Monday, August 4, 2008.  Chaos and violence continue, provincial elections do not appear likely in October, the US military announces multiple deaths, a Sunday Baghdad press conference reveals several Iraqi medical crisis, Nader gets on the ballot in California and more.   Starting with war resistance.  26-year-old Darrell Anderson, of Lexinton, Kenutcky, is an Iraq War veteran -- and a decorated one with a Purple Heart. Serving in the Iraq War drove hom that it was an illegal war, he decided to self-checkout. He went to Canada. He married in Canada. He went through the process of attempting to receive refugee status as so many have.  Then he decided to return to the US and turn himself in at Fort Knox. He stated that his work opposing the illegal war was a way to "make up for things I did in Iraq; I feel I made up for the sins I committed in this war." Due to the fact that the process largely followed what had been outlined ahead of time, other war resisters in Canada were considering it until Kyle Snyder attempted to return shortly after and found out he was yet again lied to. After being discharged, Anderson has continued to speak out and is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. (He was present to show support for Lt. Ehren Watada in the court-martial that wasn't. Watada, all this time later, has still not been released from the service even though his service contract expired in December 2006, two months prior to his court-martial.) Anita Anderson, his mother, has also remained active and, most recently, was giving support to Helen Burmeister, mother of US war resister James Burmeister who exposed the kill-teams in Iraq. As noted in the Julsy 17th snapshot, Darrell Anderson continues speaking up and supporting other war resisers: Chris Kenning (Courier-Journal) reported on Helen Burmeister's efforts and spoke with US war resister Darrell Anderson who also went to Canada. Anderson returned September 30, 2006 to turn himself in October 3rd. Like Burmeister, he suffers from PTSD and he also lost his benefits. He told Kenning, "It wasn't the easy choice, it was the hard choice. I lost my GI Bill, my veteran's benefits . . . but I did what's right, and I've still got my pride."   Anderson has gone through it all and continues to give and share with other war resisters.  The illegal war hasn't ended and Darrell hasn't stopped fighting it.  His story would not have ended in 2006 even if he had decided to pretend the illegal war wasn't taking place.  He was already a part of history -- a high point of history -- and he's taken his experiences and his knowledge to share with others in the need.  On Saturday Freeople noted a speech he gave last year:   I joined in '03," 'cause I was broke, I needed money, but I was a young American kid, I wanted to fight in a war. I joined up. [A] month out of training I arrived in Baghdad, Iraq, January '04. Saddam's been captured. And I get there and the guys I'm serving with have been there for six months already; they were there in '03. And I go, "Well, you know what, I think it's come out that, you know, these people had nothing to do with 9/11, there was no Iraqi on those planes. We can see around here there's no Al Qaida, there's no terrorist syndicates in Baghdad, or Iraq. Saddam had stamped 'em out." And I asked my buddies, "Well, you know, we're here to find 'weapons of mass destruction'." And they laughed at me. And I said, "Well, you know, we're here to 'help the people.'" And they laughed at me. And I said, "What's our mission? What's our goal?"...They're like, "All we're trying to do is make it home alive..." [. . .]  In April, they told us, "In a crowded area, if one person shoots at you, kill everybody." [. . .] They [members of the crowd of people] are letting them [the person or persons firing at the U.S. military] attack you. They're no longer innocent if they're there at the time of the crime . . .     War resisters are doing their part to end the illegal war and war resisters in Canada need your help. To pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here. Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do."   There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).     Sunday in Baghdad a press conference took place on the state of health care in Iraq. Iraqis participating were Dr. Essan Namiq (Deputy Minister of Health for Grants and Loans) and Dr. Kahmees al-Sa'ad (Administrative Deputy Minister of Health). For some reason, a medical press conference required the participation of two American generals. We learned that, unlike the United States, Iraq has some form of universal health care (Dr. Essame: "Frankly, Ministry of Health has a heavy weight on the budget of the state for offering free treatment inside Iraq, for sending the patients outside Iraq. Very heavy budget that's affecting the budget of the state. There is no neighboring countries, or all over the world any country . . . there is not country like us that offers free treatment." ). Diyala Province has a shortage of medications (Dr. Essam: ". . . yeah, maybe we are facing a shortage") and there is a serious issue with the limited medications in Baghdad being smuggled out of the medical environments onto the black market (Dr. Essam stated that "we expect to see such problems" and "hope" that a plan to address the problem will emerge at some point by "the end of 2008 to 2009"). In addition there have been problems with "spoiled blood" -- which Maj Gen Mohammed al-Askari (press spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense) intentionally avoided in his response. This was pinned on the people coming into Iraq. Though Iraq's borders are porous, Dr. Essam put forward the laughable claim that anyone crossing the border into Iraq is "going to be tested. This is especially in HIV. The . . . once the passport has been stamped, the person is being tested." Not only did al-Askari avoid that specific issue, he grabbed that question that was tossed to Dr. Essam. July ended and the press gave rah-rah coverage in their end of the month reports when the reality is that the medical conditions in Iraq are a nightmare. For example, Dr. Essam admitted that they did not have the necessary prosthetics for patients who have limbs amputated. Shortages of medication, shortages of prosthetics, shortage of beds and, yes, shortage of medical staff. Dr. Essam floated the laughable claim that "many" Iraqi doctors were about to return to the country -- any day now! -- and when pressed on it, put foward the dubious claim that "more than 80% of the Iraqi doctors, and even in the deterioration of the security situation, they were here in Iraq and working. It is a fact." No, it is not. They were among the first to flee, long before there was a refugee crisis. It was part of the 'brain drain' that first hit Iraq. The number fleeing only increased when they became kidnapping targets and were also targeted with violence. Any doctors that do return will neither be housed in the Green Zone, according to Dr. Essam, nor provided with government protection because, he explained, 2008 is not like 2007. It was revealed that nurses were selling medications and Dr. Essam wanted to remind everyone that "it is not within their job description." Asked about the huge increase in cancer rates in Basra and Najaf since the start of the illegal war, Dr. Essam claimed that was true "all over the world, the number of people afflicted with cancer is increasing." The issue of improving the hosptials (beyond exterior work) was raised (and it was noted that Shahad Adnan Hospital has over 13 floors and only two elevators as well as a bed shortage). Dr. Essam responded that, "It is good for their psychological health . . . it is good to take care of the appearance, to see the building a new, clean." Though that's of no comfort to someone climbing over 13 floors of stairs or doing without a hospital bed, Dr. Essan wanted the reporters to know, "We ourselves face problems with elevators."  CBS and AP offer an embarrassing (mis)report but they may be the only outlet that covered the press conference.  To read their (mis)report is to grasp that the talking point about "doctors returning!" can be teased into several paragraphs with nothing to back it up and that all the very real and serious problems (brought up by reporters at the press conference) can easily be ignored.   From health to homeless, a number of Iraqis are squatters.  This situation was encouraged/endorsed by the US government with the White House wanting to privatize everything and willing to endorse state buildings being taken over by squatters.  In addition, the Iraqi refugee situation (internal and external) has led to squatting. Today Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) reports on this issue and zooms in Ghania Jassim whose family became squatters after the start of the illegal war and rents soared so they ended up "in the former Iraqi air force headquarters.  The family set up a makeshift home in the former Iraqi air force headquarters. There were no government services, sewage ran through the streets and the children's toys were scraps of metal, rubble and garbage. Times seemed grim, but now Jassim looks back on those days as carefree.  About four years ago, bandits stopped her husband and demanded his car, his most valuable possession. He refused, and he paid with his life."  She is now the sole support for her family and makes her living off the black market -- makes her living as in: barely survives.  