THIS JUST IN! HIS LATINO PROBLEM!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

MORE AND MORE TALK EMERGES ABOUT CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O'S PROBLEM CAPTURING THE LATINO VOTE IN 2012.

BUT FEW WANT TO POINT OUT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM FOR THE AMERICAN PRINCESS: HIS SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT.

THERE ARE RULES FOR OTHERS AND THERE ARE RULES FOR BARRY O.




YES, BOYS AND GIRLS, IT'S "UNCLE OMAR." WHILE BARRY O HAS BEEN HAPPY TO DEPORT OTHERS -- OVER A MILLION AS OF JULY -- HIS DRUNKEN UNCLE GETS ARRESTED FOR DRIVING DRUNK AND NEARLY HITTING A COP CAR YET WHEN IT TURNS OUT THAT UNCLE OMAR WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN DEPORTED 20 YEARS AGO AND THAT HE HAS A DEPORTATION ORDER, SUDDENLY THE WHITE HOUSE MAKES IT GO AWAY.

MILLIONS OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS WORK JOBS AND CONTRIBUTE TO THIS COUNTRY MAKING IT THEIR HOME BUT THEY HAVE TO LIVE IN FEAR OF BEING DEPORTED AND MANY HAVE BEEN BY BARRY O. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO HIS OWN TRASHY FAMILY, WHETHER IT'S HIS AUNT TOOKIE THAT LOOKS LIKE A MAN IN DRAG OR HIS DRUNKEN UNCLE WHO IS A MENACE TO SOCIETY BEHIND THE WHEEL, THEY SOME HOW GET TO STAY IN THE UNITED STATES.

UNCLE OMAR WAS BACK IN COURT THURSDAY . . . GIGGLING. CAN YOU IMAGINE LATINOS BEING DEPORTED SHOWING UP IN COURT GIGGLING? OF COURSE YOU CAN'T. AND THAT'S WHY BARRY O'S LOSING THE LATINO VOTE -- HIM AND HIS FAMILY'S SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT, THAT SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT THAT LED UNCLE OMAR TO SNAP TO THE POLICE WHEN HE WAS ARRESTED THAT HE'D JUST CALL THE WHITE HOUSE.


FROM THE TCI WIRE:

"Suddenly the place turned into hell," explains survivor Haider Qahtan to Reuters. It was supposed to be a typical Shi'ite funeral as mourners gathered in Hilla this evening to bury Abdelamir Jaffar al-Khafaji but instead it turned into a bloodbath. Mazin Yahya and Rebecca Santana (AP) report a car bomb exploded outside Nabi Ayub Shi'ite mosque and quote Mohammed Ali who felt the blast inside the mosque, "I heard the blast, then was hit by glass from windows and my hand was bleeding severely. I blame the security forces for such a horrible breach." Mu Xuequan (Xinhua) adds that there was "damage to some civilian vehicles and nearby buildings"; however, the people most harmed were the "mourners heading to a funeral tent near the mosque". Tim Arango and Duraid Adnan (New York Times) report, "Several high-level officials were in attendance, including the leaders of the local court and provincial council. Both officials had just left before a vehicle, which had been parked outside the mosque, exploded. But the son of the local judge, who led the appeals court in the area, was killed." Lara Jakes and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) count 17 dead and forty-eight injured. Citing police officials, Kareem Raheem (Reuters) states 18 died and sixty-three were injured.

Before the Hilla attack, Dar Addustour noted that Parliament will be examining security issues shortly in light of the continued rise in violence. Kurdistan Alliance MP Mahmoud Othman is quoted stating that the security chiefs and Nouri al-Maliki must be called before Parliament to answer about the security breaches throughout the country resulting in the death of "many innocents." After the attack, BBC News notes, "Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi condemned the attack but blamed failings in the 'security apparatus'." AFP quotes Ali Khafaji who claims to be "astonished at how the explosion happened, because on the way to the funeral there were many police checkpoints." Arango and Adnan quote an unnamed security official who feels there wasn't enough security considering all the "dignitaries in attendance."

In other violence, Aswat al-Iraq reports a Thursday night car bombing outside of Kirkuk injured five people (all "one family, including 3 children") and that 1 man was kidnapped, and that two Baghdad bombings this morning left five people wounded. Lara Jakes and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) report 2 people were killed in a Baghdad bombing and another Baghdad bombing claimed 1 life.

Yesterday's snapshot included:

Al Mada reports Nouri al-Maliki appeared on Al-Manar TV today and declared no US troops would remain in Iraq, that, as per the SOFA, they will all leave at the end of this year.

. . . except . . .

Nouri said Iraq would keep "trainers" and "experts" and that this is "normal" and "universally" accepted.

So, to translate that into reality, Nouri al-Maliki declared today that the US military will remain in Iraq beyond 2011 and they will be called "trainers" or "experts."

US outlets haven't reported on Nouri's remarks and Al Mada is an Arabic publication. But those needing an English language source on the above can refer to this article by Aswat al-Iraq today which includes:

Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has said on Thursday that the presence of foreign experts and trainers during the purchase of weapons is a natural thing, reiterating that the presence of the US troops in his country would end by end of the current year

"The presence of the American troops is settled and shall end by the end of the current year, according to an agreement between both sides, and there won't remain a single foreign soldier in the country," a statement by the Prime Minister's office reported.

But Prime Minister Maliki said that the "resence of foreign experts and trainers during the process of purchase of weapons is something natural and is followed in other parts of the world."

Al Mada now reports that a meeting next week is expected to resolve the issue of how many US soldiers will remain in Iraq after December 31st. The rumored meeting would be attended, according to unnamed sources, by Jalal Talabani, President of Iraq, as well as leaders of the various political blocs. The issue for Parliament would be the immunity issue. The US government wants immunity for US soldiers. Nouri al-Maliki apparently can't grant it by himself (or prefers not to or hasn't yet figured out how to seize that power) so that would be taken to Parliament. As for the troops being on the ground themselves, it is believed that the Strategic Framework Agreement (signed when the SOFA was) would cover their presence. The article notes that Tareq al-Hashemi, Iraq's Sunni Vice President, declared earlier this week that when Talabani returned to Iraq (he left to take part in the United Nations meetings -- mainly to argue that Iraq needs to be released from Chapter 7, a point the US press pointedly ignored -- Ammar al-Hakim talks about Chapter 7 to Al Mada today) there would be another meet-up at Talabani's residence. Alsumaria TV has a different interpretation of the meet-up:

Iraqi Vice President, Tariq Al Hashemi, declared that President Jalal Talabani will call for a third meeting of political blocs at his return from New York. The meeting however was subject to doubts even before being held.
Hashemi's announcement about Talabani's call for a third meeting seemed to be according to Iraqiya list's desire. Iraqiya MPs stressed the necessity to know the reasons behind State of Law Coalition's failure to commit to last meeting's decisions. This meeting would be the last attempt during the present government's term, MPs

Al Mada speaks with a member of Iraqiya who states that Nouri was to enter into talks with the US government on extending the US military presence; however, he was supposed to brief the political blocs on all negotiations and that the final say was not supposed to be Nouri's. The Iraiqya MP states that Nouri has not briefed the political blocs (that's been stated before by MPs with other political slates and parties as well). State of Law and National Alliance MP Jawad Albzona disagrees over Nouri's power and states that any agreement would not need Parliamentary approval and would be valid just as a contract signed by Nouri and the US. He states it would be valid because Nouri would have identified the need on behalf of security and that would be it (presumably he's saying that's due to Nouri being commander in chief of the military but he doesn't make that point). An unidentified deputy with the Sadr bloc rejects that interpretation and insists that Parliament would have to vote on any agreement. A Sadr MP, Rafi Abd al-Jabbar, is quoted stating that the Sadr bloc rejects US military forces remaining under any name or title (such as the faux term of "trainers").

Who's right?

If by "right" you mean legal, the Strategic Framework Agreement does allow for Iraq to keep US personnel to provide support and training. The SFA covers not only diplomatic and economic realmsbut also security. Though Parliament wasn't interpreting that, in 2008, to mean that US forces could stay on the ground in Iraq beyond 2011 under the SFA, that is what it can allow.

Who's "right" in their debate over what Nouri has or doesn't have the power to do?

If the SFA is accepted -- and it may not be -- as the document that will allow the continued presence of US troops on the ground in Iraq, the only sticking point is the immunity clause. Otherwise, Nouri's actions in the past demonstrate that while he does not have the power in writing to extend the US military presence without the consent of Parliament, he has repeatedly done that and since Parliament has refused to fight back, it is a power he has assumed and the Iraqi courts (already in Nouri's pokets) would be unlikely to rule against him.

If you're late to the party, Nouri becomes prime minister the first time in the spring of 2006. The UN madate covering the continued occupation is running out because it is yearly. Nouri is supposed to get approval from Parliament to renew it. He doesn't bother to. He just renews it on his own. The Parliament notes that the move was illegal and they pass another law to make it 'doubly' illegal. Nouri swears it won't happen again. As 2007 is winding down, Nouri again renews the UN mandate without Parliament's consent or input. Either time, Parliament could have done a vote of no-confidence or taken some serious measure against Nouri. They did not. Though it's not a power the Constitution has given the office of Prime Minister, Nouri has now done it twice and the courts (already friendly to Nouri, to put it mildly) would most likely see the assumed power as one that now belongs to him.

I'm against the illegal war and want all US troops out now. Within these snapshots, my goal is to be honest. If I'm dishonest, there's no reason for anyone to bother reading it. So when we're talking the PKK (as we were recently) and I'm explaining how Turkey has over-reacted and hurt themselves and include that the PKK could damage their own reputation by attacking civilians, I'm aware that the Turkish government could begin rumors or stage such events to discredit the PKK. And certainly they have in some instances in the last two weeks labeled attacks PKK when they weren't PKK attacks. (There are many Kurdish rebel groups fighting for independence. An attack on teachers this week may or may not be the PKK. An event further into northern Turkey last week was not the PKK. And, in fact, the group responsible claimed credit -- and AP was the only outlet to report on that, by the way. A number of US commentators don't know the first thing about the Kurdish resistance and should probably find another topic to gas bag on.) My condern can't be, "How will this be used!!!" That's not my worry, that's not my concern within these snapshots. Equally true, what I'm about to go into doesn't help get US troops out of Iraq. And so maybe I should bite my tongue and hope no one thinks too hard on the issue of immunity?

We don't play it that way, we let the chips fall where they may. As commander in chief of the military, Nouri al-Maliki is responsible for the military. If, in that role, he is allowed to bring in "trainers," then he is allowed to give them immunity.

This should have been obvious to all sides long ago. He either has no power to bring in "trainers" or he has that power and having that power includes providing them with "immunity." What "trainers" would ever come in to work on security issues -- which could mean someone was accidentally killed -- without knowing that the government recognized the "trainers" were there to assist and would not prosecute the "trainers" for carrying out the duties the Iraqi government tasked them with?

If it appears Parliament will balk at the issue of immunity, don't look for that to be a sticking point. Nouri will issue some sort of order (either solo as commander in chief or with the backing of his Cabinet).

It's an important point to raise because if the talks are even semi-public, at some point a gas bag's going to go on Democracy Now! or elsewhere and smugly assert that it doesn't matter because, in the end, Parliament will never approve immunity for US troops. And a lot of people will nod their heads excitedly because it's what we want to hear (the Iraq War finally ends!) and we'll focus on something else and drop our objections only to learn a week or two later that, oops, Parliament wasn't the only way to get immunity for US troops.

Early in the day, protests took place. The Great Iraqi Revolution reports, "A big demonstration came out after Friday prayer today in Wasit condemning the American occupation and refusing to grant occupation forces an extension of their stay under the pretext of 'training'." They note the same was true in Theeqar, in Karbala and in Qadisiya, in Amara.

And in Baghdad? Alsumaria News reports that activists gathered in Tahrir Square calling for an end to the occupation and an end to govermnet corruption. They protested the millions spent for Jalal Talabani's New York Visit to the United Nations and they called for unity and the registion of sectarianism. Banners included those that rejected sectarianism, called out the judiciary that protects the corrupt and declared Parliament to be a farce. They noted that the two million spent for Jalal's NYC visit could have been spent within Iraq on needed projects that would benefit the people. The report notes that as much as $7.5 billion may have been wasted in corruption by the government in the last two years -- that should be in US dollars because the oil monies in the article are in dollar figures and not dinars -- and that estimate appears after they note the Transparency International annual reports. I'm not sure where the figure comes from, but it maybe TI's estimate. The Great Iraqi Revolution's Baghdad correspondent reports, "A large number of protestors were unable to access Tahrir Square today as the government forces have cordoned the square and allowed only one entrance point which was in turn controlled by at least forty officers and troops of the government forces. A number of ambulances were also seen in the square which raised suspicions and fears that abductions are planned as has been the practice in previous Fridays.In addition, a number of intelligence officers were deployed atop surrounding buildings, In fact they were seen using binoculars and cameras to document and know the identity of the protestors,. Due to the severity of the measures ,the revolutionary youth were unable to document the protest by videos."

Aswat al-Iraq reports that they also called for improved basic services and condemned attacks on Iraq by other countries, "The demonstrators have demanded to put an end for interferences and violations by Iraq's neighborly states, including Iran, Turkey and Kuwait, demanding the government to take opposite measures against such violations."

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"THIS JUST IN! LIMP DICK CALLS U.S. 'SOFT'!"
"The boy princess calls others 'soft'"

THIS JUST IN! LIMP DICK CALLS U.S. 'SOFT'!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O HAS APPARENTLY BEEN SNIFFING THE CROTCH OF HIS OWN BVDS WHILE MASTURBATING.

THAT WOULD EXPLAIN HIS HALLUCINATION THAT LED HIM TO DECLARE TODAY THAT AMERICA HAS GOTTEN "SOFT."

DEAD BELOW THE WAIST, MR. FLACID BARRY O, THE KING OF NO-MO-JO, IS CALLING SOMEONE ELSE SOFT?

HEY, SOFT BOI, WOULD YOU CRY LIKE THE LITTLE BITCH YOU ARE IF WE TOLD THE WORLD ABOUT HOW LOLO USED TO BEAT YOU? AND WHY?

PROBABLY SO.

PROBABLY SO.


FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Al Mada reports Nouri al-Maliki appeared on Al-Manar TV today and declared no US troops would remain in Iraq, that, as per the SOFA, they will all leave at the end of this year.

. . . except . . .

Nouri said Iraq would keep "trainers" and "experts" and that this is "normal" and "universally" accepted.

So, to translate that into reality, Nouri al-Maliki declared today that the US military will remain in Iraq beyond 2011 and they will be called "trainers" or "experts."

Al Mada reports that Iraqiya is stating that Nouri has kept secret his talks with the United States, kept secret from other Iraqis, and that Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi confirms that Parliament has been absent from the negotiations. Al Mada notes that August 2nd, at Jalal Talabani's house and agreed to begin neogtiations.

A Kirkuk bombing leaves destruction in its wake. MSNBC offers a photo essay featuring the work of Marwan Ibrahim (AFP - Getty Images). Images include a woman who works at the bank the bombing took place in front of with blood on her face, a police officer carrying a small boy who has blood flowing from a head wound. AP video shows as many as four huge plumes of smoke, people fleeing and attempts to put out fires. DPA notes, "The car bomb attack was carried out as a group of policemen were queueing up to get their salaries at a bank in central Kirkuk, said the sources." Mustafa Mahmoud, Muhanad Mohammed, Patrick Markey and Karolina Tagaris (Reuters) report it was a suicide bombing, "The bomber drove his car into the bank premises, damaging nearby buildings and setting parked vehicles on fire in the city center, local authorities said." Aswat al-Iraq quotes Dr. Siddiq Omar, Kirkuk Health Department's Director-General, stating, "The final result of the suicide attack that took place close to the 1st June Bank in central Kirkuk on Thursday has reached 3 killed and 79 injured." It's said the dead are 2 women and 1 man. Al Mada states most of the injured are police recruits and notes Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi states there needs to be an investigation into the breach of security behind the bombing.

In addition, Reuters notes a Tarmiya mortar attack claimed the life of 1 Iraqi solder and left two more injured, 1 Ministry of the Interior employee was shot dead in Baghdad (his driver was injured), 1 police officer was shot dead and another was left injured and, last night, in an attack on a Baghdad military checkpoint left one Iraqi soldier injured. AP adds that "an employee for Iraq's government-run TV channel died Thursday." (At Antiwar.com, Margaret Griffis counts 14 Iraqis reported dead. And, FYI, Margaret would do well to note "alleged" when presenting charges of kidnapping against someone or some group -- especially a group prone to communicate with the press about various actions. We may pick up on that tomorrow, I'm rushing today.) On the issue of journalists, Aswat al-Iraq reports, "The Press Freedoms Observatory in Baghdad has condemned the detention of the Corrsepondent of al-Sharqiya TV Satellite Channel, Minas Gharib, in west Baghdad's Abu-Ghuraib district on Thursday. The Observatory stressed in a statement, copy of which was received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency that 'an Army checkpoint had prevented al-Sharqiya Channel's team to head towards Abu-Ghuraib's Hamdaniya area, detaining its correspondent, Minas Gharib'."

A US soldier died today. AFP states, "The last US soldier to be killed in Iraq died on July 15 in the southern province of Basra, according to independent website www.icasualties.org. Three American soldiers have died since then, but all in 'non-hostile' incidents."

First off, that silly website -- I'm not even going there. Second, today's death makes 5 deaths this month. But let's drop back to July because we don't insult the memories of the fallen by pretending one war death matters more than others. (And AFP is dead wrong when they say that since July 15th, three US soldiers have died?) July 18th military announces a death and July 20th the soldier is identified as Mark A. Cofield. That was the last reported death for July and on July 21st, we noted the count was 4477 US military personnel killed in the Iraq War -- and that's the Pentagon's official count. Unlike AFP, we're aware that every death matters. Unlike AFP, we're aware that Cofield's death left a lot of people mourning. We don't draw the line that the press -- apparently untouched by tragedy -- does.

In August, we are told, no US soldiers died. In September? No announcement's made but September 9th's official Pentagon count increases by one (and we've got the screen snap).

September 15th it increases by one again (and we've got the screen snap). September 22nd it increases by one (and we've got the screen snap) which should be Staff Sgt Estevan Altamirano who died Sept. 18th in Tikrit. A soldier died September 22nd, Andy C. Morales. He's not included until the most recent count (click here -- and we've already screen snapped it and will include it tonight). And don't give me any crap about that being today's death. The Pentagon released that count at ten this morning and they're not supposed to up the county until after they've notified the immediate family. So Andy C. Morales was four. Which means, counting today's death, five have died this month. I'm sorry that was too much work for the press -- work they are paid to do. Do you realize that in other wars -- talk to reporters who covered them -- they were required to keep their own counts? (Today only AP keeps their own count of US troops killed.)

5 have died this month and one was laid to rest yesterday. Melissa Correa (KRGV) reports, "The Valley came out to honor Staff Sgt. Estevan Altamirano, the Edcouch soldier who died Sept. 16 following a patrol in Iraq. The soldier's wife says he was cleaning out his weapon when it accidentally went off." Gail Burkhardt (Monitor -- link has text and video) adds:

Altamirano's immediate and extended family attended the funeral along with friends, soldiers, teachers and veterans. Altamirano had a daughter, Leandra, and two stepdaughters Kayla and Anaya, with his wife, Pamela. He also had two sons, Justin and Dominic, from his first marriage.
Altamirano's stepdaughter Kayla Martinez, 16, presented a slideshow of family photos.
"I love him and he was a wonderful man," she said, her voice wavering. "And there is no one who will ever be like him."

Erika Flores (Action 4 News) covers the funeral in this video report.

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"THIS JUST IN! THE IMPOTENT PRESIDENCY!"

THIS JUST IN! THE IMPOTENT PRESIDENCY!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

YESTERDAY CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O APPEARED BEFORE KEY LATINO LEADERS TO INSIST THAT THERE'S LITTLE HE CAN DO.

HAVING FAILED TO CREATE JOBS, HAVING FAILED TO FIX THE ECONOMY, HAVING FAILED TO END THE WARS, HAVING EVEN FAILED AT EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL ("IF YOU LOVE ME, ASK CONGRESS . . ."), AMERICA'S PRINCESS FINALLY GETS DOWN TO THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM, HE'S DEAD BELOW THE WAIST.

LIFELESS AND LIMP, BARRY O OFFERED TO TAKE HIS SHIRT OFF AGAIN IF IT WOULD ENSURE HIM A SECOND TERM.


FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Thursday on the Lawyer's Guild with Jim Lafferty (KPFK), Mike Prysner of March Forward! explained why he and others would be demonstrating with A.N.S.W.E.R. outside the House of Blues in Los Angeles this past Monday while Barack Obama was staging his fund raiser. We'll note this from the explanation.

Mike Prysner: Sure. Well we know the President Obama came into office on the heels of the much hated Bush administration in a widespread popular repudiation of both the domestic and foreign policy of the right-wing reactionary Bush administration. And so, let's take a look today and see what exactly has changed. First looking at the war in Iraq, the widely unpopular war in Iraq, you know, the one that President Obama said we could take to the bank the fact that he would end the war once he came into office? That's continuing to take the lives of US troops and Iraqi civilians every single day. And his first appointment, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, his first act as Secretary of Defense was to go to Iraq and pressure the Iraqi government to extend the withdrawal deadline that's set for December 31, 2011. Meaning that this unpopular occupation that so many turned against, that we were promised would end, is set to continue indefinitely.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari remains in the US. AP reports that he declared yesterday that his feeling is there will be US soldiers in Iraq beyond 2011 under the billing of 'trainers.' Zebari is quoted stating, "I think we will get an agreement on training. How many trainers will remain in Iraq is not that important. It's the commitment that is very important." What's really going on is better reported by Al Sabaah. Iraq wants out of Chapter 7. That's why they moved to the SOFA and left the UN mandate to begin with. Zebari remains in the US to press the White House on that issue, removing Iraq from Chapter 7. Al Sabaah reports that with US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman at his side, Zebari made the case for ending Chapter 7 to the UN yesterday. The topic of the US military remaining in Iraq beyond 2011 was discussed on Press TV (link has text and video):

Press TV: Giving the fact that Saudi Arabia is obviously one of United States strongest allies, so could it be a possibility that on the surface maybe, like the Security of States comes out and says that Saudi Arabia has to stop funding these terrorists, but then we see that this continues and of course one of the outcomes is the consequence which puts into question this withdrawal of US troops. So could Saudi Arabia and the United States be in cohort in this together?

Moussawi: Well absolutely no. I mean when you take the bottom line of the American policy and when you see that the Americans are striving and doing their best in order to continue, to be present in the Iraqi soil, to continue their withdrawal, to extend their presence over there, then you know that this will be an effective tour for them when you have the ruins, the killings, the destruction is taking place on largest scale. This would put the Iraqis, and it is a way to push the Iraqis into despair, into frustration and to beg the Americans to stay there because they cannot manage the whole thing by themselves. This is a kind of pressure. This is a kind of political pressure paid for by the blood of the Iraqi innocents, the Iraqi martyrs, the women, the men and the military as well. You are talking about civilians, you are talking about combination of wars, you are talking about civilians and military people that are being the target of this kind of terrorist attacks and I believe this is going to boil down into the American interest. I cannot see in any way that the Americans are going to exercise any pressure against those terrorists or against any regional power that might support them to stop doing that, whether Saudi Arabia or not if this has been the situation.

Military Families Speak Out has an action alert calling for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:

With Congress back in session and the budget debates continuing, there are a lot of opportunities to make our voices heard and take action to end the wars and bring the troops home now. Read below for opportunities to write to your Congressional Representatives, make suggestions to the Super Committee, and take action in Washington DC and locally.

Tell Congress it's time to end the Iraq War, not prolong it

Earlier this summer Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Walter Jones (R-NC) asked their colleagues to sign a letter to the President urging him to bring all the troops home by the end of the year. MFSO in turn, asked our members to support them by urging their own representatives to sign this letter.

Continuing her efforts towards finally, truly ending the war in Iraq, Congresswoman Lee has written as a bill: HR 27577, the Iraq Withdrawal Accountability Act of 2011, which would require the removal of all US troops and contractors from Iraq on or before the promised deadline December 31 2011. It has reached 37 cosponsors to date. Click here to learn more and send an email to your Representative.

Flood the Super Committee Deficit Reduction Suggestion Box!

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (aka "The Super Committee") has been meeting to come up with the next round of budget cuts. Despite the many examples of obscene military waste on outdated equipment, fraud and negligence, it is despicable that some on Capitol Hill are talking about cutting veterans benefits and raising Tricare rates. Servicemembers, veterans, and military families have suffered enough. The Super Committee needs to hear from us: End the wars and cuts military waste, not veteran's benefits. Click here to tell them what you think should be cut.

Take Action to End the Wars

On October 6th & 7th, people will be taking action in DC and across the country to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, whether you're lobbying Congress, occupying Freedom Plaza, or building solidarity with the communities impacted by the War on Terror.

• On October 6th there will be a national call-in day to Congress demanding an end to the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. We will send out more information about this next week along with talking points.
• Make an appointment to meet with your Representative or their staff on October 6th or 7th, either in their DC or home district office. Our Representatives need to hear from military families! Click here to find your Representative's contact information.
• Join us in DC! MFSO is organizing a unique event on October 7th called War Voices, a forum bringing together veterans and military families with Afghan civilians and community and economic justice organizers and artists to reflect on a decade of war. Click here to find out more.
• Many MFSO members will also be participating in the occupation of Freedom Plaza starting on October 6th. Click here for more info and to read MFSO's statement on this protest.

On behalf of MFSO,

Jack Amoureux, Rosanna Cambron, Debbie Carruth, Rosalie Donatelli, Sarah Fuhro, Adele Kubein, Jeff Merrick, Diane Santoriello, Larry Syverson, Katy Zatsick -- MFSO Board of Directors
Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson – MFSO Co-Founders
Oskar Castro, Samantha Miller, Liz Rocci, and Clarissa Rogers -- MFSO Staff

And, as Mike Prysner noted, as the war continues, so does the dying. In Iraq today, AP reports a Baghad home invasion of a Sahwa member ("Awakening," "Sons Of Iraq") in which five of his family members were killed. Aswat al-Iraq notes that in addition to the 5 killed, seven more were left wounded, a Kirkuk bombing claimed the lives of 2 men, and last night an armed attack in Baghdad left 1person dead and one police officer injured. Mu Xuequan (Xinhua) reports a Ramadi car bombing claimed 2 lives and left a third person injured, 1 person was shot dead in front of his Hibhib home

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THIS JUST IN! PATT DRINKS HER OWN PISS!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

PAT MORRISON'S HAVING A FREAK OUT AND PISSING HER PANTIES. SEEMS SOMEONE SHOUTED THAT CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O WAS "THE ANTICHRIST!" AT ONE OF HIS PRICEY, PRIVATE FUNDRAISERS. AND PATTY'S PANTIES HAVEN'T BEEN DRY SINCE. WHEN SHE WALKS DOWN THE HALLS, THE SMELL OF STALE PISS WAFTS OFF HER.

HE'S A WAR CRIMINAL, YOU F**KING IDIOT. HE USES PREDATOR DRONES TO KILL PEOPLE. HE CONTINUES THE AFGHANISTAN WAR AND COULDN'T HONESTLY TELL YOU WHY THE U.S. IS THERE. HE CONTINUES THE IRAQ WAR HE SWORE HE WOULD END. HE'S A F**KING WAR CRIMINAL.

ON TOP OF THAT, THE PEOPLE CAN CALL THEIR PUBLIC SERVANTS WHATEVER THEY WANT.

DRINK YOUR OWN PISS, PATT, SMEAR YOUR FECES ON YOUR UGLY FACE, BUT SHUT THE F**K UP ABOUT WHAT AMERICANS SAY. IF IT WEREN'T FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH, PATT, YOU MIGHT HAVE TO LOSE SOME WEIGHT AND GET A REAL JOB.



FROM THE TCI WIRE:

The International Crisis Group has released a new Middle East report which, in the section on Iraq, "examines the steady erosion of the credibility of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government resulting from the failure to safeaguard institutions against corruption and abuse." The Iraq section can be found here (that's not PDF, for anyone worried), "Failing Oversight: Iraq's Unchecked Government." Corruption is common place in Iraq, the report notes:

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has exacerbated the problem by interfering in anti-corruption cases, manipulating investigations for political advantage and intimidating critics to prevent a replication of the type of popular movements that already have brought down three regimes in the region. The government's credibility in the fight against corruption has eroded as a result, and this, together with troubling authoritarian tendencies, is giving ammunition to the prime minister's critics. To bolster its faltering legitimacy, Maliki's government will have to launch a vigorous anti-corruption campaign, improve service delivery and create checks and balances in the state system.

What can end corruption and bring confidence in the government?

Not much according to the report. The Parliament is hampered by a number of issues including the "delicate politcal ballances" necessary to end Political Stalemate I (the period following the March 7, 2010 elections through November 10th). Iraq's judicial system isn't independent and has demonstrated that fact repeatedly. The report notes, "It decided a number of high-profile disputes in a way that gave the Maliki government a freer hand to govern as it pleases, unrestrained by institutional checks." All of this means that the people aren't served by their government, that millions and millions of dollars continue to disappear and that one of the richest countries in the region is also a country that can't provide its people with potable water, reliable electricity, etc.

The report concludes with steps the Iraqi government and the US government can take. For the Iraqi government, there are six listed. It's the sixth one that needs to come first: "Enact a law that would prevent the head of the Higher Judicial Council from occupying the position of chief justice, and protect the Supreme Court's independence by forbidding any political interference."

That needs to be number one. If that step's not taken, none of the other five matter. Why do I say that?

Per the Constitution, following parliamentary elections, the slate or party that has the most votes is allowed first-shot at forming a coalition. Per the Constitution, following the March 7, 2010 elections, Ayad Allawi should have been named prime minister-designate since his slate (Iraqiya) came in first.

How was the Constitution violated?

By a ruling of the Supreme Court.

Until the Court is independent, all the other steps can be taken and they don't mean a damn thing. Failure of independence has meant repeatedly that laws and the Constitution can be bypassed to meet the demands and whims of Nouri.

Moving over to the three suggestions for the US government ("and other members of the International Community"), the most important one?

Operating under the premise that admitting the truth is the first step, "Publicly express disapproval of the Iraqi government's and parliament's failures regarding long-overdue reform." The White House really, really wants US troops in Iraq beyond the end of this year. For this reason, they blocked calls -- during the eight months plus of political stalemate following the March 7th elections -- for the United Nations to create a temporary, caretaker government (as Nouri refused to budge or abide by the Constitution). Nouri's promised them troops on the ground and they've decided to remain in bed with Nouri.

While the White House was pretending to support the Arab Spring and the right to protest, they ignored Nouri's attacks on protesters and on reporters who covered the protests. They looked the other way despite a few alarming reports filed out of the US Embassy in Baghdad. Currently, they're expecting the Kurds and Iraqiya to give again so that Nouri can get his way (see Saturday's "Iraqiya and the Kurds on the verge of being screwed over again"). The US government criticize puppet Nouri?

I support the recommendation, just don't see it happening in the near future (which I'll translate as between now and the end of the year). We're going to spend some time sketching in some areas the report mentions but doesn't go into great detail about.

Violence continues throughout Iraq. Al Mada notes that Nouri al-Maliki is grandstanding and demanding answers from Parliament for the continued and increased violence. Answers, of course, might be embarrassing to Nouri as some State of Law MPs realize and voice concern over what political rival Ayad Allawi might do with any findings. In November 2010, Nouri was named prime minister-designate and was mandated by the Constitution to come up with a full Cabinet in 30 days. He never did that. Three security ministries lack permanent heads. Those are the sort of facts that would not reflect well on Nouri.

Other things that can cause violence? Shutting people out of the political process, making people feel that they have no voice. Aswat al-Iraq reports:

The Director of the UN Iraq Assistance Mission (UNAMI)'s office in Iraq has charged that the conditions of human rights activists in Iraq as "fragile and miserable," and that the activists are facing many challenges and difficulties.
"The human rights activists in Iraq are facing a lot of challenges and difficulties," Francesco Muta said in a speech at the Conference of Civil Activists, held in Arbil on Tuesday and attended by Aswat al-Iraq news agency, adding that "Iraqis are being affected by the economic deterioration."

Nouri has demonized protesters, had them arrested, okayed their torture and kidnapping. Reporters covering the protests have been targeted. Just Friday in Baghdad, security forces whisked at least one activist away in ambulance (kidnapping) and then went on to torture her. Basaer News (link goes to paper, no individual links for stories, read the article now and don't e-mail me a week or a month later asking where the article is) reports, the Association of Muslim Scholars states the government arrested 1,000 people in August unfailry -- including women and young people. The province with the most arrests was Diyala with 277. The Association of Muslim Scholars is calling out the arbitrary arrests. When not attacking activists, Nouri likes to go after MPs. From the September 22nd snapshot:

Hossam Acommok (Al Mada) reports on Moqtada al-Sadr's criticism of Nouri al-Maliki swearing out an arrest warrant for Sabah al-Saadi claiming that criticizing Nouri is a threat to national security (see yesterday's snapshot). al-Sadr has called out the move and compared it to a new dictatorship and issued a call for the government to work on inclusion and not exclusion. Another Al Mada report notes Sadr declaring that Nouri needs to drop this issue and focus on the needed political work. It's noted that the Sadr bloc waited until Moqtada issued a statement to weigh in and that the Kurdish Regional Government President Massoud Barazni declared that the Kurdish bloc would not support a vote to strip al-Saadi of his immunity. As a member of Parliament, Sabah al-Saadi should be immune to Nouri's arrest warrant for the 'crime' of speech. Currently, the warrant exists but cannot be executed due to the immunity members of Parliament have. So in addition to filing charges against al-Saadi, Nouri and State of Law (his political slate) are also attempting to strip a member of Parliament of his immunity.
But that's not all. Nouri has a back up plan. Should the Parliament not agree to strip al-Saadi of his immunity, the warrant will stand through 2014 when al-Saadi's term expires (al-Saadi's decided not to run again or Nouri's made that decision and intends to utilize the Justice and Accountability Commission to keep him from running?) at which point all-Saadi would be a citizen (without immunity) and then the warrant can and will be executed. In addition, Al Mada notes the claim that immunity can be stripped of a member of Parliament if half-plus-one of those in attendance vote in favor of the motion.

For those wondering how an insult, any insult, rises to the level of criminal, this AFP report (in French) explains that Nouri's complaint utilizes a law from the reign of General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Article 226 of the 1969 Criminal Code which made it a crime for anyone to insult a member of Parliament, the government, the courts, armed forces, etc.

Over the weekend, Al-Badeal noted Nouri's efforts to have Sabah al-Saadi arrested led to a rebuke from the Popular de-Baathification Movement (established in August 2009) which stated it rejects Nouri's efforts and finds them unconstitutional. The Movement also warns that dictatorship isn't born in a day and that they must remain faithful to all of those who died defeating Iraq's previous dictatorship. This Movement is a group that would normally be alligned with Nouri. For example, they keep a blacklist of people that they allege are Ba'athists and publish it online. If he's alarmed this group, he's alarmed pretty much Iraq's entire political spectrum with his moves. Kholoud Ramzi (niqash) reports:

Outside of a press conference he called last Thursday, al-Saadi has mostly refused to give interviews on the subject. But in a statement to NIQASH, he intimated that he was not overly concerned about the arrest warrant. "I didn't become an MP through currying favour with al-Maliki so I won't be removed by him either," al-Saadi told NIQASH. He added that the arrest warrant doesn't bother him and that he would "continue to expose the corruption cases inside al-Maliki's government, no matter what it took".
The warrant for al-Saadi's arrest was issued by Iraq's Higher Judicial Council, the federal body that oversees the country's supreme court, and the Council also requested that Iraqi's parliament lift the immunity al-Saadi currently has from prosecution; like many Western democracies, Iraq practices a form of parliamentary privilege where MPs enjoy immunity from prosecution for certain actions or statements while they are in office.
"The judiciary is a politicized body and much affected by partisanship," al-Saadi told NIQASH. "If Iraq had a fair justice system, then the two trade ministers - Abdul Falah al-Sudani and his successor, Safauddin al-Safi - against whom arrest warrants were issued, and even al-Maliki himself, would all have been held accountable for covering up corruption".

Dictators don't generally endorse a free press. And under Nouri, life hasn't been pretty for journalists. Reporters Without Borders notes that already this year has seen the deaths of 7 journalists in Iraq. One of those is Hadi al-Mahdi. The journalist and activist who had previously been arrested for covering the Baghdad protests and tortured while in the custody of Nouri's security forces was assassinated in his home on September 8th. Majid al-Zubaidi (Kitabat) remembers Hadi and swears that his memory will be summoned by all writers, actors, artists and singers who dream of a free Iraq. Al Badeal calls the assassination a treacherous act, notes it was an effor to silence a voice of freedom and states it holds the government and its security agencies fully responsible for the cowardly crime. Kholoud Ramzi (niqash) observes that the assassination "raises fears that state repression is on the rise again." Ramzi quotes Hadi stating, one day prior to his death, "If my blood paves the way to freedom in the same way that the Mohammed Bouazizi's did in Tunisia, then I will not fear death or the threat of death." Nizar Latif (The National) ties together Hadi's assassination, Nouri's targeting of Sabah al-Saadi and Nouri forcing Judge Rahim al-Ugaeily to properly capture life in 'liberated' Iraq:

But the suggestion of official involvement in a campaign of violent intimidation has certainly found an audience with Iraqi journalists, who say the dangers of reporting truthfully on government actions are increasing.

Hakam Al Rubaie, a columnist whose writing appears in various Iraqi newspapers, said: "There is too much pressure on us now, and the murder of Hadi Al Mahdi was a clear attempt to stop free and independent voices from talking about what is really happening in this country.

"It was bad enough to be targeted by militia groups and Al Qaeda. Now we are seeing Iraqi politicians becoming more and more aggressive against journalists."

Mr Al Rubaie, and many of his colleagues, said they were now more frequently publishing under pseudonyms because it was too dangerous to write under their real names.

"If you want to talk about subjects like corruption, or even terrorism and militias, you are taking your life in your hands in Iraq today," he said.

The International Crisis Group's report notes, "Although the perpetrators have yet to be found, the killing on 9 September 2011 of a prominent journalist and leading organiser of weekly protests against government corruption has contributed to rising fears of the Maliki government's authoritarian streak." Again, the ICG feels that Parliament is ineffective as a result of the delicate alliance in place. That's the alliance which is falling apart as a result of Nouri al-Maliki's refusal to honor the Erbil Agreement. Dar Addustour reports that the divide between Kurds and Nouri continue and that a group of Kurdish delegates are in Baghdad today. There continue to be calls for the Erbil Agreement to be published. The agreement is what allowed Iraq to leave Political Stalemate I with all political blocs making concessions (all but State of Law). Once the Erbil Agreement was finalized and used to make Nouri prime minister, he tossed it aside creating Political Stalemate II which has now lasted over nine months. How bad are things? Dar Addustour reports Ahmed Chalabi is calling for the issues to be dealt with.

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"THIS JUST IN! BARRY O HAS A JOB!"

THIS JUST IN! BARRY O HAS A JOB!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O JUST GOT DONE SHAKING HIS FAT ASS AT ANOTHER FUND RAISER, AND HE'S IN FULL CAMPAIGN BATTLE MODE AND HE'S DOING EVERYTHING!

EXCEPT HIS DAMN JOB.

CAN SOMEONE TELL AMERICA'S PRINCESS THAT HE HAS FAILED TO CREATE JOBS? THAT THE ECONOMY IS IN THE TANK?

SOMEBODY TELL AMERICA'S PRINCESS TO GET HIS LITTLE ASS BACK TO THE WHITE HOUSE AND TRY FINALLY GETTING WORK ON THE JOB HE WAS ELECTED TO DO?


FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Last week, Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz had a column in the Los Angeles Times on the financial costs of the ongoing wars:

Many of these costs were unnecessary. We chose to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan with a small, all-volunteer force, and we supplemented the military presence with a heavy reliance on civilian contractors. These decisions not only placed enormous strain on the troops but dramatically pushed up costs. Recent congressional investigations have shown that roughly 1 of every 4 dollars spent on wartime contracting was wasted or misspent.
To date, the United States has spent more than $2.5 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon spending spree that accompanied it and a battery of new homeland security measures instituted after Sept. 11.
How have we paid for this? Entirely through borrowing.

The wars put the country into debt. And how was that money spent? Who benefitted. A very ugly answer -- not the Iraqi people -- emerges from a US government employee. Peter Van Buren is a US State Dept employee and he was part of a wave of diplomats sent to Iraq in 2009 in Barack's "surge." Julian Brookes (Rolling Stone) interviews him. In the excerpt I'm labeling the speakers to make it easier to follow and I've also put one remark in single quotes:

Brookes: And so then you went to Iraq and your job was to help get the local economy up and running?

Van Buren: Well, we didn't know what we were doing! When I arrived in Iraq my expectation was that I would step into the middle of this storm of busyness and somebody would tell me what to do, but it turned out everyone -- my State Department contractor teammates and the military unit I was embedded with -- was looking at me saying, "We though you knew what we were going to be doing here!"

[. . .]

Brookes: And where exactly was the money going?

Van Buren: The stupidest, most amazing thing -- I still see myself doing it -- was the micro-grant project. And this was decided on that we would kick-start small businesses by literally handing $5,000 in cash to Iraqis and encouraging them to use at the start of business. And we literally would drive into town and round up some people and hand them bundles of $5,000 in cash and say 'Please start a business.' No obligation, no follow-up. Nothing. They looked at us like we were completely insane.

Peter Van Buren is the author of the new book We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People (American Empire Project) which is released tomorrow. He was the guest on today's Fresh Air (NPR). Excerpt.

Dave Davies: Now when you went to Iraq, this was in 2009. And this was far beyond the days when a lot of people would say American military policy was so misguided. By then, a lot of people think, we had figured this out. The military was much more committed to friendly engagement with the Iraqi population and reconstruction and winning hearts and minds. So you're there to do good things, to help rebuild the county. But, as you tell the story, you certainly weren't out among the people. Just tell us a little bit about your living kind of situation and how -- how that meshed with the mission that you had.

Peter Van Buren: What the PRT -- Provincial Reconstrution Team -- was supposed to do was to operate at a grass roots level, embedded with the US military to bring stability and economic success to all of Iraq -- particularly operating outside of the major cities. One of the key problems was the inability to reconstruct something while it was essentially still falling apart. The American presence in Iraq basically had three components. You had the military command which sat in a place called Victory Base. The army has no irony in its naming conventions. And they had a very limited view of things, they were very isolated. And then you had the American Embassy, the world's largest enemies surrounded by the world's largest walls that kept both bad guys and reality out. The joke was that the Embassy kept an eye on events in Iraq from the roof. And then you had the Provincial Reconstruction Teams -- me. We were small groups of people. We were embedded with military units. We would roll out in military convoys, typically riding in a military vehicles called MRAP which is like a giant monster truck. It has all sorts of armor and special electronics on it that make it less vulnerable to the IEDs that plague the campaign in Iraq for its entire life. It had machine guns at the top and full of soldiers with their game faces on. Guns, rifles, grenades -- the whole manner of stuff. Myself, I would wear body armor and a helmet, just like the soldiers wore. I wasn't armed. I didn't carry a weapon. We made quite an impression on people when we rolled through town. Sometimes when we rolled through the center of town we made quite an impression because our vehicles were tall enough that they tore down all the electrical and phone lines that were strung across the rodes. Sometimes we made quite an impression when we roared through fields and left ruts where there had been rice or wheat planeted. And often times we made quite an impression by attracting a lot of attention to people just by our presence. It was difficult to say that we ever could have normal interaction with anyone. The mere presence of us made us look like aliens descending from armored space ships in the middle of no where. Every interaction with every Iraqi took place with soldiers with weapons standing around. Often times I was told to leave my helmet and body armor on while I was speaking with the Iraqi people for my own safety. We rarely could stay in one place for too long without fear of attracting too much attention and an attack. Setting up appointments was difficult because it was dangerous to tell people too far in advance that we were arriving. We didn't want to give the bad guys too much time to get ready. And under those conditions, the ability to meet with people, to interact with them was a failure.

Dave Davies: And I believe that one of your first interactions with Iraqis involved this fellow -- I think he had the nickname McBlazer. And you had this issue you had to work out. Tell us that story.

Peter Van Buren: State Dept people love to wear blue blazers with brass buttons. It's almost kind of a uniform. And one of the Iraqis that we interacted with regularly had adopted this as his form of dress so he was nicknamed McBlazer among us. The Embassy constantly was tasking us to put on presentations, shows, lectures. We were going to tell Iraqis, "Here's how democracy works. Here's what women should be doing. Here's the way you should be running your businesses." These were hard to put on and it required a lot of logitstic arrangements, things that we couldn't possibly do on our own in a country where we couldn't travel freely, where telephone service was sporadic and where there was no infrastructure for us to work with. It became necessary for us to seek out these middle men, these operators, these carpet baggers. Slick guys, like McBlazer, who, for money, could make things happen. The very first day, as I arrived and met my team, the very first task I was handed was a -- was to commit fraud so that we could properly pay off McBlazer for the last thing. Now fraud is a nasty word to use --

Dave Davies: Let me just interrupt here. What do you mean fraud? What did you have to do?

Peter Van Buren: Well it turns out there were limits the State Department put on how much we could spend on refreshments. This was very important because without refreshments Iraqis wouldn't come to our meetings. We simply couldn't get a crowd unless we fed them. To feed them costs money and the cost of that food often times exceeded the maximum that we were allowed to spend. This doesn't stop a guy like McBlazer. He

simply created fake receipts for printing that covered the cost of the food. And my very first diplomatic action in Iraq was to be told by my colleagues to sign the fake receipts so that we could pay McBlazer for the food that we had to use to bribe the Iraqis to come to the meetings so that the Embassy would be satisfied that we were reconstructing Iraq.

That may seem like a great deal of tax payer money to waste; however, maybe the US government saw the war as a way to enrich the defense industry? Adam Entous and Nathan Hodge (Wall St. Journal) report that the US and Iraq have finalized a deal for Iraq to purchase eighteen F-16 planes with hopes of buying another 18. Thus far, they've put down $1.5 billion towards the purchase of the first 18. Suadad al-Salhy (Reuters) quotes an unnamed "senior U.S. military official" who estimates the cost for the 18 will be "roughtly $3 billion." Bob Cox (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) adds, "The sale, which has been widely expected for some time but not completed, would be the first in some time for Lockheed Martin which assembles the F-16 in Fort Worth." If you're thinking, "Well, maybe that 1.5 billion down -- on a 3 billion purchase -- saved some jobs," think again. Kevin James Shay (Maryland's Gazette) reports that Lockheed Martin announced they were laying off 540 workers in the state of Maryland. KERA (link is text and audio) notes that Lockheed Martin announced today that Fort Worth will see 370 layoffs -- this comes on top of "another 300 Fort Worth employees [. . . accepting] voluntary terminations, either through early retirements or resignations, and the company will not fill another 300 vacant jobs." David Markiewicz (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) reports Lockheed announced today they were "laying off 114 employees at its Marietta plant". Those may not be all the layoffs. (I'm surprised Palmdale doesn't have an announcement.) A few get rich. Most Americans suffer as a result of all the money wasted. And some Americans gave their lives in this war. 4 US service members have died in/from the Iraq War this month. DoD has tracked all four deaths in their official count (click here) but they have only issued announcements for two. Sunday a perfuncturary announcement was issued and, supposedly, only due to a US Senator stirring things up last week when his office called several people at the Pentagon demanding to know why deaths were not getting announcements and whether this was an accident or an order from the White House? Here's the Sunday announcement:

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation New Dawn.

Sgt. Andy C. Morales, 32, of Longwood, Fla., died Sept. 22 in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 143rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), Orlando, Fla.

For more information, media may contact the 143rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) public affairs office at 1-800-221-9401 ext. 1132 or e-mail Maj. John Adams at john.adams16@us.army.mil .

Over a million Iraqis -- well over a million -- have died in the Iraq War. And they continue to die because the war has not ended. As the war continues, violence continues to rock Iraq. Today Aswat al-Iraq reports a Kirkuk car bombing claimed 3 lives today and that two additional bombings did "material damage." In addition, they note, "An Iraqi soldier has been killed and another soldier was seriously injured in a joint US-Iraqi security operation in al-Fudheiliya township, 15 km to the east of Nassiriya city, the center of southern Iraq's Thi-Qar Province on Monday, a security source reported." Reuters adds that Mohammed Ali (Ministery of Health worker) was shot dead in Baghdad, an assault on a Baghdad police checkpoint left 1 police officer dead and two more injured, 1 Iraqi soldier was shot dead in Mosul and an attack on Mosul police checkpoint left one police officer injured. Hamid Ahmed (AP) notes the assassination of Mohammed Ali but gives his name as Mohammed Ali al-Safi and identifies him as a "senior Finance Ministry official" and Ahmed reports a Baghdad assassination attempt on Judge Munir Hadad that the judge survived; however, he was left wounded in the hand by a bullet.

Yesterday Karbala was slammed with four bombings. Aziz Alwan and Dan Zak (Washington Post) counted 15 people dead and one hundred and thirteen wounded. They also quoted Gamin al-Karbalie who is not smarter than a fourth grader. Though the bombings had just taken place, al-Karbalie just knew who was responsbile: al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. And he knew why: Because, he says, the group wants to demonstrate that Iraqi forces cannot handle security without the US.

Over 40,000 US troops are still on Iraqi soil and the bombings happened, that's A. B, how is it in al Qaeda's interest to keep US troops in the Middle East? Granted al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is a splinter group and one formed after the US invasion of Iraq; however, the goal of al Qaeda is US forces out of the Middle East. Why their motives would suddenly be to keep the US in Iraq, I don't know. But Ganim al-Karbalie apparently does. I have no idea who was responsible or why. But if you're going to point a finger and supply a motive, your little reenactment should make sense.

AP quoted provincial council member Hussein Shadhan al-Aboudi stating, "The aim of these explosions is to ignite the sectarian sedition after the killing of 22 Karbala residents in the Anbar desert two weeks ago. They also aim to destabilize the security situation in Karbala." Is he right? Who knows? But his hypothesis does add up. Tim Arango (New York Times) noted provincial council member Tariq al-Khaikani hypothesis, "Mr. Khaikani attributed the persistent violence in Iraq to the lack of ministers of interior and defense, two positions that have essentially been overseen by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki since the formation of a new government late last year. At the time, Mr. Maliki promised to name new heads of those ministries soon, but he has not yet done so."

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