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Sunday, November 22, 2009
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Barack 'Listens'"
Posted at 11:02 pm by thecommonills
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And the war drags on . . .
So today saw the Iraqi Parliament meet again to address the issues of the election. And? Waleed Ibrahim, Michael Christie and Janet Lawrence (Reuters) report
the Parliament is still at "an impasse" and plans to take up the matter
(again) tomorrow. The report includes this interesting assertion,
"There are only a couple of days left for parliament to address
Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi's veto of an election law, as the law
must be passed 60 days before a vote and Jan. 23 is viewed by Iraq's
majority Shi'ite Muslims as the last possible date in January for the
ballot to take place." The press can repeat, but can they remember? Can
they analyze? If you've paid attention, right about now you should be
humming along to Carly Simon's
"Sleight of Hand." Meanwhile, thug of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki
hasn't come out with a color-coded terror chart, but like the Bully Boy
who installed him, he schedules 'media events' to increase his
electoral prospects. Most recently? Today saw the broadcast of excerpts of more forced confessions. To no surprise, the forced confessions said exactly what Nouri had said about the Baghdad bombings on 'Bloody Sunday'. AP rightly notes
that this is Nouri's "latest anti-Ba'athist attack" and that
"Al-Maliki's intensified rhetoric worsens one of Iraq's most dangerous
sectarian fault lines -- one which the United States has long struggled
to calm." And yet US forces remain on the ground and remain there, in
part, to keep puppet Nouri installed. They're just there to try and make the people free,But the way that they're doing it, it don't seem like that to me.Just more blood-letting and misery and tearsThat this poor country's known for the last twenty years,And the war drags on.-- words and lyrics by Mick Softly (available on Donovan's Fairytale) Last Sunday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4362. Tonight? 4365. That total includes today's announcement: "FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq -- A Multi-National Division South Soldier was killed in action, Nov. 22. The
name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of
kin and release by the Department of Defense. The names of service
members are announced through the U.S. Department of Defense official
website at http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/.
The announcements are made on the Web site no earlier than 24 hours
after notification of the service member’s primary next of kin.The
incident is under investigation." In other reported violence . . . Jenan Hussein (McClatchy Newspapers) reports
a Baghdad bombing of a music store which wounded eleven people, a Garma
car bombing which claimed the lives of 7 people and left five more
injured, a Al Qaem suicide car bombing which injured two police
officers and a Mosul roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 child and
left four people injured. Jenan Hussein (McClatchy Newspapers) reports
Karkh Criminal Dept head Talib Radad was assassinated in Baghad, the
Turkmen front's Yawez Amed Hussein was assassinated in Mosul and 1
Mosul municipality employee was assassinated in Mosul. Meanwhile Andrew Gilligan and the Telegraph of London are making news with their reporting. Gilligan summarizes "hundreds of pages of secret Government reports" regarding the Iraq War: Tony
Blair, the former prime minister, misled MPs and the public throughout
2002 when he claimed that Britain’s objective was “disarmament, not
regime change” and that there had been no planning for military action.
In fact, British military planning for a full invasion and regime
change began in February 2002. The need to conceal this from
Parliament and all but “very small numbers” of officials “constrained”
the planning process. The result was a “rushed”operation “lacking in
coherence and resources” which caused “significant risk” to troops and
“critical failure” in the post-war period. Operations were so
under-resourced that some troops went into action with only five
bullets each. Others had to deploy to war on civilian airlines, taking
their equipment as hand luggage. Some troops had weapons confiscated by
airport security. Commanders reported that the Army’s main radio
system “tended to drop out at around noon each day because of the
heat”. One described the supply chain as “absolutely appalling”,
saying: “I know for a fact that there was one container full of skis in
the desert.” The Foreign Office unit to plan for postwar Iraq was set up only in late February, 2003, three weeks before the war started. The
plans “contained no detail once Baghdad had fallen”, causing a “notable
loss of momentum” which was exploited by insurgents. Field commanders
raged at Whitehall’s “appalling” and “horrifying” lack of support for
reconstruction, with one top officer saying that the Government “missed
a golden opportunity” to win Iraqi support. Another commander said: “It
was not unlike 1750s colonialism where the military had to do
everything ourselves.” In another report, Gilligan explains,
"In the papers, the British chief of staff in Iraq, Colonel J.K.Tanner,
described his US military counterparts as 'a group of Martians' for
whom 'dialogue is alien,' saying: 'Despite our so-called "special
relationship," I reckon we were treated no differently to the
Portuguese'." Richard Norton-Taylor (Guardian) adds: Fresh
evidence has emerged about how Blair misled MPs by claiming in 2002
that the goal was "disarmament, not regime change". Documents show the
government wanted to hide its true intentions by informing only "very
small numbers" of officials. The documents, leaked to the Sunday
Telegraph, are "post-operational reports" and "lessons learned" papers
compiled by the army and its field commanders. They refer to a "rushed"
operation that caused "significant risk" to troops and "critical
failure" in the postwar period.Last week, former Prime
Minister and Bully Boy Bush Lap Dog Tony Blair learned that he would
not be EU president. New content at Third: Truest statement of the weekTruest statement of the week IITruest statement of the week IIIA note to our readersEditorial: It's a power grabTV: The excellent and the nuttyBirth questions are wrong! Sometimes!Hypocrisy at T-MobileThe hypocritical Congressional subcommitteeRoundtableHypocrite of the Decade: Andrew SullivanHypocrisy here at Third (Dona)Barack's a bastard (Ava and C.I.)HighlightsIsaiah's latest goes up after this. Pru highlights Mark Krantz' " Don’t let them hang Danny Fitzsimons" (Great Britain's Socialist Worker): Over 100 people attended a meeting in Bury last Saturday to launch the Bring Danny Home Campaign. Next
Sunday, proceedings will start in Iraq that could lead to the
ex-soldier from Manchester, Danny Fitzsimons, facing the death penalty.
He faces a murder trial after shooting dead two other mercenaries in
Iraq. Sue Glenton, Lance Corporal Joe Glenton’s mother, spoke in support of the campaign. ArmourGroup,
the British Company that took £25 million to guard Baghdad Airport
employed Danny without making proper checks on his health. The first stage of the campaign aims to “put ArmourGroup who made $9.5 billion last year on trial”. Campaigners have plans to picket an office of ArmourGroup, or the parent company Group Four. © Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original. Share this story on: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon If you found this article useful please help us maintain SW by » making a donation. » comment on article » email article » printable versionThe e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqand the war drags ondonovanwaleed ibrahimmichael christiemcclatchy newspapersjenan husseinthe telegraph of londonandrew gilliganrichard norton-taylorthe socialist workerthe third estate sunday reviewthe world today just nuts
Posted at 10:56 pm by thecommonills
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Saturday, November 21, 2009
No vote today on those 'intended' January elections
So today the Iraqi Parliament was going to meet
and, for the dreamers among the press, resolve the issues arising from Iraq's
Sunni vice president, Tareq
al-Hashemi vetoing the election law earlier this week. As Carole King sings ("Chalis Borealis,"
Speeding Time), "Didn't work out quite
the way you wanted, how were you to know?" Well you couldn't have 'known,' but
you could have expected. You could have made a best-guess simply by looking at
how slowly the Parliament moves. (For example, do we want to again count how
long the Parliament 'operated' without a Speaker after they drove off their
previous one?) AFP reports, "Iraqi MPs will meet again on
Sunday to try to break the deadlock on a stalled electoral law which has left
the country's planned January general election in doubt. The vote is postponed
until tomorrow, parliament speaker Iyad al-Samarrai told reporters on Saturday,
after a further day of meetings failed to resolve a dispute on a key provision
in the law which will govern the national poll." Waleed
Ibrahim, Ahmed Rasheed, Khalid al-Ansary, Michael Christie and Sonya Hepinstall
(Reuters) explains, "Parliament must now either address Hashemi's complaints
and amend the law, which may invite other interest groups to demand other
changes, or send it back to him unchanged only for him to possibly veto it
again." DPA adds, "According to [MP Ezzeddin]
al-Dawla, MPs were divided during Saturday's discussions, with 'a majority
calling for a rejection of al-Hashemi's demand.' A few, al-Dawla said, 'sought a
compromise of reserving 10 per cent of the seats for
expatriates'." So, taking the past into consideration, it's not
really a surprise what happened today; however, it ended up taking many in the
press by surprise -- the same way al-Hashemi's veto did. And that also wasn't a
surprise. Was it legal? Every law the Parliament's passed has gone
before the presidency council for approval. Any member of the council can object
(or all of them) and the law is voided. It's never been an issue before whether
or not they had these powers because people (or those in power) apparently
'liked' the decisions by the council prior to this one. From Thursday's
snapshot: Also making an ass out of
himself is Baha al-Araji who has given multiple statements to the press today
(they may or may not print them tomorrow). The Shi'ite who serves on Iraq's
Constitutional Court states/rules (depending upon which outlet he's speaking to)
that Tariq al-Hashmi doesn't have the power to veto the election law. Now that
would toss the issue up in the air and require examination but chatty al-Araji
goes on to weaken his own case by blathering on about how his own (al-Araji)
deciding was based on what al-Hashmi objected to. That would undercut al-Araji's
alleged conclusion. Either the presidential council has the power to veto or
they don't -- it doesn't matter what their reasoning is. They possess the power
or they don't. At every other point, the council's possessed this power. Most
outlets will probably ignore the ravings of al-Araji because the Parliament's
taking up the issue on Saturday. So what happened there? Was it
legal or not? Alsumaria
reports the courts have rule (non-surprisingly) that the veto power did
exist, "In a statement, the committee noted that the court's response stipulated
that the Independent High Electoral Commission should determine a suitable
mechanism to turn the law from unconstitutional to constitutional. [. . .]
Iraq's court decision stressed that Al Hashemi's veto is constitutional, the
committee added." In related news, Khalid
al-Ansary, Michael Christie and James Jukwey (Reuters)report that the vote
on approval of the bids on West Qurna and Zaubair oil fields -- which was
supposed to have taken place Tuesday (but didn't) -- may not take place this
Tuesday as newly scheduled according to a government spokesperson. Still
related, Timothy
Williams (New York Times) reports that after spending $53 billion in tax
payer monies onf "relief and reconstruction in Iraq," US officials are now faced
with "growing concerns . . . that Iraq will not be able to adequately maintain
the facilities" when US forces depart -- whenever that may be. Such an inability
would mean billions were wasted. Meanwhile Nouri uses al Qaeda in
Mesopotamia the way some (with high blood pressure) use salt: He sprinkles it on
everything and does so excessively. As he's continued to blame every explosion
and sneeze and the homegrown group, the US military has been at a loss for what
to do. Ernesto
Londono (Washington Post) reports
the brass has come up with a game plan: Declare that they have "rebounded in
strength" and that they're on the move. Such a declaration, not noted in the
article, would of course mean the one claim to fame the brass had to spit shine
is now gone -- if the US military didn't even wipe out al Qaeda in Iraq, what
did they accomplish? No doubt Thomas Friedman will compose a fanciful 'essay' on
that topic in a bit. Until then, Londono reports: Although the group has lost many top leaders, funding
sources and popular support, it stands to gain from a deeply split political
establishment, growing Sunni resentment toward the Shiite-led government,
disjointed Iraqi security agencies and the diminishing ability of U.S. forces to
engage in combat operations in Iraq. Turning to some of today's
violence Laith
Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers)
reports 2 Baghdad roadside bombings which injured nine people, a Baghdad
sticky bombing which claimed 1 life and left three people wounded and, dropping
back to last night, a Kirkuk suicide bombing which claimed the life of the
bomber and no one else. Laith
Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers)
reports 1 teacher shot dead in Mosul and two Iraqi soldiers injured in a
second Mosul shooting. Since Thursday night, the following community
posts have published: " Feinstein
questions at the NSA hearings" " Easy
Enchilada Bake in the Kitchen" " Economy,
abortion, mammograms" " Drama
Queen tries to upstage the Great Wall" " Top
10 reasons Oprah's quitting" " An underrated 80s classic" " How they waste our time" " sexual beings" " katty van-van gets smacked" " The
bribes" " New
Jersey's important vote" " House
Veterans Affairs" " House
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia" " Day of
rememberance " " Jayne
Lyn Stahl strikes again" " The
Pirate" " Bye
Oprah, don't hurry back" " Hillary
Is 44 on Elizabeth Drew" " House ArmedServices Committee" " Ahnuld goes to Iraq, abortion, etc." " THIS JUST IN! BARRY O DOES EMPLOYMENT!" " Barack finds some jobs" " The Rainbow Tour ends with a whimper " " THIS JUST IN! THE BUBBLE BURSTS!" The e-mail address
for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqalsumariaafpdpareuterswaleed ibrahimahmed rasheedkhalid
al-ansarymichael christiesonya
hepinstallmichael christiejames jukweythe new york
timestimothy williamsthe washington
posternesto
londonomcclatchy newspaperslaith hammoudiiraqiraqiraqthe world
today just nutsanns mega dubkats kornersex and politics and screeds and attitudethomas friedman is a great mantrinas kitchenthe daily jotcedrics big
mixmikey
likes itruths
reportsickofitradlzoh boy it never ends
Posted at 09:51 pm by thecommonills
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Children, abuse within the forces and a female bomber
Hussein Mohammed
Janabi is a loving little boy who adores his younger siblings, Amneh, 3, and
six-month-old twins Zeid and Sajad. But his parents find it difficult to answer
him when he asks -- as he often does -- "Why are they beautiful and I am
not?"Hussein's dream is that the
"kind doctors" in Amman will make him as pretty as the rest of his family.
"Mama," he says every day, "look at how beautiful and perfect the eyes and
eyebrows of Zeid and Sajad are. When can mine be the same?"Hussein was 10 months old and asleep in his cot having
his morning nap when a car bomb exploded outside the family home in Hilla, 60
miles south of Baghdad, four years ago. Burning shrapnel rained through the
windows of his house and the nylon sheets on his cot caught
fire.As the flames took hold, the
synthetic fabric melted and stuck to the baby's skin. His screams brought his
mother, Hind Ghazi, 26, rushing into the bedroom. "There was fire on his face
and some parts of his body, and where there was no fire his skin had turned
black, especially his hands and fingers," she recalls. "I started to dab the
fire with my hands and I covered him with a cloth and carried him outside as I
wailed and cried for help."The above is from Hala Jaber's " Christmas
Appeal: How you can help the children of Iraq" ( Times of London) who goes on to explain that
Doctors Without Borders had to
leave Iraq in 2004 due to the violence and, while it is still not safe to
return, they have set up a clinic in Amman, Jordan where they provide assistance
to Iraqis. The assistance is needed because Iraq has a huge shortage of doctors
(of trained nurses as well, but the report doesn't note that). In the 90s, the
country had approximately 34,000 and, of that figure, 20,000 have departed
Iraq. Meanwhile the abuse of Iraqis by foreign forces receives attention.
Joe
Sterling (CNN) reports US Sgt Jarrett Taylor was court-martialed on Friday
"for mistreating troops in Iraq". From M-NF, here's their
press release on that:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RELEASE No. 20091121-01 November 20,
2009
Soldier found guilty of maltreatment
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait -- A
U.S. Army Soldier has been found guilty of making false official statements and
cruelty and maltreatment of subordinates.
Sgt. Jarrett Taylor, 23, from Edmond, Okla., was
found guilty during a special court martial that concluded today.
Sgt. Taylor was found guilty of violating the
Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 93, Cruelty and Maltreatment; and
Article 107, Making a False Official Statement. He was sentenced to confinement
for 180 days, reduction to the rank of Private E-1, and forfeiture of $933 in
pay for six months.
Sgt. Taylor was one of four Soldiers charged Aug.
19. Another Soldier, Spec. Daniel Weber, 24, from Frankenmuth, Mich., was
discharged in lieu of a court martial.
Two other Soldiers, Staff Sgt. Enoch Chatman, 30,
from West Covina, Calif., and Staff Sgt. Bob Clements, 29, from Eastland, Texas,
are subject to a pending future General Court Martial.
-30-
FOR QUERIES, CONTACT THE MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION –
SOUTH PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT
MND-S_PAO@IRAQ.CENTCOM.MIL
This e-mail address is being protected from spam
bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
; BY PHONE AT (IRAQNA) 0790-194-2865 OR 770-263-9379. FOR MORE MND-S
NEWS, VISIT OUR WEBSITE: WWW.THEREDBULLS.ORG.
FOR THIS PRESS RELEASE AND OTHERS, VISIT WWW.MNC-I.COM Sterling notes,
"Taylor was among four Multi-National Division South soldiers who were charged
with cruelty and maltreatment of soldiers in their platoon, Lt. Col. Kevin
Olson, MNF-South spokesman in Basra, told CNN in an email Saturday. All were
from the 13th Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Bliss, Texas. The charges, filed
August 19, stemmed from information discovered during an investigation of Pvt.
Keiffer P. Wilhelm's suicide in August." This comes as Danny
Brierley (Independent of London)
reports British Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth will announce to the House
of Commons Wednesday a "new public inquiry into fresh allegations of torture
against British troops" with a "focus on the Battle of Danny Boy, which took
place in May 2004 and involved soldiers from the Argyll and Southern Highlanders
and the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment." Meanwhile the Observer features an article by Alissa J.
Rubin which was published previously in the New
York Times Sunday Magazine (back in August). Rubin reports on meeting a
young Iraqi woman in police custody for attempting to become a suicide bomber.
Rubin and Baida have a free flowing conversation -- or Rubin thinks so. Baida
brags of how a nurse lets her keep a cell phone. Strangely no one thought to
report that. Strangely no one thought to ask why the nurse would allow such a
thing. Because Baida's charming? Rubin finds her charming. She begins calling
for Rubin repeatedly at which point an interpreter working for the paper warns
Rubin that Baida may be attempting to set up Rubin's kidnapping. Rubin meets
with her again but does not give her details ahead of time. She asks Baida about
that and Baida appears to think the idea just struck her but, as Baida speaks
more and more, she informs Rubin that it would not bother to see someone like
Rubin kidnapped and tortured. It's a strong article and the only one by
the Times that didn't attempt to
patholigize gender. All other reports on female suicide bombers were written as
though the (male) reporters typing up the report were doing so with one hand
while the other slid down the front of their pants. Possibly they wrote
such bad reporting -- which couldn't stop marveling over how a 'girl' would
become a bomber -- because of the conversations they had with (male) Iraqi
authorities? That would explain how Baida was allowed to keep a cell
phone on her person while imprisoned. Suicide bombers know no gender. It's only
the sick and the naive minds that can't grasp that. The naive will never learn,
the sick? They appear to be in charge in Iraq and were way too stupid to grasp
that when a nurse is allowing Baida to have a cell phone? That nurse is part of
the problem and may even be part of the resistance. If she's not, she's far too
naive to be working around prisoners. Nouri and his crowd of thugs will
always understimate women. The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqthe times of
londonhala
jabercnnjoe sterlingiraqiraqdanny brierleyalissa j.
rubinthe independent of londoniraq
Posted at 09:46 pm by thecommonills
Permalink
Friday, November 20, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, the US Defense Dept announces a death in Iraq, the 'intended' January elections remain murky, a War Hawk is denied a title, another War Hawk refuses to meet with the parent of a child kidnapped in Iraq, Congress explores the wounded, and more.
Today the Defense Department issued a release noting "the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Petty Officer 2nd Class Brian M. Patton, 37, of Freeport, Ill., died Nov. 19 in Kuwait in a non-combat accident." M-NF missed announcing the death (DoD is only supposed to identify the fallen) and the announcement brings to
4363 the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war.
"According to the Defense Manpower Data Center, at the Department of Defense, approximately 35,000 service members have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan," explained US House Rep Stephanie Herseth Sandlin yesterday afternoon. She was opening the House Veterans Affairs' Subcommittee on Economic Development's hearing entitled Adaptive Housing Grants. What are Adaptive Housing Grants? The VA explains: "Veterans or servicemembers who have specific service-connected disabilities may be entitled to a grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the purpose of constructing an adapted home or modifying an existing home to meet their adaptive needs. The goals of the Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) Grant Program is to provide a barrier-free living environment that affords the veterans or servicemembers a level of independent living he or she may not normally enjoy."
The $63,700 currently available using the Specially Adapted Housing grant is a significant help for a veteran to make the needed modifications to their existing home or newly purchased previously owned home. Since it is difficult to find an existing home that can be made totally accessible, some veterans choose to design a new house incorporating accessibility into the plans. Often financial considerations or a convenient living location near family members may preclude designing a new home. In those situations the often monumental task of making the existing structure accessible must be considered. Guidance and information to make modifications for accessibility can be found in the VA's newly issued VA pamphlet 26-13, Handbook for Design: Specially Adapted Housing for Wheelchair Users, which was also reviewed by PVA's Architecture Department before its publication.
Many existing homes can be modified to improve access for a wheelchair user and enhance the function of the home. Some basic alterations would include creating an accessible entrance to the home including an accessible route to the entrance door, a level platform that is large enough for maneuvering during door operation, and enlarging entrance doorways. One bathroom would need complete renovation including plumbing arrangements if an accessible roll-in shower is required. The movement of an existing wall may be necessary for a person in a wheelchair to use each fixture of the bathroom, allow room for door operation and general circulation in the bathroom. Similar construction alterations would be required for the kitchen to be accessible and usable, and perhaps alterations to the master bedroom. The current grant amount of $63,700 in many situations would not pay for the entire project of making a home accessible for a wheelchair user. Since the house must be made accessible for the veteran, they would have no other option than to pay for remaining construction costs from personal savings, arrange a loan from a bank, or borrow needed funds from family members. We have been told that more often, than not, this is the situation the veteran faces.
That provides a general overview of some needs shared by many disabled veterans. We'll now zero in on an example of one person's needs in particular.
Thomas Zampieri: I had an OIF blinded service member that sent me an e-mail about the special housing grant program which I included in my [prepared] testimony because it sort of explains some of the frustration. While he was happy that he got the $10,000 grant in 2007, I actually had to spend $27,000 to do the adapted housing changes that he needed to provide room and space for his computer, the monitors, the scanners, the printers and the magnifiers in order for him to complete his college degree. All of this was great VA adaptive technology that was provided to him as a blind veteran but you have to have a place in order to store it and a way for that equipment to be connected. A lot of the blind veterans have unique, uh, requirements in regards to lighting and electrical work and the current amounts don't cover that.
Today Kerry Feltner (The New Hampshire) reports on Nathan Webster's campus lecture "Can't Give This War Away: Three Iraqi Summers of Change and Conflict." Webster is a photo journalist. Feltner spoke with people who attended the lecture. Gretchen Forbes declared, "It's really unusual to get a first-hand report of the war. You'd think by now it would be our duty to have major news organizations over there to write about the war . . . that really surprises me. I feel like it's the media's responsibility." Betty Nordgren declared, "I'm always interested in hearing about the war and the images were great to see, but I think that the news organizations are in trouble if they don't start covering this war more thoroughly." Both women are correct and it's also true that the least covered in any war are the ones with visible wounds. It's apparently too tempting to look away. That's true of the challenged and disabled population in general but especially true of those members of that population whose wounds derive from a war or military conflict. We'll note the following exchange from the hearing.
Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: One of the concerns, I know that, Dr. Zampieri, you have in terms of the updated version -- Well, maybe not a concern. But maybe you could elaborate for us. With the updated version of the handbook, is that helpful for visually impaired veterans. What further provisions would your organizations like to see in-in the handbook?
Thomas Zampieri: Yeah, the handbook is helpful. A lot of the modifications in regards to lighting and additional electrical outlets and all those things. And then the --
Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: You had mentioned that in your oral statement. That you would like to see those types of adaptions added.
Thomas Zampieri: Right.
Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: So maybe a comprehensive list of what would be available --
Thomas Zampieri: Okay.
Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: Is that?
Thomas Zampieri: Right. And the voice activated types of devices are also, you know, he [John Gonsalves] had mentioned. Especially for blind veterans who now days live alone. All those things add to safety and other things.
Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: And then, Mr. Gonsalves, you had expressed concerns that I think that in terms of some requirements in the grants -- that there are injuries that require some sort of adaptions or its sort of mandatory but to have some additional flexibility in the grants would be helpful.
John Gonsalves: Right.
Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: Is that correct?
John Gonsalves: Yes, and I think some of that may have been taken I hadn't seen the new VA pamphlet. I-I hadn't seen it before the testimony but one of the things that Homes For Our Troops does now -- and you can kind of tell from one of the pictures that we have here -- we have a soldier who actually, before his house is being built -- this is under the Fully Functioning Kitchens For Mobility. We qualify what kind of adaptations are going to happen in a house based on injury. And I guess it would sort of work the way VA rates disability percentage. We -- At the time a service member gets qualified for SAH, we have enough information at that time. And what Homes For Our Troops has done is we have an adaptation check list. We only have five sets of home plans that we build. And the home, the footprint is always the same. The windows are always the same. The floor plan is always the same. But there's an adaptation check list based on what the soldier needs and that's why I provided some photos in here. It really gives you an idea. Obviously a quadriplegic would need a lifting care system where somebody that has the mobility of their upper arms probably doesn't need it. And I think at the time of being qualified for SAH, basically all of the technology is there. We've built for, I think, every type of injury out there from amputees who are blind to different levels of spinal cord injuries. So we know what's available to put in a home and it would be really great to be out in the front once they qualify. A whole checklist be put together.
Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: I think that that's very helpful and you have some ideas and recommendations that would be helpful and would like you to share those with us, with the VA. I think that with addition to what they've done to update their pamphlet, to have someone who's undertaken the mission that you've undertaken doing this work on the ground would be beneficial in creating those types of checklists. I would also think that it would be somewhat beneficial based on the work that you've done in having these checklists for the different types of injuries that the veteran may have suffered from and how to construct a home suitable to his or her needs as it relates to the overall cost of that. And I know that you agree in addition to TRA that the specially adapted housing grant be increased and again that's sort of the historical analysis that you're providing specific in Exhibit One for that grant. What do you -- do you have a ballpark figure? I mean, knowing again that if we adjust ed it to inflation, it would be up to $170,000. But based on the work you've done and the relative cost of doing that, do you have a ballpark figure?
John Gonsalves: Yes. On average, uhm, we've averaged $343,00 for the cost of building a new home.
Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: Okay. So that's even greater than the average new home price.
John Gonsalves: Right. But these are 100% fully adapted homes --
Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: Yes.
John Gonsalves: -- which they do cost a little more to build. You need a little extra square footage compared to what the average home that the census bureau uses.
[. . .]
Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: One last question. Mr -- Dr. Zampiri. Can you explain the difference in changing the Specially Adaptive Housing Grant from 5 - 200 to 20 - 200 with regard to visual impairment?
Thoomas Zampieri: Yes. In fact, thank you very much. I was afraid someone didn't notice that. And also I appreciate that Congressman [John] Boozman [Ranking Member] just coincidentally showed up at the right time [laughter from Zampieri and Boozman]. I'm legally blind. I can't drive. A lot of jobs I can't do. My vision is worse than 20/200. And I don't qualify for anything under this program because the requirement is 5/200 which is really just you can't tell if there's a light on. There's no light/dark perception for lack of a better way to describe it. If somebody has 5/200 and they waive their hand in front of your face and you don't see it, you're quote-quote, 'meet this requirement, "totally blind." Our concern is -- and this is growing thing -- a lot of the Traumatic Brain Injured service members who have significant functional impairments, who need extra lighting and all these other things get zip. When I was in Houston and I was first service-connected for my blindness, for example, because of the 20/200 vision, they said no. So I went and I ended up spending not a whole lot but almost $7,000 to do the modifications to my house in Houston because, you know. And so the total number of service members coming back that would be 5/200 is fairly low. In fact, the Navy says there's less than 20 in the last 8 years out at Bethesda. But there are 140 that are enrolled in the VA with this 20/200 and are told "nope" and -- So it's a frustrating thing. And I realize of course that the magic problem is that if you change this section and you open it up to 20/200 as the definition of blindness then of course, you know, the automatic reaction is "Uh-oh. You're going to expand the costs of the program." And-and, I'm always suspicious of that. It's sort of like a few years ago, a couple of years ago when you did the TRA legislation. I'm sure people initially reacted by saying this is going to cost millions and millions and you're going to have all sorts of veterans applying for this. And the experience that I have is it usually isn't that way. People don't apply automatically. But I think Mr. Boozman may have some thoughts about this problem of the vision complications.
Ranking Member John Boozman: I appreciate you bringing that up and you make such an important comment -- that probably the VA's the only entity in the world that uses that standard versus the 20/200 standard. As an optometrist, I helped start -- in fact I started the School For The Blind's low vision program in Little Rock. And I would say probably about 90% of the kids in there did not -- would not meet the -- did you say 5/200 was the standard? Yeah, I mean, that's the standard I'm familiar with because nobody uses it. But I would say that if you looked at all the kids in blind schools or schools for the impaired, the vast majority, the vast-vast majority, there's no way that they would meet a 5/200. Most people, and lay people don't understand this but, most people that-that are blind have a lot of usable vision that can be worked with. And it truly does, you know, going in and setting up a kitchen or setting up a house so that a person can easily pour a cup of coffee -- you know, do things, that we just take for granted. Somebody might really struggle with that that did not meet this definition of vision which is so stringent in the VA so I think you make a great point.
Remember the two women in New Hampshire noting the lack of Iraq coverage in the media? On NPR today, The Diane Rehm Show didn't have time for Iraq but it did have time for Nadia Bilbassy to laugh condescendingly at an e-mailer (Tom from Jacksonville, Florida) caller and presumably all Americans before she went on to declare what American tax payer money should be spent on. Nadia scored a double: She managed to (a) be insulting and (b) also pimp opinion passed off as fact. It was not attractive. And it was cute the way she worked every answer back to her own community and issues -- a fact not revealed on the broadcast. I wonder if the Basques in Spain will next be brought on to lobby for an hour without NPR revealing who they are? Her remarks did not approach journalism. But, hey, she got to be rude and insulting and isn't that what NPR is all about? Strangely, Diane's show last week (with a guest host) told people the vote was on track in Iraq. That's now up in the air so you'd think they would have felt the need to do an update. But possibly when one guest keeps talking about 'her people' (but forgetting to inform the listeners of that) there's very little time for anything else.
Let's turn to the issue of the elections. Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor) reported this afternoon that "the country's top election official said that even if lawmakers resolved all their differences, it would be impossible to hold elections in January" and quoted Independent High Electoral Commission's Faraj al-Haydari stating, "We have already stopped all our work." Arraf reminds that both the "IHEC and the United Nations officials have said they need at least 60 days to prepare a credible election."
The Constitution requires the election by the end of January. Election officials had said that the law needed to be done by Oct. 15 to allow enough time to prepare for the voting. Even though Iraq's Parliament overshot that deadline when it approved compromise legislation, the election was expected to take place between Jan. 18 and Jan. 23. But the Presidency Council (composed of the president, a Kurd, and two vice presidents, a Sunni and a Shiite) has the final say. And Mr. Hashimi chose to exercise his veto power and put in doubt Iraq's second national election, a critical test of whether democracy can endure as the United States withdraws its troops.
The editorial board thinks the Constitution matters . . . sometimes. Sometimes Iraq's Constitution doesn't matter. It appears the editorial board is concerned with the Constitution only when what they want doesn't happen. Refuse to conduct a national census? The editorial board's okay with that. Refuse to resolve the Kirkuk issue (as the Constitution mandated be done by 2007)? The editorial board's okay with that. It's a funny sort of semi-devotion to the Constitution but then the New York Times is a funny sort of news outlet. Sami Moubayed covers the developments in Iraq at Asia Times notes the argument that the Iraqi refugees will be underrepresented in the Parliament (true even if there wasn't an effort to expand the number of seats and to hand the bulk to Shi'ites). Mouybayad explains, "Frantically [Nouri al-] Maliki responded. On Thursday evening, the Constitutional Court (over which Maliki has plenty of influence) overruled Hashemi's veto, calling it 'unconstitutional'." Let's jump to what's happening and then come back to the 'unconstitutional' assertion. Waleed Ibrahim, Suadad al-Salhy, Aseel Kami, David Alexander, Deepa Babington, Samia Nakhoul and Todd Eastham (Reuters) report, "Instead of addressing Hashemi's demand that the law give more seats to Iraqi refugees and minorities, lawmakers squabbled over whether the veto was legal. They scheduled a session Saturday in which they would vote on whether to reject Hashemi's veto and send the law back for approval by the three-person presidency council without changes, said the speaker of parliament, Ayad al-Samarai." Now back to the "unconstitutional" claim. The reporters go on to address the claims Baha al-Araji was making (see yesterday's snapshot) about the veto being "unconstitutional" and how this is "political wrangling" and MP Saleh al-Mutlaq states, "To my knowledge, the federal court did not say the veto is not constitutional. They are trying to create a real political crisis."
Turning to the daily violence. First, a correction. McClatchy was included in yesterday's daily violence and that was Wednesday's daily violence. Not Thursdays. It will not be counted in the weekly total at Third. McClatchy didn't do a violence report on Thursday or, thus far, on Friday. Apparently, there were other things to do. Reuters noted the following violence today a Mosul roadside bombing today which injured a police officer, a Mosul stabbing of "an Egyptian" last night and another civilian shot dead in Mosul last night as well as a Thursday Baghdad bombing which left nine people injured.
Moving to Europe where noted War Hawk Tony Blair was delivered some, for him, bad news. As Middle East Online reports, "Former British premier Tony Blair took a blow after being rejected as EU president, mainly due to his stained repuation after supporting and taking part in the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003." There is no joy in the killing fields tonight, Poodle Tony has struck out. Blair is the former British prime minister. His roll dog Gordon Brown is the current one. Leicester Mercury reports Brown is refusing to meet with the father of Peter Moore who was kidnapped along with 4 other British citizens in Iraq back in May 2007. The other four are all dead or thought by the government to be dead. Only Peter Moore is assumed to be alive at this point. But Brown has refused to meet with him and the reason given is that the "designated next of kin" is not Graeme Moore. Though some are shocked by Brown's decision, it should be remembered that Gordon is himself a War Hawk and, as such, may not be able to fake compassion very well and just attempting to do so may wear Gordon Brown out. In which case, he needs to limit the occassions on which he fakes sympathy in public.
