Let's start with Barack Obama who promised voters in 2008 that he would remove US troops from Iraq but left the White House, after two terms as president, with US troops still in Iraq and the Iraq War continuing.
The Covid pandemic continues to terrorize the world. FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE notes, "The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Saturday 1,997 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the nationwide infections to 472,630." Other threats in Iraq? The militias easily spring to mind since that's what the western press is most likely to cover. But there remains the continued threats that women face. Viola Gienger (JUST SECURITY) notes:
Iraq’s 17-plus years of conflict since the U.S. invasion of 2003 has mostly obscured another fight behind the scenes: the struggle of Iraqi women for equality, protection from violence, and influence in government decision-making. Among the women leading that fight is Suzan Aref, a longtime women’s rights activist in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region. In 2011, she discovered “a very strong tool” to support the cause: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security.
Adopted on this day in 2000, the resolution set out a mandate for U.N. member States to protect women and girls in conflict zones and to involve women in the full range of decision-making on issues of peace and security. In the two decades since, the measure has spun off 10 other related Security Council resolutions and 86 national action plans (NAPs) at country levels, each intended to implement the provisions of those Security Council resolutions in practical terms.
In April 2014, Iraq became the first country across the Middle East and North Africa to adopt such a plan, in large part because of civil society advocacy led by Aref, the founder and director of the Women Empowerment Organization. Born in Erbil as the daughter of an Iraqi government official, her family moved between postings around the country, including in Baghdad and Amara in the south. She learned to speak Arabic fluently and to move comfortably across Iraq’s multiple cultures, a skill that would prove useful in negotiating the tensions between the post-Saddam governments in Baghdad and Erbil to secure support for the NAP.
The promise of the five-year plan would be short-lived, however. By the spring of 2014, the tremors of ISIS were rumbling in Iraq, after the extremist group’s capture of Falluja in December 2013. In June, ISIS swept across the country’s north, capturing fully a third of Iraq’s territory and its second-largest city, Mosul. It took years, until December 2017, before the government of Iraq regained control over all its territory.
Still, Aref and her civil society colleagues persisted even during those years, winning small victories. The effort continues to be herculean amid Iraq’s internal turmoil — changes of government and tensions between the central government in Baghdad and Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil — and the comings and goings of U.S.-led coalition troops and the ebbs and flows of development assistance. Now, the difficulties are compounded by the pandemic.
“Women in Iraq have repeatedly been the victims of conflict,” the International Committee of the Red Cross notes. “They suffer displacement, rape, injury and death. At the same time, Iraqi women show remarkable resilience and courage in the face of adversity.”
That is the opening to Gienger's interview with Aref.
In other news, MENAFN reports, "The Iraqi military has released, on Saturday, October 31st, that during a training mission in Salahudin, there was a plane crash that killed two of its team members." In addition, (REUTERS) note, "At least three people were killed and more than 50 injured in a gas pipeline explosion in southern Iraq, police sources said on Saturday."
Meanwhile, Dilan S. Hussein (RUDAW) reports:
Iraq on Saturday signed 15 memorandums of understanding and agreements with Egypt in a bid to strengthen Iraq’s healthcare, economic and infrastructure sectors, among others.
The two countries signed 15 agreements, memorandums of understanding and cooperation protocols in order to strengthen relations between Baghdad and Cairo in a Baghdad meeting attended by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly.
Here's the Iraqi government's Tweet on the issue:
EGYPT TODAY offers this summary of the agreement:
One thing the two did not agree on? The Muslim Brotherhood. Last week, Egypt asked that the organization be classified as a terrorist group in Iraq. The Iraqi government declined to do so.
Kat's "Kat's Korner: The art of Joni Mitchell" went up earlier today. On what we note here, I'm happy to note various clips -- and they don't have to be political. But I do draw the line on some. For example? I don't care what Mark Geragos has to say about a damn thing. I loathe that idiot. He's trash and he's dishonest and, most of all, he's bad at his job. That's all based on his malpractice when he represented Winona Ryder. Misrepresented her. He made one mistake after another. Huge mistakes. That included allowing the misogynistic Peter Guber to serve on Winona's jury. The case was lost the minute Guber was allowed on the jury. I will never, ever highlight anything that idiot says. I think his clients should all sue him and I think he's a tired and dirty joke.
