Hump day, hump day. Two days until the weekend. Thank goodness, right?
Okay this is from David Rogers (Politico):
Stuck in neutral, Democrats are watching their summer economic agenda whittle away each day, with Republicans driving the debate through Senate filibuster rules and their political lock in the House over new war funding sought by President Barack Obama.
Republican leaders warned Wednesday that their members will withhold support for the House war funding bill if Democrats attempt to add new domestic spending, including $10 billion to help local school boards avert teacher layoffs in the fall.
I'm supposed to cry that Barack's having trouble with yet another supplemental to fund the illegal wars? I hope the Republicans refuse to back it. I don't care why. If Congress stops funding the wars, that's a good thing.
We need to bring all the troops home. I don't care if the Republicans voted against it because they didn't like Barack. I was wanting Dems to vote against things because they didn't like Bush. The wars need to end.
This NPR story covers Time magazine which is successful; however, Newsweek's struggling. Is it over for the print weeklies? I don't think it will be for Time. They'd already set themselves up with 'specials' like "Person of the Year." And they're so much better than Newsweek in terms of being interesting. Even in high school, I couldn't stand Newsweek because (a) the look and (b) the brief 'articles.' It never felt like a magazine, didn't read like one either. And now that it's opinion and no reporting, who needs it?
The big story is McCrystal today -- I guess. I don't have an opinion, sorry. There are more pressing issues in my own life and I don't feel like I have to offer an opinion on everything. That's how you become a know-it-all and a gas bag.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, June 23, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, the US Congress explores veterans issues in times of regional/national and international emergencies, the US military announces another death, Iraq's electric problems continue and more.
"On September 11, 2001," declared US House Rep Harry Mitchell this morning, "we witnessed one of the greatest tragedies in American history. Still today, we all remember the horrific scenes of these terrorist attacks. Four years later, in 2005, the Gulf Coast was hit by one of the biggest natural disasters the region has ever seen, as Hurricane Katrina swept through the region killing thousands and leaving many homeless and displaced. And sadly, again today, we see Gulf states struggling with yet another major disaster, as the oil continues to spill. These types of events highlight the critical need for federal agencies to proactively prepare to effectively execute their federal obligations -- especially when called upon during emergencies." Whether a national disaster, international or regional, how does the VA intend to ensure that veterans needs are met regardless?
Chair Mitchell was opening the House Committee on Veterans Affairs' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. (He also recognized veteran Terry Araman for his work in Arizona with homeless veterans, Araman is the program director of the Madison Street Veterans Association.) There were three panels. The American Red Cross' Neal Denton, the Healthcare Coalition's Darrell Henry, the American Legion's Barry A. Searle and BT Marketing's John Hennigan composed the first panel. The second panel was Capt D.W. Chen of the DoD, Christy Music (DoD), Kevin Yeskey (HHS) and Steven Woodard (Homeland Security). Panel three was VA's Jose Riojas with the VA's Kevin Hanretta and Gregg Parker. We'll note this exchange.
Chair Harry Mitchell: I have a question for anybody who would like to answer this. In reviewing the National Response plan, there's a myriad of federal resources called upon in response to a crisis. How do we determine if the agencies will be able to work together? Yes, just go ahead in any [order].
John N. Hennigan: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I can -- I can speak from experience in Montgomery County [Texas] when we had [Hurricane] Ike occur. We first had [Hurricane] Rita hit the Gulf Coast and it was truly total confusion. And what we found Contra[-Flow] Lanes in the freeway to try to - to try to evacuate people on the Gulf Coast was a disaster. It was done too late. Communications between EMS, fire stations, police, sheriff, state police was uh, was inappropriate. Since that time, prior to Ike, we all went on same frequencies. We developed a program where Contra-Flow Lanes were done well in advance versus-versus a uh 24 hour mandate, get-out-of-town. So I think a lot of it is, can-can communities -- in this case with the VA -- can the community officials communicate to the VAs and vice-versa on the same frequency -- whether it's radio, whether there's a set plan or one organization that coordinates all the entities as we're doing in Montgomery County right now. Can that happen? And when that happens, it just makes life a lot easier for everybody because you only have one source to go to and they'll do the -- they'll delegate the appropriate things to do.
Chair Harry Mitchell: You know there's a -- again -- a myriad of agencies involved in all of the emergency preparedness. And, again, let me just ask others, how do we determine if these agencies are able to work together? Sometimes I think there's miscommunication of who has what role to play. How can we determine that? Do we determine that?
Barry A. Searle: Well, sir, as far as the DoD - VA interaction, one of the things that we see as very positive is on a day-to-day basis now in the attempt to develop the lifetime virtual records has established communications between DoD, VA and the public sector actually as far as transferring public information on veterans. The hope by the American Legion is that that will have started the -- a crack in the dyke, if you will. There's no question that stove piping exists and it has to be broken down. Through the-the-the national framework -- response framework -- and people have assigned positions, jobs and responsibilities -- For example, American Legion is not telling VA how to do that but it would be reasonable that they would be under the ESF8 as a support function, that they would not be an elite function in this case. But there is a framework there for telling people what they should be doing and feeding into it. But I think that VA has taken some serious steps into making a coordination with other entities -- be it DoD and civilian doctors, for example -- which will eventually help with the system. It's not going to solve the whole thing, but at least it's a starting point.
Neal Denton: Mr. Chairman, if you don't mind, I'd like to say something to this too. So much of this builds on exercises -- the national level exercises -- that take place in the country where we bring these groups together and have a table-top exercise in advance so that we get to know who the players are and what their capacities are, what it is, they're going to bring to the table, what it is that they thought we were going to be bringing in and we discover, "Oh, no, that's actually something we need to resolve somewhere else." So much of this really happens on a local level. You know, I mentioned in my testimony, that the event we just had at we had out at Fort Belvoir where we had a preparedness event. At that parking lot there in the PX, all of the players who would respond to a disaster in Fort Belvoir were there. It was a bright sunny day and we were handing out preparedness kits but the other thing that was going on was we were who'd be responding to a disaster if something were to happen there. Having a chance to talk to each other, connect with other and talk a little about what our roles and responsibilities are if something were to happen. The more of these that happen on a local level, I think the more success that we're going to have.
Chair Harry Mitchell: I just was looking at the federal response plan and the VA has a support role with four different agencies that have the primary response. We have a support role with DoD. There's one with the American Red Cross. There's one with the GSA also HHS. And I just hope, that's what part of this hearing is about, is to make sure that everybody understands their role -- in a support or a primary role.
Does anyone feel like there's a plan? How about a plan to have plan? We're not wasting time on the second panel. For example, Capt Chen was b.s.ing and Chair Mitchell stopped him and informed him of the law -- actually made it clear (nicely) that he knew the law Chen was talking around -- and how it worked and asked specifically -- again -- what VA and DoD were coordinating on and instead of a direct answer, Chen wasted several more minutes offering a historical overview. An overview that it was very clear that the Subcommittee didn't need. (And, again, hadn't asked for.) "I understand about the wartime, again, but I'm asking about the natural disasters where DoD is part of the response team," Chair Mitchell attempted for a third time with Chen. Whether DoD didn't want the issue addressed or whether Chen didn't have the information is an unknown. But it was a waste of time and Mitchell's attempts to redirect were repeatedly ignored. Christy Music noted she'd grab it -- to everyone else on the panel before she made the statement to the Chair -- and she then ignored the question to offer yet another historical overview. Chair Mitchell wanted to know when the last time the two department -- VA and DoD -- cooridnated and no one could or would answer the very clear question. Over three minutes after she began 'answering' the Chair's question, Music stated, "So to answer your question more specifically, we coordinate with them daily, certainly two to three times a week." And, no, that didn't answer his question. Coordinate with them on what? On what Mitchell was asking about? Yesterday we heard about DoD and VA coordination on health care, for example (and we'll go back to that in a moment). That's not what the Chair was asking and his question was never answered. If the plan was to run out the clock, the witnesses were successful in that.
We're going to drop back to yesterday to note Tuesday's Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing. Committee Chair Carl Levin's initial questions were noted in yesterday's snapshot. Today we'll note Senator Daniel Akaka's. Appearing before the Committee was Gen Peter Chiarelli (Army), Adm Jonathan Greenert (Navy), Gen James Amos (Marine Corps), Gen Carrol Chandler (Air Force), and the VA's Dr. Robert Jesse.
Senator Daniel Akaka: In continuing to work with you and my colleagues we can refine efforts to prevent military suicides and to look for better ways to treat the -- to detect and treat and care for those suffering from invisible wounds of war. General Chiarelli and General Amos, suicide prevention is difficult and challenging -- and for all of you on our panel, this has come about, of course, because of what we call combat stress. And as was mentioned, this includes PTSD, TBI and behavioral health issues that we are facing here. As was previously stated, the services have experienced a rise in the numbers of suicides since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq started. And there is a need to understand suicide, look at the causes so we can understand it and prevent it. Generals Chiarelli and Amos and also Dr. Jesse, how can the VA and DoD better collaborate in the area of suicide research and prevention? This has been mentioned by General Chiarelli as a great need here and I'd like to have the three of you give your perspectives on this.
Gen Peter Chiarelli: Well I would argue --
Senator Daniel Akaka: General Chiarelli?
Gen Peter Chiarelli: -- the cooperation between the VA and the services, I believe, has never been better. I think the disability evaluation pilot that we're running at different installations is proving to be a great success for the United States Army. And the wonderful thing about this is is that when a soldier goes through the DES uh we ensure that if they're leaving the service that they're in the VA system. And this is something that has never happened before as far as I know. It is a wonderful benefit of this that when a soldier makes a decision to leave the service, he is in that VA system. Before we would in fact have soldiers separate and it would be their responsibility to work their way through the process to get in to receive both their medical benefits and other benefits through the VA system. I think that you've hit upon a key piece here and that is stressors but it's not only combat stress, it's individual soldier stress and family stress and when we look at those across a continuum. what we're seeing in the army with the high ops tempo that we're on today, that a soldier in the first six years that he or she spends in the United States Army has the cumulative stressors of an average American throughout their entire life. And that's when you combine high ops tempo, individual soldier stressors and family stressors. So this is an area we're looking at very, very hard. And when you realize that 79% of our suicides last year were soldiers in-in-in 60% in their first term, 79% one deployment or no deployment, I think it points to doing everything we possibly can to mitigate those stressors whenever possible and as we're working so hard to do in the Army, work to increase the resiliency of our soldiers -- particularly in their younger years.
Senator Daniel Akaka: Thank you. General Amos?
Gen James Amos: Senator, I'll be happy to talk about not only the relationship but the hand off between the military -- in my backyard, the Marine Corps -- and the Veterans Association. Like General Chiarelli, I have never seen it better. The entire organization is well led from the top down, from VA. They are compassionate, they are passionate about the care of our young men and women that enter their system. I've never seen it better. I'm fortunate to get to travel around and visit a lot of our VA hospitals and a lot of our wounded and I come away just completely wowed by what I see. There is a systematic handoff . In the Marine Corps, this is done by what we call our recovery care coordinators. We take some Marines -- we have them around the nation. They are not part of the federal recovery, but they are linked to it. They are US marines whose job it is in life to know everything they can about the VA system and so when a Marine transitions -- especially one of our wounded Marines -- transitions out into -- heading to VA Land, after his disability board and he's moving on to the next half of his life, that recovery care coordinator contacts the federal recovery care coordinator, the District Entrance Support Marines we have out there, our network of Marines for life, put our arms around this guy. But I've seen it first hand where the actual hand off for a needy Marine, in some cases two years after the injury, after the initial injury -- I just saw this last -- about last month down in Corpus Christie, Texas. A young Marine, TBI two years ago his life is unraveled right now and through the federal recovery coordinator and the VA in San Antonio and our care coordinator we were able to plug this Marine, get him back into a hospital right away for further care. So, I've never seen it better, Senator.
Senator Daniel Akaka: Let me ask Admiral Greenert for your comments as well as General Chandler after you.
Admiral Jonathan Greenert: Thank you, Senator. I think General Chiarelli and Amos hit the nail on the head. Cooperation is very good. In fact, we meet monthly-- with leadership of the VA and the leadership of the Dept of Defense to streamline the Defense -- the Disability -- excuse me -- Evaluation System. I would say that what we are finding in our study of suicides, the transitional period seems to be a spike in stressors and this is an area we need to watch very closely -- this transition period -- and be sure that our Sailors have the social support network that they've had as they've moved through their career in the Navy as long as it is. It's also a focus area to watch out for those stressors. Thank you.
Senator Daniel Akaka: General Chandler?
Gen Carrol Chandler: Senator, we have approximately 700 Airman in our wounded warrior program. These are young men and women whose lives have been changed forever and that we are dedicated to taking care of from the time they've been wounded until they no longer need our services in the Air Force and we make the transition to the federal system if, in fact, that's required and we're not able to bring them back to the Air Force. We use much the same system that General Amos described with recovery care coordinators that allow us to do that around the nation, to service the men and women that require that kind of treatment and that kind of handling. We're very comfortable with our relationship with the VA and the way that's working.
Senator Daniel Akaka: Well I'm glad that we've been working on what we call seemless transition and it appears that we're moving along in that. Dr. Jesse?
Dr. Robert Jesse: Thank you, sir. So as not to reiterate things that have already been said. I'd just like to point out a couple of areas where this level of integration has really become manifest. The first is in the post-deployment and health reassessment exercises. Uh, the VA generally has a presence at the exercises -- not to administer the exams but to be present to make sure that those service members are uh-uh aware of all of their benefits that the VA can provide. But also if there are immediate health and particularly mental health issues that arise, that they are there and can literally make an appointment on the spot. They can get them enrolled in VA, make an appointment and, if we need to take them into our care, we can do that. So that we participate in that -- The second is the poly-trauma networks uhm which really are while the VA has four going on five now poly-trauma centers of care those are really tightly integrated into the wounded war -- wounded warrior programs at Walter Reed and Bethesda. In fact, I had the real honor to accompany [VA] Deputy Secretary [W. Scott] Gould and Dr. Stanley on a tour of Walter Reed and them come directly down to Richmond and look at the seemless way that both patients and their information moved back and forth through those networks including the fact that VA represenatives stationed in the DoD facilities and DoD clinicians in the poly-trauma centers so that they ensure that any movement of a patient is a warm hand-off and not just being sent to another place. Finally, in the mental health area, I think there has just been an extraordinary collaboration uhm-uhm going on for some time now. There was a joint-conference in the fall of '09 that led to an integrated VA - DoD strategic plan and the real goal is to make sure that when, for instance, the -- there are evidence-based therapies for Post Traumatic Stress -- treatment of Post Traumatic Stress, the VA and the uh -- Dep -- the uh, services uh agree on how we treat those patients so that this treatment begins in the services and then transitions to the VA, we're not abruptly stopping one form of therapy and then herding them into another. And I think that is a hugely important point of collaboration that we've gotten that far.
How wonderful. There are no problems. Everyone said it worked wonderfully. So everything's perfect. And the service members have stopped taking their own lives, right? Suicide is now a thing of the past, right? Surely, it must be when it's being so wonderfully praised in a Senate hearing. Or maybe a lot of people just wanted to spin? Suicides didn't stop. And nothing raised in the above exchange really addresses the issue. Akaka clearly asked about military suicides and look at the responses. Kat offered her impressions of this hearing last night.
From one legislative body (in the US) to another (in Iraq), March 7th, Iraq concluded Parliamentary elections. Three months and two days later, still no government. 163 seats are needed to form the executive government (prime minister and council of ministers). When no single slate wins 163 seats (or possibly higher -- 163 is the number today but the Parliament added seats this election and, in four more years, they may add more which could increase the number of seats needed to form the executive government), power-sharing coalitions must be formed with other slates, parties and/or individual candidates. (Eight Parliament seats were awarded, for example, to minority candidates who represent various religious minorities in Iraq.) Ayad Allawi is the head of Iraqiya which won 91 seats in the Parliament making it the biggest seat holder. Second place went to State Of Law which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89 seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place winner Iraqi National Alliance. Together, the two still lack four seats necessary (or so it is thought) to form the government. Mohamad Bazzi (National Newspaper) weighs in:Three months after it was elected, Iraq's new parliament convened on June 14 for a mere 18 minutes. Two men sat smiling in the front row: the prime minister Nouri al Maliki and Ayad Allawi, the former premier whose coalition won a narrow plurality of seats in the legislature. Each insists that he should lead the next government.But the man who might well be the kingmaker in forming a government and the selection of a new prime minister was not at the Baghdad convention centre for the swearing-in ceremony. Muqtada al Sadr, the anti-American Shiite cleric, was in the Iranian holy city of Qom, where he has lived in self-imposed exile since 2007.Meanwhile Heath Druzin (Stars & Stripes) reports Iraqiya's Hassan al-Alawi says that Ayad Allawi and Nouri al-Maliki will not come to an understanding or merge: "Not now and not ever, because the Shia and Kurdish parties will not allow it." Day Press reports that the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council leader Ammar al-Hakim was in Syria yesterday meeting with the country's President Bashar al-Assad and that the Syrian president "expressed the hope that the Iraqi political forces reach a unified stance to form a national unity government caring for the interests of the Iraqi people and serving as an introduction to the restoration of security and stability in Iraq and in the region in general." Xinhua notes, "Syria is currently hosting more than one million Iraqi refugees who have fled their home country since 2003." Alsumaria TV adds, "Sayyed Ammar Al Hakim for his part praised Syria's supportive and helpful stand towards Iraqi people's concerns and its keenness on preserving Iraq's unity, security, stability and territorial integrity."
Meanwhile an Iraqi correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers writes at Inside Iraq about the speech given by the new acting Minister of Electricity which was appalling and useless. The correspondent observes, "If this speech was given even one year into the occupation – I would understand. But after seven years - and more that 17 billion dollars (according to Bahaa al Araji, head of the legal committee in the former parliament) -- No improvement at all in the electricity is just not acceptable. Where did all the money go??" Richard Spencer (Telegraph of London) reports:
Mr Maliki is promising this will change, though slowly, if he returns to office – he is currently a caretaker prime minister while the main political parties try to put together a working coalition.
"You should not expect to solve the power crisis soon," he said at a press conference on Tuesday. "It will take two years at least. We will give priority to the electricity sector in the next government."
The American embassy issued a statement saying that 40 per cent of all its reconstruction budget, or $4.6 billion (£3 billion) had been spent on power infrastructure. Siemens and GE are currently building new power stations.
Stalemate in the politics, stalemate in the electricity. But not everything's a stalemate. The targeting of Iraq's LGBT community continues. Paul Canning (Guardian) explains:
Last week, 12 Iraqi police officers burst into a house in Karbala, beat up and blindfolded the six occupants and bundled them off in three vans, taking the computers they found with them. The house was then burned down by unknown people.The six included two gay men, one lesbian and two transgender people, and the house was a new "emergency shelter" run by the Iraqi LGBT organisation.Two days later, one of the men turned up in hospital with a throat wound saying he'd been tortured. Iraqi LGBT has ordered those in its other two safe houses to move immediately.The group says the police action is consistent with other state attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Iraq. It has information that the other five have been transported 100 miles north to the interior ministry in Baghdad, where they'll be interrogated (ie tortured) to find out more about the group. Then, going on past experience, they'll probably be handed to militias loyal to Shi'a clerics Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani and Muqtada al-Sadr (both of whom have called for homosexuals to be put to death) and their mutilated bodies will turn up later.But it is also clear from past experience that there is unlikely to be a sustained international outcry from gay people, governments or others about this latest incident.
Despite serious press attention and Congressional attention, the White House feels no pressure on the issue. For now US Ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill could care less and, when pressed, states it is not his job to tell Iraq what to do. What is Chris Hill's job, by the way? Iraq's LGBT community -- like the country itself -- is apparently on its own. All the people who once marched and rallied seemingly now have other things to do. The US went with thugs because thugs could intimidate the larger public and allow for the tag sale of Iraq's public goods. The thugs, once in power, have no desire to relinquish it. What has taken place in Iraq was no accident and the victims suffering today are not suffering through happenstance. Kilian Melloy (EDGE Boston) has long covered this topic and notes today, "Media accounts suggest that the United States' invasion of Iraq not only precipitated a 'crisis' level of anti-gay violence, but that through inaction and a reliance on local strong-arms, the U.S. is complicit in the ongoing pursuit, torture, and murder of gay Iraqis." In DC yesterday, at the State Dept, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech (link has text and video) on Pride Month. Heading the State Dept, Hillary's focus is on international issues. We'll note this from her speech:
And I'm very proud that the United States, and particularly the State Department, is taking the lead to confront the circumstances that LGBT people face in just going about their daily lives. So as we enjoy today's celebration and as we mark the progress that has been truly remarkable -- I know that when you're in the midst of a great movement of change it seems like it is glacial, but any fair assessment, from my perspective, having lived longer than at least more than 75 percent of you that I see in this room -- (laughter) -- is that it is extraordinary what has happened in such a short period of time.But think about what's happening to people as we speak today. Men and women are harassed, beaten, subjected to sexual violence, even killed, because of who they are and whom they love. Some are driven from their homes or countries, and many who become refugees confront new threats in their countries of asylum. In some places, violence against the LGBT community is permitted by law and inflamed by public calls to violence; in others, it persists insidiously behind closed doors. These dangers are not "gay" issues. This is a human rights issue. (Applause.) Just as I was very proud to say the obvious more than 15 years ago in Beijing that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, well, let me say today that human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights, once and for all. (Applause.) So here at the State Department, we will continue to advance a comprehensive human rights agenda that includes the elimination of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We are elevating our human rights dialogues with other governments and conducting public diplomacy to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons.
Those are wonderful words. I have no doubt that Hillary means each and every one of them; however, it's going to take more than words and there is no leadership in the administration on the LGBT issue. The State Dept actually has engaged in conversations with Iraqi government officials on the targeting of Iraq's LGBT community. So why doesn't the State Dept take credit for that? Why don't they go public with it? More needs to be done -- much, much more -- but if the State Dept doesn't make known what it has done on the issue, it appears they've done nothing. (Care 2 Make a Difference's Steve Williams endorses the speech strongly here.)
In today's violence, Reuters notes 3 police officers shot dead in Mosul, a Mosul hand grenade attack which left two people injured, a Tuz Khurmato roadside bombing which injured two police officers and, dropping back to last night, a Baghdad sticky bombing which injured a man and a woman.
Yesterday, the US military announced: "CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS BASE SPEICHER, Iraq – A U.S. Division – North Soldier died yesterday as a result of a non-combat related injury. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense. The names of service members are announced through the U.S. Department of Defense official website at http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/. The announcements are made on the Web site no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member's primary next of kin. The incident is under investigation." DoD issued the following: "The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Jacob P. Dohrenwend, 20, of Milford, Ohio, died June 21 at Balad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan. For more information, media may contact the Fort Riley public affairs office at 785-210-8867." The death brings to 4408 the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war.
In Detroit, the US Social Forum is taking place. Many people and organizations are participating including Iraq Veterans Against the War. IVAW has activities scheduled tomorrow and Friday.
1) GI Resistance Workshop Event Date: Thu, 06/24/2010 - 3:30pm - 5:30pm Event Location: WSU Student Center: Hilberry C
Full Description: Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) who have refused deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan will give testimony to the struggle and the value of resisting modern day militarism. Additionally, they will argue that empowering, strengthening, and building the GI Resistance movement is the most effective way to end the occupations - for every soldier that withdraws their consent for the continued occupations is one less gear in the war machine. Furthermore, to build and empower GI Resistance IVAW is focused on fighting for GI and Veteran Rights, to include the right to refuse orders and to Conscientious Objection at any time if they so declare, based on moral, religious, ethical or political reasons. We hope to begin a discussion of what type of long haul commitment and support it will take to build the GI and Veterans Movement.
Participants will be engaged through testimony and a question and answer session with the panel following the presentations. Presenters include Camilo Mejia, the first combat veteran to publicly refuse re-deployment to Iraq; Travis Bishop and Victor Agosto, Iraq veterans who publicly refused deployment to Afghanistan; and Robin Long, the first soldier to ever be deported from Canada after seeking political asylum.
2) Building a Military Resistance Movement: Veterans, Service Members & Allies Organizing Together (co-presented with Civilian Soldier Alliance and Courage to Resist)Event Date: Thu, 06/24/2010 - 1:00pm - 5:30pm Event Location: Cobo Hall: DO-4C
Full Description: This is a workshop led by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and civilian allies who are organizing within the military and veteran communities against the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
We aim to provide participants with an introduction to past and current military resistance movements, with a focus on outlining a new organizing model based on campaign building and leadership development. Iraq Veterans Against the War, Civilian Soldier Alliance, and Courage to Resist will detail what our day-to-day organizing work actually looks like.
Part of the workshop will be popular education-style discussions to create a space for veteran and ally participants to dialogue about our relationships to, and experiences with, the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, militarism, and anti- war and social justice organizing.
Through interactive training exercises, participants will be provided with some tools for how to be strong and accountable allies to veterans and service members. Participants will leave with ideas about how they can directly plug into IVAW's recently launched GI and Veterans Bill of Rights campaign, and how to build solidarity amongst common struggles.
3) Veterans and Military Families: Impact of the Wars; Impact on Movements (co-presented with Veterans For Peace and Military Families Speak Out). Event Date: Fri, 06/25/2010 - 1:00pm - 3:00pm Event Location: Cobo Hall: D2-14
Full Description: A small fraction of this country is involved in the armed services as a veteran, service member or military family. As a result, the burden of war in this country is isolated to a small few, making it easier for those in power to continue the wars. Veterans and military families thus have a crucial role in providing the ground truth to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and leading/inspiring the movements to end them.
The workshop will explore three points: a. Veterans and military families using their unique voices and perspectives to end the current wars. b. What has been the personal cost of war: lives lost and destroyed. c. Intersections of veteran and military families' concerns with movements for progressive, political and social change and how veterans and military families can play a role.
Panelists will share their perspective as a veteran or military family member, followed by large group discussion. Participants will gain a better understanding of the important role that veterans and military families can and should play in anti-war/peace movements. We hope participants begin to see ways veterans and military families can build relationships with other organizations and begin to develop strategic alliances across issues.
Lastly, Timothy Hsia (New York Times) attempts to note an ignored aspect of a report getting a great deal of attention, "The Rolling Stone profile on Gen. Stanley A. McChyrstal has made civil-military relations a national debate. But an equally important question raised by the article is the limitations of counterinsurgency, or COIN. The article by Michael Hastings article should not be read simply as a profile of a general but also as an indictment on counterinsurgency and the growing dissatisfaction inside the military with COIN theory and its practice in war (though General McChrystal's replacement on Wednesday, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the leading proponent of counterinsurgency, seemed to indicate there would be no immediate shift away from the strategy)."
iraqthe guardianpaul canning
kilian melloythe national newspapermohamad bazzistars and stripesheath druzinday pressxinhuaalsumaria tv
the telegraph of londonrichard spencer
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Jim Webb puts money ahead of veterans
Tuesday. Tonight's a short entry because I want everything to focus on one thing. It's the same thing I pushed for at Third ("Jim Webb puts money ahead of veterans ").
This is from C.I.'s Tuesday's "Iraq snapshot" last week:
Turning to veterans issues. WAVY reports (link has text and video) that victims of Agent Orange (specifically Vietnam era veterans) could receive addition benefits for B-Cell Leukemia, Parkinson's disease and coronary heart disease. Could? A US Senator is objecting to the proposed changes by VA. Jim Webb has written VA Secretary Eric Shinseki that ". . . this single executive decision is estimated to cost a minimum of $42.2 billion over the next ten years. A regulatory action of this magnitude requires proper Congressional review and oversight." Besides, Webb wrote, "Heart disease is a common phenomenon regardless of potential exposure to Agent Orange." That is really embarrassing and especially embarrassing for the Democratic Party (Webb is a Democrat today, having converted from a Reagan Republican). It also goes a long way towards explaining Webb's refusal to get on board with Senator Evan Bayh's bill to create a national registry that would allow those Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans to be able to receive treatment for their exposures without having to jump through hoops repeatedly.
If you're as disgusted by that as I am, please pass it around and get the word out. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, June 22, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, Iraq's LGBT community continues to be targeted, the Senate Armed Services Committee explores military suicides (and PTSD and TBI), and more.
"The Committee meets today to recieve testimony on the status of our efforts to prevent military suicides and the challenge in detection, treatment and management of the so-called invisible wounds of war which we consider to include Traumatic Brain Injury, concussive events, Post Traumatic Stress and other combat-related psychological health concerns A hearing on military suicides was requested by Senator [James] Inhofe several weeks ago and we all appreciate that request," Senator Carl Levin declared today bring the Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing to order. Appearing before the Committee was Gen Peter Chiarelli (Army), Adm Jonathan Greenert (Navy), Gen James Amos (Marine Corps), Gen Carrol Chandler (Air Force), and the VA's Dr. Robert Jesse.
Chair Carl Levin: The increase in suicides by military personnel in the last few years is alarming. In 2007, 115 Army soldiers committed suicide; in 2008 the number increased to 140, and to 162 in 2009. Similarly, 33 Marines committed suicides in 2007; 42 in 2008, and 52 in 2009. I understand that there are a number of additional cases where the Armed Forces Medical Examiner has not yet concluded whether the deaths are by suicide, so the 2009 numbers will likely be even higher. These increases indicate that despite the services' efforts, there is still much work to be done. We must improve our suicide prevention efforts to reverse the number of services members taking their own lives. I am greatly concerned about the increasing numbers of troops returning from combat with post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries and the number of those troops who may have experienced concussive injuries that were never diagnosed. Studies indicate that mild traumatic brain injury -- or concussion -- is associated with PTSD, depression and anxiety. These conditions, in turn, may contribute to the increase in the number of suicides. Key to suicide prevention is to make greater efforts to end the stigma that too many perceive attaches when they receive mental health care. Another key, of course, is the proper and timely diagnosis and treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress and increasing awareness of and access to mental health care resources as well as leadership support for those seeking such care. We hope to hear from our witnesses today the approach that each service and the Department of Veterans Affairs is taking to help detect, treat and manage psychological health problems to include Post Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury. The numbers of suicides have increased in every service, but significantly more so in the Army and Marine Corps, the two services most heavily engaged in ground combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress has recognized the strain on these ground forces and has over the past several years authorized significant increases in the active duty end strengths for the Army and the Marine Corps.
"The burdens of our missions in Iraq and Afghanistan are tremendous and so are the consequences for those who serve," Ranking Member John McCain stated. "Many of our service members have answered their country's call with multiple deployments to combat and little time for rest and recovery at home."
Chair Carl Levin: A couple of weeks ago, National Public Radio reported that the military is failing to diagnose brain injuries in troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, that the injuries were not documented on the battlefield, that soldiers with TBI don't always get the best medical treatment and interviews with soldiers at Fort Bliss revealed that some soldiers with TBI were crying out for help still had to wait more than a month to see a neurologist. Also they reported that many military doctors have failed to accurately diagnose TBI. Can you give us your response to those reports?
Gen Peter Chiarelli: Mr. Chairman, I prepared a complete response to National Public Radio in which I detailed my problem with the report. I've got three basic problems with the report. Number one, it criticizes the leadership for not caring or not doing anything about it. I think that's far from the truth. I took great exception with the report stating that our doctors seemed to [not] care and are not properly diagnosing these injuries without explaining the real issue here. And you cannot isolate Traumatic Brain Injury without talking about PTS. As I mentioned in my opening statement, the comorbidity of symptoms between these two make it very, very difficult for doctors to make that diagnosis. Of my Army wounded warrior population, this is the most severlyly wounded population I have, with a single disqualify injury of 30% or greater, 60% have either TBI or PTS. 43% PTS, 17% TBI. And I really believe that when you fail to talk about both PTS and TBI and this issue of comorbidity, you're doing a great disservice because to state it flatly: Our science for -- on -- the brain is just not as great as it is in other parts of the body. And researchers are struggling today to-to find the linkages and to learn everything they can about the brain. And because of this, we're going to see some misdiagnosis. I-I can tell you of the folks that the National Public Radio talked about, they had over 200 appointments a piece, uhm, and there's no doubt you could go to anyone of our posts and find soldiers who are struggling because of our inability to nail down and to diagnos exactly what treatment they need for these behavioral health issues but, I promise you, it is not for a lack of trying or real care on the part of our doctors and our leadership is totally committed to working these issues.
Chair Carl Levin: In terms of the wait that one of the soldiers, I guess, claimed of a month or more to see a neurologist?
Gen Peter Chiarelli: I will tell you that a neurologist is not the answer necessarily to these soldiers' issues. I have a total of 52 neurologists in the United States Army. 40 of them are currently practicing. 40. And that's when I include my child neurologist. The team that will work with somebody on any behavioral health issue is -- is a team of a neurologist, possibly a psychatrist, nearest case manager who will look at the entire file or medical record of care given to that-that soldier and work to provide them the best that they can. The -- One of the problems we have here, and I get this from talking to doctors, is even the medications for PTS and TBI are totally different. So if we misdiagnose at the beginning and provide diagnosis of PTS when in reality it's TBI, the medications we're going to put that soldier on are going to be different than what the real problem is and maybe different from another behavioral issue that a soldier may have. Because it's not all TBI and PTS. There's anxiety issues, depression issues, other issues that are the product of the-this-these wars that are causing us so much difficulty in this area. I've got 79% of the psychiatrists currently assigned to the United States based on my authorization prior to 2001. And I know that that authorization is lacking but I only have 79%. And it's not just an Army problem. This, I think you will all agree, is a national problem in a shortage of behavioral health specialists.
Chair Carl Levin: So there are some areas of professional need where we are short. Is this a matter of funding, is this a matter of finding people or what is it?
Gen Peter Chiarelli: No-no, I don't believe it's a matter of funding at all. I think it's a matter of finding folks. Of getting them to move to some of the places where the Army is stationed. When you have shortages, it's much -- You know, I think a psychiatrist might prefer to be in Nashville than in Clarksville, Tennessee. So we have to rely on that TriCare network many times to provide some of the behavioral specialists that we need.
Chair Carl Levin: And in terms of this delay issue, is the delay the result of the lack of resources in the cases that were talked about on NPR or is that a matter of the complexity which you just described.
Gen Peter Chiarelli: I-I-I'd argue it's a case of the complexity. I really would. And I'm not saying in every instance that we're getting soldiers in exactly when we want them to be but when soldiers are assigned to our WTU, they have a primary care manager of a rate of one to two hundred, a primary care manager -- where you or I would have a primary care manager at a ratio of 1 to 12,000 to 15,000. They have a nurse case manager at a ratio of one to twenty. They have a squad leader at a ratio of one to ten or less. So we've done everything we can to focus our resources, our limited resources, in this area but I will tell you, we are short behavioral specialists.
Chair Carl Levin: But again, that's not a funding issue?
Gen Peter Chiarelli: It is not a funding issue.
The general seemed sincere in his first reply to Levin (quoted above). He seemed sincere in his second. But there's a contradiction in the two. In the first, it's concern for the well being of the soldier. In the second, it's woah-ways-me. "A team" of two people? And one is a neurologist that the soldier can't get to see, all he or she is seeing is a case worker and that's supposed to be acceptable? In what world? There's also a shift from the notion that the soldiers deserve the best care (lip service, I know) to 'the best that these overworked doctors and caseworkers can give.' That's a world of difference.
In the second, 'It's woah-ways-me, I only have 40 neurologists.' I'm not seeing and I'm not hearing that supposed real committment to the issue. I'm hear justifications and insults. And that's especially clear when the general decides to speak of "other behavioral issues."
PTSD and TBI are not behavioral issues (I am aware some treat them as if they were, I'm also aware those treatments do not have longterm success rates) and that, after all this time and all this supposed education, a United States general doesn't know that, doesn't grasp that, it's rather telling. And it goes a long way towards explaining the manner in which the second response was delivered which was in a between-you-and-me kind of way and seemed to mock the illnesses. Not behavior issues, illnesses. And the Army would do well to get away from that term as well as to get away from calling medical providers "behavioral specialists." In addition, the 'squad leader' is not part of a medical team. Nor is the 'nurse case manager' that the general blurred all lines of reality on. Yes, he or she has a one to twenty ratio . . . for the designated time that they're responsible for a certain squad (such as an hour each day or a portion of a day). There's a world of difference between that reality and what the general was implying or impLYING. No, for every 20 soldiers on a base, you will not find that there is one nurse case manager. That's not how it works and he knows that. The reality is that a general physician of some sort (and that may be increasing the qualifications of the man or woman) is responsible for all care. And if there are misdiagnosis as the general wants to state, that's all the more reason the soldiers need to be seeing a specialist and not some general practitioner.
As for being 'caused so much difficulty in this area,' the general's 'suffering' is of no concern to most Americans and he needs to climb down from his cross and grasp he has a job to do, one he's paid handsomely for by US tax payers. He's not paid to whine. He's paid to ensure the safety and well being of all those serving under him. That's what he was there to talk about but instead he wanted to play Drama Queen. As his voice rose and rose, what it really came down is he refused to answer direct questions and if you tried to piece together the answer from his many words, what you got was: "I'm offended NPR and ProPublica reported what they did but, yes, it is accurate."
And it's probably a good time to remember Adrienne Kinne's testimony at Winter Soldier in 2008 (see March 25, 2008 snapshot for an overview of all her testimony), specifically her testimony on Friday March 14th at the panel on veterans healthcare. Kinne spoke of after leaving the military and pursuing her education further. She did some college internships at VA hospitals and then was an assistant on a research study. The study was on PTSD and TBI -- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. The group devised a way to screen for TBI, hammered down the details and were ready to proceed.
Adrienne Kinne: And then they went to go to the next step, to actually make this happen. And I was actually on a conference call when someone said, "Wait a second. We can't start this screening process. Do you know that if we start screening for TBI there will be tens of thousands of soldiers who will screen positive and we do not have the resources available that would allow us to take care of these people so we cannot do the screening." And their rationale was that medically, medical ethics say if you know someone has a problem, you have to treat them. So since they didn't have the resources to treat them, they didn't want to know about the problem.
Has a lot really changed? Doesn't appear so from the general's testimony. Picking immediately back up with Levin's questions.
Chair Car Levin: Alright, now, Dr. Jesse, the VA, as I think you've testified, screens all of our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who receive care from the VA for TBI. Does that screening for TBI indicate that there is a routine failure in the military to properly diagnose TBI before you see that veteran, while they're still on active duty?
Dr. Robert Jesse: No-no, sir, I don't -- I don't think we can say that. The problem with TBI is that there-there's no hard, fast diagnostic test. There's not a lab test that you can send off and get an answer back. And the other thing is that of temporal issues -- is that often it takes time to manifest some of the -- some of the effects that would have to show up. So I don't think think that it's a -- it's a failure on the Department of Defense to find these people. I think it's uh, uh, may just be, uh, the complexity of the disease.
Good to know it's no one fault, right? Who pays you, Dr. Jesse? Oh, yeah, perfectly clear now. Tomorrow we may note Senator Daniel Akaka's questioning. He focused on suicides and it's worth noting but, if you can't tell, the general and the doctor disgusted me. And I'm not really big on people attacking the press with bluster with non-specifics. When, for example, Senator Mark Udall spoke to the general (the only one focused on in this snapshot) about a doctor who didn't think it mattered -- put this in writing -- whether or not TBI was properly diagnosed, he did a song and dance and refused to answer. I don't have time to quote his multitude of lies. The NPR and ProPublica report stands. Click here to refer to those reports. Instead of the general's diversions, we'll note this from Senator Akaka's office:
AKAKA INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE VETERANS' DISABILITY CLAIMS PROCESSING
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation today to make much-needed improvements to VA's disability claims processing. VA provides disability compensation to approximately 3.1 million veterans across the nation.
"VA's system to provide veterans with disability compensation is well intended, but it is broken. This bill will move the Department closer to fulfilling its obligation to provide every eligible veteran with timely and accurate disability compensation," said Akaka.
As Chairman, Akaka has held a series of hearings on improving the veterans' disability compensation system (to view the Committee's hearings click here). The Committee will hold a hearing to review disability claims processing on July 1, at which time witnesses will testify about Akaka's legislation.
The Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2010 (S.3517) would make various changes to the way VA processes disability compensation claims, including provisions to:
Set up a process to fast-track claims that have been fully developed;
Help veterans with multiple disability claims by allowing VA to provide partial disability ratings; and
Provide that the Department give equal deference to the medical opinions of a veteran's non-VA doctor.
The bill would also establish a test program at several Regional Offices replacing VA's method for identifying musculoskeletal disabilities. Compensation under the pilot would be based on a functional assessment of limitations due to the disability, such as standing, walking or lifting, and would take into account the severity, frequency and duration of symptoms of the disability. To identify disabilities, the pilot would use the common language of the International Classification of Diseases, rather than VA's current Rating Schedule.
To read Senator Akaka's statement in the Congressional Record introducing the bill, click here: LINK
-END-
Kawika Riley
Communications Director
U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), Chairman
http://veterans.senate.gov
We will note today that at the top of the hearing, Senator Carl Levin noted that Senator Akaka served on the Armed Services Committee and this allowed the two committees (ASC and Veterans Affairs) to focus on both the service members and the veterans jointly when addressing issues instead of having to scramble to catch up with one another.