Nora Barrows-Freidman: We are now joined on the phone by Stephen Funk. He was one of the earliest who refused to serve in the occupation of Iraq. And, Stephen, thank you so much for being with us again on Flashpoints.
Stephen Funk: Thanks for having me.
Nora Barrows-Freidman: Tell us a little bit about your own history of refusing military service and then what can you say about this international push to dismantle militarism and the specific relationship between the United States and its expanding policies of entrenched occupations in the Middle East and Israel's ongoing and long suffering project of occupation and colonialism? What are the similarities that-that you're seeing there on the ground in Palestine, Israel? And what about the solidarity and the meetings you've been having with Israeli refuseniks?
Stephen Funk: I guess, with my own story, I joined the military after 9-11. I voluntarily enlisted in the Marine Corps. I came from a background of activism. I grew up in Seattle, organized for the WTO and I moved to LA and protested against the Democratic National Committee in 2000 and I also spent two months in the Philippines when their president was being impeached -- that was at the same time George W. Bush was being inaugurated for the first time and I was hoping that the same kind of thing could happen in the United States that was happening in the Philipines. But despite that background, I enlisted. I feel -- maybe as an activist, I thought I could be a more reasonable person in Afghanistan and not be like a racist, hot head which is what I thought a lot of people joining at the time -- there was a lot of a fear going on and lot of people joining at the time were very reactionary about 9-11 and, you know that was -- that was where I was coming from. But when I went to the Marine Corps, I went to the violent training and I had to shout "Kill! Kill! Kill!" all the time and, you know, I also had to deal with being queer in the military. And I realize that I didn't want to be violent and I did not want to participate in any war -- especially the Iraq War for political reasons. But then, that I couldn't aim a gun at anybody and pull the trigger and that, ultimately, that is what I would be doing if I stayed in the marines. I had the option -- because I was gay, I had the option to get out under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And everybody knew I was gay, everybody thought I was gay. It wouldn't have been difficult. But my issue wasn't that I was being oppressed it was that I was being asked to oppress others. And I felt that it would be more honest to get out under conscientious objection. So I started work on that. I went back to San Francisco and participated in the shut down before the war began and kept on protesting and was speaking out anonymously. But then there wasn't very -- despite all of the rallies that were happening every weekend, despite, you know, all of the worldwide mobilizations and all of the people that were in the streets, the media wasn't paying attention to anybody. And I believe the difference between 2003 and the war began, it was as if everybody in the United States agreed with it -- despite the fact that I was living in San Francisco and clearly people were not happy that the war was happening. So I guess I just talked to people and I decided that I would become a public war resister. And I was the first person to do it. And, you know, the next several months, traveling the country -- I was based in New Orleans -- and I traveled the country. I was eventually sent to jail. That was the long story.
Eddie Falcon is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and he writes about the current project that he and others are working on here.
TV notes, NOW on PBS debuts its latest episode Friday on most PBS stations and this one examines:
The Pentagon estimates that as many as one in five American soldiers are coming home from war zones with traumatic brain injuries, many of which require round-the-clock attention. But lost in the reports of these returning soldiers are the stories of family members who often sacrifice everything to care for them. On Friday, November 20 at 8:30 pm (check local listings), NOW reveals how little has been done to help these family caregivers, and reports on dedicated efforts to support them. Washington Week also begins airing on many PBS stations tonight (and throughout the weekend, check local listings) and joining Gwen around the roundtable are John Dickerson (CBS News, Slate), Doyle McManus ( Los Angeles Times), David Sanger ( New York Times) and Karen Tumulty ( Time magazine). Meanwhile Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Avis Jones-Deweever, Page Gardner, and Tara Setmayer to discuss the week's events on PBS' To The Contrary. Check local listings, on many stations, it begins airing tonight. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:
The Cost of Dying Many Americans spend their last days in an intensive care unit, subjected to uncomfortable machines or surgeries to prolong their lives at enormous cost. Steve Kroft reports. | Watch Video
Witness Recently freed after four months of interrogation and torture at the hands of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari tells his story to Bob Simon and writes about his ordeal in the next issue of Newsweek.
Cameron's AvatarMorley Safer gets the first broadcast look at how "Titanic" director James Cameron created his $400 million 3D fantasy "Avatar." | Watch Video
60 Minutes, Sunday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
|
Posted at 05:25 pm by thecommonills
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Those 'intended' elections
A
number of mortar shells have targeted the sprawling US military bases
on the outskirts of Tikrit in Iraq's northern province of Salah al-Din.A
local police source told the Aswat al-Iraq news agency that multiple
mortar rounds landed Thursday morning inside Camp Anaconda, which is
located in the Yathrib district on the southern outskirts of Tikrit.The above is from Iran's Press TV which adds that Camp Speicher was attacked with rockets on Tuesday. Meanwhile Reuters reports
a Mosul roadside bombing today which injured a police officer, a Mosul
stabbing of "an Egyptian" last night and another civilian shot dead in
Mosul last night as well as a Thursday Baghdad bombing which left nine
people injured. While all of those serious events take place, the New York Times' editorial board never fails to provide huge guffaws. The
Constitution requires the election by the end of January. Election
officials had said that the law needed to be done by Oct. 15 to allow
enough time to prepare for the voting. Even though Iraq’s Parliament
overshot that deadline when it approved compromise legislation, the
election was expected to take place between Jan. 18 and Jan. 23.But
the Presidency Council (composed of the president, a Kurd, and two vice
presidents, a Sunni and a Shiite) has the final say. And Mr. Hashimi
chose to exercise his veto power and put in doubt Iraq's second
national election, a critical test of whether democracy can endure as
the United States withdraws its troops.It
was a new reminder that while violence in Iraq has significantly
declined over the last couple of years, underlying ethnic tensions
remain raw and unresolved.The above is from " Iraq's Election Law Morass"
and note, yet again, how the editorial board thinks the Constitution
matters . . . sometimes. Sometimes Iraq's Constitution doesn't matter.
It appears the editorial board is concerned with the Constitution only
when what they want doesn't happen. Refuse to conduct a national
census? The editorial board's okay with that. Refuse to resolve the
Kirkuk issue (as the Constitution mandated be done by 2007)? The
editorial board's okay with that. It's a funny sort of semi-devotion to
the Constitution but then the New York Times is a funny sort of news outlet. Sami Moubayed covers the developments in Iraq at Asia Times: Hashemi
claims the election law does not properly represent Iraqis living in
the diaspora, granting them no more than 5% of the 323-seat parliament.
According to numerous records, including those of the government, well
over a million Iraqis live outside of Iraq, most of them Sunnis. To
grant them proper representation, they ought to be given 15% of the
seats, Hashemi argued.Frantically,
Maliki responded. On Thursday evening, the Constitutional Court (over
which Mailik has plenty of influence) overruled Hashemi's veto, calling
it "unconstitutional".The
problem will now be returned to parliament, which on Saturday will vote
on two options: it can send the same law that Hashemi vetoed back to
the three-member presidency council, where it is likely to be vetoed
again - or it can amend the law to address Hashemi's concerns.Under
the constitution, however, parliament can override a second veto with a
three-fifths majority, which it probably could amass if most Shi'ite
and Kurdish lawmakers chose to. Waleed Ibrahim, Suadad al-Salhy, Aseel Kami, David Alexander, Deepa Babington, Samia Nakhoul and Todd Eastham (Reuters) report,
"Instead of addressing Hashemi's demand that the law give more seats to
Iraqi refugees and minorities, lawmakers squabbled over whether the
veto was legal. They scheduled a session Saturday in which they would
vote on whether to reject Hashemi's veto and send the law back for
approval by the three-person presidency council without changes, said
the speaker of parliament, Ayad al-Samarai." They go on to address the
claims Baha al-Araji was making (see yesterday's snapshot)
about the veto being "unconstitutional" and how this is "political
wrangling" and MP Saleh al-Mutlaq states, "To my knowledge, the federal
court did not say the veto is not constitutional. They are trying to
create a real political crisis." Tracy Barker was raped while working in Iraq for KBR. She has received a settlement
and that's great for her and she deserves much more than she has but
we're not going to be playing that up because it's only a matter of
time before KBR (currently appealing the judgment) turns around and
starts trying to argue that this is proof that arbitration works (it's
not proof) and that there's no need to utilize the court system (there
is). TV notes, NOW on PBS debuts its latest episode Friday on most PBS stations and this one examines: The Pentagon estimates that as many as one in five American soldiers are coming home from war zones with traumatic brain injuries, many of which require round-the-clock attention. But lost in the reports of these returning soldiers are the stories of family members who often sacrifice everything to care for them. On Friday, November 20 at 8:30 pm (check local listings), NOW reveals how little has been done to help these family caregivers, and reports on dedicated efforts to support them. Washington Week
also begins airing on many PBS stations tonight (and throughout the
weekend, check local listings) and joining Gwen around the roundtable
are John Dickerson (CBS News, Slate), Doyle McManus ( Los Angeles Times), David Sanger ( New York Times) and Karen Tumulty ( Time magazine). Meanwhile Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Avis Jones-Deweever, Page Gardner, and Tara Setmayer to discuss the week's events on PBS' To The Contrary. Check local listings, on many stations, it begins airing tonight. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers: The Cost of Dying Many
Americans spend their last days in an intensive care unit, subjected to
uncomfortable machines or surgeries to prolong their lives at enormous
cost. Steve Kroft reports. | Watch Video Witness Recently
freed after four months of interrogation and torture at the hands of
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari tells
his story to Bob Simon and writes about his ordeal in the next issue of
Newsweek. Cameron's AvatarMorley Safer gets the first broadcast look at how "Titanic" director James Cameron created his $400 million 3D fantasy "Avatar." | Watch Video 60 Minutes, Sunday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m. ET/PT. Radio notes, today on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show
(begins airing on most NPR stations live at 10:00 am EST and begins
streaming online at the same time) finds Diane and her guests
addressing the week's news. The first hour, domestic, has Naftali
Bendavid (Wall St. Journal), Eleanor Clift ( Newsweek) and Byron York ( Washington Examiner) joining her while the second hour's panel (the international hour) is Nadia Bilbassy (MCB TV), James Fallows ( Atlantic Monthly) and Moises Naim ( Foreign Policy). Also, yesterday on the first hour,
Diane and her guest explored the mental health issues (including the
news of the increased suicide rate this year in the Army) on the second
hour of the program. The most recent Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox
(began airing and streaming Sunday) is her interview with Noam Chomsky
-- this is the interview where she asks the questions her listeners
e-mailed. Eddie notes this from Cindy's " Barack Obama Does Not Speak For Me" (Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox): I
can't count how many times I have been called an "anti-war radical,"
and I have never killed anyone or plotted to kill anyone, but I will
NOT support the troops by supporting insupportable missions. I will
not support the "mission" by paying my Federal income taxes and I will
not support the troops by flying the imperial flag or putting a yellow
ribbon on my car, either. I will support the troops the only way I know
how: by being an "anti-war radical," no matter what the cost. If we
"lose" in the "wars" that the Bush regime started and the Obama regime
has escalated it only will be because they were ever started in the
first place.Page Gardner, who'll be on Bonnie Erbe's show, is the president of Women's Voices, Women Vote which announced yesterday: Women's
Voices. Women Vote is pleased to announce the appointment of Amy C.
