Saturday, August 11, 2012

THIS JUST IN! THE TWITTERING ANGRY MIDGET!

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

THE ANGRY MIDGET SPIKE LEE TOOK TIME AWAY FROM HIS TWITTERING DUTIES -- WHERE HE LIKES TO SEND ATTACK MOBS TO THE HOMES OF INNOCENT PEOPLE -- TO VENT AND FROTH ON CNN BECAUSE APPARENTLY HIS DICK'S TOO SMALL TO BOX WITH GOD OR BEAT AN INCH WORM IN A SIZE CONTEST.

SPIKE SAID OF HIS ALLEGED LOVER BARRY O, "EXPECTATIONS WERE TOO HIGH."

SPIKE WENT ON TO DECLARE THAT THE PROBLEMS FACING THE COUNTRY ARE THE REPUBLICANS DOING BECAUSE THEY SAID:

'Whatever you do, we're blocking that. We're blocking, and every breath we take, we're going to do what we can that you don't get a second term. Bottom line. And if it hurts America in the process, tough business.'

POOR SPIKE. AS USUAL, THE ANGRY MIDGET MOUTH WASN'T CONNECTED TO THE BRAIN.  BARRY O WAS SWORN  IN AS CELEBRITY IN CHIEF IN JANUARY 2009.  UNTIL JANUARY 2011, DEMOCRATS CONTROLLED THE HOUSE AND SENATE.  WHAT'S THE EXCUSE AGAIN, LITTLE MAN?

AND DEMOCRATS STILL REMAIN IN CONTROL OF THE SENATE.

POOR SPIKE.  HE SHOULD STICK TO DIRECTING HIS SEXIST FILMS WHILE THE COUNTRY WONDERS HOW LONG A WHITE DIRECTOR WOULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH MAKING ONE TRASHY, SEXIST FILM AFTER ANOTHER?

GO, LITTLE MAN, GO.



FROM THE TCI WIRE:


Starting in the United States.  Mark McCarter (Huntsville Times) reports, "Russell Keith, who served as a paramedic in civilian life and during two tours of duty in Iraq, died Wednesday at age 53.  He suffered from Parkinson's disease that he believed was related to his exposure to burn pits while serving in Balad."  Services will be held tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. at Laughlin Service Funeral Home with the burial at Jefferson Memorial Gardens. 
 
November 6, 2009, we covered the Democratic Policy Committee hearing that Russell Keith testified at.  He explained,  "While I was stationed at Balad, I experienced the effects of the massive burn pit that burned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The ten-acre pit was located in the northwest corner of the base. An acrid, dark black smoke from the pit would accumulate and hang low over the base for weeks at a time. Every spot on the base was touched by smoke from the pit; everyone who served at the base was exposed to the smoke. It was almost impossible to escape, even in our living units,"
 
 
Then-Senator Byron Dorgan was the Chair of the DPC and he stated at that hearing:
 
Today we're going to have a discussion and have a hearing on how, as early as 2002, US military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan began relying on open-air burn pits -- disposing of waste materials in a very dangerous manner. And those burn pits included materials such as hazardous waste, medical waste, virtually all of the waste without segregation of the waste, put in burn pits. We'll hear how there were dire health warnings by Air Force officials about the dangers of burn pit smoke, the toxicity of that smoke, the danger for human health.  We'll hear how the Department of Defense regulations in place said that burn pits should be used only in short-term emergency situations -- regulations that have now been codified. And we will hear how, despite all the warnings and all the regulations, the Army and the contractor in charge of this waste disposal, Kellogg Brown & Root, made frequent and unnecessary use of these burn pits and exposed thousands of US troops to toxic smoke.
 
Dire warnings were ignored.  Service members and contractors came back to the US with sicknesses resulting from that exposure and they have had to fight continually to try to have their illnesses and conditions recognized.  Russell Keith was part of those who came forward and spoke out.  He also was part of the class action lawsuit against KBR.  KBR has still not had to pay for their actions. 
 
The US government has thus far refused to create a burn pit registry.  When we speak to veterans groups, I note that 2013 might be a good year for that registry.  Senator Jim Webb refused to allow it to come out of Committee back when then-US Senator Evan Bayh proposed it and appeared before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to advocate for it.   June 13th, Senator Mark Udall appeared before the Committee advocating on behalf of a registry:
 
 
Senator Mark Udall:  Sitting in the audience today is Master Sergeant Jessey Baca a member of the New Mexico Air National Guard and his wife Maria.  [to them] Just give everybody a waive here, you two.  Master Sgt. Baca was stationed in Balad, Iraq and exposed to burn pits. His journey to be here today was not easy.  He has battled cancer, chronic bronchitis, chemical induced asthma, brain lesions, TBI, PTSD and numerous other ailments. Maria has traveled that difficult road with him.   They know first hand the suffering caused by burn pits and they need to know the answers.  It is because of them and so many others like them that we are here today.  Last year, I introduced S. 1798, the Open Burn Pits Registry Act with Senator Corker.  Representative Todd Akin introduced it in the House.  It is not a partisan issue.  We have each met with veterans and active duty members of the military and they have told us how important it is that we act now.  In both Afghanistan and Iraq, open air burn pits were widely used at forward operating bases.  Disposing of trash and other debris was a major challenge.  Commanders had to find a way to dispose of waste while concentrating on the important mission at hand.  The solution that was chosen, however, had serious risks.  Pits of waste were set on fire -- sometimes using jet fuel for ignition.  Some burn pits were small but others covered multiple acres of land. Often times, these burn pits would turn the sky black.  At Joint Base Balad Iraq, over 10 acres of land were used for burning toxic debris.  At the height of its operations, Balad hosted approximately 25,000 military, civilian and coalition provision authority personnel.  These personnel would be exposed to a toxic soup of chemicals released into the atmosphere.  According to air quality measurements, the air at Balad had multiple particulates harmful to humans: Plastics and Styrofoams, metals, chemicals from paints and solvents, petroleum and lubricants, jet fuel and unexploded ordnance, medical and other dangerous wastes.  The air samples at Joint Base Balad turned up some nasty stuff. Particulate matter, chemicals that form from the incomplete burning of coal, oil and gas garbage or other organic substances, volatile organic compounds such as acetone and benzene  -- benzene, as you all know, is known to cause leukemia --  and dioxins which are associated with Agent Orange.  According to the American Lung Association, emissions from burning waste contain fine particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and various irritant gases such as nitrogen oxides that can scar the lungs. All of this was in the air and being inhaled into the lungs of service members.  Our veterans have slowly begun to raise the alarm as they learn why -- after returning home -- they are short of breath or experiencing headaches and other symptoms and, in some cases, developing cancer.  Or to put it more simply, by Maria Baca, when she describes her husband's symptoms, "When he breathes, he can breathe in, but he can't breathe out.  That's the problem that he's having.  It feels like a cactus coming out of his chest.  He feels  these splinters and he can't get rid of them."  The Dept of Army has also confirmed the dangers posed by burn pits.  In a memo from April 15, 2011, Environmental Science Engineering Officer, G. Michael Pratt, wrote an air quality summary on Baghram Airfield.  And I would respectfully ask that the full memo be included in the record.  Referring to the burn pits near Baghram Airfield,  he said there was potential that "long-term exposure at these level may experience the risk for developing chronic health conditions such as reduced lung function or exacerbated chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, atherosclerosis  and other cardio pulmonary diseases.  Many of our service members are coming home with these symptoms.  I believe, like you do, Madam Chair, that we are forever in debt for their service, so we must ask the question, "How did these burn pits impact the health of our returning heroes?"  This bill is a step towards finding the answers we owe them.  The legislation will establish and maintain and Open Burn Pit Registry for those individuals who may have been exposed during their military service.  It would include information in this registry that the Secretary of the VA determines is applicable to possible health effects of this exposure. develop a public information campaign to inform individuals about the registry and periodically notify members of the registry of significant developments associated with burn pits exposure.  It is supported by numerous groups including BurnPits 360, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Association of US Navy,  Retired Enlisted Association, the Uniformed Services Disabled Retirees and the National Military Family Association.  Madam Chair and Ranking Member Burr, thank you for your attention to this important issue.  I look forward to working with both of you and members of your distinguished Committee on this important legislation.  Thank you and a pleasure once again to be with you today. 
 
In 2013, Webb will be gone.  His war on veterans -- he lashed out at VA Secretary Eric Shinseki for Shinseki's efforts to recognize all who were suffering from Agent Orange exposure during Vietnam and his penny-pinching opposition to a Burn Pit Registry -- is why Webb didn't run for re-election.  He did not have the votes in his home state, largely due to his actions against veterans.  With Webb gone, I believe Senator Jon Tester's opposition to the registry crumbles (I could be wrong) and that it's much easier to get it passed.   The problem with that is, not only can you not take back the years where they were ignored or lied to, you also can't bring back those who've died from those burn pits.   This is the Laughlin Service Funeral Home's obituary for Russell Keith:  
 
Leon Russell Keith, 53, of Huntsville, passed away Wednesday. Mr. Keith devoted his life to helping others by serving as a paramedic. He spent three years in Iraq serving the needs of the sick and wounded. Mr. Keith was a staunch Alabama football fan. He was also a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Local 3263.
Survivors include his wife of 25 years, Vickie Keith; daughter, Renatta Keith of Huntsville; sons, Chad Keith of Decatur, Chris Keith (Rachel) of Decatur and Carlton Keith of Huntsville; granddaughter, Isabella Wood; mother, Geraldine Lowe of Morrison, CO; sister, Wendy Greene of Florida and brothers, Howard Keith of Morrison, CO and Jimmy Keith of Boston, MA.
Visitation will be from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Friday at Laughlin Service Funeral Home. The funeral service will be at 11:00 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home chapel with Pastor I.V. Marsh officiating. Burial will be in Jefferson Memorial Gardens in Trussville.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. (www.michaeljfox.org)
 
 
 
Javier Blas (Washington Post) reports, "Iraq has overtaken Iran as the second-largest OPEC oil producer for the first time since the late 1980s, a symbolic shift that signals the huge impact of Western sanctions on Tehran and the steady recovery of Baghdad's energy industry."  Steve Hargreaves (CNN Money) adds, "Iraqi oil production inched over the 3 million barrel a day mark in July, according to numbers released Friday by the International Atomic Agency.  That's 300,000 barrels per day higher than the country's average output in 2011."  And that has to pass for progress in Iraq.  Not that the Iraqi people see any monies.  Nouri's Cabinet just announced that there would be no surplus oil revenues to divide among the people.  Moqtada al-Sadr rebuked that claim publicly but you know Nouri never share what he can steal.  So this is another example of no progress in Iraq.   The US State Dept says "no progress" as well.   Yesterday they issued a travel warning on Iraq which included:
 
 
The Department of State warns U.S. citizens against all but essential travel to Iraq given the security situation. Travel within Iraq remains dangerous. This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning dated January 19, 2012, to update information on security incidents and to remind U.S. citizens of ongoing security concerns for U.S. citizens in Iraq, including kidnapping and terrorist violence. The United States completed its withdrawal of military forces from Iraq as of December 31, 2011. The ability of the Embassy to respond to situations where U.S. citizens face difficulty, including arrests, is extremely limited.
Some regions within Iraq have experienced fewer violent incidents than others in recent years, in particular the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR). Although violence and threats against U.S. citizens persist, reported instances have lessened in the past six months. U.S. citizens in Iraq also remain at risk for kidnapping. Methods of attack have, in the past, included roadside improvised explosive devices (IEDs), including explosively formed penetrators (EFPs); magnetic IEDs placed on vehicles; human and vehicle-borne IEDs, mines placed on or concealed near roads; mortars and rockets, and shootings using various direct fire weapons. Numerous insurgent groups, including Al Qaida in Iraq, remain active throughout Iraq. Although Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) operations against these groups continue, terrorist activity persists in many areas of the country. While terrorist violence occurs at levels lower than in previous years, it occurs frequently, particularly in the provinces of Baghdad, Ninewa, Salah ad Din, Anbar, and Diyala.
The security situation in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR), which includes the governorates of Sulymaniya, Erbil, and Dohuk, has been more stable relative to the rest of Iraq in recent years, but threats remain. U.S. government personnel in northern Iraq are required to be accompanied by a protective security escort when traveling outsidesecure facilities. Although there have been significantly fewer terrorist attacks and lower levels of insurgent violence in the IKR than in other parts of Iraq, the security situation throughout the IKR remains dangerous. Increasingly, many U.S. and third-country business people travel throughout much of Iraq; however, they do so under restricted movement conditions and almost always with security advisors and teams.
U.S. citizens should avoid areas near the Turkish or Iranian borders. The Turkish military continues to carry out operations against elements of the Kongra-Gel terrorist group (KGK, formerly Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK) located along Iraq's northern border. Additionally, extensive unmarked minefields remain along the same border. The Governments of Turkey and Iran continue to carry out military operations against insurgent groups in the mountain regions. These operations have included troop movements and both aerial and artillery bombardments. Borders in these areas are not always clearly defined. Iranian authorities previously detained, for an extended period, U.S. citizens who were hiking in the vicinity of the Iranian border in the IKR. The resources available to the U.S. Embassy to assist U.S. citizens who venture close to or cross the border with Iran are extremely limited. 
The U.S. Embassy is located in the International Zone (IZ) in Baghdad. The IZ is a restricted access area. Iraqi authorities are responsible for control of the IZ. Travelers to the IZ should be aware that Iraqi authorities may require special identification to enter the IZ or may issue IZ-specific access badges. Individuals residing and traveling within the IZ should continue to exercise good personal safety precautions. The U.S. government considers the potential threat to U.S. government personnel in Iraq to be serious enough to require them to live and work under strict security guidelines. All U.S. government employees under the authority of the U.S. Chief of Mission must follow strict safety and security procedures when traveling outside the Embassy. State Department guidance to U.S. businesses in Iraq advises the use of protective security details. Detailed security information is available at the U.S. Embassy website.
The ability of the U.S. Embassy to provide consular services to U.S. citizens throughout Iraq, including Baghdad, is particularly limited given the security environment. The U.S. Consulates in Basrah Erbil, and Kirkuk cannot provide routine services such as passport applications, extra visa pages, and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad. U.S. citizens in need of these services while in Iraq must travel to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The Embassy's website (
http://iraq.usembassy.gov) includes consular information and the most recent messages to U.S. citizens in Iraq. U.S. citizens in Iraq who are in need of emergency assistance should call 0770-443-1286. For information on "What the Department of State Can and Can't Do in a Crisis," please visit the Bureau of Consular Affairs' Emergencies and Crisis link at www.travel.state.gov. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
 
 
They have to issue that warning because there is still no progress in Iraq.  On the violence front, 
 Alsumaria notes that a suicide bomber drove a car up to a mosque in Muwafaqiya (east of Mosul) and detonated, taking his/her own life and the lives of 5 worshipers while leaving twenty-five more injured. Reuters updates that to 5 dead and seventy injured.  Al Jazeera adds that "part of the mosque building collapsed over the heads of the worshippers as they were leaving." KUNA notes that the statement from Niniveh Province Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi "condemned that deadly attack of the Shiite place, warning that the attack is meant to instigate tension between Iraqis of different sects."  The governor is the brother of Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi.     Sameer N. Yacoub (AP) notes a Dujail attack in which 4 Sahwa ("Awakenings," "Sons Of Iraq") were shot dead and a Muqdadiyah roadside bombing which claimed the lives of 3 police officers and left two more injured. AFP adds that Haditha city council member Nabil Shaakar was shot dead with his two brothers left injured.


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"THIS JUST IN! WHERE ARE THE CROWDS?"

Friday, August 10, 2012

THIS JUST IN! WHERE ARE THE CROWDS?

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

IF THERE'S ONE QUESTION PLAGUING CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O, IT IS: WHERE ARE THE CROWDS?

THEY USED TO BE EVERY WHERE, CHANTING "YES, WE CAN!"

AFTER FOUR YEARS OF NO-HE-CAN'T, THEY DO NOT APPEAR WILLING TO WASTE A PERSONAL DAY ON BARRY O.

IN COLORADO WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY, THAT WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE. 

SPEAKING TO DENVER RESIDENTS, THESE REPORTERS HEARD A VARIETY OF EXCUSES INCLUDING:

1) IT'S JUST TOO HOT OUTSIDE
2) I PREFER TO WORSHIP BARRY O IN THE PRIVACY OF MY HOME
3) I AM LOOKING FOR A JOB
4) I HAVE A JOB SO, UNLIKE BARRY O, I HAVE WORK TO DO
5) I AM BUSY BUILDING SOMETHING
6) I HAVE TO GET MY HAIR DONE
7) I HAVE TO GET MY ____ WAXED
8) I DIDN'T ROLL OVER THIS MORNING SMELLING HIS FUNKY BREATH!

AND THE MOST COMMON RESPONSE, "I WON'T BE VOTING FOR HIM THIS FALL."



FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Today, as Jeff Carlisle (ESPN) reports, the US women's  soccer team won the gold medal, as NBC noted, it was their third Summer Olympics in a row to take home the gold in that event.
With three more days left for the London Summer Olympics, Ahmed al-Samarrai gets a little of the press attention.  Who?  In 2004 ESPN reported on Ahmed noting that he was in charge of Iraq's Olympics  and had "survived an assassination attempt when attackers threw grenades and fired automatic weapons at his care in Baghdad after a roadside bomb failed to kill him."  In February 2004, Sinomania noted on the election the month before of "63 year old former athlete Ahmed al-Samarrai" as president of the Iraq National Olympics Committee.  Two years later, he would be in the news for a different reason.   Alan Abrahamson (Los Angeles Times) reported Jully 19, 2006:
 
Al-Samarrai was kidnapped Saturday. He and his colleagues had been at a sports meeting at a cultural center in downtown Baghdad. In all, dozens were seized. Reports say they were taken by heavily armed men dressed in camouflage and police uniforms.
In May, meanwhile, 17 members of an Iraqi taekwondo squad, including four on the national team, were kidnapped on their way to Jordan, where they had hoped to obtain visas for a tournament in Las Vegas -- all 17 disappeared into the desert, with no word since. It remains unclear whether Rasheed was among them.
The head of the Iraqi taekwondo association, Jamal Abdul Karim, was among those kidnapped Saturday.
The abductions Saturday followed the killing Thursday of the Iraqi wrestling team's Sunni coach, shot dead in a Shiite district of Baghdad.
 
Of the dozens, 13 would eventually be released.  Ahmed was not one of the ones released.  In August 2008, Kim Gamel (AP) reported that Ahmed remained missing and that his "wife, Niran, who claims her Sunni husband was kidnapped at a time of sectarian violence and high-level government officials took little action.  She alleges her husband was targeted because he resisted attempts to use the committee as a political forum."  Niran spoke of the need for closure and for justice, for her husband and for the others who were kidnapped as well.  Gamel observed that Niran "faults the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for failing to investigate the attack or to arrest any of the kidnappers."  Niran stated, "They were abducting within al-Maliki's era.  He is the prime minister.  He's supposed to look after the people."
 
Today she tells Andrew Warshaw (Inside The Games), "Since 2006 not a single person from the Iraqi Government has helped me, the same Government who are still in power.  It's simply obscene.  I believe they know who was behind this.  They couldn't push my husband out legally [Nouri wanted to remove Ahmed from the committee and the kidnappers told Ahmed he was an embarrassment to Nouri] so they did it by force.  I have to believe Ahmed is still alive though maybe he has been tortured.  I'm tired and scared with not knowing his fate after this savage crime.  Somebody has to give us some hope.  Some of the families of those kidnapped with my husband had new-born babies who have never seen their fathers.  The IOC represents my last chance."  She wants, as the BBC explains, for the International Olympic Committee to ask serious questions of Nouri's government about the kidnappings.  If that is to happen, it will require public pressure.  In 2010, Jacquelin Magnay (Telegraph of London) explained the official position by quoting the Association of National Olympic Committees President Mario Vasquez who declared that they were not interested in finding out what happened to Ahmad and the others,  "It's not that we forget this issue, it's that we intentially do not want to deal with it.  We deliberately do not want to discuss these matters or mention this to the ministers. They don't want to deal with this either, we come here to discuss sports matter and not matters related to violence. They are regrettable, of course."
 
 
On the issue of the Olympics, Saturday, KUNA noted that Tunisia's Oussam Mellouli (swimmer) and Iraq's Dana Abdul Razak (pictured above, competes in the 100 meter track event) were the only Arabs to make it through the heats and qualify for the first rounds in their competitions.  And from there?  Jim Caple (ESPN) reported the Friday first round,"Dana Abdul Razak lined up in Lane 2 at Olympic Stadium for Heat 5 in the first round of the women's 100-meter dash. Two lanes over, Allyson Felix planted her feet in the starting blocks. The starter's gun went off and the Iraqi runner burst down the track alongside America's most famous female sprinter. Abdul Razak finished last in the heat, losing to Felix by eight-tenths of a second, but that didn't matter much. Earlier in the day, the Iraqi had won her heat. She had raced with some of the world's best and she had advanced women's sports in her country."  John Canzano (Oregonian) observed, "It wasn't lost on me that many of the sprinters around Abdul Razak in the mixed zone didn't grow up in a nation where being able to compete would even be a question. Also, with Allyson Felix of the U.S. coming through moments later after winning the heat and wearing the finest track and field gear to go with the best training/nutrition to go with a USA Track and Field handler who escorted her, I wondered about the vast disparity in resources available to athletes here."  She now holds the record for Iraq in the 100-meter dash (11.91).

When Dana Abdul Razak first competed in the Summer Olympics it was 2008 and she was the only athlete from Iraq.  This year she was one of eight at the Summer Olympics.  She's part of a group of Iraqi athletes making steady progress.   The other seven Iraqis competing in London were Ahmed Abdulkareem, Adnan Taess Akkar, Noor Amer al-Ameri, Mohanad Ahmed Dheyaa al-Azzawi, Safaa al-Jumaili, Rand al-Mashhadani and Ali Nadhim Salman Salman.
 
 
From London to Vietnam, on The Takeaway (PRI) today, environmental destruction was addressed.
 
John Hockenberry: Today the US started a clean up effort to deal with the effects of spraying millions of gallons of the toxic defoliant known as Agent Orange over jungle areas to destory enemy cover during the Vietnam War.  In the almost 40 years since the war ended, Vietnam says several million people have been affected with up to 150,000 children born with severe birth defects because Agent Orange seeped into the water and soils. 
 
US Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear [audio clip]:  The dixon in the ground here is a legacy of the painful past we share.  But the project we undertake here today hand-in-hand with the Vietnamese is, as Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton said, "a sign of the hopeful future we are building together."
 
John Hockenberry: Speaking there that's US Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear.  He was at a ceremony today here in Danang where all of this is being kicked off.  Joining us now is Susan Hammond Director of the War Legacies Project, joins us from Chester, Vermont.  Susan Hammond, thank you for joining us.
 
Susan Hammond: Thank you for having me.
 
John Hockenberry:  How much unfinished business do you say is here?  It's more than just a clean up that begins today, yes?
 
Susan Hammond:  It is.  Well this is the first part of a multi-part problem. The fact that there is still dixon in several hot spots throughout Vietnam -- It's significant that the US is finally getting around to helping the Vietnamese clean this dioxin up.  But there's also the longterm health effects in Vietnam that still need to be addressed.
 
John Hockenberry: And how would those be addressed?  Separate treaties or is that a part of this agreement, it's just in a different stage?
 
Susan Hammond: No.  At this point, it's -- the US has provided some limited funding for programs within the Danang area to provide services for children with disabilities though they do not say it's directly related to Agent Orange.
 
John Hockenberry: How much political interest is there on Capitol Hill to pursuing, you know, programs of recompense like this?  As we know, there's a very, very strong lobby on the POW - MIA issue.  I'm wondering if they go together on this or if they are opposed to this?
 
Susan Hammond:  Uhm, most are not opposed.  There are veterans with their own issues with Agent Orange, that they're labeling Congress but even many of the veterans are supportive of addressing this issue in Vietnam because they're facing it themselves in their own human health and their children's to some extent.
 
 
 
Xin chao.
This morning we celebrate a historic milestone for our bilateral relationship.
Today's ceremony marks the start of a project between Vietnam's Ministry of National Defense and the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, to clean up dioxin contaminated soil and sediment at the airport left from the Vietnam War. Over the next few years, workers will dig up the contaminated soil and sediment and place it in a stockpile, where it will be treated using thermal desorption technology. This process uses high temperatures to break down the dioxin in the contaminated soil and make it safe by Vietnamese and U.S. standards for the many men, women, and children who live and work in this area.
We have worked together closely over many years in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation to reach this point. With Presidential and Congressional support from Washington, my Embassy has cooperated with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment's Office 33 since its establishment in 1999 to coordinate Vietnam's policies and programs on Agent Orange. We've used annual meetings of the Joint Advisory Committee under the leadership of Office 33 and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to seek science-based solutions to complex environmental and health issues related to Agent Orange.
As part of Vietnam's contribution to the cleanup, the Ministry of National Defense cleared unexploded ordinance from the airport site and will construct a power substation to supply electricity for the remediation process. We also greatly appreciate the strong commitment of other partners, including the Danang People's Committee and Airport Authorities, to the success of this project.
 
 
It is a historic moment.  And it's several decades after the end of that conflict.  What of Iraq?  
 
 


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"If you can wait 18 years, he might have an answer"
"THIS JUST IN! HE NEEDS A LITTLE TIME TO DECIDE!"

Thursday, August 09, 2012

THIS JUST IN! HE NEEDS A LITTLE TIME TO DECIDE!

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


YESTERDAY CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O CAME OUT AGAINST THE BOY SCOUT POLICY TO REFUSE TO ALLOW GAY CHILDREN TO BE BOY SCOUTS

SPEAKING TO THESE REPORTERS THIS MORNING, WHITE HOUSE PLUS-SIZE SPOKESMODEL JAY CARNEY DECLARED, "THIS IS MORE BRAVE LEADERSHIP FROM OUR CELEBRITY IN CHIEF.  YET AGAIN, HE HAS STAKED OUT GROUND NO ONE ELSE WOULD DARE TO STEP ON. HE BRAVELY GOES WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE.  HE'S LIKE SPOCK AND THE WHOLE F**KING ENTERPRISE!"

WHEN THESE REPORTERS POINTED OUT THAT THIS WAS ALREADY MITT ROMNEY'S STANCE, CARNEY ADMITTED THAT WAS "POSSIBLE BUT DID HE ANNOUNCE WITH AS MUCH FLAIR AS BARRY O?  BARRY O WORE HIS GLITTER PANTIES AND MADE SWEEPING HAND GESTURES!  OUR CELEBRITY IN CHIEF IS QUITE THE SHOWMAN."

WHEN THESE REPORTERS PRESSED AND POINTED OUT THAT MITT ROMNEY ANNOUNCED THIS SAME STANCE IN 1994 AND BARRY O ONLY DID YESTERDAY, CARNEY'S EYES GLAZED AND HE SIGHED, "IMAGINE WHAT A GREAT PRESIDENT BARRY O IS GOING TO BE 18 YEARS FROM NOW.  GIVE HIM 18 YEARS AND BARRY O CAN FIGURE OUT WHERE HE STANDS ON ANYTHING!"

FROM THE TCI WIRE:


The administration didn't want a welcome home parade for the veterans in December of later this year.  Some reasons were valid.  The country is supposed to be watching the spending and the money Congress had originally allocated for a national parade had actually been spent years ago.  Some reasons made no sense at all.  The administration claimed that since some Iraq War veterans were in Afghanistan currently, it wouldn't be right to have a parade for Iraq War veterans.  When the US finally leaves Afghanistan, what will the excuse be?  There will always be -- barring a major shift in foreign policy -- US troops stationed on something other than American soil.  The administration also felt the need to pressure NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg not to hold a parade.
 
What happened instead is that parades have taken place in local communities.  St. Louis is where it kicked off.  Craig Schneider and Tom Appelbaum got together and organized a parade for the veterans.  It was a huge success that spawned many other parades.  In July, many people were disappointed, some were outraged.  I was outraged (see "The violence and the whores" and "Iraq snapshot") and so was Trina ("Thanks Tom Appelbaum").  Across the country people worked very hard, inspired by the work in St. Louis to do something to acknowledge the veterans.  This was individuals working together.  And there were plans for future parades later in the year.  But the parades worked because they were about the veterans.
 
Tom Appelbaum decided to whore the parade in July (see Trina and my pieces).  He turned the  St. Louis parade into an advertisement for Barack Obama.  The ridiculous commercial credited Barack with the parade.  Barack didn't donate an hour of organizing or a dime from his bank account.  Nor did he attend the parade.  The parade was about the veterans and Tom Applebaum didn't (my opinion) have enough respect for the veterans to refuse to whore for the Obama campagin.  The parade had nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans or any label other than "veteran."
 
Craig Schneider co-organized the parade.  He did not take part in the Obama campaign commercial.  He has penned a column for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch entitled "People, not politics."  It is an intelligent and deeply felt column.  Please use the link to read the entire column.  Here is an excerpt.
 
The news was personally upsetting for two reasons. First because its message is in clear contradiction of the apolitical nature of the 501(c)3 organization that grew from the January event, upon which the two volunteers sat. The organization has asked for their resignation.
But the bigger concern about the ad stems from how upside down it seemed to turn the very nature of the movement that began in St. Louis and has since spread to more than 20 cities. All around the country this year, a loose and unpaid coalition of volunteers from all sectors has come together in the universal understanding summarized by the motto of this grass-roots movement: Those who did and still serve are people. They aren't politics.
Since the beginning of the post-9/11 age of combat, one of our greatest failures as a society has been the emotional distance we've allowed ourselves to keep between our wars and the people we send to fight them. We've placed the enormous burden of 10 years of multi-front warfare onto less than 2 percent of our population, forcing men and women to leave home and go risk death not once, but two or three or four times. Or more. While our sons and daughters have died, taken bullets and bombs for us and returned from multiple trips to hell with wounds both inside and out, the other 98 percent of us back here have bickered over "the troops" as if they were some abstract thing.
They are not. They are people. They are us.
 
Again, it is a very important column.  Craig Schneider works to put veterans first.  In the Congress, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is an example where party label is not an issue of great importance and Democrats and Republicans who might not work together on any other issue find a way to come together over what's in the best interests of veterans.  Though all members of the Committee reach out to one another (including Senator Bernie Sanders who is neither a Democrat or a Republican), the largest credit for that has to go to Chair Patty Murray and Ranking Member Richard Burr who set such a strong example and such high standards.   Without that example and that desire to work together, this week's victory would not have taken place.  As Kat noted last night in "Camp Lejeune (justice finally)," the victims of Camp Lejeune finally got recognized with President Barack Obama signing into law the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012.  This is an issue that Senator Burr has worked years on.  Chair Murray said it would get a floor vote and it did.  She said it would be signed this summer and it was.
 
The Senate is in recess allowing its members to return home.  That doesn't mean work stops.  Senator Murray's office notes:
 
FOR PLANNING PURPOSES
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
CONTACT: Murray Press Office
(202) 224-2834
 
TOMORROW: VETERANS: Murray in Seattle to Discuss New Veterans Jobs Bill with Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Senator Murray will outline Veterans Jobs Corps bill, legislation that helps veterans overcome barriers they face when finding employment
 
(Washington, D.C.) -- Tomorrow, Thursday, August 9th, 2012, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, joins Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki at the Port of Seattle for a press conference on veterans jobs.  Senator Murray will highlight a bill she is sponsoring in the Senate, the Veterans Jobs Corps bill.  Senator Murray's bill is modeled of successful job training programs across the country and in states like Washington.  The Veterans Jobs Corps bill would build on the gains already made with Senator Murray's VOW to Hire Heroes Act, and serves as a $1 billion investment in veterans and their capacity to strengthen America.
Over the next five years, the Veterans Jobs Corps would: increase training and hiring opportunities for all veterans; help restore and protect national, state, and tribal forests, parks, coastal areas, wildlife refuges, and cemeteries.  It will also help hire qualified veterans as police, firefighters, and first responders at a time when 85 percent of law enforcement agencies were forced to reduce their budget in the past year.  Senator Murray will point out that this bill contains bipartisan ideas, is fully paid for with bipartisan spending offsets, and should not be controversial at a time when veterans continue to struggle.
The Port of Seattle was recently recognized with The Freedom Award, the Department of Defense's highest recognition given to employers for exceptional support of our Guard and Reserve members.
 
WHO: U.S. Senator Patty Murray
           Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki
           Tay Yoshitani, Port of Seattle CEO
            Veterans currently employed by the Port of Seattle
 
WHAT: Senator Murray and Secretary Shinseki discuss new veterans jobs legislation
 
WHEN: TOMORROW: Thursday, August 9th, 2012
             10:00 AM PT
 
WHERE: Port of Seattle Marine Maintenance Facility
                25 S. Horton Street
                Seattle, WA 98134
                Map
 
###
 
Kathryn Robertson
Specialty Media Coordinator
Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray
448 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510
202-224-2834
 
 
 
 
 

Tomorrow the high for the day in Baghdad is supposed to be 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).  And as if Iraq didn't have enough hot air of late, two government spokespeople try to add to it.  Mohammad al-Qaisi (al-Shorfa) reports that Ministry of the Interior spokespersons Hikmat Mahmoud al-Masari and Adel Dahham see al Qaeda in Iraq 'imploding' and they know -- in their heart of hearts, they really, really know -- this is happening due to events like last month when they discovered the bodies of two leaders in one house -- both were dead!
 
The events of today have already slapped them across the face.  But, since thinking caps appear to be in short supply at the Ministry of the Interior, let's provide them the walk through that they're too dumb to see.
 
Whether it's a mafia movie or a vampire movie, when the 'bad guys' start turning up dead, that generally means that something even more violent and destructive has decided to move in and take over.  So rejoicing over those two dead leaders?  The Ministry of the Interior would be better off grasping something more powerful than those two leaders is now what they will be up against.
 
 
July 22nd, the Islamic State of Iraq released an audio recording announcing a new campaign of violence entitled Breaking The Walls which would include prison breaks and killing "judges and investigators and their guards." The last weeks have demonstrated that ISI is serious about pursuing those goals.  Their determination is also clear with an attack on a government prosecutor this morning.

KUNA reports unknown assailants invaded a Baiji home (Salahuddin Province) and killed 8 members of one family.  Kitabat adds that a government prosecutor lived in the house and that one of the sons was also an attorney.  In addition, they note that the attack took place at five in the morning and that there was some effort to burn the corpses after.  Alsumaria quotes a police source stating that the assailants stormed the home, firing automatic weapons as they did, killing the government prosecutor, his father, his sisters and brothers and a family member that hasn't been identified so far.  Xinhua identifies the prosecutor as Adnan Khayrallah and they note, "The attackers shot dead Adana, his father, three women, two children along with a guest, the source said without giving further details."   The Hong Kong Standard spells the name of the prosecutor as "Khayrallah Shati" and says he and his wife, their five sons and an unidentified 8th relative were killed.

In addition, a Suwayrah car bombing left many dead and many injured, BBC News notesPrashant Rao (AFP) explains that "a vehilce packed with explosives ripped through a group of Shiite worshippers during a commemoration ceremony."  AFP counts 13 dead and thirty injured.  Also Alsumaria reports a senior officer in the Ministry of Defense was shot dead by unknown assailants in Baghdad and that robbers stole 53 million dinars from a Kirkuk banking center (ASE Banking).  (53 million dinars is about 46,000 in US dollars.)
 

Recommended: "Iraq snapshot"
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The Taxer"
"Iraq's sex tape rumors"
"Where's the US Ambassador to Iraq"
"Mars and more"
"The bad economy"
"4 men, 4 women (and idiot of NPR)"
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"Heartbreakers"
"One damn liar"
"THIS JUST IN! BARRY O ACCOMPLISHES SO LITTLE!"
"No real dent"

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

THIS JUST IN! BARRY O ACCOMPLISHES SO LITTLE!

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

DESPITE THE BITCHIEST EFFORTS OF HARRY REID AND HIS FAUX VAGINA, ALL THE ATTACKS ON G.O.P. NOMINEE MITT ROMNEY HAVE NOT REALLY ACCOMPLISHED A THING. 

A WASHINGTON POST - ABC NEWS POLL HAS JUST FOUND THAT ONLY 42% OF REGISTERED VOTERS HAVE A POSITIVE OPINION OF MITT ROMNEY.

ONLY 49% HAVE A POSITIVE VIEW OF CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O.

WITH A MARGIN OF ERROR OF +/- 4% THAT MEANS THE TWO ARE STILL TIED BUT AS BARRY O AND HIS TRANSVESTITE POSSE LED BY HARRY REID CONTINUE TO BRING OUT THE BITCHY, THEY RISK FURTHER ALIENATING AN ELECTORATE THEY DESPERATELY NEED TO TURN OUT IN NOVEMBER.



FROM THE TCI WIRE:


 
 
 
Matthew Rothschild:  Today I'm delighted to have back in the studio with me the co-founder of CODEPINK, Medea Benjamin who's got a crucially important new book out called Drone Warfare: Killing By Remote Control. Medea Benjamin, welcome back to Progressive Radio.
 
Medea Benjamin:  Thank you, Matt.  Nice to be here.
 
Matthew Rothschild:  You know, you've been what I'd like to call "a witness to empire."  "A Witness to US Empire."  You've gone to Iraq during the war.  You've gone to Afghanistan.  What's it like to be A Witness to US Empire?
 
Medea Benjamin: It's very sad because it's, uh, an empire that the rest of the world sees and that the American people don't so you feel kind of living in a surreal world when you come back to the US and realize the ignorance of the American people --
 
Matthew Rothschild:  Why don't we see it?
 
Medea Benjamin:  It's not talked about by our media.  Certainly not talked about by our elected officials except maybe [US House Rep] Ron Paul or  [US House Rep] Dennis Kucinich and we don't even have Dennis talking about it. It's kind of one of those dirty words.  You certainly don't use the word impearlism.  Sometimes, people like Ron Paul will use the word empire but it's kind of like, you know, just don't talk about that part of things and it's such a reality that effects every budget in this country, every part of our lives but people don't understand that we've got these hundreds and hundreds of bases around the world that we spend these billions of dollars on -- things that we don't want and we don't need and people don't want us to have and yet it goes on as if there's something inexorable about this.
 
Matthew Rothschild:  And to the extent that it's talked about except by you and a few others, you know, it's talked about as though it's a benign empire.  There is this whole group of academics who are saying the United States is [laughing] the first benign empire in the history of foreign policy or some such.
 
Medea Benjamin:  That's a very twisted definition of what benign means.
 
Twisted?  Like a fact checker who doesn't understand that facts are facts and either you do what you say or you don't?  Molly Moorhead writes for the creative Politifact and the two of them want to spin for Barack Obama: "In Iraq, he ended the war as he said he would, closely following the plan set out by his predecessor, President George W. Bush.  Obama even kept troops there longer than he pledged during his campaign."  Oh, Moorhead.  Oh, Moorhead.
 
PolitiFact, you can't keep a promise to end the war in 16 months and also follow Bush's plan.  PoliWhore, you can't keep your own campaign promise and "even kept troops there longer than he pledged during his campaign."   Do you get that?
 
Do you also get how offensive it is to Iraqis -- especially after they just saw July become the deadliest month in two years -- to say that Barack ended the war?  The Iraq War is not over and you really have to have your head up your ass to think that it is.
 
PolitiFact and Molly Moorhead, as they delve further, get a little more honest.
 
 
 
They quote Barack stating in October 2011, "Our troops will definitely be home for the holidays."  And that was a lie.  Even PolitiFact notes, "A small force of a few hundred Marines would remain to help train Iraqi forces, as well as a large diplomatic contingent."  And let's drop back to the June 19, 2012 snapshot, the day  the Senate Foreign Relations Committee released [PDF format warning] "The Gulf Security Architecture: Partnership With The Gulf Co-Operation Council" and where we quote from page 12 of that report:
 
 
 
Kuwait is especially keen to maintain a significant U.S. military presence. In fact, the Kuwaiti public perception of the United States is more positive than any other Gulf country, dating back to the U.S.-led liberation of Kuwait in 1991. Kuwait paid over $16 billion to compensate coalition efforts for costs incurred during Desert Shield and Desert Storm and $350 million for Operation Southern Watch. In 2004, the Bush Administration designated Kuwait a major non-NATO ally.
* U.S. Military Presence: A U.S.-Kuwaiti defense agreement signed in 1991 and extended in 2001 provides a framework that guards the legal rights of American troops and promotes military cooperation. When U.S. troops departed Iraq at the end of 2011, Kuwait welcomed a more enduring American footprint. Currently, there are approximately 15,000 U.S. forces in Kuwait, but the number is likely to decrease to 13,500. Kuwaiti bases such as Camp Arifjan, Ali Al Salem Air Field, and Camp Buehring offer the United States major staging hubs, training rages, and logistical support for regional operations. U.S. forces also operate Patriot missile batteries in Kuwait, which are vital to theater missile defense.
 
 
When U. S troops departed Iraq at the end of 2011, Kuawait welcomed a more enduring American ootprint.  Currently, there are approximately 15,000 U.S. forces in Kuwait, but the number is likely to decrease to 13,500.
 
When do those US troops come home, PolitiFact?  When do your crap-ass, faux fact checking acknowledge those?  Oh, that's right, never. 
 
Molly Moorhead and PolitiFact want you to know that, okay, yeah, it wasn't the campaign promise but Michael O'Hanlon is okay with it and he's left (centrist, right-leaning) and Jim Phillips is okay with it taking longer too and he's on the right, so, see it's okay that Barack really didn't stick to what he promised. 
 
A fact checker checks the fact.  A fact checker doesn't offer excuses.  Facts are facts.  You can pull 'em out and play with them all day and they're not going to change.  You can wrap you mouth around them and even swallow -- as the folks at PolitiFact are so prone to do -- but that doesn't change facts.  Apparently fact checking was an ambitious task for PolitiFact and they need someone to come in -- with flash cards -- and explain to them what facts are before they next attempt to fact check.
 
As ridiculous and shameless as PolitiFact is Nouri al-Maliki -- thug and prime minister of the ongoing occupation in Iraq.  Xinhua reports that thug and prime minister Nouri al-Maliki declared yesterday, "The battle with  terrorism has ended and the remaining are cells here and there looking for an opportunity or a gap." This despite the Islamic State of Iraq recorded threats released July 22nd. Since then an Iraqi military helicopter has been downed, a Taji prison has been attacked, a Baghdad counter-terrorism centre (which held a number of terrorists) have been attacked and July was the deadliest month in Iraq in two years.  In addition, Sunday saw an attempted breakout of the Abu Ghraib prison.  Of that attempt, Aseel Kami (China Daily) explains, " A spokesman for the justice ministry , Haider al-Saadi , said in a statement that 11 ' dangerous prisoners ' at Abu Ghraib dug down three meters and had tunneled along 20 meters using a frying pan and part of a ceiling fan before they were discovered . They had fashioned breathing apparatus from soft-drink cans stuck end to end . "

Nouri's claim comes as mass arrests continue in Iraq.  Ahlul Bayt News Agency reports that 13 have been arrested in Basra today.   And it comes, Al Rafidayn reports, as someone circulates rumors that Moqtada al-Sadr is attempting to re-arm the Madhi Army (Moqtada denies the rumors).  And if the terrorism is over, why is Dar Addustour reporting that Nouri has just transfered a large number of security forces from the southern provinces to Baghdad in order to beef up protection of the Green Zone?
 

RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
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"Grand Ayatollah Plouffe"

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

THIS JUST IN! LOOK WHO'S MAKING MONEY!

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

 CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O DOESN'T SEE WHAT THE BIG DEAL IS.  DAVID PLOUFFEE CAN WORK FOR HIM AND WORK FOR IRAN, RIGHT?  THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, ONE WORKING FOR THE PRESIDENT, FROM MAXIMIZING TEHRAN MONEY, RIGHT?  THERE'S NOTHING SMARMY OR QUESTIONABLE ABOUT IT, RIGHT?

"THE WAY I SEE IT," DECLARED BARRY O TO THESE REPORTERS, "DAVID BASICALLY MOWS MY LAWN.  IF HE WANTS TO MAKE A FEW BUCKS BY MOWING ANOTHER YARD DOWN THE STREET, WHAT IS THAT MY BUSINESS?  RIGHT?  RIGHT?"


FROM THE TCI WIRE:


At the start of the film Julia, Jane Fonda (playing Lillian Helman in a performance that won her the British Academy of Film and Televison Arts' award for Best Film Actress, the film based on a story in Hellman's Pentimento) observes:
 
Old paint on canvas, as it ages, sometimes becomes transparent.  When that happens it is possible, in some pictures, to see the original lines:  a tree will show through a woman's dress, a child makes way for a dog, a boat is no longer on an open sea.  That is called pentimento because the painter "repented," changed his mind.
 
Ali al-Fatli has discovered something similar in Iraq.  Kay Johnson (AP) reports that the construction of an airport in Najaf has allowed a structure to emerge.  Buried under sand for who knows how long is a church that archaeologist Ali al-Fatli tells Johnson "is the oldest sign of Christianity in Iraq" and scholars believe it to be Hira which Johnson explains "was founded around 270 A.D., grew into a major force in Mesopotamia centuries before the advent of Islam, and reputedly was a cradle of Arabic script.  Lying 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, it was lost to Iraq's southern desert for centuries after Christians were driven out of the area by Muslim rulers." 
 
Iraqi Christians have been targeted throughout the Iraq War and a population that once number millions now is less than half a million.  Open Doors USA reports:
 
An Open Doors contact in Baghdad emailed that, "Each hour the news [in Iraq] gets worse. The violence is unbelievable. Please pray for Iraq and the remaining Christians." A modern-day exodus of Christians is going on in Iraq. Sectarian violence has caused tens of thousands of Christians to flee since the beginning of the war. An estimated 345,000 Christians live in Iraq today; there were nearly 850,000 in 1991. Those who remain feel that the government fails to protect them from the recent wave of threats, robbery, rape, kidnapping, and church bombings. Though Northern Iraq -- an area commonly called Kurdistan -- has long been known as a safe haven for Christians, even in this region the situation for Christians has deteriorated due to Islamic extremism.
"The terror in Iraq recently is the worst in several years," continued the contact. "There have also been major Al Qaida threats to everyone, especially the Christians. After last week's violence, communication is terrible. It is not really possible to describe the devastation here in Baghdad. Over 100 have been killed. Security has been targeted…. We are used to bad problems here in Baghdad but the violence is just quite unbelievable; 12 car bombs, two suicide bombers on motor bikes. Scores of police and soldiers killed. We no longer have any security. While our people have not been killed, the injuries sustained to others are severe. There have also been new serious threats from Abu Baker Al Hussani, the head of Al Qaida in Iraq."
 
Catholic Online adds, "The most recent exodus began in Iraq as an indirect consequence of the Iraqi war. The exodus went into full swing after the horrendous massacre at Our Lady of Deliverance Church in Bagdad on October 31, 2010. This is the same massacre where a three-year-old child, Adam Udai, followed the terrorists around for two hours telling them to stop before they brutally murdered him. Adam joined his parents and approximately fifty other Christian martyrs that day, but his words lived on and were heard throughout the world (Adam, the Little Christian Boy Who Confronted Islamic Terrorists)."  The US State Dept breaks down religion in Iraq in a very superficial manner, "Muslim 97% (Shi'a 60%-65%; Sunni 32%-37%), Christian and others approximately 3%."  "Others" includes the decimated Jewish population.  Khaled Diab (Chronikler) speaks with Iraqi Jew Sasson Somekh:
 
Born in Baghdad in 1933 into a well-to-do, middle-class Jewish family, Somekh remembers summers spent swimming in and loungingby the majestic Tigris, the river along whose banks some of the first human civilisations were born. When temperatures soared and water levels dipped, a patchwork of small islets would emerge, providing ideal seclusion for family picnics, consisting primarily of fish grilled on a special covered Iraqi barbecue. "Those were the most enjoyable days of my life," he recalled wistfully.
At the time, Baghdad was a very Jewish city, with Jews – who were active in all walks of life, including commerce, the professions, politics and the arts – comprising as much as a third of the Iraqi capital's population. "When you walked down Baghdad's main street, al-Rashid, half the names on the shops and offices were Jewish," he noted.
Iraqi Jews were so enmeshed in their country's social fabric that they described themselves, and were regarded, as "Arabs", and viewed Judaism as a religion and not an ethnicity. As Somekh put it, he grew up with Arabic as his mother tongue and Arab culture as his reference point.
 
Another minority group would be the Yazidis.  Fryad Mohammed (AKnews and Ekurd) explains, "Mosul, capital city of Ninewa province in Iraq, near the border with Kurdistan region, lies 405 km north of Baghdad. The Yazidis are primarily ethnic Kurds located near Mosul. A Kurdish Yazidis are primarily ethnic Kurds located near Mosul. Some 350,000 Yazidis live in villages around Mosul near Kurdistan autonomous region border."   The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs notes today:
 
As misunderstood as Iraq is, there is perhaps no other group, and no other religion, more mysterious than the Yazidis. Simply mentioning the Yazidi faith to most Muslims in Iraq evokes an almost immediate condemnation of the "devil-worshipers in Ninawa" followed by a warning: don't trust them and don't eat their food.
An ancient blend of indigenous-Mesopotamian religion with strong Islamic, Sufi and Christian influences, Yazidism centers its worldview in the belief that after creating the world, God left its care to seven Holy Beings, the most eminent of which, and the central figure of the Yazidi faith, is called Melek Taus. Melek Taus is also central in Islam and Christianity, where the mystical Peacock Angel, as Melek Taus is depicted, was said to have refused to bow to the authority of Adam, which is the source of Islamic and Christian claims that Melek Taus becomes Satan. The Yazidis, on the other hand, believe that God first created Melek Taus in self-emulation, commanded him not to bow down to any other creature. This contradiction has fueled an age-old and inaccurate depiction of Yazidism as "devil worshipping."
As a consequence, the Yazidis have been the victims of hundreds of years of persecution and genocide, starting with the ancient Ottoman Empires and continuing well into the reign of Saddam Hussein. Their dwindling population, numbering roughly 500,000 in Iraq, is today only a fraction of its strength years ago.
 
 
 
While certain segments of Iraq's population decrease and dwindle, there is a new influx in the last weeks: refugees from Syria -- both Syrians and Iraqis.  Though Syria housed over a million Iraqi refugees from 2006 on, allowing for schooling and doing so without any aid from the Iraqi government -- though, of course, Nouri al-Maliki did announce that the Iraqi government would reimburse Syria and Jordan for the refugees, it never happened.  When the turmoil in Syria began resulting in refugees, Nouri announced that they could not come to Iraq.  Iraq, he said, couldn't handle the influx.  As the world's jaw hung open in disbelief and disbelief began to turn to condemnation, Nouri suddenly announced a policy switch.  Syrian refugees would be welcomed in!  But the living conditions he's provided for them have been less than hospitable -- and it's telling that he's placed then in the Sunni province of Anbar.  Omar Alsaleh (Al Jazeera -- link is text and video) reports on what awaits Syrian refugees who seek asylum in Iraq:


Omar Alsaleh:  They fled the violence in Syria, expecting a warm welcome in Iraq.  These refugees are now safe from the bombardments and the killings but they feel locked up.


Syrian refugee:  We became refugees and our country was destroyed because we demanded freedom.  But our freedom is now confisicated.  It would have been better if we had stayed in Syria.  We demand that the Iraqi government and NGOs take us out of here or takes us back to our country.  Let us die there.




Omar Alsaleh:  More than 3,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in al Kahim over the last two weeks.  They've been given shelter in 12 shcol. Aid groups, tribal shieks and residents of Anbar Province offer them food, some cash and basic needs.  But they want to be allowed to move.


That's the Baghdad-controlled Iraq.  The semi-autonomous KRG has been accepting refugees long before Nouri.  And Martin Kobler, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Iraq, has visited the camps last month.  Hoda Abdel-Hamid (Al Jazeera -- link is text and video) reports today from a refugee camp in the Kurdistan Regional Government:


Hoda Abdel-Hamid:  Rejin Hassan crossed into northern Iraq about a month ago.  She lived all of her life in Damascus but she was never considered a Syrian national.


Rejin Hassan:  We were considered foreigners but they have given us nationality so we are Syrian.  But I wish we had our region.


Hoda Abdel-Hamid:  So far Kurds have not joined the armed conflict.  They are Syrian's largest ethnic minority.  But many of them were never granted citizenship.  It's only after the uprising started that the government gave the nationality to an estimated 200,000 Kurds.  Ahmed and his family were stateless all their lives. They now hold Syrian i.d.s, but for Ahmed it's too little too late.


Ahmed:  This is a ploy by the [Bashar al-Assad] regime. They try to calm the situation down making sure we don't join the uprising. It's a game they're playing.  But in the end they will lose.

Lara Jakes (AP) notes that "at least 12,680 Iraqis" had returned in the last weeks from Syria.   RT notes, "Syrian state TV host Mohammed al-Saeed has been executed, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.  A militant Islamist group has claimed responsibility for the killing." This would be the Syrian 'rebels.' Those groups Kelly McEvers is always sobbing about on NPR while NPR pretends to be objective.  As Ava and I explained yesterday, Senator John Kerry has asked more questions of who the 'rebels' in Syria are than some in the media:


Chair John Kerry:  Well there's been as you know in the meeting in Paris and other meetings, Istanbul and elsewhere, very significant efforts to flush out who is the opposition?  I mean, do you know exactly who you would provide weapons too?


Andrew Tabler: Absolutely not.  But --

Chair John Kerry:  Don't you think we need to know that?  



Andrew Tabler: Absolutely. 



Ed Husain (Council on Foreign Relations) offers today, "The Syrian rebels would be immeasurably weaker today without al-Qaeda in their ranks. By and large, Free Syrian Army (FSA) battalions are tired, divided, chaotic, and ineffective. Feeling abandoned by the West, rebel forces are increasingly demoralized as they square off with the Assad regime's superior weaponry and professional army. Al-Qaeda fighters, however, may help improve morale. The influx of jihadis brings discipline, religious fervor, battle experience from Iraq, funding from Sunni sympathizers in the Gulf, and most importantly, deadly results. In short, the FSA needs al-Qaeda now."  In the midst of the turmoil, millions try to live their lives in Syria and that's not helped when the 'rebels' start targeting the media.  NPR reports an attack on a television building has left at least three people dead today (that was on their hourly news update so the link just goes to NPR).  Xinhua reports on that attack here. Yesterday, Anthony Khun (NPR's All Things Considered -- link is audio and text) reported on a group of Iranians the 'rebel' Free Syrian Army was holding and claiming they were some sort of military operatives (while the government in Tehran insists that they are pilgrims).  Shashank Joshi (Telegraph of London) observes, "Foreign powers did not invent Syria's uprising, but they are certainly helping it along. In recent months Turks, Arabs and Americans have embraced the rebel cause, pumping in a thickening flow of weapons and helping to discipline the once ragtag insurgents into a force that grows more potent by the day. " 

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