Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Norman The Cowardly Solomon

Dickless Norman Solomon is back with another bad column.  This time everyone's least favorite little mongrel has written about the illegal spying and only manages to squeak out Barack Obama's name once.

We all do remember that Norman was a pledged delegate for Barack in 2008, right?

That the nasty trash really owes the world an apology.

But he can't even write about the spying and call Barack out.


He mentions Bully Boy Bush twice.

Cowards like Norman are always more comfortable calling out those out of office than calling out those in office.

Cowardly Norman still can't call Barack out for the troops he sent into Iraq in the last weeks.

What a coward.

"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):

Tuesday, July 15, 2014.  Chaos and violence continue, Iraq gets a new Speaker of Parliament, Nouri pouts, when will the press seriously cover the VA scandals (no time soon), and much more.




The Iraqi Parliament met today and focused on their third attempt to meet and begin forming a government.


All Iraq News notes they met and began the process of electing a Speaker of Parliament.  NINA reports:

 MP , Salim al-Jubori win candidate for Itihad al-Qowa al-Iraqiya headed by former Speaker Osama Nujaifi win the new post of Parliament the post of new Speaker after announcing the results of voting in the house of representatives after noon today.

APA adds, "Live television footage broadcast from inside the parliamentary chamber showed the 43-year-old being congratulated by other deputies."  The White House issued the following today:

Biden’s Call with Next Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker

15 July 2014
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice President
July 15, 2014
Readout of Vice President Biden's Call with Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker Salim al-Jabouri
This afternoon, Vice President Biden called Salim al-Jabouri to congratulate him on his selection as the next Speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives. The Vice President and Speaker agreed on the importance of acting quickly, consistent with constitutional timelines, to form a new government capable of uniting Iraqi communities in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. They discussed the efforts required to address the legitimate grievances of all communities through the political process. They both reaffirmed the importance of the strategic relationship between the United States and Iraq. The Vice President made clear that the United States looks forward to working closely with Speaker al-Jabouri.

 

The US State Dept issued this statement from Secretary of State John Kerry:

We congratulate the Iraqi people on the election of a new parliamentary Speaker and two Deputy Speakers. The election of a Speaker is the first step in the critical process of forming a new government that can take into account the rights, aspirations, and legitimate concerns of all Iraq’s communities.
We urge Iraq’s leaders to follow this achievement with rapid formation of a new government pursuant to Iraq's constitutional timelines. We further urge the international community to support Iraq's democratic political process, which reflects the aspirations of the nearly 14 million Iraqis who voted for new representatives from all parts of the country. These representatives are now charged, through the Iraqi parliament, to form a new government with leaders who reflect a broad national consensus.
As I said in Baghdad, this is a moment when the stakes for Iraq’s future could not be clearer as much depends on the ability of Iraq’s leaders to come together and take a united stand against ISIL. Iraq faces an existential threat and Iraq’s leaders need to confront that threat with the urgency that it demands. As they do, the United States will remain a steadfast partner in support of their fight for the democratic process and against ISIL.


As Alsumaria notes, State of Law tried to upset the process yet again.  That is Nouri al-Maliki's coalition. He wants a third term as prime minister.  Isra' al-Rubei'i and Ahmed Rasheed (Reuters) attempt to figure out what the vote means -- specifically does it mean a third term for Nouri:



Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Maliki's predecessor and now head of his Shi'ite National Alliance, hinted that a wider deal had been reached, saying the Shi'ite alliance was voting for Jabouri and expected support from Sunni politicians in return.
"It is the nature of any deal that any commitment should be mutual. It doesn't make sense that we support them and they don't support us," Jaafari said. However, he did not specify whether the National Alliance would now nominate Maliki for prime minister or choose another candidate.



Anything could happen.

But Reuters establishes no reason for their pondering re: Nouri.  The vote today?

Isn't it what the Shi'ite groups -- including Ibrahim's National Alliance -- agreed to in a flurry of meetings on Friday and Saturday?  Yes, it is.  Only Nouri's State of Law refused to go along with it.

So why would the vote on the Speaker possibly mean that Nouri would get a third term?

He might get that.

But no public events -- covered in the report or ignored by it -- suggest anything to do with Nouri.

Since Nouri's bloc walked out, you could argue the events suggest the opposite.

And elected by 194 votes?  Did Nouri's bloc even support the candidate?


Others don't feel he deserves it, to put it mildly.  All Iraq News notes the Kurds noted their objection to a third term for Nouri again today.  Nouri and other members of State of Law walked out on the proceedings.

The Parliament has to pick three posts.  That's the first step in forming a government.

The three presidencies are Speaker of Parliament, the President and the Prime Minister-designate -- everyone's forgetting "designate" these days.  That's step one.  Picking a Speaker today doesn't finish step one.

Step two is after a prime minister-designate is named, that person then has 30 days to put together a full cabinet.  If the Constitution is followed this time, failure to put together a full cabinet in 30 days would mean a new person was named prime minister-designate and given the chance.  Success would mean the prime minister-designate moved from designate to prime minister.

Now we can talk the Constitution or we can just blow smoke out our ass.  Hello, AP, thanks for stinking up the room.

If you missed it, AP is like the drunk in the conversation insisting, "It's science!" -- when, in fact, there comments are not science.  And AP doesn't know the Constitution:  "According to the constitution, parliament now has 30 days to elect a president, who will then have 15 days to ask the leader of the largest bloc in the legislature to form a government. Then a prime minister will be picked."

First off, the "largest bloc in the legislature"?  That's not the Constitution, it's the 2010 court verdict Nouri sought ahead of the 2010 elections and then kept the verdict to himself in case he didn't need it.  The Constitution is the largest bloc from the elections -- not the post-election bloc forming.

Second, the prime minister is not then picked.

A prime minister-designate is named.  Per the Constitution, the designate has 30 days to form a Cabinet or see someone else nominated prime minister-designate.

The Voice of Russia notes that the new Speaker was named on a busy day for Iraq, "Earlier on Tuesday, security forces launched an attack on Tikrit, hometown of Saddam Hussein, aiming to revitalize a counter-offensive that began more than two weeks ago. They initially gained control of the southern part of the city, but later pulled back south of Tikrit after heavy fighting, officers and witnesses said. "Iraqi forces withdrew at the beginning of the night so that they would not be exposed to losses," but would return later, a senior army officer said. However, any gains made in the city are likely to be offset by militants moving back in."


Today, the US State Dept 'discovered' Iraq again in it's press briefing by spokesperson Jen Psaki.


 QUESTION: What’s your reaction – the new parliament elected a new speaker today.

 QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

 MS. PSAKI: I’m getting an assist from Said here. The Secretary --

 QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

 MS. PSAKI: We put out a statement from the Secretary. It came out right before I came out here, so I’m not sure if you saw it.

 QUESTION: I didn’t see it.

 MS. PSAKI: Let me just reiterate some of the points that he made. We certainly, of course, congratulate the Iraqi people on the election of a new parliamentary speaker as well as two deputies. This election of a speaker is the first step in the critical process of forming a new government that can take into account the rights, aspirations, and legitimate concerns of all of Iraq’s communities. We urge the – Iraq’s leaders to follow this step today with rapid formation of a new government. That means, as you all know, selection of a president and a prime minister. We expect as they – as the meeting breaks, and maybe that’s already happened, we’ll know more soon about the next time they plan to meet. And obviously those are the next appropriate steps in the process.

 QUESTION: Thank you.

 QUESTION: Stay in Iraq?

 MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.

 QUESTION: Without getting into the classified information, a report that’s on Secretary Hagel’s desk – has Secretary Kerry, as a member of the National Security Council, expressed concern over U.S. personnel who are in Iraq and are working with different forces and officials?

 MS. PSAKI: Are you speaking to military personnel, or which personnel are you referring to?

 QUESTION: Any officials in Iraq. Is the United States or people in this building concerned about insider attacks for U.S. personnel working with their Iraqi counterparts?

 MS. PSAKI: Well, there are a couple of different things I think you’re referring to here, so let me just break those apart, if that’s okay with you. I think the Pentagon confirmed yesterday that Secretary Hagel and Chairman Dempsey received the draft of the assessment from Central Command. Obviously, they’re the front individuals to review that draft and they also have oversight over military personnel who are on the ground in Iraq.
Broadly speaking, certainly as the State Department and the Secretary are always evaluating the safety and security of our personnel, the men and women serving in a variety of capacities in Iraq, and any other high-threat post around the world, and we take steps accordingly and as needed. And you’re familiar with the steps we recently took. I don’t have any of those to be – to predict at this point, but that certainly is something we evaluate broadly speaking on nearly a daily basis about places like Iraq.

 QUESTION: And specific to Iraq, are you concerned about Shia forces aligned with Iran and about Sunni forces aligned with extremist elements? Are those specific --

 MS. PSAKI: I’m just not going to speak to reports in a draft that obviously the proper officials have not yet reviewed.

 QUESTION: I know that you want the choice of a prime minister to the Iraqi people.

 MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.

 QUESTION: You’ve said – stated --

 MS. PSAKI: You’re familiar with our point on that.

 QUESTION: Yes.

 MS. PSAKI: Go ahead.

 QUESTION: I’m fully familiar with it, but --

 MS. PSAKI: Yes.

 QUESTION: But as Maliki becomes more and more polarizing, a polarizing figure – and those were the words of someone like Barzani in Turkey, those are the words of even allies within the Shia coalition, even his own coalition – are you willing to support as an alternative someone that the Iranians might support, who is Ahmed Chalabi, someone who has been tarnished in the United States as someone who collaborated with the enemies of the United States?
MS. PSAKI: Well, we’re not going to pick or support candidates. Obviously, as you noted, but it’s worth me repeating from the U.S. Government, we – it’s up to the Iraqi people to determine their leadership. We’ve expressed concern in the past about the lack of inclusivity in Prime Minister Maliki’s leadership. That hasn’t changed. And obviously, we want to see a future government and future leaders who govern in a more inclusive manner. But that’s one of the next steps in the process, and we leave that to the Iraqis to determine.

 QUESTION: Do you believe that Mr. Maliki, the message he gets from this podium and other podiums and so on, that the United States sticks to him no matter what?

 MS. PSAKI: I can’t evaluate for you what I believe Prime Minister Maliki hears or listens to or reads, but --

 QUESTION: If he gets that message, do you think that he’s getting the wrong message?

 MS. PSAKI: I think our message has consistently been that it’s up to the Iraqis to determine their future leadership. So I think that would be what anybody would hear.

 QUESTION: Well, if they haven’t elected him, then it means that they don’t want him. So I mean, they have chosen, don’t you think?

 MS. PSAKI: We’ll let the process play itself out, Elise.

 QUESTION: Yes, please.

 MS. PSAKI: Go ahead. Iraq?

 QUESTION: Yes, please. I mean, you mentioned that the Iraqis have to choose their prime minister and the president, assuming that they have this parliament now, proper parliament president.

 MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.

 QUESTION: Do you have in your mind a timeframe? Because a while ago – I mean, it’s like last week you were talking about Sunday or 10 days or something like this. Do you have a timeframe for this?

 MS. PSAKI: Well, so they did meet on Sunday, and obviously, this – the selection of the speaker just happened today.

 QUESTION: Yes.

 MS. PSAKI: So I think we’ll leave it to them to make any announcements about their next planned meeting where we – and expect and hope that they will move forward with the remaining steps in government formation.

 QUESTION: And like few days ago, Prime Minister Maliki replaced the foreign minister or asked him to leave his job or replace him with another person. Do you have any concern and especially Zebari has had a good relation or at least long relation with Secretary Kerry and the State Department – is this representing any concern to you in your relations with – foreign relations with Iraq, or it doesn’t matter?

 MS. PSAKI: In the selection of a new foreign minister?

 QUESTION: Yes.

 MS. PSAKI: That’s, again, an Iraqi political decision. Obviously, you’re right that the Secretary has worked with the former foreign minister quite a bit in the past, but we’ll work with the leaders and the representatives who are selected by the government and the people of Iraq.

 QUESTION: Was there any contact with the new foreign minister or not yet?

 MS. PSAKI: Not at the Secretary’s level. I don’t have anything to read out from our team on the ground, though they remain engaged with a range of officials on the ground.

 QUESTION: And who – still the same team on the ground doing contact with all this leadership?
MS. PSAKI: That’s right. Ambassador Beecroft, Deputy Assistant Secretary McGurk. They remain on the ground and closely engaged.


Should a prime minister be declared any time soon, what happens in terms of the military -- specifically the hundreds of US troops Barack has sent into Iraq in the last weeks?  Jill Reilly (Daily Mail) reminds, "The teams [of US military 'advisors'] will determine how the U.S. can best help the Iraqi forces, then the additional teams will deploy. They are expected to help the Iraqis improve their military systems and commands, but not embed with the fighting units or engage in direct combat."  Eric Schmitt and Michael R. Gordon (New York Times) report, "A classified military assessment of Iraq’s security forces concludes that many units are so deeply infiltrated by either Sunni extremist informants or Shiite personnel backed by Iran that any Americans assigned to advise Baghdad’s forces could face risks to their safety, according to United States officials."




Turning to violence, NINA reports a handcuffed, blindfolded and bullet riddled corpse was discovered dumped in the street in al-Obeidi and alleged IS leader Abu Osama al-Qahtani was killed in Baiji by security forces.  There's other violence but it won't dominate today's news cycle -- even the small section on Iraq.

In addition, BasNews reports Iraqi rebels have killed 24 Iranian soldiers on the ground in Iraq so far this month.

Vatican Radio reports some good news:


Two nuns and three orphans under their care have been released in Iraq by kidnappers linked to ISIS, the Al Qaeda-inspired Sunni militant group also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Speaking to AsiaNews, Chaldean Patriarch Mar Louis Raphael I Sako expressed relief that there was “finally good news” in the country where ISIS, under the banner of a new Islamic “caliphate,” has captured large swathes of territory from the Shia led government in Baghdad.
Sister Atur and Sister Miskinta and the three young people went missing 28 June. The two Chaldean nuns belonged to the Congregation of the Daughters of the Immaculate Mary. Together with their consoeurs, the sisters help run a family home for orphans and abandoned children in Mosul, near the Chaldean Archbishopric.
Patriarch Sako told AsiaNews that people in the city “contributed to their liberation.”



Turning to the topic of veterans . . .



US House Rep Mike Fitzpatrick: Ms. Ruell, you testified in your opening statement that you came to the VA around 2007 and within a short period of time in your tenure at VA, you began to notice things things were not working as they should, that claims were not being processed timely, claims were being lost.  Fellow employees were reporting that mail was being set aside and that in some cases mail was being shredded.  You know, that we have constituents, perhaps a widow of a WWII veteran who sits down and writes a traditional letter, hand writes a letter, puts a stamp on it, and sent it to the Philadelphia VA office believing that claim would be processed, that that simple request might be heard. That letter might have been shredded.  You went on to find and report to your managers that duplicate payments were being made and as a dedicated employee of the VA you tried to fix it.  You asked that those duplicate claims be recaptured, be brought back in, to be ignored. Around the same time, I was sent by the people of the Philadelphia region to come back to Congress to serve them.  And I had served a previous term back in the 109th Congress, 2005, 2006.  So I had the chance to go back and hire dedicated case workers, who served veterans, who worked with me in the past.  They are veterans themselves.  And within a short period of time, 2011, they were reporting to me that something was wrong at the Veterans Administration -- not as they remembered it.  Claims were being delayed, they couldn't get answers, they were sending letters, the letters were never received.  And we were hearing the same from our constituents.  I did not know you at the time, but you were saying the same thing to your leadership at the Philadelphia regional office.  For that, you were criticized, you were castigated, you were abused, you were disciplined.  I think you ought to be applauded for trying to change the system from within.  I think you're owed an apology from the Veterans Administration.  I think you're fellow comrades who are here with you today, work with you in other offices, they should be applauded.  There are thousands of dedicated Veterans Affairs employees who try to do the right thing from within. Our nation's veterans deserve an apology -- some of them pass away while waiting for their claims to be processed. Ms. Ruel, you provided information when the administration at the Philadelphia office was not listening to my office, flood data, duplicate payments, which we wrote to Gen Shinseki when you brought that information to us in September of 2012.  And a response was received in February of 2013 from the undersecretary essentially that if there are any problems, they're so minor that we don't need to change any systems in order to address them.  Knowing what you know, Ms. Ruell, how can the administration of the VA provide that kind of answer?

 Kristen Ruell: I think it's the easiest answer to just ignore the problem.  From working with the OIG the last four weeks, they're baffled as to data mine the issue and find the problem.  But I don't think an answer of 'it's inconclusive' or 'we're not sure how to figure this problem out' is a fair answer to veterans who have been waiting for their benefits and they're sitting in a box because they have two claim numbers and we're not sure what we're going to do with that claim.

 US House Rep Mike Fitzpatrick:  Ms. Ruell, just last week, the Philadelphia VA acknowledged an entitlement and benefit backlog of 49.6% of 42,141 veterans served by the Philadelphia office  waiting 125 days for an answer to their claims.  Based on your experience, is this an accurate number for the Philadelphia office?

 Kristen Ruell:  No.  If we didn't have that memo, I think the number would be much higher. 

 US House Rep Mike Fitzpatrick:  The Obama administration has promised to end the veterans backlog by 2015.  With 247,000 claims still stuck in the backlog, do you think this process is feasible?

 Kristen Ruell:  Absolutely not. It breeds corruption in the regional offices and we might say that claim has been processed but it's probably not processed correctly. And we probably didn't help the veteran the way we were supposed to. 

 US House Rep Mike Fitzpatrick:  Are veterans of our nation passing away while waiting for their claims to be processed?

 Kristen Ruell: Many.

 US House Rep Mike Fitzpatrick:  Can you estimate how many? 

 Kristen Ruell:  No, but I know that that's the easiest kind of claim to do.  If a veteran passes away, you hit one button and you get the same amount of credit as if you worked the claim and granted the benefit.

Kristen Ruell is with the VA as is Ronald Robinson and as was Javier Soto -- the three witnesses on the first panel.


That's from last night's House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing.  Yes, last night.  The Committee continues to hold hearings and, if it means a night hearing, they do that.  A veteran who's a friend and who I spoke to after last night's hearing asked that I point that out and that I point out the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is doing nothing.

The VA is in crisis status right now.  And Senate Committee Chair Bernie Sanders chose to instead focus on acupuncture.  Then a hearing in mid-May where the Chair wanted to keep saying no one had proven any misdeeds by the VA.  This hearing was after Chris Cuomo pointed out -- on CNN while interviewing Bernie -- that Senator Sanders sounded like an apologist for the VA.

And that's Bernie Sanders started losing veterans.  When all of June went by, after the allegations had proven to be accurate, without a hearing, Sanders lost more veterans support.

This week, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee -- which has spent far too much of the month of May whining about 'poor' Eric Shinseki -- will meet again.  Many veterans are wondering why?

They're noticing that Socialist Bernie Sanders is more focused on scoring points for Democrats than he is on serving veterans.


We're not done with the hearing.  Tomorrow we'll note some points House Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Jeff Miller made.  I was hoping we could have a news release on that but it's not to be.

Why did I want that?

The VA's done a shell game and that's now fact.

It's not me, a few years back saying, "This change is a mistake, this will be a shell game . . ."

No, everything I warned about came to be.

And I'm not happy about that.  I'm not happy that a number of Congressional members serving on the VA Committees in the House and Senate just knew that everything would be fine.

Just knew.

No, it wasn't.

And I'm tired of screaming.

We were right.  The 'fix' for the backlog?  It was a fix -- it was a scam.

Next year, the backlog will not be gone.

And maybe, along with some members of the Committees, some members of the press could admit that they were wrong?

Best moment of the hearing other than that?

I loved when Chair Jeff Miller quoted from former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' book Duty to slam Eric Shinseki.

(I noted this outside the snapshot last week but we are moving towards a smaller snapshot.  We did it Monday night, not so much here.)

As Javier Soto noted, "Provisional ratings rules simply hid wait times.  Once a claim is given a provisional rating, it's not counted toward the backlog. However, the claim has no final rating.  It's still unresolved."  And that's a surprise to many but we said this is exactly what would happen and we said it before the system started, we stated it the first time the VA informed Congress of this 'fix.'














Posted by at

Monday, July 14, 2014

Does Hillary think Ed Snowden committed espionage?

I don't believe NSA whistle-blower Ed Snowden committed espionage.

Tom In Paine argues that Hillary doesn't either:


 Hillary Clinton made a significant statement about Snowden a few days ago which typically went completely over the heads of mainstream journalists when she was asked in an interview what she would do about Snowden. Clinton said she believed he should be allowed to come back to the United States and get a fair trial. The significance of that is there is no possibility of a fair trial under the Espionage Act. The defendant is not allowed to introduce evidence in his defense, can't call witnesses,  is not entitled to discovery and there is no defense, not whistleblowing, not revealing criminality, nothing. There is only one question to be answered -- did someone charged under the Espionage Act commit the actions the government claims they did -- yes or no. In Snowden's case the charge is, did he unlawfully take the documents, yes or no.  That is the only issue to be decided in an Espionage Act prosecution of Snowden. Clinton's answer reveals that unlike Obama,  she would not charge Snowden under the Espionage Act but under another statute that would allow for a defense.
So that's his argument.

What do you think?


"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):

Monday, July 14, 2014.  Chaos and violence continue, another session that fails to form a new government, Nouri continues his stalling tactics, Nouri continues his War Crimes and much more.


Reminder on World Can't Wait action:

Day of / Day After Protests When the US Starts Bombing Iraq

IN THE EVENT of U.S. bombing of Iraq, choose the best protest location in your city/town, and call on people to go there at 5:00 pm the day of the attack, or, in the case of an evening attack, the next day at 5:00 pm.
Post your event on Facebook.
Post your event at worldcantwait.net.



The State Dept did not hold a press briefing today.  They always get silent when Iraq goes bad, don't they?  They're supposed to be leading the mission of helping put together a political solution.  US President Barack Obama has said that is the only answer to end the crises in Iraq.

Isra' al-Rubei'i and Maggie Fick (Reuters) note, "The White House has pressed for an inclusive government but so far Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ignored calls from Sunnis and Kurds to step down in favour of a less polarising figure who would allow Sunnis a greater voice."  And the White House issued a readout of Barack's phone call yesterday to United Kingdom's Prime Minister David Cameron, "With regard to Iraq, the President and Prime Minister agreed to keep working with all parties to form an inclusive and representative government that can work to promote the interests of all Iraqis."

But the State Dept feels no need to update the American people on how the State Dept wastes taxpayer money in Iraq -- not with a press briefing, not with a Tweet.

For those who missed the weekend's events, let's move slowly.  The US Embassy in Baghdad issued a lengthy statement late Friday which included:


Any efforts to delay the government formation process, or to take advantage of this crisis through mechanisms outside the constitutional and legal framework, would only play into the hands of ISIL.  The Iraqi constitution provides a roadmap for holding the country together, including through peaceful resolution of territorial disputes, delegation of authority to regions and provinces, and a pathway for forming a new government that can unite the citizenry and draw on the nation’s vast resources to protect the population and expel ISIL from Iraqi lands.  All political and security measures must be pursued through these constitutional mechanisms.
The situation in Iraq today remains extremely serious.  Further delays or escalation by any side, no matter the pretext, cannot be justified and would disserve the Iraqi people, 14 million of whom recently risked their own lives to vote for a new government, and a better future.  Therefore, we call on all Iraqi leaders, from all political parties, and from all parts of the country, to act with seriousness and dispatch over these coming days to unite their efforts against ISIL and activate the process of forming a new government, with the first step being a new speaker of parliament, which triggers the timelines prescribed in the Iraqi constitution.

As they do, the United States will stand staunchly behind all the Iraqi people, through intensive diplomatic, political, and security measures to help defeat ISIL and advance the vision of a united, federal, and democratic Iraq, as defined in the Iraqi constitution.




There was near giddiness on Saturday in anticipation of the Sunday session of Parliament that would form a new government.  For example, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Brett McGurk Tweeted the following on Saturday:






Saturday, US Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Kurdistan Regional President Masoud Barzani:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice President
Washington, D.C.
July 12, 2014
Readout of Vice President Biden's Conversation with President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani
This morning, Vice President Biden spoke with Masoud Barzani, President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The Vice President and President agreed on the importance of forming a new Iraqi government as quickly as possible, consistent with the timelines set forth in Iraq’s constitution. They confirmed that one of the new government’s key tasks will be to address long-standing disputes between the central and regional governments consistent with the Iraqi constitution. Towards this end, the two leaders agreed that any territorial dispute arising due to an exigency from the current crisis must be resolved peacefully, in a fair and transparent manner, and in full consultation with all communities. They also agreed that any such process should be undertaken only pursuant to the mechanisms set forth in the Iraqi constitution. The Vice President offered his sympathy for Kurdish Peshmerga fighters recently killed in battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as well as all Iraqi soldiers fighting the same enemy, and he encouraged all political forces to unite against this serious threat to every component of Iraq.
 

So much hope the day before.

Your toy balloon has sailed in the sky
But now it must fall to the ground
Now your sad eyes reveal
Just how badly you feel
'Cause there is no easy way down.
-- "No Easy Way Down," written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, Carole's version first appears on Carole's album Writer (Dusty Springfield recorded it a year earlier on her classic Dusty in Memphis).



For Barack, there is no easy way down.  Sunday arrived and the session went bust.  As noted in Third's"Editorial: The Political Solution Nouri al-Maliki Can Offer:"


 Today the Iraqi Parliament met and the hopes were that a new government would be formed following April 30th's parliamentary elections.  That was the hope.
That was also the hope July 1st, the first time the Parliament met.
As Americans learned in 2009 (and 2010, and 2011, and 2012, and 2013 and 2014) there is hope and then there is reality.
All Iraq News notes some members of the Kurdistan Alliance, those hoping to arrive in Baghdad this morning by flying in, did not attend due to a dust storm at Erbil International Airport.  National Iraqi News Agency reports that 233 MPs did manage to attend today's session.  (That's 233 out of 328 elected.)
But the session that quickly started also quickly ended.  NINA notes acting Speaker of Parliament Mehdi al-Hafez announced the end of the session and that the Parliament would meet next on Tuesday.
The monkey wrench tossed into the proceedings?
Nouri al-Maliki.
Even trying to sugar coat it here -- AP notes destructive Nouri.
The two-term prime minister and thug made his support for the candidacy of Salim al-Jubouri (nominated by the Sunnis to be Speaker of Parliament) conditional upon the Sunnis backing Nouri (whom they loathe for good reason) for a third term of Prime Minister.  Outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq (a Sunni) told AP, "This will not happen as we do not accept that."
When the offer was refused, the session fell apart.  All Iraq News noted that Sadr MP Baha al-Araji even took to nominating Nouri for the post of Speaker of Parliament -- presumably in an attempt to prevent a third term as prime minister for Nouri.



Knowing the Sunnis do not and will not support him for a third term as prime minister, Nouri derailed the session by attempting to make his bloc's vote for Speaker of Parliament dependent upon the Sunnis supporting him for a third term.  (Speaker of Parliament is the first position that has to be selected, then president and then prime minister -- they are known as the three presidencies.)

These are documented facts.  It would be nice if the press could start to recognize them.  (The Iraqi press is aware of them and reporting the facts.)

Nouri al-Maliki's 'trick' or 'strategy' when he wants something?

Draw the process out in the hopes that his opponents will tire and give in.

He drug things out for over eight months in 2010 until he could get what he wanted.

He's really making the White House look like fools.

All Iraq News notes that US Vice President Joe Biden spoke on the phone yesterday with Sunni leader and previous Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi:


"For his part, Biden stressed the need to adhere to the constitutional timings in the nomination for the three presidencies and to form a government of national partnership able to eliminate the challenges facing Iraq, especially the security challenges posed by the ISIL with the need to adopt a new policy based on adopting citizens' needs and aspirations," the statement concluded.


As long as Nouri derails sessions and doesn't get called on it by the western press, he'll keep doing it.  His plan is to exhaust his opponents, that's what he always does.  The rabid dog has no new tricks and only an ignorant press stays silent as he does the same thing over and over.





Susannah George (Global Post) notes:

The Parliament is supposed to meet again on Tuesday.  If the western press hasn't found a voice by then (and the White House is silent as well), look for Nouri to continue his antics.  And remember, in 2010, he pulled this stunt for over 8 months in a row -- that was the political stalemate.


 In January of this year, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki dispatched his military to quell a protest in Ramadi, triggering a months-long bloody confrontation where Sunni militants, including the Islamic State under its earlier name of ISIL, took control of parts of Falluja and Ramadi while the Iraqi military heavily shelled what it said were militant targets. The violence killed hundreds and displaced more than a hundred thousand.
The Ramadi protest was the product of a nearly year-long, largely peaceful Sunni demonstration against the Iraqi government's perceived preferential treatment of the country's Shia. Maliki's heavy-handed response alienated Sunni populations further, deepended the country's sectarian fault lines, and set the stage for the Islamic State to make an unprecedented sweep across the country’s north just five months later, joining Iraq territories to conquered regions in Syria and plunging Iraq into one of the country’s worst security and political crises since the US-led invasion in 2003.

"Maliki was using aircraft against normal civilian people. He bombarded the entire city," says a man from Fallujah who asked to be called Ali. He said the indiscriminate, sustained violence eventually forced him and his family to flee to the relative safety of Iraq's Kurdistan region. But he said after watching the news from Syria unfold over the last three years, he wasn't surprised by Maliki's response.



Nouri's War Crimes continue as he continues to bomb the residential neighborhoods of Falluja.  Alsumaria reports 1 civilian died in the latest bombings and six adult civilians were left injured along with one child left injured.

Violence continues in Iraq today.  All Iraq News notes the Iraqi Air Force bombed northern Baghdad and killed 10 suspects, from the safety of the sky the military bombed what they hope were suspects in northern Tikrit leaving 3 people dead, a battle in Shook al-Reem Village left 8 men dead, the government announced that 71 suspects were killed in Babel Province,  and 7 corpses were dumped in al-Hidaya Village. Sinan Salaheddin (AP) adds a Baghdad car bombing killed at least 4 people and left at least twelve injured.   AFP reports, "Militants on Monday assaulted the final area of the Iraqi town of Dhuluiyah still outside their control, after tribesmen rejected an offer to let them enter uncontested, an official said."  Alsumaria notes a roadside bombing south of Baghdad left three people injured, a Baquba armed attack left 1 former Ba'ath leader dead, and an armed battle to the northeast of Baquba left 3 rebels dead.






















Posted by at

Saturday, July 12, 2014

ObamaCare on the rocks?

In "ObamaCare Halbig Court Decision," Hillary Is 44 has added an update which includes:


Update II: Well at least one person agrees with us – Obama’s law professor: There’s a “very high risk” that a federal court is going to gut ObamaCare. How big is Halbig? Big, big, big, says Lawrence Tribe from his feathery perch at Harvard:
Obamacare could take another spin in front of the Supreme Court – with vastly uncertain consequences.
Harvard legal scholar Laurence H. Tribe warned Tuesday of a “very high risk” that a crucial aspect of Obamacare – its government subsidies provision – could fall victim to a major legal challenge being mounted by conservatives. That is why, he also said, that the Supreme Court will almost certainly get “a second bite of the apple” in determining the fate of President Obama’s signature health law, with uncertain consequences.
Tribe, 72, a prominent proponent of the Affordable Care Act – who taught both Obama and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as constitutional law students at Harvard Law School years ago – warned of the ACA’s prospects for surviving intact during an exclusive, hour-long interview in New York with editors of The Fiscal Times. [snip]
“It looks like the panel is quite divided over what to do with what might [have been] an inadvertent error in the legislation or might have been quite deliberate,” Tribe said. “But it’s very specific that only people that go onto a state exchange are eligible for the subsidies. And if that becomes the ultimate holding of the U.S. Supreme Court, where this is likely to end up – that’s going to have massive practical implications for the administrability of Obamacare.”
“I don’t have a crystal ball,” Tribe said in discussing the law’s chances should it reach the Supreme Court for yet another critical review. “But I wouldn’t bet the family farm on this coming out in a way that preserves Obamacare.”
Tribe, whose new book, Uncertain Justice, takes a deep dive into the Roberts court, said the plaintiffs make a strong argument. The legislative language is clear, he said, that the subsidies apply to exchanges established by states. Yet in drafting the law, Tribe said the administration “assumed that state exchanges would be the norm and federal exchanges would be a marginal, fallback position” – though it didn’t work out that way for a plethora of legal, administrative and political reasons.

ObamaCare is a gift to the insurance industry, not to the people.

Wouldn't that be something if ObamaCare was struck down?


"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):

Friday, July 11, 2014.  Chaos and violence continue, the Kurds take over 2 oil fields, Kurdish Cabinent ministers boycott the Cabinet, a CIA base in the KRG gets some attention, Nouri's War Crimes continue, and much more.


The Philadelphia Inquirer's Trudy Rubin has never stopped covering Iraq.  The US media withdrawal following the 2008 elections did not include Trudy. She has continued to write columns on Iraq.  Sometimes I agree with her, sometimes I disagree.  But there is no doubting that she cares about Iraq and no doubting that she continues to pay attention to what's happening there.  She has a new column at the San Jose Mercury News entitled "To save Iraq, dump al-Maliki:"


Having ignored Iraq since 2009, the Obama team is now desperately trying to devise a way to prevent its total collapse -- and to roll back the jihadi state newly established on a third of Iraqi territory.
The only slim hope of doing either requires the ouster of the leader whom the United States has backed for nearly a decade, Iraq's paranoid prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

Al-Maliki's sectarian Shiite politics have driven Iraq's Sunnis -- a fifth of the country's population -- into the arms of the Islamic State movement (known as ISIS). This jihadi group recently seized control of the country's second-largest city, Mosul, and declared a "caliphate" spanning western Iraq and eastern Syria.


Clearly, I agree with her that thug Nouri needs to go.  Normally, I'd agree with her that they ignored Iraq.  But after calls from State Dept friends and a White House friend today, I'm not sure if they ignore or they just don't grasp.

Today, the White House was in a panic and wanted the State Dept to explain why Brett McGurk -- who's been in Iraq taking various meetings -- had not been passing on what was going on with the Kurds.

The White House was genuinely shocked that the Kurds do not come running when the US snaps its fingers or whistles.  The Kurds -- shocking -- are acting like people who can make up their own minds. Leadership will meet with US officials and have pleasant conversations with the US officials but they will determine what they will do.

Self-determination in the Kurdistan!!!!

It's so shocking to the White House.

The White House friend doesn't read the site but hears enough about it to regularly complain.  The State Dept friends do read it.

So this is where I'm confused.  Trudy Rubin says the administration has ignored Iraq and I've stated that myself.  But since 2012, we've been noting that KRG President Massoud Barzani was a leader on the world stage, that he had become more prominent than Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (also a Kurd) and that, unlike Jalal, Massoud doesn't have a collapsible spine.  He can and will stand up for something he believes in.

We've made some pretty solid calls on the KRG.  We noted, ahead of the elections last fall in the KRG, that the PUK would probably do poorly and that Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, First Lady of Iraq (wife of Jalal) would be held accountable if that happened.  And it did happen and she was.  We noted that video was needed of Jalal if the PUK was not going to lose big in the April 30th election and, sure enough, the PUK put out a video of Jalal just in time for voting.

Let's back up.  December 2012,  Iraqi President Jalal Talabani suffered a stroke.   The incident took place late on December 17, 2012 following Jalal's argument with Iraq's prime minister and chief thug Nouri al-Maliki (see the December 18, 2012 snapshot).  Jalal was admitted to Baghdad's Medical Center Hospital.    Thursday, December 20, 2012, he was moved to Germany.  He remains in Germany currently.


Photos like this were released twice.

jalal



Both sets were showing Jalal's right side.  Both sets didn't appear to show Jalal connecting with anyone (even in photos where people were around him).  He looked posed.  Social media made jokes about the film Weekend At Bernie's (Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman's characters manipulate Bernie's corpse throughout the film to make it appear Bernie is alive).

Ahead of the September KRG provincial elections, PUK party officials attempted to schedule a meet-up (in Germany) with Jalal.  The Talabani family would not allow it.  It is said the Talabani family demanded Jalal's photos appear on campaign material for those elections.  (It is also said that Hero did not make that request.)  The two dominant parties in the KRG forever had been Barazani's KDP and Talabani's PUK.  But in September, while the KDP remained dominant, the PUK found themselves surpassed by Goran.

The distant third place showing and anger that has been building meant that Hero was asked to (and did) resign as the leader of the PUK.

In the last years, before his stroke, Jalal has been a study in weakness.  He's been a joke.  He would, for example, thunder against the death penalty.  That's fine.  But he is required, as president of Iraq, to sign off on all executions.

So he would thunder he was against the death penalty (which put him at odds with most Iraqis who favor the death penalty) and then just slide the forms needing signatures over to one of his vice presidents who would sign them.

All his bluster and words were meaningless.

He never stopped one execution.  And, as he repeatedly represented himself as someone opposed to the death penalty in one interview after another, Iraqis were left with the impression that Jalal was a fake ass.

Jalal became an object of public ridicule.  His stroke actually saved him from some of the scorn he'd earned.  That's not a surprise to us.  We've talked about it here repeatedly, in real time, as it happened, including when he betrayed the Sunnis, other Kurds and some Shi'ites by 'creating' powers for himself that he didn't have so that he could refuse to forward the petition for a no-confidence vote (on Nouri) to the Parliament.

All of this and so much more the administration was vaguely aware of.  They just lacked the ability to synthesize it into a coherent view of what was taking place and so they were taken by surprise to how the Kurds responded to Nouri's malicious charges that they were aiding or in bed with terrorists.


Mohammed A. Salih (Christian Science Monitor) reports,  "Iraqi Kurdistan careened closer to independence today, with Kurdish forces advancing outside Kirkuk, which they seized last month, to seize two major Iraqi oil fields." Raheem Salman and Mustafa Mahmoud (Reuters) add "Kurdish politicians formally suspended their participation in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government.
[. . .] The Kurdish forces took over production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oilfields near the city of Kirkuk, the oil ministry in Baghdad said."  NINA notes the Bai Hassan oil field "produces about 195,000 barrels per day."

 On the issue of the Kurds walking out of the Cabinet, Al Jazeera notes:

 Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, said on Friday that Kurdish politicians would stop running their ministries, a day after they had announced a boycott of cabinet meetings.
The ministries affected include Zebari's foreign ministry, the trade ministry, the ministry of migration, the health ministry and the deputy premiership, the Reuters news agency reported.
Kurdish MPs would continue to attend the parliament, elected on April 30, Zebari said, adding the country risked falling apart if an inclusive government was not formed.

BBC News reminds the seizure and the walkout follows an earlier action, "They did so after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki accused the Kurds of harbouring extremists." Nabih Bulos (Los Angeles Times) also provides context, "The always-fraught relationship between the two sides escalated sharply when Maliki on Wednesday accused the Kurdish leadership of harboring Sunni Arab insurgents dominating large swaths of the country's northern and central provinces. The Sunni rebellion prompted Kurdish forces to occupy large tracts of Iraqi territory, including the oil-hub northern city of Kirkuk."

The Kurdistan Regional Government issued the following statement in response to Nouri's charges of terrorism:

Salahaddin, Kurdistan (KRP.org) – The Spokesperson of the Kurdistan Region Presidency responded to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s accusation against the KRG.
“He [Nouri al-Maliki] has become hysterical and has lost his balance. He is doing everything he can to justify his failures and put the blame on others for these failures,” read the statement.
The Spokesperson added that Erbil, which Maliki has accused of harboring terrorists, has always been a refuge for the oppressed, including Nouri al-Maliki himself.
“Kurdistan is proud of the fact that Erbil has always served as refuge for oppressed people, including yourself when you fled the former dictatorship. Now Erbil is a refuge for people fleeing from your dictatorship. ISIS and other groups have no place in Erbil, they stay with you. It was you who gave Iraqi land and the assets of six army divisions to ISIS.”
The statement demanded that the Prime Minister apologize to the Iraqi people and step down. “You must apologize to the Iraqi people and step down. You have destroyed the country and someone who has destroyed the country cannot save the country from crises.”


As for the two oil fields?  The KRG issued the following statement on today's events:


Erbil, Kurdistan Region (MNR.KRG.org) - This morning, members of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Kirkuk Oil Protection Forces moved to secure the oil fields of Bai Hassan and the Makhmour area, after learning of orders by officials in the federal Ministry of Oil in Baghdad to sabotage the recent mutually-agreed pipeline infrastructure linking the Avana dome with the Khurmala field.
The nearby Bai Hassan field and the other fields located in Makhmour district are now safely under KRG management. The KRG expects production at these fields to continue normally. Staff at the North Oil Company that previously operated these fields have been informed that from tomorrow they will be expected to cooperate with KRG management. Those who do not want to do so can leave.
The new pipeline linking Khurmala with Avana was designed and constructed with the express purpose of facilitating export from the Makhmour, Avana and Kirkuk area fields through the KRG pipeline network to help increase revenues for Iraqis, at a time of great need and at a time when most of the Iraq-Turkey pipeline is under ISIS control.
The new infrastructure was built and paid for by the KRG, working in full cooperation with officials and engineers at North Oil Company. However, the KRG learned on Thursday that some officials in the federal Ministry of Oil gave orders to a number of NOC staff to cease their cooperation with the KRG and to dismantle or render inoperable the valves on the new pipeline.
The Avana and Makhmour fields have been unable to export since March because the main Iraq-Turkey pipeline has been damaged by terrorist attacks. The main Iraq pipeline lies mostly within territory recently surrendered by the federal government to ISIS.
Despite the inability to export and the halt to refining at Beiji, the Avana and Makhmour fields were producing about 110,000 barrels of oil per day and utilising the associated gas to help with the operation of the LPG bottling plant in Kirkuk.
But instead of using the new KRG pipeline infrastructure to export the produced oil, officials at the NOC were ordered by Baghdad to re-inject the oil back into a small, disused field in Kirkuk. This politically motivated decision risked causing great damage to the field in question with a permanent loss of most of the oil that has been re-injected. It has also deprived the people of Iraq of much-needed oil export revenue.
From now on, production at the new fields under KRG control will be used primarily to fill the shortage of refined products in the domestic market. This will ease the burden on ordinary citizens caused by the failure of the federal authorities to protect the country's vital oil infrastructure in the region.
The KRG will also claim its Constitutional share of oil revenues derived from these fields to make up for the huge financial deficit triggered by the illegal withholding of the KRG’s 17 percent share of the federal budget by Baghdad.
The KRG has been and always will be open to cooperation and coordination with Baghdad, according to the rights and responsibilities of the Regions as outlined under the Iraqi Constitution. The KRG still hopes that Baghdad climbs down from its policy of punitive political and economic sanctions against the citizens of Kurdistan.This morning’s events have shown that the KRG is determined to protect and defend Iraq’s oil infrastructure whenever it is threatened by acts of terrorism or, as in this case, politically motivated sabotage.

EFE notes Iraq's Ministry of Oil released a statement declaring, ""(T)his irresponsible behavior ... violates the constitution and the national wealth, and disregards the federal authorities and threatens national unity."

One immediate effect?  Iraq no longer has a Foreign Minister.  Hamdi Alkhashali and Michael Martinez (CNN) report:

 In a possible portent of growing factional conflict, a leading Kurdish minister was removed from Iraq's government, and the Kurdish semi-autonomous government took over two oilfields in the north, officials said Friday.
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, the face of Iraqi diplomacy for a more than a decade, was removed Friday by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, two senior Iraqi government officials said.

There are reports that Nouri's replaced Zebari.

No, he really hasn't and can't.  Were he to nominate someone -- questionable with Iraq's caretaker state currently -- that person couldn't be confirmed because that requires the Parliament.

Now he did something similar in a previous time when a government hadn't yet formed.  When he did that before, he took someone already confirmed by Parliament to the Cabinet and just taxed that person with additional duties and an additional office.

Deputy Prime Minister Hussain Shahristani has never been confirmed to head a Ministry so it's a stretch to call him "acting" or "interim" anything.  You can call him "illegal" or "unconstitutional."  But that's about it.


The news that Kurds were not robots who awaited US command shook the administration up so badly there was no State Dept press briefing.  However, the State Dept did issue a follow up on Wednesday that we'll note now.


Rewards for Justice: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi


Taken Question
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
July 9, 2014
Question: Is there a Rewards for Justice offer for information on Al Baghdadi?

 Answer: Yes. Since October 2011 the Rewards for Justice program has advertised on its web site (www.RewardsForJustice.net) a reward offer of up to $10 million for information leading to the location, arrest, or conviction of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Al-Baghdadi also is known as Abu Du’a.
This RFJ reward offer remains active and is currently posted on the RFJ website at http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/abu_dua.html.


Who?

We're not chasing down all the nonsense.  We've been around long enough to remember all the false cries of 'we got him!' by the Bully Boy Bush administration.  There are various leaders of various wings of the elements fighting the occupation government in Iraq.  Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the leader of the Islamic State (like AFP, we'll refer to it here as "IS" unless we're quoting someone).

And the main reason we're noting the State Dept statement above is because a Mother Jones friend asked/demanded that Jeanna McLaughlin's "Was Iraq's Top Terrorist Radicalized at a US-Run Prison?" McLaughlin's article is about al-Bagdadi


 James Skylar Gerrond, a former US Air Force security forces officer and a compound commander at Camp Bucca in 2006 and 2007, says that he believes Baghdadi's stay at the prison contributed to his radicalization—or at least bolstered his extremism. After Baghdadi proclaimed the Islamic State a new nation and himself its leader, Gerrond tweeted, "Many of us at Camp Bucca were concerned that instead of just holding detainees, we had created a pressure cooker for extremism." Gerrond is now a civilian working for the Department of Defense.
"Like many Iraq vets, I've been following the situation with ISIS for the last several weeks and trying to understand why things are falling apart so badly in the region," Gerrond tells Mother Jones in an email. "When some of Baghdadi's personal history started to come out, such as the fact that he was detained at Camp Bucca around the same time I was deployed there, I started to reflect on my deployment and what the conditions were at the facility during that time."




Meanwhile Nouri wants lethal US drones over Iraq.  Barack's given him that -- although not control of them.  Barack thinks that somehow leaves him in control.  Patrick Cockburn (Independent) weighs in:

The US is pleased with the way drones have worked in Yemen and Waziristan against small groups of Al Qaeda-associated groups. But these isolated gangs are not a serious threat compared with what is brewing in Syria and Iraq, where there will soon be tens of thousands of trained, well-equipped and fanatical militants under a strong central command.

But there is one important aspect of drone warfare to which Washington has not given enough attention. Drones have hitherto been used largely against ill-equipped tribes people in isolated parts of the world and not against well-organised groups such as Isis.  The latter may not be able to do much against drones at the moment they strike, but it will certainly retaliate later against American or European targets. 


On the drones, Mitchell Prothero (McClatchy Newspapers) reports:

 A supposedly secret but locally well-known CIA station on the outskirts of Irbil’s airport is undergoing rapid expansion as the United States considers its options in Iraq, where Sunni militants have seized control in many regions.
Western contractors hired to expand the facility and a local intelligence official confirmed the construction project, which is visible from the main highway linking Erbil to Mosul, the city whose fall June 10 triggered the Islamic State’s sweep through northern and central Iraq. Residents around the airport say they can hear daily what they suspect are U.S. drones taking off and landing at the facility.


Now Patrick Cockburn's not the only one questioning the 'wisdom' of Barack's 'plan.'  Mary E. O'Leary (New Haven Register) interviews Senator Chris Murphy and reports:



Murphy said the civil war raging in Syria and Iraq has no respect for the boudaries that were put together by, “as someone said smarter than me, ‘drawn by diplomats after World War I who were lying to each other.’”

He said on the one hand, the U.S. has cast its lot “with a Shiite-Iranian proxy leader (Nouri al-Maliki) fighting a Sunni insurgency. On the other side of the conflict, we have cast our lot with a Sunni insurgency fighting against a Shiite-Iranian proxy leader. We are literally on both sides of the same fight right now.”



As the US continues to (at the very least) indulge tyrant Nouri al-Maliki, Nouri continues his War Crime of collective punishment by bombing the residential neighborhoods of Falluja resulting in 4 dead civilians and seven more injured.  That's today.  For a look at the bigger numbers, let's drop back to yesterday's snapshot:


On the topic of tyrant Nouri, NINA reports Falluja General Hospital released numbers today on the dead and injured from Nouri's bombings of Falluja's residential neighborhoods (which is legally defined as a War Crime).  Since January 1st, Nouri has killed 542 civilians in Falluja and injured 1880 more.
Yet, Nouri keeps getting more bombs and missiles from the US government -- in violation of treaties, laws and the Leahy Amendment.
After the hospital's announcement, another of Nouri's bombings killed 3 civilians in Falluja and left four more injured.

Al Mada reports that Nouri's bombing of residential neighborhoods in Falluja is increasing -- to the point that people are having to bury their loved ones (killed by these bombings) in local parks, public squares or keep the remains in their freezer while they wait for some form of security or peace to return.

When that will happen, no one knows.  National Iraqi News Agency reports a Jurfis-Sakhar battle left 2 Iraqi soldiers dead and three more injured, security forces say they killed 4 suspects in an aerial bombing of Muqdadiyah, an Iraqi aerial bombing of Jurfist-Sakhar killed 20 suspects, and a Kirkuk suicide bomber took his own life and the lives of 3 Peshmerga.  AFP notes a Kirkuk roadside bombing and suicide car bombing left 28 people dead and twenty-five more injured. This as Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com) explains, "Human Rights Watch reported that Iraqi forces and Shi’ite militias killed at least 255 Sunni prisoners last month and considers the executions a war crime or possibly a crime against humanity. The group collected evidence from five prisons massacres in the Mosul area, but the government said the allegations were inaccurate. However, there is evidence that Iraq has been killing prisoners in other regions, such as in Hashimiya and in Baquba during the same time period."

Moving over to veterans issues, yesterday's snapshot noted a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing.  Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America issued the following press release regarding the hearing:


 Mother of Marine Who Died By Suicide Takes Fight To Washington

CONTACT: Gretchen Andersen (212) 982-9699 or press@iava.org

Mother of Marine Who Died By Suicide Takes Fight To Washington 
Susan Selke, mother of Clay Hunt, testifies before Congress, stands with IAVA, HVAC Chairman Miller to introduce The Clay Hunt SAV Act

WASHINGTON, DC (July 10, 2014) – Susan Selke, mother of Marine veteran Clay Hunt who died by suicide in 2011, today will stand with members of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Congressional leaders from both parties, and House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL) as he introduces a suicide prevention bill that is named after her late son. This morning, Susan testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee alongside other families, sharing her gut-wrenching story of losing her son to suicide three years ago. As a shocking 22 veterans die each day to suicide, and failures at the VA continue to emerge, the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention For American Veterans Act (Clay Hunt SAV Act), is historic legislation that addresses veteran suicide and improves access to quality mental health care. 
“Had legislation like this existed years ago I believe Clay would be here with us today,” said Susan Selke, mother of Clay Hunt. “All veterans, but especially those struggling with invisible injuries, should not have to go through red tape to get the mental health care they need and very much deserve. They should not have to jump through hoops to get an appointment, or see a doctor. I’m here in Washington because I don’t want any mother, father, sister, brother or friend to have to experience another suicide. Our country is at a crossroads right now as 22 veterans die by suicide each day, at a time when more of our servicemembers are returning home. We need an urgent solution to this emergency and this bill is the first step. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle must get behind our veterans and pass this bill.” 
Susan’s powerful testimony was carried live on C-SPAN3 and can be found in written form here.
“Clay was a friend, leader and patriot. And we’re all here today to honor his memory by carrying on his urgent fight for better care for veterans. Clay led this fight with IAVA in Washington years ago, and his mother is here now to finish it. Susan is a true hero. And IAVA members from across America are here today to have her back. Susan’s courage and determination should inspire all Americans to action,” said IAVA CEO and Founder Paul Rieckhoff. “We salute Chairman Miller for his strong leadership today and throughout the last few years. He has listened to IAVA members and made suicide a top priority. We also salute Congressman Tim Walz. As a vet himself, he’s always stood by IAVA’s veterans.” 
Rieckhoff continued, “The Clay Hunt SAV Act will change thousands of lives for the better by providing access to top-quality mental health care. We thank the Chairman for his courageous leadership in addressing this issue. With work days on the Congressional calendar dwindling, we urge Congress to move swiftly to pass this legislation before August recess. Taking this step to reverse the suicide trend among our veterans should be a priority, not a political fight. Congress must pass this bill as soon as possible. Our veterans cannot afford to wait for summer recesses and election campaigns. They deserve action now.”
Rieckhoff added: “Combating suicide remains IAVA’s top issue in 2014 as 22 veterans die by suicide a day. In IAVA’s 2014 Member Survey, 47% of respondents said they know at least one Iraq or Afghanistan vet who has attempted suicide, and 40% of respondents know a veteran that has died by suicide. The men and women who served our country and protected us abroad now need our help back home. IAVA has answered the call, and we urge more lawmakers to join us. We also call on the President to respond to this issue. Despite months of the VA scandal, and repeated requests, he has still not met with IAVA and leading veterans groups or answered our calls for an executive order on veterans suicide. It’s time for the Commander in Chief to step up and show our veterans he is serious about our issues.”
“The key to curbing the epidemic of veteran suicides is improving the accessibility and effectiveness of mental health care available to our returning heroes,” said Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “Over the past seven years, VA's mental health care staff and budget have grown by nearly 40 percent, but the fact remains, veterans are still committing suicide at a frightening pace. This slow-motion national tragedy is likely to continue as long as the Department of Veterans Affairs sticks to its normal, business-as-usual approach of treating veterans where and how VA wants as opposed to where and how veterans want. The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act will help create a greater accounting of available services and an enhanced  community approach to delivering veterans suicide prevention and mental health care treatment, which is why I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting it.”
“One veteran lost to suicide is one too many,” said Rep. Tim Walz, the highest ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in Congress. “While the wars overseas may be ending, all too often our heroes return only to face a war of their own at home. While there is no bill that will completely end veteran suicide, this comprehensive, bipartisan measure is a step in the right direction. I’m proud to have worked with Chairman Miller, Rep. Duckworth, a combat veteran herself, and the veteran advocates at IAVA to introduce this bipartisan, important legislation.”
The Clay Hunt SAV Act:
Increases Access to Mental Health Care: 
• Amends the requirements for reviewing the discharge characterizations of individuals diagnosed with PTSD or TBI.
• Requires a centralized website of all of the mental health care services available within each Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN) which will be updated at least every 90 days. 
Increases Capacity to Meet the Demand for Mental Health Care: 
• Authorizes the VA to conduct a student loan repayment pilot program aimed at recruiting and retaining psychiatrists. 
• Requires the DoD and National Guard to review the staffing requirements for Directors of Psychological Health in each state.  
Improves the Quality of Care for Troops and Veterans: 
• Requires a yearly evaluation, conducted by a third party, of all mental health care and suicide prevention practices and programs at the DoD and VA.
Provides Continuous, Seamless Care to Troops and Veterans: 
• Establishes a strategic relationship between the VA and the National Guard to facilitate a greater continuity of care between the National Guard and the VA. 
• Authorizes a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the transition of care for PTSD and TBI between the DoD and the VA.  
Develops Community Support for Veterans: 
• Establishes a peer support and community outreach pilot program to assist transitioning servicemembers with accessing VA mental health care services. 
The Campaign to Combat Suicide was designed to raise public awareness of the suicide crisis, demand Congressional action and a Presidential Executive Order to start to reverse the suicide trend.
As part of its Campaign to Combat Suicide, all year long IAVA will activate every element of its membership, programs and partners – both on-the-ground and online. IAVA will incorporate this effort into everything we do from our monthly VetTogethers to our over 500,000-person strong social media community. We will empower our almost 300,000 members and supporters to serve as a ground force for outreach, support and advocacy. And we will travel the country, turning public attention to the issue of veteran suicide and promoting solutions.
A press event will be held at the House Triangle at 2:30 pm. 
Note to media: Email press@iava.org and call 212-982-9699 for requests to interview IAVA leadership.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org) is the nation's first and largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization representing veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and has more than 270,000 Member Veterans and civilian supporters nationwide. Celebrating its tenth year, IAVA recently received the highest rating - four-stars - from Charity Navigator, America's largest charity evaluator.
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Emmy nominations were announced Thursday.  It became the topic for theme posts.  Cedric's "He was almost Emmy nominated" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! HE WANTS TO GO HOLLYWOOD!" (joint-post) dealt with a nominated short, Marcia's "The Emmy f**k up -- an Academy Award nominee can't also be an Emmy nominee" dealt with a film already nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary now wrongly nominated for an Emmy, Ruth covered nonfiction in "Cosmos is the best nonfiction series," Isaiah covered animated TV show with "The Second Run (and why Bob's Burgers should win)," Kat noted the importance of sound and visuals in "Emmy category that shouldn't be overlooked," Ann noted that only one African-American (Jackee) has ever won the best supporting actress (comedy) Emmy and that there's no person of color nominated this year "How White Was My Emmys," Ann noted she was building on Betty's "Where are the women of color in comedy?," Mike survedy the tired best actor comedy nominees and then focused on the supporting actors with "Where's Andy Samberg?," Rebecca looked at best guest star in a drama with "5 worthy nominees ... and jane fonda," Trina focused on the non-comedy in the nominees for best comedy in "Emmy nominees for Outstanding Comedy" and Stan focused on best actress in a drama with "Give the Emmy to Kerry" Washington for her performance on Scandal.























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