Sunday, August 02, 2015

Hejira

Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com) notes, "During July, Antiwar.com found that 1,286 civilians and security personnel were killed across Iraq. Another 1,508 were wounded. Of those killed, 860 were civilians. Antiwar.com also counted 3,361 militant deaths. Another 102 militants were reported wounded. The figures were compiled from media sources."


Possibly because the United Nations released their figures on a Saturday, possibly because so few in the media care about Iraq, even the UN death toll received little attention.


Saturday's protests didn't get much press attention either.

When they did get attention, it was usually bad reporting like what Anne Barnard offered for the New York Times:


Several thousand people — workers, artists and intellectuals — demonstrated Friday evening in Tahrir Square in the center of Baghdad, chanting and carrying signs about the lack of electricity and blaming corruption for it. They blocked traffic at a major roundabout, waiting until sundown to avoid the heat and to have more impact, since the streets are quieter during the day as people stay out of the sun.

In Baghdad it took place, did it?

Protests took place across Iraq.

How stupid can you be?

A lot more:

The protest was unusual in that it did not appear to have been called for by any major political party. People carried Iraqi flags and denounced officials. Security forces with riot shields blocked them from moving across a bridge toward the restricted Green Zone where many officials live.


I'm sorry, what political party called for the protests in Iraq that were launched in December of 2012 and lasted through January 2014?

Oh, that's right: None.

What an idiot.

What a liar.

What a cheap, tacky whore.

The youth movement called for that earlier long running protest and they began making calls for protests again starting about 12 days ago on Arabic social media.

I know that but a reporter paid to cover Iraq for the New York Times doesn't?

How very sad.

Back to her 'report':


Courteous police officers handed out water, a shift from earlier years, when they responded harshly to electricity protests. One police officer even denounced his commanders, saying they had sent him and other officers to infiltrate the protest as provocateurs. Instead, he had joined it.

Shouting at a cellphone camera with the protest visible behind him, he said he was told to “ruin the protest.” Cursing his boss by name and flashing a police identity card, he added: “We will continue calling for our demands even if you fire me.”


When they responded harshly to electricity protests?

What a damn liar.

And if you're the New York Times who -- unlike NPR and the Washington Post -- couldn't report on Nouri ordering reporters covering a protest be arrested and tortured maybe you need to take a little more care with your reporting.

At first, I was bothered by how little press the protests received.

Then I read some of the coverage and was bothered by the coverage itself.

Anne Barnard also forgets to tell readers that Haider al-Abadi, Iraq's prime minister, termed the protests an "early warning sign."

She 'forgets' a great deal.

Media Matters is a joke and pretends to care about Iraq when they can use it to defend their golden girl Hillary Clinton.

But the reality is that when the Times repeatedly gets Iraq wrong -- to this day -- Media Matters says nothing because it's not a media watchdog and it doesn't give a damn about Iraq.



The whole thing reads like it was co-written by the State Dept's Brett McGurk.

In other words, Gina Chon, you should remember how you fondled Brett while he read your copy back in the day in Baghdad and wonder if Brett's now screwing Anne Bernard?

What's that, Gina, you're married to Brett?

Well you were married to someone else -- as was Brett -- when the two of you were screwing in Baghdad, remember?


What goes around comes around.




I'm traveling in some vehicle
I'm sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
That shell shock love away
-- "Hejira," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her album of the same name



 The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4497.


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