Iraq snapshot

Several nights later Tunisian revolutionary singer Emel Mathlouthi performed at a social club in the capital to an audience of diplomats, Iraqi officials, students and teachers at a concert organised by the French Institute.

Tariq Safa al-Din, the Alwiyah club's president, said it was one of the largest concerts of this kind at the venue in the past decade. Small groups perform Iraqi folk music every week in the garden of the club, founded in 1924.

"This is for the past two years. Before that, you know what it was like in Iraq, nobody used to come to the club," he said.

Mathlouthi's performance was just the beginning of a new era for live music in Baghdad, he said.

Next week the soldier and his defense team will be back in military court in Fort Meade, Maryland, in the latest of a succession of pre-trial hearings to hammer out the terms of the eventual court martial. Previous engagements have led to sparky interactions between Coombs and the army prosecutors seeking to condemn Manning possibly to spending the rest of his life in military custody.

The most significant discussion at next week's proceedings will revolve around the precise legal definition of what "aiding the enemy" means – specifically its allegation that Manning "knowingly gave intelligence to the enemy". The judge presiding over Manning's trial, Colonel Denise Lind, has ruled that the soldier must have had "actual knowledge" that he was giving intelligence to enemy for the charge to be proven.

Coombs will next week attempt to gain further clarification that would raise the legal bar much higher. In his motion he argues that it is a truism in the age of the internet, any posted material is potentially accessible to anybody.

 

 

In Baltimore, the Green Party is holding their national political convention.  Tomorrow, Jill Stein is expected to become the Green Party's presidential nominee.  Today, Amy Goodman (Democracy Now! -- link is text, audio and video) spoke to Jill Stein about a number of issues.  Excerpt.

 

AMY GOODMAN: You are Dr. Jill Stein, so let's talk about healthcare. As Romney continues to vow to end so-called "Obamacare," the Republican-controlled House passed a repeal of the measure, but the Democrats in the Senate say they will not allow this to pass there. Speaking on the House floor, House Majority Leader—House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi traded barbs over the law.

REP. ERIC CANTOR: We are trying to end the era of Washington-controlled healthcare. We believe, as do most of the American people, that it's patient-centered care is our goal. That's where we need to start. We start along the path towards that goal by repealing Obamacare.

REP. NANCY PELOSI: American people want us to create jobs. That's what we should be using this time on the floor for, not on this useless bill to nowhere—bill to nowhere, that does serious damage to the health and economic well-being of America's families.

AMY GOODMAN: That's Nancy Pelosi and Eric Cantor trading barbs on the House floor. Dr. Jill Stein, interestingly, you are from Massachusetts, from Lexington, so even as Mitt Romney attacks President Obama over his healthcare plan, it was very much modeled on Romney's healthcare plan when he was governor of your state of Massachusetts.

 

DR. JILL STEIN: Exactly, yes, and we've had Romneycare, aka Obamacare, in effect in Massachusetts for five years. So, there's a track record here. And, you know, that track record is very problematic. Romneycare, Obamacare, helped some people, and it hurt other people. It basically pits the very poor against the near poor. And that's not a solution.

And this whole debate, I think, misses the point, which is that we can actually solve this problem. There is also a track record of success: it's called Medicare. Instead of spending 30 percent of our healthcare dollar on waste and wasteful insurance bureaucracy and paper pushing, we can take that 30 percent, squeeze it down to 3 percent—that's what the overhead is in Medicare—and then use that incredible windfall to actually expand healthcare and cover everyone. So, you know, Medicare works. People like it. It's been tampered with, and we need to fix it and create an improved Medicare, but it actually works, and we have the track record all over the world, really, of just about every developed nation.

 

AMY GOODMAN: So, just dropping the "over 65" from Medicare?

 

DR. JILL STEIN: Exactly, right. Let's make it from the point of conception on, you know, that we're basically covered cradle to grave. And --

 

AMY GOODMAN: How could the U.S. afford that?

 

DR. JILL STEIN: Well, it actually is a money saver. And we know that because of that 30 percent waste, that is part and parcel for our privatized healthcare system now, 30 percent of your healthcare dollar is paying for those elaborate forms that you have to fill out, you know, every time your insurance changes or every time you see a provider. There's a mountain of minutiae that goes into the tracking of payments. Instead of tracking who's using what and who pays for it, let's just pay for healthcare, and let's cover it as a human right.

 

Jill Stein's announced running mate, Cheri Honkala, also appeared.

 

AMY GOODMAN: Why did you choose Cheri Honkala?

 

DR. JILL STEIN: Well, Cheri stands out as the leading advocate for poor people, for justice, for the fight against predatory banks, for the fight against mortgage foreclosures, fighting on behalf of children most at risk, fighting for justice and for a fair economy. And Cheri is an incredibly inspired human being and mother, who was a homeless single mother and who began to take over empty buildings, saying, "There are buildings that are -- there are homes that are empty there, and there are people like me who are sleeping out on the street. What's wrong with this picture? I'm going to go sleep in that empty home." And, you know, Cheri's -- Cheri is unstoppable and, I think, exemplifies the fighting spirit that is alive and well across America that we hope to give voice to in this campaign, that is what this is about.

 

AMY GOODMAN: Well, the P word is certainly one that's not really very much talked about --

 

DR. JILL STEIN: Exactly.

 

AMY GOODMAN: -- by the presidential candidates: "poverty." Cheri Honkala, we're used to seeing you ahead of marching at the presidential conventions, marching for poor people's rights in this country, now being chosen as a vice-presidential candidate. Your feelings today?

 

CHERI HONKALA: It's very exciting. I think I'm prepared to take on this challenge. I was absolutely shocked when I was chosen, but I think it's a real statement of the Stein campaign. And it meant so much to people across the entire country. Once the announcement was made, I literally received hundreds of letters, not just from people in this country but from folks around the entire world.

 

AMY GOODMAN: Was it a hard decision to decide to do this?

 

CHERI HONKALA: It was definitely the hardest decision I've ever made in my life, because I have a family out there. And I -- you know, I have two sons, and they're used to their mother bringing attention to them in the various different choices that I make. And I asked my 10-year-old, Guillermo, and he immediately did the happy dance in the living room, so I knew it was a go.

 

 

Again, Stein is expected to be named the nominee tomorrow.  Here is the schedule for Saturday and Sunday:

SATURDAY, JULY 14
Nomination Day
Location: Holiday Inn Inner Harbor, 301 West Lombard Street, 410-685-3500
http://www.innerharborhi.com
Floor plan: http://www.innerharborhi.com/pdf/doc-floor-plans-1307996293.pdf

8 am: Media check-in. Location: Holiday Inn lobby.

9 am: Press briefing and news conference with Green presidential candidates Roseanne Barr and Jill Stein. Location: 12th Floor, Harbor II Room.

9 am: The on-stage Nomination Day program begins. Location for all nomination events: Chesapeake Room on the first floor.

10 am: Guest speakers

10:15 am: Platform Approval

11:30 am: Speeches by Presidential Candidates

11:40 Roseanne Barr

11:55 Jill Stein

12:05 pm: Lunch

1:00 pm: Doors open

1:45 pm: The afternoon plenary begins

1:55 pm: Keynote speaker Gar Alperovitz, historian and political activist (http://www.garalperovitz.com), on the Green New Deal; guest speakers

2:48 pm: State roll call and voting for the nomination. Times for events after this are tentative, depending on how long it takes to complete the nomination process.

3:40 pm: Presidential campaign speech

3:55 pm: Vice-Presidential nomination and speech

4:10 pm: Speech of the 2012 Presidential Nominee

4:30 pm: END

8-11 pm: Fundraiser for Jill Stein in the Chesapeake Room. Media invited.

SUNDAY, JULY 15
No media events are scheduled.


Public Transportation:

The University of Baltimore is across the street from Penn Station (Amtrak, Maryland Transit trains) and a few blocks to the west on Mt. Royal Avenue from the University of Baltimore - Mt. Royal Light Rail station.

The Holiday Inn Inner Harbor is a short half block from the University Center-Baltimore Street Light Rail station.

Baltimore Light Rail: http://mta.maryland.gov/light-rail
Map: http://mta.maryland.gov/sites/default/files/light-rail.jpg


Presidential candidates' web sites:

Jill Stein http://www.jillstein.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

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USAID fails audit

Violence continues in Iraq today.  Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports a Baghdad home bombing targeting a Lt. Colonel with the Ministry of the Interior -- he wasn't home, his parents were and the 2 are dead. All Iraqi News adds that bomb attacks targeting Shi'ite mosques in Kirkuk left four people injured.

Today the US Government Accountability Office released [PDF format warning] "IRAQ: U.S. Assistance to Iraq's Minority Groups in Response to Congressional Directives."  According to the report, through November 2011, the US taxpayer has footed the bill for $40 million which was supposed to go towards assisting Iraq's minority population.  Since Iraq's population is estimated by the CIA to be 31 million, the US government could have skipped the minority issue and given a million dollars to every Iraqi.  So the GAO just completed a 12 month audit (June 2011 to July 2012) to see if USAID was living up to the outlines of Congress' 2008 directive?

Are they?

No one knows.  USAID didn't pass the audit.  The report notes:

Our analysis of USAID documents found that USAID could not demonstrate that it met the provisions of the 2008 directive because of three weaknesses. First, although USAID reported that it provided $14.8 million in assistance to minority groups through existing programs to meet the 2008 directive, its documents could link only $3.82 million (26 percent) of that amount to the Ninewa plain region. The documents linked $1.67 million (11 percent) of the assistance to areas outside of the Ninewa plain region. USAID documents did not provide sufficient detail to determine the location of the remaining $9.35 million (63 percent).
Second, USAID documents generally did not show whether the projects included minority groups among the beneficiaries of the assistance and whether $8 million was provided specifically for internally displaced families. According to USAID officials, the agency generally did not track its beneficiaries by religious affiliation. For $14.7 million of the $14.8 million in assistance, USAID documents did not provide sufficient detail for us to determine that Iraqi minority groups were among the beneficiaries of all of the projects. Only 1 of the 155 projects ($66,707 out of $14.8 million) provided sufficient detail in its documents for us to determine that the assistance was directed to internally displaced families; however, the location of that project was outside of the Ninewa plain region. While USAID documents listed $2 million in funding for a microfinance institution, USAID officials were unable to provide detail on whether all of these loans were disbursed in the Ninewa plain region. 
Third, USAID officials and documents did not demonstrate that the agency used unobligated prior year ESF funds to initiate projects in response to the 2008 directive. USAID could document that the agency used unobligated prior year funds for two of the six programs after the date of the 2008 directive. However, according to USAID officials, the agency did not use unobligated prior year funds for the remaining four programs.


When you can't produce documentation to back up your claims, you have failed the audit.

Which is bad news for Iraq's minorities and for US taxpayers.


The report notes this background on Iraq:
:


Iraq is ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse. Ethnically, Arabs comprise about 75 percent of the population of Iraq, with Kurds comprising around 15 percent and other ethnic groups, such as Turkoman and Assyrians, comprising the remaining 10 percent. Religiously, Shi’a and Sunni Muslims make up 97 percent of the population of Iraq, with non-Muslim groups -- such as Baha’i, Christians, Sabean Mandaeans, and Yazidis -- comprising the remaining 3 percent of the population. Some communities may be an ethnic majority but a religious minority (such as Arab Christians), while other communities may be an ethnic minority but a religious majority (such as Shi’a Shabaks). For the purpose of this report, we refer to the following religious and ethnic communities as minority groups: Anglican, Armenian, Assyrian, Baptist, Chaldean, Coptic, Greek Orthodox, Latin Catholic, Presbyterians, Sabean Mandaean, Shabak, Syriac, Turkoman, and Yazidi. 
Since 2003, Iraq’s minority groups have experienced religiously and ethnically motivated intimidation, arbitrary detention, killings, abductions, and forced displacements, as well as attacks on holy sites and religious leaders. In August 2007, coordinated truck bombings killed some 400 Yazidis and wounded more than 700. In August 2009, a series of attacks in Ninewa province killed almost 100 and injured more than 400 from the Yazidi, Shabak, and Turkoman communities. In February 2008, a Chaldean archbishop was kidnapped and killed -- the third senior Christian religious figure to be killed in the city of Mosul since 2006. A series of attacks against Christians occurred in 2010, including an attack in October on a Catholic church in Baghdad that left more than 50 dead and 60 wounded. 


You may notice a major minority group not listed above.

Iraq's LGBT community.  They were not excluded from the 2008 supplemental directive and the 2010 directive should have allowed for the LGBT community. 

Is the Senate failing (Senate Appropriations Committee) or is USAID?

The 2010 directive specifically was about refugee assistance and that should have covered the LGBT community.  But the US government is not doing anything to help that community.  And they get away with that and with doing nothing to protect Iraqi LGBTs from being hunted and killed in Iraq -- "hunted" is the only term for what has repeatedly taken place -- so at what point does the government get their act together?

Obviously, not any time soon.  Because this failed audit should immediately result in Senate hearings but you won't get that.  The failed audit will be greeted with a yawn as Democrats in the Senate rush to protect the White House.

Thing is, the White House should be able to protect itself.  It's Iraq's LGBT population that needs protection.

While the US does nothing, Radio Netherlands Worldwide reports, "The Dutch government has decided to grant aslum to gay Iraqis. Immigration minister Geert Leers says Iraq is no longer safe for homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders. Mr Leers has already announced a temporary halt to the deportation of gay Iraqis last month following an alert from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  The ministry warned that it was impossible to be openly gay anywhere in Iraq without being at serious risk.  The Iraqi authorities also fail to take any measure to stop discrimination or attacks on homosexuals."

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee needs to strip Nelson Mandela of his award and give it to Nouri al-Maliki.  So argues an Al Mada columnist tongue-in-cheek.  The column is prompted by ridiculous claims, by attorney Jabbar Freih Kanani, that Iraq has achieved reconciliation and should now be the model for Egypt and other countries in the Arab Spring.  The parody column ends with Nelson Mandela explaining to Nouri that he (Mandela) had walked the path of reconciliation his entire life and how fortunate he (Mandela) is to see Nouri show him how it can actually be done in the blink of an eye.


Wael Grace (Al Mada) reports on how the Parliament's sessions are often televised but, even so, not everything is televised.  For example, one MP shares that they are often briefed on a bill -- whether it's legal, whether it's sound -- by specialists in the area and these briefings do not get televised.  Some bills are withdrawn and those actions are not televised.  One MP feels that everything should be before the public. Others feel there is too much information being televised while some argue that the experts and specialists appearing before the Parliament to brief them on the bills are unnecessary because the bills result form deals and agreements within Parliament and they don't need any advice with regards to that.  Kitabat notes that it was announced yesterday that 100 MPs will work on drafting a law to limit the three presidencies -- Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament and Iraqi President -- to two terms only.

Al Mada notes that, with the ongoing violence in Iraq, Iraqiya has been calling for retired officers to be re-instated in the security forces and that Nouri's picked up that call with insiders (unnamed) within Nouri's State of Law saying he did so when he realized it could help his political slate's election chances.  In May, he met with officials in Nineveh Province and this is among the provinces where Nouri would, State of Law insiders insist, benefit politically from such an action.  Iraqiya feels Nouri's call is just more empty words and will not be followed up on.  Dar Addustour notes that this is supposed to move forward in Salah al-Din which wants the officials back and that Nouri appears to have provided a green light for the program to start there.


Al Mada reports that Nouri's spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh declared Monday that whether or not the United Nations releases Iraq from Chapter VII does not matter when it comes to their weapon purchasing.  The United Nations placed Iraq under Chapter VII in 1990 following the attack on Kuwait.  al-Dabbagh insists Iraq will continue to buy weapons including F-16s.  al-Dabbagh insisted that Iraq will use all of its political power and international connections to get out of Chapter VII and that it is unfair for the United Nations to continue to impose reperations costs on Iraq.


At the start of the week, KRG President Massoud Barzani announced the creation (in the Kurdistan Regional Government) of a National Security Council which would, it is hoped, bring greater security to the three northern provinces.  Since then he's been accused of nepotism and wanting to become a dictator by the struggling third party Goran (and by some MPs in Nouri's State of Law).  Al Mada notes that Barzani has responded that the National Security Council would serve all the people in the KRG and that its creation is about meeting the citizens' safety needs.

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

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Michael O'Hanlon: Bending History, Ignoring Facts

Michael O'Hanlon seems bound and determined to embarrass the Brookings Institution and, considering all the damage the centrist think tank has done, maybe we should just root him on in that?

It's a bit hard for a think tank to be seen as non-partisan and above the fray when you have a Michael O'Hanlon forever attempting to inject himself into presidential races.  Some would argue his co-written book Bending History (what an apt title for any volume of history spinster O'Hanlon might put his name to) created a confidence crisis for Brookings but the reality is that not only will most Americans not read the book, most won't even hear of it except maybe as an argument for releasing books in a digital format only so that Bending History and other books no one buys can't clog up clearance tables, strip malls and land fills.

By contrast, his "Obama's Iraq Legacy" is online and will be seen by many. After the laughter dies down, hopefully, people will continue to call the nonsense out and, most importantly, to call O'Hanlon out.  It's not that he makes one mistake, it's that he makes many.  It's not that he uses one set of metrics, it's that he uses contrasting ones.

America's Littlest Weak Chinned War Hawk has always wanted to sell the Iraq War and he still has that desire today.

The first laugh out loud moment may be this:


There was some good diplomacy in this time as well, largely spearheaded by Vice President Biden. During the winter of 2010, Prime Minister Maliki seemed intent on exploiting gray areas--and even some not-so-gray areas--in Iraqi election law to ensure he would hold onto power. Biden did much to get him to desist from further electoral shenanigans. Partial recounts in districts where other parties besides Maliki's had done well were, it was agreed, not a good idea. Banning former members of Saddam's Baathist Party from holding office after they had won seats was without legal foundation.


That's false by any standard unless O'Hanlon's allowed to define "winter" as spring, summer or fall.  In the US -- and the article's for a US publication and O'Hanlon's a US citizen -- winter kicks off on December 21st or 22nd and runs through March 21st or 22nd.   So what is O'Hanlon attempting to argue took place in winter?

That Nouri was attempting to block elected officials from being seated?


Presumably that would have to be December 2010.  It can't be early March 2010 because no one was seated until November 2010 (outside of a brief June 2010 session that no one took seriously).  Elections were March 7, 2010 (with early elections -- for groups like the police and the elderly -- starting a few days before).  So since Parliament didn't even sit until November 2010, over eight months after the elections, Joe Biden couldn't have 'fixed' anything in March 2010 with regards to getting Nouri to allow candidates to be seated.  That leaves us with the end of December 2010 through March 2011.

Did Joe Biden ride to the rescue and get candidates seated then?

No.

The Erbil Agreement did that.  The Erbil Agreement was signed off on November 10, 2010.  That's not winter.   November 11, 2010 is when Parliament holds its first real session.

The US facilitated the Erbil Agreement.  We've long noted that.  (The Erbil Agreement was a response to the eight month plus political stalemate.  Nouri's State of Law came in second to Iraqiya.  Nouri still wanted a second term as prime minister despite those results.  He refused to allow the process to move forward -- and the US government backed him -- and pitched an 8 month tantrum.  The Erbil Agreement gave him a second term in exchange for various concessions.)


But this claim that Joe got Nouri to allow people to be seated in the winter is not correct.  Now Joe did talk about candidates -- not elected, this was before the election -- being allowed to run.  Joe made a series of calls on that issue.  In the months leading up to the elections, various political rivals of Nouri's were suddenly tagged "Ba'athists."  They may have been elected to the last Parliament.  But now the Justice and Accountability Commission was saying they were "Ba'athists" and, therefore, could not run for office.  Along with Joe Biden, the United Nations also did a lot of urging and hand holding.  But those are candidates that were allowed to run (and more stayed banned than were allowed to run), not people who were elected.

Michael O'Hanlon doesn't know what he's writing about.

And if Joe Biden convinced -- winter or not -- Nouri that "banning former members of Saddam's Baathist Party from holding office after they had won seats was without legal foundation," then why was this in the Erbil Agreement?  Why was this a concession in the Erbil Agreement?

O'Hanlon is aware of that, right?  He doesn't write like he is, he writes like an uninformed idiot.

Novembe 11, 2010 was Parliament's first session.  Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi staged a walk-out in the midst of the meeting.  The US intervened and Iraqiya went back in.

(Not all of Iraqiya walked out.  Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi was one of the ones who did not walk out.)

Can O'Hanlon tell us why Allawi walked out?

He walked out because this part of the Erbil Agreement was already being postponed.  Oh, we can't do that right now, insisted State of Law.  Give us a week or so.  And right then and there, Allawi saw that Nouri was not going to honor the agreement.  A side deal got him to honor that aspect of it.  But Allawi was correct, Nouri trashed the agreement.  He used it to get a second term and then refused to honor it (refused to create an independent national security commission, refused to follow the Constitution and implement Article 140, etc.).

O'Hanlon's got a really lame piece of fiction. But it works better as (bad) fiction than it does as a history of what happened.

O'Hanlon then wants to insist:

The progress represented by the surge, the Sunni awakening, the Basra and Sadr City offensives, and related developments in the latter Bush years was solidified during Obama's tenure. The Iraqi civil war as such is over. Violence is down more than 90 percent relative to 2006 and early 2007 levels. Electricity production is up more than 50 percent, and international energy firms are bidding enthusiastically to help develop new oil fields.

The progress represented by the surge, the Sunni awakening, the Basra and Sadr City offensives, and related developments in the latter Bush years was solidified during Obama's tenure.


No, they weren't.  You're a damn liar.  Last week, Nouri made a big show of announcing that Sahwa ("Awakenings," "Sons of Iraq"/"Daughters Of Iraq") would get the pay that they haven't been receiving for some time.  And possibly they now will.


But that doesn't change the fact that Nouri was supposed to integrate them into the security forces and those that couldn't be integrated would be given government jobs.  Nouri's never done that.  Not only that, the US was paying them long after they were supposed to have stopped -- and, yes, that's under Barack.  Also, it's not like O'Hanlon to ever contradict a government official so he might want to rethink that "Sunni awakening."  David Petraeus now heads the CIA.  He didn't always. At the April 8, 2008 Senate Armed Services hearing he was General David Petraeus, then the top US commander in Iraq, and he explained Sahwa.




The Iraqi civil war as such is over.

One press report after another in recent months has noted Iraqi fears that it was about to restart or has included observations that the attacks are attempts to get it to restart (see especially AP's reporting out of Iraq).

Violence is down more than 90 percent relative to 2006 and early 2007 levels.

You can only say "violence is down" if you make 2006 and 2007 your base.  There's no reason to do that -- as we've pointed out forever.  That's not the start of the war.  That's the ethnic cleansing. Violence is increasing, the United Nations counted over 400 deaths from violence last month alone.

O'Hanlon should stop whoring because even Brookings can only take so much.


Electricity production is up more than 50 percent,

In what world?  O'Hanlon's living in a different world than most people.   From yesterday's snapshot:


Hadeel al Sayegh (The National) reports today, "Iraq's economic development is being held back by a critical shortage of electricity - with businesses and homes across the country forced to endure blackouts of as long as 15 hours a day."  al Sayegh offers another article today which provides a walk through on what that means to one business:


Back to O'Hanlon:


 and international energy firms are bidding enthusiastically to help develop new oil fields.


Really?

Because you've got an ExxonMobil deal from October that's not proceeding at present because Nouri's trying to kill it.

Then you have the May auction which --with a nod to a friend who's a brilliant comedy writer -- I repeatedly hailed as "a dingo dog with fleas."  From May 31st:



None of that plays well on the international stage and while big business traditionally doesn't care about human rights even some of them can afford to point to that in ignoring the auction which was always going to underwhelm because it was a dingo dog with fleas.  It's day four of a yard sale.  Nothing worth buying is being offered.   They should see it as a success that Sinan Salaheddin (AP) reports that they got one offer ("Four deals attracted no bidders and a fifth for oil exploration in southern Iraq was withdrawn [. . .]")  A year ago, the offerings would have sold despite being disappointing.  But the reason they would have sold was because companies wanting to get a toe-hold in Iraq or improve relations with Nouri to work towards a better deal later on would have snapped up the properties.  But with Crazy Nouri of the Oil Markets, there's not enough trust in the future of Iraq right now for companies to waste seed money.  


I guess there are facts and then there are what O'Hanlon calls 'facts.'  The two never match up but do allow O'Hanlon to commune with his creative muse.


This is an awful article.  We could do an entire snapshot on his nonsense.  We may do that today depending upon whether I can stomach more of that nonsense.  We've been so bogged down refuting his 'facts' that we haven't even had time to refute his argument which is also wrong.


Maybe we'll grab that in the snapshot.  The following community sties -- plus Pacifica Evening News, Cindy Sheehan, Antiwar.com and Susan's On The Edge -- updated last night and this morning:

• The Daily Jot

  THIS JUST IN! WHAT A GIRL WANTS!
  

  2 hours ago
• Cedric's Big Mix

  He tells you what he wants, what he really, really wants
  

  2 hours ago

• 
  
• Ann's Mega Dub

  7 men
  

  8 hours ago
• Mikey Likes It!

  Not the way to talk about your fans
  

  8 hours ago
• The Diane Rehm Show from WAMU and NPR

  Friday News Roundup - International
  

  9 hours ago
• SICKOFITRADLZ

  Cowardly Barack
  

  9 hours ago
• Ruth's Report

  Go read Jon Gold
  

  9 hours ago
• The World Today Just Nuts

  Al Distraction
  

  9 hours ago
• Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude

  I don't waste my time on sexists
  

  9 hours ago
• Thomas Friedman is a Great Man

  Get honest, Jesse
  

  9 hours ago
• Trina's Kitchen

  He just doesn't get it.
  

  9 hours ago
• Oh Boy It Never Ends

  Burning Love
  

  9 hours ago
• Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)

  Kristen Wiig's scary cover
  

  9 hours ago
• News From Antiwar.com

  Warfare State Sending US Off ‘Fiscal Cliff’
  

  10 hours ago
• Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

  "Progressives" Need To Address The Lies And Cover-Ups Of 9/11
  

  11 hours ago
• The Pacifica Evening News

  Nurses Offer Free Screenings to Promote Universal Healthcare
  

  11 hours ago
• On the Edge

  They Don't Make Comedians Like This Anymore
  

  15 hours ago

Iraq Veterans Against the War notes this upcoming event Monday, July 23rd, 7:00 pm at Lutheran Church of Reformation in DC (212 E. Capitol St.):

Join cultural pioneer Phil Donahue for a dialogue and Q&A following a screening of his acclaimed documentary Body of War, an intimate and transformational feature film he co-directed about the true face of war today. The film follows Tomas Young, 25 years old, paralyzed from a bullet to his spine - wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week. Body of War is Tomas' coming home story as he evolves into a new person, coming to terms with his disability and finding his own unique and passionate voice against the war. Learn more at: www.bodyofwar.com
“Superb documentary! Almost unbearably moving.”
- Time Magazine
“Impossible not to like... Remarkable”
- New York Times
This event is also part of our D.C. Peacebuilding Advocacy Days.
$10 suggested donation; no one turned away for lack of funds, contribute what you can.
Co-Sponsored by: Alliance for Peacebuilding, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Iraq Veterans Against War, Peace X Peace


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

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Iraq snapshot

Thursday, July 12, 2012.  Chaos and violence continue, Human Rights Watch draws attention to a proposed law that could greatly harm Iraqis, Ammar al-Hakim publicly played Nouri's steady but behind closed doors . . .,  Katie Couric's image pops up in Iraq, the White House blusters about wanting a prisoner (that they turned over to Iraq), and more.   Starting with sports, today Emily Alpert (Los Angeles Times) reports an important event, "For the first time in Olympic history, every country will have a woman competing on its team, including longtime holdout Saudi Arabia, the International Olympic Committee announced Thursday. Brunei and Qatar will also send female athletes to the London Games for the first time." Alsumaira notes Iraq will be sending 8 athletes to the Olympics in London and the goal of the Iraqi team is participation in the sport and to gain knowledge for future Olympic competitions according to Samir al-Moussawi who is over the team which will compete in the 100 meter run (Dania Hussein), the 800 meter run (Adnan Taas), shooting (Nour Amer), crossbow (Rana al-Mashadani), weighlifting (Safa Rashed), swimming (Muhannad Ahmad -- and I'm saying the rest of this parenthetical not Alsumaria, Muhannad Ahmad is gathering a lot of talk as the Arab male athlete to watch in this year's competition -- and only some of that talk is due to Ahmad's good looks), boxing (Ahmed Abdel-Karim) and wreslting (Ali Nazim). Iraqi Olympic Committee notes that Safa Rashed has been at a Ukrainian training camp for weight lifters since June.     On Good Afternoon America (ABC) today, they noted Iraq.     Lara Spencer: And we start with Katie Couric.  Her mega-watt is being seen an unlikely place.  She's become the poster child, if you will, for the Iraqi Electricity Ministry to cool people's impatience over the lack of electrical power in the country.  But is it working?  One Iraqi local told the New York Times, "It doesn't give me hope about electricity.  But I do like to see her beautiful face."  Popping in to talk about it is Katie Couric herself.  Hi, Katie.   Katie Couric [via phone line]:  Hello, Lara.  How are you?    Lara Spencer:  I'm great. And I'm looking at your mega-watt smile.  Can you tell us -- Can you tell us how this happened?     Katie Couric [via phone line]:  Well Lara, as you recall, we actually broke the story during the pop  news segment of GMA [Good Morning America] a few months ago when I was filling in for Robin Roberts.   Lara Spencer:  I do recall.   Katie Couric:  So actually, we did break the story and, sadly, the New York Times is once again following GMA.   Lara Spencer: That's right.  We have scooped the New York Times.   Katie Couric:  I thought it was really weird so we got a translator to translate it and they said, "It's a billboard for the local utility company."   Lara Spencer:  And, hey, it's good promotion for your upcoming show.   Katie Couric's upcoming show is Katie, set to debut September 10th, a syndicated daily (Monday through Friday), hour long talk show with a studio audience.   And Katie Couric is correct.  April 2, 2012, Good Morning America did cover this (link is video):   Lara Spencer:  Just how high wattage is our guest host Katie Couric?  Well this is a billboard in Iraq Tweeted by a reporter there and it turns out, there it is, and it turns out it's a public service announcement by Iraq's Electricity Ministry.  It says, "Daily Electricity Bulletin" which -- ironically, Katie -- is what we were thinking of renaming the show this week.   Katie Couric: Somebody sent that to me on Twitter and they said, "I think this is your face on this bulletin board."   Lara Spencer: I think so.   Katie Couric:  And I'm like, "Yeah.  Isn't that weird."   Today Katie Tweeted:   Reply Retweet Favorite 10:58 AM - 12 Jul 12 via Twitter for iPhone · Details 6h Katie Couric ‏@katiecouric Bizarrely... flattering? Or something!! RT @nytimes: Iraq's Electricity Ministry Puts Katie Couric on Billboards http://nyti.ms/MmAhdI  Expand Reply Retweet Favorite       Katie Couric has a very nice smile.  And if you were the Minister of Electricity in Iraq, you might latch onto it.  Right about now is when the person -- all men so far -- in this position usually steps down and usually because of public outcry over the fact that there is no improvement in providing Iraqis with electricity.  While the average minister serves all four years of their term, the Minister of the Electricity is far more likely to just serve two years.   Hadeel al Sayegh (The National) reports today, "Iraq's economic development is being held back by a critical shortage of electricity - with businesses and homes across the country forced to endure blackouts of as long as 15 hours a day."  al Sayegh offers another article today which provides a walk through on what that means to one business:   At least four times a day, Hadi Ahmed leaves his Baghdad home and goes out into the sweltering heat to restart his generator. "We are dying in this heat," he says. "I feel like every day this country is going backwards. The lack of electricity is destroying my business." Mr Ahmed spends about US$3,000 (Dh11,018) a month producing electricity to power a plastics factory that manufactures household items. He says he can afford to operate the factory at only a third of capacity. "Out of six machines, because of the current circumstances, I only have two operational," said Mr Ahmed.   Still on the energy issue, over the weekend AFP reported, "Iraqi Kurdistan has begun sending oil produced in its three-province autonomous region out of the country without the express permission of the central government, an official said on Sunday."  UPI states the Turkish government is seeking the same sort of deal from the Baghdad-central government and "Ankara's maneuvering is also interwoven with Turkey's drive to restore itself as the region's paramount power, which puts it in direct competition with Iran."  Trend News Agency notes that Turkey and the KRG border one another but that they have not had a history of cooperation.  What changed?  Nouri went wacko and began charging the Turkish government with all these accusations.  He took a working relationship he had with the Turkish government and destroyed it.  Meanwhile, the KRG and Turkey have grown closer.  Nouri's own lunacy helped facilitate that.   Shwan Zulal (Niqash) explores the possibility that the semi-autonomous KRG's desire to go fully autonomous:     It is no secret that the majority of Kurds, if not in fact, all of them, would love to see an independent Kurdistan. And the easiest way for a Kurdish politician to become popular is to call for an independent state. Although the Kurdish president, Massoud Barzani, has recently given the impression that he wants to see an independent Iraqi Kurdistan, the political party to which he belongs, the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), and the other major political party in the area, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), have so far resisted similar temptations. In fact, most Kurdish politicians are still talking about a "united Iraq" despite Kurdish public opinion against this idea. And they have a point. If you are a Kurdish politician and you need to maintain diplomatic relations with your neighbours, and if you're aware of the economic and political realities for Iraqi Kurdistan, then it's very hard to call for Kurdish independence and really mean it. It is possible that Iraqi Kurdistan is politically mature enough to be independent – but the region is not ready for such a step in economic or military terms. And it is true that, over time, the political consequences of Kurdish independence have always been considered greater than the economic consequences. But that no longer applies.       One News Now reports that the KRG is considering a "blasphemy law" and that:    The draft bill calls for up to 10 years in prison and closing a publication for vaguely worded offenses such as "portraying the prophets inappropriately." It is expected to be voted on in the near future. The legislation came about after the publication of an article in May 2010 that was an imaginary discussion with God that included profanity. Outrage over the article boiled into rioting that caused property damage and led to arrests and injuries. Because it was an apparent response to a free speech issue, there were concerns that the bill would also limit free speech. Estabrooks says, "Basher Hadad, the head of the committee that's drafting this bill in Iraq, has told different news services that this is not going to be any kind of censorship," but he believes that's a total front. By the vague nature of the bill's wording, it will do exactly that, even though people are assured that they will still be free to criticize mullahs, scholars, Islam, or the history of Islam. Estabrooks says,     Still on the issue of proposed laws, a major organization is calling out a different proposed law.   Human Rights Watch released a new report today entitled [PDF format warning] "Iraq's Information Crime Law: Badly Written Provisions and Draconian Punishments Violate Due Process and Free Speech."  From the opening summary of the report: Iraq's government is in the process of enacting what it refers to as an Information Crimes Law to regulate the use of information networks, computers, and other electronic devices and systems.  The proposed law had its first reading before Iraq's Council of Representatives on July 27, 2011; a second reading is expected as early as July 2012.  As currently drafted, the proposed legislation violates international standards protecting due process, freedom of speech and freedom of association. This is not a minor point and HRW connects the law with the broader attack on liberties taking place in Iraq: Since February 2011, Human Rights Watch has documented often violent attacks by Iraqi security forces and gangs, apparently acting with the support of the Iraqi government, against peaceful demonstrators demanding human rights, better services, and an end to corruption.  During nationwide demonstrations on February 25, 2011, for example, security forces killed at least 12 protesters across the country and injured more than 100.  Iraqi security forces beat unarmed journalists and protesters that day, smashing cameras and confiscating memory cards.  On June 10 in Baghdad, government-backed gangs armed with wooden planks, knives, iron pipes, and other weapons beat and stabbed peaceful protesters and sexually molested female demonstrators as security forces stood by and watched, sometimes laughing at the victims. Given this backdrop, the draft Information Crimes Law appears to be part of a broad effort to suppress peaceful dissent by criminalizing legitimate activities involving information sharing and networking.  Iraq's Council of Representatives should insist that the government significantly revise the proposed Information Crimes Law to conform to the requirements of international law, and the council should reject its passage into law in its present form.  Without substantial revison, the proposed legislation would sharply undercut both freedom of expression and association. Further in, the report notes: Among other things, the law threatens life imprisonment and large fines for those found guilty of "inflaming sectarian tensions or strife;" "defaming the country;" "[u]ndermining the independence, untiy, or safety of the country, or its supreme economic, political, military, or security interests;" or "[p]ublishing or broadcasting false or misleading events for the purpose of weakening confidence in the electronic financial system, electronic commercial or financial documents, or similar things, or damaging the national economy and financial confidence in the state."  The law also imposes imprisonment and a fine on anyone who "encroaches on any religious, moral, family, or social values or principles," or "[c]reates, administers, or helps to create . . . any programs, information, photographs, or films that infringe on probity or public morals or advocate or propagate such things." And let's point out this under Thug Nouri.  Nouri who sued the Guardian newspaper in England because he didn't like their story on him where some officials were talking about his power grabs.  Nouri who has tried to shut down press outlets repeatedly -- most recently wanting to close a list of outlets -- which included the BBC -- because they didn't have the correct 'papers.' Let's remember this is Nouri al-Maliki, Little Saddam. The man who had barely become prime minister in 2006 before he was stating that reporters covering bombings were terrorists and tried to stop all coverage of violence in the country.  It's a detail that so many of the foreign (non-Iraqi) press overlooks today -- probably because they were covering something else (another country, another beat) in 2006.  This is the thug who has repeatedly targeted one news outlet after another.  One example, dropping back to November 2, 2011:   In other news, Iraq continues its crackdown on a free press. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reports: On Monday, the Iraqi Communication and Media Commission accused al-Baghdadiya television of having a link to the church kidnappers and ordered the station to close, state television reported. Iraqi security forces surrounded the bureau of al-Baghdadiya TV in Baghdad. Two of the station's employees were detained, according to a statement posted on the al-Baghdadiya TV website. It said the two employees had received a call from the church kidnappers demanding the release of female prisoners in Egypt in return for the hostages' freedom. The demand was later broadcast on al-Baghdadiya TV. The station, which which is an Iraqi-owned, Egypt-based network, subsequently reported that its employees had been released. Daily News World adds:   Al-Baghdadia, the TV station in Baghdad that said it was contacted by gunmen during Sunday's church hostage drama, has been taken off air. It stopped transmitting shortly after its building was taken over, reportedly by a large number of government troops. The station says its director and another employee have been charged with terrorism-related offences. [. . .] Al-Baghdadia – an independent station based in Egypt – says its public hotline number was phoned by the gunmen who requested it broadcast the news that they wanted to negotiate. As the station was being taken over, it broadcast pictures of security forces surrounding the building, before the screen went blank. Transmission then resumed from al-Baghdadia's Cairo studio. The station says its office in Basra has also been taken over by security forces. It has called a sit-in at the building and appealed to local and foreign media to attend in soldidarity. Nouri's long pattern of attacks on the press and what appears to be at best weak 'evidence' would indicate that the station's biggest 'crime' was broadcasting news of an event that was internationally embarrassing to Nouri.  Reporters Without Borders issued a statement today which includes:   Reporters Without Borders condemns yesterday's decision by the Iraqi authorities to close the Baghdad, Kerbala and Basra bureaux of Cairo-based satellite TV station Al-Baghdadia in connection with its coverage of the previous day's hostage-taking in a Baghdad church, which ended in a bloodbath.  Two of the station's employees, producer Haidar Salam and video editor Mohammed Al-Johair, were arrested under article 1/2/4 of the anti-terrorism law. Al-Johair was released today, after being held overnight, but Salam is still being held in an unknown location, Reporters Without Borders has learned from Al-Baghdadia representatives in Egypt.     That's Nouri and it takes the world's attention to stop him.  Grasp that.  Grasp that if this bill becomes a law, as bad as Iraq is now, it will get a lot worse.  Let's also remember this is Nouri who is waiting for the current Parliament to finish its term so he can use one MP and this is also the same Thug Nouri who tried to have Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq stripped of his post for saying Nouri was becoming a dictator. The Human Rights Watch report notes that it threatens all Iraqis -- all Iraqis and yet the news cycle is obsessed with one defector today -- journalists, activists, everyone due to it being vaguely written and due to the harsh punishments proposed. It would threaten and intimidate free speech, a major issue in a society already struggling against a government that seems allergic to openess.       Ammar al-Hakim, leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, continues his visit in Iran meeting with various dignitaries.  Ahlul Byat News Agency reports he met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Press TV notes he met with Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani.  One wonders what they talked about. His desire to oust Nouri al-Maliki?  His push for a no-confidence vote? In spite of Ammar acting as if he was going steady with Nouri al-Maliki, a new interview reveals that, privately, Ammar was less than supportive of Nouri.  Rudaw interviews the Kurdistan Democratic Party's spokesperson Jaafar Ibrahim.  KDP is President Massoud Barzani's political party.  As they discuss the ongoing political crisis, Ibrahim offers some interesting revelations.  Asked if possibly the no-confidence vote was floated too soon, Ibrahim declares they weren't the ones bringing it up, that Shi'ites were when they came to the KRG, "For example, Ammar Hakim was the first to complain about the dysfunction of the Baghdad government." He repeats this later in the interview noting again, "Mr. Ammar Hakim was here in Kurdistan and was complaining."  And is the effort to withdraw confidence from Nouri over?  "Attempts are ongoing," Ibrahim notes. Meanwhile Alsumaria notes the Sadr bloc is backing a bill to limit the three presidencies -- Prime Minister, President of Iraq and Speaker of Parliament -- to two sessions and, in a press conference today, MP Baha al-Araji discussed it.  He was joined by independent MP Sabah al-Saadi who has already noted that such a change would be done by law in Parliament and does not require a Constitutional amendment. All Iraqi News notes that MP Sabah al-Saadi also told the press that the judiciary has been polticized, that in the past it was a slave to Saddam Hussein and that today it is a slave to someone else.  He means, but does not say, Nouri al-Maliki.  The article notes he's talking about Nouri but none of the quotes have him naming Nouri.  All Iraqi News also notes that National Alliance held a meeting yesterday to discuss the political crisis. The Reform Committee is a lot like the earlier call for a national council -- a lot of meetings get held but nothing is accomplished. Alsumaria reports that a corpse was discovered outside Tikrit.  The man was feed shop owner and the body had multiple gunshot wounds.  In addition, Alsumaria notes a Babylon attack on the home of an Awakening (Sahwa, Sons of Iraq/Daughters of Iraq) and four members of his family were also shot dead, a Kirkuk bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer with two more injured and a Salah al-Din attack left one truck driver injured.  Through Wednesday, Iraq Body Count counts 151 dead from violence in Iraq so far this month.   But don't worry, the same Nation magazine that once railed against the undercounting of Iraqi deaths, the one that grandstanded -- remember? -- will allow their Lyndon LaRouche refugee to undercount the deaths as he did this week.  The United Nations may say over 400 died but that's not good enough for The Nation magazine, you understand.  The rag that used to be outraged by the refusal to pay attention to the Lancet study finding over one million Iraqis had died in the Iraq War now proves what a cheap and whorish rag it is by joining in the undercount because The Nation only really opposed wars today when a Republican occupies the White House.     Turning to England and other liars.  Ed West can't grow a man's beard and he also apparently struggles with honesty which would explain this nonsense at the Telegraph: But one thing Blair is not is a war criminal. Iraq was a dreadful mistake, a mistake that cost thousands of American and British lives, and the lives of between 100,000 and 150,000 Iraqis, and strengthened the most hostile power in the region (not to mention driving out Iraq's Christian population). But it was not illegal, nor was it opportunist on Blair's part; people forget that the prime minister was not jumping on the 9/11 bandwagon, but had been rooting to remove Saddam since 1997.   What a liar.   One thing Tony Blair is is a War Criminal.  Iraq was a criminal enterprise for Blair who lied about weapons that Saddam Hussein DID NOT have and how they could reach England in 45 minutes.  Tony refused to listen to the legal advice offered in the lead up to the illegal war.  To 'prove' it's not illegal, the under-educated links to Crapapedia (Wikipedia).  What a moron.  And that fact becomes especially clear when he insists that Tones was not jumping on the 9-11 bandwagon because he wasn "opportunist" since he had wanted war on Iraq for years.  No, Ed, that is the defenition of "opportunistic."   Merian-Webster:   1) taking advantage of opportunities as they arise   Which would be Blair using the tragedy of 9-11 to get the war he'd always wanted (Iraq was not involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US).   2) exploiting opportunities with little regard to principle or consequences   Which would be Blair -- the alleged Christian whose illegal war drove Christians out of Iraq.  We can provide tons of examples on the second definition but that does it. Tony pretends to be pious and envoke's a deity's name repeatedly in public -- in a manner that the UK hasn't seen to that degree from a prime minister in the last 100 years and yet for all his lofty Christian ideals, the Christians and Iraq suffer because of what Tony Blair did.  Suffer and die.    He's a war criminal.   Ed West further argues that Stop the War Coalition's Lindsey German shouldn't be listened to about Tony Blair because Tony Blair got move votes than German.  Uh, that's not how it works but if Ed wants to play it that way let's note.  1) Ed West is nothing, a nobody outside of England.  2) In the US many of us make a point to give Lindsey our attention with any column, interview or speech and that's true around the world.  Where there are people who've made a point to oppose the Iraq War, you'll find people who know of Lindsey German.  Repeating, no one knows Ed West globally, no one cares.  Lindsey German?  A fine example of citizenship lived fully.  Lindsey German had a Guardian column on Tony Blair. Five years after he left Downing Street, Tony Blair's attempted comeback to political life shows how little he understands about what went wrong with his career, and about the level of opposition to him that still remains. He has planned a series of fundraising events to facilitate his return to grace, including an "in conversation" with Tessa Jowell and a £500-a-head dinner alongside Ed Miliband tomorrow. Jowell had to hastily cancel her appearance for fear of demonstrations. Tonight's Blair event at Arsenal's Emirates stadium in north London will be met by protests organised by the Stop the War coalition over his role in the Iraq war. It appears that his old friend and partner in crime, Alastair Campbell, will be there. While we have to assume that those attending will not choke on their dinners, many Labour members and voters will find all this too much to stomach.   From England and Iraq to the US and Iraq.  Ali Mussa Daqduq is someone that I believe likely killed 5 Americans and 4 British citizens.  There are probably others as well.  But my "likely" doesn't matter.  A court of law makes that decision.  As December 2011 approached and the US government prepared to pull most US troops out of Iraq, Republicans and Democrats in Congress began asking the White House about Ali Mussa Daqduq who was then in US custody.  Many Republicans were vocal that the US should keep him in custody and try him in the US, in a military court, at Guantanamo or somewhere.  As with the leases and everything else about Iraq, the Barack Obama administration bungled it.  They handed him over to the Iraqis.   Once that happened, that was the end of it.  The White House played idiot and insisted they had promises that Ali Mussa Daqduq would be prosecuted and, though he might not be found guilty in the death of the 5 Americans, he could be busted for entering Iraq 'illegally.'  What a comfort to the families of the fallen.  (That was sarcasm.)   So Iraq tried him.  And said he was innocent of all charges.  The US government whined and moaned and the verdict was appealed.  The appeals court rendered a not-guilty verdict.  Moqtada al-Sadr has called for Daqduq to be released.  US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has said Daqduq should continue to be held.   Who's right?   I like Leon but he's wrong.  I agree there is no 'justice' in the Iraqi 'justice' system.  But the US handed him over and knew he would be tried by Iraqi courts.  When that happened and he was twice found not guilty, that was the end of the story.  He needs to be set free.   Dropping back to the June 9, 2009 snapshot to note this:   CNN reminds the five US soldiers killed "were: Capt. Brian S. Freeman, 31, of Temecula, California; 1st Lt. Jacob N. Fritz, 25, of Verdon, Nebraska; Spc. Johnathan B. Chism, 22, of Gonzales, Louisiana; Pfc. Shawn P. Falter, 25, of Cortland, New York; and Pfc. Johnathon M. Millican, 20, of Trafford, Alabama."   I am very sorry that the families did not see justice.  I'm very sorry that Barack Obama traded others involved in the killings (he let go the head of the League of Righteous and others who were involved in this attack -- let them go in the summer of 2009 from US prisons and did so -- as they would reveal themselves -- because he wanted the 5 kidnapped British citizens released by the League).  I'm sorry that American lives mattered so little to Barack Obama.  I'm sorry that he wants to grandstand on the backs of US service members after releasing the ringleaders involved in killing 5 Americans.   But at this point, it's too late.  The legal system is followed or it isn't.  The US is interfering with Iraqi law and the legal system.  Not to try to save someone from being executed but to try to prevent someone from being released.  If Barack didn't want him released, he should have kept in US custody.  Barack chose not to and the man was turned over to Iraq.  He's now stood in trial twice.  He was found not guilty.  By the rule of the law, he's free.  I don't like it, I don't think it's fair, but it's the law.   And think about the message that the US sends when they ask Iraqi to continue to hold a man twice found innocent.    My heart goes out to the families of the fallen but when Barack made the choice to release Daqduq to Iraqi custody, it became a matter for the Iraqis.  Now Barack doesn't like their decision and wants a do-over.  That's not how it works.   Lara Jakes and Qassim abdul-Zahra (AP) report that Antony Blinken -- Vice President Joe Biden's national security adviser -- states that the US wants Daqduq to be hld and that they not only want to see him extradited to the US, they've already made that request. They also note, "Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar, spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said the appeals court ruling is final and there are no charges pending against Daqduq. Ali al-Moussawi, media adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said he was unaware of any U.S. request to extradite Daqduq."   Barack is the presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee (presumptive, that's what his attorneys just argued in the Florida case, remember?).  The presumed Republican nominee is Mitt Romney.  Yesterday, he spoke to the NAACP.  Marcia's "Romney and the NAACP," Stan's "Talk about embarrassing," Betty's "Mitt's speech" and Ann's "4 men, 2 women" weigh in on that speech and the event.  Jill Stein is the presumptive Green Party presidential nominee.  Yesterday, in DC, she announced that Cheri Honkala would be her running mate.  Ruth's "Roseanne Barr's sour grapes," Trina's "Time for some brave move," Elaine's "Big Day for the Green Party" and my (filling in for Kat) "Stein's choice is Honkala" cover that.  Leigh Ann Caldwell (CBS News) interviewed Stein yesterday.  Excerpt:     As a physician, what is your response to the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the president's health care bill?   Stein: It's very problematic. I think the Supreme Court's decision destroys the most useful part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) - that is the Medicaid extension. We have a track record here. We don't have to just guess what he impact of the ACA will be. We already have it in Massachusetts, where I live. We've already had it for five years. It has not been a solution. The cost of health care continues to skyrocket. On the other hand we have a real track record of what does work. It's called national health insurance, Medicare for all. We actually achieve health and we do it in a way that provides health care to everyone at less than half the cost per person. We know that under Medicare for all, we would be saving trillions of dollars over the next decade because it eliminates the wasteful health insurance bureaucracy and it stabilizes medical inflation. This is the way to go.   You have a "Green New Deal" to employ "every American willing and able to work." Is this your economic plan? And how do you plan to do it?   Stein: By using our tax dollars instead of to provide a stimulus package that's predominately tax breaks for corporations, instead we use a comparable amount of money and put it into the direct creation of jobs. And again, this is not a hypothetical idea. It's based on a plan that helped markedly to get us out of the Great Depression of the 1930s. This would not be a cookie cutter, top-down Washington-controlled program. Rather it would be nationally funded but locally controlled where by communities decide what kinds of jobs they need to become sustainable. It would create jobs in what we think of as the Green economy, but it would also create jobs meeting our social needs - hiring back teaches, nurses, after-school care [providers], violence prevention.       Stein is the presumptive nominee.  The candidate will be announced at the Green Party's national convention which kicks off tomorrow in Baltimore.       iraq katie couric the los angeles times human rights watch

kitabat

Ammar al-Hakim wasn't that loyal to Nouri

Ammar al-Hakim, leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, continues his visit in Iran meeting with various dignitaries.  Ahlul Byat News Agency reports he met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Press TV notes he met with Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani.  One wonders what they talked about.

His desire to oust Nouri al-Maliki?  His push for a no-confidence vote?

In spite of Ammar acting as if he was going steady with Nouri al-Maliki, a new interview reveals that, privately, Ammar was less than supportive of Nouri.  Rudaw interviews the Kurdistan Democratic Party's spokesperson Jaafar Ibrahim.  KDP is President Massoud Barzani's political party.  As they discuss the ongoing political crisis, Ibrahim offers some interesting revelations.  Asked if possibly the no-confidence vote was floated too soon, Ibrahim declares they weren't the ones bringing it up, that Shi'ites were when they came to the KRG, "For example, Ammar Hakim was the first to complain about the dysfunction of the Baghdad government." He repeats this later in the interview noting again, "Mr. Ammar Hakim was here in Kurdistan and was complaining."  And is the effort to withdraw confidence from Nouri over?  "Attempts are ongoing," Ibrahim notes.

Meanwhile Alsumaria notes the Sadr bloc is backing a bill to limit the three presidencies -- Prime Minister, President of Iraq and Speaker of Parliament -- to two sessions and, in a press conference today, MP Baha al-Araji discussed it.  He was joined by independent MP Sabah al-Saadi who has already noted that such a change would be done by law in Parliament and does not require a Constitutional amendment. 

Sidebar: State of Law has been insisting that such a change would require a Constitutional amendment.  No, it wouldn't.  I'm sure some little American Nouri supporter posing as an 'expert' will want to quibble on that point.  I was on the phone with a friend at the UN yesterday and he filled me in on the 'experts' recent claims about the Iraqi Constitution including that the English version was not -- according to the expert -- to be trusted.  The United Nations has the Iraqi Constitution posted online -- in Arabic and in English -- and he found the 'expert' 'analysis' to be laughable.  So I'm sure that idiot will again insist that Nouri is right.  But no one but a few dumb asses in the press take that idiot seriously.

I'm bringing that up because my friend told me what the idiot had written about the Constitution and we laughed on the phone together about it and the idiot's lack of legal comprehension.  And that's driven home today in the comments Sabah al-Saadi is making regarding the Constitution and the withdrawal of confidence, dissolving the government and a caretaker government.  Again, 'experts' who love Nouri should probably just type up their sexual fantasies of being in bed with Nouri, his tying them to the bed and/or whatever kink they're into and leave leave legal issues to the adults who actually know what they're talking about.

All Iraqi News notes that MP Sabah al-Saadi also told the press that the judiciary has been polticized, that in the past it was a slave to Saddam Hussein and that today it is a slave to someone else.  He means, but does not say, Nouri al-Maliki.  The article notes he's talking about Nouri but none of the quotes have him naming Nouri.  All Iraqi News also notes that National Alliance held a meeting yesterday to discuss the political crisis.

The Reform Committee is a lot like the earlier call for a national council -- a lot of meetings get held but nothing is accomplished.


Alsumaria reports that a corpse was discovered outside Tikrit.  The man was feed shop owner and the body had multiple gunshot wounds. 

AFP reports on Human Rights Watch's report as does the International Business Times.

Tomorrow the Green Party kicks off their national convention in Baltimore.  Yesterday in DC, Jill Stein, who is expected to be the Green Party presidential candidate, announced who she had selected as her running mate:


Green Party Presidential Candidate Dr. Jill Stein today announced her choice for running mate, the nation’s leading anti-poverty advocate, Cheri Honkala. Honkala is National Coordinator for the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, one of the country’s largest multi-racial, inter-generational movements led by the poor and homeless. Compelled by her own experience as a homeless, single mom, Honkala has spent nearly three decades working directly alongside the poor to build the movement to end poverty, and has organized tens of thousands of people to take action via marches, demonstrations and tent cities.

“Ever since deciding to run for President, I’ve been thinking about who would have the strength and courage to take up this fight with me,” said Stein. “Cheri Honkala has shown tremendous perseverance and leadership, despite remarkable odds. Her selflessness and demonstrated capacity to inspire make her the perfect Vice Presidential candidate to help me reclaim democracy.”
In 2011, Honkala became the first woman to run for sheriff in Philadelphia and the first and only sheriff candidate in the country to run on a “no evictions” platform, pledging to help families in foreclosure stay in their homes. She was a proud Green Party Candidate and received local and national endorsements, including from the National Organization for Women. Today, Honkala is internationally respected for her anti-poverty work and has received numerous awards.
“It’s immoral that children are hungry and homeless in the richest country in the world,” said Honkala. “It’s time for the 99% to stand united to serve our collective human needs instead of selfish, corporate greed. The Green Party is the only one standing up to Wall Street, and Jill Stein’s Green New Deal is the best plan for saving this sinking ship. I’m honored to fight beside her.”
Green Party supporters submitted over 200 recommendations for running mates to the Stein campaign, and several dozen of these people were considered, including the other Green Party presidential candidates, television comedienne Roseanne Barr and public servant Kent Mesplay. Ultimately, Cheri Honkala was selected as the best match for the Stein campaign’s political platform and strategic needs.
Stein, a Harvard-trained physician who once ran against Mitt Romney for Governor of Massachusetts, is proposing a Green New Deal for America - a four part policy strategy for moving America quickly out of crisis into a secure, sustainable future. Inspired by the New Deal programs that helped the U.S. out of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Green New Deal proposes to provide similar relief and create an economy that makes communities sustainable, healthy and just.
In part, the proposal outlines initiatives that will create 25 million jobs, end unemployment, and transition the country to a green economy. The proposal also guarantees a halt to foreclosures and evictions, tuition-free public education from pre-school through college, and Medicare for all, and an end to corporate domination of democracy. 


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A proposed law threatens all Iraqis

Iraq is in the news cycle today.  And that should be a good thing because, goodness knows, there is a great deal needing attention.  That's not limited to Ahmed Chalabi's charge that billions have been stolen from the government, the continued violence, the continued political crisis, the 8 athletes they plan to send to the Olympics in London which kicks off in 15 days and so much more.

Sadly, Iraq's in the news cycle over something really unimportant to what is going on in Iraq.  The defection of Syria's Ambassador to Iraq is two sentence story tops.

It has nothing to do with Iraq.  But it's grabbing all the air in the room and that's because reporters want war.  They pretend to be 'troubled' but they want war.  Reporters, with few exceptions, are nothing but puppets to the narrative and once the war drums start beating, there are two outcomes for the narrative: War arrives or War skips out.  When the Syria War has been pimped as long as it has, the only 'satisfying' end to the narrative is combat.

So each and every thing that might get the reporters a little closer to climax will be endlessly pimped, fondled, stroked as you can see as every outlet attempts to file on the defection while ignoring real issues to Iraq.  Such as?

Human Rights Watch released a new report today entitled [PDF format warning] "Iraq's Information Crime Law: Badly Written Provisions and Draconian Punishments Violate Due Process and Free Speech."  From the opening summary of the report:


Iraq's government is in the process of enacting what it refers to as an Information Crimes Law to regulate the use of information networks, computers, and other electronic devices and systems.  The proposed law had its first reading before Iraq's Council of Representatives on July 27, 2011; a second reading is expected as early as July 2012.  As currently drafted, the proposed legislation violates international standards protecting due process, freedom of speech and freedom of association.

This is not a minor point and HRW connects the law with the broader attack on liberties taking place in Iraq:


Since February 2011, Human Rights Watch has documented often violent attacks by Iraqi security forces and gangs, apparently acting with the support of the Iraqi government, against peaceful demonstrators demanding human rights, better services, and an end to corruption.  During nationwide demonstrations on February 25, 2011, for example, security forces killed at least 12 protesters across the country and injured more than 100.  Iraqi security forces beat unarmed journalists and protesters that day, smashing cameras and confiscating memory cards.  On June 10 in Baghdad, government-backed gangs armed with wooden planks, knives, iron pipes, and other weapons beat and stabbed peaceful protesters and sexually molested female demonstrators as security forces stood by and watched, sometimes laughing at the victims.
Given this backdrop, the draft Information Crimes Law appears to be part of a broad effort to suppress peaceful dissent by criminalizing legitimate activities involving information sharing and networking.  Iraq's Council of Representatives should insist that the government significantly revise the proposed Information Crimes Law to conform to the requirements of international law, and the council should reject its passage into law in its present form.  Without substantial revison, the proposed legislation would sharply undercut both freedom of expression and association.

Further in, the report notes:


Among other things, the law threatens life imprisonment and large fines for those found guilty of "inflaming sectarian tensions or strife;" "defaming the country;" "[u]ndermining the independence, untiy, or safety of the country, or its supreme economic, political, military, or security interests;" or "[p]ublishing or broadcasting false or misleading events for the purpose of weakening confidence in the electronic financial system, electronic commercial or financial documents, or similar things, or damaging the national economy and financial confidence in the state."  The law also imposes imprisonment and a fine on anyone who "encroaches on any religious, moral, family, or social values or principles," or "[c]reates, administers, or helps to create . . . any programs, information, photographs, or films that infringe on probity or public morals or advocate or propagate such things."

And let's point out this under Thug Nouri.  Nouri who sued the Guardian newspaper in England because he didn't like their story on him where some officials were talking about his power grabs.  Nouri who has tried to shut down press outlets repeatedly -- most recently wanting to close a list of outlets -- which included the BBC -- because they didn't have the correct 'papers.'

Let's remember this is Nouri al-Maliki, Little Saddam.

The man who had barely become prime minister in 2006 before he was stating that reporters covering bombings were terrorists and tried to stop all coverage of violence in the country.  It's a detail that so many of the foreign (non-Iraqi) press overlooks today -- probably because they were covering something else (another country, another beat) in 2006.

Let's also remember this is Nouri who is waiting for the current Parliament to finish its term so he can use one MP and this is also the same Thug Nouri who tried to have Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq stripped of his post for saying Nouri was becoming a dictator.

The Human Rights Watch report notes that it threatens all Iraqis -- all Iraqis and yet the news cycle is obsessed with one defector today -- journalists, activists, everyone due to it being vaguely written and due to the harsh punishments proposed. It would threaten and intimidate free speech, a major issue in a society already struggling against a government that seems allergic to openess.


The following community sites -- plus the Guardian (look at their 'Iraq' story, no not HRW's report), Cindy Sheehan, Susan's On The Edge, Courage to Resist, Antiwar.com, Pacifica Evening News, The Diane Rehm Show, Iraq Veterans Against the War, CSPAN and On The Wilder Side -- updated last night and today:

• 
  
• The Daily Jot

  THIS JUST IN! HE'S LESS PRETTY NOW!
  

  2 hours ago
• Cedric's Big Mix

  4 Years can make a difference
  

  2 hours ago
• World news: Iraq | guardian.co.uk

  Syria's ambassador to Iraq defects - video
  

  4 hours ago
• Iraq Veterans Against the War

  Help Save Lily Washington's Home
  

  8 hours ago
• The Diane Rehm Show from WAMU and NPR

  Andrew Delbanco: "College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be"
  

  9 hours ago
• Mikey Likes It!

  Taxes and Jesse Jackson Jr.
  

  9 hours ago
• Like Maria Said Paz

  Big Day for the Green Party
  

  10 hours ago
• Trina's Kitchen

  Time for some brave move
  

  10 hours ago
• On the Edge

  What the Real Battle Is in This Election
  

  10 hours ago
• Ann's Mega Dub

  4 men, 2 women
  

  10 hours ago
• SICKOFITRADLZ

  Romney and the NAACP
  

  10 hours ago
• Ruth's Report

  Roseanne Barr's sour grapes
  

  10 hours ago
• Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude

  oh, speak up, joe biden
  

  10 hours ago
• C-SPAN Recent Events

  Washington Journal for Thursday, July 12
  

  10 hours ago
• Thomas Friedman is a Great Man

  Mitt's speech
  

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• Oh Boy It Never Ends

  Talk about embarrassing
  

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• OntheWilderSide

  Wed. July 11th: Zuccotti/Liberty Plaza is reoccupied
  

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• News From Antiwar.com

  Al-Qaeda Bombs Yemen Police Academy, Killing 22
  

  11 hours ago
• The Pacifica Evening News

  Animal Defenders Protest Circus Elephant Treatment
  

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• Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)

  Stein's choice is Honkala
  

  11 hours ago
• Courage to Resist - Home

  Justice demands Bradley Manning be released
  

  13 hours ago
• Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

  Nuclear Weapons: The Most Inconvenient Truth
  

  15 hours ago

And The Diane Rehm Show's first hour today is on global violence against women -- she has two women as guests (Women Thrive Worldwide's Ritu Shamra and Wilson Center's Global Women's Leadership Initiative's Rangita de Slive de Alwis) and the US government's Donald Steinberg (USAID).  Let's hope they truly go global and not just yammer away about Afghanistan.  There are global issues and deep roots that need to be addressed.

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

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Iraq snapshot

Iraq is missing billions due to corruption?

Sky News (link is video and text) reports that a Baghdad bus bombing has claimed 3 lives and left over 14 injured late yesterday. Alsumaria notes that 3 shops belonging to Sahwa members were bombed around Tikrit today. In other violence, All Iraqi News notes that the presidency of Iraq has ratified executions for 25 people.


As if the ongoing political crisis in Iraq couldn't be more convoluted, Dar Addustour reports Ahmed Chalabi is charging billions are missing from the national budget. Al Rafidayn notes he has what he claims is a detailed, three page report documenting the disappearance. The document is said to be damning for Nouri al-Maliki -- whether that's because Nouri should have known what allegedly was taking place because he was prime minister or whether Nouri is allegedly personally implicated isn't clear at this point. It is said to demonstrate how Nouir's Council of Ministers weakend bills that would have provided needed oversight into the way ministries handled money.  Still on the issue of corruption, Alsumaria reports that Parliament's Integrity Committee has issued a three-year prsion sentence for Ahmed al-Barak who had been over property disputes. Dar Addustour adds that the Chair of the Committee, Bahaa al-Araji, also announced an arrest warrant had been issued for a former police chief of Karbala (Major General Raed Shakir).  In addition, All Iraqi News reports that Parliament's Services Committee has issued a recommendation that three Ministers be removed from their posts for failure to spend 75% of their allocated budgets.  As for personal finances?  Al Mada reports the Integrity Commission is bothered by the continued lack of self-disclosure on the part of many officials.  Only 82% of Cabinet Ministers are in compliance with the disclosure laws.  And if you're wondering what US taxdollars do in Iraq, they launch rumors -- as the article notes -- of personal wealth among the politicians.  Al Mada reports that people are talking about a report the US Embassy in Bagdhad supposedly has on the personal wealth of various Iraqi politicians.


Nouri al-Maliki was named prime minister-designate in November 2010.  Per the Constitution, he had 30 days to name a Cabinet.  This is confusing to some in the press.  The 30-day deadline? That's the full Cabinet. There's no point in a deadline if it's not the full Cabinet.  Nouri failed to do that but -- due to the Erbil Agreement and an ineffective Iraqi president -- Nouri was moved from prime minister-designate to prime minister as December 2010 was coming to a close.  Nouri has never nominated people to head the security ministries.  All this time later, they still remain vacant.  All Iraqi News reports that tribal leaders from Anbar, Maysan, Najaf and Nineveh provinces met in Baghdad today and they called on the government to fill those vacancies.  Specifically, they want Saadoun al-Dulaymi to be the Minister of Defense.  Nouri has tagged him "acting defense minister."  There is no such post and the tribal leaders are aware of that.  Unless Nouri nominates someone whom the Parliament votes to confirm, there is no Minister.  Once and if they are confirmed, the person is a Minister and they can be independent because Nouri can't fire them by himself.  Parliament has to vote the Minister out of office.  The creation of 'acting' ministers allows Nouri to control those posts because people in them have to do as he instructs or he removes them.  They have not been confirmed by Parliament so they have no protection and they are not ministers.

Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi met with the United Kingdom's new Ambassador to Iraq, Paul Simon Collins, and the two discussed a number of issues.  All Iraqi News reports that along with discussing ways to strengthen ties between their two countries, the two discussed the need for some stability in Iraq.

Kitabat reports that the National Alliance is rushing to prepare a paper -- 'by' the Reform Committee -- which will, they hope, circumvent a call to withdraw confidence in Nouri.  Supposedly the National Alliance is attempting to work in many points from the Erbil Agreement. Al Mada notes that the Commitee is planning to send a delegation to the KRG in the hopes of garnering support for their paper.  The Reform Committee has had little serious analysis in the press.  One noteable exception would be  Mustafa Habib (Niqash) who addresses some of the issues:


Al Rafidayn reports that National Dialogue Front head and Iraqiya member, Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq states that Iraqiya and the Kurdistan Alliance are moving forward with their plans to question Nouri before Parliament.  al-Mutlaq is quoted stating his amazement over the sensation in some quarters over this since Iraq is a constitutional democracy and questioning is detailed in the Constitution. He also again denied rumors that he has replaced Ayad Allawi as head of Iraqiya.  All Iraqi News noted yesterday that a deputy for Iraqiya also confirmed that they are putting together questions and moving towards questioning Nouri before the Parliament.

In 16 days, the Olympics kick off in London and Iraq will be sending 8 athletes to compete.  However, that's not only the only sports news out of Iraq this week.  Alsumaria reports that Iraq's Football Association has just announced that they will be creating the first women's football league in Iraq. 



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

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One gets booed, the other gets applause

In the United Kingdom, a War Hawk continues to be free range but his actions may yet pen him in.




From May 13, 2007, that's Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Exit the Poodle."  Sadly, the Poodle did not stay exited and now he wants to be considered someone worth listening to.  And, possibly, if you were planning a genocide or how to bankrupt a nation, Tony Blair might be able to share some valuable tips.  But if you're looking for wisdom, you better look elsewhere. 
Stop the War Coalition's Lindsey German has a Guardian column on Tony Blair.


Five years after he left Downing Street, Tony Blair's attempted comeback to political life shows how little he understands about what went wrong with his career, and about the level of opposition to him that still remains.
He has planned a series of fundraising events to facilitate his return to grace, including an "in conversation" with Tessa Jowell and a £500-a-head dinner alongside Ed Miliband tomorrow. Jowell had to hastily cancel her appearance for fear of demonstrations. Tonight's Blair event at Arsenal's Emirates stadium in north London will be met by protests organised by the Stop the War coalition over his role in the Iraq war.
It appears that his old friend and partner in crime, Alastair Campbell, will be there. While we have to assume that those attending will not choke on their dinners, many Labour members and voters will find all this too much to stomach.

War Hawk Blair has been attempting to remake his image for several months now and with little success.  Blair's having to learn that while urine can be bleached out, apparently the blood of over a million dead Iraqis can't.   Lewis McCrary (National Interest) notes:


Despite abundant press coverage, Blair's return to the British public stage has been rocky, with what was to be his first big appearance this week—at a Labour party rally—cancelled after antiwar groups threatened to disrupt the event. These protesters may have sensed that Blair was up to his old tricks, advocating crusades for democracy in the Middle East. And who could blame them after he wrote recently in London's Evening Standard that the West must teach the Middle East that "democracy is not just a way of voting but a way of thinking" and some Muslim Brotherhood positions "are going to be incompatible with progress, possibly with peace." Iraq did not prove that sometimes the free world should "leave a brutal dictatorship in power"; rather, Blair says he has learned of a new inconvenience, "tribal forces of disruption that make the pathway to the future very hard to navigate."


Press TV adds:


Anti-war activists have now planned another rally against Blair outside Arsenal Stadium in London where the dinner is planned to be held.
“Tony Blair is on the comeback trail to rehabilitate his political career. Help give him the welcome he deserves when he speaks at Arsenal Stadium on Wednesday 11 July: War Criminals are not welcome here... or anywhere except at the International Criminal Court facing war crime charges,” the Stop the War Coalition, which has organized the protest, said. 

Tony Blair's been confronted anytime he's gone in public, to offer testimony, to deliver a speech he's been obscenely paid for, etc. By contrast Iraqi-American Sami Rasouli doesn't have to flee. He's not a Frankenstein and villagers aren't trying to chase him down.  As the director of Muslim Peacemaker Teams, he has worked in Iraq with Iraqi refugees.    Carlos Gallego (Asian American Press) reports on an event he recently participated in:


Sami Rasouli began by introducing the audience to his wife and four year old son and then quickly moved to a lesson in history. He noted while some in the audience are aware of what is really going on in Iraq and the Middle East most have no clue as the mainstream media fails to cover the truth.
“The truth needs a tongue to speak,” said Rasouli.
He proceeded to connect the dots by noting that as early as 1956, M. King Hubbert of Shell Oil predicted peak oil use in the US would occur in 1975 and after 1975 and there would be a need to get oil and natural gas from elsewhere. He correlated how in 1998 former Vice President Cheney served as CEO at Halliburton and their views seemed to influence U.S. policies in the Middle East, he continued on how then 911 came about and 2 years later the United States invaded of Iraq.
Rasouli mentioned while the media has lead us to believe that Israel has been silent, that in fact they support and encourage much of the turmoil occurring in the Middle East. He spoke of the U.S. polices along with Israel’s desire to have its borders stretch from one river to the next (from the Nile to the Euphrates) create havoc throughout the Middle East.


In addition to Rasouli being able to walk freely in the daylight -- while Tony Blair has to sulk in the shadows --  the Iraqi & American Reconciliation Project is planning a dinner to honor Sami Rasouli who has done much work for and in Iraq.  The dinner in his honor is planned for July 17th at the Crescent Moon banquest hall in Minneapolis.


The following community sites -- plus Adama Kokesh, Pacifica Evening News, Antiwar.com and CSPAN -- updated last night and this morning:

Law professor Francis A. Boyle is an expert in international law and human rights law. We'll close with this:





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Iraq snapshot

The deal further fueled the existing tension between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad over the legality of Kurds' inviting foreign companies to search for oil in their region. The 2005 Iraqi constitution recognizes Kurdistan as a federal region run by its regional parliament and government.

KRG takes into consideration two Articles of the Iraqi constitution that allow the 

Kurds to conclude exploration deals with foreign companies for natural resources in their own region, but Baghdad still does not recognize the contracts signed between KRG and foreign oil companies, so far numbering over fifty, and considers the deals illegal.

ExxonMobil's move despite the risk of being blacklisted by Baghdad can be seen as an indication of growing Western and other international oil companies' interest in the Kurdistan Region, which estimates its oil reserves at 45 billion barrels, equal to more than 40 percent of that of the rest of Iraq. KRG offers production share agreements to the oil companies while Baghdad limits its offer to service contracts.

Furthermore, the discovery of significant reserves of natural gas - estimated over 100 trillion cubic feet, surpassing Libya's gas reserve - attracted those European companies, which form the Nabucco gas pipeline project that is due to link Caucasus' gas fields to Europe through Turkey. Nabucco is meant to reduce Europe's dependency on Russian gas.