Saturday, May 03, 2014

The Other Woman

We saw "The Other Woman" last night.  It really is hilarious (Stan reviewed it last week).

How funny is it?

I saw it with two angry and sullen teenage boys.

Who couldn't stop laughing once the movie started.

It was my daughter's turn to pick the Friday night film.

She did not want to see the new Spider-Man.  She said we'd seen enough superheros movies and we would be seeing the new X-Men when it came out.  She pointed out we saw an action movie last week ("Brick Mansion") and it was her pick.

She had to make this argument because, as soon as she said "The Other Woman," her brothers started groaning.

But she just argued a case. It didn't make them happier.

My sons looked at me and I said, "She doesn't even need to give a reason.  This is her turn to pick and she's picked."

Oh, how they whined.

At the concession stand, as we found our seats, throughout the previews . . .

And yet they laughed.

They laughed loudly and over and over.

The film stars Cameron Diaz who falls for a man and finds out he's married to Leslie Mann.

Mann has no friends she can confide in so she ends up talking to Diaz.  The two form an unlikely friendship which only gets stronger when they learn that the man has cheated on both of them with Kate Upton.

Now they want revenge.

It's very funny. 

It reminds me more of "The Wedding Crashers" than "Bridesmaids."

I thought "Bridesmaids" was funny but also thought it was a little lame and soggy.

There are no weak moments in "The Other Woman."

Leslie Mann is very good in the film but Cameron Diaz is hilarious.

We may forget that.  Possibly because every time you turn around "There's Something About Mary" is on TV and we may be taking her for granted.  But Cameron's hilarious.

Cameron's made a variety of comedy classics including "Bad Teacher," "The Mask," "There's Something About Mary,"  "The Holiday," and "The Sweetest Thing" (the last one is a film that plays much better today than it did when it came out).

"The Other Woman" belongs on her list of comedy classics.

It's so weird to look back to "The Mask" now and realize the critical reaction which was one of shock that this former model could be so good.



"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):

Friday, May 2, 2014.  Chaos and violence continue, Nouri is the great unwanted, corpses on the streets of Baghdad, Marie Harf spins the elections, tomorrow is World Press Day, Barack's war on journalism is noted,  and much more.


Let's start in the United States with this from The Feminist Majority Foundation:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2, 2014
Contacts: 
Stephanie Hallett - 310.556.2500,
Brooke Hofhenke - bhofenke@feminist.org

ELEANOR SMEAL, MAVIS AND JAY LENO, DOLORES HUERTA, AND OTHER WILL SPEAK AT #STOPTHESULTANRALLY IN BEVERLY HILLS

Los Angeles, CA – The Feminist Majority, which has pulled its annual event from the Beverly Hills Hotel — owned by the Sultan of Brunei — will hold a rally at noon on May 5 across from the hotel, to urge the Sultan to rescind a Taliban-like Brunei penal code, that includes the stoning to death of gay men and lesbians and the public flogging of women who have abortions.
The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, and the Brunei Investment Agency, owns the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Bel-Air Hotel and other Dorchester Collection Properties. FMF pulled its Global Women’s Rights Awards, co-chaired by Jay and Mavis Leno, from the Beverly Hills Hotel and has launched a massive petition drive and social media campaign calling on the government of Brunei to immediately rescind the new code and asking the United Nations to take action if these laws go into effect as planned.
WHAT: Coalition of Women’s Rights, LGBT and Human Rights Groups Rally
WHEN: Monday May 5, 2014 , 12:00PM – 1:00PM
WHERE: In the Park across from the Beverly Hills Hotel (Sunset Boulevard between North Canon and North Beverly Drive). Street Parking on North Canon, North Beverly Drive and Lomitas Avenue.
WHO: (List in Formation)
  • Jay Leno and Mavis Leno, Board Member, Feminist Majority Foundation
  • Eleanor Smeal, President, Feminist Majority Foundation
  • Andreas Meyer, President, Equality California EQCA
  • Lorri L. Jean, CEO Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Services Center
  • Dolores Huerta, President, Dolores Huerta Foundation/Co-Founder, United Farm Workers
  • Vince Wong, Vice Chair, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
  • Betsy Butler, California Women’s Law Center
  • Ada Briceno, Secretary-Treasurer, UNITE HERE Local 11
  • Katherine Spillar, Executive Editor, Ms. magazine

###



Let's stay in the US to move over to the topic of the VA and Eric Shinseki.  I'm no fan of the VA Secretary and have stated -- since it turned out he knew months before the fall of 2009 that college veterans would not be receiving their Post-9/11 GI Bill checks -- that Shinseki needs to resign.  Scott Bronstein, Drew Griffin and Neili Black (CNN) report today:

He's the leader of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which runs the VA hospitals where dozens of U.S. veterans died waiting for simple medical screenings.
Yet in the six months that CNN has been reporting on these delays, Eric Shinseki has been silent. And he hasn't spoken out on the matter to any other news organization, either.
Early Friday evening -- after this story appeared on CNN.com -- the VA gave a response, via spokesman Drew Brookie. He explained that the VA's inspector general's office (referred to as OIG), which is probing the matter, "advised VA against providing information that could potentially compromise their ongoing investigation at the Phoenix VA Health Care system."


I don't disagree with Shinseki's position.  But what's alleged to have taken place at the Phoenix VA? Dropping back to the April 9th snapshot to note this from that day's House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing:



US House Rep Jeff Miller:  I had hoped that during this hearing, we would be discussing the concrete changes VA had made -- changes that would show beyond a doubt that VA had placed the care our veterans receive first and that VA's commitment to holding any employee who did not completely embody a commitment to excellence through actions appropriate to the employee's failure accountable. Instead, today we are faced with even with more questions and ever mounting evidence that despite the myriad of patient safety incidents that have occurred at VA medical facilities in recent memory, the status quo is still firmly entrenched at VA.  On Monday -- shortly before this public hearing --  VA provided evidence that a total of twenty-three veterans have died due to delays in care at VA medical facilities.  Even with this latest disclosure as to where the deaths occurred, our Committee still don't know when they may have happened beyond VA's stated "most likely between 2010 and 2012."  These particular deaths resulted primarily from delays in gastrointestinal care.  Information on other preventable deaths due to consult delays remains unavailable.   Outside of the VA's consult review, this committee has reviewed at least eighteen preventable deaths that occurred because of mismanagement, improper infection control practices and a whole host -- a whole host --  of other maladies plaguing the VA health care system nationwide.  Yet, the department's stonewall has only grown higher and non-responsive. There is no excuse for these incidents to have ever occurred.  Congress has met every resource request that VA has made and I guarantee that if the department would have approached this committee at any time to tell us that help was needed to ensure that veterans received the care they required, every possible action would have been taken to ensure that VA could adequately care for our veterans.  This is the third full committee hearing that I have held on patient safety  and I am going to save our VA witnesses a little bit of time this morning by telling them what I don't want to hear.  I don't want to hear the rote repetition of  -- and I quote --  "the department is committed to providing the highest quality care, which our veterans have earned and that they deserve.  When incidents occur, we identify, mitigate, and prevent additional risks.  Prompt reviews prevent similar events in the future and hold those persons accountable."  Another thing I don’t want to hear is -- and, again, I quote from numerous VA statements, including a recent press statement --  "while any adverse incident for a veteran within our care is one too many," preventable deaths represent a small fraction of the veterans who seek care from VA every year.  What our veterans have truly "earned and deserve" is not more platitudes and, yes, one adverse incident is indeed one too many.  Look, we all recognize that no medical system is infallible no matter how high the quality standards might be.  But I think we all also recognize that the VA health care system is unique because it has a unique, special obligation not only to its patients -- the men and women who honorably serve our nation in uniform -- but also to  the hard-working taxpayers of the United States of America.



