6/18/2019

some day


Reminder: Criminalization of Palestine solidarity is an attempt to suppress information and debate about Israel’s occupation, colonialism & apartheid. The UK government owes a historic debt to Palestinians and has a duty to respect freedom of expression.


I will never stop my support for Palestine but more importantly I will not stop until we Free Palestine! We shall be free soon! 🇵🇸❤🇵🇸





every day the government of israel looks more and more brutal and more and more out of step. 

the palestinians will be free.  when that day comes, there will be no do-over for the government of israel.  it will be a thing of the past, as happened with south africa. 
let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'


Tuesday, June 18, 2019.  The propaganda gang is at work manufacturing a war on Iran, on the campaign for president we note Bernie Sanders and Kirsten Gillibrand, and more.

Starting in Iraq . . .

ll

Link to headline article


Tom O'Conner (NEWSWEEK) types:

An Iraqi military base where U.S. and allied coalition troops are stationed has been targeted by a rocket attack just as the Pentagon released new photos purporting to show Iran was behind recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
The Iraqi military's official Security Media Cell reported Monday that "a short time ago, three Katyusha rockets fell on Camp Taji," a military installation also known as Camp Cooke, located about 17 miles north of Baghdad. The apparent attack came just two days after unknown assailants fired rockets at Balad air base, another Iraqi installation where U.S. military personnel were present.
No casualties were reported in the previous attack, though the Security Media Cell said more details would be forthcoming about the latest incident, which also came amid a spike in tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which has begun to scale back its commitments to a 2015 nuclear deal that the White House pulled out of completely on a year ago.

Well if NEWSWEEK says it, it must be true, right?  I mean the did the US government's bidding and destroyed Jean Seberg and then pinned it on a Los Angeles gossip columnist.  Why would they ever lie, right?  When would they ever tell the truth is more like it.

Here's one lie they might want to explain -- it's not an Iraqi base for the US only.

THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD reports:


 Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed reports of rocket attacks in the vicinity of Camp Taji in Iraq.
This is the camp where 100 New Zealand troops are stationed.

"I'm told that none have come over and into the perimeter of the camp and therefore there have been no New Zealand casualties."


And it's not just New Zealand.

Three rockets have hit a military camp in Iraq where 300 Australian troops are stationed.





NEWSWEEK left that out.  Imagine that, the rag that destroyed Jean Seberg, that wrote that she was carrying another man's child but living with her husband (for fear of lawsuit, you didn't print that), that falsely claimed to have interviewed her for the piece, a piece of s**t rag like that would lie?  And someone inform THE JERUSALEM POST (a key plant for the US government when they want to work some propaganda on US audiences) that Camp Taji is not a "US military base."

At least STARS AND STRIPES gets it right.  Here's their opening paragraph, "Rockets that landed inside the perimeter of Camp Taji in Iraq on Monday caused no casualties among coalition or partner forces, the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve said Tuesday."

Rocket attacks on bases have taken place repeatedly throughout the ongoing Iraq War.  From last Saturday night:


The Iraq War doesn't stop just because US cameras focus elsewhere.  PA reports a small fire on Balad Air Base in Iraq -- where US 'trainers' are present -- resulted frrom a mortar attack.  Qassim Abdul-Zhara (AP) notes there were no deaths and no one was injured and that the attack took place "shortly after midnight Friday." 


XINHUA notes, "A total of 16 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Monday in an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition aircraft in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh, the Iraqi military said."  First, stating that Islamic State militants were killed does not mean they were.  Most of these attacks result in the deaths of civilians.  Second, if anyone's trying to attack US forces in Iraq currently, the most likely suspects would be ISIS.  Third, ISIS and the government of Iran are opponents.


Back in May, there was an attack on the Green Zone.  And the US media response was to yap-yap that this was Iran and to try to beat the drums for another war.  When a group stepped forward claiming that they had staged the attack, the same media was not interested.  One of the few to report on the group's claim was Alex McDonald (MIDDLE EAST EYE):

A previously unknown armed group has claimed responsibility for a Sunday rocket attack on Baghdad's Green Zone, claiming the attack was retaliation for US President Donald Trump pardoning a soldier over the 2009 killing of an Iraqi detainee.
In a statement released to a number of Iraqi news outlets, a group calling itself the Operations of Martyr Ali Mansour said it had fired the Katyusha rocket into the fortified area, which houses the US embassy.
They cited as a cause Trump's pardoning of Michael Behenna, a former United States first lieutenant who was convicted of murdering an Iraqi prisoner, Ali Mansour Mohammad al-Jabouri, in 2008.
The group denied that it had a connection to Iran or Iran-backed groups in Iraq, while acknowledging that such a connection had been suggested.
"Our appearance is because of Trump's decision, and we have no connection to any internal, external or supporting side," said the group, according to Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada.

The group claimed to have carried out several other operations in the past, including targeting US forces with Katyusha rockets at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, on 30 April.

As NEWSWEEK and others do the promotional push for another war, few are buying it.


Replying to 
The American people are sick of US wars that WE KNOW are being pushed by Bolton and Pompeo based on LIES. There were no WMD in Iraq. Venezuela is NO THREAT to the US. It is 100% clear to the American public that these wars have nothing to do with the US "defending" itself.




Replying to   and
We watched that movie before While US navy there nobody attacks those ships Iran is not that stupid, this is fake attack Make a reason to war with Iran Same as Saddam's chemical weapons Trump wants to control Oil countries "Venezuela, Iraq, now Iran" rest is scenario





Richard Gonzales (NPR) notes:

The Defense Department announced it is deploying 1,000 more U.S. troops to the Middle East "for defensive purposes" amid growing tensions with Iran.
Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Monday in a statement that the action, meant to address air, naval, and ground-based threats, comes after "a request from the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) for additional forces."

The Trump administration has blamed Iran for a series of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.


THE IRISH TIMES adds, "Underscoring the seriousness of the escalating crisis, the White House on Monday accused Iran of engaging in 'nuclear blackmail' after Tehran said it would soon breach part of the nuclear deal the Obama administration – along with the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China – signed with the Islamic Republic. Mr Trump withdrew from the deal a year ago, but the Europeans had been trying to ensure that Iran remained in compliance with the nuclear pact."

Can someone explain that last part?

If I divorce you and we both move on to others, don't come at me with, "You're breaking your marriage vows!"  In other words, the contract was no more once Donald withdrew from it.  This should not be confusing.  When one party withdraws from an agreement, that's the end of the agreement -- unless the party being left decides to sue.

Let's note this Tweet from Senator Bernie Sanders:

The Gulf of Oman incident must not be used as a pretext for war with Iran. War would be an unmitigated disaster for the United States, Iran, the region, and the world. A unilateral U.S. attack on Iran would be illegal and unconstitutional.






An angry e-mail to the public account notes that Tweet and says THIRD should have included it in "Editorial: No to War on Iran."  Should they have?

First, note my use of "they."  I didn't help write that editorial.  I was one of the reasons Jim included in his note to the readers that there was no piece on Julian Assange.  I do not believe Julian should be persecuted.  I also don't believe that after working hours and hours on the weekend, we should have to come back on a Monday or a Tuesday or a Wednesday night to finish the edition.  I don't want to spend that kind of time.  So if there's not a Julian article after we've worked forever, too bad.

Second, as I read the editorial, they are talking about "candidates" for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.  Yes, Bernie is a candidate.  But that Tweets is not from his campaign Twitter feed, it's from his US Senator Twitter feed.  They are clear that they are looking at the campaign Twitter feeds.  If Bernie's posting on his Senator account, good.  But if he's campaigning and he believes in what he's saying, he needs to carry it over to his campaign Twitter feed.

The angry e-mailer also feels that "You have done nothing to promote Bernie!"

I didn't realize it was my job to promote Bernie.  Because it's not.  He has been mentioned in snapshots.  I will make an effort to include the female candidates when possible.  But even they don't get as much attention here as I wish they did.

I haven't decided who I will support in the primaries.  US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard's campaign comes closest to addressing the issues that matter to me.  But I haven't endorsed her.  I could easily and gladly vote for the following if they got the nomination: Tulsi, Bernie Sanders, Marianne Williamson, Kirsten Gillibrand, Beto O'Rourke and Mike Gravel.  I could vote for a few others running without holding my nose.  But I haven't decided who to support and don't know that I need to.

If, for example, Bernie's your candidate of choice, you probably don't want me supporting him.  With the exception of John Kerry in 2004, no one I supported in the primary ever got the nomination.  Bill Clinton beat Jerry, for example.    Mondale wasn't my choice in the 1984 primary.  Over and over, my choice never gets the nomination.  I'll slide the e-mail over to Jim who -- I'm sure -- will respond to it.  (And you can e-mail THIRD via the public account here, we have more people going through the e-mails.  But, again, I had no part in that editorial.)

Here are some Tweets from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, one of six women running for the nomination.




  • At the end of the day, the question is: Do we value women? And for me, there will always be only one answer. If you agree, join me:


    Don't get me wrong, I love being on the campaign trail. But there's no place like home with Maple.


    A four-month-old. This baby, and this family, will suffer from this trauma—caused entirely by this administration—for the rest of their lives. We can't become numb to this.


    We must honor the nine people murdered at Emanuel AME four years ago today with action, not just words. We need to reject white supremacy, wherever we see it, and end gun violence—starting with closing the Charleston loophole.



    Our democracy is built on the principle of one person, one vote. Racial gerrymandering dilutes the voting power of people of color. This is good news from the Supreme Court. Now let's focus on redistricting reform to ensure voting rights.


    Thank you, Kristyn—your endorsement means the world to me. So proud to have you on our team in New Hampshire!


    Anyone who questions whether women can determine this election wasn't paying attention in 2018, and they certainly aren't seeing how fired up women are right now. Thank you for three empowering, inspiring days, !


    When I was little, I'd help my grandmother volunteer for Democrats. She was so powerful—taking action to make a difference. I wanted to be JUST like her. She showed me that women's voices matter. That's why I entered public service, and it's why I'm running for president.





    The following sites updated:




    6/17/2019

    cory booker is disgusting

    cory booker is disgusting

    Heinous and craven. stated last week that he supports federal legislation that encourages states to punish supporters of the BDS movement, a complete reversal of his decision to vote against the legislation in February.


    what is rosario dawson thinking sleeping with cory?

    she's betraying every cause she's ever supported.  she should be ashamed of herself.



    let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'


    Monday, June 17, 2019.  War Hawk Mayor Pete turns on Joe Biden, Marianne Williamson gets some serious media attention, the Mosul dam is declared safe and much more.



    24 candidates are seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination -- six are women.  20 have qualified for the first debates (all six women qualified).  Marianne Williamson spoke with Major Garrett this week on CBS' THE TAKEOUT.






    Marianne also sat down with TO THE CONTRARY WITH BONNIE ERBE (PBS).





    The principles in the Declaration of Independence are America’s mission statement, and our biggest problem is that we’ve lost our psychological & emotional connection to them. That makes us easy to distract, easy to play, easy to fool.





    Another candidate for the presidential nomination is Pete Buttigieg.   Devan Cole (CNN) reports:



    Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Sunday expressed concern about the Trump administration's Iran saber-rattling, drawing a comparison to the rising tensions during the Bush administration that led to the Iraq War.
    "Well, I think we need a measured assessment of information as it continues to come in. There's no question that Iran has a pattern of malign activities. There's also no question that there is a pattern that is disturbingly reminiscent of the run up to the war in Iraq, in some cases being driven by the same people," Buttigieg, who served in Afghanistan as an intelligence officer, told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."
    "I mean, the fact that one of the architects of the Iraq war is the President's national security adviser right now, when the President himself has pretended that he was against the Iraq War all along. This is shocking," he said, referring to John Bolton, the White House's national security adviser who also served in security and diplomatic positions under President George W. Bush.

    Staying on Pete and Iraq, Rachel Frazin (THE HILL) notes:

    Buttigieg discussed fellow candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation". He particularly knocked Biden's vote for the Iraq War. 
    "I certainly think that vote was a mistake and I have a different view on that conflict," Buttigieg said, according to a transcript of his remarks.
    Buttigieg, who served as a Naval intelligence offer, also noted that the war was something he "opposed as a student and continue[s] to think was a terrible idea."


    Of the 24 candidates for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, only one voted for the Iraq War: Joe Biden.  


    The war in Iraq has roiled presidential politics in each election since President George W. Bush launched the invasion of the country in 2003. It was central to the 2004 election, arguably the reason that Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton for the 2008 Democratic nomination, and no small factor in Donald Trump’s victory in 2016, when he pitched himself as an alternative to elites in both parties ― particularly his rivals in the GOP ― who had backed the invasion.

    As Joe Biden leads the Democratic field for 2020, the U.S.’s bloody history with Iraq is set to again become a defining issue in the race, and not simply because Trump has talked about an indefinite U.S. military presence there.
    Biden wants to convince voters his resume on foreign policy is an asset. But they’ve got ground to think otherwise.
    “He’s been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who served with Biden in the Obama administration, wrote in his 2014 book.  
    Just this month, Biden’s primary opponents have zeroed in on his support for Bush’s invasion.

    “You’ve got to ask yourself where Joe Biden is on the issues that are most important to you. Did he support the war in Iraq that forever destabilized the Middle East?” former Rep. Beto O’Rourke asked on MSNBC this week. Days earlier, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) had called for Biden to apologize. Almost 30 percent of Democrats are unhappy about Biden’s vote and more than 40 percent of party supporters younger than 30 say it makes them less likely to back him, a Politico/Morning Consult poll recently found.


    While Pete rightly calls out Joe, don't mistake Pete for anti-war.  He's pro-war and repeats every pro-war lie as fact.

    Mayor Pete today lamented that the Iraq War "very nearly made our party into isolationists." Hmm, really? When did "isolationism" ever become a dominant tendency in the Dem Party? Previous Dem administration was involved in military conflict all over the world. Bizarre strawman




    Pete is a War Hawk.  He tries to pretend otherwise but that's all he is and, apparently, all he will ever be.

    A lot is being made of national polls.  First, it really is too far out from the election to put so much faith in polling.  Second, national polls mean nothing in the presidential election.  If you're trying to predict the election, you go to state polls because the popular vote -- as we saw yet again in 2016 -- is not how a US president is elected.  You go state by state to see who's winning what.

    You'd look at, for example, Ross Ramsey (TEXAS TRIBUNE):

    Only four have double-digit support among Democratic voters with almost nine months to go before the Texas primaries: former Vice President Joe Biden (23%), former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas (15%), and U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (14%) and Bernie Sanders of Vermont (12%). And only four others have the support of more than 1% of the Democratic voters: South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (8%); U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California (5%); former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro of Texas (3%); and U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii (3%).


    Texas has 38 of the 538 votes in the electoral college.  Texas is a winner takes all state (all votes go to one candidate) and the last time a Democrat won Texas in a presidential campaign was Jimmy Carter in 1976.


    Turning to Iraq . . .

    Amb Tueller joined Minister of Water Resources Jamal al-Adili and Italian Amb Pasquino supporting the US Army Corp of Engineers and Italian company Trevi as they celebrated the successful completion of emergency efforts to stabilize Mosul Dam in partnership with .





    Matthew Tueller is the US Ambassador to Iraq.  He was nominated in November of last year by US President Donald Trump but the Senate dragged its feet allowing Iraq to be without a US Ambassador after Douglas Silliman left at the end of January.  Tueller was finally confirmed on May 16th.  June 9th, he arrived in Baghdad.   NRT reports:

    Recently-arrived US Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller said on Sunday (June 16) that Mosul Dam poses no danger to people and that they will benefit from the water of its reservoir.

    Tueller said in a statement that the dam had been repaired by US Army Corps of Engineers and Italian company Trevi to shore up its foundation.
    "In this summer, a team from the Iraqi ministry of water resources will be trained on the high-tech equipment at the dam, so as to continue to reconstruct the dam for coming years,” Tueller said during a visit to the dam.

    Once the dam’s reservoir reaches sufficient capacity, it will be a resource for drinking water, agriculture and generating electricity, Matthew added. 


    So file that away for when the largest dam in Iraq is again an issue.
    As we wind down, let's note this from SWAN:



    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
    June 13, 2019
    SWAN Supports Removing Commanders from Making Decisions in Felony Cases
    Washington, DC –The Service Women’s Action Network strongly supports the reintroduction of the Military Justice Improvement Act by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) today. The MJIA would remove commanders from the decision-making process in sexual assault cases. 
    “Removing Commander’s from the decision-making process sends a clear signal that there are some crimes that are so severe that Commanders have no place in deciding if, when or how they are prosecuted,” said retired Army Col. Ellen Haring, SWAN CEO. “Too many commanders have failed to properly investigate or prosecute subordinates charged with sexual misconduct and this failure has led service members to refuse to report sexual assaults because they do not trust their commanders to make proper disposition of such charges or to protect them from retaliation from superiors or peers,” Haring said. “This change protects both the victim and the accused by putting investigations and prosecutions in the hands of independent, trained experts.”
    The Military Justice Improvement Act makes a revolutionary change to the Uniform Code of Military Justice by removing from the accused’s commander the authority to dispose of felony-level charges for non-military-specific crimes. Commanders would retain the authority to dispose of 67 military-specific crimes, such as desertion and AWOL and they also retain the authority to dispose of misdemeanors (for which the maximum penalty is less than a year in prison) using Non-Judicial Punishment. The disposition of felony-level crimes would become the providence of military JAG officers with substantial prosecutorial training and experience—training and experience which few military commanders have.
    According to Defense Department officials reports of sexual assaults have steadily increased since 2012 and two thirds of sexual assault victims do not report their assault while 43% of individuals who reported experienced retaliation. “When it came time to make the decision to report my sexual assault my trust in my command was a determining factor. The response that I received when I attempted to initially report was, ‘He’s a good sailor. Do you want to ruin his career?’ Knowing that my command did not care about my safety or health deterred me from reporting and led to future assaults that also went unreported,” said Sasha Georgiades, SWAN case manager and Navy veteran.
    About the Service Women’s Action Network
    SWAN is a national, nonpartisan organization and member-driven community network advocating for the individual and collective needs of service women and women veterans. To date, SWAN has played a major role in opening all military jobs to service women, holding sex offenders accountable in the military justice system, eliminating barriers to disability claims for those who have experienced military sexual trauma, and expanding access to a broad range of reproductive healthcare services for military women.

    ###
    Media Contact:SWAN | O: (202) 798-5570, Email: info@servicewomen.org


    New content at THIRD:



    The following sites updated: