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Monday, April 20, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, Iraq's LGBT community remains under assault, finally the Parliament has a Speaker, Talabani has an announcement, Nouri has a Miracle Gro for police squads, and more.
Andre Shepherd: First of all the war on terror, I believe, was based on a fraud. We aren't going after Osama bin Laden. The evidence is leaning towards that we are only there to strategically position ourselves around the national resources that are there. The [German] asylum laws are set up that they should not deport a person that refuses to take part in an illegal conflict. The UN Charter, Article 51, specifically states that armed conflict is necessary only as a means of last resort and if there is a real threat. It's been proven that Saddam Hussein's regime was no threat to the United States -- that would mean that America is in violation of the UN Charter.
Damien McGuinness: You signed up as a soldier and signed to say that you would obey the orders given by your superior in military command. Surely there's a responsibility there to carry out the duties which military command asks you to do.
Andre Shepherd: That is true but there's also a section in the same oath that says I have to defend the Constitution of the United States and when the United States willingly violates their own Constitution to pursue these wars, I am acting in accordance with the oath by refusing to take part in these wars because I refuse to watch the Constitution get destroyed just for the needs of a few people. There was a conversation I had with an Iraqi that was completely irate as to what was going on in Iraq. A lot of things that I wasn't even aware of, rendition program, the detentions of different places, Abu Ghraib, things like this. And I was completely dumbfounded as to what was going on out there because this was totally against everything that I believed in in the military. So that's when I started doing research and that's how I got to this position today.
Damien McGuinness: Andre Shepherd has come here, to Freiburg, to take part in a podium discussion of Iraq veterans who have deserted the army because they oppose the war. Now Germany has no troops stationed in Iraq and the majority of Germans are against the US-led invasion so he's found a lot of support here for his cause. Some worry that granting him asylum could create tensions between Germany and the US and encourage some of the other sixty-thousand [US] soldiers stationed here to desert and apply for refugee status. According to Rudi Friedrich who runs a support group for deserters [Connection e.V] only a minority of soldiers generally opt to stay abroad.
Rudi Friedrich: In practice, most deserters decide to go back to the US and that's where their families are and they feel at home and they know the language. But that means they either have to be punished or become conscientious objectors against war in general. The decision to stay in another country and never return home is something which many refugees have to do it's not necessarily the case that all deserters would take this step.
Damien McGuinness: German immigration officials heard the case at the end of February and are currently examining Shepherd's eligibility for asylum. He says the consequences of being sent back to the US would be severe.
Andre Shepherd: If I went back to America, I would definitely be court-martialed on the charges of desertion during a time of war. That is one of the most serious charges you can get in the military. Upon conviction, I would get a few months to several years in prison and I would get a dishonorable discharge. On top of that, there's a debate whether or not I would get a felony conviction which is the highest criminal category in the United States. Having a tag like that would bar you from having a decent life -- you wouldn't be able to vote, you wouldn't be able to hold a high office, it's difficult to get credit, you can't do a lot of things, you would pretty much be harassed and you would have to live with the stigma of being an enemy of the state. Especially in the age of Homeland Security, that's not something you'd really want.
Damien McGuinness: A decision could come through any day now. In the meantime, Shepherd is allowed to stay here in Germany but he admits the move wasn't an easy one.
Andre Shepherd: Well desertion is not an easy thing because your home country will always think that you're a traitor. It doesn't matter what the reason is, whether it's justified or not. Not saying everyone, because there's a lot of support in the United States for what I've done. In terms of family life? My family is supporting me but they wish I'd took a different step because the potential of me not returning there cause a lot of emotional stress and I have to apologize to my parents for that. As far as my colleagues? That one is difficult because a lot of the people in the military understand the situation; however, they also deal with unit loyalty where you have to be there if not for yourself but for the other guys in your unit. So a lot of the guys feel let down and hurt by what I've done; however, if they understand why I did it, then I can accept that. It's the same thing with me accepting them knowing what's going on but still going back to Iraq anyway. Because you don't know what they're facing -- if they have a family to take care of, if they desert, they just lost their meal ticket for their family. That doesn't help them. So there are a lot of complicated things that I deal with on a daily basis.
Staying with resistance, Matthis Chiroux faces a military body tomorrow.
This is " Resistance to an Abhorrent Occupation: Press Release of Matthis Chiroux" (World Can't Wait): (ST. LOUIS, MO) The U.S. Army will hear the case of Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, an Individual Ready Reservist who last summer publicly refused activation and deployment orders to Iraq, on April 21 at 1 Reserve Way in Overland, St. Louis, MO, at 9 a.m.
Chiroux, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, refused to participate in what he described as "an illegal and immoral occupation" May 15th, 2008, in Washington D.C., after nine other veterans testified to Members of the U.S. Congress about atrocities they experienced during deployments to Iraq. Chiroux also vowed to remain public in the U.S. to defend himself from any charges brought against him by the military. (see matthisresists.us for a record of that speech and others by Chiroux)
"My resistance as a noncommissioned officer to this abhorrent occupation is just as legitimate now as it was last year," said Chiroux, adding, "Soldiers have a duty to adhere to the international laws of war described as supreme in Art. 6 Para. 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which we swear to abide by before the orders of any superior, including our former or current president."
Following Chiroux's refusal to deploy, the military did not contact him until after he and 10 other IVAW members marched on the final presidential debate Oct. 15, 2008, in Hempstead, N.Y. demanding to question then Senators Obama and McCain regarding their war policies and plans to care for returning veterans. After the veterans were brutalized and arrested by police, (one suffered a fractured skull and is currently suing the police for damages) the Army charged Chiroux with "misconduct" for refusing to deploy, announcing their intentions to discharge him from the reserves as a result.
"I go now to St. Louis to honor my promises and convictions," said Chiroux. "Obama or No-Bama, the military must cease prosecuting Soldiers of conscience, and we will demonstrate to them why."
Following the hearing, Chiroux and other IVAW members will testify about their military experiences which led them all to resist in different capacities the U.S.'s Overseas Contingency Operation (formerly the Global War on Terror).
For more information, see matthisresists.us and ivaw.org.
On Tuesday April 21st an Army administrative discharge board will hear the case of Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, an Individual Ready Reservist (IRR) who last summer publicly refused activation orders in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The board will convene at 9am at the Army Human Resources Command, 1 Reserve Way in Overland, Missouri, just outside of St. Louis. IVAW members and supporters will rally outside the hearing starting at 8:30am.
Although Chiroux is voluntary attending this hearing, all other IRR members who have refused activation have not had any disciplinary actions taken against them by the military other then receiving a General or Other Than Honorable discharge from the IRR. This discharge has no effect on benefits like the GI Bill that IRR members earned through their service while on active duty. Service members who have questions about the IRR can click here or contact the GI Rights Hotline at 877-447-4487.
Moica Landeros: Well, Laura [Smith], a spokesperson with the U.S. Army tells me Kristoffer Walker has been demoted several ranks from Specialist to Private, but that's just part of his punishment. The Army also said Walker will be fined in the form of docked pay. For two months he will get half of his usual paycheck. In addition, he will also be fined for a -- confined to an Army base for 45 days. That means he can't leave the base and might even have additional duties during that time. Though Army officials do not know when that confinement will actually start. That's because right now, Walker is on medical leave from Iraq though officials won't give details on his medical condition. Once he is healthy, Army officials said he will begin the base confinement. Now we were unable to speak to Kristoffer Walker today though his mother tells us her son was aware of the severity of his absence and that he was ready for any consequences handed down.
Tony Walter (Green Bay Press Gazette) addeds that Sierra Walker states the doctors are pushing for Kristoffer to be released on a medical discharge and, of the medical condition, it was "bad enough that he was sent out of Iraq in the first place. He was dealing with doctors who said he needed to be out."
Iraq's Parliament has been without a Speaker for months and, what do you know, they finally got around to electing one Sunday. December 23rd, the Speaker was ousted. By Parliament. Mahmoud Mashadani had been the speaker. The Iraqi Parliament remains without a speaker all this time later. Alsumaria reported Saturday on the possibility that Sunday's Parliamentary session will resolve the issue. There were six candidates Mostapha Al Laithi, Taha Al Luhaibi and Mohammed Tamim (all with the National Dialogue Front) and Iyad Al Samirrai, Hajem Al Husni and Adnan Al Bajaji (Accordance Front). The Accordance Front favors Iyad Al Samirrai ( back in March, they sued to ensure that he could be a candidate). Alsumaria explained the process for voting rounds: "During the first stage, candidates compete among each others. The candidate to win should rally 138 votes out of 275 lawmakers plus one. The statement added if these votes were not reached, a second round will be carried out with the participation of candidates who got most votes in the first round. Yet, if during the second stage, candidates fail to rally 138 votes, a third round is carried out during which the candidate who obtains the majority of votes wins." 138 votes were needed. BBC reported the winner had 153 of the 232 votes cast -- 17 more than required. The winner? Who do you think? Liz Sly (Los Angeles Times) reported Sunday that the winner was Iyad Al Samirrai. Sly glossed over the ouster. Mashadani was ousted. Even the US State Dept admits that. See their report released last week [PDF format warning] " Iraq Status Report." It doesn't get much clearer than, "The COR has yet to reach a consensus on appointing a new Speaker since Mahmoud Mashadani was ousted on December 23, 2008." His political party had to sue to prove he was eligible to run. Why? Liz Sly mentions the rumors that the Parliament has been planning a no-confidence vote in al-Maliki for months. (Ahmed Chalabi has spoken publicly of that and noted that such a vote, if taken, would be procedural and Constitutional and not, as al-Maliki has insisted, a "coup.") Timothy Williams (New York Times) also glosses over reality of the ouster -- surprising for the Times until you grasp they've long loathed Mashadani and started a smear campaign (portraying him as weak, fallen, unable to leave his father's home back in the summer of 2006 when, in fact, the man was using the Parliamentary break to do business in Jordan). Williams does note some of what puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki was doing:
Even as Parliament was voting, Mr. Maliki appeared before hundreds of uniformed commanders at the Interior Ministry and warned that factions within Iraq threatened national unity. As he has in recent days, he suggested that opponents -- whom he did not identify -- were seeking to undermine his government.
"Today we face a new war of subversion, sedition and suspicion," he said. "We have to warn ourselves, myself and all you, of the sedition that was defeated in the battle and is being provoked in a certain problem here and another problem there."
Some. al-Maliki had another 'accomplishment' yesterday and it was so swift that some in the press are now attempting to create new dates for it. Let's start with what happened. Sunday McClatchy Newspapers' Hussein Kadhim and Sahar Issa reported three people were wounded in a shooting assault on Baghdad jewelry shops. Reuters updated that to 7 people shot dead in Baghdad in an attack "using silencers at a gold shop". Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) reported that the murders of the 7 "gangland style" has already led al-Maliki to create his own "gangland style" police unit. No word was provided on whether the creation came so easy (less than 24 hours!) because so many "gangland style" -- possibly even the robbers-murders -- already work for al-Maliki. In some reports today -- they know who they are -- there is a move to back the robberies to Saturday. Why? Well it's amazing that on the same day the "gangland style" robberies take place, al-Maliki's able to respond with a "gangland style" police unit -- amazing and unbelievable. From fairy tales back to reality, one would think al-Maliki would be doing cartwheels over al-Samirrai's election. After all, they're both cowards who fled Iraq because they loathed their government. They didn't want to fight to change it but were happy to Little Bunny Fu Fu it back to Iraq just as soon as the US toppled Saddam. Liz Sly notes al-Samarrai "spent nearly a decade in exile in Britian" and Timothy Williams explains he "fled Iraq in the 1980s during Saddam Hussein's rule". For all the talk of Iraq 'learning' 'democracy,' they sure seem unable to find 'democratic' leaders among their own. Or maybe it's the US that's so fond of installing the exiles?
Then again, maybe it got ignored because people are so shocked by how 'quickly' Nouri moved on Sunday creating those 'gangland style' police squads? He certainly hasn't done a thing to call out the assaults on Iraq's LGBT community. The International Gay and lesiban Human Rights Campaign has called out the assaults: April 17, 2009Her Excellency Wijdan Mikhail Salim Minister of Human Rights Unios (Naqabat) St. Mansour Baghdad, Iraq Fax: +964-1-5372017 minister@humanrights.gov.iq info@humanrights.gov.iq Your Excellency: On behalf of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), I am writing to express deep concern about an alarming increase in violence based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity in Iraq over the past few weeks. Iraqi officials have recently confirmed the murder of six men whose bodies were found in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad. The Iraqi authorities unearthed the bodies of 4 men killed by gunshots on March 25, 2009. On April 2, Iraqi police found the bodies of two additional men who were reportedly killed by members of their tribe to restore their family honor. Media reports suggest that vigilantes killed these men because of their perceived sexual orientation. This wave of violence coincides with an arson attack against a Sadr City coffee house that was popular among gay men. IGLHRC has also received reports of official persecution--abduction, torture, trial without due process, and execution--of Iraqis who the government believes to have been part of a gay organization. In addition, IGLHRC learned today that an Iraqi group known as "Fazilat" (Virtue) has circulated flyers around Sadr City threatening gay men with death and listing the names of their potential targets. As a signatory to international treaties that assure the right to privacy, liberty and security of the person and the right to non-discrimination, it is Iraq's obligation to protect its citizens and ensure that human rights violations are fully investigated and that perpetrators are brought to justice. The new Iraqi Constitution protects the equality of all citizens before the law (Article 14), guarantees everyone's right to enjoy "life, freedom, and security" (Article 15) and reiterates the right of all Iraqis to live "in freedom and with dignity" (Article 35). The mob murder of men perceived to be gay also violates the Iraqi Constitution, since the law protects the private lives of all citizens (Article 17), makes any kind of violence against family members a crime (Article 29) and prohibits extra-judicial punishment (Article 19, Section 2). Despite the legal obligations of the Iraqi government to protect all citizens, crimes committed against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Iraqis and those believed to be homosexual are not properly investigated or prosecuted. In accordance with Article 2 of the Charter of the Ministry of Human Rights (CMHR), which was passed by the Iraqi parliament as law number 60 in 2006, it is the responsibility of your ministry to "promote …and secure the implementation of…. the culture of human rights and personal freedom in accordance with international treaties that Iraq has entered... and prevent its violation." To fulfill this mandate, we request that your ministry take the following steps: * Actively and thoroughly document cases of human rights abuses against LGBT people and include this information in your annual report on the status of human rights in Iraq for submission to parliament and the cabinet. (Article 3, Section 2, CMHR) * Prepare a comprehensive report on state, community and family violence based on sexual orientation with concrete recommendations on how to stop such human rights violations. (Article 3, Section 3, CMHR) * Launch an investigation into the Iraqi legal system -- including police, judiciary, and penal systems--to assure the full enjoyment of human rights principles by all people, regardless of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. * Promote a culture of tolerance and respect for the rights of LGBT people at the tribal level and within the larger Iraqi society. (Article 3, Section 11, CMHR) IGLHRC is ready to support the efforts of the Iraqi government to secure the rights of its same-sex practicing citizens through training, consultation and information exchange. We trust that you will give this matter due attention. Yours sincerely, Cary Alan Johnson Executive Director International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
Jim Muir: A terrified young Iraqi boy, threatened and forced to strip. He's been caught wearing women's underwear. "Why are you dressed like a girl!" they shout. He tries to explain, his family forced him to do it because they have no other way of making money. At a police checkpoint, a hermaphrodite has his breasts taken out and molested. These scenes are filmed on mobile phones and widely circulated. Fear of harassment like this or worse haunts Iraqi gays every time they venture into the streets. For gays like Suour that's not his real name life has become a nightmare
Suour: The campaign starts since 2004 until now Now it's worse very much. They kill the gays, they beat them up. I have a lot of friends that have been killed, 15 or 16, something like that. Too much.
