Saturday, November 10, 2012

The bad news never stops coming for Nouri

Through Friday, Iraq Body Count counts 62 dead from violence so far this month in Iraq.  Alsumaria reports today's violence includes a Falluja home invasion in which 1 father and 1 son were killed, 1 explosive expert was killed in Falluja attempting to disarm a car bomb, a Diyala Province attack left an Iraqi Lt Col dead, a Kirkuk roadside bombing injured a police officer, a Nineveh Province home invasion left a woman and her husband dead, and, in mass arrests, 35 people were rounded up.


Yesterday's snapshot noted the new war of words:


After the decision last month to buy billions of weapons from Russia, it may appear Russia and Iraq are getting very close -- and they might be.  But friendly?  Do you threaten a friend?  AFP reports, "Baghdad has told Russian energy giant Gazprom to either cancel its energy contracts in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region or abandon its work with the central government, a spokesperson said on Friday."


The weapons deal is off.  Or it's on.  Or it's off.  Even the outlets seem confused.  Mohammed Tawfeeq and Joe Sterling (CNN) report:

Iraq's prime minister has canceled a recently signed arms deal with Russia after "suspicions over corruption" surfaced, his spokesman told CNN on Saturday.
Under the $4.2 billion deal forged last month, Russia would deliver attack helicopters and mobile air-defense systems to Iraq.

You may remember Ayad Allawi and others have made calls for Nouri al-Maliki to appear before Parliament to answer questions about the deal.  You may also remember that KRG President Massoud Barzani loudly objected to the deal.  Amani Aziz (Al Mada) reports that there are senior Iraqi government officials who are involved with a brother of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  All Iraq News notes there are calls for Nouri to step forward and clear his name.  Al Rafidayn notes Nouri spokesperson Ali al-Moussawi announced that the deal is of.  New contracts may be needed, he said, because weapons are, but the deal is off.  AP hedges the bets (which may be a smart move) going with language about the deal being "reconsidered" and in "turnaround" (maybe Universal will give it a green light!).  Reuters has been doing repeated updates and in their third one they noted, "In a confusing exchange, the announcement by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office was immediately contradicted by the acting defence minister who denied the corruption charges and said the Russian arms deals were still valid."  RIA Novosti reminds, "At the time the deal was announced in October, the Russian press had hailed it as the country’s largest since 2006.  Under the contract, Moscow is to supply 30 Mil Mi-28NE night/all-weather capable attack helicopters, and 50 Pantsir-S1 gun-missile short-range air defense systems."

If the deal is off, Nouri looks rather poor on the world stage.  You don't make a four billion dollar deal, take the bows nationally and internationally for it, then cancel a few weeks later without your image taking a huge hit.  That's setting charges of corruption to the side.

Nouri really can't afford a huge hit to his image right now, he's still struggling over his attempt to cancel the food-ration-card system.  The axe was announced on Tuesday, it's been non-stop problems for him since.  From yesterday's snapshot:


Nouri and troubles are never far apart.  Tuesday, his spokesperson announced that the food-ration-card system (a program by which Iraqis were able to get flour, sugar, and other staples) was being stopped.  And that was supposed to be the end of that.  It hasn't been the end of anything.
 

Alsumaria reports that today, during Friday prayers, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani declared his objection to gutting the program.  The statement noted that the government justifications for ending the program are neither logical nor acceptable and that those of faith in Iraq must object to the push to end the program due to the fact that it will increase the burden on the poor.  Further,  al-Sistani noted that the price of food cannot be left up to the merchants because each month of Ramadan has seen prices soar with the increased demand and the government has been powerless to do anything about it.  To the insistence by Nouri supporters that the program must be gutted to fight corruption, al-Sistani responded that if the government has failed to prevent corruption, that is no reason to punish the citizens for its own failures.  The statement ended with al-Sistani noting that his words were neither a political nor economic stand but instead an expression of the beliefs and hopes of the Iraqi people.


Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is a higher official that Nouri or most elected ones.  That's in part because of his role as a spiritual leader and in part due to his biography.  On the latter, he never fled Iraq.  Under Saddam Hussein, he was persecuted.  But he stayed in Iraq.  The people know he will stay in Iraq.  Unlike many of Nouri's now former Cabinet ministers, for example, he won't flee the country (those ministers often have accusations of theft attached to their names).  Unlike many, he doesn't hold dual citizenship.  He is an Iraqi who commands a great deal of respect in the country and that goes beyond Shi'ite and Sunni divisions.

Kitabat covers al-Sistani's statement and notes others objecting as well including Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi.  All Iraq News reports that people flocked into the streets of Najaf following morning prayers and took part in a mass demonstration against cancelling the ration cards.  Participants included Imams.  The people are calling on their provinical government to argue against dropping the ration cards.  Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai declared  in Karbala during morning prayers today that the decision must be reviewed because it is unacceptable and is rejected by religious authority.     All Iraq News notes that the Kurdistan Alliance has issued a statement denouncing Nouri's decision and insisting the ration card system is needed.  Kitabat reports that Moqtada al-Sadr is no longer just objecting to the cancellation, he's now demanding that the Cabinet make public which Cabinet ministers voted to cancel the program.  Today al-Shabibi tells AP, "They want to control the central bank.  If they control the central bank, they will destroy the economy."   In the face of all of this, the smart thing politically would be to announce that the food-ration-card system would remain in place.


All Iraq News reports the Cabinet of Ministers will hold an emergency meeting on the issue tomorrow.  Nouri's political slate is State of Law, his political party is Dawa.  How unpopular is the move to cancel the food-ration program?  Alsumaria reports Dawa made an announcement today that they had nothing to do with the decision and they're also trying to insist at the same time that it wasn't Nouri's decision.  Lots of luck selling both points.  And they need to worry about that because provincial elections are supposed to be in a few months (April).  Kurdistan Alliance MP Sharif Soliman tells All Iraq News that those responsible for the decision are trying to make up excuses and push the blame elsewhere.  The Kurdistan Alliance's Mohsen Saadoun tells Alsumaria that Nouri is responsible for this decision.


The following community sites -- plus Susan's On the Edge and Pacifica Evening News -- updated last night and today:




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





iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq


I Hate The War

Violence in the US is  in the Iraq news cycle -- or at least one incident.  An Iraqi woman was murdered.  You may remember we ignored that hype.  Dropping back to March 26th:


One visitor has been lobbying in the public e-mail account repeatedly since Saturday morning for us to include the death of Shaima Alawadi. No, thank you. In this morning's four e-mails, the visitors argues that surely the Iraqi press must be covering the woman's death. They are. Here for Al Mada. They're also covering that Omar Sharif's grandson "admits" he's gay and half-Jewish. We're not going to be devoting space to that story either. For those who don't know, the woman is an Iraqi-American who came to the US in the early 90s. She was beaten and she's died. That's what's known. The coverage is a bunch of items that are speculation. And inflated outrage. It allows people to pretend they care about an issue, these momentary topics that flare up every few months. But they don't really have much to do with news. To be clear, her death is tragic, unfortunate and all too common for women in the US and around the world. However, nothing is known. When we covered the Iraqi woman run down in the US, killed by her own father, there were eye witnesses and that was a story the media didn't want to touch. This isn't any such story. The media has portrayed it as 'killed by an outsider who hates foreigners' and that is easy to cover, no real risk to anyone and allows everyone to mount their soapboxes. I'm sure there's already a Facebook outrage page for the woman, there are not, however, any real facts about who killed her or why.

We didn't take part in that crap.  We noted how sad it was that a woman was murdered.  That's the only time we touched on the story.  About 9 days later, the press would suddenly grasp what was obvious to me from the start, she wasn't killed by a stranger and she wasn't killed for being an Iraqi.  Al Rafidayn reports that the husband of the woman was arrested Thursday.  So the man, with the help of a daughter, created a fake threat in the woman's blood and the history of fake threats against the woman prior.  They should both go to prison.  That's not "my opinion," that's the law.  A murder took place and two people worked to alter the crime scene, to manufacture fake evidence, to create a 'suspect' that did not exist and more.  The killer broke the law.  So did the daughter.  Sorry that I can't work up sympathy for the young woman who -- confronted with her father killing her mother -- worked overtime to help her father get away with murder.

Shame on all the idiots in America who worked to create a fantasy of the sick world they want -- one they apparently live in daily within their own heads.

I mean Workers World, Indymedia and others.  It was really damn important to them that this Iraqi-American woman be murdered by strangers, strangers who hated her because she was from Iraq.  It didn't matter to them that there was no history of crimes like that in the area or in the United States.  No history of targeting Iraqis at all.  What mattered to them was that they wanted it because in their world it seemed normal.

That says a great deal about Workers World and others.  Some people really need to start explaining why they see evil everywhere they look.

They also need to explain why they devalue women so much and so often.  From the original reporting, I said to Kat, "The husband did it." It was obvious including from the description of the scene and the photo of the message scrawled in the blood.  It was obvious the daughter was lying as well.  And would a daughter lie for strangers?  No.  She was a teenager so she could be lying for a boyfriend or girlfriend but most likely she'd be lying for a close family member.  Did I rush to proclaim that here?  No.

But damned if supporting evidence was a concern to the ones screaming, "It was a hate crime!"

Do Workers World and others not get that they are a lynch mob?

They want to get outraged today about the fact that the 20th century saw African-American males were falsely accused (how often, no one knows) of rape cover up for White crimes.   But same outlets don't get that they are today's lynch mobs.

Rushing to judgment, writing copy intended to incite (incite in the US and in Iraq), they are the same lynch mob mentality they decry except that this new lynch mob wants to say they're opposed to racism.


I don't know how you can truly be opposed to racism and repeatedly attempt to fuel a lynch mob.  

And maybe we need to grasp that what took place through the sixties  was often someone accused for family crimes.  Forget the race of the accused the motive was often to to cover up for family crimes.  Like family murder, family rape, etc.

A family murder is what the police and prosecutors believed happened in El Cajon.  Not a hate crime.

It's really telling that in a country where would should all know that most women who are attacked are attacked by someone they know, that a woman who is abused is most likely to be killed when she's trying to leave the abuser (the woman in El Cajon,  Shaima al-Awadi, had planned to divorce her husband and move to Texas to get away from her husband).  Yet despite that, Workers World had to see some racially-motivated crime -- where there wasn't one, let's remember that.

April 7th, they insisted:

[. . .]  continues to stoke the fires of righteous anger at racism, another killing has taken place that has touched a nerve of outrage and solidarity around the U.S.
This time it happened in the Southern California city of El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego that is home to some 50,000 people from Middle Eastern countries, second only to Detroit in that population. This time the victim was a 32-year-old woman. Her name was Shaima Alawadi, an Iraqi immigrant, a devout Muslim and the mother of five children.
On March 21, Alawadi was discovered by her 17-year-old daughter Fatima on the family’s dining room floor, bleeding profusely after being severely beaten with what police say was a tire iron. A note was found which read, “Go back to your country, you terrorist.” Several weeks before the attack, a note stating the same sentiment was found at the family’s house, but Alawadi had dismissed it as the doings of misguided youth. Despite the notes, so far police and the FBI have not declared it a hate crime, even though doing so would give the federal agency, which has persecuted many Muslims since 9/11, more powers in the investigation.
On March 24, Alawadi died after being removed from life support. She was buried in her homeland on March 31.

That's all they could see and what they saw were lies.  "Hoodies and Hijabs," they yelled hoping ot link it to another case that they'd decided needed a lynch mob.  And of course the ridiculous march about Wall Street's alleged War on Women in which women made women the focus . . . Well, almost.  They wore "hoodies" to keep the focus on that other case involving a man.

They couldn't even make women the focus of one damn march as they made clear that that they really didn't give a s**t about women -- in case we had missed that point in all the coverage they offer that never includes coverage of women (unless the women are serving the penis -- Naomi Wolf went from over-sexed flake in their eyes to hero when she decided to serve the penis).

Every week in the United States, women are assaulted by men they loved.  But that's not news to Workers World or anything for them to get outraged about or grab their torches over.  They won't lead the lynch mob on that.

I'm not going to lead one on it either because I don't believe in lynch mobs.  The police have arrested the husband.  I think the daughter should be arrested as well.  I doubt she will be (even if she's not cooperating with the prosecution).  But whatever happens -- and in the US, there's always a good chance a man who assaults a woman will walk -- that's what happens.  I don't have a need to gin up outrage or start a Facebook page or rant and rave like a lunatic.

It's a shame others can't make the same claim.

Most of all, it's a shame that there are no apologies for the false coverage.  But to apologize would be to acknowledge it.  And they won't do that. 

They'll let it disappear.  Because she doesn't matter, Shaima's death never mattered, to them.  She was only important if they could use her to push their belief that she was killed because she was from a different country and that this was all about xenophobia and racism.  When it became about gender, when it became domestic violence -- since when is violence domesticated -- 'hate'  flew out the window and so did their interest.  And if you wonder why women struggle still for equality in the so-called 'advanced' United States, there's your answer.  If she's killed because she was born in a foreign country, it's a "hate crime."  If she was killed because she was terrorized in the home and was trying to leave and get away from her attacker, in some sick f**ked up way, the Workers World contingent see it as being about 'love.'






It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)


The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4488.



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




Friday, November 09, 2012

Iraq snapshot

Friday, November 9, 2012.  Chaos and violence continue, Veterans Day is Sunday in the United States, the former governor of the Central Bank in Iraq sees a power grab, Saudi prisoners in Iraq prisons suffer, Nouri's attorney declares a bill Parliament is considering would not -- even if passed -- apply to Nouri, rebellion in the streets and in the mosques over Nouri's plans to kill the ration-card system, threats from Nouri's government to a Russian oil company, and more.
 
 
In the United States, Veterans Day is Sunday. In some areas it will be observed on Monday.  (And some events will take place on Saturday to observe it.)  Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and she will be attending an observation in Washington state on Monday.  Her office notes:
 
FOR PLANNING PURPOSES
Friday, November 9th, 2012
Contact: Murray Press Office
(202) 224-2834
 
MONDAY: Senator Murray to Speak at Veterans Day Memorial Service in Seattle
Murray: Veterans Day is a time to reflect on the shared duty we owe to our nation's veterans
 
(Washington, D.C.) -- On Monday, November 12, 2012, Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, will attend Evergreen Washelli Cemetery's 63rd Annual Veterans Day Memorial Celebration with veterans and their families.  She will give remarks on the importance of honoring the shared duty owned to our nation's veterans, specifically in ensuring veterans can easily access the care and benefits they deserve.  The event is a Service of Remembrance and will take place at the Doughboy statue at the base of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
 
WHO:     U.S. Senator Patty Murray
              Veterans and their families
 
WHAT:    Senator Murray will give a speech at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery in 
               observance of Veterans Day
 
 
WHEN:      Monday, November 12th, 2012
                 11:00 AM PST
 
 
WHERE:    Evergreen Washelli Cemetery
                 11111 Aurora Avenue North
                  Seattle, WA 98133
                  MAP
 
###
 
Kathryn Robertson
Specialty Media Coordinator
Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray
448 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510
202-224-2834
 
 
 
 
 
US House Rep Jeff Miller is the Chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. And his office has released the following:
 
 
Chairman's Corner
I often wonder if we do enough to honor our veterans. These are, after all, the men and women who, at great peril to themselves, put on the uniform of our country and defend all that it stands for. They don't do it for the gratification of their fellow Americans; instead they do it for love of country and an overwhelming sense of duty. Just because their call to arms is not with the expectation of any repayment or gratitude, it does not mean we can't find ways to celebrate their service. We have an obligation to our veterans to provide for them with the care and support they need to live full lives. Veterans Day is a great opportunity for all Americans to take part in the celebration of our nation's most vital resource, our servicemembers, veterans, and their families. But to truly and fully appreciate our veterans, we need to honor them 365 days a year, and not just on
November 11.
 
