Ava here, taking over Trina's blog tonight with her permission. We were at hearing today, House Foreign Affairs Subcomittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight that I wanted to note because we really thought it should have garnered more attention than it did. As someone who attends Congressional hearings regularly (with C.I. Kat and Wally), I am used to certain things being ignored. For example, veterans issues. But this was Stuart Bowen who is the inspector general on Iraq reconstruction and his presence usually means a packed house for the press.
That did not happen. Russ Carnahan did a good job running the hearing, his first time chairing. And I'll come back to him but I want to note a bit about Bowen (and this is going to be a brief post). Bowen was less interested in addressing the problems then in suggesting a new layer for the process. He claimed, at one point, that a new oversight group would mean the table wouldn't be filled and Congress would only have one person before them to ask questions.
Hmm. I was at the hearing, Bowen, you were the only witness. So don't they have that already?
I don't trust him, I never have. I think he white washes repeatedly. He's been doing this job for how long now and finding the same problems over and over and nothing gets fixed. (And I do not credit him with the corruption convictions the Justice Dept has won. Those convictions were from JD's work, not his.)
So what's he really accomplished?
Nothing that I can see.
He keeps issuing the same reports with the same bland statements of how there is no oversight. I thought he was the oversight. He is the inspector general, right?
He wants another layer and all another layer says to me is that we'll have a new person deflecting the blame and being bored with speaking to Congress.
Bowman gave more substance than he's ever done in any hearing I've attended but that, again, really seemed to be because he wants this new layer: a U.S. Office for Contingency Operations. I do not care for that layer for a number of reasons and they include that War Hawks are in favor of it.
To me, it is one more layer that will never be held accountable.
Caranahan seems sincere. But I don't have a lot of hope. I'm not going to condemn him (and he did a great job chairing) but so what?
Rep Bill Delahunt noted that Congress' job was "to oversee the effectivenss of the executive branch and to take that information that we've gleaned" and apply it. He noted that Congress has "far too long" "abdicated" their role.
I agree. But what's going on? Where is there any indicating that something's going to change? Bowan's yacked and yacked for years. I really haven't seen any accountability.
Now for C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, February 24, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, election madness continues, more alleged 'Ba'athists' are banned, rumors swirl about who is meeting with which country, the US peace movement gears up for action next month, and more.
"I don't know anything about police training but I think if I had a 2.5 billion dollar contract, I could figure out how to train police. That is outrageous," declared US House Rep Russ Carnahan today as he chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affair's Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight. The subcomittee heard from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen this morning about contracting issues, specifically the lack of oversight. We'll note this key exchange.
Stuart Bowen: This is the top story, Chairman Carnahan. We looked at this four years ago and the problem that we identified four years ago was lack of contract management -- raised in our first audit, issued in the first month of 2007. Then we got into the whole contract and found it was inauditable and so we issued a review in October saying the State Dept asked for three to five years to put things in order because it was just a mess. And then we went in in 2008 to see if there were remedial measures and there were but then we go in last summer and find the same problem, 3 person in country overseeing a contract that is spending hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars. And more-more disturbing the lack of clarity about who is supposed to do what. The in country contracting officer representative my people interviewed said, 'Well invoice accountability is being done back in Washington.' Ask them, they say it's being done in Iraq. Huge vulnearbility.
Chair Russ Carnahan: And with regard to the contractor, Dyncorp, describe how that contract was initially awarded.
Stuart Bowen: It was an existing contract that was held by the State Dept that was, that was used. I don't have the specific facts of the bidding, but it was -- it was -- it was in 2004 and used to apply to this -- to this program at the level of 2.5 billiion. And again as I said it was DoD money that went into it so I think DoD was looking for a vehicle that is could use to spend this money and it did so. I think there are some questions about that process. It certainly shows how bifurcated or disjointed both the source of the money, the contract management of the money and then the execution of the contract. All different places. Uh-uh, it shows, I think, just the lack of clarity in stabilization reconstruction contracting.
Chair Russ Carnahan: In your reviews, to what extent can you account for how that money has been spent?
Stuart Bowen: Uh, we're looking at the execution of it now. My auditors in Iraq today are reviewing that matter and the outcomes, which are an important question for you, we will answer in a later review.
Chair Russ Carnahan: And you expect that report out when?
Stuart Bowen: By July, no later than July.
Chair Russ Carnahan: I'm going to yield to Judge Poe.
US House Rep Ted Poe: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [To Bowen] Which of our government agencies, in your opinion, was most irresponsible about money? DoD, State Dept, USAID
Stuart Bowen: I think that the State Dept did not carry out its contract oversight responsibilities sufficiently enough. In this particular contract we're discuss -- discussing is the most egregious example and the most disturbing point is it hasn't remediated that weakness sufficiently today.
We attended three hearings today and I'll try to pick up the VA one tomorrow. But this hearing was the most sparsely attended by the press. It was scheduled opposite big-ticket or 'hot topic' hearings such as Senator Carl Levin's hearing (Senate Armed Services Committee) on contractors in Afghanistan which is where the bulk of the press went this morning. I was not at that hearing but I have the opening statements of the Chair (Levin) and the Ranking Member (John McCain) and have spoken to Senate staffers about it. Some of the statements and questions are built around a hope that something was learned about contracting in Iraq -- with attention to oversight and cost effectiveness. For example, McCain declared, "Too many scarce tax payer dollars were squandered in the rebuilding of Iraq. I hope we have learned lessons from our experience there." No, there have been no lessons learned. That was obvious throughout the hearing Bowen testified at today.
The problems he is addressing regarding lack of oversight are the same ones he first noticed in 2004, the same ones he flagged in his early reports are still being flagged today. What is the point of having an Inspector General over reconstruction if they have no power? And Bowen obviously has no power or else he doesn't know how to use it. The same mistakes do not get called out over and over unless no one's taking the issue seriously. And if John McCain or Carl Levin are really hoping that Iraq 'lessons' can be taken to Afghanistan, they better get serious in hearings and oversight about what's going on in Iraq still in terms of the lack of oversight on US monies spent.
Not only do they need to pay more attention to it, so does the press. Again, this Subcommittee hearing that Russ Carnahan chaired this morning? Barely attended by the press. Kat plans to cover an aspect of it at her site tonight and Wally's going to sit in for Rebecca tonight and cover another aspect of the hearing.
March 7th, elections are supposed to be held in Iraq. These are Parlimentary elections and the Parliament will then select a prime minister. Yesterday, NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro (All Things Considered) offered a report on the campaigning:Lourdes Garcia-Navarro: Nouri al-Maliki is Iraq's unlikely strongman. Initially seen as a weak compromise candidate when he was installed as prime minister four years ago, Maliki is now accused by his rivals of being a dictator in waiting. To secure another term, he needs to win big in Iraq's Shi'ite south. On a multi-city tour of the region this past week, Maliki told the crowds that he is a man who can deliver.Nouri al-Maliki: We have achieved security. We've signed huge oil contracts which will give Iraq money. I'm not telling you that we want to achieve something, we have already achieved something.Lourdes Garcia-Navarro: Maliki's coalition, called "State of Law," did well in provincial elections last year but more recently his popularity has waned according to some Iraqi analaysts. A series of high profile terrorists attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere have called into question his security credentials and what some call his heavy-handed approach to governance has also provoked criticism. Maliki's main rival in the south is the Iraqi National Alliance It includes the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, or ISCI, and Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's political bloc. ISCI's leader, Ammar al-Hakim, was also campaigning in the south this week. Speaking to a crowd in Diwaniyah, he said the time is right for change. Ammar al-Hakim: Iraq deserves better than what it has now. With the grace of God and your help, the Iraqi National Alliance will be able to revive this country.Lourdes Garcia-Navarro: Both sides are using whatever means they can to secure votes. In last year's provincial elections, Maliki won significant support from so-called tribal support councils that he established. In return for money and positions, tribal leaders promised to deliver votes for the prime minister -- and they did. Of the process thus far, Olivia Ward (Toronto Star) offers this recap, "The election started with a call for unity, which gradually unravelled with scores of people killed in bombings, candidates targeted for assassination or attack, and up to 400 would-be candidates disqualified under a 'de-Baathification' law meant to prevent a resurgence of Saddam Hussein's supporters."
AFP states that the coalition led by al-Maliki and the one led by Allawi are the two chief rivals based on a new National Media Centre poll and they note the NMC "is linked to Prime Minister Maliki". Ayad Allawi is a candidate running. UPI reports unnamed 'sources' are saying that both "Tehran and Damascus would back Allawi" as the next prime minister. If false, the rumor may come from Ahmed Chalabi who is mentioned in the article. UPI claims "sources" for the rumor. Alsumaria TV, reporting the same claim, relies on a "source" -- "an informed governmental source speaking on condition of anonymity". If that source is indeed Chalabi, it would explain why Ammar al-Hakin is also targeted -- the unnamed insists that al-Hakim is in league with Allawi. Earlier this week Muhanad Mohammed, Waleed Ibrahim, Aseel Kami, Rania Elgamal, Souhail Karam, Mohammed Abbas and Richard Williams (Reuters) reported on Allawi's trip to Saudi Arabia spawning rumors (for some) and accusations within Iraq. Iran was worried as demonstrated by Press TV's report on the visit today.
For the record, there's nothing 'wrong' about ties with their neighbor Saudi Arabia. For example, Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Feb. 16th that their Embassy in Riyadh was doing workshops including their Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Dr. Ghanim Alwan al-Dumaili, doing a lecture on his work with NASA. And February 17th their Embassy in Tokyo hosted "the monthly meeting of Council of Arab Ambassadors. During the meeting the Charge d' affaires a.i. reviewed developments in Iraq and general elections which [are] to be held on the seventh of next March and the Iraqi government's keeness on the success of this national event." Yesterday Michael Wahid Hanna (World Politics Review) observed, "Iraq has also mismanaged its diplomatic relations with its regional counterparts. Most conspicuously, on separate occasions Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki hampered international efforts aimed at thawing Iraqi-Saudi relations by lashing out intemperately against the Saudi monarch. Al-Maliki's rhetorical excess also reversed the historic re-establishment of full diplomatic relations with Syria in the aftermath of catastrophic coordinated bombings in Baghdad in August 2009." So the panic or alleged panic over Allawi seems a bit inflated at best. Tariq Alhomayed (Asharq Alawsat Newspaper) reminds, "The attacks made by the Dawa party and the supporters of the ruling regime in Iraq on Dr. Ayad Allawi can only be understood by recalling an important issue which is that Allawi's visit to Saudi Arabia came at a time that reminds the Iraqi electorate that Nuri al-Maliki's government is isolated from the Arab world, and this is something that has led to the isolation of Iraq as a whole. Of course, this is something that is troubling to the Dawa party followers and the State of Law coalition, especially since the Iraqi elections are just around the corner." Let's leave Allawi for a moment to note Chalabi. Marc Lynch (Foreign Policy) explains today, "So you thought that Ahmed Chalabi and Ali al-Lami's Accountability and Justice (De-Ba'athification) Committee had done all they could to wreck Iraq's elections and advance their political agendas? Not even. Yesterday, in what al-Hayat calls a surprise move, Lami announced that the AJC had named 376 military, police and intelligence officers for de-Ba'athification. The list includes a number of important people in senior positions." Lynch offers his take on it which is that Chalabi is setting a trap because al-Maliki either drums out the latest group of 'Ba'athists' or else he looks like a sympathizer (with does not play for the "State Of Law" political party).
al-Maliki, Allawi are only two thought to be vying for prime minister. Reuters notes the two and others thought to be in the running: Bayan Jabor, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Adel Abdul Mahdi, Ahmed Chalabi, Jawad al-Bolani, Qassam Daoud and Raad Mawlude Mukhlis. Reuters also examines some of the political alliances. The Ahrar Poliltical party issued the following today:
Yesterday on the Race to Parliament programme, Ayad Jamal Aldin declared that the Iraqi government has lost control
The leader of the Ahrar Party announced that the government had failed the Iraqi people by failing to tackle three major problems: a census, the constitution, and national reconciliation.
He blamed corruption for this failure and stated that Ahrar has a plan to unite Iraq and end bribery and dishonesty.
Ayad Jamal Aldin said: "This government has lost control and has been overrun by corrupters and outsiders intent on dividing and destroying Iraq.
"Ahrar is the only party to have a credible and detailed plan to end the violence and intimidation that every Iraqi faces every day. We will create a united Iraq with water, jobs, and electricity.
"On March 7 the Iraqi people have a choice. They can vote for more corruption, more violence, and more division. Or they vote for change, with jobs, security and unity. A vote for Ahrar is a vote for change."
