Saturday, June 01, 2013

1,045 violent deaths in Iraq in the month of May

Violence slammed Iraq again today.  National Iraqi News Agency reports an armed attack just outside Falluja left 1 military officer dead, a Mosul bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer and left another dead, a co-op generator worker was shot dead near his Mosul home, a Tikrit home invasion left 2 people dead, a Baquba bombing left three people injured, and a Hilla roadside bombing left two Iraqi soldiers injured.  In addition, there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Nineveh Province Governor Atheel al-Nuaifi.  He is the brother of Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi.  The attempt on him makes the third attempt this week on a governor (earlier, the Governor of Salahuddin Province and the Governor of Anbar Province were targeted for assassinations -- the two survived uninjured).

Today kicked off a new month.  Iraq Body Count counts 883 violent deaths in May.  AFP got 614.  Don't giggle.  We'll come back to why later on.  We'll again note Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) providing Antiwar.com's numbers:

Antiwar.com’s own daily round-ups from Margaret Griffis tracked Iraq violence counts, and came up with 1,077 dead in the month of May, and 2,258 others wounded. Such a level has not been seen since the last sectarian civil war in Iraq in early 2008.
Perhaps most troubling is that the toll wasn’t a straight line throughout the month, and that much of the violence came in the second half of May.


 
Antiwar.com's numbers come closest to the United Nations.  However, by Price Is Right "Showcase Showdown" rules, you have to come closest without going over so the winner is IBC.  UNAMI released the following today:

UN Casualty Figures for May: More than one thousand Iraqis killed

Baghdad, 1 June 2013 – According to casualty figures released today by UNAMI, a total of 1,045 Iraqis were killed and another 2,397 were wounded in acts of terrorism and acts of violence in May.

The number of civilians killed was 963 (including 181 civilian police) and the number of civilians injured was 2,191 (including 359 civilian police). A further 82 members of the Iraqi Security Forces were killed and 206 were injured.

“That is a sad record,” the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Iraq, Mr. Martin Kobler, said. “Iraqi political leaders must act immediately to stop this intolerable bloodshed,” the UN envoy added.


Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate with 1,817 civilian casualties (532 killed, 1,285 injured), followed by Salahuddin, Ninewa, Anbar, Diyala and Kirkuk.


UNAMI recorded a minimum of 560 security incidents in different parts of Iraq. 178  of these incidents involved Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which killed and injured a minimum of 886 civilians; 82 Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED) and Suicide Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (SVBIED)  killed and injured a minimum of 1,435 civilians; and 243 incidents of Small Arms Fire (SAF) killed and injured a minimum of 470 civilians.


Disclaimer: The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq undertakes monitoring of the impact of armed violence and terrorism on Iraqi civilians in accordance with its mandate. UNAMI relies on direct investigation, along with credible secondary sources, in determining civilian casualties. UNAMI figures are conservative and may under-report the actual number of civilians killed and injured for a variety of reasons. Where different casualty figures are obtained for the same incident, the figure as verified by UNAMI is used.






 In Iraq today, there was the faux 'news' we dealt with in the previous entry.  There was also Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, overseeing a meet-up.  Alsumaria notes al-Hakim's speech which tossed around the terms "honor," "blood" and "partnership."   The theme was parternship is not a privilege given but the natural outcome of people in a country.  The secondary theme was that pluralism is represented in Iraq by its people and must be reflected in its government.

All Iraq News notes that the meeting was at al-Hakim's office and that attendees included Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq.  Ayad Allawi, Moqtada al-Sadr and KRG President Massoud Barzani did not attend but did send representatives.

 alsumaria

The image from Alsumaria illustrates this article which notes Ammar standing between al-Nujaifi and Nouri.  Ammar clasps one of hand of each men and holds them aloft.  (al-Nujaifi is the man in the royal blue suit.)   Also not at the meet-up was Iraqi President Jalal Talbani who remains in Germany currently.  All Iraq News notes the PUK (his party) is stating that he will resume his full duties upon his return to Iraq which is said to take place shortly.


Yesterday's snapshot noted Alex Thomson (Channel 4) summarizing a new poll on the British asking them about deaths in Iraq:


  • Two-thirds (66 per cent) of the public estimate that 20,000 or fewer civilians and combatants have died as a consequence of the war in Iraq since 2003.
  • One in 10 (10 per cent) think that between 100,000 and 500,000 have died and one in 20 (6 per cent) think that more than 500,000 have died.
  • According to public estimates, the mean number of deaths in Iraq since the invasion is 189,530.
  • Women in Britain are more likely to underestimate the number of deaths in Iraq since the invasion than men. Half (53 per cent) of women think 5,000 or fewer deaths have occurred since the invasion compared to one-third (35 per cent) of men.
Perhaps that last figure is the most startling – a majority of women and more than a third of men polled say fewer than 5,000 deaths have occurred.


Over a thousand deaths in Iraq in May.  AFP started last week with 500 and ended with 600.  Do you think AFP might be part of the problem?  Credit for keeping your own numbers, AFP, but why are you unable to get correct numbers?


The following community sites -- plus NPR, Antiwar.com, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and Adam Kokesh -- updated last night and today:



The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.






iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq

I Hate The War

The Associated Press is a wire service.  That means it's deals with breaking news.  Recently, the administration's attack on the AP (the secret seizure by the Justice Dept of phone records of the AP) led to a lot of blowhards who don't seem to grasp the importance of the AP.

AP isn't perfect, we've criticized it here.  But the disdain and the I'm-so-above-the-AP that so many displayed?  We noted Heidi Boghosian's remarks two Friday's ago.  But Heidi's president of the National Lawyers Guild and the NLG didn't say one damn word.  They didn't even Tweet.

Now they're trying to  pimp the Left Forum.  A gathering of tired Socialists and Communists who get together once a year to pretend they do something when all they ever do is what the Democratic Party tells them to.

They'll have their usual 'talks' which are workshops that accomplish nothing.  Ever.  But one way they could have gotten attention?  Using the AP scandal to publicize their workshops on Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks.

Please, grasp it's not just that they're losers, it's that they're stupid losers.

Forever unable to connect with 'the masses' due to their derision of them.

Ruth's been corresponding with a labor 'writer.'  This isn't David Bacon, by the way.  David's his own thing, his own drum.  He doesn't take orders from anyone and keeps his head down.  We highlight David's work as much as we can here so I don't want anyone thinking it's David.

This guy isn't a reporter.  He does more 'features' or 'columns' or whatever.

He's been in labor leadership. 

And Ruth asked me to look at an e-mail.  He's ranting about how much he hates people, how dumb people are, blah, blah, blah.

And this is a labor 'leader'?

If you're wondering, this labor 'leader' is among those pissing on AP.  At least privately.  (I've never read his published writing and have no interest -- not his labor writing, not his other bad writing.)

In a working group, a functioning collection of individuals, you wouldn't need a reason to defend the AP, you'd just do it because it's the right thing to do.  Instead the Danny Schecters of the world thought what we needed was their garbage.  Why, in 1920, the AP . . .

Who gives a ___?  Honestly, who does?

It's not as if any of these people are doing a damn thing with their own spaces -- bad columns, bad radio.  They're not doing a damn thing.  Not one of these jerks has noted what Tim Arango (New York Times) reported last September, Barack's sending US forces back into Iraq.

They can't deal with that.  It's too much for them.  They need the same easy topics that everyone else talks about.  They're a mob.  An unruly mob trying to start up lynching every month.  They're useless.


I would argue that today, in order to deflect attention from the massive deaths in Iraq, a staged event took place. 

Here's Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN), "Iraqi troops raided a suspected terror cell of five people who specialize in making chemical compounds for sarin, mustard and nerve gases, the defense ministry said Saturday."  Here's Al Jazeera:

The members of the cell were preparing to launch attacks domestically, and also had a network to smuggle the toxins to neighbouring countries, and also to Europe, Canada and the United States, Askari said.
The members of the cell were preparing to launch attacks domestically, and also had a network to smuggle the toxins to neighbouring countries, and also to Europe, Canada and the United States, Askari said.

Reuters notes:

Officials showed reporters three suspects dressed in yellow jumpsuits with their heads covered by masks. They also displayed bottles of chemicals and other lab equipment as well as remote controlled toy helicopters authorities said the men planned to use to disperse the gas.

Judith Miller lives.  Judith Miller lives in an non skeptical press filled with stenographers who willingly jot down every word, can't confirm any of it but duly repeat it and consider that to have been journalism.


With one exception.  This is from Adam Schreck's report for the Associated Press:


Reporters were shown four of the alleged suspects, who were hooded, and a table displaying beakers and jars of chemical compounds. At one point, soldiers wearing gas masks and gloves brought out containers containing alleged chemical ingredients. Neither Askari nor the reporters at the news conference were given any protective gear.

Yes, that is strange.  Iraq doesn't care for the press but would the government really risk killing reporters and what of Askari?

Seems like a bit of staged drama took place in the hopes that it would change the topic of the news cycle. 

Only one outlet bothered to raise even the most basic question.

And where was Heidi?  Has Law and Disorder Radio bothered to cover Iraq?  No.  They were scheduled to ne morning in December.  They were supposed to cover the fate of women and girls in Iraqi prisons.  But instead Michael Smith and Michael Ratner decided to stroke their sexism and riff for ten minutes on how awful they thought a film directed by a woman was.  Neither had seen the film.  The film hasn't killed anyone, the film hasn't raped anyone.  The film hasn't imprisoned anyone.  Women and girls in Iraqi prisons are said to be abused and raped.  They could have used the spotlight from a US radio program.

Danny Schechter used Iraq to make a documentary and enrich his pockets and advance his name.  But he doesn't even try to keep up with Iraq today.  He's clueless. 

For four years, they did nothing on Iraq.  Because they never cared about Iraq, they never cared about Iraqis. It was all about Bush for them.  For the last years, it's been all about Barack.  And Iraqis have suffered, they've had their votes denied, they lived with birth defects, currently they're terrorized by the Nouri's US-trained and funded SWAT force, the suffering never ends.  But none of that mattered in the last years. 

The so-called 'left' media of The Nation, et al, that huge useless circle jerk that can't report but can do a lot of columns, has wasted everyone's time with nothing but Barack-mania. 

They're not fit to be considered adults.  They should all be ashamed of themselves.


They thought they were better than the AP.  The AP crashes, the AP rises.  It's there every day trying.  These cowards who couldn't defend it?  They don't even try.

In Philipp Stolzl's Erased (screenplay by Arash Amel), Aaron Eckhart asks Olga Kurylenko, "How did you become everything we fought against?"  They should have to answer that question today, all those useless pieces of trash who couldn't defend the AP.  Of course, if they were honest, they'd just crib Kurlenko's reply in the film, "It's just business, Ben."






It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)


The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4488.



The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.








Friday, May 31, 2013

Iraq snapshot

Friday, May 31, 2013.  Chaos and violence continue, protests continue, May ends with a huge death toll, the British people struggle with how many have died in Iraq, Senator Patty Murray raises the issue of rape and assault in the military, we explore Amnesty International's new report on Iraq, and more.


Let's start in the US and start with Congress.  Senator Patty Murray sits on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  Before this year, when she became the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, she was the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  She's the subject of a profile -- Jamelle Bouie and Patrkick Caldwell's "Patty Murray In 19 Takes" for The American Prospect -- that's good for votes so there's probably not much reason to dispute the article.  But I do question the assertion that "she lacks any major legislation to her name."  That really undercuts the work she's done over the years and specifically with regards to veterans.  The Vow To Hire Heroes Act is major legislation and it took Murray's S. 951 (Hiring Heroes Act) and paired it with House Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Jeff Miller's J.R. 2433 (Veterans Opportunity to Work Act).  The American Progress writers ignoring this is really unfortunate because it goes to the central points they are trying to make in the article -- she gets things done (they repeatedly quote people calling her a "workhorse").  In this case, Murray and Miller got things done.  She's a Democrat, he's a Republican.  They had related bills.  Hers easily passed in the Senate (I believe it was 95 votes in favor and zero opposed).  His bill was popular in the House.  They worked together and, as a result, major legislation was passed.  I think that both she and Miller have much to be proud of with regards to that.  I also fault the article for failing to note the work she has done on veterans issues which includes shining a light on issues when no one else was.  If you're a veteran who pays even a little attention to Congress, you usually know her for some issue.  If we're speaking to seriously wounded veterans, for example, they generally will note Senator Murray's efforts to help veterans start families.  She's led on that issue -- veterans whose injuries mean conception will require medical assistance -- and on many others.

Murray, before she was Committee Chair on the Veterans Affairs Committee, was often the only one on the Committee who would address issues like rape and assault.  This should not be an issue that only women can raise.  One of the many reasons to be proud of former US House Rep John Hall is that he led on this issue -- and made a real difference on it -- when he was in the House.  Currently, in the Senate, Senator Richard Blumenthal is a strong voice on the issue and is one of several former prosecutors in the Senate who are strong voices on this issue -- two others are Senator Claire McCaskill and Senator Kelly Ayotte.  And Senators Murray and Kelly Ayotte have teamed up to co-sponsor the Combating Military Sexual Assault Act (Legislation, Summary, Cosponsors).  The two senators explained their bill in a column for POLITICO earlier this month:




Our bill, the Combating Military Sexual Assault Act, would attack this crisis on multiple fronts. It would empower victims with special military lawyers to help guide them through the legal process. It would prohibit sexual contact between instructors and trainees during basic training and ensure the National Guard and Reserves have improved access to sexual assault response coordinators. Our bill would also take steps to make certain sexual assault cases are referred to the general court-martial level when sexual assault charges are filed -- or to the next superior competent authority when there is a conflict of interest within the chain of command.
Our legislation has gained support from members of both parties, and we welcome additional proposals that will turn "zero tolerance" rhetoric into "zero tolerance" policy and practice.
Make no mistake, our nation continues to have the best military in the world, largely because of the character of the brave men and women who selflessly serve. The vast majority of our service members are exceptional citizens who serve with unparalleled honor, dignity and distinction. We owe them nothing less than to take meaningful action to rid our military of the scourge of sexual assault.


This morning in Seattle, Washington, Senator Murray joined with Dr. Joyce Wipf (Professor of Medicine and Director of VA Puget Sound's Women's Program), Bridget Cantrell (PTSD and MSA expert), Jackie McLean (Director of King County Department of Community and Human Services), Charles Swift (former Navy JAG, MSA advocate) and some survivors of assault  to discuss the proposed legislation.

One of the survivors is former Marine Angela Arellano.  Dana Rebik (Q13 Fox News)  reports she was assaulted while serving in Japan, 'I had gone with a group of friends to watch a football game and after the game one of the senior Marines, an NCO, raped me."  Patricia Murphy (NWPR -- link is audio and text) quotes Angela explaining what happened after she reported the rape, "I received two weeks barracks restriction, two weeks extra duty and two months reduced pay.  And the most that he got for what he did was they transferred him off our base to another base in Okinawa."  Elisa Jaffe (KOMO News) quotes Angela stating, "I was accused of smearing a good Marine's name, I was accused of being a slut, I was called a whore, and this was by investigators."  Senator Murray adds, "We have to ask why any victim would trust the system as it currently exists to protect them.  We have literally given our victims nowhere to turn and we need a cultural overhaul."  Adam Ashton (Olympian) adds:


Former Army Spc. Nichole Bowen of Seattle, 34, said she kept quiet about the persistent sexual harassment she felt during her deployment to Iraq in 2003. She said she was propositioned almost every day.
“Every day on the deployment was a rape threat,” she said.
Both she and Arellano said the effects of the unwanted sexual contact haunt them years later.

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2013/05/31/2567385/murray-survivors-urge-action-on.html#storylink=cpy


Tim Haeck (My Northwest) quotes Senator Murray explaining, "It is absolutely unconscionable to me that a fellow servicemember, the person you rely on to have your back, would commit such a terrible crime against one of their fellow servicemembers."  Senator Murray's office notes:


Senator Murray’s legislation to reduce sexual assaults within the military and provide greater resources to the victims of this crime, the Combating Military Sexual Assault Act of 2013: Legislation, Summary, Cosponsors



Follow the conversation on Twitter with @PattyMurray & #CombatMSA

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:


“The services have struggled for decades with pervasive sexual assault in the ranks. SWAN has been at the forefront of demanding institutional changes that would help improve this crisis and transform military culture. The Combating Military Sexual Assault Act introduced today by Senator Patty Murray and Senator Kelly Ayotte contains many provisions that will give the military the tools it needs to combat this widespread problem. Common-sense solutions like providing victims with their own designated lawyers, criminalizing sexual relationships between basic training instructors and students, and making sure that our National Guard troops have access to the same resources that active duty service members have are critical in making sure that survivors are supported and that offenders will be better prosecuted."
-Anu Bhagwati, Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) Executive Director 

“The 380,000 member Military Officers Association of America strongly endorses the Combating Military Sexual Assault Act of 2013. Preventing sexual assault is a duty of everyone in the chain of command.  This legislation will increase support for sexual assault victims and strengthen policies and procedures for such cases in our nation’s Armed Forces.”
-MOAA national President, VADM Norb Ryan, USN-ret. 

“The Association of the United States Navy strongly support the Combating Military Sexual Assault Act. The number of sexual assault cases is unacceptable and reflects the need for immediate action as the Department of Defense has reported.  This bill will help set in place the right oversight and stronger processes needed to protect our Sailors, men and women.”
-AUSN Executive Director, RADM Casey Coane, USN-ret.

"In light of the Pentagon's announcement that an estimated 26,000 cases of sexual assault occurred in the military in 2012 alone, the Combating Military Sexual Assault Act of 2013 is a necessary step to protect victims and hold perpetrators accountable. The effects in our culture of victim-blaming, cover-up and misogyny goes far beyond individual cases of criminal justice to be pervasive throughout the military. Survivors of military rape should have all the means they need to recover from their trauma, and the CMSA's provisions will help ensure these resources are available. NOW is glad to support Sens. Murray & Ayotte's legislation in the hope that it will improve the lives of the millions of female (and male) members of the military.”
 -Terry O’Neill, National Organization for Women President
“The special victims counsels have helped...typically it's 30 percent, as I mentioned, of our victims who won't -- continue through prosecution, even after making an unrestricted report. So far, the 265 assigned special victims counsels, two have done that. That's a great trend. We must now continue it. One of the other problems we have is that we have never had people who make restricted reports initially change from a restricted to unrestricted at a very high rate so that we can investigate and potentially prosecute those cases. About 17 percent of our reportees in the past have changed from a restricted mode to an unrestricted. Of the victims who have special victims counsel assigned, that number is tracking at 55 percent right now. And it's rising slowly as confidence grows. We have to continue that trend.”
-General Mark Welsh, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, 5/8/13




Turning to Iraq, last week, Amnesty International released their State of the World report which noted the protests in Iraq which have been ongoing since December 21st:

In December, tens of thousands of mostly Sunni Iraqis began holding peaceful daily anti-government protests against the abuse of detainees.  The unrest was triggered by the detention of several bodyguards of Finance Minister Rafi'e al-Issawi, a senior Sunni political leader, and by allegations of sexual and other abuse of women detainees.



Iraqi Spring MC offers video footage of RamadiNational Iraqi News Agency reports, "Tens of thousands of citizens flocked to sit-in squares in Falluja, Ramadi before noon today to participate in the Friday prayers named by sitters/ Our movement path convince your Militias/."  Alsumaria reports Salahuddin Province saw big turn out in Tikrit, Samarra and Baiji (and look at the crowd in the photo Alsumaria has up). The protesters called out the bombings and shootings that have claimed lives across Iraq and they vowed that they would continue demonstrating until the Iraqi people are heard by the government.  Iraqi Spring MC reported that SWAT forces surrounded Ramadi protesters (this was around 9:10 a.m. EST).  Alsumaria reports that the tribal clans then arrived with their forces.  The goal of SWAT was to arrest protest leaders such as Mohammed Abu Risha and Ali Hatem al-Suleiman.  The tribal clans then provided the leaders with a safe way out of the square and, after this took place, SWAT withdrew.

 
Nouri may have closed Baghdad to some vehicle traffic but he couldn't stop those in Baghdad from gathering.  This Iraqi Spring MC photo shows (it's al-A'mirya in western Baghdad) the prep for the sit-in.  Kitabat features a photo of the large turnout in al-A'mirya.



On this last day of May, violence continued in Iraq.  Through yesterday, Iraq Body Count counts 873 violent deaths so far this month.  ABC News Radio observes, "The international community is deeply concerned that the recent spate of violent episodes in Iraq triggered by simmering sectarian tensions could explode into a full-blown civil war."  Martin Kobler is United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's Special Representative to Iraq.  Press TV quotes him stating, "I am seriously concerned.  This can get worse, and that's why I strongly advocate that this bloodletting is stopped and the situation does not deteriorate."  Iraq was discussed today on Here and Now (NPR) by guest host Meghna Chakrabarti and the BBC's Rami Ruhayem. Excerpt.

Meghna Chakrabarti:  More than 1,000 people have been killed there in the past two months making it the deadliest period in Iraq since 2008 when the US ended it's so-called surge of troops there.  The current blood shed is so bad the UN Special Representative to Iraq sounded a dire alarm.  Martin Kobler told reporters in Baghdad that, "Systemic violence is ready to explode at any moment if all Iraqi leaders do not engage immediately to pull the country out of this mayhem."  Rami Ruhayem is with the BBC's Arabic service.  He's in Baghdad and, Rami, can you tell us, are there pockets where the violence is occurring or is it just all over the country?

Rami Ruhayem:  Well there is one exception -- it's the Kurdish north, probably the most secure area in the country.  We very rarely hear of anything happening over there.  Other than that, it's mostly all over the country.  Baghdad?  Very hard hit in many cases.  Mosul, Ramadi, Anbar, the western provinces, also, of course, many Shi'ite areas.  Probably the south is a little bit more secure than other areas of the country but the only place where we do not see bombs or assassinations is probably the Kurdish north.

Meghna Chakrabarti: Mmm.  And as you mentioned assassination attempts in Anbar Province  on the governor there -- he escaped that -- car bombs in Baghdad, roadside bombs, do you have a sense as to why this is all happening now? 

Rami Ruhayem:  Well it's not just happening right now.  It's been happening for the past ten years actually -- ever snce the United States and Britain invaded and knocked Saddam Hussein out of power.  So it's not really new.  And, obviously, every time something big happens, observers and everybody tries to link it to the latest political development -- rather inside Iraq or the neighborhood.   For example, elections or what's going on in Syria.  But this kind of violence hasn't really stopped for the last ten years.

Meghna Chakrabarti:  So, Rami, this doesn't seem like an unusual uptick in violence?  I mean, a thousand people dead in two months?  I take your point that Iraq has been ground down by violence and warfare for a decade now, but this isn't out of the ordinary?

Rami Ruhayem:  Well possibly.  The last week, not just the last month, but the last week has seen probably what you could call an uptick. But it's very difficult to measure whether violence is going up or down in Iraq because you see sudden outbursts within  a week or a month or even  several weeks or several months and you see a picture of relative security but yes we have seen quite a lot of attacks  during the past week and, of course, rumors.  Maybe this is the new thing?  We've heard rumors of sectarian killings and that would be new because we haven't seen that since 2006, 2007.