Happy Birthday USMC!
The Marine Corps is celebrating its 237th birthday this weekend. Thank you to all the men and women who have served in this elite force. Please watch this birthday video, produced by the Marine Corps to commemorate the special occasion. Semper Fidelis.
 
Running for Veterans
Former Marine Corps Sgt. J. Brendan O'Toole will be running across America to raise money for veterans. You can read more here about O'Toole's service and what inspired him to put aside a year of his life to help our veterans as they return home.
 
A Great Cause
Earlier this week in anticipation of Veterans Day, Chairman Jeff Miller sat down with MSN to discuss the issues facing the veterans' community today. The interview is available on MSN's new "causes" page, aimed at raising awareness to a variety of issues facing America today.
 
Thoughts on this Veterans Day
As Chairman Miller does every month, he penned an op-ed in Wreaths Across America's newsletter. This month's article is dedicated to Veterans Day and how it remains vital that we continue to increase our support for veterans. Wreaths Across America will take place on December 15 this year. Committee Member, Dr. Phil Roe, a veteran himself, also shares his thoughts on this Veterans Day. Read more here.
 
 
We're going to include Texas Governor Rick Perry's statement in a moment but first there are two eateries observing Veterans Day.  California Pizza Kitchen nationwide on Sunday and Monday and Applebees across the country on Sunday. Veterans and active duty military -- have identification or be in uniform -- visiting California Pizza Kitchen either day will recieve a free non-alcoholic beverage and a free pizza and those visiting Applebees on Sunday will receive a free entree (choose from three-cheese chicken penne, a bacon cheddar cheeseburger, oriental chicken salad, 7 ounce sirloin, chicken tenders platter, fiesta lime chicken or double crunch shrimp). Are there more?  There probably are.  Those two e-mailed to note their observance of Veterans Day.  So if you're a veteran or active duty, you should surely stop by. 
 
And if you're not a veteran or active duty?  You can certainly keep in mind that California Pizza Kitchen and Applebees made a point to honor Veterans Day when a lot of others did not.  Stan says he loves Applebees Bourbon Black & Bleu Burger.   Ann states, "I can't tell you about calories, I've never asked and I don't want to know but their oriental chicken salad is a meal and then some."  Myself, I'm a pizza addict.  There are months I go "meat free" with the exception of anything on a pizza.  At California Pizza Kitchen, I can't pick just one.  Because of calories, I try to avoid anything other than thin crust.  But if I'm having original crust (which is thicker), it will be because I'm having the Hawaiian BBQ Chicken.  Any and all of the thin crust pizzas, I've eaten and loved.  Kat, Wally, Ava and I are on the road most weeks and there are times when we finish speaking with a group and it's too late so we'll hit a grocery store.  In the frozen foods section at many grocery stores you can find California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas.  If it's the four of us, we usually go with their BBQ Recipe Chicken (and get two because Wally and I can eat pizza -- wolf it down in fact).  I'm making a point here to plug two places that are making a point to observe Veterans Day. 
 
There will be observations throughout the country.  I'm noting events that were mailed to the public account and one that a friend requested we note.

Saturday in Los Angeles is "A Day For Heroes" which is free for veterans, active duty military, and family members and includes a barbeque and a concert.  In the state of Washington, parades will take place Saturday in Auburn, West Richland, Vancouver, Port Angeles and Spokane -- while there will be a Veterans Breakfast in RainerSaturday will also see the Atlanta Veterans Day Parade in Georgia. Shreveport, LA will see a Veterans Day Biker Event hosted by Veterans For Veterans -- with a motorcycle parade, a bike show, a car show and a silent auction with proceeds going to support veterans.

Nashville will hold a Veterans Day Parade on SundayColumbia, South Carolina will also hold a Veterans Day parade.  In Berkeley, you can attend a benefit performance of Soldier Stories (tickets $20.50 in advance, $22.50 at the door) with the proceeds going to help homeless veterans. In Kihei, Hawaii, there will be a Luau at the VFW Hall.  That's at 2110 Uluniu Road and it starts at 5:00 pm.  I don't have a link so I'm noting time and location.  (A friend asked me to note the event.)  Albuquerque, New Mexico will host a Veterans Day Parade on SundayDelaware will host a Veterans Day Ceremony in New CastleMiami will host a Veterans Day Parade on SundayTampa will host a Central Florida Military Resource Fair open to all veterans and active duty military which will include job info, benefits and health care opportunities, flu shots and medical screenings.


Monday, Montgomery, Alabama will host the Third Annual River Region Veterans Day Parade.  In Pueblo, Colorado, there will be a Veterans Day Commemoration at Colorado State University.
 
Rick Perry is the Governor of Texas.  His office notes:
 
Gov. Rick Perry today highlighted Texas' ongoing commitment to helping our nation's veterans and their families receive the services and support they need when they return from duty, including initiatives to help skilled veterans find jobs. The governor spoke at an annual Veterans Day ceremony honoring local veterans.
"Americans have consistently sent their best and bravest to confront the forces of darkness throughout the world, and time and again, our military members have proven up to the challenges posed by these forces," Gov. Perry said. "In Texas, we will always remember the courage and dedication of our men and women in uniform, and do everything we can to help them heal and return capably to the workforce."
The governor called for a constitutional amendment extending a full property tax exemption to spouses and children of members of the armed forces who were killed in action, building on the current $5,000 tax exemption that spouses and children currently receive. Gov. Perry signed House Bill 3613 in 2009, which granted a property tax exemption to 100 percent disabled veterans. This exemption was extended in 2011 to the surviving spouses of those veterans through Senate Bill 516.
Gov. Perry touted a new, industry-driven initiative by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) that will help connect veterans with job opportunities, and provide veterans and employers with funds for training and occupation certifications in the energy industry. TWC is dedicating existing general revenue funds to help offset training costs for the veteran and employer. 
He also reiterated his support for TWC's Hiring Red, White & You Campaign, which connects veterans with employers and job opportunities in Texas. TWC is partnering with 28 local workforce development board areas and the Texas Veterans Commission to host veterans' job fairs across the state on November 15.
For more information about the governor's veterans' initiatives, please visit http://governor.state.tx.us/initiatives/veterans.
For more information about TWC veterans initiatives, please visit http://www.twc.state.tx.us/svcs/vetsvcs/veterans-services-program-overview.html.
 
 
(If you're wondering why his office is noted and 49 others aren't, his office sent that to the public account and I shared my thoughts earlier this morning.  We can repeat them in another entry but the focus above is on veterans.)
 
Something to remember this Veterans Day is how little coverage there is.  Aaron Schachter (PRI's The World -- link is audio and transcript) spoke with CORKSPHERE's Bill Corcoran yesterday about his decision to stop updating to his website.
 
Aaron Schacter: I wonder if it angers you at all that the military is so tight-lipped about what goes on in Afghanistan and Iraq.
 
Bill Corcoran: Yeah, I am.  I definitely am.  I feel that there should be more transparency.  I don't see any reason to keep it so quiet and hidden right now.  I think they'd just as soon see it disappear altogether and when they phase this thing out, it'll be like somebody will wake up one day and say, I haven't heard anything on that Afghanistan war for a while.  And then they'll say, oh, that's because we pulled out of there three months ago.
 
 
Yesterday, Krys Boyd (KERA's Think) spoke with Rita Nakashima Brock who co-wrote Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury after War and with retired military Chaplain Col Herman Keizer Jr. who are both co-directors of the Brite Divinity School's Soul Repair Center for the hour (here for the podcast).  Excerpt.
 
Krys Boyd:  What's fascinating about this issue is that, in some ways, in order to come back in one piece you have to set aside normal human empathy to survive.  Is that right?
 
Col Herman Keizer Jr.: Yeah, and one of the problems when going to warwar is that you're trained really to kill and take life.  The military says that you're here to kill people and break thing.  Sso they have to train them.  And one of the discussions I've had a lot with the senior military is we train them to be so reflexive that that they just move and engage the enemy before they think about it.  And in some sense, that's the best reaction you could ask for on the battle field.  The last thing you want is for somebody to scratch their head and say, "Do I shoot or don't I?" And so the military, it does train them and it does train them very well so that they are now very reflexive in their responses on the battlefield but those reflexi actions are reflected on later and then the moral kind of injury begins to set in.  Several of the stories coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan are where people are in automobiles and coming towards them and they're in some kind of firefight already.  And here they see these other vehicles coming towards them and they yell at people to stop and for some communication reasons or something they don't stop.  So the suspicion is that it's the enemy and then you shoot.  And you see a baby flying out of the back of the car, you know, you know, dead in its mother's arms.  And the mother holds it up and it's says to the soldier why?  And the soldier says why?  It's just one of those fog of war kinds of things that cause real moral ambiguity.
 
Krys Boyd:  So they're left -- the people who have gone through these experiences with the question of: who am I?  Am I this person who had to shoot, who did shoot? Or am I the person who comes home and thinks, how could I have hurt a child? Or an innocent person
 
Rita Nakashima Brock:  And I think that soldiers have different responses to those situations.  Some people say, 'Well I did the right thing because it could have been an enemy.  And others will say, "How could I have killed a child?  How could I have done that?" It's not -- There's not a one size fits all response to war but it is true that there's -- especially in insurgency wars like we're fighting -- even the military moral code of not killing civilians doesn't apply.
 
 
 
Turning to an Iraq War veteran who was pulled from Iraq and thrown behind bars,  Bradley Manning.  Major news in the ongoing case against Bradley.   Monday April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks released US military video of a July 12, 2007 assault in Iraq. 12 people were killed in the assault including two Reuters journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. Monday June 7, 2010, the US military announced that they had arrested Bradley Manning and he stood accused of being the leaker of the video. Leila Fadel (Washington Post) reported in August 2010 that Manning had been charged -- "two charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The first encompasses four counts of violating Army regulations by transferring classified information to his personal computer between November and May and adding unauthorized software to a classified computer system. The second comprises eight counts of violating federal laws governing the handling of classified information." In March, 2011, David S. Cloud (Los Angeles Times) reported that the military has added 22 additional counts to the charges including one that could be seen as "aiding the enemy" which could result in the death penalty if convicted. The Article 32 hearing took place in December. At the start of this year, there was an Article 32 hearing and, February 3rd, it was announced that the government would be moving forward with a court-martial. Prior to today, Bradley had yet to enter a plea and has neither affirmed that he is the leaker nor denied it. The court-martial was supposed to begin before the election but it was postponed until after the election so that Barack wouldn't have to run on a record of his actual actions.
 
Arun Rath (PRI's The World) notes Bradley's civilian defense has posted a statement online.  David E. Coombs is Bradley's civilian attorney and he posted the following:
 
 
PFC Manning has offered to plead guilty to various offenses through a process known as "pleading by exceptions and substitutions."  To clarify, PFC Manning is not pleading guilty to the specifications as charged by the Government.  Rather, PFC Manning is attempting to accept responsibility for offenses that are encapsulated within, or are a subset of, the charged offenses.  The Court will consider whether this is a permissible plea.
PFC Manning is not submitting a plea as part of an agreement or deal with the Government.  Further, the Government does not need to agree to PFC Manning's plea; the Court simply has to determine that the plea is legally permissible.  If the Court allows PFC Manning to plead guilty by exceptions and substitutions, the Government may still elect to prove up the charged offenses.  Pleading by exceptions and substitutions, in other words, does not change the offenses with which PFC Manning has been charged and for which he is scheduled to stand trial.
PFC Manning has also provided notice of his forum selection.  He has elected to be tried by Military Judge alone.
 
 
 
Iraqi children,  August 18th we noted,Alsumaria notes that an 18-year-old male has been arrested in Basra. He is a suspect in the kidnapping, rape and murder of a four-year-old girl."  Now dropping back to October 13th: "Violence that is presumably unconnected to the war -- but who knows in a war zone -- includes the rape and murder of four-year-old Abeer Ali Abdul, reported by Al Mada.  She is the second girl in her area of Nasiriyah to be kidnapped and found murdered."   AP covers the story today.  They noted the two rapes and murders are not thought to be linked.  In the first case, Banan Haider is the name of the victim, an Iraqi soldier has been found guilty.  Usual caveat: Iraq does not have a functioning legal system and 'confessions' via torture are very common.  As a result, the guilty may or may not be the ones convicted.  At this site, we do not accept the lying premise that 'confessions' under torture are confessions.  We do not endorse torture and we don't even casually embrace it here.  The man may or may not be guilty.  What is known is that Banan's parents want him to be publicly executed to 'teach a lesson.'  I'm sorry, Iraq's crime rate has dropped recently?
 
 
Dropping back to the October 15th snapshot:


So far this year, Iraq is known to have executed 119 people. It has ignored calls from the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and others to impose a moratorium on the death penalty. Despite the fact that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani insists he is against the death penalty and regularly basks in applause for that stance, he has not blocked one execution. (His 'opposition' is refusing to sign the death warrants, leaving it for a vice president to sign it. As president, he could object to any or all executions and stop them immediately. He refuses to use that power.)
These executions are beginning to cause more problems for Iraq. Kitabat reports that Alegeria has summed the Iraqi ambassador to express their alarm that an Alegerian, Abdullah Ahmad Belhadi, has been executed and Saudi Arabia is objecting to plans to execute their citizens -- though Faleh al-Fayad, Iraqi national security adviser, declares the Saudi executions will go forward.

It doesn't appear that executions are dettering crime.  But then, they never have.  Crime is a risk and a person acts on impulse (crimes of passion) or weighs the risks.  Few people, especially younger in life, ever picture themselves dying or being executed in their own near future.  Do you know who has to factor in the threat of death?  Attorneys in Iraq.  Specifically, Thamer Qamqoom (Okaz/Saudi Gazette) reports that Iraqi attorneys who have Saudi prisoners in the Iraqi prison system are receiving death threats.  Of the clients, Qamqoom reports:
 
Abdul Rahman Al-Jurais, who is defending Saudi prisoners in Iraq, said one of the Saudi prisoners, Malwah Zaid Al-Shammary, has been suffering from amnesia and is now mentally handicapped as a result of being tortured by Iraqi prison officers.
He said the prisoner's family authorized him to arrange for their son to return to Sakaka, where he was born and raised.
He entered Iraq in 2008 and was later placed in a notorious prison.
Currently, he is an inmate at Krobar Prison near Baghdad Airport.
Malwah's brother said: "My brother suffers from chronic psychological disorders. That's what I was told by some prisoners.
"I urge authorities including the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Commission to save my brother.
"He should be transferred to a mental health hospital immediately."
 
 
But Iraq can't stop issuing death penalty sentences.  Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi has been sentenced to death four times in the last weeks.  (Tareq is a political rival of Nouri al-Maliki's.  Tareq belongs to Iraqiya -- which won the most seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections -- and he is Sunni.)  AFP notes that yesterday it was announced that two bodyguards of Tareq have been given death sentences. This is in addition to the six announced earlier this week.
 
From state-sanctioned violence to other violence, Alsumaria reports 1 corpse was discovered in Baghdad (gun shot wounds), a Kirkuk roadside bombing injured two police officers, and the Associate Director of the Rafidain Bank was kidnapped near his Aden home and a nephew of a Dawa Party official was shot dead in Kut by four unidentified assailants. All Iraq News adds that 2 corpses were discovered in Sulaymaniyah.  In addition, Reuters notes, "Turkish air force jets and attack helicopters pounded Kurdish militants along the border with Iraq on Thursday, killing 13, the local governor's office and security sources said on Friday."  Press TV adds 1 Turkish soldier died in the fighting as well.    Aaron Hess (International Socialist Review) described the PKK in 2008, "The PKK emerged in 1984 as a major force in response to Turkey's oppression of its Kurdish population. Since the late 1970s, Turkey has waged a relentless war of attrition that has killed tens of thousands of Kurds and driven millions from their homes. The Kurds are the world's largest stateless population -- whose main population concentration straddles Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria -- and have been the victims of imperialist wars and manipulation since the colonial period. While Turkey has granted limited rights to the Kurds in recent years in order to accommodate the European Union, which it seeks to join, even these are now at risk."
 
Iraq is rich in oil -- apparently not rich enough to do away with greed, however.   MarketWatch reports, "OAO Lukoil Hodlings, Russia's second-largest oil producer, has received an offer from Exxon Mobil Corp. on the U.S. major's West Qurna-1 oil field project in Iraq, Lukoil Deputy President Andrei Kuzyayev was quoted as saying by Interfax Friday."  Most of the time when someone has "received an offer," it's because they're attempting to sell something.  In this case Lukoil is not selling, ExxonMobil is.  Vladimir Soldatkin, Ashmed Rasheed and William Hardy (Reuters) note, "ExxonMobil has informed the Iraqi government it wants to pull out of the $50 billion oil project in southern Iraq.  LUKOIL, which is already developing West Qurna-2, has previously said West Qurna-1 is 'too big for it to swallow', but on Friday said it would at least look into the proposal."  After the decision last month to buy billions of weapons from Russia, it may appear Russia and Iraq are getting very close -- and they might be.  But friendly?  Do you threaten a friend?  AFP reports, "Baghdad has told Russian energy giant Gazprom to either cancel its energy contracts in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region or abandon its work with the central government, a spokesperson said on Friday."
 
On the topic of government greed, Sinan al-Shabibi tells Prashant Rao (AFP),  "Since 2009, they wanted to fire me, and they wanted money from the reserves.  I think the main problem . . . is basically the reserves, because they thought we have a lot of reserves, and they want to use it for financing.  The government wanted some money from the Central Bank. . . . Of course, the law does not allow that, the central bank law."  Who is Sinan al-Shabibi?  Dropping back to October 15th:

  Al Mada reports today that Parliament sources say an arrest warrant exists for Sinan al-Shabibi, the Centeral Bank president, and that the people are seeing this as another effort by Nouri to take control of the independent institution.  Alsumaria notes that al-Shabibi is currently in Tokyo at a conference and due to return to Baghdad later today.  Dar Addustour offers a run down on what happened with the warrant itself  It was issued by a judge who did not ask questions and when the news reached the Chief Justice Medhat al-Mahmoud, he ordered that the warrant be pulled.   Iraqiya's spokesperson Maysoun al-Damalouji tells the outlet that it is necessary for the central bank  to maintain its independence.
 
The next day,   All Iraq News noted that Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc was accusing Nouri of targeting the Centeral Bank due to the independence of the institution. 
 
Nouri and troubles are never far apart.  Tuesday, his spokesperson announced that the food-ration-card system (a program by which Iraqis were able to get flour, sugar, and other staples) was being stopped.  And that was supposed to be the end of that.  It hasn't been the end of anything.
 

Alsumaria reports that today, during Friday prayers, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani declared his objection to gutting the program.  The statement noted that the government justifications for ending the program are neither logical nor acceptable and that those of faith in Iraq must object to the push to end the program due to the fact that it will increase the burden on the poor.  Further,  al-Sistani noted that the price of food cannot be left up to the merchants because each month of Ramadan has seen prices soar with the increased demand and the government has been powerless to do anything about it.  To the insistence by Nouri supporters that the program must be gutted to fight corruption, al-Sistani responded that if the government has failed to prevent corruption, that is no reason to punish the citizens for its own failures.  The statement ended with al-Sistani noting that his words were neither a political nor economic stand but instead an expression of the beliefs and hopes of the Iraqi people.


Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is a higher official that Nouri or most elected ones.  That's in part because of his role as a spiritual leader and in part due to his biography.  On the latter, he never fled Iraq.  Under Saddam Hussein, he was persecuted.  But he stayed in Iraq.  The people know he will stay in Iraq.  Unlike many of Nouri's now former Cabinet ministers, for example, he won't flee the country (those ministers often have accusations of theft attached to their names).  Unlike many, he doesn't hold dual citizenship.  He is an Iraqi who commands a great deal of respect in the country and that goes beyond Shi'ite and Sunni divisions.

Kitabat covers al-Sistani's statement and notes others objecting as well including Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi.  All Iraq News reports that people flocked into the streets of Najaf following morning prayers and took part in a mass demonstration against cancelling the ration cards.  Participants included Imams.  The people are calling on their provinical government to argue against dropping the ration cards.  Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai declared  in Karbala during morning prayers today that the decision must be reviewed because it is unacceptable and is rejected by religious authority.     All Iraq News notes that the Kurdistan Alliance has issued a statement denouncing Nouri's decision and insisting the ration card system is needed.  Kitabat reports that Moqtada al-Sadr is no longer just objecting to the cancellation, he's now demanding that the Cabinet make public which Cabinet ministers voted to cancel the program.  Today al-Shabibi tells AP, "They want to control the central bank.  If they control the central bank, they will destroy the economy."   In the face of all of this, the smart thing politically would be to announce that the food-ration-card system would remain in place.
 
It's not as if Nouri's not hoping for a third term as prime minister.  Al Mada reports that Parliament's efforts to pass a law limiting the three presidencies (Speaker of Parliament, President of Iraq and Prime Minister) to two terms has resulted in State of Law (Nouri's political slate) insisting that, if such a law passes, they will appeal to the Federal Court.  That's the court that has repeatedly and continually deferred to Nouri's wishes over and over, year after year, regardless of what the Iraqi constitution says.  Nouri's attorney declared yesterday that, should such a law pass, it wouldn't be binding on Nouri.
 
 
 
 Also Alsumaria notes two villages in Basra are being victimized by packs of stray dogs with six children and one man bitten in the last two days alone.  The dogs have not been confirmed as having rabies at present (though that is a concern of the people in the two villages).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Veterans Day


Veterans Day is Sunday.  There will be ceremonies Sunday but many will observe it on Monday.  October 30th, we noted the Clinton Township's Mall at Partridge Creek was a good stopping point for veterans on the Sunday and Monday because the mall's California Pizza Kitchen was offering "a complimentary pizza and non-alcoholic beverage" for veterans and active duty military service members on those two days."

calkitchn

As the screen snap above notes, this is no longer just the one location.  California Pizza Kitchen is doing it nationwide.  You'll need to be in uniform or have military ID or some proof of service.

Good for California Pizza Kitchen and good for Applebees which will offer veterans and active duty military a free entree on Sunday November 11th (choose from three-cheese chicken penne, a bacon cheddar cheeseburger, oriental chicken salad, 7 ounce sirloin, chicken tenders platter, fiesta lime chicken or double crunch shrimp).

Saturday in Los Angeles is "A Day For Heroes" which is free for veterans, active duty military, and family members and includes a barbeque and a concert.  In the state of Washington, parades will take place Saturday in Auburn, West Richland, Vancouver, Port Angeles and Spokane -- while there will be a Veterans Breakfast in RainerSaturday will also see the Atlanta Veterans Day Parade in Georgia. Shreveport, LA will see a Veterans Day Biker Event hosted by Veterans For Veterans -- with a motorcycle parade, a bike show, a car show and a silent auction with proceeds going to support veterans.

Nashville will hold a Veterans Day Parade on SundayColumbia, South Carolina will also hold a Veterans Day parade.  In Berkeley, you can attend a benefit performance of Soldier Stories (tickets $20.50 in advance, $22.50 at the door) with the proceeds going to help homeless veterans. In Kihei, Hawaii, there will be a Luau at the VFW Hall.  That's at 2110 Uluniu Road and it starts at 5:00 pm.  I don't have a link so I'm noting time and location.  (A friend asked me to note the event.)  Albuquerque, New Mexico will host a Veterans Day Parade on SundayDelaware will host a Veterans Day Ceremony in New CastleMiami will host a Veterans Day Parade on SundayTampa will host a Central Florida Military Resource Fair open to all veterans and active duty military which will include job info, benefits and health care opportunities, flu shots and medical screenings.


Monday, Montgomery, Alabama will host the Third Annual River Region Veterans Day Parade.  In Pueblo, Colorado, there will be a Veterans Day Commemoration at Colorado State University.

 
With the exception of one item above, all the above were noted in an e-mail.  I'd stated here on October 30th to let me know if there was an event you wanted noted.  In addition to the above and the one from a friend, I also made a point to check Rick Perry's homepage.  You may remember, he's the Governor of Texas.  You may remember he stomped his feet when running for the GOP presidential nomination, insisting that there should be a veterans parade following the drawdown in Iraq.


As we pointed out then, the Congress spent that money years ago -- money allocated for a parade -- and the country was now in an economic crunch.  The White House was defended here on this issue.  And I also noted that Big Bad Rick Perry was a state governor and if he wanted to parade so badly, nothing prevented him -- even while campaigning -- from staging a parade in Texas -- or throughout Texas.

Texas will hold many events to note Veterans Day.  I'm not implying anything negative about the state or its citizens.  A huge number of Texans are members of The Common Ills community.  I love to visit Texas, it's a wonderful state.  But I am saying that Rick Perry is an idiot.

If I'd thrown a hissy fit for months saying the White House should have held a parade, I think I'd be noting Veterans Day events on my homepage.  I think I would even have a Veterans Day Proclamation at the top of my "RECENT NEWS."

I often felt like I was beating up on Rick Perry in ways I wouldn't have others and I didn't want to take part in a public stoning but I felt he was using veterans and mouthing empty words.  I was so hoping to be proven wrong today.  I wasn't.  In fact, where I was wrong was in not calling him out louder and stronger.  Because if you give a damn about veterans issues, you don't need prompting to discuss or note them.

perry


He hasn't.

You're judged by what you do.  If that's still not sunk in for Rick Perry, maybe that explains how he became a national joke while pursuing the Republican Party's presidential nomination.



 CBS News has posted a video of Iraq War veteran Alex Horton explaining what he would say to himself, if he could go back and speak to the 21-year-old on the verge of deploying to Iraq:

You're going to be in Iraq for 15 long months, but it's going to take the rest of your life to come home. Remember mom talking about grandpa having issues 40 years after the Korean War? He had it much worse than you, but you will see many of the same things he did. That's a strange thing about war. It never changes, and it will never leave the air.
Nothing I can say will prepare you for life back in the states. Running water and supermarkets will feel like decadent luxuries. The warm touch of a woman will feel so good that it'll be almost unbearable. But your heightened senses will also betray you. Crowded bars will suffocate you. Loud noises in the night will launch you out of bed and into the embrace of a pistol. But it's up to you if it's going to be a point of strength or a point of weakness. But every night gets easier, and after a while, you'll sleep like a rock most nights.



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





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