Thursday, August 07, 2014

What they're Tweeting on Iraq




  1. 3m
    Genocidal ISIS Fighters May Push Iraq's Yazidis to Extinction
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  2. 4m
    The abandonment of Christians in Iraq by the powers that CREATED THIS SITUATION is something so monstrous it can't be measured.
    Expand
  3. 5m
    Qaraqosh / Bakhdeda, the Christian capital of Northern Iraq, is now an open city, abandoned by 35,000 Christians, occupied by ISIS.
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I think the above gives you a sort of an idea of what people are saying.


Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


 
Wednesday, August 6, 2014.  Chaos and violence continue, the targeting of Yazidis and other religious minorities continues, the White House silence continues, rumors fly about Nouri, and much more.


The Yazidis remain targeted in Iraq.  In fact, 40,000 are said to be trapped on a mountain  Laura Smith-Spark (CNN) explains:

  When radical Islamist fighters stormed the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar over the weekend, the Yazidi minority who call it home fled into the surrounding mountains in fear of their lives.
Now, trapped without food, water or medical care in the summer heat, thousands of families are in desperate need of help.

It's already too late to save dozens of children who've died of thirst.


Martin Chulov (Guardian) notes that 40,000 are thought to be at the top of Mount Sinjar and quotes UNICEF's Juliette Touma stating, "It's not like this is a one-off incident.  We are almost back to square zero in terms of the preparedness and the supplies.  Enormous numbers of people have been crossing the border since June.  The stresses are enormous, dehydration, fatique, people sometimes having to walk for days.  The impact on kids is very physical, let alone the psychological impact."

We should note that Nouri reportedly attempted to drop supplies -- including water -- on the mountain top over the weekend.  The drops failed.  They missed the targets.

This does not instill confidence in Iraq's pilots.  (Why helicopters were not used in the attempt is not known.  Nouri used planes.  Today, Al Jazeera reports helicopters were used by Nouri on Tuesday.)

Meanwhile the Financial Times' Borzou Daragahi Tweets:

  • 15h
    You don't need to understand Arabic to be moved by lawmaker breaking down in tears describing Yazidi plight
    Cairo, Egypt
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    • Glen Carey (Bloomberg News) speaks with Housam Salim ("head of the Solidarity and Brotherhood Yezidi Organization") who states, "It is a humanitarian tragedy.  Men were executed in the streets, women were kidnapped and raped. When we are captured, they kill us immediately, and they take our women."  Time magazine's Bobby Ghosh (Quartz) points out, "Leaders of all these minority groups have sent increasingly desperate pleas—to the Maliki government, to the US, to the UN—for help. But while some appeals have gone viral online, and the UN has engaged in its usual pro-forma hand-wringing, the SOS has gone largely unanswered as the world focused on Gaza. Now that the ceasefire there appears (fingers crossed) to be holding, there’s no excuse not to respond."

     The US government could help but US President Barack Obama chooses not to.  This isn't about sending US forces into Iraq.  This is about dropping supplies onto a mountain.

     Mick Krever and Ken Olshansky (Amanpour, CNN) report:

     The foreign minister of Iraqi Kurdistan on Wednesday issued a desperate plea for American and Western intervention to halt the advance of ISIS extremists.
    “We are left alone in the front to fight the terrorists of ISIS,” Falah Mustafa Bakir told CNN’s Fred Pleitgen, in for Christiane Amanpour.

    “I believe the United States has a moral responsibility to support us, because this is a fight against terrorism, and we have proven to be pro-democracy, pro-West, and pro-secularism.”
    Tuesday, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations Samantha Power issued the following statement:
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    I condemn in the strongest possible terms the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) recent attacks on Sinjar and Tal Afar in Ninewa province that have reportedly led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people, many from vulnerable minority communities, deepening Iraq’s already acute humanitarian crisis. ISIL’s reported abuse, kidnapping, torture and executions of Iraq’s religious and ethnic minorities and its systematic destruction of religious and cultural sites are appalling.
    The United States supports the Iraqi Security Forces and Peshmerga Forces working to defend these areas against ISIL. We urge all parties to the conflict to allow safe access to the United Nations and its partners so they can deliver lifesaving humanitarian assistance, including to those Iraqi families reportedly encircled by ISIL on Mount Sinjar. The United States is committed to helping the people of Iraq as they confront the security and humanitarian challenges in their fight against ISIL. Iraq’s leaders must move swiftly to form a new, fully inclusive government that takes into account the rights, aspirations and legitimate concerns of all of Iraq’s communities. All Iraqis must come together to ensure that Iraq gets back on the path to a peaceful future and to prevent ISIL from obliterating Iraq’s vibrant diversity.
    ###


    That I don't like Samantha Power should be a known -- I've called her out here and in pieces at Third.  I don't care for her.

    But I'm not going to pick apart her statement (a) at least she said something and (b) I don't really expect to be as one mentally with Samantha.

    But if the US 'stands' with Iraqis, why can't they organize an air drop for those suffering on top of the mountains?

    It makes no sense, the refusal.  Yes, US planes (commercial) are flying at higher altitudes over Iraq due to safety concerns, but the military could easily do a drop.

    Not only would it be a humanitarian mission, it could also be used to do some spying on various groups as it passed over a portion of Iraq.


    I don't care for Samantha Power, I think she argues for death and murder at the drop of a hat, I think she grossly misunderstood Rawanda as well as the after-effects.  But a drop of supplies, is not a call for war.  And if the administration cares, why is it Catholic Samantha speaking and only her?

    What's happening to the Yazidis echoes what is happening to the Christians who were forced out of Mosul.  Mike Stechschulte (Catholic News Service) reports the attack on the Mosul Christians led to a march this month in Detroit where participants shouted, "Obama, Obama, where are you?  Iraqi Christians need you!"  Another CNS report notes Chaldean Bishop Francis Kalabat in Southfield, Michigan:

     Bishop Kalabat had especially pointed words for President Barack Obama, whom he said has not done much to address the problem.
    "I don't understand President Obama's words, 'The situation is an Iraqi problem.' Since when? How many thousands of American soldiers were sacrificed? Bloodied, lost limbs, lost their souls, lost their lives. How is this not an American problem?" Bishop Kalabat said.
    He said the inaction by the White House has prompted the Chaldean community to pursue direct humanitarian aid instead, including via bills currently before Congress.
    "This community, you have responded in the most beautiful way," he said, referring to a $60,000 collection taken up by local Chaldean parishioners about a month ago. "It was a drop in the bucket (compared to what's needed), but it did help."
    He thanked the senators and representatives who traveled to Iraq to visit with refugees, especially from Michigan and San Diego, where the two largest concentrations of Chaldeans exist in the United States.


    Unlike Barack, some members of Congress have been willing to speak out.  Catholic San Francisco notes a rally in San Francisco earlier this month:

     Assyrian Catholics came via bus from the Central Valley and San Jose. Republican Rep. Jeff Denham of Fresno, whose district has 25,000 Assyrian Catholics, also spoke, criticizing leaders “for allowing a genocide to go on against the Christians of Iraq and Syria at the hands of ISIS without any action,” DeKelaita said.

    But Barack won't address it and, as we saw in a State Dept press briefing this week, even when the targeting of religious minorities is raised to the State Dept, the spokesperson prefers to ignore the issue.

    Who will help the persecuted?

    James Reinl (Rudaw) offers:

    Three dozen charities and faith groups have called on the US Government to cooperate more with Iraq’s Kurdish region in an effort to address a growing refugee crisis from Islamist-linked violence.
    A letter from the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, the National Council of Churches USA and other influential groups urges Washington to lay out a “clear, long-term strategy” on Iraq’s worsening humanitarian situation.


    Barack's cratering in one poll after another on the issue of foreign policy and he's also taking a hit on likability -- maybe it's time Hillary Clinton repeated his infamous 2008 sentence back to him?  "You're likable enough." -- and how much Iraq plays into it is a question only we're raising.  Where's everyone else on this topic?

    He was supposed to be right on Iraq, that's what he ran on in 2008.  He was supposed to be so smart.  But Iraq is in flames.


    Iraq War veteran JR Salzman Tweets:




    That sentiment is only going to multiply if Barack's public response is silence -- Barack's and so many of the people under him.  I don't care for Samantha Power but I do give her credit for issuing a statement and one that actually sounds like her own words.

    The White House and the State Dept are failing at their jobs when it comes to Iraq.

    That failure produces this sort of Tweet:


    That is the perception out there.

    A smart administration addresses perception.

    This is not a smart administration.

    Last night, Ruth noted (and quoted) the reporter raising the rumor/allegation that the US created ISIS (IS) and how spokesperson Jen Psaki refused to address the question.

    Why did Psaki do that?

    I have no idea.

    Maybe the White House created ISIS and she didn't want to lie?

    I have no idea.

    I do know her job requires her to respond.

    She didn't do her job.  Naharnet reports that the US Embassy in Libya tackled the allegations in a Tweet -- denying them.  Real shame they couldn't have quoted the State Dept spokesperson but Psaki was clearly too tired to do her job.



  • 2h
    Do sign the petition to supply emergency provisions for
    Expand

    • How sad that people believe they have to sign a petition to get the White House to okay emergency provisions being dropped to the Yazidis.


    How weak is the White House that it will take pleading from Americans to get it to act?


    Nouri's still backed by the White House despite all the above conflict, despite Sameer N. Yacoub and Sinan Salaheddin (AP) reporting Baghdad bombings today left at least 51 people dead.

    Nouri al-Maliki, the despot that will destroy Iraq if he gets a third term as prime minister.

    Note this Tweet:

  • 5h
    Hearing from Iraq that Maliki had 28 conditions to be met before he steps down. Shia bloc accepted them all but Maliki then changed his mind
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    • If true, this would be yet another example of Nouri breaking his word.


    Nouri al-Maliki gave his weekly televised address today.  As usual, it was the sound of a fanatic raving, a rabid dog frothing at the mouth.

    Alsumaria notes that he declared the biggest bloc should be allowed to nominate the candidate for prime minister-designate.  He insisted that the post isn't elected by Parliament, it's merely the one with the largest bloc.  (Yes, that's in complete conflict with both his position in 2010 and the court ruling in 2010.)


    In his speech, Alsumaria notes, Nouri also insisted that the will of the people must be respected.  No word on whether or not that line was drowned out due to all the laughter.



    In the speech's most provocative remarks, Nouri lays down a threat.  Alsumaria quotes him declaring that any violations of the (don't laugh) "Constitutional process" will open the gates of hell.

    No, Nouri's never cared about the Constitution before.  This is most obvious in his attack on Iraq's two term Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi whom Nouri forced out of the country with false charges of terrorism and then staged a kangaroo court trial -- despite the fact that Tareq retained his office (he still does until vice presidents are named).  As such, Tareq can't be charged with anything, per the Constitution, unless the Parliament strips him of his office.  Parliament refused to.  Nouri's actions were illegal.  He repeated them with other rivals.

    But today, in a speech filled with lies, he attempts to make the case that the Constitution guarantees him a second term and then he closes by insisting any efforts to prevent him from a third term will open the gates of hell.


    Here's a Tweet on the topic of Nouri and his hell remarks.


    1. 2m
      as if the country is n't hell already, # Maliki warns that new government could open "gates of hell"
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    And Mohammad Sabah (Al Mada) reports members of Parliament are saying that if Nouri pushes for a third term -- or his supporters push him for it -- that there will be walk outs in Thursday Parliament session, that Nouri is widely rejected because of his policies.























    Posted by at

    Wednesday, August 06, 2014

    Skeleton needs to be sent home

    Dig this.  Erik Seawright (Z6mag) reports:

    A Philadelphia archaeology museum found a 6,500 year old human skeleton in it’s basement.
    The skeleton, which had been kept in a coffin-like box, was missing documentation until researchers recently began digitizing the museum’s collection from an expedition to Ur, an ancient city near modern-day Nasiriyah.

    UPI's Brooks Hays adds:

     In Ur, Woolley and his colleagues found some 48 graves in a floodplain. They dug them up to find skeletons dated to the Ubaid period of the ancient Near East, an extremely rare discovery. Only one was fully preserved and suitable for excavation.
    Woolley and his fellow archaeologists dug up the skeleton and coated the bones and surrounding soil in wax. They then shipped the remains to London for examination, and then on to Philadelphia. There, it was neglected. For decades it sat without proper documentation -- one of 150,000 bone specimens in the museums possession -- the museums curators unsure of what or who it was.
     
    And here at Mikey Likes It! we say:

    GIVE IT BACK!!!!!!

    The skeleton never should have been removed from Iraq.  Having basically robbed graves, the West then insulted the dead more by forgetting all about it.

    The skeleton has scientific significance, no question.

    Also no question, it belongs to Iraq.

    Return it.


    Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

     
    Tuesday, August 5, 2014.  Chaos and violence continue, the Yazidis remain vulnerable, how much does a chaotic Iraq hurt Barack's image, and much more.

    The UK Catholic Herald notes:


    The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has urged Catholics to answer a call from Church leaders in Iraq to take part in a universal day of prayer on Wednesday, the same day as the Feast of the Transfiguration.
    Rt Rev Declan Lang, Bishop of Clifton and chairman of International Affairs at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, asked the faithful to pray “for an end to the violent persecution that threatens to extinguish the ancient Iraqi Christian community”. 


    What is the Bishop speaking of?


    One more time, let's note Aid to the Church in Need's announcement on the Global Day of Prayer for Peace:

    Aug. 6, 2014--Feast of the Transfiguration
    “Please stop, I ask you with all my heart, it’s time to stop. Stop, please.” Inspired by these words of Pope Francis (June 27, 2014), the international pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need, united with His Beatitude Louis Rafael Sako, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Iraq, appeals to all persons of good will to join in a Global Day of Prayer for Peace to be held on August 6, 2014—the Feast of the Transfiguration.Chaldean Cross

    The feast of Transfiguration marks the moment when Jesus, on Mount Tabor, appears to three of his disciples in a state of glory, shortly before His ultimate trial on Calvary. This feast holds out a sign of hope for humanity: it is a source of courage when obstacles appear impossible to surmount; a sign that light is stronger than darkness; and testimony that death can turn into life.

    Meant to be observed in churches and homes across the country, this Global Day of Prayer in the midst of so much suffering in Iraq—particularly for the ancient Christian community of Mosul—tells the world at large that US Christians have not forgotten and abandoned their suffering brothers and sisters.

     Patriarch Sako has personally composed the Prayer for Peace:

    Lord,
    The plight of our country
    is deep and the suffering of Christians
    is severe and frightening.
    Therefore, we ask you Lord
    to spare our lives, and to grant us patience,
    and courage to continue our witness of Christian values
    with trust and hope.
    Lord, peace is the foundation of life;
    Grant us the peace and stability that will enable us
    to live with each other without fear and anxiety,
    and with dignity and joy.

    Glory be to you forever.

    The Patriarch also said: “Let us unite our voices and hearts before the Lord of peace. May the light of Tabor fill the hearts of all suffering people with consolation and hope. May the message of Tabor, through our prayers, inspire the leaders of Iraq to sacrifice personal interests for the common good and welfare.”

    Please click here and join ACN's candle vigil for Iraq.

    Many will be joining around the world to take part in the prayer.  Meanwhile Yazidis, like the Assyrian and Chaldean Christians, are being targeted as well.  UNICEF notes:





    ERBIL, 5 August 2014 – The reported deaths of 40 children from minority groups who were displaced from Sinjar city and district by armed violence are of extreme concern.

    According to official reports received by UNICEF, these children from the Yazidi minority died as a direct consequence of violence, displacement and dehydration over the past two days.

    Families who fled the area are in immediate need of urgent assistance, including up to 25,000 children who are now stranded in mountains surrounding Sinjar and are in dire need of humanitarian aid including drinking water and sanitation services. 

    Sinjar, a district of Ninewa in northwest Iraq with a population of at least 150,000 children - including many who are internally displaced - was taken over by the Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS) on Sunday.

    Children are particularly vulnerable, and are most affected by the continuing violence, displacement and fighting in Iraq. UNICEF repeats its urgent call for all children in need to be protected and immediately provided with life-saving assistance to prevent further loss of life.

    UNICEF calls all those who have influence to immediately grant children and women free and safe access to areas of refuge and respect the special protection afforded to children under international humanitarian and human rights law.”

    About UNICEF
    UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. For more information about UNICEF and its work, visit: www.unicef.org
    Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
    For more information, please contact:
    Juliette Touma, on mission to UNICEF Iraq, Tel: +962 79-867-4628, jtouma@unicef.org

    On the Yazdis, Loveday Morris (Washington Post) adds:



    Humanitarian agencies said Tuesday that between 10,000 and 40,000 civilians remain trapped on Mount Sinjar since being driven out of surrounding villages and the town of Sinjar two days earlier. But the mountain that had looked like a refuge is becoming a graveyard for their children.
    Unable to dig deep into the rocky mountainside, displaced families said they have buried young and elderly victims of the harsh conditions in shallow graves, their bodies covered with stones. Iraqi government planes attempted to airdrop bottled water to the mountain on Monday night but reached few of those marooned.



    Each day, things get worse in Iraq.  In an essay for The London Review of Books entitled "Isis consolidates," Patrick Cockburn offers:


     In Baghdad there was shock and terror on 10 June at the fall of Mosul and as people realised that trucks packed with Isis gunmen were only an hour’s drive away. But instead of assaulting Baghdad, Isis took most of Anbar, the vast Sunni province that sprawls across western Iraq on either side of the Euphrates. In Baghdad, with its mostly Shia population of seven million, people know what to expect if the murderously anti-Shia Isis forces capture the city, but they take heart from the fact that the calamity has not happened yet. ‘We were frightened by the military disaster at first but we Baghdadis have got used to crises over the last 35 years,’ one woman said. Even with Isis at the gates, Iraqi politicians have gone on playing political games as they move ponderously towards replacing the discredited prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
    ‘It is truly surreal,’ a former Iraqi minister said. ‘When you speak to any political leader in Baghdad they talk as if they had not just lost half the country.’ Volunteers had gone to the front after a fatwa from the grand ayatollah, Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most influential Shia cleric. But these militiamen are now streaming back to their homes, complaining that they were half-starved and forced to use their own weapons and buy their own ammunition. The only large-scale counter-attack launched by the regular army and the newly raised Shia militia was a disastrous foray into Tikrit on 15 July that was ambushed and defeated with heavy losses. There is no sign that the dysfunctional nature of the Iraqi army has changed. ‘They were using just one helicopter in support of the troops in Tikrit,’ the former minister said, ‘so I wonder what on earth happened to the 140 helicopters the Iraqi state has bought in recent years?’
    Probably the money for the missing 139 helicopters was simply stolen. There are other wholly corrupt states in the world but few of them have oil revenues of $100 billion a year to steal from.

    That's a look at Iraq today.

    The prime minister is the chief thug Nouri al-Maliki.  In 2006, Bully Boy Bush refused to allow Ibrahim al-Jafaari to have a second (non-consecutive) term as prime minister, arguing the 'new' Iraq (post 2003-invasion) was too young to survive a two-term prime minister, that it would be too easy to slip in a new Saddam that way.  So the Bully Boy Bush administration began demanding the prime minister be Nouri -- who had passed several tests with administration officials (including Zalmay Khalilzad) and with the CIA (who felt his paranoia would make him very easy to control).  And that's how nobody Nouri ended up becoming prime minister the first time.

    Barack Obama was elected president in November of 2008.  We're doing a very simplistic time line here.  In 2010, Iraq holds elections.  Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law loses to Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya.

    Last week, Frontline (PBS) served up "Losing Iraq."  One of the people they spoke with was Zalmay Khalizad.  He's generally considered to be a neocon and he was a supporter of the Iraq War as well as the US Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007.


     Zalmay Khalizad: Then at the same time, the Iraqi election was front and center. And once the Iraqi election had occurred, Mr. [Ayad] Allawi’s party, called Iraqiya, won more seats than Maliki’s party.
    I felt the success of those two parties also showed political progress in Iraq, the waning of sectarianism and the rise of cross-sectarianism, because Iraqiya was a secular party that had a lot of Sunni support but had some Shia support as well. For it to go from 25 seats in the previous election to 92 seats in the 2009 election showed increased support for secular or cross-sectarian and less support for sectarian parties.
    And Maliki, who had been the leader of a religious party, a Shia religious party by one of its leaders, adapted by establishing a new party called the State of Law, which had nothing to do with a sect as such, and he was the second largest party. He too moved away from being sectarian.
    These two were the two biggest political forces, the State of Law and the Iraqiya, afterward. So government formation became a preoccupation of the administration as well.

     [. . .]
    Frontline:  So the 2010 election takes place. The United States basically backs Maliki, is the one to sort of name the new government, despite the fact that he had less seats. Is that important? Some people say that’s a turning point, that if Allawi had been allowed to set up the government, if Maliki had been pushed out of the prime minister role, it might have allowed more of a chance for power sharing, more of a secure Iraq moving forward, alleviating some of what happens afterward that we’re seeing today.
    Zalmay Kahlilzad: It would have been very important, in my view, to follow the constitution of Iraq in order to maintain support for the process and to show that being cross-sectarian pays off. It has political consequence.
    And to ask Allawi to form the government, he may have or he may not have succeeded in forming a government. Although he was the largest bloc, he wasn’t the majority, and therefore he would have had to convince some Shia, Kurds and some of the Sunnis who had separate parties of their own to vote for him.
    But that did not happen. Instead Maliki maneuvered, used the judiciary in a politicized way by getting a judgment from the court that said the bloc that even forms after the election, if it’s larger than the bloc that won the election, as they were before the election, can lead in forming the government. And we kind of bandwagoned with that, rather than pushing back and saying the constitution had to be followed.
    And an even bigger mistake, in my view, was in retrospect, that once the government had been formed with Maliki leading, … the package that was part of the agreement on the staffing of the government — establishment of this new position of a senior group of a strategic council that Ayad Allawi was to chair — was never formed.
    Some of the other agreements that were in place on policy issues did not occur, and we became much more disengaged after intense engagement in the formation of the government with a vice president and the president being hands-on, calling. Then we didn’t push, pursue, cajole to have these other elements also be implemented.
    Then add to that the absence of a SOFA and total withdrawal and the deterioration of the region, all of this then impacted Iraq.

    There are things I disagree with in the above (State of Law nonsectarian?) but in terms of a sweeping summary, it's better than most. The agreement he's speaking of is The Erbil Agreement -- the one giving Allawi a position over national security.  For over eight months, Nouri refused to step down.  In doing so, he brought the government to a standstill.  The political stalemate set a world record at the time for the longest period of time between elections and the formation of a government.

    Nouri would not have been able to pull that off without backing from the White House.  Some point to Iran as well.  And they did support Nouri.  They did not, however, ensure his second term as prime minister.  The White House did.  The Parliament finally met (and named a president, a speaker and a prime minister-designate all in one day) the day after the US-brokered Erbil Agreement was signed.

    The agreement was a contract -- a binding contract, US officials told the leaders of each political bloc.  In writing, the leaders agreed to give Nouri a second term as prime minister in exchange for concessions from him -- such as Allawi's national security appointment, the Kurds wanted Article 140 of the Constitution implemented, etc.

    Nouri didn't win.

    There was no reason for him to be prime minister.

    The legal contract was how the US government got people on board with a second term.

    And then Nouri refused to implement it and the White House played dumb.

    In 2011, he's not implemented it.  By that summer, the Kurds, cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr and Iraqiya are among those publicly calling for Nouri to implement the agreement.

    We need to wrap this section up -- it's all prelude to another portion of the snapshot -- so let's big picture it.

    Nouri does not keep his word.  Not on The Erbil Agreement.  Not on the White House benchmarks.  Not on this, not on that.

    I have called out Barack repeatedly here for refusing to stand up to Nouri.  A friend who left the administration in 2013 tells me I'm wrong.  Barack gave many firm words to Nouri over the years especially November 1, 2013.

    Okay, I'm fine with being wrong on that.

    The man who's all talk scolded the man who can't keep his word.  And nothing ever followed because Nouri can't keep his promise and Barack thinks empty words solve everything.

    Barack should have long ago made clear that if X isn't met then the US pulls support.

    By not doing so?

    Peter Sullivan (The Hill) notes the results of the latest NBC News - Wall St. Journal poll including, "Respondents rated Obama's handling of foreign policy even lower, with 36 percent approving, also an all-time low for the president."  This a day after Connie Cass and Jennifer Agiesta (AP) reported on the latest AP-GfK poll which finds "38 percent find the situation in Iraq of pressing importance; 57 percent disapprove of Obama's handling of it."

    Barack ran for the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential nomination on the lie that he was 'right' about Iraq.  (Barack protested it before the war started.  Once it started, he was supporting it.  That's public record.  I also knew this for a fact long before Boston in the summer of 2004 -- when Barack spoke to the New York Times.  He had already told Elaine and I at a fundraiser that 'we're there now' so opposition to the war no longer mattered.)

    He deserved your vote, he insisted, because he was right about Iraq.

    Does he look right now?

    He took over in 2009 as violence was dropping and all he's done is throw gas on a fire to keep it going and to make it grow larger.


    Does he look right now?

    Andy Piascik (Connecticut Post) observes, "True to his preference for violence over diplomacy, Obama has sent a strike force to Iraq which grows larger by the day."

    Barack's 'superior judgment' never was all that and events on the ground in Iraq threaten Barack's very image and power base.

    The ongoing failure that is the failed state of Iraq is a reflection on Barack and, as usual, the dim bulbs of the administration have somehow managed to repeatedly overlook that fact.

    The public doesn't appear to be.  The low marks Barack's getting have to do with his false advertising being revealed to be false.


    Meanwhile, the editorial board of the Khaleej Times notes:

    NOURI AL Maliki has been late in his strategic response to the Kurdish region. The Iraqi prime minister’s move to extend air cover to the insurgency-hit areas in the north is too little, too late.
    In fact, the relatively calm areas inhabited by the Kurd minority would not have fallen to the intruding Levant militia had Baghdad discharged its duties in a prudent manner. The point that Iraq is Balkanised and deeply divided on sectarian and ethnic lines is an outcome of mismanagement and nepotism at the helm of affairs. Maliki who tried to extend his power base by playing the sectarian card is squarely responsible for the dismal state of affairs.


    This as AP misses the point.  In a 'report,' they note that Nouri has offered to use Iraqi planes to bomb areas of and near the KRG to kill terrorists.

    The AP wrongly says the news value here is the cooperation angle.

    Wrong.

    From yesterday's snapshot:


     Tim Arango (New York Times) reports Iraqi state TV carried a statement from Iraq's military spokesperson Qassim Atta "The general commander of the armed forces, Nuri al-Maliki, has issued an order to the Iraqi air forces to provide air support for the pesh merga against ISIS."  Arango notes that the statement did not seem so much hopeful (Baghdad and the KRG coming together) as it "seemed only to reflect the dire situation on the ground."


    I'd argue Tim Arango's take is stronger.  But that's not even why I'm calling AP wrong.

    I'm calling it wrong because here's the news angle they -- and everyone else avoids:  Nouri is helping terrorists!

    What am I talking about?

    The Kurdish cabinet members walked out of Nouri's Cabinet only weeks ago, or have we forgotten that?

    Those of us who remember will recall that Nouri accused the Kurds of being in league with the terrorists.  The Kurds, he insisted, were harboring the terrorists.

    And yet now he's offering the Kurds air strikes?

    The Kurds aren't terrorists (few people Nouri calls "terrorists" ever actually are).

    But just weeks ago, Queen Drama Nouri was insisting publicly that the Kurds were harboring terrorists, in league with the terrorists, blah, blah, blah.












    Posted by at

    Tuesday, August 05, 2014

    Mahdi reports

    Monday, Monday.  Vacation over.

    But we have a new comic, Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The Exhibitionist"




    And we had a new edition at Third:

    This was a good one.
    But this was my favorite. 
    Jim breaks down the edition. 
    We call out Foreign Policy In Focus.

    Ava and C.I. have written another masterpiece.  :D

    We'd had some fun roundtables but this was our serious one.  I don't know when we'll do one agai anytime soon.  This was our third one in a row.

    Our short feature.

    Snack Pack pudding!!!

    IAVA tells the hard truths.

    Wednesday is a day of peace.

    Green Party stands up for the people.

    Video you should stream.

    Repost from Workers World.

    And a look at the week's best.

    And this is who worked on it, plus Dallas:


    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),
    Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
    Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
    Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
    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.



    Okay, Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya,has a report at Global Research which opens:
    Deceit and mischief has been at play. It is no coincidence that Egyptian Christians were attacked at the same time as the South Sudan Referendum, which was supposed to signal a split between the Muslims in Khartoum and the Christians and animists in Juba. Nor is it an accident that Iraq’s Christians, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, began to face a modern exodus, leaving their homes and ancestral homeland in Iraq in 2003. Mysterious groups targeted both them and Palestinian refugees…
    Coinciding with the exodus of Iraqi Christians, which occurred under the watchful eyes of US and British military forces, the neighborhoods in Baghdad became sectarian as Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims were forced by violence and death squads to form sectarian enclaves. This is all tied to a US and Israeli project of redrawing the map.
    The Christian communities of the Levant and Iraq have long distrusted the US government for its support of Israel, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and fanatical militants with anti-Christian leanings. Lebanon’s Christians have also been weary of US support for Israeli expansion and ideas about resettling Palestinians into Lebanon. There is also a widely held belief that the US and Israel have been involved in a policy to remove or «purge» the Christians from Iraq and the Levant in some type of Zionist-linked resettlement plan. Since the US-supported anti-government fighters started targeting Christian Syrians, there has been renewed talk about a Christian exodus in the Middle East centering on Washington’s war on Syria.


    Read it in full, Mahdi's a truth teller.


    Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

     
    Monday, August 4, 2014.  Chaos and violence continue, Sunni forces seize three towns, the Yazidis and Christians remain targeted, the State Dept ignores religious minorities (even when asked of them), and much more.


    For nearly a month now, the Israeli government has ordered an attack on Gaza.  The government's actions have led other governments to criticize -- including the US where State Dept spokesperson Jen Psaki has stated, "The United States is appalled by today's disgraceful shelling outside an UNRWA school in Rafah sheltering some 3,000 displaced persons." Mick Krever (CNN -- link is text and video) notes Israel's Minister of Intelligence Yuval Steinitz spoke with Christiane Amanpour for her CNN program and responded to criticism by some governments with the following,  "Sometimes I feel there is some hypocrisy in the criticism. Maybe [the] United States, Britain, France, and NATO forces can teach us from their experience how to minimize collateral damage -- for example, in their experience in Belgrade; their experience in Iraq; in Fallujah in Iraq; or in Afghanistan."


    No, there was no minimizing of collateral damage in Falluja.  You can even argue that the November 2004 assault on Falluja -- using conventional weapons as well as chemical ones -- was all about expanding collateral damage as much as possible. There was no concern for safety.  Young boys, for example, were judged to be 'fighters' -- merely because they were male -- and not allowed to leave the city, forced to remain for the assault.

    Pointing to the US' crimes and culpability does not mitigate those of the Israeli government but they do expose hypocrisy on the part of the US government.

    And they expose stupidity.

    Stupidity on the part of Yuval Steinitz.

    He tells Amanpour, "This idea that if they are launching rockets from civilian neighborhoods or nearby, unfortunately, some schools or hospitals, then we cannot or should not defend ourselves? You know, what alternative to we have?"

    The alternative you have is to not attack schools or hospitals or other places where civilians are.

    Doing so to kill an element that may or may not be gathered among the civilians?

    That's Collective Punishment and it's a War Crime -- it's a War Crime that no one in the Israeli government should be confused over.

    But the stupidity here is the Collective Stupidity when it comes to Iraq.

    Since the first of January of this year, Nouri has been using Collective Punishment, he's been bombing the residential neighborhoods of Falluja -- killing and wounding civilians.

    These are War Crimes.

    If Steinitz wants to object that the Israeli government is being wrongly criticized, he shouldn't be reaching back to 2004 or the past.  He should simply note that for 8 months now, Iraq's chief thug and hopefully outgoing prime minister has been killing civilians, committing War Crimes, and the White House, England's Prime Minister, etc., have all refused to demand Nouri stop these War Crimes.


    Bombing hospitals?  Nouri's bombed Falluja General as well as Falluja's teaching hospital.




    If you've not noticed in the last ten years, I do prefer precision from news outlets.  I try to be sensitive to all religions and especially to religious minorities.  But I am troubled by headlines claiming "thousands" of Yazidis were just slaughtered.

    Thousands?

    Thousands are being targeted and threatened.

    But were thousands slaughtered?

    If so, the body of your article should have backed that up at some point with a number.

    If you didn't, your article's suspect.  And if you're claiming 'thousands slaughtered' in anticipation of thousands being killed, don't expect to be believed if/when thousands are killed since you've already stated that it happened.

    Rudaw has numbers.  They say there are approximately 300,000 Yazidis in Iraq today with "thousands" having fled due to the violence and the refugee population of "Yezidi Kurds and [. . .] Assyrian and Chaldean Christians" have seen the deaths of 20 children from hunger while many of the elderly population have "collapsed from exhaustion in the summer heat."

    What we do know is that the Yazidis in northern Iraq were threatened yesterday when three towns fell to fighters/rebels/militants/et al.  Adam Chandler (The Wire) noted Sunni fighters "swept across northern Iraq over the weekend, reportedly defeating Kurdish forces for the first time, and was rumored to have captured a vital dam near Mosul." Alan Duke (CNN) explained, "ISIS took control of Iraq's largest hydroelectric dam on Iraq's Tigris River, which provides power to the city of Mosul about 50 kilometers (31 miles) to the south, the commander of the Peshmerga Kurdish fighters who had been defending the facility said Sunday."  Reuters added that the fighters seized three towns in the Kurdistan Region including Zumar.  Fu Peng (Xinhua) reports the town of Sinjar was among the three seized:


     The majority of the town of Sinjar are from the Yazidi minority, which is primarily an ethnic Kurd. The religion of Yazidis incorporates elements of many faiths, as a result of some of their beliefs and the mystery surrounding their religion, many Muslims and non-Muslims have considered Yazidis as infidels. This has led to violent attacks by extremist Islamist groups against the minority.
    There are about 600,000 Yazidis remaining in Iraq with roughly 80 percent of them living in the towns of Sinjar and Bashika in Nineveh province.

    Andrew Slater (Daily Beast) offers this overview:

     The Sinjar mountain area is a ring of villages and one of the few true homes for the Yezidi people. The Yezidi’s ancient faith, which combines elements of Christianity, Sufi Islam, and Zoroastrianism, is considered heretical by ISIS and puts them at great risk. Of the 300,000 who live in this district, most have left in the last 24 hours and the rest are desperately trying to find a way out with aid organizations in Iraq saying that a humanitarian disaster of epic scale is currently unfolding.

    Mitchell Pothero (McClatchy Newspapers) reports today that the Islamic State continues to control Kummar and Sinjar but that the town of Wana, the third town seized, is now under Kurdish control.  Also today, National Iraqi News Agency reports:

    Elements of the Islamic State blew up shrines belong to the Yazidi sect and killed 70 Yazidi after refusing to convert to Islam, witnesses say.
    The witnesses told the reporter of the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA / that "elements of the Islamic State blew up two shrines belong to Yazidi at the bottom of Sinjar Mount and trying to also blow up another shrine at the top of Sinjar Mount after noting the people of nearby to evacuate in order to detonate it." 


    Given the chance to mention the attacks on religious minorities in Iraq during today's US State Dept press briefing, spokesperson Jen Psaki took a pass and, when pressed by a reporter, she still ignored the issue.
    QUESTION: Okay. And do you have anything to add to the statement from yesterday?

     MS. PSAKI: I don’t believe so, though I’m happy to --

     QUESTION: Well, just that there seem to be a lot of minority – religious minorities fleeing – or not seem, there are. And I’m wondering if you have any update on that, any – or any update on conversations that you all have had with the Iraqis about helping – boosting assistance to the Kurds (inaudible).

     MS. PSAKI: Well, Ambassador Beecroft, of course, remains our point on the ground. Deputy Assistant Secretary Brett McGurk is working in close partnership with him, so U.S. officials from here and in Baghdad have been in contact over, of course, the last 24 to 48 hours with Iraqi officials in Baghdad and Erbil to discuss a coordinated response to the humanitarian situation you mentioned. There have been populations, including many vulnerable minorities, who have fled areas where ISIL has been attacking. That, of course, is of great concern to us and is an issue that we are closely watching and, of course, facilitating cooperation and direct assistance between Baghdad and Erbil as part of our focus.
    I’m sure – you may have the statement made by the Government of Iraq and their efforts to support with air power – with airstrikes what is happening. We certainly welcome the statement made from officials in Baghdad that Iraqi security forces will provide air support to the Peshmerga as they counter this latest ISIL offensive. The Peshmerga have played a critical role in addressing this threat, and the focus of all parties needs to remain on enhancing cooperation between Baghdad and Erbil to not allow further advances. So that certainly is what we are focused on from here and in Baghdad.


    Grasp that, even when directly asked, Psaki ignored the issue.

    This is why the administration has such a bad reputation when it comes to Christian and Jewish issues.  Rightly or wrongly, it's felt by a number of Americans that if Muslims are attacked, the administration is on it.  But they sense a lack of respect for what the US has often seen as more traditional religions.

    There's a disgrace on the Democratic side of the aisle.

    It's embarrassing.

    You see it over and over.

    In 2012, you saw it with -- we have not used this term before -- "magic underwear" -- used to attack GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.  It was an attack on him and an attack on his religion.

    It was crass, insulting and, honestly, unforgivable.

    You have to wonder about Democrats who ran with that as a campaign 'issue.'  More to the point, you have to wonder about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who never publicly condemned it.

    We all know that Mitt's mocked religion was Mormon, right?  That the "magic underwear" being mocked is a part of Reid's religion as well since Reid is also Mormon.

    But Harry Reid was so trashy, he couldn't even speak up on behalf of his religion.

    How trashy.

    I didn't plan to be online ten years.  Doing so means things come out.  As a general rule, Elaine and I are always on the same page.  So when she noted she didn't follow a religion, it was obvious to many that I didn't.  And when it was brought up directly, I noted it.

    I don't practice any religion.  I have no use personally for any religion.

    For people it benefits, great and wonderful.

    And we're not going to insult or attack a religion here.  We do not use the name of any deity in vain here.  If we're quoting someone swearing, we usually do it as "G** damn."  Not because "God" is a dirty word, it isn't, but because I know it is a sensitive issue for some when a deity's name is using in vain.

    We try to be respectful of religion here.

    And it's a real shame that a ____ (use your favorite swear of choice) like me shows more diplomatic tact on the issue of religion than does the US State Dept.

    The Yazidis are being threatened.  They deserve support and sympathy.  But Jen Psaki couldn't be bothered with the threats against the Yazidis or the Christians or any group.

    This is what feeds into the bad image the administration already has, feeds it and lets it grow.  Larry Clifton (Digital Journal) offers, "The US administration is largely ignoring Iraq as it disintegrates, much as it has throughout Pres. Obama’s tenure."  Connie Cass and Jennifer Agiesta (AP) report on the latest AP-GfK poll which finds "38 percent find the situation in Iraq of pressing importance; 57 percent disapprove of Obama's handling of it."



    Bram Janssen covers the events for AP and there are four photos with the report, the first of which includes this caption, "This image made from video taken on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014 shows Iraqis people from the Yazidi community arriving in Irbil in northern Iraq after Islamic militants attacked the towns of Sinjar and Zunmar. Around 40 thousand people crossed the bridge of Shela in Fishkhabur into the Northern Kurdish Region of Iraq, after being given an ultimatum by Islamic militants to either convert to Islam, pay a security tax, leave their homes, or die."
    The ultimatum is the same one given to Christians in Mosul only a few weeks ago.  It should also be noted that it's been reported religious minorities other than Christians have been the first to receive these warnings and then, after they're cleared out, a week or so later the Christians are the ones threatened.  We'll return to that topic later in the snapshot but grasp that this issue -- this issue Jen Psaki elected to ignore even when it was raised by a reporter in the briefing -- is an ongoing one and yet the State Dept apparently doesn't even have prepared remarks for it in that cheat sheet binder the spokespeople depend upon.

    Along with the threatening of and killing of Yazidis,  Reuters notes that yesterday, "Islamic State fighters seized control of Iraq's biggest dam, [and] an oilfield."  The dam is a concern of some outlets with Vivian Salama and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) noting, "They could also use the dams as a weapon of war by flooding terrain downstream to slow Iraq's military or disrupt life. They have done that with a smaller dam they hold closer to Baghdad. But with the larger dams, there are limits on this tactic since it would also flood areas that the insurgents hold." Jen Psaki couldn't be bothered noting the threats and attacks on the religious minorities but she could talk about the dam today.


    QUESTION: Your statement yesterday, I think it was, about – this is Iraq.

     MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.

     QUESTION: About the gains that ISIS has been making in – against the Peshmerga. Do you have any specific concerns – and you don’t need to repeat the statement that you made yesterday, unless you really, really want to. But I’m just wondering, do you have any concerns about this dam that they seem to have taken over, and the possibility that they might use it for some kind of nefarious purpose?
    MS. PSAKI: Well, we are, of course, monitoring the situation closely. We know that the dam – the Mosul Dam has been in the sights of ISIL since its offensive began in June to further threaten and terrorize the Iraqi people. While the situation is fluid, our understanding is that the Peshmerga remains – forces remain in control of the dam. Certainly, we would be concerned if that changed.



    Glen Carey, Ladane Nasseri and Zaid Sabah (Bloomberg News) note, "The Mosul dam, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the city that the militants captured in June, is a major supplier of electricity and water. Germany’s Hochtief AG helped build the dam on the Tigris River in the 1980s. If it collapsed or was sabotaged, it could flood Mosul and surrounding villages."






    CBC notes, "Hundreds of Iraqi Canadian Christians gathered in Toronto today calling for the government to stand up against the persecution Christians in Mosul have faced since terrorist group ISIS began its occupation on June 10.  The crowd marched around Queen’s Park Sunday afternoon."  Mike Maloney (London Community News) adds, "More than 200 people lined the sidewalk of Richmond Street alongside St. Peter’s Basilica Sunday afternoon (Aug 3) to raise awareness around the plight of Christian’s being forced to flee their homes in Northern Iraq."  Paul Hammel (World-Herald) reports today was day two of the protest in Lincoln, Nebraska.  The first day witnessed a march on the governor's mansion; however, Governor Dave Heineman refused to meet with them.  Today, US House Rep Jeff Fortenberry did meet with them in his local office. Fortenberry tells Hammel, "This is genocide against the Christians and the Yezidis who are there."

    Fortenberry has already been working on the issue and today his office issued the following press release:
     Lincoln, NE – Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) along with colleagues Juan Vargas (D-CA) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) led passage of a bipartisan resolution (H. Res. 683) late last week condemning the severe persecution that Christians and other ethnic and religious minority communities are suffering in Iraq. The resolution also calls for an international humanitarian intervention to aid these innocent civilian groups. 
    “The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, commonly called ISIS, is waging an ongoing genocide against Christians, Yezidis, and other religious minorities in Iraq,” Fortenberry said. “All Christians have been expelled from Mosul, the second largest city in the country. These crimes against humanity have inspired worldwide outrage and demand a swift international humanitarian response.”
    “The House of Representatives has united to speak with one voice for Iraq’s desperate refugees and suffering religious communities,” Fortenberry said. “We must stand in solidarity with members of ancient faith traditions that face annihilation in their ancestral homelands.”
    A follow-up letter urging swift action in the Ninevah Plain region was sent to President Obama by Fortenberry, Eshoo, and Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA).
    Fortenberry serves on the House Appropriations Committee and is a member of the House Caucus on Religious Minorities in the Middle East.
    A copy of the resolution can be found here and a copy of the letter can be found here.
    ###




    Those are not the action planned by Aid for the Church in Need and others for Wednesday, August 6th.  It is an action that's part of a growing protest over the targeting and why many are expecting the August 6th action to have a healthy participation rate around the world.


    Let's again note Aid to the Church in Need's announcement on the Global Day of Prayer for Peace:

    Aug. 6, 2014--Feast of the Transfiguration
    “Please stop, I ask you with all my heart, it’s time to stop. Stop, please.” Inspired by these words of Pope Francis (June 27, 2014), the international pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need, united with His Beatitude Louis Rafael Sako, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Iraq, appeals to all persons of good will to join in a Global Day of Prayer for Peace to be held on August 6, 2014—the Feast of the Transfiguration.Chaldean Cross

    The feast of Transfiguration marks the moment when Jesus, on Mount Tabor, appears to three of his disciples in a state of glory, shortly before His ultimate trial on Calvary. This feast holds out a sign of hope for humanity: it is a source of courage when obstacles appear impossible to surmount; a sign that light is stronger than darkness; and testimony that death can turn into life.

    Meant to be observed in churches and homes across the country, this Global Day of Prayer in the midst of so much suffering in Iraq—particularly for the ancient Christian community of Mosul—tells the world at large that US Christians have not forgotten and abandoned their suffering brothers and sisters.

     Patriarch Sako has personally composed the Prayer for Peace:

    Lord,
    The plight of our country
    is deep and the suffering of Christians
    is severe and frightening.
    Therefore, we ask you Lord
    to spare our lives, and to grant us patience,
    and courage to continue our witness of Christian values
    with trust and hope.
    Lord, peace is the foundation of life;
    Grant us the peace and stability that will enable us
    to live with each other without fear and anxiety,
    and with dignity and joy.

    Glory be to you forever.

    The Patriarch also said: “Let us unite our voices and hearts before the Lord of peace. May the light of Tabor fill the hearts of all suffering people with consolation and hope. May the message of Tabor, through our prayers, inspire the leaders of Iraq to sacrifice personal interests for the common good and welfare.”

    Please click here and join ACN's candle vigil for Iraq.



    Around the world includes Iraq.  Dalje notes, "Hundreds of Kurds in the northern Iraqi cities of Erbil and Sulaimaniya have protested at violence by Sunni extremists in northern Iraq against members of the Yezidi minority."  Unlike much of the rest of the world, protesters in Iraq actually risk safety when taking a public stand against the targeting.  Even those who enter Iraq to protest the targeting risk less than Iraqis who have decided to stay in Iraq.  For example, Catholic World News reports, "Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon, joined by two other French bishops, made a four-day trip to Iraq to meet with some of the nation’s persecuted Christians. "

    That was a brave move by the Cardinal but it's also true that after the visit, the Cardinal returns home.

    The Sunni resistance is having success in seizing territory throughout Iraq.  But it is unified around one issue and it is not a monolithic group.  These are facts that too many struggle to convey or acknowledge.  Which is why Ned Parker and Suleiman al-Khalidi's report for Reuters is all the more important.  Excerpt:

     The alliance between Sunni tribesmen, nationalists, old Baath regime loyalists and military veterans on one side and Islamic State on the other is based almost entirely on a mutual hatred of Maliki's Shi'ite government and a desire for an independent Sunni region.
    But like most Iraqi Sunnis, Suleiman is no Islamic extremist. He helped crush an earlier incarnation of al Qaeda in Iraq. And he was disturbed recently by the news that tens of thousands of Christians were fleeing the city of Mosul after an Islamic State ultimatum that they should convert, leave or be put to the sword. The notion was an affront to Suleiman, who grew up in cosmopolitan Baghdad and has often spoken publicly of the need for tolerance.


    Tim Arango (New York Times) reports Iraqi state TV carried a statement from Iraq's military spokesperson Qassim Atta "The general commander of the armed forces, Nuri al-Maliki, has issued an order to the Iraqi air forces to provide air support for the pesh merga against ISIS."  Arango notes that the statement did not seem so much hopeful (Baghdad and the KRG coming together) as it "seemed only to reflect the ire situation on the ground."


    At the State Dept today, Jen Psaki tried to sell the statement as a sign of hope.
    QUESTION: On Iraq, high ranking Iraqi Kurdish official said that the United States has agreed to provide arms to Peshmerga. Would you confirm or do you have anything to say about this?
    MS. PSAKI: I don’t have any confirmation of that. It’s actually – our focus remains encouraging cooperation and continued coordination between the ISF and the Peshmerga forces. And again, I just spoke to the statement by the ISF today about their plans to provide air support to the Peshmerga, and we certainly support that effort.


    Turning to politics . . .

    "I was elected president by all the Iraqi factions.  And I would never nominate anyone for the post of prime minister without all parties’ consent and blessing." That's Iraq's recently named President, President Fouad Massoum.


    What's he talking about?  Why did he say that if he's "pressured to nominate a candidate, I will not hesitate to step down"?

    Rudaw explains:



    Rudaw has learned that Iraq’s acting Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has urged  Massoum to nominate him “since he represents the largest coalition in the parliament.”
    The president has reportedly declined Maliki’s appeal and said he would not use his presidential powers to nominate anyone “without the clear support of all Iraqi factions.”


    That comes as Press TV reports State of Law has nominated Nouri for a third term as prime minister.




























    Posted by at

    Sunday, August 03, 2014

    Idiot of the week

    This one is a toughie.

    For example, War Crimes took place in Gaza.

    And you have to be really stupid to manage to turn people against calling out War Crimes -- however, a nutso fringe of the left always makes you sick of the topic as they go into blood lust mode and then there's the group who can't shut up about it.  They make every damn moment about it.  As if Gaza is in the middle of Ohio or something.

    As if CIA spying, the War Crimes in Iraq and so much more don't matter.

    The whole thing is enough to turn you off and make you say, "They clearly have enough support already, I'll work where I'm needed."

    I'm naming them idiots of the week.

    They even beat out this idiot who is pro Nouri al-Maliki and has shamed WSWS repeatedly with her nutty writing.

    But I cut her slack this week since she was one of the few covering Iraq.

    Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


     
    Friday, August 1, 2014.  Chaos and violence continue, Ahmed Chalabi becomes the focus of rumors, Iraqi Christians continue to be persecuted, and much more.


    Iraqi Christians continue to be targeted.  Bishop Suriel, the Bishop of Melbourne - Coptic Orthodox Church, Tweeted:

    Mosul, the cradle of Christianity in Iraq since the first centuries, is now purged of its entire Christian population. The ruthless and purposeful savagery of the attacks by the fundamentalist Muslim terrorist organization The Islamic State (IS) formerly known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is truly inconceivable. Yet, most world leaders remain silent in the face of the murder of innocent children and horrific beheadings of civilians. We question why the media has not highlighted the unprecedented systematic eradication of the city’s entire Christian population. We also question why the Australian government have yet to comment and condemn this gross deprivation of human rights.


    There is only silence.


    Silence, that sends a resounding message of indifference to the murders of innocent lives at the hands of extremist Muslim groups. Silence, which attributes lesser value to the lives of Christians in the Middle East. Silence, that surrenders to the power of radicalism and the inhumane brutality of groups such as IS.

    The silence has included the White House which waited until yesterday to have an official meet with representatives of Iraqi Christians.

    We've been noting the White House needed to get active for some time.

    Now it's becoming an issue with US House Rep Trent Franks releasing the following statement.




    For those who are not helped by streaming video, here's the transcript of what's being said.

    US House Rep Trent Franks:  Mr. President, last month, 55 colleagues of mine and myself sent you and Secretary Kerry a letter asking that you actively prioritize security and humanitarian support for the Christian community in Iraq.  We specifically warned you of the dangers and brutality of the terrorist group ISIS who are now rampaging across Iraq and terrorizing the vulnerable Christian population.  In the letter, we specifically pointed out that "parts of Syria and Iraq that have previously fallen under the rule of ISIS have witnessed summary executions, beheadings and even crucifixions."  And that "absent immediate action, we will most certainly witness an annihilation of a faith community from the lands they've inhabited for centuries."  Tragically, Mr. President, you simply ignored us again -- as you've done so many times before.  And now ISIS, the group you once likened to a junior varsity basketball team, is beheading its way across Iraq and has declared that there will be "nothing for the Christians but the sword" if they do not convert.  Mr. President, last week, ISIS torched an 1800-year-old church in Mosul and deliberately and insidiously destroyed the historic tomb of Jonah.  Last Sunday, for the first time in 1600 years, there was no mass in Mosul.  The head of Iraq's Christian community said, "For the first time in the history of Iraq, Mosul is now empty of Christians."  And now images of ISIS' beheadings, crucifixions, rape, torture and mass execution are all over the internet and social media.  Just yesterday, I met with a group of NGOs based in Iraq who told me that ISIS recently beheaded 6 Christians and then proceeded to play soccer with their decapitated heads.  Mr. President, ISIS's targeting of Christians has been systematic and horrifying and Iraq's Christians in the area are now nearly extinct.  It can rightly be called "targeted religious cleansing."  And, sir, it is a crime against humanity.  And yet, Mr. President, we have not heard a single word from you -- even as a literal Christian genocide is taking place at this very moment, you have not uttered even one syllable about what your administration is doing or planning to do to relieve or protect these persecuted Christians in Iraq.  So now speaking with you and pleading with you directly, sir, I once again repeat the words we wrote in our letter to you a month ago: "We urge you and your administration to urgently and actively engage with the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to prioritize additional security support for these particularly vulnerable populations and provide emergency humanitarian assistance to those effected communities.  Absent immediate action, we will most certainly witness the annihilation of ancient faith community from the lands they've inhabited for centuries.  Mr. President, if you continue to ignore this Christian genocide in Iraq, history will record that it was you who idly stood on the sidelines and knowingly let it happen.


    We have repeatedly noted the perception issue.

    Maybe we should have spelled it out for the hard headed ones in denial?

    Barack can't lose religious support in the US and have any chance of accomplishing anything in his second term.

    He's had a religious problem throughout his national career.

    He claimed Jeremiah Wright as an inspiration.  Then when Wright's sermons got a little bit of examination, Barack began to walk away and he (and Michelle) flat out attacked Wright on national television in response to Wright's remarks that Barack was just a typical politician.

    Prior to Wright, Barack appears to have had no real encounters with a church.

    Certainly, after becoming President, he failed to attend a church regularly.

    Some of Barack's supporters state and write publicly that Barack doesn't really believe in God.

    If that's true, there's nothing wrong with that.  Unless, of course, you go around insisting you do believe and you are a Christian.

    Barack already has one religious problem -- what's going on in Gaza and how to respond without antagonizing certain elements of the US electorate.  He has another emerging religious problem that no one wants to talk about or acknowledge.

    Barack is the deporter in chief.  That is registering in Catholic communities -- both due to the fact that a large number of Latinos and Latinas deported are Catholic and also because the Catholic faith has always had a strong activist wing. Barack is taking a hit there.

    And now he's unable to decry the persecution of Christians.

    He has stated he is a Christian, he has stated he was baptized and much more.

    His failure to provide leadership on this issue hurts him.

    Christians who care deeply about this issue, for example,  are left to wonder if Barack lied about his own faith?  Or if he just doesn't care about what happens to Iraqi Christians?

    That's the thing about silence -- if you create it or foster it, others will rush in to fill the silence with something, anything.

    And not everyone's been silent in the US.  Members of Congress have spoken out.  In fact, Tuesday, US House Rep Anna Eshoo's office issued the following.



    WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) released the following statement after the House and Senate passed her bipartisan legislation to create a special envoy at the State Department to focus on the plight of religious minorities in the Middle East and South Central Asia. Co-sponsored by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), the bill now awaits the President’s signature.

    “Today the world is bearing witness to the persecution and eradication of religious minorities in some of the most imperiled regions on earth,” said Eshoo. “Christians in the Middle East and South Central Asia are being tortured, killed and live in fear simply because of their religion. The stories are countless, and the response has been meager.”

    “With enactment of this legislation, America is appropriately stepping up its response and will be more capable in providing aid to religious minorities. A special envoy at the State Department will focus on the freedom and survival of religious minorities. Time is running out and this critical problem deserves to be treated as a high priority,” Eshoo concluded.



    While some emphasize the silence, others play the numbers in their own coverage.  Gwynee Dyer (London Free Press) explains, "There were still about 60,000 Christians in Mosul when the United States and its sidekicks invaded Iraq 11 years ago. By last year, it was down to 30,000. Only two months after the arrival of the ISIS extremists, there are none. Most have fled to Kurdistan with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. They are not going back, and if they can they will leave the Middle East entirely."  All Christians have not left Mosul.

    We've noted that a number have had no choice but to remain and are in hiding.

    I've also a missed a point of the hiding in plain sight.  My apologies for that.  Voice of the Martyrs explains, "There is another group of Christians in northern Iraq too: those that were born into Muslim families but have consciously made the choice to reject Islam and follow Jesus. It is important to understand that these believers do NOT have a choice to pay a tax and save their lives. These converts are, in the eyes of IS, apostates. If IS fighters learned of their faith, they would give these believers two choices: return to Islam or be killed."



    Yael Rein (San Diego Jewish World) notes, "The United Nations Security Council condemned the persecution of minorities in Iraq."

    Peter Jesserer-Smith (National Catholic Register) explains:


     For the past two months, the Register has brought you the stories of the Iraqi Christians’ desperate condition at the hands of the militants of the Islamic State. They are a sea of refugees robbed of everything, begging the world to let them survive. They haven’t just lost their property and homes — they have been robbed of their identity, their culture, and their history.  

     He goes on to note the August 6th Global Day of Prayer for Peace in Iraq and that's a good time for us to note Aid to the Church in Need's announcement on the Global Day of Prayer for Peace:

    Aug. 6, 2014--Feast of the Transfiguration
    “Please stop, I ask you with all my heart, it’s time to stop. Stop, please.” Inspired by these words of Pope Francis (June 27, 2014), the international pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need, united with His Beatitude Louis Rafael Sako, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Iraq, appeals to all persons of good will to join in a Global Day of Prayer for Peace to be held on August 6, 2014—the Feast of the Transfiguration.Chaldean Cross

    The feast of Transfiguration marks the moment when Jesus, on Mount Tabor, appears to three of his disciples in a state of glory, shortly before His ultimate trial on Calvary. This feast holds out a sign of hope for humanity: it is a source of courage when obstacles appear impossible to surmount; a sign that light is stronger than darkness; and testimony that death can turn into life.

    Meant to be observed in churches and homes across the country, this Global Day of Prayer in the midst of so much suffering in Iraq—particularly for the ancient Christian community of Mosul—tells the world at large that US Christians have not forgotten and abandoned their suffering brothers and sisters.

     Patriarch Sako has personally composed the Prayer for Peace:

    Lord,
    The plight of our country
    is deep and the suffering of Christians
    is severe and frightening.
    Therefore, we ask you Lord
    to spare our lives, and to grant us patience,
    and courage to continue our witness of Christian values
    with trust and hope.
    Lord, peace is the foundation of life;
    Grant us the peace and stability that will enable us
    to live with each other without fear and anxiety,
    and with dignity and joy.

    Glory be to you forever.

    The Patriarch also said: “Let us unite our voices and hearts before the Lord of peace. May the light of Tabor fill the hearts of all suffering people with consolation and hope. May the message of Tabor, through our prayers, inspire the leaders of Iraq to sacrifice personal interests for the common good and welfare.”

    Please click here and join ACN's candle vigil for Iraq.
    Meanwhile, Professor Margaret Blunden takes issue with the Financial Times of London's editorial "Christians at the mercy of jihadis" feeling that  they have slighted the Kurdish Regional Government -- "a refuge for some 10,000 Iraqi Christian families escaping violence."  On that topic, All Iraq News notes KRG President Massoud Barzani declared today that the Kurdistan Region was the host to over 1.2 million refugees. 
    And, no, that's not the biggest rumor.  Friday's biggest rumor was that Ahmed Chalabi would be Iraq's next prime minister.  True or false, it's all over Arabic social media.  What is known is that Nouri's being called out by.  Raheem Salmam (Reuters) reports: 


    Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his security officials are to blame for the rise of Sunni Muslim insurgents who have seized parts of Iraq, the country's foreign minister said.
    The comments by Hoshiyar Zebari, a Kurd, are likely to worsen relations between Maliki's Shi'ite Muslim-led government and the Kurds, complicating efforts to form a power-sharing government capable of countering Islamic State militants.
    Baghdad, 1 August 2014 – According to casualty figures released today by UNAMI, a total of at least 1,737 Iraqis were killed and another 1,978 were injured in acts of terrorism and violence in July*.
    The number of civilians killed was 1,186 (including 106 civilian police), while the number of civilians injured was 1,511 (including 177 civilian police).  A further 551 members of the Iraqi Security Forces, including Peshmerga and SWAT, were killed and 467 were injured (not including casualties from Anbar operation).
    "I am concerned about the rising number of casualties in Iraq, particularly among the civilian population.  Children and women are most vulnerable.  All sides should ensure that civilians are protected and that international humanitarian law is respected”, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Iraq, Mr. Nickolay Mladenov said.
    “Despite the continuing fighting, politicians have shown that they can work together in choosing the new President and the new Speaker of the Council of Representative.  It is time that they move forward on the creation of a new government that can address the root causes of violence in Iraq and ensure equitable development for all communities”, Mr. Mladenov added.
    Anbar excluded, Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate with 1,035 civilian casualties (415 killed, 620 injured), followed by Salahadin (305 killed, 289 injured), Ninewa (209 killed, 270 injured), Kirkuk (68 killed, 127 injured), Babil (77 killed, 72 injured) and Diyala (71 killed, 66 injured).
    *CAVEATS: Data do not take into account casualties of the current IA operation in Anbar, for which we report at the bottom the figures received by our sources.
    Incidents
    UNAMI recorded a minimum 400 security incidents in different parts of Iraq.  Among these incidents, are included 62 incidents by air attack caused a minimum of 823 casualties killed and injured.  30 incidents caused by vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED) and suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (SVBIED), which caused a minimum of 535 casualties killed and injured.  78 incidents using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) caused a minimum of 322 civilian casualties killed and injured.  67 incidents with small arms fire (SAF) caused a minimum of 141 casualties killed and injured.
    Operations in Anbar
    Due to official holidays of Eid-ul-Fitr, UNAMI was not able to obtain casualty figures from Ramadi and other areas of Anbar.  UNAMI was only able to obtain the figures for Fallujah from the General Hospital of Fallujah; the total civilian casualties in Fallujah up to 30 July inclusive were 132 killed and 421 injured.  UNAMI will publish the figures for Ramadi as soon as they are available. 
    Kurdish Region stands out for the relative calm it offers to Assyrian, Arab and Kurdish Christians.
    It's an undercount.  Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com) notes, "Antiwar.com has determined that at least 5,698 people were killed and 2,018 more were wounded during the month of July."
    It would be great if UNAMI would track the number of civilians killed by Nouri each month but they can't even include Anbar Province in their count.
    Nouri's War Crimes continue.  NINA notes a man and a woman were killed by Nouri's bombing of residential neighborhoods in Falluja -- fourteen more people ("including four children") were left injured.  He's been bombing homes in Falluja since the start of the year.  Now he's begun expanding his targets.  NINA notes a Mosul aerial bombing left 4 women and 1 child dead and seven people were left injured in Kirkuk from Nouri's targeting civilians.


    NINA notes a Kirkuk roadside bombing left one police member injured, 2 more Kirkuk bombs left three people injured, the Operations Command of the Island and the Desert declared that they killed 53 suspects in Haditha, . . .  Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com) counts 266 dead today with another and 18 injured.




















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