Yesterday in Iraq, Kareem Waheed resigned as the Minister of Electricity following the protests in southern Iraq. Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) explains, "Waheed weathered four years in his post, picked by the country's then-unified Shiite political coalition for his job in 2006. Billed as a technocrat, Waheed failed to solve the Gordian knot of Iraq's electricity woes. He coped with a faulty power supply, complicated by fuel shortages, poor infrastructure, corruption and the country's rampant violence." Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor and McClatchy Newspapers) adds, "The political vacuum and the violence have been hugely unsettling to Iraqis. With the onset of summer, where temperatures hover close to 150 deegres F., the prospect of continued electricity cuts has plunged many into deeper despair." Leila Fadel (Washington Post) focuses on the human costs of this lack of power by zooming on Maher Abbas who, due to "lack of water and electricity," spends three days a week taking his mother or his two children "to the hospital to be treated for dehydration, stomach bugs or heat exhaustion." And this is in Baghdad, not in Basra. Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor) explains, "The Iraqi government has promised Baghdad residents two hours of electricity out of every six, but even that modest target has fallen far short. The inability of the government to provide reliable electricity seven years after the fall of Saddam is seen as more potentially destabilizing than the continued car bombs and suicide attacks." Fadel explains that Nouri al-Maliki, prime minister and thug of the occupation, said there is someone to blame. Not, you understand, his government. No, the problem is that the Iraqi people are just "consuming too much electricity". Is he sane enough to continue in his post? Does he really think that's going to fly with the Iraqi people? Or did he make that laughable accusation for the benefit of the international community? He's been prime minister for four years --- and wants to continue for at least four more years.
And yet, Al Jazeera reports, "Iraq's prime minister has said that his country faces at least two more years of widespread power shortages like the ones that sparked protests across southern Iraq." What has he accomplished? It gets even more insane. Kim Gamel and Sinan Salaheddin (AP) quote Nouri stating, "We will give priority to the electricity sector in the next government." He failed to keep any of his promises and now he wants people to believe that, magically, he'll get it fixed if he's given four more years. Rania El Gamal (Reuters) reports that Hussain al-Shahristani, Iraq's Minister of Oil, we now also be over electricity.
Today on Morning Edition (NPR), Renee Montagne spoke with Lourdes-Garcia Navarro in Baghdad about the electricity and heat issues:
RENEE MONTAGNE: So big protests over the lack of electricity there. And I guess the lack of the ability to stay cool in the summer.
LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO: Well, Renee, as you mentioned, it's been seven years since we've been talking about electricity in Iraq. And if our listeners are sick of hearing about it, can you imagine what the average Iraqis feel about still dealing with these shortages? There have been protests in the south. The first one was in Basra, the southern oil port city. That turned violent. Yesterday it was in Nasiriyah, Najaf. And cities across the country are planning more. We are not in full-blown summer yet and temperatures in Baghdad are at about 110. That can reach up to 130 degrees in places like Basra - 130 degrees and no electricity; try to imagine that, imagine the frustration that it's engendering.
MONTAGNE: The electricity minister's resignation in response to all this frustration, and really anger, how significant is that?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's not. Minister Karim Waheed offered himself up as a sacrificial lamb in a way. It was, in effect, an empty gesture. Iraq's parties are locked in endless negotiations at the moment over the formation of a new government. And he was unlikely to have kept his job in any case. The move was meant to calm tempers, to make the government look like it was taking action of some sort. But again, it really doesn't solve any of the problems and it was fundamentally a meaningless move.
Everyone's targeted in Iraq. Except the thugs. The thugs rarely even target one another. But they target the women, the religious minorities, they target the LGBT community, they target anyone -- because this is how bullies work -- who is not like them. Taylor Asen and Zach Strassburger (Foreign Policy) write about the crisis for Iraq's LGBT community:
America has a singular responsibility to protect these men. Although homosexuality was by no means permitted under Saddam Hussein's regime, only after the U.S. invasion did widespread anti-gay rhetoric and violence in Iraq reach a crisis point. Indeed, according to a BBC special investigative report, there is general agreement within Iraq's LGBT community that they were better off under the previous regime. While horrible in untold ways, the Hussein regime suppressed the very Shia extremists who are now driving the vast majority of attacks on homosexuals in Iraq. Congress, along with the LGBT and human rights communities, must continue to insist that Secretary Clinton use the power granted to her to ensure that Samir's story of survival becomes the norm, rather than the exception.
American does have an obligation. And the assaults continue and Saturday Iraqi LGBT issued the following press release:There is growing concern that the Iraqi government is stepping up a witch-hunt against gays and lesbians in the country after a police raid on a Karbala safe house.On Tuesday 16th June, twelve police officers burst into the house, then violently beat up, and blindfolded the six occupants sheltering there, before bundling them off in three vans. According to a source who witnessed the raid, the police also confiscated computer equipment before burning down the house.According to reports, one of the arrested people has turned up in hospital. Nothing is known about the whereabouts of the other five individuals, which include two gay men, one lesbian and two transgender people. It is feared they may have been taken to the Interior Ministry in Baghdad, where, it is reported, many gay people have been tortured and executed in the last two years.Government forces have previously sized people particularly at roadblocks and handed them to militias who have then tortured them and their bodies have later been found.None of the previous occupying powers have taken any action or delivered any criticism for these atrocities.Iraqi LGBT feel that the reason the British and United States government in particular didn't criticises the Iraqi government is because of the legacy of the occupation.They have criticised the Malawian government and the Ugandan government.In both those countries there is a strong religious opposition to homosexuality -- as there is in Iraq.Since the fall of Saddam, militias loyal to Shi'a clerics Grand Ayatollah al Sistani and Muqtada al Sadr, both of whom have called for homosexuals to be put to death, have been only too keen to carry out their leaders' wishes. Over 720 LGBT people have disappeared or been murdered, many of whom have been tortured to death.There is strong evidence that the government is colluding with these militia groups, by rounding up known homosexual and transgender people. A small number of safe houses, set up for LGBT people to live in relative safety, have been funded by Iraqi LGBT, a London based human rights group. In the current climate, these homes have been life-savers for those taking refuge in them. The house which was raided on Tuesday had been established in January this year.With the arrest and the seizure of computers, it is feared the government will step up efforts to round up more of the country's LGBT population.Ali Hili, who is the leader of Iraqi LGBT, comments: "The UK media and politicians have been too quiet for too long about the violence LGBT people in Iraq. The militia and the powers that be know they can get away with it while that silence continues. It really is time for the Iraqi government to act on this and stop playing the role of guilty bystanders, while our brothers and sisters are murdered in silence"Currently the UK Border Agency is deporting many Iraqis, some who left the country in fear of their lives after death threats from gangsters and religious militia. "The government is grossly underestimating the danger faced by Iraqi refugees." says Ali. "The raid on Tuesday proves for LGBT people especially, Iraq is a no-go zone".
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing which claimed 2 live and left seven people injured, a second Baghdad roadside bombing wounded eight people, a Falluja sticky bombings wounded three people, a Mosul sticky bombing which claimed 3 lives and, dropping back to last night for both, a Mosul mortar attack which damaged Hadbaa College and 1 person shot dead in Mosul ("on his doorstep").
Monday April 5th, 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 7th, the US military announced that they had arrested Bradley Manning and he stood accused of being the leaker of the video. Philip Shenon (Daily Beast) reported earlier this month that the US government is attempting to track down WikiLeaks' Julian Assange. Mike Gogulski has started a website entitled Help Bradley Manning. Ian Traynor (Guardian) spoke with Julian Assange:"[US] public statements have all been reasonable. But some statements made in private are a bit more questionable," Assange told the Guardian in Brussels. "Politically it would be a great error for them to act. I feel perfectly safe … but I have been advised by my lawyers not to travel to the US during this period."Assange appeared in public in Brussels for the first time in almost a month to speak at a seminar on freedom of information at the European parliament.He said: "We need support and protection. We have that. More is always helpful. But we believe that the situation is stable and under control. There's no need to be worried. There's a need always to be on the alert."
Chris Vallance (BBC News) adds, "When asked by the BBC whether he was concerned that other people involved with Wikileaks might be vulnerable he said: 'We are concerned to make sure that our volunteers in particular are protected'." Ellen Nakashima (Washington Post) covers the story and notes this of Bradley Manning, "Assange, in his first public appearance since Manning's arrest, voiced concern about Manning's detention without charge and without access to a private lawyer. At a European Parliament panel in Brussels, the Wikileaks founder also took questions about his own security."
Last word goes to Military Families Speak Out:
Contact Congress -- no more money for war!
Congress is not expected to vote on the appropriations supplemental until after the 4th of July. There is still time to build on the growing momentum to defund the wars and bring our troops home now!
Please call or email your Representative today. You can call the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121. We have recently heard that personalized emails are also an effective way to communicate with your Representative. You can go to www.contactingthecongress.org, find your Representative, and email or call them directly through their individual websites.
Your Message to Congress:
"As your constituent and military family member I urge you to vote against the $33 billion supplementary spending bill to pay for the escalation of troops in Afghanistan and the continuation of this war and occupation!
I also want you to co-sponsor McGovern's H.R. 5015 that is an enforceable start to withdrawal from Afghanistan."
Note: Right now there are 93 co-sponsors, the full text of the bill and list of co-sponsors can be seen here. If your congressperson has co-sponsored H.R. 5015, thank them! Then your message can be:
"Thank you for taking this important stand against funding the war. I hope you are a member of the Out of Afghanistan Caucus as well as the Out of Iraq Caucus. Your commitment to bringing our troops home now and insisting President Obama develop a rapid, real, and complete plan to bring our troops home now is imperative."
Join us in Detroit!
In alliance with Veterans For Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War, we will be presenting a workshop at the US Social Forum, where thousands of activists from across the country will be gathering. Our workshop, Veterans and Military Families: Impact of the Wars; Impact on Movements, is on Friday June 25th in Detroit, and you can find more details here.
We're also looking for volunteers to sit at our information table during the forum. It's a great networking opportunity! To find out more about the veterans encampment we will be supporting or to let us know you will be there, contact National Organizer Nikki Morse at nikki@mfso.org or 347-703-0570.
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The Charley Richardson Legacy Fund is a way to honor the contributions of our co-founder, Charley Richardson, and build on his legacy of leadership in the movement to end the wars. Please go to www.mfsotribute.org to read the powerful messages of support and donate to the fund.
iraq
the los angeles timesned parkerthe christian science monitorjane arraf
the washington postleila fadel
mcclatchy newspaperssahar issa
the guardianian traynorbbc newschris vallanceellen nakashima
nprmorning editionrenee montagne
lourdes garcia-navarro
military families speak out
This is from C.I.'s Tuesday's "Iraq snapshot" last week:
Turning to veterans issues. WAVY reports (link has text and video) that victims of Agent Orange (specifically Vietnam era veterans) could receive addition benefits for B-Cell Leukemia, Parkinson's disease and coronary heart disease. Could? A US Senator is objecting to the proposed changes by VA. Jim Webb has written VA Secretary Eric Shinseki that ". . . this single executive decision is estimated to cost a minimum of $42.2 billion over the next ten years. A regulatory action of this magnitude requires proper Congressional review and oversight." Besides, Webb wrote, "Heart disease is a common phenomenon regardless of potential exposure to Agent Orange." That is really embarrassing and especially embarrassing for the Democratic Party (Webb is a Democrat today, having converted from a Reagan Republican). It also goes a long way towards explaining Webb's refusal to get on board with Senator Evan Bayh's bill to create a national registry that would allow those Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans to be able to receive treatment for their exposures without having to jump through hoops repeatedly.
If you're as disgusted by that as I am, please pass it around and get the word out. Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Tuesday, June 22, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, Iraq's LGBT community continues to be targeted, the Senate Armed Services Committee explores military suicides (and PTSD and TBI), and more.
"The Committee meets today to recieve testimony on the status of our efforts to prevent military suicides and the challenge in detection, treatment and management of the so-called invisible wounds of war which we consider to include Traumatic Brain Injury, concussive events, Post Traumatic Stress and other combat-related psychological health concerns A hearing on military suicides was requested by Senator [James] Inhofe several weeks ago and we all appreciate that request," Senator Carl Levin declared today bring the Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing to order. Appearing before the Committee was Gen Peter Chiarelli (Army), Adm Jonathan Greenert (Navy), Gen James Amos (Marine Corps), Gen Carrol Chandler (Air Force), and the VA's Dr. Robert Jesse.
Chair Carl Levin: The increase in suicides by military personnel in the last few years is alarming. In 2007, 115 Army soldiers committed suicide; in 2008 the number increased to 140, and to 162 in 2009. Similarly, 33 Marines committed suicides in 2007; 42 in 2008, and 52 in 2009. I understand that there are a number of additional cases where the Armed Forces Medical Examiner has not yet concluded whether the deaths are by suicide, so the 2009 numbers will likely be even higher. These increases indicate that despite the services' efforts, there is still much work to be done. We must improve our suicide prevention efforts to reverse the number of services members taking their own lives. I am greatly concerned about the increasing numbers of troops returning from combat with post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries and the number of those troops who may have experienced concussive injuries that were never diagnosed. Studies indicate that mild traumatic brain injury -- or concussion -- is associated with PTSD, depression and anxiety. These conditions, in turn, may contribute to the increase in the number of suicides. Key to suicide prevention is to make greater efforts to end the stigma that too many perceive attaches when they receive mental health care. Another key, of course, is the proper and timely diagnosis and treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress and increasing awareness of and access to mental health care resources as well as leadership support for those seeking such care. We hope to hear from our witnesses today the approach that each service and the Department of Veterans Affairs is taking to help detect, treat and manage psychological health problems to include Post Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury. The numbers of suicides have increased in every service, but significantly more so in the Army and Marine Corps, the two services most heavily engaged in ground combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress has recognized the strain on these ground forces and has over the past several years authorized significant increases in the active duty end strengths for the Army and the Marine Corps.
"The burdens of our missions in Iraq and Afghanistan are tremendous and so are the consequences for those who serve," Ranking Member John McCain stated. "Many of our service members have answered their country's call with multiple deployments to combat and little time for rest and recovery at home."
Chair Carl Levin: A couple of weeks ago, National Public Radio reported that the military is failing to diagnose brain injuries in troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, that the injuries were not documented on the battlefield, that soldiers with TBI don't always get the best medical treatment and interviews with soldiers at Fort Bliss revealed that some soldiers with TBI were crying out for help still had to wait more than a month to see a neurologist. Also they reported that many military doctors have failed to accurately diagnose TBI. Can you give us your response to those reports?
Gen Peter Chiarelli: Mr. Chairman, I prepared a complete response to National Public Radio in which I detailed my problem with the report. I've got three basic problems with the report. Number one, it criticizes the leadership for not caring or not doing anything about it. I think that's far from the truth. I took great exception with the report stating that our doctors seemed to [not] care and are not properly diagnosing these injuries without explaining the real issue here. And you cannot isolate Traumatic Brain Injury without talking about PTS. As I mentioned in my opening statement, the comorbidity of symptoms between these two make it very, very difficult for doctors to make that diagnosis. Of my Army wounded warrior population, this is the most severlyly wounded population I have, with a single disqualify injury of 30% or greater, 60% have either TBI or PTS. 43% PTS, 17% TBI. And I really believe that when you fail to talk about both PTS and TBI and this issue of comorbidity, you're doing a great disservice because to state it flatly: Our science for -- on -- the brain is just not as great as it is in other parts of the body. And researchers are struggling today to-to find the linkages and to learn everything they can about the brain. And because of this, we're going to see some misdiagnosis. I-I can tell you of the folks that the National Public Radio talked about, they had over 200 appointments a piece, uhm, and there's no doubt you could go to anyone of our posts and find soldiers who are struggling because of our inability to nail down and to diagnos exactly what treatment they need for these behavioral health issues but, I promise you, it is not for a lack of trying or real care on the part of our doctors and our leadership is totally committed to working these issues.
Chair Carl Levin: In terms of the wait that one of the soldiers, I guess, claimed of a month or more to see a neurologist?
Gen Peter Chiarelli: I will tell you that a neurologist is not the answer necessarily to these soldiers' issues. I have a total of 52 neurologists in the United States Army. 40 of them are currently practicing. 40. And that's when I include my child neurologist. The team that will work with somebody on any behavioral health issue is -- is a team of a neurologist, possibly a psychatrist, nearest case manager who will look at the entire file or medical record of care given to that-that soldier and work to provide them the best that they can. The -- One of the problems we have here, and I get this from talking to doctors, is even the medications for PTS and TBI are totally different. So if we misdiagnose at the beginning and provide diagnosis of PTS when in reality it's TBI, the medications we're going to put that soldier on are going to be different than what the real problem is and maybe different from another behavioral issue that a soldier may have. Because it's not all TBI and PTS. There's anxiety issues, depression issues, other issues that are the product of the-this-these wars that are causing us so much difficulty in this area. I've got 79% of the psychiatrists currently assigned to the United States based on my authorization prior to 2001. And I know that that authorization is lacking but I only have 79%. And it's not just an Army problem. This, I think you will all agree, is a national problem in a shortage of behavioral health specialists.
Chair Carl Levin: So there are some areas of professional need where we are short. Is this a matter of funding, is this a matter of finding people or what is it?
Gen Peter Chiarelli: No-no, I don't believe it's a matter of funding at all. I think it's a matter of finding folks. Of getting them to move to some of the places where the Army is stationed. When you have shortages, it's much -- You know, I think a psychiatrist might prefer to be in Nashville than in Clarksville, Tennessee. So we have to rely on that TriCare network many times to provide some of the behavioral specialists that we need.
Chair Carl Levin: And in terms of this delay issue, is the delay the result of the lack of resources in the cases that were talked about on NPR or is that a matter of the complexity which you just described.
Gen Peter Chiarelli: I-I-I'd argue it's a case of the complexity. I really would. And I'm not saying in every instance that we're getting soldiers in exactly when we want them to be but when soldiers are assigned to our WTU, they have a primary care manager of a rate of one to two hundred, a primary care manager -- where you or I would have a primary care manager at a ratio of 1 to 12,000 to 15,000. They have a nurse case manager at a ratio of one to twenty. They have a squad leader at a ratio of one to ten or less. So we've done everything we can to focus our resources, our limited resources, in this area but I will tell you, we are short behavioral specialists.
Chair Carl Levin: But again, that's not a funding issue?
Gen Peter Chiarelli: It is not a funding issue.
The general seemed sincere in his first reply to Levin (quoted above). He seemed sincere in his second. But there's a contradiction in the two. In the first, it's concern for the well being of the soldier. In the second, it's woah-ways-me. "A team" of two people? And one is a neurologist that the soldier can't get to see, all he or she is seeing is a case worker and that's supposed to be acceptable? In what world? There's also a shift from the notion that the soldiers deserve the best care (lip service, I know) to 'the best that these overworked doctors and caseworkers can give.' That's a world of difference.
In the second, 'It's woah-ways-me, I only have 40 neurologists.' I'm not seeing and I'm not hearing that supposed real committment to the issue. I'm hear justifications and insults. And that's especially clear when the general decides to speak of "other behavioral issues."
PTSD and TBI are not behavioral issues (I am aware some treat them as if they were, I'm also aware those treatments do not have longterm success rates) and that, after all this time and all this supposed education, a United States general doesn't know that, doesn't grasp that, it's rather telling. And it goes a long way towards explaining the manner in which the second response was delivered which was in a between-you-and-me kind of way and seemed to mock the illnesses. Not behavior issues, illnesses. And the Army would do well to get away from that term as well as to get away from calling medical providers "behavioral specialists." In addition, the 'squad leader' is not part of a medical team. Nor is the 'nurse case manager' that the general blurred all lines of reality on. Yes, he or she has a one to twenty ratio . . . for the designated time that they're responsible for a certain squad (such as an hour each day or a portion of a day). There's a world of difference between that reality and what the general was implying or impLYING. No, for every 20 soldiers on a base, you will not find that there is one nurse case manager. That's not how it works and he knows that. The reality is that a general physician of some sort (and that may be increasing the qualifications of the man or woman) is responsible for all care. And if there are misdiagnosis as the general wants to state, that's all the more reason the soldiers need to be seeing a specialist and not some general practitioner.
As for being 'caused so much difficulty in this area,' the general's 'suffering' is of no concern to most Americans and he needs to climb down from his cross and grasp he has a job to do, one he's paid handsomely for by US tax payers. He's not paid to whine. He's paid to ensure the safety and well being of all those serving under him. That's what he was there to talk about but instead he wanted to play Drama Queen. As his voice rose and rose, what it really came down is he refused to answer direct questions and if you tried to piece together the answer from his many words, what you got was: "I'm offended NPR and ProPublica reported what they did but, yes, it is accurate."
And it's probably a good time to remember Adrienne Kinne's testimony at Winter Soldier in 2008 (see March 25, 2008 snapshot for an overview of all her testimony), specifically her testimony on Friday March 14th at the panel on veterans healthcare. Kinne spoke of after leaving the military and pursuing her education further. She did some college internships at VA hospitals and then was an assistant on a research study. The study was on PTSD and TBI -- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. The group devised a way to screen for TBI, hammered down the details and were ready to proceed.
Adrienne Kinne: And then they went to go to the next step, to actually make this happen. And I was actually on a conference call when someone said, "Wait a second. We can't start this screening process. Do you know that if we start screening for TBI there will be tens of thousands of soldiers who will screen positive and we do not have the resources available that would allow us to take care of these people so we cannot do the screening." And their rationale was that medically, medical ethics say if you know someone has a problem, you have to treat them. So since they didn't have the resources to treat them, they didn't want to know about the problem.
Has a lot really changed? Doesn't appear so from the general's testimony. Picking immediately back up with Levin's questions.
Chair Car Levin: Alright, now, Dr. Jesse, the VA, as I think you've testified, screens all of our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who receive care from the VA for TBI. Does that screening for TBI indicate that there is a routine failure in the military to properly diagnose TBI before you see that veteran, while they're still on active duty?
Dr. Robert Jesse: No-no, sir, I don't -- I don't think we can say that. The problem with TBI is that there-there's no hard, fast diagnostic test. There's not a lab test that you can send off and get an answer back. And the other thing is that of temporal issues -- is that often it takes time to manifest some of the -- some of the effects that would have to show up. So I don't think think that it's a -- it's a failure on the Department of Defense to find these people. I think it's uh, uh, may just be, uh, the complexity of the disease.
Good to know it's no one fault, right? Who pays you, Dr. Jesse? Oh, yeah, perfectly clear now. Tomorrow we may note Senator Daniel Akaka's questioning. He focused on suicides and it's worth noting but, if you can't tell, the general and the doctor disgusted me. And I'm not really big on people attacking the press with bluster with non-specifics. When, for example, Senator Mark Udall spoke to the general (the only one focused on in this snapshot) about a doctor who didn't think it mattered -- put this in writing -- whether or not TBI was properly diagnosed, he did a song and dance and refused to answer. I don't have time to quote his multitude of lies. The NPR and ProPublica report stands. Click here to refer to those reports. Instead of the general's diversions, we'll note this from Senator Akaka's office:
AKAKA INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE VETERANS' DISABILITY CLAIMS PROCESSING
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation today to make much-needed improvements to VA's disability claims processing. VA provides disability compensation to approximately 3.1 million veterans across the nation.
"VA's system to provide veterans with disability compensation is well intended, but it is broken. This bill will move the Department closer to fulfilling its obligation to provide every eligible veteran with timely and accurate disability compensation," said Akaka.
As Chairman, Akaka has held a series of hearings on improving the veterans' disability compensation system (to view the Committee's hearings click here). The Committee will hold a hearing to review disability claims processing on July 1, at which time witnesses will testify about Akaka's legislation.
The Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2010 (S.3517) would make various changes to the way VA processes disability compensation claims, including provisions to:
Set up a process to fast-track claims that have been fully developed;
Help veterans with multiple disability claims by allowing VA to provide partial disability ratings; and
Provide that the Department give equal deference to the medical opinions of a veteran's non-VA doctor.
The bill would also establish a test program at several Regional Offices replacing VA's method for identifying musculoskeletal disabilities. Compensation under the pilot would be based on a functional assessment of limitations due to the disability, such as standing, walking or lifting, and would take into account the severity, frequency and duration of symptoms of the disability. To identify disabilities, the pilot would use the common language of the International Classification of Diseases, rather than VA's current Rating Schedule.
To read Senator Akaka's statement in the Congressional Record introducing the bill, click here: LINK
-END-
Kawika Riley
Communications Director
U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), Chairman
http://veterans.senate.gov
We will note today that at the top of the hearing, Senator Carl Levin noted that Senator Akaka served on the Armed Services Committee and this allowed the two committees (ASC and Veterans Affairs) to focus on both the service members and the veterans jointly when addressing issues instead of having to scramble to catch up with one another.
Yesterday in Iraq, Kareem Waheed resigned as the Minister of Electricity following the protests in southern Iraq. Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) explains, "Waheed weathered four years in his post, picked by the country's then-unified Shiite political coalition for his job in 2006. Billed as a technocrat, Waheed failed to solve the Gordian knot of Iraq's electricity woes. He coped with a faulty power supply, complicated by fuel shortages, poor infrastructure, corruption and the country's rampant violence." Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor and McClatchy Newspapers) adds, "The political vacuum and the violence have been hugely unsettling to Iraqis. With the onset of summer, where temperatures hover close to 150 deegres F., the prospect of continued electricity cuts has plunged many into deeper despair." Leila Fadel (Washington Post) focuses on the human costs of this lack of power by zooming on Maher Abbas who, due to "lack of water and electricity," spends three days a week taking his mother or his two children "to the hospital to be treated for dehydration, stomach bugs or heat exhaustion." And this is in Baghdad, not in Basra. Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor) explains, "The Iraqi government has promised Baghdad residents two hours of electricity out of every six, but even that modest target has fallen far short. The inability of the government to provide reliable electricity seven years after the fall of Saddam is seen as more potentially destabilizing than the continued car bombs and suicide attacks." Fadel explains that Nouri al-Maliki, prime minister and thug of the occupation, said there is someone to blame. Not, you understand, his government. No, the problem is that the Iraqi people are just "consuming too much electricity". Is he sane enough to continue in his post? Does he really think that's going to fly with the Iraqi people? Or did he make that laughable accusation for the benefit of the international community? He's been prime minister for four years --- and wants to continue for at least four more years.
And yet, Al Jazeera reports, "Iraq's prime minister has said that his country faces at least two more years of widespread power shortages like the ones that sparked protests across southern Iraq." What has he accomplished? It gets even more insane. Kim Gamel and Sinan Salaheddin (AP) quote Nouri stating, "We will give priority to the electricity sector in the next government." He failed to keep any of his promises and now he wants people to believe that, magically, he'll get it fixed if he's given four more years. Rania El Gamal (Reuters) reports that Hussain al-Shahristani, Iraq's Minister of Oil, we now also be over electricity.
Today on Morning Edition (NPR), Renee Montagne spoke with Lourdes-Garcia Navarro in Baghdad about the electricity and heat issues:
RENEE MONTAGNE: So big protests over the lack of electricity there. And I guess the lack of the ability to stay cool in the summer.
LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO: Well, Renee, as you mentioned, it's been seven years since we've been talking about electricity in Iraq. And if our listeners are sick of hearing about it, can you imagine what the average Iraqis feel about still dealing with these shortages? There have been protests in the south. The first one was in Basra, the southern oil port city. That turned violent. Yesterday it was in Nasiriyah, Najaf. And cities across the country are planning more. We are not in full-blown summer yet and temperatures in Baghdad are at about 110. That can reach up to 130 degrees in places like Basra - 130 degrees and no electricity; try to imagine that, imagine the frustration that it's engendering.
MONTAGNE: The electricity minister's resignation in response to all this frustration, and really anger, how significant is that?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's not. Minister Karim Waheed offered himself up as a sacrificial lamb in a way. It was, in effect, an empty gesture. Iraq's parties are locked in endless negotiations at the moment over the formation of a new government. And he was unlikely to have kept his job in any case. The move was meant to calm tempers, to make the government look like it was taking action of some sort. But again, it really doesn't solve any of the problems and it was fundamentally a meaningless move.
Everyone's targeted in Iraq. Except the thugs. The thugs rarely even target one another. But they target the women, the religious minorities, they target the LGBT community, they target anyone -- because this is how bullies work -- who is not like them. Taylor Asen and Zach Strassburger (Foreign Policy) write about the crisis for Iraq's LGBT community:
America has a singular responsibility to protect these men. Although homosexuality was by no means permitted under Saddam Hussein's regime, only after the U.S. invasion did widespread anti-gay rhetoric and violence in Iraq reach a crisis point. Indeed, according to a BBC special investigative report, there is general agreement within Iraq's LGBT community that they were better off under the previous regime. While horrible in untold ways, the Hussein regime suppressed the very Shia extremists who are now driving the vast majority of attacks on homosexuals in Iraq. Congress, along with the LGBT and human rights communities, must continue to insist that Secretary Clinton use the power granted to her to ensure that Samir's story of survival becomes the norm, rather than the exception.
American does have an obligation. And the assaults continue and Saturday Iraqi LGBT issued the following press release:There is growing concern that the Iraqi government is stepping up a witch-hunt against gays and lesbians in the country after a police raid on a Karbala safe house.On Tuesday 16th June, twelve police officers burst into the house, then violently beat up, and blindfolded the six occupants sheltering there, before bundling them off in three vans. According to a source who witnessed the raid, the police also confiscated computer equipment before burning down the house.According to reports, one of the arrested people has turned up in hospital. Nothing is known about the whereabouts of the other five individuals, which include two gay men, one lesbian and two transgender people. It is feared they may have been taken to the Interior Ministry in Baghdad, where, it is reported, many gay people have been tortured and executed in the last two years.Government forces have previously sized people particularly at roadblocks and handed them to militias who have then tortured them and their bodies have later been found.None of the previous occupying powers have taken any action or delivered any criticism for these atrocities.Iraqi LGBT feel that the reason the British and United States government in particular didn't criticises the Iraqi government is because of the legacy of the occupation.They have criticised the Malawian government and the Ugandan government.In both those countries there is a strong religious opposition to homosexuality -- as there is in Iraq.Since the fall of Saddam, militias loyal to Shi'a clerics Grand Ayatollah al Sistani and Muqtada al Sadr, both of whom have called for homosexuals to be put to death, have been only too keen to carry out their leaders' wishes. Over 720 LGBT people have disappeared or been murdered, many of whom have been tortured to death.There is strong evidence that the government is colluding with these militia groups, by rounding up known homosexual and transgender people. A small number of safe houses, set up for LGBT people to live in relative safety, have been funded by Iraqi LGBT, a London based human rights group. In the current climate, these homes have been life-savers for those taking refuge in them. The house which was raided on Tuesday had been established in January this year.With the arrest and the seizure of computers, it is feared the government will step up efforts to round up more of the country's LGBT population.Ali Hili, who is the leader of Iraqi LGBT, comments: "The UK media and politicians have been too quiet for too long about the violence LGBT people in Iraq. The militia and the powers that be know they can get away with it while that silence continues. It really is time for the Iraqi government to act on this and stop playing the role of guilty bystanders, while our brothers and sisters are murdered in silence"Currently the UK Border Agency is deporting many Iraqis, some who left the country in fear of their lives after death threats from gangsters and religious militia. "The government is grossly underestimating the danger faced by Iraqi refugees." says Ali. "The raid on Tuesday proves for LGBT people especially, Iraq is a no-go zone".
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing which claimed 2 live and left seven people injured, a second Baghdad roadside bombing wounded eight people, a Falluja sticky bombings wounded three people, a Mosul sticky bombing which claimed 3 lives and, dropping back to last night for both, a Mosul mortar attack which damaged Hadbaa College and 1 person shot dead in Mosul ("on his doorstep").
Monday April 5th, 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 7th, the US military announced that they had arrested Bradley Manning and he stood accused of being the leaker of the video. Philip Shenon (Daily Beast) reported earlier this month that the US government is attempting to track down WikiLeaks' Julian Assange. Mike Gogulski has started a website entitled Help Bradley Manning. Ian Traynor (Guardian) spoke with Julian Assange:"[US] public statements have all been reasonable. But some statements made in private are a bit more questionable," Assange told the Guardian in Brussels. "Politically it would be a great error for them to act. I feel perfectly safe … but I have been advised by my lawyers not to travel to the US during this period."Assange appeared in public in Brussels for the first time in almost a month to speak at a seminar on freedom of information at the European parliament.He said: "We need support and protection. We have that. More is always helpful. But we believe that the situation is stable and under control. There's no need to be worried. There's a need always to be on the alert."
Chris Vallance (BBC News) adds, "When asked by the BBC whether he was concerned that other people involved with Wikileaks might be vulnerable he said: 'We are concerned to make sure that our volunteers in particular are protected'." Ellen Nakashima (Washington Post) covers the story and notes this of Bradley Manning, "Assange, in his first public appearance since Manning's arrest, voiced concern about Manning's detention without charge and without access to a private lawyer. At a European Parliament panel in Brussels, the Wikileaks founder also took questions about his own security."
Last word goes to Military Families Speak Out:
Contact Congress -- no more money for war!
Congress is not expected to vote on the appropriations supplemental until after the 4th of July. There is still time to build on the growing momentum to defund the wars and bring our troops home now!
Please call or email your Representative today. You can call the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121. We have recently heard that personalized emails are also an effective way to communicate with your Representative. You can go to www.contactingthecongress.org, find your Representative, and email or call them directly through their individual websites.
Your Message to Congress:
"As your constituent and military family member I urge you to vote against the $33 billion supplementary spending bill to pay for the escalation of troops in Afghanistan and the continuation of this war and occupation!
I also want you to co-sponsor McGovern's H.R. 5015 that is an enforceable start to withdrawal from Afghanistan."
Note: Right now there are 93 co-sponsors, the full text of the bill and list of co-sponsors can be seen here. If your congressperson has co-sponsored H.R. 5015, thank them! Then your message can be:
"Thank you for taking this important stand against funding the war. I hope you are a member of the Out of Afghanistan Caucus as well as the Out of Iraq Caucus. Your commitment to bringing our troops home now and insisting President Obama develop a rapid, real, and complete plan to bring our troops home now is imperative."
Join us in Detroit!
In alliance with Veterans For Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War, we will be presenting a workshop at the US Social Forum, where thousands of activists from across the country will be gathering. Our workshop, Veterans and Military Families: Impact of the Wars; Impact on Movements, is on Friday June 25th in Detroit, and you can find more details here.
We're also looking for volunteers to sit at our information table during the forum. It's a great networking opportunity! To find out more about the veterans encampment we will be supporting or to let us know you will be there, contact National Organizer Nikki Morse at nikki@mfso.org or 347-703-0570.
Charley Richardson Legacy Fund
We are mid-point in reaching our goal for a $5,000 match donation -- can you help us get the rest of the way there? Right now, any gift you give will be doubled!
The Charley Richardson Legacy Fund is a way to honor the contributions of our co-founder, Charley Richardson, and build on his legacy of leadership in the movement to end the wars. Please go to www.mfsotribute.org to read the powerful messages of support and donate to the fund.
iraq
the los angeles timesned parkerthe christian science monitorjane arraf
the washington postleila fadel
mcclatchy newspaperssahar issa
the guardianian traynorbbc newschris vallanceellen nakashima
nprmorning editionrenee montagne
lourdes garcia-navarro
military families speak out
Monday, June 21, 2010
When DVDs do not play
As Tori Amos sings on one of her albums, "I don't like Mondays." :D I really don't. Do you?
I don't like our Supreme Court much right now either. Did you hear about that? This is the opening to LAT's editorial:
Disregarding the dictionary as well as the Constitution, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that advising foreign terrorist groups to pursue their objectives peacefully amounts to "material support" of their violent activities. The 6-3 ruling blurs a distinction that Congress needs to sharpen in the interest of free speech.
The ruling is a defeat for two groups of activists that want to engage in so-called peace building. One is a collection of organizations supportive of the humanitarian and political activities of Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka. The other, headed by USC professor Ralph Fertig, wants to advise the Kurdistan Workers' Party on how to take its grievances against Turkey to the United Nations.
Can you believe that crap? They're stripping away our rights. Warren Richey (Christian Science Monitor) adds:
You know who else to blame besides the six justices who made that finding? CCR. Dumb asses brought the case. Just knew now was the 'right climate' and that with Barack On Their Side, they couldn't lose. Stupid asses. Stupid Barack suck-ups. Stupid dumb asses. He is not on their side. And Elane Kagan fought for the verdict in court. CCR is really becoming an embarrassment.
Meanwhile, read Andy Barr at Politico to see the latest mess Barack's gotten himself into. Classic Barry. What a moron.
Now a consumer warning before anything else: Rent something other than Alice In Wonderland. Maybe you'll have better luck than me, but I rented that movie hoping it might be worth watching. Today I rented it. I'm on my third copy and just taking this one back tomorrow and asking for credit. Everyone of them shuts down after the Red Queen's talking about how she likes toadstools on toast or something. Just when that dull movie finally gets some life, it stops. And then it goes into this Disney advert including how the disc has "Fast Play." I have no idea what the problem is, but it happened with three different discs today. (And you can't then get the damn thing to play where it was and if you start over, same problem at the same point with the Red Queen.)
Let's get to Third. Along with Dallas, here's who worked on the edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And this is the content:
This was an NPR one. It also allowed us to note the Gulf Disaster.
Jim breaks down the edition.
I really do like this editorial. I wish we had an illustration with this but I really like what we wrote here.
Ava and C.I. :D They like the Olyphant. :D Justified is a good show though. I was surprised when it was the end of the season because I thought it would go on through the summer. Instead, we all have to wait until the fall to find out what happened.
I did like this book. I'll write more on that tomorrow. Or Wednesday. Just remembered that I need to do a short piece this week. That'll be tomorrow or the day after. But I took the critical negative for this book. I like the discussion but Ann's wrongly mentioned as being a part of the roundtable and she wasn't. Jim needs to correct that.
Ava and C.I. tackle sexist Diane Rehm. Explain how a woman books only 30% female guests and then wants to pretend she had no idea? Explain that to me.
Dona's short post. I really like this.
This had to be the headline for our music mag roundup. It's so obvious a headline.
Short post suggested by me.
Dave Zirin is a moron. A stupid dumb ass. Attacking a sports team for what a bunch of silly legislators did. Dave Zirin's needs to get a damn grip.
I worked on this. (So did Ann.)
PSAs.
And we wrote this.
I'm still bummed about Alice in Wonderland. I was going to watch it by myself and was embarrassed just by myself. But by the time I exchanged it the third time, Elaine was home. Fortunately, she said she'd like to see it too. I told her what had happened with the other two copies, just to warn her, but never dreamining in a million years it would happen with this one too. I just realized I should have checked to see if it was available for streaming on Netflix? That would have saved a lot of trouble.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:''
I don't like our Supreme Court much right now either. Did you hear about that? This is the opening to LAT's editorial:
Disregarding the dictionary as well as the Constitution, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that advising foreign terrorist groups to pursue their objectives peacefully amounts to "material support" of their violent activities. The 6-3 ruling blurs a distinction that Congress needs to sharpen in the interest of free speech.
The ruling is a defeat for two groups of activists that want to engage in so-called peace building. One is a collection of organizations supportive of the humanitarian and political activities of Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka. The other, headed by USC professor Ralph Fertig, wants to advise the Kurdistan Workers' Party on how to take its grievances against Turkey to the United Nations.
Can you believe that crap? They're stripping away our rights. Warren Richey (Christian Science Monitor) adds:
The prohibition extends beyond knowingly facilitating illegal operations. The law – part of the USA Patriot Act – makes it a federal crime to provide any help or support to a terror group – even support designed to teach a violent group how to use legal and peaceful means to achieve political change.
Violators face up to 15 years in prison.
You know who else to blame besides the six justices who made that finding? CCR. Dumb asses brought the case. Just knew now was the 'right climate' and that with Barack On Their Side, they couldn't lose. Stupid asses. Stupid Barack suck-ups. Stupid dumb asses. He is not on their side. And Elane Kagan fought for the verdict in court. CCR is really becoming an embarrassment.
Meanwhile, read Andy Barr at Politico to see the latest mess Barack's gotten himself into. Classic Barry. What a moron.
Now a consumer warning before anything else: Rent something other than Alice In Wonderland. Maybe you'll have better luck than me, but I rented that movie hoping it might be worth watching. Today I rented it. I'm on my third copy and just taking this one back tomorrow and asking for credit. Everyone of them shuts down after the Red Queen's talking about how she likes toadstools on toast or something. Just when that dull movie finally gets some life, it stops. And then it goes into this Disney advert including how the disc has "Fast Play." I have no idea what the problem is, but it happened with three different discs today. (And you can't then get the damn thing to play where it was and if you start over, same problem at the same point with the Red Queen.)
Let's get to Third. Along with Dallas, here's who worked on the edition:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And this is the content:
This was an NPR one. It also allowed us to note the Gulf Disaster.
Jim breaks down the edition.
I really do like this editorial. I wish we had an illustration with this but I really like what we wrote here.
Ava and C.I. :D They like the Olyphant. :D Justified is a good show though. I was surprised when it was the end of the season because I thought it would go on through the summer. Instead, we all have to wait until the fall to find out what happened.
I did like this book. I'll write more on that tomorrow. Or Wednesday. Just remembered that I need to do a short piece this week. That'll be tomorrow or the day after. But I took the critical negative for this book. I like the discussion but Ann's wrongly mentioned as being a part of the roundtable and she wasn't. Jim needs to correct that.
Ava and C.I. tackle sexist Diane Rehm. Explain how a woman books only 30% female guests and then wants to pretend she had no idea? Explain that to me.
Dona's short post. I really like this.
This had to be the headline for our music mag roundup. It's so obvious a headline.
Short post suggested by me.
Dave Zirin is a moron. A stupid dumb ass. Attacking a sports team for what a bunch of silly legislators did. Dave Zirin's needs to get a damn grip.
I worked on this. (So did Ann.)
PSAs.
And we wrote this.
I'm still bummed about Alice in Wonderland. I was going to watch it by myself and was embarrassed just by myself. But by the time I exchanged it the third time, Elaine was home. Fortunately, she said she'd like to see it too. I told her what had happened with the other two copies, just to warn her, but never dreamining in a million years it would happen with this one too. I just realized I should have checked to see if it was available for streaming on Netflix? That would have saved a lot of trouble.
Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:''
Monday, June 21, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, the Iraqi heat continues, protests over the lack of electricity continues, Turkey again sends troops into Iraq, Ayad Allawi talks of assassination plots, and more.
Starting with Bulls**t Artist of the week: Evan McMorris-Santoro. His "S**t My Rand Says: A compendium of Paul's Wacky Quotes" (Google it, no link to the trash) explains everything that's always been wrong with Joshy Micahy Marshy hairy ass blog TPMCDC. Little Evan never got an education, never read a book apparently. He's trashing Rand Paul and throwing everything he can at him? Why? Because TPMCDC isn't a news outlet, isn't a resource, it's just Democratic Party organ. It's the same crap you'd get from Rush Limbaugh but from the Democratic Party. TPMCDC just discovered the Iraq War continues and Evan McMorris-Santoro decided to use it to smear Rand Paul (who is running for the US Senate and the son of Republican Congress member Ron Paul) with comments like "he's claiming he understands the reasoning behind suicide bomb attacks against US forces in Iraq." We're all supposed to recoil in horror over that.
Of course, Rand Paul understands it. Anyone with a brain can follow it. Rand Paul has not justified bombing anyone -- Evan's trying to pimp that Rand's endorsing bombing US troops -- he's merely noted the mind set. And by talking seriously about a serious issue, he's rewarded by the crap that is TPMDC with a partisan trashing. Rand Paul's not the idiot on this one, Evan McMorris-Santoro and TPMDC are the idiots. Little whores who, in 2004, would have bent over backwards (and did) to justify similar comments by Democratic Party presidential candidate John Kerry now rip apart Rand Paul for similar remars because he's 'on the other side.' All little whores like Evan do is make it that much harder to ever have an honest discussion about Iraq. But they're not about honest discussion and they don't give a f**k about Iraq. All the little whores at TPMDC are about is pimping for Democrats, getting them in office and spending post-election time justifying the elected Dems refusal to do a damn thing.
I don't have time of TPM's crap, the world doesn't have time for it. People are dying and we need something more substantial than talking points and half-truths. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. Most of the time, I just ignore the foul stench from TPM but when they want to pretend to care about the Iraq War? Please. (And Josh cheered that war on as much as Judith Miller's bad reporting did though he tries real hard to pretend otherwise today.) If you want information about Rand Paul, check out his campaign site. Getting information on him from TPM is a bit like asking an accountant's angry, bitter ex whether or not you should hire him/her to keep your books.
Turning to Iraq where the sweltering heat means 100 degree days and the lack of electricity means many Iraqis sleep outside (the US military killed a husband and a wife on a rooftop this month and a Sahwa family was killed by unknown assailants last week while sleeping in their garden). The lack of consistent and reliable electricity in the oil-rich country of Iraq is becoming an issue with the citizens. Saturday Aziz Alwan and Leila Fadel (Washington Post) reported, "At least one person was killed and three others were injured Saturday in the southern port city of Basra when police fired into a crowd of unruly protesters who were demanding electricity and potable water to help cope with the blistering summer heat, officials and witnesses said." Jomana Karadsheh (CNN) noted "More than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq still suffers from a lack of basic services including water and electricity. The lack of power is especially unnerving during Iraq's searing summers. Temperatures in Basra, one of the hottest places in the country, soared above 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday." In a 24 hour period, Basra receives -- on a good day -- six hours of electricity. Karim Jamil (AFP) added, "Thousands had gathered to demand the dismissal of Electricity Minister Karim Wahid and provincial officials over the rationing, which sees residents receive power for just one hour in five in temperatures that hit 54 degrees Celsius (130 Fahrenheit) on Saturday, an AFP correspondent said." Jamil reports signs reading "We don't want oil or medicine, we want water and electricity" and "The people of Basra ask the authorities to provide services for citizens." Aref Mohammed (Reuters) noted, "Demonstrators said the Basra protest was spontaneous. But provincial council officials from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law bloc said the rally had been exploited by Shi'ite political rivals, who want Maliki to give up his bid for a second term in talks on forming a coalition government." Police fired on the demonstrators. Michael Jansen (Irish Times) reports, " On Saturday one man was shot dead by police at a demonstration protesting the lack of electricity, clean water and services in the southern city of Basra, where most of Iraq's oil is exported. During the funeral of the victim, Haidar Salman, a 26-year-old father of three, protesters demanded the resignation of prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and his caretaker administration."
Basra was the location for Saturday's protests, today they were in Nasiriyah. For protest photos click here. Nasiriyah.org reported on the protests in depth noting that "the protesters gathered in different areas of the city of Nasiriyah, and then moved to the main government building of the province of Dhi Qar." They state that riots broke out and, along with police, the Iraq military arrived in a Hummer. Ambulances arrived on the scene and medical sources confirm that several were wounded and transferred to the hospital. A comment left at the site by "I'm Naserya" expresses the sentiment that the people are demanding that the provincial council and governor be dissolved: "And I repeat, I demand nothing less than the dissolution of the provincial council and governor because of their abject failure in the province." The number of wounded eventually reached 17 -- that's the number of wounded who were taken in ambulances. Tear gas was sprayed and authorities, after the demonstration was broken up, arrested a police officer. That arrest is only mentioned once and the province's "Director General of Police," Maj Gen Saeed, is quoted elsewhere claiming that the police "should be regarded by the Iraqi man as the Holy Grail" ("man" is the word used -- don't blame me for the fact that the US put a bunch of sexist thugs in charge of what was an advanced country). Reuters notes that a water cannon was used.
The two protests struck a nerve in an otherwise unresponsive government or 'government.' Assad Abboud (AFP) reported mid-day that Karim Wahid, the country's Minister of Electricity, was offering to resign on Iraqi state television. Faced with the offer of resignation, Nouri al-Maliki demonstrated the same paralysis that has always characterized his tenure as prime minister. His spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh told the press that "Maliki would take no decision on Wahid's resignation offer until after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday." Nouri froze. And later today when the resignation was accepted -- as everyone knew it would be -- Nouri looked yet again like the village idiot. Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) reports the resignation was accepted and, "The crisis has raised concerns that growin unrest over the lack of basic services could jeopardize efforts to stabilize Iraq even as security improves. It also has put a new dent in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's image as a provider of law and order as he battles to keep his job after inconclusive national elections." Yacoub quotes Wahid announcing ("with courage") his resignation and notes that Nouri's office could not be reached for comment. Al Jazeera adds, "Many parts of southern Iraq receive just six hours of electricity per day, and tempers have flared as an early-summer heat wave in the Gulf pushes temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius."
A new dent in Nouri's image? Try another -- more than any bodyshop could handle. March 7th, Iraq concluded Parliamentary elections. Three months and two days later, still no government. 163 seats are needed to form the executive government (prime minister and council of ministers). When no single slate wins 163 seats (or possibly higher -- 163 is the number today but the Parliament added seats this election and, in four more years, they may add more which could increase the number of seats needed to form the executive government), power-sharing coalitions must be formed with other slates, parties and/or individual candidates. (Eight Parliament seats were awarded, for example, to minority candidates who represent various religious minorities in Iraq.) Ayad Allawi is the head of Iraqiya which won 91 seats in the Parliament making it the biggest seat holder. Second place went to State Of Law which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89 seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place winner Iraqi National Alliance. Together, the two still lack four seats necessary (or so it is thought) to form the government.
"Despite denial and protestation by Iraqi politicians," Jasim Azawi explained on the lastest Inside Iraq (Al Jazeera, began airing Friday), "the decision as to who should govern Iraqi is made as much in Tehran, Damascus and Washington as by Iraqi voters." Last Monday, the Parliament finally met for the first time and for less than 20 minutes. This was the topic Jasim and his guests -- Iraqi National Alliance's Al-Aharif bin al-Hussein and Iraqiya's Mustafa al-Hiti -- explored.
Jasim Azawi: Now that the federal court has sanctioned the results of the March election, the real political horse trading has just started and most likely it is going to continue for some months to come. Al-Aharif bin al-Hussein, what does Iraqiya want exactly from Ayad Allawi?
Al-Aharif bin al-Hussein: Well I think, first of all, we have to all agree that the Constitution states that the largest political bloc has the right to present a candidate for the prime ministership. It doesn't say that the largest winning -- that the largest list -- electoral list --has the right, it says the largest parliamentary bloc and that is the National Alliance. So first we need them to accept that and then we can move on to the second stage which is deciding on who -- which candidate is the most likely to achieve a majority in Parliament. A great deal of the discussion revolves around some -- which party has the right to form the government. That isn't really what's under discussion. What's under discussion should be who is most capable -- able -- to get a majority in Parliament. And from what we see, that at the moment, the two leading candidates, the two front runners, are having a great deal of difficulty. That's Dr. Ayad Allawi --
Jasim Azawi: Until that difficulty is resolved, let me seek the judgment and the wisdom of Mustafa al-Hiti who is a leading figure of al-Iraqiya, headed by Ayad Allawi. Have you in Iraqiya considered the first point and that is: The largest bloc entering the Parliament is going to form the government or the largest winner in the election?
Mustafa al-Hiti: Well I think both from the Constitution and from the call of the Constitutional Court, it is not a Constitutional one, it is the federal one which was formed at least, maybe one year before, we had the Constitution. So this court says it is form both, it is okay. But if we go back to the election law and we define it and we find that any coalition should be formed before the day of election and then closed all, what we call it, the coalition along time before the 7th of March so anything related to this matter, I think, when they said it could be before and after, we don't accept it.
Jasim Azawi: Judging by what you said and what Al-Sharif bin al-Hussein said, it seems to me as well as observers of Iraqi situation, this period between the first session of Parliament and until the next Iraqi government is sworn in, it is going to take perhaps months and some people say even perhaps next year. So Al-Shair bin al-Hussein, let me ask the question in a different manner, what will it take for al-Maliki, for instance, who is currently perhaps your candidate in the Iraqi National Alliance to get the consent of al-Iraqiya? Is there some kind of a sweetner? Is there something you can give him? Because Ayad Allawi is adamant that it his right, that he should be called upon when the Iraqi president is elected -- and most likely that is going to be Jalal Talabani -- that he should be called upon to form the new government.
Al-Aharif bin al-Hussein: Of-of-of course National Alliance hasn't agreed yet on-on a candidate. Uh, but we expect that to happen in the next few weeks. I think --
Jasim Azawi: That's what you said a few weeks ago and that did not happen. It looks like it's quite possible that even this alliance between al-Maliki and [Ammar] al-Hakeem is going to fracture and perhaps they will find, I don't know, a compromise candidate?
Al-Aharif bin al-Hussein: I mean the compromise candidate is always hanging in the wings -- depending upon whether you consider that to be an alternative to Dr. Allawi or Dr. al-Maliki, Mr. Maliki. But going back to your first point, I think what we need from Iraqiya is-is to deal with political realities. The political reality is the National Alliance is now the largest Constitutional bloc. The political reality is that we are very close to the Kurdish bloc in Parliament and that it is very likely that we will reach agreement over the government program in the next four years. At that point, Iraqiya has to make a serious discussion. Will they accept working with us to agree on a candidate which is put forward by the National Alliance or not? It is all well and fine over the last three months that they have been taking this negotiating position and insisting on Dr. Ayad Allawi becoming prime minister, being prime minister, but the political realities are that it is very unlikely that he will be able to form a majority in Parliament.
Jasim floats the idea that the Iraqi government might not be formed until next year. Lourdes Garcia-Navarro (NPR's All Things Considered) reports on the rising anxiety among Iraqis with the political stalemate and the US drawdown.
Meanwhile Ned Parker (Los Angeles Times) reports Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi has stated that unnamed persons in the current Iraqi government are devising a plan to assassinate him:
Allawi first spoke publically of the alleged assassination plot at a public gathering Saturday after the pan-Arab newspaper Al Sharq al Awsat published a report about the threat, citing unnamed security sources. He said a sniper planned to shoot him on the road to the Baghdad airport or inside the compound.
Allawi said Sunday that he was warned that the plot would be preceded by a government order barring all politicians from flying into and out of the Muthanna airfield, a restricted military base in Baghdad from which Allawi had traveled exclusively since 2004. The order came down last week.
Parker also notes that the US military put in writing (last April -- and Parker saw it and the military confirmed it to him) that they had heard reports that there would be an attempt on Allawi's life. Oliver August (Times of London via the Australian -- Rupert, work on your firewalls) reminds, "Members of Mr Allawi's Iraqiya bloc has been the target of repeated assassination attempts since the March election" and he quotes Allawi stating, "When they want to assassinate a person they have different ways. I was told there are reasons to believe there is a plan to assassinate me by sticking a bomb in my car at a checkpoint, perhaps a temporary one that is set up illegally." UAE's National Newspaper adds, "The Iraqi government will be the first to be held accountable in the event of a security shortfall, for the safety of party leaders remains the government's responsibility. That was basically Mr Allawi's message: the Iraqi government isn't doing enough to protect the Iraqi people's choice."
Allawi first spoke publically of the alleged assassination plot at a public gathering Saturday after the pan-Arab newspaper Al Sharq al Awsat published a report about the threat, citing unnamed security sources. He said a sniper planned to shoot him on the road to the Baghdad airport or inside the compound.
Allawi said Sunday that he was warned that the plot would be preceded by a government order barring all politicians from flying into and out of the Muthanna airfield, a restricted military base in Baghdad from which Allawi had traveled exclusively since 2004. The order came down last week.
Parker also notes that the US military put in writing (last April -- and Parker saw it and the military confirmed it to him) that they had heard reports that there would be an attempt on Allawi's life. Oliver August (Times of London via the Australian -- Rupert, work on your firewalls) reminds, "Members of Mr Allawi's Iraqiya bloc has been the target of repeated assassination attempts since the March election" and he quotes Allawi stating, "When they want to assassinate a person they have different ways. I was told there are reasons to believe there is a plan to assassinate me by sticking a bomb in my car at a checkpoint, perhaps a temporary one that is set up illegally." UAE's National Newspaper adds, "The Iraqi government will be the first to be held accountable in the event of a security shortfall, for the safety of party leaders remains the government's responsibility. That was basically Mr Allawi's message: the Iraqi government isn't doing enough to protect the Iraqi people's choice."
Turning to violence. Last week both Iran and Turkey continued shelling Iraq's northern region. Turkey sent 800 ground troops into northern Iraq and made a big to-do over pulling them out. The violence continued over the weekend. Saturday, Turkish military planes again bombed northern Iraq as the struggle between the Turkish military and the PKK continued. The PKK has bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. They advocate for a Kurdish homeland (and a bit more but that's their overall goal). They are seen as terrorists by a number of governments including Turkey, the US, the UK and by the European Union. Sebnem Arsu (New York Times) reported that the PKK launched an attack Saturday which resulted in 8 Turkish soldiers being killed and fourteen more injured leading to the Turkish bombings. (Saturday's death toll for Turkish soldiers would rise to 11.) The call-and-response of the activities may cover Saturday, but this back-and-forth has been going on for years. BBC News traces this week's exchanges between the two groups and also goes back a bit further. Turkish planes continued bombing on Sunday and among the dead was a teenage Kurdish girl, said to be "the first reported civilian death," according to Selcan Hacoglu (AP) who noted her three-year-old brother was injured in the assualt as was the children's mother. Sify puts the girl's age at 11. AFP states the girl was 15 and reports, "By Sunday morning, the [Turksih ground] troops had advanced 10km into Iraqi territory in the Qandil mountains where the rebels maintain a network of rear bases in their 26-year-old armed campaign for self-rule in south-eastern Turkey, the Iraqi Kurdish security official said." Hoshyar Zebar, Iraq's Foreign Minister stated, "No country should resort to unilateral action." Today Reuters reports that Turkish helicopters have also been deployed and "Elite troops rappelled down from helicopters and poured out of mechanised infantry units to surround Kurdish rebels in an opeartion along the Iraqi border, security sources said" while Turkey's President Abdullah Gul met with his cabinet for "an emergency security meeting." AFP adds that Turkey is using drones -- made in Israel -- to fly over and monitor northern Iraq. (On the topic of drones, AP's Chet Brokaw reports that the 'home' for the US squadrons operating the US drones in Iraq and Afghanistan will be South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base.)
As this continues to heat up, it's a good thing that PBS' NewsHour didn't recently have the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on as a guest and 'forget' to ask him about the PKK and about the meeting between the KRG's President Massud Barzani and the Turkish president. Oh wait, The NewsHour did 'forget.' And in the process not only wasted everyone's time, missed the opportunity to inform which is supposed to be its role and is, in fact, why it gets grants and, yes, tax payer dollars. If you're late to the party, refer to the June 2nd snapshot. Semih Idiz (Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News) offers this analysis of the conflict:
Most of the anger on the Turkish side is being directed at the Erdoğan government, whose so called "Kurdish Opening," many believe, is at the bottom of this turmoil. That contention is true to a large extent, except that the name is wrong. It was never a "Kurdish opening" as such, but in fact a "PKK opening" which, in the end, was totally mismanaged and inevitably went awry.
Many Turks believe that the government caved to the PKK – which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, as well as the United States and the European Union – as a result of this "opening." This feeling was heightened after last year's scenes at the Habur border gate with northern Iraq, when PKK militants giving themselves up were greeted by Turkish officials. The idea was that those militants would be arrested but given the full leniency of the law, with the understanding that, if they showed a degree of repentance, they would be allowed to go free.
Here we go again. Another regime under the influence of the military opting to continue a violent solution that has already cost thousands of lives.
Turkey is repeating its big mistake as just Iraq and Sudan did. Turkey, like Saddam Hussein's Iraq previously, should learn that you cannot deny people their basic human rights. What are the Kurds in Turkey and for that matter the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) are asking for is only basic recognition of the fact that they are a people who are different and want to enjoy their cultural identity.
Turkey is repeating its big mistake as just Iraq and Sudan did. Turkey, like Saddam Hussein's Iraq previously, should learn that you cannot deny people their basic human rights. What are the Kurds in Turkey and for that matter the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) are asking for is only basic recognition of the fact that they are a people who are different and want to enjoy their cultural identity.
It is ridiculous that Turkey only until recently would not even recognise the existence of the Kurds in Turkey. So why is this mighty unholy alliance of all the major powers ganging up against a few hundred PKKs?
In other news, the mass bombings in Iraq are not over. Sunday demonstrated that yet again. Liz Sly and Usama Redha (Los Angeles Times) report a Baghdad "double suicide bombing" outside -- guess where. What was last Sunday's target? A bank. Right. THis was outside a government bank. They count 27 dead and fifty-seven injured. Khalid D. Ali and Timothy Williams (New York Times) add, "The twin blasts near Nisour Square, which was crowded with people at the start of the workweek here, were powerful enough to toss several cars onto nearby rooftops, witnesses said, and turned the area into a scene reminiscent of the worst days of the war, with white sheets covering the dead, body parts littering the ground and people with shrapnel wounds wandering dazed, asking for water." Al Jazeera notes:
Al Jazeera's Omar al-Saleh, reporting from Baghdad, said the location of the attack would be viewed as another sign that the Iraqi army and police are struggling to provide basic security.
"If you walk 150 metres, you will have an Iraqi army checkpoint there," he said. "So it's kind of a blow to the security forces."
Kim Gamel (AP) reports, "Hours later, a man wearing an explosives vest blew himself up as police and onlookers responded to a roadside bomb apparently set as a trap in the northern city of Tikrit. At least five people were killed and 12 wounded in the late night attack, according to police and hospital officials."
In other violence today, Reuters notes a Baiji motorcycle bombing injured six people, a Shirqat suicide bomber took his/her own life and claimed the lives of 8 other people (with ten more wounded), 1 person shot dead in Mosul and, dropping back to last night, a Mosul roadside bombing which left three police officers injured.
Al Jazeera's Omar al-Saleh, reporting from Baghdad, said the location of the attack would be viewed as another sign that the Iraqi army and police are struggling to provide basic security.
"If you walk 150 metres, you will have an Iraqi army checkpoint there," he said. "So it's kind of a blow to the security forces."
Kim Gamel (AP) reports, "Hours later, a man wearing an explosives vest blew himself up as police and onlookers responded to a roadside bomb apparently set as a trap in the northern city of Tikrit. At least five people were killed and 12 wounded in the late night attack, according to police and hospital officials."
In other violence today, Reuters notes a Baiji motorcycle bombing injured six people, a Shirqat suicide bomber took his/her own life and claimed the lives of 8 other people (with ten more wounded), 1 person shot dead in Mosul and, dropping back to last night, a Mosul roadside bombing which left three police officers injured.
Moving over to the finanical cost of war, at the start of this month, the Institute for Public Accuracy offered a dollar amount for the financial costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars: $1 trillion dollars. BBC notes that the costs for the UK government in fighting the two wars has surpassed the 20 billion pound mark -- which would be approximately 29.7 billion US dollars. They go on to note, "Critics questioned why the UK was spending so much on conflict when public finances were in a dire state." The US has spent much, much more than that but ask yourself when you ever heard the anchor of the ABC, CBS or NBC news note that anyone might wonder why, when the US' economy is "in a dire state," the government was spending so much money on war? Carl Ramey (North Carolina's Pilot) notes, "Amazing, isn't it? We can talk endlessly about the nation's debt crisis and rampant spending, but nary a word about two wars that are costing us more than $12 billion every single month, and whose cumulative costs, over the past eight years, have already surpassed $1 trillion."
Last week, the Washington Post offered an editorial (noted in Friday's snapshot) asserting the US Senate Armed Services Committee was acting irresponsibly, Senator Carl Levin, Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, responds:
The Post's recent editorial on U.S. funding for Iraq's defense ministry ["Poor transition," June 18] accused the Senate Armed Services Committee of ignoring "a few facts" in trimming $1 billion from the administration's request of $2 billion for Iraq security funding. That's funny, because The Post ignored plenty of facts in its editorial.
The Post made two arguments: that Iraq's budget is in such terrible shape that it can't make up the funding difference on its own and that the cut sends a message "that the long-term strategic partnership" between our two nations "is likely to be barren." Both arguments are wrong.
The case that Iraq's budget is in worse shape than our own, and therefore the country is unable to provide funding for its own defense, is simply false. The Post ignored the fact that just this month, Iraq's finance minister reported that the budget has a $10 billion surplus, thanks to rising oil prices, and that projections for future deficits have fallen. At the same time that oil prices are bringing a budget windfall, Iraq is slashing spending on its security.
Even with our approved cut, U.S. taxpayers will contribute $1 billion next year directly to building Iraq's military, in addition to the cost of maintaining our troop presence. I doubt American taxpayers see that as a "barren" commitment.
Supporters of the Iraq war downplayed or ignored the costs in advocating invasion. Those costs now total more than $800 billion. The American taxpayer can't ignore those costs, and neither can we in Congress.
Carl Levin, Washington
Wednesday the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing which is covered in Wednesday's snapshot and Friday's snapshot. Alaska's Senator Mark Begich did the bulk of the questioning in the first panel and chaired the second panel. His office notes:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Julie Hasquet, Press Secretary
(907) 258-9304 office
(907) 350-4846 cell
June 16, 2010
2010-120
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, chairing a hearing of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, today secured a commitment from the Veterans Administration (VA) to a high level meeting in the next three months with officials from the Indian Health Services (IHS) to focus on ways to improve care for rural veterans.
The topic of the hearing was VA Health Care in Rural Areas and included testimony from three Alaska witnesses directly involved in health care delivery to Alaska's veterans.
"I am pleased the VA recognizes the challenges faced by Alaska's veterans, particularly in rural areas, in accessing affordable and easily available health care services," Begich said. "The more we can coordinate and find ways to improve the system, the better off Alaska's veterans will be."
The committee heard testimony from Dan Winkelman, Vice President and General Counsel at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation; Brigadier General Deborah McManus, Assistant Adjutant General and Commander, Alaska National Guard; and Verdie Bowen, Director, Office of Veterans Affairs, Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
All of the Alaska witnesses testified about the difficulty in providing efficient services for veterans in rural parts of the state.
Winkelman testified that high energy, food and personnel costs add to the enormous disparity rural veterans have in accessing health care, a problem compounded by the fact there are few veterans health facilities in rural areas.
"To lack access upon their return from duty to culturally appropriate and quality health care services by the VA is a shame," Winkelman said.
Witnesses talked about the possibility and need for allowing rural veterans to access care at IHS funded facilities and have the VA reimburse the provider later, in many cases saving money and time by not forcing veterans to travel to Alaska's larger cities where VA facilities are located.
In response to the testimony and under questioning from Sen. Begich, VA Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management, William Schoenhard agreed to organize a high level meeting between VA and IHS officials in the next few months.
"We should collaborate. I would certainly welcome how we can better serve and get veterans engaged with IHS," Schoenhard testified.
Schoenhard admitted the VA doesn't have a thorough understanding of some of the obstacles faced by rural veterans and is looking at ways to revitalize the Rural Pilot Project, an outreach program designed to enroll more rural Alaska veterans in the VA health system.
And finally, David Bacon offers photos of a San Francisco demonstration "Afternoon Unloading of Israeli Ship at Oakland Port Canceled after Morning Protest" (Berkeley Daily Planet):
"Hundreds of demonstrators from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area set up early morning picketlines in front of four gates into the SSA terminal in the Port of Oakland, as a ship carrying Israeli cargo was preparing to dock. Demonstrators were protesting the Israeli attack on the flotilla that sought to break the blockade of Gaza, in which Israeli troops killed nine people. In response to the picketline, members of Local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union decided not to go into the terminal and unload the cargo. In the afternoon, with picketlines again in front of the gate, the stevedoring company decided not to ask for a crew of longshosre workers to unload the ship, in the expectation that the crew would again not enter the terminal."
David Bacon's latest book is Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press) which won the CLR James Award. Bacon can be heard on KPFA's The Morning Show (over the airwaves in the Bay Area, streaming online) each Wednesday morning (begins airing at 7:00 am PST).
"Hundreds of demonstrators from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area set up early morning picketlines in front of four gates into the SSA terminal in the Port of Oakland, as a ship carrying Israeli cargo was preparing to dock. Demonstrators were protesting the Israeli attack on the flotilla that sought to break the blockade of Gaza, in which Israeli troops killed nine people. In response to the picketline, members of Local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union decided not to go into the terminal and unload the cargo. In the afternoon, with picketlines again in front of the gate, the stevedoring company decided not to ask for a crew of longshosre workers to unload the ship, in the expectation that the crew would again not enter the terminal."
David Bacon's latest book is Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press) which won the CLR James Award. Bacon can be heard on KPFA's The Morning Show (over the airwaves in the Bay Area, streaming online) each Wednesday morning (begins airing at 7:00 am PST).
iraq
the washington post
aziz alwan
leila fadel
cnn
jomana karadsheh
afp
karim jamil
the new york times
sebnem arsu
reuters
aref mohammed
the washington post
aziz alwan
leila fadel
cnn
jomana karadsheh
afp
karim jamil
the new york times
sebnem arsu
reuters
aref mohammed
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