Monday, October 10, 2022. A year later, the UN suddenly frets over Iraq -- and let's get honest about ourselves with regards to our lack of support for Will Lehman and the film BROS.
As U.S. officials roundly condemn the ongoing series of Iranian strikes
against Kurdish rivals in northern Iraq, Washington has also expressed
concern over a separate Turkish campaign against Kurdish forces in the
same region.
[. . .]
"We have repeatedly expressed our concerns regarding Turkish operations in Iraq," a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek,
"urging that the government of Turkey coordinate more closely with
Iraqi authorities on cross-border military operations against terrorist
targets."
Concerns. Concerns? Yeah.
According to RUDAW, the government of Turkey is admitting to the murder:
The Turkish ambassador to Iraq said Sunday that members of the Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK) and associates of the group are Ankara’s targets
in response to the recent assassination of a women’s rights activist in
the city of Sulaimani.
Rights activist Nagihan Akarsel, who had ideological ties to the PKK, was shot multiple times and killed
in Sulaimani on Tuesday by assailants in the city’s Bakhtiyari
neighborhood. Her ties to the Kurdish armed group quickly led droves of
people on social media to blame Turkey for her death.
“Those who are affiliated with the PKK are indeed our targets,” Turkish
Ambassador Ali Riza Guney said in response to a question from Rudaw’s
Payam Sarbast during a press conference in the Kurdistan Region’s
capital of Erbil.
It can't be used to promote war (the way a death in Iran has been), so Nagihan's murder doesn't get US press attention. NEWS.AM notes:
Hakan Fidan, head
of Turkey's National Intelligence Agency (MİT), met with the Iraqi
Turkmen Front earlier this week, raising questions from Iraqi opposition
politicians over his visit in mid-September, Ahval writes.
Fidan's visit to the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan
Region, Erbil, on Oct. 4 coincided with the killing of Kurdish figure
Nagihan Akarsel in a shootout in Sulaymaniyah province, the Kurdish
website Medya News reported.
The Iraqi coordination structure, an opposition body made up
of Shiite parties, has called for an investigation, and a member of the
structure, Turki Sedan, said the visit was organized without notifying
Iraq's central government.
Meanwhile, today is October 10th. A year ago, Iraq went to the polls and voted. Still no prime minister, still no president, still no cabinet of ministers.
Speaking to the United Nations last week, the US Deputy Rep to the UN,
Ambassador Richard Mills, noted that climate change was one of the
challenges Iraq is facing, "Complicated challenges face the next
government -- including passing a
budget, developing oil and gas legislation that is acceptable to the
Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government, improving the
provision of electricity, combatting climate change, promoting private
sector development and job growth, and increasing women’s participation
in the workforce."
The next government? A year after the elections and they're still hoping it pull together to form a government.
If they paid attention, they wouldn't be surprised by how this all went down. Dropping back to the October 11, 2022 snapshot (the day after the election):
Starting with this from the BBC.
He opens with The October Revolution -- the protesters who are part of a movement that began in the fall of 2019.
Murad
Shishani: They presented, sort of, a package of demands, as they told
me. This package included an early election but the government, the
authorities, they just only this one condition. They asked for fighting
corruption. They asked for disarming the militias. They asked for
political reform, more engagement for youth. Therefore, as the
government, they didn't meet all these demands from the protesters, then
the boycotting campaigns have been becoming more stronger, they are
today in Iraq. And this is what we've noticed in a city like Mosul
which has been liberated four years ago from the so-called Islamic
State. But that devastation is still there so people were reluctant to
go to the polling stations today.
John Davidson and Ahmed Rasheed (REUTERS) report,
"Iraq's parliamentary election on Sunday drew one of the smallest
turnouts for years, electoral officials indicated, with the low
participation suggesting dwindling trust in political leaders and the
democratic system brought in by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion." The
political leadership has been corrupt. With the billions in oil
revenues that the government of Iraq takes in yearly, there is no reason
why poverty should exist in Iraq. But not only does it exist, it is
actually increasing. The corrupt leaders have taken public monies.
That money, for example, has bought multiple sports cars and homes in
Europe for Ahmed al-Maliki, son of forever thug and former prime
minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki whose (mis)leadership and paranoia
helped create ISIS and led to its seizure of Mosul and other areas in
2014. The corruption has continued and worsened. Long cited by
Transparency International as one of the five most corrupt nations in
the world, Iraq's governmental corruption is now so bad that President
Saleh, addressing the United Nations last month, called it one of the
greatest security threats to the country.
ALJAZEERA notes,
"Two electoral commission officials said the nationwide turnout of
eligible voters was 19 percent by midday. Turnout was 44.5 percent in
the last election in 2018." Since 2018? The October Revolution. That
movement of mainly Shi'ite protesters began in 2019 protesting the
corruption, the lack of jobs, the lack of dependable public services
(such as electricity and potable water). Louisa Loveluck and Mustafa Salim (WASHINGTON POST) observe:
In effect, Sunday’s election was a referendum on that system, and most Iraqis chose to stay home.
Despite
a months-long campaign and millions of dollars spent by foreign
governments including the United States to boost trust in the voting
process, Iraq’s electoral commission said turnout by midday was only
around 20 percent and that it had risen only slowly through the
afternoon.
Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi came to office last year vowing early
elections after mass protests ousted his predecessor, Adel Abdul Mahdi,
in 2019. On Sunday, voters trickled to the polls through some of the
streets where security forces had fired live ammunition into crowds and
killed 600 during the months-long protests.
Realities were briefly noted by the bulk of the press in the immediate aftermath of the election and then they got to whoring. It was never a legitimate election but goodness how they whored cult leader Moqtada al-Sadr and pretended that he had some sort of mandate -- despite the very low turnout, despite the fact that his coalition achieved less than they had the previous election cycle.
They whored and whored some more.
The other parties and coalitions didn't have to go along with Moqtada because there were press claims but what trumped those claims was reality and Moqtada never had reality on his side. Were it not for the press whoring -- so-called reporting that read like slavish devotion to Moqtada -- I'm talking western press here -- maybe he would have realized sooner that not only was not a kingmaker (a term the press couldn't stop pimping) but that he wasn't even competent.
As the political stalemate continued and Moqtada's frustrations mounted, he began throwing tantrums.
One of the most infamous? If they didn't do what he wanted, he was pulling every member of his coalition out of Parliament! They would resign in mass!
The response was a yawn.
Idiot Moqtada then forced the resignations.
All that happened were the second place in those elections then got sworn in.
Moqtada had a bigger fit then -- he'd shut himself out of the process.
And efforts to get the courts to overturn this didn't work. Nor did his efforts to get the courts to dissolve the Parliament. He never should have believed his press. Through non-stop use of the term, they'd convinced him he was a "kingmaker."
He was -- and remains -- a pathetic nothing and he's been humored more than long enough. A brutal thug responsible for the deaths of many -- Iraqis and Americans -- got paid off by the US State Dept in August of 2021 to drop his opposition to the elections and urge his cult to show up and vote.
The whole thing's sickening -- including the US government treating him as someone worthy of US tax dollars.
It's a year later and there's no government.
AFP notes today, "A year since Iraq's last elections, it remains without not only a new
government but a budget too, obstructing much-needed reforms and
infrastructure projects in the oil-rich but war-ravaged country." Daniel Stewart (360 NEWS) runs with:
The United Nations warned Monday that "Iraq is running out of time" in
the face of the serious political crisis rocking the country and called
on all parties to "dialogue without preconditions" to form a government,
one year after the holding of early parliamentary elections.
The United Nations
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has recalled that "one year ago,
Iraqis went to the polls in the hope of charting a new future for the
country" and stressed that the elections were called "under public
pressure through nationwide protests in which hundreds of young Iraqis
lost their lives and thousands were injured".
"Unfortunately,
this reaffirmation of democracy was followed by a policy of division,
generating bitter disillusionment among the population," the mission
said in its communiqué, in which it stressed that "this long crisis is
generating more instability".
"The
latest developments are proof. Moreover, it threatens the livelihood of
the people," it has warned, before stressing that "the approval of the
Budgets for 2023 are imperative" and regretting that the "tireless
efforts" to move towards stability have not borne fruit.
To which the world should respond, "Oh, shut up." It's been a year. Now you're worried? You've been a pathetic and useless presence in Iraq. And that's long before we factor in all the stroking of Moqtada, all the humoring of him.
You've disgraced yourselves. No one needs you to now hop on your pony, ride in circles and scream crisis.
The elections were a joke a year ago. Instead of admitting that reality, you pimped Moqtada as an answer. The only thing Moqtada is ever an answer to is the riddle: What won't flush down the toilet?
Various outlets are quoting UNAMI issuing this nonsense "The protracted crisis is breeding further instability, and recent
events are a testament to that." And noting UNAMI now declares Iraq to be "running out
of time."
Now. A year later.
The UN, like the police, always comes late if they come at all?
A year later and now the United Nations wants to play the hysteric.
It abandoned the people for 12 months now. Let's not pretend that they in anyway helped. They abandoned the people with their hopes that a government -- a bad one -- would be formed and they could return to ignoring the abuses that the Iraqi people live with daily. UNAMI has not helped the Iraqi people. It exist solely to provide cover for whatever monstrosity gets cobbled together and then they issue "We call on . . ." statements. They've done for the Iraqi people and today they stand exposed as the do-nothing that they are.
Now I've got a problem. Just found something in the spam folder. I don't mind putting it in here but it actually goes to a larger issue.
Brothers and sisters,
On October 17, in less than two weeks, ballots will begin going out for the first-ever direct elections of the leadership of the United Auto Workers. If you are a UAW member, I urge you to make sure your local has your current mailing address by tomorrow (Friday, October 7) so that you can receive your ballot as early as possible.
This is a historic opportunity for rank-and-file workers to express our opposition to the entire bureaucracy, which has sold us out for decades, rammed through contracts we opposed and defied the will of the membership.
For this reason, the UAW apparatus has done everything it can to keep workers in the dark about the election and the positions of the candidates. I have spoken to many workers who do not even know that an election is being held.
A week and a half ago, I participated in a debate among the candidates for UAW president. But the UAW apparatus has done virtually nothing to inform workers that there was a debate, and only about 1.5 percent of UAW workers and retirees have watched the video. The UAW doesn’t want anyone to watch the debate because it so thoroughly exposed incumbent President Ray Curry and Co. as pro-corporate enemies of the working class, who have as little connection to rank-and-file workers as the man on the moon.
My campaign is about establishing a new base of power through the building of rank-and-file committees of workers in every plant and workplace to fight for what we need, not what the UAW bureaucracy and the companies say is acceptable. We must assert our will and our interests. We must unite all workers in the UAW with workers throughout the country and around the world who are confronting the same issues and face the same enemies.
The election itself is a critical stage in this battle. The bureaucrats in the UAW want as little participation in this election by rank-and-file workers as possible. They opposed the referendum for direct elections because they know that the apparatus is universally despised by the rank and file.
The situation will not change unless we act. As workers, we have tremendous strength, but nobody is going to fight for what we need but ourselves. This is the purpose of my campaign, but I am not a miracle worker. You must make the decision to take up this fight.
This is why I am calling on you to form a rank-and-file election committee in your workplace.
These committees will accomplish the following:
Distribute information throughout your workplace on how to participate in the election, including what workers must do to ensure that they get a ballot and when they have to send it in. You can view and share frequently asked questions about the UAW elections on my website at willforuawpresident.org/uawelections.
Make sure that all workers watch the presidential candidates’ debate, which I have posted on my website here.
Organize meetings of workers in your plant or workplace to discuss the issues in the election and what demands we must fight for to secure our interests.
Set up informational pickets outside your workplace to distribute information and promote my rank-and-file campaign for UAW president.
Lay the foundation for the rank-and-file networks that are necessary to continue to fight for what we need once the election is over.
I am asking you today: write to my campaign at willforuawpresident@gmail.com or text (267) 225-6633 for assistance in setting up an election committee. Tell me where you work and what you think we must fight for in this election and beyond. I will do everything I can to assist you in setting up a committee at your workplace and to link your committee to similar committees that are being set up across the country.
Fellow rank-and-file workers: If we are going to fight for what we need, we cannot allow the initiative to remain in the hands of the apparatus. We must organize ourselves! Contact my campaign and build a rank-and-file election committee today!
Thank you, Will Lehman
P.S. I want to do everything I can to make sure workers are informed—about the elections, about my campaign, and about the strikes and other struggles workers are launching. But to do that, I need your financial support. If you agree with what I’m fighting for, then donate as much as you can to my campaign today.
Okay, when are we ever going to work together? Here in the US, when are we going to drop the s**t and work together? In the abstract, a Socialist in charge of the UAW is something we on the left are supposed to be able to get on board with. So why the hell aren't we?
Seems like this campaign should be getting support.
And I was planning on not mentioning it today but you know I'm going there now: BROS.
Straight-allies, that's what we're supposed to be. But we're so pathetic we couldn't even buy a ticket to a hilarious comedy. That was beyond our politics. Beyond our abilities.
The best thing for the UAW would be to have a Socialist president at this point. But there's no push for him online from so-called left allies. And there was no real push with regards to BROS.
Yeah, I saw a few times, you might have seen it as well.
But there was no real push.
I think back, to ahead of DOBBS, when the LGBTQ community was supporting ROE V WADE. It didn't apply to most of them. As Ava and I noted when that awful NETFLIX special aired, unless someone got raped, they probably weren't going to need an abortion -- someone in the LGBTQ community. We thought the support from the community was great but we also thought that LGBTQ comedians should also be focusing on the issues impacting their community. I stand by that call because I'm not seeing a push by feminist leaders or by Planned Parenthood or anyone else to be an ally to the LGBTQ community right now.
I am seeing vicious hate online. I am seeing smears and attacks on gay people -- including Billy Eichner who's only 'crime' is making a wonderful film.
We want allies. We want support. But apparently, we can't give it. Rude, nasty things are being said about LGBTQs and conclusions are being drawn regarding BROS. We didn't support the movie and now right wingers are running with that because the message is straight allies aren't going to push back.
That's outrageous and we should be ashamed of ourselves. We've been pathetic and disgusting.
Most Americans -- even in this economy -- can afford to buy a ticket to a movie as a political act.
The failure of straight allies to support BROS is fueling a backlash.
And again, it's the same with Will Lehman. He's a Socialist. We should be on board. Yeah, put him in charge of the UAW, let's see if he can get something done.
That should be our attitude.
But when it's our turn to be allies, we tend to have other things to do. All you people -- and I'm referring to drive-byes more than the TCI community -- who claim to be left and then vote centrist politicians, this is where you could make a difference without doing that much at all -- you could support Will. Wouldn't have to stop praising Hillary or pretending that Nancy Pelosi was the height of left action. You could continue in your delusions and still support Will.
But you won't.
Just like you didn't support Billy and now want to pretend like the hideous being said online have nothing to do with you. They have everything to do with you and it is now time for you to figure out if you're life has any meaning or you just want to tick off the rest of your days being a useless piece of crap.
And on that happy note, the following sites updated:
