Wednesday,
May 2, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, the targeted include a
church, journalsits also remain targeted in 'liberated' and 'democratic'
Iraq, State of Law suddenly finds that the Erbil Agreement is legal,
NPR and PBS schill for the drone wars, and more.
Mosaic News (Link TV, link is text and video) picks
up Al-Alam's report: "Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad
Vahidi said that the deployment of US F-22 figher jets to the United
Arab Emirates is 'a harmful move' that undermines the region's
security. The US said the deployment was a normal adjustment of US
forces in the region, following their withdrawal from Iraq. As part of
its continuing efforts to dominate the Persian Gulf region, the US
announced the deploymnet of F-22 fighter hets in the UAE. US officials
confirmed that the fighters were deployed in the UAE's al-Dhafra Air
Based." Meanwhile the Wilkes Journal-Patriot reports
181 members of the the National Guard's 875th Engineer Company will
be deployed to Kuwait over the "summer for a nine-month assignment."
Today, Alsumaria reports the
Christian Church Saint Khanana, in Dohuk Province, was vandelized and
some items stolen. This is the latest in a series of attacks on
religious minorities in Iraq since the start of the Iraq War in
2003. Monday, Aid to the Church in Need reported,
"Luis Sako, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Kirkuk, in northern
Iraq, has joined with fifty representatives of Sunni Islam, Arab tribal
leaders and local government representatives in speaking out against
violence and terror. On the Archbishop's initiative, they signed a
document entitled 'Let us build bridges for peace', which was released
on the 26.4.2012. The signatories pledge to live together in peace in
Kirkuk, which is an object of contention between Kurds and the central
government in Baghdad. In a meeting with the Catholic charity Aid to
the Church in Need (ACN), Archbishop Sako explained his most recent
action to promote on-going dialogue by saying, 'We Christians have a
mission of peace and reconciliation that extends to all people, not just
Christians'."
Last March, the United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom released their 2012
Annual report [PDF format warning, click here] and Iraq made it (again) onto the list of "countries of particular concern. The section on Iraq opens with:
The
Iraqi government continues to tolerate systematic, ongoing, and
egregious religious freedom violations. In the past year, religious
sites and worshippers were targeted in violent attacks, often with
impunity, and businesses viewed as "un-Islamic" were vandalized. The
most deadly such attacks during this period were against Shi'a
pilgrims. While the Iraqi government has made welcome efforts to
increase security, it continues to fall short in investigating attacks
and bringing perpetrators to justice. It also took actions against
political rivals in late 2011 that escalated Sunni-Shi'a sectarian
tensions. Large percentages of the country's smallest religious
minorities -- which include Chaldo-Assyrian and other Christians, Sabean
Mandaeans, and Yazidis -- have fled the country in recent years,
threatening these ancient communities' very existence in Iraq; the
diminished numbers that remain face official discrimination,
marginalization, and neglect, particularly in areas of northern Iraq
over which the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG) dispute control. Religious freedom abuses of women and
individuals who do not conform to strict interpretations of religious
norms also remain a concern.
Along
with attacks on pilgrims and churches, the report notes attacks on
businesses operated by Christian and Yazidi persons such as "liquor
stores, restaurants, and hair salones." Violence and the targeting of
religious minorities have caused many to leave. The report notes:
Half
or more of the pre-2003 Iraqi Christian community is believed to have
left the country. In 2003, there were to be 800,000 to 1.4 million
Chaldean Catholics, Assyrian Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East
members, Syriac Catholics and Orthodox, Armenian Catholics and Orthodox,
Protestants, and Evengelicals in Iraq. Today, community leaders
estimate the number of Christians to be around 500,000. Other
communities also have experienced declines. The Sabean Mandaeans report
that almost 90 percent of their small community either has fled Iraq or
has been killed, leaving some 3,500 to 5,000 Mandaeans in the country,
as compared to 50,000 to 60,000 in 2003. The Yazidi community
reportedly now numbers approximately 500,000 down from about 700,000 in
2005. The Baha'i faith, which is estimated to have only 2,000 adherents
in Iraq, remains banned under a 1970 law, and Iraq's ancient and once
large Jewish community now numbers fewer than 10, who essentially live
in hiding.
Whether
they leave their homes for other areas of Iraq or leaves their homes and
leave Iraq, the targeting of religious minorities has added to the huge
refugee problem that the Iraq War created. The report notes that 1.5
million Iraqis remain internally displaced and that, of the population
outside Iraq, Sunnis make up approximately 57% even though "they are
approximately 35 percent of Iraq's total population."
Among the targeted groups have been women and those who are seen as 'different' for any number of reasons. The report notes:
In
the past year, human rights groups continued to express concern about
violence against women and girls, including domestic violence and honor
killings, throughout Iraq, including in the KRG region, as well as about
pressure on women and secular Iraqis to comply with conservative
Islamic norms, particularly relating to dress and public behavior. In
recent years, women and girls have suffered religiously-motivated
violence and abuses, including killings, abductions, forced conversions,
restrictions on movement, forced marriages, and other violence
including rape. Individuals considered to have violated extremists'
interpretations of Islamic teachings, including politically-active
females, have been targeted by Sunni and Shi'a extremists alike.
In
a positive development, the KRG region enacted a law in June making
family violence a crime, subject to imprisonment and/or fines, and
establishing a special court for such cases; the law's coverage includes
abuse of women and children, female circumcision, forced or child
marriage, nonconsensual divorce, the offering of women to settle family
feuds, and female suicide if caused by a family member.
In
late February and early March 2012, reports emerged of numerous
killings and threats targeting young people perceived as homosexual or
who dressed in the so-called "emo" goth style, particularly in Baghdad.
The number killed reportedly ranged from six to more than 40.
Preceding the violence, the Iraqi Interior Ministry posted a statement
on its Web site in mid-February that it was "launch[ing] a campaign to
stem the 'Emo,'" whom it called "Satan worshippers," although after the
killings were widely reported, the Ministry claimed that the statement
was misunderstood. Many obvservers attributed the attacks and threats
to Shi'a militias. However, a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali
Sistani condemned the killings as terrorism and cleric Moqtada al-Sadr,
whose Mahdi Army militia was suspected in past attacks on homosexuals,
denied involvement. According to Iraq press reports, Al-Sadr called emo
youth "unnatural" but said they should be dealt with through legal
means. The U.S. embassy reportedly raised its concerns with the Iraqi
government.
Good for the US
Commission on International Religious Freedom for including the
targeting of Iraqi youth. That story was breaking when the report was
being written and they still managed to include it -- putting it far,
far ahead of the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy refusing to use
the term "gay" when speaking to the Security Council to update them on
Iraq.
Jane
Arraf: For the Yazidi, this is the start of year 6,762. They come
from mountain villages, from towns and cities in Iraq, Syria and Turkey
-- and from Europe -- to celebrate the New Year. Yazidis believe in
the same God as Muslims, Christians and Jews but they believe they were
the first people God created. Along with Babylonian rituals and
elements of other religions, they worship the sun.
Yazidi woman: We light this rope to bring good. And anyone who lights a flame here, goodness will come to him.
Jane Arraf: It's a closed religion and misunderstood.
Baba
Sheikh Kerto Haji Ismael: Twenty years ago, there were no satellite
channels and no mixing with other people. That's why people can have
some suspicion about others. Since the Yazidis were a small religious
minority, that's why they face misunderstandings. Now things are more
clear.
Jane
Arraf: Images like this [a snake stretched across the outside wall of a
temple] are part of the reason other Iraqis are suspicious of the
Yazidi. A snake is believe to have saved the prophet Noah. Inside this
cave is a sacred spring. Nearby is the tomb of Shayk Adi [ibn Musafir
al-Umawi] a 12th century Suffi saint who reformed the Yazidi religion.
As dusk approaches, they light the flames that are a central part of
their faith. This isn't just the New Year, they believe it marks the
creation of the world including the four elements. For Yazidis, the
most important of those is fire. On New Year's Day, the Yazidi faithful
-- along with Kuridsh Muslim and Christian leaders -- pay their
respects to the Prince of the Yazidis [Mir Tahsin Ali]. Like the Kurds,
the Yazidi were pressured to declare themselves Arab under Saddam
Hussein. 150 of their villages were taken. In the last 30 years, up
to half the Yazidi community has left for Europe where there are fears
the religion won't survive.
Prince
Mir Tahsin Ali: The older people won't leave the religion but we fear
for the new generation when the sons and daughters go to new European
schools, our customs will become different.
Jane
Arraf: By most estimates, there are fewer than a million Yazidi in the
world. It's a small religion, sturggling to survive in a modern world
while keeping ancient traditions alive. Jane Araff, Lalish, northern
Iraq.
Hurriyet Daily News observes, "From Somalia
to Syria, the Philippines to Mexico, and Iraq to Pakistan, journalists
are being targeted for death in record numbers, and in brutal ways. In
fact, this year is shaping up to be the most lethal for journalists
since the International Press Institute (IPI) began keeping count 15
years ago." The attack on the journalist comes as a new report on the
attack on journalism in Iraq is released. The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory has released the report
covering the last twelve months and they've found an increase in
violence and restrictions and attempted restrictions on journalists.
They note an American journalist was arrested and helf for five days
without any legal justification while Iraqi journalists were detained in
various ways and also attacked and kidnapped by armed groups. At
least 3 journalists were killed in the 12 months and at least 31 were
beaten -- usually by military and security forces who were sometimes in
civilian clothes. 65 journalists were arrested.
It's a very
bleak picture. In addition there are various bills proposed that
supposedly 'protect' journalists but actually erode the rights of
journalists. The Ministry of the Interior's spokesperson Adnan al-Asadi
declared that journalism can be "a threat to domestic security" and
that journalsits shouldn't report on any arrests or killings without the
express permission of the Ministry of the Interior. (Clearly, R etuers must agree with that policy since they abolished their daily Factbox that used to cover violence in Iraq.)
The
three journalists who died in the 12 months were: Hadi al-Mahdi who
was killed by a gunshot to the head while in his Baghdad home, Kameran
Salah al-Din who was killed by a sticky bomb attached to his car (in
Tikrit) and Salim Alwan who was killed by a bombing in Diwaniya.
AFP notes
the report states. "JFO has documented a noticeable increase in the
rate of violence against journalists/media workers and restrictions
imposed on their work."Multiple bills are being introduced by the
government, which threaten to severely limit freedom of the press,
general freedom of expression and Internet use."
Freedom
of expression in journalism doesn't mean creative fiction. In the US
where journalists are supposed to have the right to practice their trade
without restrictions, some self-censor and some just tell outright
lies. V. Noah Gimbel (Foriegn Policy In Focus) notes how the Newseum willfully distorts reality and insults a journalist who died covering the Iraq War in the process:
I
was looking for updates on the case of slain Spanish cameraman José
Couso, murdered by U.S. troops in Baghdad in 2003 as part of a
coordinated attack on the independent media, when I came upon a
so-called memorial to Couso on the Newseum's webpage. I wrote a comprehensive piece on the Couso case last year, and a follow-up piece when the indictments against the soldiers responsible were re-issued last fall.
Far from memorializing Couso, the Newseum article repeats de-bunked falsehoods that even the army had backtracked on in 2003.
Gimbel goes on to explain how the Newseum distorts Couso's death.
Moving
on to the political crisis, we'll return to the United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom's 2012 Annual report [PDF
format warning, click here] to get another perspective on the political crisis:
As
reflected in pervious USCIRF reports, in past years many serious
sectarian abuses were attributed to actors from the Shi'a-dominated
Ministries of Interior and Defense and armed Shi'a groups with ties to
the Iraqi government or elements within it. Since 2007, such sectarian
violence has diminished markedly. Nevertheless, sectarianism within the
government remains a concern. For example, there continue to be
reports of torture and other abuses, some allegedly along sectarian
lines, in detention facilities, including secret prisons run by the
Prime Minister's special counterterrorism forces. The Shi'a-led
government's slow pace of integrating Sunni Sons of Iraq members into
the security forces or government jobs, as well as its attempts to bar
certain politicians, mostly Sunnis, from participation in the political
process for alleged Baathist ties, also have caused tensions. According
to nationwide polling conducted in Iraq in October 2011, 75% of
Sunnis feel that their sect is treated unfairly by the government and
60% feel their sect is treated unfairly by society.
Sunni-Shi'a
political tensions escalated in 2011. Throughout the year, the Prime
Minister failed to implement aspects of the November 2010 power-sharing
agreement that finally allowed a government to be formed after the March
2010 elections, including by continuing to run both the Defense and
Interior Ministries and taking no steps to create the new national
strategic council that was supposed to be led by his main rival, former
Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of the Iraqiya bloc. (Iraqiya is a
cross-sectarian bloc supported by many Sunnis, which won two more
parliamentary seats than al-Maliki's bloc in the 2010 election.) In the
fall, the government arrested hundreds of individuals, including many
prominent Sunnis, for alleged Baathism, prompting the provincial
governments of several Sunni or mixed governorates to attempt to seek
greater autonomy from Baghdad. In December, just after the last U.S.
troops left the country, the Prime Minister announced an arrest
warrant for the Sunni Vice President, Tariq al-Hashimi, for alleged
terrorism, and sought a no-confidence vote against the Sunni Deputy
Prime Minsiter, Saleh al-Mutlaq, both of the Iraqiya bloc. The
government also arrested members of al-Hashimi's staff. Al-Hashimi, who
denied the charges and called them politically movtivated, left Baghdad
for the KRG region, and Iraqiya began a boycott of parliament and the
cabinet. Meanwhile, terrorist groups exacerbated the situation,
perpetrating multiple mass-casualty attacks against mainly Shi'a targets
in December and January, including the attacks against Shi'a pilgrims
and the Shi'a funeral procession referenced above. As of February 29,
2012, al-Hashimi was still in Erbil, al-Mutlaq remained in his position,
Iraqiya had returned to parliament and the cabinet, and negotiations to
convene a conference of all the political blocs to resolve the crisis
were ongoing.
In
April, Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi began a tour of the region,
visiting Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He remains in Turkey. The
kangaroo court in Baghdad plans to begin the trial against him
tomorrow. Sinem Cengiz (Sunday Zaman) reports
that even if Nouri filed a formal request for Turkey to hand al-Hashemi
over, they would refuse: "The legal obligations of Turkey stemming from
being a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
prohibit it from handing any person over to another country if the
suspect will likely be executed."
Meanwhile Al Mada reports
Nouri's State of Law is suddenly insisting that the Erbil Agreement was
not illegal. Nouri used the agreement to get a second term as prime
minister and then he trashed it refusing to honor the promises he'd made
to get his second term. Since trashing it, Nouri and his flunkies have
tried to insist the the Erbil Agreement was unconstitutiona. It
wasn't. Extra-constitutional is not unconstitutional. But if you argue
that it's illegal, then you're arguing that Nouri's second term is
illegal. That might be behind their change of heart. Or they might be
worried about Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's call for the agreement to
be published and the public reaction to the publication. Certainly,
State of Law calling it illegal and then it being published would
leave many Iraqis wondering why State of Law agreed to it if it was
illegal. Regardless of the reason, State of Law has changed their
position on the Erbil Agreement today.
One of
the consistent demands has been that the Erbil Agreement needs to be
honored. That demand has come from the Kurds, from Iraqiya and from
Moqtada al-Sadr among others. By insisting that the Erbil Agreement is
legal, State of Law may be attempting to encourage a leap, encourage
people to conclude that since State of Law no longer disputes the
legality of the agreement, they must be on the verge of implementing
it. That would be a big leap to make but -- especially under pressure
from the US government -- political blocs have made other large leaps
that have benefitted Nouri. Should a consensus build that State of Law
saying the Erbil Agreement is legal means Nouri is about to implement
it, pressure to hold a national conference could vanish and that might
be the goal here.
Since December 21st, Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani and Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi have
been calling for a national conference to resolve the political
crisis. Nouri has repeatedly stalled and thrown up road blocks over who
would attend and even what they should call the meet-up. As March drew
to a close, Talabani announced that the national conference would be
held April 5th; however, that meet up ended up being called off less
than 24 hours before it was to be held. Alsumaria notes Iraqiya says the issues of Saleh al-Mutlaq and Tareq al-Hashemi must be on the agenda for the national conference.
In the US, Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Committee which notes an upcoming hearing:
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
United States Senate
112th Congress, Second Session
Hearing Schedule
Update: May 2, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
10:00 am
Senate Hart Office Building Room 216
Hearing: Seamless Transition: Review of the Integrated Disability Evaluation System
Matthew T. Lawrence
Chief Clerk/ System Administrator
Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
202-224-9126
I had just co-organized a Drone Summit over
the weekend, where Pakistani lawyer Shahzad Akbar told us
heart-wrenching stories about the hundreds of innocent victims of our
drone attacks. We saw horrific photos of people whose bodies were blown
apart by Hellfire missiles, with only a hand or a slab of flesh
remaining. We saw poor children on the receiving end of our
attacks—maimed for life, with no legs, no eyes, no future. And for all
these innocents, there was no apology, no compensation, not even an
acknowledgement of their losses. Nothing.
The
U.S. government refuses to disclose who has been killed, for what
reason, and with what collateral consequences. It deems the entire world
a war zone, where it can operate at will, beyond the confines of
international law.
So
there I was at the Wilson Center, listening to Brennan describe our
policies as ethical, "wise," and in compliance with international law.
He spoke as if the only people we kill with our drone strikes are
militants bent on killing Americans. "It is unfortunate that to save
innocent lives we are sometimes obliged to take lives – the lives of
terrorists who seek to murder our fellow citizens." The only mention of
taking innocent lives referred to Al Qaeda. "Al Qaeda's killing of
innocent civilians, mostly Muslim men, women and children, has badly
tarnished its image and appeal in the eyes of Muslims around the world."
This is true, but the same must be said of U.S. policies that fuel
anti-American sentiments in the eyes of Muslims around the world.
"Excuse
me, Mr. Brennan, will you speak out about the innocents killed by the
United States in our drone strikes? What about the hundreds of innocent
people we are killing with drone strikes in the Philippines, in Yemen,
in Somalia? I speak out on behalf of those innocent victims. They
deserve an apology from you, Mr. Brennan. How many people are you
willing to sacrifice? Why are you lying to the American people and not
saying how many innocents have been killed?"
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