From October 13, 2019, that's "Clueless:" C.I. noted:
Isaiah's
latest THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Clueless." US House Rep Tulsi
Gabbard explains, "I just realized these so-called debates may not be
transparent or democratic." Isaiah archives his comics at THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS.
I was one of the fools who was taken in by Tulsi Gabbard. I bought her lies. I did catch on to reality the last night of July 2019 when she refused to challenge Joe Biden over the Iraq War. Moderator Jake Tapper gave her two chances in the debate and she refused to call out the War Hawk -- despite running as an anti-war candidate. She was a fake ass.
By the way, if you saw Betty's "Where is TINA!!!!!" this morning, TINA is finally up at HBO MAX. You have to scroll down to find it -- the main page is still JUSTICE LEAGUE -- but it is up. I'm streaming it right now (Angela Bassett's speaking right this second).
Friday, March 26, 2021. Migh the AMUF be repealed and would that
end the Iraq War? Joe Biden finally gives a press briefing, Moqtada
al-Sadr offers to disarm others, and much more.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee on
Thursday advanced a measure to repeal a nearly two-decade-old
authorization for the use of military force in Iraq, lawmakers’ first
effort to claw back their war-making powers under President Joe Biden.
The panel’s action, which sailed
through with support from Democrats and Republicans alike, scraps the
2002 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) against Iraq,
which at the time was led by Saddam Hussein. A similar push is already
underway in the Senate, where Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Todd Young
(R-Ind.) have proposed repealing the 2002 AUMF, in addition to a 1991
measure that also authorized military force in Iraq during the first
Gulf War.
Rep.
Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the committee’s chair, said the outdated
authorizations serve no operational purpose and argued that existing
threats can be addressed by the 2001 authorization, which dealt with
terrorist groups in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.“There
are continuing threats from Iranian-backed militants. There are threats
from ISIS and al Qaeda. That said, the 2002 AUMF doesn’t help us deal
with any of these threats,” Meeks said. “Our forces would stay under
Iraq under the 2001 AUMF, and the president can always defend America
and our forces under Article II [of the U.S. Constitution].”
So even the repeal of the AUMF, if it happened, wouldn't end the continued occupation of Iraq by US troops. SPUTNIK notes:
The 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq
(AUMF), passed in October of that year, made the forthcoming US invasion
of Iraq in March 2003 legal under US law. It built on the AUMF that was
passed in 2001, in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks
by al-Qaeda that killed 3,000 people. The 2002 law further extended the
principle of pre-emptive strike that was at the heart of then-US
President George W. Bush’s military doctrine that became the US War on
Terror.
However, while a couple of Republicans sided with their Democratic
colleagues in voting for the resolution, some said it was too soon to
shred the 2002 AUMF, since a replacement for the 2001 AUMF hasn’t been
implemented yet.
“Real AUMF reform requires Congress and the administration working
together on actual text to replace the aging 2001 and 2002 AUMFs to
provide authorities needed to keep the American people, and, most
importantly, our deployed troops, safe from terrorists,” said Rep.
Michael McCaul (R-TX), the leading Republican on the committee.
REUTERS adds,
"The U.S. Constitution gives the power to declare war to Congress.
However, that authority has gradually shifted to the president as
Congress passed AUMFs that did not expire – such as the 2002 Iraq
measure, as well as one that allowed the fight against al Qaeda in the
wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." The authority has shifted by
custom, not by law. By law, only Congress has the right to declare
war. By refusing to hold that power, they have allowed the executive
branch to use it and courts can recognize custom.
Iraqi Rab’ Allah (ربع الله) militia conducts driving parade in Baghdad to protest US occupation, slow government, & demand to lower dollar exchange rate.
PRESS TV adds,
"On Thursday, a number of armed Iraqi groups took to the streets of the
capital Baghdad in a show of force, demanding the expulsion of all
foreign forces from Iraq." Staying with the topic of militias, Shi'ite
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is back in the news. Also covering the parade, MEMO notes:
An armed Iraqi militia yesterday threatened to target US forces and their agents in the country, Anadolu news agency reported.
The Rab'Allah militia made the threat during a military parade with weapons in the streets of the capital, Baghdad.
"The
Iraqi people are living in the darkness of the brutal American
occupation and a complicit and puppet government," the movement said in a
statement, adding that its fighters have travelled across the capital
"in a threatening message to the Americans and their agents".
The movement published photos of its fighters riding in pickups and carrying machine guns and RPGs in Baghdad.
These
militias are now part of the government forces and Mustafa al-Khadimi
has become the second prime minister in a row who, despite officially
being over these forces, cannot control the militias. ARAB WEEKLY reports:
Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr is increasingly wanting to appear as a
statesman while his political ambitions to hold the reins of the
executive authority in the country are growing.
Earlier in February, the populist Shia cleric said he backed early
elections overseen by the UN, in a rare news conference outside his home
in the Iraqi shrine city of Najaf.
Iraq is meant to hold earlier parliamentary elections this year, a
central demand of an anti-government protest movement which erupted in
2019 and involved Sadr’s supporters.
The elections will be taking place under a new electoral law that has
reduced the size of constituencies and eliminated list-based voting in
favour of votes for individual candidates.
Sadr’s supporters are expected to make major gains under the new system.
In November, Sadr said he would push for the next prime minister to be a member of his movement for the first time.
With eyes on the executive authority, the Shia cleric has been
calling recently for control of the weapons’ chaos in the country so as
to curb attacks by armed factions on foreign forces, their supply
convoys and the headquarters of the US embassy in Baghdad.
Sadr’s calls come even though the Shia cleric himself is at the head
of the most powerful militias in Iraq, the Peace Brigades, which are
seen as a heir to the Mahdi Army militia that had previously led an
offensive against government forces under the rule of former Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The Mahdi Army was 'disbanded' in 2018. Ir was active again by January 2020. Mostada was once a movement leader with even some of his harshest critics
hailing him as the potential healer of Iraq. That was 2018. But
Shi'ites began turning on him in 2020 as he went from supporting the
protests to opposing them to supporting them again to attacking them.
His ambition apparently was too much for him to control, let alone
conceal.
This ambition is at the heart of his
proposal to disarm other militias. Others. Not his own. It would give
him a leg up that might make up for some of the popular support he has
lost since early 2020.
Joe Biden has a lot of
ambition as well and look where it's led him -- he's not just President
of the United States, he's Joe Bomber, destroying Iraq. Chad Garland (STARS AND STRIPES) reports:
The U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State has conducted more
airstrikes in Iraq this month than it did all of last year, destroying
scores of enemy positions and killing dozens of terrorists.
Coalition jets carried out over 150 strikes against ISIS fighters in
the mountains south of Mosul this month, U.S. and Iraqi military
officials said earlier this week. An analysis of previous coalition
strike data shows fewer than 120 airstrikes were carried out against
ISIS in Iraq all of last year.
Including Iraqi air force and army aviation operations, a total of 312
airstrikes have destroyed 120 enemy positions and killed 27 terrorists,
Col. Wayne Marotto, a spokesman for the military coalition, said in a
tweet Wednesday.
Maybe Joe does have a 'plan' for ending the Iraq War? End Iraq itself by bombing it out of existence?
Biden Bluster was on display yesterday as Joe finally held a press briefing -- his first since being sworn in as president. Ted Rall Tweets:
Biden held his very first news conference on Thursday, bringing to a close the longest amount of time in which an American president has held off hosting such an event in modern times. Your take depends on your politics.
Joe used a lot of words to say very little -- certainly nothing worth applauding. Patrick Martin (WSWS) observes, "Biden pronounced on a number of other topics, ranging from the
filibuster (he is not yet prepared to overturn it), to Afghanistan (he
said the US would not meet a May 1 withdrawal deadline but would be gone
by the end of the year), to his expectations for the 2024 election (he
said he and Harris would run for reelection, but was unsure what his
opposition would be, or if the Republican Party would even exist) to
North Korea (he said that it was the most serious foreign policy issue
facing the United States)."
Obama said we’d leave soon.
Trump said we’d leave soon.
Biden says we’ll leave soon.
It’s been almost 20 years. End the war. Leave Afghanistan now. No more excuses. Bring home the troops.
I'm
seeing nothing at ANTIWAR.COM and I checked the US Green Party's feed
for some form of critique. Guess everyone was busy? Or maybe Biden
just bores everyone into slumber? THE KATIE HALPER SHOW did cover the
press briefing.
Isaiah's
latest THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "First Family Material?" Wearing a
t-shirt which reads "BEYOND DEAD BEAT DAD," Hunter Biden says, "Hey,
it's me, future First Son Hunter Biden. I get kicked out of the
Reserves for my cocaine use, I have an affair with my dead brother's
ife, I leave my crack pipe in a car rental and I'm being sued by a woman
for being a baby daddy. I make Bill Clinton look like a Boy Scout."
Isaiah archives his comics at THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS.
Friday, March 19, 2021. We're hours away from the 18th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.
PRESS TV reports, "Four roadside bombs have separately gone off near convoys of
trucks carrying equipment belonging to US-led coalition forces in Iraq’s
southern provinces of al-Qadisiyah and al-Muthanna as well as the
western province of Anbar." We're almost to the anniversary of the start of the Iraq War and what's really changed?
AP's "Today In History"
notes: "George W. Bush ordered the start of war against Iraq. (Because
of the time difference, it was early March 20 in Iraq.)" 18 years and
so many dead and wounded and for what? The Iraqi people continue to
suffer.
Unidentified gunmen today opened fire on
the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraq's
Kurdish region, a police officer said.
"Unidentified
gunmen in a car and motorbike fired with machine guns at the
headquarters of the Democratic Party in Halabja, Sulaymaniyah province,
at dawn today," a police officer told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
"The
guards at the headquarters responded to the assailants by firing back
at them, which prompted them to flee," the source said, adding no
casualties were reported.
The Kurdistan Democratic
Party is headed by Massoud Barzani, the former president of the
Kurdistan Region. It was formed in 1946 by Massoud's father Mustafa
Barzani. Massoud's son Nechirvan Barzani is the current president of
the Kurdistan Region and Massoud's son Masrour Barzani is the prime
minister of the Kurdistan Region -- both sons are also members of the
KDP.
KDP
faction at the Kurdistan Region Parliament condemned the attack and
urged security forces to find the perpetrators and face them with
justice.
It
also blamed the local authorities in Halabja, where the Patriotic Union
of Kurdistan (PUK) is dominant, for failing to protect political
offices as such attacks on the KDP are fairly frequent in Sulaymaniyah
and Halabja.
The PUK is a rival political
party. In 1975, members of the KDP split off and formed the PUK which
is dominated by the Talabani family. The late Jalal Talabani held the
title of president of Iraq from 2006 to 2014.
Iraqi President Barham Salih revealed on Wednesday new legal measures to recover the looted funds from Iraq.
Since 2003, a year after the ouster of Saddam Hussein, almost $250 billion of Iraqi public funds has vanished.
In a televised interview on Wednesday, Salih said that the presidency
intends to introduce a code of conduct to put in place mechanisms to
recover the stolen money, which may have gone abroad.
"Corruption is dangerous and needs serious mechanisms to tackle it,"
he added, noting that despite major challenges, a number of rulings took
place regarding corruption cases before.
Salih stressed that striking financial corruption was essential to establishing security.
Will
the punished include Nouri al-Maliki? The former prime minister and
forever thug lives a luxury as does his son Ahmed. This despite Nouri
fleeing Iraq in 1979.
That is the common trait of the
prime ministers that the US and Iran have imposed upon Iraq -- they are
not Iraqis who were living in Iraq their whole lives. They all spent
many years in exile and only returned after the 2003 US-led invasion.
Here is a list of all the prime ministers since the start of the US-led war in 2003:
2004 prime minister Ayad Allawi fled in 1971.
2005 prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari fled to Iran in 1980/
2006-2014 prime minister Nouri al-Maliki fled in 1979.
2015-2018 prime minister Hayder al-Abadi fled in 1983.
2018 prime minister Adil Abdul al-Mahdi fled in 1969.
2020 prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi fled in 1985.
Six prime ministers from 2004 to the present and every single one had fled Iraq.
Would
you want to be ruled by a coward? Someone who fled your country and
only came back after US troops had landed in your country?
Forget
that the prime minister never serve the people, they're also not of the
people. Makes it very difficult to establish a legitimate government.
And Iraq doesn't have a legitimate government.
That's
one of the reasons Iraqis have been protesting since fall 2019. And the
response of the Iraqi government? To attack the protesters.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi renewed Wednesday the
government’s stance on steering clear from the use of live ammunition
against demonstrators.
During a meeting for the Iraqi National Security Council (INSC), the PM
rejected attempted attacks on private and public properties and the use
of live ammunition to disperse protesters. But he called for providing
security forces with the proper equipment to fulfill their duties.
Maybe
they keep shooting live ammo because all Mustafa every does is jaw bone
about not doing it. No one gets punished for doing it. No one will be
punished for doing it earlier this week. It's become obvious that
Mustafa is all talk.
Protesters in Iraq shut down four
government buildings in Dhi Qar Governorate on Thursday to highlight
rising unemployment in the region.
The
buildings were connected to the directorates of education, electricity,
the municipality and the Nassiriya Oil Refinery. Angry protesters also
closed the governorate administration and the refinery buildings earlier
in the week.
If the Iraq War were a
person, it would have to register for the draft by now but still
wouldn’t be old enough to buy beer or marijuana. This week marks 18
years since the United States started dropping bombs near Baghdad.
On this date in 2003, George W. Bush went on television
and promised to “disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the
world from grave danger.” It turns out our government was the grave
danger.
It would become a historic
foreign policy failure, claiming the lives of well over 100,000 Iraqis
in addition to some 4,400 U.S. service personnel, including dozens of
Iowans. Nearly two decades in, the war is officially over but America
still can’t seem to leave.
In Iowa, with our
first-in-the-nation presidential nominating contests and our previous
status as a swing state, we’ve had outsized influence on presidential
politics over the past couple decades. Twice in my voting life, Iowans
have helped nominate and elect presidents who promised but ultimately
failed to end the Iraq War. I was in junior high when the war started,
but I was old enough to vote in those elections.
Barack Obama used his
opposition to military interventionism, flimsy in hindsight, as a key
point of difference in his 2008 primary against Hillary Clinton, who
supported the 2003 invasion as a senator. Iowans rewarded him with an
upset caucus victory that helped propel him to the nomination.
“I’ll be a president who ends this war in Iraq and finally brings our troops home,” Obama told a Des Moines crowd in his victory speech on caucus.
After winning the general
election with Iowa’s support, Obama failed to deliver on his 18-month
promise for withdrawal. His administration eventually did draw down
troop presence by the end of 2011, only to re-engage in 2014 against the
Islamic State.
We have spent trillions in
the last 18 years on our war in Iraq. Over 4,000 U.S. military members
have died, and hundreds of thousands more suffer from PTSD and TBI. We
have killed several hundred thousand Iraqis and decimated Iraqi
infrastructure. It is time to end our military presence in Iraq. It
seems our only purpose there is to have U.S. personnel there as sitting
ducks, so when they get attacked, we can escalate our pressure on Iran.
Our invasion of Iraq in 2003
was based on lies. Our continued military presence there serves no
useful purpose for Iraq or the United States. This is not a partisan
issue, just an issue of common sense and humanity. Support the troops,
bring them home.
The
war has had various inspiring names: Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2003
to 2010, Operation New Dawn from 2010 to 2011, and Operation Inherent
Resolve from August 2014 to the present. At the outset, the Bush
administration promised the war would eliminate Iraq’s weapons of mass
destruction. That sanctions could never work. That fighting would be
quick, cheap at $50 billion to 60 billion, controllable, remake Iraq into a democracy, and be won with few civilian, allied or U.S. military casualties.
If this sounds too good to be true, it’s because it is. The Iraq War at
18 offers lessons for understanding the costs of war. Whatever promises
and hopes, war is rarely quick, cheap, effective, or controllable.
The
Iraq War continues. US troops remain in Iraq. There has never been an
exit strategy. Since the goal appears to try to exhaust the Iraqi
people's resistance to a government imposed on them, there probably
never will be an exist strategy.
As Iraqis suffer, the US prepares to tell generation after generation, "Sorry, we hocked your future for the Iraq War."
So many lives have been lost, so much money has been squandered.
The
Iraqi people have not seen their lives improve. They do not have a
government that represents them. They have been told throughout 2020 to
prepare for cuts in 2021. This despite the fact that they live in an
oil-rich country. This despite the fact that Iraq brings in millions
and millions daily. They have been betrayed by the people put in
charge.
US troops have been betrayed by a government
that lied to start a war, that fails -- to this day -- to honor their
healthcare promises to veterans, that lies to continue the war.
Specifically, they have a president who supported this war and has never
done anything to end it and a Congress who acts as though the war long
ago ended. I know Nancy Pelosi's old and addled but I don't think
anyone's accused her of Alzheimer's yet.
The Iraq War
goes on and on with no end in sight. And 'leaders' of the peace
movement are as appalling as so-called leaders in Congress. They got
bored and moved on to other topics, ones that might get them publicity.
When there's no follow through from the opposition to war, why should
the government listen?
The US government doesn't listen.
18
years of war on Iraq in this wave of war. And you'd think the left
would be up in arms. But Iraq rarely pops up at the left websites
anymore. It may in a few hours when Medea Benjamin remembers the
anniversary and finds some man to co-write a column with her?
Maybe
they'll pretend they care and we'll all pretend like CODESTINK hasn't
spent years ignoring Iraq. And we can pretend that in the summer of
2006, when they staged a big action, they didn't put it on hold to focus
on another topic? We can pretend like Leslie Cagen and UFPJ didn't
fold tent the day after Barack Obama was first elected president in
2008?
We'd have to do a lot of pretending to believe
that THE PROGRESSIVE, THE NATION, IN THESE TIMES, et al give a damn
about the ongoing Iraq War. Their output makes clear that they don't.
So I'm doing mine this week. Marco Bonafede's WORDLESS COMICS Who is Marco? AMAZON tells us:
Marco Bonafede is an Italian psychiatrist.
He is interested in comics, fiction, history, psychology, neuroscience.
In 2011 he founded the publishing house Pisolo Books. http://www.marcobonafede.com
Marco offers a series of one-dimensional drawings. He's not interested in depth or contours. The drawings are often the sort you might think of when you think of cave drawings -- I don't mean that as an insult, this is a stylistic choice he's made. The only exception would be a nude woman where he does have an interest in contours. There's a penis joke about a knight and not even it results in contours but the nude woman does. He deals with basic themes and explores them -- such as battles, lambs, etc.
It's an interesting book. I would recommend it. I'm not sure that I'll use any of the ideas that the book sparked in my comics but I did find it inspiring. I plan to do at least another book this year.
Friday, March 12, 2021. The militias dictate terms to Iraq's prime
minister, the US government has no concern over an activist shot dead in
Iraq, Joe Biden babbles and much more.
Four roadside bombs have exploded separately near convoys of
trucks carrying logistical equipment belonging to the US-led
coalition forces in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, southern province
of Muthanna bordering Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the central province of
Babil, as well as the southern province of Basra.
They note that one of the attacks was claimed by the Iraqi militia group Saraya Awliya al-Dam. Earlier this week, at JUST SECURITY, Crispin Smith weighed in on legal issues with regards to the militias:
But despite their actions, and their close ties to Iran, there is
another side to the militias. KH, AAH, KSS, HN, and other major muqawama groups are all officially and legally organs of the Iraqi state through their membership of the Hashd al-Sha’abi
(Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF), an umbrella organization
comprising mostly Shi’ite groups that rose up in 2014 to join the fight
against ISIS.
At the end of 2016, Iraq’s parliament passed “Law Number 40 of the year 2016: the Law of the Hashd al-Sha’abi Committee.”
The law formalized a governing body for the militias (the “Popular
Mobilization Committee” or PMC), while incorporating the Hashd
al-Sha’abi into the Iraqi armed forces. The law also formalized a
command structure, with the PMC and subordinate brigades answering
directly to the Iraqi Prime Minister as Commander in Chief of the Armed
Forces under country’s Constitution. A series of Prime Ministerial
Orders built upon that law over the subsequent years to regulate the
militias by formalizing pay structures, a rank system, and the
applicability of Iraqi military laws and regulations.
The result is that many of the key militia groups responsible for
attacking the coalition also draw Iraqi government salaries while
operating as official members of the security forces. KH, a U.S.
designated terrorist organization, is also the 45th, 46th, and 47th PMF
Brigades. AAH, also designated and likely responsible for rocket attacks
in November and December owns the 41st, 42nd, and 43rd Brigades. KSS
operates the 14th PMF Brigade. Of course, in reality these units rarely
take orders from the Prime Minister; any government coordination comes
from Abu Fadak, the acting deputy chairman of the PMF and a former KH intelligence officer. Though he holds a senior Iraqi government role, Abu Fadak was designated for terrorist activities under Executive Order 13224 on Jan. 13, 2021.
While militias benefit greatly from their status, the Government of Iraq bears liability
for their illegal actions. International law of state responsibility
defers to domestic legislation when determining who or what is an entity
of a given State. In this case, Iraq has very clearly elected to incorporate the PMF, and must own their conduct.
And according to Article 7 of the International Law Commission’s Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts Iraq must remain responsible even when its state organ (e.g. a
PMF militia) exceeds its authority or contravenes instructions. This
rule evolved in response to a need to ensure clarity in state relations.
Rather than allowing states to avoid responsibility by simply
disavowing their organ’s actions, international law supports the proposition
(Article 7, paragraph 3 of commentaries, p.45) that “all Governments
should always be held responsible for all acts committed by their agents
by virtue of their official capacity.” This most certainly extends to
the killing and maiming of allied personnel operating in Iraq at Iraq’s
request.
He's on sounder ground above than he is
earlier in the essay when he writes "of successive elecgted Iraqi
governments." How was the 2010 government elected by a legal document?
It wasn't. The voters rejected Nouri al-Maliki getting a second term.
Nouri refused to step down. The government came to standstill for
eight months (the political stalemate) until the US brokered Erbil
Agreement gave Nouri a second term. Don't call that an election.
Unless you're saying the US government is electing the prime minister
which would be much more honest. On the topic of the militias,
yesterday afternoon, Suadad al-Salhy (MIDDLE EAST EYE) reported:
After frantic meetings in Baghdad, Beirut
and Tehran, Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitaries have agreed to stop
attacks against US forces in Iraq on the condition that Iraqi Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi formally demands an American withdrawal,
officials and faction commanders told Middle East Eye.
Kadhimi must tell Washington that the pullout has to be completed
within 12 months, they added. Sources said it is likely that Kadhimi
will comply and make the formal request.
On 1 March, the armed factions announced the end of an unofficial
armistice with US forces in Iraq that had largely held since October,
despite a few violations.
So the government paid
security forces are dictating to the prime minister what will happen?
Another reason that they should never have been made government forces
to begin with. A stupid move that the US government didn't even lodge
an objection to.
These militias are terrorizing the
Iraqi people and the prime miniter either has no control over them or
chooses not to exercise any control over them. Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor issued the following:
Iraqi citizen Jaseb Hattab, father of kidnapped activist
Ali Hattab, has been killed by gunshot in Amara city in the
Maysan governorate, southern Iraq, the Euro-Mediterranean
Human Rights Monitor said in a statement today warning of
targeting activists’ families and its implications on the
social peace.
At about 7 p.m. on Wednesday 10th of
March, two gunmen on a motorcycle shot Jaseb directly while
he was walking in Al-Maa’ard street in downtown Amara city
in the Maysan governorate. Prior to his assassination, Jaseb
had been participating in a memorial service for
assassinated activist Abdul Quddus Qasim, which yesterday
marked the first anniversary of his death.
“While
the area witnessed a great overcrowding of citizens and
widespread presence of security forces , two armed men on a
motorcycle approached the victim,” an eyewitness, spoke on
condition of anonymity, said to Euro-Med Monitor. “The
victim tried to run as one of them got off the motorcycle
and walked towards him. But the gunmen rushed towards him
and shot him several times, which killed Jaseb instantly
[before he could escape]”.
After the accident, a
security force arrived at the scene, took the victim's body
to the forensic medical office, and then began conducting an
extensive investigation about the incident.
Jaseb had
launched several distress calls demanding to know the fate
of his son, lawyer and activist Ali Jaseb Hattab, who had
been kidnapped since October 8th, 2019, for his
participation in the popular protests. Since that time, no
information had been known about his fate or
whereabouts.
Euro-Med Monitor viewed a copy of a video
of the victim, in which he confirms that he had reliable
information about the identity of his son’s kidnappers. He
said his son was kidnapped by Ansar Allah Alawfiaa faction,
affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces, and
demanded to meet the Prime Minister to provide him with
documents confirming these claims.
The Hellija clan,
to which the victim belongs, have made it clear in a
statement to the media that the assassination of Hattab had
nothing to do with any tribal disputes – contrary to what
was stated in the provincial police statement about the
incident. The clan held the security leaders and governor of
Maysan governorate responsible for his
assassination.
Political activists in Iraq have been
subjected to great harassment and constant threats of
liquidation. The number of activists who have received
assassination threats since August of last year, reached
about 30 activists, of which 19 have already been
assassinated. Most recently, activist Salah al-Iraqi was
assassinated on December 15th, 2020, near a security
checkpoint in New Baghdad, southeast of the capital
Baghdad.
"The assassination of the father of the
kidnapped activist, Ali Jaseb Hattab, rings alarm bells that
targeting activists extends to their families,” said Omar
Al-Ajlouni, legal researcher at Euro-Med Monitor.
"The
Iraqi authorities must commit itself to the provisions of
the constitution that stipulates preserving the lives of
activists and their families as Article 15 of it states:
‘Every individual has the right to enjoy life, security
and liberty. Deprivation or restriction of these rights is
prohibited except in accordance with the law and based on a
decision issued by a competent judicial
authority’.
Al-Ajlouni added that “This was also
confirmed by Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which stated: ‘everyone has the right to life,
liberty and security of person.’”
The Iraqi
authorities should:
urgently investigate the
circumstances of the crime,
bring the perpetrators
to justice,
make more efforts to put an end to the
widespread assassinations that escalated since the start of
the popular movement in October 2019,
provide the
necessary protection for political activists and their
families who are under constant threats of liquidation,
and
allow citizens to express their views without
being subjected to any harassment or
threat.
Protesters took to the streets in five Iraqi provinces, including in the
capital Baghdad on Thursday and Friday morning, to condemn the shooting
death of the father of a protester. The killing of Jaseb Hattab has
exposed government failures to protect protesters and bring to justice
perpetrators of violence against demonstrators.
Widespread anger over Hattab’s murder sparked renewed protests in Baghdad, Muthanna, Babil, Maysan, and Dhi Qar.
Protests continued on Friday morning. In Samawah, Muthanna governorate,
clashes took place between security forces and demonstrators, wounding
dozens near the provincial government offices. Protesters called for the
resignation of the local government, activist Musa Rahmatullah told
Rudaw on Friday.
Hattab’s son Ali Jaseb is an activist who had participated in
anti-government protests and was kidnapped in 2019. Hattab was outspoken
in calling for the return of his son, even publicly naming the group he
believed was behind the kidnapping – Ansarullah al-Awfyya’a, a powerful
Iranian-backed militia part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd
al-Shaabi in Arabic) in Maysan.
Many
take to streets in several provinces to demand justice &
accountability for latest assassination after Jaseb Hattab al-Heliji was
killed - the father of a kidnapped activist & lawyer for whose
release he tirelessly campaigned #جاسب_حطب
The European Union ambassador to Iraq, Martin Huth, highlighted the
shooting on his Twitter page, posting a photo of Aboud with the comment,
“Pope gone. Back to normal?”
Huth later deleted his post without explanation, much to the chagrin of some Iraqi social media users.
Aboud
was a determined figure who for a time was a fixture on local media,
reminding the Iraqi public about his missing son and seeking justice. He
routinely took the six-hour bus journey from his rural town to the
capital, Baghdad, to meet his lawyer. He always carried the documents he
believed would deliver justice in a court of law.
The
US government has had no official reaction -- not even a retracted
one. This despite Antony Blinken's recent rhetoric about human rights
and "gross rights violations" in other countries. The press also hasn't
bothered to ask Jen Psaki, White House spokesperson, about the
murder.
In fact, it was pretty much another fluff
press briefing yesterday. The only thing of immediate news value would
be this exchange:
Q If I can ask just an unrelated question. So, the relief bill
includes subsidies for the healthcare exchanges and COBRA coverage. The
President, during the campaign, talked about also implementing a
universal public option, lowering the Medicare age to 60. Does he still
plan to pursue those policy initiatives, and when can we expect to hear
more on that from him?
MS. PSAKI: Yes. I mean, we’re only on day 50. We’ve got a lot more time to go here. Buckle up.
Yes, he is — of course, this was his number one priority was getting
this American Rescue Plan passed. Today is a very big day here in the
White House — significant moment for the American people, of course.
But he remains committed to and interested in pushing forward with the
rest of his agenda and the commitments he made when he ran for President
over the course of the last two years.
In other words, no, it's not a priority and probably not happening.
This month, the Iraq war—in which I served as a U.S. Marine more than a
decade ago—turns 18. As a result, soon there will likely be service
members deploying to Iraq who were born after the war began in 2003.
When they arrive, they will find the conflict remains a dangerous one
for Americans, as evidenced by the recent deadly rocket attacks against American bases.
Instead
of conducting potentially unconstitutional and escalatory airstrikes in
Syria to “defend” American troops in Iraq, who are performing a mission
that is not necessary for our safety, President Joe Biden should
withdraw the U.S. military from the country. Withdrawal would be not
only good policy but good politics. Over two-thirds of the American
people support leaving Iraq, according to recent polling.
There
is no reason to keep sending Americans to risk life and limb in Iraq.
We already lost the war when we made the disastrous decision to invade
in 2003, handing a victory to Iran and Sunni jihadists who would exploit
the chaos of post-invasion Iraq for their own ends. Everything we have
done since—including the vaunted surge of Americans troops from 2007 to 2009—has been one failed attempt after another to overturn the terrible consequences of invading.
The
inability of now four presidents to accept these realities has meant
that America remains enmeshed in a country with no clear connection to
our safety or other vital national interests. Over 4,500 American
service members have been killed and tens of thousands more wounded in
Iraq. Hundreds of thousands more who served continue to bear the burden
of the war through mental health challenges and other illnesses
connected to their deployments. Apart from the human toll, the war has
cost American taxpayers nearly $2 trillion.
The price paid by the Iraqi people has been much higher. Between 200,000 and 1 million Iraqis died due to the war and up to 3 million more were displaced from their homes. Iraq’s
Christian community—once the most vibrant in the Middle East, prior to
the American invasion—has been driven “perilously close to extinction,” according to the archbishop of Erbil.
The Yazidis, another Iraqi religious minority, have been victims of
genocide by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), whose initial
rise was fueled by the American occupation.
While the Iraqi people were promised freedom, they instead have a government that is increasingly repressive, corrupt, and under the sway of Iran.
Maintaining a U.S. military presence in Iraq cannot undo this damage
and would only needlessly endanger more American lives. It could even
worsen the situation by providing to the anti-American and
Iranian-backed militias who dominate the country a convenient foreign
scapegoat for Iraq’s problems.
US President Joe Biden babbled away last night but said nothing of the ongoing wars. Patrick Martin (WSWS) offers:
The nationally-televised address by President Biden Thursday night
combined self-delusion with a complete refusal to address the causes or
the real consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden seemed to
have set his speechwriters the task of cramming as many maudlin
banalities as possible into the first ten minutes of his speech, as he
sought to display the “empathy” that was so lacking in his predecessor,
who clearly cared not at all as the COVID death toll in America mounted
into the hundreds of thousands.
The language of collective loss, suffering and sacrifice, however,
ignored the brutal fact that one section of American society, the
super-rich, has lost nothing at all from 12 months of the worst pandemic
in a century.
While 527,000 Americans died, the billionaires
increased their wealth by $1.4 trillion. While the economy collapsed,
millions lost their jobs and hundreds of thousands of small businesses
closed their doors forever, the stock market reached new record highs, a
process that continues to this day.
Biden, however, in pursuit of
his goal of “national unity,” said nothing at all about the class
divisions that the pandemic has brought to the fore so clearly. He said
little about the tidal wave of economic suffering unleashed by the
pandemic, and made only one reference to the congressional passage of
his American Recovery Act. This legislation aims to buy time for
American capitalism by putting off a full-scale collapse of consumer
spending until the end of the summer.
The most striking feature of
the Biden speech was its narrow nationalism. He spoke as though
coronavirus was a meteor that had crashed out of the sky and struck only
the United States, not a global pandemic that has affected every
country in the world.
He
did not acknowledge the 800,000 dead in Europe, or the nearly equal
number of dead in Latin America, or the mounting death toll in India and
through Asia—although not in China, where the pandemic began.
This
served two purposes. It allowed Biden to avoid the question of how
COVID-19 became such a disaster in the United States, which has
performed worst of all the major capitalist countries, with 30 million
infections and more than half a million deaths.
Okay,
we're going to try to quickly get through a few non-Iraq things. First
off, one of the attackers of Tara Reade has been revealed to be a paid
political operator.
One obstacle I encountered when I tried to come public about
what happened between me and Joe Biden baffled me. I was told my claims
needed ‘numerosity’ – more women like me needed to come forward. Do I
need to lead an army?
In approximately 60 AD a
warrior Celtic Queen of the Iceni and her daughters were raped by Roman
soldiers and flogged publicly. According to Tacitus, Queen Boudicca
said, “Nothing is safe from Roman pride and arrogance. They will deface
the sacred and will rape our virgins.”
Now, Boudicca let the Roman
empire know her rage at the killing of her husband, rape of her
daughters and slaughter of the peaceful Druids. She led armies in
rebellion for a couple of years. History is written by the victors and
the Romans painted a harsh picture of Boudicca. Personally, I like her
spirit and relate to fighting back against an Empire.
The New York
Times and Washington Post among other media outlets provided my public
flogging for daring to speak out; my truth about the beloved Democrat,
the elite Joe Biden, was quickly dismissed.
Sometimes, I feel as
if I am being held underwater, far from the surface of being able to be
heard. Sometimes, in my darkest moment, for inspiration I whisper “Boudicca.”
An esteemed reporter once said to me, “Tara, we need numerosity to bring the allegations of Joe Biden forward in our piece.”
“Numerosity?” I asked, perplexed.
“More women to come forward.” He replied.
“How many murders make a murderer?” I shot back.
“How many rapes make a rapist?”
The reporter was silent. American rape culture functions on such assumptions.
I
had heard this before. While there were seven other women discussing
Joe Biden’s inappropriate touching, I was the only credible sexual
assault allegation, at least in public.
Many times, by many well-known people, I was asked. “Are there any more names you can give us?”
I
do know of more women that have complaints of varying severity about
Joe Biden that may or may not ever come forward. However, their stories
are not my story and I have no right to discuss their experiences. There
is a photo, I have it, some journalists have it, that has not been
released that shows Joe Biden in action with someone who does not want
to receive his attention. When will it come out? Time will tell.
A
prominent news anchor told me a very specific story about his wife
receiving an unwanted hug that lingered too long and was “creepy.” The
anchor said his wife did not want to discuss it but also added, “Tara,
everyone knows this about Joe Biden, it’s an open secret.”
Glenn
Greenwald. Sexist? Yes, I think he is. I've never refrained from
saying that. That doesn't make him a unique creature on the face of the
earth. With ten being the worst, I'd rate him a 2 on sexism. (I'd
rate Michael Tracey an 8 on the same scale.) We highlight him because
he's an important voice. He'd be a better voice if he'd look at how his
college life reinforced ideas and agendas that led to his sexism. He
is a product of his time and his environment.
Andrew Cuomo. "How can you remain silent!!!" That's the tone of several e-mails Martha and Shirley summarized for me.
This
site, that I am responsible for, has not ignored the claims against
Andrew. They have been covered in multiple videos -- including one that
a CBS friend n NY called and told me that they had just posted -- it
immediately went up at this site. I am not following the case. I know
Andrew and I'm not offering a defense of him.
That's not an attack on anyone coming forward. They are getting the space to tell their stories even at this site.
I
like Andrew. I am staying out of it. It shouldn't matter but I'm
staying out of it due to stress. Two months in a row my diabetes has
landed me in the hospital. I don't want March to be the third month and
I don't want to lapse into a diabetic coma which I came close to last
month. That's why I was off that week. My diabetes can go, in thirty
minutes, from a normal range to 340 or higher based on stress. My
doctor wants me to stop this site or to at least stop covering Iraq. He
says that has to wear on a person if they're covering it every day.
I'm not living it, the Iraqi people are. And if there was anyone
opposed to war who was covering Iraq regularly -- even once a week --
I'd feel okay walking away. But I'm not going to walk away unless I
have to -- not while the whole country ignores the suffering of the
Iraqi people. They've been let down by too many Americans already.
I
do have to set up boundaries for my health. And I'm not defending
Andrew. I'm also not following that case. The courts and the people of
New York will decide it. I will gladly repost things about it here but
I'm not getting into it. I have enough on my plate and I'm supposed to
be reducing stress. Covering what appear to be credible allegations
that a friend has harassed women is not stress-free and there's no need
for me to step up and do it when the media is already all over it. This
is not a case like Tara Reade's where the media was ignoring it.
I
hope that answers the many e-mails to the public e-mail account. That
would be common_ills@yahoo.com which is for non-community members and
really should be Iraq related.
