Saturday, July 06, 2013

THIS JUST IN! WHEN THE PRETTY'S GONE!

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

FILM QUEEN BOBBY REDFORD CONTINUES HIS PRAISE OF CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O.

AND HE DOES SO AS THE REVELATIONS OF BARRY O'S VAST SPYING ON AMERICANS CONTINUES TO LEAK OUT.  IN OTHER WORDS, IN 1975, THE FILM QUEEN PLAYED A MAN INTENT ON EXPOSING A PRESIDENT'S ABUSES BUT TODAY, IN HIS ERECTILEY FUTILE OLD AGE, QUEEN BOBBY REDFORD EXISTS TO COVER UP FOR A PRESIDENT'S ABUSES.

REACHED FOR COMMENT, QUEEN BOBBY TOLD THESE REPORTERS HIS 2 GREATEST REGRETS WERE "NEVER HAVING POSED NUDE BEFORE EVERYTHING FELL AND NEVER HAVING SLEPT WITH TRICKY DICK NIXON -- WITH A NAME LIKE TRICKY DICK, YOU JUST KNOW HE HAD TO PACK A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA."


FROM THE TCI WIRE:



Since December 21st, Fridays in Iraq have meant protests.  The actions have been going on now for over six months.  The western media has largely ignored the attacks.  That happened again today as many outlets -- including the BBC -- wrote about 'big violence' that was only two more dead than an attack on the protesters.  But western outlets like the BBC ignored the bombing targeting the protesters.  This happens every week.  You'd think six months of dedication on the part of the Iraqi people would translate into coverage but the western media's not interested in Iraq.

Today saw protesters stand up yet again.   Iraqi Spring MC notes people turned out in Falluja, in Baiji, in Samarra, and in Ramadi (where Nouri's SWAT forces were out in full force and arrested some attempting to protest).   Falluja, Al Mada reports, is where speakers announced that the government thinks the observation of the month of Ramadan will disrupt the protests but the protesters and their will will not be broken. 




 The protesters were attacked most obviously in Sammara.  Iraqi Spring MC Tweeted about what took place:





: حسب شهود عيان السيارة كان يقودها احد عناصر القوات الحكومية وكان يروم ركنها لكنها انفجرت به






That's the remains of a car bombing that targeted Samarra's protest today and the Tweet notes that eye witnesses saw one of Nouri's forces in the car.  Pakistan's Daily Times notes, "The bomber wore an army uniform, police said."

 
Alsumaria reports that the preachers in the province (Salahuddin) are saying that the security failed the protesters.   All Iraq News reports that  12 people are dead from the Samarra bombing and another nineteen are injured.  NINA notes the Motahidoon Alliance denounced the attack on the sit-in and termed the attack, "continuation of the attempts to silence the voices opposing the Government's unjust and forceful trend. [. . . ] The peoples' will cannot be defeated, and the martyres' blood is a force that keeps the protestors moving to the end of the road of reform."  The Motahidoon Alliance is part of Iraqiya and it is led by Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi.   Kareem Raheem and Janet Lawrence (Reuters) report :


Protest organiser Adnan Al-Muhanna called on Sunnis to take to the streets daily and follow the example of Egyptians.
Egypt's first freely elected president Mohamed Mursi was toppled on Wednesday after the army intervened following mass demonstrations against his rule, a year after the Islamist was sworn into office.
"Demonstrations can make the change. Neither elections nor weapons can do that," Muhanna said. "Within one year, the Egyptians changed the Mursi regime through demonstrations because they were well-organized."


In other violence, NINA notes police shot 2 suspects dead in Hawija, a Kut car bombing claimed 1 life and left seventeen injured, an armed attack to the south of Falluja left two people injured,  and armed attack in Falluja left 1 Iraqi soldier dead and another injured as well as one police officer injuredMu Xuequan (Xinhua) reports, "The deadliest attack was in the Qurait area in northern Baghdad, where 14 people were killed and 31 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shi'ite mosque during the evening pray, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.Reuters states that the suicide bomber was a woman.  In addition, NINA notes a Baghdad car bombing claimed 1 life and left nine more people injured.




Yesterday saw at least 14 deaths and at least thirty-four injured.  Three of the dead?  Doctors killed in Baghdad. 




All Iraq News noted that  the Parliament's Health and Environment Committee "discussed several amendments on Physicians Protection Law preparing for a vote to be endorsed by Parliament."  Alsumaria added that Moqtada al-Sadr declared these attacks cannot be allowed, called for an immediate investigation into the attacks on the three doctors and declared that Iraq cannot allow the hands of terrorism to target and impair the medical community."  If you missed it, recent violence has required Iraq to utilize hospitals in other countries.  The "brain drain" in the early years of the war has not been repaired and has left Iraq without a sufficient number of medical providers.  Nouri's been prime minister for seven years now.  Why the hell he didn't implement fast track programs of training is a question the Iraqi people should be demanding answers to.  Instead, he continues to try to pad out Iraq's medical community by importing nurses from other countries.  At a time when Iraqis face massive unemployment and with all the billions Iraq sits on, there was plenty of time, plenty of people to start up a nursing program that could have turned out LVNs and RNs very quickly and had them working in the hospitals instead of importing nurses into the country.

Iraq can't afford more violence aimed at doctors.  That's what Moqtada's smart enough to grasp although it escapes Nouri.  A second brain drain is possible.  Violence is again increasing in Iraq.  Today, 3 doctors were killed in Baghdad.  This is the sort of thing that can lead to a panic.  If you're a doctor in Iraq and you've told yourself things will get better, you've said you want to honor the Iraqi people and you've stayed?  The violence has never ended and at some point -- when doctors are being targeted again -- you have to ask yourself exactly how much longer you can wait for the violence to end?  For some, it won't take much to push them out of Iraq at this point.




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"THIS JUST IN! HE CAN'T ACT HIS AGE!"

Friday, July 05, 2013

THIS JUST IN! HE CAN'T ACT HIS AGE!

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

GERIATRIC QUEENS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY ARE REJOICING AS ONE OF THEIR OWN PRAISES CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O.

ROBERT REDFORD, WHO NEVER HAD THE SENSE TO REALIZE HIS FILM ACTING CAREER DIED WITH LEGAL EAGLES AND WILL NEVER BE COMING BACK, IS SLOBBERING OVER BARRY O YET AGAIN.

BARRY O'S DONE NOTHING TO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT AND REDFORD'S EMBARRASSING AND CONSTANT PRAISE OF BARRY O IS AS LAUGHABLE AS THAT CHEAP AND OBVIOUS RUG ON TOP OF REDFORD'S HEAD.

A 76-YEAR-OLD BLONDE, WHAT A LAUGH.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:



Let's start by dipping into the archives to give someone credit for being right:

Last night on The NewsHour (PBS -- link has text, video and audio options), Margaret Warner moderated a discussion on the latest trades and deals between Meghan O'Sullivan who served in the Bully Boy Bush administration and Feisal Istrabadi who was Iraq's Deputy Ambassador to the UN (2004 - 2007). Excerpt:

 











MARGARET WARNER: Let me just interrupt, and quickly, because I -- before we run out of time, what is this going to mean for the violence we have been seeing on the rise in Iraq, Mr. Istrabadi?

 

FEISAL ISTRABADI: I don't see any indications that Nouri al-Maliki has the first idea of what to do about the rising violence. The violence cannot be dealt with -- and we have been saying this for five years -- the violence cannot be dealt with merely militarily. There has to be reconciliation amongst the various factions. Nothing in Nouri al-Maliki's history indicates that he is prepared to undertake such reconciliation.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


That's from the November 12, 2010 snapshot so "last night" was the November 11, 2010 broadcast of The NewsHour.  Let's note one more time Feisal Istrabadi's remarks.




FEISAL ISTRABADI: I don't see any indications that Nouri al-Maliki has the first idea of what to do about the rising violence. The violence cannot be dealt with -- and we have been saying this for five years -- the violence cannot be dealt with merely militarily. There has to be reconciliation amongst the various factions. Nothing in Nouri al-Maliki's history indicates that he is prepared to undertake such reconciliation.




On the first two days of July, Iraq Body Count counts 102 violent deaths.  AFP adds that 320 have been injured.  Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) reminds, "The UN has released its estimate on deaths in Iraq for the month of June as 761, somewhat below the May toll of over 1,000, but still well above the toll of April, and the worst June since at least 2008."  The United Nations adds, "In a report issued last week, UNAMI said that at least 3,200 civilians were killed and more than 10,000 injured in during the second half of 2012 in a reversal of the trend that had seen violence decline in recent years."

Again from November of 2010:



FEISAL ISTRABADI: I don't see any indications that Nouri al-Maliki has the first idea of what to do about the rising violence. The violence cannot be dealt with -- and we have been saying this for five years -- the violence cannot be dealt with merely militarily. There has to be reconciliation amongst the various factions. Nothing in Nouri al-Maliki's history indicates that he is prepared to undertake such reconciliation.


Violence continues today in Iraq.  National Iraqi News Agency reports a roadside bombing north of Baghdad has claimed the lives of 2 Sahwa and left five more injured, a Tikrit roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer and left two more injured, another Tikrit bombing has claimed 1 life and left another person injured, a Falluja armed attack has left three people injured, and a Baquba sticky bombing injured one personAll Iraq News notes a Mosul bombing has left two people injured, another Baquba bombing left five people injured, and the corpse of a 2-year-old child was discovered in Diwaniya -- dead from gunshots to the headAlsumaria adds that a Mosul suicide bomber targeted military headquarters and claimed the lives of 4 Iraqi soldiers and twelve more were left injured.  Press TV, BBC News and AFP  report a Baghdad bombing (southwest Baghdad, Nahrawan) which has claimed 7 lives and left fourteen people injured.  Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) also reports the Baghdad bombing and notes that, in addition, 3 corpses (gunshot wounds) have been discovered in Baghdad.  Over 12 hours ago, that was the reported violence:  19 reported deaths and 45 injured.

But the violence didn't end there.  NINA notes 1 police officer was shot dead in Falluja by assailants on motorcycles, a Mosul car bombing killed 1 man on what should have been a special day -- his wedding -- his bride-to-be was injured as were twelve of their wedding guests, Sahwa Captain Ali Mohammed Lahbib was shot dead to the east of Falluja today, a Mosul suicide bomber claimed the lives of 2 Iraqi military members and left three more injured, a machine gun attack on a Falluja police checkpoint left one police officer injured, and  a Falluja bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer and left a bystander injuredAll Iraq News adds a Tikrit bombing claimed the lives of 2 Sahwa and left three more injured. That's 8 more deaths and 21 more injured -- day total of 27 dead and 66 injured.

Today the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq issued the following:

Baghdad, 3 July 2013 – The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), Mr. Martin Kobler, condemned in the strongest possible terms the wave of attacks that claimed dozens of lives across Iraq yesterday. كوردى
“These devastating terrorist attacks once again targeted innocent citizens going about their daily activities, struggling to build a more hopeful future for themselves and their children in a highly volatile environment,” the UN Envoy said. “They follow two weeks during which we’ve seen an increasing number of attacks targeting cafés, football fields and other locations where people socialize and nurture the personal relationships and social fabric that are so important for a strong, prosperous country.”
“I once again urge the Iraqi authorities to do their utmost and take all necessary measures to protect the people of Iraq from more bloodshed,” he added. “This carnage must stop.”
Mr. Kobler extended his sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wishes for a speedy recovery to those who were wounded.

Martin Kobler's really good about these generic statements.  But who could be considered responsible for the violence?  Let's quote it one more time:






FEISAL ISTRABADI: I don't see any indications that Nouri al-Maliki has the first idea of what to do about the rising violence. The violence cannot be dealt with -- and we have been saying this for five years -- the violence cannot be dealt with merely militarily. There has to be reconciliation amongst the various factions. Nothing in Nouri al-Maliki's history indicates that he is prepared to undertake such reconciliation. 

 

 

He was right.  Nouri wasn't going to help that, he was only going to increase the tensions that encourage the violence. 

 

We'll come back to the violence.  But we've noted someone who was right nearly three years ago.  Someone who has been proven right.  Let's note someone else now, someone whose first name should be Falsehood.


 

"Secondly, I'm one of the few people of Arab descent -- few people of Arab-Americans and activists -- who has always supported Kurdish self-determination."  Beware anyone making such a claim.  Anyone so self-involved and so stupid that he thinks he can get away with that claim.  The idiot in question?  James Zogby.  Kurds beware as he makes that statement right before attempting to tell the Kurds that they need to back off certain goals and certain deals having to do with oil and "a Kurdish independent move."  He's a whore, he's a cheap whore.

The Zogby family's idiot polling has been a joke among pollsters for years.  That's because it's always been a hybrid and a questionable sample.  It's also because the polls tended to lean towards Democratic Party goals -- not left goals, Democratic Party goals -- not rank and file Democrat goals, leadership goals.  Why would the polling match up so closely with what leaders wanted -- especially when Gallup and others didn't match up?  Who knows?  But one thing that might have helped answer the question was the reality that James Zogby was on the Democratic Party's Executive Committee -- a fact rarely reported and one he doesn't tend to disclose in on air appearances.



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"THIS JUST IN! BARRY O WASTES MORE TAX DOLLARS!"

Wednesday, July 03, 2013

THIS JUST IN! BARRY O WASTES MORE TAX DOLLARS!

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

CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O CONTINUES TO HIDE OUT IN AFRICA TO AVOID HIS DOMESTIC SCANDALS. 

IN AFRICA, HE'S PRAISED BULLY BOY BUSH.  HE ALSO ANNOUNCED A $5 BILLION INVESTMENT IN AFRICA TO FIX ELECTRICITY.

SO AMERICAN TAX PAYERS ARE FOOTING POSSIBLY $100 MILLION SO BARACK CAN TAKE VARIOUS FAMILY MEMBERS TO AFRICA AND, ON TOP OF THAT, HE'S GIVING AWAY $5 BILLION AT A TIME WHEN AMERICANS ARE LOSING FOOD STAMPS AND BEING TOLD THAT EVERY AMERICAN HAS TO SACRIFICE DUE TO A BUDGET DEFICIT.



FROM THE TCI WIRE:

It was not a good day for the US government.  The administration looks increasingly incompetent and the US State Dept's becoming a national joke.  We'll come back later in the snapshot to the State Dept press briefing but note this remark from AP's Matthew Lee in the midst of the briefing today:

Okay. So let me just do a little quick recap from the most transparent Administration in history. You won’t tell us what you are asking for [Egypitan] President Morsy to do or what you would like to see. The conversations that you have with countries involving [NSA whistle-blower] Mr. Snowden are private and you can’t talk about them. Your conversations with European allies and others about the NSA spying allegations are also private. I don’t know. How would you respond to someone who might say that it appears that the only privacy that this Administration is interested in protecting is its own?

Damning remarks from AP's Matthew Lee.  Completely accurate ones, no needed embarrassment for Lee but who the hell is running the US government currently as it spins out of control and veers from one scandal to the next?  The incompetence, it's the continued incompetence.  Maybe next time, a president doesn't leave the country on an expensive family vacation (look at all the relatives the tax payers paid to go to Africa) when he should be governing.  Turning to Iraq . . .

Long before noon in the United States, Iraq had already been slammed with violence.  You already had Iraq's National Iraqi News Agency reports the military killed 2 suspects in Mtaibijh, a Mosul roadside bombing left two people injured, another Mosul roadside bombing claimed 2 lives and left a police officer injured,  a Falluja roadside bombing injured three people,  an armed clash to the west of Mosul left 4  Federal Police and SWAT forces dead and four more injured, a Kirkuk roadside bombing claimed 1 life and left another person injured,  and last night a Baquba suicide bomber attacked a cafe leaving 7 people dead and twelve injured. -- last night's bombing has resulted in allegedly tighter security and in "popular cafes in the city of Baquba" closing their doors today.  That amounted to 16 dead and twenty-three injured.

But it wasn't news.  No US outlet was covering it, the wires weren't covering it.    16 dead just didn't feel like news to them.

Let's zoom in on AFP --  Agence France-Press -- which is the world's oldest wire service, having started in 1835.  Prashant Rao is the Baghdad Bureau Chief for AFP.  He tweeted about none of the above violence.  What was he Tweeting?




 

Looks like will soon be able to fly direct to Baghdad -- perhaps an asylum claim is upcoming?


Oh, that's funny.  It's good to know that those in charge of news coverage are busy making braying asses out of themselves while ignoring death and destruction around them.

When did he register violence today?


At least 15 dead in wave of Baghdad car bombs - :

Baghdad got hit by car bombs, suddenly violence mattered.  16 dead and 23 wounded before that didn't mean a damn.

Qassim Abdul (AP) reports 2 car bombgs hit northern Baghdad resulting in 9 dead and twenty-four injured, a Baghdad bombing in a market (followed by a second bombing when people came running to help) left 12 dead and twenty-seven injured, an eastern Baghdad market was hit by a car bomb which claimed 5 lives and left sixteen injured, a car bomb in southern Baghdad left 4 dead and fifteen injured, a car bomb in Baghdad's Hurriyah section claimed 3 lives and left thirteen injured  and, in the Amiriyah section, a car bombing claimed 2 lives and left twelve injured.  The Amiryah may be the most surprising -- Nouri's got more troops there than a year ago -- more of his troops more of his police.  Why?  Because of the ongoing protests.  The bombing there indicates that security can't provide security.  Kareem Raheem, Aref Mohammed, Ahmed Rasheed, Isabel Coles and Andrew Heavens (Reuters) report, "At least 45 people were killed in bomb attacks across Iraq on Tuesday, most of them in busy markets and commercial areas of the capital Baghdad, police and medics said.Detsche Welle adds, "Bombings also occurred in Mosul, Samawah and Basra." In Basra, three bombs targeted the Mnawi Basha hotel, Reuters has video of the aftermath.   Al-Manar notes that 4 people were shot dead in Baghdad.  Al-Shorfa reports, "Three Iraqi soldiers were killed and five wounded in clashes between Iraqi security forces and al-Qaeda elements who tried to enter Iraq from Syria, Iraqi police in Ninawa province said Tuesday."


With no one claiming responsibilities, various outlets trot out their own pet theories.  So Iran's Press TV uses the opportunity to go after rival neighbors, "There has been an upsurge in violence across Iraq recently, and Iraqi authorities say Qatar and Saudi Arabia have had a hand in some of the deadly incidents."  And they focus on Shi'ites forgetting the attacks in Amiriyah and near Abu Ghraib (which would be Sunni populations)BBC News goes with,  "Violence erupted in April when Iraqi security forces stormed an anti-government Sunni protest in the city of Hawija, killing and wounding dozens of protesters."  RTE offers, "A sustained campaign of attacks since the start of the year has increased fears of wider conflict in a country where ethnic Kurds, Shia and Sunni Muslims have yet to find a stable power-sharing compromise."  AFP adds, "And while political leaders have pledged to resolve the dispute, with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki meeting his two main rivals last month, no tangible measures have been agreed. Meanwhile, tensions have persisted in a swathe of territory in northern Iraq that Kurdish leaders want to incorporate into their autonomous three-province region over Baghdad's objections."  Jamal Hashim (Xinhua) provides an analysis which includes:


In a bid to contain the country's slide into an all-out sectarian strife, some top politicians from different Iraqi factions, including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni, and the Kurdish Maliki's deputy Roj Nuri Shawis, held a meeting on June 1 at the office of the Shiite leader Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), to discuss the means to end political differences.
The meeting was a sign of breakthrough in the country's political deadlock, but it only yielded limited results on the ground, as violence in June was reduced from 1,045 people killed to 761, and people in Baghdad noticed that some militias which appeared by the spike of violence have again kept low profile.
However, sporadic waves of massive attacks and daily killings continued, as gunmen focused this time on targeting coffee shops, restaurants, football pitches, markets, funeral tents and mosques of both Shiite and Sunni communities.


Of the evening Baghdad bombings, KUNA notes, "A security source from Baghdad operation command told KUNA that one of the biggest bombing targeted a football field at Al-Sha'la area killing 14 people and injuring 18 others.  The source added a bomb was hidden inside a box near the football field cause the explosion."

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"THIS JUST IN! THE INTERNATIONAL JOKE!"

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

THIS JUST IN! THE INTERNATIONAL JOKE!

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

AMERICA'S LITTLE BITCH JUST GOT TRASHIER. 

AS THE WORLD RECOILS FROM BARRY O OVER THE REVELATIONS THAT HE'S BEEN SPYING ON EVERYONE, INSTEAD OF BEING A MAN AND TAKING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR WHAT HE DID, BARACK REACHES IN, GRABS HIS INNER BITCH AND LETS THAT PARADE ON THE WORLD STAGE AS HE INSISTS, "OTHERS DO IT TOO!"

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A LITTLE CANDY ASS IS ELEVATED TO LEADER.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:



BBC News reports that a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Muqdadiyah.  AFP counts 23 dead with twenty-seven injured. Xinhua reports 8 Sahwa were shot dead in Tarmiyah after they were "dragged out" of the their homes by assailants and taken "to a nearby orchard," an Alhamidhiyah roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldiers and left two more injured, 1 police officer was shot dead outside his Falluja home, 1 person was shot dead in a Mafraq market and a Mosul sticky bombing claimed the life of 1 Ministry of Oil employee.  NINA adds that a Ramadi attack left 1 Iraqi soldier dead and two more injured.  Alsumaria notes a Mosul armed attack claimed the life of 1 college student, and 2 members of Nouri's SWAT forces were killed in Kirkuk.

On the topic of the SWAT forces, National Iraqi News Agency reported Sunday that 31 members of Nouri's SWAT forces were arrested in Karbala and they were arrested after their attack on football coach Mohammed Abbas who died Sunday morning.  Please remember, this relatively new force in Iraq has been trained, since last fall, by US forces and equipped by the US government.  They have been a holy terror in Iraq leading to leaders of various provinces to ask Nouri to keep this menace out of their province.


Today, a new month began and yesterday another violent month ended for Iraq.  Ahmed Rasheed, Kareem Raheem and Elizabeth Piper (Reuters) report that the United Nations has announced the death toll for June was 761.  Al Mada and Kitabat note that the United Nations also revealed the number of Iraqis injured in June was 1771.  Here's UNAMI's announcement:


Baghdad, 1 July 2013 – According to UNAMI figures, a total of 761 Iraqis were killed and another 1,771 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in June.

The number of civilians killed was 685 (including 131 civilian police) and the number of civilians injured was 1,610 (including 221 civilian police). A further 76 members of the Iraqi Security Forces were killed and 161 were injured.
Baghdad was the worst-affected Governorate with 950 civilian casualties (258 killed, 692 injured), followed by Salahuddin, Ninewa, Diyala and Anbar (triple-digit figures).  
Kirkuk, Babil, Wasit, Basra and Najaf also reported casualties (double-digit figures).




Prensa Latina notes the United Nations death tolls for the last three months:

April: 712
May: 1045
June: 761




June is now the second most violent month of the year.  In addition, the UN count for the last three months adds up to  2518.  That's over half the death toll for the entire year of 2010 (4109 -- click for "monthly table" or you won't see the yearly totals).  From January through March of this year, IBC counts 1656  violent deaths and when you add that to 2518 to get a total number of deaths for January 2013 through June 2013, you get a total of 4174 -- meaning, at the half-year mark, there have already been more violent deaths in Iraq than in the entire year of 2010.


Yesterday, there was a prison break.   NINA reported that 9 inmates of  Qurna prison outside Basra escaped today.  Later, two were arrested -- later, also, it was learned 10 had escaped, not nine.  Today, All Iraq News explains that the number who escaped was 12.  What says incompetence more: a prison break or the prison being unaware of exactly how many prisoners have escaped?  What a proud moment for prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

All Iraq News notes that Nouri al-Maliki visited the Iraqi Embassy in Moscow today.  Dar Addustour notes he also met with approximately 250 Iraqi students who are studying in Russia and their teachers.  Nouri arrived in Moscow yesterday NINA notes the objective of the visit was oil and that Nouri met yesterday with Vagit Alekperov, the president of Lukoil. Eurasia Reivew adds, "The parties discussed progress of West Qurna-2 field-development project, the company's plans to develop Block-10 and other prospective projects in which the company may participate."  AFP reminds, "Lukoil and Norway’s Statoil won the right to develop a section of Qurna - one of Iraq’s largest oil fields - in 2009."  Alsumaria adds that Lukoil states that it wants to double its investment.  NINA quotes from a statement issued by Nouri's office stating "that Iraq seeks to increase its oil production and expand its oil industry, as well as build oil refineries".   And the meeting takes place at an opportune time.  Al Rafidayn explains that Nouri happens to be in Russia as leaders from Venezuela and Iran are present for an informal oil and gas summit.  Tomorrow Nouri is set to meet with Vladimir Putin.  RIA Novosti notes, "Russia will supply over 10 fully armed and equipped Mi-28NE Night Hunter attack helicopters to Iraq under a multi-billion dollar agreement, a representative of the country's state arms exporter told RIA Novosti."


This is supposed to be part of the October 9th, $4.2 billion dollars weapon deal Nouri signed with Russia.  After taking his bows on the world stage and with Parliament and others raising objections, Nouri quickly announced the deal was off.  Kitabat suggested yesterday that calling the deal off was a way for Nouri to force renegotiations of the deal.  Today, All Iraq News reports, Kurdish MP Lateef Mustafa declared that, "The step of lifting the UN sanctions on Iraq is not achieved by a certain side, but it is a result of all the Iraqi people's efforts" so "the government not to waste funds on purchasing arms but it should focus on providing services." Al Rafidayn notes that, in tomorrow's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Nouri is supposed to discuss events in Syria as well as the arming of Iraq with more weapons.


On the topic of oil, the Kurdish Globe reminds, "Speaking at the Iraq Energy Conference in London, Dr. Ashti Hawrami, the Natural Resources Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), announced on Wednesday 19 June 2013 that the project to extend an oil pipeline from the Kurdistan Region to Turkey will be completed by the end of September this year." Isabel Coles and Ahmed Rasheed (Reuters) note that work is taking place on the pipeline and "Some 600 km away, Iraqi officials in Baghdad's heavily fortified oil ministry are threatening dire consequences if the pipeline is completed, but appear powerless to prevent the Kurds exporting oil without their consent."


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"THIS JUST IN! SHE WON'T SHUT UP!"