Meghna Chakrabarti:  Well tell me more about that.  There seems to be an even greater rising of Sunni - Shia tension in Iraq.  So is there any evidence that those rumors of sectarian violence -- that there's substance to those rumors?

Rami Ruhayem:  The rumor, of course, was that in Sunni areas of Baghdad there are basically checkpoints manned by irregular militias seeking revenge for attacks or car bombs in Shia areas.  So that's the rumor.  We haven't seen any evidence of that.  The government says we haven't seen any such thing and has urged people to call if they see any irregular checkpoints.  No proof yet but rumors are enough to scare people.


Diane Rehm also touched on Iraq in the second hour of The Diane Rehm Show (NPR) today with her guests Nadia Bilbassy (Middle East Broadcast Center), Nathan Guttman (Jewish Daily Forward) and Mark Landler (New York Times). 



Diane Rehm:  And lots of violence going on in Iraq this week as well, Nathan. 

Nathan Guttman: Definitely. The think the numbers are -- we've seen more than a 1,000 people killed in violent attacks since April, which is critical to the numbers we've seen during the Iraq war. And the concern is that the sectarian violence is getting out of hand. To a certain extent, some people think it's a spillover of the Syrian situation where Sunnis and Shiites are on opposing sides. And this is reigniting the old sectarian tension in Iraq. 



Mark Landler: Yeah, there's sort of both a domestic element in Iraq and potentially a regional element. The domestic element is that Sunnis -- minority Sunnis feel that the Shiite government is persecuting some of their leading political figures. And there's a lot of anger among Sunnis. That's a long-running chronic issue in Iraq.  The regional element, which troubles a lot of people -- Ryan Crocker's talked about this, the former U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad -- is that you now see an alliance forming between al-Qaida and Iraq. And Jabhat al-Nusra, which is the -- you know, the more extremist group in Syria. And so you could see the tensions that are inflamed in Syria spilling over and in a sense making this domestic -- this preexisting domestic issue far more explosive. And that troubles a lot of people. 

Diane Rehm:  Is Iraq heading back toward civil war? 

Mark Landler:  Well, let me quote Ryan Crocker because he knows more about it then I do. He doesn't think so. He thinks this is manageable, as bad as it is. And he doesn't think it has to go in that direction. But, you know, it raises an interesting question for Americans. The criticism of President Obama was that he got out of Iraq leaving very little, if any residual force behind and sort of left the Iraqis to their own devices.   So the question now is, what is our role? The Iraqis desperately want trade and economic ties with the United States. Can we play any sort of a constructive role in heading off that worse-case scenario? 

Nadia Bilbassy:  I think the UN spokesperson in Baghdad won already that the country is heading towards a broader conflict if the political leadership do not act. The problem for -- as Mark said, basically the power sharing agreement that happened after the election never really fully implemented. There is always a suspicion between the Sunnis who dominated the country political life during Saddam Hussein and the majority Shiites.



Today's violence?    Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports a Baghdad bombing has claimed 4 lives and left eleven people injured while a Falluja armed attack left 3 police officers dead and two more injured. National Iraqi News Agency reports a Muqdadiya bombing claimed 2 lives and left six more people injured, a Sharqat bombing claimed the life of 1 Sahwa and left another and one police officer injured, and a Mosul roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer and left another injured.  The Muqdadiya bombing targeted a mosque.  Alsumaria notes that six other mosques in Diyala Province have been targeted with bombings over the last two months.


Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) offers this look at the month's violence:

Antiwar.com’s own daily round-ups from Margaret Griffis tracked Iraq violence counts, and came up with 1,077 dead in the month of May, and 2,258 others wounded. Such a level has not been seen since the last sectarian civil war in Iraq in early 2008.
Perhaps most troubling is that the toll wasn’t a straight line throughout the month, and that much of the violence came in the second half of May. 




Over a thousand in May?  That's certainly a surprise to some people.  Alex Thomson (Channel 4) reports on new poll of the British that asked them how many people died in Iraq.  Here's a summary of the polling results:

  • Two-thirds (66 per cent) of the public estimate that 20,000 or fewer civilians and combatants have died as a consequence of the war in Iraq since 2003.
  • One in 10 (10 per cent) think that between 100,000 and 500,000 have died and one in 20 (6 per cent) think that more than 500,000 have died.
  • According to public estimates, the mean number of deaths in Iraq since the invasion is 189,530.
  • Women in Britain are more likely to underestimate the number of deaths in Iraq since the invasion than men. Half (53 per cent) of women think 5,000 or fewer deaths have occurred since the invasion compared to one-third (35 per cent) of men.
Perhaps that last figure is the most startling – a majority of women and more than a third of men polled say fewer than 5,000 deaths have occurred.


Thursday, May 23rd, I dictated (the Iraq snapshots are dictated), "Amnesty International's State of the World report was released today.  We will cover it tomorrow."  We did not cover it the next day.  A number of things, including the Associated Press' Matthew Lee's strong questioning of the State Dept, grabbed my focus.  My apologies.  In the Iraq section, the opening includes this -- remember this is the description of a government the US props up, funds and arms:

Thousands of people were detained; hundreds were sentenced to death or prison terms, many after unfair trials and on terrorism-related charges.  Torture and other ill-treatment of detainees remained rife and were committed with impunity.  At least 129 people were executed, including at least three women.  Armed groups opposed to the government continued to commit gross human rights abuses, killing hundreds of civilians in suicide and other bomb attacks.  Harassment, intimidation and violence against journalists and media workers continued to be reported.


After I missed noting the report last Friday, a number of e-mails speculated I was ignoring the report because of current problems with Amnesty.  When possible, the last four years, we've noted Amnesty UK because a friend with the UK chapter is someone I speak to regularly so it's very easy, in the course of our conversation, for me to get a heads up about Iraq.  But we haven't dropped Amnesty International's US chapter.  I understand why people would wonder and I heard the radio report this week about the woman in charge of Amnesty US -- thing is, she stepped down from that post back in January.  When you make a dumb mistake like that, SF, you make it very easy for every thing else you say to be dismissed.  Once upon a time, we could pick and choose with regards to Iraq.  That's not possible anymore.  We'll even note Commentary and other conservative sources -- with links -- these days.  Yes, it's usually to disagree with them but once upon a time, we didn't note them at all.

Amnesty International has never been the ideal that so many wished it had become.  The outrage being expressed currently is, to me, laughable.  Francis A. Boyle can and has written and talked about Amnesty.  His criticism has been serious criticism.  A lot of what's going on right now isn't serious.  It's conjecture and it's Hillary hatred (the woman who stepped down in January had worked under Hillary Clinton).  I don't mind conjecture.  I do mind it when conjecture is presented as established fact.  A number of voices on the radical left give the radical left a bad name by repeatedly insisting conjecture is fact.  They are largely attacking Amnesty because of Bradley Manning.  I consider Bradley a political prisoner.  Amnesty currently has not made that call.  Is that fair?  Actually, by Amnesty standards, it is.  By the standards in the 70s, they're being true to their guidelines.  Amnesty has not spoken to Bradley and cannot speak to him.  His attorney is an ego maniac -- yeah, I said it -- who doesn't know what he's doing and that has impacted the coverage.  (He refused to give interviews -- I was at his little presentation when he bragged about that.  What an idiot.  When your client can't speak to the world, when he's gagged, you do every interview you can to humanize him.)  How is Amnesty supposed to determine he's a political prisoner?

If they declare him one and he reveals something different in his testimony at the court-martial, they'll look too eager to label people "political prisoners."  Bradley is one person.  Amnesty's ability to shine a light on those in need is a great power -- it's why some of his supporters are attacking Amnesty for not labeling him a political prisoner.  But that ability is lessened when a non-political prisoner is wrongly labeled by them.

They've been unable to interview him, his attorney is a joke (civilian attorney), what's been presented to the court as the foundation of an argument created an uproar among his supporters but could have laid the groundwork for declaring him a political prisoner (but were Amnesty to now do so on the basis of gender issues, they would be attacked for that by some of Bradley's supporters).  He gave a statement in court.  That's all anyone has to go by.

And it appears he's going to plead guilty in some form or manner to partial or full charges.

If you think back to 'reporter' Sarah Olson, it's actually similar.  We supported Lt Ehren Watada (the first officer to publicly refuse to serve in the Iraq War).  Olson was among the journalists who interviewed him.  The military wanted to call her as a witness for the prosecution.

And Sarah distracted from the story from that moment on.  And all of her supporters were as loud as they were stupid.  We didn't support Sarah.  We couldn't.  I noted repeatedly that if she would say, "I'm not going to testify," we could support her.  We supported Judith Miller's right to refuse to answer questions about her sources.  If Sarah had refused, I would have led every snapshot addressing the issues involved.  But regardless of the outlet and the interviewer, she refused to say what she was going to do.  And she was all over the place getting publicity.  In the meantime, Ehren had stated what he was going to do.  And his story was lost as Sarah sucked up all the media oxygen.  (And then, in the end, when Ehren saved her cry baby ass, she 'rewarded' him by giving an interview shortly after where she trashed him.)

I can't defend her if she can't discuss her "strategy" (her term).  By the same token, Amnesty can't call Bradley a political prisoner.  Is he going to plead guilty in part or in full?  No one knows (but it looks that way).  Bradley needs to do what he thinks is right and we've stated that all along.  That mean if he gets offered a deal that works, he should grab it if he can live with it.  But he could issue statements through his attorney that would assist Amnesty in labeling him a political prisoner.  That's not happened.  (Monday on NPR's Here and Now, Slate's Emily Bazelon will be a guest to discuss the issues involved in Bradley's court-martial.)


I wish Amnesty would declare Lynne Stewart a political prisoner and I've lobbied for that to friends with Amnesty.  We don't always get what we want.  I haven't attacked them for not labeling Lynne a political prisoner (and I label Lynne one hear whenever I write about her).  Amnesty International is an organization, it's not pizza delivery -- you can't just place an order and expect to get what you want.

Does Amnesty have value?  Yes.  And if you doubt it, let's drop back to yesterday's snapshot:

The US State Dept today issued "Country Reports on Terrorism 2012."  The annual report focuses on terrorism or 'terrorism' around the world.  The Iraq section includes these claims:


We then included some of the claims and then I noted:


We're not going to spend a lot of time on the above because, first of all, it's almost June 2013.  Iraq's far too fluid for a look at 2012 violence to offer a great deal of insight.  Second of all, it's a dishonest report.  When you're praising the ability to 'secure' the Arab League Summit and you're not noting that Baghdad shut down the week before the Summit? You're not being honest.  If you can shut down Baghdad for the week before and the week of a Summit, it's not a surprise that there's no violence in Baghdad.  Was it worth it to the Iraqi people?  Was it worth it to them for all that money for security (and painting and prettying Baghdad) and for the inconvenience of the city shutting down for two weeks?  Probably not.  But that's not even considered in the report which fails to note any of the details of the Arab League Summit -- which was a huge failure and avoided by the leaders of all the major countries in the region.  So we'll note the ridiculous claims but we're not going to focus on them.  And the 'international' meet-ups in Baghdad continue to be a laugh.

If Amnesty is nothing but a cheap megaphone of the State Dept, then surely this report that they released Thursday of last week will track with the State Dept report released this week, right?

So let's see what it says about the Arab League Summit:

In March, the League of Arab States held its summit meeting in Baghdad for the first time since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.  Prior to the meeting, the security forces carried out mass arrests in Baghdad, apparently as a "preventive" measure.


I'd forgotten about that, the mass arrests.  I don't just mean that it slipped my mind when I was dictating the snapshot yesterday, I mean, until I read the Amnesty report today, I had forgotten about it.  Amnesty didn't forget and they didn't was on the way the State Dept did.  Know what else they noted:

Young people, particularly those seen locally as nonconformists, were subject to a campaign of intimidation after flyers and signs targeting them appeared in the Baghdad neighbourhoods of Sadr City, al-Hababiya and Hay al-'Amal in February. Those targeted included youths suspected of homosexual conduct and those seen as pursuing an alternative lifestyle because of their distinctive hairstyles, clothes or musical tastes.


You know who didn't note that in their recent report?  The US State Dept.

There's no better example of terrorism than groups who are targeted because of who they are.  That's the Jews during WWII, it's the Armenians during the Turkish genocide, it's gays and lesbians (or people suspected of being gay or lesbian) in oppressive societies.

"B-b-b-but, that's your definition of terrorism and the State Dept was focusing on the Iraqi government."  No.  Read through all of what they wrote and the lists of violence they compiled.  It's 'terrorism' when they don't have to take a stand.  Also grasp that the targeting was done by the government. The Ministry of the Interior, specifically.  (That's the police ministry, by the way.)  They had put out a paper about the Emo, demonizing them.   March 5th, we noted:


In the meantime, the attack on Emo youth or suspected Emo youth in Iraq continues. Wael Grace (Al Mada) reports that those with longish hair, suspected of being Emo are being threatened and killed. Grace notes that there are lists of Emo youth (or accused of being Emo youth) publicly displayed in Sadr City, Shula and Kadhimiya with the promise that, one by one, each will be killed. An unnamed official in the Sadr City municipal court states that people have, on their cell phones, the names of young people to "liquidate" because they are Emo. This is beyond insanity and what happens when the US government turns a country over to thugs. And where is Nouri calling this out? Oh, that's right, he's not a leader. Well where's the United Nations? A segment of Iraqi youth is being targeted for "liquidation." That's pretty disturbing. Note the silence.



Four days later, March 9, 2012, Dan Littauer (Gay Star News) reported:


The report from the local LGBTQ activist indicates that Jaish Al-Mahdi (Mahdi Army) and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous) are at least partially responsible for the murders.
An anonymous official in Sadr city’s municipal council affirmed that some people are recruited by extremist armed militias who carry lists stored in their phones with the names of emo youths and LGBTQ people to be murdered.
It has also emerged that some officials are actually behind the killings.
Colonel Mushtaq Taleb Muhammadawi, director of the community police of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, stated on 6 February that they had observed the so-called Satanists and emos. He added that the police have an official approval to eliminate emo people because of their ‘notorious effects’ on the community.
The colonel declared to Iraq News Network that: ‘Research and reports on the emo phenomenon has been conducted and shared with the Ministry of Interior which officially approves the measures to eliminate them.
‘The Ministries of Education and Interior are taking this issue seriously and we have an action plan to “eradicate them”. I will be leading the project myself and we have the necessary permits to access all schools in the capital,’ added the colonel, thus possibly indicating at the very least Iraqi state complicity with the massacres.

The Ministry of the Interior tried to deny involvement but got caught in their lie by Al Mada which printed the handout the ministry passed out during school presentations calling for death of the Emo. Scott Lang's wrote a column for the Guardian that addressed this:


Iraq's brutal interior ministry issued two statements in February. The first announced official approval to "eliminate" the "satanists". The second, on 29 February, proclaimed a "campaign" to start with a crackdown on stores selling emo fashion. The loaded language suggests, at a minimum, that the ministry incited violence. It's highly possible that some police, in a force riddled with militia members, participated in the murders.



That's not terrorism?  If you don't think that's terrorism, I think there's something seriously wrong with you.  Children were targeted for death and other children were encouraged to kill them -- encouraged by the Ministry of the Interior.  Shame on the US State Dept for turning a blind eye to it in their supposed 2012 report.  They should be ashamed of themselves.  Amnesty's far from perfect and I agree with Francis A. Boyle's criticism of Amnesty (which is much harsher than "they didn't label my hero a political prisoner!).  But to call them just a mouth for western government's foreign policy is selling them short. 















the guardian
scott long


 


 

Protests and violence continue in Iraq

ramadi

That's Ramadi.  It's Friday in Iraq.  Like every Friday since December 21st, that means ongoing protests. The screen snap is from Iraqi Spring MC's footage of RamadiNational Iraqi News Agency reports, "Tens of thousands of citizens flocked to sit-in squares in Falluja, Ramadi before noon today to participate in the Friday prayers named by sitters/ Our movement path convince your Militias/."  Alsumaria reports Salahuddin Province saw big turn out in Tikrit, Samarra and Baiji (and look at the crowd in the photo Alsumaria has up). The protesters called out the bombings and shootings that have claimed lives across Iraq and they vowed that they would continue demonstrating until the Iraqi people are heard by the government.  Iraqi Spring MC reports that SWAT forces just surrounded Ramadi protesters in the last 20 minutes.


Nouri may have closed Baghdad to some vehicle traffic but he can't stop those in Baghdad from gathering as the Iraqi Spring MC photo below demonstrates (it's al-A'mirya in western Baghdad).

baghdad

Kitabat notes that the vehicle ban in Baghdad doesn't have a set end date yet.  It also features a photo of the large turnout in al-A'mirya.






 It's the last day of May.  Through yesterday, Iraq Body Count counts 873 violent deaths so far this month.  ABC News Radio observes, "The international community is deeply concerned that the recent spate of violent episodes in Iraq triggered by simmering sectarian tensions could explode into a full-blown civil war."  Martin Kobler is United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's Special Representative to Iraq.  Press TV quotes him stating, "I am seriously concerned.  This can get worse, and that's why I strongly advocate that this bloodletting is stopped and the situation does not deteriorate." Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports a Baghdad bombing has claimed 4 lives and left eleven people injured while a Falluja armed attack left 3 police officers dead and two more injured.


The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.




 



 


iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq

Veterans denied books because VA didn't pay bills and other issues

Jamie Satterfield (Knox News) reports that the families of Capt Marcus Ray Alford and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Billie Jean Grinder are asking for justice.  The two were killed in February 2010 when their helicopter crashed in Mosul.  Satterfield explains, "The families blame the crash on the failure of a system known as the Full Authority Digital Electronic Control, or FADEC.  They are seeking $80 million in damages from Bell and its parts suppliers."  Bell Helicopter and those who made parts used on the helicopter -- included FADEC -- are saying that it can't be determined what part could have been defective.  So they don't want to share the costs in damages, they just want to stick together and argue that none of them can be sued.

Mark Emmons (San Jose Mercury News) reports there will be a veterans job fair today in San Jose from "9:15 am to 3 p.m." and the biggest problem ended up being that more employers than they could handle wanted to particiapte.  Among those who will be participating today are Bank of America, Safeway, Facebook, Wells Fargo, Wal-mart, Genetch and Brocade. Stan Diel (Birmingham News) reports on yesterday's job fair in Birmingham where over 100 veterans showed up and spoke with people from forty businesses and government agencies. 

The Alabama job fair was part of the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Hiring Our Heroes program which will be offering job fairs around the country throughout the summer.  Here's a list of some of the upcoming job fairs:

May 31, 2013Guayanilla, Puerto Rico
June 4, 2013Philadelphia, PA
June 4, 2013Lake City, FL
June 5, 2013Buffalo, NY
June 6, 2013Orlando, FL
June 11, 2013Washington, DC
June 12, 2013Omaha, NE
June 12, 2013Albany, GA
June 13, 2013Orland Park, IL
June 14, 2013Ashland, KY
June 14, 2013Meadville, PA
June 17, 2013Atlanta, GA
June 18, 2013Green Bay, WI
June 19, 2013Rapid City, SD
June 20, 2013Memphis, TN
June 21, 2013Cleveland, OH
June 22, 2013Greater New York City
June 25, 2013Savannah, GA
June 26, 2013Tulsa, OK
June 27, 2013Collinsville, IL
June 27, 2013Lansing, MI
June 27, 2013Boston, MA


That's just through the end of June.  There are more job fairs throughout the summer, click here to access the full list.  And veterans struggling in the difficult economy may soon be joined by service members who are struggling.  Paul D. Shinkman (US News and World Reports) reports that

The benefits that lured so many troops into military service may not remain intact after sequestration and other budget cuts, the Pentagon chief said Thursday.
The military is considering cutting retirement benefits and charging more for healthcare and prescription drugs, said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel while speaking to troops at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. Hagel is on the island as a part of his tour of the Pacific region, and solicited questions from the audience of troops based there.


These were supposed to be off limits but that was when the Secretary of Defense was Leon Panetta.  Meanwhile Secretary of  Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki needs to appear before Congress to explain the latest 'hiccup' in his administration's 'coverage' of veterans educational benefits.  Tavia D. Green (Clarksville Leaf Chronicle) reports, "The Austin Peay State University Bookstore had to deny approximately 64 veteran students purchase of books and supplies, because the Veteran’s Affairs Office failed to pay thousands of dollars in debt through the Chapter 31 program."  Denied books because the VA can't get their act together enough to pay the bills.



The following community sites -- plus The Diane Rehm Show, Adam Kokesh, Ms. magazine and Antiwar.com -- updated last night and this morning:




Senator Patty Murray serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and is the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee.  She has an important event in Seattle, Washington this morning:



FOR PLANNING PURPOSES
Thursday, May 30th, 2013
CONTACT: Murray Press Office
 (202) 224-2834

TOMORROW: MILITARY SEXUAL ASSAULT: SEATTLE: Murray to Meet with Survivors of Military Sexual Assault, Discuss Her Bill to Protect Victims

Of the estimated 26,000 cases of military sexual assault in 2012, only 3,374 were reported
Murray bill would provide greater victim resources while improving current prevention programs


(Washington, D.C.) – Tomorrow, Friday, May 31st, 2013, U.S. Senator Patty Murray will meet with survivors of military sexual assault and advocates in Seattle.  Last month, Senator Murray introduced the Combating Military Sexual Assault (MSA) Act of 2013, which would reduce sexual assaults within the military and address a number of gaps within current law and policy. One provision in Senator Murray’s bill would provide victims with a dedicated counsel to guide them through the difficult process of reporting sexual assault. According to DoD estimates, there were about 19,000 cases of military sexual assault in 2010 alone. Of these, 3,192 were reported, leaving thousands of victims to face the aftermath alone as their assailants escape justice. That number rose to 26,000 cases in 2012 with less than 3,400 of those cases being reported. Murray will use the stories she hears Friday to continue fighting for victims of military sexual assault in Washington, D.C.  More about Senator Murray’s bill HERE.

 




WHO:          U.S. Senator Patty Murray
         Survivors of military sexual assault
         Charles Swift, former Navy JAG, MSA advocate
         Dr. Joyce Wipf, Professor of Medicine and Director of VA Puget Sound’s Women's Program
         Bridget Cantrell, PTSD & MSA expert
         Jackie McLean, Director, King County Department of Community & Human Services
WHAT:        Senator Murray will meet with survivors of military sexual assault, discuss ways her legislation will protect victims
WHEN:        TOMORROW: Friday, May 31st, 2013
          10:00 AM PT
WHERE:    UW Medicine at South Lake Union
         850 Republican Street, Conference Room C359
                     Seattle, WA 98109
                     Map
###
Kathryn Robertson
Deputy Press Secretary 
Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray
154 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510
202-224-2834
 
 
 
RSS Feed for Senator Murray's office
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.






iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq