Oliver Stone?
I'm watching his THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES on NETFLIX.
It actually started with PROJECT CENSORED. At lunch, I was looking for something to stream and KPFA is in fundraising mode. So I thought about the radio show PROJECT CENSORED does that wasn't in the archives and went to their website and found the latest.
Historian Peter Kuznick was the guest. He and Stone produced THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES -- the mini-series. There's also a book and it's about to become a graphic novel and a new edition of the book -- dealing with the last few years -- will be coming out with an additional 100 pages.
Kuznick mentioned it was now streaming on NETFLIX. I'd missed it on SHOWTIME. I don't think I've watched SHOWTIME since WEEDS went off.
So I'm streaming the mini-series on NETFLIX and really enjoying it. I've only had time for two episodes but it's really great and I highly recommend it if, like me, you missed it on SHOWTIME.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Thursday, August 9, 2018. As the US government attempts to install
Hayder al-Abadi for a second term as prime minister, is Hayder's little
world falling apart?
XINHUA reports:
Four Iraqi soldiers were killed and five others injured in an overnight attack by Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's central province of Salahudin, a provincial security source said on Thursday.
Fierce clashes erupted late on Wednesday night when IS militants attacked an army outpost in the rugged area of Mteibijah near Salahudin's eastern provincial border with neighboring Diyala province, Major Alaa al-Saadi, from Diyala Operations Command, told Xinhua.
Early in the morning, reinforcement troops arrived to the area and began an operation to hunt down the attackers who fled the scene under the dark, Saadi said.
So much for Hayder al-Abadi's defeat of ISIS. He thought he could run for re-election that (false) claim and that the Iraqi people would rush to vote for him. That is not how it turned out. He came in third. Third. The sitting prime minister came in third. He did not end corruption. He did not end ISIS. He did not do anything.
Elections were May 12th and Iraq has still not formed a government. Behind the scenes, the US, via Special Envoy Brett McGurk, is up to its usual tricks.
Elijah J Magnier offers:
On the US sanctions, yesterday some tried to claim Hayder was 'outraged.' No. A puppet doesn't show outrage. REUTERS summed up his meek response correctly.
He's hoping for a second term as prime minister that the US government is trying to get for him. The voters don't want him. He's not going to bite the hand that feeds him.
XINHUA reports:
Four Iraqi soldiers were killed and five others injured in an overnight attack by Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's central province of Salahudin, a provincial security source said on Thursday.
Fierce clashes erupted late on Wednesday night when IS militants attacked an army outpost in the rugged area of Mteibijah near Salahudin's eastern provincial border with neighboring Diyala province, Major Alaa al-Saadi, from Diyala Operations Command, told Xinhua.
Early in the morning, reinforcement troops arrived to the area and began an operation to hunt down the attackers who fled the scene under the dark, Saadi said.
So much for Hayder al-Abadi's defeat of ISIS. He thought he could run for re-election that (false) claim and that the Iraqi people would rush to vote for him. That is not how it turned out. He came in third. Third. The sitting prime minister came in third. He did not end corruption. He did not end ISIS. He did not do anything.
Elections were May 12th and Iraq has still not formed a government. Behind the scenes, the US, via Special Envoy Brett McGurk, is up to its usual tricks.
Elijah J Magnier offers:
Iraq paid $100 million of Iranian
debts but is faced with the US sanctions on Iran. Iraq, under Abadi,
would like to abide by the US measures. Sources in the office of the
Prime Minister said “the US is trying to substitute the Iranian supply
of electricity by putting pressure on two main neighbouring countries
(Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) to support Iraq with its basic needs and
inviting them to offer their structural capabilities to Abadi offering
electricity in exchange of oil. The aim is to push Iran away and limit
its influence in Mesopotamia”.
Indeed, US Ambassadors based in
the Middle East and the US special presidential envoy to Iraq Brett
McGurk are doing their best to convince Gulf countries of the necessity
to support Haidar Abadi and Moqtada al-Sadr and promote these so they
can gain power in the new government selected, and stand against Iran
and its allies in Iraq. They are asking neighbouring countries (rather
than Iran) to provide Iraq with electricity so that the Iranian economy
does not benefit.
“US envoy Brett McGurk visited us
in Baghdad and asked us to support Moqtada and Abadi in one coalition
to re-elect the actual prime minister. We told him that Moqtada al-Sadr
is unpredictable and can’t be considered reliable. Your (US) policy in
Iraq has never been successful and your choices are not in our interest”
said the highest two political Sunni authorities in Iraq visited by the
US envoy. Ambassador McGurk, said the sources, apparently didn’t like
this unexpected answer: if Iraqi leaders don’t abide by the US’s”
recommendations”, he threatened reprisals.
“We told Ambassador Brett that if
he is threatening us he will receive no collaboration from our side and
will create a negative outcome for all”, said the sources. And the
Sunni are not the only ones refusing to support Moqtada and Abadi. The
US envoy visited Kurdistan and received similar answers from the Kurdish
leaders.
The US is also calling upon Shia
party leaders, especially Sayyed Ammar al-Hakim, who seems the most
docile of all those contacted, and shows himself very willing to
collaborate.
It seems the chances of Haidar
Abadi of renewing his mandate for another four years are becoming
slimmer by the minute. Iran and its allies, or perhaps the anti-US
parties in Iraq among Shia, Sunni and Kurds, are prevailing. There was a
time when both Iran and the US agreed on the same candidate, the actual
Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi. Today, the US has declared economic war
on Iran to cripple its capabilities, affecting the Iranian people and
its local currency. The embargo will seriously begin in August and will
intensify in November.
On the US sanctions, yesterday some tried to claim Hayder was 'outraged.' No. A puppet doesn't show outrage. REUTERS summed up his meek response correctly.
He's hoping for a second term as prime minister that the US government is trying to get for him. The voters don't want him. He's not going to bite the hand that feeds him.
And people try to tell me that #Iraq is not an American occupied land? #Pathetic and #Lame | Iraq | al-Abadi Disagrees With U.S. Sanctions Reimposed on Iran But Will Abide With c0z.me/l/V58xCEdyC0D via @purewilayah
Poor Hayder al-Abadi. He seemed such a shoe-in to the US government.
Despite coming in third in May’s election, Abadi was seen as having a good chance of keeping his seat. Now, other names are being tossed around including a member of his own party. A serious miscalculation by the US.
Having done nothing for years, he suddenly develops a whimsical interest in fighting corruption in July. Two for show moves did nothing to enhance his reputation, so this month, he tries another move.
BREAKING: Al-Hadath reporter: #Iraq|i PM Abadi dismisses number of managers at Ministry of Electricity
Mina Aldroubi (THE NATIONAL) reports:
Iraq is investigating over 5,000 cases of corruption, many of which involve or implicate senior government officials.
Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi
said late on Tuesday night that the Integrity Commission, a government
body tasked with fighting corruption, is currently investigating the
thousands of cases involving ministers and high ranking officials.
The premier referred several ministers to the commission to investigate allegations of fraud in government education contracts.
Lack of good governance and
transparency has been at the heart of the country's problems, with
international bodies ranking Iraq on lists of failing states.
Iraq is ranked 169 of 180 states
for corruption states in Transparency International’s corruption
perception index, with the lowest being the most corrupt.
Mr Al Abadi vowed that his
government will “use all available tools to hold to account all those
who engage in corrupt practices.”
After his term is over, after protests take to the streets in July, Hayder finally finds corruption? For four years he was prime minister and did nothing about corruption. Now, as he tries desperately to hold onto to his post, he's suddenly interested in corruption?
#Iraq: PM Haider al-Abadi refers three former ministers to the Commission of Integrity for 2011 bad school contracts. Nice. But here is the scandal: keep reading please...(1)
The three former ministers in question are not part of any strong political bloc now — making this act a classic cheap shot. (2)
If PM Abadi is really interested in going after bad school contracts & deliberate destruction of #Iraq’s K-12, he should go after his fellow-Dawa Party Mr. Khodail al-Khozaei. (3)
Also, does PM Abadi think Iraqis, particularly the protestors, are fools enough to fall for this appearance of being anti-corruption? Why not go after his own corrupt ministers, who failed to keep their contract with Iraqis in the past 4 years? (4)
PM Abadi personally protected his incompetent Minister of Electricity form a parliamentary questioning that would’ve exposed the horrors in the ministry & give Iraqis a chance of a better replacement. All subsequent MoE failure is equally on PM Abadi. (5)
PM Abadi is still sitting on dozens of bigger & more significant corruption cases, in services, foreign relations, security, etc., which are hanging fruits. He just lacks the courage & transparency to expose people with clout. (6)
Why not go after the current & previous Trade Ministers, who failed to provide good-faith supply food ration to Iraqis & expose the bad contracts, the poor quality items (sometimes are illegal to export even y #Iraq’s lax standards)? (7)
Why not go after the current Minister of Transportation, on whose watch Iraqi pilots engage in fist-fights 30,000ft in the sky, exposing lives to danger? Not to mention, of course the sorry state of ports, airports, etc., where corruption is rampant? (8)
Why not go after his government’s cumbersome bureaucracy, which runs Iraq in the same way it was run during the Ottoman Empire? It’s so bad that millions of $$$ are legally & illegally extorted from Iraqis going to govt offices: local & federal. (9)
Why not go after bad defense contracts, where $billions were squandered, while Iraqi security firces are still under-equipped, poorly trained & not well-led? (10)
Why not go after the outrageous grab of public land & state-owned property, which was taken by parties, influential politicians & other big fish: mostly illegally, or legalized by laughable means? (11)
Why not go after leading politicians & other big fish in Islamist parties who continue to destroy #Iraq per-college education to draft people to go to the schools they own? Or maybe he can go after their private universities which grant degrees, but no education. (12)
Why not go after people in all levels of govt positions with forged degrees or no degrees? Or maybe go after the MoHE&SR which approves sub-standard/no-standard degrees from universities owned by politicians or their friends? (13)
Why not go after families, close to him & his party, who filled top positions in all top govt agencies, mostly with no qualifications, pushing qualified Iraqis away? (14)
Why not go after the auction of $$ which is a legalized way for well-connected individuals & financiers to make profit at the expense of Iraqis? (15)
The Iraqi people didn't buy his for-show measures last month and it's doubtful they'll fall for it now. Jason Ditz (ANTIWAR.COM) observes, "But the longer the protests go, and the longer Abadi fails to offer reforms, the less palatable he’s going to end up being for the eventual coalition government. While there is no obvious consensus alternative to Abadi yet, coalition leaders are likely to find that the domestic costs of keeping Abadi in the post outweigh any foreign policy benefits."
Rumors swirl that Hayder's being shut out by his own political party.
If true, Dawaa [Maliki + Abadi wings] has reunited under one banner & made alliance with PMU lead candidate Hadi Al-Ameri to push Sadr out of the game. Maybe the latter's 40 recently published requirements for new PM didn't please many. #Iraq #IraqElections2018
#Iraq: Sudden Cracks in Abadi Alliance Bolster Ameri’s Chances of Becoming PM aawsat.com/node/1356636
Justin Raimondo (ANTIWAR.COM) has an important new column and we're going to close with this excerpt from it:
If you’re paying attention, you’ve probably already heard about the banning from Twitter of anti-interventionist author and former US diplomat Peter van Buren, a whistleblower whose book on the Iraq war exposed the lies at the heart of that devilish enterprise. When van Buren tweeted that his tenure at the State Department required him to lie to reporters, and that the paladins of the Fourth Estate were all too ready to passively record these lies as truth, the Twitter brouhaha took on seismic proportions. Several journalists were involved, attacking van Buren for showing them up, and one – Jonathan M. Katz, supposedly a New York Times writer – reported van Buren to the Twitter Authorities for allegedly threatening “violence.” Van Buren did no such thing: it was a mere pretext to get him banned. And ban him they did – for life. His account was scrubbed: years of informative tweets were erased.
There were two other casualties in this little Twitter war: our very own Scott Horton, who joined the fray and was suspended for using the “b-word,” and Daniel MacAdams, the director of the Ron Paul Institute, whose “crime” was retweeting Scott’s contribution to the discussion.
This occurred in tandem with the purge of Alex Jones from Facebook, YouTube, and Apple platforms – an obviously coordinated effort undertaken to make an example of the infamous performance artist masquerading as a conspiracy theorist.
All this wasn’t good enough for Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), who demanded to know if the plan was to only take down “one web site.” No doubt he has a whole list of sites he’d like to take down. Even more ominously, it was revealed that a direct threat had been made to these companies by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia), who sent out a memo listing all the ways the government could crack down on Big Data if they refuse to go along with cleansing the internet of “divisive” material.
So much for the “libertarian” argument that these companies and the platforms they run are “private,” and not connected in any way to the governmental Leviathan. This is the kneejerk response of outlets like Reason magazine, but it’s simply not a valid position to take. The Communications Decency Act immunizes these companies against any torts that may arise from activities conducted on their platforms: they can’t be sued or prosecuted for defamation, libel, or indeed for any criminal activity that is generated by these Internet domains. That’s because they claim to be mere “carriers,” like the old phone company, and therefore they can’t be held responsible for conversations, postings, or other online materials that involve illegal or otherwise dubious actors.
On the other hand, content-providers like Fox News, CNN, and Antiwar.com are not so privileged: this site, for example, can be sued or held legally responsible by the authorities for any illegal activities supposedly generated on or by Antiwar.com.
The following community sites updated:
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
People forget that the rate of tragic deaths in Iraq under Saddam was way higher than post war. They also forget that the biggest participation free elections ever in the country took place in 2007.
People forget?
People forget about national elections in Iraq in 2007?
Maybe because they didn't take place. Parliamentary elections were at the end of 2005. Provincial (or governorate) elections took place in January 2005. Is he talking about either of those? Iraq didn't have elections in 2007.
Guess he forgot that.
He also seems to have forgotten that Saddam Hussein has been labeled a War Criminal and that the Americans, the British, the Australians, et al, didn't go in promising 'we'll make it a little better,' they went in promising freedom.
He seems to forget a great deal -- and to remember even less.
On elections, let's go first to the KRG where parliamentary elections are supposed to take place in September. This has been the plan. But the US government isn't pleased so they once again insert Brett McGurk into the process. He's been promising and more to try to stop these elections.
Remember in the spring of 2012? Nouri al-Maliki refused to honor his promises in The Erbil Agreement (the 2010 agreement that the US negotiated to give Nouri a second term after the Iraqi voters said no). He refused to form a power-sharing government (among other things). As a result, the politicians spoke out. Then they began a Constitutional effort to oust him. This was Kurd Massoud Barzani, Shi'ite Ayad Allawi, Sunni Osama al-Nujaifi . . .. It even included Shi'ite cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr.
Moqtada repeatedly said that they would drop the effort if Nouri would implement his side of the contract (The Erbil Agreement). Nouri refused. So they went forward. The Constitution required that after the appropriate number of signatures were collected, the petition was turned over to the President of Iraq who had the purely ceremonial act of introducing it into Parliament. The president was Jalal Talabani. Under pressure from the US and offered bribes, Jalal refused to introduce the petition. He then announced he needed emergency surgery and had to leave immediately for Germany. (He had elective knee surgery. Karma would bite him in his fat ass as the year closed out and he actually had a stroke and had to be taken to Germany.)
Where there's a dollar tossed, there's a Talabani.
Brett McGurk may not know much but he knows his way around a whore or two.
Which is how he got the Qubad Talabani to insist that the vote must be postponed.
Baxtiyar Goran (KURDISTAN 24) reports:
Qubad Talabani has no right to
speak on behalf of all the political parties in the Kurdistan Region
regarding the date of the upcoming parliamentary elections, a
spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said on Monday.
KDP spokesperson Mahmood Mohammed
said in a statement that the party is against postponing the
parliamentary elections, scheduled for Sep. 30, and that Talabani should
not speak on behalf of other political parties.
Talabani, a senior member of the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Deputy Prime Minister of the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said all political parties are for
postponing the elections.
Speaking at the opening of
Sulaimani Airport’s new terminal on Monday, he claimed nobody had the
courage to discuss postponing the elections publicly.
Talabani was assigned as head of
the PUK electoral list for the upcoming parliamentary elections after
the removal of Arsalan Baiz.
“[Talabani] should not have
spoken on behalf of all the parties because every party has its own
position that it is going to convey through its own institutions,” the
KDP spokesperson said in the statement.
Maybe the PUK wouldn't do so poorly in the elections if one of the Talabanis had a spine?
As it is, they've destroyed the party.
And they lied to the entire country.
In 2012, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani suffered a stroke. The incident took place late on December 17, 2012 (see the December 18th snapshot) and resulted in Jalal being admitted to Baghdad's Medical Center Hospital. Thursday, December 20, 2012, he was moved to Germany. He remained there for a year and a half. He was incapacitated. But the Talabani family lied to everyone so that, as the Iraqi Constitution requires, Jalal wouldn't be removed from office.
They lied to the country. They deceived the Iraqi people. They propped him up and posed him for pictures -- leading Arabic media to mock it as WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S -- but they couldn't offer video because he couldn't speak.
He never spoke in public again. Not even when he returned to Iraq 18 months after his stroke.
And yet a Talabani thinks they have a place to speak for the government today?
Iraq needed a president. Yes, it's a ceremonial post. But Iraq was in a very difficult position and it needed a president. It's president was in a German sick bed and unable to speak or move. Had the Iraqi people known that, they would have followed the Constitution and stripped him of his post.
This huge lie will not vanish.
Nor will the fact that Qubad is married to an American woman who, up until the marriage, worked for the US State Dept (far more controversial in Iraq is the fact that Sherri Kraham is Jewish). Qubad already had the mark against him that he grew up in Europe, not the KRG, then he goes off and marries a foreigner and he's seen as even less representative of the Kurds.
Naturally, that's the one Brett would go after.
Will the KRG postpone their elections? Hopefully not. And the US government has done nothing for them. It even attacked them for the non-binding referendum they held last September.
Hayder al-Abadi was a wee little man
And a wee little man was he
He climbed up on the empire's coat tails
Cause his soul he wanted to sell
Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Tiny Hayder's Plea" went up last night.
US puppet Hayder is in trouble -- as Tamer El-Ghobashy and Mustafa Salim's (WASHINGTON POST) reporting has made clear.
Then-US President Barack Obama installed him as prime minister in 2014. He came into office with a lot of promises -- including that he'd end corruption. Four years later, he's got nothing to show for it.
He announced last December that he'd defeated ISIS but ISIS has refused to play along with that claim.
May 12th, Iraq held national elections. Ahead of the elections, there had been big hopes -- these hopes included a large turnout. Ali Jawad (ANADOLU AGENCY) noted, "A total of 24 million Iraqis are eligible to cast their ballots to elect members of parliament, who will in turn elect the Iraqi president and prime minister." RUDAW added, "Around 7,000 candidates have registered to stand in the May 12 poll, with 329 parliamentary seats up for grabs." AFP explained that the nearly 7,000 candidates includes 2014 women. THE SIASAT DAILY added, of the nearly 7,000 candidates, "According to the electoral commission, only 20 percent of the candidates are newcomers." Ali Abdul-Hassan and Sinan Salaheddin (AP) reported, "Iraqi women account for 57 percent of Iraq’s population of over 37 million, according to the U.N. Development Program, and despite government efforts to address gender inequality, the situation for Iraqi women has declined steadily since 2003. According to the UNDP, one in every 10 Iraqi households is headed by a widow. In recent years, Iraqi women suffered further economic, social and political marginalization due to decades of wars, conflict, violence and sanctions."
The other big hope? For the US government, the biggest hope was that Hayder al-Abadi's bloc would come in first so that he would have a second term as prime minister. It was not to be. Mustapha Karkouti (GULF NEWS) identifies the key issues as follows, "Like in previous elections, the main concerns of ordinary Iraqis continue to be the lack of security and the rampant corruption."
As we noted the day of the election:
Corruption is a key issue and it was not a topic explored by candidates outside of Moqtada al-Sadr's coalition. Empty lip service was offered. Hayder al-Abadi, current prime minister, had been offering empty lip service for four years. He did nothing. Iraqis were supposed to think that, for example, Hayder's focus on ISIS in Mosul mattered. All life was supposed to stop because of Mosul? All expectations were to be ignored because of Mosul?
Arabic social media today and yesterday was full of comments about the lack of improvement in services. It noted how the elections had not mattered before and, yes, how in 2010 the US government overturned the elections because they didn't like the outcome.
So it was probably only surprising to the US government and their press hacks that Hayder wouldn't come in first. But that was after the votes were counted. On the day of the election, the big news was how so few were turning out to vote. NPR reported, "With more than 90 percent of the votes in, Iraq's election commission announced voter turnout of 44.5 percent. The figure is down sharply from 60 percent of eligible voters who cast their ballots in the last elections in 2014." AP pointed out the obvious, "No election since 2003 saw turnout below 60 percent." AFP broke it down even more clearly "More than half of the nearly 24.5 million voters did not show up at the ballot box in the parliamentary election, the highest abstention rate since the first multiparty elections in 2005 [. . .]."
Repeatedly in the months ahead of the election, the western press assured us Hayder would win re-election, he would lead, he was a shoe-in, he was . . .
A loser.
He didn't come in first. He didn't come in second. He came in third.
The sitting prime minister came in third.
That's a huge rejection.
And protests have been taking place since the start of last month because Iraqis are tired of the corruption, tired of the lack of jobs, tired of not having electricity or potable water.
Hayder's tried some for-show measures to end the protests. They've not been successful. He's tried using the military to intimidate and attack the protesters (and at least 14 protesters have been killed).
Hayder is a failure.
The US government wants their puppet to stay in place. The Iraqi people do not want that.
In 2010, the US government went around the Iraqi people to give Nouri al-Maliki a second term. Will they do that this year with Hayder? It's really important to grasp that it is Nouri's second term that allowed the Islamic State to take hold in Iraq.
In other violence, Belkis Wille (Human Rights Watch) notes:
The horrific case of an Iraqi woman apparently murdered at home should prompt Iraq’s new parliament, once formed, to finally pass a draft domestic violence law which has been pending since 2015.
According to Iraqi media and BBC Arabic, one day last week a bridegroom returned his bride to her parents the day after their wedding, complaining that she was not a virgin. Media reports claim that upon hearing the accusation, a family member beat her to death. Media reports say that police have arrested a male relative.
While the man will likely now face trial for murder, it is possible that he may benefit from a reduced sentence under a provision in Iraq’s penal code allowing for shorter sentences for violent acts – including murder – for so-called “honorable motives.” But there is no “honor” in such brutal and needless killing. Moreover, the murdered bride would be just one of hundreds of women and children who suffer violence at the hands of their families in Iraq each year.
If passed, Iraq’s new domestic violence law would oblige the government to protect domestic violence survivors, including with restraining orders and penalties for breaching them, and the creation of a cross-ministerial committee to combat domestic violence. It would also require the government to provide shelters so women at risk of violence have a safe place to go if they are forced to flee their home.
The draft law is not perfect. It contains several flaws, including a preference for families to address violence through “reconciliation committees” rather than prosecution, and could be improved. Iraqi authorities should also set clear penalties for the crime of domestic violence, and close the loophole that lets abusers receive reduced punishments for so-called “honor” crimes, both not addressed in the draft law.
If improved, this draft law is the best chance Iraq’s new parliament has to tackle the scourge of violence in the home, fulfill its international legal obligations on domestic violence, and save the lives of countless Iraqi women and children.
Lastly, in the US, Peter Van Buren has been banned from Twitter for the crime of free speech.
Peter Van Buren: Twitter Suspends Me Forever
ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/peace…
Scott Horton, Peter Van Buren, and Dan McAdams have been suspended from Twitter.
If you go to their accounts, you will see their old tweets, but they are prohibited from making new tweets. They were reported by @KatzOnEarth for criticizing his posts. Please complain to Twitter. pic.twitter.com/kaWAqasLKQ
Dear @TwitterSupport please immediately restore the account of Peter Van Buren @Wemeantwell.
He hasn't done anything wrong and hasn't broken any of Twitter's rules or Terms of Service.
The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley, BLACK AGENDA REPORT and PACIFICA EVENING NEWS -- updated:
