Tuesday, April 21, 2009.  Chaos and violence continue, Chris Hill is confirmed by the US Senate to be US Ambassador to Iraq (and the GOP's eyes twinkle with delight), a federal judge rains on Steven D. Green's defense parade, Matthis Chiroux appears before a military board, Widget spreads lies in the US, and more.   For some it is a very confusing world we live in. For example, the US State Dept which offers yesterday's press briefing by Robert Wood (link has text and video) with a breakdown of the countries discussed and what's discussed one each:     IRAQ President Ahmadinejad Speech at the UN Anti-Racism Conference / Comments Were Unacceptable and Feed Racial Hatred / Rhetoric is Unhelpful and Counterproductive / Durban Declaration / Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Statement   Want to Engage Iran Directly Through Diplomacy / Need to Engage Iran on Number of Issues / Iraq / Hezbollah    Roxana Saberi / No Response from Aide-Memoire / Working Hard on the Case Through our Swiss Protecting Power / Accusation of Espionage is Without Foundation   As you read the above, you may think, "Hmm, that doesn't sound like Iraq."  Because it's not.  It's Iran.  And when the US State Dept doesn't know the difference between the two, be very scared.   But it's Barack Obama's time to tremble now.  Proving to be the wet-behind-the-ears checker player and not the 'master chess man,' Barack nominated and stuck with the unqualified Chris Hill to be US Ambassador to Iraq.  Today the US Senate confirmed him on  a vote of 73 in favor, 23 against.  Congratulations to the Obama administration for walking straight into the GOP trap.  Iraq is volatile and the 'center will not hold' is the conventional wisdom in DC.  The Republicans went on record in their opposition to Hill.  If (some say "when") Iraq returns to the pre-surge civil war level of violence (violence has not disappeared in Iraq), guess who the Republicans are going to blame?   You think it's Ray Odierno?  No, they're not going to blame the general.  They're going to toss the Democratic Congress members words back in their face about "political solutions."  For the last few years, Dems in Congress have repeatedly and rightly noted that there has been no progress and that the 'surge' was supposed to create breathing room for the progress to move through.  That did not happen.  (Nor was the 'surge' solely responsible for the violence.  As important was the paying off "Awakening" Council members -- as General David Petreaus and then-US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker made clear to Congress repeatedly in April of last year. Also important was the walling off neighborhoods, the refugee crisis -- which removed a number of targets and more.)   They're going to say "diplomatic solutions."  Ray Odierno is the top US commander in Iraq.  He's not part of the State Dept.  That leaves Chris Hill.   Republicans painted Hill as untrustworthy during the hearing.  Hill painted himself as completely clueless on key Iraqi issues (such as Kirkuk and the "Awakenings").  Most importantly, Chris Hill has no experience in the region.  Many people did but Barack went with the unkempt Chris Hill.  The inexperienced Chris Hill.   And it's amazing how willing to skip into the trap the administration was.  (For those still not grasping, see this April 5th entry for how the GOP will use Hill as the fall guy and use Hill to question Barack's judgment.)  Maybe Hill will surprise everyone and prove to be truly competent?  Could happen.  But there's still the fact that Iraq never goes to a turned corner.  Just because the wave of Operation Happy Talk comes from Barack and not Bully Boy Bush doesn't make it any more realistic.  It just means Barack joins a long list of Happy Talkers like Donald Rumsfeld in hailing a turned corner when there was none.   Problems on the horizon, NPR's Peter Kenyon (Morning Edition) reported today on the continued conflicts between Iraq and Turkey and how the Kurds appear to be aligning with Turkey in anticipation of the US draw down.  This as the tensions continue to simmer.     Peter Kenyon: Iraqi Kurds are also engaged in a potentially explosive power struggle with the central government in Baghdad.  Kurdish peshmerga forces have been deployed in disputed territories south of the so-called Green Line that denotes the Kurdish north.  The area has a mixed population of Kurds, Arabs, Turkomans, Christians and others and the stakes are especially high in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.     In Iraq, Deborah Haynes (Inside Iraq, Times of London) reports on cell phones.  Not in the usual useless manner in which so many male reporters have bored us with 'gadget' 'reports' that were like so many foul breathed, car stereo salesmen, but in a way that's honestly abou Iraqis and not a product.   Haynes explains that while the civil war was raging in 2007, "when it was too dangerous to step out on a date with someone you fancy, people used the mobile phone as their only form of contact."  She notes that dialing random numbers grew popular with males and females: "There are even cases of marriages blossoming from these blind-date style phone encounters."   And there was also stalking including of Deborah Haynes who has been cell phone stalked for approximately two years now by one 21-year-old Iraqi male who does not take hints -- nice ones or harsh ones.     And that may be reflective of the culture the US created by installing the fundamentalist fanatics they selected to staff the puppet government.  Amnesty International noted yesterday, "Women are faced with systematic discrimination and violence and are targeted specifically because of their gender. They are being attacked in the street by men with different political agendas, but who all want to impose veiling, gender segregation and discrimination. Islamist armed groups have said they were responsible for carrying out violent attacks on women, and have sought to justify them, for failing to abide by their interpretation of how women should behave. In addition, as in many other countries, women also suffer violence at the hands of their fathers, brothers and other relatives, particularly if they try to choose how to lead their lives."  The human rights organization notes that abuse is enshrined in the currentl law due to the fact that any man killing his wife can claim it was an 'honor' killing and be sentended to only six months in prison.  In addition: "It also effectively allows husbands to use violence against their wives. The 'exercise of a legal right' to exemption from criminal liability is permitted for: 'Disciplining a wife by her husband, the disciplining by parents and teachers of children under their authority within certain limits prescribed by Islamic law (Shari'a), by law or by custom'."  And grasp that this legislation was written and passed with US guidance.  Grasp how damn little the US government cared about Iraqi women.   Case in point, Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi.  Abeer is the 14-year-old girl who was gang-raped by US soldiers March 12, 2006 while her parents and five-year-old sister were murdered (by US soldiers) in the next room.  As the gang-rape wound down, Abeer was shot dead --  allegedly by Steven D. Green,  All the other US soldiers have either been convicted or entered guilty pleas.  They all fingered Steven D. Green as their ringleader, as part of the gang-rape, as the man who did all the killing and as the man who thought up and planned the conspiracy -- which included attempting to make it appear 'insurgents' had attacked Abeer and her family.   When the truth finally emerged that it wasn't 'insurgents' and that it appeared US soliders might be involved, the US military swung into action . . . to insist that Abeer was 24-years-old.  As if gang-rape and murder would be less appalling if the rape victim was 24-years-old?  In July of 2006, Time magazine noted:     Family members describe Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi as tall for her age, skinny, but not eye-catchingly beautiful. As one of her uncles put it, "She was an ordinary girl." So perhaps it was sheer proximity that made the 15-year-old so tantalizing. Her house was less than 1,000 ft. from a U.S. military checkpoint just outside the Iraqi town of Mahmudiyah, and soldiers manning the gate started stopping by just to look at her. Her mother, who grew concerned enough to make plans for Abeer to move in with a cousin, told relatives that whenever she caught the Americans ogling her daughter, they would give her the thumbs-up sign, point to the girl and say, "Very good, very good."    Abeer's brother Mohammed, 13, told TIME he once watched his sister, frozen in fear, as a U.S. soldier ran his index finger down her cheek. Mohammed has since learned that soldier's name: Steven Green. Last week Green, 21, a former Army private first class who was honorably discharged because of a "personality disorder" a month before the criminal allegations came to light, pleaded not guilty to charges of raping Abeer and killing her along with her parents and 7-year-old sister. Five other soldiers have been charged, four of them for conspiring with Green and one for dereliction of duty for not reporting the crimes. The grisly March 12 slayings--in which Abeer's skull was smashed and her legs and torso set on fire--sparked the military's fifth investigation into U.S. personnel accused of murdering Iraqi civilians. But unlike the massacre in Haditha, where Marines are suspected of shooting up to 24 innocent people in November following the death of a beloved comrade, the butchering of Abeer's family does not appear to be the result of vengeance or confusion. Instead, all signs point to premeditated depravity.   Steven D. Green is the last to be tried and he will be tried in a federal court in Kentucky.  He had already been discharged before the realities began emerging about the attack on Abeer and her family. That still doesn't explain the long delay.  From the Monday, July 3, 2006 snapshot: "Green, is 21 and was with the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army. Friday [June30th] , in Asheville, North Carolina, he was arrested and charged with both the four deaths as well as the rape. According to the US government press release, if convicted on the charge of murder, 'the maximum statutory penalty . . . is death' while, if convicted on the charge of rape, 'the maxmium statutory penalty for the rape is life in prison'." They did attempt to begin last year; however, it was stopped due to a quilting fair.  Currently the trial is set to start at nine a.m. April 27th.  As Ruth noted Friday, Brette Barrouquere (AP) reported jury selection was completed last week and the witnesses for the prosectuion may include "nearly half-dozen members of the al-Janabi family". Barrouquere also noted that the court had prepared this year for "the 25th annual American Quilter's Society show in Paducah, an event that draws thousands and fills hotel rooms that were needed for trial lawyers and witnesses." Today Green's defense received a set back.  His attorneys had repeatedly made embarrassing statements to the press that it was impossible for people in Kentucky to know what it was like in war and that the jury wouldn't know warfare and blah, blah, blah embarrassing bulls**t that demonstrates just what feather-weights Green's attorneys are.  It was embarrassing and shameful.  And they couldn't stop shooting their mouths off to the press about this 'defense.'  Which led the prosecution to file a motion which the judge responded to today with an Order:   THIS CAUSE is before the Court on the United States' Motion in Limine.  The Court having considered the Motion, and the Court being otherwise sufficiently advised, IT IS ORDERED that: The defendant is prohibited from eleciting, offering, or commenting on the following evidence during the guilt phase of trial: 1. Evidence or argument that the United States could have, or should have, prosecuted the defendant under the Uniform Code of Military Justice; 2. Evidence or argument concerning the resonableness, wisdom, fairness, or consequences of prosecuting the defendant under Federal criminal law instead of under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 3. Evidence concerning the defendant's desire and willingness to be tried under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and his efforts to reenlist in the Army for that purpose; 4. Evidence concering differences or similarities between Federal criminal law and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including with respect to available charges, criminal penalities, sentencing, and eligibility of parole; and 5. Evidence or argument that only individuals who are in the military or who have military experience, and not civilians, can or should evaluate the defendant's conduct.   The fifth one applies to the defense testing the argument that no one could 'judge' Green who hadn't been in war.  Possibly the prosecution should have let the defense present that embarrassing argument and then mused whether or not, by that logic, the jury should be composed of 12 rapists?  Is a rapist the only one qualified to judge a rapist?   The prosecution just cleaned away the defense strategy and either the defense was launching the biggest fake out and are master geniuses or they are now scrambling for a new game plan.   Let's stay with legal but move to the US, Matthis Chiroux faced a military body today.  Matthis was honorably discharged and placed in IRR and then, many months later, informed he was being pulled back into the military and sent to Iraq. He announced May 15, 2008 that he would not deploy to Iraq.  Sunday, June 15, 2008 (Father's Day), he explained his reasons in a speech which included the following:   I stand here today as a Winter Soldier. To serve our nation, its military and its people in this dark time of confusion and corruption. I stand here to make it known that my duty as a soldier is first to the higher ideals and guiding principles of this country which our leaders have failed to uphold. I stand here today in defense of the US Constitution which has known no greater enemy, foreign or domestic, than those highest in this land who are sworn to be governed by its word. I stand here today in defense of those who have been stripped of their voices in this occupation for the warriors of this nation have been silenced to the people who need to start listening. We are here to honor the memory of our fathers who more than two centuries ago brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, as Abraham Lincoln once noted. We are here to honor the struggle of our fathers and their fathers and their fathers before them to build this nation and bring it together -- through slavery and poverty, to sexism and racism, through materialism and imperialism. They built this nation and struggled to keep it alive as we've blundered and learned and blundered again. We owe it to our fathers to stand for this nation now when a dark cloud has descended upon it in the form of an administration who is stealing the lives of us all to wage an illegal war -- conceived in lies and birthed [born] of manipulation. As a soldier I was told it was not my place to question the orders of those appointed above me. I had that lie trained into me from my first day of basic training to my last day of active duty. But I have learned the truth, the truth that the occupation of Iraq is inherently illegal and that it is my duty as a soldier to refuse illegal orders to reactivate and deploy in support of it. I have learned that in these times of crisis one must look deep into their own values to know the path that they must walk. I have learned that feeling and thinking and speaking and acting and keeping with courage and honesty in preservation of a righteous cause is blessed and may give a person strength to utter truths that may calm the vicious and the vengeful alike. 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.   Phillip O'Connor (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) explained this morning, "An administrative separation board at the Army Human Resources Command could grant Chiroux a general discharge or an other-than-honorable discharge, either of which could harm his ability to receive benefits available to honorable discharged veterans."  The hearing took place today and there is no change in Matthis duty status at present.  What happens next is the board's record is complied and a legal review takes place.  Following that it's forwarded up the chain to, finally, the Commanding General of Human Resources Command.  The Commanding General will issue a determination and that should take place before the end of next month.   Back to Iraq and some of today's reported violence . . .   Bombings?    Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report a Baghdad roadside bombing which claimed the life of 1 police officer and left three more injured and a Baghdad roadside bombing which left three Iraqi soldiers injured.  This is the the third day in a row that Iraqi soldiers have been wounded or killed in bombings.   Shootings?   Sahar Issa and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) report 2 shootings last night in Mosul, 1 taxi driver shot dead and 1 civilian shot dead.     In other Iraq news, Ed O'Keefe (Washington Post) notes, "Several executives from well-known high tech firms are in Iraq this week as guests of the State Department, part of an effort to boost the use of online and social media in the war-torn country." CNN adds that they represent Autmattic, Twitter, "Google, AT&T, YouTube and others." This visit follows the news that Iraq's stock exchange has gone electric.   While the greedy try to make money in Iraq, Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan attempts to use her name to get the word out on the system that supports the illegal wars.  Her latest is  Myth America: 10 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution.  In  a must read column, Cindy explains the reality of what can be expected from the Democratically controlled White and Congress -- the same nothings the Democratically controlled Congress gave two-years-running:   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.   Cindy Sheehan is on the road and these are the next dates listed for her Seat of Our Pants tour: April 21: Albuquerque       Smith Brasher Hall (CNM Campus, corner of University and Coal)        7-9 pm and then book signing.           April 23: Eureka Springs Arkansas     Sweet Spring Antiques Mart         2 Pine Street (across from P.O.)     7-9 pm            Eureka Springs Contact: Gerry Fonseca, geraldt7@earthlink.net       April 26: Kansas City, Mo           (Sponsored by KKFI and joint fundraiser with Cindy)           3:30 - Anti-War vigil on the Plaza with Cindy Sheehan          5:00 - Meet & Greet with Cindy           6:30 - Music by Seed Love          7:00 - Music by The Herrmannators        7:30 - Cindy Sheehan speaks                 Venue: Uptown Theater - Valentine Room              3700 Broadway                   Contact for KCMO: Anne Pritchett, pritchett.anne@gmail.com                 Also touring the US, orbiting DC, is the laughable Wijdan Mikha'il Salim, a puppet for the puppet Nouri al-Maliki.  She holds the title "Minister of Human Rights."  She holds the title and holds the place and does nothing.  But she's on a charm offensive because it's been noted that the Foreign Ministry is heavily cast male and she's the 'spot of color' to convince Americans that Iraqi women do get to do more than be beat up, raped or killed.  Her charm mission found her declaring Friday, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, the laughable claim that Iraqi society needs to be educated in order for the suppression of women to cease.  Really, Wijit?  Do they just wind you up and point you towards the mike?   The stupid liar wants Americans to believe that Iraq was Afghanistan when, in fact, it was no such thing.  Prior to the 2003 invasion and the installation -- by the US -- of religious fanatics, Iraq was a sectarian society with women's rights in their contitution (gone now, thank the US for that) and a society in which women participated and held many jobs and duties.  The fanatics the US government used in an effort to scare the Iraqi people into sumbission are the ones who destroyed women's rights.  This is the woman who is the Human Rights Minister.  A puppet position granted, but one in which she could have called out the assault on Iraq's LGBT community.  (She has REFUSED to respond to the letter on this topic noted in yesterday's snapshot.)   Don't come to the US with your bulls**t propaganda and your 'my hands are tied but we will educate and in decades . . .'  Spare us all your garbage.  And spare us your repeated use of "man" for "human" when you claim to want to help Iraqi women.  You continue the sexism and don't pretend otherwise.  There's something truly appalling about anyone stating that rights will come when "we" "educate the people about the real Islam."  What does that mean? It means no wall between church and state.  Making the statement even more offensive is the fact that Widget isn't Muslim.  She's Christian.  That statement's not just a lie (she's blaming Islam for the lack of women's rights), it's also patronizing and scapegoating.   iraq iraq veterans against the war matthis chiroux phillip oconnor  the washington post ed okeefe cnn deborah haynes brett barrouquere mcclatchy newspapers hussein kadhim sahar issa cindy sheehan npr morning edition

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.   US war resister Andre Shepherd is seeking asylum in Germany.  We last noted him in the February 6th snapshot (when  Andy Eckardt (NBC News) offered a strong report on Andre ).  Friday night, BBC World Service offered a report on him (link has text and audio):   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 this topic, Iraq Veterans Against the War notes:   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.   We noted that Friday and Matthis faces the board tomorrow in St. Louis.  A third resister was in the news over the weekend, Kristoffer Walker.  The 28-year-old Wisconsin native made the news in February when, while home on leave, he announced he would not return to Iraq to fight what he termed and illegal and immoral war (see the Feb. 23rd snapshot for more on that and the March 16th snapshot).  With no support and facing threats from the military face-to-face, in the mail, over the phone, in e-mails and in the media, Kristoffer agreed to return to Iraq.  He has refused to recant his judgment of the illegal war.  Friday WLUK (Fox 11 -- link has text and video) provided the latest news on Kristoffer Walker:   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?   Apparently so stunned by the fact that Iraq finally elected a Speaker, the press was unable to report the other shocker this weekend.  Alsumaria broke the news that Jalal Talabani, the current president of Iraq, has decided he will run for the office again when his term expires in December.  Saturday March 14th, Talabani was telling the world he wouldn't run and apparently sealing that decision by declaring the following Monday, to Sabah, that, "The ideal of a united Kurdistan is just a dream written in poetry.  I do not deny that they are poems devoted to the notion of a united Kurdistan.  But we can not continue to dream."  His change of heart is a surprise and how much Kurdish support he can depend upon after that statement is in doubt.   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, 2009 Her 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                        UK Gay News explains that the letter was "written to coincide with Ms. Salim's visit to Washington D.C.".  Rod Nordland and the New York Times embarrassed themselves Sunday (among other things, by declaring same-sex attraction a sin, this from the paper that was the first in the US to print same-sex civil union and wedding announcements).  That was in a report, by the way, not a column, a report.  Apparently one of Rod's anonymous sources was the Lord Jesus Christ.  Possibly He also assisted Judith Miller with Plamegate?  While the world awaits more of these Joan of Arc type messages from the Times, Jim Muir and BBC News (link has text and video) dealt with reality:   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?   Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Sunday Baghdad mortar attack which wounded two people and destroyed "a private power generator".     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?   Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an attempted kidnapping of nine-year-old Elias Yaqub in Erbil.     Corpses?   Reuters notes a corpse was discovered in Mussayab.     Winding down, Bob Somerby has a very important Howler today.  We'll cover Cindy Sheehan tomorrow (no space today) but she is on and  we really need to note these dates listed for her Seat of Our Pants tour: April 20th: Taos               Bareiss Gallery        Contact in Taos: Catherine Hart, catherinehart.editor@gmail.com   April 21: Albuquerque           Smith Brasher Hall (CNM Campus, corner of University and Coal)           7-9 pm and then book signing.      April 23: Eureka Springs Arkansas     Sweet Spring Antiques Mart 2 Pine Street (across from P.O.)         7-9 pm         Eureka Springs Contact: Gerry Fonseca, geraldt7@earthlink.net     Lastly,  I know Quinn Bradlee and his parents (Sally Quinn and Ben Bradlee) and Quinn was on CBS' Washington Week (link has text and video) with Slate's John Dickerson last Friday to discuss his new book A Different Life about growing up with Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome.   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.   You can read an excerpt of Quinn Bradlee's A Different Life at ABC News.com.  Washington Unplugged is CBS News weekly (airs each Friday) web program.  And on Friday's broadcast, you can also see a debate on Cuba featuring US House Rep Bobby Rush (whom I also know -- and a friend at CBS News asked for the plug, wading through Disclosureville).   iraq military families speak out andre shepherd andy eckardt iraq veterans against the war matthis chiroux kristoffer walker monica landeros laura smith tony walter the los angeles times liz sly alsumaria the new york times timothy williams rod nordland jim muir mcclatchy newspapers hussein kadhim sahar issa the washington post ernesto londono cindy sheehan james cogan the cbs evening news with katie couric katie couric cbs news

Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts "Court-Ordered." Barack whines, "The ACLU is calling me out, some lawyer named Branum wishes he didn't vote for me, the UN, World Can't Wait, Adam Kokesh . . . everyone is against me. I thought I'd be a hero right now." Nelson replies, "Yeah, sucks the way we get no credit for doing court-ordered stuff."



the world today just nuts
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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 tears
That 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 week
Truest statement of the week II
A note to our readers
Editorial: Media Whores and Medea Whore
TV: Broken or fixed?
Tea Parties
Papers and David Carr Stuck In The Box
Civil Rights history including 'Now!'
The Shirley goes to . . .
Greta Garbo
Lt. Muthana Shaad's Gay Boy Chronicles
Yesterday's Morning Glory Naomi Klein
Matthis Stands Tall April 21st
Highlights

Isaiah's latest goes up after this. The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.

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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."

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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.


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