those claiming to oppose the rightwing will place that very opposition above the task of making peace, in the absence of tremendous principled and independent public pressure.
We have to ask ourselves: what do we oppose more, hunger or Republicans? the destruction of all life on Earth or Republicans? war or Republicans? We can oppose many things properly prioritized. We can even do so through uncomfortably large coalitions.
We don’t need vegetarians between meals, or peace advocates between wars — or between Democratic presidencies. We need a principled stand for peace precisely in time of overwhelming war propaganda.
It’s worth remembering that a reasonable agreement was reached at Minsk in 2015, that the current president of Ukraine was elected in 2019 promising peace negotiations, and that the U.S. (and rightwing groups in Ukraine) pushed back against that.
It’s worth remembering that Russia’s demands prior to its invasion of Ukraine were perfectly reasonable, and a better deal from Ukraine’s perspective than anything discussed since.
The U.S. has also been a force against negotiations during the past ten months. Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J.S. Davies wrote in September:
“For those who say negotiations are impossible, we have only to look at the talks that took place during the first month after the Russian invasion, when Russia and Ukraine tentatively agreed to a fifteen-point peace plan in talks mediated by Turkey. Details still had to be worked out, but the framework and the political will were there. Russia was ready to withdraw from all of Ukraine, except for Crimea and the self-declared republics in Donbas. Ukraine was ready to renounce future membership in NATO and adopt a position of neutrality between Russia and NATO. The agreed framework provided for political transitions in Crimea and Donbas that both sides would accept and recognize, based on self-determination for the people of those regions. The future security of Ukraine was to be guaranteed by a group of other countries, but Ukraine would not host foreign military bases on its territory.
“On March 27, President Zelenskyy told a national TV audience, ‘Our goal is obvious—peace and the restoration of normal life in our native state as soon as possible.’ He laid out his ‘red lines’ for the negotiations on TV to reassure his people he would not concede too much, and he promised them a referendum on the neutrality agreement before it would take effect. . . . Ukrainian and Turkish sources have revealed that the U.K. and U.S. governments played decisive roles in torpedoing those early prospects for peace. During U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ‘surprise visit’ to Kyiv on April 9th, he reportedly told Prime Minister Zelenskyy that the U.K. was ‘in it for the long run,’ that it would not be party to any agreement between Russia and Ukraine, and that the ‘collective West’ saw a chance to ‘press’ Russia and was determined to make the most of it. The same message was reiterated by U.S. Defense Secretary Austin, who followed Johnson to Kyiv on April 25th and made it clear that the U.S. and NATO were no longer just trying to help Ukraine defend itself but were now committed to using the war to ‘weaken’ Russia. Turkish diplomats told retired British diplomat Craig Murray that these messages from the U.S. and U.K. killed their otherwise promising efforts to mediate a ceasefire and a diplomatic resolution.”
How can you tell that someone does not want peace? They carefully avoid it. Both sides in this war propose preconditions for peace talks that they know the other side will not accept. And when one side calls a ceasefire for 2 days, the other side doesn’t call their bluff and propose one for 4 days, choosing instead to ridicule it.
Once we understand that the path to peace is not war, and that peace is available through compromise if governments want it, what can we do?
Here are upcoming actions that will have as big an impact as we make them have. I hope to see you all at as many of them as possible. You’ll be emailed this presentation and can find the events at worldbeyondwar.org.
Friday, January 13, 2023. Iraq has another victory in the Gulf Cup, Joe Biden thinks the answer to his appalling handling of top secret documents is to serve up jokes, and much more.
Group A competitions of the 25th Gulf Cup held in the southern Iraqi city of Basra ended with an Iraqi victory over its Yemeni counterpart.
The Iraqi national team qualified for the semi-finals of the 25th
Gulf Cup championship, after obtaining the first place in the group,
while the Yemeni and Saudi national teams are leaving the championship
following their losses in the first round.
The Iraqi national team achieved a superb 5-0 victory over its Yemeni
counterpart, on Thursday evening, in the third and final round of the
group stage.
Dressing room celebrations after the 5-0 win over Yemen at the Basra International Stadium. 🥳
Have a look at Amir Al-Ammari, though! The midfielder might have been born in Sweden but he's 100% Made in Iraq 🇮🇶 😂
When Qatar hosted the 17th Arabian Gulf Cup in 2004, it wanted to celebrate a special moment: Iraq’s return to the competition for the first time in more than a decade.
Diplomatic ties between Iraq and its Gulf neighbours were severed after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. As a result, the Iraqi national team were banned from taking part in the biennial tournament.
But
Iraq returned in 2004, a year after Saddam Hussein was removed from
power by an invasion led by the US. Despite this, the region was rocked
by more than a decade of division as the country slipped into a period
of sectarian strife.
Fifa
banned Iraq from hosting international matches between 2003 and 2018,
citing the poor security situation. But much has changed since and many
view Iraq's hosting of the current tournament as a triumph of sports
diplomacy, part of continuing efforts to heal a political rift.
To
mark the occasion, Qatar commissioned the renowned Iraqi sculptor Ahmed
Al Bahrani to design and create a new trophy for the tournament.
Mr Al Bahrani, who has lived in exile since the late 1990s, was overjoyed when he received the commission.
“I
was happy for Iraq returning to the tournament and I was particularly
proud to be given this opportunity as an Iraqi,” Mr Al Bahrani said.
Today Bahrain faces Kuwait and Qatar faces the UAE. After that, the games resume on Monday with Iraq and Oman facing competitors determined by today's face offs.
While there has been much to cheer about if you were Iraq or some of the other countries, the government of Iran has not been pleased with the games. As we noted yesterday, the Gulf Cup or the Arab Gulf Cup is how it has been referred to and the prime minister of Iraq, on opening day, used "Arab Gulf Cup." The government of Iran feels that term ignores and degrades the historic role of Iran in the region and that the games should be called "The Persian Gulf Cup." Omar Ahmed (MEMO) explains:
Yet the recent row with Iraq is
significant in that the country has, for some time, been seen as Iran's
"backyard" due to the influence Tehran exerts in Iraq's internal
affairs, particularly in terms of politics and security, but also due to
the historic, cultural and religious ties that the two Shia-majority
Muslim countries share. Nevertheless, the rift has arguably exposed
deep-seated nationalistic sentiments. Even some of the most ardent
Iranian secularists opposed to the Islamic Republic would take issue
with referring to the Gulf as "Arabian". In some cases, these
sentiments may supersede the strategic relations forged following the
US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and, furthermore, with Iran's support in
the fight against [ISIS].
It is also worth remembering that, Iran's
leadership has sought to justify Iran's involvement overseas conflicts,
including in Iraq as "the defence of Iran". During the height of the
devastating Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, Ayatollah Khomeini had initially
hoped that Shia soldiers in the Iraqi army would take up arms alongside
the Iranian forces; this didn't materialise.
However, "This was not out of loyalty to the regime, necessarily, but
to prevent Iraq from becoming colonised by Iran or from following in its
theocratic footsteps." At the time, one western diplomatic source noted
that the Iraqi Shia community has effectively been "nationalised" by the Baathist government who poured money into the shrine cities, in return for support against the Iranians.
The row over Iraq's referring to the Gulf
as "Arabian" is unlikely to escalate further after Tehran sought
clarifications from Baghdad, but it does illustrate the ethnic and
nationalistic divergences that still exist between the two countries
who, nevertheless, form integral parts of the Iranian-led Axis of
Resistance. As such, the issue may be exploited in future by Iran's
rivals across the Gulf in order to create a wedge between Iraq and Iran
and to re-assert Iraq's Arab identity in an attempt to distance it from
Iran. Speaking of the recent row, one senior Sadrist member, Issam
Hussein, was quoted as saying "Iran is actually angry over Iraq's
rapprochement with its Arab neighbours and it is afraid it will lead to
economic and political cooperation and cost Iran its influence in Iraq."
As Basra gathers up the bouquets, Baghdad will hope that investors
everywhere take note. But once the tournament is concluded, attention
will quickly return to Iraq’s political dysfunction: The government of
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, appointed in late October more
than a year after the general election of 2021, may not be long for this
world.
The backing
of Iran makes it highly suspect in the eyes of most Iraqis. The
country’s most popular politician, Moqtada al-Sadr, who was unable to
form a government despite his party’s plurality of seats in parliament,
retains the capacity to bring millions of supporters into the street and
paralyze the government.
If
Sudani can survive Sadr’s political maneuvering, he will have the
unenviable task of managing Iraq’s economy, which is entirely dependent
on oil exports. The prime minister dreams of oil remaining close to $100
a barrel. High prices through much of last year helped to cover the
ineptitude of Iraq’s government, which is hoping to expand its export
capacity in the months ahead.
But Iraq has been unable to convert oil revenues into opportunities for
its young population. A comprehensive labor force survey conducted
jointly last year by the Iraqi government and the International Labour
Organization put youth unemployment at 35.8%. Joblessness, along with
deep dissatisfaction with the government and anger at Iran’s meddling in
Iraqi affairs, has powered the widespread protests that have wracked
the country in the past three years.
These are the basics. Last year, Donald Trump, former US president, has his residence raided by the FBI because he had top secret documents that he had taken from the White House. Donald has argued that he, in his role as president, had the right to declassify them and take them. The National Archives had been insisting he return them. When he didn't, the FBI was sent in.
The
White House has confirmed reports that classified documents were
discovered in a former office space used by Joe Biden in Washington,
D.C., after his term as vice president. On Monday, Biden’s lawyers said a
“small number” of the documents were discovered in a locked closet as
they were closing the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global
Engagement. It’s not clear what the documents were related to. Biden’s
lawyers say they immediately notified the National Archives, which took
possession of the records the next day.
In 2018, then-President Trump signed a bill making it a felony -- rather than a misdemeanor -- to knowingly remove classified materials
with the intent to retain them at an “unauthorized location.” Those
convicted face up to five years in prison. Special counsel Jack Smith is
currently investigating Trump for allegedly mishandling at least 325
classified documents seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago last August.
Journalist should be covering the way Amy did but most corporate journalist by Monday evening were not using terms like "Biden's lawyers say." They were instead 'reporting' like "After the discovery, the National Archives were immediately notified." No, you don't know that. And you can't report it as fact. It's "Biden's lawyers say."
Ruth rightly noted yesterday, when it was announced that more classified documents were found in Joe's possession at another location (in a garage), that this was not a time for jokes -- Joe had ha-ha-ed that "my Corvette's in a locked garage, so it's not like it's sitting on the street."
It's not the time for jokes.
It's also not time for partisanship. But many are playing that on both sides.
A House investigation? I would agree with that. We have a sitting president who has classified document problem -- that's more serious than the media's treating it -- hold on for that, I'll get to it. So, sure, the House has every right to investigate. Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a Special Counsel:
Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 12, 2023
Appointment of a Special Counsel
Attorney
General Merrick B. Garland announced today the appointment of a former
career Justice Department prosecutor and former U.S. Attorney for the
District of Maryland Robert K. Hur to serve as special counsel to
conduct the investigation of matters that were the subject of the
initial investigation by U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch Jr. related to the
possible unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or
other records discovered at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and
Global Engagement and the Wilmington, Delaware, private residence of
President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
“Based on Mr. Lausch's initial investigation, I
concluded that, under the Special Counsel regulations, it was in the
public interest to appoint a Special Counsel. In the days since, while
Mr. Lausch continued the investigation, the Department identified Mr.
Hur for appointment as Special Counsel.
“This appointment underscores for the public the
Department's commitment to both independence and accountability in
particularly sensitive matters, and to making decisions indisputably
guided only by the facts and the law.
I am confident that Mr. Hur will carry out his
responsibility in an even-handed and urgent manner, and in accordance
with the highest traditions of this Department.”
That's needed as well.
I don't want to even include the name of the guy who burned his bridges at MSNBC, ESPN, CNN, FOX SPORTS, CURRENT TV and GQ (did I miss a firing?) but he has nothing of value to offer (big surprise, right?) and this is a real news story and it's a serious one.
There's no need to compare the two -- Joe and Donald. One is a sitting president, one is a former president.
Instead, we're back to this.
For those who are late to the party, Tara Reade came forward to detail her time working in then-Senator Joe Biden's office and to state that he assaulted her. Tara is credible and I believe her 100%. She has 'receipts' (including the call in her mother made in real time to CNN's LARRY KING SHOW). The response was for Joe's campaign to smear her to the press -- who never explained to their readers -- and I say readers because most of it was in print and not on TV but do include PBS in this list of outlets who were allowing Joe's campaign to dictate the coverage.
It became harder and harder to attack Tara's statements -- as Alyssa Milano found out (after being fed lies by TIMES UP!) -- and so we got the justification that the video above points out. "Less rapes."
And now, it's less documents.
It doesn't matter if it was one document and we're not going to revamp our standards for legalities and make Donald Trump the bar. No. And if you don't like Donald (I don't), why in the world are using him as the standard? "Well it's less than Donald had!"
He is in violation.
If you're going to compare the two at all, it's that Joe had those documents not as president, but as vice president and/or former vice president. If Donald's argument is legal -- a court will decide that -- it would apply for Donald but it's doubtful that Barack Obama, as the president under whom Joe served, could give Joe or anyone's classified documents -- if Donald's argument holds up in court, Barack could have given himself that permission but not anyone serving under him.
These documents turning up would be embarrassing for any sitting president.
Full-Page Ad on Capitol Hill Calls for Primary Challenger to Biden
The Hill newspaper today published a full-page
ad in its print edition calling for a progressive Democrat to step
forward with a primary challenge to President Biden, who has said he
intends to run for re-election.
The ad, which appears under a big “Help Wanted” headline, says that a
“historic position” is available for an “articulate and principled
Democrat willing to show political courage on behalf of party and
country.”
The notice goes on: “Qualifications include a record of progressive
advocacy, effective leadership and proven integrity. Capacity to
withstand intensive pressure from corporate interests and the Biden
White House a must.”
The ad was placed by the Don’t Run Joe campaign, which is sponsored
by the activist group RootsAction. The organization’s co-founder Jeff
Cohen said Thursday: “A healthy political party requires healthy
political debate about its future. President Biden should not be enabled
to coast to renomination without such a debate, especially in light of
recent polling that shows most Democrats don’t want him to seek a second
term.”
Recent polls by CNBC and CNN found that nearly 60 percent of Democrats nationwide do not want Biden to be the party nominee in 2024.
“A presidential nomination should not be a coronation,” RootsAction
national director Norman Solomon said. “Voters in the Democratic
presidential primaries next year should not simply be told to rubber
stamp a choice handed down from on high.”
For further information, contact RootsAction cofounders:
Jeff Cohen, jeff@rootsaction.org, phone/text (914) 388-1431
Norman Solomon, norman@rootsaction.org, phone/text (415) 488-3606
Joe wants to run for re-election in two years. He hasn't announced yet because there are still some trying to talk him out of it. (He's had arguments -- including one of the phone with Barack.) The majority of Democratic voters do not want him to run as evidenced by repeat polling. They think he's too old. That's reality, by the way. If he ran and was re-elected, he would be the oldest president in US history. He's 80 years old right now.
What does this have to do with the documents?
Donald Trump left the White House and took documents with him. That's why you don't want to compare the two. Donald was asked to return and said no.
Point?
Donald knew he had the documents. Donald knew where he had the documents.
Joe's defense currently is, at best, oops!
He forgot he had them.
Okay, we already see him as senile.
He wants to argue that he's so senile that he forgot to return these documents in 2016 or by 2017 when his book on Beau Biden was published (the documents may have been used or mixed in with classified documents when he was working on that book published in 2017).
That's not making him look good.
He had top secret documents and worse than that, he had them for years. He had them for years and he forgot them which means -- pay attention here -- he misplaced them.
That is a serious breach of national security.
He did not just misplace them for a moment, he misplaced them for years.
Again, a serious breach of national security.
This does warrant a special counsel. This does deserve a Congressional investigation.
A sitting president has lost and misplaced -- not just mishandled -- classified information.
This needs to be addressed seriously. This is not minor. He is now handling tons of documents and it needs to be determined if he can handle that role and, if he can, he needs to be assuring the American people that this will not happen again.
Ruth is so right, this is not the time for jokes. It's also not the time to hide behind your attorneys. You are the President of the United States and you have done something that is appalling. This is not a woopsie. You need to speak to the American people and you need to be honest and forthright. It is not a time for jokes.
A 13-year-old boy in France named Lucas died by suicide last
Saturday, January 7 after facing anti-LGBTQ+ bullying at school. People
close to his family say that the school did little to stop the bullying.
The student at the Louis Armand de Golbey middle school in the Vosges department was out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, the French magazine Têtu reports.
“He was constantly harassed for the way he dressed, his mannerisms,
his presence,” said Stéphanie, a family friend. “He didn’t hide himself
and that bothered some people.”
She said Lucas was “always pleasant, caring, spontaneous, full of dreams and a life.”
Full-Page Ad on Capitol Hill Calls for Primary Challenger to Biden
The Hill newspaper today published a full-page
ad in its print edition calling for a progressive Democrat to step
forward with a primary challenge to President Biden, who has said he
intends to run for re-election.
The ad, which appears under a big “Help Wanted” headline, says that a
“historic position” is available for an “articulate and principled
Democrat willing to show political courage on behalf of party and
country.”
The notice goes on: “Qualifications include a record of progressive
advocacy, effective leadership and proven integrity. Capacity to
withstand intensive pressure from corporate interests and the Biden
White House a must.”
The ad was placed by the Don’t Run Joe campaign, which is sponsored
by the activist group RootsAction. The organization’s co-founder Jeff
Cohen said Thursday: “A healthy political party requires healthy
political debate about its future. President Biden should not be enabled
to coast to renomination without such a debate, especially in light of
recent polling that shows most Democrats don’t want him to seek a second
term.”
Recent polls by CNBC and CNN found that nearly 60 percent of Democrats nationwide do not want Biden to be the party nominee in 2024.
“A presidential nomination should not be a coronation,” RootsAction
national director Norman Solomon said. “Voters in the Democratic
presidential primaries next year should not simply be told to rubber
stamp a choice handed down from on high.”
For further information, contact RootsAction cofounders:
Jeff Cohen, jeff@rootsaction.org, phone/text (914) 388-1431
Norman Solomon, norman@rootsaction.org, phone/text (415) 488-3606
