TODAY U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY MET WITH CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER WANG YI AND THE TWO DISCUSSED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O'S CONTINUED USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS CITING THIS WEEK'S FART ATTACK ON THE UNITED NATIONS' GENERAL ASSEMBLY (SEE "THIS JUST IN! BARRY O GASSES THE UN!" and "Barack makes an impression").
"THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH!" KERRY THUNDERED AT A PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER. "THINGS HAVE ONLY GOTTEN WORSE IN THE LAST WEEK. AND THERE ARE RUMORS THAT BARRY O IS CONSIDERING MOVING FROM PINTO TO GARBANZO AND EVEN LIMA BEANS. LIMA BEANS! IMAGINE HOW BAD THE FARTS FROM THAT COULD BE!"
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Today, violence slammed Iraq again. National Iraqi News Agency reports that there was an attempt to storm the Hawija Council building -- guns went off, suicide bombers, mortars. EFE offers, "Militants targeted the city hall, police station and courthouse in the town of Hawijah." The attack left at least 14 people dead and twenty-two more injured. Al Mada quotes Iraqi army Major General Mohammed Khalaf Saeed al-Dulaimi stating the breakdown on the dead is 3 Iraqi soldiers, 7 civilians and 4 rebels. Yaseen al-Sabaw tells Reuters, "I was at the Hawija local council building when suddenly two blasts shook the ground. I ran out of the building and was shocked to see human flesh and body parts spread around the entrance." Bi Mingxin (Xinhua) notes, "The attacks occurred at noon in Hawijah, some 60 km west of the capital city of Kirkuk, when insurgents blew up a car bomb near a police station while two suicide car bombers struck the entrance of the city council building and another police station, local police source said told Xinhua on condition of anonymity." On Iraq's increasing violence, Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) offers, "The tensions began escalating after an April incident in Hawija. That's when Iraqi security forces raided a site used by Sunni protesters to demonstrate against the Shiite-led government."
Tawfeeq is referring to the April 23rd massacre of a sit-in in Hawija resulted from Nouri's federal forces storming in. Alsumaria noted Kirkuk's Department of Health (Hawija is in Kirkuk) announced 50 activists have died and 110 were injured in the assault. AFP reported the death toll eventually (as some wounded died) rose to 53 dead. UNICEF noted that the dead included 8 children (twelve more were injured).
The attack in Hawija wasn't the only violence today. Alsumaria reports a Tikrit bombing claimed the lives of 2 women and left three more injured. All Iraq News notes a Mosul market bombing has left 5 people dead and forty-two more injured. Xinhua reports, "A group of unidentified gunmen stormed a house in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and shot dead six people from one family, including three children, an Interior Ministry source said Wednesday." NINA adds a Tikrit roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier and left four more injured, 2 farmers were shot dead in Muqdadiya, a Mousl roadside bombing claimed the lives of 3 police officers (two more were left injured), 2 Shabaks were shot dead in Mosul, a Rutba roadside bombing left 2 people dead and a third injured, and a Ramadi sticky bombing claimed the life of "Ammar Theyabi, one of the organizers of the Anbar protests." Alsumaria reveals that Ammar was crossing a bridge when the bomb went off. Iraqi Spring MC states the attack bears the characteristics of one carried out by government intelligence agents.
That is Ammar Jassam Theyabi who was assassinated today. Iraqi Spring MC published the photo as they noted yet another attack on the peaceful protesters. The current wave of protests passed the nine month mark last Friday. The world press has had very little interest in the attacks Nouri's forces have carried out. (But didn't they all freak out and offer coverage when Saleh al-Mutlaq got the bum's rush when he attempted to take over a protest to self-promote?)
If you're not getting just how bad the world media's coverage of the attacks on the Iraqi protesters have been, note that EFE, AP and countless others mention the Hawija attack all the time but 'forget' to note that UNICEF found 8 children were killed in that massacre. They can't even get the numbers right for the dead. Most English language outlets will go with 40. EFE today goes with 26. What kind of nonsense is that? And since when did UNICEF stop being a respected source for news on the world's children?
BRussels Tribunal does a great job getting the word out on Iraq. But today might be the day for them to create a list. They already have the following lists:
Maybe it's time for a list of activists who have been assassinated in 'free' (post-invasion) Iraq?
In police news, NINA notes that suspects are said to have been apprehended in Saturday's bombing of the funeral in Sadr City and that some residents took to government buildings with stones and bullets today demanding the suspects be handed over to them. All Iraq News quotes a security source who states, ""Some protesters attacked some governmental institutions including the Local Council of Mudhafar square on the background of the bombing that took place in Sadr city and targeted a solace. The protesters called to close the governmental institutions in Sadr city." Ahmed Hussein and Sam Mahmoud (Alsumaria) report there are three suspects being held in the Saturday bombing.
From Saturday's entry:
Reuters notes, "At least 65 people were killed in a triple bombing that targeted a tent filled with mourners in Baghdad's Shi'ite Muslim stronghold of Sadr City on Saturday, police and medical sources said." Press TV adds, "In the deadliest of the attacks on Saturday, 57 people died after two bombings were carried out near a funeral tent in Shia-dominated Sadr City north of the capital Baghdad." The death toll continued to rise. AP notes, "Police said at least 72 people were killed and more than 120 were wounded in that attack. One bomber drove up near the tents before detonating his deadly payload, and another on foot blew himself up nearby, police said."
The bombings were condemned by the United Nations, the UK Foreign Ministry, the EU, and the US Embassy in Baghdad among other foreign bodies. Saturday's bombing was followed Sunday by the targeting of a Sunni funeral in Baghdad and Monday, in Baghdad, another Sunni funeral was targeted. Some of those who lost loved ones in the Sadr City bombing are calling for executions. All Iraq News reports:
The number of the demonstrators demanding to execute the perpetrators of the solace explosion in Sadr city increased in Sadr city.
The correspondent of AIN reported that ''The demonstrations still continue and the number of protestors increased demanding to execute the terrorist who carried out the explosion that targeted a solace in Sadr city.''
Amnesty International released a statement on executions in Iraq today:
All executions in Iraq must be halted immediately, Amnesty International urged today after 13 men were executed in Baghdad.
Today, the organization has been able to confirm the names of nine of the men, who were executed on 22 September following death sentences imposed after unfair trials and based on “confessions” allegedly extracted under torture. Four others were also executed that day, bringing the total number of executions in Iraq so far this year to at least 73.
“The Iraqi authorities have chosen to defy repeated calls not to execute prisoners and to rely on tainted ‘confessions’ obtained under torture. That a death sentence could be imposed after obviously grossly unfair trials beggars belief,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
Amnesty International had urged the Iraqi authorities not to carry out the executions of these nine men, and to investigate their allegations that they were tortured to coerce them into making “confessions”. The court trying them appears to have disregarded compelling medical evidence supporting these complaints, and used “confessions” inadmissible as evidence under international law - their trial fell far short of international fair trial standards.
“We again urge the Iraqi authorities to declare a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolishing the death penalty and to commute all death sentences. They must address the flaws in the Iraqi justice system, investigate claims of torture and other ill-treatment in custody, and, where applicable, grant re-trials in full compliance with fair trial standards,” said Hassiba Hadi Sahraoui.
In other police news, NINA notes that police raided the University of Tikrit's College of Education "and detained the professor of the science of Quran [. . .] Dr. Salah Yasser al-Obeidi." Iraqi Spring MC adds that over 90 young people (all under the age of 20) have been rounded up and taken away by Nouri's forces today in Rawa (Anbar Province). It would appear that the Iraqi protesters are being targeted not just with bombs but also with arrests.
In other political news (targeting protesters counts as political news because the goal is to silence their protests), All Iraq News notes Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi met with British Ambassador to Iraq Simon Collis today to discuss the security situation in the country. al-Nujaifi also met with US Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Beecroft today and the two discussed the security situation and the ongoing political crisis.
The political crisis has been going on for nearly three years now. Nouri didn't get the votes to be prime minister. The White House wanted al-Maliki to have a second term. They brokered The Erbil Agreement -- a contract where the heads of the various political blocs in Iraq agreed to give Nouri a second term in exchange for Nouri agreeing to their terms. Nouri used the contract to get a second term and then trashed it, refusing to honor the legal promises he had made in writing. That's what's behind the ongoing political crisis.
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