RUTH MARCUS HAS DUBBED THE ADMINISTRATION A "WHERE'S OBAMA PRESIDENCY"? SILLY RUTH, WITH THE BIG DONORS. DAY AFTER DAY.
BUT IT'S NOT ALL CELEBRITY IN CHEIF BARRY O BEGGING FOR MONEY SO HE CAN RUN FOR RE-ELECTION IN 2012. FOR EXAMPLE, THIS MORNING "OBAMA TO DISCUSS LIBYA WITH SENIOR ADVISERS." SEE, IF IT GOES ON LONG ENOUGH, HIS HANDLERS WILL BE FORCED TO SCHEDULE A TUTOR SESSION FOR THE CELEBRITY IN CHIEF AND AFTER THAT HE WILL GENERALLY ANNOUNCE HE IS FORMING A COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE ISSUE.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Throughout the Iraq War minority populations have been targeted in the 'new' Iraq. The targeting comes in waves and the press attention in much smaller waves. For Iraqi Christians, the latest wave of targeting began October 31st with the attack on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad. That attack and the ones that followed forced many Iraqi Christians to flee Baghdad and Mosul for northern Iraq or for places outside of Iraq. Aidan Clay (Continental News) observes:
The U.S. government had received numerous cries for help. In July 2010, Christian leaders from Iraq visited Capitol Hill to beg for the preservation of their communities. They came as representatives of a newly established council of churches. Putting aside denominational differences, the council was formed by the common belief that together they could best withstand persecution. At the time of the visit, some estimate that only 400,000 Christians remained in the country, a fraction of the 1.4 million who were there before the war.
"We have no militia. We have no way to defend ourselves. We are sitting ducks. And when we are attacked, no one is prosecuted. How can we survive?" the head of the council told a congressman's office. However, pleas and policy recommendations fell on deaf ears and the Christian council grew void of hope. "Nothing is going to change," one council member told me. "Who is concerned about Christians whent he U.S. is trying to win a war?"
If you're new to the issue, you may be interested in the recent timeline the article provides. Brooke Anderson (Catholic News Service) reports on some of the Christians who fled to the KRG in hopes of safety. Suhail Louis is one such person and now he wonders if he should attempt a life there or attempt to leave Iraq? Another is Rakan Warda who says, "I want to leave Iraq. I'm thinking about my daughter and her future. I'm no longer thinking about my own future." AFP reports that Austria has granted 30 Iraqi Christians asylum. But in Iraq, questions remain about the October 31st assault and fingers are pointing towards Nouri al-Maliki. Ken Timmerman (Assyrian International News Agency) reports:
Four months later, Hana and her husband continue to mourn Ayoub in their home in Karakosh, where they fled from Mosul a year earlier after jihadi Muslims murdered her husband's brother. A portrait of the 27-year old Ayoub sits on a chair in their living room. He had just gone down to Baghdad to visit family.
But the story of what happened to Ayoub Adnan Ayoub is much more than just a sad testimony to the persecution Iraqi Christians are enduring on a daily basis at the hands of jihadi Muslim groups. It is also prima facie evidence of criminal malfeasance on the part of the Iraqi government.
"There was an outside door to the side chapel where those people were hiding," said Yohanna Josef, who made an unsuccessful campaign last year for the Iraqi parliament as an independent. "They could have gone in through that door and rescued many people," he told Newsmax in an interview at the Ayoub home in northern Iraq. "Instead, they burst in through the front doors and shot everyone in sight."
Iraqi bloggers and even some politicians have openly accused the Iraqi government for its handling of the Oct. 31 attack.
They point out that the terrorists brought explosives and weapons to the church in cars with dark-tinted windows and no license plates that are only available to officials with high-level security clearance. This allowed them to get waved through checkpoints without being stopped.
They also point to the slow reaction of the security forces, and the botched handling of the rescue attempt itself. It still remains unclear how many of the victims were killed or wounded by the Iraqi rescue team, who opened fire wildly once they burst into the church.
A senior officer in the Iraqi police, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject, said that for the 10 days prior to the attack that the Interior Ministry security forces gradually moved barriers closer to the church, until the terrorists could drive right up in front.
The U.S. government had received numerous cries for help. In July 2010, Christian leaders from Iraq visited Capitol Hill to beg for the preservation of their communities. They came as representatives of a newly established council of churches. Putting aside denominational differences, the council was formed by the common belief that together they could best withstand persecution. At the time of the visit, some estimate that only 400,000 Christians remained in the country, a fraction of the 1.4 million who were there before the war.
"We have no militia. We have no way to defend ourselves. We are sitting ducks. And when we are attacked, no one is prosecuted. How can we survive?" the head of the council told a congressman's office. However, pleas and policy recommendations fell on deaf ears and the Christian council grew void of hope. "Nothing is going to change," one council member told me. "Who is concerned about Christians whent he U.S. is trying to win a war?"
If you're new to the issue, you may be interested in the recent timeline the article provides. Brooke Anderson (Catholic News Service) reports on some of the Christians who fled to the KRG in hopes of safety. Suhail Louis is one such person and now he wonders if he should attempt a life there or attempt to leave Iraq? Another is Rakan Warda who says, "I want to leave Iraq. I'm thinking about my daughter and her future. I'm no longer thinking about my own future." AFP reports that Austria has granted 30 Iraqi Christians asylum. But in Iraq, questions remain about the October 31st assault and fingers are pointing towards Nouri al-Maliki. Ken Timmerman (Assyrian International News Agency) reports:
Four months later, Hana and her husband continue to mourn Ayoub in their home in Karakosh, where they fled from Mosul a year earlier after jihadi Muslims murdered her husband's brother. A portrait of the 27-year old Ayoub sits on a chair in their living room. He had just gone down to Baghdad to visit family.
But the story of what happened to Ayoub Adnan Ayoub is much more than just a sad testimony to the persecution Iraqi Christians are enduring on a daily basis at the hands of jihadi Muslim groups. It is also prima facie evidence of criminal malfeasance on the part of the Iraqi government.
"There was an outside door to the side chapel where those people were hiding," said Yohanna Josef, who made an unsuccessful campaign last year for the Iraqi parliament as an independent. "They could have gone in through that door and rescued many people," he told Newsmax in an interview at the Ayoub home in northern Iraq. "Instead, they burst in through the front doors and shot everyone in sight."
Iraqi bloggers and even some politicians have openly accused the Iraqi government for its handling of the Oct. 31 attack.
They point out that the terrorists brought explosives and weapons to the church in cars with dark-tinted windows and no license plates that are only available to officials with high-level security clearance. This allowed them to get waved through checkpoints without being stopped.
They also point to the slow reaction of the security forces, and the botched handling of the rescue attempt itself. It still remains unclear how many of the victims were killed or wounded by the Iraqi rescue team, who opened fire wildly once they burst into the church.
A senior officer in the Iraqi police, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject, said that for the 10 days prior to the attack that the Interior Ministry security forces gradually moved barriers closer to the church, until the terrorists could drive right up in front.
Turning to some of today's violence. Aswat al-Iraq reports that US Special Forces did "an air drop operation on a village in al-Huweija district and raided some houses, killed a physician and arrested his brother" -- and if you're wondering, US Special Forces roam free in Iraq. Osama al-Nujefi, Speaker of Parliament, wants an investigation into US actions. In addition, Aswat al-Iraq notes a Mosul IED killed 1 Iraqi soldier, an 18-year-old man was shot dead in Falluja and a Mosul roadside bombing left two police officers injured. Mo Hong'e (Xinhua) reports 1 University of Mosul professor was shot dead outside his Mosul home, a Baghdad roadside bombing left two people injured a Diyala Province sticky bombing left three people injured in Baquba and Diayal Province was the focus of searches "during the past 14 hours and arrested 14 suspects and wanted individuals".
Today is International Women's Day. Suha Alsaikli and Adham Youssef (Al Mada) report that women from such groups as the Association of Iraqi Women, Iraqi Council for Peace and Solidarity and the Iraqi Communist Party gathered in Baghdad today to address the new realities for women in 'new' Iraq where they face harsh social and economic conditions, many live in houses made of tin, widows and divorcess struggle. The Communist Party's Umm Ammar called for the Communist Party's building to be returned. Benoite Martin (Insight on Conflict) notes the 'new' Iraq included "a backlash against women's rights and feminist activists" and that, "Women's bodies and women's independence became the battleground of ethnic, religious and political strife."
Religious groups launched pressure campaigns on women to avoid 'immoral' or 'un-Islamic' behaviour, forcing them to wear headscarves -- including Christian women in Baghdad. Unmarried women dressing improperly became the target of violent attacks in the streets of Basra. Women were increasingly used as a bargaining tool or gift among tribes, while forced marriages, kidnappings and honour-related crimes increased, in particular in the region of Kurdistan.
The violent conflict in Iraq has resulted in the disappearance of women from the public sphere and has minimised their role in decision -- making processes.
In order to ensure a sustainable post-conflict reconstruction process, and a sincere national reconciliation process, it is necessary to encourage an increased participation of women within the society and to seriously combat the occurrence of gender-based violence.
Baghdad Women Association and the Women Leadership Institute are two organisations that have adopted an agenda to combat gender-based violence, and to build the leadership skills and capacities of women, so that women can play an active role in private and public spheres through increased participation in economic, social and political processes.
In other news, and how appropriate that it come on International Women's Day, Pig Ritter is in the news cycle. Reuters reports the man busted at least twice before for attempting sexual encounters with underage females, arrested for a third time in late 2009, has a court date, April 12th.
On the first season of Ellen (then called These Friends Of Mine), Ellen Degeneres' groundbreaking sitcom, she had lunch with "the most irritating, annoying, life endangering person on the face of the planet," Audrey Penney (Clea Lewis) in the episode "The Anchor" written by Neal Marlens, Carol Black and David Rosenthal.
Ellen Morgan: So uhm did you see Nightline last night?
Audrey Penney: Oh don't you hate Ted Koppel? He's so superior. It's like there's only one opinion in the world and Ted has to have it.
Sounds like Audrey was listening to NPR's Talk of the Nation today, when Neal Conan spoke with Ted Koppel and NPR's Mike Shuster. Conan wondered what Iraqis think when they here US Defense Secretary Robert Gates say that the US is in talks with Iraq to extend the deadline of all US forces out of Iraq by the end of 2011?
Neil Conan: Is there an Iraqi airforce?
Mike Shuster: No, there's not an Iraqi airforce and that's in fact one of the key issues that the Americans here want to focus on.
By "here," Shuster meant Baghdad (he was on satellite phone). Ted Koppel shared that US forces would stay one way or another. Either there would be an extension or the White House would (this is all public knowledge -- or should be) pull some US soldiers out from under the Defense Dept umbrella and put them under the State Dept umbrella. He noted, "You're going to have this bizarre situation where the State Dept is going to be, in effect, running the military situation." And though this has been trotted out before Congress repeatedly, he may be the most public fact to share, "Speaking quite frankly, I think it would be a disaster."
He objected to "the State Dept running its own little army over there [Iraq] and running missions for which diplomats have not been trained" for many reasons including the issue of money. Since they wouldn't be able to maintain all US soldiers currently in Iraq, they'd have to use more contractors and he estimated a security contractor would make $100,000 a year. (A caller who had been a contractor stated he had made $150,000 a year in Iraq.)
Ted Koppel is against the US leaving Iraq. He started yammering away about the blood and time and money invested. Never sit at the black jack table with Ted. Long after he's lost everything, he'll be attempting to bum a few chips fro you. And he rejected a caller who stated that the US would be smart to cut their losses as he rejected the idea that the US could not make things better for Iraqis. It would be "very unwise" to leave, he insistead and those who think the US is trying to help Iraq are looking at it wrong because "the prism that we're there for Iraq's interests? We're not. We're there because of US interests." That includes a staging platform for the region, according to Koppel, and, of course, the vast amount of oil Iraq has:
Ted Koppel: We're there because of U.S. interests, and those U.S. interests can be summarized quite simply in one or two words: oil and natural gas. The stability of the Persian Gulf is of enormous national interest to the United State. No politician wants to send young men and women to die for oil. But the fact of the matter is that it is one of the politically most - no pun intended - inflammable issues. When the price of gasoline goes up, as it is going up right now, to $4 a gallon, if we were to leave before there is genuine stability in Iraq, if that area no longer had the oversight of American military, I think you could very easily see the price of oil go up to seven, eight, nine dollars a gallon. And the fact of the matter is then you would have all kinds of political yelling and screaming on Capitol Hill, all kinds of pressure being raised by the American public, which would not want to see that happen to its economy.
His conclusion is, "In one form or another, we're still going to have thousands of people operating out of Iraq," it just depends on whether they'll be under the Defense Dept or the State Dept. He also took a swipe at the public, insisting, "As it is the US public pays little enough attention to US troops in Iraq." That's the second NPR program that's suggested that this week. Know what happens when you ride your high horse? You get knocked off. Ava and I will revisit this topic on Sunday at Third.
Koppel's always been the voice of the beltway. "Good morning everybody," declared Senate Armed Services Committe Chair Carl Levin today as he began the Committee hearing. "I want to welcome Secretary [of the Navy Raymond] Mabus, Adm [Gary] Roughead and Gen [James] Amos to the Committee this morning to testify on the plans and programs of the Department of the Navy in our review of the fiscal year 2012 annual budget and overseas contingency operations request to the administration. We are pleased to welcome Gen Amos to his first posture hearing as Commandant and to welcome Adm Roughead for what will probably be his last posture hearing before the Committee as the Chief of Naval Operations." Ranking Member John McCain subscribes to the same belief of continued US forces in Iraq that Koppel does. We'll note this exchange.
Senator John McCain: Gen Amos, in the withdrawal from Iraq, is it your personal opinion that Iraq will be able to take over logistics, intelligence and air sovereignty -- missions that the US has been carrying out?
Gen John Amos: Senator, I've always believed that, uh, I can't speak to the degree of where they are today because the Marines are out of there and we're focused primarily in Afghanistan and other parts of the world but we were certainly on a glide slope to make that happen.
Senator John McCain: Adm?
Adm Gary Roughead: Uhm. I believe we are on that path, yes, sir.
Senator John McCain: So you're not concerned about a complete withdrawal of US troops from Iraq as far as logistics, intelligence, training of an air force, a navy? None of that is of concern?
Adm Gary Roughead: As of my most recent visit there, Senator, where I focused primarily on the Navy, I see very good progress and, in addition to that, because that Navy will also offshore our Fifth Fleet that operates in the Arabian Gulf I believe it will be a very supportive relationship, addressing the needs of Iraq from the naval perspective.
Senator John McCain: So they need no other assistance?
Adm Gary Roughead: I-I believe that assistance will continue the way that we interact with all navys in the region with our Fifth Fleet headquarters and the ships that deploy there, the exercise programs that we have. And that will continue on with the Iraqi navy and not have to have people ashore.
Ted Koppel won't be participating in a rally against the Iraq War this month. But many will be, A.N.S.W.E.R. and March Forward! and others will be taking part in this action:
March 19 is the 8th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Iraq today remains occupied by 50,000 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of foreign mercenaries.
The war in Afghanistan is raging. The U.S. is invading and bombing Pakistan. The U.S. is financing endless atrocities against the people of Palestine, relentlessly threatening Iran and bringing Korea to the brink of a new war.
While the United States will spend $1 trillion for war, occupation and weapons in 2011, 30 million people in the United States remain unemployed or severely underemployed, and cuts in education, housing and healthcare are imposing a huge toll on the people.
Actions of civil resistance are spreading.
On Dec. 16, 2010, a veterans-led civil resistance at the White House played an important role in bringing the anti-war movement from protest to resistance. Enduring hours of heavy snow, 131 veterans and other anti-war activists lined the White House fence and were arrested. Some of those arrested will be going to trial, which will be scheduled soon in Washington, D.C.
Saturday, March 19, 2011, the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, will be an international day of action against the war machine.
Protest and resistance actions will take place in cities and towns across the United States. Scores of organizations are coming together. Demonstrations are scheduled for San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and more.
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