Jim Muir: Gay activists say that more than 60 have been killed in different parts of Iraq since December. They blame more than one source for their plight.
Suour: The Ministry of the Interior, the police because they have power and they have everything. And also the militia
Jim Muir: Iraqi police officials deny they've got anything to do with the anti-gay campaign.
Brig Diah Hussein Sahi: "We have no policy of arresting gays just for being gay. There's no law to justify that unless they commit indecent acts in public." Some Shi'ite clerics have issued statements which have been seen as an incitement to kill gays but others say that's wrong.
[Sheik Sadiq Al Zaeer is shown speaking.]
Jim Muir: "It's a phenomenon which has to be combated," he [Sheik Sadiq Al Zaeer] says, "but by treatment. If these people are sick they should be given therapy but violence is rejected by all religions especially Islam." As much as with the police or militias or clerics, Iraqi gays have a problem with their own society. It's in transition. The forces of conservatism still running very deep indeed. Some of those who have died have been killed by their own kinsman for the sake of 'family honor'. Behind closed doors, some Iraqi gays still manage to have a good time but their way of life is fraught with danger. The Iraqi government hasn't even commented on the killings. And wider Iraqi society is still a long way from accepting scenes like this [Iraqi males dancing]. Jim Muir, BBC News, Baghdad.
For the record, we don't use the f-word here, we have never used it. It's hate speech. We wouldn't use the n-word either for the same reason regardless of how 'cool' some idiots might think the term is. I grasp that other website have loose ethics and that old men -- especially ones who are already lying about the conferences they attend ('radical' is a many splendored term, Socialist is more to the point) -- desperately need to appear 'cool.' Stan will take on this topic at his site tonight. We are all aware of it and I'm already pushing back Iraqi refugees (again!) today due to space limits (while, admittedly, I am plugging friends at the end of the snapshot on non-Iraq topics -- oh well). Thanks to Stan for grabbing the topic.
As James Cogan (World Socialist Web Site) observes today, Iraq has overtaken Afghanistan as "the forgotten war." That allows people to delude themselves that Barack's conditional promises mean an end to the illegal war. Friday on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, Katie Couric spoke to the top US commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno. She asked him about whether or not US forces would be out of all Iraqi cities by the end of June as the Status Of Forces Agreement 'mandates'. Odierno replied, "I believe we'll make that timeline in every city probably except for, probably, Mosul. There'll be a decision that will be made. We'll provide a joint assessment between Iraqis and the U.S. We'll provide that assessment to the Prime Minister Maliki who will make a final decision." That is consistent with his other comments on this topic. It is not, however, consistent with the pipe dreamers who honestly believe that the SOFA is somehow 'binding.'
Like the war, the violence never ends. Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) reports a bomber killed himself in Baqubah this morning and also took the lives of 3 Iraqi police officers while leaving eight US service members wounded. Londono states that bomber was "wearing an Iraqi military uniform". Last Thursday, a bomber took their own life at Tamouz Air Base and he was also wearing an Iraqi military uniform. The death toll on that was never 'official' with al-Maliki's government insisting no one had died -- no one, apparently not even the bomber.
In other reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Shootings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports "the driver of a director general in the Ministry of Planning" was assassinated, 2 Iraqi soldiers were injured in a Baquba shooting and, dropping back to Sunday night, 1 Iraqi soldier and 2 Iraqi police officers were shot dead in separate incidents.
Kidnappings?
Corpses?
Quinn Bradlee: When people think of LD they think of dyslexia, they think of one thing. But what they don't understand is LD is a tree of learning disabilities. It's not just one thing. There's dysgraphia, dyscalculia, you know, it just goes on and on and on. And VCFS, what's different about VCFS and dyslexia is that it is -- it causes a medical problems as well as learning disabilities.
John Dickerson: And so, when you were younger, and kids can be cruel and brutal, and how tough did it get going through all of this?
Quinn Bradlee: It can get pretty tough because you start to wonder -- you think everything you do is normal because you don't know any better and then you go to a special school for kids who have learning disabilities and yet you see other kids teasing other kids with learning disabilities -- and you're at a special school. And you just go, "Wait a minute, you know, what's going on here?" And I think the reason why kids tease other kids is because they will see if they tease kids then people will say "He's teasing me, so he doesn't have it." So they do it to hide their learning disabilities.
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Posted at 03:18 pm by thecommonills
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Cindy Sheehan, Matthis Chiroux, Dear Abby and others aware the Iraq War drags on to this day
I
left the Democratic Party in May of 2007 because of the continued war
funding and the continued lack of accountability and I was roundly,
thoroughly and viciously attacked by the same "progressives" who are
beginning to doubt the "hope" that they bought into, or allowed
themselves to be co-opted by. Some are even calling for an "independent
third party" movement here in the US to challenge the corrupt two
parties!Really? Where were
these "progressives" when I was running against the Queen of the Robber
Class here in SF as an independent? Their heads were buried in the
sand, or they were wearing the Rose Colored Glasses of denial and now
we are mired in a situation that cannot be remedied: once the Genie is
out of the bottle, she can’t be easily put back in. Do you think the
Democrats will hold Obama to account, when they failed to hold Bush to
account? I doubt it and we will continue to see the
Obama-Summers-Geithner-Bernanke collapse of the economy and the
continued war crimes of the Obama-Clinton-Gates occupations for profit.It's
way past time to stop giving the "Two" Party Robber Class system "a
chance." It's time to stop the "inside" part of an "inside-outside"
strategy. We have virtually nobody on the inside who will speak for us
besides a token bone thrown out of those marble cesspools and we have
to stand up for our class.Warren
Buffet, a famous Robber Class business man who loves to dabble in the
Democratic part of the One-Robber Class party said: "It is a class war,
and my class is winning." They are only winning because we allow them
to.The above is from Cindy Sheehan's " 'Hope'less in the 'Two' Party System by Cindy Sheehan" ( Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox) and let's tack this on to it: "Please order a copy of my new eBooklet: Myth America: 10 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution
today and let’s begin the Revolution today!" The last entry opened with
George McGovern trying to bring semi-witness to the Cult of St. Barack.
I prefer the honest approach that Cindy Sheehan takes as opposed to
George's "Hey, we're one Big Tent." I didn't join a cult, thank you.
And I don't excuse away the continuation of an illegal war or act like
I just must not have explained it correctly but if I try again, surely
Barack will understand. Lorraine notes that Cindy's guest on this week's Soapbox is Dr. Justin Long. Cindy Sheehan is on the road and these are the dates listed for her Seat of Our Pants tour: April 20th: TaosBareiss GalleryContact in Taos: Catherine Hart, catherinehart.editor@gmail.comApril 21: AlbuquerqueSmith Brasher Hall (CNM Campus, corner of University and Coal)7-9 pm and then book signing.April 23: Eureka Springs ArkansasSweet Spring Antiques Mart2 Pine Street (across from P.O.)7-9 pmEureka Springs Contact: Gerry Fonseca, geraldt7@earthlink.netApril 26: Kansas City, Mo(Sponsored by KKFI and joint fundraiser with Cindy)3:30 - Anti-War vigil on the Plaza with Cindy Sheehan5:00 - Meet & Greet with Cindy6:30 - Music by Seed Love7:00 - Music by The Herrmannators7:30 - Cindy Sheehan speaksVenue: Uptown Theater - Valentine Room3700 BroadwayContact for KCMO: Anne Pritchett, pritchett.anne@gmail.comNPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro (Morning Edition -- link is text and video) reports on
the mood in Iraq which, NPR reminds, is "Six years ago this month, a
crowd of cheering Iraqis and a worldwide television audience watched
U.S. Marines topple a prominent statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's
Firdos Square in the weeks after the U.S.-led invasion." Internal
refugee Abu Mohammed speaks of being forced out of Baghdad and
explains, "What happened will be difficult to forget. Whole families
were killed. Their relatives will not forget. This will affect our
future." Meanwhile the assault on the country's LGBT community
continues. Polly notes this from UK Gay News: The
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has sent
a letter to the Iraqi Minister of Human Rights, Wijdan Salim,
requesting that she takes specific measures to protect lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Iraqis and prevent hate crimes against
those perceived to be gay.IGLHRC's
letter, written to coincide with Ms. Salim’s visit to Washington D.C.,
responds to a recent wave of violent crimes against Iraqi citizens
perceived to be gay.Just
hours before IGLHRC sent its letter, an Iraqi group identified as
"Fazilat" (Virtue) posted flyers threatening homosexuals with death on
walls in the Sadr City neighbourhood of Baghdad.The International Gay and lesiban Human Rights Campaign has posted their letter here: April 17, 2009Her Excellency Wijdan Mikhail SalimMinister of Human RightsUnios (Naqabat) St. MansourBaghdad, IraqFax: +964-1-5372017minister@humanrights.gov.iqinfo@humanrights.gov.iqYour Excellency:On
behalf of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
(IGLHRC), I am writing to express deep concern about an alarming
increase in violence based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity
in Iraq over the past few weeks. Iraqi officials have recently
confirmed the murder of six men whose bodies were found in the Sadr
City neighborhood of Baghdad. The Iraqi authorities unearthed the
bodies of 4 men killed by gunshots on March 25, 2009. On April 2, Iraqi
police found the bodies of two additional men who were reportedly
killed by members of their tribe to restore their family honor. Media
reports suggest that vigilantes killed these men because of their
perceived sexual orientation.This
wave of violence coincides with an arson attack against a Sadr City
coffee house that was popular among gay men. IGLHRC has also received
reports of official persecution--abduction, torture, trial without due
process, and execution--of Iraqis who the government believes to have
been part of a gay organization. In addition, IGLHRC learned today that
an Iraqi group known as "Fazilat" (Virtue) has circulated flyers around
Sadr City threatening gay men with death and listing the names of their
potential targets.As a
signatory to international treaties that assure the right to privacy,
liberty and security of the person and the right to non-discrimination,
it is Iraq's obligation to protect its citizens and ensure that human
rights violations are fully investigated and that perpetrators are
brought to justice.The
new Iraqi Constitution protects the equality of all citizens before the
law (Article 14), guarantees everyone’s right to enjoy "life, freedom,
and security" (Article 15) and reiterates the right of all Iraqis to
live "in freedom and with dignity" (Article 35). The mob murder of men
perceived to be gay also violates the Iraqi Constitution, since the law
protects the private lives of all citizens (Article 17), makes any kind
of violence against family members a crime (Article 29) and prohibits
extra-judicial punishment (Article 19, Section 2). Despite the legal
obligations of the Iraqi government to protect all citizens, crimes
committed against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Iraqis
and those believed to be homosexual are not properly investigated or
prosecuted.In
accordance with Article 2 of the Charter of the Ministry of Human
Rights (CMHR), which was passed by the Iraqi parliament as law number
60 in 2006, it is the responsibility of your ministry to "promote …and
secure the implementation of…. the culture of human rights and personal
freedom in accordance with international treaties that Iraq has
entered... and prevent its violation."To fulfill this mandate, we request that your ministry take the following steps:
* Actively and thoroughly document cases of human rights abuses against
LGBT people and include this information in your annual report on the
status of human rights in Iraq for submission to parliament and the
cabinet. (Article 3, Section 2, CMHR)
* Prepare a comprehensive report on state, community and family
violence based on sexual orientation with concrete recommendations on
how to stop such human rights violations. (Article 3, Section 3, CMHR)
* Launch an investigation into the Iraqi legal system—including police,
judiciary, and penal systems--to assure the full enjoyment of human
rights principles by all people, regardless of their real or perceived
sexual orientation or gender identity.
* Promote a culture of tolerance and respect for the rights of LGBT
people at the tribal level and within the larger Iraqi society.
(Article 3, Section 11, CMHR)IGLHRC
is ready to support the efforts of the Iraqi government to secure the
rights of its same-sex practicing citizens through training,
consultation and information exchange.We trust that you will give this matter due attention.Yours sincerely,Cary Alan JohnsonExecutive DirectorInternational Gay and Lesbian Human Rights CommissionAnd in other sections of the tapestry of violence, Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) reports
a bomber killed himself in Baqubah this morning and also took the lives
of 3 Iraqi police officers while leaving eight US service members
wounded. Londono states that bomber was "wearing an Iraqi military
uniform". Last Thursday,
a bomber took their own life at Tamouz Air Base and he was also wearing
an Iraqi military uniform. The death toll on that was never 'official'
with al-Maliki's government insisting no one had died -- no one,
apparently not even the bomber. The lies of the illegal war never end. Colby Buzzell is the author of My War: Killing Time in Iraq and he shared stories on several propaganda efforts in his book and continues to share them. Stefan Hard reports one in " Iraq blogger spreads the message" ( Times Argus): Buzzell
told the Norwich crowd of about 120 students and staff of a time in
Iraq when soldiers were coached by their commanding officers to tell a
CNN reporter that Iraqi police and soldiers had taken the lead in a
dangerous assault on insurgents holed up in a Mosque, and that U.S.
soldiers were in a support role only, when in fact, U.S. soldiers had
bravely taken the lead in the operation.The
real story of Iraq is still not being told by the media, Buzzell told
the gathering, and he thinks the American public has lost interest. It
bothers him a lot, and he said the hardest part of his assimilation
back into "normal life" after returning from Iraq his the normality
that now surrounds him."I
look around while I'm in a restaurant or bar, or walking down the
street -- you know -- everyday life here," said Buzzell, "and no one is
aware. There's still 100,000 guys over there (in Iraq) doing a mission.
They're doing hard work; there's a lot going on over there, and at
times in the media it seems non-existent… the public seems more
interested in Afghanistan or the economy."Buzzell
could take some comfort that his ground-breaking blogging and
successful book has inspired many other budding writers to engage in
soldier blogs or citizen journalism and float the gritty, unfiltered,
uncomfortable, and profoundly moving truth.It's really
sad that you have more chance of finding Iraq in an advice column than
in the news sections of a paper, on an evening newscast or in
discussions taking place around the country. Today Dear Abby's readers are aware the Iraq War continues: DEAR
ABBY: I have been dating/engaged to a wonderful man for almost a year.
He was recently deployed for a 14-month tour of duty in Iraq.We
planned to be married in August while he is home on R&R, but a few
days ago he asked that we postpone the wedding until next February when
he is stateside for good.He
was gung-ho about our nuptials until a few days ago, when he requested
that we wait. I'm confused because all he talked about was getting
married and now it's a sore subject. -- Marine's GirlDEAR
MARINE'S GIRL: Having never met or spoken to your fiancé, I can't
explain what is going on in his head. However, active duty in a war
zone is extremely stressful. It takes a strong woman to be married to a
man in the military, so be patient, stay positive and let him know that
you'll be there when he comes home. Continue to be as supportive as you
can. When he returns in August, you two can have a heart-to-heart talk
about why he wanted to slow things down.Bonnie reminds that Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Court-ordered" Last Tuesday's snapshot noted Amnesty International's report [PDF format warning] entitled " Hope and Fear: Human Rights In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq." The Kurdistan Regional Government has released a response to the report: Statement
on the Amnesty International Report on Human Rights in the Kurdistan
Region by the General Director of Security in Erbil Ismat Argushi
The recent Amnesty International Report on Human Rights in the
Kurdistan Region rightly notes at the outset that there have been
“positive and encouraging steps” taken by the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) and its agencies over the last few years to create a
heightened respect for the rights of women, strengthen the rule of law,
and further our path toward creating the open, free civil society
needed to keep our democracy healthy. This clearly demonstrates the
KRG’s serious, concerted efforts to hold ourselves to the highest
international standards on these issues and we will continue to
demonstrate a serious regard for human rights, constantly working
toward a more perfect administration and institutionalisation of our
democracy. In
furtherance of these efforts, the General Directorate of Security in
Erbil and other security organs throughout the Kurdistan Region have
allowed unprecedented access to our detention facilities in order to
demonstrate our commitment to attain the highest international
standards on the protection of human rights and foster a practice of
open, transparent government in our security and judicial proceedings.
This willingness to face criticism and have our operations verified by
external organisations is a reflection of our commitment to the rule of
law, a commitment unparalleled by other security organs in the Middle
East. It is
extremely unfortunate that Amnesty's report did not recognise the role
that the Asayish's openness has in furthering respect for the rule of
law throughout our Region. In fact, most of the information provided in
the report chronicles problems we had just after the fall of Saddam,
when we were still subject to Saddam-era penal codes, rather than
providing new information about our current conduct. Since the fall of
Saddam, we have worked vigorously to rectify any injustices committed,
with the report itself noting that many defendants were granted pardons
by our President while our legislative bodies worked to draft new
criminal codes in line with international standards. It is very
misleading to use these cases as evidence against the current conduct
of our staff, when in fact, they are a reflection of the unfortunate
circumstance that our people were forced to continue suffering under
the legal dictates of an authoritarian regime long after the
establishment of the United Nation's 'no fly zone'. This was not our
choice, but was a result of the international community’s unwillingness
to act through the United Nations to free us from such laws. After
Saddam’s overthrow, it took us some time to undo decades of this brutal
regime, and it is to our credit that we have taken real and concrete
steps to do so through the rule of law, rather than acting around it,
as would have been required had we taken corrective action prior to the
passing of new laws.
Admittedly, we are a relatively new government with institutions that
are still in transition, but we are committed -- and I personally am
committed -- to creating a security force that provides our people with
the safety and security our Region is known for, while meeting
international standards set out for the protection of human rights. Our
people deserve this after all we have suffered under previous regimes
and make no mistake -- as a people we have learned the high cost that
comes from ignoring the importance of human rights. Our agency operates
under the mentality of "service to the people." This means all the
people of Kurdistan, without exception.
As such, Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani, the KRG, and the
General Director of Security and Intelligence Masrour Barzani have
instituted strict rules against the use of torture in any of our
detention facilities. All of our recruits undergo extensive training in
complying with international standards on the rights of prisoners and
when individual security officers have been found to violate either our
Regional laws or the internal rules of our agency in this regard, the
officers have been punished and removed from their posts. No one is
above the law in the Kurdistan Region, and those found in violation of
our policy are not only held accountable in their jobs, but can legally
face criminal proceedings when their actions are found to violate the
established laws of our Region or the Government of Iraq.
This also applies to the requirement to obtain arrest warrants. The
Asayish is not above the law in this regard and cannot act to arrest
people without going through the same process as other police and
security agencies, according to the stipulations of the 2006
Anti-terrorism Law. No one is currently being held in any of our
facilities without such legal protections, and we have only 252 people
currently in custody, all with verified arrest warrants issued by the
court. At the time of Amnesty's fact-finding mission last year, the
number was 670, many of who had been arrested under old penal codes and
were thus not subject to the new restrictions of the Anti-terrorism Law
in regards to arrest warrants. Amnesty misreported these people as
"political" prisoners, when in reality, this was the total number of
people in our custody at the time and none of our agencies hold
"political" prisoners. Since this time, all of the prisoners held
without warrant have been released. This is just one case of the abuse
by Amnesty in its report of generalised, misleading language intended
to evoke an emotional response, but factually false.
However, we do not deny that there have been insistences, as in the
most developed democracies in the world, of non-compliance with the
best practices set out by Amnesty in this regard, but these actions
have never been sanctioned or ignored by our agency when proof has been
provided as to the veracity of the allegations. Unfortunately,
Amnesty’s report provides no proof or evidence that any of the
allegations are true, despite our willingness to open our facilities to
their inspection. In all of the cases investigated under my
jurisdiction, we complied fully with requests for such visitations and
there is no mention that the Amnesty visitors allowed to interview
Srood Mohammad ever found any evidence of the alleged abuse. It is
irresponsible to use these sorts of cases, with no independent
verification or proof, to substantiate claims that the security forces
have acted outside the rule of law and to make the sort of strong
public statements against our agency that Mr Smart and Amnesty’s
website did. Convicting the innocent with no proof, in this case our
security forces, is far outside a respect for the rule of law and human
rights. This
sort of tactic used by Amnesty in the media does not further a respect
for human rights, is hypocritical, and commits a disservice to our
people and the members of Amnesty International who rely on its
impartiality and fairness. On these issues, the language used by
Amnesty in regards to the report was misleading to the public and I
believe that those taking the time to read the report would walk away
with a much different view of what is happening in the Kurdistan Region
than they were given by the unnecessarily harsh terminology,
generalisations, and binary language used by Amnesty after its
publication. In fact, it is clear even from the report that Amnesty had
a particular agenda and used dubious information, often very old, to
paint an unrealistically harsh picture of the security forces in our
Region by bringing up allegations of abuse at a prisons such as Aqra,
which have long been closed.
While we cannot morally allow a few to threaten the lives, prosperity
and security of the many who rely on our work, we recognise the
importance of the rule of law and clear mechanisms for the punishment
of abuses in preventing the misuse of legitimate authority. Our agency
does not use enforced disappearances and I am more than willing to
publicly condemn the practice as Amnesty recommends. Any information my
agency has about the names mentioned in the report have been turned
over to the Ministry of Human Rights for investigation. The only
instance given of a potential case under my jurisdiction, that of
Badran Mostafa Mahmoud, has already been investigated and we have no
knowledge of any action taken against him by any group. We consider his
disappearance a tragedy for his family and wish them a happy ending to
their drama, but there is no reason to believe that the Asayish had any
role in his disappearance or any knowledge of his whereabouts at any
time. Amnesty’s report provides no evidence of any such role.
Finally, although the investigation of regular criminal acts does not
fall under our jurisdiction according to the stipulations of Law 46,
which guides our activities, the rights of women and journalists are
very important to our organisation. The report notes that although 1 in
10 Kurdistani women have faced violence in the last year, that number
is far lower than in the rest of Iraq. Still, we are not satisfied with
this, which is why the KRG government has taken the steps mentioned by
the report to address issues of violence against women, and our
security agency in particular has hired women at all levels and in all
fields. We are very proud of giving women a chance to work in important
security roles, where they are equal to men and receive specialised
training according to their particular roles. In this sense, our agency
is more advanced than any other government in the Middle East and we
believe that this will ultimately increase our ability to investigate
and bring to justice those who commit crimes against women. Our actions
show how seriously we take this issue and we are unequivocally part of
the solution to opening new life choices to women of the Kurdistan
Region.
Likewise, we openly support the right to freedom of speech and despite
the sensitive nature of working in intelligence and security, regularly
meet with journalists from all over the world seeking to report on our
activities. We strongly condemn any violent act or threat against
journalists in our Region, and welcome Amnesty's recognition that
conditions for journalists are much better in our Region than Iraq as a
whole. We have one of the most liberal press laws in the entire Middle
East and proudly consider the sheer diversity of civil society
organisations in our Region as a reflection of our progress in breaking
with an oppressive past. Meanwhile Iraq's Foreign Ministry notes the following diplomatic encounter which took place yesterday: Foreign Minister met on 19/4/2009 in his office with Mr. Stephen White, Head of European Rule of Law Mission in Iraq.
Several
issues and topics related to the functions of the mission in Iraq were
discussed .The head of the mission expressed the desire of European
countries to extend the work of the mission for another year in Iraq
for training legal personnel, prison guards and assisting related
departments in the observance of human rights in Iraq. As well as the
transfer of the training process in Iraq by increasing staff and
specialists in legal training.
Minister Zebari expressed Iraq's
desire to continue the work of the European mission, and the readiness
of the Iraqi side to assist the European mission in its work in Iraq.
Minister Zebari stated that Iraq positively views the work of the
mission and works to facilitate its mission in Iraq, adding that Iraq
will provide all supplies needed to continue the work of the mission
and its success in the future.And we're closing with this. We'll note it again in today's snapshot and we'll note it tomorrow. This is " Resistance to an Abhorrent Occupation: Press Release of Matthis Chiroux" (World Can't Wait): (ST.
LOUIS, MO) The U.S. Army will hear the case of Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, an
Individual Ready Reservist who last summer publicly refused activation
and deployment orders to Iraq, on April 21 at 1 Reserve Way in
Overland, St. Louis, MO, at 9 a.m.
Chiroux, a member of Iraq
Veterans Against the War, refused to participate in what he described
as "an illegal and immoral occupation" May 15th, 2008, in Washington
D.C., after nine other veterans testified to Members of the U.S.
Congress about atrocities they experienced during deployments to Iraq.
Chiroux also vowed to remain public in the U.S. to defend himself from
any charges brought against him by the military. (see matthisresists.us for a record of that speech and others by Chiroux)
"My
resistance as a noncommissioned officer to this abhorrent occupation is
just as legitimate now as it was last year," said Chiroux, adding,
"Soldiers have a duty to adhere to the international laws of war
described as supreme in Art. 6 Para. 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which
we swear to abide by before the orders of any superior, including our
former or current president."
Following Chiroux's refusal to
deploy, the military did not contact him until after he and 10 other
IVAW members marched on the final presidential debate Oct. 15, 2008, in
Hempstead, N.Y. demanding to question then Senators Obama and McCain
regarding their war policies and plans to care for returning veterans.
After the veterans were brutalized and arrested by police, (one
suffered a fractured skull and is currently suing the police for
damages) the Army charged Chiroux with "misconduct" for refusing to
deploy, announcing their intentions to discharge him from the reserves
as a result.
"I go now to St. Louis to honor my promises and
convictions," said Chiroux. "Obama or No-Bama, the military must cease
prosecuting Soldiers of conscience, and we will demonstrate to them
why."
Following the hearing, Chiroux and other IVAW members will
testify about their military experiences which led them all to resist
in different capacities the U.S.'s Overseas Contingency Operation
(formerly the Global War on Terror).
For more information, see matthisresists.us and ivaw.org.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqcindy sheehanjustin frankmatthis chirouxthe washington posternesto londononprmorning editionlourdes garcia-navarrostefan hardcolby buzzelldear abbyiraqthe world today just nuts
Posted at 06:50 am by thecommonills
Permalink
McGovern pleads, NYT misleads
Three years ago, public opinion polls indicated that a majority of Americans believed our policymakers were wrong in ordering troops into Iraq. It is widely accepted that this sentiment more than any other factor in the 2006 congressional elections resulted in Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate.Are we now going to ignore for another three years the public mandate of 2006 against this costly, preemptive war based on deceit? And how can we justify putting thousands more U.S. troops into Afghanistan? We have already exhausted our treasury. We are also close to exhausting our soldiers.Can there be any doubt that the enormous war cost has contributed to the financial crisis here at home? The expense of waging two Middle East wars, plus the loss of revenue caused by the previous administration's tax cuts, have skyrocketed the national debt to a record high. Do we ever consider what the interest alone is on our $10-trillion national debt -- much of it paid to China?Frankly, we cannot afford a two-war commitment year after year if we want to balance the federal budget and restore our economy. The huge bonuses that directors of failing corporations have awarded themselves and their chief executives have rightfully angered people, but those figures are peanuts compared with the $12 billion a month we have poured into Iraq and Afghanistan over the last six years.The above is from George McGovern's guest column named " George McGovern urges pullout from Iraq this year" ( Los Angeles Times). Apparently the headline writer didn't feel McGovern's name in the byline was enough. I don't really know who McGovern thinks he's going to reach with the above. I don't disagree but I didn't hitch my wagon to Barack Obama and sell that War Hawk Corporatist as the Prince of Peace. I didn't sully my reputation. Use the link to watch McGovern before the excerpt try to lead the Cult of St. Barack in a cheer before getting down to business. That was all McGovern's problems -- and so obvious in 1972 -- too much time spent leading cheers, far too little time addressing reality. Barring the US military announcing a death, the next entry will open with Cindy Sheehan and you can read the two and see the differences in approaches. McGovern's struggling to restore his legacy. On the plus side, at least he realizes it's in danger which puts him far ahead of the likes of Joan Baez. On the negative side, he really thinks he can offer weakness in the face of an ongoing, illegal war and have it stopped. It's as though he's asking someone at the table to pass the gravy. It's pathetic. I should be more 'forgiving' to him possibly, but I never fell for the McGovern nonsense (I did vote for him). I never believed the hype and that was long before he sold women out in Miami. He did sell women out and it's a damn shame so many women, to this day, refuse to tell the truth on that to younger generations. Whole generations have grown up never grasping what a back stabber he was or how some women enabled him. So I'm not really in the mood for him to make nice with Barack. He's proven he can be a cold blooded, heartless snake and that he'll stab his most loyal supporters in the back. As a result, watching him try to play footsie with Barack at the beginning of the column does nothing for me. I'm sure it does for him. I will say, as I have before, that had he been elected in 1972, he would have immediately began pulling troops from Vietnam. He would have been sworn in Januray 1973 and US troops would have been home, under a President McGovern, before Christmas of that same year. I don't care for him but I won't deny him his credit on that, the only big issue he would have stuck to. McGovern winds down by 'urging' Barack to take action. George knows damn well you have to demand and it's a real sign of cowardice on his part that he refuses to demand. Meanwhile, repeating December 23rd, the Iraqi Parliament Speaker was ousted. Mahmoud Mashadani had been the speaker. Even the US State Dept admits that. See their report released last week [PDF format warning] " Iraq Status Report." It doesn't get much clearer than, "The COR has yet to reach a consensus on appointing a new Speaker since Mahmoud Mashadani was ousted on December 23, 2008." Liz Sly didn't grasp it and neither does Timothy Williams who serves up " Critic of Maliki Is Chosen to Lead Iraq's Parliament" in today's New York Times. It is truly amazing to find the New York Times in disagreement with the US State Dept. You can count on one hand any time that happens in any decade (the Times exists as the mouthpiece of official-dom). But apparently their extreme hatred for Mashadani allows them to grudge f**k the truth into the ground on this story. For those who have forgotten, in the summer of 2006, the Times was filing 'reports' on Mashadani where he was 'despondent' and 'upset' and 'hiding out' at his father's home. The reality was that Mashadani was on an official visit to Jordan while the Parliament was on the break and that the Arab press was reporting on the visit. The Times never corrected their lie of Mashadani-done-got-smacked-down-and-I-tell-you-what-he's-hiding-out-and-refusing-all-visitors. It takes a lot of hatred of one individual to work so hard to lie about them. And it was a lie, not an error. An error gets corrected. The Times never corrected it. So Timothy Williams is just continuing the grudge f**k of Mashadani. Iyad al-Samirrai is the new Speaker and his 'career' is best summed up by Williams as follows: "an engineer by training, fled Iraq in the 1980s during Saddam Hussein's rule, but returned after the American invasion in 2003." While al-Samirrai was becoming the new Speaker, Williams reports al-Maliki was yet again sounding the alarm: Even as Parliament was voting, Mr. Maliki appeared before hundreds of uniformed commanders at the Interior Ministry and warned that factions within Iraq threatened national unity. As he has in recent days, he suggested that opponents -- whom he did not identify -- were seeking to undermine his government."Today we face a new war of subversion, sedition and suspicion," he said. "We have to warn ourselves, myself and all you, of the sedition that was defeated in the battle and is being provoked in a certain problem here and another problem there."Eddie notes that the Dallas Morning News has an Iraq brief here. Last Monday's snapshot included the following: Sunday the 5 US soldiers killed on Friday arrived at Dover Air Force Base. Jeff Montgomery (Delaware's News Journal) observes, "It was the heaviest loss of American lives in Iraq in 13 months, and the largest number of casualties returned to America in full sight of the public since the Defense Department opened the process to news coverage last week, after a 18-year blackout." The Defense Dept identified the five as: "Staff Sgt. Gary L. Woods Jr., 24, of Lebanon Junction, Ky., Staff Sgt. Bryan E. Hall, 32, of Elk Grove, Calif., Sgt. Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of St. Louis, Mo., Cpl. Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Davenport, Iowa, and PV2 Bryce E. Gautier, 22, of Cypress, Calif." Sheryl Edelen (Courier-Journal) reports on Gary L. Woods Jr., "Woods' father, Gary Woods St., said that his son, who went by his middle name, Lee, was a talented musician who sang and played the trombone, drums, piano and guitar while a student at Bullitt Central High School. He was also a member of the school's football team. But after finding satisifation in ROTC classes, his son entered the military after high school, he said." Bob White (Lebanon Junction News Enterprise) adds, "Woods is surived by his parents, siblings and a wife, Christie, his father said." Tony Bizjak (Sacramento Bee) reports on Bryan Edward Hall, "Hall, 32, had served in the military for 14 years and had been deployed in Iraq since September. . . . Hall had received three Army commendation medals, according to military records, as well as several Army achievement, good conduct and war on terrorism medals." Dave Marquis (Sacramento's News10.net) quotes Debbie Lords, who is a neighbor of the Bryan Edward Hall's parents, stating, "I don't know what I'm thinking. I just really feel for John and Betty right now. It was their oldest son, their oldest child." Paul Hampel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) reports on Edward Forrest Jr., "Forrest was based at Fort Carson in Colorado and lived near the base with his wife and two sons, ages 2 and one month. Forrest was a 2003 graduate of Rockwood Summit High School. He was on his third tour of duty in Iraq." His sister Melissa Forrest-Pliner tells Hampel, "I asked him not to re-enlist. I told him I didn't want him to be a hero. I just wanted him to be my brother." South County Times adds, "In high school, Sgt. Forrest, known as 'Eddie,' was a long distance runner on the track team, and was also on the wrestling team" and quotes his coach Rolland Garrison stating, "He was a very enthusiastic member of the track and field program here at Rockwood Summit. He was a very good kid with a great smile." Molly Hottle (Des Monies Register) reports on Jason Graham Pautsch, "David Pautsch was informed of his son's death Friday night, just 12 hours after the two had spoken on the phone. 'He believed n what he was doing,' David Pautsch said. 'This is what he wanted to do'." Nicole Murphy (WAQD, link has text and video) spoke with David Pautsch who explained the call he received, "'On behalf of the Secretary of the Army I just want to let you know, give our condolences and notify you that your son was killed in Mosul." Pautsch continues, "You're stunned and you're shocked and you find it hard to believe that it could actually be happening but then it seeps and that's when the emotions hit." Pautsch goes on to explain that he believes his son was protecting the US from the "terrorists" in Iraq and he also shares, "I'm thrilled for Jason that he's in heaven." Eugene W. Fields (Orange County Register) reports on Bryce E. Gautier, "Gauier, a medic, joined the Army in January of 2008 and had been in Iraq since January of this year, according to Army documents. He received the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Gautier graduated in 2005 from Rancho Alamitos High in Garden Grove, according to school district spokesman Alan Trudell." Tom Roeder and Maria St. Louis-Sanchez (Colorado Springs Gazette) note Gauier's MySpace page and add, "His sense of humor is evident from a posting on the site, which Gautier last updated three days before his death. 'Winners make the rules, losers just follow them,' Gautier wrote. 'In the Army now.' Gautier's brother, Even, left a simple eulogy on his Web page: 'My brother Bryce was one of the American soldiers killed in the suicide bombing in Iraq this morning. I love you bro. I will miss you'." We're about to note one of the five and I didn't want to leave out the other four. CBS 13 reports that Brian Edward Hall's funeral will be Thursday: "The route of the procession will begin at the Sacramento Executive Airport, and will go to Highway 99, head southbound to Elk Grove Boulevard, and will end at the Elk Grove Funeral Chapel at 9101 Elk Grove Boulevard." KCRA notes, "His family is asking members of the community to show their support for the fallen soldier by lining the route." Jason Kobely (News10.net -- link has text and video) reports that Brian Edward Hall's body arrived at Sacremento's Executive Airport yesterday and was greeted by "hundreds of mourners." Kobely quotes Kristi Hall, Brian's sister, stating, "My brother loved his job. He was proud of his job everyday. He never boasted about his accomplishments, or was arrogant. He did his job, and when he was done with his job, he came home and was a father, and a husband . . . and a son and a brother." Bonnie reminds that Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Court-ordered" went up last night. The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqgeorge mcgovernthe los angeles timesjason kobelythe dallas morning news
Posted at 06:48 am by thecommonills
Permalink
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Court-ordered"
Posted at 08:39 pm by thecommonills
Permalink
And the war drags on . . .
The New York Times proves how out of touch and embarrassin git is with a story on Iraq which makes the front page of the news section today, Rod Nordland's "Feeling Secure Engouh to Sin, Baghdad Returns to Its Old Ways." The headline is insulting and rather frightening when you consider what the 'old ways' included (gassing the Kurds, for example) but Nordland's not responsible for the headline. He is responsible for the text of his report. And here's the opening sentence: "Vice is making a comeback in this city once famous for 1,001 varieties of it." What a little prig and how embarrassing for the paper. Vice. Vice? Apparently the paper's gearing up for the editorials calling for vice raids to be brought back in NYC. I understand women smoke cigarettes at Time Square . . . in the open! And they serve booze . . . openly!!!!! Oh my goodness. Bring back the vice raids! Bring them back! If you're not getting how insulting, patronizing and, for the matter, stereotypically right-wing Christian fundamentalist the article and it's approach is (from a Jewish owned paper, no less), it gets worse. Are they going to mention it? You know they are. You know they can't not mention it because they're being moralistic prigs. So the question is how far in? Four paragraphs, opening sentence. Sodom and Gomorrah. And, no, there's no indication that anyone knows anything beyond the really bad movie made on it. (Again, though, Jewish owned paper.) This is such a disgusting and insulting article and you really have to wonder how the papers intends to out-do it because you know they're planning that. As a reporter at another paper (equally offended by this article) said on the phone tonight, "Well I guess they're trying to ease back in the notion of prostitution . . . for personal reasons." Indeed. So on the front page, the vice is prostituion -- listed second. Sandwiched in the second paragraph between night clubs and booze. And while prostitution might be back in the open, as the New York Times knows so very well, it never left Baghdad, not once. As the paper knows so very, very well. (Did an Iraqi refugee in Syria really pitch a book this month about her adventures in the Green Zone with certain journalists? Did she really? You'll Never Give Byline In This Town Again.) Considering everything that went down in the Green Zone over the last six years, for the Times of all papers to hop a high horse on the front page is ridiculous. While the Times clucks and makes a fool of itself, Jim Muir (BBC News, link has text and video) reports on the real crimes going on, such as the attacks on the LGBT community: Grainy footage taken on a mobile phone and widely distributed around Baghdad shows a terrified young Iraqi boy cowering and whimpering as men with a stick force him to strip, revealing women's underwear beneath his dishdasha (Arab robe).
"Why are you dressed as a girl?" roars one of the men, brandishing his stick as the youth removes his brassiere.
The sobbing boy, who appears to be about 12, tries to explain that his family made him do it to earn money, as they have no other source of income.
The scene, apparently filmed in a police post, reinforced reports of a campaign against gay men in Iraq which activists say has claimed the lives of more than 60 since December. BBC is offering real news and NYT is longing for the day when Cecil de Mille managed to fill seats. How very sad and how very telling. 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 4272 and tonight? 4274. In some of the violence reported over the weekend . . . Bombings? Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reported Saturday a Baghdad bombing that left two injured, a Baghdad roadside bombing which wounded four, and a Baghdad missile attack on the Green Zone. AP's Brian Murphy states this is the first attack on the Green Zone in approximately three months. Today Kadhim and Sahar Issa report a Baghdad roadside bombing which injured five people, a Mosul car bombing which injured seven (including a small child) and a Mosul roadside bombing which injured one person. Reuters notes a Baghdad mortar attack which left two people injured. Shootings? Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reported Saturday that Ministry of Interior Intelligence's Haider Hadi Mahdi was assassinated in Baghdad and the "owner of exchange currency business" and one employee were shot dead in Basra. Today Kadhim and Sahar Issa report three people were wounded in a shooting assault on Baghdad jewelry shops and Police Lt Col Abdul Rahman Ibrahim was shot dead in Baghdad. Reuters notes 2 police officer shot dead in Mosul in an attack on a checkpoint, 1 Iraqi soldier shot dead at a Mosul military checkpoint, 7 people shot dead in Baghdad in an attack "using silencers at a gold shop" (this is an update on the gewlry shops McCllatchy noted). Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) reports that the murders of hte 7 "gangland style" has already led al-Maliki to create his own "gangland style" police unit. No word on whether the creation came so easy (less than 24 hours!) because so many "gangland style" -- possibly even the robbers-murders -- already work for al-Maliki. Corpses? Reuters notes 2 corpses discovered in Hilla ("Sunni Arab militiamen"). December 23rd, the Iraqi Parliament Speaker was ousted. Mahmoud Mashadani had been the speaker. Four days shy of four months, they finally have a Speaker. Liz Sly (Los Angeles Times) reports Iyad Al Samirrai was elected today. Sly glosses over the ouster. Mashadani was ousted. Even the US State Dept admits that. See their report released last week [PDF format warning] " Iraq Status Report." It doesn't get much clearer than, "The COR has yet to reach a consensus on appointing a new Speaker since Mahmoud Mashadani was ousted on December 23, 2008." His political party had to sue to prove he was eligible to run. Why? Liz Sly mentions the rumors that the Parliament has been planning a no-confidence vote in al-Maliki for months. (Ahmed Chalabi has spoken publicly of that and noted that such a vote, if taken, would be procedural and Constitutional and not, as al-Maliki has insisted, a "coup.") To no one's surprise, al-Samarrai is another Iraqi who fled the country ("spent nearly a decade in exile in Britian"). Wonder why so many see the puppet government as just that? How would you like to be ruled by a ton of cowards who only came back in the country after the US invaded? BBC reports the vote was 153 votes in favor (out of 232 votes cast). UPI quotes MP Izzat Shahbandar stating, "This is a strong challenge to the prime minister because he didn't want this party to take the office. It shows that the prime minister derives his power from the people, not from Parliament." New content at Third: Truest statement of the weekTruest statement of the week IIA note to our readersEditorial: Media Whores and Medea WhoreTV: Broken or fixed?Tea PartiesPapers and David Carr Stuck In The BoxCivil Rights history including 'Now!'The Shirley goes to . . .Greta GarboLt. Muthana Shaad's Gay Boy ChroniclesYesterday's Morning Glory Naomi KleinMatthis Stands Tall April 21stHighlightsIsaiah's latest goes up after this. The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqand the war drags ondonovanthe new york timesrod nordlandthe los angeles timesliz slyjim muirmcclatchy newspapershussein kadhimsahar issathe world today just nutsthe third estate sunday review
Posted at 08:35 pm by thecommonills
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Saturday, April 18, 2009
He won't dance, don't ask him
File is under, "Will they try to make him dance too?" The top US commander in Iraq, Gen Ray Odierno, was yet again trotted out by the administration in an attempt to force him to say what they wanted him to. It took place last night on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric (link has video and transcript). In yesterday's snapshot, we were noting how the US State Dept was attempting to reassamble Odierno's words (take answers to one question and match them with another) in [PDF format warning] " Iraq Status Report." Odierno does not believe that the US will withdraw from all Iraqi cities by the end of June (as the treaty masquerading as a Status Of Forces Agreement 'promises' will happen). The State Dept grabbed an answer to a 2011 question John King asked and attempted to pass it off as though Odierno was replying to a question about the June removal from Iraqi cities. Couric's first question was about the June deadline. Odierno: I believe we'll make that timeline in every city probably except for, probably, Mosul. There'll be a decision that will be made. We'll provide a joint assessment between Iraqis and the U.S. We'll provide that assessment to the Prime Minister Maliki who will make a final decision.They (the administration, I'm not referring to the press) try to make him dance, don't they? It's becoming embarrassing. Not for Odierno but for the administration and their strong-arm tactics. No, the answer is "no." It does not appear that US forces will be out of Iraqi cities by the end of June. Mosul is an Iraqi city -- what you thought it was next to Dayton? The answer's no. And Odierno further tanked the administration's talking points when Katie asked her next question. Couric: Can you describe circumstances in which the current timetable would be rendered null and void? Odierno: Well, first off, we have an agreement between us and the government of Iraq. And that means that all U.S. forces will leave Iraq by the end of 2011. We can never predict what might happen in the future. But I would tell you the chances of that happening are much less today than they were a year ago.He won't leave that "we can never predict" out. The administration has been on his case to do so. They're finding out he's very stubborn. Good for Odierno. It's not his job to sell policy and shame on the administration for attempting to repeatedly force him to do so. And if I'm applauding him, you better believe those at his level are as well (which is how I first heard about it, this is fastly becoming a scandal and the administration would be smart to back off of Odierno real quick if they're hoping to push forward any other policies regarding the military -- the whole thing is leaving a sour taste in the mouths of many). It's an interview worth watching (or reading) and we'll note one more section because it's really not covered by the US media. Couric: Thousands of Iraqis protested in the streets of Baghdad last week, wanting U.S. troops out of Iraq. What do you think the feeling is by most Iraqi citizens toward U.S. forces there? Odierno: Well, it's hard to gauge. I would say, though, they were calling for a million man march in Sadr City called by Muqtada Al Sadr. And they had a turnout of about 7,000. Extremely low turnout. So I think many people voted by not turning out for that demonstration. I would just say that of course Iraqis want the U.S. to leave. They want to be a sovereign country. But they don't want us to leave until they are positive that they can take over and maintain the security and stability.So the protests finally got some air time. In other news, UNHCR has assisted some Palestinian refugees from leaving Iraq. This press release notes that 59 Palestinians who had been trapped at Al Waleed encampment (a tent city set up at the border of Iraq and Syria, on the Iraqi side) have been transported to the "Evacuation Transit Centre" where they are supposed to remain for no more than three months as their paperwork is processed and they're resettled in other countries. UNHCR has previously noted that the Al Waleed encampment had 942 residents, so the 59 is a very minor number. Meanwhile Alsumaria reports that Kurdistan presdient Massoud Barazni met with Steffan De Mistura, UN Chief Envoy to Iraq, and US, British and EU reps: "De Mistura displayed UN proposals to solve the issue of disputed areas. These proposals will be submitted in a report to be handed to Kurdistan leader. For his part, Barazani promised to study the report and present remarks thereto. " Disputed areas refers to the oil-rich Kirkuk and other areas that the KRG and the central government in Baghdad are at odds over. Meanwhile Azad Aslan (Kurdish Globe) reports: The growing tension in Ninewa province between the Kurds and Arabs following the local provincial elections this year once again indicate the difficulties of reconciling the two main nations of the country that constitute Iraq.
Since the formation of Iraq after the First World War by British Empire the main conflict has always been the clash between Iraqi Kurds and Arab dominated Iraqi central government. Decades of struggle and war of the Kurds against central governments were to gain their national rights and end oppression and humiliation at the hands of Iraqi central state. This is still true even today despite the fact that the Kurds have taken serious role in setting up a new Iraqi state following the demise of Baathist regime after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. In spite of the fact that the Kurds played constructive role in forming a new federal Iraq and a new federal constitution the Iraqi Arabs (both Shiite and Sunni) continue to see the Kurds as a minority to be dominated and not as a main constitutive political element in the so-called new Iraq. Iraqi state slackness in solving outstanding issues such as Kirkuk, sharing sovereignty and carbon law according to the Iraqi constitution and its explicit intention to alter the constitution's federal structure at the expense of the Kurdish rights explains clearly that the mentality of the Iraqi Arabs of all sides, the mentality of being dominant, superior, and unchallengeable, have not changed a bit. It indicates that there is no room for the Kurds in this so-called new federal Iraq to enjoy freedom, national rights and prosperity. The grim reality is that whatever the Kurds have today in Iraq can be secured with the power of force not with the power of constitution and democracy. Meanwhile, December 23rd, the Speaker was ousted. By Parliament. Mahmoud Mashadani had been the speaker. The Iraqi Parliament remains without a speaker all this time later. Alsumaria reports today that it is possible tomorrow's Parliamentary session will resolve the issue -- maybe through "secret ballot" or repeated election rounds. There are six candidates Mostapha Al Laithi, Taha Al Luhaibi and Mohammed Tamim (all with the National Dialogue Front) and Iyad Al Samirrai, Hajem Al Husni and Adnan Al Bajaji (Accordance Front). The Accordance Front favors Iyad Al Samirrai ( back in March, they sued to ensure that he could be a candidate). Alsumaria explains the process for voting rounds: "During the first stage, candidates compete among each others. The candidate to win should rally 138 votes out of 275 lawmakers plus one. The statement added if these votes were not reached, a second round will be carried out with the participation of candidates who got most votes in the first round. Yet, if during the second stage, candidates fail to rally 138 votes, a third round is carried out during which the candidate who obtains the majority of votes wins." The following community sites have updated since yesterday morning: Cedric's Big MixHe taught college, right? Right?6 minutes ago The Daily JotTHIS JUST IN! WHO PASSED THIS FOOL?6 minutes ago Thomas Friedman is a Great ManTim Howe -- ugly name for ugly man18 hours ago Mikey Likes It!Adam Kokesh, Ward Churchill18 hours ago Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitudeamy goodman pretends to write about pacifica18 hours ago SICKOFITRADLZWhora Flanders needs to shut her ass18 hours ago Trina's KitchenLemon Pepper Noodles in the Kitchen18 hours ago Ruth's ReportIraq18 hours ago Oh Boy It Never EndsMovie night18 hours ago Like Maria Said PazKenneth J. Theisen and I won't change things18 hours ago Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)How I've grown to HATE Naomi Klein18 hours ago The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqthe cbs evening news with katie courickatie couriccbs newsalsumaria
like maria said paz
kats korner
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
thomas friedman is a great man
trinas kitchen
the daily jot
cedrics big mix
mikey likes it
ruths report
sickofitradlz
oh boy it never ends
Posted at 02:23 pm by thecommonills
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Talabani says he'll run again, Kristoffer Walker busted to private
In something of a political shocker, Alsumaria is reporting that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has decided to run for the office again (his term is set to expire in December). Talabani had previously announced that he would not run again. In other news, Kristoffer Walker is the US Specialist who was home in Wisconsin on leave from Iraq and declared that the Iraq War was illegal and immoral and refused to return. A few weeks after that, with very little assistance, Walker stated he would return to Iraq but refused to recant his statements about the war. WLUK (Fox 11) has an update and the link has video and text. We'll do a transcript of the video: Moica Landeros: Well, Laura [Smith], a spokesperson with the U.S. Army tells me Kristoffer Walker has been demoted several ranks from Specialist to Private, but that's just part of his punishment. The Army also said Walker will be fined in the form of docked pay. For two months he will get half of his usual paycheck. In addition, he will also be fined for a -- confined to an Army base for 45 days. That means he can't leave the base and might even have additional duties during that time. Though Army officials do not know when that confinement will actually start. That's because right now, Walker is on medical leave from Iraq though officials won't give details on his medical condition. Once he is healthy, Army officials said he will begin the base confinement. Now we were unable to speak to Kristoffer Walker today though his mother tells us her son was aware of the severity of his absence and that he was ready for any consequences handed down.Tony Walter (Green Bay Press Gazette) adds: Walker's wife, Sierra, said her husband is not being confined to the base. He will be released upon the completion of medical paperwork and he will continue treatment at home, she said. "The doctors are pushing for him to be medically discharged from the military," she said Friday evening. Sierra Walker only would say her husband's condition is "bad enough that he was sent out of Iraq in the first place. He was dealing with doctors who said he needed to be out."Contrary to a really bad AP report (we're not linking), Kristoffer Walker did not make a stand in January and announce he was not returning. That was in February and you can see this Feb. 23rd snapshot for more. In this morning's New York Times, Campbell Robertson and Stephen Farrell offer " Sunnis Turn To Politics And Renew Strength" which runs on A4 of the national edition. They're covering northern Iraq, not central or southern and the article has nothing to do with the attacks on the Sahwa; however, it does have to do with the intense power struggle going on in the northern region. From the article: In the first years after the invasion, Sunni Arabs, the minority that long ran Iraq and who make up the majority in the northwest, mostly stayed away from politics. Many joined or supported the insurgency as the American-allied Kurds took power by default, giving them a political and military ascendance out of all proportion to their numbers in Nineveh Province.
But in the prelude to Nineveh's provincial council elections in January, the tribes of the countryside led by the nationally ambitious Sheik Abdullah, and the urban Sunni Arab elite led by a polished businessman from Mosul whose brother already sits in Parliament, came back with a vengeance.
Riding a wave of resentment against the Kurds -- and openly trumpeting influence with insurgents -- they came to control Iraq's second most populous province, thus overseeing not only regional decision-making, but also the coffers and patronage that go with it.
Daniel Graeber (UPI) covers a variety of topics in a roundup and we'll note this section: Delays from the Iraqi Parliament on implementing a comprehensive oil law limit the national economy and investment potential, officials said.
Ali Hussein Balo, a Kurdish lawmaker who sits on the regional government's oil and gas committee, told the Iraqi political Web site Niqash.org that Iraq faces a looming budget crisis due to stagnating oil prices.
"If the oil price remains the same, $50 per barrel, the Iraqi budget will be cut by about 50 percent next year," he said.
The Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq had moved to pass its own regional oil and gas laws, much to the ire of Baghdad, which claims any deals under those terms are illegal.
Balo said, however, that Baghdad will have to accept the KRG contracts. But Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloom, the former Iraqi oil minister, said the dispute is hurting the bottom line.
"Foreign oil companies are not investing in (Iraq) because of the bad security situation, but the fact is that foreign companies do not see a legal framework," he said.The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqkristoffer walkermonica landeroslaura smithtony walteralsumariathe new york timescampbell robertsonstephen farrell
Posted at 02:21 pm by thecommonills
Permalink
Friday, April 17, 2009
Friday,
April 17, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces
a death, the US State Dept fudges in a new report, Matthis Chiroux
prepares for a court date, and more. Starting with war resistance, Matthis Chiroux was supposed to stand before a military body last month but that changed. He explained to Digital Journal's Stephen Dohnberg
why the date was changed to April 21st, "My former JAG attorney
volunteered for Iraq service and was deployed a number of weeks ago.
Thus, I had to get a new lawyer and a new court date. I think the Army
may have been hoping I'd already bought tickets for people to be in
attendance and it would have wiped out my finances. Lucky for me, I'm
a last minute kinda guy. My replacement is a JAG attorney. Thomas M.
Roughneen." This is " Resistance to an Abhorrent Occupation: Press Release of Matthis Chiroux" (World Can't Wait): (ST.
LOUIS, MO) The U.S. Army will hear the case of Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, an
Individual Ready Reservist who last summer publicly refused activation
and deployment orders to Iraq, on April 21 at 1 Reserve Way in
Overland, St. Louis, MO, at 9 a.m.
Chiroux, a member of Iraq
Veterans Against the War, refused to participate in what he described
as "an illegal and immoral occupation" May 15th, 2008, in Washington
D.C., after nine other veterans testified to Members of the U.S.
Congress about atrocities they experienced during deployments to Iraq.
Chiroux also vowed to remain public in the U.S. to defend himself from
any charges brought against him by the military. (see matthisresists.us for a record of that speech and others by Chiroux)
"My
resistance as a noncommissioned officer to this abhorrent occupation is
just as legitimate now as it was last year," said Chiroux, adding,
"Soldiers have a duty to adhere to the international laws of war
described as supreme in Art. 6 Para. 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which
we swear to abide by before the orders of any superior, including our
former or current president."
Following Chiroux's
refusal to deploy, the military did not contact him until after he and
10 other IVAW members marched on the final presidential debate Oct. 15,
2008, in Hempstead, N.Y. demanding to question then Senators Obama and
McCain regarding their war policies and plans to care for returning
veterans. After the veterans were brutalized and arrested by police,
(one suffered a fractured skull and is currently suing the police for
damages) the Army charged Chiroux with "misconduct" for refusing to
deploy, announcing their intentions to discharge him from the reserves
as a result.
"I go now to St. Louis to honor my
promises and convictions," said Chiroux. "Obama or No-Bama, the
military must cease prosecuting Soldiers of conscience, and we will
demonstrate to them why."
Following the hearing,
Chiroux and other IVAW members will testify about their military
experiences which led them all to resist in different capacities the
U.S.'s Overseas Contingency Operation (formerly the Global War on
Terror).
For more information, see matthisresists.us and ivaw.org.
I
believe that this nation and this military may come to know the same
truth: That the rule of law has been forsaken and we must return to it
or be doomed to continue disaster. I believe in the goodness of the
American people and I believe that justice is not dead because we as a
people believe that it is our responsibility to resist the injustices
done by our government in our names. We know this truth to be
self-evident that our nation can unite to oppose an illegal occupation
which is killing and scarring and shattering the lives of our youth and
the Iraqi people.
On
this Fathers Day, know, America, that your children need you. We need
you to care for us and to care for our country which we will inherit
when you are finished with her. We need you to end this occupation of
Iraq which has destroyed a country and scattered its people to the wind
like ashes in the tempest -- a tempest that has engulfed the nation of
Iraq and scrubbed any sign of peace and prosperity from the surface of
a civilization older than even history itself.
Fathers,
we need you to care for your children and the children of Iraq for they
know not why you fight and carry no fault in the conflict.
Fathers,
your sons and daughters need you now to embrace peace for though we
were attacked, we have dealt in retaliation that same suffering
one-thousand times over to a people who never wronged us. The nation
will know little healing until first we stem off the flow of blood and
human life for justice and healing will never be done by a blade or a
bullet or a bomb or a torture cell.
By
continuing to participate in the unjust occupation of Iraq, we, as
service members, are contributing to that flow of human life and we
cannot now -- nor could we ever -- call the Iraqi people an enemy in
the fight against the use of terror. But terror is all we now know. We
are terrified of the prospect that we have been lied to. We are
terrified by the idea that we have killed for nothing. We are terrified
to break the silence. We are terrified to do what we know is
right.
But never
again will I allow terror to silence me. Nor will I allow it to govern
my actions. I refuse terror as a tactic for uniting a people around an
unjust cause. I refuse to allow terror to motivate me to do violence on
my fellow man especially those who never wronged me in the first place.
I refuse to be terrified to stand in defense of my Constitution. And I
refuse to be terrified of doing so in great adversity.
As
a resister to the Iraq Occupation, I refuse to be terrified by what may
come for I know those who stand against me are in terror of the truth.
But I will speak my truth, and I will stand by it firmly and forever
will my soul know peace. Thank you. On
Tuesday April 21st an Army administrative discharge board will hear the
case of Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, an Individual Ready Reservist (IRR) who
last summer publicly refused activation orders in support of Operation
Iraqi Freedom. The board will convene at 9am at the Army Human
Resources Command, 1 Reserve Way in Overland, Missouri, just outside of
St. Louis. IVAW members and supporters will rally outside the hearing
starting at 8:30am. Although
Chiroux is voluntary attending this hearing, all other IRR members who
have refused activation have not had any disciplinary actions taken
against them by the military other then receiving a General or Other
Than Honorable discharge from the IRR. This discharge has no effect on
benefits like the GI Bill that IRR members earned through their service
while on active duty. Service members who have questions about the IRR
can click here or contact the GI Rights Hotline at 877-447-4487. So
that's this coming Tuesday. Wednesday the 15th, the latest 'progress'
report on Iraq was released. The US State Dept report is entitled [PDF
format warning] " Iraq Status Report." Page 3 offers an overview of the report entitled "Highlights" which includes: * Amnesty International Calls on PM Maliki to Protect Homosexuals in Iraq (POLITICAL, page 4). * Iraqi Vice President to Meet with Executives from Total (ECONOMIC, page 10). * Prime Minister Maliki Visits Moscow for High-Level Talks (DIPLOMATIC, page 20). * High-Profile Attacks Fail to Re-Ignite Sectarian Violence (SECURITY, page 22). We'll dive into security and move to page 23 where the following appears -- see if you can catch the distortion: MNF-I COMMANDER Says U.S. on Track to Meet Withdrawal Deadlines: *
General Odierno said he believes the United States is on track to
withdraw from major Iraqi cities by the end of June and all combat
troops to depart Iraq by the end of 2011. Speaking on CNN's "State of
the Union," General Odierno said "We continue to work with the
Government of Iraq so they can meet that timeline so that they are able
to maintain stability after we leave. . . I still believe we're on
track with that." It continues but
that quote had NOTHING to do with the June deadline. John King never
combined the two -- the June deadline and end of 2011 one -- into
one question asking Gen Ray Odierno's thoughts. Here's the section they've pulled the quote from and the quoted section above will be in italics: KING:
Let me -- let me ask you -- let me move back to a more serious
question, and the idea that, in the previous administration and in your
service prior to this administration, you were very clear that you
thought these decisions should not be based on political timelines;
they should be based on conditions on the ground. I understand you're
executing the orders of the commander in chief. I just want to get a
sense of, are you concerned at all that the bad guys, the enemy, knows
the timeline, too, and they are simply going into hiding, hoarding
their resources, gathering their weapons and waiting for you to leave?
ODIERNO:
There is always that potential. But, again, let me remind everyone what
change was in December when the United States and the government of
Iraq signed an agreement, a bilateral agreement that put the timeline
in place, that said we would withdraw all our forces by 31 December,
2011.
In my mind, that was historic. It allowed Iraq to prove that
it has its own sovereignty. It allows them, now, to move forward and
take control, which was always -- it's always been our goal, is that
they can control the stability in their country.
So I think I feel comfortable with that timeline. I did back in December. I do now. We
continue to work with the government of Iraq so they can meet that
timeline, so that they are able to maintain stability once we leave. I
still believe we're on track with that, as we talk about this today.
First
note that the State Dept did not even get the words correct ("once we
leave," not "after we leave" -- and, yes, in a government report,
quotes should be correct). Second, notice that entire quote is to
King's question about 2011. Click here for full transcript and here for report and video option
(all links are CNN). In that interview, Odierno was not stating that
the June deadline was on track. He has, publicly, with other outlets,
raised the possibility of remaining in Iraqi cities past June 30th and
did in that interview. The paragraph as written is a deliberate
distortion and including his qualifiers somewhat (as the report finally
does) comes after the report has already established a contrary message
and it distorts what Odierno said. That's unacceptable. It is not
accurate to take comments Odierno makes about a 2011 deadline and pass
them off as remarks regarding a June 30, 2009 deadline. It's also bad
p.r. because the rumors already that Gen Ray Odierno is
being "censored" and that he was balled out for some of his public
statements two days before that CNN interview. The State Dept
misrepresenting Odierno's words only appears to confirm those
rumors since they indicate an urge to put words into the general's
mouth. Moving on, page 7 is "Key Legislative Issues" and we'll note
that in full. * Hydrocarbons Package:
The Framework Law was resubmitted to the Oil and Gas Committee on
October 26 and then returned to the Council of Ministers. There has
been no progress on the other three laws in the package. *
Budget: The Council of Representatives (COR) passed a budget on March
5. The Presidency Council approved the 2009 budget on April 2. *
COR Speaker: The COR has yet to reach a consensus on appointing a new
Speaker since Mahmoud Mashadani was ousted on December 23, 2008. The
COR concluded spring recess and resumed on April 14. Credit to whomever wrote the report for at least getting it correct that the Speaker was ousted. Very few press reports -- including the New York Times -- get that correct. We'll note the LGBT section in full: Amnesty
International issued a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
urging the Iraqi government to take "urgent and concerted action"
against the recent rise in violence against the gay community in Iraq,
including by condemning the killing of six men found dead in Sadr City
in past weeks, and bringing the murderers to justice. Congressman
Jared Polis also brought the issue to the attention of Iraqi officials
during his delegation's recent visit to Iraq. Amnesty
International has written to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
expressing grave concern about a reported spate of killing of young men
solely because of their sexual orientation and calling for urgent and
concerted action by the government to bring those responsible to
justice and to afford effective protection to the gay community in
Iraq. Over the last few weeks at least
25 boys and men are reported to have been killed in Baghdad because
theyw ere, or were pereceived to be, gay. The killings are said to
have been carried out by armed Shi'a militamen as well as by members of
the tribes and families of the victims. Certain religious leaders,
especially in al-Sadr City neighbourhood, are also reported in recent
weeks to have urged their followers to take action to eradicate
homosexuality in Iraqi society, in terms which appear effectively to
constitute at least an implicit, if not explicit, incitement to
violence against members of the gay community. Three corpses of gay
men are reported to have been found in al-Sadr City on 2 and 3 April
2009; two of the bodies are said to have had pieces of paper bearing
the word "pervert" attached to them, suggetsting that the victims had
been murdered on account of their sexual identitiy. In
the letter sent to the Prime Minister Amnesty International expressed
concern at the government's failure to publicly condemn the killings
and ensure that they are promptly and effective investigated, and that
the perpetrators are brought to justice. The letter also drew
attention to reported statements by one senior police officer that
appear to condone or even encourage the targeting of members of the gay
community in Baghdad, in gross breach of the law and international
human rights standards. Amnesty
International reminded the Iraqi government that it is a fundamental
principle of international human rights law, including international
treaties that have been ratified by and are binding on Iraq, that "All
human beings are equal in dignity and rights" and are entitled to all
rights and freedom set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, without distinction of any kind, such as on grounds of race,
sex, religion, political, or other status, including sexual orientation
and gender identity. The organization called on Prime Minister
al-Maliki [to] take immediate and concrete steps to address this
sitatuion, including to publicly condemn, unreservedly and in the
strongest terms, all attacks on members of the gay community or others
on account of their sexual, gender, ethnic or other identity, and to
commit to ensuring that those responsible for such abuses are
identified and brought to justice. Further, police officers or other
officials who encourage, condone or acquiesce in such attacks must
also be held to account and either prosecuted or disciplined and
removed from office. This morning AFP is reported
that signs are going up around the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad
threatening to kill a list of people alleged to be gay. The posters are
put out by the Brigades of the Righteous and AFP translates the posters
as stating, "We will punish you, perverts" and "We will get you,
puppies" has been scrawled on some posters -- "puppies" being slang for
gay males in Iraq. The Australian carries the AFP report here. Liz Sly and Caesar Ahmed (LAT's Babylon & Beyond) report
the message on the posters included, "If you don't cease your perverted
acts, you will get your fair punishment." The reporters also noted
that a Sadr City resident saw a poster with approximately 15 names (of
people who would be killed) written on it. These posters are going up
around Sadr City. Where is the United Nations condemnation? Where is
the White House, where is the US State Dept? Chris Johnson (Washington Blade) notes the only member of the US Congress to condemn the targeting of Iraq's LGBT community, US House Rep Jared Polis and reports: Noel
Clay, a State Department spokesperson, said U.S. officials "condemn the
persecution of LGBTs in Iraq," but he couldn't confirm whether the
violence they're facing in Iraq is because of their sexual
orientation.
Clay
noted that while homosexuality is against the law in Iraq, the death
penalty is not the punishment for homosexual acts. And yet at the start of this month the State Dept's Iraqi Desk John Fleming was telling Kilian Melloy (The Edge) that,
"Homosexuality not a crime in Iraq." He was also stating that same-sex
relations were of no conern to Iraqis ("immaterial"). That is
laughable. Noel Clay has stated that same-sex relations have been
criminalized in Iraq so unless or until the State Dept issues a public
clarification, we will operate under the belief that Clay is correct.
Attempts by the press to figure this out has been stonewalled. Stonewalling?
That brings us to yesterday's attack in Anbar Province on the Tamouz
Air Base. How many died? No one can find out. Liz Sly and Usama Redha (Los Angeles Times) explain,
"It is common in Iraq to receive contradictory information about
casualties in the initial hours after an attack, though such a major
discrepancy is unusual. A spokesman for U.S. Marines in Anbar declined
to comment." Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) quotes
Iraqi Maj Yassen al-Dulaimi stating, "We are shocked by the fact that a
suicide bomber was able to infiltrate the guarded camp and passed
through the gate to carry out this terrible attack." "Confusion often
clouds accounts of attacks here, but rarely have senior officials
offered such divergent reports about a death toll," observes Steven Lee Myers in this morning's New York Times.
But the key note by Myers is this one: "Journalists were prohibited
from entering the base and the hospital, which Iraqi and American
officers visited after the wounded arrived." That's what this is, an
attack on a free press. A bombing took place. A death toll is known and
should not be in dispute. The puppet government (and possibly the US as
well) is worried about 'embarrassment' and that apparently trumps facts
and the right-to-know. This is appalling and would be similar to the US
hiding an attack (example, 9-11) and barring the press from the area
and from hospitals. It is an attack on the press and it is an attack on
the historical record. Staying with attacks on the press, Wednesday Marc Lynch (Foreign Policy) weighed
in on the efforts of the Iraqi military to close the
newspaper Al-Hayat: "That's not a good sign. Reminds me of the bad old
days of 2004-2005 when the Iraqi government and MNF-I were routinely
attacking the Arab media for fueling the insurgency and the offices of
al-Jazeera and other satellite television stations were shuttered. You
would think that they would have learned form the experience of banning
al-Jazeera, which didn't prevent it from covering Iraq politics but did
reduce the access that officials had to its airtime." Iraq got some airtime on the second hour of The Diane Rehm Show today when guest host Susan Page ( USA Today) spoke with Barbara Slavin ( Washington Times), Warren Strobel ( McClatchy Newspapers) and Kevin Whitelaw ( US News & World Reports). Susan Page: Barbara, we saw some bombings -- some uptake in violence there. Barbara
Slavin: Yeah, there've been a number of bombings there in Baghdad, in
Kirkuk, in Mosul. There was a suicide bomber who went into an Iraqi
army installation which was supposed to be secure in western Iraq so
this is worrisome. The US is beginning to draw down, it's moving its
soldiers out of the cities and the question is: Can Iraqis cope? We
had a guest yesterday, we had an advisor to the president of the
Kurdish Region of Iraq who said he was, frankly, very, very worried
that if Iraqis could not make some important decisions in terms of
political reconciliation -- I mean they still don't have an oil law,
they still haven't figured out what to do about the status of Kirkuk
which is a city claimed by many, you know there are still problems
between Sunni and Shia -- that if they couldn't have these political
reconciliations within the next years, this Kurdish leader said he
didn't want the Americans to withdraw. Now I don't think there's much
of a stomach frankly to stay but it is worrisome in terms of the
continued violence in their country. Susan Page: Could it complicate the timetable that President Obama laid out for pulling out US troops? Warren
Strobel: I think it absolutely could. You know I think there's a
minset, Susan, in this country that, certainly, the American people and
officialdom that "Iraq is over, it's getting better, we're getting out,
problem done, let's move on to Afghanistan, Pakistan." But that's not
necessarily so. And I think what you're seeing in Kirkuk and elsewhere
is various ethnic groups, they're positioning themselves for post-US
Iraq. And that's uh -- it could complicate Obama's withdrawal timeline. Slavin was referring to tensions between the Kurds and the central government. Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) reports that
"some Iraqi and U.S. officials believe [tension over Kirkuk] could
escalate into armed conflict" and that this has "prompted the U.S.
military in January to increase its troop level in Kirkuk from a
battalion, roughly 900 troops, to a combat brigade of about 3,200
soldiers." Today the US military announced:
"AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq - A Multi National Force -West Marine died as
the result of a non-combat related incident here April 16. The Marine's
name is being withheld pending next-of-kin notification and release by
the Department of Defense. The incident is under investigation." This
brings the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start
of the illegal war to 4274. In other violence, US
President Barack Obama has been accused of "condoning torture"
following his announcement that CIA agents who used harsh interrogation
techniques on terrorism suspects will not be prosecuted.
Amnesty
International has called on the US administration to initiate criminal
investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for carrying out
acts of torture, including waterboarding, in its "war on
terror".
"President Obama's statements in the last
days have been very disappointing. In saying that no one will be held
to account for committing acts of torture, the US administration is in
effect condoning torture," said Daniel Gorevan, of Amnesty
International's Counter Terror with Justice campaign.
"It's saying that US personnel can commit acts of torture and the authorities will not take any action against them.
Memos
were released this week detailing the range of techniques the CIA was
allowed to use during the Bush administration, including sleep
deprivation and simulated drowning (otherwise known as
waterboarding).
"The memos, in effect, justified torture
techniques," said Daniel Gorevan. "We want to see prompt movement on
behalf of the US administration on this to prosecute those responsible
for the acts of torture, as well as those who authorised and justified
these acts." National Lawyers Guild member and GI Rights attorney James Branum observes,
"President Obama and AG Holder are in my opinion now complicit in these
crimes. Their argument that the CIA agents were relying on legal advice
is a crock of ****. I'm sure Nazi lawyers said the holocaust was
'legal' too." Chris Floyd (Empire Burlesque) explains, " Barack
Obama is being given great credit for releasing the memos, although as
the president himself points out in his statement, their release was
actually required by law. I suppose it's true that the United States
government has become so degraded that we must be surprised and glad
when a president actually obeys the law when it suits him, but I must
say that I can't find any great cause for rejoicing -- especially as
Obama's statement immediately and definitely ruled out prosecuting any
of the direct perpetrators of these criminal actions." At Just Left, Michael Ratner ( Center for Constituational Rights
president) explains, "In making the decision not to prosecute,
President Obama is acting as jury, judge and prosecutor. It is not his
decision to make. Whether or not to prosecute law breakers is not a
political decision. Laws were broken and crimes were committed. If we
are truly a nation of laws as he is fond of saying, a prosecutor needs
to be appointed and the decisions regarding the guilt of those involved
in the torture program should be decided in a court of law." With
Dalia Hashad, Heidi Boghosian and Michael Smith, Michael Ratner
also co-hosts WBAI's Law and Disorder. The American Civil Liberties Union encourages people to " demand accountability for torture" and makes it simple to send a message to the US Attorney General's office with a form at the previous link. World Can't Wait's Debra Sweet states it clearly, " And,
given that Obama is releasing these memos AT THE SAME TIME as he is
officially announcing he won't prosecute those who carried all of this
out means --in my view - - that nobody familiar with the release of
these memos can any longer claim honest confusion about whether or not
Obama represents 'change'." World Can't Wait is staging a forum on torture tomorrow in Orange, California (near Santa Ana and Anaheim): Bush's
Department of Justice legalized torture. Now Obama's Department of
Justice won't prosecute and will even provide free legal representation
to torturers. Your government refuses to bring war criminals and
torturers to account. Will you remain silent or get informed, take a
stand and build a movement to stop torture and demand accountability
for war crimes? WHAT: Forum on National Security, Rule of Law & Torture: The Torture Memos of John Yoo WHEN: Saturday, April 18th, 2009 10 AM - 2 PM WHERE: Chapman University Law School, Kennedy Hall, Rms. 237 A&B, 370 N. Glassell (at Sycamore), Orange, CA 92866 WHY:
John Yoo, while working for the Bush administration's Office of Legal
Counsel, drafted legal memos which, some say, influenced the U.S.'s
decision to legalize torture. John Yoo is currently a visiting
professor at Chapman University School of Law, where the controversy
continues. "John
Yoo's complicity in establishing the policy that led to the torture of
prisoners constitutes a war crime under the US War Crimes Act". Cited from testimony provided to U.S. Congress on May 6, 2008 by Marjorie Cohn, National Lawyers Guild President. WHO:
Concerned residents and students from the Chapman community and
surrounding area came together and formed Stop Torture Coalition to
voice opposition to legalization of torture, inform people about
torture, and call on people to stand against this assault on human
rights and civil liberties. This forum is hosted by the National
Lawyers Guild, Chapman Student Chapter.
CONTENT: A public forum with Question and Answer session to examine
• Whether Yoo is complicit in the commission of war crimes.
• Whether torture is necessary for national security.
• What is the impact on our basic human and civil rights.
SPEAKERS: M. Katherine B. Darmer, Professor of Law, Chapman University Law School Larry Everest, author of "Oil, Power & Empire", writer for Revolution newspaper Ann Fagan Ginger, President of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute Tim Goodrich, Iraq Veterans Against the War Ameena Qazi, staff attorney for Council on American-Islamic Relations Moderated by Michael Slate, host of KPFK's Tuesday edition of Beneath the Surface ENDORSED BY: Answer-LA, California Teachers for Academic Excellence; Code Pink- OC; David Swanson / AfterDowningStreet.org;
Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute; Military Families Speak Out- OC;
National Lawyers Guild Chapman Students Chapter; National Lawyers Guild
–LA; Orange County Peace Coalition; Patrick Henry Democratic Club;
Peace and Freedom – OC; Progressive Democrats of America; Scientists
Without Borders; Social Justice Committee of the
Unitarian-Universalist Church in Anaheim; US Federation of Scholars
and Scientists; Westside Progressives; Women For: Orange County; and
World Can't Wait. TV notes. NOW on PBS begins airing Fridays on most PBS stations (check local listings) and this week: Americans
are addicted to coal--it powers half of all our electricity, and is
both plentiful and cheap. In fact, some call America the "Saudi Arabia
of Coal." But are we paying too high an environmental price for all
this cheap energy?With
carbon emissions caps high on the Obama Administration's agenda, coal
is in the crosshairs of the energy debate. This week, NOW Senior
Correspondent Maria Hinojosa travels to Wyoming to take a hard look at
the coal industry there and its case that it can produce "clean
coal"--coal that can be burned without releasing carbon into the
atmosphere. President Obama has been outspoken in his support for
"clean coal" technology, but some say the whole concept is more of a
public relations campaign than an energy solution.As part of the report, Hinojosa talks with Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal and Jeff Goodell, the author of "Big Coal," who says that carbon dioxide emissions generated from coal contribute to global warming.Our investigation is part of a PBS-wide series on the country's infrastructure called "Blueprint America."Washington Week also begins airing tonight on most PBS stations and sitting down with Gwen this week are Tom Gjelten (NPR), Spencer Hsu ( Washington Post),
Eamon Javers (publication which shall not be named) and Martha Raddatz
(ABC News). Also on PBS (and begins airing tonight, check local
listings) Bonnie Erbe sits down with Eleanor Holmes Norton, Genevieve Wood, Linda Chavez and Melinda Henneberger to discuss this week's news on To The Contrary. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers: 401K RecessionNever
created to be a mainstay of workers' retirement funds, 401ks became
just that to millions of Americans who are now facing uncertain futures
because of the devastating losses in the stock market. Steve Kroft reports.
Cold Fusion Is Hot AgainPresented
in 1989 as a revolutionary new source of energy, cold fusion was
quickly dismissed as junk science. But today, the buzz among scientists
is that these experiments produce a real physical effect that could
lead to monumental breakthroughs in energy production. Scott Pelley reports. | Watch Video
Blood BrothersMatador Cayetano Ordonez nearly dies during this segment when he's battered by a bull in a Bob Simon
report about him and his brother Francisco – Spain's remarkable
bullfighting family – who these days are creating just as much drama
outside the ring as in it. | Watch Video
60 Minutes, Sunday, April 19, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Posted at 02:59 pm by thecommonills
Permalink
US military announces another death
Today the US military announced:
"AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq – A Multi National Force – West Marine died as
the result of a non-combat related incident here April 16. The Marine’s
name is being withheld pending next-of-kin notification and release by
the Department of Defense. The incident is under investigation." This
brings the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start
of the illegal war to 4274. Turning to yesterday's attack in Anbar Province on the Tamouz Air Base, Liz Sly and
Usama Redha (Los Angeles Times) observe: It
is common in Iraq to receive contradictory information about casualties
in the initial hours after an attack, though such a major discrepancy
is unusual. A spokesman for U.S. Marines in Anbar declined to comment.An
Iraqi soldier who said he witnessed the attack said at least 16 of his
comrades were killed and many more injured about noon in the packed
cafeteria of the Taqaddum base near the town of Habbaniya, 40 miles
west of Baghdad.The
soldier, who refused to be named, accused high-level officers of
"trying to cover this up in order to avoid giving an image of
underachievement.""Confusion often clouds accounts of
attacks here, but rarely have senior officials offered such divergent
reports about a death toll," explains Steven Lee Myers in this morning's New York Times.
But the key note by Myers is this one: "Journalists were prohibited
from entering the base and the hospital, which Iraqi and American
officers visited after the wounded arrived." That's what this is, an
attack on a free press. A bombing took place. A death toll is known and
should not be in dispute. The puppet government (and possibly the US as
well) is worried about 'embarrassment' and that apparently trumps facts
and the right-to-know. This is appalling and would be similar to the US
hiding an attack (example, 9-11) and barring the press from the area
and from hospitals. It is an attack on the press and it is an attack on
the historical record. Iraq's puppet government has been staging Operation Happy Talk events for some time. In " Taken for a ride in Baghdad...," Deborah Haynes ( Times of London) blew the lid off the attempts to trick reporters into believing Baghdad had a commuter class taking the train: Sceptical
but playing along, I board one of the carriages with my interpreter and
start asking the well turned out passengers about their journey.Me to passenger 1: Hello there. I am a journalist from England, do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?Passenger 1 (looking a bit flustered): Um, no.Me: Why are you on this train?Passenger 1: Because I want to go to Basra.Me: But this is a commuter train to Dora.Passenger 1 (turning red): Um, er, sorry yes, I meant Dora…I move on to another group and try again.Me to passenger 2: Why are you on this train?Passenger 2: I catch this service every day. It is much cheaper than a taxi.Me: But why are you travelling out of the centre to Dora?Passenger 2: Er because I need to go home.Me: Come on, admit it. You work for the station.Passenger 2 (looking embarrassed): Yes.Adding
to the snazzy show, a food and drinks trolley is on display, while a
video about the Transport Ministry plays from a brand new television
set hanging off one of the walls.Add the above to a large number of reports the Times of London can be proud of coming out of Iraq and, as noted before, when Haynes leaves Iraq, her skill and talent will be sorely missed. TV notes. NOW on PBS begins airing Fridays on most PBS stations (check local listings) and this week: Americans
are addicted to coal--it powers half of all our electricity, and is
both plentiful and cheap. In fact, some call America the "Saudi Arabia
of Coal." But are we paying too high an environmental price for all
this cheap energy?With
carbon emissions caps high on the Obama Administration's agenda, coal
is in the crosshairs of the energy debate. This week, NOW Senior
Correspondent Maria Hinojosa travels to Wyoming to take a hard look at
the coal industry there and its case that it can produce "clean
coal"--coal that can be burned without releasing carbon into the
atmosphere. President Obama has been outspoken in his support for
"clean coal" technology, but some say the whole concept is more of a
public relations campaign than an energy solution.As part of the report, Hinojosa talks with Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal and Jeff Goodell, the author of "Big Coal," who says that carbon dioxide emissions generated from coal contribute to global warming.Our investigation is part of a PBS-wide series on the country's infrastructure called "Blueprint America."Washington Week also begins airing tonight on most PBS stations and sitting down with Gwen this week are Tom Gjelten (NPR), Spencer Hsu ( Washington Post),
Eamon Javers (publication which shall not be named) and Martha Raddatz
(ABC News). Also on PBS (and begins airing tonight, check local
listings) Bonnie Erbe sits down with Eleanor Holmes Norton, Genevieve Wood, Linda Chavez and Melinda Henneberger to discuss this week's news on To The Contrary. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers: 401K Recession
Never created to be a mainstay of workers' retirement funds, 401ks
became just that to millions of Americans who are now facing uncertain
futures because of the devastating losses in the stock market. Steve Kroft reports.
Cold Fusion Is Hot Again
Presented in 1989 as a revolutionary new source of energy, cold fusion
was quickly dismissed as junk science. But today, the buzz among
scientists is that these experiments produce a real physical effect
that could lead to monumental breakthroughs in energy production. Scott Pelley reports. | Watch Video
Blood Brothers Matador Cayetano Ordonez nearly dies during this segment when he’s battered by a bull in a Bob Simon
report about him and his brother Francisco – Spain's remarkable
bullfighting family – who these days are creating just as much drama
outside the ring as in it. | Watch Video
60 Minutes, Sunday, April 19, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.One of those topics will also be touched on at Third so we'll try to provide a heads up to 60 Minutes there as well. And because an NPR friend pointed out this morning that "after you two ripped Diane [Rehm] apart" ("you two" is Ava and I, click here) "she is making an effort." Meaning, mark the calendars, Diane Rehm's
six guests on Friday will actually include three women. Usually it's
zero. Sometimes it's one. This week Diane allows women to account for
half the guests. Anytime I'm notified of that by NPR friends, we will
note it here. On her news roundup today, Diane's panel for the first
hour will be Tony Blankey (Heritage Foundation), Eleanor Clift ( Newsweek), Margaret Talev ( McClatchy Newspapers). Diane's panel for the second hour will be Kevin Whitelaw ( US News & World Report), Barbara Slavin ( Washington Times) and Warren Strobel ( McClatchy Newspapers). The Diane Rehm Show begins airing today at 10:00 am EST. In addition to listening to it on NPR stations, you can listen live at The Diane Rehm Show
and, shortly after the second hour is broadcast (live, they take calls,
e-mails and you can Twitter them), the program is archived and you can
stream it at any point after that. The same NPR friend asks that we note this: Live Friday: Tre Williams' Revelations In ConcertListen Online At Noon ET  courtesy of the artistTre Williams of The Revelations. WXPN, April 16, 2009 -- The work of a six-man collective fusing hip-hop, funk and gritty soul, The Revelations' seven-song Deep Soul
EP blends the sounds of the bluesy rural South and gritty urban
streets. Led by Tre Williams, the group crafts a sound that's timeless
and undeniably energetic. Return to this space at noon ET Friday to
hear The Revelations perform live in concert from WXPN and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. Styled after a modern-day Otis Redding,
Williams has used his church-choir and R&B background -- not to
mention his four-octave range -- in high-profile contributions to
records by the likes of Petey Pablo and Nas. His band's other five members are similarly experienced, with ties to names such as Mary J. Blige, Kanye West and Raphael Saadiq. Related NPR StoriesClick here
for The Reveleations featuring Tre Williams' MySpace page. This should
be a very interesting live broadcast (that's noon EST) and I waiver
between "Sorry's Not Enough" and "Stay Free" as my favorite track on
their debut. Listen to the broadcast to pick your own favorite
performance. The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqthe los angeles timescaesar ahmedliz slyusama redhathe new york timessteven lee myersdeborah haynesnprthe diane rehm showthe revelationstre williamsiraq
Posted at 06:45 am by thecommonills
Permalink
Iraq's LGBT community remains targeted, US State Dept has no clue
This morning AFP is reporting
that signs are going up around the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad
threatening to kill a list of people alleged to be gay. The posters are
put out by the Brigades of the Righteous and AFP translates the posters
as stating, "We will punish you, perverts" and "We will get you,
puppies" has been scrawled on some posters -- "puppies" being slang for
gay males in Iraq. The Australian carries the AFP report here.
These posters are going up around Sadr City. Where is the United
Nations condemnation? Where is the White House, where is the US State
Dept?  Chris Johnson's " Polis seeks to aid Iraqis: Says gays 'fear for their life and limb' after fact-finding trip to Baghdad" ( Washington Blade) notes the only member of the US Congress to condemn the targeting of Iraq's LGBT community, US House Rep Jared Polis (photo above): Polis,
who is gay, told the Blade that he urged action from the U.S. after
looking into “a round of crackdowns on the gay population in Baghdad”
during a congressional fact-finding trip to the country last week.During
his investigation, Polis said he learned that Iraqi officials in the
Ministry of Interior were allegedly involved in human rights violations
against LGBT people. He sent a letter to Patricia Butenis, the acting
U.S. ambassador to Iraq, requesting “that the State Department
follow-up on these allegations and urge the Iraqi government to respect
all human rights.”[. . .]Noel
Clay, a State Department spokesperson, said U.S. officials “condemn the
persecution of LGBTs in Iraq,” but he couldn’t confirm whether the
violence they’re facing in Iraq is because of their sexual orientation.Clay noted that while homosexuality is against the law in Iraq, the death penalty is not the punishment for homosexual acts.First, note that the US State Dept should know Iraqi law. AFP
-- like most press outlets -- has been unable to determine whether or
not it is illegal to be gay in Iraq. The US State Dept is stating it is
which apparently confirms rumors that in 2003 (under US control), Iraq
outlawed same-sex relationships. Second, Noel Clay and the State
Dept can issue a statement, they issue statements all the time. They
can have remarks made at the daily State Dept press briefings. When
they want to do that, they may be seen as "condemning" the attacks,
until then it would appear they just want favorable copy from the gay
press. (The Washington Blade is considered to be one of the top two gay papers in the US.) The US State Dept has been far less concerned at other times as Doug Ireland reported at GayCityNews: Polis
is also trying to ascertain the status of the five imprisoned Iraqi
LGBT members, but a statement given by a State Department spokesman to
Edge.boston.com, a gay news website, raises concerns that the US may
not yet be taking the charges seriously, despite the congressman's
recent visit. The site quoted John Fleming, public affairs officer for
the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, as pooh-poohing
the notion that the five gay men facing execution were being targeted
for belonging to Iraqi LGBT, saying that homosexuality "is immaterial
to Iraqis." Fleming, according to Edge, stated, "Frankly, there are
other issues they are concerned about like basic survival, getting food
and water. It's a luxury for the average Iraqi to worry about
homosexuality." This statement by Fleming, who served a year in Iraq
under the Bush administration, is, of course, contradicted by the
recent media reports this month by such diverse sources as the Times,
Reuters, CNN, and the British dailies The Independent and The Guardian,
confirming Gay City News' three years of reporting.This
State Department staffer's statement suggests rather strongly the
urgent need to keep up the pressure on the Obama administration and
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to thoroughly investigate the
dangers facing gay Iraqis and act decisively to save those threatened
with death.The Edge article Ireland's referring to is Kilian Melloy's "State Dept.: Reports of Iraqi Gay Executions Completely Bogus" which ran April 2nd and included this:
A
spokesperson for the U.S. State Department who works at the Iraqi Desk
and spent a year in the war-torn country told EDGE that the story has
no merit. "Homosexuality is not a crime in Iraq," said John Fleming,
the public affairs officer for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
"The
individuals condemned to death in Iraq have been convicted of violent
crimes, including murder, terrorism, insurgency and kidnapping."
There
have been no executions of criminals since 2007, added Fleming, who
also noted that any criminals now awaiting possible execution are there
for crimes such as "terrorism, insurgency and kidnapping." Their sexual
identity is irrelevant to the charges, he said.
"None were convicted of the ’crime’ of being homosexual," Fleming told EDGE. "In fact, it’s immaterial to Iraqis.
"Frankly,
there are other issues they’re concerned about like basic survival,
getting food and water. It’s a luxury for the average Iraqi to worry
about homosexuality."
So now the US
State Dept allegedly 'condemns' the targeting but less than two weeks
ago they were denying that targeting was taking place and that it was a
crime in Iraq to be gay. So which is it? And it damn well sounds like
the US State Dept needs to get its act together and the US press needs
to start asking these questions in the State Dept briefings and getting
some answers.
In other news, Ernesto London's "Kurds, Arabs Maneuver Ahead of U.N. Report on N. Iraq" (Washington Post) reports:
Kurdish
and Arab politicians in northern Iraq are preparing for a potentially
long and bruising fight over disputed areas as they await the release
of U.N. reports expected to propose joint administration of Kirkuk and
make a case for the annexation of some districts to the Kurdistan
Regional Government.
Kirkuk is the oil rich disputed
area that the KRG states is historically Kurdish and that the central
government in Baghdad insists is not. The issue was supposed to have
been put to a referendum . . . in 2007. Two years later and still
nothing. The United Nations is making a proposal. The proposal is not
law or binding and can be rejected by either or both sides.
Londono explains:
The
tension over Kirkuk and other disputed areas, which some Iraqi and U.S.
officials believe could escalate into armed conflict, prompted the U.S.
military in January to increase its troop level in Kirkuk from a
battalion, roughly 900 troops, to a combat brigade of about 3,200
soldiers.
"The threat of
civil war remains real, and this threat should not be minimized," said
W. Andrew Terrill, a national security professor at the U.S. Army War
College's Strategic Studies Institute. "Kirkuk is often compared to
Jerusalem, where different groups have exceptionally strong emotional
attachments and the claims of rival groups are rarely seen as valid."
In the US, Women's Voices, Women's Votes president Page S. Gardner notes:I write today to proudly announce the release of WVWV's 2009 report entitled "Access to Democracy: Identifying Obstacles Hindering the Right to Vote."
WVWV is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that utilizes
groundbreaking direct mail techniques to encourage underrepresented
populations in the American electorate, particularly unmarried women,
to register and to vote. By pioneering these techniques, WVWV generated
more than 900,000 returned mail-in registration applications in the
2008 election cycle and sent approximately one million vote-by-mail
applications to unmarried women.
Due in part to "Get Out the Vote" efforts of groups such as WVWV, 133 million Americans cast ballots in the 2008 general election,
which represents the largest number of voters to ever participate in a
U.S. election. This result is certainly a great accomplishment;
however, WVWV strongly believes that it is time for significant reform
to ensure that the remaining 79 million Americans who were eligible,
but did not cast their votes, are encouraged and able to do so in
future elections.
With this aim in mind, WVWV adds its voice to the growing call for election reform with the release of its Access to Democracy report, available online at www.wvwv.org .
WVWV has drawn on the substantial research efforts of leading reform
groups, but takes a new look at the challenges facing voters,
registration groups, and state and local officials by highlighting the
disproportionate effect of existing laws on under-represented
populations. While young voters, African Americans, Latinos, and unmarried women are now the majority of the population, exit polls
from the 2008 general election show that in the aggregate, these groups
represented only 46 percent of the 2008 electorate. WVWV strongly
believes that a key cause of such underrepresentation can be found in
the confusing maze of election laws
facing individuals, groups, and state officials in this country. WVWV's
report focuses on five key areas where these laws pose the most
significant obstacles and reform could yield the greatest positive
results: (1) voter registration; (2) absentee voting and early voting; (3) voter identification requirements; (4) provisional ballots; and (5) voter lists.
Through our Access to Democracy report ,
WVWV identifies the legal roadblocks affecting access to the polls with
the aim of advancing reform efforts and ultimately increasing voter
participation. WVWV hopes to work with you in furthering this shared
goal. If you have any questions, please let me know.The following community sites updated last night: The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com. iraqchris johnsonthe washington bladekilian melloydoug irelandernesto londonothe washington postwomens voices women votesthe world today just nutskats kornerthomas friedman is a great mansex and politics and screeds and attitudethe daily jotcedrics big mixmikey likes itruths reportsickofitradlzoh boy it never ends
Posted at 06:37 am by thecommonills
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military families speak out
iraq veterans against the war
