Friday, December 06, 2013

THIS JUST IN! HUMBLER?

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


CHRISSY MATTHEWS TOSSED SOFTBALLS TO CELEBRITY CHIEF BARRY O WHO GOT EACH ONE LIKE A GOOD DOGGY AND HOWARD FINEMAN (THE HUFFINGTON POST) IS CALLING IT A "HUMBLER" BARRY O.

HUMBLER?

ISN'T THAT THE NAME OF A MALE CHASTITY DEVICE?

(YES, IT IS. NOT SAFE FOR WORK, CLICK HERE.)

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Next topic, are you an undocumented worker in the US?  Better hope you're related to the President of the United States.  As his aunt and uncle demonstrate, when you're related to him, even though you've been ordered out of the country, you get to stay.  Everybody else, the White House insists, get out.

In his first term alone, he deported over 1.4 billion people. Wednesday morning, Cedric's "He can't stop lying" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! HE LIES ABOUT EVERYTHING!" -- joint-post -- noted an interesting development in Onyango Obama's drunk driving case -- he told the judge that Barack lived with him for three weeks.  The White House had insisted, following Onyango Obama's 2011 drunk driving arrest, that Barack had never, ever met his uncle (the only brother of Barack Obama Sr.).

Well pop goes the weasel!


Here's how Jeff Mason (Reuters) rushes to cover for Barack:

President Barack Obama lived briefly with his Kenyan-born uncle while attending law school, the White House said on Thursday, reversing earlier statements that there was no record of the two men ever having met.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said he clarified the issue with the president directly after reports that Onyango Obama, who faced deportation from the United States, said he had housed his nephew temporarily.

I know about the drunk driving only through Cedric and Wally's previous coverage.  It's not an 'issue' I follow. But even I knew that the White House stated the two had never met.

You can be sure Barack Obama also knew the White House stated it.

Or is this another moment of, "Nobody told me!"

For two years, Barack let a lie stand.  For two years, he refused to correct the record.

And now he's only doing it because his uncle's remarks in court leaked out.

Maria Sacchetti (Boston Globe) reminds:


In November 2011, a White House spokesman said he had no record of the two ever meeting. The Washington Post had also reported that scholars believed the two had never met.
The White House never moved to correct the record, until the president’s famously private uncle took the witness stand in Boston immigration court two days ago.

It's a lie.

That's not, "Impeach him!  For lying!"  But don't pretend that it didn't happen.  I'd actually be more forgiving if we were told the clarification included a lie -- because this claim that he hadn't spoken to the man in 10 years and hadn't been face-to-face with him in 20?

That's disgusting.

Barack groupie Bruce Springsteen has a song entitled "Highway Patrolman" (first appears on Nebraska):

Yeah me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin'
Nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band
Played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good.

Barack had no blood relatives on the mainland (Hawaii's not the mainland, love the state, have a home there, but it's not the mainland).  At that time or after.  So to have an uncle in Boston when Barack's living in Chicago and Barack has no contact with him?

That's disgusting.

Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good

Apparently 'Dreams of My Father' are safe because Daddy's dead but to have your father's brother alive?  You can use him when you're going to college but you have no desire to make your own living blood relative on the mainland part of your life?  That's really sad.

But the lying part?  To the American people, that's just unacceptable.  It's not crime, you can't be impeached for it.  But it's really sad that Barack is so unable to tell the truth.  As Rebecca observed last night, noting Bruce A. Dixon's audio commentary for Black Agenda Report about Barack and Attorney General Eric Holder's remarks versus actions, "they just never stop lying, this administration."

Again, his latest lie?  Not a crime, not an impeachable offense.  It does, however, go to pattern and it goes to character.  There's a reason he's polling so poorly and is considered untrustworthy. Maybe Ann Dumham didn't teach him Aesop's fable about The  Boy Who Cried Wolf?  Let's review it by way of a scene from season two of Kate & Allie, the "Rear Window" episode written by Stu Hample -- Susan Saint James played Kate, Jane Curtin played Allie and Fred Koehler played Chip.

Allie: Have you ever heard the story of the little boy who cried wolf?

Chip: Yeah, it's about a little boy who cried wolf.

Allie:  A shepherd.  The little shepherd went into the field one day and he got bored so he cried wolf.  And all the villagers came running.

Kate:  Right and when they saw there was no wolf, they got mad and they went home.

Allie:  And the next week, he went into the field again, and he got bored again and he cried wolf again

Kate:  And all the villagers came and when they saw there was no wolf there, they really got mad and went home again. 

Allie:  But the next time there really was a wolf.  And the little boy cried wolf but nobody came. And the wolf ate the little boy.  


In the wake of yesterday's NSA spying revelations, Barack wanted to vouch for the NSA in an interview today, wanted people to believe him.  Matthew Hoye (CNN) quotes Barack declaring, "I've said before and I will say it again, the N.S.A. actually does a very good job about not engaging in domestic surveillance, not reading people's emails, not- listening to their- the contents of their phone calls. Outside of our borders, the N.S.A.'s more aggressive."

He wants to be believed.

After "If you like your plan, you can keep it."  After misleading the American public with a tale of never having met his uncle.  After that and so much more, he wants to be believed.

It's not that easy.

The lies that you tell 
Will leave you alone
They'll keep you down
They'll catch you up and trip you up
Keep you hangin' around
-- "Love You By Heart," written by Carly Simon, Jacob Brackman and Libby Titus, first appears on Carly's Spy



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Thursday, December 05, 2013

THIS JUST IN! BARRY O LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB!

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



IN OHIO, CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O'S APPROVAL RATING HAS FALLEN TO 34%, 60% DISAPPROVE OF BARRY O'S JOB PERFORMANCE AND 57% SAY HE IS NOT TRUSTWORTHY.

AS HIS POPULARITY CONTINUES TO CRATER, BARRY O ATTEMPTS TO PREPARE FOR HIS NEAR FUTURE AND, NO SURPRISE, THE VAPID DEBUTANTE SEES HIS FUTURE IN TV, SPECIFICALLY AS AN ESPN HOST.

REACHED FOR COMMENT, AN ESPN PRODUCER TOLD THESE REPORTERS, "WELL SURE, WE'D CONSIDER IT.  BUT WE'D CHECK THE RESUME AND EXPERIENCE BECAUSE, UNLIKE THE U.S. PRESIDENCY, ESPN DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO LEARN THE JOB AS YOU GO ALONG."



FROM THE TCI WIRE:



Stephen McDonnell (Australia's ABC News) reports that US Vice President Joe Biden was in China today talking about trust, "Candour generates trust.  Trust is the basis on which real change, constructive change, is made."  It was really the wrong day for US officials to be preaching 'trust,' on the day when major revelations about NSA spying broke.   It could have been worse possibly.  For example, Biden could have been making those remarks in Cuba November 24th -- when Pravda reported:

The Agency for International Development (USAID) revealed the existence of a subversive program of six million dollars against Cuba. This information was known due to an error when using an unprotected line to send documents to U.S. diplomats in Havana. The plan was part of the semi-clandestine ploy to overthrow the communist government.
The material reveals that the entity launched last July the initiative SOL-OAA-13-00110 and at least 20 NGOs requested funding for the program which was to train dissidents in Cuba in the next three years, with a fund of $6 million. The goal was to provide opportunities for the opponents of the revolution traveling abroad , where they would acquire technical skills in a "number of areas considered important for the development of democracy and civil society" in Cuba,  in clear subversion of the political order.


At the US State Dept Press briefing today, spokesperson Marie Harf was jabbering away about the "critical leadership role" played by the US government.

QUESTION: Marie, do you have a response to the Pew Research poll that was released yesterday which found that for the first time since the polls started, a majority of Americans say that the U.S. plays a less important and powerful role as a world leader than ever before?


MS. HARF: Well, I haven’t seen that poll. I’m happy to take a look at the numbers and see if I have anything additional to say on it. I think we’ve been very clear that -- in our policies all around the world that the U.S. plays a critical leadership role, and whether it’s economically, diplomatically, and a host of areas. And that’s why you see the Secretary traveling so much around the world to promote our interests and our values and talk about this all the time with different world leaders. So I would, I think, take issue with the notion, but I’m happy to look at the numbers and see if I have more analysis for you of it.



Poor Harf, she's always got at least one foot in her mouth.  The the illegal spying?  This evening Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani (Washington Post) filed a major report:


The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships — in ways that would have been previously unimaginable.

The records feed a vast database that stores information about the locations of at least hundreds of millions of devices, according to the officials and the documents, which were provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. New projects created to analyze that data have provided the intelligence community with what amounts to a mass surveillance tool.


The Washington Post has an illustrated walk through or flow chart on how this is taking place.  Dana Liebelson (Mother Jones) goes through the Post's report and identifies five revelations including, "This is the big one -- 'A central feature of each of these tools is that they do not rely on knowing a particulat target in advance, or even suspecting one.  They operate on the full universe of data in the NSA's [repository] which stores trillions of metadata records, of which a large but unknown fraction include locations,' wrote the Post.  An intelligence lawyer said the data collection is not covered by the Fourth Amendment, which outlaws unreasonable searches and seizures."


The ACLU issued the following statement today:



December 4, 2013
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
NEW YORK – The NSA is tracking the locations of a huge number of cell phones around the world, according to an article published today by The Washington Post. The report, based on documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, says the agency is analyzing the movements of many millions of cell phones worldwide, including those belonging to Americans travelling abroad. Catherine Crump, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Speech, Privacy & Technology Project, had this reaction:
“It is staggering that a location-tracking program on this scale could be implemented without any public debate, particularly given the substantial number of Americans having their movements recorded by the government. The paths that we travel every day can reveal an extraordinary amount about our political, professional, and intimate relationships. The dragnet surveillance of hundreds of millions of cell phones flouts our international obligation to respect the privacy of foreigners and Americans alike. The government should be targeting its surveillance at those suspected of wrongdoing, not assembling massive associational databases that by their very nature record the movements of a huge number of innocent people.”
More information on NSA spying is at:
aclu.org/nsa-surveillance



Michael Winter (USA Today) notes, "The NSA said it does not intentionally target Americans' whereabouts but gets location data 'incidentally,' which the agency has declared lawful and aimed at foreign intelligence targets."  Oh, well then, that takes care of it because the NSA would never lie.  Oops, James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence lied to Congress.  Fred Kaplan (Slate) observed in June:



Back at an open congressional hearing on March 12, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked Clapper, “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?” Clapper replied, “No sir … not wittingly.” As we all now know, he was lying.


We also now know that Clapper knew he was lying.

Not only did Clapper lie but the White House sent the message that it was okay for Clapper to lie.  President Barack Obama sent this message by refusing to call for Clapper's immediate resignation.  Under Barack Obama, it is acceptable to lie to the Congress and the American people.  When an administration has no ethics, it's one scandal after another (thereby summing up 2013).  The lying never ends.  And it's not limited to the White House.  As Ali Watkins (McClatchy Newspaper) reminds, Senator Dianne Feinstein spoke about this spying in October but the NSA said she was wrong and Feinstein then avoided the press and had a statement issued about her being mistaken in her statements.


Monday, Kevin Gosztola (FireDogLake) reported:


A sheet of talking points for employees of the National Security Agency and Central Security Services, was sent out ahead of Thanksgiving to help guide conversations with family and friends during the holiday season.
Firedoglake obtained a copy of a two-page document that was sent out on November 22. It was clearly put together for rebutting statements about the NSA from news stories on documents disclosed by former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden, and it encouraged employees to “share the following points with family members and close friends.”

The “talking points” sheet suggests that employees make five key points: (1) NSA’s mission is of great value to the Nation”; (2) NSA performs its mission the right way—lawful, compliant and in a way that protects civil liberties and privacy; (3) NSA performs its mission exceptionally well. We strive to be the best that we can be, because that’s what America requires as part of its defense in a dangerous world; (4) The people who work for NSA are loyal Americans with expert skills who make sacrifices to help protect the freedoms we all cherish; (5) NSA is committed to increased transparency, public dialog and faithful implementation of any changes required by our overseers. (No emphasis added. Underlines appear in the document.)


Creating an official series of talking points which are secretly distributed to government employees?  That's dangerously close to a form of propaganda that's illegal in the United States -- the sort of propaganda which legally prevents The Voice of America from broadcasting over US radio airwaves.  Mike Masnick (TechDirt) observes, "The NSA defends this program, arguing (as it always does) that there's nothing wrong with doing what it's doing. Billions of people living around the globe might disagree."  Spencer Ackerman (Guardian) rebuts the talking points here.



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Wednesday, December 04, 2013

THIS JUST IN! HE LIES ABOUT EVERYTHING!

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


AFTER BARRY O'S UNCLE WENT ON HIS DRUNK DRIVING SPREE AND GOT ARRESTED AND AFTER IT WAS REVEALED SAID UNCLE HAD BEEN REPEATEDLY TOLD TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY BUT REFUSED, THE WHITE HOUSE STATED BARRY O HAD NEVER EVEN MET THE MAN.


THING IS SAID UNCLE JUST TOLD A JUDGE BARRY O LIVED WITH HIM FOR THREE WEEKS AT THE END OF THE 80S.

THE CELEBRITY IN CHIEF HAS ALREADY BEEN CAUGHT LYING ABOUT 'IF YOU LIKE YOUR PLAN, YOU CAN KEEP YOUR PLAN.'  NOW THE WORLD DISCOVERS HE ALSO LIES ABOUT FAMILY.


FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Yesterday, Alsumaria noted, Nouri gave some of his empty remarks he's so famous for and posed at a meeting with over 16 women -- only one of whom didn't wear a veil or hijab.  Nouri insisted, in front of this group of women who were a delegation from the Council of Iraqi Businesswomen, that women make real contributions and strengthen and advance nations.  Here's a photo from the photo op that was posted to Nouri's official website.


nouri



That's beyond stupid, that State of Law and Nouri think that meaningless photo-op amounts to anything is beyond stupid.

Nouri sitting around a table with women will only remind Iraqi women that Nouri's second Cabinet included no women to start with.  In fact, the Minister of Women?  That was (male) Hoshyar Zebari for months before Nouri found a woman who was willing to stand up in public and insist that women's rights would lead to victimization of women and that a woman should just do what some man told her.

Let's talk money because money is one of the things that prompted the photo op.

What brings in big money to Iraq besides oil?

Right now, outside of the KRG, big money's really only comes in as international aid.

And most of that money requires basic human rights be observed in Iraq.  A government -- not the US -- explained to Nouri that some of his aid from their western country was in jeopardy due to the way Iraqi women are being systematically stripped of their rights.

It was thought that he needed to make some sort of a 'statement' in order for Iraq to continue to receive various grants.

It was also thought that Nouri should speak out against violence.

That was too much for Nouri even when the government official pointed out that others already had.

Let's drop back to last week for this from the November 26th snapshot:


Back in March, Rania Khalek (Muftah) noted it wasn't always women under attack in Iraq:

Contrary to popular imagination, Iraqi women enjoyed far more freedom under Saddam Hussein’s secular Ba’athist government than women in other Middle Eastern countries. In fact, equal rights for women were enshrined in Iraq’s Constitution in 1970, including the right to vote, run for political office, access education and own property. Today, these rights are all but absent under the U.S.-backed government of Nouri al-Maliki.
Prior to the devastating economic sanctions of the 1990s, Iraq’s education system was top notch and female literacy rates were the highest in the region, reaching 87 percent in 1985. Education was a major priority for Saddam Hussein’s regime, so much so that in 1982 Iraq received the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) award for eradicating illiteracy. But the education system crumbled from financial decay under the weight of the sanctions pushing over 20 percent of Iraqi children out of school by 2000 and reversing decades of literacy gains. Today, a quarter of Iraqi women are illiterate, more than double the rate for Iraqi men (11 percent). Female illiteracy in rural areas alone is as high as 50 percent.
Women were integral to Iraq’s economy and held high positions in both the private and public sectors, thanks in large part to labor and employment laws that guaranteed equal pay, six months fully paid maternity leave and protection from sexual harassment. In fact, it can be argued that some of the conditions enjoyed by working women in Iraq before the war rivaled those of working women in the United States.


BBC News has a photo essay entitled 'In Pictures: Women At Risk In Iraq."  Umed Sami (Kirkuk Now) reported Sunday that it is Domestic Violence Awareness Week which actually lasts two weeks and that there are many different actions because there are "20 women's rights organizations in Kirkuk."  From the article:


No to Violence against Women is a women’s rights organization founded by a group of women’s rights activists back in 2010.  It is one of the organizations planning to organize a protest rally on November 25 in front of the governor’s office as they protest against the poor conditions of women’s rights and their struggles.
In the meantime, the Kurdistan Women’s Union, a women’s organization affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party of Kirkuk Governor Najmadin Karim, is a member of the political bureau boycotting the activities of No to Violence against Women and who view their rally as an “opposition against the governor and not demanding the women’s rights.”
Women’s activist Naska Muhammad told Kirkuk Now “The majority of the women’s rights organizations have boycotted the rally as we feel it is more targeted against the governor and it is politically driven.”

The Kurdistan Regional Government noted the kick off on Monday and that Monday was International Day Against Violence Against Women (that's a United Nations day around the world).  KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani addressed a large group of men and women -- including ministers of government, MPs in the Iraqi Parliament and the Kurdish Parliament, regional official and diplomats --  in Erbil.  Barzani noted that violence against women is violence against human rights and the issue is not a 'women's issue' but one for the entire community to work on.  He called for justice which means changing the laws in the KRG so that the light penalities for husbands killing wives are eliminated (he noted the KRG law currently mirrors the law for the rest of Iraq).  He noted that they need to address the issue of child brides and the practice of female genital mutilation.  He cited figures finding that reported violence against women had fallen in 2012 but he stated that the gains were not enough and the community needed to work harder to address the issue.

Iraq's Human Rights Ministry also had an event.  Compare the photos.  Even if you can't read Arabic, you'll note many things.  For example, the Baghdad turnout?  Not that impressive in terms of numbers. The KRG photo displays ten packed rows of attendees (and the photo cuts off with the impression that there are rows not displayed in the photo).  In Baghdad, they take up about six rows -- with a lot of empty spaces.  In the KRG, you see shiny, healthy hair on the heads of men and women.  In Baghdad, most women have their hair covered.  (Four brave women on the second row do not cover their hair.) Nouri's Prime Minister of Iraq.  Did he address the gathering?

Nope. 

He couldn't be bothered with the topic.  

Ibithal al-Zaidi was present.  Declaring she (now) believes in equality between the sexes -- based on the law and religions.   Whatever.  

How important was the event?  

They don't even bother to finish the press release -- it cuts off before the end of the release.



Nouri should have been present.  By refusing to show up for the Baghdad event, let alone speak at it, he made clear that violence against women does not qualify as a serious issue to him.

We're not done with the KRG yet.  Al Mada reports that KRG President Massoud Barzani issued a statement decrying violence against women saying it was inhumane and against the basic principals of humanity.  He noted the sacrifices and actions Iraqi women had taken part in to create a better Iraq and called for rights to live safely and free from oppression, discrimination and violence.


He is supposedly the leader of Iraq.  The two-week "week of violence against women" is continuing.  Yet the leader of the country has never denounced violence against women.

He's never called it out.

And under pressure from a foreign government, the best he could do was assemble a group of women for a photo op in his attempt to ensure that no foreign aid gets cut off.

The e-mail from the State of Law MP accused me of being part of a conspiracy to destroy Nouri al-Maliki.  I'd argue Nouri's doing such a good job destroying himself that nobody else needs to take part, we just need to step back and enjoy it.

Al Mada reports women activists gathered Sunday at a cemetery in Sulaymaniyah province to note that 130 graves in the cemetery are of women who were killed in so-called 'honor' killings.  These 130 graves do not even contain the names of the women because 'honor' killings weren't enough apparently, the women had to be disappeared.   Hannah Xuan, one of the organizers, told Al Mada that the women were killed by family and that few people are ever prosecuted for these brutal crimes.


Yet Nouri stays silent about violence against women.




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Tuesday, December 03, 2013

THIS JUST IN! TIME TO PANIC!

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

JUST WHEN CELEBRITY-IN-CHIEF BARRY O THOUGHT THINGS COULDN'T GET WORSE, HE'S FACING GROWING DISAPPROVAL IN CALIFORNIA.

A NEW POLL FINDS THAT THE ONCE FIRMLY BARRY O BACKING STATE NOW VOICES A 43% DISAPPROVAL RATE OF BARRY O -- AN INCREASE OF 8%.

MEANWHILE, NATIONALLY, GALLUP'S NEW POLL FINDS THAT 53% OF AMERICANS DISAPPROVE OF THE JOB OR 'JOB' BARRY O'S DOING.

REACHED FOR COMMENT, WHITE HOUSE PLUS-SIZE SPOKESMODEL JAY CARNEY TOLD THESE REPORTERS TODAY, "WELL 47% APPROVE, WE CAN WORK WITH THAT, WE CAN REBUILD FROM THAT."

INFORMED THAT, IN FACT, GALLUP FINDS ONLY 40% OF AMERICAN APPROVE OF BARRY O'S JOB PERFORMANCE, CARNEY RESPONDED, "OH, CRAP!"


FROM THE TCI WIRE:



Also over the weekend,  All Iraq News reported cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr declared today that Iran refuses to back Nouri for a third term.  Today Ahmed Chalabi offered harsh words for Nouri al-Maliki.  NINA quotes him denouncing a third term for Nouri, stating it "will lead to a further deterioration in security and corruption as well as continuing foreign interference."  He further stated, "The policy of the country is moving towards authoritarianism and dictatorship and our future role is to put Iraq on the path of real democracy through a comprehensive process of change, not only at the political level, but in all areas."

Let's stay with political news out of Iraq.  All Iraq News reports today that arrest warrants have been issued against two members of Moqtada al-Sadr's parliamentary bloc -- MP Jawad al-Shihaili and Baha al-Araji.  al-Araji is charged with "damaging general properties" and al-Shihaili is charged with "stealing state's revenues."  These warrants come only after Wael Grace (Al Mada) reports MPs are accusing Nouri al-Maliki of misuse of state resources on his recent trip to Basra -- including, Moqtada's bloc pointed out, Nouri offering up land plots.  MPs see the visit as typical Nouri trying to bribe for votes but the difference this time is that a law's been passed to make this illegal.


Nouri refuses to follow the laws which is one of the reasons protests have been taking place in Iraq since December 21st.  They've continued to protest despite multiple attacks on them by Nouri al-Maliki's forces, the worst being the April 23rd massacre of a sit-in in Hawija which 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).  They haven't given up despite Nouri's empty words.  Monday, Nickolav Mladenov, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative to Iraq and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, addressed the United Nations Security Council.



Nickolay Mladenov:  Protests continued in Anbar, Nineveh, Salah al-Din, Kirkuk and Diayala governorates in the form of unified Friday prayers.  Compared to the past reporting period, the protests assumed a lower profile, owning in part to increased attention to the protesters' demands by newly elected local administrations. Indeed, the Anbar Governorate Council elected Sabah Karhout, a member of the Arab Iraqiya party, as its chair, and Ahmed Khalif al-Dulaimi, a member of the Muttahidoun party, as Governor.  In Ninewa, the Governorate Council re-elected Atheel al-Nujaifi, a known supporter of the protestors and brother of the Speake of the Council of Representatives [Osama al-Nujaifi], as Governor.  On 5 October dialogue between the Government and the protestors resumed following a meeting between the Prime Minister [Nouri al-Maliki] and the Governor of Anbar, who was nominated by the demonstrators to represent their interests.  While the meeting was described as positive and fruitful by the Prime Minister's office, no progress has been announced to date in addressing the demonstrators' demands.  


This month, the protests hit the one year mark.  19 days from now, in fact.  The protesters have been attacked, arrested and murdered.  And still they protest.  Speaking to Patrick Cockburn (Independent) last week, cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr shared his thoughts on Nouri and the protests:


Mr Sadr is particularly critical of the government’s handling of the Sunni minority, which lost power in 2003, implying they had been marginalised and their demands ignored. He thinks that the Iraqi government lost its chance to conciliate Sunni protesters in Iraq who started demonstrating last December, asking for greater civil rights and an end to persecution.
“My personal opinion is that it is too late now to address these [Sunni] demands when the government, which is seen as a Shia government by the demonstrators, failed to meet their demands,” he said. Asked how ordinary Shia, who make up the great majority of the thousand people a month being killed by al-Qa’ida bombs, should react, Mr Sadr said: “They should understand that they are not being attacked by Sunnis. They are being attacked by extremists, they are being attacked by external powers.”





December 21st, the protests will have hit the one year mark -- that's twenty days away.  Today, All Iraq News reports:
The Coordination Committees of the Sit –In yards in Ramadi city announced on Monday withdrawing their authorization for the Governor of Anbar to negotiate with the Central Government over the demands of the demonstrators.
The demonstrators and chieftains in Anbar announced on September 3rd authorizing the Governor of Anbar Ahmed Khalaf to negotiate with the CG to implement their demands. 

They're not pleased with the talks Governor Ahmed Khalaf has had with Nouri -- which have produced no results.  But they're especially bothered by the fact that the Governor is not working for them.  Some feel he's working for the United States' government.

Where did they get that idea?  Who knows.  But Sunday, these remarks from Brett McGurk were posted repeatedly on Arabic social media:


In the Sunni majority provinces of Ninewa and Anbar, provincial elections had been delayed due to security concerns. We were clear from the outset that this decision was unwise, and pushed to ensure the elections took place, which they did on June 20. The outcome led to a status quo in Ninewa, with the brother of Speaker Osama Nujaifi retaining the governorship; but new leaders emerged in  Anbar, and these new leaders, with our encouragement, are engaging the central government. 
Prime Minister Maliki met the new Anbar Governor, Ahmad Khalaf al-Dulaimi, before traveling to Washington, and we expect to see additional meetings soon, with a focus on coordinating security and political efforts. 




 McGurk is the US State Dept's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq and Iran Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and, last month, he testified to the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.  We covered his testimony in the November 13th "Iraq snapshot," the November 14th "Iraq snapshot" and in the November 15th  "Iraq snapshot."  And the statements that were so popular on social media yesterday are from his opening statement which you can read in full here.





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