Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The Apology" went up Monday and is a take on Barack's apology for ObamaCare. Valerie Jarrett's referring to is Kevin G. Hall and Anita Kumar's McClatchy Newspapers report which opens:
Even as President Barack Obama sold a new health care law in part by assuring Americans they would be able to keep their insurance plans, his administration knew that tens of millions of people actually could lose those their policies.
“If you like your private health insurance plan, you can keep your plan. Period,” Obama said as he pitched the plan, the unqualified promise he made repeatedly.
Yet advisers did say in 2010 that there were large caveats and that anyone whose insurance plan changed would lose the promised protection of being able to keep existing plans. And a report in 2010 said that as many as 69 percent of certain employer-based insurance plans would lose that protection, meaning as many as 41 million people could lose their plans even if they wanted to keep them and would be forced into other plans. Another 11 million who bought their own insurance also could lose their plans. Combined, as many as 52 million Americans could lose or have lost old insurance plans.
But don't worry, The Cult of St. Barack will find a way to blame this on someone else as always. Or insist that Barack meant to do that -- in his 3-dimensional chess way -- and we're all just too stupid to see how this is actually great news.
Kate Randall (WSWS) reports:
Less than 50,000 people had successfully enrolled for insurance coverage through the problem-plagued HealthCare.gov web site as of last week. The figure is less than 10 percent of the Obama administration’s target for October of 500,000 enrollees in private insurance plans via the federal insurance exchange set up under what is commonly known as Obamacare.
The failure of the government web site is a reflection of the irrational and reactionary character of the entire health care scheme, whose architecture and structure are dictated by the profit interests of insurance companies and hospital chains, not the medical needs of the American people.
The Wall Street Journal, which spoke to two people familiar with the matter on condition of anonymity, reported the unofficial figures on Monday. The White House has said it will release its own figures sometime this week, but White House spokesman Jay Carney cautioned on Tuesday that the numbers “will be lower than we hoped and we anticipated.”
In an October 24 disclosure, the administration said that only 700,000 people had thus far completed applications in all 50 states, including on the federal web site covering 36 states and the 14 web sites in states that have set up their own exchanges. This figure provides no indication of how many of these people have actually succeeded in enrolling in a plan.
The debacle at HealthCare.gov, where technical problems have blocked many users from completing insurance applications or even creating accounts, has prompted growing disaffection among congressional Democrats, many of whom have been strong backers of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) but are up for reelection in 2014. So far, 11 Senate Democrats have indicated they support extending the enrollment deadline, currently set at March 31, 2014.
Delaying the deadline is strongly opposed by the insurance industry, which fears that an extension will shrink the pool of new customers purchasing plans, particularly younger, more healthy people who are less costly to insure. Under the ACA “individual mandate,” individuals and families who are not insured through their employer or a government program such as Medicare or Medicaid must obtain insurance or pay a penalty. If enough people do not enroll, the entire health care overhaul is threatened, as it is based on the private insurers’ ability to turn what they consider a reasonable profit.
There will never be real reform in the American health care model until the insurance companies are eliminated. You do that by making it Medicare for all. You don't do it by giving gifts to the insurance companies.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Tuesday:
Tuesday, November 12, 2013. Chaos and violence continue, campaign
season gears up even though elections may not take place April 30th, we
take a look at Moqtada al-Sadr, flooding in Baghdad reflects poorly on
Nouri, Alan Grayson proclaims war on Syria has been stopped, NOW
pretends there's a new element of a war on women (and they insult us all
with this sort of partisan lying), and much more.
In New Zealand, a man has been appealing his sentence. Not his conviction, mind you, just his sentence. He doesn't deny the crimes just questions the sentence. The crimes? The Dominion Post reports of former Iraqi soldier Najeeb Dawood:
Dawood stabbed his wife in a shed at the back of her home in Wellington, Strathmore, on September 2, 2011.
He tied her to a chair with tape and stabbed her 55 times while their daughters watched the attack from the shed window. When one tried to intervene, Dawood stabbed her in the leg.
Who knows? Maybe it was an 'honor' crime. Regardless the brutal murder goes to a wave of attacks on women and comes as the CEO of Thomson Reuters Foundation, Monique Villas, (at Huffington Post) notes:
The picture is grim. A perception poll of gender experts by the Thomson Reuters Foundation shows that the rise of political Islam across Arab Spring countries has had a real impact on secularism. Almost three years after popular uprisings toppled autocratic leaders in one of the most conservative corners of the world, three out of five Arab Spring countries rank among the bottom five states for women's rights
Many political gains for women have been lost. In fact, women are struggling to preserve their dignity, and far from progressing, they are now fighting to preserve the rights they had before the Arab Spring.
Egypt, the country that embodies the spirit of the revolution, is today the worst country for women among the 22 Arab League states surveyed. The revolution has unequivocally failed to deliver on women's expectations, the experts in those states said.
Oh, yes, that beautiful and blessed 'Arab Spring.' Brought to you by so many. There was 'Arab Spring' blogger Lambert extolling the wonders and joy at Corrente as he watched it unfold on Al Jazeera. Now Lambert didn't have the brains to ask whether the monarchy of Qatar might have an interest in slanting the coverage -- no, he just rejoiced and praised Al Jazeera as the gospel of truth and went about the internet witnessing to others.
The realities were always there, if you bothered to look. Lara Logan's rape was especially telling as (a) first there was an effort to mock and ridicule her and (b) then the crap-ass beasts like Amy Goodman worked overtime to ignore what happened and the attacks on Lara.
Amy did even better -- she brought on a supposed rape victim who insisted that being raped was fine and dandy and for the revolution. (In "continuing c.i., i grab goodman," Rebecca called that out and that guest in January 2012.) Again, it's not a surprise that Goodman is a 'journalist' who elected to regularly and repeatedly publish in the pages of Hustler until the outcry became too much for even her.
The 'Arab Spring' which was going to improve lives -- so insisted the town criers in the US -- did not.
A visit to Corrente finds Lambert has not noted the realities for women or that maybe single-source advocacy writing is neither factual nor helpful? With no grasp of the Middle East (or interest in it), Lambert got seduced by p.r. (and it was public relations) and became the US web crier for the Arab Spring as portrayed by the government of Qatar -- the same government that just squeezed $500 million out of Egypt . Yet he feels no responsibility for the destruction of women's lives? Possibly, Lambert has a great deal more in common with Bully Boy Bush than even his many detractors could have guessed.
We lived up in Cambridge
And browsed in the hippest newsstands
Then we started our own newspaper
Gave the truth about Uncle Sam
We loved to be so radical
But like a ragged love affair
Some became disenchanted
And some of us just got scared
Now are you playing possum
Keeping a low profile
Are you playing possum for a while
-- "Playing Possum," written by Carly Simon, first appears on the album Playing Possum
The NewsHour (PBS) notes, "The countries' placement from best to worst were: (1) Comoros, (2) Oman, (3) Kuwait, (4) Jordan, (5) Qatar, (6) Tunisia, (7) Algeria, (8) Morocco, (9) Libya, (10) United Arab Emirates, (11) Mauritania, (12) Bahrain, (13) Djibouti, (14) Somalia, (15) Palestinian territories, (16) Lebanon, (17) Sudan, (18) Yemen, (19) Syria, (20) Saudi Arabia, (21) Iraq, and (22) Egypt."
AFP adds, "In Iraq, women’s freedoms have regressed since the 2003 US-led invasion and overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the poll showed. Iraq ranked second-worst after Egypt, followed by Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen.." Suadad al-Salhy and Isabel Coles (Reuters) filed a report Monday night which included:
Domestic abuse and prostitution have increased, illiteracy has soared and thousands of women have been left widowed and vulnerable. Many women also rue the political leaders that came to power after Saddam was overthrown and the growing social conservatism that has diminished their role in public life.
Once at the vanguard of women's rights in the region, Iraq ranked 21st out of 22 Arab states in a poll of 336 gender experts released on Tuesday by Thomson Reuters Foundation (poll2013.trust.org).
The article quotes Iraqi women such as Majeed who states, "Islamist parties started to control Iraq and that was the worst nightmare Iraqi women have ever faced. Religious parties and militia have stolen free life from Iraqi women."
Moqtada al-Sadr, cleric and movement leader in Iraq, has declared no third term as prime minister for Nouri al-Maliki. All Iraq News reports that in response to a question about Nouri getting "a third term despite the problems that face Iraqis because of Maliki"? Moqtada responded he "would not approve" of granting Nouri a third term.
In anticipation of expected parliamentary elections (said to take place April 30th), campaign season is kicking off in Iraq. In 2011, Bobby Ghosh (Time magazine) dubbed Moqtada -- who made Time's list of top 100 influential people in the world -- "the ayatullah in training" (Peter James Field offers a nice ink and pen sketch of Moqtada with Ghosh's copy). As the Iraq War continues, Moqtada changes and grows -- at least for public consumption. In July, Ali Abel Sadah (Al-Monitor) quoted Moqtada making a statement about how the next prime minister of Iraq would "stand against the occupier" and this was in response to remarks by US Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Beecroft.
Iraq may or may not hold elections in April -- with the Iraqi political system, nothing is ever a given. And there are serious concerns being raised by the political blocs and, yes, by some on the Independent High Electoral Commission, about Iraq's move to electronic voting and the security of that vote. In addition, Wael Grace reports that there's a complaint filed today with the federal court challenging the law stating it is illegal since it was not sent from the presidency but from the Parliament. Moqtada's bloc has weighed in insisting that the law is legal. State of Law weighs in via MP Hassan al-Yasiri declaring that the law is in violation. This is also why State of Law is stating that a verdict agreeing the law is illegal will mean the current government is extended until 2016. No, I don't understand how that would be the outcome either but this is the court Nouri controls so the law gets tossed out by them all the time.
So let's talk Moqtada. The 40-year-old was born August 12, 1973 in Najaf or the 39-year-old was born August 12, 1974. Even his date of birth is in dispute.
Moqtada's late father, said to have been killed on the orders of Saddam Hussein, was Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr. Moqtada has influence within Iraq due to his family. The US invasion of Iraq aided Moqtada's reputation as the US and British governments targeted him. This only increased his profile. Encyclopedia Britannica notes how quickly Moqtada rose, "Almost immediately after U.S.-led forces toppled Ṣaddām’s regime in 2003 (see Iraq War), Ṣadr emerged from the shadows and began to open offices in his father’s name (known collectively as the Office of the Martyr Ṣadr) in Baghdad, Al-Najaf, Karbalāʾ, Al-Baṣrah, and other areas. He had immediate success in Madinat al-Thawrah (Revolution City), a poor Baghdad suburb of two million Shīʿites, which he renamed Ṣadr City in honour of his father. By the end of that year Ṣadr headed a Shīʿite political movement known as the Ṣadrist Movement and had attracted millions of Shīʿite followers across Iraq, mainly youth and the poor and downtrodden, to whom he offered a variety of social, educational, and health services."
He was referred to as "anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr" in the press when maybe he should have been termed "pro-Iraqi cleric"? In Civil Rights In Peril: The Targeting of Arabs and Muslims (Elaine C. Hagopian, editor), it's noted that "Al-Sadr has a following among the two million Shia who live in Sadr City (formerly Saddam City), a poor Shia area of Baghdad. " In addition to that stronghold area, he also has millions of followers in southern Iraq. The Council on Foreign Relations states:
Muqtada's movement did not grow out of an organized structure, and instead emerged as a loose coalition of young imams and armed volunteers rushing to fill a power vacuum. But political prowess and a penchant for drama -- along with a steadfast opposition to the U.S. occupation and his family credentials -- coalesced to reinvent the younger Sadr. As the Sadrist insider told the ICG in early 2006, "One hardly hears the expression za'tut anymore." Comprised mainly of young, impoverished Iraqi Shiites, much of Sadr's base lives in Sadr City, though he also has strong ties to Najaf, the holy city where the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed, Ali ibn Abi Talib, is buried. Sadr's followers have also been active in Basra and other majority Shiite towns, including Kut, Nasiriyah, Karbala -- Iraq's other holy Shiite city -- and Kufa. Estimates of Sadr's support base range from 3 million to 5 million.
Moqtada was far from a saint in this period and he ran a militia -- which most people who could have would have done the same when foreigners occupied their country. Even more so when you grasp he was being targeted by the US military. Matt J. Martin and Charles W. Sasser notes one battle in their book Predator: The Remote-control Air War Over Iraq and Afghanistan: a Pilot's Story:
On July 31 [2004], al-Sadr broke the ceasefire after U.S. Marines and the Iraqi National Guard raided a safe house in Karbala and nabbed some al-Sadr representatives. Al-Sadr issued a blatant challenge to the new government, demanding that his people "be freed, and if this is ignored then we will respond at the appropriate time."
Iraqi police and U.S. troops surrounded al-Sadr's house on August 3 and engaged in a furious firefight with hundreds of Mahdi fighters defending the house. Clashes spread to the old city of Najaf. By August 13, the cleric and the main body of the resistance were trapped inside a cordon around the Imam Ali Mosque. Day after day I flew over the shining dome and its twin minarets and watched insurgents below brazenly shooting rockets and mortar rounds indiscriminately into the surrounding neighborhoods.
It looked like the stalemate might finally reach a conclusion as August drew toward an end, thanks to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. At seventy-four years old, he was an Iranian and "Twlever" (those who believed that the return of the Twelfth Mahdi and the end of the world were imminent) who had resided in Iraq since 1951. He returned from London, where he had sought medical treatment, and traveled to Najaf in a "peace convoy . . . to stop the bloodshed." Al-Sadr was apparently ready to call another truce: the Mahdi resistance had suffered hundreds of casualties since April, whereas U.S. Marine losses were fairly light.
The following day, al-Sistani announced that he had compromised an agreement with al-Sadr: The Mahdi Army would voluntarily disarm and leave Najaf if U.S. forces withdrew from the city and returned control of it to Iraq authorities. I watched from the air as the disarmament process unfolded.
Moqtada's part of the Shi'ite majority and, in 2006, when Saddam Hussein was executed by the puppet government of the United States, and even though Nouri al-Maliki was prime minister at the time and had been for over 8 months, when Iraqi guards executed Hussein, they chanted "Moqtada! Moqtada! Moqtada!" -- according to Patrick Cockburn's Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr the Shie Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq. Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily (IPS) reported:
Footage of Saddam’s last moments, taken by an onlooker with a mobile phone, shows the former dictator appearing calm and composed while dealing with taunts from witnesses below him. The audio reveals several men praising the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Mohammed Bakr al-Sadr, founder of the Shia Dawa Party, who was killed by Saddam in 1980.
“Peace be upon Muhammad and his followers,” shouted someone near the person who filmed the events. “Curse his enemies and make victorious his son Muqtada! Muqtada! Muqtada.” These chants are commonly used by members of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia..
There has been a huge international backlash to the footage. In India millions of Muslims demonstrated against the execution being carried out during the sacred festival of Eid.
An arrest warrant was issued by the occupied government for Moqtada and he left Iraq until the start of 2011. Hayder al-Khoei (Guardian) wrote at the time:
Moqtada al-Sadr has finally returned to Najaf in Iraq after almost four years of self-imposed exile. Senior Sadrists claimed that the reason he left Iraq was to continue his theological studies in Iran. However, there was another thorny issue behind his absence: Sadr is still wanted by the Iraqi judiciary for his alleged involvement in my father's murder eight years ago.
The arrest warrant for Sadr stands to this day as Iraqi judge Raed al-Juhi signed it in April 2004. Juhi is the investigative judge who presided over the first hearing of the Dujail massacre that eventually led to Saddam Hussein's execution in December 2006.
The father assassinated was Abdul-Majid al-Khoei, on April 10, 2003, mere weeks after the US invaded. Why was he assassinated? He was using his position to advocate on behalf of the occupiers, the United States. From 1992 until after the US invasion, he had lived in England. The exile returned to Iraq the month of his death. No sooner did he return, than he started advocating for the US. That's not a description that begs for a war welcome. He was assassinated in Najaf and any number of people could have carried out the assassination on any number of people's orders. More importantly, was the mob that attacked attacking al-Khoei or Haydar al-Killidar al-Rufaye? That's who al-Khoei was with and he's the one who was murdered by the mob immediately, al-Khoei near the end of the 90 minute assault.
As Linda Robison explains in Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of Special Forces, in Najaf, despite a move in Najaf when even the mayor was being rejected ("There was a mounting murmur of opposition, however, from residents who said Hattar was from outside Najaf and not one of them."), al-Khoei decided to go through Najaf and to do so without US proection ("My people will protect me."). In Proceedings of the Combat Studies Institute 2006 Military History Symposium(Kendall D. Gott, Michael G. Brooks), possible motives are noted:
Whatever the motive behind the killing, whether it was a rejection of reconciliation with Ba'athists or of al-Khoei's westernizing influence, or merely a criminal effort to gain control of the Shrine's lucrative revenues, it protended a rising tide of Iraqis killing other Iraqis.
Was Moqtada responsible? Even AP was skeptical as evidenced by the wording in this 2010 report:
U.S. officials blamed al-Sadr for the April 10, 2003, assassination of Shiite cleric Majid al-Khoie, who was slain after returning to the holy city of Najaf south of Baghdad in hopes of winning support for the Americans from Shiite clergy.
A warrant was issued for al-Sadr in the al-Khoie slaying by Iraqi authorities in 2004, but he was never arrested. Instead, the warrant was quietly shelved as part of the cease-fire deals the Americans accepted under pressure from Shiite clerics and politicians.
In 2011, The Economist attempted to sum up the many strands in the public image of Moqtada:
Mr Sadr was once derided as “Ayatollah Atari”, a nickname denoting his love of computer games. He was also widely regarded as a thug, albeit one who performed astutely in the violent game of Iraqi politics. But he has still not revealed his latest goals and allegiances. After two years in exile, Mr Sadr has made only two high-profile appearances in Iraq to address his followers. A spokesman said he was testing to see whether Mr Maliki or the Americans would arrest him. But Mr Sadr has recently spent more time in Iraq, mainly in the Shia's holy city of Najaf. As the Americans draw down their numbers, his supporters may see a lot more of him.
And what they, and what Iraq and the world, saw was a new Moqtada. If you weren't noticing it, you weren't paying attention. In June of 2012, I wrote:
In December Nouri went from prime minister-designate to prime minister. And Nouri made clear that the Erbil Agreement wasn't a priority. By summer 2011, the Kurds, Iraqiya and Moqtada al-Sadr are calling for the agreement to be implemented. This is the ongoing political crisis.
Who has benefitted the most from it?
Moqtada al-Sadr.
'Too eratic, too radical, too young.' There was a list of 'toos' attached to the name of the person who wanted to be prime minister. While Nouri has looked like a dictator and out of control, Moqtada's actually benefitted from Little Saddam's tantrums which provided al-Sadr with the opportunity to show a rational and reasoned side as well as leadership skills that rarely translated prior on the world stage. It's a more mature Moqtada al-Sadr.
And that's really funny because the US government has always feared "radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr." True of the Bush adminsitration, true of the Barack administration.
In 2014, new elections are supposed to be held. If the US backs their puppet Nouri (who has had flunkies state that he would not run for a third term but whose attorney has stated Nouri can seek a third term), not only will it be clear to one and all that he is Little Saddam and 'democracy' in Iraq is a joke, but it will also become clear who has more power in the 'new' Iraq: DC or Tehran?
In 2010, Moqtada was not a viable choice for Tehran which feels closer ties to al-Sadr than Nouri but which was bothered by the 'too' list applied to Moqtada and by the fact that he was seen as divisive among Shi'ites (not to mention most Sunnis weren't crazy about him). The political crisis has allowed Moqtada to strut as a statesman and he's grabbed that opportunity and used it very well. He is the political star of Iraq currently.
By February 2013, even the Council on Foreign Relations was noting the new, public Moqtada. Eli Sugarman and Omar al-Nidawi offered:
Then, last spring, he abruptly changed course, and he has spent the past year reforming his image and serving as a voice of moderation in Iraq. Sadr now openly decries violence, advocates the peaceful resolution of Iraq’s political disputes, and prays with religious leaders from other faiths and sects.
On the one hand, Sadr’s new tune could reflect his genuine maturation and a newfound desire to play a positive role in Iraq’s dysfunctional political system; on the other hand, it could be just a new tactic to expand his influence and power. Either way, the more Sadr can convince Iraqis -- disenfranchised Shia, Kurds, and Sunnis alike -- that he is a reliable and moderate partner, the more power he will accrue at the expense of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, also a Shiite. Iraq’s Sunni Arabs and Kurds face a tough choice, because working with Sadr could lead to two very different outcomes. Joining him to challenge Maliki could perhaps promote a more inclusive political process, but it could also re-empower the rule of sectarian militias. The key for Iraqis is to vet the new Sadr carefully and insist that he backs his sweetened rhetoric with concrete actions.
Last April, Time's Sarah Price offered a look at Moqtada which closed with :
The discontent among Sunnis toward Maliki and his actions against them has also presented an opportunity for Sadr, says Alla Jumaa, a political professor at University of Anbar. He said Sadr is trying to get close to them by fighting for their rights, and using the unrest to gain their trust and following, trying to convince them to leave their feelings of sectarianism behind them. If it has not yet won the hearts of Sunni Iraqis, it does seem to be working with many of their leaders, who seem to believe that he is trying to put an end to the sectarianism that was perpetuated for years by Sadr himself, and violently through his followers.
But for an Iraq that has grown weary of power- and money-hungry leadership, the concern is not from where the help arrives, but how soon. And for Moqtada al-Sadr, the time could not be more ripe for him to take the lead.
Is this new Moqtada real? Was the 2003 Moqtada real? Who knows. But he's matured publicly and has become one of Iraq's 'elders of state' -- despite his young age. And he might just be the next prime minister of Iraq. Who is he?
Killer?
Innocent?
Disturber?
Healer?
Uniter?
Divider?
Rigid?
Matured?
It's all still a mystery to the west and maybe that's fitting? In 2008, Ali Al Mashakheel (ABC News) reported Moqtada's early love for mysteries:
Better known for fiery sermons against America’s military presence in Iraq, the Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr has revealed a softer side of his character, saying that as a young man he enjoyed reading Agatha Christie detective novels. The disclosure came during a rare appearance by the cleric in a 45-minute exclusive interview on an Iraqi TV station. During the interview, al Sadr concentrated mostly on his childhood, saying that he grew up with a fear of Saddam Hussein’s regime because members of his family were politically opposed to the former Iraqi dictator. Al Sadr told Afak TV station, “I liked to read detective stories,” particularly those of Agatha Christie, an English novelist who traveled extensively through Iraq in the early 20th century. In her opening chapter of "Murder on the 0rient Express," Christie describes a railway journey across Iraq by a young English woman in her 20s. When compared to the current level of danger and violence in Iraq, it’s a revealing insight into how safe it once was to travel the country. Iraq also features in another Agatha Christie novel called "Murder in Mesopotamia."
All Iraq News notes Moqtada visited a Najaf polling center today to update his electoral record and that "The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) called upon all citizens to update their electoral records to ensure their rights in voting for their candidaes during the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2014." All Iraq News also notes that Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council in Iraq met with representatives of the European Union today at Ammar's Baghdad office. Ammar's into campaign mode as well.
Whither Saleh al-Mutlaq?
Whipped puppy Saleh is at the feet of his master Nouri al-Maliki. He's sold out Iraqiya, leading many Sunnis to turn on him (as was seen last December and in the months after when signs with a big X over his face began appearing at the ongoing protests). He also needs to keep a low profile to avoid the Justice and Accountability Commission. Remember, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister wasn't allowed to run in the 2010 elections. The Commission said no, said he was Ba'athist.
So Saleh rolls over on his back at the feet of Nouri, whimpering for Nouri to scrach his belly or toss him a bone.
As for thug Nouri? It's not been a period of good opticals for Nouri. Sunday, we noted:
Al Mada reports that cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr called on his followers to participate in the parliamentary elections expected to be held in April 2014. He stated voting is a right and that Iraqis must use their rights for the good of the people. He encouraged his followers to vote for those who will serve the people.
Clearly that person couldn't be Nouri. We've noted why many times but click here and look at All Iraq News' photo of a section of Baghdad today. The cars are almost underwater. And why? Rain. Rain in a country that Nouri's 'led' for over 7 years and never bothered to improve the sewage system. So when it rains, the water doesn't drain, it stands and floods.
Monday, Wael Grace (Al Mada) reported that in addition to drainage and sewage issues, Baghdad is sinking. This has to do with a channel from fifty years ago and the government's aware of it and, at one point in the last few years, had $500 million to spend on it but didn't spend it on fixing the problem.And you can check out the photo in this report by Alsumaria -- a report which notes the current sewage system -- in the capital of the country -- dates back to the 1960s. It's over five decades old and further destroyed by war but Nouri's done nothing to update it. Alsumaria also reports the flooding is taking place in Anbar Province as well and that roads are being cut off.
How bad is the problem -- this problem that's worsened with 7 years of Nouri's neglect?
All Iraq News reports Nouri's announced "a meeting with Governors to discuss the raid-related floods."
Poor Nouri. Elections might take place April 30th and right now, only months before, Iraq's are yet again seeing the proof of his neglect and his ineptitude.
Instead of focusing on the needs of the Iraqi people, Nouri spends each day on his petty wars against rivals. For example, Alsumaria reports that Nouri dismissed Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi's advisers today. Whether he has that power or not, the fact that they've been paid up until now goes to the point we've long made: Tareq is not a 'former' Vice President. Only Parliament can remove him and they have repeatedly rejected Nouri's call for Tareq to be removed from office.
While Nouri dismissed Tareq's staff today, he lost one of his own. Alsumaria reports a Baghdad sticky bombing claimed the life of a captain who worked for Nouri. National Iraqi News Agency reports Nouri's federal forces killed 4 suspects by "setting their vehicles on fire," the storming of his Sheikh Hamad Village home left police officer Abdul Rahman Jawhar dead, the military shot dead 1 suspect to the north of Tikrit, a Shureh bombing left 3 police officers dead, a Ruttbah sticky bombing killed 1 person, a Heet sticky bombing claimed the lives of 2 Iraqi soldiers and left a third injured, 1 traffic police officer was shot dead in Baghdad and a Baghdad roadside bombing left eight people injured. All Iraq News adds that Wathiq Mamdoh ("former director of electricity projects") and Nagham Jacob (former council member in Nineveh, an Iraqi Christian) were attacked in Mosul and Mamdoh was shot dead. Through Monday, Iraq Body Count notes 229 violent deaths so far this month.
On security, we'll note this Twitter exchange:
Turning to the US for two press releases -- two less than honest ones. First up, US House Rep Alan Grayson's which is less objectionable than the second one. Grayson writes:
Two months ago, we were told that if the United States did not attack Syria, we would see a new era of chemical weapons warfare.
Yet here is last week's Reuters headline: "Syria Meets Deadline To Destroy Chemical Production Facilities."
Let's celebrate.
Let's celebrate the war that never happened.
Let's celebrate NOT having to hold sad and somber funerals for young Americans who would have lost their lives fighting in Syria.
Let's celebrate NOT having to nurse and care for the wounded veterans who would have returned from the U.S.-Syrian war.
Let's celebrate Congress NOT having to appropriate billions of tax dollars in emergency spending to support U.S. military operations in Syria.
Let's celebrate NOT having to attend bitter marches protesting the U.S. war in Syria.
Let's celebrate NOT having to rebuild Syria's roads and bridges and schools, so that we can have a shot at rebuilding our own.
Let's celebrate peace.
We won the battle, and the military-industrial complex lost the war.
We should be proud of our victories, because our victories matter. I know that politics sometimes can seem discouraging right now. Progressive often seem to lose, and lose frequently. But, you know what? Sometimes we win. And when we win, we save lives. We promote equality. We serve the cause of justice. We improve people's lives.
I'm going to crow a bit, right now. Because, together, we stopped a U.S. attack on Syria. The military-industrial complex said attack, and attack now. We said what John Lennon once said: "All we are saying is give peace a chance." We said that there is no such thing as humanitarian bombing. We said that we can't go around the world launching missiles and dropping bombs every time we see something that we don't like.
Well, we were right, and the military-industrial complex was wrong. We forced diplomacy rather than more carnage, and now the chemical weapons stockpiles are being destroyed.
This is victory. Our victory. Two months ago, 100,000 of us signed a petition at DontAttackSyria.com. Eighty thousand of us shared it on Facebook, and tens of thousands more shared it on Twitter.
And you know what? We stopped an attack. We saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
And you know what else? We got those chemical weapons production sites destroyed.
Peace won. Lives were saved. Thanks to you. Good job!
We progressives, each one of us, we have a head, a heart and a spine. We can win. We will win.
Peace,
Rep. Alan Grayson
First off, war in Syria has not started. Grayson sees it as avoided. I hope he's right. Second, "We progressives, each one of us . . ." Huh?
Libertarians were part of the effort as well and, certainly, Justin Raimondo and Antiwar.com did more to raise awareness and object to a war on Syria than The Nation and The Progressive combined. We'll note Antiwar.com's donation pitch:
Help us do it again!
The war plans were finalized, the war planes were on the tarmac, and the news media was salivating for some "shock and awe" – but the bombing of Syria never happened!
That's because a broad-based movement spanning "left" and "right" rose up and just said NO! That cry of protest was resounding enough to scare Congress – and the White House – into saying "Never mind!"
Antiwar.com was a vital part of that protest: every day for weeks we headlined the crisis and urged our readers to call Congress. In our news and opinion columns we debunked the war propaganda that claimed this was to be a war of "liberation": we expose the Syrian "rebels" for the thugs they are, and we kept blasting away at the phony rationale for this war: that it was a "humanitarian" effort to "save lives." Yeah, and War is Peace, as Orwell put it.
But they're already ginning up another war – this time with Iran – and we can't let down our guard. Eternal vigilance is the price of peace as well as liberty. Antiwar.com is needed now more than ever – but we can't continue our work without your financial support.
We won last time – but we need your donations to make sure we're around to win again. Please make your tax-deductible contribution today!
Today the National Organization for Women sent out a ridiculous e-mail. They're against a filibuster Republicans in the Senate are staging and demand an up or down vote. Unlike NOW, I support the right to filibuster. I think it's an important element in Congress. Actually, NOW agrees with me -- which is why, January 17, 2006, NOW demanded a filibuster on Samuel Alito. Not only that, they prepared a flier of four women who had died -- apparently due to Samuel Alito? -- and declared "Senators Must Filibuster Samuel Alito." And, of course, as even NOW admitted on December 23, 2005, the PATRIOT Act suffered a defeat "in the face of a Democratic filibuster." The ridiculous e-mail opens with this nosnesne:
The National Organization for Women (NOW), Feminist Majority and the Black Women’s Roundtable today deplored the Senate Republican leadership extending the War on Women to judicial nominations. On a conference call with reporters, Terry O’Neill, president of NOW, Ellie Smeal, president of Feminist Majority, and Melanie Campbell, president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable, called on the Senate to move to an up-or-down vote on President Obama’s nomination of Nina Pillard to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Do they really think people are that stupid? It's not a 'War on Women' and apparently, later this month, when the Republicans block Judge Robert Wilkins (as they're currently planning to do), NOW will have to find a new talking point. NOW really needs to step the hell away from partisan politics or surrender their tax exemption.
The filibuster has benefited both parties over the years. It's been really sad to watch political idiots insist, since 2009, that the filibuster needs to be done away with. And it's really sad today to watch NOW mislead people that some sort of 'War on Women' is taking place on the same day when women across the Arab world are facing a real war on their rights but, for partisan reasons, Terry O'Neill, Eleanor Smeal and Melanie Campbell would rather lie to the American people about a pretend war on women. They really should be ashamed.
iraq
reuters
isabel coles
national iraqi news agency
pbs
the newshour
the guardian
dahr jamail
In New Zealand, a man has been appealing his sentence. Not his conviction, mind you, just his sentence. He doesn't deny the crimes just questions the sentence. The crimes? The Dominion Post reports of former Iraqi soldier Najeeb Dawood:
Dawood stabbed his wife in a shed at the back of her home in Wellington, Strathmore, on September 2, 2011.
He tied her to a chair with tape and stabbed her 55 times while their daughters watched the attack from the shed window. When one tried to intervene, Dawood stabbed her in the leg.
Who knows? Maybe it was an 'honor' crime. Regardless the brutal murder goes to a wave of attacks on women and comes as the CEO of Thomson Reuters Foundation, Monique Villas, (at Huffington Post) notes:
The picture is grim. A perception poll of gender experts by the Thomson Reuters Foundation shows that the rise of political Islam across Arab Spring countries has had a real impact on secularism. Almost three years after popular uprisings toppled autocratic leaders in one of the most conservative corners of the world, three out of five Arab Spring countries rank among the bottom five states for women's rights
Many political gains for women have been lost. In fact, women are struggling to preserve their dignity, and far from progressing, they are now fighting to preserve the rights they had before the Arab Spring.
Egypt, the country that embodies the spirit of the revolution, is today the worst country for women among the 22 Arab League states surveyed. The revolution has unequivocally failed to deliver on women's expectations, the experts in those states said.
Oh, yes, that beautiful and blessed 'Arab Spring.' Brought to you by so many. There was 'Arab Spring' blogger Lambert extolling the wonders and joy at Corrente as he watched it unfold on Al Jazeera. Now Lambert didn't have the brains to ask whether the monarchy of Qatar might have an interest in slanting the coverage -- no, he just rejoiced and praised Al Jazeera as the gospel of truth and went about the internet witnessing to others.
The realities were always there, if you bothered to look. Lara Logan's rape was especially telling as (a) first there was an effort to mock and ridicule her and (b) then the crap-ass beasts like Amy Goodman worked overtime to ignore what happened and the attacks on Lara.
Amy did even better -- she brought on a supposed rape victim who insisted that being raped was fine and dandy and for the revolution. (In "continuing c.i., i grab goodman," Rebecca called that out and that guest in January 2012.) Again, it's not a surprise that Goodman is a 'journalist' who elected to regularly and repeatedly publish in the pages of Hustler until the outcry became too much for even her.
The 'Arab Spring' which was going to improve lives -- so insisted the town criers in the US -- did not.
A visit to Corrente finds Lambert has not noted the realities for women or that maybe single-source advocacy writing is neither factual nor helpful? With no grasp of the Middle East (or interest in it), Lambert got seduced by p.r. (and it was public relations) and became the US web crier for the Arab Spring as portrayed by the government of Qatar -- the same government that just squeezed $500 million out of Egypt . Yet he feels no responsibility for the destruction of women's lives? Possibly, Lambert has a great deal more in common with Bully Boy Bush than even his many detractors could have guessed.
We lived up in Cambridge
And browsed in the hippest newsstands
Then we started our own newspaper
Gave the truth about Uncle Sam
We loved to be so radical
But like a ragged love affair
Some became disenchanted
And some of us just got scared
Now are you playing possum
Keeping a low profile
Are you playing possum for a while
-- "Playing Possum," written by Carly Simon, first appears on the album Playing Possum
The NewsHour (PBS) notes, "The countries' placement from best to worst were: (1) Comoros, (2) Oman, (3) Kuwait, (4) Jordan, (5) Qatar, (6) Tunisia, (7) Algeria, (8) Morocco, (9) Libya, (10) United Arab Emirates, (11) Mauritania, (12) Bahrain, (13) Djibouti, (14) Somalia, (15) Palestinian territories, (16) Lebanon, (17) Sudan, (18) Yemen, (19) Syria, (20) Saudi Arabia, (21) Iraq, and (22) Egypt."
AFP adds, "In Iraq, women’s freedoms have regressed since the 2003 US-led invasion and overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the poll showed. Iraq ranked second-worst after Egypt, followed by Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen.." Suadad al-Salhy and Isabel Coles (Reuters) filed a report Monday night which included:
Domestic abuse and prostitution have increased, illiteracy has soared and thousands of women have been left widowed and vulnerable. Many women also rue the political leaders that came to power after Saddam was overthrown and the growing social conservatism that has diminished their role in public life.
Once at the vanguard of women's rights in the region, Iraq ranked 21st out of 22 Arab states in a poll of 336 gender experts released on Tuesday by Thomson Reuters Foundation (poll2013.trust.org).
The article quotes Iraqi women such as Majeed who states, "Islamist parties started to control Iraq and that was the worst nightmare Iraqi women have ever faced. Religious parties and militia have stolen free life from Iraqi women."
Moqtada al-Sadr, cleric and movement leader in Iraq, has declared no third term as prime minister for Nouri al-Maliki. All Iraq News reports that in response to a question about Nouri getting "a third term despite the problems that face Iraqis because of Maliki"? Moqtada responded he "would not approve" of granting Nouri a third term.
In anticipation of expected parliamentary elections (said to take place April 30th), campaign season is kicking off in Iraq. In 2011, Bobby Ghosh (Time magazine) dubbed Moqtada -- who made Time's list of top 100 influential people in the world -- "the ayatullah in training" (Peter James Field offers a nice ink and pen sketch of Moqtada with Ghosh's copy). As the Iraq War continues, Moqtada changes and grows -- at least for public consumption. In July, Ali Abel Sadah (Al-Monitor) quoted Moqtada making a statement about how the next prime minister of Iraq would "stand against the occupier" and this was in response to remarks by US Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Beecroft.
Iraq may or may not hold elections in April -- with the Iraqi political system, nothing is ever a given. And there are serious concerns being raised by the political blocs and, yes, by some on the Independent High Electoral Commission, about Iraq's move to electronic voting and the security of that vote. In addition, Wael Grace reports that there's a complaint filed today with the federal court challenging the law stating it is illegal since it was not sent from the presidency but from the Parliament. Moqtada's bloc has weighed in insisting that the law is legal. State of Law weighs in via MP Hassan al-Yasiri declaring that the law is in violation. This is also why State of Law is stating that a verdict agreeing the law is illegal will mean the current government is extended until 2016. No, I don't understand how that would be the outcome either but this is the court Nouri controls so the law gets tossed out by them all the time.
So let's talk Moqtada. The 40-year-old was born August 12, 1973 in Najaf or the 39-year-old was born August 12, 1974. Even his date of birth is in dispute.
Moqtada's late father, said to have been killed on the orders of Saddam Hussein, was Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr. Moqtada has influence within Iraq due to his family. The US invasion of Iraq aided Moqtada's reputation as the US and British governments targeted him. This only increased his profile. Encyclopedia Britannica notes how quickly Moqtada rose, "Almost immediately after U.S.-led forces toppled Ṣaddām’s regime in 2003 (see Iraq War), Ṣadr emerged from the shadows and began to open offices in his father’s name (known collectively as the Office of the Martyr Ṣadr) in Baghdad, Al-Najaf, Karbalāʾ, Al-Baṣrah, and other areas. He had immediate success in Madinat al-Thawrah (Revolution City), a poor Baghdad suburb of two million Shīʿites, which he renamed Ṣadr City in honour of his father. By the end of that year Ṣadr headed a Shīʿite political movement known as the Ṣadrist Movement and had attracted millions of Shīʿite followers across Iraq, mainly youth and the poor and downtrodden, to whom he offered a variety of social, educational, and health services."
He was referred to as "anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr" in the press when maybe he should have been termed "pro-Iraqi cleric"? In Civil Rights In Peril: The Targeting of Arabs and Muslims (Elaine C. Hagopian, editor), it's noted that "Al-Sadr has a following among the two million Shia who live in Sadr City (formerly Saddam City), a poor Shia area of Baghdad. " In addition to that stronghold area, he also has millions of followers in southern Iraq. The Council on Foreign Relations states:
Muqtada's movement did not grow out of an organized structure, and instead emerged as a loose coalition of young imams and armed volunteers rushing to fill a power vacuum. But political prowess and a penchant for drama -- along with a steadfast opposition to the U.S. occupation and his family credentials -- coalesced to reinvent the younger Sadr. As the Sadrist insider told the ICG in early 2006, "One hardly hears the expression za'tut anymore." Comprised mainly of young, impoverished Iraqi Shiites, much of Sadr's base lives in Sadr City, though he also has strong ties to Najaf, the holy city where the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed, Ali ibn Abi Talib, is buried. Sadr's followers have also been active in Basra and other majority Shiite towns, including Kut, Nasiriyah, Karbala -- Iraq's other holy Shiite city -- and Kufa. Estimates of Sadr's support base range from 3 million to 5 million.
Moqtada was far from a saint in this period and he ran a militia -- which most people who could have would have done the same when foreigners occupied their country. Even more so when you grasp he was being targeted by the US military. Matt J. Martin and Charles W. Sasser notes one battle in their book Predator: The Remote-control Air War Over Iraq and Afghanistan: a Pilot's Story:
On July 31 [2004], al-Sadr broke the ceasefire after U.S. Marines and the Iraqi National Guard raided a safe house in Karbala and nabbed some al-Sadr representatives. Al-Sadr issued a blatant challenge to the new government, demanding that his people "be freed, and if this is ignored then we will respond at the appropriate time."
Iraqi police and U.S. troops surrounded al-Sadr's house on August 3 and engaged in a furious firefight with hundreds of Mahdi fighters defending the house. Clashes spread to the old city of Najaf. By August 13, the cleric and the main body of the resistance were trapped inside a cordon around the Imam Ali Mosque. Day after day I flew over the shining dome and its twin minarets and watched insurgents below brazenly shooting rockets and mortar rounds indiscriminately into the surrounding neighborhoods.
It looked like the stalemate might finally reach a conclusion as August drew toward an end, thanks to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. At seventy-four years old, he was an Iranian and "Twlever" (those who believed that the return of the Twelfth Mahdi and the end of the world were imminent) who had resided in Iraq since 1951. He returned from London, where he had sought medical treatment, and traveled to Najaf in a "peace convoy . . . to stop the bloodshed." Al-Sadr was apparently ready to call another truce: the Mahdi resistance had suffered hundreds of casualties since April, whereas U.S. Marine losses were fairly light.
The following day, al-Sistani announced that he had compromised an agreement with al-Sadr: The Mahdi Army would voluntarily disarm and leave Najaf if U.S. forces withdrew from the city and returned control of it to Iraq authorities. I watched from the air as the disarmament process unfolded.
Moqtada's part of the Shi'ite majority and, in 2006, when Saddam Hussein was executed by the puppet government of the United States, and even though Nouri al-Maliki was prime minister at the time and had been for over 8 months, when Iraqi guards executed Hussein, they chanted "Moqtada! Moqtada! Moqtada!" -- according to Patrick Cockburn's Muqtada: Muqtada al-Sadr the Shie Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq. Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily (IPS) reported:
Footage of Saddam’s last moments, taken by an onlooker with a mobile phone, shows the former dictator appearing calm and composed while dealing with taunts from witnesses below him. The audio reveals several men praising the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Mohammed Bakr al-Sadr, founder of the Shia Dawa Party, who was killed by Saddam in 1980.
“Peace be upon Muhammad and his followers,” shouted someone near the person who filmed the events. “Curse his enemies and make victorious his son Muqtada! Muqtada! Muqtada.” These chants are commonly used by members of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia..
There has been a huge international backlash to the footage. In India millions of Muslims demonstrated against the execution being carried out during the sacred festival of Eid.
An arrest warrant was issued by the occupied government for Moqtada and he left Iraq until the start of 2011. Hayder al-Khoei (Guardian) wrote at the time:
Moqtada al-Sadr has finally returned to Najaf in Iraq after almost four years of self-imposed exile. Senior Sadrists claimed that the reason he left Iraq was to continue his theological studies in Iran. However, there was another thorny issue behind his absence: Sadr is still wanted by the Iraqi judiciary for his alleged involvement in my father's murder eight years ago.
The arrest warrant for Sadr stands to this day as Iraqi judge Raed al-Juhi signed it in April 2004. Juhi is the investigative judge who presided over the first hearing of the Dujail massacre that eventually led to Saddam Hussein's execution in December 2006.
The father assassinated was Abdul-Majid al-Khoei, on April 10, 2003, mere weeks after the US invaded. Why was he assassinated? He was using his position to advocate on behalf of the occupiers, the United States. From 1992 until after the US invasion, he had lived in England. The exile returned to Iraq the month of his death. No sooner did he return, than he started advocating for the US. That's not a description that begs for a war welcome. He was assassinated in Najaf and any number of people could have carried out the assassination on any number of people's orders. More importantly, was the mob that attacked attacking al-Khoei or Haydar al-Killidar al-Rufaye? That's who al-Khoei was with and he's the one who was murdered by the mob immediately, al-Khoei near the end of the 90 minute assault.
As Linda Robison explains in Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of Special Forces, in Najaf, despite a move in Najaf when even the mayor was being rejected ("There was a mounting murmur of opposition, however, from residents who said Hattar was from outside Najaf and not one of them."), al-Khoei decided to go through Najaf and to do so without US proection ("My people will protect me."). In Proceedings of the Combat Studies Institute 2006 Military History Symposium(Kendall D. Gott, Michael G. Brooks), possible motives are noted:
Whatever the motive behind the killing, whether it was a rejection of reconciliation with Ba'athists or of al-Khoei's westernizing influence, or merely a criminal effort to gain control of the Shrine's lucrative revenues, it protended a rising tide of Iraqis killing other Iraqis.
Was Moqtada responsible? Even AP was skeptical as evidenced by the wording in this 2010 report:
U.S. officials blamed al-Sadr for the April 10, 2003, assassination of Shiite cleric Majid al-Khoie, who was slain after returning to the holy city of Najaf south of Baghdad in hopes of winning support for the Americans from Shiite clergy.
A warrant was issued for al-Sadr in the al-Khoie slaying by Iraqi authorities in 2004, but he was never arrested. Instead, the warrant was quietly shelved as part of the cease-fire deals the Americans accepted under pressure from Shiite clerics and politicians.
In 2011, The Economist attempted to sum up the many strands in the public image of Moqtada:
Mr Sadr was once derided as “Ayatollah Atari”, a nickname denoting his love of computer games. He was also widely regarded as a thug, albeit one who performed astutely in the violent game of Iraqi politics. But he has still not revealed his latest goals and allegiances. After two years in exile, Mr Sadr has made only two high-profile appearances in Iraq to address his followers. A spokesman said he was testing to see whether Mr Maliki or the Americans would arrest him. But Mr Sadr has recently spent more time in Iraq, mainly in the Shia's holy city of Najaf. As the Americans draw down their numbers, his supporters may see a lot more of him.
And what they, and what Iraq and the world, saw was a new Moqtada. If you weren't noticing it, you weren't paying attention. In June of 2012, I wrote:
In December Nouri went from prime minister-designate to prime minister. And Nouri made clear that the Erbil Agreement wasn't a priority. By summer 2011, the Kurds, Iraqiya and Moqtada al-Sadr are calling for the agreement to be implemented. This is the ongoing political crisis.
Who has benefitted the most from it?
Moqtada al-Sadr.
'Too eratic, too radical, too young.' There was a list of 'toos' attached to the name of the person who wanted to be prime minister. While Nouri has looked like a dictator and out of control, Moqtada's actually benefitted from Little Saddam's tantrums which provided al-Sadr with the opportunity to show a rational and reasoned side as well as leadership skills that rarely translated prior on the world stage. It's a more mature Moqtada al-Sadr.
And that's really funny because the US government has always feared "radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr." True of the Bush adminsitration, true of the Barack administration.
In 2014, new elections are supposed to be held. If the US backs their puppet Nouri (who has had flunkies state that he would not run for a third term but whose attorney has stated Nouri can seek a third term), not only will it be clear to one and all that he is Little Saddam and 'democracy' in Iraq is a joke, but it will also become clear who has more power in the 'new' Iraq: DC or Tehran?
In 2010, Moqtada was not a viable choice for Tehran which feels closer ties to al-Sadr than Nouri but which was bothered by the 'too' list applied to Moqtada and by the fact that he was seen as divisive among Shi'ites (not to mention most Sunnis weren't crazy about him). The political crisis has allowed Moqtada to strut as a statesman and he's grabbed that opportunity and used it very well. He is the political star of Iraq currently.
By February 2013, even the Council on Foreign Relations was noting the new, public Moqtada. Eli Sugarman and Omar al-Nidawi offered:
Then, last spring, he abruptly changed course, and he has spent the past year reforming his image and serving as a voice of moderation in Iraq. Sadr now openly decries violence, advocates the peaceful resolution of Iraq’s political disputes, and prays with religious leaders from other faiths and sects.
On the one hand, Sadr’s new tune could reflect his genuine maturation and a newfound desire to play a positive role in Iraq’s dysfunctional political system; on the other hand, it could be just a new tactic to expand his influence and power. Either way, the more Sadr can convince Iraqis -- disenfranchised Shia, Kurds, and Sunnis alike -- that he is a reliable and moderate partner, the more power he will accrue at the expense of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, also a Shiite. Iraq’s Sunni Arabs and Kurds face a tough choice, because working with Sadr could lead to two very different outcomes. Joining him to challenge Maliki could perhaps promote a more inclusive political process, but it could also re-empower the rule of sectarian militias. The key for Iraqis is to vet the new Sadr carefully and insist that he backs his sweetened rhetoric with concrete actions.
Last April, Time's Sarah Price offered a look at Moqtada which closed with :
The discontent among Sunnis toward Maliki and his actions against them has also presented an opportunity for Sadr, says Alla Jumaa, a political professor at University of Anbar. He said Sadr is trying to get close to them by fighting for their rights, and using the unrest to gain their trust and following, trying to convince them to leave their feelings of sectarianism behind them. If it has not yet won the hearts of Sunni Iraqis, it does seem to be working with many of their leaders, who seem to believe that he is trying to put an end to the sectarianism that was perpetuated for years by Sadr himself, and violently through his followers.
But for an Iraq that has grown weary of power- and money-hungry leadership, the concern is not from where the help arrives, but how soon. And for Moqtada al-Sadr, the time could not be more ripe for him to take the lead.
Is this new Moqtada real? Was the 2003 Moqtada real? Who knows. But he's matured publicly and has become one of Iraq's 'elders of state' -- despite his young age. And he might just be the next prime minister of Iraq. Who is he?
Killer?
Innocent?
Disturber?
Healer?
Uniter?
Divider?
Rigid?
Matured?
It's all still a mystery to the west and maybe that's fitting? In 2008, Ali Al Mashakheel (ABC News) reported Moqtada's early love for mysteries:
Better known for fiery sermons against America’s military presence in Iraq, the Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr has revealed a softer side of his character, saying that as a young man he enjoyed reading Agatha Christie detective novels. The disclosure came during a rare appearance by the cleric in a 45-minute exclusive interview on an Iraqi TV station. During the interview, al Sadr concentrated mostly on his childhood, saying that he grew up with a fear of Saddam Hussein’s regime because members of his family were politically opposed to the former Iraqi dictator. Al Sadr told Afak TV station, “I liked to read detective stories,” particularly those of Agatha Christie, an English novelist who traveled extensively through Iraq in the early 20th century. In her opening chapter of "Murder on the 0rient Express," Christie describes a railway journey across Iraq by a young English woman in her 20s. When compared to the current level of danger and violence in Iraq, it’s a revealing insight into how safe it once was to travel the country. Iraq also features in another Agatha Christie novel called "Murder in Mesopotamia."
All Iraq News notes Moqtada visited a Najaf polling center today to update his electoral record and that "The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) called upon all citizens to update their electoral records to ensure their rights in voting for their candidaes during the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2014." All Iraq News also notes that Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council in Iraq met with representatives of the European Union today at Ammar's Baghdad office. Ammar's into campaign mode as well.
Whither Saleh al-Mutlaq?
Whipped puppy Saleh is at the feet of his master Nouri al-Maliki. He's sold out Iraqiya, leading many Sunnis to turn on him (as was seen last December and in the months after when signs with a big X over his face began appearing at the ongoing protests). He also needs to keep a low profile to avoid the Justice and Accountability Commission. Remember, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister wasn't allowed to run in the 2010 elections. The Commission said no, said he was Ba'athist.
So Saleh rolls over on his back at the feet of Nouri, whimpering for Nouri to scrach his belly or toss him a bone.
As for thug Nouri? It's not been a period of good opticals for Nouri. Sunday, we noted:
Al Mada reports that cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr called on his followers to participate in the parliamentary elections expected to be held in April 2014. He stated voting is a right and that Iraqis must use their rights for the good of the people. He encouraged his followers to vote for those who will serve the people.
Clearly that person couldn't be Nouri. We've noted why many times but click here and look at All Iraq News' photo of a section of Baghdad today. The cars are almost underwater. And why? Rain. Rain in a country that Nouri's 'led' for over 7 years and never bothered to improve the sewage system. So when it rains, the water doesn't drain, it stands and floods.
Monday, Wael Grace (Al Mada) reported that in addition to drainage and sewage issues, Baghdad is sinking. This has to do with a channel from fifty years ago and the government's aware of it and, at one point in the last few years, had $500 million to spend on it but didn't spend it on fixing the problem.And you can check out the photo in this report by Alsumaria -- a report which notes the current sewage system -- in the capital of the country -- dates back to the 1960s. It's over five decades old and further destroyed by war but Nouri's done nothing to update it. Alsumaria also reports the flooding is taking place in Anbar Province as well and that roads are being cut off.
How bad is the problem -- this problem that's worsened with 7 years of Nouri's neglect?
All Iraq News reports Nouri's announced "a meeting with Governors to discuss the raid-related floods."
Poor Nouri. Elections might take place April 30th and right now, only months before, Iraq's are yet again seeing the proof of his neglect and his ineptitude.
Instead of focusing on the needs of the Iraqi people, Nouri spends each day on his petty wars against rivals. For example, Alsumaria reports that Nouri dismissed Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi's advisers today. Whether he has that power or not, the fact that they've been paid up until now goes to the point we've long made: Tareq is not a 'former' Vice President. Only Parliament can remove him and they have repeatedly rejected Nouri's call for Tareq to be removed from office.
While Nouri dismissed Tareq's staff today, he lost one of his own. Alsumaria reports a Baghdad sticky bombing claimed the life of a captain who worked for Nouri. National Iraqi News Agency reports Nouri's federal forces killed 4 suspects by "setting their vehicles on fire," the storming of his Sheikh Hamad Village home left police officer Abdul Rahman Jawhar dead, the military shot dead 1 suspect to the north of Tikrit, a Shureh bombing left 3 police officers dead, a Ruttbah sticky bombing killed 1 person, a Heet sticky bombing claimed the lives of 2 Iraqi soldiers and left a third injured, 1 traffic police officer was shot dead in Baghdad and a Baghdad roadside bombing left eight people injured. All Iraq News adds that Wathiq Mamdoh ("former director of electricity projects") and Nagham Jacob (former council member in Nineveh, an Iraqi Christian) were attacked in Mosul and Mamdoh was shot dead. Through Monday, Iraq Body Count notes 229 violent deaths so far this month.
On security, we'll note this Twitter exchange:
- Ambassador
@FailyLukman will discuss "Managing#Iraq's Image Through Effective PR." Join us, we'll be live-tweeting! @IraqiEmbassyUSA@prashantrao@FailyLukman how about managing it through effective security...?#Iraq
IraqiEmbassyUSA
Gabriel Gatehouse
Turning to the US for two press releases -- two less than honest ones. First up, US House Rep Alan Grayson's which is less objectionable than the second one. Grayson writes:
Two months ago, we were told that if the United States did not attack Syria, we would see a new era of chemical weapons warfare.
Yet here is last week's Reuters headline: "Syria Meets Deadline To Destroy Chemical Production Facilities."
Let's celebrate.
Let's celebrate the war that never happened.
Let's celebrate NOT having to hold sad and somber funerals for young Americans who would have lost their lives fighting in Syria.
Let's celebrate NOT having to nurse and care for the wounded veterans who would have returned from the U.S.-Syrian war.
Let's celebrate Congress NOT having to appropriate billions of tax dollars in emergency spending to support U.S. military operations in Syria.
Let's celebrate NOT having to attend bitter marches protesting the U.S. war in Syria.
Let's celebrate NOT having to rebuild Syria's roads and bridges and schools, so that we can have a shot at rebuilding our own.
Let's celebrate peace.
We won the battle, and the military-industrial complex lost the war.
We should be proud of our victories, because our victories matter. I know that politics sometimes can seem discouraging right now. Progressive often seem to lose, and lose frequently. But, you know what? Sometimes we win. And when we win, we save lives. We promote equality. We serve the cause of justice. We improve people's lives.
I'm going to crow a bit, right now. Because, together, we stopped a U.S. attack on Syria. The military-industrial complex said attack, and attack now. We said what John Lennon once said: "All we are saying is give peace a chance." We said that there is no such thing as humanitarian bombing. We said that we can't go around the world launching missiles and dropping bombs every time we see something that we don't like.
Well, we were right, and the military-industrial complex was wrong. We forced diplomacy rather than more carnage, and now the chemical weapons stockpiles are being destroyed.
This is victory. Our victory. Two months ago, 100,000 of us signed a petition at DontAttackSyria.com. Eighty thousand of us shared it on Facebook, and tens of thousands more shared it on Twitter.
And you know what? We stopped an attack. We saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
And you know what else? We got those chemical weapons production sites destroyed.
Peace won. Lives were saved. Thanks to you. Good job!
We progressives, each one of us, we have a head, a heart and a spine. We can win. We will win.
Peace,
Rep. Alan Grayson
First off, war in Syria has not started. Grayson sees it as avoided. I hope he's right. Second, "We progressives, each one of us . . ." Huh?
Libertarians were part of the effort as well and, certainly, Justin Raimondo and Antiwar.com did more to raise awareness and object to a war on Syria than The Nation and The Progressive combined. We'll note Antiwar.com's donation pitch:
Help us do it again!
The war plans were finalized, the war planes were on the tarmac, and the news media was salivating for some "shock and awe" – but the bombing of Syria never happened!
That's because a broad-based movement spanning "left" and "right" rose up and just said NO! That cry of protest was resounding enough to scare Congress – and the White House – into saying "Never mind!"
Antiwar.com was a vital part of that protest: every day for weeks we headlined the crisis and urged our readers to call Congress. In our news and opinion columns we debunked the war propaganda that claimed this was to be a war of "liberation": we expose the Syrian "rebels" for the thugs they are, and we kept blasting away at the phony rationale for this war: that it was a "humanitarian" effort to "save lives." Yeah, and War is Peace, as Orwell put it.
But they're already ginning up another war – this time with Iran – and we can't let down our guard. Eternal vigilance is the price of peace as well as liberty. Antiwar.com is needed now more than ever – but we can't continue our work without your financial support.
We won last time – but we need your donations to make sure we're around to win again. Please make your tax-deductible contribution today!
Today the National Organization for Women sent out a ridiculous e-mail. They're against a filibuster Republicans in the Senate are staging and demand an up or down vote. Unlike NOW, I support the right to filibuster. I think it's an important element in Congress. Actually, NOW agrees with me -- which is why, January 17, 2006, NOW demanded a filibuster on Samuel Alito. Not only that, they prepared a flier of four women who had died -- apparently due to Samuel Alito? -- and declared "Senators Must Filibuster Samuel Alito." And, of course, as even NOW admitted on December 23, 2005, the PATRIOT Act suffered a defeat "in the face of a Democratic filibuster." The ridiculous e-mail opens with this nosnesne:
The National Organization for Women (NOW), Feminist Majority and the Black Women’s Roundtable today deplored the Senate Republican leadership extending the War on Women to judicial nominations. On a conference call with reporters, Terry O’Neill, president of NOW, Ellie Smeal, president of Feminist Majority, and Melanie Campbell, president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable, called on the Senate to move to an up-or-down vote on President Obama’s nomination of Nina Pillard to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Do they really think people are that stupid? It's not a 'War on Women' and apparently, later this month, when the Republicans block Judge Robert Wilkins (as they're currently planning to do), NOW will have to find a new talking point. NOW really needs to step the hell away from partisan politics or surrender their tax exemption.
The filibuster has benefited both parties over the years. It's been really sad to watch political idiots insist, since 2009, that the filibuster needs to be done away with. And it's really sad today to watch NOW mislead people that some sort of 'War on Women' is taking place on the same day when women across the Arab world are facing a real war on their rights but, for partisan reasons, Terry O'Neill, Eleanor Smeal and Melanie Campbell would rather lie to the American people about a pretend war on women. They really should be ashamed.
iraq
reuters
isabel coles
national iraqi news agency
pbs
the newshour
the guardian
dahr jamail
