WHY LOOK, IT'S ANOTHER FAT CAT TRYING TO TELL AMERICA WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM. HAVING BENEFITED GREATLY FROM CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O'S TAX BREAKS FOR THE RICH, ONE TIME WALL STREETER ROB STEIN WANTS YOU TO HE (AND HIS INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO) SUPPORT FOUR MORE YEARS OF STEAL FROM THE POOR AND GIVE TO THE RICH BARRY O.
THE NEW DEMOCRAT NETWORK STEIN WAS PART OF THE "RE-INVENTING GOVERNMENT" HOOPLA OF THE LATE 80S AND EARLY 90S SO WHY ANYONE WOULD TAKE THE WORD OF SOMEONE WHO REPEATEDLY -- INCLUDING FROM THE COMMERCE DEPARTMENT -- WORKED TO PRIVATIZE GOVERNMENT SERVICES IS BEYOND US.
BUT THERE YOU HAVE IT, IF YOU'RE AGAINST THE SAFETY NET, IF YOU HATE THE POOR, IF YOU'RE A REPUBLICAN BUT CAN'T STAND THE LABEL, BECOME A NEW DEMOCRAT NETWORKER (WHERE ALL THE DLC-ERS WENT) AND SUPPORT CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O TOO!
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
UPI reports approximately 700 Iraqis protested today in Mosul calling for the departure of US troops with Sunni tribal leaders among those participating. Mujbil al-Assafy informs Aswat al-Iraq, "A delegation, comprised of 76 tribal chieftains and leading personalities and religious men, has headed today (Monday) from Falluja to Mosul, to share in the peaceful sit-in demonstration in Mosul." However, they note that at least 40 people from Falluja were not allowed -- by security forces -- to enter Mosul and take part in the demonstrations. Aswat al-Iraq explains that protesters today joined protesters who had been present for the last ten days staging a sit-in. This follows a protest in other news, protesters in Sulaimaniya yesterday which turned violent when activists were fired on by Kurdish forces. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reported fifty people were injured (forty-two were protesters, eight were security forces) and, "Health officials told CNN that seven protesters were hit in the legs by gunshots but all are in stable condition. The unrest in the Kurdish city, starting since February 17, has killed at least seven people and injured more than 250 health officials said." Reuters noted that seven of the security forces injured were suffering "exposure to tear gas" according to "Rekawt Hama Rasheed, general directof of the health office in Sulaimaniya." Shamal Aqrawi, Namo Abdulla, Ahmed Rasheed and Elizabeth Fullerton further add two journalists were wounded in the security's assault and quotes Hawalati's editor Rahm Gharib stating, "Journalist Chunour Mohammed was shot while trying to take a photo of a wounded protester. She got a bullet in her hand. We denounce this act by the authorities." AhlulBayt News Agency reports that, according to the director of Emergency Hospital, the number wounded is 86 -- eleven of which were Kurdish security. That was Sunday's protest. Protests continued in Sulaimaniya today. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reports the protests continued with a little less than 1,500 activists demonstrating when Kurdish security forces moved in using tear gas, live bullets, and batons: "Dr. Raykot Hama Rahid, the director of the health department in the city of Sulaimaniya, said that 99 people were wounded: 66 riot police and 33 protesters. Among the wounded were 16 protesters who were shot in the legs, he said." Aswat al-Iraq had a correspondent on scene who stated, "A few minutes ago, scores of police, anti-riot squad and Asayesh forces stormed al-Saray square in central Sulaimaniya to disperse protestors, who have been staging a sit-in since February 17. A fire erupted in the stage made by the protestors to deliver speeches." Reuters notes, "Popular discontent in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region has been directed at a regional government dominated for decades by two political parties whose former guerrilla armies have been converted into security forces." Aswat al-Iraq notes protesters in Arbil today were attacked and twenty-two people were left injured. An eye witness is quoted stating, "Gunmen wearing civilian clothes clashed with the students gathered near the High Education Ministry in the city of Arbil." However, the police chief is denying that there was any clash or, for that matter, any protest.
Baghdad was slammed by bombings this morning. Among the bombings were two at the entrance to the Green Zone. BBC News notes of the 2 suicide car bombings, "A BBC correspondent in Baghdad says these are the first suicide bombings in the capital this year." CNN adds, "The casualties included Iraqi security forces and civilians, according to the ministry." AFP explains, "The bombs went off as a queue of cars was waiting to enter the area - also known as the Green Zone -- where many foreign embassies and Iraqi government offices are based." Citing security spokesperson Qassim al-Moussawi, Reuters counts 5 dead and fifteen injured and adds, "In a statement, the media office of the Iraqi parliament said one of the explosions hit the motorcade of Amjad Abdul Hameed, an adviser to parliamentary speaker Osama al-Nujaifi. Hameed was not injured but one of his bodyguards was killed and three others were wounded, the statement said." Hamid Ahmed (AP) offers, "The blasts marked the start of a violent day in the Iraqi capital, where a another bombing and a jewelry heist left two more dead and 13 wounded." Michael S. Schmidt (New York Times) adds, "The explosions began around 8 a.m., when an improvised explosive device was detonated near Baghdad University, injuring two people. Sounds of gunfire erupted throughout the city and a few minutes later a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb at the Green Zone checkpoint. Gunfire rang out again and a few minutes later another suicide bomber detonated a car bomb at the checkpoint." In addition, AFP notes, "A separate attack involving two roadside bombs in the up-scale residential neighbourhood of Jadriyah in east Baghdad left five more people wounded, three of them security force members, the interior ministry official added." Schmidt makes a silly claim regarding violence in Baghdad and you can read Dar Addustour for only way in which Schmidt's wrong. On NPR's hourly news feed, Kelly McEvers noted the Green Zone attack, that most of the wounded are said to be Iraqi security forces, that "the bombers were waiting in line" and "the blasts set many nearby buildings on fire."
Alsumaria TV reports that Osama al-Nujaifi, Speaker of Parliament, declared in a press converence today that if the government cannot resolve the current problems (corruption, imprisonment and other issues which started the protests this year) within the 100 day period . . .. "if the Cabinet fails to provide people with their rights and to deal with the services, unemployed, security and foreign relations files. . . therefore this partnership shall not last for a long time and there will be demands to hold new elections." The 100 days is supposed to end June 7th. But then again, Iraq held national elections March 7, 2010 which was supposed to create a new government; however, all these months after the election, they still have no vice presidents and no full Cabinet. Al Mada reports that attempts to renominate Iraq's current Sunni vice president Tarek al-Hashemi appear to have failed this weekend with Iraqiya failing to find the necessary support in Parliament. In addition, the National Alliance's Sami al-Askari notes the ongoing controversy regarding whether or not al-Hashemi impersonated a vice president by visiting areas as Iraq's v.p. Technically, the v.p.'s ended months ago. However, Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, with Parliament's knowledge, asked the two to stay on as vice president until Iraq could find two or three new vice presidents. Over the weekend, Alsumaria TV reported that Talabani "refused to appoint a Turkman candidate for the position of Vice President, an Iraqi Turkman MP said on Friday." Iraq still hasn't settled on their vice presidents all this time later. Three appears the number they'll be going for this time round. (They had two from 2006 until the present -- one Shi'ite, one Sunni.) Along with no vice presidents, Al Mada notes Iraq still has no security ministers. Nouri was named prime minister-designate in November and moved to prime minister in December. To make that move, per the Constitution, the designate has to propose a Cabinet and Parliament has to sign off on each nominee. Nouri was given a pass and waived through despite not having a full Cabinet. All these months later, it's fair to call that decision a political failure.
On things that still aren't resolved, there's been no national census, there's been no referendum on Kirkuk. Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution required the referendum to be held by the end of 2007. Nouri was prime minister than (as he is now) and couldn't live up to his own country's constitution then or since. Sunday Rawya Rageh filed a report for Al Jazeera:
Rawya Rageh: Jabir Karim is an Arab whose family has called Kirkuk home for generations. But now he says they're being uprooted from a city increasingly coming under Kurdish control.
Rawya Rageh: Jabir Karim is an Arab whose family has called Kirkuk home for generations. But now he says they're being uprooted from a city increasingly coming under Kurdish control.
Jabir Karim: We live in constant fear. The Kurdish Asayish police rounds up people with no charges. I've been detained. My son's been detained since 2006. And I don't know where he is. It's like we're being told leave or your homes will be raided, you will disappear.
Rawya Rageh: In this ethnically mixed city, tension is on the rise again. Many Arabs say Kurds who've been brutalized and replaced under Saddam Hussein for decades are actively trying to change Kirkuk's demographics in their favor. Entire brand new Kurdish neighborhoods are being built while some Arab families claim they're being intimdated into leaving ahead of a census that's supposed to help resolve the city's fate. The squabble repeatedly delaying the country's first full population count in a quarter of a century. Despite the demographic shifts that have been taking place here for years, bridges like this one are a symbolic reminder of how different groups have been trying to co-exist in Kirkuk for generations -- even if Kurds live on one side and Arabs live on the other surrounded by reminders of their common heritage. In the main market, vendors holler in the different languages of the community here. And in neighborhoods across the city, tales of unshaken attachment. Ahmed Ali is a Kurd whose family was expelled from Kirkuk three times in the 1980s under Saddam's Arabization policies. Yet, they kept coming back.
Ahmed Ali: Kirkuk is like a mother. All our life is tied to it. We were born here. Married here. It's like everything to us. How can we forfeit it? It's a part of our soul.
Rawya Rageh: It's not just about inherited birth rights to this land. At stake too is the wealth beneath it. And as long as the census keeps getting delayed so does the Constitutionally stipulated referendum to determine Kirkuk's status.
Jabir Karim: We don't care who ends up ruling us -- Arab, Kurd or Christian. All we want of him is to be just.
Ahmed Ali: If it goes to the Kurds, no problem. Arabs, no problem. Or even the Christians. The most important thing is stability.
Rawya Rageh: Hopes for normalcy for a city that's known too little of it for too long. Rawya Rageh, Al Jazeera, Kirkuk.
In news of other failures, the rationing card system. This is a federal program, not a regional one. It is supposed to come with federal oversight. Waleed Ibrahim (Reuters) reported this weekend that nearly sixty million dollars (US) in cooking oil will be used to feed livestock due to the fact that it has passed the use-by date for humans. It was stored outside for three years. (It actually may not be safe for animals.) How did that happen? Iraq' current prime minister is Nouri al-Maliki and good for him that he wasn't the prime minister in 2008 because this would be on his -- Oh, wait. He's been prime minister since the spring of 2006. This is on his head. Dar Addustour reported a Parliament commission (Commission on the Truth) held a press conference with their chair Ahmed al-Alwani speaking and they declared the failure derived from people assuming that the oil was transferred to stores and distributed to citizens when it wasn't. Al Rafidayn reminded that the country has seen waves of protests in the last months over a number of issues including the deterioration in services with the rationing program specifically mentioned. Ahmed al-Alwani tells the paper that the Ministry of Commerce has been served with a large fine. In other news of Parliament, Nayla Razzouk (Bloomberg News) reports that Osama al-Nufaifi announced today that the long promised cuts in "pay and benefits of top officials" will finally be discussed in Parliament April 26th with the next being to "pass one law or three separate ones". The proposed cuts are in response to the ongoing protests.
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