Wednesday, July 25, 2012

At least 355 people dead from Iraq violence this month

Xinhau reports that the Islamic State of Iraq posted a statement online claiming that Monday's attacks which left over 115 dead was the first step in their "Breaking The Walls" plan which they announced Sunday.  They quote from the statement:  "The coordinated jihadist operations have stunned the enemy and made him lost his mind, and showed the failure of intelligence and security plans which filled the world with noise and bluster."  Prashant Rao (AFP) quotes from the new announcement: "As part of the new military campaign aimed at recovering territory given up by the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), the war ministry has sent its sons and the mujahedeen on a sacred offensive during the month of Ramadan.  The operations by the jihadists have stunned the enemy and made him lose his head.  It has demonstrated the failings of the security and intelligence services."  Along with the 115 dead, The Voice of Russia notes over three hundred people were injured in Monday's violence.  KUNA reports, "Arab League General Secretariat on Wednesday strongly condemned the series of bombings that hit some Iraqi cities on Monday, which targeted security and civilian buildings, causing numerous deaths." 

Iraq Body Counts notes at least 355 people have been killed by violence in Iraq so far this month.

ibcount
And you know the violence continues today.  Alsumaria reports that the FPS director was in his convy to the south of Mosul when a bombing targeting him went off. Police state he survived and do not mention any dead or note any wounds to (him or anyone else).  Others weren't so lucky.  AFP reports a Salahuddin Province car bombing has claimed the lives of a police officer's wife and their four children.  All Iraqi News reports a Mosul bombing has left two soldiers injured and 1 police officer has been shot dead in Mosul.  Alsumaria reports a member of Parliament's Security and Defence Committee is calling for the security strategies to be changed and for all of Iraq to be protected which is most likely a criticism of the the strategy that places a premium on securing the Green Zone while other areas of Iraq suffer.  (Additional security and anti-aircraft devices have been put around mosques and shrines over the weekend.  Why?  I don't know apparently Nouri's expecting some sort of invasion of Iraqi skies.)   All Iraq News picks up on the story noting MP Riad Saadi declared that security was deteriorating and that attacks indicate additional security needs to be sent to other cities.  As long as they're examing causes, they might want to read the report Dar Addustour posted last night about a Thursday assault in Diwaniya.  Who was doing the assaulting, I'd argue the police who showed up and started arresting "dozens" of protesters last Thursday at which point activists and bystanders responded by throwing rocks at the police who opened fire on the protesters. 

It's telling that Dar Addustour and not one of the many fabled international wire services broke the report.  It's also doubtful that any of them will pick up on it.  But use the link even if you don't read Arabic so you can see the photo of the police in riot guard.


The following community sites -- plus Antiwar.com, The Diane Rehm Show, Adam Kokesh, Susan's On Edge, IVAW and Black Agenda Report -- updated last night and this morning:


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We'll close with this from Andy Worthington's "Bagram: Still a Black Hole for Foreign Prisoners" (World Can't Wait):


Back in March 2009, three foreign prisoners seized in other countries and rendered to the main US prison in Afghanistan, at Bagram airbase, where they had been held for up to seven years, secured a legal victory in the District Court in Washington D.C., when Judge John D. Bates ruled that they had habeas corpus rights; in other words, the right to challenge the basis of their imprisonment under the “Great Writ” that prevents arbitrary detention. The men — amongst dozens of foreigners held in Afghanistan — secured their legal victory because Judge Bates recognized that their circumstances were essentially the same as the prisoners at Guantánamo, who had been granted habeas corpus rights by the Supreme Court in June 2008.

Unfortunately, the Obama administration appealed Judge Bates’ careful and logical ruling, and the judges of the D.C. Circuit Court agreed, overturning the ruling in May 2010, and returning the three men to their legal black hole.
In April 2011, the Associated Press reported that the three men — Redha al-Najar, a Tunisian seized in Karachi, Pakistan in May 2002; Amin al-Bakri, a Yemeni gemstone dealer seized in Bangkok, Thailand in late 2002; and Fadi al-Maqaleh, a Yemeni seized in 2004 and sent to Abu Ghraib before Bagram — had all been cleared for release by review boards at Bagram, or, as it is now known, the Parwan Detention Facility.

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