bill nelson, billy nungesser

"If they don't get this thing cut off, and 'Hallelujah' if they do, there's going to be a lot of oil there in the Gulf sloshing around. It is going to considerably alter our way of life along the Gulf, and it could be along the Atlantic Coast as well," the Florida Democrat said on Sunday's CBS' "Face the Nation."
Nelson told host Bob Schieffer about the economic impact that is already being felt in his own state, even though the amount of oil that's reached the coastline along the Florida panhandle "wasn't that bad" as of now.

that's from cbs news and the nelson is senator bill nelson of florida. here's a video of senator nelson speaking on the gulf disaster from the democratic policy committee:



so that's senator nelson.

some 1 else you should be paying attention to is billy nungesser. all things considered had a report on him today. the npr segment will let you see that some people really are calling out the silence and inaction.

it's too bad billy nungesser isn't in the white house.

it's hard to believe he'd stand around doing nothing in the midst of this gulf disaster.

i shouldn't say 'nothing.' barack did visit the gulf region 3 times and is due to make a 4th visit. it can't be easy doing all that posing. if it was, any 1 could be a supermodel, right?


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

Tuesday, June 8, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, England (and others) gear up for forced returns of Iraqi refugees to Iraq, the Iraqi Parliament will allegedly meet shortly, help lie the US into illegal war and get promoted by Barack, and more.

March 7, Iraq concluded Parliamentary elections. CNN reports Iraqi President Jalal Talabani stated today that the Parliament will hold its first meeting June 14th -- which would be three months and seven days after the election. AFP adds, "Once parliament is opened, Iraq's constitution states that MPs must first select a speaker for the Council of Representatives, and then choose a new president. The president will then call on the leader of the biggest parliamentary bloc to form a government, who will be given 30 days to do so."

Meanwhile the Iraq War created the largest refugee crisis in the world with over 4 million internal and external refugees. External refugees left Iraq due to the violence -- often violence that claimed the life of one of their family members, often due to threats of death if they didn't leave. As a group, they have no desire to return. There is nothing to go back to for many (their abandoned homes were long since occupied) and the violence, which has never ceased, could return to the 2005, 2006 and 2007 levels (popularly known as the "civil war") were refugees -- especially Sunni ones -- to return in large numbers. It is not safe for returns. Last Thursday's snapshot included the following: Meanwhile in England, Owen Bowcott (Guardian) reports on what would be England's second known deportation of Iraqis -- forcible deportation. The last one, you may remember, resulted in a British plane landing in Iraq and Iraqi guards refusing to allow everyone to disembark so the plane returned to England. Bowcott notes that approximately 70 Iraqis will be forcibly deported Wednesday, June 9th: "The operation, deporting them via the central provinces of Iraq, is in direct contravention of United Nations guidelines. The UN high commissioner for refugees opposes forced returns to the area because of continuing suicide bombings and violence. The UN guidance was explicitly restated last autumn after the UK attempted to deport 44 men to Baghdad. That abortive operation resulted in Iraqi airport officials refusing to admit all but 10 of the men. The rest were told to reboard the plane and flown back to the UK." That deportation is thought to take place tomorrow. Today Amnesty International issued the following: Reacting to reports that a charter flight carrying Iraqi nationals is scheduled to leave the UK for Baghdad via Halmstad, Sweden in the early hours of 9 June, Amnesty International stressed that removals to Baghdad are not safe and should not take place. Amnesty International opposes any forcible returns to Iraq in the current situation of ongoing insecurity and instability. Amnesty International believes that Iraqis from the five provinces of Iraq considered to be particularly dangerous, namely Ninewa (Mosul), Kirkuk, Diyala, Salah al-Din and Baghdad, should be granted refugee status or a form of subsidiary protection, and that in the case of asylum-seekers from other provinces of Iraq an individual assessment should be made to assess whether they also qualify for refugee or subsidiary protection. Amnesty International UK refugee programme director Jan Shaw said: "It's unfathomable that the UK can consider Baghdad a safe place to return people. Our report in April documented scores of civilian killings, some of whom were tortured and their bodies mutilated before they were dumped in the street. Bombings continue to take scores of lives. "As far as we are concerned, removing someone to Iraq should only take place when the security situation in the whole country has stabilised. "Until the situation improves and it is safe to return to Iraq, these people should be offered some form of protection in the UK." Despite the ongoing violence in Iraq, several European governments have forcibly returned rejected Iraqi asylum-seekers to Iraq. In 2009, the authorities in Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK forcibly returned Iraqis to unsafe parts of Iraq, such as central Iraq, in breach of UNHCR guidelines. On 15 October 2009 UK authorities forcibly deported 44 rejected Iraqi asylum-seekers to Baghdad; the Iraqi authorities allowed only ten of them to enter and the remainder were flown back to the UK. The Norwegian authorities forcibly returned 30 Iraqis to Baghdad in December 2009 and 13 in January 2010. For its report "Iraq: Civilians under fire" published in April 2010, Amnesty International spoke to several Iraqis who were forcibly returned by the Netherlands government on 30 March 2010. Among the 35 refugees was a 22-year-old Shi'a Turkoman man from Tal Afar, a city north of Mosul, where hundreds of civilians have been killed in sectarian or other politically motivated violence in recent years, and where the violence continues unabated. As of mid-April, he remained stranded in Baghdad. Reuters notes that England's not the only country planning a forced deportation of Iraqi refugees this week -- Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands are also conspiring -- and that UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesperson Melissa Fleming states they are opposed to the deportations and, "Despite these people having had their applications for asylum rejected, we fear for their futures and their own physical protection if they were to be returned." UNHCR has repeatedly noted that it is not safe for governments to force returns. In a Geneva briefing today, Melissa Fleming explained:
UNHCR understands that four governments -- the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK -- are arranging an enforced removal of Iraqi citizens to Baghdad, Iraq later this week. We have not received confirmed information of the number and profile of those individuals and whether some have requested protection.Our position and advice to governments is that Iraqi asylum applicants originating from Iraq's governorates of Baghdad, Diyala, Ninewa and Salah-al-Din, as well as from Kirkuk province, should continue to benefit from international protection in the form of refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention or another form of protection depending on the circumstances of the case. Our position reflects the volatile security situation and the still high level of prevailing violence, security incidents, and human rights violations taking place in these parts of Iraq. UNHCR considers that serious -- including indiscriminate -- threats to life, physical integrity or freedom resulting from violence or events seriously disturbing public order are valid reasons for international protection. UNHCR appreciates that the international protection needs of Iraqis are assessed by asylum authorities in Europe and elsewhere on an individual basis. We urge those authorities to ensure that the situation in Iraq as a whole, including the important level of lawlessness, is factored into their assessments. While some have proposed that returned Iraqis could reside in other parts of the country from where they originate, UNHCR's position is that no internal flight alternative exists in Iraq because of the on-going levels of violence in Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salah Al-Din, and in view of access and residency restrictions in various governorates as well as the hardship faced by returnees in ensuring even survival in areas of relocation. The continued insurgency in Iraq and on-going violence there has led to large scale internal and external displacement of the Iraqi population, with most refugees living in Syria and Jordan. UNHCR is concerned about the signal that forced returns from Europe could give to other host countries, particularly those neighbouring Iraq.

Saturday, Iraqi LGBT issued a statement decrying the deportations:London, 4 June 2010 - The Iraqi LGBT group has today expressed its 'deep concern' about reports that the British Home Office is planning to return 100 Iraqi refugees to Baghdad Wednesday 9 June - despite a recent UK report saying this was not safe. "This group will certainly contain deeply closeted gay people and they will be at extreme risk of torture and murder in Baghdad," said Group leader Ali Hili. Iraqi LGBT say that the Iraqi government provide no security for gays - infact the opposite as its members have reported the involvement of both police and Interior Ministry forces in handing over gay people to militias with either their tortured bodies being subsequently discovered or them disappearing. The group has just released new testimony about Iraqi government complicity on YouTube, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ts3PedvPrs Said Hili, "the Western media is not reporting the level of violence continuing in Baghdad. Bombings and assassinations continue to happen almost daily - this is why the United Nations said it is unsafe to remove refugees to that city. The lack of reporting means that the Home Office think they can get away with this inhuman action." Amnesty International said in April that there was evidence that members of the security forces and other authorities were encouraging the targeting of people suspected to be gay. The report added that killers of gay men could find protection under the law, as it offers lenient sentences for those committing crimes with an "honourable motive". "We condemn the proposed removals by the British government and the Iraqi government's complicity. Many of these people are opponents of the regime and if returned will end up being killed." It has been reported by the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) that the 100 refugees have been screened by UK Border Agency 'ambassadors' pretending to be Iraqi embassy representatives at a detention centre. Refugees have reported being threatened by those 'interviewing' them. "We are very familiar with such threats," said Ali. "I and other members of our group in exile have faced this, as have our family members. Many of our members have been murdered in Iraq and we have had safe houses invaded and people massacred. If these people are removed many of them will also be murdered." Iraqi LGBT has cataloged 738 murders in the past five years. The group has backed the call by the IFIR for the British government to end what IFIR calls "this inhuman policy" of refugee removals to Iraq. Notes for editors 1. Iraqi LGBT is a human rights organisation with members inside Iraq and in exile. It provides safe houses for gays, lesbians and transgender people and has helped people escape into exile. 2. The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees campaigns for the rights of Iraqi refugees and against forcible deportations and detention. The Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq campaigns against the forcible deportation and detention of Iraqi refugees. 3. The flight will be the first to Iraq since the 14th October, when ten people were deported to Baghdad and the thirty-three others on the plane were sent back by the Iraqi authorities. See www.csdiraq.com for more information 4. At least four million Iraqis have been forced to flee either to another part of Iraq or abroad since the war began in 2003 5. According to Home Office figures, 632 people were forcibly deported to the KRG region in the north between 2005 and 2008. The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees estimates that the figure, with the monthly charter flights deporting 50 people at a time since the beginning of 2009, currently stands at approximately 900. 6. Iraqi LGBT has worked with and supported the work of IFIR for several years.
International Federation of Iraqi Refugees Iraqi refugees given tickets for deportation flight to Baghdad for Wednesday 9th June
pinknews.co.uk: UK 'breaching UN rules' on returning gay asylum seekers
Guardian: Failed Iraq asylum seekers screened for forced deportation

Alan Travis and Owen Bowcott (Guardian) report that attorneys with the UK's Treasury Solicitor's Department are calling on judges not to offer any stays or delays to the planned deportations.

From foreign countries forcing Iraqis to return to a foreign country carving out a presence in Iraq. Yesterday's snapshot included, "The right-wing World Tribune carries an unsigned report which maintains, citing Jabar Yawar, the Deputy Kurdish Interior Minister, that not only did the Iranian military enter Iraqi space but that they 'established a base in the Kurdish village of Predunaz on June 3' and remain there." Today Asso Ahmed (Los Angeles Times) reports that "About 35 Iranians remained behind, in an area near the Perdunaz border crossing, and have since been observed building a fortified structure high on a mountain, said the Kurdish regional government's defense spokesman, Jaber Yawer. From a nearby Kurdish observation post, two bulldozers, alongside a small tank, can be seen digging fortifications."

In November of last year, Rod Nordland (New York Times) explained the 'bomb detectors' in use in Iraq: "The small hand-held wand, with a telescopic antenna on a swivel, is being used at hundreds of checkpoints in Iraq. But the device works 'on the same principle as a Ouija board' -- the power of suggestion -- said a retired United States Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who described the wantd as nothing more than an explosive divining rod." They are the ADE 651s with a ticket price of between $16,500 and $60,000 and Iraq had bought over 1,500. More news came with arrests on January 22: "Caroline Hawley (BBC Newsnight -- link has text and video) reports that England has placed an export ban on the ADE-651 'bomb detector' -- a device that's cleaned Iraq's coffers of $85 million so far. Steven Morris (Guardian) follows up noting that, 'The managing director [Jim McCormick] of a British company that has been selling bomb-detecting equipment to security forces in Iraq was arrested on suspicion of fraud today'." From the January 25th snapshot:

Riyad Mohammed and Rod Norldand (New York Times) reported on Saturday that the reaction in Iraq was outrage from officials and they quote MP Ammar Tuma stating, "This company not only caused grave and massive losses of funds, but it has caused grave and massive losses of the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians, by the hundreds and thousands, from attacks that we thought we were immune to because we have this device." Despite the turn of events, the machines continue to be used in Iraq but 'now' an investigation into them will take place orded by Nouri. As opposed to months ago when they were first called into question. Muhanad Mohammed (Reuters) adds that members of Parliament were calling for an end to use of the machines on Saturday. Martin Chulov (Guardian) notes the US military has long -- and publicly -- decried the use of the machines, "The US military has been scathing, claiming the wands contained only a chip to detect theft from stores. The claim was based on a study released in June by US military scientists, using x-ray and laboratory analysis, which was passed on to Iraqi officials."

Today the BBC reports police raids took place at "Global Tech, of Kent, Grosvenor Scientific, in Devon, and Scandec, of Nottingham. Cash and hundreds of the devices have been seized, and a number of people are due to be interviewed under caution on suspicion of fraud." Michael Peel and Sylvia Pfeifer (Financial Times of London) add, "Colin Cowan, head of City police's overseas anti-corruption unit, said investigators were seeking further information from the public about the manufacture, sale and distribution of the devices. Det Supt Cowan said: 'We are concerned that these items present a real physical threat to anyone who may rely on such a device for protection'."

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Reuters notes a Baghdad sticky bombing which claimed the lfie of 1 Ministry of Interiror employee, 2 Mosul roadside bombings which left an Iraqi soldier, two women and a girl injured, and, dropping back to yesterday, 1 Christian shot dead in Kirkuk. Alsumaria TV reports 1 "young guy" was

In the US, President Barack Obama has nominated James Clapper for the post of "intelligence czar" (US Director of National Intelligence). Muriel Kane (Raw Story) reports, "A more serious issue, however, may prove to be Clapper's support in 2003 for the idea that Iraqi WMD had been smuggled into Syria just before the US invasion as part of an attempt to destroy evidence. According to the New York Times, Clapper, who was then head of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, 'said satellite imagery showing a heavy flow of traffic from Iraqi into Syria, just before the American invasion in March, led him to believe that illicit weapons material "unquestionably" had been moved out of Iraq.' Clapper made his remarks to reporters on October 28, 2003, one week after the publication of Seymour Hersh's article, 'The Stovepipe,' which examined 'the disparity between the Bush Administration's prewar assessment of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and what has actually been divorced'." Barack Obama is nominating someone for "intelligence czar" who failed the most important test. Remember that? Samantha Power and others of the Cult of St. Barack used that 'test' in 2008 over and over. Hillary "failed it" and Barack allegedly "passed it." (Barack gave a sparsely attended 2002 speech against war with Iraq. He did nothing in 2003 in the lead up to the war. After the Iraq War started, he noted he supported it in numerous interviews -- both while running for US Senator and after.) So that alleged "test" is a test for Barack and his cronies . . . except when it comes to an intelligence post. Where information will be studied, analyzed, et al. And we're going to put the freak who either knowingly lied or was too damn stupid to surf the web and be able to immediately refute the claims the Bush administration repeatedly made. That's how Barack 'takes care' of America? What was James Clapper's job that he failed at? He was over the satellite photos, among other things. Remember those grainy photos Colin Powell trotted out before the UN -- the ones that showed nothing despite Collie The Blot Powell lying as he's done in so much of his public life? Clapper fixed him with those. Grasp that (a) not only has Barack not kept his promise on ending the Iraq War, (b) not only has he (and the Democratic Party) refused to hold the Bush administration accountable for lying the country into an illegal war but (c) he's now promoting the liars to higher positions of power.

Josh Rogin (Foreign Policy) notes that Clapper sent members of a Senate Committee a memo advocating for DNI to be weakened -- he identifies it as the Senate Armed Services Committee but then goes on to identify Dianne Feinstein as the Chair, she's not. Carl Levin chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. He either means that Clapper e-mailed everyone on the Senate Intelligence Committee (which Feinstein chairs) or he's moving on to a different thought when he writes, "Committee leaders Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, and Christopher 'Kit' Bond, R-MO, expressed serious reservations about the Clapper nomination even before it was decided, arguing that the Pentagon already has too much control over the intelligence community and expressing doubt that he would have the clout to wrangle all 16 intelligence agencies to do what he wants. Those senators have also been pushing for a new intelligence authorization bill that would strengthen the DNI position in line with a Senate proposal that was watered down by the House some years back." The Institute for Public Accuracy has two experts who can weigh in on the topic:


MELVIN A. GOODMAN Goodman just wrote the piece "Pentagon Tightens Grip on the Obama Administration and the Intelligence Community." Now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, Goodman was with the CIA for 41 years, serving as a senior analyst and a division chief. He is author of Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA. RAY McGOVERN Obama stated on Saturday when announcing the nomination of Clapper: "He possesses a quality that I value in all my advisers: a willingness to tell leaders what we need to know even if it's not what we want to hear." McGovern wrote a few weeks ago: "According to press reports, the leading candidate to succeed Dennis Blair is retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, whose record does not inspire confidence. Clapper has a well-deserved reputation for giving consumers of intelligence what they want to hear." McGovern said today: "He [Clapper] now serves as undersecretary of intelligence at the Defense Department, working for Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who holds a 'PhD' from Georgetown in Politicization of Intelligence under his mentor, 'Professor' William J. Casey [CIA director from 1981 to 1987]. "Casey was convinced that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union would never relinquish power; so Gates pedaled that line and missed the big one. The quickest way to politicize intelligence is to put fellow sycophants and careerists in management positions, which Gates was a master at doing. "The direct result is that when Cheney and Bush told the CIA to come [up] with the intelligence necessary to 'justify' attacking Iraq, two decades-worth of malleable managers were on hand to do Bush's bidding. James Clapper, head of imagery analysis from 2001 to 2006, played by the same script. Clapper made sure that no one found out that imagery intelligence on WMD was actually 'non-existent' -- a term used by Sen. Jay Rockefeller after an exhaustive study by the Senate Intelligence Committee." McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. He was a CIA analyst from 1963 to 1990, serving under seven presidents and nine CIA directors. He now serves on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. Background: "The director of a top American spy agency said Tuesday that he believed that material from Iraq's illicit weapons program had been transported into Syria ... 'unquestionably ... I think people below the Saddam Hussein-and-his-sons level saw what was coming and decided the best thing to do was to destroy and disperse,' General Clapper [then head of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency] said ..." -- New York Times, October 29, 2003 "Another possibility is that some weapons may have been dispersed to other countries, such as Syria, before the war. That was the assessment of General James R. Clapper, Jr. ..." -- Karl Rove, "Courage and Consequences," p. 339 For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167


Meanwhile ProPublica's T. Christian Miller and NPR's Daniel Zwerdling team up to explore brain injuries among service members and discover the military is failing to diagnose a large number of brain injuries. That's a text report. You can click here for another at ProPublica. This morning, they discuss the issue with Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition, click here for audio. Excerpt:

INSKEEP: This is not a psychological problem, it's a physical problem of the brain.

ZWERDLING: That's right. And researchers still don't fully understand what happens. But Victor Medina came back - he was in a blast last summer, almost exactly a year ago - and he today he's a different man. When he came back to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, he went to see the top brain neurologist. And here is the neurologist's diagnosis. That's the medical record.

INSKEEP: He's handing me this memorandum here. It's rather long, but let's just read a couple of quotes. The doctor says that Victor Medina has symptoms that are likely due to chronic anxiety, chronic headaches, and he goes on to say I am concerned that he may be slipping into a cycle of playing the sick role. So, the doctor doesn't think Medina's very sick. What did you find?

ZWERDLING: Listen to a clip of Victor - and this is Victor reacting to that diagnosis, seems to be playing the sick role.

Mr. VICTOR MEDINA: When the d-doctor t-tells me I'm p-playing s-s-s-sick, you know that the d-d-doctor came across m-m-m-my...am I g-going crazy? It's just like I have to s-s-s-s-struggle to, you know, t-to get it tre-tre-treated.

ZWERDLING: And he never stuttered before the blast.

INSKEEP: And just to be clear: we're not doctors. He eventually was found to have traumatic brain injury, correct?

ZWERDLING: That's right. By a neuropsychologist outside of the military. And incidentally, we've talked to many soldiers who have, at the same base - Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas - some who have gone to the same doctor. And when you look at their medical records, over and over again, the doctor says the main cause of their cognitive problems, like Victor's, are headaches and anxiety, not the blast.

NPR has created a folder with a number of stories and a timeline here.


David Bacon is an independent journalist who covers the labor and immigration beat and this is from "Pics: Out of Work, Sleeping in the Fields" (Political Affairs Magazine):The People of the Central Valley - 4The People of the Central Valley - 4: A photodocumentary project on the reality of life today in California's Central Valley Near Reedley, on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, three men live in a camp they've built under the trees of an abandoned orchard. A blue tarp and the cardboard from an unfolded carton make up the roof. The mattresses for their beds sit on shipping pallets, or nearby under a bush. One of the men made a doll of straw, which sits in the branch of a dead tree overlooking the camp. David Bacon's latest book is Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press) which won the CLR James Award. Bacon can be heard on KPFA's The Morning Show (over the airwaves in the Bay Area, streaming online) each Wednesday morning (begins airing at 7:00 am PST).


iraq
the new york timesrod nordland
the guardian
martin chulov
bbc news
iraqi lgbt
the raw storymuriel kane
owen bowcott
david bacon
nprdaniel zwerdlingt. christian millermorning editionsteve inskeep
propublica
cnn

i'll miss helen

above is Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Working It For BP." this is from toby harnden's 'obama loses the left: suddenly, it's cool to bash barack' (telegraph of london):

Perhaps Obama's toughest critic over the BP oil slick has been James "Rajin' Cajun" Carville, the mastermind of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign and one of those Democrats who represents the beating heart of the party. He blasted Obama's "political stupidity" and "hands off" attitude, concluding: "It seems the President is madder at his critics than he is at BP."
His point was proved when Robert Gibbs, Obama's hyper-aggressive spokesman, responded: "I don't think James understands all of what we're doing. I don't think James understood the facts." Carville is a Louisiana native who had spent more time viewing the oil-soaked coastal wetlands than anyone in the White House.
It is an irony of Obama's presidency - which came into being because he was the unBush - that it shares some of the worst traits of his predecessor's administration. Among these are insularity and a blinkered arrogance.

amen.

if you didn't hear, it's attack helen thomas day. the dean has resigned - forced to resign. politico's patrick gavin's report this morning included this:

"Helen Thomas does not speak for me, and she does not represent the White House press corps," said McClatchy's Steve Thomma. "It was an offensive comment. She was right to apologize for it."

after releasing that statement (no 1 forced him to) why is thomma then allowed to report on helen thomas' resignation for mcclatchy?

i'm sorry for helen. she should have toughed it and probably would have if hearst had stood by her.

this was not 'the israeli lobby' attacking helen. this was her own peers. they turned on her. they are disgusting. and it's certainly interesting that mel gibson made anti-jewish remarks and continues to headline films. but helen's kicked to the curb?


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

Monday, June 7, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, at least 12 people are dead and 66 wounded in violence today, over the weekend Iraqiya sees two party members assassinated, Sahwa is stripped of the right to carry guns, the military arrests someone over the Wikileaks assault video, the Iranian military reportedly sets up a base in Iraq, and more.


Monday April 5th, WikiLeaks released US military video of a July 12, 2007 assault in Iraq. 12 people were killed in the assault including two Reuters journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. Mark Memmott (NPR) reports that an Army intelligence analyst has been arrested and quotes this Army statement:
"United States Division-Center is currently conducting a joint investigation of Spc. Bradley Manning, 22, of Potomac, Md., who is deployed with 2nd Brigade 10th Mountain Division, in Baghdad, Iraq. He was placed in pre-trial confinement for allegedly releasing classified information and is currently confined in Kuwait. The Department of Defense takes the management of classified information very seriously because it affects our national security, the lives of our Soldiers, and our operations abroad. The results of the investigation will be released upon completion of the investigation."

Steven Aftergood (Secrecy News) provides this context, "His arrest is the third known apprehension of a suspected leaker during the Obama Administration, after Shamai Leibowitz and Thomas A. Drake, and seems to reflect an increasingly aggressive response to unauthorized disclosures of classified information." Michael Evans (Times of London) reports, "Specialist Manning, who had clearance for top secret material, was arrested two weeks ago after Adrian Lamo, a former computer hacker-turned-whistleblower, alerted the FBI to an online conversation that he had had with the intelligence analyst." Luis Martinez (ABC News) quotes Lamo from his Twitter account writing, "I outed Manning as an alleged leaker out of duty. I would never out an Ordinary Decent Criminal. There's a difference." Someone tell the snitch to climb down from the cross already -- he's neither overseen a miracle nor suffered for anyone's sins. Judas brags to the BBC, "I like to think I prevented him from getting into more serious trouble." In Spanish, Adrian Lamo's last name translates to "I lick." Today he demonstrates it also stands for "I suck." Ellen Nakashima and Julie Tate (Washington Post) quote journalist Namir's sister Nabil Noor-Eldeen: "Justice was what this U.S. soldier [Manning] did by uncovering this crime against humanity. The American military should reward him, not arrest him." Jeff Stein (Washington Post) takes a historical look at leaks and observes, "Two of the most important factors in a mole's decision to steal secrets were present in Manning's situation, [ . . .]: The 22-year-old's alleged emotional distress, and lax military security." WikiLeaks tweated this statement: "If Brad Manning,22,is the 'Collateral Murder' & Garani massacre whistleblower then, without doubt he's a national hero." They also state: "Statement: Washington Post had Collateral murder video for over a year but DID NOT RELEASE IT it to the public." And: "Did Wired break journalism's sacred oath? Lamo&Poulson call themselves journalists.Echoes of Olshansky shopping Diaz?" And: "@6/@kpoulson There's a special place in hell reserved for "journalists" like you and "lawyers" like Barbara Olshansky" Barbara Olshanksy is a friend and co-writer of David Lindorff's. She used to be with the Center for Constitutional Rights, however her actions -- snitchery -- saw to it that Lt Commander Matthew Diaz was court-martialed. Diaz sent her a list with the names of over 500 Guantanamo prisoners on it. The Center was very interested in getting this sort of information but Olshansky decided to snitch out Diaz to the Feds. Diaz was discharged, served six months in prison and was awarded the Ridenhour Prize in 2008 for his brave actions. The US not having a prize per se for snitchery but Barbara did get hired by Stanford and for some strange reason the laughable International Justice Network took her apparently to assist her in the outing of other whistleblowers.

Saturday Anthony Shadid (New York Times) reported that assailants (in Iraqi soldier and officer uniforms) have shot dead Faris Jassim al-Jabbouri who is a member of Iraqiya and had been a candidate (unsuccessful) for Parliament in the March elections. He is the third Iraqiya candidate to be shot dead. Moreover, Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) observed, "Al Jubori is the third candidate killed in Mosul from the same bloc." Jamal al-Badrani, Muhanad Mohammed, Matt Robinson and Jon Boyle (Reuters) reported on the assassination but with a different twist, "A police source, who asked not to be named, said Jubouri was shot dead by gunmen in police uniform overnight in his home near the restive northern city of Mosul." Oliver August (Times of London) added that hee "was executed in front of his family by a group of 20 men in police uniforms [. . .] The Killers searched an entire neighbourhood for Mr Jassim, aided by a masked informant, before finding him, tying up his brother and his son and killing him." He was the third Iraqiya candidate assassinated. In February, Abdullah Jarallah became the first Iraqiya candidate assassinated and the United Nations condemned the murder here. In May, Bashar Hamid Al Ukaidi was assassinated. Alsumaria TV reported on the murder here. Amnesty International called the murder out here. That made three. The assassinations did not end Saturday. Adam Schreck (AP) reported Sunday that Ehab al-Ani, a member of Iraqiya, was killed by a Qaim roadside bombing and that "[t]he initial investigation indicated that al-Ani was not a random victim, as is often the case with such bombings, but was targeted because of his ties to Iraqiya, a police official said."

For those late to the party, Iraqiya is the political slate which won the most seats in Parliament in the March elections. It is headed by former prime minister Ayad Allawi. They won 91 seats. 163 seats are needed to form the executive government (prime minister and council of ministers). When no single slate wins 163 seats (or possibly higher -- 163 is the number today but the Parliament added seats this election and, in four more years, they may add more which could increase the number of seats needed to form the executive government), power-sharing coalitions must be formed with other slates, parties and/or individual candidates. (Eight Parliament seats were awarded, for example, to minority candidates who represent various religious minorities in Iraq.) Second place went to State Of Law which Nouri al-Maliki, the current prime minister, heads. They won 89 seats. Nouri made a big show of lodging complaints and issuing allegations to distract and delay the certification of the initial results while he formed a power-sharing coalition with third place winner Iraqi National Alliance. Together, the two still lack four seats necessary (or so it is thought) to form the government.

At Inside Iraq last week, an Iraqi correspondent for McClatchy interviewed a section of Iraqis about the long delay (three months tomorrow) in forming a government. We'll note 25-year-old Aseel because Iraqi women remain under represented in the press which appears stuck in some sort of Eisenhower era, 'man' on the streets type inquiry:

"Our situation is very bad. No security at all. No jobs opportunities and no basic services. Nothing will change whether the politicians form the government or do not. In fact, it would be better for us if Iraq remains without a government because they political parties will keep discussing their demands and they will not fight each other. I believe that forming the government will take another six months because all the politicians work for their interests. I am sure God will send us to heaven after we die because we live in hell now."

In an editorial, Gulf News notes Sunday's massive violence and the gridlock gripping Iraq currently while advocating for Nouri al-Maliki and Ayad Allawi to meet and come to some form of understanding. This, of course, overlooks the press reports of last week that Nouri had repeatedly canceled face to face meeting with his rival and was doing so at the request of the Iranian government. Alsumaria TV reports today, "While Iraqi Parliament is close to convene its first session, some signs are looming over regarding the disintegration of some political parties."

Today, it's three months since the Iraqi elections concluded (early voting began March 4th and all voting concluded March 7th) and they've got nothing to show for it but continued violence. The rules are not followed and the US, with no "stick" left, has no functioning Ambassador in Baghdad who can offer "carrots." Two more US service members died last week due to the Iraq War (possibly three, one died of a brain injury and it's thought to stem from his TBI). And three months later, still no government. As noted at Third Sunday, "Some point to the 2005 experience and note the elections were held in December and the prime minister (Nouri) not selected until April. Four months later. By that schedule, they may be on track. But haven't we heard how much better things allegedly are? Haven't we repeatedly been told the bad days of the 'civil war' are over? With all the supposed improvements, shouldn't the process have moved a lot smoother and a lot more quickly this time?"

Nothing is going smoothly in northern Iraq which is under assault from both the Iranian military and the Turkish military. Starting with the latter to pick up KRG President Massoud Barzani's historic visit to Turkey. The five-day visit is Barzani's first since 2004. Hurriyet Daily News reported Saturday, "Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani on Saturday urged all parties including the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, to stop violence and support the Turkish government's initiative to solve the Kurdish problem, adding that the PKK's decision to end the cease-fire was a negative development." Today's Zaman adds, "During the meeting with journalists when Sedat Ergin from the Hürriyet daily asked him about the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) declaration in which it announced that it ended its unilateral decision concerning a de-escalation of violence, Barzani got upset. Ergin said Barzani got upset because the PKK made this declaration when he was visiting Ankara." The KRG notes that Barzani met with commerce leaders on Sunday and declared, "We see Turkey as a gateway for us to Europe and the wider world, just as we believe the Kurdistan Region can also become a gateway for Turkey to the rest of Iraq and futher south to the Gulf countries." Reuters noted armed clashes between the PKK and the Turkish military not far from the bordertown of Uludere resulted in the deaths of 3 PKK on Sunday. The Turkish military continues shelling northern Iraq. So does the Iranian military. (Both share Iraq's northern border.) Yassen Taha and Hannah Allam (McClatchy Newspapers) reports the shelling is causing outrage in Iraq as is the decision last week to send the Iranian military "about a mile into Iraqi territory, a brief incursion that Kurdish officials said elicited not a word of protest from the Iran-friendly administration of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, who like Iran's ruler is a Shiite Muslim." Yahya Barzanji (AP) adds that a protest of some sort has finally been lodged, "Deputy Iraqi Foreign Minister Labeed Abawi told The Associated Press he summoned the Iranian ambassador to complain about shelling in the Kurdish region, which enjoys considerable autonomy from the rest of Iraq." The right-wing World Tribune carries an unsigned report which maintains, citing Jabar Yawar, the Deputy Kurdish Interior Minister, that not only did the Iranian military enter Iraqi space but that they "established a base in the Kurdish village of Predunaz on June 3" and remain there.


In other news ov violence, the targeting of Sunnis by the government or 'government' continues. Hilmi Kamal (Reuters) reports that the country's military states that Sahwa ("Awakenings" or "Sons Of Iraq") are no longer allowed to carry weapons, "Today, Saturday, we received an order from the Defence Ministry ground forces leadership to withdraw all the badges of Sahwa personnel and replace them with new ones that do not authorize them to carry weapons." It's certainly interesting timing. One could even argue Nouri was planning an assault on the Sunnis -- as opposed to these one at a time killings -- and that's why he was disarming the Sahwa. There is a context that this is taking place in: Nouri's refusal to stand down. As with everything else he's done in the last three months, this has to do with his desire to hold onto the position of prime minister. Since the Parliament is supposed to be sitting (for the first time, new Parliament) within two weeks, why is Nouri issuing orders? Again, there's a context, it's the same one that goes to the deals he's signed after elections concluded March 7th -- deals with foreign corporations and on control of Iraqi assets. There is a context for this. And today Reuters reports a Sunday evening attack on Sahwa members in Jurf al-Sakhar which saw 3 shot dead in their homes with a fourth injured.

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Reuters notes a series of Qaim home bombings targeting a Sawha leader and his son and claiming the lives of 2 police officers (three more injured), a Baghdad car bombing which claimed 3 lives (nine injured), a Baghdad roadside bombing which claimed the lives of 2 police officers (seven people injured), another Baghdad roadside bombing which injured five, a Mansouriya roadside bombing which injured two police officers, a combed shooting and bombing Falluja attack on police officers homes which claimed 1 life (twenty injured), two more Baghdad roadside bombings which left ten people injured, a Mosul roadside bombing which left two people (father and son) injured.

Shootings?

Reuters notes 1 shop owner shot dead in Mosul and an attack on an Imam in Abu Ghraib in which he and two sons were killed, his wife was injured as was their youngest son.

Sunday Alsumaria TV reported what can only be dubbed "a major understatement," "US Forces spokesman in Iraq General Steven Lanza announced that Iraqi security forces are not in a perfect position security and military wise. They need intensive training in order to take full command of Iraq's internal security following the full withdrawal of US troops from Iraq."

Meanwhile in the United States, Michael O'Brien (The Hill) reports, "A senior House Democrat likened President Barack Obama to former Vice President Dick Cheney over his handling of the war in Iraq." US House Rep Charlie Rangel spoke with the New York Daily News criticizing Barack Obama for the continuation of the illegal war and Rangel stated, "I challenge anyone to tell me we aren't there [Iraq] because of the oil. The lack of an honest explanation [for the war] is consistent with Bush and Cheney." Today Erin Einhorn (New York Daily News) reports that at a rally yesterday, New York Governor David Paterson showed his support for Rangel and Rangel repeated his remarks about the Iraq War adding, "The fact that I can have an issue with even a great President, I really don't think warrants the headlines but . . . whatever makes you feel good, it's okay with me."

From the House to the Senate, we'll note this from the Senate Democratic Policy Committee:

On May 27th, Senate Democrats led the effort to pass a bipartisan supplemental appropriations bill that funds key counterterrorism and national security missions and supports disaster recovery initiatives by a vote of 67 to 28. The bill provides a total of $58.96 billion in emergency funding for Fiscal Year 2010 in support of ongoing missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the addition of 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan as well as $2.6 billion for the Afghan Security Forces Fund and $1 billion for the Iraqi Security Forces Fund; more than $5.5 billion for continued and emerging disaster relief and recovery initiatives for affected communities across the United States; $2.8 billion to support relief efforts in Haiti; and $68 million in initial disaster response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The supplemental bill provides a total of $32.8 billion in funding, as requested, for the Department of Defense (DoD) for operations, personnel costs, and equipment related primarily to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan , but also in support of ongoing operations and continued drawdown efforts in Iraq.
Providing our troops with the resources and tools they need to fulfill their missions. Funding provided in the bill will ensure that our forces engaged in critical national security missions in Iraq and Afghanistan have the most effective weaponry, communications, and other equipment they need on the battlefield. It fully funds key readiness programs necessary to prepare military forces for combat operations and other missions and also funds vital initiatives that support our forces in theater, including high priority intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems.
Protecting our troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan . The supplemental bill ensures that our deployed service members are armed with the best force protection equipment available. It provides a total of $1.1 billion for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and funds key upgrades to equipment and detection systems to safeguard troops in Iraq and Afghanistan from the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The bill also supports the Army's Ground Standoff Mine Detection System for convoy protection and road clearing in Afghanistan and fully funds the Special Operations Command's requirement for additional protective equipment.
Ensure our troops are provided first-rate care and services. The supplemental bill provides $1.8 billion for military personnel, including special pay and allowances, for Active, Reserve, and Guard troops activated for duty in Iraq , Afghanistan , and other contingency operations. It also includes $33.4 million for the Defense Health Program.

One way to protect the troops is, of course, to immediately withdraw them. We don't have room for the full press release in the snapshot. We'll run it almost in full tomorrow morning. Almost? I don't allow "Oh my G--" or any similar things here (and it's why we didn't participate in the make fun of Allah day recently as well) that insult someone's religion. I also don't allow a certain (non-religious) phrase here and have never allowed it here. Noam Chomsky rightly called that phrase out during the first Gulf War. It does not appear here. (It's a bumper sticker and intended to silence dissent, as Chomsky rightly pointed out.) Outside of curse words, there's very little that's censored but we don't mock the religious deities people worship (or take their names in vain) and we don't use that phrase Chomsky's has rightly decried.

"Is justice a property of the strongest? Is this a case of might makes right?" asked Jasim Azawi on the latest Inside Iraq (Al Jazeera, began airing Friday and the show's not up at the website yet). Jasim's guests were Brad Blackeman who used to run a front group for the Bush White House and former Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Hassan Issa.

Jasim Azawi: Ambassador Hassan Issa, a simple question, why should former president Bush and prime minister Blair should be tried as War Criminals?

Hassan Issa: We have a million reasons in the form of a million anihalted Iraqis by the American decision to invade Iraq. I have four million reasons in the form of four million displaced Iraqis inside and outside Iraq. I have a country that is completely destroyed, beyond repair. Because of the decision made by President Bush, ex-President Bush and his follower Prime Minister Blair who still insists that they were right up to this day. This is a disgrace in the face of humanity and it is about time that somebody calls both of them to be tried as War Criminals.

Brad Blakeman, you heard the man. He called your former boss, President Bush, a War Criminal. This indictment is not limited to Hassan Issa. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in the Arab world and Africa and Latin America as well as part of Europe, they consider President Bush and Prime Minister Blair as War Criminals. Are they all wrong?

Brad Blakeman: Yes, they are. There are hundreds of millions who think that President Bush and Prime Minister Blair and our coalition partners did exactly the right thing. Where was the outrage with Saddam's regime which punished its own people, prevented people from voting, killed people, raped people, in fact used Weapons of Mass Destruction against his own people. Where was the outrage? And let me say this,

Hassan Issa: Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. Mr. Blakeman, you're still talking about Weapons of Mass Destruction? This doesn't exist. It never existed.

Brad Blakeman: Yes, but let me --

Hassan Issa: Up to this day, you're still talking about --

Brad Blakeman: Let me conclude my point, let me conclude my point.

Hassan Issa: Oh my goodness.

Brad Blakeman: Let me conclude my point. And my point is this: We could not have been successful in removing Saddam Hussein without our Middle East partners. If you're going to indict President Bush and Prime Minister Blair, then you must indict as well the Emir of Qatar [Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani]. We have our largest base there. Without our Middle East partners, like the Saudi government, we could not have been successful. Without the King of Jordan [King Abdullah II]. Without Egypt. There are many Middle Eastern countries who encouraged us to take the action we did against Saddam. In fact, they gave us aid to do so.

Jasim Azawi: How about that, Ambassador Hassan Issa?

[crosstalk]

Hassan Issa: For heaven sake --

Brad Blakeman: You must indict --

Hassan Issa: For heaven sake

Brad Blakeman: -- them as well.

Hassan Issa: For heaven sake, who ever encouraged you to anahilate a million human beings in Iraq, who ever encouraged you to displace four million Iraqis, who ever encouraged you to destroy a country, an Arab country -- you cannot blame Arab countries for supporting you.

Brad Blakeman: We freed an Arab country, my friend!

Hassan Issa: We never supported President Bush.

Brad Blakeman: We freed an Arab country! Tens of millions of people are now free because the action that the United States, Britian and our coalition partners. Where's the indictment of --

Hassan Issa: Free where, Mr. Blakeman?

Brad Blakeman: -- of the thirty or so nations?

Hassan Issa: Free where? In Iraq? Free in Iraq?

Brad Blakeman: Yes, free in Iraq! Yes, sir! Free elections! Free from tyranny. Yes. We are proud of what we did. We are proud of what we did. And we'd do it again. We think the Emir of Qatar [C.I. note, if the idiot really thanked the Emir, he would know the Emir's name, the same with King Abudllah II]. We thank the President of Egypt [Hosni Mubarak]! We thank the King of Jordan! We think the Saudis! We thank --

Jasim Azawi: I am sure the list is very long, Brad Blakeman. Many, many Arab countries, they consented if not given the green light for this invasion. To their chagrin and their regret right now. Ambassador Hassan Issa, you have a bone to pick with Brad Blakeman and the people who espouse his views. But let me ask you, why don't you listen to what President Bush said? He said he did not invade Iraq simply because he wanted to, he was told by God -- he said by Providence, Providence gave me the green light

Hassan Issa: He what? Please. No, no, no, no. Please repeat this again because I can't believe what you said.

Jasim Azawi: He said Providence gave me the green light to launch this war. God talked to him to say this is a righteous cause.

Hassan Issa: [Laughing] Oh, my goodness.

Brad Blakeman: Please! Don't take his words out of context! Come on, you know better than that!

Hassan Issa: Are you kidding me?

Brad Blakeman: We operate under a rule of law!

Hassan Issa: Honest to God, are you kidding me? Are you joking?

Brad Blakeman: No, I'm not joking. We operate under the rule of law unlike the person we removed from power, a brutal dictator. Where is the outrage on your part for what Saddam has done to his country? To his people? Where is the outrage for that, Mr. Ambassador? You don't have it! You --

Hassan Issa: Sir, sir, you removed him and you replaced him by 150,000 dictators. 150,000 American troops.

Brad Blakeman is just a fat liar. And, repeating, if you think someone needs to be thanked, you learn their damn name. What an idiot. And I'm getting really tired, as an American, in seeing Americans go on this show and show their ass. They need to grasp that this goes out through the Arab world and screaming and shouting and throwing tantrums is not conveying a good impression of the United States.

Since the Providence remark especially seemed to set Blakeman off, we'll note that this was not one comment at one time. Judy Keen's "Strain of Iraq war showing on Bush, those who know him say" (USA Today, April 2, 2003): "Bush believes he was called by God to lead the nation at this time, says Commerce Secretary Don Evans, a close friend who talks with Bush every day." Tom Carver's "Bush puts God on his side" (BBC News, April 6, 2003): "He became convinced that God was calling him to engage the forces of evil in battle, and this one time baseball-team owner from Texas did not shrink from the task." Ewen MacAskill's "George Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq'" (Guardian, October 7, 2005):

George Bush has claimed he was on a mission from God when he launched the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a senior Palestinian politician in an interview to be broadcast by the BBC later this month.
Mr Bush revealed the extent of his religious fervour when he met a Palestinian delegation during the Israeli-Palestinian summit at the Egpytian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, four months after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."

Matthew Rothschild's "Bush Salutes Ted Stevens, Invokes God's Will Again in Iraq War" (The Progressive, August 5, 2008):

As in many of his speeches post-9/11, Bush again invoked God as a justification for the Iraq War. Speaking to troops who will soon be going to Iraq, Bush said: "I believe there's an Almighty, and I believe a gift of that Almighty to every man, woman, an child on the face of the Earth is freedom." Implying that he is doing God's will, he said, "It's in our national interest to help others realize the blessings of a free society."



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day 45

INSKEEP: Well, let's talk about those clouds of oil because, of course, there are live feeds. I'm looking at one here at BP.com, live camera feeds of what's going on underground. And I guess as a layman, what I'd really like to see is a bunch of pipes in the water and nothing else. But what I see are huge clouds of what look oil still spewing up into the ocean.
HARRIS: There still is oil spewing up, and it is really hard to tell from those feeds exactly how much - it's impossible, actually, to tell from those feeds how much oil is actually going up the pipe. It's possible that a significant amount is right now. It's also possible that they're still trying to fine-tune the system and figure out how to draw that oil up without creating methane ice crystals. That's been a problem that has dogged previous attempts to do this.
If that natural gas mixed in with the oil gets in touch with ocean water, it can create these ice crystals that can plug everything up. So that's the main concern. That was why they had that methyl alcohol - that green-tinted stuff -flowing around last night. So...

that's from morning edition (npr) today. today is day 45 of the gulf disaster. new york times notes that admiral thad allen is insisting that 'some oil' is being captured. how much?

can't say.

then why assert it at all?

you better believe if it was good news, we'd know all about it. you only stall like he did when you've got bad news and are uncertain of what you're discussing.

of today's attempt, abc quotes barack stating, 'it is way too early to be optimistic.' too early?

no, barack, it is too late. and you've done too damn little throughout.

mark guarino (christian science monitor) reports:

Far north of the Gulf, restaurant owners and wholesalers are tracking where the oil slick is traveling and trying to glean just how much impact it will have on menu prices and consumer perception. There are already reports of tar balls and oily substances in the Florida Keys, and worries are rising that this summer’s hurricane season will push the oil around Florida's southern tip, where it could enter the Gulf Stream and head north to the fishing grounds off the mid-Atlantic coast.
Jim Filip, owner of Doris & Ed’s, a 90-seat seafood restaurant in Highlands, N.J., is tracking the oil’s path via computer projections he finds on the Internet. He stopped buying seafood from the Gulf four weeks ago, not because he believes it is tainted, but because he doesn’t want to lie to customers who are now asking about the origin of his shrimp and oysters.

good thing this disaster took place when the economy was doing great.

huh?

you're right. the economy was doing awful. so there's nothing positive about the gulf disaster and barack obama and his handlers better stop trying to spin this s**t.

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

Friday, June 4, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, there are four vying for the role of prime minister in Iraq, Iran in northern Iraq?, and more.

Today on NPR's Diane Rehm Show, Susan Page filled in for Diane and the second hour's guests were MBC TV's Nadia Bilbassy, Christian Science Monitor Howard LaFranchi and PoliticsDaily.com's David Wood.

Susan Page: Well Iraq's high court ratified the results of the national elections that were held on March 7th, Howard, who won?

Howard LaFranchi: Well according to the uh the Supreme Court ruling bascially what they did was uh verify that the uh bloc led by uh Ayad Allawi uh who is a uh a secular Shi'ite that his bloc won the most seats. Uh the problem is that they didn't win uh anything near a majority. Coming in second, just uh a few seats behind was the bloc of the current prime minister Maliki. And uh so now uh although it sounds great that okay finally there's a ruling and uh the results have been certified but now the-the jockeying and the-the power struggle shifts to Parliament because someone is going to have to come up with a uh coalition that will be a majority -- to be able to form the government. Uhm. Last -- or recently anyway [C.I. note, May 4th] -- Maliki sort of envisioning this formed a coalition with the forces of uh . . . [pause] the Islamic Sh'ite Movement of uh of uh Sadr uh a name that I think many Americans will be familiar with.

We got to break in, there's too much wrong there. What the hell is he saying? He doesn't know what he's saying. He's got some names he almost knows and tosses them out but does so wrongly. Nouri's State of Law formed a power-sharing coalition on May 4th with the Iraqi National Alliance slate. Ammar al-Hakim and his Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq or Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council are part of that alliance along with 17 other components/parties as well some independent politicians. Moqtada al-Sadr is also a member of the Iraqi National Alliance with his Sadr bloc. His bloc won the most seats of any component/party in the Iraqi National Alliance (40, followed by ISCI and Bard Organization with 18 seats. The INA, chaired by Ibrahim al-Jaafari, holds 70 seats in the new Parliament. Ayad Allawi heads Iraqiya which won 91 seats in the Parliament. Nouri al-Malki heads State Of Law which won 89 seats in the Parliament. State Of Law's power-sharing coalition with the Iraqi National Alliance gives them 159 seats currently (after Parliament is seated, the candidates are MPs and cannot be removed by their party and replaced with another candidate on their party's list -- once seated, some members of some blocs may decide to cut their own deals). 163 seats are needed for the government (prime minister and council) to be formed.

Howard LaFranchi (Con't): Uhm but the question will be the-the right to try to form a government will go first to uh uh --

Nadia Bilbassy: Allawi.

Howard LaFranchi: Allawi and the question will be if he will be able to succeed.

Susan Page: And, Nadia, is this taking longer than we expected.

Nadia Bilbassy: I think every time I come on The Diane Rehm Show I ask the same question.When they going to from the government and, I think, I don't have an answer. Probably September. I mean it's a good thing the highest judicial body in Iraq has certified the results because that means that they're no disputed anymore. And we heard from Prime Minister Maliki who said, 'No, we won, we have to recount it by hand. We have to do this, we have to do that.' So now it's over except for two seats that were disputed -- ultimately, it's not going to effect the results. As it stands now, 91 and 89 for Allawi [she has the totals backward, Allawi's slate has the 91]. The problem now it is jockeying for power. Who is going to form the government and, funny enough, it reminds me of Israel because, if you remember, Kadima won the election but they couldn't form the government and therefore it lost so it doesn't mean the winning party who got the popular vote will ultimately form the government. What we have seen now is actually Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki trying to go and coordination with the second larg -- third largest bloc which is the Iraqi National Alliance which includes Sadr and Hakim and others. The problem is people already see it as a Shi'ite domination and it's not just Shi'ite domination but Shi'ite religious domination and that will alienate the secular and the Sunnis. So the problem now is where do you go now? The President Jalal Talabani has 15 days to ask the Parliament to convene and after they nominate the Speaker and the Deputy Speakers they will go forward to ask the winning party -- which is Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya Party -- to form the government.

Susan Page: Now, Nadia, says that the government may not be formed until September. We have an August deadline for the reduction of US troops in Iraq --

Nadia Bilbassy: I mean, I hope it's [government formed] before.

Susan Page: Yeah, we hope it's before. But it's obviously taking quite a bit of time and no end yet quite in sight. Could this imperil the timetable for the withdrawal of US troops, David?

David Wood: I don't think so, Susan. We're going to have General Ray Odierno, top US commander in Iraq, briefing at the Pentagon in about an hour so we'll get an answer from him. But he met with President Obama this week and what he said was that the withdrawal of US combat troops was on track and they will all be gone by August 31st. About 50,000 US military personnel [troops] will be left in Iraq, but let me stress they are not organized in fighting units. [Apparently, they're instead organized in sewing circles. Quilting bees?] And they are largely technicians and administrators so that if violence does break out and the US is needed they will have to come back in from the outside.

They are combat troops. That's what the US military trains the troops for. When Barack first presented this laughable idea of "noncombat" troops being left in Iraq, Michael R. Gordon (New York Times) rightly -- and repeatedly -- expressed bewilderment over how Barack could 'create' this category. Since then Thomas E. Ricks has called it out repeatedly and many others as well. Ricks has, in fact, been the most elequent on this topic. On The Diane Rehm Show, for example, March 4th, Ricks observed, "I hate the phrase 'combat troops.' There is no pacifisit wing of the Marine Corps or the 101st Airborne. And I think it's effectively a lie to the American people. When they hear 'I'll get combat troops out,' what they hear is 'No more American troops will die' -- and that is blatantly untrue. And I think the sooner the president addresses that, the better for him." Exactly. We'll include David Wood's uninformed comments. I went back and forth on it but the reality is we'll return to them months from now in order to hang him with his own words. Joost R. Hiltermann examines the current situation in "Iraq's Summer of Uncertainty" (New York Review of Books):The outlook is ominous. As the politicians dither, governmental institutions -- never particularly effective -- could become paralyzed, as senior officials fear for their careers if they make decisions that would anger Iraq's future rulers. Uncertainty over the country's prospects could spread through society and the economy. In a political vacuum, outside regional powers would almost certainly gain greater influence and be tempted to meddle more than they already do. The United States, which has been so eager to depart that it failed to craft an exit strategy, would then have trouble being heard over the din. Lacking strong support in Baghdad, parties and politicians would have little choice but to seek succour in neighbouring capitals, insinuating these states' countervailing interests into what is already a combustible mix. And Iraq's insurgencies could get a second wind, again making violence the primary mode of politics.

Alsumaria TV states Iraqi National Alliance's Bahaa Al Araij is stating that an announcement will be forthcoming and that while State Of Law is going with Nouri, the Iraqi National Alliance will nominate their chair Ibrahim Al Jaafari and Adel Abdul-Mehdi. Ibrahim al-Jaafari was Iraq's second post-invasion prime minister. He was also the first choice, following the December 2005 elections, to be (remain) prime minister; however, the US government objected to him and Nouri al-Maliki was then chosen as a compromise candidate. In the 2005 elections, he had the support of Moqtada al-Sadr's followers. That allowed him to defeat Adel Abudl-Mahdi by a single vote in those elections. Adel Abdul-Mahdi currently serves as Iraq's Shi'ite vice president (Iraq has two vice presidents) he belongs to al-Hakim's political party. al-Jaafari spent his exile time in Iran and England while Abdul-Mahdi spent his exile time in France. Nouri spent his exile time predominantly in Syria and Iran while Allawi spent significant time in England. All potential prime ministers (thus far) are former exiles.

Nouri wants to continue in the post. There is opposition to that within the Iraqi National Alliance. Tossing out their two most popular figues from the last election appears to indicate that they do not see the power-sharing coalition as a rubber stamp for Nouri's continued reign.

Nouri's close ties with Iran have not resulted in Iraq's territorial sovereignty being respected. Tuesday some reports maintained the Iranian military had entered northern Iraq while other reports insisted no entry had taken place:

Sherko Raouf, Shamil Aqrawi and Matt Robinson (Reuters) report that there are rumors (denied by Kurdish officials) that Iran has entered northern Iraq but that over 100 Iraqi families have fled the area in the last seven days. Sunday Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN)reported the Iranian shelling claimed the life of 1 teenage Iraqi girl in nothern Iraq. Xinhua (link has text and audio) identified the 14-year-old as Basouz Jabbar Agha. As with the Turkish military, Iranian military claims their target is the PKK -- a group identified by many countries (including the US) and the European Union as a terrorist organization and one that has established a base in nothern Iraq (among other places). [They would actually claim their target is PJAK and we're not drawing a line between the PKK and PJAK here -- they have the same leader, the same goals and are 'mingled' in the northern Iraq bases.] The PKK seeks an official Kurdish homeland (usually within Turkey) and points to decades of persecution. One of their leaders is Abudllah Ocalan who has been in a Turkish prison since 1999. The BBC reported over the weekend that he was rumored to have announced "he was abandoning efforts for dialogue with the Turkish government." Hurriyet Daily News reports that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold a terrorism summit on Wednesday (Turkey labels the PKK a terrorist organization). Meanwhile AFP quotes an unnamed "security official" stating that Iranian troops have moved "three kilometers" into northern Iraq. Caroline Alexander and Kadhim Ajrash (Bloomberg News) quote KRG spokesperson Kawa Mahmoud stating, "These reports about an Iranian incursion into Krudistan are totally false. There may be Iranian activity near the border, but there is no incursion." The reality? At this point unknown. Iran's most recent invasion of Iran (December 2009) was greeted with denials from some Iraqi government officials and from some Iranian government officials. But the violation of sovereignty did take place.


This afternoon, Leila Fadel and Dlovan Barawri (Washington Post) report that Nouri's officials deny the Iranian military has entered northern Iraq; however, "Incensed by the intensity of the attacks and what they say is a brazen ground movement nearly two miles into Iraqi territory, Kurdish officials have reached out to the central government to stop the Iranian incursion and continued shelling, said Jabar al-Yawar, the spokesman for the peshmerga, the Kurdish regional force." Meanwhile the PKK in northern Iraq announced the end of their ceasefire with Turkey's military. This announcement came as KRG President Masoud Barzani was in the midst of a five-day visit to Turkey -- his first in approximately five years. Mehmet Ali Birand (Hurriyet Daily News) opines, "We shouldn't expect Barzani to grab a weapon and fight for Turkey up in the mountain or fight against the PKK. No matter how much he dislikes this terrorist organization and is against the interests of Iraqi Kurds, this means a war between Kurds. That's why we shouldn't expect Barzani to fight for Turkey against the PKK. But on the other hand, we expect him to take measures and stop the PKK strolling around freely. We can do this only by acting together." Today's Zaman reports, "While expressing support for the Turkish government's efforts to engage its Kurdish population with the aim of ending decades of fighting with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has killed tens of thousands of people, Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani on Thursday also voiced regret over the deaths of young people in the conflict between Turkish security forces, no matter if they are Kurdish or Turkish."

Today's violence, Reuters notes, included a 2 Mosul roadside bombings which claimed 2 lives and left six people wounded and a Mosul car bombing which injured three people.

Earlier this week, we noted BP wants to get their unskilled hands on more Iraqi oil. Ben Lando (Time magazine) reports on this topic and it appears the US government is using US officials -- military and civilians -- as whores for BP: Major General Vincent Brooks, commander of U.S. forces in southern Iraq, towered over dozens of fellow visitors on a recent dusty morning in the Rumaila oil field in Iraq's oil capital Basra province. With U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill nearby, Brooks chatted up the president of Iraq operations for BP. In November BP signed a contract along with Chinese partners to develop the field. Rumaila was first drilled by BP a half century ago, but the company, along with other foreign oil companies, was kicked out in the 1970s when Iraq nationalized its oil sector.A US commander and the US ambassador do not need to whore their positions by accompanying BP around. That's disgraceful and oh, so telling. So as Iraq continues to struggle, remember that Chris Hill, when not on a crying jag from his manic depression, could be found showing the fellows of BP a good time out in the oil field.

At the Pentagon today, Gen Ray Odierno gave a briefing that was song and dance and someone break it to him that he lacks rhythm. He spun like crazy and as you heard that significant markers showed improvement and this one and that one was arrested, you may have been reminded of "WORLD CUP TO BE ATTACKED BY AL-QAEDA!" How'd that work out? Apparently, it was spin. But it sure did eat up airtime on CNN and take us far, from reality. Today was nonsense. We'll note this section of Odierno's remarks:

There will still be bad days in Iraq. There are still violent elements that operate inside Iraq. There violence is less than it was before but it's still violence. And we will continue to work with the Iraqi security forces to improve their capacity and capability to deal with the violence to continue to increase stability inside of Iraq and to continue to increase the capability of the government as we move forward.

We've seen Odierno testify to Congress, we've seen him manipulate the media (giving them a non-answer they mistake for an answer). In all that time, for any paying attention, one thing is obvious, when Odierno lies, he closes his eyes. To see him at the podium today was to really see that personal tic play out.

F16s are something the press is running with. Butt Ass Stupid apparently being an easy way to. They tend to ignore the most important remark in that exchange: "This will be an evolving process over the next few years." What will be? Determining and turning over F16s to Iraq. Iraq's Air Force is not ready. A sale of F16s would help them somewhat but would not make them ready. This has not changed and that was a key point from the briefing to those paying attention. Odierno misdirected and controlled the press conference but that tends to happen over and over and the press never pays attention, never learns and still can't identify even one of his uncomfortable tics let alone his lie tic. Again, when he's lying, he closes his eyes while speaking. Jim Wolf (Reuters) is one of the few paying attention and he's the one who asked about the F16s. He also did a follow up.

Jim Wolf: But they wanted something to be there by the time US combat troops completed their withdrawal at the end of next year. Are you saying that if this is going to take years the US won't be able to meet that request?

Gen Ray Odierno: Well I think what they'll have is they'll have some Air Force capability, they'll continue to build some capability, not fighter aircraft. The fighter aircraft will come some time after 2011. Like we do in many other countries as we sell them aircraft.

Jim Wolf reports on the briefing here.


Yesterday's snapshot addressed Don't Ask, Don't Tell at length. Today To The Contrary (PBS) has a discussion on the policy and how it effects women and minorities. The weekly program broadcasts on PBS and each week it also offers an exclusive online segment which, this week, is on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Bonnie Erbe is the program's host and producer and her panelists this week (from the right) are Linda Chavez and Karen Czarnecki and (from the left) Melinda Henneberger and US House Rep Eleanor Holmes Norton:

Bonnie Erbe: All of this comes just as a recent survey finds minorities and women are disproportionately effected by the ban. In 2008, 45% of troops discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell were minorities yet minorities made up 30% of the military that year. And while female troops made up 14% of the military, they accounted for 34% of discharges. So what's going on here? Why -- Why, first of all, are minorities and women disproportionately discharged like this?

Linda Chavez: I don't think we know the answer based on this one survey. I actually was a bit skeptical about, certainly, the figures on minorities. It didn't make sense to me. The women made a little more sense to me. I think it is more likely -- and probably going to get myself into trouble here -- but I think it's more likely that a lesbian would be comfortable in a very masculine role in the military. So the fact that there might be more lesbians in the military than there are gay men --

Bonnie Erbe: Actually, let me throw a, you know, mine your way as well. I called the head of the Service Persons United and more often the threat of -- of falsely outing a woman is used to get her to succomb to sexaul advances than a lesbian, an actual lesbian. So some of this is happening at least because a guy hits on a woman, she tells him to go take a hike and he runs to their commander and says, "She's a lesbian."

Melinda Henneberger: Well it would have to be that, right?


US House Rep Eleanor Holmes Norton: Well no, it isn't that. And this is why this law is so cockeyed: It's Don't Ask, Don't Tell. So the fact that she's a lesbian and somebody thinks she's a lesbian should have nothing to do with this. You have to out yourself. Now this is subject to great abuse because what is outing yourself -- saying, "I am a lesbian" -- mean? Does it mean that someone's tricked you into saying what you are? I hope that this study [Pentagon review] that is going to be out before this goes into effect also looks at this. This is contra-indicated. I also agree with you [Linda Chavez] for one thing, in the minority community, there is enough homophobia so that people would tend to surpress it, leave aside Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And for women, one does wonder if that is real abuse of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell process which lends itself to that anyway.

Karen Czarnecki: I always thought Don't Ask, Don't Tell was supposed to be a compromise. Keep it to yourself, we don't want to hear about it. And so at least it could keep the peace in the military. The fact of the repeal? I don't know how it's going to effect anybody. They couldn't study anything because of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell so I think, similar to what you're [Linda Chavez] saying, we don't know enough about how this will effect. It will make some people happy, it will make other people angry. It's going to be a whole mix of emotions as this evolves.

Bonnie Erbe: Melinda, John McCain says he's going to fight it in the -- fight lifting the law in the Senate because to allow gays to serve openly would effect morale. Agree? Disagree?

Melinda Henneberger: I strongly disagree and I think that based on what I've heard from PoliticsDaily's war correspondent, he says he has yet to meet the soldier in the field who has time to worry about such a thing or who has voiced that in a very, very long time. So, no, I think that is a minority view that -- John McCain is in a tough political primary right now

Linda Chavez: Well I also think it's a generational thing, Melinda, because I think if you check people in John McCain's generation or even in my generation, they're going to be much more dubious about this. But if you talk to young people -- who are the people serving in the military now -- I think we've become much more accepting of gays in all walks of life and so I think they're going to be less uncomfortable.

Melinda Henneberger: I agree with what [pointing to Karen Czarnecki] --

US House Rep Eleanor Holmes Norton: Fortunately we have the Army and the Air Armed Forces has big experience in this. If you want to talk about effecting morale, I'll tell you this without fear of contradiction, 1948, straight-away, Blacks and Whites must be in the same unit. If you think that White Americans -- this is before the '54 decision [Brown v. Board of Education], before any law of any kind had been passed, were ready for that, I can tell you that what made them ready was that they were in a command structure. And if that command structure does its work, I'm not even a little bit worried.

Bonnie Erbe: Alright. Thanks for watching TTC Extra. Whether your views are in agreement or To The Contrary, please join us next time.

TV notes. Of course, Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Linda Chavez, Melinda Henneberger and Eleanor Holmes Norton on the latest broadcast of PBS' To The Contrary to discuss the week's events. On PBS' Washington Week, Peter Baker (NYT), Michael Duffy (Time) and Doyle McManus join Gwen around the roundtable or at least in the NO WOMEN ALLOWED Club House. Seriously, Gwen, where the hell do you get off booking three men? Do you know how many times Gwen books an all female roundtable. As Maya Rudolph's character Jodi would say on Bronx Beat, "0.00." Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Linda Chavez, Melinda Henneberger and Eleanor Holmes Norton on the latest broadcast of PBS' To The Contrary to discuss the week's events. And at the website each week, there's an extra just for the web from the previous week's show and this week's bonus is a discussion on whether female soldiers suffer more under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:
The SwindlerTo understand how Bernard Madoff could have done what he did, listen to so-called "mini-Madoff" Ponzi schemer Marc Dreier tell Steve Kroft in his first television interview how he scammed $400 million. Watch Video
The Case Against Nada ProutyFormer FBI and CIA terrorism fighter Nada Prouty was herself accused of aiding terrorism, but in her first interview, she denies she was anything other than a patriot. Scott Pelley investigates her case. Watch Video
The SharkmanAnderson Cooper dives unprotected with great white sharks and the South African who's spent more time up close with the ocean's most feared predator than anyone else. Watch Video
60 Minutes, Sunday, June 6, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

We'll close with this from Andy Worthington's "Torture and the 'Black Prison', or What Obama is Doing at Bagram (Part One)" (World Can't Wait):For eight and a half years, the US prison at Bagram airbase has been the site of a disturbing number of experiments in detention and interrogation, where murders have taken place, the Geneva Conventions have been shredded and the encroachment of the US courts -- unlike at Guantanamo -- has been thoroughly resisted. In the last few months, there have been a few improvements -- hearings, releases, even the promise of imminent trials -- but behind this veneer of respectability, the US government's unilateral reworking of the Geneva Conventions continues unabated, and evidence has recently surfaced of a secret prison within Bagram, where a torture program that could have been lifted straight from the Bush administration's rule book is still underway.

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