Sunday, March 03, 2013

Hejira

All Iraq News notes a "member of Beaj municpality council, Ibraheem Rejab" was wounded when he was shot in Mosul, also shot in Mosul 1 Sahwa (dead) and his brother (injured),  and 2 Iraqi soldiers were shot dead in Mosul.   National Iraq News Agency reports 1 person was shot dead outside his Baquba home, 1 man was shot outside his Hilla home and left injured, and 2 Baghdad bombings claimed 2 lives and left eleven people injured.  AFP adds a Karbala suicide bomber injured three people.  In addition, All Iraq News notes 2 dead and nine injured in Karabala explosion and  NINA notes that the explosion is thought to be a bomb left over from 2003.

In addition various long running storylines get updated today.  The ongoing battles in Syria continue to impact Iraq.  Nouri al-Maliki has supported the government and as long as Syrian 'rebels' (US-backed) keep killing Iraqis (1 Iraqi soldier killed today), then there probably won't be a huge outcry internally to make him switch sides (as the US government keeps hoping he will do).


Another ongoing one?  

October 9th, Nouri was strutting across the world stage as he inked a $4.2 billion weapons deal with Russia. The deal became iffy among corruption charges (with fingers pointing at Nouri and his son) and Nouri's spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh fearful that Nouri was going to hang the corruption on him causing al-Dabbagh to flee Iraq.  Dar Addustour reports that Parliamentary sources say the body's Integrity Commission has requested warrants for al-Dbbagh and his brother.

 The deal itself remains up in the air demonstrating Nouri is ineffectual and can't sealt he deal even when he signs a legal binding contract (shades of The Erbil Agreement).


Then there's the issue of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.  As 2012 drew to a close, Jalal suffered a stroke.  The incident took place late on December 17th (see the December 18th snapshot) and resulted in Jalal being admitted to Baghdad's Medical Center Hospital.    Thursday, December 20th, he was moved to Germany.  He remains in Germany currently. There have been reports of his improving and of his being able to speak.   Al Rafidayn reports today that despite the fact that the medical team has given an upbeat briefing, people are now speaking of Jalal in the past tense.  This prompts the outlet to surmise that the Kurds could lose power if Jalal is not able to return to his duties as President of Iraq.  More troubling -- and ignored by the paper -- is the fact that Jalal was some form of a check on Nouri al-Maliki.   Meanwhile Kitabat reports Kurdish sources are saying that KRG President Massoud Barzani is worried about Jalal's safety in his current condition.


Provincial elections are supposed to take place April 20th.  Kitabat reports that Ayad Allawi states Iraqiya  is ready   Meanwhile protests continue, having started in December.  Former Minister of Finance Rafie al-Issawi called Friday the 70th day of protests.  

Friday, January 25th, Nouri al-Maliki's armed thugs in Falluja fired on protesters killing at least eleven. NINA quotes Sheikh Khalid Hmoud, Falluja protest organizer, stating, "We have authorized journalist Bahjat al-Kurdi, who is residing in Holland, to bring a suit before the International Courto f Justice at The Hague on charges of military elements opened fire, a month ago {. . . ]"



I'm traveling in some vehicle
I'm sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
That shell shock love away
-- "Hejira," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her album of the same name

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


New content at Third:









Isaiah's latest  went up this morning.  I'm going to change the time stamp so that his comic remaing the top thing at the site until tomorrow morning's entries.


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Saturday, March 02, 2013

Nouri's said to be holding 19 arrest warrants on political rivals

It's a new month and yet the violence continues in Iraq.  All Iraq News reports that a Tikrit armed attack on the homes of 2 Iraqi soldiers has left them dead, an armed attack in Samarra utilized bombs and left 1 police officer dead and five more injured, and they note that Baghdad is warning that there is a new weapon, explosive mobile phone chargers.  The National Iraq News Agency adds that an attack on the Nineveh border left 1 Iraqi soldier dead and six more injured (supposedly by Syrian rebels)  [on Iraq and Syria, you can check out Ron Beasley's post at The Moderate Voice],  2 suspects were shot dead in Mosul by police, a Kirkuk sticky bombing injured police Col Qassem Hamid, a Falluja sticky bombing injured provincial election candidate Fakhri Sarhan, and, dropping back to Friday night, the son of Gen Wathiq al-Hamdani was shot dead in Mosul.  Alsumaria notes mobile phone trucks exploded in Baghdad killing six people.

Kitabat reports the latest of Nouri's paranoia: He's convinced if the Syrian army falls (and President Bashar Assad falls), that he will be the next leader deposed.  After Bully Boy Bush made Nouri prime minister in the spring of 2006, the State Dept began charting Nouri's paranoia.  By 2010, when the vote of the Iraqi people meant Nouri should have been shown the door, Barack Obama decided Nouri had to stay.  He overrode the vote and the Constitution to keep Nouri in place.  When he did that, there were four years of documentation regarding Nouri's paranoia.  To put a puppet in place is wrong and undemocratic.  To put or keep a puppet who is plagued by paranoia in place is green-light to abuse and murder.

Maybe the protesters will manage to topple Nouri's corrupt reign?

Maybe not.  But there's a good sign that they will be successful: They're being trashed by the Telegraph of London's Colin Freeman.  Considering how wrong he's been repeatedly about Iraq, this is good news for the protesters.  The UN notes that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres is calling for the Camp Ashraf residents (most now at Camp Liberty) to be protected.  The UN notes:
“After the despicable attacks on Camp Liberty on 9 February, it is particularly important that we redouble our efforts to resettle the residents and find durable solutions for them outside Iraq as quickly as possible,” said Mr. Kobler.
He noted that, under the memorandum of understanding of 25 December 2011, the Government of Iraq is responsible for the security and safety of the residents.
Mr. Kobler also thanked Mr. Guterres for the efforts of UNHCR and assured him that the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), which he heads, will continue to support the agency to bring about a quick resettlement of the residents to third countries.


That "despicable attack" war ordered by Nouri al-Maliki.  The same guy Freeman drools over.



Yesterday, at the Ramadi protest,  Minister of Finance Rafie al-Issawi resigned.  Alsumaria reports today that Nouri's State of Law is dismissing the notion that others will step down from the council.   Al Mada adds that al-Issawi called today for others to leave the council including Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq.  al-Issawi and al-Mutlaq are both members of Iraqiya.  Iraqiya came in first in the 2010 parliamentary elections, besting Nouri's State of Law.


You may remember Mutlaq attempting to speak to protesters and being booed.  Some wanted to say that what ensued (his guards firing at protesters) demonstrated "violence" on the part of protesters.  No, it demonstrated an intolerance for whores.  Saleh al-Mutlaq sells out everyone.  He is a joke and he will always be a joke.  He thought he could parade his usual fraud act before protesters and that they'd lap it up.  They had no need to.  He can deliver nothing and he's got no backbone.

While al-Issawi was calling for him to resign, al-Mutlaq was instead currying favor.  All Iraq News reports he and Nouri met today to bond and discuss Iraq. No word on whether al-Mutlaq had to apply a new coat of lipstick after a session of kissing Nouri's butt.  NINA notes that Nouri issued a statement which included, "The meeting touched the political situation and the measures that should be adopted to meet the current challenges." NINA quotes Hamid al-Jubouri, the spokesperson for the  Hawija protesters, stating, "More than two months when the demonstration and sit-ins stared regularly in the province, during which people declared condemnations of the bombings, which killed Iraqis whether in Shiit or Sunni areas steaming from our belief that all are Iraqi citizens all over. "  And they quote Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Mashhadani stating,  As hundreds gathered in the courtyard of /Pride and Honor/ in Kirkuk where Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Mashhadani,  Imam and preacher of Friday prayers stressing as saying: "Our gathering is devoted to remove injustice, but the Prime Minister made a deaf ear and a blind eye."

NINA quotes Falluja protest organizer Sheikh Khalid Hmoud al-Jumaily stating, "The people of Anbar did not come out in support of the Finance Minister, even though he is the province's citizen; the people took to the streets demanding their rights, mainly releasing the detainees.  Everybody must know that the people of Anbar are not supporters of a party, bloc or person." 

al-Issawi tells Kitabat that he resigned because there had been over 70 days of protest and the government had still not responded to the protesters.  He notes that a government is supposed to be responsive to the people, not ignore them.  He tells Alsumaria that Article IV -- which has been used to punish so many Sunnis -- is no longer going to work and that the government refused to listen to the protesters or to take accountability for the eleven shot dead in Falluja by Nouri's forces January 25th.   He feels the solution to the crises facing Iraq can be found in the sit-ins taking place.


Ayad Allawi is the head of the Iraqiya.  All Iraq News notes he has declared that the clergy in Iraq are helping to preserve the unity and that he met today with Sheikh Hussein al-Sadr.

From the February 27th snapshot:

  This morning,  National Iraq News Agency was reporting:

The MP, of the state law coalition, Sadiq al-Labban revealed that "the government would issue arrest warrants against those who instigated and participated in fueling sectarian strife through exploiting the demonstrations to split the Iraqi National Front, noting that among these names, the Finance Minister Rafie al-Issawi. 


This is apparently  another case of Nouri's State of Law political slate being unable to control themselves in public.  In this case, al-Labban has revealed something in existence that Nouri wasn't wanting known just yet.

Rafie al-Issawi is a member of Iraqiya, the political slate that came in first in the March 2010 elections (beating Nouri's State of Law).  He is also Sunni.  Nouri's reputation is one for fighting dirty against political opponents.  If the warrants are real, expect things in Iraq to get a lot worse a lot quicker than many anticipated.  If the talk of warrants if false, al-Labban just made some very uninformed remarks that will have huge repercussions.

NINA quotes Iraqiya MP Wissal Saleem stating:
 The statements of the State of Law coalition's MPs about arrest warrants against the leader of the Iraqiya, Finance Minister Rafie al-Issawi is dangerous [and]  if they have court orders issued by their courts, this is another subject.  We do not know the basis that the state of law coalition's MP is authorized to talk about an arrest warrant while the judiciary did not say anything about it, indicating that the goal is to create new crises after failing of the Government.   These remarks will lead to a backlash, especially at this critical juncture, through which the Iraqi state is passing.


Distrust, anger and hostility are just some of the feelings State of Law has created with the comments about arrest warrants.

Kitabat reports today that Nouri has 19 arrest warrantes ready to serve on members of Iraqiya.
Dar Addustour also reports security sources say there are 19 arrests and the outlet notes that Iraqiya plans to hold an emergency meeting on Sunday.



The following community sites -- plus Susan's On the Edge, the Guardian, Ms. magazine's blog, Jody Watley, Media Channel and Antiwar.com  --  updated last night and today:


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





iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq





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I Hate The War

 How do you know someone doesn't give a damn about Iraq?

For starters, they ignore it.

But the tenth anniversary approaches and it's like an essay topic the teacher just scrawled across the blackboard/greenboard/projector from the laptop.  So now a lot of people feel like they need to write about Iraq.

And we're going to see some really bad writing.

Today's worst?  Coleen Rowley.

Writing for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Coleen yet again demonstrates that she can write about herself.  In fact, she brags about herself in the opening paragraph.  She demonstrates that she can heap scorn on Dick Cheney and Bully Boy Bush.  (Of course, the majority of us on the planet can do that.)

Paragraph four finds her moving to a topic other than herself, Iraq and the Middle East and Africa.  Paragraphs four, five and six are generic statements that could have been written four, five, six, seven years ago.  Nothing really about Iraq.  Then she wants to move onto a paragraph about the kill list and thinks herself brave for mentioning "the Obama administration."  (If only she had the guts to apply the same scorn she has for Dick and Bully to Barack.)

Now we're really off to the races.  She wants to include Timothy McVeigh, "the Beltway sniper," Robert Flores, Christopher Dorner, Waco and so much more.  It's all name check, not illuminating.  Then she goes on for four more paragraphs -- remembering to name check Iraq in two sentences.

The paper calls her ramblings "Ten Years After Iraq."  Leaving aside that Waco and McVeigh are from the 90s and not ten years ago . . .

The column's not about Iraq.

She's using Iraq.  She's manipulating a country where the people suffer to advance her own pet causes.

When does Iraq get to be recognized?

The US attacked Iraq.  At what point in this country, do we feel the need to recognize that and to talk about what happened to Iraqis and what is happening to them now as a result of the illegal war?

Ten years ago?  You'd think people 'reflecting' would be writing about the huge increase in birth defects in and around Falluja and Basra.  You'd think they'd be writing about the ongoing protests.  You'd think they be writing about the US pouring billions into Iraq still to prop up the US-backed Nouri al-Maliki.

But we can't have that honesty.

I think I prefer the delusional War Hawks who write that Iraq is great and that the Iraq War is worth it.  Those freaks you can argue with.

How do you argue with an idiot like Coleen?  'Uh, the beltway sniper . . .'

I don't know a damn thing about the beltway sniper and don't care to learn.  I'm not a true crime addict.  I will never be one of those pathetic women writing, 'Dear killer, Learning of your recent killing spree made my panties damp in a way that nothing ever has.  I will wait for you until you are released -- from prison or this earth.'

Coleen apparently is one of those women.

The topic is Iraq.

If you can't stay on topic, find another one to write about.  If you don't give a damn about Iraqis and the way they suffer today, ten years after the start of the war, don't insult them further by using them as the starting point for 'what I really want to write about.'






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.











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