Sherwood Ross is a journalist we note from time to time at The Common Ills. We're fine noting him on many topics.
He needs to let go of his hatred for Hillary or find a constructive way to use it. Otherwise, I don't have a great deal negative to say about him.
He has a new piece entitled "10 Reasons The 9/11 Report is Properly Classified as "Fiction" (Veterans Today):
Key points in the government's version of 9/11 events do not stand up to scientific scrutiny, according to McKnight Professor Emeritus, Dr. Jim Fetzer, a distinguished philosopher of science, who has more than 20 books on scientific reasoning, artificial intelligence and cognitive science. Fetzer formerly taught at the University of Minnesota Duluth and is the founder of Scholars for 9/11 Truth.
Writing in a new book titled, "The Dynamic Duo" (CWG Press), about the events of September 11, 2001, and to me, Fetzer offered multiple reasons as to why The 9/11 Report should be viewed as fantasy:
(1) "The government's explanation [of the destruction of the Twin Towers] would violate laws of physics and engineering that cannot be transgressed." Among these is that melting point of structural steel AT 2,800 F., far above the 1,700 F. of burning jet fuel. NIST studied 236 samples of steel from the WTC and found 233 had not been exposed to temperatures above 500 F. and the others not above 1,200 F. "That these towers were brought down by fuel fires is not just improbable but physically impossible." He added, "Most Americans may not realize that no steel-structure high-rise building has ever collapsed from fire in the history of civil engineering, either before or after 9/11."
(2) Gravity operates in only one direction--down! But photographic records of WTC-1 and WTC-2 show them blowing apart in every direction from the top down and being converted into millions of cubic yards of very fine dust. When it was over, Fetzer observed, they left no stack of pancakes. These buildings did not "collapse" but were destroyed by powerful explosives. "Just look at the visual record," Fetzer said. "It leaves no doubt about it."
(3) "We know that Larry Silverstein, who leased the WTC, said that World Trade Center 7 was 'pulled,' which means it was brought down using explosives. This occurred hours after the other buildings came down. No plane ever hit WTC7 and its collapse was perfectly symmetrical and again occurred at virtually free-fall speed. The building could not have been 'pulled' without prior placement of explosives." And there was a stack of "pancakes" of 5.5 floors or about 12% of the height of the original, which is typical of classic controlled demolitions.
I saw that in the inbox this morning and wanted to scream.
1) There's no link. Which means I have to search for the link. Sometimes it's already posted somewhere, sometimes it's not. It can be a hassle to find it.
2) I do excerpts because I assume he's trying to drive traffic. If he's not, if he wants the thing posted in full, he should say that in the e-mail. I never know. And I don't have time to write back everyone who e-mails the public account of The Common Ills wanting their writing high lighted.
3) I have to figure out which morning entry it fits best.
4) Why is everyone always asks for assistance but none of them ever say thank you, especially not publicly. I'm thinking of an MSM reporter who can never figure out Iraq on his own and will instead write me and ask, "When did ____ last happen?" And Martha or Shirley will call me and say," ____'s written again and wants to know when ____?" And I'll dictate a reply and think, "Geez, I don't even get a thank you or link in one of his many Tweets." At some point, it really does start to feel like people are using you. We'll come back to that.
You'll note none of the four concerns are over the subject matter.
Long ago, when the site first started, I made clear: I wasn't there, I don't know what happened.
I have friends who were there -- including a fire fighter -- and they don't feel the official story is true. I have friends who feel the official story is correct. This makes for lively get-togethers -- such as tomorrow. But that's fine as long as people respect each other.
The 9-11 Truth Movement is about something. I've long offered that I prefer that to people who make some reality show their entire life.
I've also offered that the JFK researchers unearthed many important facts and that the same will be true of The 9-11 Truth Movement.
I respect them. I don't know what happened and I really don't have time to learn. Sorry. People don't like that but you read twelve Iraqi news sites a day, Arabic social media and then go to the English language reports and see how much time you have.
I just registered the date. November 2013. Yeah, most people would have registered it before. The Common Ills started in November, the week before Thanksgiving.
2004.
Another year.
And, honestly, I'm all around tired.
At the start of August, this is the story I said I'd get back to, I met a guy at a college we were speaking at, a professor, and he e-mailed a few times. (This is not a tale of love, don't worry. I don't pick up strangers.) For three weeks, we exchanged e-mails. On my end, I was thinking, "Why does he keep writing?" And farmed it out to poor Martha. She wrote back as me.
Then she calls me about August 21st, "He needs _____." A dollar amount. A large dollar amount.
He'd had a personal crisis.
And I'm sitting there thinking, "It's nothing to me, just write a check."
And I told Martha to get his mailing address and I did.
That should have been the end of it.
Monday, Martha informed me that he'd written again and needed more money.
I told Martha to block him as a sender and not to reply.
I never heard a thank you, I never heard anything. Not any kind of e-mail after he gave his address until he showed up Monday wanting more money.
When he wanted it in August, I told myself that he probably felt awful asking and I might be the only person he knew who could spare the money.
And that still might be true.
But if someone loans you money, I think you say thank you.
I think you don't drop them as your e-mail buddy.
All he wanted was money and he foolishly thought he could hit me up more than once.
I'm really amazed at all these users these days.
And I'm really disgusted by them.
So these days, unless you're e-mailing a press release, I usually look at your e-mail and think, "How much have I already noted for you? When did you ever once say 'thank you'?"
And they never say thank you. They never write to say, "Loved your piece on . . ." They just show up every time they've written something asking you to note it.
Here's today's "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, November 27, 2013. Chaos and violence continue, Nouri tries
to spin a business success, the KRG upstages Nouri, Jen Psaki throws a
hissy fit, the State Dept makes clear just how little they value Sunni
lives, corpses in the streets of Iraq, and more.
The Press Association reports, "The opening of the first branch of a British bank in Iraq has been hailed by its prime minister as a sign of new international trust in the country, and a testament to the ongoing friendship between the new nations. Speaking at the opening of the branch of Standard Chartered in Baghdad, prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki paid tribute to Britain for its support as the two countries continue to work to help Iraq rebuild itself after years of conflict."
Oh, that's so cute.
For Iraq and Standard. In 2012, Jonathan Stempel and Carrick Mollenkamp (Reuters) reported:
In a rare move, New York's top bank regulator threatened to strip the state banking license of Standard Chartered Plc, saying it was a "rogue institution" that hid $250 billion in transactions tied to Iran, in violation of U.S. law.
The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) on Monday said the British bank "schemed" with the Iranian government and hid from law-enforcement officials some 60,000 secret transactions to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in fees over nearly 10 years.
In other words, what really happened today is that a rogue bank opened a branch in a rogue state.
And it's not really a British bank, is it? As Standard Charted notes, "We operate in some of the world's most dynamic markets and have been for over 150 years. More than 90 per cent of our income and profits are derived from Asia, Africa and the Middle East."
They already operate in Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
So the customers aren't primarily British. But the bank, the bank itself is British!
No, you can't be a "multi-national" -- which Standard Charted is -- and belong to one country. Or did we forget the meaning of "multi" in "multi-national"? It was founded in South Africa. It only 'divested' itself of South Africa (where it was part of the blood diamond trade) in 1987 -- at the point when everyone else with integrity had long ago left. Scan Wikipedia and you'll see quickly that "no integrity" really sums up Standard Charted which is forever in trouble in India and which attempted bribery in the Philippins and Malaysia. They got into trouble for inflating claims -- trouble with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.
In other words, they should be perfectly at home in Nouri's corrupt Iraq.
Poor Nouri, this was his big moment and so much of nothing.
This month Hyatt announced a new Hyatt Regency . . . in Iraq. But Nouri can't get excited, the hotel will be in semi-autonomous northern region governed by the KRG. And Kelly Clarke (Khaleej Times) reported two weeks ago:
During a conference unveiling a new multi-billion dollar development to go up in the Kurdistan region’s capital, Erbil, last month, Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar said it hopes to ‘close similar deals with the country’s government in the future’, building on its already growing economy.
[. . .]
“To have such an international brand like Emaar coming in is a big step up for the development of the area and it will surely create confidence,” he (real estate agent and CEO for Elite Homes Ali Asad] told Khaleej Times.
Asked why he thinks one of the world’s biggest property developers has chosen to develop in Erbil, rather than Baghdad, where property prices are higher, he said it was simple.
“If they want a footstep into Iraq, Erbil is the perfect place, because it’s secure,” however Asad did mention the Downtown Erbil development will undoubtedly create inflation in the area, as listed prices are already considerably higher than similar developments in the area.
Not everything's in the KRG.
For example, today the KRG Prime Minister wasn't. He was in Ankara.
National Iraqi News Agency reports that Nijervan Barzani met with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the two discussed "the issue of oil exporting from Kurdistan region to Turkey." All Iraq News quotes "Turkish sources" stating, "Erdogan signed many conventions with Barzani in oil and gas sectors and after the three hour meeting he announced his intention to visit Baghdad and Erbil to assure the desire of Turkey in promoting relations with all Iraqi components."
The pipeline could assist with the oil exports that are already taking place between the KRG and Turkey. Seyfettin Gursel (Al-Monitor) reports:
Oil production in the region controlled by the KRG is 300,000 barrels per day. About two-thirds of this amount is exported to Turkey in tanker trucks. This is a tedious and expensive method. Nevertheless, the KRG revenues — which were at $150 million seven years ago — have risen to $12 billion, and per capita income has climbed to $5,000 from $300. It is possible to boost the daily production to 1 million barrels with the operating wells. With proven and estimated oil reserves, this production will increase multifold in coming years. According to Celebi, yet-untapped natural gas reserves are estimated at 40 billion cubic meters. The KRG has already signed deals with international oil companies for production and to build the pipelines that would cross Turkey.
Even limited oil-production revenues have raised Turkey’s exports to Iraq to above $10 billion, which comes after Germany in Turkey’s primary export markets. It is, however, likely to occupy the top slot soon. According to Celebi, 90% of exports to Iraq go to Northern Iraq, with the rest going to the south of the country. Imagine how these numbers are going to multiply when the pipelines are completed and oil and natural gas starts to flow.
Of today's meet-up, Asharq al-Awsat notes, "Speaking to CNNTurk television on Wednesday, Barzani confirmed that Iraq's Kurds are hoping to start pumping oil to Turkey before the end of the year via the Baghdad-controlled pipeline." AFP reports that Barzani declared before the meeting that the oil could be flowing, via the pipeline, to Turkey "before Christmas" (December 25th).
Guess which cranky boy forgot Santa Claus was making a list of who was naughty and who was nice?
Nouri al-Maliki. AFP quotes Nouri's mouth piece Ali al-Mussawi conveying Nouri's fury, "The Iraqi government informed the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad of its strong opposition to signing the pipeline deal with KRG." And if that's got Nouri stomping his feet, whatever will he do in December? That's when, Rudaw reports, a major commerce event takes place in the KRG:
More than 100 international energy companies and 800 political and diplomatic figures are expected to attend the Kurdistan-Iraq Oil & Gas Conference 2013 in Erbil next month, notably coinciding with historic oil exports by the Kurds.
The four-day conference opens Sunday, just as the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq begins to export oil directly to Turkey through its newly-extended pipeline.
Maybe he'll have time to adjust? But today, Nouri thought it was his day. He'd dominate the news cycle by announcing a one-time tool of the British empire was invading Iraq. Instead, all anyone cares about right now is what Barzani and Erdogan agreed to.
How important is today's news?
Nouri's not the only one throwing a hissy fit. At the US State Dept press briefing today, spokesperson Jen Psaki took sides and acted like an idiot. What a proud moment for the State Dept.
QUESTION: About the energy deal between Turkey and KRG: The KRG Prime Minister Barzani, Nechirvan Barzani, was in Turkey yesterday and he told to the Turkish reporters there that the pipeline between Irbil and Turkey will start to carry all the oil next month, before the Christmas. So I know that you raised this – your concern on this issue with the Turks when Mr. Davutoglu was here, but what is the latest situation and what is your view on the latest arrangement of this --
MS. PSAKI: Our view has not changed. We don’t support oil exports from any part of Iraq without approval of the Iraqi federal government. We continue to urge the federal government of Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government to reach a constitutional solution, and that has consistently been our position. And it also has not changed.
QUESTION: There is a plan on the table that Turks are arguing that they’re going to accumulate the revenue, oil revenue, in a Turkish bank in Turkey, and then they gonna split the spoils arising from this energy resources between KRG and Baghdad. So 70 percent will be going to the Kurds, and the rest will be Baghdad. Are you okay with that plan?
MS. PSAKI: I don’t have anything on that for you. Our position remains the same on this specific issue.
QUESTION: Did you raise this issue with Mr. Davutoglu when was in town?
MS. PSAKI: I will check and see if there’s more to report on our meeting with Foreign Minister Davutoglu.
QUESTION: So, just so I understand correctly, you do stick to the principle that the central governments was responsible for the export of oil from Iraq?
MS. PSAKI: That’s right, without approval of the Iraqi federal government.
'We stay out of it! We stay out of it! We support the Iraqi Constitution and the laws! It's not for us to decide!'
Did I forget any of the lies that have been told from the State Dept podium?
The State Dept doesn't give a damn about the Constitution of Iraq. They don't give a damn about the Iraqi people.
If you give a damn, you have something to say.
Let's drop back to yesterday snapshot to underscore how damn little the State Dept cares about Iraq:
National Iraqi News Agency reports 1 person shot dead in Khalis, preacher and Iman Rakan Hussein al-Naimi was injured by gunfire in a Rilkaif assassination attempt. Sheikh Ghadanfar al-Mahdawi survived (without injury) an attempted assassination "between Baqbua and Muqdadiyah," a Falluja sticky bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer, 1 police officer was shot dead in Baghdad, a Falluja roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer and left two more injured, and the corpses of Sheikh Adnan al-Ghanem and Sheikh Kadhim al-Jubouri were discovered in Basra. All Iraq News adds that the Mayor of Shuqiara Sufla Village, Jasim Mohammed al-Jubouri, was assassinated.
Where's the statement from the State Dept. On mayors? That's at least the eighth one assassinated since October 1st. Where's the statement decrying that?
Where's the State Dept on the assassinations of Sheikh Adnan al-Ghanem and Sheikh Kadhim al-Jubrouri?
Two religious leaders are killed. Jen Psaki didn't give a damn. She and the Dept she speaks for could care less.
By contrast, All Iraq News reports:
Please let it register in Iraq that when Sunni religious leaders are assassinated, the US government doesn't bat an eye and remains silent.
Let's stop pretending that this White House is any different than the last. They don't give a damn about the Sunni people.
The White House is nothing but a maxipad for Nouri, to help prevent spotting. When the maxipad is fully stained (Bully Boy Bush) a new one is applied (Barack Obama).
The US Embassy in Baghdad is also silent as two Sunni Imams are assassinated.
Silence is what Jen Psaki should have offered today.
The State Dept may not like what the KRG does but (a) why should the KRG give a damn what the US government thinks or wants (seriously, after being stabbed in the back in November 2010, why should the KRG give a damn?) and (b) the KRG's actions are legal.
Little Psaki was apparently unable to speak the truth but there's no oil law.
Nouri was installed (by Bully Boy Bush) as prime minister to pass an oil law. When Democrats were saying (pretending) they'd end the Iraq War if they got control of even one house of Congress in the 2006 mid-terms? Well they got control of both houses of Congress and the White House quickly came up with a set of benchmarks that would prove 'progress' in Iraq -- so Congress wouldn't cut off funds. That was six years ago so let's cite a source for any who might be new to the topic. From Gail Russell Chaddock (Christian Science Monitor, May 14, 2007):
It's almost 100 days after President Bush requested emergency funds for the Iraq war, and Congress and the White House are converging on a deal that includes benchmarks for progress for the Iraqi government, including a national oil law and provincial elections.
For Democrats now controlling Congress, these benchmarks – plucked right from the president's 2007 State of the Union address – are a way to avoid giving the White House "a blank check" on a war that a majority of Americans now oppose.
Nouri agreed to meet the benchmarks. Where's the oil law?
Nouri couldn't get it through in his first term and he's failed in his second term. Nouri introduces bills to the Parliament -- it's not like the US Congress. Nouri's failed over and over.
And it's no longer just an issue of the KRG. As Abdullah Salem (Niqash) reported last week, Nineveh Province is making moves to handle the sale of their own oil:
With no national oil law what does that mean?
It means there's nothing to prohibit the KRG from doing what they're doing.
Jen Psaki can scream and rip out her own hair. She can set herself on fire if she wants.
None of that will change the fact that the KRG is acting within the law.
Nor will it change the reality, the ugly truth, that the State Dept is not backing Iraq or the Iraqi people. It's nothing but a bloody maxipad kept in place to protect Nouri.
The bleeding from violence never ends in Iraq.
Duraid Adnan (New York Times) reports, "But on Wednesday, the daily tally of violence took on an air of pinpoint deliberation with the execution-style killings of several groups of civilians, a grim reminder of the worst days of sectarian warfare in the country. While major bombings have become common, the killings reintroduced the prospect of a resurgence in the type of violence that rattled Iraq in 2006 and 2007." Salam Faraj (AFP) reminds:, "At the peak of sectarian fighting, Sunni and Shiite militiamen would regularly carry out tit-for-tat kidnappings and assassinations and leave scores of corpses littering the streets, many of them bound, blindfolded and showing signs of torture." Sinan Salaheddin (AP) also makes that point today, "Bodies were frequently found dumped during the height of Iraq's sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007, when the country was at the edge of civil war."
Such as the never ending violence. National Iraqi News Agency reports 1 suicide car bomber took his own life at a Habbaniyah police station entrance and he was followed by a suicide bomber wearing a belt with both bombings claimed the lives of 3 police officers with five more injured, an Albu Assaf suicide bomber "blew himseful up at the gate of the police station," 1 "suicide car bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the headquarters of Peshmerga forces in Jabarah county of Khanqin" leaving 3 Peshmerga dead and ten more injured, an Abu Ghraib suicide bomber took his own life at a Baghdad funeral and killed 9 other people with twenty more left injured, an armed attack on a Mosul police station left one police officer and one detainee injured, a Qa'im roadside bombing left 1 Iraqi soldier dead and two more injured, 1 real estate worker was shot dead in Mosul, Hussein Sameer Malalah (Dept of Compensation employee) was shot dead in Mosul and Homam Adnan Ahmed (Dept of Energy employee) was shot dead in Mosul. BBC News adds that "five members of the same family were shot dead in the mainly Shia district of Hurriya. The victims were reportedly Sunnis."
Multiple attacks on police stations and assassinations but that's not the focus of the non-Iraqi press. Check my math but I think that's 35 reported dead and 39 injured (13 of the dead will be noted in a second.)
There was to have been a protest tomorrow. Nasiriyah Network News reported earlier today that Dhi Qar journalists planned to protest the French Consulate over the lawsuits against two reporters in the province. The invitation to the protest noted that Iraqi journalists must protest all efforts to curtail freedom of the press in Iraq and that failure to do so could lead to not just corruption but also dictatorship. In an update, the outlet notes that the two French companies who were suiing the two journalists have dropped their lawsuits and the protest has been called off. All Iraq News notes cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr met in Baghdad with the French Ambassador to Iraq Denys Gauer today and the two discussed a number of issues including parliamentary elections in Iraq.
Moqatada is a Shi'ite cleric so staying with religion, let's note Patriarch Krill I of Moscow, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The Voice of Russia (link is text and audio) reports he met with Iraq's Ambassador to Russia Ismieal Shafiq Muhsin today and quotes him stating, "We know that Christian communities have been subjected to violence. Very many people were killed just for being Christians. Many people have left Iraq under the threat of death. That, of course, changed the cultural landscape of your country. We believe it is in a way a catastrophe for civilization because Christians and Muslims have always lived in peace on the territory of your country." Last week, Prashant Rao (AFP) reported on Iraqi Christians noting:
Before 2003 more than a million Christians lived in Iraq. Now there are around 400,000, according to Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako, head of one of the world's oldest Christian communities.
Baghdad has seen a dramatic fall in its own Christian population, which at one point numbered 600,000.
According to Archdeacon Temathius Esha, an Assyrian priest in Dura, the neighbourhood's Christian population has all but disappeared, from around 150,000 shortly after the 2003 US-led invasion to about 2,000 now.
Though home to seven churches -- Assyrian, Chaldean and Syriac -- Dura now has only two priests.
Esha's 500-capacity St. Shmooni Church attracted just 20 people for a recent Friday service, and he said only about 150 show up for Christmas or Easter.
The priest's own family lives in the town of Ainkawa in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, which has been mostly spared from the violence plaguing the rest of the country.
Religious minorities throughout Iraq are targeted -- including Yazidis, Mandaeans, Caldo-Assyrians, Shabaks and others. One group that has been repeatedly targeted is the Iraqi Jewish community.
In 2012, on World Refugee Day, Ron Posner, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, wrote of the climate in the Middle East immediately after WWII and observed of Iraq, "In Iraq Jewish businessman Shafiq Adas, then the country's wealthiest citizen, was immediately arrested on trumped-up charges and publicly lynched. This was followed by bombings targeting Jewish institutions, arbitrary arrests of Jewish leaders, and massive government seizures of property. Within years virtually all of Iraq's 2,500-year-old Jewish community had fled, emptying the country of many of its greatest artists, musicians, and businessmen." Last week the United Nations held a conference in New York entitled The Untold Story of the Middle East: Justice for Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries. Jacob Kamaras (Jewish News Service) reports:
The story of Jews expelled from Iraq has recently drawn significant attention due to the current exhibition in Washington, DC of 24 artifacts from the “Iraqi Jewish Archive,” a collection of 2,700 Jewish books and documents recovered in 2003 in the basement of the Iraqi intelligence ministry and restored by the National Archives and Records Administration. The U.S. has said it plans to return the archive to the Iraqi government following the exhibition, in line with a written agreement between the two countries, but Iraqi Jews say Saddam Hussein’s government confiscated the materials from them.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, at the U.N. conference reiterated a recent statement issued by 42 groups, addressed to Secretary of State John Kerry, that the archive should be protected and remain continually accessible to Jews.
“We urge our government not to send them back to an uncertain fate in Iraq, where hundreds of holy Torah scrolls remain in disuse and decay,” Hoenlein said.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Ron Prosor told JNS.org regarding the Iraqi archive, “There were a lot of resources and assets put together in order to compile it the way it is; it was saved, and we don’t want it to be lost again.” Robert Singer, CEO of the World Jewish Congress, told JNS.org that the fact that 42 groups signed the statement to Kerry shows “a unified position of the Jewish community on this issue.”
Ruth covered the issue yesterday and noted Rory Cohen's O.C. Register column:
Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and one of the initial members of the Muslim Brotherhood, became a Nazi agent after meeting Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Holocaust, in 1937. With Nazi funds, al-Husseini organized the Arab Revolt of 1936-39. In 1941, the mufti orchestrated a short-lived, Nazi-backed generals' coup in Iraq. The coup was followed by the Farhud, a vicious pogrom.
It's an event that is indelibly imprinted in the consciousness of Iraq's Jews.
The Mufti obtained Hitler's assurance in November 1941 that, after dealing with the Jews of Europe, Hitler would treat the Jews of the Middle East similarly. In a two-day period, mobs rampaged in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. At least 150 Jews were killed and more than 2,000 injured; some 900 Jewish homes were destroyed and looted; and hundreds of Jewish-owned shops were robbed and destroyed.
My older family members recall witnessing how soldiers pulled small children away from their parents and ripped the arms off young girls to steal their bracelets; pregnant women were raped and their stomachs cut open. My grandfather rescued his little brother when the violence began. My great-grandfather claimed to be a Muslim when Iraqi troops stormed their home. That was how he saved himself and his daughters, including my grandmother. Many of his neighbors weren't so lucky.
Turning to veterans issues, Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee and serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. Her office issued the following:
RSS Feed for Senator Murray's office
iraq
the voice of russia
bbc news
the christian science monitor
al-monitor
national iraq news agency
niqash
afp
salam faraj
ammar karim
duraid adnan
the new york times
the associated press
sinan salaheddin
The Press Association reports, "The opening of the first branch of a British bank in Iraq has been hailed by its prime minister as a sign of new international trust in the country, and a testament to the ongoing friendship between the new nations. Speaking at the opening of the branch of Standard Chartered in Baghdad, prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki paid tribute to Britain for its support as the two countries continue to work to help Iraq rebuild itself after years of conflict."
Oh, that's so cute.
For Iraq and Standard. In 2012, Jonathan Stempel and Carrick Mollenkamp (Reuters) reported:
In a rare move, New York's top bank regulator threatened to strip the state banking license of Standard Chartered Plc, saying it was a "rogue institution" that hid $250 billion in transactions tied to Iran, in violation of U.S. law.
The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) on Monday said the British bank "schemed" with the Iranian government and hid from law-enforcement officials some 60,000 secret transactions to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in fees over nearly 10 years.
In other words, what really happened today is that a rogue bank opened a branch in a rogue state.
And it's not really a British bank, is it? As Standard Charted notes, "We operate in some of the world's most dynamic markets and have been for over 150 years. More than 90 per cent of our income and profits are derived from Asia, Africa and the Middle East."
They already operate in Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
So the customers aren't primarily British. But the bank, the bank itself is British!
No, you can't be a "multi-national" -- which Standard Charted is -- and belong to one country. Or did we forget the meaning of "multi" in "multi-national"? It was founded in South Africa. It only 'divested' itself of South Africa (where it was part of the blood diamond trade) in 1987 -- at the point when everyone else with integrity had long ago left. Scan Wikipedia and you'll see quickly that "no integrity" really sums up Standard Charted which is forever in trouble in India and which attempted bribery in the Philippins and Malaysia. They got into trouble for inflating claims -- trouble with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.
In other words, they should be perfectly at home in Nouri's corrupt Iraq.
Poor Nouri, this was his big moment and so much of nothing.
This month Hyatt announced a new Hyatt Regency . . . in Iraq. But Nouri can't get excited, the hotel will be in semi-autonomous northern region governed by the KRG. And Kelly Clarke (Khaleej Times) reported two weeks ago:
During a conference unveiling a new multi-billion dollar development to go up in the Kurdistan region’s capital, Erbil, last month, Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar said it hopes to ‘close similar deals with the country’s government in the future’, building on its already growing economy.
[. . .]
“To have such an international brand like Emaar coming in is a big step up for the development of the area and it will surely create confidence,” he (real estate agent and CEO for Elite Homes Ali Asad] told Khaleej Times.
Asked why he thinks one of the world’s biggest property developers has chosen to develop in Erbil, rather than Baghdad, where property prices are higher, he said it was simple.
“If they want a footstep into Iraq, Erbil is the perfect place, because it’s secure,” however Asad did mention the Downtown Erbil development will undoubtedly create inflation in the area, as listed prices are already considerably higher than similar developments in the area.
Not everything's in the KRG.
For example, today the KRG Prime Minister wasn't. He was in Ankara.
National Iraqi News Agency reports that Nijervan Barzani met with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the two discussed "the issue of oil exporting from Kurdistan region to Turkey." All Iraq News quotes "Turkish sources" stating, "Erdogan signed many conventions with Barzani in oil and gas sectors and after the three hour meeting he announced his intention to visit Baghdad and Erbil to assure the desire of Turkey in promoting relations with all Iraqi components."
The pipeline could assist with the oil exports that are already taking place between the KRG and Turkey. Seyfettin Gursel (Al-Monitor) reports:
Oil production in the region controlled by the KRG is 300,000 barrels per day. About two-thirds of this amount is exported to Turkey in tanker trucks. This is a tedious and expensive method. Nevertheless, the KRG revenues — which were at $150 million seven years ago — have risen to $12 billion, and per capita income has climbed to $5,000 from $300. It is possible to boost the daily production to 1 million barrels with the operating wells. With proven and estimated oil reserves, this production will increase multifold in coming years. According to Celebi, yet-untapped natural gas reserves are estimated at 40 billion cubic meters. The KRG has already signed deals with international oil companies for production and to build the pipelines that would cross Turkey.
Even limited oil-production revenues have raised Turkey’s exports to Iraq to above $10 billion, which comes after Germany in Turkey’s primary export markets. It is, however, likely to occupy the top slot soon. According to Celebi, 90% of exports to Iraq go to Northern Iraq, with the rest going to the south of the country. Imagine how these numbers are going to multiply when the pipelines are completed and oil and natural gas starts to flow.
Of today's meet-up, Asharq al-Awsat notes, "Speaking to CNNTurk television on Wednesday, Barzani confirmed that Iraq's Kurds are hoping to start pumping oil to Turkey before the end of the year via the Baghdad-controlled pipeline." AFP reports that Barzani declared before the meeting that the oil could be flowing, via the pipeline, to Turkey "before Christmas" (December 25th).
Guess which cranky boy forgot Santa Claus was making a list of who was naughty and who was nice?
Nouri al-Maliki. AFP quotes Nouri's mouth piece Ali al-Mussawi conveying Nouri's fury, "The Iraqi government informed the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad of its strong opposition to signing the pipeline deal with KRG." And if that's got Nouri stomping his feet, whatever will he do in December? That's when, Rudaw reports, a major commerce event takes place in the KRG:
More than 100 international energy companies and 800 political and diplomatic figures are expected to attend the Kurdistan-Iraq Oil & Gas Conference 2013 in Erbil next month, notably coinciding with historic oil exports by the Kurds.
The four-day conference opens Sunday, just as the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq begins to export oil directly to Turkey through its newly-extended pipeline.
Maybe he'll have time to adjust? But today, Nouri thought it was his day. He'd dominate the news cycle by announcing a one-time tool of the British empire was invading Iraq. Instead, all anyone cares about right now is what Barzani and Erdogan agreed to.
How important is today's news?
Nouri's not the only one throwing a hissy fit. At the US State Dept press briefing today, spokesperson Jen Psaki took sides and acted like an idiot. What a proud moment for the State Dept.
QUESTION: About the energy deal between Turkey and KRG: The KRG Prime Minister Barzani, Nechirvan Barzani, was in Turkey yesterday and he told to the Turkish reporters there that the pipeline between Irbil and Turkey will start to carry all the oil next month, before the Christmas. So I know that you raised this – your concern on this issue with the Turks when Mr. Davutoglu was here, but what is the latest situation and what is your view on the latest arrangement of this --
MS. PSAKI: Our view has not changed. We don’t support oil exports from any part of Iraq without approval of the Iraqi federal government. We continue to urge the federal government of Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government to reach a constitutional solution, and that has consistently been our position. And it also has not changed.
QUESTION: There is a plan on the table that Turks are arguing that they’re going to accumulate the revenue, oil revenue, in a Turkish bank in Turkey, and then they gonna split the spoils arising from this energy resources between KRG and Baghdad. So 70 percent will be going to the Kurds, and the rest will be Baghdad. Are you okay with that plan?
MS. PSAKI: I don’t have anything on that for you. Our position remains the same on this specific issue.
QUESTION: Did you raise this issue with Mr. Davutoglu when was in town?
MS. PSAKI: I will check and see if there’s more to report on our meeting with Foreign Minister Davutoglu.
QUESTION: So, just so I understand correctly, you do stick to the principle that the central governments was responsible for the export of oil from Iraq?
MS. PSAKI: That’s right, without approval of the Iraqi federal government.
'We stay out of it! We stay out of it! We support the Iraqi Constitution and the laws! It's not for us to decide!'
Did I forget any of the lies that have been told from the State Dept podium?
The State Dept doesn't give a damn about the Constitution of Iraq. They don't give a damn about the Iraqi people.
If you give a damn, you have something to say.
Let's drop back to yesterday snapshot to underscore how damn little the State Dept cares about Iraq:
National Iraqi News Agency reports 1 person shot dead in Khalis, preacher and Iman Rakan Hussein al-Naimi was injured by gunfire in a Rilkaif assassination attempt. Sheikh Ghadanfar al-Mahdawi survived (without injury) an attempted assassination "between Baqbua and Muqdadiyah," a Falluja sticky bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer, 1 police officer was shot dead in Baghdad, a Falluja roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer and left two more injured, and the corpses of Sheikh Adnan al-Ghanem and Sheikh Kadhim al-Jubouri were discovered in Basra. All Iraq News adds that the Mayor of Shuqiara Sufla Village, Jasim Mohammed al-Jubouri, was assassinated.
Where's the statement from the State Dept. On mayors? That's at least the eighth one assassinated since October 1st. Where's the statement decrying that?
Where's the State Dept on the assassinations of Sheikh Adnan al-Ghanem and Sheikh Kadhim al-Jubrouri?
Two religious leaders are killed. Jen Psaki didn't give a damn. She and the Dept she speaks for could care less.
By contrast, All Iraq News reports:
The
Iraqi Scholars Assembly condemned the crimes of assassinations that
targeted Sheikhs, Adnan al-Ghanim, and Kadhim al-Jobouri, in Basra
province.
The head of the Assembly stated to AIN "These crimes aim at arousing sectarianism."
"The outlaw armed groups are behind these ugly crimes," he added.
Please let it register in Iraq that when Sunni religious leaders are assassinated, the US government doesn't bat an eye and remains silent.
Let's stop pretending that this White House is any different than the last. They don't give a damn about the Sunni people.
The White House is nothing but a maxipad for Nouri, to help prevent spotting. When the maxipad is fully stained (Bully Boy Bush) a new one is applied (Barack Obama).
The US Embassy in Baghdad is also silent as two Sunni Imams are assassinated.
Silence is what Jen Psaki should have offered today.
The State Dept may not like what the KRG does but (a) why should the KRG give a damn what the US government thinks or wants (seriously, after being stabbed in the back in November 2010, why should the KRG give a damn?) and (b) the KRG's actions are legal.
Little Psaki was apparently unable to speak the truth but there's no oil law.
Nouri was installed (by Bully Boy Bush) as prime minister to pass an oil law. When Democrats were saying (pretending) they'd end the Iraq War if they got control of even one house of Congress in the 2006 mid-terms? Well they got control of both houses of Congress and the White House quickly came up with a set of benchmarks that would prove 'progress' in Iraq -- so Congress wouldn't cut off funds. That was six years ago so let's cite a source for any who might be new to the topic. From Gail Russell Chaddock (Christian Science Monitor, May 14, 2007):
It's almost 100 days after President Bush requested emergency funds for the Iraq war, and Congress and the White House are converging on a deal that includes benchmarks for progress for the Iraqi government, including a national oil law and provincial elections.
For Democrats now controlling Congress, these benchmarks – plucked right from the president's 2007 State of the Union address – are a way to avoid giving the White House "a blank check" on a war that a majority of Americans now oppose.
Nouri agreed to meet the benchmarks. Where's the oil law?
Nouri couldn't get it through in his first term and he's failed in his second term. Nouri introduces bills to the Parliament -- it's not like the US Congress. Nouri's failed over and over.
And it's no longer just an issue of the KRG. As Abdullah Salem (Niqash) reported last week, Nineveh Province is making moves to handle the sale of their own oil:
But the head of Ninawa's provincial legal committee, Nofal
Hammadi al-Akoub, said that Baghdad was relying on out dated oil and
gas laws – federal Iraq still doesn't have a national oil and gas law, even though Iraqi Kurdistan has passed it's own.
Those older laws relate to the preservation of oil wealth
by preventing illegal extraction of oil. However, as Hammadi al-Akoub
points out, “the provincial council didn't authorise the extraction of
oil. Rather they authorised investment in oil. In taking this decision
they were relating back to a 2008 law that gives provincial councils
this authority – so the Ministry can't actually object.”
If there is any contesting of the council's decision to be
done, “parliament is the only entity that has the right to do this and
the Supreme Federal Court will make the final decision,” al-Akoub told
NIQASH.
But it is not only the Iraqi government that is upset by
the invitation for tenders. Some of the critics of the local government
move come from within the council itself. Different factions within the
council are concerned that the move will open the door for more Iraqi
Kurdish companies to enter the disputed territory, and put the Iraqi
Kurds ahead in the battle over disputed territories within Ninawa.
With no national oil law what does that mean?
It means there's nothing to prohibit the KRG from doing what they're doing.
Jen Psaki can scream and rip out her own hair. She can set herself on fire if she wants.
None of that will change the fact that the KRG is acting within the law.
Nor will it change the reality, the ugly truth, that the State Dept is not backing Iraq or the Iraqi people. It's nothing but a bloody maxipad kept in place to protect Nouri.
The bleeding from violence never ends in Iraq.
Duraid Adnan (New York Times) reports, "But on Wednesday, the daily tally of violence took on an air of pinpoint deliberation with the execution-style killings of several groups of civilians, a grim reminder of the worst days of sectarian warfare in the country. While major bombings have become common, the killings reintroduced the prospect of a resurgence in the type of violence that rattled Iraq in 2006 and 2007." Salam Faraj (AFP) reminds:, "At the peak of sectarian fighting, Sunni and Shiite militiamen would regularly carry out tit-for-tat kidnappings and assassinations and leave scores of corpses littering the streets, many of them bound, blindfolded and showing signs of torture." Sinan Salaheddin (AP) also makes that point today, "Bodies were frequently found dumped during the height of Iraq's sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007, when the country was at the edge of civil war."
Such as the never ending violence. National Iraqi News Agency reports 1 suicide car bomber took his own life at a Habbaniyah police station entrance and he was followed by a suicide bomber wearing a belt with both bombings claimed the lives of 3 police officers with five more injured, an Albu Assaf suicide bomber "blew himseful up at the gate of the police station," 1 "suicide car bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the headquarters of Peshmerga forces in Jabarah county of Khanqin" leaving 3 Peshmerga dead and ten more injured, an Abu Ghraib suicide bomber took his own life at a Baghdad funeral and killed 9 other people with twenty more left injured, an armed attack on a Mosul police station left one police officer and one detainee injured, a Qa'im roadside bombing left 1 Iraqi soldier dead and two more injured, 1 real estate worker was shot dead in Mosul, Hussein Sameer Malalah (Dept of Compensation employee) was shot dead in Mosul and Homam Adnan Ahmed (Dept of Energy employee) was shot dead in Mosul. BBC News adds that "five members of the same family were shot dead in the mainly Shia district of Hurriya. The victims were reportedly Sunnis."
Multiple attacks on police stations and assassinations but that's not the focus of the non-Iraqi press. Check my math but I think that's 35 reported dead and 39 injured (13 of the dead will be noted in a second.)
There was to have been a protest tomorrow. Nasiriyah Network News reported earlier today that Dhi Qar journalists planned to protest the French Consulate over the lawsuits against two reporters in the province. The invitation to the protest noted that Iraqi journalists must protest all efforts to curtail freedom of the press in Iraq and that failure to do so could lead to not just corruption but also dictatorship. In an update, the outlet notes that the two French companies who were suiing the two journalists have dropped their lawsuits and the protest has been called off. All Iraq News notes cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr met in Baghdad with the French Ambassador to Iraq Denys Gauer today and the two discussed a number of issues including parliamentary elections in Iraq.
Moqatada is a Shi'ite cleric so staying with religion, let's note Patriarch Krill I of Moscow, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The Voice of Russia (link is text and audio) reports he met with Iraq's Ambassador to Russia Ismieal Shafiq Muhsin today and quotes him stating, "We know that Christian communities have been subjected to violence. Very many people were killed just for being Christians. Many people have left Iraq under the threat of death. That, of course, changed the cultural landscape of your country. We believe it is in a way a catastrophe for civilization because Christians and Muslims have always lived in peace on the territory of your country." Last week, Prashant Rao (AFP) reported on Iraqi Christians noting:
Before 2003 more than a million Christians lived in Iraq. Now there are around 400,000, according to Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako, head of one of the world's oldest Christian communities.
Baghdad has seen a dramatic fall in its own Christian population, which at one point numbered 600,000.
According to Archdeacon Temathius Esha, an Assyrian priest in Dura, the neighbourhood's Christian population has all but disappeared, from around 150,000 shortly after the 2003 US-led invasion to about 2,000 now.
Though home to seven churches -- Assyrian, Chaldean and Syriac -- Dura now has only two priests.
Esha's 500-capacity St. Shmooni Church attracted just 20 people for a recent Friday service, and he said only about 150 show up for Christmas or Easter.
The priest's own family lives in the town of Ainkawa in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, which has been mostly spared from the violence plaguing the rest of the country.
Religious minorities throughout Iraq are targeted -- including Yazidis, Mandaeans, Caldo-Assyrians, Shabaks and others. One group that has been repeatedly targeted is the Iraqi Jewish community.
In 2012, on World Refugee Day, Ron Posner, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, wrote of the climate in the Middle East immediately after WWII and observed of Iraq, "In Iraq Jewish businessman Shafiq Adas, then the country's wealthiest citizen, was immediately arrested on trumped-up charges and publicly lynched. This was followed by bombings targeting Jewish institutions, arbitrary arrests of Jewish leaders, and massive government seizures of property. Within years virtually all of Iraq's 2,500-year-old Jewish community had fled, emptying the country of many of its greatest artists, musicians, and businessmen." Last week the United Nations held a conference in New York entitled The Untold Story of the Middle East: Justice for Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries. Jacob Kamaras (Jewish News Service) reports:
The story of Jews expelled from Iraq has recently drawn significant attention due to the current exhibition in Washington, DC of 24 artifacts from the “Iraqi Jewish Archive,” a collection of 2,700 Jewish books and documents recovered in 2003 in the basement of the Iraqi intelligence ministry and restored by the National Archives and Records Administration. The U.S. has said it plans to return the archive to the Iraqi government following the exhibition, in line with a written agreement between the two countries, but Iraqi Jews say Saddam Hussein’s government confiscated the materials from them.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, at the U.N. conference reiterated a recent statement issued by 42 groups, addressed to Secretary of State John Kerry, that the archive should be protected and remain continually accessible to Jews.
“We urge our government not to send them back to an uncertain fate in Iraq, where hundreds of holy Torah scrolls remain in disuse and decay,” Hoenlein said.
Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Ron Prosor told JNS.org regarding the Iraqi archive, “There were a lot of resources and assets put together in order to compile it the way it is; it was saved, and we don’t want it to be lost again.” Robert Singer, CEO of the World Jewish Congress, told JNS.org that the fact that 42 groups signed the statement to Kerry shows “a unified position of the Jewish community on this issue.”
Ruth covered the issue yesterday and noted Rory Cohen's O.C. Register column:
Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and one of the initial members of the Muslim Brotherhood, became a Nazi agent after meeting Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Holocaust, in 1937. With Nazi funds, al-Husseini organized the Arab Revolt of 1936-39. In 1941, the mufti orchestrated a short-lived, Nazi-backed generals' coup in Iraq. The coup was followed by the Farhud, a vicious pogrom.
It's an event that is indelibly imprinted in the consciousness of Iraq's Jews.
The Mufti obtained Hitler's assurance in November 1941 that, after dealing with the Jews of Europe, Hitler would treat the Jews of the Middle East similarly. In a two-day period, mobs rampaged in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. At least 150 Jews were killed and more than 2,000 injured; some 900 Jewish homes were destroyed and looted; and hundreds of Jewish-owned shops were robbed and destroyed.
My older family members recall witnessing how soldiers pulled small children away from their parents and ripped the arms off young girls to steal their bracelets; pregnant women were raped and their stomachs cut open. My grandfather rescued his little brother when the violence began. My great-grandfather claimed to be a Muslim when Iraqi troops stormed their home. That was how he saved himself and his daughters, including my grandmother. Many of his neighbors weren't so lucky.
Turning to veterans issues, Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee and serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. Her office issued the following:
FOR PLANNING PURPOSES CONTACT: Murray Press Office
Wednesday, November 27th, 2013 (202) 224-2834
MONDAY EVENTS: Murray to Tour JBLM
Sexual Assault Response Center, Keynote Ceremony for Military Grads of
Microsoft Training Program
12:30, JBLM: Murray will tour sexual assault response center
2:00, Saint Martin’s University: Murray will keynote graduation ceremony for military graduates of Microsoft IT training program
(Washington, D.C.) – On Monday, December 2nd, U.S.
Senator Patty Murray, a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Committee, will be in Tacoma and Lacey, WA for two events.
First, at 12:30 PM PT, Senator Murray will visit the newly opened sexual assault response center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The center is a
first-for-the-military facility that brings together law enforcement,
medical support and victims’ advocates in a single space.
Second, at 2:00 PM PT, Senator Murray will be the keynote speaker
at a graduation ceremony to honor the first graduating class of
military students from Microsoft’s Software & Systems Academy pilot
program at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, WA. The 22 graduates,
currently active duty service members from JBLM, will be hired into
entry-level roles as software testers at Microsoft or Launch
Consulting. The Microsoft Academy was inspired by Senator Murray’s “VOW
to Hire Heroes Act.”
To RSVP for either event, contact the Murray Press Office (sean_coit@murray.senate.gov) or the JBLM Public Affairs Office (253-967-0152)
Event 1:
WHO: U.S. Senator Patty Murray
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, Deputy Commanding General, I Corps
Col. Charles “Chuck” Hodges, Commander, Joint Base Lewis McChord
Lt. Col. Robert Stelle, JBLM Sexual Assault Response Team Director
WHAT: Senator Murray will tour JBLM’s new,
first-for-the-military sexual assault response center, which brings
together law enforcement, medical support, and victims’ advocates in a
single space.
WHEN: Monday, December 2nd, 2013
12:30 PM PT
WHERE: Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) Resource Center
Bldg 2027
Joint Base Lewis McChord,
Dupont Gate, I-5 Exit 119
Escort required – please RSVP in advance
Event 2:
WHO: U.S. Senator Patty Murray
JBLM-based service members graduating from Microsoft’s Software & Systems Academy
Col. Charles Hodges, Jr., Base Commander, JBLM
Dr. Roy Heynderickx, President, Saint Martin’s University
Officials from Microsoft, Launch Consulting
WHAT: Murray will be the keynote speaker at a graduation
ceremony to honor the first graduating class of military students from
Microsoft’s Software & Systems Academy pilot program at Saint
Martin’s University
WHEN: Monday, December 2nd, 2013
2:00 PM PT
WHERE: Saint Martin’s University
Norman Worthington Conference Center
Lacey, WA
###
Sean Coit
Press Secretary
Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray
202-224-2834
iraq
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bbc news
the christian science monitor
al-monitor
national iraq news agency
niqash
afp
salam faraj
ammar karim
duraid adnan
the new york times
the associated press
sinan salaheddin
