Blog Betty (Thomas Friedman is a Great Man was an online novel)

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Run!!!

I disagree with this.

Sarah Abdallah Retweeted The Hill

Just. Go. Away.

Sarah Abdallah added,

The HillVerified account @thehill

Clinton considering run for NYC mayor: report http://hill.cm/5cJCLat  

I want her to run.

As C.I. said in January:

I hope she does run for mayor of NYC because so many of us are ready and willing to throw millions into that race to ensure she loses in the primary.

She's currently stress eating and flying off the handle at everyone (including poor Bill). Her attempts at campaigning in such a state would destroy whatever's left of her image, so run Hillary, please run.

Agree.

Let her run.

Let her lose.

Let her suffer the defeat and then be shamed that she cannot even win a mayor's race.

Start tossing the dirt onto her political coffin: It's over.

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, March 16, 2017. Chaos and violence continue, The Mosul Slog continues, the refugee crisis continues and Hayder al-Abadi wants foreign troops reduced in Iraq.

Day 150 of The Mosul Slog.

How's it going?

‏Verified account @AJENews

Iraq camps overwhelmed with Mosul's displaced aje.io/rx59

3 replies47 retweets29 likes

REUTERS visits a refugee camp at the Mosul Airport, "Men push wheelchairs carrying elderly relatives or carts loaded with small children over the dusty and uneven ground, part of an exodus of people who have escaped from Islamic State's last major Iraqi stronghold." While some would like to return home, "[o]thers simply have no homes to go back to, with countless houses and businesses used by Islamic State as military positions destroyed in air strikes and artillery shelling." REUTERS explains that while there are toilets at the airport, "there's no water."

As Jordan Shilton (WSWS) observed earlier this month:

The disregard for the civilian population is an inevitable product of the predatory aims of US imperialism in Iraq and the broader Middle East region. When ISIS first emerged in Syria, Washington was prepared to tolerate it as a fighting force in opposition to the government of Bashar al Assad in Damascus, which the Obama administration had been seeking to remove since 2011. ISIS only became a problem for the United States when it gained substantial territory in Iraq, threatening to undermine Washington’s puppet regime in Baghdad.
In its efforts to oust ISIS from Mosul while at the same time expanding its intervention into neighboring Syria to bring about regime change in Damascus, the United States is seeking to secure its geostrategic dominance over the energy-rich Middle East, while simultaneously weakening the positions of its geopolitical rivals, above all Iran, Russia and China.

These are the civilians.

The citizens of Mosul.

The ones who have had to live under the Islamic State since June 2014.

The ones supposedly being rescued and liberated.

Wasn't that the whole point?

Bill Van Auken (WSWS) reported earlier this week:

A US airstrike claimed the lives of at least 11 civilians in the besieged northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Sunday, according to Iraqi security officials.
In addition to the dead, including women and children, another four civilians were wounded in the bombing.
“A suspected coalition plane struck a mobile target, which left 11 civilians dead and injured four others,” a security source told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency. The brief description suggests that the US warplane struck a vehicle loaded with civilians attempting to flee the fighting.
The densely populated area of western Mosul has been under constant attack since mid-February when Iraqi forces--including army troops, police, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, Sunni tribesmen and Shia militias--began operations aimed at retaking that part the city from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which routed government forces and took control of Mosul in June of 2014.

The US-backed offensive is steadily reducing much of Mosul to rubble and there are clear indications that the Pentagon has given the green light for airstrikes that inevitably result in the killing of unarmed men, women and children.

Bombed and terrorized.

And terrorized by more than the bombings.

FRONTLINE‏Verified account @frontlinepbs 10h10 hours ago

Displaced Iraqi civilians tell @ramitanavai they’re as scared of the militias as they are of ISIS #IraqUncoveredPBS to.pbs.org/2mLjskO

Iraq Uncovered - Trailer

Ramita Navai examines the power of Iraq's militias, concerns about sectarian fighting, the impact on civilians and what’s happening in the places where ISIS has been pushed out.

1 reply28 retweets17 likes

THE FRONTLINE special debuts March 21st.

With a flood of foreign forces added to The Mosul Slog, there is some movement.

And Hayder al-Abadi, prime minister of Iraq, sees a light at the end of the tunnel.

Jonathan Steele (MIDDLE EAST EYE) reports:

Iraq wants fewer US forces on its territory now that the Islamic State group is close to defeat in Mosul, Haider al-Abadi has told Middle East Eye.
The Iraqi prime minister used his regular weekly press conference to set out his stall for Donald Trump, on the eve of becoming the first Arab leader to visit the US president in Washington next week.
Asked by MEE whether he favoured a reduction in US troops, the Iraqi leader said: "As we are crushing [. . .] [IS], it is clear that there is a need to reduce the number of our allies who are helping us."
He pointed out that it was his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, who had asked US forces to return after IS captured Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, in June 2014.

And for now, the Iraqi government continues to ignore the people of Iraq.

AFP reports:

Iraqi authorities said Thursday that more than 150,000 people have fled fighting in and around west Mosul since security forces launched an operation to retake it from jihadists last month.

The International Organization for Migration released displacement figures on Wednesday indicating that nearly 100,000 had fled, but those statistics included fewer people residing outside of camps.

This stage of the operation -- western Mosul -- isn't even a month old and already 150,000 new refugees created.

And the Iraqi government did nothing to prepare for the refugee crisis.

What is it doing?

A question sort of touched on at yesterday's US State Dept press briefing moderated by spokesperson Mark Toner.

QUESTION: Iraq?

MR TONER: Yeah, Iraq and then back to Michele, and then I’ll work my way around, I promise.

QUESTION: Yeah. Reuters quoted an Iraqi politician, Khamis Khanjar, who said at least 3,500 civilians have been killed in Mosul within the past month. He also said that the mounting casualties came mainly from airstrikes and indiscriminate shelling of heavily crowded neighborhoods. As I understand, neither the Iraqi Government nor the coalition had officially acknowledged any civilian casualties in this operation. Does it mean that they didn’t happen? What information do you have?

MR TONER: I’m sorry, can you just repeat the top part of your question? Who – who has made these claims?

QUESTION: Sure, sure, sure. So Khamis Khanjar, who is an Iraqi politician, he said that at least 3,500 civilians had been killed in Mosul within the past month. He also said the mounting casualties came mainly from airstrikes and indiscriminate shelling of heavily crowded neighborhoods. As I understand --

MR TONER: Sure, go ahead.

QUESTION: -- the Iraqi Government – neither the Iraqi Government nor the coalition had officially acknowledged any civilian casualties in this operation. Does it mean that they didn’t happen? What information do you have?

MR TONER: No. I mean, as I’ve said many times, if there’s credible allegations of civilian casualties as a result of Iraqi Security Forces’ actions or, frankly, of the coalition’s actions, then they should be investigated. I just don’t have any kind of visibility on these precise – or these exact allegations. I can only say that we stand by what we said before, which is we take every effort in carrying out our own airstrikes, but also in sharing information with Iraqi Security Forces, to – obviously, to avoid civilian casualties. I just don’t have any sense of whether these are credible numbers or not. I just can’t answer – I can’t speak to it.

QUESTION: About --

MR TONER: Yeah, please. One more and then Michele.

QUESTION: About visibility, I remember on Aleppo, the State Department cited monitoring groups and credible organizations, like John Kirby would say, to talk about civilian suffering in Aleppo. What information do you have from monitoring groups and credible organizations about civilians in Mosul and what they’re going through?

MR TONER: Sure.

QUESTION: Can you cite any reports?

MR TONER: I think there’s UN organizations on the ground, obviously, dealing with refugees fleeing the city. I’d have to get back to you on what are the monitoring groups. And again, it’s not that there aren’t them – there aren’t some there, I just – I don’t have precise details. But obviously, we’re working very closely and the Iraqi Government’s been very clear about wanting to avoid civilian casualties.

Haidar Sumeri‏ @IraqiSecurity 10h10 hours ago

Wishing a happy holiday to #Iraq's ancient Sabean Mandaean community who are celebrating Al-Brunaya. 

1 reply59 retweets78 likes

The following community sites -- plus Cindy Sheehan -- updated:

Thomas Friedman is a Great Man

Why do we not care about the people of Mosul?

12 minutes ago

Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)

No one wants nepotism

16 minutes ago

Trina's Kitchen

The bombings kill Iraqi civlians, don't they?

20 minutes ago

Oh Boy It Never Ends

Amy Schumer is an idiot

1 hour ago

Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox

Obama: The Unlikely War Criminal guest post by Dakotah Lilly

9 hours ago

Ann's Mega Dub

More gifts for spoiled Chelsea?

12 hours ago

Ruth's Report

I caught some of the nightmare

12 hours ago

Mikey Likes It!

Stupid Rachel

12 hours ago

Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude

off the bench, glenn

12 hours ago

Like Maria Said Paz

Calling it out

13 hours ago

SICKOFITRADLZ

That awful Rachel Maddow

13 hours ago

iraq

Why do we not care about the people of Mosul?

WSWS notes:

An estimated half a million people remain trapped within the city facing not only US bombs and missiles, but also lack of drinking water along with scarce food and other essential supplies.

Why don't we care?

Why does our corporate reporting zoom in on bridges and trains seized by the Iraqi forces and not the realities of the citizens of Mosul?

Why don't we care?

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Chaos and violence continue but we spend most of our time denouncing the hysterics and their hysteria on Russia and WikiLeaks.

I am the ruler of all.

Apparently.

Who knew?

I didn't know it until the angry e-mail over "IPS and FOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS have been removed" from last night.

Turns out, if I don't link to something, I have censored them and denied them an audience.

I am basing my judgment, it is viciously explained to me, on my personal opinion of someone and not on politics.

I really love it when an e-mailer wants to tell me who I am and what I think.

I really love that.

John Feffer, you were delinked last night.

Were I delinking you for personal reasons, I would have done so in March 2008 after your series of e-mails where you BMW-ed nonstop (Bitch Moaned and Whined).

You didn't know what you were talking about -- apparently a factory standard on all John Feffer models -- and you thought you could dictate what I wrote.

Now you learned otherwise back then.

You've gotten links since and both FPIF and IPS stayed on the links -- mainly because of Phyllis Bennis.

Now you got called out a lot here because you are so deeply stupid.

And your FPIF colleagues got called out as well.

Like when you applauded the massive bombs being dropped on Iraq.

Remember that little protege you had?

And you'll published that crap.

I've heard you've since pulled it from FPIF -- doesn't matter, we quoted enough here when we called it out. You forever indicted as an idiot who believes in 'precision bombing.'

I should have delinked you then.

But Elaine's "John Feffer is a damn liar (and don't e-mail, prick, I won't retract)" was where I learned you were now part of Team Hysteria fostering hate of Russia -- the whole country and people, you couldn't even just limit it to their government because that's the kind of trash you are.

We'll get to Russia in a second.

But let's talk the law first because I don't like idiots pretending they know the law.

We went through that with The Status of Forces Agreement on Thanksgiving 2008.

We were right. Others can't say the same.

Watergate was a break-in of Democratic headquarters by a team of 'plumbers' (Republicans with Richard Nixon's re-election campaign).

Even if the government of Russia or a Russian person had broken into John Podesta's e-mails (they were leaked, not hacked), that's not Watergate.

That's as stupid as screaming Julian Assange should be charged with treason.

Treason?

Julian's an American citizen?

No, he's not.

He's Australian.

He might be able to commit treason in Australia (nothing WikiLeaks has done rises to the standard of treason in Australia).

But as a non-American, he can't be guilty of treason in the US.

It doesn't work that way, you stupid idiots.

I'm nice here most of the time.

But when you start talking the law and you can't get it right, you need to stop talking.

You're not just embarrassing yourself, you are contributing to ignorance.

It's not that hard to study law. I did it. Anyone can.

Julian Assange jay walking cannot rise to murder. Julian Assange's WikiLeaks actions cannot rise to treason in the US.

He is not a US citizen.

You can bend the law, you can shade it.

And many do.

But when you start talking nonsense, I think you need to sit your tired ass down and stop speaking.

Do the world a favor.

No evidence proves -- or even indicates -- that the Russian government, the Russian people or some combination of the two hacked Podesta's e-mails.

Even if John Feffer had evidence that offered 100% proof that the allegation was true, it would still not be Watergate.

You stupid idiot.

Watergate was the abuse of power by a sitting president.

Do you not get that?

Are you really that stupid?

What makes me really mad is Feffer isn't that stupid. He's lying and he knows he is but he also knows he's trolling for big Dem monies and this is the way to do it.

Well whore your ass, John, but don't whore the law.

He is a cheap liar and look at the archives and you'll see I do not tolerate liars about the law.

Didn't do it when people were saying no crime was committed by the outing of Valerie Plame.

Didn't do it when everyone was misrepresenting what the SOFA said.

Here's Robert Parry (CONSORTIUM NEWS) on the hysteria:

But the anti-Russian frenzy gained unstoppable momentum with the U.S. election in 2016. The Democrats, liberals and neoconservatives were horrified at the shocking upset of their presidential choice, Hillary Clinton, by the boorish and buffoonish Donald Trump.

After this bitter defeat, the losers looked for scapegoats rather than order up a serious autopsy on how they lost to the “unelectable” Trump, i.e, by choosing a corporate candidate who was associated with neoliberal economics and neoconservative war policies. Blaming Russia became the easy excuse that could unify the various pro-Clinton camps.

Parry is one of the people Feffer attacked.

Robert's right.

Stephen F. Cohen is right. Glenn Greenwald is right.

John Feffer isn't the only hysteric out there. He is the first I've seen to misrepresent the law.

And I'm sure the misrepresentation can be traced back to some attorney that The Debra Messings linked to.

There were idiots misrepresenting the law in Plame Gate as well -- idiots who were attorneys. And there were attorneys who misrepresented the SOFA as well.

The US has too many attorneys while also having too few honest ones.

Watergate was abuse of power.

Here's a clue for you if you're getting this nonsense from Elizabeth Holtzman: Elizabeth Holtzman struggles with the truth.

Ask her about how she saved war resisters of Vietnam.

Oh, wait, that never happened.

Despite her own campaign promises, despite her claims at the start of Jimmy Carter's administration -- I believe they're still available at THE NEWSHOUR, Liz.

And what about all of her great work on Iraq.

Remember those two years where she fueled everyone into voting for Democrats because they would end the war.

They didn't.

And she moved on to other topics, didn't she?

Unlike many, I've never blamed Liz for Geraldine Ferraro's Congressional loss.

I don't believe anyone owns someone else's vote nor do I believe that we need fewer candidates.

But The Debra Messings do -- yet they embrace Liz.

Just another example of their grave hypocrisy.

The Democratic Party elected to run a candidate who was hugely disliked.

Some will whine, "She was running high in the polls in early 2013."

Hillary goes up and down in the polls.

People feel sorry for her -- because she's so pathetic -- and then she'll open her mouth and they'll remember all over again why they loathe her.

That is the history of her polling.

Equally true, the 2008 campaign saw Democrats like Keith Olbermann destroy Hillary in such a way that no way in the world could she run 8 years later and win. He -- and others -- called her a racist, said she was calling for Barack Obama to be killed, etc., etc.

Hillary's e-mails were her own mistake.

And then she made it worse by lying repeatedly about them.

That made it a never ending story.

"I only carried one device."

How many lies did she tell?

Which just reminded people of how they could not trust her.

If the process hadn't been rigged, Bernie Sanders would've won the nomination.

If that had happened, I think there's a good chance he would have won the presidency. (He might not have.)

But instead of addressing Hillary's faults and mistakes, instead of addressing the need to reform the process, hell they won't even call for abolishing the electoral college (while refusing to shut up that Hillary won the popular vote -- doesn't matter as the electoral college is the deciding factor) --

Instead of any of that, they want to deflect to Russia.

They want to defocus on the real issues.

They apparently don't care that they are fueling war.

But then, they don't care that the Iraq War continues -- or the Afghanistan War -- or that more US troops have been sent into Syria -- or what the US government is doing to Yemen.

BLACK AGENDA RADIO is part of BLACK AGENDA REPORT and is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey.

Two weeks ago, they spoke with activist and Green Party vice presidential candidate Ajamu Baraka.

Ajamu Baraka: At a moment when we have an opportunity to actually rebuild an anti-war movement here in this country, yet again -- instead of getting to the point where we can talk about that, begin to talk about what we need to do to in fact to build that movement, we are caught up in these diversionary politics of 'the Russians did it.' So many of us are not caught up in this and we are moving towards trying to put in place new structures. I'm involved in a conversation right now building what we are calling The Black Alliance for Peace which is an attempt to try to revive the Black anti-war movement, the Black anti-war presence. We think that we have a perfect opportunity now -- now that the people are waking up out of this 8 year stupor -- to bring the Black community back to where we used to be at one point as the most consistent anti-war population in this country. But it is difficult to do that, Glen, when our people are getting caught up in this anti-Russian hysteria also. And they are -- some of them also are beating the war drums uncritically.

This week, they spoke with Sara Flounders.

Sara Flounders: Many, many people can see the need for an independent movement. If you're going to in any way oppose the war policy that's going on right in front of you and the 'trade agreements' that send millions of jobs for corporate profit, it becomes clear to a lot of people the need for an independent movement.

The Democrats in Congress haven't ended any of the wars.

We're edging closer to the 14th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.

John Conyers, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Where are you?

Did they blackmail you into silence with what they had on your wife? Or did you just stop caring about the Iraq War?

Barbara Lee, what's muted your voice and action on the issue?

The Iraq War continues.

Billions of US tax dollars are spent on it.

Where's the Congressional oversight -- forget outcry, where's the oversight even?

Day 149 of The Mosul Slog.

What can they brag of?

‏Verified account @France24_en

Iraq forces retake Mosul train station: police f24.my/2nA7B8K

0 replies10 retweets10 likes

A train station?

Hmm.

We just don't care about the Iraqi people, do we?

IOM Iraq‏Verified account @IOMIraq 2h2 hours ago

#MOSUL_ALERT: 16,229 families (97,374 individuals), displaced from #West_Mosul in last 19days btw Feb 25 & March 15, as tracked by @DTM_IOM.

3 replies17 retweets7 likes

The World Health Organization noted this week:

According to International Organization for Migration data, since 17 October 2016 to 09 March, 224,298 persons have been displaced from Mosul; refer to graph 1 for the displacement timelines. Of these more than 57,000 persons are displaced from west Mosul alone since 18 February 2017. WHO and other health partners are supporting the delivery of primary health services in the displaced camps by providing medicines and other medical supplies.

UNICEF notes:

Military operations to re-take western parts of Mosul city started on 19 February 2017. The UN estimates that around 750,000 civilians are still residing in the western section of the city. Humanitarian actors are deeply concerned about the situation of civilians, including 412,000 children.
Since 19 February, more than 31,500 people (14,800 children) are newlydisplaced from West Mosul. The majority of people have been directed into new IDP camps in south Ninewa.
Since 17 October 2016, UNICEF has supported the delivery of multi-sectoral emergency response packages for 851,220 individuals (142,847 families) in retaken communities in northern Ninewa, including water treatment tablets, high energy biscuits and hygiene items for adults and babies.
In February, RRM consortium partners reached 79,721 vulnerable people on the move including 37,469 children across six governorates including Ninewa.
UNICEF-supported water trucking of up to 3.6 million litres of daily water ensured continued supply of safe water for East Mosul and the UNICEF supported camps in Dahuk, Erbil, and Ninewa
320 schools have reopened in eastern Mosul allowing 258,000 children to return to school. In February, UNICEF provided learning materials including science and maths kits to 87 of the East Mosul schools, reaching 73,780 children (31,890 girls)

June 19, 2014, Barack Obama, then president of the United States, declared that the only hope, the only solution for Iraq, was a political solution.

But though daily bombings have taken place from US war planes, the US government has done nothing to assist the Iraqis with political inclusion.

The persecution of the Sunni people -- the same persecution that gave rise to ISIS -- continues.

This is not progress.

The following community sites -- plus BLACK AGENDA REPORT and Jody Watley -- updated: