Barry the b.s.-er

BULLY BOY PRESS &   CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

LEAVE IT TO FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O TO TRY TO BLUFF HIS WAY THROUGH A MEETING.

TRAVELING TO VATICAN CITY, BARRY O MET WITH THE POPE.

"I'M A GREAT ADMIRER," BARRY O B.S.ED BEFORE HAVING TO ADMIT HE HADN'T READ POPE FRANCIS' EVAGNELII GAUDIUM.  WHEN THE POPE GAVE HIM A COPY BARRY O INSISTED HE WOULD READ IT "WHEN I AM DEEPLY FRUSTRATED."

"TRANSLATION," HE SNARKED AS HIS MOTORCADE PULLED OFF, "WHEN MONKEYS FLY OUT MY BUTT!"


FROM THE TCI WIRE:


Let's start with the big lie from US President Barack Obama today.  Speaking in Brussels today, as he attempted to sell war on Russia, Barack declared that what's going on in Ukraine is nothing like the illegal war in Iraq and the illegal war was benign and helpful:


It is true that the Iraq War was a subject of vigorous debate – not just around the world, but in the United States as well. I happened to oppose our military intervention there. But even in Iraq, America sought to work within the international system. We did not claim or annex Iraq’s territory, nor did we grab its resources for our own gain. Instead, we ended our war and left Iraq to its people and a fully sovereign Iraqi state could make decisions about its own future.

It was not a subject of vigorous debate in the US.  Those of who spoke out were told to "shut up."  If you wanted to hear an argument against going to war on Iraq, your best chance was catching Janeane Garofalo or Michael Moore on Fox News. Fox would attack the guests, so praise for Janeane and Michael for going into the lion's den -- but they would allow the guests to express their views.

Elsewhere, people were just shut out.  And worse.  We've noted the journalist who left the Dallas Morning News and is at another daily today but remembers full well that orders went out to attack the anti-war critics. Sheryl Crow was attacked and slandered by the paper, said to be unworthy of her Grammy nomination.  Why did the music critic write that?  Why did she lie by arguing that instead of Sheryl being nominated a baby pop tart should have been nominated?  Pop tart wasn't even eligible for a nomination because she had nothing to be nominated for -- the Grammy rules aren't secret and that includes the eligibility time period.   She attacked Sheryl because she was under orders.  In the local pieces, others were under orders as well. Which is how the local columnist attacked protesters in Dallas and compared their actions to treason.  This was a hippie and a stoner.  But he marched to the orders he was given.

I can do that on seven other daily newspapers, we're using the Dallas Morning News because its actions were in part an effort to continue to have the government allow it to skirt FCC regulations over ownership in local markets.

Yeah, Big Business profited from the Iraq War.  The FCC was used to help sell the war and that is one of the many things that's buried today.

So Barack's a damn liar. There was no vigorous debate.  A month before it started, in fact, the day after liar Colin The Blot Powell lied to the United Nations, "case closed" was the phrase the media began using.


Aaron Blake (Washington Post) reports on Barack's remarks and we'll note two comments to Blake's article:

drray-yup

9:13 PM CST

Then get out, as requested by the puppet governor we installed.

And:

macktan894

7:56 PM CST

Sorry, but this has stunned me into speechlessness. Not one country sanctioned the US for invading a sovereign country on a phony pretext, destabilizing it, occupying it, setting up an American govt....

And not one country ever sanctioned the US for its torture of suspects.

The US doesn't need to annex that which it occupies and then controls through puppet regimes.

This was totally unwise. 

Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) is on a streak this week.  Yesterday he wrote something (we noted it in the snapshot) that I've already nominated for "Truest statement of the week" at Third and, writing today about Barack's nonsense remarks, Ditz cuts right through the nonsense:

“America sought to work within the international system. We did not claim or annex Iraq’s territory,” Obama insisted, going on to praise Iraq as a “fully sovereign state” that “could make decisions about its own future.”

Which is to say the US forced a puppet government into power before it left, despite Prime Minister Maliki losing the last election, and put in place an election system so crooked that even the Maliki-appointed election commission resigned en masse yesterday rather than take part in April’s planned vote.

Barack's refusal to note the lies that the US government told to start the Iraq War is understandable when you think of all the lies he and others in the administration (Secretary of State John Kerry, for example) have told to try to sway the public to support a war with Russia.

Everything Barack said above was a lie.

It is true that the Iraq War was a subject of vigorous debate – not just around the world, but in the United States as well. I happened to oppose our military intervention there. 

We've noted there was no vigorous debate.  Equally true, his claim to oppose the illegal war?  Only before it started.  Once it started, he was on board.  I know because he told Elaine and I that when he was running for the Senate (and we left the fundraiser immediately and didn't give his campaign a dime).


But even in Iraq, America sought to work within the international system. 

Lie.  The United Nations provided no approval of starting a war.  The statement that a second resolution would be sought was dropped when the US government learned (by illegal spying on UN representatives) that they didn't have the votes necessary, they started the illegal war anyway.

We did not claim or annex Iraq’s territory, nor did we grab its resources for our own gain. 

Actually, the US government did and does.  The illegal war was about markets -- that includes the oil market.  The illegal war 'opened' the oil wells in Iraq.  The country's being polluted as it tries to pump out as much oil as possible.  There are pools, lakes, of oil in Iraq, on the surface, polluting the land, ensuring that less and less of it can be used for farming.  Iraq's giving the world cheap oil and, in the process, destroying itself.

Instead, we ended our war and left Iraq to its people and a fully sovereign Iraqi state could make decisions about its own future.

We already quoted Jason Ditz addressing the nonsense of a 'fully sovereign' nation.  So let's deal with 'we ended our war and left Iraq to its people' instead.

The US drawdown out of Iraq was completed by the end of December 2011.  The US military called it a drawdown, not a "withdrawal."  It wasn't a withdrawal.  Not only did every US service member not leave Iraq at that time (Ted Koppel was the only one to report this in December 2011), but approximately 15,000 US troops were re-positioned to Kuwait.  And, almost a year later, at the end of September 2012, Tim Arango (New York Times) reported:

 
Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that could result in the return of small units of American soldiers to Iraq on training missions. At the request of the Iraqi government, according to General Caslen, a unit of Army Special Operations soldiers was recently deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and help with intelligence.


Barack's such a liar and he gets away with it because so many embrace lies.  We'll come back to that at the end of the snapshot.  Right now we'll note the immediate effect of Barack's latest nonsense.  Julianna Goldman and Mike Dorning (Bloomberg News) report, "As Obama spoke, U.S. stocks fell, erasing earlier gains, on investor concern that the conflict may escalate. The Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 0.3 percent to 1,859.76 at 3:19 p.m. in New York, after earlier climbing to within three points of its record closing level reached March 7. "





RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Nouri's Iraq: IHEC wants to resign, Anbar assaulte..."
"There Is A Deeper Wave Than This (David Swanson)"
"Wyden Statement on Majority Leader’s Letters Regar..."
"Remember when IVAW mattered?"
"Inbred Earl"
"The 100"
"A ginger? For a ginger?"
"Movies"
"Progressive White Democrats of America"
"does shonda rhimes have a thing for bad boys?"
"The lies of reform"
"What is going on in California?"
"Icky Vicky Nuland"
"He's considering going blond"
"THIS JUST IN! HE WANTS TO LIVE AS A BLOND!"

He's considering going blond

BULLY BOY PRESS &   CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O WAS CAUGHT EYE BALLING QUEEN MAXIMA OF HOLLAND.

AN INDIGNANT BARRY O DENIED ANY SEXUAL INTEREST IN THE QUEEN WHEN QUESTIONED EARLY THIS MORNING BY THESE REPORTERS.

"EVERYONE KNOWS MY HEART BELONGS TO REGGIE LOVE!" BARRY O INSISTED.  "I DID NOTICE THE QUEEN'S BLOND HIGHLIGHTS AND STUDIED THEM BECAUSE I'VE BEEN TOYING WITH SOME STREAKS OF MY OWN."


FROM THE TCI WIRE:



Anadolu Agency reports a bombing targeted 3 Iraqi MPs.  3 bodyguards were killed in the bombing with another four wounded; however MPs Raad al-Dahlaki, Mohamed al-Khaldi and Abd al-Jabouri all three survived.  All are members of Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi's Motahedoum coaltion.  All three had planned to run in the upcoming elections; however, in a sign of the state of Iraq, surviving an assassination attempt doesn't mean you've now survived the last obstacle.

They were luckier than others today.  National Iraqi News Agency reports  Ghaidaa Hussein Khader was shot dead in Mosul (she belonged to the Alfadheelah Party).

But while Iraq is set to hold parliamentary elections on April 30th, that may not happen. Despite the assurances Sarbast Mustafa (head of the Independent High Electoral Commission's board) offered to All Iraq News yesterday that elections would take palce and be held "in every area in Iraq" and that "It is difficult to set a new mechanism to postpone the next elections in any area of Iraq including Anbar," those statements are now in doubt.


Today, AFP reports, "All of Iraq’s election commissioners presented their resignations to parliament Tuesday in a collective protest over political and judicial 'interference' in upcoming legislative polls, sources have said."  What sort of interference?  An attempt to strip them of their powers via a little noticed clause in a bill Nouri's Cabinet wrote and Parliament passed into law.  BBC explains:

A clause approved last year allows for the exclusion of candidates considered not "of good reputation".

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who is seeking a third term, has been accused of using the law to prevent his political enemies from standing.


Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) provides context,  "IHEC’s complaints roughly mirror those of the last election, that the Maliki government is trying to use the electoral law’s ban on candidates of “ill repute” to ban potential rivals en masse."  AFP's Prashant Rao Tweets:

• Prashant Rao ‏@prashantrao 10h

Five weeks before legislative polls, Iraq's election commission has resigned. This country is astounding.

Expand         

Indeed.

Al Mada reports that the Dawa Party was specifically accused of exploiting the judiciary to settle scores with political rivals.  Dawa, for those who don't know, is Nouri's political party, State of Law is his coalition.  Al Mada notes that the commission felt wrongly accused of bowing to Nouri's wishes to dismiss his political opponents, especially when the decisions were coming from the Baghdad judiciary.

In a statement the IHEC posted to their website, they insist the move was due to a need to protect the IHEC's integrity and that they await the approval of their resignations.  Raheem Salman and Robin Pomeroy (Reuters) observe, "IHEC's sudden move further complicates the outlook for a vote already clouded by violence across the country where Sunni Islamist militants have regained momentum over the past year."




RECOMMENDED:  "Iraq snapshot"
"Be concerned when the US government 'cares'"
"HVAC Webpage To Track How VA Stonewalls the Press"
"Talk Nation Radio: George Vradenberg on How Alzhei..."
"Radio"
"Wave of Action conference call (David DeGraw)"
"James Clapper Sweeps the Rosemarys!"
"Whistle-blowers and reporters"
"revenge - the good"
"The Following continues to sink"
"Cracker Steve Erickson"
"Nouri called out at the Arab Summit"
"The A.C.L.U. misses the damn point (how very sad)"
"It's all smoke and mirrors"
"The War Whores and Syria"
"The lack of coverage about the withheld documents"
"Tell us the fairy tale one more time"
"THIS JUST IN! ONCE UPON A TIME . . . !"

Tell us the fairy tale one more time

BULLY BOY PRESS &   CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

OVER 12 HOURS AGO, STORIES LIKE THIS BEGAN APPEARING.

THEY ARE "STORIES" AND NOT "REPORTS" BECAUSE THEY ARE FAIRY TALES.

ONCE UPON A TIME, SOME TIME THIS WEEK, FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O WILL CURB N.S.A. ILLEGAL SPYING.

FAIRY TALES.

REPORTING TELLS US WHAT'S HAPPENING.

FOR 12 HOURS, THIS STORY HAS DOMINATED THE 'NEWS' CYCLE DESPITE NO ANNOUNCEMENT FROM BARRY O OR THE WHITE HOUSE.


FROM THE TCI WIRE:


Nouri's Iraq has another first.  As with all his other firsts, it's not good news.  Maya Rhodan (Time magazine) reports Iraq has a confirmed polio case, "A six-month old baby near Baghdad was paralyzed as a result of the debilitating virus, which is generally found among children under five years old."  IRIN notes it's been 14 years since Ira had a "confirmed case of the virus."  And they quote the World Health Organization's Iraq mission head, Syed Jaffar Hussain, declaring:

Knowing that Iraq itself has a lot of security challenges and large amounts of population movement, internally and from outside, this presents a major public health challenge in the country.
We do have a worry that other children may have been infected and that is why we are going door-to-door in the area where this child lives in order to collect samples to see if the virus has spread. 


In other news, Robert Scheer's Truthdig runs a piece  by CIA contractor Juan Cole where Cole insist:


It just baffles me that failed Neocons like Dan Senor are still given a hearing inside the Beltway.  ABC News actually interviewed Senor, the spokesman for the Bush administration’s illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq on the Crimea crisis!


The necons?  The ones who teamed with conservatives (traditional ones) and Democratic Hawks and neoliberals to sell the illegal war?  Trash like Juan Cole will never call out neoliberals, et al.,  but he'll make sure everyone knows the term "neocon."


As for disappointment?

I think it's disappointing that people who cheered on the illegal war continue to be treated as though they're wise or informed.

I mean people like Juan Cole.

He can fool everyone he wants today but even he knows that when push came to shove he was whoring for the Iraq War.


It was over eight years ago that Steve Rendall called him on it during an interview broadcast on the February 9, 2007 of CounterSpin.

Steve Rendall: Professor Juan Cole, you've expressed some reservations about US withdrawal from Iraq.  How do you reconcile that with the people poll done by the University of Maryland that finds that strong majorities of Iraqis -- both Shia and Sunni -- want the US out. 

Juan Cole: Well, first of all, you're misreading my position.  Uh, for a year and a half now I have been maintaining that the US should withdraw from Iraq.  I supported [US House] Representative [John] Murtha's position -- and indeed I believe I preceded it -- which is the US should make an orderly withdraw from Iraq and what I oppose -- and I think anybody should oppose -- and something very worrying -- would be for the US to pull precipitously out of Iraq, just pull up stakes and get out in a rush and let the chips fall where they may because this would be a very bad idea. 


Juan loves to rewrite the record, he loves to reinvent and spin yarns and do everything except tell the truth.

When the illegal war started 11 years ago, CIA contractor Juan wrote that "the removal of Saddam Hussein and the murderous Baath regime from power will be worth the sacrifices that are about to be made on all sides" (click here for Wikipedia and his attempts to justify and rewrite what he wrote).

No one was punished or harmed for advocating for the illegal war which is why it's so shameful that Robert Scheer publishes Cole at Truthdig.  The MSM protected their own and promoted 'left' bloggers who supported the Iraq War so for an outlet like Truthdig to present the lies of Juan Cole is very upsetting.

Lies?

Juan Cole is a damn liar.  He's so very fond of thinking he can intimidate everyone into going along.  I'm not cowed by a pudgy bitch like Juan, so sorry.

He writes today:

Senor had the unmitigated gall to blame President Obama for “Iraq unraveling”!!

Let’s see.  The American administration of Iraq fired 100,000 Sunni Arabs from their jobs, abruptly abolished the whole Iraqi army, closed all the major state-owned factories, coddled corrupt Shiite politicians, and generally plunged the country into a massive civil war, which at its height was killing 3000 civilians a month and was responsible for 2 million being displaced abroad and 4 million internally, in a country of 26 million.

Not gall, mind you, but unmitigated gall.

That's a strange argument to present but because Dan Senor is correct in the argument.  But before we move to facts -- those things that cause Juan to break out in hives -- let's just examine what Dan Senor did that was so wrong.

According to Juan Cole, 'historian,' it is wrong for Senor or anyone to blame Barack for the state of Iraq.

If Barack can't be blamed for it, he also -- pay attention  -- can't be praised.

But in January 2010, Uninformed Boob Juan Cole was declaring the Iraq War was over and Barack had won it.


I wouldn't have called the Iraq War ended then (it's ongoing even now) and I wouldn't have declared Barack had won it.

At that point, I'd already called Barack out for entering into negotiations with terrorists (League of Righteous) and agreeing to release their leaders (so that they'd turn over British hostages -- all but one was turned over as a corpse).  And I'd called him out for lying about the Status Of Forces Agreement.  But, in  January 2010, I never said, "He is losing the war!"

In March 2010, it would be different.

That's where Barack ensured the current state of Iraq.

Parliamentary elections took place.  Even with the media (western media) in his pocket, Nouri and his State of Law still lost to Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya.  Nouri screamed voter theft and insisted on a recount which didn't change the results.

So Nouri decided he'd just refuse to step down.  He refused for 8 months (this was the political stalemate and Iraq set the world record at the time for the longest duration between an election and the formation of a government).

During this time Barack backed him.  More than that, he had US officials broker The Erbil Agreement.  The legal contract provided Nouri with a second term as prime minister in exchange for Nouri agreeing to certain demands of the political blocs.  For example, the Kurdistan Regional Government demanded that Article 140 be implemented (referendum and census on disputed and oil-rich Kirkuk).

Barack had no business overriding the votes of the Iraqi people or going around the country's constitution to provide Nouri with a second term.


And the man who planned her life
Commanded all that followed
Well they bellowed  and they hollered
And they threw each other down
-- "Memorial Day," written by Carly Simon, first appears on her album Spy


Today's problems stem from this.  It was Barack's decision (urged on by Samantha Power) and he owns it.  It cannot be explained away or wiped away.

The administration got the blocs to sign on by insisting the contract had the full backing of the White House.  Vice President Joe Biden gave his word personally to Iraq President Jalal Talabani.  And the day after the contract was signed, when, in the session of Parliament, it appeared Nouri was refusing to honor it, Ayad Allawi walked as did many other members of Iraqiya.

At which point -- pay attention, Juan Cole -- Barack personally called Allawi and made promises that led to Allawi returning to Parliament and ending the walk out.


But Nouri refused to honor the contract.  He used it to get his second term and then his lawyer and his spokesperson both began announcing the contract was illegal (it probably was -- it was extra-constitutional) and so Nouri didn't have to honor it.

By the summer of 2011, aware that the White House and Barack were not backing the contract they insisted they would, the Kurds, Moqtada al-Sadr and Allawi went public demanding that Nouri follow the contract.

He refused.

In April of 2012, they began publicly exploring a vote of no confidence in the Parliament.  Moqtada made clear publicly that Nouri could stop the effort at any point by implementing The Erbil Agreement.

He didn't and, per the Constitution, the groups began gathering the signatures needed for a no confidence vote.  They got the needed number and then some.

The vote would take place.

But the White House was pressuring Jalal, insisting the vote could not be allowed to go forward.  They offered (empty) promises and made demands.  Suddenly, Jalal announced that it was his job (it wasn't) to verify every signature.  On top of that, he created another new step not in the Constitution, "Did you mean to sign it?"  Clearly, if the signature was their own, they meant to sign it.

But Jalal would insist that several, during the verification process, stated they would not sign it today.  So he was striking their signatures.

That's not how it works.

They don't have to vote against Nouri in the vote but if they signed it, they signed it.  Change of heart (due to the spread of US money) doesn't let you undo your signature.

The people spoke in 2010, they did not want Nouri.  The US re-installed him via a legal contract they swore (in November 2010) that they would back.  By 2011, the White House was ignoring it (and also insisting it didn't matter since Nouri had promised publicly not to seek a third term -- Nouri's a whore, his word means nothing).  In 2012, Kurds, Shi'ites and Sunni politicians agreed to pull together and use the means provided in the Constitution to recall Nouri. The White House demanded this not happen.

Juan Cole is a liar.

All of the above has brought Iraq to the brink yet again.




RECOMMENDED:  "Iraq snapshot"
"US government works to undermine the KRG with the ..."
"Worldwide Wave of Action (David DeGraw)"
"Putin right ignoring West's hysteria over Crimea a..."
"Hejira"
"Nouri finds another group to blame for his own fai..."
"Nouri finally finds a journalist killing he can co..."
"Alicia and Peter are in the clear (The Good Wife)"
"The Tomorrow People"
"revenge - the bad and also the fiery"
"Star-Crossed"
"Dahr Jamail, CounterCurrents, WiFi"
"X-Men: Days of Future Past"
"A sitcom is coming"
"She cannot escape Benghazi"
"Rosemarie Jackowski"
"Green Party on Ukraine"

• Truest statement of the week
• Truest statement of the week II
• A note to our readers
• Editorial: Amy Goodman cashed in on Iraq
• TV: Grace and Frankie
• That jolly White House
• Media: Pacifica Radio (Ava and C.I.)
• Who should run in 2016?
• Mailbag
• Slap and Tap Kerry
• This edition's playlist
• Get real, Hillary
• Media: Washington Post's conflict of interest (Ava...
• Paste magazine: Home of the Racist Chubby Chaser
• US Labor Against the War wasn't silent
• FBI's "Help Us Find A Killer"
• Senator Udall and Corker ask where the Burn Pit Re...
• Ukraine crisis sets back NATO’s eastward advance (...
• We deserve better than Labour's choice of decent b...
• Highlights

"She wants the youth vote"
"THIS JUST IN! GRANNY CLAMPETT RUNS FOR PRESIDENT!"

She wants the youth vote

BULLY BOY PRESS &   CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

TODAY, NOTED WAR HAWK HILLARY CLINTON STOPPED DROOLING OVER THE PROSPECT OF U.S. SOLDIERS IN UKRAINE LONG ENOUGH TO GO TO ARIZONA IN AN ATTEMPT TO SEEK THE YOUTH VOTE.

THE POLITICIAN WHO TURNS 67 THIS YEAR INSISTED SHE COULD WIN THE YOUTH VOTE EVEN THOUGH SHE DIDN'T IN 2008 WHEN SHE WAS 6 YEARS YOUNGER.

STUDENTS PRESENT OFFERED DIFFERING VIEWS.

BERNDINA JONES DECLARED SHE WAS IMPRESSED, "SHE CERTAINLY HAS A LOT OF ENERGY FOR HER AGE.  I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW MRS. ROOSEVELT WAS STILL ALIVE.  WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HER HUSBAND FRANK?"

LAWRENCE HAYES WAS LESS PLEASANT AND OFFERED, "I DON'T THINK ANYONE WANTS TO SEE THE CRYPT KEEPER AS THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES."


FROM THE TCI WIRE:

This week was the anniversary of the start of the illegal war.  But, in the United States, there was very little notice of that.  Why?  Thursday night, Kat posted, "The US media forgets Iraq to sell war on Ukraine and Syria."

While the American media was silent, US Labor Against the War was not:

  With heavy heart and renewed determination, the officers, staff, and affiliates of U.S. Labor Against the War mark the eleventh anniversary of the outbreak of the illegal U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. For many Americans, the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq at the end of 2011 marked the end of U.S. involvement with, and responsibility towards, the Iraqi people.  We disagree.
Even though our combat forces are out, the war continues to have catastrophic effects in Iraq, and for the families of tens of thousands of U.S. veterans. Millions of Iraqis grieve the loss of loved ones killed by the U.S. military, while Americans mourn the deaths of thousands of our soldiers. 
The sectarian violence wracking Iraq has its immediate origins in the ignorant and hubristic policies imposed by U.S. occupation forces. The sectarian factionalism encouraged by the U.S. occupation has paralyzed the Iraqi political process, presided over by a dysfunctional government. Depleted uranium from U.S. munitions is a continuing, widespread, and profound threat to the Iraqi environment and people, and to returning U.S. troops. Iraqi workers, 80% of whom work in the public sector – the oil industry, transportation, heavy manufacturing, hospitals, schools, ports, social services - are forbidden from organizing unions and engaging in collective bargaining because the U.S. kept in force the 1987 Saddam Hussein decree that prohibits public sector workers from organizing unions. All this and more is the legacy of a war that has not ended for Iraqis, for which the American people and our government must take responsibility.
The war, now officially over for more than two years, continues to have catastrophic effects in the U.S. as well. Our Iraq war veterans suffer loss of limbs and eyes, long-term traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder. They suffer from homelessness, unemployment, and suicide disproportionate to their numbers in society. The economic wellbeing of the country is threatened by the overhang of debt created by the reckless funding of the war and the distorted federal budget priorities that fund U.S. militarized foreign policy, instead of devoting those resources to urgent domestic human needs.
As we reflect on the terrible continuing effects of the Iraq war, we in U.S. Labor Against the War commit ourselves to continuing and deepening our partnerships within the labor movement and with peace, veterans, and community organizations. We will continue to work with our partners in the Iraqi labor movement and Iraqi civil society. We will not turn away from our longstanding commitments to peace and justice in Iraq, and for our veterans and the American people. We are determined to end our country’s militarized foreign policy, no matter where our government seeks to apply it, and to promote true security for our people through universal education, health care, and modern infrastructure.
These are our commitments as we mark the eleventh anniversary of the U.S. war in Iraq.

Another who wasn't silent?  Abby Martin.  She did cover the illegal war's anniversary.  She spoke with Iraq War veteran Ryan Endicott about the war on her show Breaking The Set (RT -- here for the episode at Hulu).  Excerpt.

Abby Martin:  In a speech you gave in 2009 called "Just Another Tuesday," you recount your experience as an infantryman in Iraq and that you were once punished for arresting a man instead of killing him.  Can you expand on this?

Ryan Endicott:  Well, you know, I was on post when this Iraqi came through my door in the post, I was at the Government Center in Ramadi which is the capital of the Anbar Province where Falluja is.  And when this man came into my post, at that point, I had been standing my post and somehow he had gotten through all the other security measures and gotten to my post. And so, you know, when I arrested him and put him -- detained him, my command told me at that point that it was my fault that I should have killed him.  He was in an area that is completely restricted for civilians.  No questions asked, it doesn't matter if he had a gun, that's out the door, the fact is, I should have killed him.  And you know, for me during that time period, that was really tough for me to deal with it.  I had to go through all the repercussions and treated as though what I did was wrong and, you know, how I was called a "girl" and all sorts of pejorative terms around this situation.  And so after that situation, what I think is really important is that this is just one instance of that.  And like how many soldiers across this country are coming down with orders from command telling them to commit these crimes, telling them to kill people -- who don't have weapons -- specifically because of where they are specifically because of how they've impacted this sort of post.  And so what is shows is there's a whole policy around the idea that-that soldiers can kill or can murder someone that doesn't have a weapon and that's totally explainable by the command. 


One could argue Nouri al-Maliki learned to attack the Iraqi people by watching the US actions in Iraq.  That would explain his ongoing attack on Anbar Province and his lack of remorse over the deaths of so many innocent civilians.  As Betty noted, 15 civilians died and forty more were injured on Thursday in Falluja due to Nouri's mortar attacks and bombings of residential neighborhoods.  NINA reports that Nouri's bombing of residential neighborhoods in Falluja today left 3 civilians dead and eleven more injured.

Earlier this month in Genevea, a number of people and organizations addressed the issue of Iraq before the United Nations Human Rights Council.  BRussells Tribunal has a page with the remarks on Iraq in text as well as videos of the remarks being delivered.  We'll note this statement which the Geneva International Centre for Justice offered:

Thank you Mr. President.

We thank the Special Adviser for his ongoing efforts in raising awareness on genocide and in preventing this crime. It has been said that significant progress has been made in the prevention and punishment of genocide - but recent events have shown that we still have a long road ahead of us. The current situation in Iraq is a clear example. It was described as rapidly plummeting towards genocide.

Since the US-invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the De-Ba’athification process, attacks based on discrimination and sectarianism have become major elements in the country’s politics. This tensed situation escalated at the turn of the year 2013/2014 with a military operation undertaken by the Iraqi government in the province of Al-Anbar, under the pretext of combating terrorists.

Mr. Special Adviser, an important element of the prevention of genocide is the identification of the early warning signs of this crime.

Signs have shown for long enough now that the Iraqi forces are targeting a certain religious group. The authority promotes domination over the government by those affiliated to its own religious beliefs, while treating the opposition with utmost hostility and brutality. It has become obvious that the onslaught against supposed terrorists is a cover for the annihilation of the group opposed to the increasingly discriminating policies of the current authorities in Iraq.

The acts of the government find their roots in official speeches which are filled with sectarian rhetoric. Such rhetoric clearly shows the intent to eradicate a certain group.
This raises serious concerns as the situation clearly fulfils the elements of the crime of genocide.

We would like you, Mr. Special Advisor, to consider this alarming issue in your work.
We also wonder why, inspite of these distressing events, the UN has not yet taken firm action to relieve the plight of the victims of the Iraqi government’s attacks. The UN must not wait the occurrence of a situation similar to what happened in Rwanda.
We therefore plead that the situation in Iraq be addressed immediately by the Council. In particular, we call on the Special Adviser to urgently take all adequate measures.
I thank you for your attention.

The issue does need to be addressed immediately, the people of Anbar are being terrorized.  This was supposed to be a 'brief' campaign but it started December 30th and still isn't over -- despite the fact that national elections are supposed to take place next month.

These are War Crimes that Nouri's committing but noted anti-Sunni Patrick Cockburn can't call him out on that.  He can smear Sunnis as killed -- he can does in his most recent article -- but the most he can offer to criticize his would-be lover Nouri al-Maliki is that "the government" (not Nouri, some other head of the Iraqi government that the world missed) released a fake video showing they were in control of Falluja when the footage was actually of Afghanistan.

Patrick Cockburn's desire to have his ass joined to Nouri's cock is mind blowing.  But he needs to stop pretending he's reporting.  He slams the protest movement as a front for terrorists forgetting to note that his love master Nouri killed children last April.

That would be the April 23rd massacre of a sit-in in Hawija which resulted from  Nouri's federal forces storming in.  Alsumaria noted Kirkuk's Department of Health (Hawija is in Kirkuk)  announced 50 activists have died and 110 were injured in the assault.   AFP reported the death toll eventually (as some wounded died) rose to 53 dead.   UNICEF noted that the dead included 8 children (twelve more were injured).


Even when his biased mouth managed to leave Nouri's crotch long enough to report on Hawija (long after the massacre), Lie Face Cock Burn couldn't tell his readers that the dead included 8 children.


Apparently, when you're Paddy Cock Burn, you know better than UNICEF.

Or else you just don't care when children are killed.

Paddy Cock Burn has been allowed by the British newspaper the Independent (ha!) to conduct a war against the Sunnis in print.  He's gone after them repeatedly and lied repeatedly.  When he hasn't lied, he's left out major points that would demonstrate Nouri was a criminal thug.




RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Nouri's election treachery"
"The War Activists (David Swanson)"
"Help Us Find a Killer (FBI)"
"Some thoughts on Iraq"
"Muppets Most Wanted"
"scandal - cyrus kills james"
"Inexpensive meatloaf in the kitchen"
"The 'news' ratings battle"
"KPFA doesn't need The Morning Show"
"Music"
"Amy Goodman exposed!"
"2 whores: Conor Oberst and Ani DiFranco"
"The war on whistle-blowers"
"He thinks he's Cher!"
"THIS JUST IN! THE NAME CHANGE!"

He thinks he's Cher!

BULLY BOY PRESS &   CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE


FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O USED HIS MIDDLE NAME TO CLOBBER RIVALS IN 2008.  TODAY, AS HE PLANS FOR HIS VANITY LIBRARY, HE INFORMS HE IS DROPPING "HUSSEIN."


REACHED FOR COMMENT TODAY BY THESE REPORTERS, BARRY O STATED, "IT'S LIKE CHER, YOU KNOW?  I'M DROPPING THE 'O' AS SOON AS I LEAVE THE WHITE HOUSE AND DIVORCE MICHELLE.  LET HER KEEP HER OWN NAME.  I'LL BE JUST 'BARRY'."

REMINDED BY THESE REPORTERS THAT THE "O" WAS FROM HIS LAST NAME, BARRY O ASKED, "IT IS?"



FROM THE TCI WIRE:



The Associated Press notes, "Ten years ago: Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide rallied against the U.S.-led war in Iraq on the first anniversary of the start of the conflict."  964 Eagle adds, "179 British servicemen and women died during operations there."  The number of US service members and military personnel the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning]: 4489.  Iraq Coalition Casualty Count lists 139 for "Other" countries who sent troops into Iraq.  The number of Iraqis killed in the illegal war?



That's a tough one.  For one thing, efforts were made to discredit the accepted social science model when it was used for a study The Lancet carried which reported a million deaths.  Information Clearing House notes, "Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq '1,455,590'."

But the main problem with a body count?  The war hasn't stopped in Iraq.

For example, these events today:



Bombings?

 AFP notes, "Late night bombings at a Baghdad cafe left 13 people dead, officials said Thursday."  National Iraqi News Agency reports a roadside bombing left two police members injured in Mosul, and an Alshallalat car bombing left 1 Peshmerga dead.  All Iraq News reports a Ramadi sticky bombing left 1 police officer dead.

Shootings?

National Iraqi News Agency reports an assassination attempt on Colonel Khaled Kinnear in Eshaqi left two of his bodyguards injured, 1 member of the police shot dead in Baquba, assailants in Iraqi military uniforms kidnapped Mayor Salah Sabhan and his son from their homes and killed them outside Hawija, a roadside bombing left two police members injured in Mosul, an armed clash in Jurf al-Sakar left 5 rebels dead and one police member injured, Joint Operations Command announced 8 suspects were killed on the "outskirts of Fallujah," Diyala Police announced they killed 6 suspects "in villages south of Buhriz" and an Alshallalat car bombing left 1 Peshmerga dead,  and 2 corpses were discovered in Mosul ("signs of torture").

Corpses?

National Iraqi News Agency reports   2 corpses were discovered in Mosul ("signs of torture"). Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reports that "five bodies that were found shot dead in the heads and chests in al-Shirqat, a community about 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Baghdad."


Today, the US Embassy in Baghdad issued the following:

U.S. Embassy Baghdad

Office of the Spokesperson

For Immediate Release
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad strongly denounces the most recent series of reprehensible acts of terrorism victimizing innocent Iraqi citizens throughout country, including particularly brutal attacks in Hilla, Karbala, Wasit, Mosul, Tuz Khormato, Baghdad, and Anbar.  In recent weeks hundreds of Iraqis, including women and children, have been killed or injured by terrorists who pursue their goals through the senseless slaughter of the innocent.

We extend our sincere condolences to the families of the victims and hope for a rapid recovery for those who were injured. The United States stands with the Iraqi people and will continue its robust support of the Government of Iraq in its fight against terrorism.  


They condemned terrorism.  But not Nouri's terrorism.  Still they addressed Iraq which is far more than the US State Dept and the lazy ass journalists attending today's State Dept press briefing bothered to do.

Apparently, they couldn't think of a question.   NINA reports the military shelling of residential neighborhoods in Falluja left ten civilians ("including three children") injured.  Maybe the reporters present could have asked just how many civilians are going to be killed or wounded by Nouri with weapons the US provides?

Maybe they could have asked spokesperson Jen Psaki exactly how long the administration intends to pretend that Nouri's actions aren't War Crimes?


RECOMMENDED:  "Iraq snapshot"
"Abu Ghraib, Collective Punishment, War Crimes"


"Fake Ass Liz Wahl, oh, the smell of it!"
"Can We Really Blame Sociopaths? (David Swanson)"
"RIP:Judge Lawrence Walsh-- An American Hero"
"community's all time awful episode"
"The US media forgets Iraq to sell war on Ukraine and Syria"
"Iraq, Tracey Ullman, Maggie Q"
"Iraq War veteran Rob Smith's book"
"Arrow and the CW don't like Black couples"
"The sad Nafeez Ahmed"
"Barack On The Court"
"The Jewish Archives"
"Thug Nouri kills Iraqis"
"That awful bill Nouri sent to the Parliament"
"She wants to live the glamorous life"
"THIS JUST IN! SO MUCH TO DO BUT SO LITTLE TIME!"

She wants to live the glamorous life

BULLY BOY PRESS &   CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE


PRINCESS BARRY O ANNOUNCED HE WAS ALL TUCKERED OUT.

HE HAD TO DO THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW THIS WEEK.

"PEOPLE THINK ALL I DO IS WATCH HOUSE OF CARDS, GAME OF THRONES AND MAMA'S FAMILY ALL DAY," THE DHALI BAMA TOLD THESE REPORTERS.  "IT'S NOT ALL THAT SIMPLE.  SOME TIMES I'M OVERBOOKED AND HAVE TO DO AN INTERVIEW AND HAVE A MANI-PEDI AND STILL TRY TO SQUEEZE IN A FEW HOURS OF DRESS UP.  PEOPLE JUST DON'T KNOW HOW HARD I WORK."


FROM THE TCI WIRE:


Hugh Gusterson (Truthout) has an important piece on the lack of Iraq coverage in the US news media and how it gets covered when it does get covered it's very hollow coverage that is phoned in and always grasps at "al Qaeda" as the possible culprit and that passes for an 'explanation.'  Gusterson observes:


In other words, this article normalizes the violence in Iraq. By disconnecting the violence from the Iraqi political process, it renders it politically unintelligible and somehow intrinsic to Iraqi society. Like hot summers, it just is. It is as if a journalist reported IRA bombing attacks without mentioning that Irish Republicans felt they were oppressed and disenfranchised by the British government and Anglo-Irish protestants. Once you take away the political logic of violence - which US journalists never did to US military forces in Iraq - then you are left with the illusion that violence is being carried out for violence's sake.


It's a good analysis, very good, make a point to read it in full.

News isn't wall paper.

That's a point a friend at The Nation doesn't seem to grasp.

I called out Greg Mitchell in yesterday's snapshot and a friend with the magazine called to gripe that Mitchell is raising attention on Iraq with his bad reposts of information from 2002.

No, he's not.

And you're an idiot if you think he is.

Greg's garbage is so bad that The Nation won't print it.  They just toss it online.

Well, here's the thing.

There's a ton of stuff online already if anyone's looking for past history on the Iraq War -- that includes Greg's 'new' articles.

People clicking on Greg's tired retread due to interest in Iraq?

A small segment will feel their blood pump with lust and hatred and read through Greg's ancient history and relive their Bully Boy Bush hatred.

A larger group will just move on.

And not only will they move on -- because they already know this old story -- but they will also move on assuming that there's nothing new in Iraq because, surely, if there was anything that happened in Iraq in the last few years, The Nation wouldn't be boring us with tales of 2002 in 2014.

Greg's nonsense is harmful.  It leave the false impression that there is no story in Iraq today -- that the country matters solely because of events leading up to the Iraq War.

Considering the absence of coverage in the US on Iraq, there is no excuse for The Nation magazine to print Greg's garbage.  If he can't write about events of today or connect to the past to what's going on right now (Fatimah can and does at Carbonated TV), he doesn't need to be writing 'about' Iraq because all he does is create the false impression that time stopped in 2002.

The violence and suffering has not stopped for the Iraqi people.  Through Tuesday, Iraq Body Count counts 585 violent deaths for the month so far.

Violence continues today.

Bombings?

Press TV notes, "In the town of Ishaqi, in the north of the capital Baghdad, four policemen were killed and four others were wounded as they were checking on a parked car that had a booby-trapped corpse inside. The body exploded after the officers opened the car door."   National Iraqi News Agency reports  3 Samarra houses were bombed today leaving 2 children dead and seven adults ("including two policemen, police officer"] injured, a Laitfiya sticky bombing left 1 person dead, an Alshura roadside bombing left 1 Iraqi soldier dead and two more injured, an Alfarisiys roadside bombing claimed 1 life and left four more people injured, an Albahbhan roadside bombing left 3 "army personnel" dead and four more injured, Baghdad Operations Command announced they killed 8 suspects, a Samarra bombing left 1 person dead and four more injured, and 2 western Baghdad bombings (Alnasr Wassalam area) left 1 person dead and five more injured,  Alsumaria notes the Wassalam (western Baghdad) bombing death toll increased by 1 to two people dead, and a Mosul grenade attack left two police members injured. In addition, All Iraq News reports:

Security source reported to AIN ''Nine mortar shells hit the houses of the civilians in several areas of Salah-il-Din province that resulted in killing five children, two women and four men.'
'''Seven IEDs were detonated targeting the houses of the police elements in Samarra city that resulted in killing (11) persons, among them four children and seven women,'' the source added.


Shootings?


National Iraqi News Agency reports an attack on a Tarqiah Village checkpoint left 3 Sahwa dead and two civilians injured, a Muqdadiyah attack left 1 police officer and 2 of his bodyguards injured, 2 people were shot dead in Taji,  a battle in Jurf al-Sakar left 2 rebels dead, the Ministry of the Interior states that they killed 5 suspects in Jurf al-Sakhar, 1 Shabak was shot dead in Mosul, Baghdad Operations Command announced they killed 8 suspects,   federal police colonel Abboud dawood was shot dead leaving a Mosque in Jood Village at dawn, and, late last night, the "Imam of Sheikh Abdullah mosque [was shot dead], in front of his home south of Mosul."  Alsumaria notes  2 separate shootings east of Mosul 2 bodyguards for a judge were shot dead.


Burned alive?

National Iraqi News Agency reports an Joint Operations Command boasts they they burned alive 10 suspects who were in cars they set ablaze.

Grasp that for a moment.  Wrap your mind around it.

Pretend for a second that you're seven-years-old and one of the suspects killed -- burned alive -- was your father.

This is the how  and the why of the creation of terrorism.

Your father was burned alive.

You grow up knowing that, living with that.

You didn't just lose your father because of a drunk driver, an illness or some horrible accident, the government killed him -- and they killed him by burning him alive.

And they announced it with gusto.

He wasn't even provided with one of the mock trials the current government's become so famous for.

You grow up with that and you grow up with desire for vengeance, a need to even the score.

And because of where you stand, in relation to the US-approved Iraqi government, you are judged to be a terrorist and your actions are judged to be terrorism.

Nouri al-Maliki's entire operation is breeding resistance and fighting.  And since it hasn't worked throughout his first term as prime minister or the bulk of his second term, he's decided to double down and thinks he can kill off resistance faster than it can grow up.

That's not going to happen.

AFP notes, "In Wednesday's deadliest incidents, shelling by government forces in Fallujah and clashes in and around the city killed 15 people and wounded 40, according to Ahmed Shami, the chief medic at the city's main hospital."  How many innocent people will die in Nouri's assault on Anbar before the US government slaps its forehead and exclaims, "Oh, yeah! Collective punishment, that's a defined War Crime -- by laws, including our own -- also by treaties -- ones that we've signed off on!"?

Because the US government is now a collaborator in War Crimes.  The White House has ensured that by supplying Nouri with weapons to use against the people of Anbar.  And to dress up an old saying, amnesia of the law is no excuse.



RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Nouri's promise of proof vanishes"
"Army Makes Case Against Enlisting"
"* Is Annexation of Crimea Legal? * Contrast with I..."
"Revolution, just awful"
"Fonda and Tomlin"
"Impeachment time"
"no, things really aren't better"
"Our modern Watergate"
"Yusuf Islam and Hal Ashby"
"Has Judd Apatow's moment passed yet?"
"Barack and his lover"
"The 100 is off to a sucky start"
"A question to ponder"
"He is busy!"
"THIS JUST IN! IT'S A TOUGH LIFE FOR BARRY O!"

He is busy!

BULLY BOY PRESS &   CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O IS COMING UNDER CRITICISM FOR FAILING TO NOMINATE SOMEONE TO SERVE AS THE U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRELAND FOR OVER 18 MONTHS.


ONE CRITIC SAYS, "IT'S TOO MUCH GOLF AND NOT ENOUGH WORK. . . . IF HE KNOCKED OFF ONE ROUND OF GOLF HE COULD TAKE CARE OF IT."


AN ANGRY BARRY O RESPONDED TO THAT CHARGE TODAY, "WHAT'S NEXT?  ASKING ME TO FORGO MY WEEKLY MANI-PEDI!"




FROM THE TCI WIRE:


The Nation magazine needs to stop begging for money to everyone who visits the website.  They don't do anything worth paying for.  They don't report, they just have a lot of commentary.  We now know it's not truthful commentary thanks to Journolist revealing that Katha Pollitt who attacked Sarah Palin was actually impressed with Sarah Palin.  She could say that in an e-mail list but she wouldn't say it at her outlet.

It's empty talk from empty minds.

As we noted yesterday, there was no report on Iraq filed in the US Monday.  So when an e-mail says, "The Nation's covering Iraq," I'll check it out.

The Nation isn't covering Iraq.  Greg Mitchell pulled from his bad book and p.r. release from seven years ago.  There's nothing new in his trash can.

He can dig through it as long as he wants, but there's nothing new there.

He doesn't look smart copying and pasting the same tired paragraphs.

He looks even more foolish as The Nation has a pop up begging for your money , "Support us with a digital subscription" -- why?

So Greg can publish every week -- publish something already in the archives that he's added nothing to.

That's not even journalism.  That's repurposing.

He lives in the past, he's consumed by it.

He whines that the media lied in the lead up to the illegal war (2002 through this month in 2003).

Can someone please take him out of the room because grown ups need to talk.

The US media didn't cover Iraq correctly in 2002 and early 2003?

What a shocker.

Meanwhile, in the real world, there's this.




That's Al Mada.


As we have noted repeatedly since Saturday, cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr returned to Iraq on Friday to lead that protest against Nouri al-Maliki.

No one else has written about it in the US.  Not USA Today, not CNN, not the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, McClatchy . . .

This is news.  What Moqtada did was news.  What the US media has done with it (ignore it) is news as well.

But Greg Mitchell keeps interrupting adult conversation to walk in the room desperately jerking on his limp dick that's apparently never ever going to get hard and fantasizing about 2002 when he had a real job at Editor & Publisher.

If you've got nothing new to offer, retire.  Stop boring everyone by repeating your writing from a decade ago.  You're not helping anyone.

Do we get that he can't even beyond March of 2013?

The lead up to the war reporting is not what kept US troops over there.

As we repeatedly noted in real time, the war porn of John F. Burns and Dexter Filkins (a War Hawk that 'left' outlets like MSNBC work to rehabilitate) kept US troops there.

Because they lied.

Filkins was present when White Phosphorus was being used on Falluja.

He never wrote about it.

Iraqis struggle with cancers and birth defects right now because of that.

But no one else can call out Filkins?

On the third day of this site in 2004, I wrote "It's just another day, another episode" about Filkins' awful propaganda -- which he'd go on to win an award for -- one he wouldn't today.  In that piece, I noted Dexy got the military's approval, he let them vet his copy.  That's why the Sunday paper included Dexy story's on the front page -- Dexy's several days old story: "The rah-rah piece carries the dateline "Nov. 18" in this story published in the November 21st edition. Allowing for the time needed to put together a Sunday edition, I'm still questioning that. The story was filed on the 18th (Thursday) and pops up on the 21st (Sunday). And there's the added detail, not provided in Dexter Filkins story, that Lance Cpl. William Miller died November 15th (http://icasualties.org/oif/prdDetails.aspx?hndRef=11-2004)."

Are we the only damn people who can call him out for that?

Danny Schechter gets credit for calling him out once.   That's not a whole lot but it's one more time than Greg Mitchell ever did.

Even now, Greg Mitchell can't.

To be really honest, I consider people like Greg to be useless bitches.

They have neither the brains nor the spine to speak up when it's needed.  They jerk off to nostalgia and pretend they made a contribution.  They didn't even try.

Dexter Filkins lied repeatedly.  When we started calling him out here, what did he do?

Started speaking sotto voice on campuses about how the paper wouldn't let him write about this or that.  (He's now at The New Yorker.)

And, if true, I care why?

I don't.

The New York Times has been a cesspool for most of its life.  You didn't need Iraq to learn that.  Yes, Gore Vidal was much more caustic critiquing that rag among friends but he wrote strong enough criticism about the paper to explain it was an arm of the US State Dept.  So forgive me for not being impressed with Greg Mitchell's early onset of dementia.

If people had held Filkins accountable instead of offering excuses for him  (I'm being real damn kind here and not calling out _____ because I remain friends with his father), he would have had to have gone public with the truth instead of spending years on campuses telling what he should have been writing about.

If the American people had known how poorly the illegal war was going, they would have turned against it sooner.  Liars like Dexy and Burnsie prolonged the illegal war.  We pointed that out repeatedly.  One example, "2006: The Year of Living Dumbly (Year in Review):"



What Miller (and others -- including Gordo) did in the run up to the war is important, is historical. But in 2006, if you're going on a radio show to talk about the war and the press or doing so in print, you need to be able to cite something a bit more contemporary than articles that ran in 2002 and 2003. As we've long noted here, if (IF) Judith Miller and her crowd got us over there, it was the Dexter Filkins that kept us there. But, outside of Danny Schechter, name a media critic that addressed Filkins.

If it was depressing in 2006 to see the limited space granted the topic of Iraq be wasted on pre-war conversations, it's shameful that eight years later, lazy asses think they can go to the well yet again.

It's tired, it's old, it's moldly.

You write it because you're too damn lazy to do any work.  You're writing the same damn article over and over for over a decade.  It's not journalism, it's Groundhog Day.  It's not even bad journalism and it's certainly not worth anyone digging in their pockets to try to pay for this garbage.




RECOMMENDED:  "Iraq snapshot"
"Nouri's Iraq: Child brides and 555 violent deaths ..."
"NATO expansion — Yugoslavia to Ukraine (Sara Floun..."
"Zed Books Critique Influence Change series"
"Nightline and other things"
"Unforgettable, Mistress, Under The Dome, Extant, Rookie Blue, etc."
"Gorbachev"
"Oprah's a big embarrassment"
"His image on the world stage"
"revenge - the good"
"The War Hawk"
"The Originals"
"Barack's "blatant lie""
"Veruca Salt returns"
"That hard working Barack!"
"THIS JUST IN! HE FINALLY BREAKS A SWEAT FROM WORK!"

That hard working Barack!

BULLY BOY PRESS &   CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

SOME PEOPLE SAY FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O IS NOT WORKING.  THEY SAY HE HAS NOT IMPROVED THE ECONOMY.  SOME SAY HE HAS FAILED ON FOREIGN POLICY.

TO ALL THE DOUBTERS, THE DAHLI BAMA SNAPS, "HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW?"

TOMORROW HE WILL ANNOUNCE HIS PICKS FOR WINNERS IN THE NCAA'S MARCH MADNESS.

"AND PEOPLE DOUBT I AM WORKING HARD?"  BARRY O ASKED THESE REPORTERS AS HE SHARED THAT HE ALSO PLANS TO USE MARCH TO MAKE HIS PREDICTION ON HOW THIS SEASON OF REVENGE WILL END.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:




Starting with the news that Western 'news' outlets still refuse to convey.  Saturday, Moqtada al-Sadr led a protest.








That's Dar Addustour.





That's Alsumaria.




That's Al Mada.


Moqtada al-Sadr returned to Iraq on Friday.  Western media avoided that as well.  Look at the photos, note the massive turnout.

Then note the massive silence from US outlets -- three days of silence now.

There's the reality of news and then there's the manufactured crap the Western media tries to shove down your throat.



RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Nouri needs a center to study terrorism?"
"Paste magazine: Home of the Racist Chubby Chaser"
"Paste magazine: Home of the Racist Chubby Chaser"
"Paste magazine: Home of the Racist Chubby Chaser"
"Paste magazine and Ross Bonaime got Honkey fever"
"Hejira"
"Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brett McGurk’s..."
"UChicago Neo-Nazi Neo-Cons: Obama, Nuland & Ukrain..."
"March 16, 2014 Iraq still doesn't have a 2014 budg..."
"I Hate The War"
"Civil liberties, protest and speaking out"
"What will become of the Iraqi refugees"
"revenge: the bad"
"The Good Wife meets Crossing Jordan"
"Because it's legal"
"Paul Craig Roberts on Barack's executive order"
"Military court creates ban on Special Victims Counsel"
"The US media cover up on Moqtada al-Sadr"
"Halabja"
"ObamaCare the poison pill"

• Truest statement of the week
• Truest statement of the week II
• A note to our readers
• Editorial: A lesson in what is news
• TV: No, it wasn't a feminist skit
• Young Middle-Aged Love
• Whose hands are clean in The War On Women (Ava an...
• From The TESR Test Kitchen
• Why Barack really fell into The Gap
• This edition's playlist
• Jim's World
• Confession of the week?
• Some brief notes on Democrats in Congress (Ava and...
• Murray Presses Top VA Officials on Spokane Medical...
• Speech of the SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED...
• Tony Benn 1925-2014 - Inspiring socialist who move...
• Neocolonial regime in Libya faces war over oil exp...
• Highlights

"Barry O's the hottest bitch in this place"
"THIS JUST IN! HE'S THE HOTTEST BITCH IN THIS PLACE!"