Ghassan Adnan and Justin Malcolm (WALL STREET JOURNAL) report,
"Twin suicide bombings ripped through a crowded marketplace in Baghdad
on
Thursday, killing at least 32 people and wounding at least 75 others in
the first such attack in Iraq’s capital in more than two years." The
writers insist that "the explosions shattered a period of relative
calm." It hasn't been relatively calm in Iraq but it does provide cover
for your outlet that's ignored the ongoing violence -- especially the
violence aimed at the protesters -- when shocked readers see the story.
As XINHUA points out, "sporadic deadly incidents still occur in the war-ravaged country as IS
remnants have since melted into urban areas or deserts and rugged areas,
carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and
civilians" Samya Kullab and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) note,
"Blood smeared the floors of the busy market amid piles of clothes and
shoes as survivors took stock of the disarray in the aftermath." The
first bomb helped draw the crowd, the second one then went off. Martin Chulov (GUARDIAN) explains,
"The interior ministry said the first bomber had claimed he was ill and
when crowds gathered to help, he detonated his bomb." Aqeel Najm, Jomana Karadsheh, Kareem Khadder and Tamara Qiblawi (CNN) add:
Security
forces say they pursued the two attackers before they blew themselves
up. It was the first suicide attack to strike Baghdad in nearly two
years.
The
first bomber entered the marketplace and, pretending to be sick, asked
for help, causing people to gather around him before he blew himself up,
according to officials and state media. The second bomber then drove to
the scene on a motorbike before detonating his explosive vest.
No
group has claimed responsibility for the attack, though it bears the
hallmarks of Sunni jihadi groups who have carried out numerous similar
attacks in Iraq. Double bombings were common in the country during the height of its sectarian war between 2005 and 2007.
ALJAZEERA's Abdelfattah Fayed states, "The injured were rushed to the nearby hospitals. Local reports suggest
that the number of fatalities will rise as the large number of those
injured are in very critical condition." Ramadan Al Sherbini (GULF NEWS) notes, "Photos carried by Iraqi media showed bodies lying on the ground in the aftermath of the attack." XINHUA reports:
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Thursday condemned
in the strongest terms the twin suicide bombings at a crowded
commercial area in Iraq's capital Baghdad.
"That terrorist attack is a heinous act that came at a very important
time. It undoubtedly aimed to hinder Iraq's efforts to restore the
country's security and stability and achieve the aspired economic
reform," Aboul-Gheit said.
MIDDLE EAST MONITOR offers this context, "The latest bombings come just days after the government unanimously voted to postpone the country's general elections to October this year. They were scheduled for 6 June. Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi
had pledged to hold early elections after taking office last year, to
appease anti-government protesters demanding a reform of the country's
political system and an end to rampant corruption and poor public
services."
Among the many hideous moments on US TV
yesterday? The efforts to turn Bully Boy Bush into someone worthy of
admiration. The War Criminal is beloved by those who whore for
corporations. Hannibal Khoury Tweets:
Children are still getting blown-up in Iraq but CNN and Stephen Colbert want you to know what a cute and cuddly grandpa George Bush is
Corporate
whores are happy. They spent yesterday ooh-ing and ahh-ing over aged
debutante Joe Biden's coming out party. The rest of the world? Not so
much. Kooky | Destroyer of Mayo notes:
Palestine is not celebrating today
Venezuela is not celebrating today
Iran is not celebrating today
Syria is not celebrating today
Iraq is not celebrating today
Cuba is not celebrating today
Bolivia is not celebrating today
Yemen is not celebrating today
Chile is not celebrating today
Afghanistan is not celebrating today
Honduras is not celebrating today
I'm not letting liberals enjoy this. There is nothing to enjoy, only the continuation of capitalist terror and hegemony
Also a preemptive response to liberals finding this:
I'm Syrian, ask me about the Obama years
Yeah the new president is a war criminal who has terrorized the places I listed. Take your smart comments to other places
President Joseph Biden’s inaugural address yesterday was significant
above all for its banality. Amidst an unprecedented political, social
and economic crisis of the entire capitalist order, Biden delivered
remarks filled with cliches, incoherent non sequiturs and the emptiest
of abstractions.
One would not, of course, expect Biden to deliver
a socialist speech. He is a capitalist politician assuming the position
of “commander-in-chief” of the most powerful imperialist country.
However, in the tradition of American politics, the inaugural address of
the incoming president used to be an occasion for speaking in some form
to the political situation and the policy of the incoming
administration.
[. . .]
The poverty of Biden’s remarks is not just an intellectual failure.
He knows full well that any hint at a significant shift in policy would
spark a sell-off on the markets. As it was, the markets rose during his
speech. In the minds of the political establishment and the media, this
is the main factor in concluding that the speech was a great success.
They were all somewhat richer at its conclusion than at its beginning.
Moreover,
the political representatives of the ruling class, and particularly the
Democratic Party, are acutely aware of the fact that any serious
examination of reality—including the political and social forces behind
the rise of fascism in America and the bipartisan policies that have
produced the catastrophic spread of the pandemic—risks a social and
political explosion that will threaten the entire capitalist order.
Biden’s
appeal to “unity” is, ultimately, a desperate effort to cover over a
massive social chasm. This chasm does not separate the Democrats from
the Republicans, who, whatever their differences, both represent the
same oligarchy. It is the unbridgeable division between the capitalist
ruling elite, on the one hand, and the working class, on the other. It
is the fear of the open eruption of this conflict that drives Biden to
his abstractions.
Every 4 years I suffer. I watch many people who I respect shed tears over a democrat winning or the first black president or Trump is gone and Harris is a woman, etc. But I don't care because I want a different society altogether.
community member linda goes on cruises three to four times a year. or did before the pandemic. once it is over, the 1st thing she plans to do is take a cruise.
Tuesday, January 19, 2021. We take a look at the stupidity.
Picking up from yesterday, press whores and fan bois never learn. Chris Willman of VARIETY.
I was nice yesterday, I didn't single out any of the whores by name.
But Chris learned enough to grasp that he couldn't blindly praise Phil
Spector, the convicted murderer. So, instead, he offers an embarrassing
column that questions his sanity. That would include the praise he
heaps on the late Jack Nitzsche -- a roll dog of Phil's who did a lot of
the arrangements for Phil. You know what else he did? He beat Carrie
Snodgrass with a pistol, threatened to kill her and her son and then he
raped her. Little man, if you're looking for a hero, it's not going to
be Jack Nitzsche.
It's a sad time for little men with
tiny penises and a desire to terrorize women. Back in 1973, the
landscape was so different, wasn't it? Back then, the hideous Chris Hodenfield, writing about the stars of a TV variety show, could work in this little 'gem' in an article for ROLLING STONE, "Many of my friends favor the belief that after work, Sonny beats the s[**]t out of her with a tire iron.""Her"
is Cher. Oh for the days when the fan boyz could be as misogynistic as
they wanted. These days, these same boyz have to pretend it's
something other than hatred of women that keeps so many women from being
inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Shirley said
an e-mail -- a lengthy one -- came in stating that David Geffen getting
hit by Phil Spector was fine because David "didn't know anything about
music until the eighties so in the seventies he was just an idiot and
Phil Spector knew what sold."
Phil Spector knew what
sold in the sixties. In 1974, Phil didn't know what sold. In 1974,
David headed ELEKTRA/ASYLUM. David started ASYLUM and then it was
merged with ELEKTRA and David was over both. In 1974, David's label saw
the release of many hit albums including Carly Simon's "Hotcakes"
(featuring the hits "Haven't Got Time For The Pain" and "Mockingbird"),
Joni Mitchell's COURT AND SPARK, the Eagles' ON THE BORDER, Jackson
Browne's LATE FOR THE SKY and Bob Dylan's PLANET WAVES.
David knew music.
Does
anybody know Iraq? I think often that it's a bad thing that Iraq gets
so little attention from US media. Then I catch the nonsense JACOBIN
served up 'on' Iraq.
Felix
Biederman 'protested' online. Does he "shampoo" online as well? That
would explain the hair. "Protesting" online is nothing to brag about.
He never went to a protest. So why is he on the show?
I
saw the video -- didn't stream it -- last night. I think JACOBIN has
serious issues with Ana and that they need to drop her. So I've been
avoiding noting JACOBIN. But I slept on it and thought, "It's Iraq. We
should note it." And then I streamed it.
What a
stupid and wasteful discussion. Everyone knew, the unwashed Felix
says, that the war was going to last forever. Oh hell, no, you little
piece of crap. I stated at THIRD years before 2008 that the site
(THIRD) would end in 2008 and that the Iraq War would still be going
on. Jim will tell you he thought I was wrong about the war still going
on. We were going to elect Democrats to both houses of Congress and
they were going to end the war!!! Readers of THIRD also rejected my
assertion. It's not fun being a Cassandra and Felix is an idiot who
doesn't know what he's talking about. (I've never encountered the
bathing-challenged Felix before this video.)
So it's
nearly 18 years after the start of the Iraq War and apparently we still
can't acknowledge the Iraqi people -- we can't acknowledge how they've
suffered or how they continue to suffer.
Let me be
clear to the two dumb women hosting -- your giggles in the face of the
Iraqi dead and the birth defects, in the face of a land of widows and
orphans? It's embarrassing and it's shameful. The lives of the Iraqi
people are not a joke. How disgusting that they thought they could
treat the subject like that. It's a lot like Bully Boy Bush with his
jokes "Those weapons of mass destruction have to be around here
somewhere."
It wasn't funny when War Criminal Bully Boy Bush tried to turn the Iraq War into a joke and it's not funny when Felix tries it.
Heaven
forbid that we have a mature and real discussion about Iraq, heaven
forbid that we talk about the realities that the Iraqi people continue
to deal with as a result of the US-led Iraq War that destroyed their
lives and their country.
Felix is an idiot wanting to tell jokes. But you're the hosts. Try to maintain some dignity. This isn't a joke topic.
And
it's very telling how quickly the thread of Iraq is lost so that they
can focus on how Donald Trump said mean words about John McCain.
I'm really damn tired of this nonsense. It's shameful.
And
I don't know why, in 2021, JACOBIN is letting a guest call people
"pu**ies" and do so as an insult? That's what we're doing now in 2021
-- from 'woke' JACOBIN?
I'm sick of the sexism and I'm sick of the stupidity.
And two female hosts going "Yeah, yeah" over and over to everything a sexist and uninformed man says is really sad as well.
Multiple explosions were heard south of Iraq's capital overnight
Monday in what reports suggest may have been US or Israeli airstrikes on
Iran-backed militias.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it was not aware “of any strikes in Iraq,” according to a Reuters reporter in Washington.
We
are seeing reports of potential explosions near Jurf as-Sakhr, south of
Baghdad. We can confirm that no U.S. personnel or assets were in the
vicinity of Jurf as-Sakhr and that there was no U.S. involvement in this
alleged incident. --Embassy Spokesperson
Monday, January 18, 2021. Convicted killer Phil Spector has died
and you can see it as a test for the press. If it was a test, the press
yet again failed.
The press lies. From stupidity,
from the need to whore -- they lie for a variety of reasons. Never
forget it. Phil Spector has thankfully died. The artist Phil Spector
died years ago. A record producer and sometime songwriter (he took
credit for a lot of songs he wrote no part of), Phil was influential in
the sixties. While the artist died long ago, the person just died
January 16th. THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER has a laughable obit. This may be the most hilarious passage ever:
Spector’s domestic life, along with his career, eventually came apart.
After his first marriage, to Annette Merar, broke up, Ronettes leader
singer Ronnie Bennett became his girlfriend and muse. He married her in
1968 and they adopted three children. But she divorced him after six
years, claiming in a memoir that he held her prisoner in their mansion,
where she said he kept a gold coffin in the basement and told her he
would kill her and put her in it if she ever tried to leave him.
I
love Ronnie Spector but I love the truth even more. Not ''after his
first marriage broke up." He began sleeping with Ronnie in 1963. In
August of 1963, Annette was informed that Phil was having an affair with
one of the Ronnettes. She thought it was Nedra Talley because Nedra
was considered the pretty one. She checked the recording studio to see
if Phil was with her. Phil wasn't at the recording studio. Then she
remembered he had a little studio several floors below their apartment.
She called down there. And what were her exact words upon Phil
answering? "Get that whore out of my building."
Phil
got her to come downstairs and show her it was Ronnie, not Nedra, like
that was going to make a difference. He then promised Annette that it
was over between him and Ronnie. It wasn't over. The affair would
continue.
The notion that Ronnie was his muse? I
think the Ronnettes would laugh really hard at that because Phil and
Ronnie's affair -- and eventual marriage -- did not mean the group
became a priority. It actually meant that Phil lost interest in the
group.
The obit tells us that he gave an early break to Cher.
That's
hilarious. Cher was living with Sonny Bono at the time and Sonny was
his gopher. Phil used Cher for background vocals because he could pay
her cheap and non-union (I think he paid her $15 a session). He didn't
give her a break. He also set out to destroy her when Sonny kept
begging him to record her as a lead artist. The Ringo song was mean to
mock Cher and meant to make people think a man was singing it. Phil
never helped anyone but himself.
His songwriting
credits are mentioned without pointing out that many times he stole
credit from the songwriters. He was more apt to steal from Carole King
and Gerry Goffin than from Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil because Barry and
especially Cynthia wouldn't put up with it.
He died in
prison, yes, but he died a very wealthy man (estimated worth most
recently was $30 million) and a lot of that money came from stealing
writing credits on songs.
I looked over CRAPAPEDIA and what did I see? One lie after another coming after me.
I
wondered as I read the obits -- with one lie after another -- from the
various outlets how they got it so wrong and how they didn't grasp what a
loser Phil was. CRAPAPEDIA.
It pretends it has all
the singles Phil did from 1958 to 2003. I'm not seeing "A Woman's
Story." That's the bomb he produced for his label (distributed by
WARNER BROS in the US, I believe by POLYDOR in the UK). 1974 was the
year. Ignore YOUTUBE's claims, it was 1974. If you see it listed as
1975, be sure before you e-mail to argue that you have a solid source.
I'm not in the mood this week. And CRAPAPEDIA is not a solid source.
Oh, wait, let's stop the e-mails before they start.
Check the copyright at the bottom of the record above -- 1974. Here's the track.
Phil
had no real success after the sixties ended. The Beatles? He didn't
produce LET IT BE, he assembled it. And Paul's right -- and was
demonstrated to be right when LET IT BE NAKED was released -- the songs
sounded better before Phil added effects to them.
He
died in prison. He deserved to be in prison. He'd threatened people
and resorted to violence for years. He did it with John Lennon,
shooting off the gun and having John tell him that he needed his hearing
to record. It's cute how they want to do a greatest hits for killer
Phil that's musical but not one that includes all the times he
threatened people and physically harmed people.
Cher?
She would record the STARS album and that would be released. None of
her work with Phil in 1974 was released on an album. Those recording
sessions were a nightmare and you'd think the obit of a killer would
take a moment to note that.
Or is it normal that
billionaire David Geffen left a studio with a busted lip? That is what
happened during Cher's recording sessions. David was disagreeing with
the gop and goo Phil was adding to the song and Phil punched him. David
fell to the floor and Phil and Phil's bodyguards had all pulled guns on
him.
Phil killed Lana Clarkson and, at any moment
throughout the decades, he could have killed someone else. Ronnie was
terrorized by him. Dee Dee Ramone says Phil pulled a gun on him when The
Ramones worked with Phil. He put a gun to Leonard Cohen. He pulled a
gun on Debbie Harry. These stories -- and there are so many more -- go
to the type of person he was. Phil Spector was a toxic person.
From
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER obit, "Darlene Love also feuded with him,
accusing Spector of failing to credit her for her vocals on "He’s a
Rebel" and other songs [. . .]"
Excuse the f**k out of
me? Darlene accuses him? It's established fact, not just a charge.
First off, she was Darlene Wright. Second, he took her songs --
including "He's A Rebel" -- and issued them as songs by the Crystals -- a
group that had scored hits already with "Uptown" and "There's No Other
Like My Baby." Darlene Wright and the Blossoms recorded "He's A Rebel"
and had the hit but Phil credited it to the Crystals. Darlene Wright,
now renamed Darlene Love, then recorded "He's Sure The Boy I Love." It
was a top twenty hit on the pop and R&B charts and it was supposed
to be credited to Darlene Love. Instead, it was listed as a song by the
Crystals. Darlene was not a member of the Crystals. "He's a Rebel" is
Darlene Love and it's a number one song but it's credited to the
Crystals. Darlene's not making accusations, she's stating facts and
shame on anyone trying to besmirch her to praise a convicted killer.
Phil
didn't just steal Darlene's credits from her, he did a number on her.
Annette has long spoken of how Phil was manipulative and would destroy
your self-worth as a game. That's all it was to him.
Now
I love "Be My Baby," for example. And I'll always love that song. I
can even say Phil did a great job producing it. But that doesn't make
Phil a good person. He was a violent man who wrecked a lot of lives,
threatened a lot of people and died in prison for killing Lana
Clarkson. As a record producer, he really had nothing to offer after
the Checkmates' 1969 releases. His violence continued for years and
years after.
Militias need war to legitimise them. That is how the Iranian-backed
militias in Iraq and elsewhere in the region justify their existence.
Iraq has seen plenty of war for 40 years, but the latest threat, from
ISIS, has been seen off with American help, and the US will soon
withdraw its troops. If there ever was a need for the militias – which
is doubtful – it is no longer there. But despite all entreaties, the
Iraqi militias refuse to go.
In the words of Abdul-Aziz Al-Muhammadawi, also known as Abu-Fadak or
Al-Khal (meaning “uncle”), the armed militia he leads, the Popular
Mobilization Unit (PMU), is “more legitimate than all other armies” and
will remain in existence “until God wills otherwise.”
Until then, “Uncle” will refuse the options offered by Baghdad of
either disarming all militias and transforming them into political
parties, or of being absorbed into Iraq’s regular military and security
forces. Abu-Fadak, of course, ultimately takes his orders from another
capital, and Tehran says the militias must retain their arms in order to
“liberate” Iraq from “American military occupation.”
Iraqi
parliament’s human rights committee on Friday called for an urgent
investigation into a newly discovered mass grave in Salahaddin province,
in which tens of bodies were reportedly found, some belonging to
children.
Locals on Wednesday uncovered a mass grave in the town of Ishaqi, which according to the commission contains “hundreds” of bodies.
The Salahaddin Clan Council issued a statement the same day confirming the site’s discovery.
The
council’s spokesman Tami al-Majmei told Rudaw English on Saturday that
the mass grave “contained the remains of more than 50 people from
Salahaddin, including women, and children between 8 and 12 years old.”
He
says the presence of women and children is evidence “that militias
committed a mass execution of families," referring to units of the
Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic)
that he says control security in the area.
More evidence of the crimes against humanity committed by Iran-aligned militias in Iraq: “the presence of women & children is evidence militias committed a mass execution of families, referring to units of the Popular Mobilization Forces that he says control security in the area”
Arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial
killings of demonstrators by Iraqi security forces in late 2019 and into
2020 led to government resignations and the nomination of a new prime
minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, in May 2020. Despite an initial seeming willingness to address some of Iraq’s most serious human rights challenges, al-Kadhimi’s government failed to end abuses against protesters.
Iraq’s criminal justice system was riddled with the widespread use of
torture and forced confessions and, despite serious due process
violations, authorities carried out numerous judicial executions.
Iraqi law contained a range of defamation and incitement provisions
that authorities used against critics, including journalists, activists,
and protesters to silence dissent.
The Covid-19 pandemic had a particularly harmful impact on students
kept out of school for months during nationwide school closures, many of
whom were unable to access any remote learning.
Excessive Force against Protesters
In a wave of protests that began in October 2019 and continued into late 2020, clashes with security forces, including the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashad, nominally under the control of the prime minister), left at least 560 protesters and security forces dead in Baghdad and Iraq’s southern cities.
In July 2020, the government announced it would compensate the families of those killed during the protests and that it had arrested
three low-level security forces officers. As far as Human Rights Watch
is aware, no senior commanders have been prosecuted. After a spate of
killings and attempted killings of protesters in Basra in August 2020, the government fired
Basra’s police chief and the governorate’s director of national
security but seemingly did not refer anyone for prosecution. In May
2020, when Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi took office, he formed a committee to investigate the killings of protesters. It had yet to announce any findings publicly as of late 2020.
In May, security forces in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region arrested
dozens of people planning to participate in protests against delayed
government salaries, a persistent issue since 2015. At August 2020
protests by civil servants in the Kurdistan Region demanding unpaid
wages, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) security forces beat and
arbitrarily detained protesters and journalists.
Silencing Free Speech
Iraq’s penal code, which dates back to 1969, enshrines numerous
defamation “crimes,” such as “insult[ing] the Arab community” or any
government official, regardless of whether the statement is true.
Although few individuals served prison time on defamation charges, the
criminal process itself acted as a punishment. Reporting on corruption
and abuses by the security forces was especially risky.
Authorities also invoked other laws and regulations to limit free
speech. The Communications and Media Commission (CMC), a “financially
and administratively independent institution” linked to parliament, in
2014 issued
without legal basis “mandatory” guidelines to regulate media during
“the war on terror”—a phrase it did not define. These guidelines were
updated in May 2019 and renamed the “Media Broadcasting Rules.” They restrict freedom of the press to the point of requiring pro-government coverage.
The CMC suspended
Reuters’s license under its broadcast media regulations powers for
three months and fined it 25 million IQD (US$21,000) for an April 2,
2020 article alleging that the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the
country was much higher than official statistics indicated. Authorities
lifted the suspension on April 19.
Civil society efforts were successful in preventing passage of a deeply flawed cybercrimes bill in November.
Arbitrary Detention
Iraqi forces arbitrarily detained Islamic State (also known as ISIS)
suspects for months, and some for years. According to witnesses and
family members, security forces regularly detained suspects without any court order or arrest warrant and often did not provide a reason for the arrest.
Iraqi authorities also arbitrarily detained protesters and released them later, some within hours or days and others within weeks, without charge.
Despite requests, the central government failed to disclose which
security and military structures have a legal mandate to detain people,
and in which facilities.
Fair Trial Violations
In January 2020, the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) published a report
assessing the criminal justice system, based on independent monitoring
of 794 criminal court trials, 619 of them for men, women and children
charged under Iraq’s dangerously overbroad counterterrorism law. It
supported Human Rights Watch findings that basic fair trial standards were not respected in terrorism-related trials.
Iraqi judges routinely prosecuted
ISIS suspects solely on the overbroad charge of ISIS affiliation,
rather than for the specific violent crimes they may have committed.
Trials were generally rushed, based on a defendant’s confession, and did
not involve victim participation. Authorities systematically
violated the due process rights of suspects, such as guarantees in
Iraqi law that detainees see a judge within 24 hours and have access to a
lawyer throughout interrogations, and that their families are notified
and should be able to communicate with them during detention.
Detainees have shared graphic accounts of torture during interrogations in Mosul’s prisons under the control of the Ministry of Interior, in some cases leading to their deaths. These allegations are consistent with reports of the widespread use of torture by Iraqi forces to extract confessions instead of carrying out robust criminal investigations.
Authorities can prosecute child suspects as young as 9 with alleged
ISIS affiliation in Baghdad-controlled areas and 11 in the KRI, in violation
of international standards, which recognize children recruited by armed
groups primarily as victims who should be rehabilitated and
reintegrated into society, and call for a minimum age of criminal responsibility of 14 years or older. One Mosul committee improved its handling of the prosecution of child suspects.
Conditions in Detention
Authorities detained criminal suspects in overcrowded and in some
cases inhuman conditions. According to media reports, authorities released 20,000 prisoners in April as a preventive measure in response to the Covid-19 pandemic but did not share any information
on the identities of those released and the criteria for selecting
them. Authorities refused to respond when asked to share or make public
the number of people in Iraqi prisons, making it impossible to assess
whether the releases sufficiently reduced the acute overcrowding to
enable social distancing. In July, there were 31 Covid-19 cases reported
at a prison in Baghdad.
