Wednesday, April 8, 2009.  Chaos and violence continue, Falluja goes under crackdown, Barack returns to the US, the attacks on Iraq's LGBT community gets some serious attention, and more.   The devil went down to Georgia, or you might have thought something similar must have happened as all three commercial broadcast networks suddenly rediscovered Iraq last night.  Not much of value despite the Big Three basically over approximately sixteen minutes when you combine all their reports.   CBS Evening News with Katie Couric (here for video of the episode) offered a report by Bill Plante which folded in Chip Reid's audio report (noted in yesterday's snapshot) which was the breaking news on the trip.  Reid's biggest contribution (post flooded zone with everyone covering the topic) is probably his noting the number of US troops Barack spoke to (five hundred to seven hundred) -- a basic fact and one that the White House didn't try to keep secret but, amazingly?, some print outlets attempted to triple the number.  NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (here for video page) offered a report from Richard Engel which folded in NBC's Chuck Todd and also offered an exchange between Engel and anchor Brian Williams.  Value in the report?  Only this from Engel: "Tonight Air Force One took off with its lights turned off apparently out of security concerns as President Obama began the twelve hour trips back to Washington."  ABC World News Tonight with Charlie Gibson offered a report from Jake Tapper.  There were a few bits of value in Tapper's report.  Sadly this is one: "The visit was kept secret for security reasons."  Sadly?  Despite the fact that the visit was kept secret some outlets (New York Times) had to pretend that wasn't the case.  Pretend?  Let's call it what it was: LYING.  Helene Cooper can take the fall for that.  Tapper, Sulen Miller and Karen Travers wrote up the vists and link includes video. No network posted a transcript of their report and their online streaming does not offer closed captioning.  Those needing transcripts can click here (consider those rush transcripts).   PBS' The NewsHour covered the stop-over and, as usual, they have the option of transcript, audio or video. Accessible to all, as PBS programs should be -- should all be. But apparently commercial networks feel no such obligation?    They felt no obliation for real much -- including no obligation for reality.  Barack landed at the airport surrounded by Camp Victory, quickly hightailed it in an armed motorcade to a palace on Camp Victory and received people there. He could not venture out.  The excuse the White House tried to float was "dust". Golly, dust didn't prevent Nouri or Iraqi President Jalal Talabani from meeting with him on the safety of the US military base. And who knew "dust" grounded flights in Iraq?  For those who can remember, March 2003 did see a dust storm that grounded some helicopter flights.  The dust storm knocked over a fuel tanker.  So it was, in fact, more than dust.  It was a sandstorm.  There was no sandstorm in Iraq yesterday.  As every reporter on that trip (and I've spoken to three) damn well knows, there was no "dust" excuse, let alone a sandstorm.  You can read Andrew C. Revkin (New York Times) reporting in 2003 on that impending sandstorm because that was actual news.  Did you see any reports Monday predicting a sandstorm?  No.  Did you read any reports of a sandstorm yesterday or today?  No.  You were played for a fool if you bought into the lie.  Barack couldn't travel to Baghdad. He could only land in and stay on the US military base. And they want to pretend that things are safe in Iraq? And they want to pretend that Barack represents change? The US media continues to LIE and play like this is normal. It's not normal. It was never normal. Foreign leaders go to Iraq all the time. They actually visit Iraq. Those who pay attention will remember this issue coming up in April of last year. April 8, 2008, Ryan Crocker, US Ambassador to Iraq, and General David Petraeus were doing their days of testimony and that afternoon popped in on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Barbara Boxer had some questions and observations: She then focused on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad noting, "The Bush administration told the American people more than five years ago that we would be greeted as liberators in Iraq and supporters of the war said that they would be dancing in the street with American flags." That didn't happen and not only did that not happen but when Ahmadinejad goes to Iraq, he's greeted warmly while Bully Boy has to sneak "in, in the dead of the night." She wondered, "Do you agree that after all we have done, after all the sacrifices, and God bless all of our troops . . ., that Iran is stronger and more influential than ever before?" Crocker wanted to debate that reality. He stated it was just militias. Boxer pulled out reports that demonstrated it wasn't, where Ahmadinejad was greeted warmly even by children who gave him flowers, kissed him on both cheeks. "I'm saying that after all we have done," Boxer declared, "the Iraqi government kissing the Iranian leader and our president has to sneak into the country -- I don't understand it." Crocker still wanted to argue leading Boxer to respond, "I give up. It is what it is. They kissed him on the cheek. . . . He had a red carpet treatment and we are losing our sons and daughters every day for the Iraqi people to be free. . . . It is disturbing." Last year, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could walk (with his guards) throughout Baghdad and be greeted warmly. Barack can't even be Humvee-ed into Baghdad. And Ahmadinejad didn't keep his visit a secret. It was known well ahead of time. Like a coward, the US president had to slink into Iraq and had to remain hidden away on the US military base. That's disgusting. All the more so when you grasp how other leaders move freely. And Tony Blair did. Bush's poodle moved freely.  Yesterday, Adam Kokesh spoke with Dennis Bernstein on KPFA's Flashpoints.     Dennis Bernstein: Well President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to Iraq today talking about withdrawals but his policy appears to be widening the war, privatizing it and expanding in Afghanistan. We want to continue to get the views of those who strongly oppose this war, those who opposed it first inside and now outside.  Adam Kokesh is joining us.  He is an Iraq veteran and a member of the board of Iraq Veterans Against the War.  Kokesh said, "Today Obama's plan is to continue the indefinite presence of 50,000 troops in Iraq, have an increased reliance on private contractors." Adam Kokesh, welcome back to Flashpoints.  It's good to have you back.  You did serve in Iraq.  Your initial response to Obama's visit and what he's saying?   Adam Kokesh: Well I appreciate what you said about -- by way of people that truly oppose the war as opposed to Kool-Aid drinkers who drank the Obama Kool-Aid and are still on their various stages of hangover at this point, realizing that he really didn't mean to change anything.  But there are still those of us out here who truly believe in non-interventionism, who truly believe in respecting the people of the rest of the world and that our foreign policy should only represent the truly benevolent will of the American people and not the interest of the American empire or the military-industrial-complex. The thing about this trip though that Obama just made to Iraq is what's so interesting is how much it stands in stark contrast to his trip of last July when he was still at least broadly seen as an anti-war candidate.  Now, I mean, I read the fine print from the beginning.  And really didn't believe him when he said "I would like to end the war" because I read the fine print.  And the fine print said twelve months, forty to sixty-thousand troops and, you know, an increased reliance on private contractors.  So I knew he wasn't about ending the war from the beginning but at least when he was able to fool enough people into believing that that's what he wanted to do, when he went to Iraq as a senator, and as an anti-war candidate, he didn't need anymore security than the troops on the ground or the generals at least, generals on the ground, as they're called, who really run our foreign policy.  But now, as president, when people know what he really stands for and what he's actually planning on doing there, he's got to go in in secret and with super intense security.  Now I understand there's some increased security necessary when you're the president as opposed to a candidate but by stark contrast, Ahmadinejad walks around the streets of Iraq like it's cool because they respect him there.  They're not going to respect the next imperialist American president no matter what his skin color is.   Dennis Bernstein: Well let's talk just a little bit more about what he's saying here.  He's really talking about private contractors.  He's talking about the continuing expanding privatization of US foreign policy.  How does that play into this for you?   Adam: Well it's really scary.  I mean the idea of what is government and what is it that we give the government the power to do and that is, you know government is an idea, it is a group of people that have a socially granted monopoly on the use of force.  What we are doing now is allowing the government to use force to tax and exploit the American people and then give that money specifically to other people to do violence on other people. And that's a whole other separate move from the what is socially acceptable to what is the appropriate role of government. And this is, of course, nothing new.  But a lot of this centers around Blackwater and of course Blackwater 'ah they changed their name so they're not a threat anymore!' right?  Well the contract that Blackwater had in Iraq went to other companies.  Blackwater, by the way, was never the biggest one.  One of the bigger ones was Triple Canopy and Triple Canopy just got some of the contracts that Blackwater had. So what Blackwater had to do because they damaged their brand so much, they lost a lot of contracts, they had to lay a lot of people off -- but when those contracts go to another corporation that's doing the exact same thing, they're hiring the exact same people that Blackwater laid off with the exact same mentality of "We're the American Big Guns, no laws apply to us here, we can run roughshod over this country and do whatever we want."  And the fundamental responsibility for that is still with us the American people and we are falling down on the job.  We fell down on the job when we elected Barack Obama president and we continue to do so by failing to hold him accountable and bring about the appropriate pressure to really change our foreign policy.   Dennis Bernstein: We're speaking with Adam Kokesh.  He is an Iraq War veteran.  He is on the board of Iraq Veterans Against the War.  He has been among the most outspoken veterans standing against this war.  Now, and I don't want to play around with hyperbole, but let me ask you the question this way, Adam: When does this illegal war -- obviously we all remember we were lied into a war, nothing was ever founded in terms of the claims, so in terms of this illegal war and occupation, when does it become a crime also of the Obama administration?   Adam Kokesh: Oh, I would say it became a crime the day that he took office and didn't demand that it stop.  If you want to say -- and that's not hyperbole.  You know, I said that Obama is as much a War Criminal as Bush ever was.  Now if you want to debate the scale of those war crimes for initiating a war versus perpetuating it, okay, I can give you a little slack there.  Bush was a bigger War Criminal than Obama perhaps but they are still squarely in the same category.  They're both War Criminals.  And what Obama is doing in terms of allowing the occupation to continue, you know, you might say is not criminal if it doesn't involve a deliberate act but I think being president you take on a greater responsibility in that role.  More specifically though, as putting Obama squarely in that category his plan, or his current escalation, in Afghanistan and the attacks he's order by unmanned drones into Pakistan. You know the specific violation of the sovereignty of  Pakistan.  That in and of itself constitutes a War Crime.  By all the international law standards, that's a War Crime.  Every attack into Pakistan is a  violation of their sovereignty.  Those are War Crimes. You know, let's not pull punches here just because he's an African-American or because he's a Democrat.  People are dying.  And in Pakistan, when they were protesting a few months ago, before Obama even was elected, when he was just vocally supporting the attacks that Bush had going into Pakistan, they were burning effigies of Obama right next to the American flag and the people that are suffering at the hands of our imperialist foreign policy, they don't care about the skin color of our president.  And in terms of Iraq, the criminality there is that it's not about how many troops are there or what you call them because we know the idea of re-designating troops "non combat" isn't going to change anything about how the Iraqis resent our presence or the fundamental fact that this an occupation. And there were a number of presidential candidates that pointed out, that pointed this out. And I'm going to single out John Edwards here who I've met and talked about this and thanked him for taking a stand because one thing that he said very specifically was that he would immediately end all combat operations.  That is really the crux of what is this occupation. It is the forceful interference with the sovereignty of the Iraqi people.  And that is something that Obama could change at the snap of his fingers, with an executive order.  And that he has not done that, maybe it's less technically, is he being less of War Criminal by not ending it immediately? I don't know.  The way that he is deliberately  perpetuating it, the way that he is escalating Afghanistan and the violation of the sovereignty of Pakistan?  Those are War Crimes.  Those are very distinctly, technically War Crimes.  And that is not hyperbole.   Dennis Bernstein: Alright, Adam.  I want to ask you two more questions and they really focus in on your active resistance to the war and the different stands that you've taken.  First of all, let me take you back to Iraq.  When you talk about War Crimes, do they include that which you witnessed yourself?    Adam Kokesh: Yeah.  Our presence there, when we are not welcome, is in and of itself a War Crime.  So let's make that clear, first of all, our presence there by force, against the will of the Iraqi people although it might have been less harder when I was there in 2004 in Falluja to quantify what was the will of the Iraqi people but at this point it is -- there is no doubt to the fact that they would rather have us not in their country.  During the siege of Falluja there were definitely the indiscriminate use of artillery and air fire power into the city of Falluja that was by its nature bound to lead to civilian casualties.  And I believe that that constituted a War Crime as well.    Dennis Bernstein: Alright and finally, sort of looking back at your last day in Iraq and your life now that includes a whole bunch of resistance, arrests, being tracked by various levels of the National Security State, has anything changed at the core of you since then, since you left?  And what is it that's driving you now?   Adam Kokesh: Well I've always been a libertarian and the core of that philosophy -- and at first, at least, before I went to Iraq -- and for the record I was against the war before the war as someone who believes in the foreign policy of non-interventionism. But before I went to Iraq, being a libertarian was more of an intellectual thing than an emotional thing or a spiritual thing.  And having come back from Iraq and joined Iraq Veterans Against the War and gone through the ensuing process of personal exploration and discovery and all the ways that I've grown and been challenged by taking on these huge issues and doing my best to be an effective organizer, I've come to realize in a very visceral way that the issues that we debate are not just a matter of academics or debate or interpretation or anything like that -- they really are a matter of life and death. It really is a matter of what is morally right and wrong. And at the corp of my political philosophy is the principle of self-ownership.  That you, as a human being, own yourself, and any violation of that by force is fundamentally immoral.  And for me, it is based on a choice you know the difference between state-ism or liberty is a matter of choosing to really love humanity or not.  And I fully make that choice to express as much as I can in my life a full, complete, courageous love for humanity.  And out of that love is a natural faith that the better nature of humanity  will triumph in the long run, that humanity progresses, that things will get better, that we are able as a species to live lives based on a greater love.  And from that faith inherently leads me to a lifestyle of respecting the people I come into contact with, an innate respect for fellow human beings.  And that respect that we all seek, that we all want and desire as basic human beings, to not have our lives forcefully interfered with by anybody, I think the way that we talk about liberty and freedom in society are mere measurements of that respect because obviously our government does not respect us.  Our gov -- the people that make up our government think that they have some divine right to claim ownership over our bodies, you know, with the drug war, with our system of taxation, with our system of foreign policy, they demonstrate that they feel they have some claim to the lives of people in the rest of the world, that they have some divine right as the American government to do that.  And so, that's what I want to do with my life and that's how I've changed, deciding that I want to apply my life to taking on the greatest injustices to those core values of faith and respect.  And I see them all sourced out of Washington, DC.  The United States Federal Government is the greatest source of injustice in the world today.  And so, you know, that's how I've changed, that's how I've brought in and how I've really got in touch with the truly philosophical spiritual basis of my politics, if you will.  And that's what motivates me, my love for humanity.          Dennis Bernstein: Alright well, Adam Kokesh, I hope that we can continue this dialog and maybe talk more maybe about a transformation that we see happen somewhere but I'm going to keep just some hope alive there but we thank you for laying it down and giving us a perspective that we really need to be thinking about as we face so much war, expanded military budgets, so on and so forth, we're going to leave it --   Adam Kokesh: Well I  take it you're smart enough to not be hoping for any more 'change' from Obama or have any more hope in him but  my hope, and I believe yours too, comes from the people first.   Dennis Bernstein: Adam Kokesh is an Iraq War veteran and a member of the board of Iraq Veterans Against the War and I think you can tell he's against these wars.  Thanks for being with us.   Adam Kokesh: Hey, man, thank you.   The hour long, Monday through Friday program is archived at KPFA and at Flashpoints.  Yesterday's NewsHour found Judy Woodruff interviewing US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and she asked him about Barack's trip, specifically, "What is his message to the Iraqis?"  Despite being asked that, Gates instead went to the troops and then came to Iraqis.  Apparently, they are bad children and certainly Barack's scolding of them yesterday, from one of their palaces which the US occupies, about their need to be responsible and take control, lecturing from one of Iraq's palaces which the US occupies, was all about saying Iraqis are the second-class citizens of the world.  That was Barack's patronizing message.  Gates told Woodruff, "I think his message to the Iraqis is, almost certainly, keep on doing what you're doing; keep on resolving problems politically; keep on working at reconciliation; get ready for your elections.  We are going to keep our side of the bargain in terms of the agreement, in terms of draw-downs of troops and you have to step up to your responsibilities now, too." A question Gates should be asked, in light of the footage, is whether the for-show troops at Barack's political rally yesterday should have behaved the way they did.  Their behavior was shameful, however, I will offer a semi-apology on calling that out.  They were ordered, as various e-mails have explained (and I confirmed it with a friend at M-NF and two friends at the White House) to, quote, "whoop it up" for the cameras.  The US military was ORDERED to behave in that embarrassing fashion.  You've never seen anything like that before and you never should again.  Gates might need to be questioned about that and certainly Barack should be questioned as to why his meeting with the troops required that they be instructed to "whoop it up" for the cameras?  The troops came off embarrassing and, since they were ordered to behave that way, someone up the chain needs to take accountability.   Woodruff did note that violence was on the rise in Iraq and asked what this meant regarding Barack's "pledge to get most of the troops out -- 19 months, most of them will be out by next year.  But if this violence were to step up considerably, is there a contingency plan?" Gates replied, "I think the president always has the authority to, as commander-in-chief, to change his plans."  As always with the US officials, he went on to blame al Qaeda in Mesopotamia for any violence.  He did not however use that term.  He just tossed out al Qaeda.  He did not notice this was a homegrown group and that it did not exist until after the start of the Iraq War.   While Gates blamed al Qaeda, Rod Nordland (New York Times) reports in this morning's paper on an audio message released by Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, former deupty chair of Saddam Hussein's Revolutionary Command Council: "Mr. Douri called Mr. Maliki's government and Iraqi elections illegitimate because they were a result of the American military occupation.  Americans were withdrawing, he said, because they failed in Iraq but hoped to leave a puppet government in place."  Nordland reports that the statemetn (released on Tuesday) made no mention of Monday's Baghdad bombings or yesterday's.  Meaning if any "Baathist elements" led by al-Douri was responsible for the bombings, they most likely would have claimed creidt.  Nordland reports, "Mr. Douri's statement rejected any possibility of negotiations unless the Iraqi government met a series of conditions, which included allowing armed Baathists to take over the government and disbanding all institutions created after the American invasion."  No, it has nothing to do with religious factions.  Yes, Barack did present the sects as the only thing blocking progress in Iraq in his speech yesterday.   The United Nations Secretary-General issued the following on Monday:   The Secretary-General strongly condemns the string of bombings that struck a marketplace and other locations in Baghdad today, killing a large number of civilians and injuring many others. The Secretary-General extends his condolences to the families of the deceased.   The Secretary-General is confident that the people of Iraq will reject these reprehensible attempts to provoke sectarian violence in the country. He urges them to continue undeterred in their efforts to achieve lasting peace and national reconciliation. The United Nations remains committed to supporting the Iraqi people toward these ends.   While those statements are very common, the Secretary-General has been silent on the non-stop attacks on the LGBT community in Iraq. Also silent is the White House and the US State Dept and, apparently, the topic is so 'icky' to those reporters who attend press breifings, that no one ever bothers to ask about it under the current administration.  Timothy Williams and Tareq Maher give serious attention to the issue as does their paper, the New York Times, which front paged the issue this morning.  The reporters explore the ongoing attacks on Iraq's LGBT community and point out that the last two months have seen at least 25 allegedly gay males turn up dead in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad: "Most have been shot, some multiple times. Several have been found with the word 'pervert' in Arabic on notes attached to their bodies, the police said." They speak with 23-year-old Basima who explains he's lost three friends who were killed en route to a cafe. Iraqi police say the ones doing the killings are family members -- the same police who go on the record, by name, stating that gay males are "disgusting." Not much protection they're going to get from that police department.  The police department is now in the midst of another crackdown on the LGBT community, which is also bragged about by them in the article. Prior to the start of the illegal war, Iraq had a thriving LGBT community. The reporters note Naomi Klein's BFF Ali al-Sistani issuing his fatawa on gay people ("The people should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.") Naturally, Naomi never said a peep. Even though this fatawa was issued long after she'd begun praising al-Sistani in public. Some people believe 'democracy' starts and ends with them and screw everyone else.  It's a major story and one that deserves serious attention.  UPI offers a summary of Williams and Maher's report. David Warner (Creative Loafing) observes, "Openly gay Iraqis are being murdered with the tacit and sometimes overt approval of police and families."   Violence continues today.  Laith Hammoudi and Corinne Reilly (McClatchy Newspapers) report the Kadhemiyah neighborhood of Baghdad was bombed again today (bombed yesterday as well) with 7 people dead and twenty-three injured and speculation flying as to who is responsible.  Mohammed Madhi states it's Baathists while Mohammed Salman blames the government.  Jomana Karadheh (CNN) adds today's bombing, like yesterday's, took place "near a Shiite holy shrine".  Fadhel al-Badrani (Reuters) reports Falluja is under 'crackdown' as automobile and foot traffic is banned, schools and shops are ordered closed and the city is placed under curfew.  By?  Nouri and his goons.  35 people have been arrested: "Most of those arrested had recently been freed by the U.S. military from its detention centres or were suspected in the past of being al Qaeda sympathisers, said Lieutenant-Colonel Aziz Faisal of Falluja police."  Hussien Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an armed clash "took place between gunmen and an Armeican military unit in the New Mosul neighborhood" and that there have been no reports (thus far) of casualties.   Claudia Parsons (Reuters) has a review of the Iraq War and how it's currently seen.  We'll note this section:   But Alissa Rubin, New York Times bureau chief in Baghdad, said Iraq was in a dynamic and critical phase leading up to the drawdown of U.S. troops. "It's only as they pull out you see just how bad the violence might be," she said. "If you're sitting in New York or Washington or small-town Kansas, you look at Iraq and think 'OK, well, that war is kind of over...,' and you move on," Rubin said. "That's clearly the way most Americans see it, it's not on the front burner. But the reality is different," she said. The New York Times keeps at least three international reporters and a photographer in Baghdad in addition to locally hired personnel. But most U.S. media outlets, facing pressure to cut costs, have trimmed overseas staff, relying on agencies such as Reuters and the Associated Press.      iraq the cbs evening news with katie couric katie couric bill plante chip reid world news tonight with charlie gibson charlie gibson jake tapper nbc nightly news with brian williams brian williams richard engel chuck todd cbs news abc news nbc news sunlen miller karen travers judy woodruff pbs the newshour adam kokesh flashpoints dennis bernstein kpfa  claudia parsons iraq veterans against the war the new york times timothy williams tareq maher rod nordland mcclatchy newspapers laith hammoudi

So Barry met with Nouri yesterday and Nouri had to come to him. And not one damn outlet remarked upon that. Barack Obama, the president of the United States, allegedly Mr. Change, went to Iraq, landed at the airport surrounded by Camp Victory, quickly hightailed in an armed motorcade to a palace on Camp Victory and received people there. He could not venture out.

The excuse the White House tried to float was "dust". Golly, dust didn't prevent Nouri or Iraqi President Jalal Talabani from meeting with him on the safety of the US military base.

Barack couldn't travel to Baghdad. He could only land in and stay on the US military base. And they want to pretend that things are safe in Iraq? And they want to pretend that Barack represents change?

The US media continues to LIE and play like this is normal. It's not normal. It was never normal. Foreign leaders go to Iraq all the time. They actually visit Iraq.

Those who pay attention will remember this issue coming up in April of last year. April 8, 2008, Ryan Crocker, US Ambassador to Iraq, and General David Petraeus were doing their days of testimony and that afternoon popped in on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Barbara Boxer had some questions and observations:

She then focused on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad noting, "The Bush administration told the American people more than five years ago that we would be greeted as liberators in Iraq and supporters of the war said that they would be dancing in the street with American flags." That didn't happen and not only did that not happen but when Ahmadinejad goes to Iraq, he's greeted warmly while Bully Boy has to sneak "in, in the dead of the night." She wondered, "Do you agree that after all we have done, after all the sacrifices, and God bless all of our troops . . ., that Iran is stronger and more influential than ever before?"

Crocker wanted to debate that reality. He stated it was just militias. Boxer pulled out reports that demonstrated it wasn't, where Ahmadinejad was greeted warmly even by children who gave him flowers, kissed him on both cheeks. "I'm saying that after all we have done," Boxer declared, "the Iraqi government kissing the Iranian leader and our president has to sneak into the country -- I don't understand it." Crocker still wanted to argue leading Boxer to respond, "I give up. It is what it is. They kissed him on the cheek. . . . He had a red carpet treatment and we are losing our sons and daughters every day for the Iraqi people to be free. . . . It is disturbing."

Last year, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could walk (with his guards) throughout Baghdad and be greeted warmly. Barack can't even be Humvee-ed into Baghdad. And Ahmadinejad didn't keep his visit a secret. It was known well ahead of time.

Nothing changed with the election in November. Barack's continuing Bully Boy Bush's illegal war and, most importantly, he's no more welcome in Iraq than is Bully Boy. No, he didn't get a shoe tossed at him . . . yet. Neither did Bully Boy until his polls numbers had fallen and he was on the way out.

Like a coward, the US president had to slink into Iraq and had to remain hidden away on the US military base. That's disgusting. All the more so when you grasp how other leaders move freely. And Tony Blair did. Bush's poodle moved freely.

Timothy Williams and Tareq Maher's "Iraq’s Newly Open Gays Face Scorn and Murder" makes the front page of this morning's New York Times. The article notes the ongoing attacks on Iraq's LGBT community and points out that the last two months have seen at least 25 allegedly gay males turn up dead in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad: "Most have been shot, some multiple times. Several have been found with the word 'pervert' in Arabic on notes attached to their bodies, the police said." They speak with 23-year-old Basima who explains he's lost three friends who were killed en route to a cafe. (If he prefers to be called "Basima," that's what the New York Times should call him throughout the story. He should be referred to as "Basima" throughout and the sentence "'Basim,' who preferred to be called 'Basima' . . ." should instead read, "'Basima,' whose legal name is 'Basim' . . .") Iraqi police say the ones doing the killings are family members. And where do they learn to kill their own? If they are indeed the killers, they can 'thank' clerical instruction. They can also think disgusting trash like Lt. Muthana Shaad who will be featured at Third this weekend. We'll begin doing what the US government-military was too dumb ass to do though they kept wanting to and failing. (Didn't help that they hired the idiots of the entertainment industry. But that's all that was willingly work with them and their illegal war. As noted before, I was surprised with a walked-through meeting via a friend at the State Dept -- an unplanned meeting -- and I offered a two-minute summary of how they could speak to the Iraqi people. Perception sailed over their heads and I refused to go further. I wouldn't have gone to such a meeting had it been explained to me ahead of time. I'm not Monty McFatty. A real idiot who also doesn't grasp that not only is she destroying her field of study but she's highly ineffective at whoring -- well, no surprise there, look at her. They have no idea how you transmit values or how society does. They're idiots.) So piece of trash Muthana Shaad will be dealt with at Third. Probably repeatedly from now on.

The US looks the other way while the Iraqi police do their 'crackdowns' on gays and lesbians. This after the US installed the Shi'ite thugs in the first place. Prior to the start of the illegal war, Iraq had a thriving LGBT community. The reporters note Naomi Klein's BFF Ali al-Sistani issuing his fatawa on gay people ("The people should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.") Naturally, Naomi never said a peep. Even though this fatawa was issued long after she'd begun praising al-Sistani in public. Some people believe 'democracy' starts and ends with them and screw everyone else.


The reporters state, "Publicly, the Iraqi police have acknowledged only the deaths of six gay men in the neighborhood. But privately, police officials say the figure is far higher." That's incorrect. I didn't have time in yesterday's snapshot to note that. But Monday's snapshot included this:

In other violence noted over the weekend, Wisam Mohammed and Khalid al-Ansary (Reuters) reported Saturday that gays are being targeted in Baghdad, with four corpses discovered March 25th and 2 gay men murdered Thursday 'after clerics urged a crackdown'." Sunday Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reported the two were first "disowned" (by their homophobic and hateful families) and "The shootings came after a tribal meeting was held and the members decided to go after the victims." Tawfeeq reports the other were also disowned (and gives the date of their deaths as March 26th) and states a cafe in Sadr City was torched when it was said to be an LGBT hangout in Baghdad. The Dallas Morning News wrote a brief on the topic and UPI summarized Tawfeeq's report. AFP reported Sunday that the two corpses discovered Thursday "had pieces of paper attached on which was written the word 'Pervert" and that the two men were aged sixteen and eighteen and had also had "their arms and legs broken". In addition, AFP reports another man presumed to be gay was found on Friday -- which would bring the toll to seven -- and this follows Sheikh Jassem al-Muatairi's 'inspiring' sermon denouncing "new private practices by some men who dress like women, who are effeminate. I call on families to prevent their children from following such a lifestyle."

Seven. AFP's Sunday report made it seven. Four on March 25th, two last Thursday and one last Friday. AFP's article was entitled "Three homosexuals shot dead in Iraq: ministry" -- two on Thursday, one on Friday. AFP cites "a defence ministry official" as their source.

I would also argue the reporters are too quick to accept the police explanation (they blame the families for the murders and not militias). Why would you trust the police on this issue of responsibility? The same police station from which at Lt goes on the record, by name, stating that gays are "disgusting"? You're going to pretend that such a police station really gives a damn about who is killing gays?

"He said families typically refused to cooperate with the investigation or even to claim the bodies," no surprise there considering who staffs the police department and their attitudes. "No arrests have been made in the killings." No surprise there either considering who staffs the police department and their attitudes. Sadrist Abu Mahuaned al-Diraji denies that clerics' attacks on LGBTs is responsible and insists, "All we are doing is giving advice to people to take care of their sons." The reporters add:

He acknowledged, however, that some of the killing had been committed by members of "special groups," or death squads.
"In general, it is the families that are killing the gay son, but I know that there are gunmen involved in this, too," he said. "But we disavow anybody committing this kind of crime and we encourage the people to follow the law."

It's an important article on an important topic and it comes at a time of silence. For example, the United Nations Secretary-General issued the following on Monday regarding the bombings in Baghdad:

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the string of bombings that struck a marketplace and other locations in Baghdad today, killing a large number of civilians and injuring many others. The Secretary-General extends his condolences to the families of the deceased.
The Secretary-General is confident that the people of Iraq will reject these reprehensible attempts to provoke sectarian violence in the country. He urges them to continue undeterred in their efforts to achieve lasting peace and national reconciliation. The United Nations remains committed to supporting the Iraqi people toward these ends.

Yet he has never issued a statement on the slaughter of the LGBT community in Iraq. The United Nations which allegedly is interested in protecting everyone. Allegedly.

That is why San Francisco's measure (to be deliberated on Thursday morning) is important even if it's only symbolic. No one is speaking up. No international body is calling out the crimes -- hate crimes -- and murders. Everyone's looking the other way. We noted the Board of Supervisor meeting in yesterday's snapshot and Marisa Lagos (San Francisco Chronicle) did a post on the meeting:

The Board of Supervisors rushed through its weekly meeting today to get to the SF Giant's opening day on time -- but the group did manage to take care of some city business including approving a development plan for the Balboa Park area and introducing legislation on budget reform, the Armenian genocide, gay immigrants' rights, violence against gays in Iraq and a labor organizing campaign at two local hotels. (Hey, we didn't say it all made sense, just that it occurred quickly.)

Rod Nordland's "Former Hussein Aide Surfaces; Iraqi Premier Blames Baathists for Bombings " appears in today's New York Times and we'll try to get to it in today's snapshot. Sam Dagher's
"A Moment of Heroism After a Blast in Baghdad" and on another day it would get attention. It may not today. Laith Hammoudi covers the same story in "Infant survives Baghdad car bombing that killed 8" (McClatchy Newspapers). For those wondering whether to click or not, a bombing caught another car on fire. The driver (hired by a young woman -- apparently a mother) died as did the woman. A young infant was still alive in the burning car and was rescued. The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.



iraq
the new york times
timothy williams
tareq maher
rod nordland
sam dagher
mcclatchy newspapers
laith hammoudi
marisa lagos

Monday, April 6, 2009.  Chaos and violence continue, the US miltiary announces deaths over the weekend, violence sweeps Baghdad today, jury pool selection for USA v. Steven D. Green began today, and more.   Cindy Sheehan's latest Soapbox (her weekly internet radio program) went up Sunday. Her guests were Sara Rich (sexual assault activist, peace activist and mother of Suzanne Swift) and retired Army Col and retired State Dept diplomat Ann Wright.  Cindy's son Casey Sheehan died at age 24 in Iraq April 4, 2004.  During this show she spoke about counter-recruitment and she and her guests spoke about a number of other topics including Janis Karpinski being the fall person for Abu Ghraib.  From the broadcast, we'll note intros in case anyone doesn't know Cindy's guests and then focus on sexual assaults and traumas.   Cindy Sheehan: And you were concerned with -- in your career, being in the military and being in the diplomatic corps -- you were concerned with US foreign policy a lot but there was one thing that finally pushed you over the edge, wasn't there?    Ann Wright: Well indeed.  It was the decision of the Bush administration to invade and occupy an oil rich Arab Muslim country that had not attacked the United States and had nothing to do with 9-11.  And that was the decision to invade and occupy Iraq.  And I ended up resigning in March of 2003 in opposition to that war and ever since then I've been working with people like yourself and Sara Rich on stopping wars and proper treatment of our veterans when they return.   Cindy Sheehan: And Ann actually is one of the hardest working people in the peace movement.  She helped me at Camp Casey every single time we went to Crawford [Texas}.  She helped coordinate the volunteers and coordinate activities and she just is very admirable.     [. . .]   Sara Rich: Well I've always been a human rights activist -- even before she [her daughter Suzanne Swift] joined the military.  And when she joined the military she was told by the recruiter that she -- if she signed up for five years, that she wouldn't be deployed to a combat zone.    Cindy Sheehan: Right.   Sara Rich: And basically she was sent to a combat zone.   Neither of us had any idea about military sexual assault or that there was a term called military sexual trauma -- MST -- or anything about command rape.  Suzanne was more than just harassed, she was actually raped  by her commanding officer in Iraq and we didn't understand quite what was going on but it was she was harassed by one of her commanding officers, raped by another and then harassed by another.  So it was three different men, all who had direct authority over her in a combat zone because she did see combat.  It wasn't  that she was stationed somewhere safe.  She was shot at, she was doing combat patrol.  She was the driver of a Humvee doing combat patrol in Karbala '04 - '05.  And the whole time she was there I kept thinking this isn't right, something's wrong, what can I do and then finally when she got out of Iraq I said "Now can we say something?  Can we do something?" Because she was too scared for me to say something while she was in Iraq because you know we have cases like LaVena Johnson.   Cindy: Absolutely Sara Rich: Where, you know, women speak out and their murdered.  So she was too scared to say anything and finally she was being redeployed to Iraq for a second time and her PTSD and Military Sexual Trauma just exploded and she went AWOL instead of returning which was a huge turning point in our whole family.  She refused to go back.  She went AWOL.  We got an attorney and a psychologist and that's when we finally started coming out about the sexual assault and the rape and all of the trauma that she experienced while in Iraq because up until that point it was just too raw for her to talk about.  So she was seeing a psychologist, we had an attorney, we were trying to work with the army to get her so that she could turn herself in and get the help she needed but nobody would work with us so finally the AWOL Apprehension Team called their good buddies down here in Eugene [Oregon] at Eugene police department and they sent people to our home at ten-thirty on a Sunday night and took her in handcuffs.  You know here we have this -- by then she's  how old was she about 22 by then.  A 22-year-old who had been raped, who had Combat Trauma and they put her in handcuffs and threw her in jail.   Cindy Sheehan: She had been raped, she had been the victim of a crime actually while she was stationed in another profound crime -- a crime against humanity, an international crime, the occupation of Iraq.  Were her assaulters, were her rapists and harassers, were they hauled off in handcuffs at any time?   Sara Rich:  No.   [. . .]  They just stripped of her rank and sent her to prison.   Cindy Sheehan:  And ultimately nothing has happened to the people who raped her?   Sara Rich:  No.  No.  The one, the man who raped her, his wife ended up calling us about a year ago saying she was divorcing him.   I always called him the molester because his name is Mark Lester   Cindy Sheehan: Uh-huh   Sara Rich: And she told me that he had been hired as a police officer in Kent, Washington and so I put a blast to my friends saying, you know, call the mayor, call the police chief and by the end of the week he was fired.   Cindy Sheehan: Well at least he had a little bit of accountability but you know there was Mark Lester that raped Suzanne but actually the entire system raped Suzanne.   Sara Rich: You better believe it.   Cindy Sheehan: And this is an absolute tragedy.  I have read statistics where at least 30% of females are sexually harassed or raped in the military and of course that's probably a much higher number and we read and are still hearing about cases where female soldiers have died of dehydration in Iraq because they don't drink water because they don't want to get up to use the latrine in the middle of the night because they don't want to be raped so here Suzanne was in a war zone battling the resistance -- the Iraqi resistance -- but she also had to battle her own, her fellow soldiers -- her colleagues.  You know, to me, if this isn't a reason to not join the military, I don't know what could be the reason.  So thank you, Sara, we'll come back to you in a second.  Ann, Sara talked about the case of LaVena Johnson and I know you have worked with the family and you know about the case.  Can you tell my listeners about the case of LaVena Johnson?   Ann Wright: Sure I -- I will tell them about it.  Let me just mention though that on the statistics on sexual harassment well over 90% of the women who are in the military say that they have been sexually harassed.  Sexual assault and rape, the crimes of sexual assault and rape, that's where one-in-three soliders, service members, are saying that they have been sexually assaulted or raped while they've been in the military and these are figures, statistics, that are given by the Veterans Administration   Cindy Sheehan: So but sexual harassment -- sexual harassment is almost 100%?   Ann Wright: That's right.  That's right.  Yes, it is.  The case of LaVena Johnson, a young woman, twenty-one-years-old who had -- or pardon me, nineteen-years-old.  Nineteen-years-old who had gone to Iraq.  Within two weeks of her having been there, she ended up being found in a tent, a burning tent, she had been shot in the head and uh when her parents uh were notified of her uh death uhm they were told she was dead of a noncombat related incident.  [. . .] 104 have been killed in Iraq and 43 have been killed in what they call noncombat related incidents and of that 43, there are 15 of them that when you look at the cases you think, "Mmm, there's something really strange."  And one of them is LaVena Johnson who was found shot in a tent.  When her body came back to her home in Missouri and they had the body at the funeral home, her mom and dad touched their daughter's body.  The mother tried to rub her [LaVena's} hand and the gloves the military had put on her hands would not move and they looked at the gloves and they had been glued on.  And so they went to the morturary guy and said, "What's going on here?  We want to see why these things were glued on."  And when they cut those off they saw that her hand had been burned and indeed her whole body, one side of her body, had been burned. So how was this noncombat related incident?  Why was she burned? Well over a period of two and a half years as the family kept begging the military for information -- first to get the autoposy, then, later on, to try to find documetns about the death.  Try to get information that is held by the military but they won't give it to the families  unless you file a Freedom of Information Act on it.  Well ultimately, after two and a half years they finally got the CD that contained the photographs of her body as her body was undressed in Iraq before it was shipped back to the United States and the -- the body showed that she had been beaten in the face that her nose had been broken, that there were -- the father says that it appears that there were bite marks on her body, that one of her arms had been distended and dislocated  that there were -- that her vaginal area looked as though she had been sexually assaulted and then a caustic acid poured in her genital area.  So, um, the Johnson family has been demanding that the US military review thsi case.  That they do not believe that um, well, the military has said that she comitted suicide.  that on one killed her, that she comited suicide. With all of those injuries, she committed suicide.  So I've been assisting the family to try to get a hearing before the army to make the army reopen that case.  And we've gone to Congress to try to get Congress men and women involved in this and it's a real slow process of making the army reopen cases.  You know, the Pat Tillman case, here after three Congressional hearings on his death in Afghansitan  we now know that he was shot by friendly fire, he was shot in the head, it looks like he was assassinated and yet after three Congressional hearings, the parents of Pat Tillman don't know who among that small unit that Pat Tilman was a part of, who killed Pat Tillman and why?  So for a family like LaVena Johnson's who have no political pull, there daughter was not an NFL star, she was just one of hundreds of thousands of young men and women who decide to join the military and then terrible things happen to them.  The family is still pushing very, very hard on the military to try to get more answers on what happened to their daughter. But one thing for sure, they do not believe that she comitted suicide nor do I.     [. . .]   Sara Rich: It's interesting when I -- when I found out about LaVena's case, it just sent absolute shivers up my spine, thinking this is what would have happened to my daughter if she had told about what was going on to her to her superior officers in Iraq.  This is what would have happened, she would have been murdered, they would have said it was a suicide.  Their birthdays are very close to each other, there a few years apart, but their birthdays are within a couple of days of each other.  And it just, it made me feel so -- so thankful for my -- that my daughter was -- you know, still with us.   Cindy Sheehan: Right.   Sara Rich: LaVena is not.  And it made me feel the Johnsons and I have a real heart connection.  They're very protective of Suzanne and I think about LaVena every day.  It's just, we have a very deep, very deep connection about that.  And when Ann and the Johnsons and I were going to Congress men and Congress women and senators, trying to talk to them about reopening LaVena's case and showing them that it was not a suicide, it was a murder, they were treated in a way that just infurated me.  I mean here they have a fallen soldier who is obviously raped and murdered and they were seeing -- taken to these little teeny rooms with junior staffers and weren't even given the respect and care that we as military parents of combat veterans should be absolutely demanding from people that say that they run our country.   Sara Rich is holding a retreat this weekend in Portland, Oregon, "It's going to be in the Applegate Valley which is in southern Oregon.  This is actually a pilot program.  We're really trying to find a way that we can take this on the road and start providing healing retreats in every state because the need is so great in women veterans, the need to connect, the need to heal and I'm one of three trauma informed therapists that's going to be helping facilitate this weekend and we're going to come together and really take care of each other and take care of our veterans because that's what needs to happen.  We're trying to offer it as low-cost as possible so that it's available and accessible for everybody and just create a place that's safe."  To get in touch with Sara Rich you can e-mail her through the Suzanne Swift website.   Today jury selection began in Paducah, Kentucky for USA v Steven D. Green.  Green's trial is set to start April 27, 2009.   Who is Steven D. Green?  Who is Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi -- or rather, who was Abeer.  March 12, 2006 Abeer's parents -- Qassim Hamza Raheem and Fakhriya Taha Muhasen -- were murdered as was Abeer's five-year-old sister Hadeel Qassim Hamza.  Abeer was gang-raped during the murders.  After the murders, the gang-rape continued and then she was murdered.  Remember how LaVena Johnson had acid or lye poured on her to destroy evidence?  Abeer's attackers attempted to set her body on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence.  The crime was blamed on 'insurgents.'   As Gregg Zoroya (USA Today) reported, Justin Watt came forward (Watt was not involved in the rape, murder or conspiracy to commit the War Crimes) with some troubling things he was hearing, the 'incident' was looked into anew.  The military immediately went into major spin control as it became obvious that US soldiers were responsible.  In an attempt to 'lessen' the gang-rape and murder of Abeer, they insisted she was 26-years-old.  She wasn't.  She was fourteen-years-old but if she had been twenty-six, it wouldn't have made the events any less horrible or any less criminal.    Friday, June 20, 2006, Steven D. Green was arrested in the US (Asheville, North Carolina) having already been discharged in May.  He was charged with murder and with rape.  Green appeared in a Kentucky federal court November 8, 2006 and entered a plea of not guilty.  Green was out of the US military, Paul Cortez, Jesse Spielman, Bryan Howard and James P. Barker were still in.  An Article 32 hearing was scheduled for August (2006) and, strangely, Robert F. Worth and Carolyn Marshall (New York Times), ahead of the Article 32 hearing, presented the defense's argument.  That was strange not only because the defense hadn't presented their argument yet but also because the defense argument was a strange one.  After the defense had made the argument, Andy Mosher (Washington Post) would quote the go-to-military law expert for the press, Eugene Fidell stating, "This is not a defense known to the law.  But this kind of evidence could come in during the court-martial, and it might be pertinent to the sentence.  They could be setting the stage to avoid a death penalty."  Wow.  So will Robert F. Worth and Carolyn Marshall ever be asked to explain how they offered the defense -- excuse me, how they made the defense argument in an alleged article of reporting?  They didn't quote the defense.  They didn't have to.  They didn't present this as an argument, they presented it as what happened.  It sure is good to know that the New York Times will work it, whore it out, when they feel the need.  This is, remember, the same paper that has REFUSED to ever print Abeer's name.  They have rendered her invisible and victimized her all over again.  But by rendering her invisible, by refusing to print her name, they have made her a non-entity and that was their point. At the Article 23 hearing, Captain Alex Pickands, for the prosecution, responded to the defense's argument: "Murder, not war. Rape, not war. That's what we're here talking about today. Not all that business about cold food, checkpoints, personnel assignments. Cold food didn't kill that family. Personnel assignments didn't rape and murder that 14-year-old little girl."   During the hearing, Pickands would explain, "They gathered over cards and booze to come up with a plan to rape and murder that little girl. She was young and attractive. They knew where she was because they had seen her on a previous patrol. She was close. She was vulnerable."  Though the New York Times was happy to carry propaganda for the US military and to render Abeer invisible, they weren't interested in the actual Article 32 hearing.  Which is why you'd have to go elsewhere for that coverage.  Elsa McLaren (Times of London) reported:     Special Agent Benjamin Bierce recalled how Specialist James Barker described how the couple and their youngest child were put in another room, while the teenager was kept in the living room.  Barker said that he held the girl's hands while Sergeant Paul Cortez raped her or tried to rape her. Barker then switched positions with Cortez and attempted to rape the girl, but said he was not sure if he had done so, Special Agent Bierce told the hearing. Some shots were fired in the other room and Private Steven Green emerged, saying "They're all dead. I just killed them." Green put down an AK-47 assault rifle and raped the girl while Cortez held her down, the hearing heard.    Special Agent Bierce said Green then picked up the weapon and shot the girl once, paused, and shot her several more times. Kerosene from a lamp was poured over the girl and someone - it was not clear who - set her alight.       Back then, we had to say "alleged" when speaking of the soldiers.  Alleged murder or alleged rapist or alleged co-conspirator.  We don't have to do that now with anyone except Green.  The others have all either been convicted or entered a plea of guilty.  Cortez and Barker offered confessions in court when they entered their plea.  Some found the confessions emotionally compelling.  Others of us noted the weasel words such as "kind of".  In his confession, he admited that while "Cortzed pushed her to the ground. I went towards the top of her and kind of held her hands down while Cortez proceeded to lift her dress up."  Kind of.  He kind of held her hands down.  Her parents are being shot and killed in the next room, her sister is being shot and killed in the next room, these Americans dressed in black are in her home, they are lifting up her dress and Barker wants the world to know he "kind of" held her hands.  Kind of.  Well he "kind of" took repsonsibility when he admitted to his guilt.  Kind of.   They plotted it.  They have fingered Steven D. Green as the ringleader.  They said he plotted it, he came up with the conspiracy.  Iraqis have spoken of how Green made Abeer uncomfortable (had she lived, her parents had already arranged to get her out of the area), how, at the US checkpoint he supervised, he would stop her, he would touch her face, he would intimidate her.  AFP reminded yesterday, "Cortez testified that he raped Abeer Kassem Hamza al-Janabi while Barker pinned the sobbing girl to the floor.  The men switched positions and then heard about four or five shots from a bedroom where Green had taken the girl's father, mother and six-year-old sister, Cortez said.  Green shot the girl when he was finished raping her and the soldiers set the home on fire by tossing a lighter onto a Kerosene-soaked blanket covering her naked body, the other soldiers said."  Today Brett Barrouquere (AP) reports, "Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Ford, who is prosecuting the case, said at least three of those soldiers as well as members of the slain girl's suriving family may be called as witnesses in the case."  Darren Wolff,  one of Green's attorneys and apparently insane, wants to ask of the prospective jury, "How can they accurately get the impression of a battelfield in Paducah?"  Yeah, it was real torture for Green -- grilling chicken breasts and downing booze after the gang-rape and murders.  And of course, "battlefield" excuses rape, right Wolff?  That's what you're saying.  And not just any rape, mind you, but the rape of a young girl.  They were better off flirting with the insanity plea.  If this is where they're headed and this is the sort of defense they intend to mount, they're just inviting outrage.  Brett Barrouquere, by the way, always included Abeer's name in his reports.  As did other AP reporters.  Gregg Zoroya at USA Today (already noted) also didn't shy from reporting the victims' names nor did Ellen Knickmeyer (Washington Post) who did one of the most intensive reports when the crimes were revealed.  Mentioning the victims names was never a problem for foreign outlets and it wasn't a real problem in the US except for one outlet, the alleged paper of record, the New York Times.   Today violence sweeps through Iraq at the sort of levels the Operation Happy Talkers had told us was long gone. Thomas E. Ricks (Foreign Policy) explains, "former secretary of State Condoleezza Rice thinks that Iraq is 'on its way to becoming a strategic asset' of the United States. Someone in Baghdad who didn't get that memo set off a bunch of car bombs that killed about three dozen people today."  Ricks is the author of the new bestseller The Gamble.  Leila Fadel and Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) report there were at least 7 bombings in Baghdad resulting in multiple deaths and multiple wounded, "All but one explosion had detonated by 9 a.m. in markets and other gathering places in Baghdad.  The bloody morning was a reminder of how fragile the country's security gains are, after a series of fatal bombings in March."  Deborah Haynes (Times of London) reports the bombings "tore through Baghdad . . . as [UK Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform"] Peter Mandelson passed through with a delegation of British businessmen to spread the message that it is safe to invest in Iraq." Steven Lee Myers (New York Times) reveals, "Most of the bombs struck largely Shiite neighborhood, but there did not appear to be any obvious pattern to the attacks.  There were no claims of responsibility, and Iraqis disagreed on whom to blame."  Myers quotes MP Abbas al-Bayati blaming the "Awakening" Council members for the violence.  Abbas al-Bayati does a lot of public blather for Nouri al-Maliki so when he speaks, he's usually repeating what he's been told.  (As when the news broke about the US spying on Nouri al-Maliki.)  Usama Redha, Caesar Ahmed and Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) add, "The string of explosions came just three months before U.S. combat troops are expected to withdraw to bases outside cities and a week after Iraqi forces put down an insurrection by Sunni paramilitary fighters in eastern Baghdad, which has raised fear that Sunnis, who had turned on groups such as Al Qaeda in Iraq, could return to fighting the Shiite-led government."  Anthony Shadid (Washington Post) observes, "The strikes called into question statements by Iraqi military officials that insurgents had lost their ability to attack in the heart of the capital with ease and reflected a sense by many in Baghdad and elsewhere that violence may be worsening, as the American military begins a withdrawal of combat troops slated to end by August 2010."  Sahar Issa and Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) break down the Baghdad bombings as follows Baghdad car bombing at seven in the morning 4 dead, fifteen wounded, Baghdad car bombing "targeted the motorcade of Brigadier General Sadoun" at eight in the morning 2 dead and four wounded, Baghdad car bombing at eight-thirty this morning 10 dead sixty-five wounded, another Baghdad car bombing at eight-thirty 4 dead and twenty wounded, a Baghdad sticky bombing which wounded two, two Baghdad car bombings at one this afternoon killing 12 and leaving twenty-five wounded and a five o'clock this evening Baghdad roadside bombing which left three wounded.  They note that the tolls were expected to rise.  Aseel Kami, Mohammed Abbas, Hadir Abbas, Tim Cox, Wisam Mohammed, Tim Cocks and Charles Dick (Reuters) count at least 37 dead and (check my math) one-hundred and fourteen people injured.  They also note speculation that Sahwa, "Awakening" or "Sons of Iraq" (all the same group, different names) might have been involved but quote the US military going with their catch-all: al Qaeda in Iraq.  Golly, I thought Baghdad was said to be protected from them and they'd all been driven out of that area.  Weren't they allegedly just hanging around in and outside Mosul?  The official story changes so frequently you can never pin it down.  Independent journalist Dahr Jamail contributes "The Growing Storm" (Dissident Voice) and notes the fall out from the attacks on Sahwa and the fears from the response in Baghdad two weekends ago: "This distrubing event is the realization of what most Iraqis have long feared -- that the relative calm in Iraq today would eventually be broken when fighting erupts between these two entities."  Sahwa was under attack over the weekend and while today's violence is garnering press attention, yesterday's violence was an increase as well and saw a variety of groupings targeted.     Reuters noted two Baghdad home bombings which claimed the life of 1 man and left two women injured -- one home was of a Sahwa leader and "It was not clear if the target was the 'Sahwa' leader's house."  Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reported Dr. Yasir Khdaiyir ("well known surgeon") was assassinated Saturday night in Baghdad, the Ministry of the Interior's Brig Gen Ahmed Kathum Breesem was shot dead in Baghdad tonight, a Sahwa ("Awakening") was shot dead in Baquba (in the latest of continual attacks on Sahwa) and 1 Peshmerga (Kurdish security forces) was shot dead in Kirkuk City, 1 person shot dead in Mosul. In addition, Issa noted 1 police officer killed in Samarra by either "a thermal charge or an armour-penetraing grenade" (four more were wounded), a Falluja roadside bombing which claimed the life of 1 police officer and left another wounded, a second Falluja roadside bombing resulted in one police officer being injured, a Kirkuk roadside bombing which wounded seven people, a Mosul roadside bombing which claimed the life of 1 "small boy" and left his mother wounded, one al Jazair (Ninevah Province) grenade attack which injured one Iraqi soldier and one Mailyah (Ninevah Province) grenade attack which injured another Iraqi soldier and 1 corpse discovered Saturday night in Mosul with signs of torture.   Today's violence didn't spring out in total surprise.  Also today  Sahar Issa and Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) report a Kirkuk suicide bombing which left seven Iraqi soldiers wounded and that Iraqi police state the US military shot dead an innocent civilian by mistake in Nineveh Province.     Over the weekend, the US military had announcements.  Saturday the US military announced: "AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq -- A Multi National Force -- West Marine died as the result of a non-combat related incident in Al Anbar Province April 3. The Marine's name is being withheld pending next-of-kin notification and release by the Department of Defense. The incident is under investigation."  Sunday the US military announced: "TIKRIT, Iraq – A U.S. Coalition forces Soldier died as a result of operations in Diyala province, Iraq, April 5. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin and release by the Department of Defense."  The announcements brought to 4266 the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war.   In other violence noted over the weekend, Wisam Mohammed and Khalid al-Ansary (Reuters) reported Saturday that gays are being targeted in Baghdad, with four corpses discovered March 25th and 2 gay men murdered Thursday 'after clerics urged a crackdown'." Sunday Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reported the two were first "disowned" (by their homophobic and hateful families) and "The shootings came after a tribal meeting was held and the members decided to go after the victims." Tawfeeq reports the other were also disowned (and gives the date of their deaths as March 26th) and states a cafe in Sadr City was torched when it was said to be an LGBT hangout in Baghdad. The Dallas Morning News wrote a brief on the topic and UPI summarized Tawfeeq's report. AFP reported Sunday that the two corpses discovered Thursday "had pieces of paper attached on which was written the word 'Pervert" and that the two men were aged sixteen and eighteen and had also had "their arms and legs broken". In addition, AFP reports another man presumed to be gay was found on Friday -- which would bring the toll to seven -- and this follows Sheikh Jassem al-Muatairi's 'inspiring' sermon denouncing "new private practices by some men who dress like women, who are effeminate. I call on families to prevent their children from following such a lifestyle."    Meanwhile in the US,independent journalist David Bacon, author of (most recently) Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalize Immigrants (Beacon Press), writes (at ZNet) of what's coming up on May Day:   In a little over a month, hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of people will fill the streets in city after city, town after town, across the US. This year these May Day marches of immigrant workers will make an important demand on the Obama administration: End the draconian enforcement policies of the Bush administration. Establish a new immigration policy based on human rights and recognition of the crucial economic and social contributions of immigrants to US society.             This year's marches will continue the recovery in the US of the celebration of May Day, recognized in the rest of the world as the day recognizing the contributions and achievements of working people. That recovery started on Monday, May 1, 2006, when over a million people filled the streets of Los Angeles, with hundreds of thousands more in Chicago, New York and cities and towns throughout the United States. Again on May Day in 2007 and 2008, immigrants and their supporters demonstrated and marched, from coast to coast.                     One sign found in almost every march said it all: "We are Workers, not Criminals!" Often it was held in the calloused hands of men and women who looked as though they'd just come from work in a factory, cleaning an office building or picking grapes. The sign stated an obvious truth. Millions of people have come to the United States to work, not to break its laws. Some have come with visas, and others without them. But they are all contributors to the society they've found here.                        The protests have seemed spontaneous, but they come as a result of years of organizing, educating and agitating - activities that have given immigrants confidence, and at least some organizations the credibility needed to mobilize direct mass action. This movement is the legacy of Bert Corona, immigrant rights pioneer and founder of many national Latino organizations. He trained thousands of immigrant activists, taught the value of political independence, and believed that immigrants themselves must conduct the fight for immigrant rights. Most of the leaders of the radical wing of today's immigrant rights movement were students or disciples of Corona.            Immigrants, however, feel their backs are against the wall, and they came out of their homes and workplaces to show it. In part, their protests respond to a wave of draconian proposals to criminalize immigration status, and work itself for undocumented people. But the protests do more than react to a particular congressional or legislative agenda. They are the cumulative response to years of bashing and denigrating immigrants generally, and Mexicans and Latinos in particular.              In other news, Bob Somerby takes on Rachel Maddow's 'strength' and other nonsense here.     iraq cindy sheehan ann wright sara rich brett barrouquere the new york times robert f. worth carolyn marshall the washington post ellen knickmeyer the new york times steven lee myers campbell robertson the washington post anthony shadid thomas e. ricks mcclatchy newspapers leila fadel deborah haynes usama redha the los angeles times ned parker caeser ahmed dahr jamail mohammed tawfeeq aseel kami wisam mohammed sami al-jumaili waleed ibrahim khalid al-ansary mohammed abbas david bacon

A series of six car bombs exploded in or near Baghdad on Monday, killing more than 30 people and wounding scores more, according to witnesses and the police.
Three bombs struck markets in predominately Shiite neighborhoods around Baghdad, but there did not appear to be any obvious pattern to the attacks. The blasts began shortly after dawn and continued in disparate parts of the city into the afternoon.

The violence never ends in Iraq though people try to pretend it has or it's about to. The above is from Steven Lee Myers' "Six Car Bombs Kill 30 in Iraq" (New York Times). At the Washington Post, Anthony Shadid's "Series of Baghdad Car Bombs Kills at Least 32" provides some perspective and raises the 'uncomfortable' issues that the press is supposed to:


The toll rivaled a bombing last month at the police academy in a fortified part of Baghdad, when an assailant plowed into a crowd and killed 28 people. But the breadth and coordination of Monday's attacks, from one end of the capital to the other, were reminiscent of the violence from Baghdad's bloodiest days in 2006 and 2007.
The strikes called into question statements by Iraqi military officials that insurgents had lost their ability to attack in the heart of the capital with ease and reflected a sense by many in Baghdad and elsewhere that violence may be worsening, as the American military begins a withdrawal of combat troops slated to end by August 2010.

Click here for CBS and AP's report. The death toll may rise as the day continues and other bodies are found or the wounded do not recover. The death toll may fall as well as deaths are verified. Myers and Shadid are offering immediate reporting -- like Politico does but on serious issues, ones that matter. Oh, was that rude to the gossip sheet Politico? You know I'm feeling awful about that, you just know it. Aseel Kami, Hadir Abbas, Tim Cocks and Katie Nguyen (Reuters) report the death toll is 34 and I'm counting (check my math, always) one-hundred and six wounded (they've broken up the wounded by the bombings). They also add, "Interior Ministry officials declined to comment on whether the bombs were a coordinated strike or a reaction to the arrests, one of which sparked clashes on Saturday between Iraqi forces and supporters of their arrested Sahwa leader."

In the print version of today's New York Times, Campbell Robertson offers "Palestinians Are Focus in Abbas Visit to Baghdad" and the big takeaway there may be how quickly leaders sell out their own for oil. From Robertson's article:

They also discussed the status and resettlement possibilities of the 2,300 Palestinians stranded in two refugee camps on the Iraq-Syria border.
Mr. Zebari said that the Iraqi leaders assured Mr. Abbas that they would support his government in substantial, and not just symbolic, ways.
"Gone are those days when Iraq and other countries used to use the Palestinian issue for political bargaining or score settling," Mr. Zebari said.

Those days have apparently been changed to days where Palestinian leaders refuse to speak up for their own just to get some oil slid their way at a cheap price.

Those 2,300 didn't just get "stranded" on the border recently nor are they "stranded." They are penned in. They are forced in. They are abandoned and Syria won't let them in.

In April of last year, Amnesty International offered "Refugee camp trauma continues for Palestinians:"

More than 3,000 Palestinian refugees are currently cut off from the rest of the world in dire conditions without access to adequate humanitarian assistance.

In March 2008, Amnesty International delegates met with Palestinian refugees stranded in al-Tanf camp in no-man’s land between the borders of Iraq and Syria.

Al-Tanf camp, a narrow strip of land wedged between a concrete wall and the main transit road from Baghdad to Damascus, is dry and dusty. Temperatures soar to 50ºC in summer and plunge to below freezing in winter.

The camp accommodates hundreds of Palestinian refugees seeking to flee from Iraq, where they were formerly long term residents. Palestinians have been among those particularly targeted for sectarian killings and violence.

Overcrowded tents are the only protection from the heat, the snow and the blinding sandstorms. Danger is everywhere, especially for the children. The land is infested with scorpions and snakes.

The school tents are unprotected from the busy highway, which has already claimed the life of a boy knocked down by a truck.

According to residents who spoke to Amnesty International delegates visiting the camp in March 2008, heating and cooking systems in the tents regularly cause fires that destroy tents -- 42 tents in all so far.

Despite the unsafe and harsh conditions at al-Tanf, the number of Palestinian refugees from Iraq in the camp is growing as Palestinians who entered Syria on false passports are identified and deported to the camp. Many camp residents described to Amnesty International the horrific events that prompted them to flee Iraq and have left them traumatized.

Amnesty International has provided many reports on this crisis but I'm going with that one because if you use the link you will also find photos of the tent cities. The above is not the entire text, it's an excerpt but we'll note these resources listed at the end of AI's article:

Download interviews with some of the refugees in the camp:

Read More

Al-Tanf Camp; Trauma Continues for Palestinians Fleeing Iraq (14 April 2008)
Palestinian refugees suffer in Lebanon (News, 17 October 2007)
Palestinian refugees targeted in Iraq (News, 1 October 2007)

Last Tuesday, Senator Bob Casey Jr. chaired a subcommitee hearing on Iraqi refugees. Nabil al-Tikriti (University of Mary Washington) was one of three witnesses offering testimony to the subcommittee. In his closing remarks, al-Tikriti briefly noted the Iraqi Palestinians and declared that they were "effectively trapped. They need to go somewhere and they're stuck."


Bonnie notes that Kat's "Kat's Korner: When you build your house . . ." and Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The Pig-Pen Ambassador" went up yesterday. Also Diana notes that Cindy Sheehan's latest Soapbox (internet radio program) is up. Her guests are Sara Rich (sexual assault activist, peace activist and mother of Suzanne Swift) and retired Army Col and retired State Dept diplomat Ann Wright. Diana says to be sure to check out Cindy's editorial on protesting in the age of 'change'. (I haven't heard it yet. I'll try to listen before dictating the snapshot.)

We noted the subcommittee hearing (Senate Foreign Relations Committee) from last week above and we'll again note that Senator Bob Casey Jr.'s office issued the following:

March 31, 2009

WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs Subcommittee, today chaired a hearing on the return and resettlement of displaced Iraqis. The hearing focused on the efforts being taken by the Iraqi government, the United States and the rest of the international community to facilitate the return of Iraqis displaced internally and the repatriation of Iraqi refugees living in neighboring countries.

"Large numbers of Iraqis unable to return home not only has humanitarian consequences, but poses security risks to future Iraqi stability and the interests of neighboring states and the international community," Senator Casey said. "Accordingly, as the United States begins to draw down its military presence in Iraq, we have a both a moral and a security interest in ensuring the safety and welfare of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs)."

At the hearing, Senator Casey urged the United States to work in concert with Iraq’s neighbors, donor governments and other international actors to address challenges facing Iraqi refugees and IDPs, such as: the lack of legal status for refugees; the inability of refugees to work legally; limited access to health care and education; critical food shortages and inadequate shelter, drinking water, sanitation and protection. The panel of witnesses that testified at today's hearing included: Ms. Ellen Laipson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Henry L. Stimson Center; Ms. Nancy Aossey, President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Medical Corps; and Mr. Nabil Al-Tikriti, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Mary Washington.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 4.7 million Iraqis have been forced to leave their homes. Approximately 2.7 million are displaced internally, while 2 million have fled to neighboring states, particularly Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Last year, Senator Casey joined Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) in introducing the Support for Vulnerable and Displaced Iraqis Act of 2008 to mandate the development of a comprehensive U.S. strategy to address the mass displacement of Iraqis.

Senator Casey's opening statement follows below.

U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs Subcommittee

Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr.

Opening Statement on the Return and Resettlement of Displaced Iraqis

March 31, 2009

Today, the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs meets to examine the crisis concerning Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), one of the tragic humanitarian consequences of America’s war in Iraq. The purpose of this hearing is to determine the efforts being taken by the Iraqi government, the United States and the rest of the international community to facilitate the resettlement of Iraqis displaced internally, and the repatriation of Iraqi refugees living in neighboring countries. The presence of such a large population in a state of displacement not only has humanitarian consequences, but poses security risks to future Iraqi stability and the interests of neighboring states and the international community. Accordingly, as the United States begins to draw down its military presence in Iraq, we have a both a moral and a security interest in ensuring the safety and welfare of Iraqi refugees and IDPs.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 4.7 million Iraqis have been forced to leave their homes. Approximately 2.7 million are displaced internally, while 2 million have fled to neighboring states, particularly Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Indeed, these numbers have been called into dispute, and I invite the views of our witnesses today on whether they are too high or too low. The Iraqi government has demonstrated an inability to deal with a problem of such magnitude. Declining oil revenues and institutional deficiencies are preventing the government from effectively addressing this issue. In spite of improved security conditions, displaced Iraqis who return home are confronted with deplorable living conditions, or worse, destroyed homes. I am also concerned that ongoing sectarian divisions could be preventing the government from mustering the political will necessary to deal with the refugee crisis. We should assess whether the government’s Shiite majority has an agenda to keep large numbers of Sunni refugees from returning to Iraq, and we also need to understand what is prompting thousands of Iraqi Christians to flee to Syria.

The exodus of refugees out of Iraq is overwhelming Iraq’s neighbors, which I witnessed firsthand during my trip to Jordan in 2007. Counties like Jordan and Syria cannot handle the constant flow of refugees from Iraq, and some have started to impose legal and visa restrictions on new arrivals. These countries are not signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention and have denied Iraqi refugees within their borders the protections and basic human rights refugees claim in most countries. As Refugees International reported last month, these Iraqis cannot find gainful employment in their host countries, and they are quickly running out of resources to sustain themselves. Unfortunately, the return of refugees to Iraq, however desirable, continues to be problematic, due to a difficult security environment and inadequate living conditions awaiting them at home.

I was pleased to hear that the Obama Administration announced FY2009 contributions of more than $141 million to help displaced Iraqis. However, the crisis does not appear to be improving. It is my understanding that the Administration is engaged in an ongoing review of policy towards the refugee challenge. President Obama has announced that, by August 2010, the majority of U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Iraq. While I fully support the President’s plan to withdraw our forces from Iraq, I believe we must sustain our commitment to the refugee and IDP situation affecting nearly five million of its citizens, especially when the problem cannot be effectively controlled by the Iraqi government and places undue strain on its neighbors. We cannot ignore the consequences for regional stability and Iraq's internal order if a large population of dispossessed and displaced individuals remains in place. Without any opportunity for reintegration or an escape from poverty and despair, displaced populations may be susceptible to recruitment by extremist groups, threatening the viability of the Iraqi state.

In September 2008, my distinguished colleague, Senator Ben Cardin, and I filed legislation -- titled "The Support for Vulnerable and Displaced Iraqis Act of 2008" -- to mandate the development of a comprehensive U.S. strategy to address the mass displacement of Iraqis. This bill addressed several issues that are still pertinent today. And as several of my colleagues and I emphasized to then President-elect Obama in a letter we wrote in December 2008, these issues should be a focus of his administration’s overall approach to Iraq.

First, a U.S. strategy on Iraqi refugees should address the responsibility of the Iraqi government to help meet the urgent needs of its displaced citizens, including an assessment of how much assistance is needed to help meet these needs. Second, it should assess what conditions are necessary for the voluntary, safe, and sustainable return of displaced Iraqis. Finally, it should outline steps the U.S. government will take to engage the international community to implement the strategy. It is imperative that the United States work in concert with Iraq's neighbors, donor governments, and other international actors to address challenges facing Iraqi refugees and IDPs, such as:

the lack of legal status for refugees;
the inability of refugees to work legally;
limited access to health care and education;
critical food shortages;
inadequate shelter, drinking water, sanitation and protection.

Moreover, in the context of renewing U.S. engagement with Syria, the Administration could find an important avenue for cooperation by working with Damascus on the refugee crisis.

The U.S. government can also bolster its efforts to resettle in the United States those Iraqi refugees who risked their lives to assist the U.S. mission. Resettlement is the right thing to do, and it would also ease the burden on Iraq's neighbors. Only in 2007 did the previous Administration significantly increase the number of Iraq refugees to be settled in the United States. And even though the U.S. exceeded its FY 2008 admissions target of 12,000 Iraqi refugees, the demand for resettlement outpaces the steps the U.S. government is taking. Any comprehensive U.S. strategy on Iraqi refugees should examine our current resettlement plan, and draw on all relevant government agencies to support this process.

We are joined here today by an esteemed panel of experts, who will discuss the myriad challenges involved in the Iraqi refugee crisis. Our first witness is Ellen Laipson, President and CEO of The Henry L. Stimson Center since 2002. Ms. Laipson is one of Washington’s preeminent authorities on the Middle East, having written extensively about the challenges the United States faces in Iraq. Prior to joining the Stimson Center, Ms. Laipson served nearly 25 years in the United States government, many of which were devoted to analysis and policymaking on Middle Eastern issues. She was the Vice Chair of the National Intelligence Council from 1997-2002, and held senior posts at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and in the National Security Council. I look forward to her analysis of the refugee crisis, how it relates to regional stability, and how the United States should approach this problem.

Nancy Aossey is President and CEO of the International Medical Corps. After becoming CEO shortly after IMC's founding in the mid-1980s, Ms. Aossey helped to transform International Medical Corps into one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations, providing more than $120 million in disaster response and recovery programs annually. Thanks to Ms. Aossey’s leadership, International Medical Corps assists the internally displaced throughout Iraq, providing badly needed medical care to those in need. She has also served as Chairman of the Board of InterAction and now serves on its Executive Committee.

Our final witness is Dr. Nabil al Tikriti of the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Dr. al Tikriti has written extensively on the effects of population displacement in Iraq and its neighbors, and its policy implications for the region. In addition to his scholarship, Al-Tikriti volunteered with the Catholic Relief Services humanitarian assistance project in Iraq in 1991-1992, and later served with Doctors without Borders as a relief worker in Somalia, Iran, Albania, Turkey, and Jordan.

###

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Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts "The Pig-Pen Ambassador." Chris Hill, nominee to be US Ambassador to Iraq, declares, "March 25th I told the Senate that Nouri al-Maliki was paying the Awakenings -- all of them. Last week the US military said maybe next month. I called Kirkuk 'just an old fashioned land dispute.' Yeah, I'm a moron. But at least I'm well groomed." Isaiah archives his comics at The World Today Just Nuts.




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