Young as our Executive Director. She will be responsible for managing
the organization's programs and overseeing its daily operations.Ms. Young comes to WVWV with extensive experience in the non-profit and for-profit sectors, specializing in organizational development,
strategic planning, fundraising, and grassroots organizing. In her
nearly 20 years of experience, Amy has developed a particular expertise
in mobilizing citizens to participate in elections and public policy debates.Most
recently, Amy was president of the consulting firm Progressive
Solutions Group. Previously, she was the Executive Director of Voices
for Working Families. Prior to that Amy served as Midwest and Deputy Political Director for the Democratic National Committee. She also served two years as the Executive Director of the Ohio Democratic Party. Amy has also worked for the ACLU, AFL-CIO, and SEIU. She began her career as a legislative aide to Ohio State Senator, Neal Zimmers.A native of Ohio, Amy graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Dayton with Bachelor of the Arts degrees in History and Political Science.We're
very excited to have Amy joining the organization and we look forward
to her leadership as we develop the next generation of models, methods,
and messages to keep the Rising American Electorate engaged in our
democracy.And we'll close with this from Debra Sweet's " Propelling the Resistance into 2010" (World Can't Wait -- national meeting in NYC, use link): I'm looking forward to meeting with people from around the country at World Can't Wait's national meeting
this weekend. We are determined to go forward and mobilize people on
the basis of principle to oppose, resist, and stop the crimes of our
government, the fascist re-making of the U.S., and to do all this with
creativity, daring and confidence that we can succeed.In the past year, under different political conditions than when World Can't Wait was founded to drive out the Bush Regime, we have done some amazing things with limited resources and a national network of volunteers:challenged the broader anti-war movement to stand up against the "good war" Obama is escalating: Afghanistan stayed visible, in the streets, resisting and protesting in cities from Hawaii to New York and many betweenorganized the We Are Not Your Soldiers
tour, bringing the true story of what the military is like as told by
veterans themselves to high school students around the countrybroke into national media with our protests of John Yoo (the torture lawyer now teaching at UC Berkeley), protests shutting down the Army Experience Center, on the anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan in front of the White House, and while sucessfully defending the heroic Dr. Carhart in Omaha, Nebraska from violently anti-choice groups recently, we've been in the streets of DC with many thousands at the National Equality March, and helped organize a national tour for British author and filmaker Andy Worthington, with his new film, Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo. The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqpress tvthe new york timesthe asia timessami moubayedcindy sheehannoam chomskydebra sweetwaleed ibrahimsuadad al-salhyaseel kamidavid alexanderdeepa babingtonsami nakhoultodd easthamreuters60 minutescbs newspbsnow on pbsto the contrarybonnie erbenprthe diane rehm showwashington week
Posted at 06:32 am by thecommonills
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35-year-old Staff Sgt Ryan Zorn died while serving in Iraq November 16th. He hails from Upton, Wyoming. Steve Miller (Rapid City Journal) speaks
with his father Myron Zorn who reveals the family has "no information
about when the body will arrive in Wyoming" but intend "to hold funeral
services in Wright and bury Ryan Zorn at Black Hills Nation Cemetery".
Myron Zorn describes the lack of information as "frustrating." Jeremy Godmeier (Gillete News Record) adds: The Zorn house is packed with food. People just keep dropping by with a fresh dish to plop on the table."I could feed an army," says Myron, a coal miner at Black Thunder.Flags fly at half-staff throughout town. Yellow ribbons adorn poles in memory of Zorn.Meanwhile Amanda Kim Stairrett (Killeen Daily Herald) reports
on a ceremony at Fort Hood yesterday to remember four of the fallen:
Pfc Daniel Jose Rivera (killed in Mosul last month), Sgt Bradley
Espinoza (killed in Q-West, Iraq last month) and Spc Jason Dean Hunt
and Pvt Francheska Velez who were among the ones murdered in the
November 5th Fort Hood shooting. All four were part of the 1st Cavalry
Division. Stairrett reports: Rivera
was exactly where he wanted to be when he died -- with his buddies,
said his friend, Spc. Jose Guzman. When he went home during leave to
visit his family, all he could talk about was getting back to his
friends in Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd
Brigade Combat Team.Rivera
was raised by a single mother and she said that he -- her first-born
son -- was the love of her life. He had a tough-guy mentality and
wanted to do something big, she told Lt. Col. Andre Cieply, the
division's rear detachment chaplain.Rivera was 22 at the time of his death.Espinoza
was a 26-year-old combat engineer who embodied the motto of his
military occupational specialty, "Clearing the way," said Capt. Russell
Toll, rear detachment commander for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team's 1st
Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment.Espinoza and Toll served in the brigade together in Baqubah during the division's second deployment to Iraq.Roadside
bombs wreaked havoc on the battalion and leaders decided that combat
engineers would go out before patrols to clear the way. Toll said he
had no doubt that Espinoza's work during that 15 months saved the lives
of their fellow soldiers.Espinoza
set an example of a devoted husband, father and noncommissioned
officer, Toll said. He was always there for his soldiers, even if it
meant getting in the dirt with them.Espinoza
aspired to be a drill sergeant and was set to begin schooling after
returning from Iraq. He had a presence about him that gave soldiers
confidence, Cieply said.Espinoza is survived by his wife, Maria, and their children, Joseph and Celeste.Jeremy Schwartz (Austin American-Statesman) notes: Velez,
21, was three months pregnant, and friends and officers said she was
excited about being a mother. She had returned from Iraq early because
of the pregnancy. Soldiers remembered Velez, the child of Colombian immigrants, as someone who loved dancing and writing poetry. "We
may never know the reasoning behind the attack," Capt. Peter Friend
said during the service. "But we will always know the impact she made
in our lives. She would not like to be seen as victim. Remember her as
a battle buddy." Hunt had
just married his girlfriend, Jennifer, two months before he was killed
and had only learned of an impending deployment to Iraq the day before
the attack. She and their three children were scheduled to move to
Killeen this weekend from his native Oklahoma. His wife collapsed in
tears after the memorial and had to be helped out of the 1st Cavalry
Division Chapel. Meanwhile Gregg Zoroya (USA Today)reports
that eight service members wounded in the November 5th shooting intend
to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq according to Army Reserve Major
General Lie-Ping Chang and, of the Fort Hood shooting, "This was not
the first tragedy for the 1908th unit heading for Iraq, Chang says. One
of that unit's psychiatrists, Matthew Houseal, 54, volunteered this
year to deploy to Iraq with another Reserve unit, the 55th Combat
Stress Control Team. Houseal was working at a clinic on an installation
outside Baghdad on May 11 when Army Sgt. John Russell allegedly opened
fire, killing Houseal." Staying with the Fort Hood shooting,
Monday the Senate Armed Services Committee had a hearing scheduled to
begin at 4:30 in the afternoon to review the Fort Hood shootings.
However, the administration refused to participate. For whatever
reasons, they refused to involve the public in the issue. The White
House would try to have a 'meeting' where they discussed it with some
senators. Senator Susan Collins, who serves on the Senate Armed
Services Committee, blasted the 'information' provided -- as Mike noted earlier this week. Yesterday, Senator Joe Leiberman scheduled a hearing a refused to cancel it when the administration refused to participate. Dana Milbank (Washington Post) notes
that former Homeland Security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend, former
deputy national security adviser Juan Carlos Zarate and the former vice
chief of staff of the army Jack Keane were present to offer testimony: Conspicuously
absent: anyone from the Obama administration. They declined a request
for their testimony by Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Senate homeland
security committee. It was
a familiar trope of the Bush years: A congressional committee would try
to investigate the administration's actions -- over intelligence
failures in Iraq, for example -- but the administration would stiff the
committee and then set up its own internal inquiry to preempt the
lawmakers' probe and keep embarrassing details quiet. On Thursday, the
Obama administration followed every element of the script, short of
hiring Ari Fleischer. Lieberman's office issued the following yesterday: Lieberman, Collins Open Fort Hood InvestogationHearing Witnesses Agree Incident was a Terrorist AttackWASHINGTON
- Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe
Lieberman, ID-Conn., and Ranking Member Susan Collins, R-Me., Thursday
opened their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the
murder of 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, with testimony from witnesses
expert in the military, Islamist extremism and self-radicalization, and
federal intelligence collection and information sharing."We
will look at the Fort Hood murders not as an isolated event, but as
part of a larger pattern of homegrown terrorism that has emerged over
the past several years," Lieberman said. "Our purpose is to determine
whether that attack could have been prevented, whether the federal
agencies and employees involved missed signals or failed to connect the
dots in a way that enabled Hasan to carry out his deadly plan. If we
find such errors or negligence we will make recommendations to
guarantee, as best we can, that they never occur again. "After
acknowledging the intelligence information-sharing improvements made in
the wake of 9/11, Collins said, "the shootings at Fort Hood may
indicate that communication failures and poor judgment calls can defeat
systems intended to ensure that vital information is shared to protect
our country and its citizens. The case also raises questions about
whether or not restrictive rules have a chilling effect on the
legitimate dissemination of information, making it too difficult to
connect the dots that would have allowed a clear picture of the threat
to emerge.U.S. Army Major
Nidal Malik Hasan is charged with killing 12 of his fellow soldiers and
one civilian on November 5. When asked, four of the five panel
witnesses agreed that, based on available evidence, the incident was a
terrorist attack. The fifth witness, a member of the New York City
Police Department, declined comment because of the ongoing federal
criminal investigations. In addition, Retired Army Vice Chief of Staff
General John Keane testified that he was not aware of any U.S. Army
guidelines to help commanders, officers, and soldiers identify behavior
that could be categorized as Islamist extremism. Keane, who commanded
the Fort Bragg, N.C., army base shortly after the murder of two African
American civilians in 1995 by white supremacist soldiers, said the Army
subsequently developed guidelines to identify white supremacist
behavior.Lieberman began
the hearing by recognizing the thousands of Muslim-Americans who serve
in our military with honor and stressed that the Committee
investigation would respect them, and every other Muslim resident of
our country. But he said, "we do no favor to all of our fellow
Americans who are Muslim by ignoring real evidence that a small number
of their community have become violent Islamist extremists and
terrorists."Lieberman also
said he had had discussions with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and
Attorney General Eric Holder about the Administration's cooperation
with the Committee investigation with regard to document and witness
production. Both said they respected the Committee's authority to
conduct an investigation as long as it did not interfere with the
ongoing criminal investigation."We
are off to a good cooperative start," Lieberman said. "I am optimistic
that we will work out a way for both investigations to proceed without
compromising either."Collins
added: "Our ongoing investigation will also seek answers to questions
specific to the Fort Hood case. For example, how did our intelligence
community and law enforcement agencies handle intercepted
communications between Major Hasan and a radical cleric and known al
Qaeda associate? Did they contact anyone in Major Hasan's chain of
command to relay concerns? Did they seek to interview Major Hasan
himself? When Major Hasan reportedly began to openly question the oath
that he had taken to support and defend the Constitution of the United
States, did anyone in his military chain of command intervene? When
Major Hasan, in his presentation at Walter Reed in 2007, recommended
that the Department of Defense allow "Muslim soldiers the option of
being released as 'conscientious objectors' to increase troop morale
and decrease adverse events," did his colleagues and superior officers
view this statement as a red flag? "Were numerous warning signs ignored
because the Army faces a shortage of psychiatrists and was concerned,
as the Army Chief of Staff has subsequently put it, about a 'backlash
against Muslim soldiers?' These are all questions that we will seek to
answer."In addition to
General Keane, witnesses were Frances Fragos Townsend, former Assistant
to President Bush for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; Mitchell
D. Silber, Director of Intelligence Analysis at the New York City
Police Department; Juan Carlos Zarate, Senior Advisor, Center for
Strategic and International Studies and Former Deputy National Security
Advisor for Combating Terrorism; and Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior
Advisor at the RAND Corporation.Since
2006, the Committee has held 10 hearings and issued a report on the
phenomenon of violent Islamist extremism and self radicalization in the
U.S., and the role the internet plays in both. In this morning's gina & krista round-robin, you can find Wally's report on the hearing (he attended it). In the San Francisco Bay Area, Dennis Cuff (Contra Costa Times) reports that " BART will offer $50 free ride tickets to members of the armed services on leave from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [. . .] To
get the tickets, military members would need to appear at a BART ticket
center and present their military identification and leave papers." And R. Norman Moody (Florida Today) reports on the training at Camp Blanding for deployments: The
guard unit will leave in early January for Fort Hood, Texas, where they
will train for several more weeks before deployment to Iraq and Kuwait
in early February. They will take with them 1,000 vehicles and
weapon systems to protect convoys and transportation routes between
Iraq and Kuwait as the United States continues troop withdrawal and
turns over security responsibilities to the Iraqi government. The following community sites updated last night: And Ruth's " New Jersey's important vote," Marcia's " Jayne Lyn Stahl strikes again," Trina's " Economy, abortion, mammograms," Ann's " Top 10 reasons Oprah's quitting," Kat's " House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia" and Isaiah's " Feinstein questions at the NSA hearings." The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqrapid city journalsteve millerthe gillette news recordthe killeen daily heraldamanda kim stairrettthe austin american-statesmanjeremy schwartzusa todaygregg zoroyathe washington postdana milbankdennis cuffthe contra costa timesr. norman moodythe world today just nutsanns mega dubkats kornersex and politics and screeds and attitudethomas friedman is a great mantrinas kitchenthe daily jotcedrics big mixmikey likes itruths reportsickofitradlzoh boy it never ends
Posted at 06:29 am by thecommonills
Permalink
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Lietenant
colonel Dominic "Rocky" Baragona was killed when his Humvee was hit by
an out-of-control tractor-trailer from the Kuwaiti and Gulf Link
Transport Company, which had been contracted by the United States
government for work in the area.His father, Dominic Baragona, said his son's death was not investigated until the family pursued the issue.That's from WFMJ's " Father of valley soldier testifies before Congress." Lt Col Dominic Baragona was killed while serving in Iraq on May 19, 2003. His parents were in DC yesterday at a hearing. A visitor e-mailed about it this morning and I said we'd note it this evening. May 20, 2003, DoD announced:
"The Department of Defense announced today that Lt. Col. Dominic R.
Baragona, 42, of Ohio, was killed on May 19, in Iraq. A tractor-trailer
jackknifed on the road and collided with Baragona's HMMWV causing his
death. Baragona was assigned to 19th Maintenance Battalion, Fort Sill,
Okla. The incident is under investigation." The investigation or
'investigation' did very little and the family had to be the force
driving the search for truth and justice. David Goldstein (Kansas City Star) explains,
"The family ran up against an Army investigation of the accident that
didn’t include key details, among them the name of the company that
owned the tractor-trailer, an interview with its driver or his
identity. The Baragonas pushed for a second probe, which found the
driver was at fault. But they have endured legal stonewalling and a
by-the-book attitude from the military that members of the Senate panel
said seemed strangely removed from any concern over the death of one of
its own." Sabrina Eaton (Cleveland Plain Dealer) reports: The
Baragonas' lawsuit seeking damages from the Kuwait & Gulf Lines
Transport was thrown out of court on the grounds that U.S. courts lack
jurisdiction over foreign contractors. Baragona, who now lives in
Florida, thinks that law should change so that U.S. citizens have legal
recourse if they are harmed by foreign contractors employed by the U.S.
government. His years of
lobbying congressional offices with his wife, Vilma, who baked brownies
for the staffers they met, finally seems likely to bear fruit. Bills
have been introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives that
would subject foreign contractors to U.S. legal oversight. On
Wednesday, Baragona told the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on
Contracting Oversight that the bill "will not bring us justice or
peace, but it will ensure that no family of an American soldier will
ever have to go through the hell that we have endured for over six
years, thanks to KGL's inhuman silence."The hearing was
the Governmental Contracting Subcommittee of the Senate's Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Senator Claire McCaskill is the Chair of the Subcommittee and, if you click here,
you can stream the hearing online. At some point, someone might need to
start explaining why families have to fight for the truth. Every time
the military's exposed in a cover up or denial, the brass says it was
an error and never again. And anyone's who has lived beyond the current
wars is fully aware that it's always again, over and over. It's not
just stupid (though it is stupid, families will always be angrier about
bad news if it's kept from them), it's also disrespectful. The military
is supposed to value everyone who serves within its ranks and when they
stonewall or outright law about how a service member died, it cheapens
the institution and insults the memory of the fallen. It's over, I'm done writing songs about loveThere's a war going onSo I'm holding my gun with a strap and a gloveAnd I'm writing a song about warAnd it goesNa na na na na na naI hate the warNa na na na na na naI hate the warNa na na na na na naI hate the warOh oh oh oh-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!) Last Thursday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4362. Tonight? 4363.The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqi hate the warthe balletthe cleveland plain dealersabrina eatonthe kansas city stardavid goldsteiniraq
Posted at 08:32 pm by thecommonills
Permalink
Thursday,
November 19, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, the 'intended'
elections remain up in the air, the US State Dept ignores warnings on
refugees, another Iraqi is sentenced to execution, and more. Starting
with the 'intended' January elections in Iraq which are in question as
a result of the veto by Iraq's Sunni vice president Tariq al-Hashemi. Waleed Ibrahim, Suadad al-Salhy, Aseel Kami and Deepa Babington (Reuters) reports
that the MPs are stating presently they intend to ignore his objection
and just revote on the same draft law -- while exploring whether or not
he has the 'power' to veto. This will reportedly take place on
Saturday. Abu Dhabi's the National condems
al-Hashemi's action in an editorial, "Mr al Hashemi has claimed that
his veto was in defence of the constitution, but that is seriously in
doubt. Even his right to a veto is dubious as the constitutional
provisions regulating the presidency council state that all its
decisions must be unanimous. This was not the case here. If anything,
it appeared to be motivated by blind sectarian interest, which is all
the more shameful considering the effort it took to overcome those same
interests and pass the law in the first place." But the paper's Phil Sands and Nizar Latif report
that Iraqi exiles are ecstatic over al Hashemi's move and quotes Jalil
Abu Arshad stating (from Syria), "I fully support the need to give more
seats to exiles. The .parliament agreed to have one MP representing
each 100,000 Iraqis and nobody can believe that the seven or so seats
that would be chose by refugees is enough. There are millions of Iraqis
with no choice but to live outside the country and they have the right
to a say in choosing the next government. This is a matter of
democratic principles, it has nothing to do with Sunni, Shia or Kurd." Now,
unfortunately, the Obama administration -- in the beginning, it was
good in being vocal and clear about the withdrawal being time-based,
not conditions-based, which is the main difference between the Obama
plan and the Bush plan. Bush talked for six years about how the US will
leave when conditions permit. But Obama talked about a timetable for
withdrawal that is not conditions-based, and that's why his plan had a
lot of support in the US and Iraq. Poor, stupid
Raed, apparently play-acting tires him out. Reality, Barack always
talked conditions based. Raed was too busy self-stroking to posters of
Barry O to deal with reality but those of us who aren't WHORES knew
reality some time ago. Let's drop back to the January 15th snapshot --
before Barack was even sworn in: Today Elisabeth Bumiller and Thom Shanker (New York Times) report on the US military commanders contingency plan for Iraq. Last month Bumiller and Shanker reported
on the military commanders presenting a partial drawdown of US troops
in Iraq on a slower scale than Barack's 'pledge' of 16 month
withdrawal (of "combat" troops only). No objections were raised over
the timeframe by the president-elect but, in case objections are
registered in the immediate future, they've come up with an alternate
plan they could implement. This calls for a high of 8,000 a month
(more likely four to six thousand) to be pulled. Using the high
figure, 48,000 US service members could be out of Iraq (with at least
30,000 of that number redeployed to Afghanistan) in six months. That
would still leave close to 100,000 US troops in Iraq. And there is no
full withdrawal planned by Barack. That is why he refused to promise
that, if elected, all US troops would be out of Iraq by the end of his
first term (2012). Of course, Barack also rushed to assure the Times
(2007) that he would easily halt any drawdown and rush more troops back
into Iraq (and no words to declare this a temporary measure) when he
sat down with Michael Gordon and Jeff Zeleny (see this Iraq snapshot and Third's article and the actual transcript
of the interview -- a transcript Tom Hayden should have read before
humiliating himself in public, then again Tom-Tom seems to enjoy public
humiliation). So the article tells you that the military's preparing
for all possibilities . . . except the possibility the American people
want (and some foolishly believe Barack ever promised) full withdrawal
of Iraq. That is not an option the military even considers. "In
the beginning," Raed? Before Baby Jarar Jarar grabs his crayola to do
another one of those laughable e-mails, let's note that the "this Iraq
snapshot" links back to November 2, 2007.
Yes, before Barack was even the Democratic Party nominee, he was
explaining any subtracting of troops (not a full withdrawal -- he never
promised that outside of campaign slogans) would be conditions based.
From the November 2, 2007 snapshot: So
let's be clear that the 'anti-war' Obama told the paper he would send
troops back into Iraq. Furthermore, when asked if he would be willing
to do that unilaterally, he attempts to beg off with, "We're talking
too speculatively right now for me to answer." But this is his heavily
pimped September (non)plan, dusted off again, with a shiny new binder.
The story is that Barack Obama will NOT bring all US troops home. Even
if the illegal war ended, Obama would still keep troops stationed in
Iraq (although he'd really, really love it US forces could be stationed
in Kuwait exclusively), he would still use them to train (the police0
and still use them to protect the US fortress/embassy and still use
them to conduct counter-terrorism actions. Facts is hard for Baby Raed. Someone change his diaper, he's looking cranky. Raed
does what Amy loves her guests to do: Channel spirits from the Land of
Fantasy. Having no facts, Raed starts offering fantasies of why the
vice president vetoed the election law. Naturally, since Raed wants
the election law, the vice president must be evil and full of malice to
do something Raed doesn't approve of. Amy laps that s**t up because,
after all, this is the Crazy who, in Decmeber 2003, was broadcasting
across the air waves -- with fellow lunatic John Nichols -- that
Hillary would take over the 2004 DNC convention in an attempt to grab
that year's presidential nomination. It takes a lot of crazy to live
in Amy Goodman's world and Raed's crazy enough to qualify as a
next-door neighbor. Raed's real tight with
CODESTINK -- which we all know isn't a peace group (by their actions,
they revealed themselves) -- so he spins for Barry and states that the
US military withdrew from all Iraqi cities at the end of June. The
bases? Raed doesn't want to think about them, that would require work
and the only work most could picture him doing is deciding which photo
of Barry to place on his pillow while he humps the bed to climax each
night. Hey, anyone remember when Raed was 'informing' that the 'surge'
was really going to be used to attack Shi'ite militias? Oh,
that fact-free, wacky child. Kisses, Raed, kisses. Also
making an ass out of himself is Baha al-Araji who has given multiple
statements to the press today (they may or may not print them
tomorrow). The Shi'ite who serves on Iraq's Constitutional Court
states/rules (depending upon which outlet he's speaking to) that Tariq
al-Hashmi doesn't have the power to veto the election law. Now that
would toss the issue up in the air and require examination but chatty
al-Araji goes on to weaken his own case by blathering on about how his
own (al-Araji) deciding was based on what al-Hashmi objected to. That
would undercut al-Araji's alleged conclusion. Either the presidential
council has the power to veto or they don't -- it doesn't matter what
their reasoning is. They possess the power or they don't. At every
other point, the council's possessed this power. Most outlets will
probably ignore the ravings of al-Araji because the Parliament's taking
up the issue on Saturday. Today at the Pentagon, US Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates spoke on the subject of the veto and where things
stand currently, "And we hope that the concerns that have been
expressed can be resolved quickly and a -- and new legislation passed
to that the election can take place within the constitutional
framework, meaning before the end of January." Tariq
al-Hashemi: What I have done in fact is based on my Constitutional
obligation. When I discovered there was a major loophole, it's our duty
-- according to the Constitution -- to try to make some sort of remedy
on a legal basis and that is what I have done today. Kamahl
Santamaria: Okay, so you've done it according to the Constitution.
You've done what you say is legal. My question to you though is the
repercussions of this. If this election can't happen as it is supposed
to happen by January the 31st, then what happens? It is a huge
opportunity lost for Iraq. Well I
don't think that this sort of amendment is going to defer the timetable
of the commission. I made a thorough discussion with the commission
staff the day before yesterday. I very much assured that all logistic
had been already covered, action had been taken, so just to make this
amendment is going to take one or two days, is not going to make any
major shift to the timetable that has been agreed upon. Kamahl
Santamaria: But what's interesting is I spoke to a member of the
electoral commission only an hour ago. He said everything's off,
they're not pressing on with anything, of course it's been thrown into
doubt. Tariq al-Hashemi:
I'm not -- I'm not agree. I think this announcement is not based on any
-- on any acceptable ground because, as I told you in fact, I-I-I had a
lengthy discussion the day before yesterday. I checked everything and
the chairman of the commission told me specifically that all action
being taken, all what we need in fact to press the button on the form
which will be according to number of seats and this could be sorted out
within hours. Kamahl Santamaria: Why is
five-percent, the sticking point of five-percent for Iraqis in exile,
Iraqis abroad, why is five-percent not enough? Tariq al-Hashemi:
Well five-percent, in fact, if you just -- if you just reflect it to a
number of seats -- we are talking a number not exceeding, in no way,
seven seats. Seven seats according to Article 49 of the Constitution
doesn't mean anything. According to the text of this article, we have
to ensure that each 100,000 Iraqis, whether they are living inside or
out -- or outside Iraq, they should be entertained by one seat. So
seven seats doesn't entertain the least figure which ministry of
migration has maintained time being. The number of Iraqis outside
of-of Iraq which has been recorded as per Ministry of Migration
is one-million-five hundred. If you're talking NGOs, international
human rights, this figure could reach to 4.5 million. So if we are
allocating only seven seats, this means that we are entertaining
700,000 Iraqis and ignored 800,000. If
you paid attention, not only did Amy Goodman not book anyone to present
the side above, it was never addressed. Just nutty conspiracy theories
from Raed. Amy calls it "public affairs" -- no one knowledgable would
use that term. Monday's snapshot
noted the assassinations of the Sahwa members in Sadan village and that
the assassins were said to be wearing Iraqi forces uniforms. Aswat al-Iraq reports
Tariq al-Hashemi declared at a Wednesday news conference, "What
happened in Abu-Ghraib two days ago is that groups in army uniform
arrested 17 people from their houses, then killed them with cold blood
in a nearby ceremony." Staying with the topic of Sahwa, we're dropping
back to the March 30th snapshot: Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) explained Saturday,
"16 people were injured (seven Sahwa members, four Iraqi soldiers and
four civilians) after clashes broke out between the Iraqi army and
Sahwa members in Fadhil neighborhood in downtown Baghdad around 2 p.m.
The clashes broke out during an operation of the Iraqi army to arrest
the leader of Fadhil Sahwa and one of his deputies. Five Iraqi soldiers
were kidnapped in the incident." McClatchy's Leila Fadel added
Adel Mashhadani was the arrest target and that the arrest of him (as
well as an assistant) "heightened fears among Sunnis that the Iraqi
government plans to divide and disband the movements now that its taken
control of all but a few thousands of the 94,000 members across the
country." Adel Mashhadani is in today's news cycle. The Telegraph of London reports that he has been "condemned to death" for an alleged kidnapping and murder. John Leland (New York Times) adds
that he has his defenders and detractors and that rumors swirl
including: "Many Fadhil residents said that Mr. Mashhadani was not in
police custody but was in Turkey, and that the courts announced the
sentence to incite Sunni violence and justify a government crackdown.
Some said the plan was led by Iranians in the government." Larry Johnson (Seattle PostGlobal) reports,
"Iraq is planning to excute up to 126 women by the end of the year. At
least 9 may be hanged with the next two weeks. Human rights goupt say
the only crime committed by many of these women was to serve in the
government of Saddan Hussein. Others, according to human rights groups
like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, were convicted of
common crimes based on confessions that were the result of torture."
Last September, Amnesty International released a report [PDF format
warning] entitled " A Thousand People Face The Death Penalty In Iraq" which noted that the country "now has one of the highest rates of executed in the world" and: Defendants
commonly complain that "confessions" were extracted from them under
torture during pre-trial interrogation, often when they were held
incommunicado in police stations or detention facilities controlled by
the Ministry of Interiror. These "confessions" are then often used as
evidence against them at their trials, and are accepted by the courts
without taking any or adequate steps to investigate defendants'
allegations of torture. Defendants also complain that they are not able
to choose their own defence lawyers; those tried before the CCCI
[Central Criminal Court of Iraq] on capital charges have defence
lawyers appointed by the court if they are unable to pay for defence
counsel, but the quality of such representation is low. Some lawyers
refuse to represent defendants accused of "terrorism", mostly Sunni
Muslims, fearing reprisals by armed milita groups linked to Shi'a
political parties represented in the Iraqi Council of Representatives
(parliament). Back in November of 2006, Brian Bennett (Time magazine) reported
on the "glitches and logistical snafus" in the executions including a
man hanged September 6th -- the rope broke and he fell fifteen feet and
declared "Allah saved me! Allah saved me!" while a debate took place
among officials for forty minutes over whether it was divine
intervention or not. In October of 2008, Robert Fisk (Independent of London) reported
on the executions and quoted an unnamed British official who explained
a hanging recently observed, "They made him stand on the bench, put the
rope round his neck and pushed him off. But he jumped on to the floor.
He could stand up. So they shortened the length of the rope and got
him back on teh bench and pushed him off again. It didn't work. They
started digging into the floor beneath the bench so that the guy would
drop far enough to snap his neck. They dug up the tiles and the cement
underneath. But that didn't work. He could still stand up when they
pushed him off the bench. So they just took him to a corner of the cell
and shot him in the head." "The reports
already out," declared Michael H. Posner this afternoon to US House Rep
Jim Costa. "Those designations will happen in the next few months. The
human rights -- the broader human rights report is just a factual
summary." Posner, the Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights and Labor at the US State Dept, was appearing before the
US House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South
Asia. The report he was refering to was the State Dept's International Religious Freedom Report which was released October 26, 2009. At
the end of the reporting period, national identity cards continued to
note the holder's religion, which has been used as a basis for
discrimination; however, passports did not note religion. Law
No. 105 of 1970 prohibits the Baha'i Faith, and a 2001 resolution
prohibits the Wahhabi branch of Islam. Although provisions on freedom
of religion in the new Constitution may supersede these laws, no court
challenges have been brought to have them invalidated, and no
legislation has been proposed to repeal them. In
April 2007 the Ministry of Interior's Nationality and Passport Section
canceled Regulation 358 of 1975, which prohibited the issuance of a
nationality identity card to those claiming the Bahai' Faith. In May
2007 a small number of Baha'is were issued identity cards. The
Nationality and Passport Section's legal advisor stopped issuance of
the cards thereafter, claiming Baha'is had been registered as Muslims
since 1975 and citing a government regulation preventing the conversion
of "Muslims" to another faith. Without this official citizenship card,
Baha'is experience difficulty registering their children for school and
applying for passports. Despite the cancellation of the regulation,
Baha'is whose identy records were changed to "Muslim" after Regulation
358 was instituted in 1975 still could not change their identity cards
to indicate their Baha'i faith, and their children were not recognized
as Baha'is. A March 2006 citizenship law specifically precludes Jews from regaining citizenship if it is ever withdrawn. [. . .] There
were allegations that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) engaged
in discriminatory behavior against religious minorities. Christians and
Yezidis living north of Mosul claimed that the KRG confiscated their
property without compensation and that it began building settlements on
their land. Assyrian Christians alleged that the Kurdistan Democratic
Party (KDP)-dominated judiciary in Ninewa routinely discriminated
against non-Muslims and failed to enforce judgments in their favor.
There were reports that Yezidis faced restrictions when entering the
KRG and had to obtain KRG approval to find jobs in areas within Ninewa
Province administred by the KRG or under the security protection of the
Peshmerga. There were also allegations
that the KRG exhibited favoritism toward the Christian religious
establishment, and it was alleged that on February 17, 2008, KRG
authorities arrested and held incommunicado for four days an Assyrian
blogger, Johnny Khoshaba Al-Rikany, based on articles he had posted
attacking corruption in the church. Yezidi
and Shabak political leaders alleged that Kurdish Peshmerge forces
regularly committed abuses against and harassed their communities in
Ninewa Province. Districts that are within the security control of the
Peshmerga include Sinjar, Sheikhan, Ba'asheq (sub-district of Mosul),
and Bartalla (sub-district of Hamdaniya). Minority leaders alleged that
Kurdish forces were intimidating minority communities to identify
themselves as Kurds and support their inclusion in the KRG. Yezidi
political representatives also reported that because of their religious
affiliation, they were not allowed to pass through security checkpoints
in areas controlled by Kurdish Peshmerga as they traveled from Baghdad
to their communities in northern Iraq. The
KRG denied allegations that it was behind violent incidents directed at
Christians and other minorities. Moreover, despite such allegations,
many non-Muslims reside in northern Iraq and the KRG area, and there
were reports that some sought refuge there from other parts of the
country where pressures to conform publicly to narrow interpretations
of Islamic tenets were greater. In February 2009, the IOM estimated
that there were 19,100 internally displaced families in the Ninewa
Plain and that 43,595 internally displaced families were located in the
Kurdistan region. In reply to a
question from US House Rep Bob Inglis today, Posner said there were
three things the US government could do to support religious
communities being targeted around the world: 1) Be very viligant when religious communities are targeted and in trouble. 2) The US government can help amplify their voices. 3) The US government can provide direct, material, financial support. With
regards to the US government speaking out against targeting of
religious communities, Posner declared that "governments take notice of
that" and that "it is always valuable for us to speak out." Religious
minorities are among Iraq's refugee population. The genocide and
ethnic cleansing of Iraq led to millions of refugees -- some internal,
some external. Julien Barnes-Dacey (Christian Science Monitor) reports
that "up to 2 million" of the external refugees "remain stranged in
neighboring countries" while the United Nations faces shortfalls in
funding. As Barnes-Dacey reports, that has not prevented Iraqi
refugees from continuing to leave Iraq. One example of that is Abu Ali
who entered Syria in August and states, "I had to leave: they say
there's security, but on the ground it's a different story. They still
kill you because of your ID papers." As a backdrop to the crisis, the
US State Dept's Eric Schwartz wrapped up a multi-day bad will tour
today. Over the weekend, Schwartz made the usual ass of
himself including when AP interviewed him
and, despite the fact that various humanitarian organizations have
issued studies this year pointing out how little the Baghdad government
or 'government' has done for refugees, he declared 'strides have been
made'. And the 'answer' is for Iraqi refugees to return to Iraq --
despite the fact that the Red Cross and the United Nations both have
stated that that Iraq is not 'safe' enough for refugees to begin
returning nor is that country able to handle a mass return. Wednesday he was in Syria which estimates they currently house 1.2 million Iraqi refugees. Khaled Yacoub Oweis (Reuters) reports
that Schwartz declared the influx of Iraqi refugees to the US this
current fiscal year would be "substantial." And Schwartz declares it
will be "at least 17,000." That's substantial? By whose measurement?
Or have we forgotten Schwartz promised 20,000 would be settled in FY
'09 -- a little over 18,000 were re-settled in the US for that fiscal
year. So 'substantial' is now even less than his predications for the
last fiscal year? Phil Sands (The National) reports: Abdul
Rahman Attar, the president of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, criticised
the international community and the Iraqi government, saying both were
failing in their duty to care for displaced Iraqis. And he cautioned
there were dangerous implications in four million people continuing to
live as refugees, many of them struggling to cope with increasing
levels of poverty. "Perhaps the
world is underestimating the significance of the Iraqi refugees issue,"
he said. "It is not a short-term matter. We are talking about medium-
and long-term impacts. It has already been six years or more for some
refugees and they need greater support. "The international
community should not allow its attention to drift easily away from the
refugees. This issue is a bomb that can still explode at any time." It
would certainly seem that Eric Schwartz is underestimating the
significance. But the State Dept has always done that with Iraq --
especially with regards to Iraq's LGBT community and the continued
assault on the community. Tuesday, Kelvin Lynch (Dallas Examiner) was reporting that Iraqi LGBT
was estimating the number of LGBT men and women murdered in Iraq since
the start of the illegal war is 720 and Lynch observes, "But the big
question continues to be, why hasn't the U.S. government done anything
to help?" Taylor Luck (Jordan Times) reports on the Sabian Mandaeans who left Iraq due to the violence and are currently in Jordan: Fatwas
were issued declaring Mandaens kuffar, or infidels. Mandaens, known for
their gold and jewellery craftsmanship, became frequent targets of
kidnappings, with ransoms set as high as $100,000. Since
the US-led invasion, the Mandaean Human Rights Group has recorded
around 180 killings, 275 kidnappings and 298 assualts and forced
conversions within Iraq. Bombings? Shootings? Please
note, Reuters has filed no story on violence today. That is why you do
not use ICCC for an Iraqi body count -- ICCC only goes by Reuters,
'their' count is a tally of Reuters. Meanwhile in the United States, Gidget Funetes (Navy Times) reports
that Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy, "rejected a clemency request
from a Marine infantry squad leader convicted of killing an Iraqi man
in 2006, a case that drew two jury convictions and five guilty please
from seven other members of his squad." This is the case where US
service members ("the Penleton 8") plotted to kill an Iraqi and went to
his home April 26, 2006 only to find him not at home and instead
grabbed another Iraqi whom they bound, dragged and shot dead. Jeanette Steele (San Diego Union-Tribune) reports
Mabus was asked to review the case in terms of Lawrence Hutchins
conviction and eleven year sentence and that Mabus denied Hutchins
clemency and "also ordered that four of the other seven defendants in
the case be discharged from the military." Mark Nero (LA Examiner) identifies
the four, "Marine Lance Cpls. Tyler Jackson, Jerry Shumate and John
Jodka III, and Navy Corpsman Melson Bacos were the servicemembers
ordered removed. They had been originally been allowed to stay on
active duty after serving short jail terms for lesser offenses." Finally, NOW on PBS debuts its latest episode Friday on most PBS stations and this one examines: The Pentagon estimates that as many as one in five American soldiers are coming home from war zones with traumatic brain injuries, many of which require round-the-clock attention. But lost in the reports of these returning soldiers are the stories of family members who often sacrifice everything to care for them. On Friday, November 20 at 8:30 pm (check local listings), NOW reveals how little has been done to help these family caregivers, and reports on dedicated efforts to support them.
Posted at 04:21 pm by thecommonills
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Iraq
is planning to execute up to 126 women by the end of this year. At
least 9 may be hanged within the next two weeks. Human rights groups
say the only crime committed by many of these women was to serve in the
government of Saddam Hussein. Others, according to human rights groups
like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, were convicted of
common crimes based on confessions that were the result of torture.The above is from Larry Johnson's " Iraq planning to hang up to 126 women by year's end" ( Seattle PostGlobe).
Iraq reintroduced the death penalty in 2004. Last September, Amnesty
International released a report [PDF format warning] entitled " A Thousand People Face The Death Penalty In Iraq." In November of 2006, Brian Bennett (Time magazine) reported on the topic: Since
the Iraqi government reintroduced capital punishment in 2004, several
executions have been beset by glitches and logistical snafus. At first,
executioners used an old rope left over from Saddam's regime that
stretched too much to break the condemned's neck; it sometimes took as
long as eight minutes for the hanged to die. New ropes brought in for
later executions jerked harder on the convicted person's spine, but
executioners soon noticed the cords fraying on the bend of the
reinforced steel installed in the cement ceiling of the gallows. During
a recent round of executions, on Sept. 6, the rope snapped after 12
hangings, sending a condemned man plummeting 15 ft. through the trap
door onto the hard concrete floor below. Miraculously, he survived.
"Allah saved me!" he shouted. "Allah saved me!" For 40 minutes, prison
guards, officials and witnesses engaged in heated arguments over
whether or not to interpret the broken rope as divine intervention.Robert Fisk (Independent of London) reported on the topic in October of 2008, noting the gruesome details: The
secrets of Iraq's death chambers lie mostly hidden from foreign eyes
but a few brave Western souls have come forward to tell of this prison
horror. The accounts provide only a glimpse into the Iraqi story, at
times tantalisingly cut short, at others gloomily predictable. Those
who tell it are as depressed as they are filled with hopelessness."Most
of the executions are of supposed insurgents of one kind or another," a
Westerner who has seen the execution chamber at Kazimiyah told me. "But
hanging isn't easy." As always, the devil is in the detail."There's
a cell with a bar below the ceiling with a rope over it and a bench on
which the victim stands with his hands tied," a former British
official, told me last week. "I've been in the cell, though it was
always empty. But not long before I visited, they'd taken this guy
there to hang him. They made him stand on the bench, put the rope round
his neck and pushed him off. But he jumped on to the floor. He could
stand up. So they shortened the length of the rope and got him back on
the bench and pushed him off again. It didn't work."There's
nothing new in savage executions in the Middle East -- in the Lebanese
city of Sidon 10 years ago, a policeman had to hang on to the legs of a
condemned man to throttle him after he failed to die on the noose --
but in Baghdad, cruel death seems a speciality."They
started digging into the floor beneath the bench so that the guy would
drop far enough to snap his neck," the official said. "They dug up the
tiles and the cement underneath. But that didn't work. He could still
stand up when they pushed him off the bench. So they just took him to a
corner of the cell and shot him in the head." Meanwhile in the United States, Gidget Funetes (Navy Times) reports
that Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy, "rejected a clemency request
from a Marine infantry squad leader convicted of killing an Iraqi man
in 2006, a case that drew two jury convictions and five guilty please
from seven other members of his squad." This is the case where US
service members ("the Penleton 8") plotted to kill an Iraqi and went to
his home April 26, 2006 only to find him not at home and instead
grabbed another Iraqi whom they bound, dragged and shot dead. Jeanette Steele (San Diego Union-Tribune) reports
Mabus was asked to review the case in terms of Lawrence Hutchins
conviction and eleven year sentence and that Mabus denied Hutchins
clemency and "also ordered that four of the other seven defendants in
the case be discharged from the military." Mark Nero (LA Examiner) identifies
the four, "Marine Lance Cpls. Tyler Jackson, Jerry Shumate and John
Jodka III, and Navy Corpsman Melson Bacos were the servicemembers
ordered removed. They had been originally been allowed to stay on
active duty after serving short jail terms for lesser offenses." In
Iraq, the 'intended' January elections are in question as a result of
the veto by Iraq's Sunni vice president Tariq al-Hashemi. Waleed Ibrahim, Suadad al-Salhy, Aseel Kami and Deepa Babington (Reuters) reports
that the MPs are stating presently they intend to ignore his objection
and just revote on the same draft law -- while exploring whether or not
he has the 'power' to veto. This will reportedly take place on Saturday. Lynda notes Christian Schwagerl's " Obama Has Failed The World On Climate Change" ( CounterCurrents): Barack
Obama cast himself as a "citizen of the world" when he delivered his
well-received campaign speech in Berlin in the summer of 2008. But the
US president has now betrayed this claim. In his Berlin speech, he was
dishonest with Europe. Since then, Obama has neglected the single most
important issue for an American president who likes to imagine himself
as a world citizen, namely his country's addiction to fossil fuels and
the risks of unchecked climate change. Health care reform and other
domestic issues were more important to him than global environmental
threats. He was either unwilling or unable to convince skeptics in his
own ranks and potential defectors from the ranks of the Republicans to
support him, for example by promising alternative investments as a
compensation for states with large coal reserves.Obama's
announcement at the APEC summit that it was no longer possible to
secure a binding treaty in Copenhagen, is the result of his own
negligence. China, India and other emerging economies have always
spoken openly about the fact that the US, as the world's largest
emitter of CO2, has to be proactive in commiting itself to targets
agreed on by way of international negotiation. But that is not
America's style. The US is quite happy to see itself as the leader of
the Western world. But when it comes to climate change, America has
once again failed miserably -- for the umpteenth time.If
the rest of the world were to follow the US example in their approach
to fossil fuels, the oceans would not only heat up, but would probably
soon begin to boil. American CO2 emissions per capita are about twice
as high as those in comparable industrialized nations and many times
greater than those of the developing world. The climate change bill
that is currently making its way through Congress does not go nearly
far enough -- and that is Obama's fault. The bill proposed reducing CO2
emissions by a ridiculous 4 percent relative to 1990 levels, by 2020.
Climate researchers believe that reductions of 40 percent or more are
required. The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
iraqthe seattle postglobelarry johnsontime magazinebrian bennettthe independent of londonrobert fiskgidget fuentesjeanette steelesan diego union-tribunemark neroreuterswaleed ibrahimsuadad al-salhyaseel kamideepa babingtonchristian schwagerliraq
Posted at 06:54 am by thecommonills
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