BULLY BOY
PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID
TABLE
TODAY PRINCESS BARRY DECLARED HE WAS "MODESTLY OPTIMISTIC" REGARDING THE SO-CALLED 'FISCAL CLIFF.'
WHICH IS HOW AMERICA KNOWS HE'S LYING.
HE'S NEVER BEEN MODEST ABOUT ANYTHING.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
December 28, 2012
Threat
information indicates that terrorist elements may target U.S. interests
in Baghdad, including the United States Embassy, as well as churches in
Baghdad and Kirkuk, on or around December 31, 2012. The U.S. Embassy
in Baghdad urges U.S. citizens in Iraq to exercise caution and to refer
to the current travel warning on our website.
We strongly recommend that U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Iraq enroll in the Department of State's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) at www.Travel.State.Gov.
STEP enrollment gives you the latest security updates, and makes it
easier for the U.S. embassy or nearest U.S. consulate to contact you in
an emergency. If you don't have Internet access, enroll directly with
the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
Regularly monitor the State Department's website, where you can find current Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and the Worldwide Caution. Read the Country Specific Information for Iraq. For additional information, refer to "A Safe Trip Abroad" on the State Department's website.
Contact
the U.S. embassy or consulate for up-to-date information on travel
restrictions. You can also call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United
States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries. These numbers
are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through
Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and download our free Smart Traveler iPhone App to have travel information at your fingertips.
It's
a sign of how much turmoil there is in Iraq currently that it was
little noted in the western coverage of Iraq today. This was the
day dubbed "Friday of Honor" with plans for large protests in Iraq.
Question: If you're the government and you don't want people to know
about the protests, what might you do? Hmmm. . . .
Been
waiting 3+ hours at Anbar checkpoint with other media to cover Friday
anti-govt demo. Go-ahead mysteriously not coming - I wonder why.
Just
a second, Prashant! You are Nouri al-Maliki and you don't want the
protests to get attention, what could you do? How could you prevent
attention to the protests? Maybe --
Prashant Rao
4.5
hours at checkpoint with other media - Anbar protests at Friday prayers
have begun, reports of massive crowds. Army keeping us here.
Prashant Rao of AFP,
we are trying to think right now. Okay, so protests are taking place
and Iraq's a failed state and you just made a new corruption list
and, as Al Mada reports,
Baghdad's just been named the worst place to live in the world by the
Mercer Consulting Group. The rains are coming down hard and, as Dar Addustour notes, Baghdad's sunk by rainwater. You're Nouri al-Maliki and you don't want the word getting out about these protests so --
5+
hours at Anbar checkpoint + army take IDs + told "authorisation" coming
only after mid-day prayer = unable to cover Friday demo in #Iraq
Oh
my goodness, Prashant Rao, you are 100% correct. If the government
doesn't want word of the protests out, the easiest way is to refuse to
allow journalists close enough to the protests to cover them. BBC News observes:
Some
journalists attempting to reach the city were held at an army
checkpoint some 50km east of Ramadi for six hours, and were unable to
cover the demonstration, says the BBC's Rami Ruhayem who was at the
scene.
The government has succeeded in
keeping the protests out of the public eye to an extent, says our
correspondent, but in the process has revealed how nervous it is over
this latest challenge to its authority.
Army
units did, however, bar Baghdad-based journalists from entering Anbar
province, holding teams from AFP and other media at a checkpoint between
Baghdad and Ramadi for more than five hours.
They also confiscated their press badges, promising to return them only if they turned back to Baghdad.
A senior security official said that there were "strong preventative measures to protect the demonstrators", but journalists witnessed dozens of cars pass through the checkpoint where they were held with no questioning whatsoever.
They also confiscated their press badges, promising to return them only if they turned back to Baghdad.
A senior security official said that there were "strong preventative measures to protect the demonstrators", but journalists witnessed dozens of cars pass through the checkpoint where they were held with no questioning whatsoever.
As the Washington Post's Liz Sly Tweeted:
Liz Sly
Democracy in Iraq MT @prashantrao: 4.5 hours at checkpoint w media-Anbar protests have begun, reports of big crowds. Army keeping us here.
'Democracy in Iraq' indeed.
Morning Star notes,
"Protesters took to the streets after Friday prayers for the sixth day
of protests calling for Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to step
down and for the release of Sunni prisoners." Al Arabiya notes that the protesters had support from Shi'ite cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr, "In
a letter by Sadr sent to the tribal sheikhs, the Islamist leader said
that he supports their protests against Maliki and their effort to hold
unity and thwart sectarianism." Deutsche Welle quotes
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki whining today, "It is not acceptable to
express something by blocking roads, inciting sedition and sectarianism,
killing, or blowing the trumpet of war and dividing Iraq." Sign of a
true despot, civil disobdience is likened to "killing." Because it is a
'killing,' it's a killing of his crafted image, it's an exposure of his
failure as a leader. Ken Hanly (Digital Journal) observes
of the slogan at many of the protests across Iraq "The people want to
bring down the regime," "This is the slogan protesters used in Tunisia,
Egypt, and elsewhere during the Arab Spring."
Kitabat reports that "millions" came out to protest in Anbar Province today. Their photo of Falluja shows the large crowd with banners, flags and a huge photo of Minister of Finance Rafie al-Issawi (last week, Nouri al-Maliki ordered the arrest of 150 staff and bodyguards working for al-Issawi -- 10 have been charged with 'terrorism' and 50 have been released, this was seen as politically motivated). The Falluja protesters demanded that innocent people be released from detention and end to the 'terror' arrests, an end to politicizing the Iraqi military, that Nouri turn over the soldier who raped the girl in Mosul and more. They chanted for unity and for an end to sectarianism and Nouri's abusive government. Kamal Naama and Raheem Salman (Reuters) add, "Around 60,000 people blocked the main road through Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital, setting fire to the flag of Shi'ite Iran and shouting 'out, out Iran! Baghdad stays free' and 'Maliki you coward, don't take your advice from Iran'." AP goes with the more conservative crowd estimate of "tens of thousands" of people protesting. For a good photo from AP of the Falluja crowd, click here (photographer is Karim Kadim). Omar al-Saleh reported for today's Inside Story (Al Jazeera -- link is text and video):
Omar
al-Saleh: A show of support in Ramadi and Falluja for Iraqi Finance
Minister Rafia al-Issawi. During it's biggest rally in days in Anbar
Province, local leaders have called for civil disobedience and thousands
have blocked the highway linking Iraq to Jordan and Syria. They are
demanding the release of 9 bodyguards of the finance minister who were
arrested on Thursday [of last week]. But Rafia al-Issawi addressed the
crowd saying the issue now was bigger than his bodyguards.
Finance
Minister Rafia al-Issawi: This crowd is not political or sectarian.
But it represents all Iraqis who came to denounce the injustice and
marginalization. When we say the injustice has happened against Sunni
Arabs, that doesn't mean that we want to take the country to a civil
war.
Omar
al-Saleh: The protesters urged the Shi'ite-led government to stop its
sectarian approach and marginalization of Sunnis and their leaders but
the government continues to deny the accusation. Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki says the issue of the bodyguards is judicial and the role of
the state is to pursue wanted terrorists and not to support them. Many
feel the crisis may escalate.
Political
Analyst Watheq Alshashimi: The situation in Iraq may take a dangerous
direction as elections approach. What politicians are doing is
polarizing their supporters ethnically and based on sectarian
affiliatons. What's happening in Anbar can escalate and may lead to
more pressure on the prime minister.
Omar
al-Saleh: But other Sunni leaders accuse the president of trying to
consolidate his grip on power and target his political rivals. Tareq
al-Hashemi, Iraq's fugitive Vice President, has been sentence to death
in absentia for terrorism charges. He says the prime minister is
adopting sectarian policies. Adding to Iraq's political turmoil is the
looming confrontation between the Iraqi army and forces from the
semi-autonomous Kurdish north.
We
are only noting the report from that broadcasting. We are not noting
-- on the advice of a former Al Jazeera producer -- the 'discussion.' I
called him to ask what the hell was going on when this discussion was
planned? State of Law is invited on and goes on to trash Iraqiya --
Iraqiya has no one on to represent them. No one to challenge the lies
of State of Law? We're not interested in that nonsense but we do get
why Al Jazeera had to kill Inside Iraq -- they killed that program --
because the presenter wouldn't slant it towards Nouri al-Maliki. Even
when they pulled him off air as a threat, he refused to slant the
program. He played it fair, inviting all segments of Iraq onto his
show. And Al Jazeera had a problem with that. Which is why his program
is no longer on. We're noting the report, we're not noting a fixed
discussion that was fixed before a 'dialogue' even began.
As
noted earlier, Prashant Rao and other journalists were prevented from
entering to observe the Falluja protests; however, they were not the
only ones blocked from entering the province. Aswat al-Iraq notes,
"Police sources said here today that the army forces prevented Iraqi
delegations from other provinces from entering to participate in
Fallujah sit-in on the international highway." Al Jazeera (link has video) also goes with "thousands:"
Massive demonstrations took place along a major highway near the city of Fallujah on Friday, a day after thousands of protesters continued an almost week-long blockade on a key highway in the western Anbar province.
Massive demonstrations took place along a major highway near the city of Fallujah on Friday, a day after thousands of protesters continued an almost week-long blockade on a key highway in the western Anbar province.
Protests erupted last week
after Iraqi authorities detained 10 bodyguards of the finance minister,
who is from Anbar and is one of the government's most senior Sunni
officials.
Many Sunnis accuse Maliki of marginalising the country's religious minority group by refusing to share power and depriving them of equal rights.
Many Sunnis accuse Maliki of marginalising the country's religious minority group by refusing to share power and depriving them of equal rights.
Alsumaria notes "hundreds" protested in Mosul at noon and their demands were similar with the addition of they called for the execution of the soldier who raped the young girl. All Iraq News adds that the protesters called for all charges against al-Issawi's bodyguards to be dropped. Alsumaria notes that Samarra saw thousands turn out and their calls were similar but they also want the long promised amnesty law implemented and they want the Justice and Accountability Commission dissolved (the Commission was used most infamously in the 2010 elections to disqualify various Sunnis from running for office -- that includes the current Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq). AP adds that protests took place today in Tikrit as well. BBC News notes a Ramadi protest and that held "a mock funeral for the Iraqi judiciary."
Bill Van Auken (WSWS) observes:
The protests began last week after troops detained bodyguards and aides of Finance Minister Rafie al-Essawi, while searching his home and offices on December 20. The government has claimed that it arrested only ten of the minister's bodyguards on charges of "terrorism." But Essawi, a member of the secular, Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, charged that over 100 people connected to his staff were rounded up by what he said was a "militia force" controlled by Maliki's supporters.
It appears that the discrepancy arises from the fact that only the bodyguards were subjected to formal arrest, while the others were essentially subjected to extra-legal detention and interrogation.
Addressing Maliki in a statement to the Iraqi media, Essawi stated, "You are a man who does not respect partnership at all, a man who does not respect the law and the constitution, and I personally hold you fully responsible for the safety of the kidnapped people."
The finance minister told Associated Press that Maliki was deliberately seeking to stoke sectarian conflicts between the Sunni and Shia populations. "These practices are aimed at drawing the country into a sectarian conflict again by creating crisis and targeting prominent national figures," he said.
The incident was essentially a replay of a similar crackdown carried out a year ago, on December 19, 2011, the day after the last US troops ended the more than eight-year American occupation of Iraq. Then the target was Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, also a Sunni member of the Iraqiya bloc.
While the protests took place, Nouri attempted to distract by giving a speech. Alsumaria notes
he was forced to admit that the budget for 2013 (that should be Fiscal
Year 2013 unless something's changed) did not and would not improve the
problems facing Iraqi citizens. For those who may have stepped out of
the main room for a moment, that is no longer just the lack of basic
services like electricity, potable water, trash pick up, etc. No, add
flooding to the list as Iraq -- especially Baghdad -- finds itself
flooded as a result of Nouri's refusal for the last six years to spend
money on the infrastructure. Home are collapsing, the Iraqi Red
Crescent Society evacuated one village this month (the village is in
Wasit Province -- see Wednesday's snapshot). But Nouri says these problems will not be addressed in the budget. Karafillis Giannoulis (New Europe) notes
of Nouri's speech broadcast on Iraqi TV, "At a conference in Baghdad,
al-Maliki stressed that current tension can cause a return to the 'dark
days when people were killed because of their names or identities.' For
that reason Prime Minister of Iraq asked by the demonstrators to stop
protesting and promote dialogue instead." Why does that sound like a
threat? These protests can cause "dark days" to come back "when people
were killed because of their names or identities"? Maybe because
those dark days occurred most recently in Iraq during Nouri's first term
as prime minister and the Sunnis were the ones targeted by Nouri's
Ministry of the Interior forces? Maybe because that period of ethnic
cleansing was overseen by Nouri? As the editorial board of Gulf News points out,
"The sectarian drift of the Iraqi government, headed by Prime Minister
Nouri Al Maliki, needs to be reversed. Al Maliki is a leading Shiite
politician, but in his position as the head of a government, he needs to
serve the entire Iraqi population and his government must work to be
inclusive of all Iraqis — be they Shiite or Sunni; Kurdish or Turk;
Christian or Muslim. "
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