New troubles have emerged because she and her family were "ordered" to leave.  The family now goes house to house between family and friends and Ghania "and her five children sleep in a different place almost every night."  Ghania and the many others see no improvement in their lives . . . and Nouri al-Maliki sits on millions.  Day after day.     Staying with the political front, Iraq's Parliament ended their session Wednesday. They are now on summer break. Sunday they scheduled a special session that was to address provincial elections which were supposed to take place in October. The always postponed provincial elections ended up postponed yet again when a vote was pushed through (the Kurdish bloc walked out) that brought issues regarding oil-rich Kirkuk into the mix. The bill passed; however, it was shot down by the presidential council (made up of Iraq's president and two vice-presidents).  Leila Fadel and Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) report that the special session resulted in no actions: Despite intense U.S. pressure, Iraqi legislators Sunday failed to reach an agreement to solve an increasingly bitter dispute over the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk. . . .  The parliament's inability to resolve the dispute over the city mirrors Iraqi political leaders' inability to make progress on other fronts, including constitutional amendments and the passage of a law governing the distribution of the country's oil revenues, despite the recent improvements in security."  Sudarsan Raghavan and Qais Mizher (Washington Post) note the special session was "to vote for the second time on the elections bill, which must be approved before elections can be held in the country's 18 provinces.  But the session never convened, because Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen lawmakers were unable to reach an agreement on Kirkuk, where their respective ethnic groups are locked in a struggle for land and resources."  They also note that Bully Boy of the US got on the phone yesterday to Mahmoud al-Mashhadani (Speaker of Parliament) and Adel Abdul Mahdi (one of Iraq's two vice-presidents).  Ned Parker and Caesar Ahmed (Los Angeles Times) point out, "U.S. officials believe the elections, initially scheduled for October, are necessary for Iraq's long-term stability.  Sunni Arabs, formerly the country's elite, boycotted the last such elections, in January 2005, leading to the creation of provincial councils dominated by Shiite Muslims and Kurds.  The absence of Sunni Muslims from local government helped strengthen the Sunni-led insurgency across central and northern Iraq.  . . . The stalemate emphasized the fissurges and entrenched positions among Arabs, Turkmens and Kurds in northern Iraq, which often threatens to spill over into violence." Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .   Bombings?   Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) notes a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed 2 lives and left fifteen wounded, another Baghdad roadside bombing left two police officers wounded, a Mosual car bombing that left four police officers wounded and a Mosul bombing that was "targeting the convoy of Khisro Koran, the deputy of Mosul governor" which claimed the life of 1 bodyguard and left six more injured. Reuters notes one Baghdad car bombing claimed 10 lives ("including three policemen") and left thirty-eight injured while another claimed 4 lives and left six more wounded while a Baghdad minibus bombing claimed 1 life and left seven injured, a Hilla bombing that claimed 1 life and left two people (family members of the deceased) injured.   Shooting?   Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) notes an armed clash in Nineveh Province that left 2 people dead. Reuters notes 1 person shot dead in Hawija, 1 attorney was shot dead outside of Hillar and, dropping back to Sunday, 1 police officer was shot dead in Iskandariya, while 1 civilian was shot dead in Iskandariya in a separate incident which also left his wife injured..   Corpses?   Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) notes 2 corpses were discovered in Baghdad and 1 corpse discovered in Mosul ("female employee in the governorate office").   Sunday the US military announced: "A Coalition force Soldier was killed and one was injured a result of a vehicle accident southwest of Baghdad Aug. 2. The injured Soldier was transported to a nearby combat support hospital in Baghdad." And they made this announcement: "A Coalition force Soldier died in the vicinity of Forward Operating Base Grizzly as a result of a non-battle death incident August 2. Two Soldiers were also injured as a result of the non-battle death incident."  Today the US military announced: "Two U.S. Soldiers were killed and another wounded after an improvised explosive device struck their patrol in eastern Baghdad at approximately 9:30 a.m. Aug. 4."   Turning to the US presidential race.  Barack Obama, presumed Democratic presidential nominee, has caved again.  Now he likes off-shore drilling and sings the joys of compromise.  His latest cave made it a busy day for Amy Goodman who returned to her duties as Chief Cover-Up Artist For Barack. Remember she only plays like she's a journalist.  Ralph Nader is the independent presidential candidate and he is now on the California ballot.  Sharat G. Lin (Bay Area Indymedia) reports he won the Peace and Freedom Party's nomination on Saturday by "a majority of the delegate votes on the first ballot in a four-way contest . . .  Nader and Gonzalez promised at the convention to use their national campaign to boost the Peace and Freedom Party in qualifying for ballots in many other states.  Nader is already said to be polling the support of 6 per cent of the nationwide electorate." Peter Hecht (The Sacramento Bee) reports that the nomination took place "in a packed, sweaty room at the Hawthorn Suites" and that Nader's speech included criticism of the "Democrats and Republicans alike for condoning sustained war, abusing workers and neglecting families. . . .  He prevailed after firing up the crowd with an indictment of the Democratic and Republican parties for supporting 'a state of perpetual war.'  He vowed to fight for a workers' bill of rights and stand up against 'systems of cruel and brutal globalization'."  John Lyon's "Nader Campaign Submits Signatures For Ballot Spot" (Arkansas' Times Record) reports that 2,000 signatures were turned into the Arkansas Secretary of State's office Friday which should get Ralph Nader's name on the ballot and quotes the Nader Team's "regional coordinator for the South," David Peyton declaring, "The people of Arkansas were exceptionally willing to participate in the Democratic process and welcomed our petitioners into their communities from Little Rock to Fayetteville."   The Nader Team notes:     This is a biggest ballot access week of the campaign to date for Nader/Gonzalez. With the addition of California on Saturday, we're currently at 23 states with seven to go to meet our goal of 30 states by the end of the week -- on our way to 45 states by September 20. This is what we need today: We need more roadtrippers to collect signatures to put Nader/Gonzalez on the ballot. Optimum profile for a Roadtripper for Ralph -- energetic, youthful spirit, personable, fun loving, adventure seeking, democracy warrior. If you can commit a week or more to get Ralph on the ballot in the Mountain West, the South, the Midwest, and the East Coast, contact mark@votenader.org. This week, we'll be turning in signatures in Maryland, Kansas, South Dakota, Alaska, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Iowa -- to put us at 30 by the end of the week. We're halfway to our goal of $100,000 by August 10 to fund this 30 state drive. So, please, donate now whatever you can afford $20, $50, $100 -- let's get it done this week. Finally, two more installments to the Obama Flip Flop Watch: Number one: On May 4, Obama told Tim Russert on Meet the Press that he was willing to debate with "any of my opponents about what this country means, what makes it great." But on Saturday, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe backed off, saying that Obama would debate only Senator McCain and only in the three rigged debates sponsored by the two parties and paid for by major corporations. Number two: Prior to last week, Obama said he was opposed to offshore oil drilling. Last week, he said he was okay with it. As we move toward November, and as Obama reveals himself to be the corporate candidate that he is, a significant portion of the American electorate will demand an alternative. That's why it is so important to put Nader/Gonzalez on the ballot in as many states as possible. And that is the important ground work we are completing now. Come September, we will be in a position to demand open debates. And present the American people with a viable candidacy that will shift the power from the corporations back into the hands of the American people. If we meet our goal. So, please, donate now, whatever you can. And help push us toward our goal of $100,000 by the end of the week. Together, we will make a difference. Onward to November. iraq darrell anderson ehren watada james burmeister chris kenning mcclatchy newspapers leila fadel sahar issa laith hammoudi the washington post sudarsan raghavan qais mizher the los angeles times caesar ahmed ned parker peter hecht sharat g. lin john lyon

It's Monday -- also known as day two with no article filed from Iraq offered by the New York Times. Rather amazing when you consider the Baghdad bombings yesterday, the special session the Iraqi Parliament held, the US military announcements of deaths and the health care issues acknowledged in a Baghdad press conference staged by the US military. From the opening of Sudarsan Raghavan and Qais Mizher's "Elections Bill in Iraq Stalls On Kirkuk" (Washington Post):

Iraqi lawmakers on Sunday failed to settle a dispute over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and pass a provincial elections bill viewed as vital for national reconciliation, despite intense pressure from the United States and the United Nations.
The political stalemate came as a car exploded in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood of northern Baghdad, killing 12 and wounding 22, according to police. Later Sunday, a car bombing in front of a coffee shop in the southern city of Hilla killed one person and injured 12, police said.

Ned Parker and Caesar Ahmed's "Iraq lawmakers again fail to approve election law" (Los Angeles Times) provides the backstory on the apparently (yet again) postponed provincial elections:

U.S. officials believe the elections, initially scheduled for October, are necessary for Iraq's long-term stability.
Sunni Arabs, formerly the country's elite, boycotted the last such elections, in January 2005, leading to the creation of provincial councils dominated by Shiite Muslims and Kurds. The absence of Sunni Muslims from local government helped strengthen the Sunni-led insurgency across central and northern Iraq.
A similar dynamic played out in Iraq's Shiite south, where anti-Western cleric Muqtada Sadr's populist Shiite movement skipped the 2005 vote and then grew angry over its political rivals' dominance in the southern provinces.
The stalemate emphasized the fissures and entrenched positions among Arabs, Turkmens and Kurds in northern Iraq, which often threaten to spill over into violence. Last week, a suicide bomber struck a Kurdish demonstration in Kirkuk and sparked ethnic riots that along with the bombing left 25 people dead.

We noted Leila Fadel and Sahar Issa's "Battle over oil-rich city threatens to derail Iraqi elections" (McClatchy Newspapers) on this topic yesterday. Let's move to the US deaths. ICCC's count is off. There were two deaths we noted last night (and linked to the US military's announcement). AP reports: "The U.S. military also said two American soldiers were killed in non-combat incidents Saturday — one southwest of Baghdad and another north of the capital. A total of three soldiers were injured in the two incidents, the U.S. said." And AP reports this morning that 2 more are dead from a Baghdad roadside bombing (which tooks places today) with a third injured. That would be four announced deaths so far this month and ICCC says three. One Sunday death resulted in two press releases from MN-F so that may be where the confusion stems from. From last night's entry, this is the death they don't seem to be counting currently:

The number should be 4129 because ICC does not currently include this announcement (and show one death for the month of the August): "A Coalition force Soldier died in the vicinity of Forward Operating Base Grizzly as a result of a non-battle death incident August 2. Two Soldiers were also injured as a result of the non-battle death incident. "

From Team Nader, Jill notes this:

News Flash: Nader/Gonzalez on the Ballot in California

Drop a two dollar bill on a winner.

That would be Nader/Gonzalez.

The Nader Team

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If they manage to sneak in, the policy of the Harper government is to kick them back out. On the contrary, all of Canada's opposition parties voted in favour of relief but they don't control the courts and recently a federal judge ordered the removal of 25-year-old Robin Long, a U.S. Army deserter, from Canada. This means that Canada is no longer a safe haven for American soldiers who decide to evade military service at home or abroad.
Long would be the first U.S. deserter to be deported since the Iraq war began five years ago. About 200 other war resisters have sought refuge in Canada and, while some have lost their court appeals, they remain in Canada pending further deportation procedures.
About 20,000 expatriate Americans remain in Canada from the Vietnam war. The size of that number raises the stakes. Is Canada going to respond to resistance to the war in Iraq the same way that this country responded to the Vietnam war, or has there been a change in the attitudes of Canadians since the 1960s and 1970s?
Well, of course attitudes have changed about many things since those times, but we are talking about basic values in this case -- opening up our hearts and homes to people from another country even though we may not particularly like or agree with their nationality or politics.
The old standard arguments remain. Are these young men really conscientious objectors? Or are they simply cowards? Then there is, "They knew damn well what they were getting into when they signed up," versus, "Hey, these kids may have signed up to defend their country in all good conscience but they didn't expect to be fighting to line the pockets of oil barons or to put Persian art treasures in the living rooms of Bush's buddies, and some of the black kids simply bought into the message emphasized in those recruitment posters offering a career as a pilot or communications technician, not some controversial war."
No weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq and, while Osama bin Laden may be found in Afghanistan, he wasn't hiding out in Iraq, which is also not the central breeding ground for al-Qaida activities. So who was really fooling whom in those enlistment contracts?
Canada didn't buy in to the war in Iraq. The majority of the Canadian Parliament supports providing a refuge for American war resisters. Canadians, particularly the citizens of Winnipeg, have a long-standing history of opening up their hearts, their minds and their homes to young Americans in this situation.
So what is it going to be?

The above is from Don Marks' "How should Canada deal with Iraq war deserters?" (Winnipeg Free Press) and war resisters in Canada need your help. To pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here. Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do."

In Iraq today a Baghdad bombing claimed 12 lives, the US military announced deaths, a special-session of Parliament ended with no results and Iraq's severe health crisis was happy-talked through a press conference.


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 hit the 4,124 mark. And tonight? 4128. Today the US military announced: "A Coalition force Soldier was killed and one was injured a result of a vehicle accident southwest of Baghdad Aug. 2. The injured Soldier was transported to a nearby combat support hospital in Baghdad." The number should be 4129 because ICC does not currently include this announcement (and show one death for the month of the August): "A Coalition force Soldier died in the vicinity of Forward Operating Base Grizzly as a result of a non-battle death incident August 2. Two Soldiers were also injured as a result of the non-battle death incident. " Just Foreign Policy's counter estimates the number of Iraqis killed since the start of the illegal war to be 1,251,944 up from 1,245,538 last Sunday.

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that left nine people wounded, another which left two wounded, a Baghdad truck bombing that claimed 12 lives and left 24 wounded and a two more Baghdad roadside bombings that wounded five people.
Dropping back to Saturday, McClatchy's Sahar Issa reported a Diyala Province roadside bombing that claimed the lives of 4 "Awakening" Council members. Diyala is the province currently having the for-show action meant to reassure Americans that Iraq has "turned a corner." Somehow the additional presence of troops (Iraqi and US) did nothing to stop the attack on the thugs on the US payroll -- despite claims of 50,000 additional troops having entered the province last week.

Today in Baghdad a press conference took place on the state of health care in Iraq. Iraqis participating were Dr. Essan Namiq (Deputy Minister of Health for Grants and Loans) and Dr. Kahmees al-Sa'ad (Administrative Deputy Minister of Health). For some reason, a medical press conference required the participation of two American generals.

We learned that, unlike the United States, Iraq has some form of universal health care (Dr. Essame: "Frankly, Ministry of Health has a heavy weight on the budget of the state for offering free treatment inside Iraq, for sending the patients outside Iraq. Very heavy budget that's affecting the budget of the state. There is no neighboring countries, or all over the world any country . . . there is not country like us that offers free treatment." ). Diyala Province has a shortage of medications (Dr. Essam: ". . . yeah, maybe we are facing a shortage") and there is a serious issue with the limited medications in Baghdad being smuggled out of the medical environments onto the black market (Dr. Essam stated that "we expect to see such problems" and "hope" that a plan to address the problem will emerge at some point by "the end of 2008 to 2009").

In addition there have been problems with "spoiled blood" -- which Maj Gen Mohammed al-Askari (press spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense) intentionally avoided in his response. This was pinned on the people coming into Iraq. Though Iraq's borders are porous, Dr. Essam put forward the laughable claim that anyone crossing the border into Iraq is "going to be tested. This is especially in HIV. The . . . once the passport has been stamped, the person is being tested." Not only did al-Askari avoid that specific issue, he grabbed that question that was tossed to Dr. Essam.

July ended and the press gave rah-rah coverage in their end of the month reports when the reality is that the medical conditions in Iraq are a nightmare. For example, Dr. Essam admitted that they did not have the necessary prosthetics for patients who have limbs amputated. Shortages of medication, shortages of prosthetics, shortage of beds and, yes, shortage of medical staff. Dr. Essam floated the laughable claim that "many" Iraqi doctors were about to return to the country -- any day now! -- and when pressed on it, put foward the dubious claim that "more than 80% of the Iraqi doctors, and even in the deterioration of the security situation, they were here in Iraq and working. It is a fact." No, it is not. They were among the first to flee, long before there was a refugee crisis. It was part of the 'brain drain' that first hit Iraq. The number fleeing only increased when they became kidnapping targets and were also targeted with violence. Any doctors that do return will neither be housed in the Green Zone, according to Dr. Essam, nor provided with government protection because, he explained, 2008 is not like 2007.

It was revealed that nurses were selling medications and Dr. Essam wanted to remind everyone that "it is not within their job description." Asked about the huge increase in cancer rates in Basra and Najaf since the start of the illegal war, Dr. Essam claimed that was true "all over the world, the number of people afflicted with cancer is increasing." The issue of improving the hosptials (beyond exterior work) was raised (and it was noted that Shahad Adnan Hospital has over 13 floors and only two elevators as well as a bed shortage). Dr. Essam responded that, "It is good for their psychological health . . . it is good to take care of the appearance, to see the building a new, clean." Though that's of no comfort to someone climbing over 13 floors of stairs or doing without a hospital bed, Dr. Essan wanted the reporters to know, "We ourselves face problems with elevators."

On the political front, Iraq's Parliament ended their session Wednesday. They are now on summer break. Today they scheduled a special session that was to address provincial elections which were supposed to take place in October. The always postponed provincial elections ended up postponed yet again when a vote was pushed through (the Kurdish bloc walked out) that brought issues regarding oil-rich Kirkuk into the mix. The bill passed; however, it was shot down by the presidential council (made up of Iraq's president and two vice-presidents). Leila Fadel and Sahar Issa's "Battle over oil-rich city threatens to derail Iraqi elections" (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the latest:

Despite intense U.S. pressure, Iraqi legislators Sunday failed to reach an agreement to solve an increasingly bitter dispute over the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk.
Kirkuk sits on Iraq's northern oil fields and also on a fault line between the Sunni Muslim Kurds who dominate most of northern Iraq and the Sunni Arabs who occupy the center of the country. Saddam Hussein forced thousands of Kurds out of the city to make way for more Arabs, but since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Kurds and their militia, the peshmerga, have driven many Sunni Arabs out of Kirkuk.
The parliament's inability to resolve the dispute over the city mirrors Iraqi political leaders' inability to make progress on other fronts, including constitutional amendments and the passage of a law governing the distribution of the country's oil revenues, despite the recent improvements in security.


Turning to US presidential politics, Ali Edney's "Nader Campaign Stops In Davis" (California Aggle) reports on a Nader-Gonzalez ticket's campaign stop:

The line outside of Varsity Theatre wrapped around the block Saturday night, but those waiting weren't there for a movie. They were waiting for Ralph Nader.
Nader and running mate Matt Gonzalez came to Varsity Theatre on Saturday to speak at a campaign rally, where they focused on their campaign goals and challenges.
The people in line were young and old, local and from surrounding communities, passionate Nader-supporters and undecideds checking him out. All were over-warm in the evening heat, waiting for the doors to the air-conditioned theater to open.
[. . .]
He talked about the "criminal gang in Washington," telling the audience that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had "betrayed" them by allowing spending increases in Iraq during her time as Speaker of the House, instead of cutting the Iraq War budget.

Remember that Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels" went up this morning. New content at Third:

Truest statement of the week
Truest statement of the week II
A note to our readers
Editorial: Open Up The Debates
TV: Reality, Power and 'Reality'
Nader '08: Health care and dining
The Death of Panhandle Media
Captain Caveman Barack
Workin' it for Sister Baracka
Roundtable
Highlights

Pru gets the last word. She highlights "Government ban on Iraq oil workers' union withdrawn" (Great Britain's Socialist Worker):

The Iraqi government has withdrawn an order banning eight key union organisers belonging to the powerful Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions (IFOU).
The union leaders were ordered out of the southern city of Basra after the Western backed government of Nuri al-Maliki said they were members of “militias” and helped in the smuggling of oil.
The union denied these charges. Hassan Juma’a Awad, the head of the IFOU, called on unions around the world to rally to the oil workers.
In a statement he said, "This act is a clear evidence that the Iraqi state seeks to liquidate trade unions in this important Iraqi economic sector. It is important to note that the south is the main source of oil in Iraq."
Sabah Jawad, the spokesman for the Naftana, the organisation that campaigns for Iraqi oil rights, told Socialist Worker that the government reversed the order following mounting pressure from Iraqi unions and the international anti-war movement.
Jawad said, "We told Hussain al-Shahristani, the Iraqi oil minister, that this was not acceptable, and informed him that we were aware of the measures being taken by the oil ministry"
US and European oil multinationals are scrambling to grab Iraq's vast oil reserves. George Bush made the take-over of oil one of his key "indicators" that the "surge" is succeeding.
The return of the multinationals, 36 years after Iraq nationalised its oil, has been greeted with widespread anger.
The oil workers have been at the head of the movement resisting the hand over of the industry to western companies.
"The withdrawal of the order is a victory for international solidarity and Iraqi trade unions," Jawad said.
The following should be read alongside this article: » US troops have Iran in their sights
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and the war drags on
donovan
don marks
ali edney
robin long
mcclatchy newspapers
leila fadel
sahar issa
laith hammoudi
the socialist worker
the world today just nuts
the third estate sunday review

Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts "Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels." Barack carries a club and declares, "I decided I don't mind offshore drilling. I love compromise!" Teen Angels Matthew Rothschild, Peace Resister Katrina vanden Heuvel and Betsy Reed say, "We love you, Captain Caveman!"

the world today just nuts
barack obama
captain caveman and the teen angels
betsy reed
katrina vanden heuvel
matthew rothschild
comic
the common ills

Re: Ralph Moore letter to the editor, "Candidate's letter challenged by reader" (Packet & Times, July 18)
I would like to thank Mr. Moore for his letter of July 18 in response to my earlier letter on conscientious objectors. Although I disagree with Moore's opinion on the legality of the Iraq war, I truly welcome honest public debate on important matters such as this one.
The unsanctioned invasion of Iraq occurred March 18, 2003, a full seven months before the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1511 to ensure the "restoration of stability and security" in response to the chaos caused by the invasion. The resolution does not and could not provide retroactive exoneration. The fact remains, Stephen Harper would have committed Canada to this illegal war if he were Prime Minister at the time.
As for Afghanistan, I would much prefer that Canada was there with our original intention of peace-keeping and reconstruction. However, our troops deserve our full support in this new, combative role, which is sanctioned by the UN.
The point of my letter was that the Conservative government must respect the motion on conscientious objectors passed by Parliament. Harper himself said the government has a moral responsibility to respect such motions. This motion is based on an issue of fundamental human rights, and it is downright callous to ignore it.
According to an Angus Reid poll conducted June 6 and 7, 2008, after Parliament passed the motion calling on the government to make a provision to allow war resisters to stay in Canada and to cease all deportation and removal proceedings, two-thirds of Canadians want Canada to grant permanent residence status to U. S. Iraq war resisters.
The Harper Conservatives are afraid of raising the ire of their ideological cousins in the Republican administration but, ignoring the democratic will of Parliament and the views of the large majority of Canadians will only raise the fury of Canadian voters who want a more progressive government that reflects Canadian values.
Steve Clarke, Federal Liberal candidate for Simcoe North



The above is a letter to the the Orillia Packet & Times by Steve Clarke, Federal Liberal candidate for Simcoe North. The earlier letter to the editor that he wrote and refers to is"Gov't can't keep ignoring motion concerning war objectors: Clarke" and he also refers to Ralph Moore's letter.



From Margaret Kimberley's "Obama Pardons Bush" (Black Agenda Report):



The Senator would never have been able to launch a successful presidential race if he did not already have buy-in from very rich, very powerful people. Not only did he have to secure their support in order to run, he must continue securing it in order to win.
That is why he will never investigate the Bush administration's well documented criminal activity. The rule of law doesn't apply to presidents, to their cabinet members, to members of Congress or to criminal corporations. Obama's backers would be most unhappy if they thought their guy was going to get into office and start calling powerful people to account on any issue.
All of which means that Barack Obama will never investigate any of the crimes committed in the Bush administration. When pressed because of the long campaign against Hillary Clinton, Obama was sometimes forced to give an appearance that he would actually preserve, protect and defend the constitution if he became president. The Senator spoke on the issue himself in April, and once again proved that he is a genius at double talk:
"What I would want to do is to have my Justice Department and my Attorney General immediately review the information that's already there [emphasis mine] and to find out are there inquiries that need to be pursued. I can't prejudge that because we don't have access to all the material right now. I think that you are right, if crimes have been committed, they should be investigated. You're also right that I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt [emphasis mine] because I think we've got too many problems we've got to solve."
What kind of investigation pursues only what is already known? It seems that Obama would investigate only what he wouldn't have to look for, but not so much that Republican sensibilities would be bruised. In other words, he won't try to find wrong doing.



One of the more revealing aspects about this campaign to the real press has been watching a whack-job emerge. We're talking about the man run off by the MSM who actually had some Real Media peer support until this year. A friend on mine cautioned him in the eighties that passion was a wonderful thing but you shouldn't let it blind your journalistic judgment. He threw that out the window this year. Why? My own hypothesis is that his fear of vagina and worship of the penis dictated that it play out the way it did. Susan (Random Thoughts) offers her hypothesis here. But he is a joke to Real Media now. His past work and past bravery don't count for a thing and, should his site go belly up, he'll need to eat a lot of humble pie to get a job in Real Media this time. I don't think there is a comeback for him. He's too old. He's a joke in many newsrooms (due to the fact that he made a number of enemies while in the MSM and they have loved watching his nutty behavior since the start of the year). And there's really no way to overcome that. When you're 'controversial,' you need your supporters. He no longer has them and some of the harshest statements made in newsrooms today about him come from those who supported before 2008 became, for him, La Vida Loco.



He wants the Bully Boy to pay. That's not an unusal sentiment. What was unusual is he 'mind-read' Hillary via Bill. Bill and Hillary are married, they are not the same person. But he just knew it wasn't going to happen (punishment of Bully Boy under a Hillary presidency) and he did a lot of transferance and a let a lot of his personal bitterness over the way Iran-Contra went down dictate his approach. (Exactly what Sarah long ago warned him against when she attempted to explain the value of passion in journalism and the liabilities.) He became a caricuture of his former self. Kimberley's column no doubt would enrage him. But, thing is, she's pointing out how it was obvious long ago.



He disgraced himself and there's probably no comeback for him now. (I don't attempt to defend him these days when he's trashed by Real Media.) I mention the above due to an e-mail from a visitor who is frightened Barack will win in November because he fears futher pushes for 'post-racism' in America. (A concern many African-Americans have. A very valid concern.) I can't say anything to reassure on that concern. But he also raised the issue of how many 'journalists' embarrassed themselves and named the unnameable specifically. Regardless of the outcome in November, a lot of people have exposed themselves in public and the up-side to that is that their careers are over. They don't grasp it yet, but it is over. That will be true regardless of the outcome in November. These weren't idealistic kids just out of J-school. These were alleged professionals with lifetimes of experience that they 'called upon' to speak with such authority. A loss demonstrates that they should have stayed the hell out of it if they couldn't be anything but a cheerleader. A win is actually worse because their open-mouthed slobbering will be thrown in their faces. Over and over again. That will be very true of the unnameable. Those sentences he wrote in Jaunuary are already laughed about in newsrooms.

The bottom is already falling out of Panhandle Media and has been for some time. [. . .*] Their dream lover Barack does the same thing. Tip to the McCain campaign, the next ad needs to be something like this.

John McCain: Hello, I'm John McCain. I've been in the US Senate for a number of years and most Americans know me. For some reason, Senator Barack Obama doesn't seem to know me. He keeps linking me to George W. Bush. As most Americans know, I am my own person [McCain would probably say "man"] and it's really strange to hear Senator Obama repeatedly cry that we need to deal with issues while he repeatedly tries to turn me into someone else. Barack Obama, let me introduce myself, I'm John McCain and I'm your opponent. You don't have a record to run on and you seem to think you can refuse to let me run on mine. You seem to think you can trick the American people into believing that George W. Bush is running for re-election and not me. You already wrongly stated in public that the United States has 58 states so maybe you're not up on the Constitution but the way it works is a president can only have two terms. George W. Bush's second term is expiring. I am your opponent. You toss a lot of words around about wanting to deal with issues, then you lie and say I'm a clone or a twin of someone else. The American people are not stupid. Stop insulting them and me. It's 2008, Senator Obama, not 2000 or 2004. If you want 'change, try changing your calendar.

*What do "they do"? Edited out. Jim was reading over my shoulder while this was being written and claimed one very visual (re: Barack) for Third. I said Third could have it only if it was run by Isaiah first because he might want to run with that for a comic. I came back to the morning entries, called Dona over and asked, "Is this something that can be used by Third?" Jim's request would have pulled no more than two sentences. Ten paragraphs, however, were pulled out when Dona agreed we could build those up and build around them for a piece at Third. We're all tired of working over thirty hours straight at Third to finish an edition and some people will be catching planes later tomorrow to fly home.

The following community sites have updated since yesterday morning:

Rebecca's Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude;

Kat's Kat's Korner;

Mike's Mikey Likes It!;

Elaine's Like Maria Said Paz;

Trina's Trina's Kitchen;

Ruth's Ruth's Report;

and Marcia's SICKOFITRADLZ

Three sites will be posting later today:

Cedric's Cedric's Big Mix;

Betty's Thomas Friedman is a Great Man;

and Wally's The Daily Jot

Ralph Nader is the independent candidate for president. This is from Team Nader:

CNN Poll: Ralph Nader at Six Percent
Posted by The Nader Team on Friday, August 1, 2008 at 10:16:00 AM
ShareThis
Good morning.
Here's something you can do right now.
Donate six dollars.
To Nader/Gonzalez.
Why?
Because we're celebrating.
For two reasons.
Number one reason to celebrate: CNN poll from two days ago---Ralph Nader at six percent.
After being totally blocked out from the mainstream media for months.
(This is the fourth major poll putting us at five percent and above. Remember, John Anderson and Ross Perot both got into Presidential debates because they met the then League of Women Voters' threshold of five percent in a number of polls.)
And that's quite remarkable.
Six percent.
With little to no national news coverage.
Number two reason to celebrate: In 2004, we were on only 34 state ballots.
Now, in 2008, thanks to your help, we're heading toward 45 states.
For example, in 2004, we were not on in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Arizona, and Massachusetts.
But we will be on these states in 2008.
Today, for example, we will turn in more than 53,000 signatures in Pennsylvania. (25,000 valid required.)
So, yes, we are moving on up.
We'll take the six percent in the polls.
And we'd gladly take six percent national coverage from the mainstream media -- to match our most recent poll number.
But no.
To the mainstream corporate media, we're untouchable.
Why?
Because we represent what the majority of Americans want?
Because we favor single payer health insurance?
And Obama and McCain oppose it?
Because we would quickly end the corporate and military occupation of Iraq?
And Obama and McCain wouldn't?
Because we stand for a shift of the power away from the corporations and back into the hands of the American people?
Because we would cut the bloated, wasteful military budget?
Yes, that's why.
Because the corporate media is just doing its job.
Protecting corporate power.
And we are doing ours.
Representing the majority of the American people.
So, they are doing what they must do.
And we are doing what we must do.
So, drop a six spot here now.
And support the campaign that represents the American people.
Against the corporate masters.
And help us reach our new fundraising goal -- $100,000 by August 10.
Thanks to your generous contributions so far, we're a third of the way home.
Let's keep moving on up.
Both to our goal of $100,000 by August 10.
And let's drive our numbers in the polls to seven, eight, nine and ten points and beyond.
So that even the corporate media will have to sit up and take notice.
Together, we are making a difference.
Onward
The Nader Team
P.S. Remember, for a donation of $200 or more to Nader/Gonzalez by Sunday August 3 at midnight, we'll ship to you three anti-war books by former New York Times reporter and current Nader supporter Chris Hedges---Collateral Damage, What Every Person Should Know About War, and War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning.
Your contribution could be doubled. Public campaign financing may match your contribution total up to $250.
ShareThis

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

iraq

iraq

like maria said paz

kats korner

sex and politics and screeds and attitude

trinas kitchen

the daily jot

cedrics big mix

mikey likes it

thomas friedman is a great man

ruths report

sickofitradlz

"KILL EVERYBODY" - US ARMY SPECIALIST DARRELL ANDERSON EXPOSES US POLICY "I joined in '03," 'cause I was broke, I needed money, but I was a young American kid, I wanted to fight in a war. I joined up. [A] month out of training I arrived in Baghdad, Iraq, January '04. Saddam's been captured. And I get there and the guys I'm serving with have been there for six months already; they were there in '03. And I go, "Well, you know what, I think it's come out that, you know, these people had nothing to do with 9/11, there was no Iraqi on those planes. We can see around here there's no Al Qaida, there's no terrorist syndicates in Baghdad, or Iraq. Saddam had stamped 'em out." And I asked my buddies, "Well, you know, we're here to find 'weapons of mass destruction'." And they laughed at me. And I said, "Well, you know, we're here to 'help the people.'" And they laughed at me. And I said, "What's our mission? What's our goal?"...They're like, "All we're trying to do is make it home alive..." Anderson describes the escalation of violence against unarmed civilians: "In April, they told us, "In a crowded area, if one person shoots at you, kill everybody." Anderson explains the rationale from the officers: "They [members of the crowd of people] are letting them [the person or persons firing at the U.S. military] attack you. They're no longer innocent if they're there at the time of the crime..." (9/11 conference, Chandler AZ Feb 23-25, 2007) 911TV.org / snowshoefilms post-production/ 9:46



The above is from "US Army Specialist Darrell Anderson Exposes US Policy" (Freeople) and was noted by Saul. As obvious from above, 26-year-old Darrell Anderson, of Lexinton, Kenutcky, is an Iraq War veteran -- and a decorated one. Due to serving in the illegal war, he decided to self-checkout. He went to Canada. He married in Canada. He went through process of attempting to receive refugee status. Then he decided to return to the US and turn himself in at Fort Knox. He stated that his work opposing the illegal war was a way to "make up for things I did in Iraq; I feel I made up for the sins I committed in this war." Due to the fact that the process largely followed what had been outlined ahead of time, other war resisters in Canada were considering it until Kyle Snyder attempted to return shortly after and found out he was yet again lied to. After being discharged, Anderson has continued to speak out and is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. (He was present to show support for Lt. Ehren Watada in the court-martial that wasn't. Watada, all this time later, has still not been released from the service even though his service contract expired in December 2006, two months prior to his court-martial.) Anita Anderson, his mother, has also remained active and, most recently, was giving support to Helen Burmeister, mother of US war resister James Burmeister who exposed the kill-teams in Iraq. From the July 17th snapshot:



Chris Kenning (Courier-Journal) reported on Helen Burmeister's efforts and spoke with US war resister Darrell Anderson who also went to Canada. Anderson returned September 30, 2006 to turn himself in October 3rd. Like Burmeister, he suffers from PTSD and he also lost his benefits. He told Kenning, "It wasn't the easy choice, it was the hard choice. I lost my GI Bill, my veteran's benefits . . . but I did what's right, and I've still got my pride."



That snapshot contains details of James' court-martial. This is Courage to Resist's "Resister James Burmeister sentenced at Ft. Knox:"



James Burmeister was serving in Baghdad when his humvee was caught in an IED explosion and he was hit in the face with shrapnel. Suffering from the physical and emotional wounds resulting from his injury, and his experiences working with "bait and kill" teams in Iraq, James went to Canada and was AWOL until earlier this year when he decided to return to the U.S., turn himself in, and move on with his life.
James and supporters hoped that the military would offer him an "other than honorable discharge in lieu of court martial"--especially in consideration of his injuries suffered in Iraq. James believes that he is suffering from traumatic brain injury, which would explain his reoccurring seizures. However, he has found real medical treatment an impossible maze to navigate--the military instead offers him various anti-psychotic drug cocktails.
On June 21, Helen Burmeister (photo above) traveled from Oregon to lead local Veterans for Peace members and other supporters in a rally for the freedom on her son James at the gates of Fort Knox, Kentucky. However, hopes for a quick discharge--and real medical help--were dashed when the Army court martialed James yesterday for AWOL and desertion.
James was sentenced to six months at the Fort Knox Regional Confinement Facility and a bad conduct discharge. The PFC James Burmeister Support Campaign can be reached at
letjamesbefree@gmail.com
Write to James in the stockade!
James Burmeister Box AFort Knox, KY 40121



Ned Parker and Saif Hameed's "Three Iraq soldiers killed in Kirkuk" (Los Angeles Times) explores the continued tension (and violence) in Kirkuk:



The government warned local factions that it would not allow any party to unilaterally decide the region's future, in reaction to a threat Thursday by Kurdish provincial council members to declare ethnically divided Kirkuk part of Iraqi Kurdistan.Kurdish officials are worried that the national parliament will approve legislation that will delay local elections in Kirkuk and impose a quota system for seats in the 40-seat provincial council. Parliament is scheduled to discuss the matter Sunday in an emergency session.

Such a move would force the Kurds, who dominate the current system, to split power with Arabs and Turkmens. The controversial version of the legislation also calls for the removal of the current Iraqi security force from Kirkuk, which Arabs and Turkmens say is controlled by Kurds.

"The Iraqi government is refusing any individual step to change the situation in Kirkuk and it is considering it illegal and unconstitutional," government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said in a statement Friday.



The Iraqi Parliament ended their session Wednesday to take their summer break (that's not an insult to them, the US Congress will be taking their summer break as well). Tomorrow they hold a special session in an attempt to salvage the planned October provincial elections that hit a roadblock when Kirkuk became an issue in the proposal. Kurdish lawmakers staged a walk-out. The bill passed Parliament without them; however, the presidential council (headed by Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, a Kurd) refused to sign off on the bill.



At Inside Iraq, one of McClatchy's Iraqi journalists contributes "The International Zone:"

Before I went to bed I read a book that I found there which prompted this blog. It was a foreign reporter's account of what he had seen in Iraq after the invasion in 2003.
One of the important things he mentioned was that those who lived in the IZ don't know what was going on just a few miles from them. He said that he was in Khadimiyah neighborhood where four suicide bombers had killed dozens of people that morning. In the IZ no one was talking about it when the reporter dined with officials there.
It is still the same today. Iraqi officials live in luxury and don't know what is going on just a few miles from them and what is happening across the country they rule.
They don't care that Iraqi people lack power supply, drinking water, medical care, security, housing and a decent standards of living. We hear that millions of dollars have been spent on these problem in addition to education and transportation, but all in vain. Corruption and lack of planning are a great obstacle to progress but maybe just venturing out of the International Zone for a few nights could teach them what we suffer. Maybe then we'll see progress.

The Nader-Gonzalez '08 campaign (Matt Gonzalez is Ralph's running mate) has been keeping a very busy schedule and some of the upcoming events include:

Sat. August 2nd, 8:00pm Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt GonzalezDavis, CA Varsity Theater 616 Second St., Davis, CA 95616Contributions $10/ $5 studen t(530) 554-8250 or events@votenader.org Map it

Sun. August 3rd, 1:30pm Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt Gonzalez Sebastopol, CA Sebastopol Community Center 390 Morris St., Sebastopol, CA 95472 Contribution $10/$5 student (415) 897-6989 or events@votenader.org Map it

Sun Aug. 3rd, 4:30pm Ralph Nader Book Signing and Speech w/ Matt Gonzalez Healdsburg, CA Copperfield's books 104 Matheson St., Healdsburg, CA 95448 (707) 235-1026 or events@votenader.org Map it

Sun Aug. 3rd, 7:30pm Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt Gonzalez Kentfield, CA (Marin) College of Marin- Olney Hall 835 College Ave., Kentfield, CA Contribution $10/$5 students (415) 897-6989 or events@votenader.org Map it

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

Friday, August 1, 2008.  Chaos and violence continue, Nouri al-Maliki makes like Pretty Woman on Rodeo Drive, Ralph Nader continues taking his campaign to the people, Kirkuk sees increased tension, and more.   Starting with war resistance, Jan Slakov (BCLocalNews) proposed ways to prepare for peace this week and the second step was: "Welcome war resisters: Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy once said: 'War will exist until that distant day when the CO [conscientious objector] enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.'  A majority of Canadian MPs understand this, and voted on June 3 to allow U.S. soldiers who object to the 'war on terror' on conscientious grounds to stay in Canada.  However, the Conservative government is ignoring the will of these deserters to be deported to face punishment in the U.S." The Conservative government and conservative shills like Rondi Adamson who offers a string of lies in the Christian Science Monitor.  In fact, Rondi's piece should be titled "No Lie Left Untold."  Rondi admits Canada took in "draft dodgers" during Vietnam but forgets to note they also took in deserters.  Rondi forgets to note the popular (or Parliament) support in Canada for war resisters.  From the July 1st snapshot: "The Angus Reid Poll finds: 'A majority of Canadians would agree with the decision to let American military deserters stay in Canada as permanent residents, a new Angus Reid Strategies survey reveals. . . In the online survey of a representative national sample, three-in-five Canadians (64%) say they would agree to give these U.S. soldiers the opportunity to remain in Canada as permanent residents. Quebec (70%) houses the highest proportion of respondents who agree with the motion, while Alberta (52%) has the fewest supporters. A gender breakdown reveals that while both males and females would agree to let U.S. military deserters remain in Canada, females are much more sympathetic (69% versus 57%)'."  And Rondi is apparently confessing that Canadians spat on US soldiers during Vietnam.  That LIE has long been disproven in the US but apparently, Rondi wants us to believe it happened in Canada.   War resisters in Canada need your help. To pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here. Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do."   There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum. Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).     Turning to Iraq where puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki sits on a ton of money and spends it when he feels like on what he wants.  Edmond Lococo and Gopal Ratnam (Bloomberg News) report, "Iraq is seeking to buy $10.9 billion in weapons and services from U.S. defense contractors including General Dynamics Corp,, Boeing Co., Textron Inc. and Raytheon Co. to 'establish security and stablity' throughout the country."  It's been a busy week for the puppet -- a regular spending spree.  The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency started the week with the announcement that they "notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of Armored Security Vehicles as well as associated equipment and services.  The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $206 milliion."  Wednesday included "The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of Light Armored Vehicles as well as associated equipment and services.  The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $3 billion" and "The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of technical assistance for construction of facilities and infrastructure as well as associated equipment and services.  The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $1.6 billiion" and "The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of Helicopters and related munitions as well as associated equipment and services.  The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $2.4 billion."  Thursday brought this announcement, "The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Iraq of M1A1 and Upgrade to M1A1M Abrams Tanks as well as associated equipment and services.  The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $2.16 billion."   This spending spree takes place as Selcan Hacaoglu (AP) reports on sewage treatment plant in Bahgdad that ("nearly three years later") is still nothing but a shell: "Raw sewage is still flowing freely through giant pipes into the Tigris River, ending up in some of the capital's drinking water. And those pipes are hardly the only source of contamination. Many residents only have to sniff the tap water to know something is not right. . . . Two-thirds of the raw sewage produced in the capital flows untreated into rivers and waterways, Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, said in his quarterly report released Wednesday."   Tensions continue to flare over Kirkuk.  The October provincial elections are thought to be pushed back (at least) over the efforts in the Parliament to include aspects (force through) to do with Kirkuk.  That led to a mass walk out of Kurdish Parliamentarians last month.  A special session will be held Sunday to attempt to address the issue of provincial elections.  Now Kurdish leaders in Kirkuk (an ethnically diverse, oil-rich city that the Kurdish region wants to absorb) are stating that it will become part of Kurdistan. DPA notes that the demand came on Friday as did an attempted assassination via bombing of Kirkuk's police chief Jamal Taher. KHalid al-Ansary (Reuters) notes that the puppet government is Baghdad is insisting on calm and order.  Not only is that not working, neighbors are noticing.  Alsumaria reports, "Kirkuk issue takes the upper hand in Iraq's politics while Turkey has showed interest in the issue after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki received a phone call from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who expressed his concern over Kurds demand to join Kirkuk to Kurdistan."   Meanwhile Sabrina Tavernise and Steven Lee Myers (New York Times) reported this morning, "The American military disclosed on Thursday that soldiers had killed three unarmed people during an operation northwest of Samarra on Wednesday, and injured a fourth.  Ali Salih Jubarah, a spokesman for Salahuddin Province, the region where the killings occurred, said that Dahia Hussein and her two sons, Ali Jassim and Muhammad Jassim, all civilians, were killed during a raid on a house.  He identified the injured person as Ms. Hussein's daughter, Sabeiha Jassim."    In some of today's reported violence . . .   Bombings?   Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad car bombing that claimed 1 life and left two people wounded and a Kirkuk roadside bombing that claimed the lives of 3 Iraqi soldiers and left a fourth wounded.  AP reports, "Two suicide bombers detonated their explosive vests Friday wounding three Iraqi soldiers north of Baghdad during a raid".   Shootings?   Reuters notes an armed clash in Dhuluiya that claimed 4 lives.   Corpses?   Reuters notes 1 corpse discovered in Kut.   Turning to the US presidential race.  "He's a lot more optimistic than me, I can tell you," Jurgen Vsych explains of Ralph Nader to Jan Baughman (Swans Commentary). "That's one thing that we used to fight about, because I'm, I wouldn't say pound-for-pound I'm a total pessimist, but I am pretty pessimistic about a lot of things in the economy and the political successes, he has lots of success stories to tell, although I don't know, I guess because a lot of his work has been undone, systematically undone by dergulation, so how he keeps his spirits up I don't know -- I really don't."  Jurgen Vsych is a filmmaker (including Ralph Nader Crashes The Two Parties) and check out the website she's creating entitled Nader Tube & Ralph Nader Radio.  Jugen Vsych has also written the book What Was Ralph Nader Thinking? which Baughman reviews here.   Speaking at the Dominican University in February of last year, a man complained,  "But we all know you don't have a snow ball's chance in hell of getting elected."  Ralph replied, to the hearty approval of those present, "How about in heaven?"    "Are you a sports fan?  Do you know any sports player who gives up?" Lisa Riley Roche (Desert News) quotes Ralph Nader saying at a news conference in Salt Lake City this morning.  Nader was in Utah capitol on a campaign stop that began Thursday evening when he spoke at the University of Utah.  Introducing him, former Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson explained, "This whole nation needs to be turned around.  We're not going to do it with the Democrats saying, 'We'll get around to it someday'." Speaking to the crowd of over 400, Ralph Nader wondered, "Do you realize there is no discernible breaking point for the American people?  We're headed for a cliff . . . where's the breaking point?"  He added, "If none of us have breaking points, none of us have a moral compass."  Robert Gehrke (Salt Lake Tribune) reports that "Nader filed paperwork putting himself on the ballot in Utah" this morning and quotes Ralph stating, "This country is not owned by the two major parties.  They don't own the voters.  There is not even the word 'party' in the Constitution.  There isn't even the word 'corporation' in the Constitution, and yet these two institutions have run our country into the ground and are tearing the heart and soul out of America."  Salt Lake City's KSL reported on the press conference this morning (link has video as well as a text article written by Richard Piatt):   Tonya Papanikolas: Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader is officially a candidate here in Utah.    Scott Haws: Yeah, he's trying to get the word out with a limited budget and minimal support but at a news conference this morning, he was not afraid to take on the big guys.  Richard Piatt was there and joins us with more.  Rich?   Richard Piatt: Well, as you know Scott, Ralph Nader has been taking on the big guys for forty years now, starting with General Motors in the 1960s, you'll recall he successfully got a car called the Corvair pulled off the market. These days, in his seventies, he is just as entergetic.  And he's diligent about running for president this time again.  Nader registered as an official presidential candidate in Utah at the lieutenant governor's office this morning.  He called his rivials John McCain and Barack Obama "corporate candidates."  He appeared with former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson at a news conference this morning.  Nader says the average American tax payer is not being served by the status quo.  Unfair tax policies, inadequate health care options and gridlock in Congress are among the problems he sees.  He says voters need a more diverse campaign.  But he points out that he is being excluded from most of the major presidential debates, furthering what he calls a "corporate candidate quagmire."   Ralph Nader: The two parties have spoiled our elections.  They've spoiled our government.  They've spoiled our political system.  And they've turned our government over to  big businness that's about the worst constitutional crime you can imagine.   Richard Piatt: Nader has been labeled a spoiler in the past, depriving other candidates, like John Kerry, of votes by defusing the support.  But according to a Dan Jones poll in May here in Utah, Nader barely registers in Utah this year.  The poll showed Nader with only 2 percent of the 604 statewide voters at that time in May.  Even so, he refuses to see himself as a spoiler or even a bad candidate.  Instead, he says he's the only candidate who . . .  is a real alternative.  Nader is scheduled to appear next in Davis, Calif., on Saturday for a rally with his running mate Matt Gonzalez. Back to you.       The Nader-Gonzalez '08 campaign (Matt Gonzalez is Ralph's running mate) has been keeping a very busy schedule and some of the upcoming events include:   Sat. August 2nd, 8:00pm Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt Gonzalez Davis, CA Varsity Theater 616 Second St., Davis, CA 95616 Contributions $10/ $5 student (530) 554-8250 or events@votenader.org Map it  Sun. August 3rd, 1:30pm  Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt Gonzalez    Sebastopol, CA Sebastopol Community Center 390 Morris St., Sebastopol, CA 95472 Contribution $10/$5 student   (415) 897-6989 or events@votenader.org      Map it  Sun Aug. 3rd, 4:30pm Ralph Nader Book Signing and Speech w/ Matt Gonzalez Healdsburg, CA Copperfield's books 104 Matheson St., Healdsburg, CA 95448 (707) 235-1026 or events@votenader.org Map it  Sun Aug. 3rd, 7:30pm Nader for President 2008 Rally w/ Matt Gonzalez Kentfield, CA (Marin) College of Marin- Olney Hall 835 College Ave., Kentfield, CA Contribution $10/$5 students (415) 897-6989 or events@votenader.org Map it    We'll return to the topic of Nader shortly but expanding the focus to other contenders includes noting a surprise failure to stick to the attack plan on John McCain by the Democratic Party.  Last week David Brancaccio (NOW on PBS) interviewed former Democratic presidential hopeful (and 2004 Democratic vice-presidential candidate) John Edwards.  From the exchange:   BRANCACCIO: Have you had occasion to talk to the candidates left standing about your poverty proposals? EDWARDS: Yes, yes I have. Well, before I got out of the race, I talked to Obama and Clinton at the time about some very specific things, which for now I'll keep private. But I got very specific commitments from them about making poverty central to their campaign, making it central to their presidency. And some very specific substantive ideas behind that. I've also spoken to McCain. It's a little harder with him. BRANCACCIO: But you've talked to McCain about these poverty issues. EDWARDS: I have I have. I know John McCain very well. Served with him. Traveled around the world with him. It's a little tough because I'm supporting his opponent in the presidential race and doing it vigorously. (some laughs) But having said that, while he doesn't agree with a lot of the policy issues that I'm behind, he's been receptive to the concept that this is something we have to do something about.     John McCain is the presumed GOP presidential nominee.  McCain is currently in the news for his refusal to allow Barack to play the race card.  Before we get to that, McCain spoke this week in Nevada and Susan (Random Thoughts) attended and has posted video of the event at her site.  This week, Barack was speaking on his favorite topic . . . himself.  As usual Vanity Sux couldn't shut up about how great he thinks he is.  As usual he tried to link McCain to the current White House occupant because, when you have no record to run on, you use the same desperate tactics that the illegal war was sold on (false links).  So Barack declared that McCain and Bully Boy were going to say of Barack (because Barack wants the WHOLE WORLD talking about him), "he doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollars bills." First off, Barack IS NOT PRESIDENT.  "HE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE ALL THOSE OTHER PRESIDENTS ON THE DOLLAR BILLS"?  Barack, you ARE NOT president. Joseph (Cannonfire) explains, "McCain never said anything about Obama's patriotism or his name, and he certainly never said anything about race. Yet the Obots actually have defended this rhetoric. They applaud their candidate for running against a hallucinated line of attack."  Marcia weighed in, "Barack has played the race card non-stop throughout his run.  As an African-American, I know what the bi-racial blunder's doing, he's trying to egg up support from the African-American community. He's trying to turn us into his street team. His 'okey doke' and all of that other bull was an attempt back in the primaries.  It is the only card he has left to play and it's not going to play in a general election."  Silly Barack declared today, "There was nobody there who thought at all that I was trying to inject race in this" because, apparently, none of our presidents have had two ears, two eyes, one mouth and one nose.  Is that what Barack's trying to say?  Or was he trying to draw attention -- yet again -- to his 'divine' figure?  is he running to become the bulimic president?  Barack's Cult has trouble with facts so that probably sailed over them.  Yesterday Martha and Rebecca both called out the factually challenged Barack groupie at VIBE.   Tonight (in most markets) on PBS, Bill Moyers Journal continues exploring Capitol Crime with an increased focus on the Abramoff Congressional-lobbyist scandals.  NOW on PBS  examines the case of Ted Stevens, US Senator from Alaska now under indictment. And on Washington Week, Gwen and the gas bags chews up this week's factoids and the scenery. Guest stars include: Time's Karen Tumulty and National Journal's James Barnes.     Finally Team Nader notes:   Good morning. Here's something you can do right now. Donate six dollars. To Nader/Gonzalez. Why? Because we're celebrating. For two reasons. Number one reason to celebrate: CNN poll from two days ago---Ralph Nader at six percent. After being totally blocked out from the mainstream media for months. (This is the fourth major poll putting us at five percent and above. Remember, John Anderson and Ross Perot both got into Presidential debates because they met the then League of Women Voters' threshold of five percent in a number of polls.) And that's quite remarkable. Six percent. With little to no national news coverage. Number two reason to celebrate: In 2004, we were on only 34 state ballots. Now, in 2008, thanks to your help, we're heading toward 45 states. For example, in 2004, we were not on in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Arizona, and Massachusetts. But we will be on these states in 2008. Today, for example, we will turn in more than 53,000 signatures in Pennsylvania. (25,000 valid required.) So, yes, we are moving on up. We'll take the six percent in the polls. And we'd gladly take six percent national coverage from the mainstream media -- to match our most recent poll number. But no. To the mainstream corporate media, we're untouchable. Why? Because we represent what the majority of Americans want? Because we favor single payer health insurance? And Obama and McCain oppose it? Because we would quickly end the corporate and military occupation of Iraq? And Obama and McCain wouldn't? Because we stand for a shift of the power away from the corporations and back into the hands of the American people? Because we would cut the bloated, wasteful military budget? Yes, that's why. Because the corporate media is just doing its job. Protecting corporate power. And we are doing ours. Representing the majority of the American people. So, they are doing what they must do. And we are doing what we must do. So, drop a six spot here now. And support the campaign that represents the American people. Against the corporate masters. And help us reach our new fundraising goal -- $100,000 by August 10. Thanks to your generous contributions so far, we're a third of the way home. Let's keep moving on up. Both to our goal of $100,000 by August 10. And let's drive our numbers in the polls to seven, eight, nine and ten points and beyond. So that even the corporate media will have to sit up and take notice. Together, we are making a difference. Onward   iraq jan slakov  rondi adamson washington week pbs bill moyer journal now on pbs  mcclatchy newspapers the new york times sabrina tavernise steven lee myers