Yesterday's snapshot covered Wednesday's Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing and included:


The big disgrace that is the VA's Dr. Robert Petzel told the Committee, "I need to say that to date, we found no evidence of a secret list.  And we have found no patients who have died because they were on a wait list."
Did you grasp what just happened because the press didn't?
I've heard Jen Psaki, Marie Harf, Victoria Nuland, Jay Carney, Robert Gibbs, Dana Perino and many more explain, when asked, that they couldn't what?
Remember?
Pick any controversial and embarrassing topic and what do they say, "I'm sorry.  I can't comment on an ongoing investigation."
But Petzel didn't say that -- despite it being an ongoing investigation.
So, in fact, we now know that they can comment on an ongoing investigation, they just don't want to.


Petzel should have spoken about the issue. If the incriminated are going to be allowed to spin in the future, they're going to have to stop also claiming that an ongoing investigation means they can't comment.  As for Shinseki?  His position is consistent.  He is not supposed to comment on ongoing investigations and he hasn't.

I don't slam him for that.  However, there's another issue.  Yesterday, the office of House Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Jeff Miller issued the following:

Chairman Miller Writes Sec. Shinseki About Delayed Action to Preserve Phoenix VAHCS Evidence, Shredded Waiting List

May 1, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, Chairman Miller wrote to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki regarding the department’s delayed actions to preserve possible evidence related to allegations that veterans seeking care at the Phoenix VA Health Care System may have died while awaiting treatment and may have been placed on a secret waiting list. Chairman Miller’s letter also addressed VA’s admitted shredding of a waiting list department officials have said may be the “secret” list cited by Phoenix VA Health Care System whistleblowers.
View the letter here.
Related
Chairman Miller Preservation Request to Sec. Shinseki
VA Litigation Hold (Preservation Order)




Tomorrow is World Press Freedom Day.  The United Nations notes:

 World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO's General Conference. Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day. It is an opportunity to:


  • celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom;
  • assess the state of press freedom throughout the world;
  • defend the media from attacks on their independence;
  • pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty. 


The focus this year is on three inter-related themes: the media’s importance in development; the safety of journalists and the rule of law; and the sustainability and integrity of journalism. An international conference will be held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 5-6 May.

The annual UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize ceremony will take place on 2 May 2014 at UNESCO Headquarters.


Reporters Without Borders' 2014 World Press Freedom Index covers 180 countries.  The top five countries for press freedom?  Finland, then the Netherlands, Norway. Luxembourg and Adnorra. Out of 180 countries, Iraq comes in at 153, which is really bad.  Also very disappointing is alleged beacon of hope and freedom, the United States, comes in at number 46.   Of the US, the report notes:

Freedom of information is too often sacrificed to an overly broad and abusive interpretation of national security needs, marking a disturbing retreat from democratic practices.  Investigative journalism often suffers as a result. 
This has been the case in the United States (46th), which fell 13 places, one of the most significant declines, amid increased efforts to track down whistleblowers and the sources of leaks.  The trial and conviction of Private Bradley Manning and the pursuit of NSA analyst Edward Snowden were warnings to all those thinking of assisting in the disclosure of sensitive information that would clearly be in the public interest.
US journalists were stunned by the Department of Justice's seizure of Associated Press phone records without warning in order to identify the source of the CIA leak.  It served as a reminder of the urgent need for a "shield law" to protect the confidentiality of journalists' sources at the federal level.  The revival of the legislative process is little consolation for James Risen of The New York Times, who is subject to a court order to testify against a former CIA employee accused of leaking classified information.  And less still for Barrett Brown, a young freelance journalist facing 105 years in prison in connection with the posting of information that hackers obtained from Statfor, a private intelligence company with close ties to the federal government. 


Last week, Trevor Timm (Boing Boing) noted the hypocrisy of an administration that persecutes Risen while at the same time tries to present itself as a world wide advocate for a free press:


The US State Department announced the launch of its third annual "Free the Press" campaign today, which will purportedly highlight "journalists or media outlets that are censored, attacked, threatened, or otherwise oppressed because of their reporting." A noble mission for sure. But maybe they should kick off the campaign by criticizing their own Justice Department, which on the very same day, has asked the Supreme Court to help them force Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times reporter James Risen into jail.

Sunday, RT reported: on the State Dept's nonsensical "Free the Press" campaign:

But, apparently, the US' own crackdown on journalists, particularly those involved in whistleblowing, is a completely “separate category” to be highlighted by such an event, as Jen Psaki, the spokesperson for the US State Department made clear.
“We highlight, as we often do, where we see issues with media freedom around the world,” Psaki told Matthew Lee of the Associated Press, who asked if she believes there are some problems with press freedom in the US that should be discussed as well.
“Otherwise harassed?” Lee asked. “Does that include those who may have been targeted, harassed, imprisoned, or otherwise, whatever, by the United States Government?”



Press TV notes the hypocrisy here.  This week in Berkeley, the 2014 Logan Investigative Reporting Symposium was held.  James Risen was among those attending.  Sharyl Attkisson reports:


Risen, who faces the threat of jail time for refusing to turn ​over information about a confidential source, was one of ​the featured speakers. He is winner of the 2006 Pulitzer ​Prize for National Reporting and the Goldsmith Prize for ​Investigative Reporting.
"A Rip Van Winkle today would be shocked with what we accept in society and what we think of as normal," Risen told the audience of several hundred investigative journalists and Berkeley journalism graduate students. He said that there's been a "fundamental change in society" since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and that Americans have given up civil liberties and press freedoms "slowly and incrementally."
"We've been too accepting of rules and mores of, first, the Bush administration and, now, the Obama administration. We have to stand up and begin to fight back . . . we need to think about how to challenge the government in the way we’re supposed to challenge the government."
"[The Obama administration] want[s] to create an interstate highway for reporting in which there are police all along telling you to stay on that highway. As long as we accept this interstate highway of reporting, we are enabling and complicit in what’s happening to society and the press," said Risen.

For more on Risen, you can see this column by Dina Rasor (Truthout) and, to be clear, her unnamed source offering an excuse for Barack is  either delusional or a liar.  The lies and delusions never end.  Take Barack's Wikipedia article.  Specifically this section.

In late 1988, Obama entered Harvard Law School. He was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review at the end of his first year,[40] and president of the journal in his second year.[34][41] During his summers, he returned to Chicago, where he worked as an associate at the law firms of Sidley Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990.[42] After graduating with a J.D. magna cum laude[43] from Harvard in 1991, he returned to Chicago.[40]  


Why do they have to lie?

This is part of what infuriates so many people, Barack rises from a chair and someone runs out of the room exclaiming he just won a marathon.

No, he just got out of a chair, calm your ass down.

Did you spot the lie in the Wikipedia passage?

This is the lie, if you didn't catch it:


During his summers, he returned to Chicago, where he worked as an associate at the law firms of Sidley Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990.[42]


No, he didn't.

He didn't have a law degree until 1991 so he wasn't an associate in 1989 or 1990.

I don't know what's more insulting, the lie or the liar's belief that people were stupid enough for him/her to get away with it.


An associate is an attorney, a practicing attorney.  If people are confused they can think of Mike on the USA network show Suits.  Mike is an associate.  Mike didn't get a law degree, he got kicked out of law school.  He has concealed this fact to keep his job.  Why? Because he can't be an associate without a law degree. This is not a minor thread that's raised and then forgotten but a key detail in season one, in season two and in season three.  When season four kicks off June 11th, it will still be a key detail.

I have no idea why the whoring never ends in the Cult of St. Barack but I do know an associate needs a law degree.

Press freedom requires a functioning press, one able to stop licking Barack's frenulum.  Ron Fournier (National Journal) notes:


The typical White House reporter considers President Obama's team the most secretive in memory, stingier with information than the tight-lipped Bush White House and, according to a Politico survey, prone to lie. The press corps also is relatively inexperienced, with 39 percent on the beat five years or less, and nearly 60 percent in their first decade.
Most of these extraordinary reporters were never stonewalled by President Clinton's team, deceived by Bush's advisers or bullied by any of their predecessors. I was. Yes, I'm pretty old. With age comes the experience and arrogance required to advise the hard-working White House press corps. Here are five suggestions (confession: I didn't always abide by them while on the beat, but wish I had): 
Don't let the White House set the ground rules. Everything a White House official does, says or writes is on the record, meaning it can be reported at your discretion, unless you determine that it's in your audience's best interest to adjust the rules.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is using the day to call for the release of all imprisoned journalists and notes these "Ten journalists to free from prison:"


1) Avaz Zeynally in Azerbaijan
2) Ahmed Humaidan in Bahrain
3) Ilham Tohti in China
4) Mahmoud Abou Zeid in Egypt
5) Dawit Isaac in Eritrea 
6) Reeyot Aleum in Ethiopia 
7) Siamak Ghaderi in Iran 
8) Fusun Erdogan in Turkey 
9) Muhammad Bekjanov in Uzbekistan 
10) Nguyen Van Hai (also known by his pen name Dieu Cay) in Vietnam


CPJ's 2014 Global Impunity Index notes:

Fresh violence and a failure to prosecute old cases kept Iraq, Somalia, and the Philippines in the three worst slots on the Index. Iraq, with 100 percent impunity in 100 cases, is at number one, a spot it has held since the survey’s inception in 2008. Iraq’s journalists, targeted in record-breaking numbers since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, saw a respite in 2012, the first year no journalists were killed in relation to their work. However, a resurgence of militant groups across the country propelled a spike to 10 journalist killings last year—nine of them murders.

On the topic of Iraq and the press, Nina- Iraq launched--  it's a media site geared towards Iraqi women.  In one article, Raya Abu Gulal observes:

Iraqi women have enjoyed fundamental women’s rights since the late 1950s. This made Iraq one of the first nations to uphold modern standards of women’s rights in the Middle East.
In Iraq, women continue to face security threats across the country. These include random attacks by extremist groups and honour crimes. Moreover, various reports show that many Iraqi women who wish to participate in the political process are facing threats and kidnappings. Lack of security and initiatives from extremist groups have proved to be the main obstacles preventing the advancement of women’s rights in the country.

Iraqi women have had to repeatedly fight off attempts to destroy their rights in the time since the illegal war kicked off with the 2003 invasion.  Monday, former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote at the Guardian:


When Iraqi voters go to the polls tomorrow they are likely to endorse parties that plan to legalise child marriage at nine years old. Based on Shia Islamic jurisprudence, what is called the Ja'afari personal status law was approved by the current Iraqi cabinet eight weeks ago. It describes girls as reaching puberty at nine, and therefore ready for marriage. The current legal age is 18.

This barbaric and regressive law would grant fathers sole guardianship of their female children from the age of two, as well as legalising marital rape. It has horrified Iraqi women and they publicly declared last month's International Women's Day an Iraqi day of mourning in response to the worrying developments. Hassan al-Shimari, the Iraqi justice minister who proposed the draft law, is a member of the small Islamist Fadhila (Virtue) party, which is allied with the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who is seeking a third term in office.

Iraqis voted Wednesday.  On the vote, the White House issued the following:


Statement by the President on Elections in Iraq


On behalf of the American people, I congratulate the Iraqi people on the completion of yesterday’s parliamentary elections.  Millions of Iraqis embraced their democratic right to vote.  The people of Iraq know better than anyone else the enormous challenges that they face, and yesterday’s turnout demonstrated to the world that they seek to pursue a more stable and peaceful future through the political process.  Once results are finalized, a new parliament will convene and debate the makeup of a new government to serve the Iraqi people.  Whatever the outcome of this process, it should serve to unite the country through the formation of a new government that is supported by all Iraqi communities and that is prepared to advance tangible and implementable programs.  There will be more difficult days ahead, but the United States will continue to stand with the Iraqi people as partners in their pursuit of a peaceful, unified and prosperous future.


Continue to stand with the Iraqi people?

In the last parliamentary elections (March 2010), the Iraqi people made Ayad Allawi and Iraqiya the winner.  Nouri's State of Law lost to them.  But the White House demanded that Nouri get a second term.



Let's again note John Barry's "'The Engame' Is A Well Researched, Highly Critical Look at U.S. Policy in Iraq" (Daily Beast) from 2012:



Washington has little political and no military influence over these developments [in Iraq]. As Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor charge in their ambitious new history of the Iraq war, The Endgame, Obama's administration sacrificed political influence by failing in 2010 to insist that the results of Iraq’s first proper election be honored: "When the Obama administration acquiesced in the questionable judicial opinion that prevented Ayad Allawi's bloc, after it had won the most seats in 2010, from the first attempt at forming a new government, it undermined the prospects, however slim, for a compromise that might have led to a genuinely inclusive and cross-sectarian government."


"Continue to stand with the Iraqi people"?

When has the White House stood with the Iraqi people?

When Nouri's forces were terrorizing and killing gay Iraqis and Iraqis suspected of being gay, the White House never publicly condemned it.

Equally insincere is the US State Dept.  This exchanged took place in Thursday's State Dept press briefing:


QUESTION: Can I ask some questions about Iraq?

MS. HARF: Yeah.

QUESTION: First of all about the elections. Are you happy with the overall election process?

MS. HARF: Well, I think you probably saw the statement from the White House and the Secretary’s statement as well. We absolutely congratulate the people of Iraq. While there were reports of violence, indications are that the progress was organized – process, excuse me – election officials were well prepared, millions of Iraqis turned out to vote. We – their actual own electoral commission reported the turnout was about 60 percent. As you know, yesterday’s vote was just the start of a long government formation process that can – could play out over several months. Obviously, we’ll continue working with the Iraqis over that timeframe.

QUESTION: The Secretary of State in his statement said there will be serious challenges, and as well, President Obama in his statement repeated that.

MS. HARF: Absolutely.

QUESTION: What do you mean by that exactly?

MS. HARF: Iraqi leaders themselves have talked about some of the security challenges they face, particularly from the spillover effect from Syria.

QUESTION: Is it just a security challenge?

MS. HARF: That’s a huge part of it, certainly. Obviously, one thing we’ve been very focused on here. I think that’s probably what they were both referring to.

QUESTION: Mm-hmm.

[. . .]

QUESTION: Can I just go back to the Iraq election?

MS. HARF: Uh-huh.

QUESTION: So that is not your final judgment of the election, just saying that the indications are that it went smoothly, or that --

MS. HARF: Yeah.

QUESTION: -- yeah – that it was organized?

MS. HARF: Was organized, well prepared. Yeah. I mean, we think --

QUESTION: But at this stage, do you still – do you think it’s free and fair, which was the judgment generally – because the Sunni – some Sunni parties have been complaining about voting problems.

MS. HARF: Well, we have seen those and initial indications have been very positive in terms of whether these elections were free and fair, including by the UN special rep for Iraq who had a press conference I think yesterday and talked about this. There will be additional assessments coming from independent observers and observers from international organizations, and I think there were thousands of election – Iraqi election monitors who were deployed through the country. The Iraqi high election commission reviews all grievances from people with complaints, but at this point it looks like there were some problems. But overall it went fairly smoothly.


I didn't realize medical marijuana was legal in the District of Columbia.

A pot induced high is the best explanation for Marie Harf's ridiculous claim of "some problems.  But overall it went fairly smoothly."   Xinhua reported, "The polls kicked off at 7:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) and closed at 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT), during these hours insurgents attacked many polling centers across the country, leaving a total of 22 people dead and 62 others wounded, mostly security members and voters who defiantly headed to cast their votes with the hope of bringing better life for their families."  

 That's fairly smoothly?

On election day, Aswat al-Iraq reported 39 voting centers didn't even open due to violence.

On the election day,  NINA reported 1 person was arrested in Nineveh Province's al-Shura for being in possession of 511 of the new electronic voting cards.  511.  Last week, Duraid Salman (Alsumaria) reported on allegations that Nouri's SWAT forces are forcing voters in Diyala Province to hand over their election cards so that they can be used for voter fraud.

The electronic voting cards were a new development.  Previously, voters had used ration cards.  Mustafa Habib (Niqash) reports the cards were just an idea nine months ago and that they were poorly implemented:


The electronic voter ID cards contained an electronic chip that held the voter’s full name (all three of them), date of birth, family number in the electoral roll, the name of the polling station where the voter should cast his or her vote, the voter’s serial number once at that station and the voter’s province. 

There were just over 20 million electronic voter ID cards made – around the same number of Iraqis as are eligible to vote - but only 17.27 million were distributed for one reason or another. That means around 16 percent of the cards never made it to their rightful owners.

Iraqi voters had been told they were required to collect the cards and keep them as carefully as any other official document. They were also told that those who did not have a card would not be allowed to vote.

Early on, the cards which were not distributed indicated some of the problems with the new system. Some of them were issued to deceased persons and others were duplicates. Additionally many members of the security forces, army and police, got two voter ID cards – one as a member of the security forces, who voted two days earlier, and another as a civilian.

One police captain NIQASH spoke to confirmed this – but he said he returned the civilian one. It’s hard to know if everybody did this as there was apparently also a lucrative trade, selling voter ID cards.


Marie Harf should also refer to Niqash's "queues, cyber attacks, no singing, lots of walking: niqash editors report from iraqi election frontlines" before making her absurd claims.  While the State Dept spins, neoconservative Max Boot (Commentary via Gulf Today) offers:


Al Qaeda’s comeback has been enabled by the shortsighted policies of Iraq’s sectarian prime minister, Nouri Maliki, who is now unrestrained by a US military presence. He has targeted senior politicians, including former Vice President Tariq Hashimi, for prosecution. He has fired on groups of demonstrators. And, worst of all, he has welcomed the militia groups Asaib Ahl Haq and Kataib Hezbollah, both supplied by Iran, who are fighting alongside the overmatched Iraqi security forces against  militants.
These militias are held responsible for massacres in towns such as Buhriz, north of Baghdad.
Iraq is now in the midst of a cycle of sectarian violence  that leads to the seventh circle of hell into which nations such as Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Syria have previously plunged. There is no obvious escape in sight because, by manipulating Iraq’s sectarian politics, Maliki has managed to solidify support, which will probably ensure his continuation in office for a third term even as the country collapses. (Only the quasi-independent Kurdish region remains peaceful.)


Kitabat reports that the government out of Tehran has set up a headquarters in Iraq to argue for Nouri having a third term and to build alliances that would allow Nouri a third term as prime minister.
The editorial board of the Washington Post observes, "Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in office eight years, appears confident that his Shiite party will win a plurality of votes, allowing him to continue what has been an increasingly authoritarian and sectarian rule."  Marie Harf may see success but others aren't so sure.  Borzou Daragahi (Financial Times of London) notes the sentiments of some Iraqis, "But many Iraqis say they feel neither joy at having voted nor optimism for their country's prospects.  Instead, they dread the potentially destabilising months-long process of forming a government amid a reignition of the country's sectarian conflict."  Iraqis are tired of Nouri and his tired ass.


Your face is pasty 'cause you've gone and got so wasted, what a surprise.
Don't want to look at your face 'cause it's makin' me sick.
You've gone and got sick on my trainers,
I only got these yesterday.
Oh, my gosh, I cannot be bothered with this.

Well, I'll leave you there 'till the mornin',
and I purposely wont turn the heating on
and, dear God, I hope I'm not stuck with this one.

My fingertips are holding onto the cracks in our foundation,
and I know that I should let go,
but I can't.
And every time we fight I know it's not right,
every time that you're upset and I smile.
I know I should forget, but I can't.

-- "Foundations," written by Kate Nash and Paul Epworth, first appears on Kate's Made of Bricks




Al Manar carries a story on Nouri and the elections which includes, "The premier insisted he was willing to give up the post if he was unable to form a government, saying: 'My mother did not give birth to me as a minister or a prime minister'."

He's never formed a government.  He went through his second term with the security ministries headless, never even nominated anyone to fill them.  That's in violation the Constitution.

Here's how the Constitution says it works.  The President names someone prime minister-designate and that person then has 30 days to form a Cabinet.

That means nominating people and get Parliament to vote them in.

Failure to do so indicates that the designate either isn't working hard enough or lacks support.  This is how a weak candidate is supposed to be weeded out.

But the 30 days was waived for Nouri -- as was the requirement that he form a Cabinet.


So that takes care of the current prime minister debate, let's move over to the issue of the president.

As we noted in Wednesday's snapshot:

A lot is at stake in these elections.  For one thing, Iraq will need to find a new president.
That's not open to debate.
December 2012,  Iraqi President Jalal Talabani suffered a stroke.   The incident took place late on December 17, 2012 (see the December 18, 2012 snapshot) and resulted in Jalal being admitted to Baghdad's Medical Center Hospital.    Thursday, December 20, 2012, he was moved to Germany.  He remains in Germany currently.
Obviously, health issues prevent him from continuing as prime minister.  So does the Iraqi Constitution -- Jalal has termed out of office.
So one thing the new Parliament will have to do is pick a president -- a new president.



Today, AFP notes, "Iraqi Kurds face uncertainty over whether they will retain the presidency, an important symbol after decades of central government oppression and a link between their autonomous region and Baghdad."

'Custom' may have made Jalal president twice but the Constitution didn't.

There's nothing in there which declares, "And the presidency shall go to a Kurd."

In his first term, Jalal announced he wouldn't seek a second term.  But, of course, he did.  At one point, in 2010, the US government was attempting to get Jalal to seek another post so that Ayad Allawi could be named president (Allawi's bloc won the 2010 elections, besting every other group).  Jalal did not politely decline.  He exploded over the phone as only Jalal can.

Turning to some of today's violence, National Iraqi News Agency notes a Rutbah sticky bombing claimed 2 lives, 2 Yazidis were shot dead in Sinjar, a Mosul roadside bombing left three members of the police injured, and a Samarra suicide bomber took his own life and the lives of Colonel Amer Najim Abdullah "and two of his colleagues."  Iraqi Spring MC adds that 20 corpses were discovered dumped throughout Baghdad. In addition, Nouri's continued shelling of Falluja's residential neighborhoods left 5 civilians dead and ten more injured.


In Marie Harf's State Dept press briefing today, Iraq was briefly noted. The issue was oil.  Isn't the issue always oil?



QUESTION: I asked you a couple of questions yesterday about Kurdistan --

MS. HARF: On Kurdistan.

QUESTION: -- export of oil and stuff like that.

MS. HARF: Uh-huh.

QUESTION: I actually got an email from Michael --

MS. HARF: He’s a very good press officer.

QUESTION: Yeah.

MS. HARF: Mike Lavallee, yes.

QUESTION: And he explains that basically – he said the United States supports the March decision by the 
Kurdistan Regional Government to begin oil exports of 100,000 --

MS. HARF: That is correct. Through the Iraqi-Turkey pipeline.

QUESTION: But I’m talking about the most recent decision by the KRG, by the Kurdistan Regional Government on April 27th. They started exporting oil – resuming – they resumed the export of oil, independent from Baghdad, to Turkey. It’s a unilateral decision. I know there’s a statement here says --

MS. HARF: Well, it’s pursuant to the existing export arrangements with the central Government of Iraq.

QUESTION: No, it’s not through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline. It’s through the independent Kurdistan pipeline, which Baghdad considers null and void, illegal.

MS. HARF: Okay. So --

QUESTION: What’s your response as the State Department --

MS. HARF: -- what I know --

QUESTION: -- to a unilateral decision which was made on April 27th by the KRG?

MS. HARF: I can check on that specifically. What we’ve talked about in terms of pipelines from Iraq to Turkey, including in Kurdistan, is under the existing agreement with the Government of Iraq. I’m not aware of something separate.

QUESTION: I have a – like a quote from prime minister of Kurdistan a few days ago. He said, we will sell oil in Turkey without getting Baghdad’s approval.

MS. HARF: Well, we don’t --

QUESTION: Does that constitute a unilateral decision that --

MS. HARF: I haven’t seen those comments. We don’t support oil exports from any part of Iraq without the appropriate approval of the federal Iraqi Government. So without knowing the details of that decision you’re speaking about, we obviously believe there’s a process that needs to be in place with the federal Government of Iraq.

QUESTION: So can you say if Kurdistan tomorrow sells oil without the approval of the central government --

MS. HARF: I’m not going to address a hypothetical. I just made our position clear. I’d have to look at the details.

QUESTION: But they do it today, actually. As of today.

MS. HARF: Okay, I’ll look at – again, I’ll look at the details. And you had a couple of other questions?


QUESTION: I think the other answers are really clear. Thanks a lot.

Yerevan Saeed (Rudaw) argues, "Kurdish leaders and their parliamentarians who are to head to Baghdad soon, should make the Kurdistan Region's right to produce, export and sell oil the main precondition in any future political deal or alliance."


Back to the US, David Bacon's latest book is Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press) which won the CLR James Award. We'll close with this from Bacon's "IN COLOMBIA FREE TRADE BRINGS MORE POVERTY AND MORE KILLINGS" (Truthout):


The free trade agreement between the U.S. and Colombia, which took effect on May 15, 2012, hadn't yet reached its second birthday when the office of the public workers' union in Cali, SINTRAEMCALI, was firebombed.   On April 11 a Colombian court had ordered the country's government to apologize for attacking the union, along with that of the telephone workers,  SINTRATELEFONOS, and university workers, SINTRAUNICOL, during the past administration of President Alvaro Uribe, who signed the trade agreement.  The bombs were thrown five days later.

In 2004 a large number of SINTRAEMCALI workers were fired, and over the years since 15 were forced to flee Cali, eight were murdered and over a hundred more threatened.  Last year a leader of the city union's retirees' organization, Luis Fabio Campo Rodriguez, was murdered, and the union's past president Alexander Lopez Maya was revealed as the target of a government assassination program, "Operation Dragon."

On March 14, two months before the FTA's birthday, 17 leaders of the Association of Peasant Workers of Nariño were arrested in Nariño province.  The arrests were widely viewed in Colombia as government retaliation for a strike organized by farmers and students in this past August.






















Friday, May 02, 2014

The unseemly obsession

"Where’s Benghazi Now?" (Hillary Is 44):
Update: As we write below, this story deserves more attention and we are glad it is, because of Sharyl Attkisson: CBS told me it wasn’t relevant to our Benghazi coverage that the president of the news division is Ben Rhodes’s brother.

————————————————————
From the very beginning, on September 11, 2012, we made several points about the terror attacks and deaths of American diplomatic personnel in Benghazi which prove with every passing day to be more and more astute and accurate.
The truth-seeking points we have made from the very beginning, which have not been popular with partisans on any side, are: (1) the central issue and only issue is that this was a terror attack purposely staged on the September 11 anniversary of the Al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center and the question that must be answered is why the United States was not prepared on a world-wide basis for attacks from Al Qaeda on that very special date; (2) Barack Obama is to blame; (3) the C.I.A. is a major player in all this and until we get honest testimony about what the Benghazi base was really about this will all add up to much of nothing; (4) Big Media is complicit in the Barack Obama cover-up of the death dealing scandals centered around Benghazi; (5) Hillary Clinton will come out smelling like a rose.


Hillary Is 44?

I don't know about their points.

It's always about Hillary with them, isn't it?

Cult before principles with them.

I think C.I. did a better job on the topic with "Iraq is not your football and we blew it in the US" which isn't a post about 'Benghazi: How it helps Hillary!' (yes, that's what Hillary Is 44 ends up arguing).  C.I. talked about real issues.

I'd take Hillary Is 44 a lot more seriously if they weren't always fretting, "How does this effect Hillary!"

Hillary is not the center of my universe.

Their obsession with her is unseemly.




"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):

Thursday, May 1, 2014.  Chaos and violence continue, Nouri continues to crown himself a winner (no, the votes aren't counted yet), he continues to kill civilians in Falluja (War Crimes), we look at yesterday's Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki wades into the issue of secret lists at the VA, and much more.




Senator Bernie Sanders: Within the veterans' community -- and in fact, the nation both in the public sector and the private sector -- we face a very serious problem as a nation of overmedication. The result of that overmedication is that significant numbers of people treated in the Department of Defense facilities, in VA facilities and in the private sector become dependent upon those medications intended to help them and ease their pain. Pain relief is a huge problem in the country and how we treat that pain in the most effective way is really what we're discussing today. Some people who are treated with a whole lot of medication become addicted -- and I think we all know what happens when people become addicted -- and some in fact will end up taking --  losing their lives through overdoses. And in my state and throughout this country this is a huge problem as well. So this is a major issue which has been discussed in this committee during the last year and we're really glad we have such a distinguished panel to discuss this issue.


We're starting in the US and dropping back to yesterday for a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  Iraq voted in parliamentary elections yesterday, we focused on that, there wasn't room for the Wednesday hearing.  Senator Bernie Sanders is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and Senator Richard Burr is the Ranking Member.

The big news of the hearing?


The big news was about the allegations of deaths.

What allegations of death?

Dropping back to the April 9th snapshot to note this from that day's House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing:


US House Rep Jeff Miller:  I had hoped that during this hearing, we would be discussing the concrete changes VA had made -- changes that would show beyond a doubt that VA had placed the care our veterans receive first and that VA's commitment to holding any employee who did not completely embody a commitment to excellence through actions appropriate to the employee's failure accountable. Instead, today we are faced with even with more questions and ever mounting evidence that despite the myriad of patient safety incidents that have occurred at VA medical facilities in recent memory, the status quo is still firmly entrenched at VA.  On Monday -- shortly before this public hearing --  VA provided evidence that a total of twenty-three veterans have died due to delays in care at VA medical facilities.  Even with this latest disclosure as to where the deaths occurred, our Committee still don't know when they may have happened beyond VA's stated "most likely between 2010 and 2012."  These particular deaths resulted primarily from delays in gastrointestinal care.  Information on other preventable deaths due to consult delays remains unavailable.   Outside of the VA's consult review, this committee has reviewed at least eighteen preventable deaths that occurred because of mismanagement, improper infection control practices and a whole host -- a whole host --  of other maladies plaguing the VA health care system nationwide.  Yet, the department's stonewall has only grown higher and non-responsive. There is no excuse for these incidents to have ever occurred.  Congress has met every resource request that VA has made and I guarantee that if the department would have approached this committee at any time to tell us that help was needed to ensure that veterans received the care they required, every possible action would have been taken to ensure that VA could adequately care for our veterans.  This is the third full committee hearing that I have held on patient safety  and I am going to save our VA witnesses a little bit of time this morning by telling them what I don't want to hear.  I don't want to hear the rote repetition of  -- and I quote --  "the department is committed to providing the highest quality care, which our veterans have earned and that they deserve.  When incidents occur, we identify, mitigate, and prevent additional risks.  Prompt reviews prevent similar events in the future and hold those persons accountable."  Another thing I don’t want to hear is -- and, again, I quote from numerous VA statements, including a recent press statement --  "while any adverse incident for a veteran within our care is one too many," preventable deaths represent a small fraction of the veterans who seek care from VA every year.  What our veterans have truly "earned and deserve" is not more platitudes and, yes, one adverse incident is indeed one too many.  Look, we all recognize that no medical system is infallible no matter how high the quality standards might be.  But I think we all also recognize that the VA health care system is unique because it has a unique, special obligation not only to its patients -- the men and women who honorably serve our nation in uniform -- but also to  the hard-working taxpayers of the United States of America.


Miller is the Chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.  Like Miller, Sanders takes this issue seriously and noted it in his opening remarks.  He noted, "I just spoke to the VA's Inspector General yesterday.  There is a thorough investigation taking place in Phoenix and Richard Griffin who is the VA's Acting Inspector General told me that he has the resources that he needs to thoroughly investigate that situation."

Keep that in mind.


The big disgrace that is the VA's Dr. Robert Petzel told the Committee, "I need to say that to date, we found no evidence of a secret list.  And we have found no patients who have died because they were on a wait list."


Did you grasp what just happened because the press didn't?

I've heard Jen Psaki, Marie Harf, Victoria Nuland, Jay Carney, Robert Gibbs, Dana Perino and many more explain, when asked, that they couldn't what?

Remember?

Pick any controversial and embarrassing topic and what do they say, "I'm sorry.  I can't comment on an ongoing investigation."

But Petzel didn't say that -- despite it being an ongoing investigation.

So, in fact, we now know that they can comment on an ongoing investigation, they just don't want to.

After denying any guilt, Petzel then declared, "We think it's very important that the Inspector General be allowed to finish their investigation before we rush to judgment as to what has actually happened."  But he rushed to judgment when he denied it.

Today, the Veterans Affairs Dept released the following statement:


  WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki made the following statement on the allegations regarding the Phoenix VA Health Care System:
“We take these allegations very seriously. Based on the request of the independent VA Office of Inspector General, in view of the gravity of the allegations and in the interest of the Inspector General’s ability to conduct a thorough and timely review of the Phoenix VA Health Care System (PVAHCS), I have directed that PVAHCS Director Sharon Helman, PVAHCS Associate Director Lance Robinson, and a third PVAHCS employee be placed on administrative leave until further notice. 
“Providing Veterans the quality care and benefits they have earned through their service is our only mission at the Department of Veterans Affairs. We care deeply for every Veteran we are privileged to serve.
“We believe it is important to allow an independent, objective review to proceed. These allegations, if true, are absolutely unacceptable and if the Inspector General’s investigation substantiates these claims, swift and appropriate action will be taken. 
“Veterans deserve to have full faith in their VA health care. I appreciate the continued hard work and dedication of our employees and of the community stakeholders we work with every day in our service to Veterans.”

#   #   #


The issues were covered on Anderson Cooper 360 tonight on CNN (link is video and text).

We'll move back to the hearing to note the issue of alternative and complimentary medicine.

Chair Bernie Sanders:  (A) Dr. Petzel how serious is the problem that you are addressing and (B) and Dr. Martin might want to join in, tell me the role you think complimentary alternative medicine can play in addressing those problems?

Dr. Robert Petzel: [. . . Microphone not on . . .] First of all in terms of the magnitude of the problem, several have mentioned it, we estimate that 50% of the veterans that are coming to us seeking care have some sort of, uh, pain. Uh, much of it is muscular, skeletal, back pains, etc. associated with the, uh, work that a soldier, sailor, air man, marine, uh, maybe doing.  Uh, we are prescribing opiates for somewhere around 650,000 veterans at this particular present time which includes a large number of people and we recognize the fact that this is an issue that has to be addressed very directly.  Uh, I would like to just take a minute before I turn to the, uh, other panel members to describe the opioid safety program that we're involved in to try and get a grip on and reduce the use of opiates which, by the way, has reduced the number of patients receiving opioids in the last eighteen months by 50,000.  Still a lot of people getting it --

Chair Bernie Sanders: 50,000 fewer veterans are now receiving opiates?

Dr. Robert Petzel:  That's correct. The five things that are, uh, the central part of the pain management program are (1) every medical center has to have a pain management clinic, (2) every medical center has a pain consultation service -- VA requires the use of, uh, integrative, uh, cam approaches.  We, uh -- And we make get into the details of this -- we require the use of a step-care model which was developed in the VA and which I think has been adopted by the Dept of Defense now which begins with -- in the primary care clinic -- self-management and management in primary care of pain, if needed, it moves to a secondary pain clinic.  And then finally there are tertiary pain services available.  The centerpiece of this, though, is the opioid dashboard monthly report to the facilities, to the providers of the facilities and to the pain management point of contact about people who are prescribing outside of the standard and patients that are taking medications outside the standard.  That then is followed by education and discussion and consultations with the providers to bring their use of opioids into uh-uh -- into the standard.

Chair Bernie Sanders: If I can interrupt you, we'll take a little bit more time for everybody because we only have four of us here.  But I wonder, if it's okay with you, Dr. Petzel, I wanted to shift over to  Dr. Gaudet, Dr. Marshall, what are you doing with complimentary and alternative medicine and is it, in fact, working?


Dr. Tracy Gaudet:  Uh, thank you, Chairman Sanders.  I think you're, uh, aware that the, uhm, vision for health care -- and Ranking Member Burr referenced personalized proactive patient driven -- central to that- are strategies that are inclusive of complimentary approaches that empower the veteran to take into their own hands -- whether it's pain issues, of course, this extends far beyond pain to the many, many conditions facing veterans and our public that are complex conditions where a simple fix does not exist.  Uhm, so I think that these areas -- particularly pain -- are phenomenal places where the VA is committed to bringing more holistic approaches to veterans.  The veterans are finding them very, very empowering, very much an asset to their compliment of what they can do to address their issues with pain as well as others.  

Chair Bernie Sanders: In --


Dr. Tracy Gaudet:  Yes, sir? 

Chair Bernie Sanders:  In English --

Dr. Tracy Gaudet:  Yes, sorry.

Chair Bernie Sanders:  What am I -- What are you offering a patient?  So somebody walks in, they have chronic pain, they're concerned about over medication.  You are concerned.  What are the therapies that you are offering?  And are they in fact working?  These are fairly radical ideas in a certain sense, right? Or not?

Dr. Tracy Gaudet:  I don't know how radical they are but I think that the conditions -- that the therapies that are most promising and are most often utilized right now in the VA are very parallel to the DoD and the public so they tend to be mind-body approaches such as meditation, acupuncture movement therapy such as yoga, Tai Chi, spinal manipulation.  These are -- These are the general approaches that seem to have the greatest promise that are relatively, you know, non-invasive and low risk.

Chair Bernie Sanders: Now I have been impressed.  I have been to VA facilities all over the country and I've been to a couple of DoD facilities and I am amazed.  You know, twenty or thirty years ago, I think it's fair to say, that if we were talking about this list of therapies, people would have thought that they may have been a few folks in California or certain places that might be utilizing them -- not the Dept of Defense or the VA.  So, in terms of programs like the acupuncture, is it working?  What can you tell us about your success rates or non-success rates? Does the success work?

Dr. Tracy Gudet: I think the most evidence that actually exists for acupuncture as it relates to pain, our research Office of Evidence Synthesis just finished a comprehensive look at all the evidence related to acupuncture and it's a very useful document because it basically says where is their evidence for the use of acupuncture, do we know and is there evidence of benefits, do we know it's not a benefit or is there a category where we just don't know from the research?  The areas where there is the strongest evidence for acupuncture are pain -- chronic pain, headaches, migraines have the best evidence.  So it's a rational place to start.  


Chair Bernie Sanders:  Alright Dr. Marshall, if I walk into your beautiful facility in Minneapolis -- I was just there a few days ago -- and I am in pain, what are my options other than drugs?

Dr. Marshall: I would say at Minneapolis, we view pain management  as a full spectrum opportunity to engage with a patient and move them towards healthier and a more functional life so we have deployed various complimentary, alternative modalities at different levels of our facility.  For instance, nurses -- we trained 900 nurses in January of this year -- a four hour training in complimentary and alternative medicine and integrative nursing.  Modalities that we trained nurses in specifically that included acupuncture, reflexive breathing, meditation and essential oils and aroma therapy so --

Chair Bernie Sanders: Do your -- Do your patients gravitate -- when you tell them that these therapies are available, do they say, 'Nah, I really don't want that'?  Or do they say, 'Hey, I would like to experience that.'?  What do they say?

Dr. Peter Marshall:  There's a lot of variability.  Uh, some patients, uh, express a strong desire for opioid pain medications.  Many patients, though, are very open, once they learn that these are a standard part of our medical treatment at Minneapolis VA, I think many patients are gravitating towards these kind of services.

Chair Bernie Sanders: And can you tell us some success stories?  Are there people have gone and they are in pain and are heavily medicated, got rid of the medication and then because of complimentary medicine -- Dr. Gaudet, do you have stories that -- or Dr. Marshall?

Dr. Peter Marshall: Yes. I-I would like to talk briefly about a program that we have just started.  This is part of the VA's efforts to have, uhm, our, uh, Council for Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, CARF, rehab VISN at each facility.  So we started in January of this year.  We recruited the director of the Mayo Clinic Pain Rehab Center who is now leading our efforts.  So that program, which is just starting at Minneapolis VA, had seven veterans.  Four of them were on opiaids. Three of them were tapered off and one was tapered down. And the cornerstone of that program that's a three week intensive program, the cornerstone of that program is activating patients' innate healing abilities through the use of primarily complimentary and alternative modalities including cognitive behavioral therapies: meditation, relaxation breathing, Tai Chi, yoga and other active -- 

Committee Chair Bernie Sanders:  So you have some specific indications that these therapies are working

Dr. Peter Marshall: Yes.

Committee Chair Bernie Sanders:  Okay.

In other news . . .


The United Nations issued a statement today which included the following:



 United Nations officials today congratulated the people and Government of Iraq for turning out in significant numbers in Wednesday’s elections, and commended the electoral authorities and security personnel for their efforts.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson in New York, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon applauded the determination of the Iraqi people and electoral officials “to strengthen the country’s democratic processes.”
Mr. Ban encouraged patience while the ballots are being counted and complaints adjudicated.
“I congratulate all Iraqis who have shown incredible resilience by turning out in significant numbers on Election Day to vote. In some areas, this has meant long hours of waiting while enduring extremely difficult security challenges,” said Nickolay Mladenov, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
“The commitment to democracy of the majority of people in this country; their readiness to brave harsh security challenges in order to build an inclusive state need to be applauded by all.”
Mr. Mladenov also commended the efforts made by the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), as well as the dedication of security personnel across the country, for the elections, which he said were held in a professional manner and which are crucial to the country’s democratic transition.
Yesterday, Iraqi voters cast their ballots for the Council of Representatives, or legislature, in what was the country’s third national election under the 2005 Constitution. On the same day, voters in the Kurdistan Region went to the polls to choose their Governorate Council representatives.
The envoy noted that although in the lead up to Election Day, violence across Iraq had spiked, with polling stations, candidates and voters alike being targeted, large parts of the country reported few if any incidents on Wednesday. On the security side, the majority of incidents that have been reported were in Ninewa, Anbar, Salahadine, some areas around Baghdad, and Kirkuk in particular.
“The election process however is not over yet,” said Mr. Mladenov. “I want to use this opportunity to urge all to be patient and to give IHEC the necessary space to carry out through established procedures.
“I call on all political entities to refrain from such actions and statements that may influence IHEC. I call on them to direct any complaints to the appropriate IHEC offices, and to respect the final decisions.”  


And the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary William Hague issued the following statement:
I congratulate the people of Iraq on their national elections today.
Despite the serious challenges that Iraq faces, it is inspiring to see that millions of Iraqis have seized the opportunity to choose their new government and I pay tribute to their courage and commitment to the future of their country. I condemn those who have sought to disrupt the elections through terrorist attacks.
Now voting is over, I hope that all parties will demonstrate respect and patience whilst the ballots are counted and checked. It will be vital for Iraq’s future that today’s election is part of a fully inclusive political process that represents and considers the needs of all Iraqis.

We'll note US President Barack Obama's statement (in full) tomorrow.  We already noted US Secretary of State John Kerry's yesterday.

Yesterday, Iraqis voted in their first parliamentary elections in four years.  Xinhua reports, "The polls kicked off at 7:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) and closed at 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT), during these hours insurgents attacked many polling centers across the country, leaving a total of 22 people dead and 62 others wounded, mostly security members and voters who defiantly headed to cast their votes with the hope of bringing better life for their families."  All Iraq News notes, "The Independent High Electoral Commission fined candidates of ten political entities participating  in the parliamentary elections of 2014 for violating the regulations of the electoral campaigns."  While voters and violence could be seen, in the capital, one thing could not be seen.  Foreign Policy's David Kenner (The Reporter) noted that was cars, "In a sign of Iraq’s struggles to tackle rising violence and terrorist attacks, authorities banned all private vehicles from the streets of the capital and other Iraqi cities in an effort to prevent the type of catastrophic car bombings that have killed tens of thousands of Iraqis in recent years."  A lot of the talk of 'success' fails to recognize that the capital was -- yet again -- shut down, businesses had to close, traffic had to be halted and additional checkpoints set up.  And that was in the capital.  Xinhua offers a photo essay by Cui Xinyu.

RT's Nadezhda Kevorkova reports:


Entering the country has been forbidden since Monday. All flights have been canceled and bus services have been suspended. Nobody can get in or out of Baghdad. This is the atmosphere in which the first Iraqi parliamentary elections are being since the withdrawal of US forces. Somehow people have forgotten that when the Americans were here, it was problematic to cross a street, let alone enter the country.
The mass media all over the world present Iraq as bankrupt and overwhelmed with terror. The reason for the terror is not the American invasion 11 years ago, but some inborn inability of different religious groups to exist in a civilized manner. Iraqi journalists are concerned about the fact that four US channels are reportedly planning to open offices in Baghdad after the elections. “They invited me to work for them. They are looking for people. The US mass media don’t turn up for no reason. They always know if something is about to unfold somewhere,” one journalist says.
Nobody approves of the measures taken by the government. While US forces were present in Iraq, people tried to avoid talking about the victims. When they left, there’s hardly anyone who wouldn’t criticize Iraq. 


Nouri was crowning himself the winner yesterday -- despite Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) shooting those claims down and stating it would take twenty to thirty days before the results were released -- and he continued crowning himself the winner today.  AFP reports, "Iraq's premier said on Thursday he had enough support to keep his post, but with election results not due for weeks and parties bitterly divided, forming a government will probably take months."

As he lies and spins, Nouri gets even more ridiculous.  AFP quotes him insisting he won't "cling" to the post of prime minister.  He's already attempting to cling to it. Alsumaria quotes him insisting today that Iraq needs a political majority government.  This means he doesn't want to share power. But then, the world already knew that when he used a power-sharing agreement to get a second term (despite losing the 2010 elections) and then he refused to honor the power-sharing agreement.  The US-brokered Erbil Agreement was the legal contract the White House used to go around the 2010 vote, democracy and the Iraqi Constitution in order to give Nouri a second term.  The editorial board of the Washington Post notes, "Eager to withdraw all U.S. forces during his first term, Mr. Obama backed Mr. Maliki following the 2010 election even after it became clear his coalition had been brokered by Iran."

Alsumaria reports State of Law (his coalition) is issuing public statements that he is a leader and he must have a third term.  Rudaw speaks with Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi who also heads the Mutahidun List and he states "that his group will not form an alliance with" Nouri.  Dignity candidate Abdel Khalaq Mohammed tells Matt Bradley and Ali A. Nabhan (Wall St. Journal),  "If Maliki manages to stay in his post for a third term, I think we will have endless sectarian war that might demolish Iraq."

The Economist notes:

Despite his party coming second last time, in 2010, Mr Maliki has achieved an extraordinary grip on power since 2006, when he was installed as a compromise candidate after the Americans, who then pulled the strings, lost faith in his predecessor, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. In his two terms as prime minister, he has quietly taken control of the country’s security and intelligence forces, with personal loyalty to him as the chief route to advancement. For the past four years, Iraq has had no interior minister, so Mr Maliki has himself overseen the police, and an acting defence minister has not been formally confirmed in his post. While not considered personally corrupt, as many of his colleagues brazenly are, Mr Maliki has also sought to gain control over the state’s financial institutions. And he has used the courts to hammer his opponents.
But he has few dependable allies left, even among his own Shia bloc, so his retention of power is not certain. One of his main rivals, Iyad Allawi, a secular Shia who is one of few prominent Iraqis to reach across the sectarian gulf to seek allies of another denomination, is so bitter about the way he was prevented from becoming prime minister after his group won the most seats last time round, that he has vowed to abandon politics if Mr Maliki retains his post. “Either Iraq can remake itself, rebuild and move ahead,” says Mr Allawi. “Or it will be destroyed; I believe we are approaching a final stage.”


David Romano (Rudaw) offers this take:

What too many people seem to forget is that such a balance, based on concessions and a high a level of consensus, was already arrived at nine years ago: it is called the Iraqi Constitution. The constitutional referendum saw 78.59% of Iraqis accept the new social and political contract, and the mostly Sunni Arab areas who voted ‘no’ at the time have now come to embrace the Constitution. One simply does not get more consensus than that, especially in countries like Iraq. What’s more, the Constitution balanced the powers of the central government, the regions, the governorates and the different branches of the government in Baghdad so that no one actor could monopolize power.
So what happened? Nuri al-Maliki and his ministers happened. As soon as they occupied the seats of power in Baghdad, they busied themselves by flouting the constitution and trying to concentrate as much power as they could into their own hands. Their mostly Shiite constituents quickly forgot what it feels like to be excluded and discriminated against, and cheered when promises to Kurds, Sunni Arabs, liberals, secularists and various regional politicians were broken time and time again.



Yesterday was not only a day of voting, it was also the end of the month and various bodies are releasing their end of the month counts on the victims of violence.  UNAMI issued the following report:


Baghdad, 1 May 2014 – According to casualty figures released today by UNAMI, a total of 750 Iraqis were killed and another 1,541 were injured in acts of terrorism and violence in April*. 

The number of civilians killed was 610 (including 140 civilian police), while the number of civilians injured was 1,311 (including 266 civilian police). A further 140 members of the Iraqi Security Forces were killed, and 230 were injured (not including casualties from Anbar operation).
“As violence continues, I once again stress the need for unity and a holistic approach to dealing with the terrorist threat in Iraq. Only through a combination of effective security operations, political engagement and socially inclusive policies can social peace be promoted”, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), Mr. Mladenov said. 
Anbar excluded, Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate with 833 civilian casualties (252 killed, 581 injured), followed by Ninewa (119 killed, 219 injured), Diyala (71 killed, 163 injured), Salahadin (63 killed, 133 injured), and Kirkuk (42 killed, 73 injured).

Operations in Anbar
According to information obtained by UNAMI from the Health Directorate in Anbar, the total civilian casualties in Anbar up to 29 April inclusive were 135 killed and 525 injured, with 57 killed and 265 injured in Ramadi and 78 killed and 260 injured in Fallujah.
*CAVEATS: Data do not take into account casualties of the current IA operation in Anbar, for which we report at the bottom the figures received by our sources.


AFP's Prashant Rao Tweets 795 violent deaths in April:


Iraq death toll in April is among its worst in years - :




Iraq Body Count counts 1013 dead from violence in April.  Antiwar.com keeps their own count and Jason Ditz reports, "Antiwar.com’s figures show 2,034 people killed nationwide in April, an increase from the 1,886 killed in March. 2,337 others were wounded. The Antiwar.com toll was in line with Iraq’s own figures on civilians and security forces, which put the toll at 1,009 (Antiwar.com figures were 1,041 for this subset)."


Aswat al-Iraq quotes Nouri declaring of the attacks on Anbar Province  "it shall be solved soon."  Yet today, Alsumaria reports, he declared the battle of Anbar will drag on for some time.  Nouri's always talked out of both sides of his mouth.  Nouri's War Crimes in Anbar continued today as he continued to use collective punishment in attacking Falluja.  Alsumaria reports the bombing of the residential neighborhoods of Falluja left ten adult civilians and 1 child injured.  NINA notes a second round of bombings which left 5 civilians dead and ten more injured.


In addition, Alsumaria reports a Babylon Province bombing left two children injured, a Babylon battle left one Iraqi military officer injured, and a Kirkuk roadside bombing left 1 Iraqi military officer dead. National Iraqi News Agency reports a southwest Baghdad bombing left four people injured, five people were kidnapped in Haditha,







iraq
cnn
the washington post