DAVID CAMERON'S BARELY LEFT THE U.S. AND ALREADY CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O IS NURSING HIS SORROWS WITH REPORTS OF HIS DRINKING PINTS OF AIL ALL OVER THE MEDIA.
"I THOUGHT HE LOVED ME," STAFFERS OVERHEARD BARRY O SOBBING, "I THOUGHT HE REALLY LOVED ME!"
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
The Iraqi youths are simply expressing themselves as young people do around the world. But doing this in supposedly "free" Iraq can get you killed. Killed by being pushed off a building, by being shot dead, by being beaten with concrete blocks, there are many ways Iraqi youths are being murdered. Roby Hurriya has photos of his murdered Friend Saif Asmar and shows them to the press as he explains, "They laid him down on the pavement and smashed his head with a cement block." Lists are compiled and people are threatened. Emily Alpert (Los Angeles Times) notes, "Activists say one sign decorated with two handguns in Baghdad's Sadr City threatened 33 people by name, warning them to stop their 'dirty deeds' or face 'the wrath of God.' Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr issued an online statement calling emos "a lesion on the Muslim community," the Associated Press reported." And through it all, the government looks the other way. Who's doing the targeting? Karlos Zurutuza (IPS) reports:
Ruby points directly to the Mehdi militia - a former insurgent group led by cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Such crimes are being committed in complete impunity, says Ruby.
"Ours is a militia-run government," complains this young man on the run. "The only possible solution is that Western governments put pressure on Iraq to end this nightmare."
Dalal Jumma from the Organisation of Women's Freedom In Iraq concurs, and complains about the lack of a "mandatory separation between state and religion.
"The militias' letters hanging on the walls even accuse homosexuals or 'emo' followers of 'Satanism for participating in the martyrdom of Imam Hussein' – the Shia community leader killed in the Seventh century. How can we deal with such monstrosity?" says Jumma at the NGO's headquarters in Karrada district in southeast Baghdad.
IPS has had access to one of the letters allegedly found in Sadr City – it had a list of 33 individuals classified under their residence block numbers.
In a sign of how much effect the world attention to these attacks are having, Moqtada al-Sadr has issued a statement. Alsumaria TV reports that the cleric declared yesterday that the targeting of Iraqi youths did not "please God" and he denounced the attacks. On Saturday, you may remember, he issued a statement calling them the scourge of the earth. What changed in the last five days? The level of attention the issue is receiving around the world. Which includes Amnesty International issuing a statement today:
The Iraqi government should immediately investigate and bring to justice those responsible for a targeted campaign of intimidation and violence against young Iraqis seen as belonging to an "emo" subculture, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) said today.
The attacks have created an atmosphere of terror among those who see themselves as potential victims.
A 22-year-old gay man in Baghdad told the international rights groups that anonymous callers made death threats on his phone on 11 March. The callers described a friend of his whom they had kidnapped and brutally beaten days earlier, saying that was how they got his number. They told him that he would be next. He has since cut his hair and does not leave his house for fear of being targeted. He said:
"When the news started spreading about emos, the threats and violence against gays increased. They are grouping us all together, anyone who is different in any way, and we are very easy targets."
The campaign's victims appear to represent a cross-section of people seen locally as non-conformists. They include people suspected of homosexual conduct, but also people with distinctive hairstyles, clothes, or musical taste. In English, "emo" is short for "emotional," referring to self-identified teens and young adults who listen to certain types of rock music, often dress in black, close-fitting clothes, and cut their hair in unconventional ways. People perceived to be gay, lesbian, transgender or effeminate are particularly vulnerable.
In an official statement on 8 March, Iraq's Interior Ministry dismissed reports by local activists and media of a campaign against those seen as emos, saying the reports were "fabricated" and "groundless," and that it would take action against people who were trying "to highlight this issue and build it out of proportion." However, an official ministry statement on 13 February had characterised emo culture as "Satanist", casting doubt on the government's willingness to protect vulnerable youth, the international rights groups said.
Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said:
"At best the response of the Iraqi Interior Ministry is completely inadequate, at worst it condones the violence against emo youth. Iraqi authorities should unequivocally condemn the attacks, investigate any killings and protect anyone in danger."
There is more to the statement but let's stay on the topic of statements to jump over to Huffington Post where they post two paragraphs and maintain that's a statement from the State Dept. Those two paragraphs are part of the four paragraph statement we ran in yesterday's snapshot. Maybe we should have included the title to the statement? "U.S. Embassy Condemns Attacks on 'Emo' Youth In Iraq." Use the link, you'll be taken to the US Embassy in Baghdad's website. From the title alone, you should be able to grasp -- even if you write for the Huffington Post -- that this is a statement not from the State Dept but from the US Embassy in Baghdad. It's a real shame Huffington Post can't stick to the facts or even do a basic fact check. As we noted yesterday of Hillary's 'quote' in the statement -- she's not speaking of Iraqi youths, it's from a speech she gave at the start of December.
Huffin Puff also forgets to note that the State Dept has received billions this fiscal year (and are asking for billions for next fiscal year) because they are the leaders of the US mission in Iraq. Where's the leadership? Silence and cowardice from the top, all the way down. If the State Dept -- and that includes Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- can't publicly condemn these killings than they've just demonstrated that they are unable to lead any mission in Iraq and that no further monies should go to them for this purpose.
The State Dept provides no leadership on this or any other Iraq issue. Not only that, they offer no transparency. When the Pentagon was in charge, reports had to be issued, press conferences on Iraq held. Getting billions of dollars -- billions of US taxpayer dollars -- has increased the State Dept's budget, it has not increased their efforts to inform the public of how the taxpayer money is being spent in Iraq. There is no oversight. The American people are supposed to take it on blind faith that their dollars are being used wisely in Iraq -- no, that is not how a democracy works. In December, State officially took over the US mission in Iraq. Since that time, Hillary Clinton has not given one press briefing on Iraq. She has been able to avoid the topic and the issue. The American people should be getting regular updates on how the monies are being spent. But the Congress can't even get straight answers from the State Dept on that.
The Huffington Post has a poll, the question is: "Should the U.S. and/or other countries offer support to the LGBT people and 'emo' young adults of Iraq?" That's far too vague a question. A much simpler one would be: "Should the U.S. publicly condemn the attacks on the LGBT people and 'emo' young adults of Iraq?" It's disgusting that the State Dept and Hillary can't even issue a statement calling out these murders. It sends the wrong signals and it's disgusting.
Here's the opening of the statement issued by Human Rights Watch today:
The government of Iraq should immediately investigate and bring to justice those responsible for a targeted campaign of intimidation and violence against Iraqi youth seen as belonging to the non-conformist "emo" subculture, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission said today. The attacks have created an atmosphere of terror among those who see themselves as potential victims.
On March 8, 2012, the Interior Ministry, in an official statement, dismissed reports by local activists and media of a campaign against those seen as emo. The ministry said the reports were "fabricated" and "groundless," and that it would take action against people who were trying "to highlight this issue and build it out of proportion." An official ministry statement, on February 13, that characterized emo culture as "Satanist" cast doubt on the government's willingness to protect vulnerable youth, the international rights groups said.
On March 8, 2012, the Interior Ministry, in an official statement, dismissed reports by local activists and media of a campaign against those seen as emo. The ministry said the reports were "fabricated" and "groundless," and that it would take action against people who were trying "to highlight this issue and build it out of proportion." An official ministry statement, on February 13, that characterized emo culture as "Satanist" cast doubt on the government's willingness to protect vulnerable youth, the international rights groups said.
"The government has contributed to an atmosphere of fear and panic fostered by acts of violence against emos," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead of claiming that the accounts are fabricated, Iraqi authorities need to set up a transparent and independent inquiry to address the crisis."
The campaign's victims appear to represent a cross-section of people seen locally as non-conformists. They include people suspected of homosexual conduct, but also people with distinctive hairstyles, clothes, or musical taste. In English, "emo" is short for "emotional," referring to self-identified teens and young adults who listen to alternative rock music, often dress in black, close-fitting clothes, and cut their hair in unconventional ways. People perceived to be gay, lesbian, transgender, or effeminate are particularly vulnerable.
And State remains silent. I attend the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday thinking Iraq might come up (the topic was the naval fleet). It didn't. But let's note a section where accountability was expected and demanded. This is Ranking Member John McCain questioning the Secretary of the Navy Raymond Mabus and then between McCain and the Marines' General James Amos.
Senator John McCain: As you know, Mr. Secretary, the reason why Senator Webb, Senator Levin, I and others have been concerned about the issues of Guam is because the costs have escalated dramatically. At least in one area, from six billion to sixteen billion dollars. There has been slow progress with the Japanese. So we decided after Senator Levin, Senator Webb and other of us, that we needed some outside view. An independent view of this situation. We passed the Defense Authorization Bill in December. It's now been two-and-a-half months. How long does it take to let a contract -- to get an independent assessment, Mr. Secretary?
Secretary Raymond Mabus: Senator, since this contract is not under my purview, since I don't let this contract --
Senator John McCain: I see, it's somebody else's responsibility. Well I want to tell you for sure that until we get that independent assessment there should be no concrete plans made by the Secretary of Defense or the Defense Department until we have a chance to examine the assessment and then go through the authorization process or any expenditure of funds that need to be made in order to get this redeployment issue into some kind of sanity. Believe me, we acted -- as is our responsibility -- because of our intense frustration about the lack of progress on this issue. And now, two-and-a-half months go by they haven't even let a contract to get an independent assessment by the way. And we wanted it to be completed by the first of April, the end of March, which obviously cannot happen. I'm not going to let you continue to slow walk us on this issue. Just to put things in perspective, on the F35, again, we started the program in 2001, cost estimates for a couple of thousand aircraft, 2456 aircraft were going to be $238 billion. We've now had additional costs of $150 billion. A hundred fifty additional billion dollars in cost. Block IV, as I understand it, please correct me if I'm wrong, General Amos, Block IV, 32 aircraft which are approximately fifty-percent complete are not $500 million over original estimated costs. Are those figures wrong?
General James Amos: Senator, I can't say whether the figures are wrong or not. Uhm --
Senator John McCain: Do you know what the original costs were supposed to be, General?
General James Amos: Oh, I do. I was the --
Senator John McCain: Alright, was [cross-talk] Is that fact, is that fact wrong?
General James Amos: That fact is pretty close, sir.
Senator John McCain: And there's been an additional $150 million cost overrun. Is that fact true?
General James Amos: I'm -- I'm not -- I can't comment on that. I-I don't know.
Senator John McCain: You don't even know what the cost overrun has been?
General James Amos: Well, I-I, sir, this is not a single point in time. I've noticed the program grow, I've witnessed the technical baseline review last year --
Senator John McCain: Let me interrupt you again. Do you argue the fact that there's been a $150 billion additional costs of the aircraft since the original estimate of $238 billion?
General James Amos: Sir, I can't comment on that. I cen't tell you whether it's a hundred fifty billion dollars. I know it's significant.
Senator John McCain: So, for the record, you don't know how much the cost overrun has been for the F35?
General James Amos: Not precisely.
Senator John McCain: Roughtly? [silence] Do you know roughtly what the cost overrun has been? Sir, I'm assuming since --
General James Amos: No, I don't!
Senator John McCain: That's remarkable.
Do you think State could hold up under that kind of questioning about Iraq? I don't.
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