BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
CELEBRITY IN CHIEF AND PROFESSIONAL AIR HEAD BARRY O ACCUSED HIS POLITICAL RIVAL MITT ROMNEY OF BEING THE TYPE TO "SHOOT FIRST, AIM LATER."
BARRY O MADE THAT REMARK SHORTLY BEFORE DECLARING THAT EGYPT WAS NOT AN ALLY OF THE UNITED STATES. THE ABSURD REMARK LEFT NBC NEWS' FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT RICHARD ENGEL EXPRESSING DISBELIEF. AND THEN THE STATE DEPARTMENT HAD TO CORRECT BARRY O THAT, YES, EGYPT IS AN ALLY.
POOR, STUPID BARRY O, WHO SHOT FIRST AND AIMED LATER?
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Al Mada reports
that the Kurdistan Alliance is stating that Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani will return next week and address the political problems
plaguing the country while Kurdish MP Mahmoud Othman states that there
is no will among the political blocs to resolve the ongoing crisis. In
March 2010, Iraq held parliamentary elections. Nouri al-Maliki, thug
and prime minister, was not pleased with the results which saw his State
of Law slate come in second to the Ayad Allawi-led Iraqiya. Furious
that he was not allowed, per the Constitution, first crack at forming a
government, Nouri through a public tantrum for eight months -- with the
backing of the White House -- and this is known as Political Stalemate
I. It ends in November 2010 only as a result of the US-brokered Erbil
Agreement.
This contract was an agreement
between the leaders of the various political blocs and it gave Nouri a
second term as prime minister in exchange for his making various
concessions. Nouri used the contract to get his second term and then
trashed the contract. By the summer of 2011, Iraqiya, Moqtada al-Sadr
and the Kurds were calling for a return to the Erbil Agreement and
that's when the second political stalemate begins. In December 2011,
Nouri demands that Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi be arrested for
'terrorism' and that Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq be stripped
of his post (due to remarks al-Mutlaq made to CNN). Both al-Hashemi and
al-Mutlaq are members of Iraqiya and Sunni. This move begins the
political crisis.
Numerous attempts at
addressing the political crisis have thus far failed. This includes
Moqtada, KRG President Massoud Barzani and Ayad Allawi attempting to
launch a no-confidence vote in Parliament. That was deralied by Jalal
Talabani before Talabani fled to Germany. It may yet happen. It also
includes Jalal and Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi's call for a
National Conference to address the political crisis. Nouri stalled and
objected and, in the end, managed to kill it the day it was scheduled to
start. Talabani has returned to his call for a National Conference.
Nouri's
being in charge hasn't brought safety to Iraq but has allowed him to
demonstrate similarities to Saddam Hussein. Like Iraq's former and now
deceased leader, Nouri doesn't like freedom and doesn't really like
people too much.
Dropping back to the September 5th snapshot for Nouri and his thugs:
In other violence, Alsumaria reports
that armed forces in police uniforms attacked various social clubs in
Baghdad yesterday, beating various people and firing guns in the air.
They swarmed clubs and refused to allow anyone to leave but did make
time to beat people with the butss of their rifles and pistols, they
then destroyed the clubs. AFP adds,
"Special forces units carried out near-simultaneous raids at around
8:00 pm (1700 GMT) on Tuesday 'at dozens of nightclubs in Karrada and
Arasat, and beat up customers with the butts of their guns and batons,'
said an interior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
'Artists who were performing at the clubs were also beaten,' the
official said." The assaults were ordered by an official who reports
only to Nouri al-Maliki. In related news the Great Iraqi Revolution posted video Friday
of other attacks on Iraqi civilians by security forces and noted, "Very
important :: a leaked video show Iraqi commandos during a raid to Baaj
village and the arrest of all the young men in the village .they
threatened the ppl of the village they will make them another Fallujah
and they do not mind arresting all village's men and leave only women .
they kept detainees in a school, and beating them, u can see they burned
a car of one of the citizens"
September 6h, Alsumaria noted
that Iraqiya, led by Ayad Allawi, has called out the assault on the
social clubs and states that it is violation of the Constitution as well
as basic human rights. Iraqiya spokesperson Maysoun al-Damalouji
called on the security forces to respect the rights of the citizens. Tamim al-Jubouri (Al Mada) added
that the forces working for Nouri attacked many clubs including Club
Orient which was established in 1944 and that the patrons including
Chrisitans who were surprised Tuesday night when Nouri's forces
entered and began breaking furniture, beat patrons and employees and
stole booze, cell phones and clothing. So they're not only bullies,
they're also theives. Kitabat explained
that the people were attacked with batons and gun butts including a
number of musicians who were performing live in the club including
singer Hussein Basri. Alsumaria added that the Baghdad Provincial Council states that they were not informed of the assaults on social clubs.
Unexpected
raids on Baghdad's bars, as well as beaten customers, shocked locals
last week. But it's not just drinkers who are upset. Activists say it's
the government's latest plan to curb personal freedoms while MPs
pondering re-election in the mainly-Muslim nation haven't said a word.
Last
week, government security forces raided a number of clubs, bars and
other establishments in Baghdad without warning, closing many of them by
force that same night. The clubs seem to have been targeted both
because they were selling alcohol and because they hosted known
intellectual cliques. As a result, the attack has raised serious fears
of an attack on personal freedoms and concerns that Islamic parties are
trying impose their religious ideology on other Iraqis.
Although
Iraq is a mainly Muslim nation and Islam forbids the consumption of
alcohol, there are also diverse minorities in Iraq and many of these
allow alcohol drinks; often members of these groups will be the ones
that run bars or liquor stores.
And
on September 4, a number of clubs, bars and restaurants in the affluent
Baghdad neighbourhoods of Karrada and Arasat were raided. Many of the
patrons on the night – and this included members of the security forces
and other officials – were injured or beaten as a result.
One
eyewitness told NIQASH that the raiders had been violent. "They were
brutal," he said. "They entered and told us all to get out immediately.
They then went around smashing everything up, including tables and
chairs. And then those who were guarding the entrance started beating
the people who were trying to leave with sticks and their rifle butts."
Ahmed
al-Utabi, a well-known poet, was at the Writer's Union Club when it was
stormed by security forces. "At first, we thought there was a bomb or
an explosive device inside the club and that was why the security forces
asked us to leave," al-Utabi said. "Then we were really surprised to
see them smashing everything up inside the club."
In
addition, Nouri has overseen the targeting of Iraq's LGBT community.
This week, BBC kicked off a look at the persecution of Iraq's gay
community. Natalia Antelava, Peter Murtaugh, Bill McKenna and Daniel Nasaw's investigative report is the cornerstone of that coverage. Excerpt:
Natalia
Antelava: In a tiny stuffy room, Ahmed, Nancy and Allou are hiding from
their families and the police. All three have received death
threats. Ahmed has not left this room for over two months now.
Ahmed:
I came here because I was gay and I was threatened by my family -- my
immediate family -- and some unknown guys from my neighborhood. The
situation a few years ago was very bad. But at that time, they did not
pay any attention to gays. Now they have nothing to do but look for
gays -- to kill them.
Allou:
The threat is much bigger now than before. It's not only the militias
now. It's the police, the government who are going after us.
Natalia
Antelava: I really wish we could show you their faces. Ahmed's got
big, dark, worried eyes on his thin face. Nancy's really pretty and I
would have never guessed that she was born male. And Allou's got this
very trendy haircut which would be completely normal in the West but
here in Iraq, this sort of hair could get you killed. Nancy is
especially vulnerable in Iraq. Born a transgender, she dreams of a sex
change operation but it is impossible to have it done in Iraq, she says,
and she has no way of leaving the country.
Nancy:
My mom tried to persuade me to act like a man because I am supposed to
be a man I couldn't. She didn't know what was inside me. She
couldn't understand that. I can't tell you how many times I've been
raped at checkpoints -- with the police, it's countless. The worst
incident was at a checkpoint on Al Sadun street. They asked me for my
ID, then asked me to get out of the car. It was dark. They put me
against the blast wall. Nine of them raped me. There was nothing I
could do. If I had resisted, they would have arrested me.
Natalia Antelava: If you could have anything that you wanted, what kind of life would you want to have?
Nancy:
I want to live the life I want. I want to be a woman and to be treated
like one. I am a human being and this is my right.
Natalia
Antelava: It's not just transgender, Allou had been raped too. And I
heard many other similar stories -- gay men, with even a slightly
feminine appearance say they're often raped by police at checkpoints.
Allou:
I am so tired, so sad. I have no freedom. I can't say that I am gay.
I can't live my life. I can't go home. I have to stay here doing
nothing and just wait.
[. . .]
Natalia
Antelava: Radical milita groups are believed to be behind this hit
list. Although officially they've been disbanded, militias still pose
the greatest threat to homosexuals. But those we spoke to say that
they're just as fearful of countless police and military checkpoints
that are supposed to be making Baghdad safe. This checkpoint is manned
by the Interior Ministry troops. But in Iraq, one's uniform never tells
you the full story. In this country, you can be a police man by day, a
militia man by night. These blurred lines and mixed allegiances have
made it easy for the government to blame militia groups for the killings
of gays. But we've discovered evidence that directly links the police
with attacks on gays in Iraq. Qais is gay and a former police man. He
told me he had been ordered to go after homosexuals. He couldn't refuse
and so he quit his job.
Qais:
In 2006, 2007 and 2008, we were busy fighting terrorsm. We didn't pay
attention to gays. On top of it, the Iraqi government had to respect
the rule of law when the Americans and the British were here. But now?
They have a lot of free time and the police are going after gays.
Natalia Antelava: Have you ever been called to arrest gays or kill gays or go after gays in any way?
Qais:
Yes, twice. We had to arrest this guy. He was having an argument with
someone. Once they arrested him, they accused him of being gay. We
were told to send him to another town where he was wanted for being
gay. We sent him to that town and he disappeared. His family came to
ask about him and we sent them to another town where they could not find
him. Then they got a death certificate from the police but they never
got the body.
Natalia
Antelava: With so much secrecy, fear and loathing, it's difficult to
establish the exact level of the government's involvement in the
persecution. But 17 gay men interviewed for this investigation said they
believed they were being singled out and hunted by the state.
And they are right to feel that way, the government is often behind it, Nouri is often behind it.
For
example, in March of this year, the world's attention turned to the
attacks on Iraqi youth -- Emo kids and gay Iraqis -- and those suspected
of being both or either.
Who gave the orders for that targeting?
The Ministry of Interior. They put it on paper.
Nouri is the head of the Ministry of the Interior.
He
refused to nominate anyone to that post or any of the security posts.
He is in charge of the Ministry of the Interior. It was Ministry of
Interior forces that did the targeting, it was those forces that went
into schools to talk up the 'threat' these young people posed. Nouri
was responsible.
Iraqi LGBT's Ali Hilli writes about the persecution of the LGBT community in Iraq for the BBC:
Members of our organisation and the gay men and women we interviewed have said consistently that, under arrest, they have been forced to give names and addresses of other homosexuals or suspected homosexuals.Taken together, this is why we believe the Ministry of the Interior tracks sexual minorities with the aim of eliminating them.
Iraq LGBT is based in London, and it has become increasingly dangerous for us to operate inside Iraq. But we have been trying.
Members of our organisation and the gay men and women we interviewed have said consistently that, under arrest, they have been forced to give names and addresses of other homosexuals or suspected homosexuals.Taken together, this is why we believe the Ministry of the Interior tracks sexual minorities with the aim of eliminating them.
Iraq LGBT is based in London, and it has become increasingly dangerous for us to operate inside Iraq. But we have been trying.
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