Watch the video here.
For further information, contact:
Ahrar Media Bureau Tel: +964 (0)790 157 4478 / +964 (0)790 157 4479 / +964 (0)771 275 2942press@ahrarparty.com
About Ayad Jamal Aldin:
Ayad Jamal Aldin is a cleric, best known for his consistent campaigning for a new, secular Iraq. He first rose to prominence at the Nasiriyah conference in March 2003, shortly before the fall of Saddam, where he called for a state free of religion, the turban and other theological symbols. In 2005, he was elected as one of the 25 MPs on the Iraqi National List, but withdrew in 2009 after becoming disenchanted with Iyad Allawi's overtures to Iran. He wants complete independence from Iranian interference in Iraq. He now leads the Ahrar party for the 2010 election to the Council of Representatives, to clean up corruption and create a strong, secure and liberated Iraq for the future.
While some alleged 'Ba'athists' are being banned, Hannah Allam, Warren P. Strobel, Laith Hammoudi and Jonathan S. Landay (McClatchy) and Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor) report that candidate Abu Mahdi al Mohandas is campaiging on the stand 'I'm an enemy of the American government.' He tells McClatchy and the Monitor, "I was told, officially, by the speaker of parliament and a high-ranking Iraqi official that it's preferable I don't show up before the election because they couldn't assure I was protected. Since 2005, the Americans have conveyed a message through an Iraqi mediator that they'll kidnap or assassinate me." (Allam, Hammoudi and Arraf reported Monday on what may have been violence targeting a campaign -- link has text and video.)
Now back to Allawi. Andrew England (Financial Times of London) reports that he is accusing the current government in Iraq of "reviving sectarianism" through the previous bannings and they quote him stating, "It's a beginning of going back to the drawing table where they started sectarianism. You can sense it unfortunately, in the political landscape again. If this sectarianism becomes an issue, which it already is, and continues to do so then definitely we will slip into more violence and this may lead to a civil war." Meanwhile ever since John Jenkins, British Ambassador to Iraq, made it a 'hot topic,' military coup in Iraq just doesn't go away. The latest to wade in is Adil Abdel-Mahdi, Iraq's Shi'ite vice president. DPA reports that he has expressed concerns about "militarization" in Iraq and what that could mean for the country's future, noting, "There is a historical precende in this case. The country is set for military coups." Iraq has another vice president, Tareq al-Hashemi. Waleed Ibrahim and Rania El Gamal (Reuters) quote al-Hashemi declaring today, "(Reconciliation) is one of the projects that the government has failed at unprecedentedly and . . . the reason is that there is no real intention for national reconciliation. There is no real will for reconciliation."
Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .
Bombings?
Reuters notes a Baghdad bombing which claimed the life of 1 "senior judge". KUNA identifies him as Justice Mohammad Abdulghafour and notes that he "specialized in cases of terrorism".
Shootings?
Reuters notes 1 female employee of the Independent High Electoral Commission was wounded in a Baghdad shooting.
In my mind I can't study war no more
Save the people
Save the children
Save the country
-- "Save The Country," written by Laura Nyro, first appears on her New York Tendaberry album, also a hit for The 5th Dimension
Turning to the US, yesterday, a protest against the continued wars and their toll on humanity took place in New York. The demonstration was staged by NYC Peace Grannies. Joan Wile is the founder of Grandmothers Against the War and has written the book Grandmothers Against the War: Getting Off Our Fannies and Standing Up for Peace. She was part of the demonstration and has written "Rain-Drenched, Wind-Tossed New York City Peace Grannies Hold Memorial For The 1,000 Dead G.I.s in Afghanistan:"
It seems as if most of our U.S. populace has forgotten that U.S. soldiers are dying in Afghanistan. Focused on Tiger Woods' sex life and, more understandably, the seemingly endless, unresolvable health reform and jobs battles in Washington, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan appear to be ignored.
However, a group of New York city peace grannies and their supporters DO remember, and they publicly so acknowledged on Tuesday, Feb. 23, the just-announced grim tally of 1,000 U.S. soldiers' loss of life in Afghanistan. The event was coordinated by Grandmothers Against the War and the Granny Peace Brigade. Members of Peace Action New York, Veterans for Peace, The World Can't Wait, the Gray Panthers, Brooklyn for Peace, and the Raging Grannies attended as well.
On the cold, wet and windy evening, approximately 30 mostly elderly people assembled in front of Rockefeller Center on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to pay tribute to the 1,000 American G.I.s sacrificed in the wrong-headed war in Afghanistan. They also mourned the many Afghani deaths caused by our missiles and bombs.
The great actor-author, Malachy McCourt , opened the proceedings with a powerful speech lambasting the tragic expenditure of life and resources in the hopeless pursuit of peace through war. A statement of support by NY State Senator Bill Perkins, who had to be in Albany with the legislature, was read. Following that, the vigil members read the names of deceased soldiers AND deceased Afghani civilians to the accompaniment of a single muffled drum beat.
It was startling and extremely saddening to hear that so many of the Afghanis whose names were read were small children. One wondered: How can we feel morally justified in waging a war that causes so many innocent people to die whom we are supposedly protecting?
Strangely enough, the police erected a barricade around the anti-war stalwarts. This had never been done before in the six plus years that Grandmothers Against the War, the Vets for Peace and the Granny Peace Brigade have been holding a weekly Wednesday vigil on that Rockefeller Center site.
The soggy Peaceniks then walked down Fifth Avenue and over to the Times Square recruiting station where the Raging Grannies sang familiar songs with their revised anti-war lyrics. They kept singing despite the fact that several policemen insisted that the group leave. Finally, thoroughly soaked and shivering, the hardy old folks (and a few young ones) dispersed.
It is worth quoting part of Sen. Perkins' statement: "It is obvious that the lessons of the unjust war launched by the previous Bush administration have yet to sink in on the current administration. Each day the goal of honorable victory will be ever more elusive. The goal of an honorable peace for a dishonorable war will continue to have its price."
As I write, one day later, the tragic number of our young military dead in Afghanistan has climbed to 1,006.
A.N.S.W.E.R. and other organizations are sponsoring March 20th marches in DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The march is to demand the withdrawal of all US and NATO troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Students for a Democratic Society are another organization that will be participating and they note:
While the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan is growing ever larger, the occupation of Iraq is still raging, nearing its seventh anniversary. With over 4,300 US soldiers and over 1.3 million Iraqi civilians estimated dead, something has to be done to stop this senseless slaughter.
This year Students for a Democratic Society will hold a national week of action March 15th to 20th where students will organize protests and direct actions at campuses across the country in opposition to the ongoing, brutal occupations.
The need for a vibrant anti-war movement has rarely been felt more than this very moment, while the United States drops trillions of dollars into unjust wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, during the worst economic crisis in 80 years. Students are struggling to pay for school while tuition skyrockets, and states lose billions of dollars to two continuing occupations.
On Saturday, March 20th, SDS will participate in a massive National March & Rally in D.C. hosted by A.N.S.W.E.R. to finish the week of action with tens of thousands of people in the street!
We're calling on students and youth from across the country to join us the week of March 15-20th in demanding: Fund Education, Not Occupation!
For more information visit: http://sdsantiwar.wordpress.com/
March 13th, a Peace Camp will be set up in DC. Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan (Cindy Sheenhan's Soapbox) explains some of the goals of the Peace Camp in her open letter to US President Barack Obama:
In 2005, I asked for a meeting with President Bush that was never granted, and as you know, Camp Casey in Crawford became the spark that lit a prairie fire of anti-war sentiment that swept you and your cohorts in the Democratic Party back into power and now we are coming to collect the spoils of that victory--which is not more war--but more Peace. You Democrats owe much to your anti-war base--and we will not be quiet nor be ignored as we were in the previous administration. It's time for you to pay the Peace-piper, Mr. Obama. Our demands are profound, yet simple for you to perform: troops out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (where three soldiers were just killed); no more drone bombings anywhere; close the permanent bases and torture prisons; and bring the mercenary soldiers home, too. We will not be closing up Camp, or the movement, until positive progress in the direction of Peace is noted. The first week of Camp (March 13-20), we are asking for a meeting with you to discuss setting up a Peace Council that you will regularly meet with that will have a seat at the table when decisions that will kill, maim, displace, or harm our troops or civilians in any way are being discussed. We also demand that this Peace Council be comprised of grassroots members of the Peace Movement and not rubber-stamp status quo worshippers, or other "Peace" Prize laureates like Henry Kissinger, who already, reportedly, has your ear. If you do not meet with representatives from Camp OUT NOW, we will be a thorn in the side of the War Machine, and we will not go away without a struggle. If you do meet with us and agree to a Peace Council, we will pack up our tents, but we will still be a thorn in the side of the War Machine until Peace is finally achieved--the only difference is that we won't be camped across the street from your home.
Yesterday we noted "foundation ugly" Thomas E. Ricks and Nir Rosen. Today Robert Dreyfuss (The Nation) notes the latest bits of foundation ugly:
Thus it's no surprise that Tom Ricks, a former reporter and author who's taken up residence at CNAS, has fired the opening gambit in what is likely to be a direct challenge to President Obama by the military, by conservatives and neoconservatives, by surge-lovers and empire builders, and others, to keep US forces in Iraq.
Ricks penned an op-ed in the New York Times entitled "Extending Our Stay in Iraq," as if the 98,000 troops there were business travelers asking the front desk for a late checkout. "Our stay"? He means, the US occupation of Iraq.
And Ricks pulls no punches. Obama should forget about his pledge to reduce US forces to 50,000 by August and to zero by the end of 2011. Instead, Ricks says, the troubling internal contradictions in Iraq -- including Iran's influence -- means that the United States should "keep 30,000 to 50,000 United States service members in Iraq for many years to come."
So much to comment on. First, Ricks is doing an 'international sweep' shortly. Dreyfuss has made college students in one country very happy because they've been arguing with Ricks' sponsor (for his talk) over whether or not he's a journalist. He's not. He's now a counter-insurgency (war on a native people) guru at a War Hawk think tank. And this professor has told the students that Ricks doesn't have an opinion because he's a reporter, told the students he's objective. So we should all be grateful that Ricks has yet again pulled his War Hawk Stub out and waived it around yet again. Second, we should be grateful for the column he wrote. We now know where Michele Flournoy stands. Most of us already suspected it but Ricks doesn't write a word that Flournoy (who left his think tank to join the administration -- where she now stalls Congress on the Iraq 'withdrawal' plan) doesn't approve of.
Lastly, TV notes. NOW on PBS begins airing Friday on most PBS stations (check local listings):
In 1995 and 1996, 66 gray wolves were relocated from Canada to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho to help recover a wolf population that had been exterminated in the northern Rockies. The gray wolf relocation is considered one of the most successful wildlife recovery projects ever attempted under the Endangered Species Act; today there are more than 1,600 wolves in the region. But a debate has erupted between conservationists and ranchers over the question: how many wolves are too many? Last year, the Obama Administration entered the fray by removing federal protection for some of these wolves, paving the way for controversial state-regulated wolf hunts. The move has wolf advocates fuming, with more than a dozen conservation groups suing the Interior Department to restore federal protections. On February 26 at 8:30 pm (check local listings), NOW reports on this war over wolves and implications for the area.
iraqnprall things consideredlourdes garcia-navarro
the toronto starolivia ward
dpa
hannah allammcclatchy newspapers
warren p. strobel
jonathan s. landay
laith hammoudi
the christian science monitorjane arraf
cindy sheehan
pbsnow on pbs
peace granniesjoan wile
the nationrobert dreyfuss
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The Great Recession continues
How's that recovery working out for you? Probably not so good because we are in the Great Recession. Still. So the two big economic problems right now? First up:
US consumer confidence slips further in week - ABC
Reuters - 2 hours ago
NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - ABC News reported on Tuesday that its weekly measure of US consumer confidence slipped further toward its all-time low, indicating that American households are becoming ever more fretful over their personal finances.
Stocks Sell Off as Consumer Data Disappoint TheStreet.com
Consumer Confidence and Dollar Drop Stocks Briefing.com
ABC News - Medill Reports: Chicago - Washington Post - Palm Beach Post
all 937 news articles »
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And it's not just confience that's slipping:
Banks at risk of going bust tops 700
CNNMoney.com - 7 hours ago
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- More than 700 banks, or nearly one out of every 11, are at risk of going under, according to a government report published Tuesday.
How would you grade the financial stability of the FDIC? Wall Street Journal
FDIC's 'Problem Bank' List Grows TheStreet.com
Bizjournals.com - Medill Reports: Chicago - eCreditDaily.com - Ticker Magazine
all 444 news articles »
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In what may be the economy's only good news today, David Lightman (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that some moderate Democrats in Congress are not ecstatic over Barack Obama's health care plan (BigBusinessGiveAway). From the article:
Many centrist Democrats face re-election in November in conservative states and districts, and Republicans are eagerly trying to use Democrats' health care positions against them.
"Everybody is looking at the polls that show, on the one hand, folks want something done," said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. It's hard to get constituents to agree on specifics, however, and "that makes health care a hard sell," he said.
The most common responses from moderates Tuesday about Obama's blueprint were similar to that of Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., who voted against the Democratic plan in November. "It's better than the House bill," said Altmire, who's a member of the conservative, 54-member House Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. "But we still need to see more cost containment."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., also was guarded.
"I am not going to make comments on specific proposals - and I just saw this on Monday - until I have an opportunity to digest it." Thirty-nine House Democrats voted against the party's health care plan on final passage in November.
Barack made his deal with Big Pharma and his 'plan' is worth nothing for us. We need real reform and he's not offering it. I hope Congress stands up to him and says no. Loudly.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Tuesday:
Tuesday, February 23, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Iraqi Christians continue to be targeted, Nir Rosen longs for Pinochet, election madness continues and more.
Today the US military announced: "RAMADI, Iraq -- A U.S. Soldier died today in a vehicle related accident in Western Iraq. The Ironsides command team wishes to extend their deepest sympathies and condolences to the family. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kind and release by the Department of Defense. The names of service members are announced through the U.S. Department of Defense official website [. . .] The announcements are made on the Web site no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member's primary next of kin. The incident is under investigation." Prior to the announcement, ICCC's count of the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4378. The number is now 4379.
Starting with elections and specifically with the Real Ugly. Yes, it is foundation ugly but it's not Thomas E. Ricks, it's worse: Nir Rosen. Rosen's offering predicitions and those who are familiar with his past attempts at tea leaf reading are immediately laughing. But there's laughable and then there is appalling. Rosen, who looks more and more like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, decided to share the following:
Maliki will probably emerge the victor in the elections. His more sectarian and corrupt Shiite rivals are discredited and unpopular, but more importantly, he is an authoritarian ruler in the Middle East, he would have to be really incompetent if he couldn't stay in power. If Karzai could do it, then Maliki should be able to as well. Of course there is nothing uniquely Middle Eastern about this. In fact maybe looking at post-Soviet states is useful -- that is, the new ruler will not readily relinquish control, even if he has to bend the rules a bit, or operate outside the constitution. This has happened in Asia, Africa, and other places in transition. I hate to admit that I hope Maliki wins. He's the best of all the realistic alternatives. It's not like a more secular candidate is likely to win, so if it's not Maliki it will be Jaafari or Chalabi. Frankly this is a rare case where I hope Maliki violates the constitution, acts in some kind of authoritarian way to make sure he wins the elections, because the alternative is fragmentation, or a criminal, sectarian kleptocratic Shiite elite taking over, and then Iraq might unravel. For now it's still "raveling."
"I hope Maliki violates the constitution"? You really want to say that? I guess it doesn't matter, you're now on the record saying that. Saying that you hope he "violates the constitution, acts in some kind of authoritarian way" and we're talking about Little Nouri, the would-be New Saddam. You can't take that back. You can't put it back into the bottle. Your wish is that the Constitution be trashed, that the process be ignored. When Iraqis have to live with your okaying of that process, remember you wanted it, you encouraged it, you wrote a piece advocating for it. There are no take backs on democracy. Nir Rosen is the perfect example of someone who can be educated and educated but never learn. No one who truly values democracy would ever advocate that the process be trashed, thwarted or ignored. We may not be happy with the results of, for example, an election but when we trash the process, we trash our own democracy. When we critique another society and offer that their authoritarian leader should disregard the laws and the processes, we send a message and it's an ugly and dangerous one.
Refugees International really can't afford these type of comments from Rosen. And just yesterday, the US military was trumpeting a Monday conference on "human rights and the role of the military in a democracy" that over 60 female Iraqi soldiers attended. You can bet that the seminar didn't teach the soldiers to root for their country's Constitution being trashed or that the elections were fraudulent. There is democratic thinking and there is what Nir Rozen has offered which, pay attention, is how the US government has justified installing every despot from Saddam Hussein in Iraq to Augusto Pinochet in Chile. There is no excuse for the 'hope' Rosen has expressed. It is outrageous and it is offensive.
As to his predictions, Nir Rosen will no doubt insist, "I was just there!" Yes, and you've been there before and all of your predictions have been wrong repeatedly (do we need to go into Sahwa for just one example or maybe the way you wrongly predicted what's known as the "civil war" of 2006 and 2007 would go down?). Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) doesn't breeze through like Rosen, Sahar lives there:
When asked why more than 500 candidates were banned just before the elections -- they would answer, "We are not sectarian -- there are as many Shiites as Sunnis on those lists", but when I asked Ahmed Chalabi at a press conference why were the political parties in power, who were religious in nature, targeting the seculars (and not the Sunnis as was the usual question to be asked of a Shiite controlled government), he was taken aback, but recovered quickly and with a knowing twinkle in his eyes, retorted, "Do you see me being targeted??" It was no use telling him that he was part of the biggest and maybe the most powerful Shiite alliance in the country, and therefore not considered secular -- I knew he would not answer -- He was too smart. Instead, he declared, "This conference is to discuss the legality of the ban -- and not the political aspects of it." and ended the conference soon after.
So the struggle, now, is religious vs. secular.
This country was secular once.
Will it be secular again? Do the seculars have a chance?
Difficult to say.
Further bad news for the laughable Nir Rosen comes via the latest ORB poll. Michael Hastings (The Hasting Report, True/Slant) reports that Iraqis were polled last week and
* In Baghdad 65% of people want someone other than Maliki as Prime Minister and fewer people say they are very likely to vote than elsewhere -- just 22% compared with 64% across Iraq as a whole.
*When asked whether conditions for peace and security have improved in the past 3 months 57% of Baghdad voters say things have worsened and across all of Iraq more than half (54%) think things have gotten worse or not improved.
* 96% of voters want change in the country -- with most wanting significant change. Maliki's status quo is not endough.
* An average of 64% of voters have an unfavourable view of Iran -- only 18% have a favorable view and 68% of all voters think that Iran is a bad influence in Iraq.
The polling reflects earlier reporting by Aseel Kami (Reuters) who noted over a week ago that the lack of basic services were impacting Iraqi attitudes towards voting.
Steven Lee Myers (New York Times) profiles a few of the candidates running for Parliament including an activist "for those the war has left wounded," Karim Radhi al-Khafaji who states, "I consider myself the candidate for the disabled and the deprived and those who are marginalized. [. . .] We have not seen anyone pay attention to us, including the prime minister." He offers that the percentage of people disabled or challenged in Iraq is 13% greater than the "world average of 2 percent".
Ahmed Chalabi has reported cut a deal with Tehran that, if true and if they stick with it, would slide Nouri al-Maliki to the side after the elections and allow Chalabi to be Prime Minister. (If true. Some are beginning to wonder if the original source of the rumor isn't Chalabi himself.) Layla Anwar (An Arab Woman Blues) reports on a recent interview the War Criminal gave:
Chalabi was obnoxious with Souhair Al-Qayssi and she would not let him off the hook, he did not intimidate her with his aggressiveness and she grilled him...Good for you Souhair, you're my kind of an Iraqi woman ! At one point his lies were so blatant that S.Al-Kayssi could not contain her laughter...this is how comic it was ...but let me not waste more time with my introduction and let's get down to what Chalabi said. I did take short notes but I am not a secretary and my mind is not a computer bank for storing data either..so there may be some grotesque lies that I may not remember as well... S.Q : Why the fall out with the U.S ?A.C : The U.S wants to bring back the Baath to Iraq so they can fight Iran in Iraq (no joke) Since 2004, I knew that this was Bremer's plan, after I initiated the De-baathification process and that is why I backed off. Now the U.S feels remorse for having removed the Baathists and they want them back in. S.Q : (smiling wide) But you were close to the CIA yourself and you welcomed with open arms the U.S occupation, what changed ? A.C : We (the Iraqi National Congress/opposition) have always refused the Occupation (no joke). I stood in the U.S congress in 1998 and asked for the liberation of Iraq and not its occupation. The cooperation with the US was limited, with the sole aim of removing Saddam Hussein, they liberate us and then they leave. I only have the best of interests for Iraq and its sovereignty ... S.Q : But you had a honeymoon season with the U.S and some say you worked for the CIA and that the Justice and Accountability Committee which you now head was formed by Bremer himself... A.C : Me, the CIA, never ! I went to Bremer with my daughter (her name is T.Chalabi) and told him you are not giving us sovereignty, you are not allowing a full Iraqi government as you promised, I even told Manning (some British Foreign official) that even Gertrude Bell in the 20's was more merciful in her approach to Iraq than you guys.
Meanwhile the Ahrar Party issued this release today:
Tonight on al-Arabiya, Ayad Jamal Aldin sets out his party's policies to secure the future of a united and peaceful Iraq
Ayad Jamal Aldin says that only Ahrar has a detailed and credible plan to end the sectarian violence and intimidation that blights the lives of all Iraqis and bring peace to our country.
On the Race To Parliament programme, he points out that of all the parties standing for election, Ahrar is the only party with a comprehensive and plausible plan to provide water, electricity and jobs in Iraq.
Ayad Jamal Aldin believes that Iraq's young people are capable and full of energy, ideas, and aspirations.
On the show, he recognises the need for Iraqis to build their own future, without the assistance of outsiders, and announces that under Ahrar 1200 Iraqis with college degrees will be sent to foreign universities to earn a degree in management leadership.
Ayad Jamal Aldin also explains the fundamental disagreement with the existing party structures which made it necessary to form the Ahrar Party as a standalone organisation, outside of previous coalitions. It reflects his belief that only an independent Iraqi organization not tainted by the corruption and failings of current political parties can be free to make the change Iraq needs.
He also reveals his opinion on the recent troubles between the Iraqi government and the Mujaheden Khalq in Diyala Province and the effect of these events on Iraq's foreign reputation.
Commenting on the US presence in Iraq Ayad Jamal Aldin says: "The American presence in Iraq is a fact. It is up to diplomacy to deal with the situation, not violent actions."
For further information, contact:
Ahrar Media BureauTel: +964 (0)790 157 4478 / +964 (0)790 157 4479 / +964 (0)771 275 2942press@ahrarparty.com
About Ayad Jamal Aldin:
Ayad Jamal Aldin is a cleric, best known for his consistent campaigning for a new, secular Iraq. He first rose to prominence at the Nasiriyah conference in March 2003, shortly before the fall of Saddam, where he called for a state free of religion, the turban and other theological symbols. In 2005, he was elected as one of the 25 MPs on the Iraqi National List, but withdrew in 2009 after becoming disenchanted with Iyad Allawi's overtures to Iran. He wants complete independence from Iranian interference in Iraq. He now leads the Ahrar party for the 2010 election to the Council of Representatives, to clean up corruption and create a strong, secure and liberated Iraq for the future.
Todya's violence included another assault on Iraqi Christians. Jamal Al-Badrani, Jack Kimball and Andrew Roche (Reuters) report a Mosul home invasion which resulted in 3 Iraqi Christians being killed -- a father and two sons. International Christian Concern is calling on Iraqi Christians to turn out at the polls in spit of the recent violence targeting them: "If Iraqi Christians do not vote in the general election, then minority rights will not be fully recognized, and the survival of Christianity in Iraq will be dictated and confined by radical sectarianism." . Saturday AFP reported that Adnan al-Dahan has become the fifth Iraqi-Christian killed in Mosul last week (at least one other has been wounded) and that the shopkeeper's corpse was found today in Mosul. AFP notes the other four victims: 20-year-old Wissam George (Wednesday), 21-year-old Zia Toma (killed Tuesday, Rasin Shmael was also wounded), 40-year-old Fatukhi Munir (Monday) and 43-year-old Rayan Salem Elias (Sunday). And they remind, "In late 2008, a systematic campaign of killings and targeted violence killed 40 Christians and saw more than 12,000 flee Mosul." Spero News reported the mood in Mosul is "fear and shock" and quotes an unnamed Chaldean priset stating, "It is an ethnic cleansing that goes on day after day, in silence and indifference. We are in deep distress as the authorities and the police do nothing to stop this massacre." Vatican Radio spoke with Mosul's Syrian Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa about a meeting with Iraqi officials yesterday.Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa: We bishops are from Mosul city went to visit civilian governor and we spoke with him and with the chief of police about the Christian situation in Mosul especially. And we present our message about the [responsibility] of the local government and the central goverment to take care of the security of citizens and officially of Christians. Zenit News reported that Archibishop Emil Shimoun Nona "is asking for prayers as more and more of his faithful leave Mosul because of a violent intimidation campaign that has brought" multiple deaths. Joan Lewis (Joan's Rome, EWTN) provided background on Archbishop Amil Nona:At 42 he is the yougest archbishop in the Catholic Church and he succeeds the martyred Archbishop Paulos Rahho who was killed in 2008. The youthful archibishop's election by the synod of the Chaldean Church was confirmed by Pope Benedict last November 13. He took possession of his see just a little over a month ago on January 8.[. . .]I am once again writing this blog at a late hour and the lights have gone out twice -- though only briefly – since I started this column. Electricity is rationed in Iraq for anywhere from two to 12 hours a day. If you don't have a generator you have to learn how to ration those hours. The seminary does have a generator, for which I have been thankful countless times every day! Given these conditions I wll briefly describe our meeting today and tell most of the story with some delightful photos.I firmly believe that Archbishop Nona's greatest gift to his people is his youth, He is young in age but also in visions and dreams. He is a realist and knows the security issues in Mosul, knows that hundreds of his families have emigrated to safer havens such as Kurdistan but he wants to give them hope and bring them back or, at least, keep families here. Today Vatican Radio featured Baghdad's Chaldean Bishop Shelmon Warduni:
Chaldean Bishop Shelmon Warduni: Our situation in this time is not so good -- especially in Mosul -- because there are many attacks against our Christians. Some of them were killed. So they are afraid. And they are leaving, many of them are leaving Mosul or our country to other countries and this is very, very bad for us. So we ask our people and everybody to do the election because this is the right and duty of everybody to build our country and to elect the good people who can build our country because we don't want our question of Christians politicized. We want to be as everybody in our country with our rights, with our duties and we thank God for everything.
Also today, Human Rights Watch issued the following release:
Iraq's government should bolster security to protect the lives of Christians in Mosul, Human Rights Watch said today. Since February 14, 2010, five Christians have been killed in Mosul in separate attacks that appear to be politically motivated, given the country's looming national election.
Human Rights Watch called on the government to take immediate measures, such as an increased security presence in Chaldo-Assyrian neighborhoods before and during the elections, to help prevent a repeat of a campaign of violence that devastated the community in Mosul in late 2008.
"Iraq's authorities need to act now to stop this campaign of violence against Christians from spreading again," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "In particular, the government needs to see that those responsible for these murders are swiftly arrested and prosecuted to protect Mosul's Christians from further violence."
According to information obtained by Human Rights Watch, on February 16, assailants impersonating secret police approached Zaya Toma and his cousin, Ramsin Shmael, while they waited at a bus stop in Mosul's al-Tahrir district on their way to the university they attend. Speaking in Arabic, the assailants asked Toma, a 22-year-old engineering student, and Shmael, a 21-year-old pharmacy student, for their identity cards. Although identity cards in Iraq do not indicate religion or ethnicity, assailants have often used the victim's name as a marker of his or her religious or ethnic affiliation.
After Toma produced his card, one of the assailants shot him point-blank in the head, killing him instantly. Ramsin tried to run but was shot twice; one bullet shattered his teeth. The assailants fled, apparently assuming they had killed both students, although Shmael survived. Family members arrived on the scene before the police, to find Toma lying in a pool of blood, his books on one side of his body, his identity card on the other.
The incident has devastated the broader family of Toma and Shmael, who escaped to northern Iraq from Baghdad in the summer of 2007 after receiving threats to kill them unless they converted to Islam. Family members say they want to move again - this time out of Iraq - to join the hundreds of thousands of Chaldo-Assyrians who have fled since 2003.
"By killing Zaya, they have taken everything from us," a family member told Human Rights Watch. "Our only crime is that we are Christian,"
The attack was one of several killings of Christians in Mosul the same week:
On February 20, the body of Adnan Hanna al-Dahan was found in northern Mosul. The 57-year-old Syrian Orthodox grocer had been kidnapped by unknown assailants from inside his shop a few days earlier.
On February 17, the bullet-ridden body of Wissam George, a 20-year-old Assyrian studying to be a teacher, was found after he disappeared that morning on his way to school.
On February 15, gunmen stormed a grocery store and killed Fatukhi Munir, its owner.
On February 14, Rayan Salem Elias, a Chaldean man, was shot dead outside his home.
While the identities of the perpetrators remain unknown, the spike in attacks against Christians comes only days ahead of Iraq's March 7 parliamentary vote. Families of the victims and community leaders believe the violence is politically motivated and are appealing to the government for protection.
The Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Emil Shimoun Nona, said the most recent killings could prompt a new wave of refugees fleeing northern Iraq, where Christians live in constant apprehension. Since 2003, between 250,000 and 500,000 Christians - or about half the Christian population - have left the country, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees. In January, Archbishop Nona was installed as successor to Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, whose body was found in March 2008, ten days after kidnappers seized him as he was leaving the Holy Spirit Church in Mosul.
Human Rights Watch said that the recent attacks recall the campaign of targeted killings against Chaldo-Assyrians in Mosul in late 2008 that the organization documented in a 51-page report, "On Vulnerable Ground: Violence against Minority Communities in Nineveh Province's Disputed Territories," released in November 2009. The orchestrated violence left 40 Chaldo-Assyrians dead and led to a mass exodus of more than 12,000 from their homes in Mosul. Assailants targeted Christians in their homes, in workplaces, and in places of worship.
Those killings began shortly after the Christian community lobbied the Iraqi parliament to pass a law that would set aside a greater number of seats for minorities in the January 2009 provincial elections. The attacks escalated after Christians held demonstrations in Nineveh and Baghdad in response to parliament's decision (later amended) to drop a provision in the provincial elections law ensuring political representation for minorities.
The report also documented intimidation and restrictions on freedom of movement by Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq of other minority groups in Nineveh, including Yazidis and Shabaks, during the 2009 provincial elections.
Iraq's worldwide refugee population includes a large number of Christians. It also includes many other targeted groups: LGBT members, Sunnis, Shi'ites, Jews, etc. Taylor Luck (Jordan Times) reports that the Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission is urging groups and organizations -- and even journalists! -- to watch and monitor polling closely . . . outside Iraq.
In addition to the 3 Christians killed in the home invasion, there was other reported violence . . . .
Bombings?
Reuters notes a Mosul sticky bombing which claimed the life of 1 police officer, a Baghdad plastic bag bombing which claimed 1 life and left three people injured, a Kirkuk roadside bombing which left two people injured and, dropping back to Monday for the rest, a Mosul roadside bombing which injured one person, a Tikrit bombing which claimed 2 lives, a Tikrit bombing which injured two police officers and a Kirkuk bombing which injured one person. Yesterday's snapshot noted: "[. . .] a Ramadi suicide car bombing which claimed the life of the bomber and the lives of 3 other people (with seven police officers injured), [. . .]" Anne Tang (Xinhua) reports the death toll rose to five (plus the suicide bomber).
Shootings?
Reuters notes 2 police officers shot dead in Mosul, 1 woman shot dead in Mosul and, dropping back to Monday, an armed clash in Mosul in which 1 soldier and 1 assailant were killed.
In the United States, the Los Angeles Times notes that ProPublica's T. Christian Miller has been awarded the $35,000 Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting as a result of the articles he and the paper collaborated on about civilian workers in Iraq:Miller's articles are available at latimes.com/con-tractors and propubli-ca.org/contractors. Terry Gross (NPR's Fresh Air) spoke with T. Chrisitan Miller January 11, 2010 and link has audio and text (including transcript). And we'll close with this on the Black Forum, The State of Black America which takes place tomorrow (Wednesday) in New York.
Media Contact: David Webb – 212.372.3414, david@blackforum.infoBLACK FORUM, THE STATE OF BLACK AMERICA - A BLACK HISTORY MONTH PRESENTATIONBi-Partisan Coalition Formed to Discuss and Take Action on Issues in the Black CommunityNew York, NY…February 22, 2010 -- The Henrietta Wells Livermore School of Politics (Host Committee), Manhattan Republican Community Coalition, New York Urban League Young Professionals and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Alpha Gamma Lambda Chapter, have joined to tackle important issues during Black History Month. An impressive and diverse panel has been assembled. Community outreach is broad and a diverse audience is expected to attend.
The bi-partisan forum will focus on Employment, Business, Education, Healthcare and Crime, not just politics.
There will be a press conference at 6:00pm. A bloggers row is also available. The forum will be webcast live and available on-demand at www.blackforum.info (under construction). C-SPAN will tape and rebroadcast the Black Forum.
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Time: 6:00 - 9:00pm (6:15pm - doors open; 7:00pm - program begins)Location: 3 West 51st Street (at 5th Avenue) in ManhattanOn-site: Mult Box, Camera Risers and Power
Confirmed Panelists:
Charles Payne CEO Wall Street Strategies, FOX Business Contributor www.wstreet.com Marc Lamont Hill Professor of Education, Columbia University www.marclamonthill.com Tara Dowdell Business and Political Strategist www.taradowdell.net Janks Morton Documentary Filmmaker, Activist wbmt.wordpress.com Jehmu Greene President, Women's Media Center www.womensmediacenter.com
Niger Innis National Spokesman, Congress Of Racial Equality www.core-online.org George Holmes Executive Director, Congress Of Racial Equality www.core-online.org David Banks President, The Eagle Academy Foundation www.eagleacademyfoundation.com Vincent Morgan Congressional Candidate, NY-15 www.morgan4congress.com Michael Faulkner Congressional Candidate, NY-15 www.faulknerforcongress.com
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US consumer confidence slips further in week - ABC
Reuters - 2 hours ago
NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - ABC News reported on Tuesday that its weekly measure of US consumer confidence slipped further toward its all-time low, indicating that American households are becoming ever more fretful over their personal finances.
Stocks Sell Off as Consumer Data Disappoint TheStreet.com
Consumer Confidence and Dollar Drop Stocks Briefing.com
ABC News - Medill Reports: Chicago - Washington Post - Palm Beach Post
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And it's not just confience that's slipping:
Banks at risk of going bust tops 700
CNNMoney.com - 7 hours ago
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- More than 700 banks, or nearly one out of every 11, are at risk of going under, according to a government report published Tuesday.
How would you grade the financial stability of the FDIC? Wall Street Journal
FDIC's 'Problem Bank' List Grows TheStreet.com
Bizjournals.com - Medill Reports: Chicago - eCreditDaily.com - Ticker Magazine
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In what may be the economy's only good news today, David Lightman (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that some moderate Democrats in Congress are not ecstatic over Barack Obama's health care plan (BigBusinessGiveAway). From the article:
Many centrist Democrats face re-election in November in conservative states and districts, and Republicans are eagerly trying to use Democrats' health care positions against them.
"Everybody is looking at the polls that show, on the one hand, folks want something done," said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. It's hard to get constituents to agree on specifics, however, and "that makes health care a hard sell," he said.
The most common responses from moderates Tuesday about Obama's blueprint were similar to that of Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., who voted against the Democratic plan in November. "It's better than the House bill," said Altmire, who's a member of the conservative, 54-member House Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. "But we still need to see more cost containment."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., also was guarded.
"I am not going to make comments on specific proposals - and I just saw this on Monday - until I have an opportunity to digest it." Thirty-nine House Democrats voted against the party's health care plan on final passage in November.
Barack made his deal with Big Pharma and his 'plan' is worth nothing for us. We need real reform and he's not offering it. I hope Congress stands up to him and says no. Loudly.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Tuesday:
Tuesday, February 23, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, Iraqi Christians continue to be targeted, Nir Rosen longs for Pinochet, election madness continues and more.
Today the US military announced: "RAMADI, Iraq -- A U.S. Soldier died today in a vehicle related accident in Western Iraq. The Ironsides command team wishes to extend their deepest sympathies and condolences to the family. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kind and release by the Department of Defense. The names of service members are announced through the U.S. Department of Defense official website [. . .] The announcements are made on the Web site no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member's primary next of kin. The incident is under investigation." Prior to the announcement, ICCC's count of the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4378. The number is now 4379.
Starting with elections and specifically with the Real Ugly. Yes, it is foundation ugly but it's not Thomas E. Ricks, it's worse: Nir Rosen. Rosen's offering predicitions and those who are familiar with his past attempts at tea leaf reading are immediately laughing. But there's laughable and then there is appalling. Rosen, who looks more and more like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, decided to share the following:
Maliki will probably emerge the victor in the elections. His more sectarian and corrupt Shiite rivals are discredited and unpopular, but more importantly, he is an authoritarian ruler in the Middle East, he would have to be really incompetent if he couldn't stay in power. If Karzai could do it, then Maliki should be able to as well. Of course there is nothing uniquely Middle Eastern about this. In fact maybe looking at post-Soviet states is useful -- that is, the new ruler will not readily relinquish control, even if he has to bend the rules a bit, or operate outside the constitution. This has happened in Asia, Africa, and other places in transition. I hate to admit that I hope Maliki wins. He's the best of all the realistic alternatives. It's not like a more secular candidate is likely to win, so if it's not Maliki it will be Jaafari or Chalabi. Frankly this is a rare case where I hope Maliki violates the constitution, acts in some kind of authoritarian way to make sure he wins the elections, because the alternative is fragmentation, or a criminal, sectarian kleptocratic Shiite elite taking over, and then Iraq might unravel. For now it's still "raveling."
"I hope Maliki violates the constitution"? You really want to say that? I guess it doesn't matter, you're now on the record saying that. Saying that you hope he "violates the constitution, acts in some kind of authoritarian way" and we're talking about Little Nouri, the would-be New Saddam. You can't take that back. You can't put it back into the bottle. Your wish is that the Constitution be trashed, that the process be ignored. When Iraqis have to live with your okaying of that process, remember you wanted it, you encouraged it, you wrote a piece advocating for it. There are no take backs on democracy. Nir Rosen is the perfect example of someone who can be educated and educated but never learn. No one who truly values democracy would ever advocate that the process be trashed, thwarted or ignored. We may not be happy with the results of, for example, an election but when we trash the process, we trash our own democracy. When we critique another society and offer that their authoritarian leader should disregard the laws and the processes, we send a message and it's an ugly and dangerous one.
Refugees International really can't afford these type of comments from Rosen. And just yesterday, the US military was trumpeting a Monday conference on "human rights and the role of the military in a democracy" that over 60 female Iraqi soldiers attended. You can bet that the seminar didn't teach the soldiers to root for their country's Constitution being trashed or that the elections were fraudulent. There is democratic thinking and there is what Nir Rozen has offered which, pay attention, is how the US government has justified installing every despot from Saddam Hussein in Iraq to Augusto Pinochet in Chile. There is no excuse for the 'hope' Rosen has expressed. It is outrageous and it is offensive.
As to his predictions, Nir Rosen will no doubt insist, "I was just there!" Yes, and you've been there before and all of your predictions have been wrong repeatedly (do we need to go into Sahwa for just one example or maybe the way you wrongly predicted what's known as the "civil war" of 2006 and 2007 would go down?). Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) doesn't breeze through like Rosen, Sahar lives there:
When asked why more than 500 candidates were banned just before the elections -- they would answer, "We are not sectarian -- there are as many Shiites as Sunnis on those lists", but when I asked Ahmed Chalabi at a press conference why were the political parties in power, who were religious in nature, targeting the seculars (and not the Sunnis as was the usual question to be asked of a Shiite controlled government), he was taken aback, but recovered quickly and with a knowing twinkle in his eyes, retorted, "Do you see me being targeted??" It was no use telling him that he was part of the biggest and maybe the most powerful Shiite alliance in the country, and therefore not considered secular -- I knew he would not answer -- He was too smart. Instead, he declared, "This conference is to discuss the legality of the ban -- and not the political aspects of it." and ended the conference soon after.
So the struggle, now, is religious vs. secular.
This country was secular once.
Will it be secular again? Do the seculars have a chance?
Difficult to say.
Further bad news for the laughable Nir Rosen comes via the latest ORB poll. Michael Hastings (The Hasting Report, True/Slant) reports that Iraqis were polled last week and
* In Baghdad 65% of people want someone other than Maliki as Prime Minister and fewer people say they are very likely to vote than elsewhere -- just 22% compared with 64% across Iraq as a whole.
*When asked whether conditions for peace and security have improved in the past 3 months 57% of Baghdad voters say things have worsened and across all of Iraq more than half (54%) think things have gotten worse or not improved.
* 96% of voters want change in the country -- with most wanting significant change. Maliki's status quo is not endough.
* An average of 64% of voters have an unfavourable view of Iran -- only 18% have a favorable view and 68% of all voters think that Iran is a bad influence in Iraq.
The polling reflects earlier reporting by Aseel Kami (Reuters) who noted over a week ago that the lack of basic services were impacting Iraqi attitudes towards voting.
Steven Lee Myers (New York Times) profiles a few of the candidates running for Parliament including an activist "for those the war has left wounded," Karim Radhi al-Khafaji who states, "I consider myself the candidate for the disabled and the deprived and those who are marginalized. [. . .] We have not seen anyone pay attention to us, including the prime minister." He offers that the percentage of people disabled or challenged in Iraq is 13% greater than the "world average of 2 percent".
Ahmed Chalabi has reported cut a deal with Tehran that, if true and if they stick with it, would slide Nouri al-Maliki to the side after the elections and allow Chalabi to be Prime Minister. (If true. Some are beginning to wonder if the original source of the rumor isn't Chalabi himself.) Layla Anwar (An Arab Woman Blues) reports on a recent interview the War Criminal gave:
Chalabi was obnoxious with Souhair Al-Qayssi and she would not let him off the hook, he did not intimidate her with his aggressiveness and she grilled him...Good for you Souhair, you're my kind of an Iraqi woman ! At one point his lies were so blatant that S.Al-Kayssi could not contain her laughter...this is how comic it was ...but let me not waste more time with my introduction and let's get down to what Chalabi said. I did take short notes but I am not a secretary and my mind is not a computer bank for storing data either..so there may be some grotesque lies that I may not remember as well... S.Q : Why the fall out with the U.S ?A.C : The U.S wants to bring back the Baath to Iraq so they can fight Iran in Iraq (no joke) Since 2004, I knew that this was Bremer's plan, after I initiated the De-baathification process and that is why I backed off. Now the U.S feels remorse for having removed the Baathists and they want them back in. S.Q : (smiling wide) But you were close to the CIA yourself and you welcomed with open arms the U.S occupation, what changed ? A.C : We (the Iraqi National Congress/opposition) have always refused the Occupation (no joke). I stood in the U.S congress in 1998 and asked for the liberation of Iraq and not its occupation. The cooperation with the US was limited, with the sole aim of removing Saddam Hussein, they liberate us and then they leave. I only have the best of interests for Iraq and its sovereignty ... S.Q : But you had a honeymoon season with the U.S and some say you worked for the CIA and that the Justice and Accountability Committee which you now head was formed by Bremer himself... A.C : Me, the CIA, never ! I went to Bremer with my daughter (her name is T.Chalabi) and told him you are not giving us sovereignty, you are not allowing a full Iraqi government as you promised, I even told Manning (some British Foreign official) that even Gertrude Bell in the 20's was more merciful in her approach to Iraq than you guys.
Meanwhile the Ahrar Party issued this release today:
Tonight on al-Arabiya, Ayad Jamal Aldin sets out his party's policies to secure the future of a united and peaceful Iraq
Ayad Jamal Aldin says that only Ahrar has a detailed and credible plan to end the sectarian violence and intimidation that blights the lives of all Iraqis and bring peace to our country.
On the Race To Parliament programme, he points out that of all the parties standing for election, Ahrar is the only party with a comprehensive and plausible plan to provide water, electricity and jobs in Iraq.
Ayad Jamal Aldin believes that Iraq's young people are capable and full of energy, ideas, and aspirations.
On the show, he recognises the need for Iraqis to build their own future, without the assistance of outsiders, and announces that under Ahrar 1200 Iraqis with college degrees will be sent to foreign universities to earn a degree in management leadership.
Ayad Jamal Aldin also explains the fundamental disagreement with the existing party structures which made it necessary to form the Ahrar Party as a standalone organisation, outside of previous coalitions. It reflects his belief that only an independent Iraqi organization not tainted by the corruption and failings of current political parties can be free to make the change Iraq needs.
He also reveals his opinion on the recent troubles between the Iraqi government and the Mujaheden Khalq in Diyala Province and the effect of these events on Iraq's foreign reputation.
Commenting on the US presence in Iraq Ayad Jamal Aldin says: "The American presence in Iraq is a fact. It is up to diplomacy to deal with the situation, not violent actions."
For further information, contact:
Ahrar Media BureauTel: +964 (0)790 157 4478 / +964 (0)790 157 4479 / +964 (0)771 275 2942press@ahrarparty.com
About Ayad Jamal Aldin:
Ayad Jamal Aldin is a cleric, best known for his consistent campaigning for a new, secular Iraq. He first rose to prominence at the Nasiriyah conference in March 2003, shortly before the fall of Saddam, where he called for a state free of religion, the turban and other theological symbols. In 2005, he was elected as one of the 25 MPs on the Iraqi National List, but withdrew in 2009 after becoming disenchanted with Iyad Allawi's overtures to Iran. He wants complete independence from Iranian interference in Iraq. He now leads the Ahrar party for the 2010 election to the Council of Representatives, to clean up corruption and create a strong, secure and liberated Iraq for the future.
Todya's violence included another assault on Iraqi Christians. Jamal Al-Badrani, Jack Kimball and Andrew Roche (Reuters) report a Mosul home invasion which resulted in 3 Iraqi Christians being killed -- a father and two sons. International Christian Concern is calling on Iraqi Christians to turn out at the polls in spit of the recent violence targeting them: "If Iraqi Christians do not vote in the general election, then minority rights will not be fully recognized, and the survival of Christianity in Iraq will be dictated and confined by radical sectarianism." . Saturday AFP reported that Adnan al-Dahan has become the fifth Iraqi-Christian killed in Mosul last week (at least one other has been wounded) and that the shopkeeper's corpse was found today in Mosul. AFP notes the other four victims: 20-year-old Wissam George (Wednesday), 21-year-old Zia Toma (killed Tuesday, Rasin Shmael was also wounded), 40-year-old Fatukhi Munir (Monday) and 43-year-old Rayan Salem Elias (Sunday). And they remind, "In late 2008, a systematic campaign of killings and targeted violence killed 40 Christians and saw more than 12,000 flee Mosul." Spero News reported the mood in Mosul is "fear and shock" and quotes an unnamed Chaldean priset stating, "It is an ethnic cleansing that goes on day after day, in silence and indifference. We are in deep distress as the authorities and the police do nothing to stop this massacre." Vatican Radio spoke with Mosul's Syrian Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa about a meeting with Iraqi officials yesterday.Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa: We bishops are from Mosul city went to visit civilian governor and we spoke with him and with the chief of police about the Christian situation in Mosul especially. And we present our message about the [responsibility] of the local government and the central goverment to take care of the security of citizens and officially of Christians. Zenit News reported that Archibishop Emil Shimoun Nona "is asking for prayers as more and more of his faithful leave Mosul because of a violent intimidation campaign that has brought" multiple deaths. Joan Lewis (Joan's Rome, EWTN) provided background on Archbishop Amil Nona:At 42 he is the yougest archbishop in the Catholic Church and he succeeds the martyred Archbishop Paulos Rahho who was killed in 2008. The youthful archibishop's election by the synod of the Chaldean Church was confirmed by Pope Benedict last November 13. He took possession of his see just a little over a month ago on January 8.[. . .]I am once again writing this blog at a late hour and the lights have gone out twice -- though only briefly – since I started this column. Electricity is rationed in Iraq for anywhere from two to 12 hours a day. If you don't have a generator you have to learn how to ration those hours. The seminary does have a generator, for which I have been thankful countless times every day! Given these conditions I wll briefly describe our meeting today and tell most of the story with some delightful photos.I firmly believe that Archbishop Nona's greatest gift to his people is his youth, He is young in age but also in visions and dreams. He is a realist and knows the security issues in Mosul, knows that hundreds of his families have emigrated to safer havens such as Kurdistan but he wants to give them hope and bring them back or, at least, keep families here. Today Vatican Radio featured Baghdad's Chaldean Bishop Shelmon Warduni:
Chaldean Bishop Shelmon Warduni: Our situation in this time is not so good -- especially in Mosul -- because there are many attacks against our Christians. Some of them were killed. So they are afraid. And they are leaving, many of them are leaving Mosul or our country to other countries and this is very, very bad for us. So we ask our people and everybody to do the election because this is the right and duty of everybody to build our country and to elect the good people who can build our country because we don't want our question of Christians politicized. We want to be as everybody in our country with our rights, with our duties and we thank God for everything.
Also today, Human Rights Watch issued the following release:
Iraq's government should bolster security to protect the lives of Christians in Mosul, Human Rights Watch said today. Since February 14, 2010, five Christians have been killed in Mosul in separate attacks that appear to be politically motivated, given the country's looming national election.
Human Rights Watch called on the government to take immediate measures, such as an increased security presence in Chaldo-Assyrian neighborhoods before and during the elections, to help prevent a repeat of a campaign of violence that devastated the community in Mosul in late 2008.
"Iraq's authorities need to act now to stop this campaign of violence against Christians from spreading again," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "In particular, the government needs to see that those responsible for these murders are swiftly arrested and prosecuted to protect Mosul's Christians from further violence."
According to information obtained by Human Rights Watch, on February 16, assailants impersonating secret police approached Zaya Toma and his cousin, Ramsin Shmael, while they waited at a bus stop in Mosul's al-Tahrir district on their way to the university they attend. Speaking in Arabic, the assailants asked Toma, a 22-year-old engineering student, and Shmael, a 21-year-old pharmacy student, for their identity cards. Although identity cards in Iraq do not indicate religion or ethnicity, assailants have often used the victim's name as a marker of his or her religious or ethnic affiliation.
After Toma produced his card, one of the assailants shot him point-blank in the head, killing him instantly. Ramsin tried to run but was shot twice; one bullet shattered his teeth. The assailants fled, apparently assuming they had killed both students, although Shmael survived. Family members arrived on the scene before the police, to find Toma lying in a pool of blood, his books on one side of his body, his identity card on the other.
The incident has devastated the broader family of Toma and Shmael, who escaped to northern Iraq from Baghdad in the summer of 2007 after receiving threats to kill them unless they converted to Islam. Family members say they want to move again - this time out of Iraq - to join the hundreds of thousands of Chaldo-Assyrians who have fled since 2003.
"By killing Zaya, they have taken everything from us," a family member told Human Rights Watch. "Our only crime is that we are Christian,"
The attack was one of several killings of Christians in Mosul the same week:
On February 20, the body of Adnan Hanna al-Dahan was found in northern Mosul. The 57-year-old Syrian Orthodox grocer had been kidnapped by unknown assailants from inside his shop a few days earlier.
On February 17, the bullet-ridden body of Wissam George, a 20-year-old Assyrian studying to be a teacher, was found after he disappeared that morning on his way to school.
On February 15, gunmen stormed a grocery store and killed Fatukhi Munir, its owner.
On February 14, Rayan Salem Elias, a Chaldean man, was shot dead outside his home.
While the identities of the perpetrators remain unknown, the spike in attacks against Christians comes only days ahead of Iraq's March 7 parliamentary vote. Families of the victims and community leaders believe the violence is politically motivated and are appealing to the government for protection.
The Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Emil Shimoun Nona, said the most recent killings could prompt a new wave of refugees fleeing northern Iraq, where Christians live in constant apprehension. Since 2003, between 250,000 and 500,000 Christians - or about half the Christian population - have left the country, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees. In January, Archbishop Nona was installed as successor to Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, whose body was found in March 2008, ten days after kidnappers seized him as he was leaving the Holy Spirit Church in Mosul.
Human Rights Watch said that the recent attacks recall the campaign of targeted killings against Chaldo-Assyrians in Mosul in late 2008 that the organization documented in a 51-page report, "On Vulnerable Ground: Violence against Minority Communities in Nineveh Province's Disputed Territories," released in November 2009. The orchestrated violence left 40 Chaldo-Assyrians dead and led to a mass exodus of more than 12,000 from their homes in Mosul. Assailants targeted Christians in their homes, in workplaces, and in places of worship.
Those killings began shortly after the Christian community lobbied the Iraqi parliament to pass a law that would set aside a greater number of seats for minorities in the January 2009 provincial elections. The attacks escalated after Christians held demonstrations in Nineveh and Baghdad in response to parliament's decision (later amended) to drop a provision in the provincial elections law ensuring political representation for minorities.
The report also documented intimidation and restrictions on freedom of movement by Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq of other minority groups in Nineveh, including Yazidis and Shabaks, during the 2009 provincial elections.
Iraq's worldwide refugee population includes a large number of Christians. It also includes many other targeted groups: LGBT members, Sunnis, Shi'ites, Jews, etc. Taylor Luck (Jordan Times) reports that the Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission is urging groups and organizations -- and even journalists! -- to watch and monitor polling closely . . . outside Iraq.
In addition to the 3 Christians killed in the home invasion, there was other reported violence . . . .
Bombings?
Reuters notes a Mosul sticky bombing which claimed the life of 1 police officer, a Baghdad plastic bag bombing which claimed 1 life and left three people injured, a Kirkuk roadside bombing which left two people injured and, dropping back to Monday for the rest, a Mosul roadside bombing which injured one person, a Tikrit bombing which claimed 2 lives, a Tikrit bombing which injured two police officers and a Kirkuk bombing which injured one person. Yesterday's snapshot noted: "[. . .] a Ramadi suicide car bombing which claimed the life of the bomber and the lives of 3 other people (with seven police officers injured), [. . .]" Anne Tang (Xinhua) reports the death toll rose to five (plus the suicide bomber).
Shootings?
Reuters notes 2 police officers shot dead in Mosul, 1 woman shot dead in Mosul and, dropping back to Monday, an armed clash in Mosul in which 1 soldier and 1 assailant were killed.
In the United States, the Los Angeles Times notes that ProPublica's T. Christian Miller has been awarded the $35,000 Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting as a result of the articles he and the paper collaborated on about civilian workers in Iraq:Miller's articles are available at latimes.com/con-tractors and propubli-ca.org/contractors. Terry Gross (NPR's Fresh Air) spoke with T. Chrisitan Miller January 11, 2010 and link has audio and text (including transcript). And we'll close with this on the Black Forum, The State of Black America which takes place tomorrow (Wednesday) in New York.
Media Contact: David Webb – 212.372.3414, david@blackforum.infoBLACK FORUM, THE STATE OF BLACK AMERICA - A BLACK HISTORY MONTH PRESENTATIONBi-Partisan Coalition Formed to Discuss and Take Action on Issues in the Black CommunityNew York, NY…February 22, 2010 -- The Henrietta Wells Livermore School of Politics (Host Committee), Manhattan Republican Community Coalition, New York Urban League Young Professionals and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Alpha Gamma Lambda Chapter, have joined to tackle important issues during Black History Month. An impressive and diverse panel has been assembled. Community outreach is broad and a diverse audience is expected to attend.
The bi-partisan forum will focus on Employment, Business, Education, Healthcare and Crime, not just politics.
There will be a press conference at 6:00pm. A bloggers row is also available. The forum will be webcast live and available on-demand at www.blackforum.info (under construction). C-SPAN will tape and rebroadcast the Black Forum.
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Time: 6:00 - 9:00pm (6:15pm - doors open; 7:00pm - program begins)Location: 3 West 51st Street (at 5th Avenue) in ManhattanOn-site: Mult Box, Camera Risers and Power
Confirmed Panelists:
Charles Payne CEO Wall Street Strategies, FOX Business Contributor www.wstreet.com Marc Lamont Hill Professor of Education, Columbia University www.marclamonthill.com Tara Dowdell Business and Political Strategist www.taradowdell.net Janks Morton Documentary Filmmaker, Activist wbmt.wordpress.com Jehmu Greene President, Women's Media Center www.womensmediacenter.com
Niger Innis National Spokesman, Congress Of Racial Equality www.core-online.org George Holmes Executive Director, Congress Of Racial Equality www.core-online.org David Banks President, The Eagle Academy Foundation www.eagleacademyfoundation.com Vincent Morgan Congressional Candidate, NY-15 www.morgan4congress.com Michael Faulkner Congressional Candidate, NY-15 www.faulknerforcongress.com
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Monday, February 22, 2010
What they cover, what they don't
Above is Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Barack, Corporate, Tauzin and Baucus" and if you've ever seen Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice, you should especially be laughing.
And from laughing to frustration, this is "NOW Foundation Urges Closer Examination of Violence Against Women:"
It's been 16 years since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act and more than a decade since a U.N. Special Rapporteur examined violence against women in the United States. This year, the National Organization for Women urges that the U.S. invite the current Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, to prepare a report on VAW. To assist Ms. Manjoo in selecting a focus for her study, NOW Foundation met with the Special Rapporteur at a Roundtable on Violence Against Women sponsored by the University of Virginia School of Law Human Rights Program in early February and provided her with our recommendations. With the hardships of the economic recession contributing to a tragic increase in violent acts and many states slashing funds for shelters and programs, the time seems especially appropriate for a fresh look at how well or not-so-well we are doing to reduce violence against women.
Read NOW Foundation's full report (PDF)
That's a very important issue and there are a lot of important issues. Guess what? Haiti, not really one of them. The earthquake was over a month ago. The US has pressing issues, try covering those. Haiti's worth about 2 minutes unless your program's focus is Haiti.
Why do I say that?
Today Barack pimped his BigBusinessGiveAway again. As we knew he would. I made the mistake of watching Democracy Now! because they really weren't there for the health care debate. They really didn't lead on it. But I thought with his re-introducing it and with so many decrying it, that they might have some guts today.
Wrong?
Yet another "Haiti" report. (Not from Haiti, of course.)
And?
We got Camp Leujune. We got Malcolm X.
This is all a one hour program can offer us?
Yes, if it's mission is to distract us and lull us asleep.
"TV: Trash TV" is Ava and C.I. calling out Amy Goodman's trashy show.
I can't believe how worthless that show has become.
They didn't lead on health care in 2009 and they're not going to in 2010. What's the point of the damn show. It's so patehtic.
And if health care can't get coverage, you better believe violence against women won't get coverage.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Monday:
Monday, February 22, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, the top US commander in Iraq states he hasn't been advised on a withdrawal plan, he further states that an increase in violence could slow the draw down, a political party pulls out of the election process, 2 US service members are announced dead on Sunday, Gordon Brown gets a date to appear before the Iraq Inquiry, and more.
The latest installment of Inside Iraq (Al Jazeera) began airing Friday with Jasim al-Azawi exploring the topic of human rights with Arab Lawyers Association's Sabah al-Mukhtar, Human Rights Watch's Joe Stork and Iraqi Parliament's deputy chair of the Human Rights Committee Shatha al-Obosi.
Jasim al-Azawi: Let me ask you a very simple question. Not only are you an Iraqi that witnessed human rights record in Iraq but also you are the deputy chair person. How do you assess the human rights record in Iraq?
Shatha al-Obosi: The situation of human rights in Iraq is still worrying because with the huge number of detainees, with minority rights, with the women rights, with the killing peoples, the human rights belong to the secure situation. We have very bad situation after 2003, after the occupation. The American arrested people and killed people without any judge about them because they then -- belong for the Iraqi law. After that in the 2005 and 2006, the very bad situation of the security make a huge number of the detainees in the prison and there's no trial for them. They are asking for a fair trial, if they are innocent to release them or they are guilty to put them in the prisons. That's what they need. We have very bad situation in the prisons with the crowding, with the bad food, with the bad health care. So we look after their cases to find -- to end this file. And we have another, another challenges about the minorities --
Jasim al-Azawi: We will come to the other challenges for human rights for minorities as well as women, Shatha, but the bleak picture, Joe Stork, as portrayed by Shatha al-Obosi, it is not alien to you. You must have run across this many times. Your organization gave a report to the world community as well as to the UN. Did she present an accurate picture? Or is it worse than that or less than that?
Joe Stork: Well I think almost all of the things she mentioned are things we are aware of and-and I would subscribe to her, you know, list of-of the many problems that Iraq faces. I think we should focus on -- we should distinguish between those problems that the government has a direct ability to effect, you know, in the near term, in the short term, and those things -- like very important issues like protection of the population which is obviously -- the are human rights aspect to it and other things as well. And obviously there is a capacity issue in terms of the government's ability here. So let me talk for just a second about what I think the government can do and should do in the near term. First, we have the escalation as you noted Jasim the escalation in executions. Executions resumed in May of 2008. There are scores of people -- if not hundreds of people -- with death sentences now. There have been mass executions, that is to say dozens of people executed on a single morning. There's no transparency about this and the -- There's two things, two points to make. One, we're opposed to the death penalty under any circumstances but we're especially worried in a situation where you have people who have been convicted after patently unfair trials. They have not had access to lawyers --
Jasim al-Azawi: I can predict, Joe, that this is going to be extremely long. Keep some of the ideas that you would like to list later on but let me engage Sabah al-Mukhtar who is just fresh right now from that Geneva conference held under the auspices of the United Nations. Give us a brief summary of what has been said vis-a-vis Iraq's human rights record and what Wijdan Mikhail, the Iraqi Human Rights Minister, said.
Sabah al-Mukhtar: Well the Minister presented a document -- a report to the UN General Council. The report said nothing about the accusations which had been levied against Iraq by the UN organization. It didn't address absolutely any of the obligations, any of the accusations. It was just talking general conversations about how things should be, what the law says, what the international obligations are. So the report contained absolutely nothing. The Minister brought with her a team. One of her team went on for quarter of an hour, boring the Council, talking about the previous regime rather than talking about the human rights situation. The countries have all commented negatively on the report including the United States of America which said to the Iraqi Minister that their elections should be one that allows people to stand for elections rather than excluding people. Everybody condemned the situation of executions and hanging. Everybody talked about the academics -- killing of 500 academics, 200 journalists, 24 judges, 150 lawyers in the country, the torture, the prison situations. All the countries that spoke there condemned the situation in Iraq.
Jasim al-Azawi: So in a nutshell, they have blasted Iraq's claim that they are making progress out of the water. I noticed Shatha in your response to me, you also harped on the Americans. I am the first to recognize -- and many people including Joe will recognize that the chaos and the pain and the killing that followed 2003, in one way or another, is because of the American invasion. But that is in the past and I'm sure as the Americans withdraw their forces their contribution to the violations of human rights will be diminished. But talk to me about the current level of human rights abuse in Iraq. The government is responsible for that, no matter how you cut it, al-Maliki and his government are responsible for that.
Shatha al-Obosi: They have the Human Rights Ministry as our guys say so the problems with the Minister -- the Ministry of Human Rights -- so they must -- don't announce any-any-any -- anything against human rights because the torture happened by the government in the prisons. Who can torture the people there? She cannot say this clearly in the media or in front of the international associations so this is the problem for this reason. We establish the Human Rights Commission and we want this commission to start before we leave this period of the Parliament but the government didn't allow us to do that because any -- any, you know, anything happen against the human rights, it will be announced for the international or the UN or any international association. This is the problem. They can for do a lot to protect people. The first right of the Iraqi citizen: The right of living in his house --
Jasim al-Azawi: Indeed that is an inalienable right that should be guaranteed by all constitutions and by all governments. Joe Stork --
Shatha al-Obosi: Yeah, yeah but I want to mention about executions. We want to delay the execution orders after the elections because I receive many claims from people that they take their speech, their -- and they sign them under the torture. So many of them are innocent. We are afraid if there is a few number of them are innocent so we must protect all of them and make another investigation with them to guarantee if they are innocent or not.
This morning at the Pentagon, the top US commander in Iraq, Gen Ray Odierno held a press briefing. He was asked about the role for US troops after 2011 and he replied that "in order for us to have anybody in Iraq past 2011 we'll have to -- it will have to be requested by the government of Iraq. So until that happens, I see us being at what we -- what we'd usually have at a normal embassy, a military contingent that would help support Iraq." He was asked of the air issue -- Iraq has no forces ready to 'protect' their air space at present. The training of Iraqis for that has hit a hitch, but Odierno didn't state that and instead offered a 'we'll see when it rolls around' type take. He declared that "several factors" would determine a continued draw down (of "combat" forces only):
One is governmental formation. But it's not necessarily how long it takes to form the government. It's: "Is it happening in a peaceful manner? Do we think that the -- if there's a problem in forming the government, does it translate into violence?" So that'll be a big piece of this, whether it does or not. And right now, we're not sure. We think so far it will probably fo fairly smoothly, but we'll wait to see. I have contingency plans, and I've been -- I've briefed the chain of command this week that we could execute if we run into problems, if it goes the way we think, or if it just is a little bit different than the way we think. And we're prepared to execute those.
A member of the press made a complete idiot of themselves and that's really no surprise but let's point out here (without naming the idiot) that if you're going to charge that big attacks on government targets are down, you better damn well know the pattern. The pattern isn't for these attacks to place weekly or even monthly. If the pattern holds, an idiot should have to eat their words. In the meantime, we should all wonder about a reporter allegedly covering this topic who doesn't know the first thing about it.
Odierno was asked about the plans for the 2011 withdrawal. We'll note him word for word:
This is -- we haven't talked in specific terms yet about this, but it's very important to understand that there's a complex transition that's going to on in -- the end of 2010, beginning of 2011, as the military draws down, and how we transition resposibility over to the government of Iraq in some cases, to the embassy, in other cases to NGOs. So one thing we have to remember is the faster we draw down from 50,000 the faster we have to transition to the State Dept and these other organizations. So what we want to do is we want to do this very deliberately, because how we transition will go a lot into saying how well we do post-2011. So the way I see it is, I expect us to stay at 50,000 probably somewhere through the middle of 2011, and then we'll begin to draw down to zero. If we do it faster than that, then you've got to increase the money you give to the State Dept or the Embassy. You have to increase the -- you have to -- you have to speed up the transition. And what we worry about is if we do that too quickly we won't do it right. So we want to do that very deliberately and smoothly.
I'm going to repeat one more time that the Congress -- specifically the Armed Services Committee in the House and Senate -- has still not been provided with withdrawal details. For a withdrawal that's supposed to or supposedly to take place at the end of 2011, that's rather surprising. Why hasn't Congress seen the plan?
In a real democracy, we'd be asking that. But Congress can take comfort in the fact that this withdrawal plan that supposedly concludes in 22 months (begins much sooner, but concludes in 22) has also not been shared with the top US commander in Iraq. Odierno has apparently been as left in the dark as the Congress. Will Michele Flournoy offer more idiotic excuses, more 'I didn't know you hadn't been briefed' garbage? Will anyone press her or the Dept of Defense to be forthcoming about the withdrawal that's supposedly complete in 22 months?
Craig Whitlock (Washington Post) emphasizes that the "withdrawal of all combat forces" could be delayed. (And those acting shocked should be aware Barack gave these same reasons in 2007 when speaking to the New York Times -- in an article the idiot Tom Hayden praised while we were calling out Barack and going by the transcprit -- a transcript Tom would find days and days later. And then offer a muted objection to. If you're late to the party, grab a drink and refer to this Iraq snapshot and Third's article and the actual transcript of the interview -- a transcript Tom Hayden should have read before humiliating himself in public, then again Tom-Tom seems to enjoy public humiliation).
Questions of Iraqi elections were also raised in the press conference. Before we get there, Friday, US Ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill did as he did Wednesday but this time to the Foreign Press Center when he shot down the possibility that any political party would boycott elections:
Nadia Bilbassy: Thank you. Thank you, Ambassador. I'm sure you are tired by any questions about -- so many press availability you've done so far. It's Nadia Bilbassy with MBC Television. Very often, the Americans complain about interference from neighboring countries, mainly Iran and Syria, in Iraqi affairs. To what extent do you see an influence from both countries on this current election? And as you know, two prominent Sunni politicians have been disqualified from this election. Do you worry that ultimately, that will affect the Sunni votes in the representations in the Iraqi Government in the future? Chris Hill: Well, first of all, we have expressed our concerns about interference in some of the processes, especially the issue, as I think General Odierno laid out and I have also mentioned -- the issue of Iran. That said, we believe we have a election mechanism that will indeed be free and fair. This has been -- involved a considerable amount of planning in addition to the Iraqi high commissioner -- high commission for the elections, we've had a very active and engaged UN operation in Baghdad. So we are confident that we will have an Iraqi election that will be for and about the Iraqi people. So we're pretty confident we've got a good mechanism and a proper election which will be all about Iraq and not about any foreign country. On the second issue, obviously, de-Ba'athification has been a tough issue to go through. We had, obviously, some concerns about the transparency and the way that this whole process would appear to the Iraqi people. The Iraqi authorities have dealt with this. Their courts have dealt with this. The Iraqi senior politicians have dealt with it. And we really look forward to a good election. I know there continues to be some discussion about this. I know it was a very emotional issue for many people. But we believe the de-Ba'athification problems are, for the most part, behind. And we look forward to them getting on with the election and having the voters make their decisions.
Saturday Waleed Ibrahim and Jack Kimball (Reuters) reported that the National Dialogue Front is boycotting the election and, in the words of Haider al-Mulla (party spokesperson), calling "for other poltiical parties to take the same stand as our front. The whole issue is not related to (the candidate ban), rather the unsuitable atmosphere of this election." Fang Yang (Xinhua) added: that the press release cited the remarks of Iranian influence on the elections made by Odierno and Hill as being among the reasons (". . we can't continue in a political process running by foreign agenda"). Yesterday Michael Jansen (Irish Times) reported on what followed in the wake of Saturday's announcement by the National Dialogue Front: "the National Council for Tribes of Iraq siad it would" withdraw from the elections. Oliver August (Times of London) explained, "International observers have significantly lowered their expectations for the poll in recent days. Few diplomats in Baghdad now talk about 'free and fair elections', since they clearly won't be. The new publicly stated goal is a 'credible election', but even that seems doubtful. Pressed to sketch out a best-case scenario, several diplomates talk of an election that, despite its flaws, is merely accepted by the people. This is far from the democracy once envisaged." The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative in Iraq, Ad Melkert, tried to stamp a happy face on the process and declared, "Generally speaking, I should say that the elections are on track in terms of their technical preparation. Still, a lot needs to be done. Security remains a big challenge to all, to the Iraqis in the first place, but also to the international community." Martin Chulov (Guardian) offers this background, "The call for a boycott was made by Saleh al-Mutlaq, an MP who leads the National Dialogue Front, a leading Sunni party. It is part of a cross-sectarian Iraqiya electoral alliance, formed to contest the 7 March ballot. Al-Mutlaq was on a list of 511 individuals banned from standing in elections because of their connection to the old Baathist regime. The list has now been reduced to 145. Ahmed Chalabi, the former Pentagon favourite, has been aggressively defending the list as part of a new de-Baathification drive through a body called the Accountability and Justice Commission." Gulf News editorializes, "It is important for any election to be fair that all the rules of contest are defined well in advance. It is wrong that candidates have been banned a few weeks before the elections. They should have known years in advance that their previous records would not allow them to hold public office and their sympathisers and supporters would be able to find candidates to represent their views without breaking the law." Liz Sly (Los Angeles Times) offered, ". . . Sunnis and many secularists in the Shiite community are so eager to overturn the dominance of the Shiite religious parties that have controlled Iraq's government for five years that it is unclear whether Mutlak's boycott call will have weight with many people." UAE's The National countered, "Not only does it threaten the legitimacy of the poll, but the last time Sunni parties boycotted the elections in 2005, it exacerbated a cycle of violence that almost drove the country into civil war. It is hard to fault the decision of the party's leader, Saleh al Mutlaq. He and hundreds of other banned politicians are the victims of blatant political manipulation. Regardless, they must be careful; there is more at stake than their own political careers." Leila Fadel (Washington Post) added, "Iraqi officials said Saturday that meetings with Mutlak and his group were ongoing. Mutlak could not be reached for comment. "
Today the Iraq Inquiry announced that the current Prime Minister of England, Gordon Brown, will offer testimony to the Inquiry on March 5th. Douglas Alexander (International Development Secretary) will also offer testimony. On March 8th, the Inquiry will hear from Bill Jefrey who was scheduled earlier but had to call off due to illness and David Miliband is also booked for that day. David Miliband is Foreign Secretary and, disclosure, he is also someone I know. When we cover David, I'll either call him out loudly (if needed) or just stick to what he says -- meaning we just quote the transcript and I offer no comment of my own. In addition, the March 9th snapshot will offer press reactions on Miliband. We usually don't have time for that but because I know David and may or may not be able to be impartial, I'm saying right now that the March 9th snapshot will offer a roundup of press criticques and reports of his testimony and presentation.
Last week Nouri al-Maliki was meeting with tribal leaders urging that they encourage their members not to sell their votes. Nizar Latif (UAE's National Newspaper) reports that many of the country's poor are preparing to do just that and quotes Ahmad Salam explaining, "Elections are a beautiful opportunity to get some money. There are lots of people willing to sell their votes, and lots of people who want to buy them." Duraid Al Baik (Gulf News) reports that UAE will be one of the 16 countries outside of Iraq at which voting will take place with others being in "Syria, Jordan, Iran, Australia, USA, Sweden, Egypt, Canada, Denmark, Lebanon, Turkey, UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. The stations will be open from March 5-7." For those who have forgotten or weren't paying attention, Nouri's first disenfranchisement target was the refugee population. And the party that's now boycotting? It was their members, their leaders who advocated for the refugee population. Possibly had the White House and the US press not been so quick to throw the towel in on that issue -- in a "Hurry up and get on with it!" attitude, then Nouri might have gotten another message. Instead, he's under the impression that he can get away with anything. (Those remembering the "hurry up" attitude might also remember that at that point, these elections were supposed to take place in January. Didn't happen. They might also realize that Nouri's term expired already, as has Parliament's.) As provincial elections approached in January 2008, Nouri was suddenly eager to deliver portable potable water (temporary measure) and then dropped the need to bring water in after the elections. Apparently convinced that he can trick Iraqi voters, he's got a new trick. Alsumaria TV reports that he's saying he will eliminate unemployment. He's been in power since 2006. Now he's worried about unemployment? Or maybe it's just that now he's worried about his own unemployment because he is wondering exactly what deal Chalabi set up for himself with Tehran?
On the elections, Amnesty International issued the following this morning:As Iraq prepares to hold new parliamentary elections amid continuing controversy over the eligibility of many candidates, Amnesty International is appealing to the country's political leaders to ensure that both the election campaign and the vote on 7 March are conducted peacefully and fully conform with Iraq's obligations under international human rights law. The elections must not be used as an excuse for further violence Political leaders must demand that their supporters uphold the law and respect the rights of others, and help prevent the election being used to deepen the sectarian violence that has wracked the country in recent years. They must do all they can to ensure the safety and security of all Iraqis, without discrimination, and uphold their rights to freedom of expression, association and political participation in selecting those who will lead the country in the future. Amnesty International is also calling on all political parties and their candidates to commit to protecting and promoting human rights in their election manifestoes and in practice, if and when they are elected to office, in full conformity with Iraq's obligations under international human rights law. Those responsible for suicide bombings and other attacks against civilians must immediately end such attacks, many of which appear to constitute crimes against humanity -- crimes of the very gravest nature. Amnesty International condemns all attacks on civilians, utterly and unreservedly, and calls for their immediate cessation. There can be no justification whatever for such attacks. The following human rights concerns must be addressed by all political parties, their candidates, supporters and others: Safeguard civilians and their right to vote The protection of civilians is paramount during elections if voters are to feel assured that they can exercise their right to vote without fear and intimidation. Iraq's civilian population has borne the brunt of the continuing violence that has ravaged the country in recent years and the record from previous elections is grim. Dozens of civilians were killed in attacks before the last provincial elections on 31 January 2009. The last national parliamentary elections, held on 15 December 2005, saw dozens of civilians killed in attacks by Sunni armed groups and Shi'a militias in the weeks before and during polling. Amnesty International appeals to all political party leaders and to all religious and community leaders and other persons of influence to speak out against further violence, bloodshed and human rights abuses. They must demand that all Iraqis are able to decide freely and without fear how to exercise their right to vote. Protection of candidates and election workers Candidates, party political activists and election workers are among those most likely to be targeted for kidnapping and killing in the run-up to the elections. At least two candidates have already been killed. Soha 'Abdul-Jarallah, a candidate on the list of former prime minister Iyad 'Allawi, was gunned down as she left a relative's house in Mosul on 7 February 2010. Sa'ud al-'Issawi, a Sunni Arab and candidate for the Iraqi Unity Alliance (IUA), was killed with his two bodyguards at the end of December 2009 in Falluja by a magnetic bomb attached to their vehicle. Safa 'Abd al-Amir al-Khafaji, the head teacher of a girls' school in Baghdad's al-Ghadi district was shot and seriously wounded by unidentified gunmen on 12 November 2009 soon after she announced that she would contest the elections as a candidate for the Iraqi Communist Party. 'Ali Mahmoud, a staff member of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), the body responsible for overseeing the elections, was shot dead outside his house in al-Jadiriya district in Baghdad on 17 December 2009. Nine candidates were killed at the time of the last provincial elections and, at Mandali in Diyala governorate, two election workers were abducted and found shot dead only hours later. Several candidates were killed during the 15 December 2005 poll. For example, Mizhar al-Dulaimi, the leader of the Free Progressive Iraqi Party, was shot dead while campaigning in the centre of Ramadi on 13 December. Amnesty International calls on the present government, the IHEC and all political party leaders to make every effort to ensure that candidates and elections workers are allowed to go about their legitimate activities freely and without fear or restraint, and are promptly provided with adequate protection whenever appropriate. Reporting the election: safeguarding journalists In recent years, Iraq has been one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, many of whom have been targeted for abduction, assassination or other abuses. In 2008, at least 16 journalists and media workers were reported to have been killed; in 2009, at least four were killed. During the provincial elections of 2009 journalists were subject to harassment, arrest and assault while covering the elections, including by Iraqi security forces and the US military. Some were arrested and held for hours; others were reported to have been prevented from entering polling stations -- for example, in Falluja and in al-Hilla -- although they had been officially accredited by the IHEC. In Mosul, Iraqi soldiers reportedly fired on journalists' vehicles. Before and after the July 2009 elections for the Kurdistan regional parliament, several journalists were assaulted, including Nebaz Goran, editor of Jihan, an independent magazine, who was attacked by three unidentified men outside his office in Erbil. Preventing journalists from reporting on elections inevitably increases the risk of election fraud and rigged voting and deprives the public of information to which they have a right to know. Amnesty International urges all Iraqi political leaders to uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ("Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information"), and to uphold the right of all journalists legitimately to exercise their profession without hindrance and fear of harassment. Commitment to protect and promote human rights All political parties and their candidates must recognize that respect for human rights and international law is a fundamental obligation. They must commit to building peace, tolerance and respect for human rights if elected, including upholding the rule of law by committing to ending arbitrary detentions, torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trials, the use of the death penalty and impunity for those responsible for human rights violations. They must also ensure that Iraqi legislation is made fully compatible with international human rights law, including legislation relating to women's rights, and is enforced in practice in accordance with Iraq's obligations under international law. Political parties, candidates and all others with influence, including religious and community leaders, must speak out about the need to protect and safeguard the rights of those most vulnerable. This includes women, who remain subject to legal and other discrimination and violence, and others who are subject to persecution because of their religious, ethnic or sexual identity. In Mosul, for example, at least 14 members of the Christian minority have been killed in targeted attacks since early December 2009 as political tensions rise further ahead of the 7 March poll. A spate of recent bomb attacks by armed groups appear to have been deliberately targeted in an attempt to fuel the sectarian divide and further violence between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims. Amnesty International urges that all Iraqis, including members of ethnic and religious minority groups, must be free to cast their votes without any pressure or intimidation. Women play a transformative role in building and supporting a non-sectarian society. To counter threats to women in conflict-affected situations, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 urging states to ensure increased participation of women in conflict resolution and peace-building processes, as well as development and reconstruction. Ending abuses by armed groups Amnesty International demands that all armed groups immediately cease and desist from carrying out attacks on civilians. Many of these attacks constitute crimes against humanity, crimes of the gravest magnitude under international law. Such crimes cannot be justified under any circumstances. Those responsible must be brought to justice. Thousands of civilians, including women, children and members of religious and ethnic minority groups, have been killed as a result of suicide and other attacks carried out by armed groups. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of civilians have also been abducted, tortured and killed by armed groups. Many bombings and other attacks on civilians have been carried out by al-Qa'ida in Iraq and its allies among Sunni armed groups. Other attacks and abuses have been committed by armed militias, some of which are linked to Shi'a political parties represented in the current government and parliament. Amnesty International continues to call for these armed militias to be disbanded. All attacks on civilians must cease forthwith. The Iraqi people must be allowed to live their lives in peace and security and be allowed to enjoy and exercise their human rights freely and without fear. Amnesty International urges all political leaders and activists, and all religious, community, business and other leaders and people of influence in Iraq to speak out and commit to the achievement of this objective.
One political party that remains in the elections (at least so far) is the Ahrar Party and today they issued the following statement:
Ahrar security plan tackles voters' number one concern
In a poll of voters across Iraq، security was cited as the number one issue that voters wanted dealt with.
Ahrar has polled the views of 1000 voters in the past week about the elections and life in Iraq under the current government.
"This poll confirms that voters are worried about security in Iraq and they want a new government to tackle it," said Ahrar Party leader Ayad Jamal Aldin.
"That is why Ahrar has written a detailed plan to make Iraq more secure."
Whilst some politicians just talk about our problems, Ayad Jamal Aldin and Ahrar have produced a practical plan to restore one, secure and united Iraq.
The Plan will see more resources devoted to protecting Iraq's borders, reducing foreign influences, strengthening our army and police and taking a stand against the corruption that saps our nation's energy and security.
It is specific and practical with concrete steps to take to change Iraq for the better.
http://www.ahrarparty.com/images/stories/ahrar-security-plan-en.pdf
For further information, contact:
Ahrar Media Bureau Tel: +964 (0)790 157 4478 / +964 (0)790 157 4479 / +964 (0)771 275 2942press@ahrarparty.com
About Ayad Jamal Aldin:
Ayad Jamal Aldin is a cleric, best known for his consistent campaigning for a new, secular Iraq. He first rose to prominence at the Nasiriyah conference in March 2003, shortly before the fall of Saddam, where he called for a state free of religion, the turban and other theological symbols. In 2005, he was elected as one of the 25 MPs on the Iraqi National List, but withdrew in 2009 after becoming disenchanted with Iyad Allawi's overtures to Iran. He wants complete independence from Iranian interference in Iraq. He now leads the Ahrar party for the 2010 election to the Council of Representatives, to clean up corruption and create a strong, secure and liberated Iraq for the future.
Violence continued today in Iraq.
Bombings?
Reuters notes a Mosul roadside bombing which injured two police officers, a Ramadi suicide car bombing which claimed the life of the bomber and the lives of 3 other people (with seven police officers injured), a rocket or mortar attack on the Green Zone which injured five people,
Shootings?
Reuters notes 1 police officer shot dead in Baghdad, 1 police officer shot dead in Kirkuk, a Baghdad attack in which 8 family members were shot dead, 2 police officers shot dead in Mosul, 2 "military personnel working in the Iraqi Defence Ministry" shot dead in Baghdad, Thamer Kamel was shot in Baghdad, a Baghdad shooting left 1 police officer and 1 Interior Ministry employee wounded and, dropping back to yesterday, 1 woman and her 3 daughters shot dead in Baghdad. On the 8 family members killed, BBC Radio is reporting that this was a home invasion and some of the 8 were beheaded. BBC News notes that the family "were reportedly Shia Muslims living in a majority Sunni area just outside the capital". Liz Sly (Los Angeles Times) reports, "Neighbors found six children and their parents dead in their home in the rural town of Wehda, near Medayeen, which witnessed some of the first of the sectarian violence back in 2005. Police attributed the killings to a tribal dispute over money."
Corpses?
Reuters notes 1 corpse discovered in Kirkuk.
Marc Santora (New York Times) observes that the events are "intenstifying concern about a spike in violence with less than two weeks until national elections."
Sunday the US military announced: "CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, Iraq – Two U.S. Army helicopter pilots were killed as a result of an accident near an airfield on a U.S. base in northern Iraq, Feb. 21. The aircraft made a hard landing inside the base. There were no enemy forces present and no hostile fire was reported. The accident is under investigation and release of the Soldiers' identities are being withheld pending notification of the next of kin. The name of the deceased Soldiers will be announced through the U.S. Department of Defense Official Web site at http://www.defenselink.mil/. The Task Force Marne command team mourns the loss of these two aviators and extends its deepest sympathies and condolences to their Families."
In the US Gerry Condon will speak this Wednesday at the Southern Oregon University Commuter Resource Center in Ashland about war resistance and movement building beginning at 7:00 pm (Stevenson Union, room 202). He will also have a video presentation of War Resisters telling their stories. This event is free and open to the public.
Radio, radio, as Elvis Costello once sang. Lila Giggles? Elaine will take her on this evening. In other radio news, Chris Hedges is a guest on this week's Law & Disorder and Mike'll cover that tonight. Cindy Sheehan Soapbox is the radio program Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan does and her guest this week is John Pilger. They discuss many topics including Brand Obama and his war machine. In addition, Pilger offers that there was more than one gunman at the RFK assassination. Next week, Cindy interviews FBI whistle blower Colleen Rowley, FYI. (Hugo Chavez is her guest March 14th.)
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the washington postcraig whitlock
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the irish timesmichael jansenthe times of londonoliver augustthe guardianmartin chulovthe los angeles timesliz slythe nationalthe washington postleila fadelgulf news
the new york timesmarc santora
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john pilger
law and disorder
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