Demi Moore was undeniably the highlight of Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, but her performance was wasted on the vapid blockbuster. The original Charlie's Angels TV show debuted in 1976 and followed three female private investigators who work for Charlie, a millionaire whose face is never revealed and who only communicates via a speaker box. The show is a classic of its era and made stars of Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson. Following several high-profile cast departures, ratings declined and the show was canceled in 1981. A revival series starring Annie Ilonzeh, Minka Kelly (Titans), and Rachael Taylor quickly came and went in 2011.
The show did not make a star out of Kate Jackson. Farrah? I think even that's questionable. Farrah was a star before her poster even. She was in hundreds of commercials already, she as Lee Majors' wife, she guested regularly on THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and she was a regular on HARRY O . . . The poster made her a star. Or confirmed her stardom.
But I'd be okay with the paragraph if it said that it made a star out Farrah and Jaclyn Smith.
In fact, I really wonder about pig boy Paddyraigy. Jaclyn Smith seems to have passed his right by. He doesn't even seem to be aware that Jaclyn Smith appears in CHARLIE'S ANGLES: FULL THROTTLE.
But CHARLIE'S ANGELS did not make Kate Jackson a star. She was already a TV star.
She'd been the female lead on the highly successful TV show THE ROOKIES. Episodes were built around her I remember one where some crazy kidnaps Jill Danko (her character on TR) and then he bricks over where he's hiding her.
Pig boy didn't like the movie. Boo hoo. CA: FULL FRONTAL is an excellent movie. So is the first romp. I'm not saying they're THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS but, honestly, I wouldn't watch TMA if you paid me. Once was enough. CA: FULL FRONTAL? I was watching that on NETFLIX last month and that was probably the 50th time I've seen it. It's a fun film. It's never boring.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, October 30, 3019. Protests continue in Iraq, Shi'ite cleric
and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr issues a call, Joe Biden continues
to flounder on the campaign trail and, since Butch Patrick wasn't
available, Biden's gotten one time TV actress Alyssa Milano to host a
fundraiser for him (no word on whether she's inviting her friends, Mr.
and Mrs. Harvey Weinstein).
Let's start in the United States with the ongoing race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. War Hawk Joe Biden continues to struggle to convince America he's the candidate that they need. America? Most states have open primaries and Joe's counted not on the progressive base that backed Barack in 2008 but on the never-Trump Republicans who will cross over and vote in Democratic primaries. Joe knows Democrats won't choose him over the others so he needs to pad out the prmaries.
On Sunday, War Hawk Joe appeared on CBS' 60 MINUTES and declared that his son Hunter -- currently a new groom having dumped his brother's widow -- remember Hunter dumped his own wife and kids when his brother died so he could go shack with his brother's widow -- which prompted his wife to sue for divorce and cite his excessive spending habits with regards to hookers and drugs in her court papers -- and though he is married, it will be a court in December that will determine if he's a new daddy -- not by his new wife, or his ex-wife, you understand -- but by one of the many women the nearly 50-year-old keeps sleeping with -- it's all so tawdry and gaudy. But, hey, Joe thinks it's presidential.
"He did not do a single thing wrong," Joe insisted on 60 MINUTES.
Joe wasn't talking about any of the above or the crack pipe that Hunter left in a rent-a-car or Hunter getting kicked out of the reserves while Joe was Vice President -- kicked out due to drug use.
No, Joe was saying that his spoiled rotten, 49-year-old, drug addicted son did nothing wrong -- not a single thing -- with regards to using Daddy's name and, more importantly, Daddy's position as Vice President to profit. Little Hunter may turn 50 next year, but he's never been much of a man. Just a spoiled little boy. And Daddy's habit of repeatedly rescuing him has fed Hunter's addiction and his troubles.
Hunter did not do anything criminal -- as far as we know. But he did many things wrong with regards to Ukraine.
The US government's position publicly was that they were cleaning up corruption in Ukraine. It was, they insisted, rising up from years of oppression and corruption. The person to spearhead that? Joe Biden. And there's Joe's son getting on board a company and raking in over half a million dollars -- well over half a million -- a year for being part of the company. Hunter has no experience. And his position on the board speaks to the very corruption that supposedly the US government is trying to help Ukraine prevent.
All by itself, that is wrong.
It is unethical.
Joe was a public servant and Joe and Hunter betrayed the public trust. That's a very serious no-no.
Many try to whore and pretend otherwise.
Did someone say "whore"?
Yeah, she's dragging that tired body into it. Ladies and gentlemen, you liked her -- you didn't love her, you just liked her -- as a child on WHO'S THE BOSS in the 80s. You watched her career collapse over and over in the 90s until she lucked into CHARMED (she was not the actress anyone wanted and she was a replacement after the pilot was filmed). Yes, Alyssa Milano. Known in the 90s for her numerous nudie photos online. Remember boys and girls, she didn't know how her top fell off during that BIKINI magazine photo shoot! She's done nothing of value or worth remembering since CHARMED was axed all those years ago. But here she comes to host a fundraiser for Joe Biden.
We need to note Ann, so hold on a minute. For those who missed it, Alyssa and Holly Marie Combs are actresses. They did not create CHARMED -- somehow they forget that and forget to give credit to the woman who actually did create the show -- the woman Alyssa shoved off the show (the same way she got rid of Shannen). When Alyssa failed at bringing back CHARMED as an update, THE CW began work on a reboot. Instead of applauding the three new actresses, Alyssa and Holly used social media to attack the women -- to attack the women of color.
That does matter because both Alyssa and Holly try to present themselves as producers of the show. And they did, in the second half of the show, get a producers credit. But let's remember that they were producers on a show set in San Francisco . . . and they never had any gay or lesbian characters on the show. How progressive, Alyssa, you whore. Also remember that all the people of color on the show, the ones who weren't extras, they were created by the woman Alyssa forced off the show. After she was gone, Alyssa -- our progressive wonder -- had no interest in creating characters of color. It's a White, White world for Alyssa.
So Ann wrote "Kate Jackson curses Elizabeth Banks out and bitchslaps her too" last week:
Did you hear the news?
Kate Jackson (star of Scarecrow & Mrs. King, Charlie's Angels, The Rookies and Dark Shadows) went off on Pitch Perfect's Elizabeth Banks this morning. She cursed her out, ripped some of her hair and bitch slapped her. Why? Because Eliabeth Banks has directed (and written) the new Charlie's Angels film out next month and Kate insists it's her show!
Reality: None of that happened.
Why? Because Kate Jackson has a brain and is a functioning adult.
Have you seen the commercial for the Charlie's Angels movie?
Every time I see it (and it looks good), all I can think of is bitchy Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs having a titty fit over Charmed being rebooted.
They didn't create the show. They were highly paid to act on it. When The CW decided to reboot it, they showed up -- out of nowhere because they don't have careers anymore -- whining about how unfair it was and how it was their show and other bulls**t. Aaron Spelling produced that show.
You know what else he produced? Charlie's Angels.
Yet Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith didn't have a hissy fit when Drew Barrymore did her movie version, Charlie's Angels. There was no whining, "We are the show! They should have asked us!"
Those two bitches need to grow up.
Recently, the two were on TV. It was a blast from the past -- people like them and the woman who played Mimi on The Drew Carey Show -- people who no longer have careers -- popped up on various ABC shows. Holly and Alyssa popped up on Grey's Anatomy. Alyssa's bad plastic surgery has left one side of her face smaller/tighter than the other. Holly just showed up fat. That's how you do it, Holly, that's how you get your career going again, finally getting a role and show up fat and unkempt.
They're losers. I love the Charmed reboot. Alyssa and Holly weren't owed crap.
They should have been told to shut the f**k up.
Did you hear Lynda Carter whining about the film Wonder Woman? No. Did you hear Lindsay Wagner whining about the TV reboot Bionic Woman? No.
Those are adults.
Alyssa and Holly are just two pathetic failed actresses.
For the record, former CHARMED actresses Shannen and Rose publicly welcomed the new CHARMED actresses on social media. Some people can be gracious even if others have to throw temper tantrums. And let's not even get into the fact that while Alyssa and Holly held producer credits, a man roamed the show harassing women -- it's why CBS would later fire him. But Alyssa and Holly looked the other way. Whore Power, gals, Whore Power.
So now as Joe's tapped out with his big donors and can't attract small donors, here comes hefty, hefty, hefty Alyssa Milano to host a fundraiser for him. Keep on whoring, Alyssa, you aren't fooling anyone.
And neither is Joe. His campaign knows he's a loser -- he's a dirty dog with fleas. They know he stands no chance of winning Iowa or New Hampshire based on the campaign's own polling. So they're playing the press and trying to pretend like it won't matter.
It will matter.
No, there is no comeback. They're trying to play it like it's Bill Clinton in 1992 when he earned the name "the comeback kid." It's nothing like that. Bill was a governor. He didn't have a national profile. No one, no former vice president, has ever been humiliated by losing Iowa and New Hampshire and gone on to get the nomination.
Grasp how humiliating losing Iowa would be if that happens. He's got more name recognition than anyone in the race and yet the people of Iowa don't want him.
At SALON, Igor Derysh observes:
Former Vice President Joe Biden is at risk of a “humiliating” loss in Iowa as a result of his poorly organized ground operation and his failure to win over party leaders and voters, 11 senior Democrats told Bloomberg News.
The top Iowa Democrats, nearly all of whom declined to be named, told the outlet that Biden is at risk of finishing in third or fourth place in the first-in-the-nation caucuses on Feb. 3. Biden’s campaign outreach has been “largely ineffective,” they said, and his campaign is too reliant on big-money fundraisers. Biden’s Iowa state director, Jake Braun, does not live in Iowa full-time and has not run a campaign in the state since 2007. Democrats told Bloomberg that Braun has made it difficult for party leaders to contact the campaign and work with Biden’s team.
[. . .]
Other Iowa Democrats told the outlet that Biden has frequently skipped events that are key to a successful strategy in Iowa, like town halls at community centers, schools and diners. Instead, he has opted for TelePrompter speeches without taking questions, which was intended to help cut down on Biden’s gaffes but now make him seem “aloof.”
Grasp it, he can't handle the campaign but somehow he's ready to be president? No, no and no.
Carl Campanile (NEW YORK POST) notes:
Former top Obama White House adviser David Axelrod says Joe Biden is running his 2020 presidential campaign as if he were in the federal witness protection program, and also trashed his “bewildering” defense of son Hunter’s controversial business dealings in foreign countries.
“They have him in the candidate protection program,” Axelrod said in a profile of Biden in New York magazine, headlined “The Zombie Campaign.”
“I don’t know if you can do that. I don’t know if you can get through a whole campaign that way. Either he can hack it or he can’t hack it. If you’re worried the candidate can hurt himself talking to a reporter, that’s a bad sign,” Axelrod said in the piece.
Again, he can't handle campaigning for the job. This despite the fact that he's the most seasoned campaigner in the race. He ran for office in 1970, then he ran for senator six times, then he was on two presidential tickets. All he's done his entire life is campaign for office. But now, at age 76 (77 next month), he's too tired to campaign? Simple answer: Sit your tired ass down, Joe.
Joe has much to fear from voters -- from facing them. They're aware he can't stop bragging that he was responsible for Iraq from 2009 through 2016 because Barack Obama put him in charge of it.
Look at Iraq today. Joe notes he'd face serious questions about his decisions -- and should face serious questions. That includes supporting thug Nouri al-Maliki and giving him a second term (via The Erbil Agreement) after the Iraqi people voted him out in the 2010 elections.
Let's start in the United States with the ongoing race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. War Hawk Joe Biden continues to struggle to convince America he's the candidate that they need. America? Most states have open primaries and Joe's counted not on the progressive base that backed Barack in 2008 but on the never-Trump Republicans who will cross over and vote in Democratic primaries. Joe knows Democrats won't choose him over the others so he needs to pad out the prmaries.
On Sunday, War Hawk Joe appeared on CBS' 60 MINUTES and declared that his son Hunter -- currently a new groom having dumped his brother's widow -- remember Hunter dumped his own wife and kids when his brother died so he could go shack with his brother's widow -- which prompted his wife to sue for divorce and cite his excessive spending habits with regards to hookers and drugs in her court papers -- and though he is married, it will be a court in December that will determine if he's a new daddy -- not by his new wife, or his ex-wife, you understand -- but by one of the many women the nearly 50-year-old keeps sleeping with -- it's all so tawdry and gaudy. But, hey, Joe thinks it's presidential.
"He did not do a single thing wrong," Joe insisted on 60 MINUTES.
Joe wasn't talking about any of the above or the crack pipe that Hunter left in a rent-a-car or Hunter getting kicked out of the reserves while Joe was Vice President -- kicked out due to drug use.
No, Joe was saying that his spoiled rotten, 49-year-old, drug addicted son did nothing wrong -- not a single thing -- with regards to using Daddy's name and, more importantly, Daddy's position as Vice President to profit. Little Hunter may turn 50 next year, but he's never been much of a man. Just a spoiled little boy. And Daddy's habit of repeatedly rescuing him has fed Hunter's addiction and his troubles.
Hunter did not do anything criminal -- as far as we know. But he did many things wrong with regards to Ukraine.
The US government's position publicly was that they were cleaning up corruption in Ukraine. It was, they insisted, rising up from years of oppression and corruption. The person to spearhead that? Joe Biden. And there's Joe's son getting on board a company and raking in over half a million dollars -- well over half a million -- a year for being part of the company. Hunter has no experience. And his position on the board speaks to the very corruption that supposedly the US government is trying to help Ukraine prevent.
All by itself, that is wrong.
It is unethical.
Joe was a public servant and Joe and Hunter betrayed the public trust. That's a very serious no-no.
Many try to whore and pretend otherwise.
Did someone say "whore"?
Yeah, she's dragging that tired body into it. Ladies and gentlemen, you liked her -- you didn't love her, you just liked her -- as a child on WHO'S THE BOSS in the 80s. You watched her career collapse over and over in the 90s until she lucked into CHARMED (she was not the actress anyone wanted and she was a replacement after the pilot was filmed). Yes, Alyssa Milano. Known in the 90s for her numerous nudie photos online. Remember boys and girls, she didn't know how her top fell off during that BIKINI magazine photo shoot! She's done nothing of value or worth remembering since CHARMED was axed all those years ago. But here she comes to host a fundraiser for Joe Biden.
We need to note Ann, so hold on a minute. For those who missed it, Alyssa and Holly Marie Combs are actresses. They did not create CHARMED -- somehow they forget that and forget to give credit to the woman who actually did create the show -- the woman Alyssa shoved off the show (the same way she got rid of Shannen). When Alyssa failed at bringing back CHARMED as an update, THE CW began work on a reboot. Instead of applauding the three new actresses, Alyssa and Holly used social media to attack the women -- to attack the women of color.
That does matter because both Alyssa and Holly try to present themselves as producers of the show. And they did, in the second half of the show, get a producers credit. But let's remember that they were producers on a show set in San Francisco . . . and they never had any gay or lesbian characters on the show. How progressive, Alyssa, you whore. Also remember that all the people of color on the show, the ones who weren't extras, they were created by the woman Alyssa forced off the show. After she was gone, Alyssa -- our progressive wonder -- had no interest in creating characters of color. It's a White, White world for Alyssa.
So Ann wrote "Kate Jackson curses Elizabeth Banks out and bitchslaps her too" last week:
Did you hear the news?
Kate Jackson (star of Scarecrow & Mrs. King, Charlie's Angels, The Rookies and Dark Shadows) went off on Pitch Perfect's Elizabeth Banks this morning. She cursed her out, ripped some of her hair and bitch slapped her. Why? Because Eliabeth Banks has directed (and written) the new Charlie's Angels film out next month and Kate insists it's her show!
Reality: None of that happened.
Why? Because Kate Jackson has a brain and is a functioning adult.
Have you seen the commercial for the Charlie's Angels movie?
Every time I see it (and it looks good), all I can think of is bitchy Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs having a titty fit over Charmed being rebooted.
They didn't create the show. They were highly paid to act on it. When The CW decided to reboot it, they showed up -- out of nowhere because they don't have careers anymore -- whining about how unfair it was and how it was their show and other bulls**t. Aaron Spelling produced that show.
You know what else he produced? Charlie's Angels.
Yet Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith didn't have a hissy fit when Drew Barrymore did her movie version, Charlie's Angels. There was no whining, "We are the show! They should have asked us!"
Those two bitches need to grow up.
Recently, the two were on TV. It was a blast from the past -- people like them and the woman who played Mimi on The Drew Carey Show -- people who no longer have careers -- popped up on various ABC shows. Holly and Alyssa popped up on Grey's Anatomy. Alyssa's bad plastic surgery has left one side of her face smaller/tighter than the other. Holly just showed up fat. That's how you do it, Holly, that's how you get your career going again, finally getting a role and show up fat and unkempt.
They're losers. I love the Charmed reboot. Alyssa and Holly weren't owed crap.
They should have been told to shut the f**k up.
Did you hear Lynda Carter whining about the film Wonder Woman? No. Did you hear Lindsay Wagner whining about the TV reboot Bionic Woman? No.
Those are adults.
Alyssa and Holly are just two pathetic failed actresses.
For the record, former CHARMED actresses Shannen and Rose publicly welcomed the new CHARMED actresses on social media. Some people can be gracious even if others have to throw temper tantrums. And let's not even get into the fact that while Alyssa and Holly held producer credits, a man roamed the show harassing women -- it's why CBS would later fire him. But Alyssa and Holly looked the other way. Whore Power, gals, Whore Power.
So now as Joe's tapped out with his big donors and can't attract small donors, here comes hefty, hefty, hefty Alyssa Milano to host a fundraiser for him. Keep on whoring, Alyssa, you aren't fooling anyone.
And neither is Joe. His campaign knows he's a loser -- he's a dirty dog with fleas. They know he stands no chance of winning Iowa or New Hampshire based on the campaign's own polling. So they're playing the press and trying to pretend like it won't matter.
It will matter.
No, there is no comeback. They're trying to play it like it's Bill Clinton in 1992 when he earned the name "the comeback kid." It's nothing like that. Bill was a governor. He didn't have a national profile. No one, no former vice president, has ever been humiliated by losing Iowa and New Hampshire and gone on to get the nomination.
Grasp how humiliating losing Iowa would be if that happens. He's got more name recognition than anyone in the race and yet the people of Iowa don't want him.
At SALON, Igor Derysh observes:
Former Vice President Joe Biden is at risk of a “humiliating” loss in Iowa as a result of his poorly organized ground operation and his failure to win over party leaders and voters, 11 senior Democrats told Bloomberg News.
The top Iowa Democrats, nearly all of whom declined to be named, told the outlet that Biden is at risk of finishing in third or fourth place in the first-in-the-nation caucuses on Feb. 3. Biden’s campaign outreach has been “largely ineffective,” they said, and his campaign is too reliant on big-money fundraisers. Biden’s Iowa state director, Jake Braun, does not live in Iowa full-time and has not run a campaign in the state since 2007. Democrats told Bloomberg that Braun has made it difficult for party leaders to contact the campaign and work with Biden’s team.
[. . .]
Other Iowa Democrats told the outlet that Biden has frequently skipped events that are key to a successful strategy in Iowa, like town halls at community centers, schools and diners. Instead, he has opted for TelePrompter speeches without taking questions, which was intended to help cut down on Biden’s gaffes but now make him seem “aloof.”
Grasp it, he can't handle the campaign but somehow he's ready to be president? No, no and no.
Carl Campanile (NEW YORK POST) notes:
Former top Obama White House adviser David Axelrod says Joe Biden is running his 2020 presidential campaign as if he were in the federal witness protection program, and also trashed his “bewildering” defense of son Hunter’s controversial business dealings in foreign countries.
“They have him in the candidate protection program,” Axelrod said in a profile of Biden in New York magazine, headlined “The Zombie Campaign.”
“I don’t know if you can do that. I don’t know if you can get through a whole campaign that way. Either he can hack it or he can’t hack it. If you’re worried the candidate can hurt himself talking to a reporter, that’s a bad sign,” Axelrod said in the piece.
Again, he can't handle campaigning for the job. This despite the fact that he's the most seasoned campaigner in the race. He ran for office in 1970, then he ran for senator six times, then he was on two presidential tickets. All he's done his entire life is campaign for office. But now, at age 76 (77 next month), he's too tired to campaign? Simple answer: Sit your tired ass down, Joe.
Joe has much to fear from voters -- from facing them. They're aware he can't stop bragging that he was responsible for Iraq from 2009 through 2016 because Barack Obama put him in charge of it.
Look at Iraq today. Joe notes he'd face serious questions about his decisions -- and should face serious questions. That includes supporting thug Nouri al-Maliki and giving him a second term (via The Erbil Agreement) after the Iraqi people voted him out in the 2010 elections.
Breaking: Muqtada Sadr to Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi: Leave the office
Hamdi Alkhshali and Sharif Paget (CNN) report:
One
of Iraq's leading Shiite clerics and powerful politicians has called on
other parties to back him in removing Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi after weeks of protests.
Muqtada al-Sadr,
who leads the largest political block in parliament, invited Iraq's
second largest party on Tuesday to cooperate with him in "immediately"
holding a vote of no confidence in Mahdi.
In
a letter addressed to the prime minister, al-Sadr said Tuesday that "I
thought asking you to call for early elections will preserve your
dignity. But, if you refuse, I ask Mr. Hadi Al-Amiri to cooperate in the
withdrawal of confidence from you immediately, to work together in
changing the Electoral Commission and its law, and agree on
comprehensive reforms, including the provisions of the constitution to
be put to the vote and in the absence of the Parliament vote, then the
people will choose."
Al-Amiri, who
is the leader of the Iran-backed Badr Organization, accepted al-Sadr's
invitation on Tuesday, saying "we will work together to achieve the
interests of the Iraqi people and save the country as required by the
public interest."
Earlier
this week, al-Sadr had called on Mahdi to come to parliament and
announce "early elections under the supervision of the United Nations,"
which the prime minister refused, citing constitutional and operational
challenges.
Mustafa Salim and Erin Cunningham (WASHINGTON POST) add:
At
least 83 people have been killed across Iraq since a new round of
demonstrations erupted Friday, according to a Health Ministry official
who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
talk to the media.
Earlier
this month, 149 people were killed in a similar outburst of unrest,
government officials said. A government-appointed inquiry into those
week-long protests recommended the firing of senior security officials
after finding them responsible for protesters’ deaths.
And the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) issued the following:
In our continuous efforts to promote dialogue between protesters and the government, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis Plasschaert, visited Tahrir Square to engage with the people out there.
While exchanging views and discussing possible ways to address the legitimate demands of peaceful demonstrators, SRSG Hennis Plasschaert reiterated that no government could comprehensively tackle the legacy of the past and the present challenges in just one year in office.
SRSG Hennis-Plasschaert called for a national dialogue to identify prompt, meaningful responses, to break the vicious cycle of violence, and to unite against the perils of division and inaction. Standing together, Iraqis can find the common ground needed to shape a better future for all.
Baghdad, Iraq 
1 million people are on the streets protesting economic distress and inequality, corruption and injustice. Persisting through the live ammunition and tear gassing by Iraq Security forces and police.
Standing in solidarity with my brothers and sisters in IRAQ 
1 million people are on the streets protesting economic distress and inequality, corruption and injustice. Persisting through the live ammunition and tear gassing by Iraq Security forces and police.
Standing in solidarity with my brothers and sisters in IRAQ 
In Nasiriyah this weekend, #Iraqi protesters played dominoes and volleyball, recited poetry and mourned those they'd lost during previous, violent protests. niqash.org/en/articles/po…
This is not a normal protests not a distraction nor a rebellion but just another day to demand freedom and democracy that showed but not applied to demand my rights, your rights and every single rights living in this country God bless this new generation.
#IraqProtests #Iraq
God bless this new generation.
#IraqProtests #Iraq 
Kawthar was one of the thousands of young people attending elementary schools, high schools and universities who formed a sea of white uniforms in squares across #Iraq as they came out to join the third day of the country's #protests. Read more here: iraq-solidarity.blogspot.com/2019/10/iraqs-…
We'll wind down with this from Amnesty International:
Iraqi security forces resorted yet
again to excessive and unlawful lethal force to disperse crowds of
largely peaceful protesters in the southern city of Karbala last night,
said Amnesty International, after at least 14 protesters were reported
killed and more than 100 injured.
Evidence gathered from eyewitnesses
and verified geo-located video footage indicates that Iraqi security
forces and anti-riot police opened fire using live ammunition as well as
tear gas, chasing peaceful protesters staging a sit-in at the Tarbiya
roundabout on 28 October. Witnesses also said security forces attempted
to run them over with vehicles.
“In horrific scenes from Karbala
last night, Iraqi forces opened live fire on peaceful protesters and
resorted to excessive and often lethal force to disperse them in a
reckless and utterly unlawful manner. These scenes are all the more
shocking as they come despite assurances from Iraqi authorities that
there would be no repeat of the extreme violence used against
demonstrators during protests earlier this month,” said Lynn Maalouf,
Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International.
“According to international law,
security forces should refrain from the use of firearms unless there is
an imminent threat of death or serious injury and there is no suitable
alternative available. Eyewitness accounts clearly suggest that was not
the case. Iraqi authorities must immediately rein in security forces to
prevent further bloodshed.”
A second wave of protests erupted on
24 October in Baghdad and other governorates across Iraq including
Diwaniya, Thi Qar, Basra, Karbala, Najaf, Maysan and Babel. According to
the Independent High Commission for Human Rights in Iraq, at least 77
protesters have been killed and 3,654 injured in this latest round of
protests.
One eyewitness present during
protests in Karbala last night told Amnesty International that security
forces had attempted to chase away protesters using tear gas and batons
on previous days, but that the violence used last night was far more
extreme.
“Security forces opened fire on the
protesters they were chasing. There was a black four-wheel drive that
started to drive towards the roundabout and attempted to run over the
protesters. It was complete horror. There were women and children. The
children were screaming. The security forces dispersed everyone and
started chasing them into the side streets,” he said.
A doctor at al-Hussein hospital in
Karbala interviewed by Amnesty International said protesters arrived at
the emergency room last night with shrapnel and gunshot wounds including
in the leg, stomach, eye and head. The doctor added that they had also
received several protesters injured due to beatings in recent days and
that on 27 October security forces in plainclothes had visited the
hospital and arrested around 50 people suspected of participating in
protests.
“They arrested a lot of people from
the hospital… They even took children. One of the protesters they took
was 14 years old,” the doctor said.
Another eyewitness told Amnesty
International that at first, army officers had verbally warned
protesters not to cross the gate to the government buildings near the
roundabout where protesters have gathered since 24 October. Some of the
protesters ignored the warnings and approached the area but were driven
back by tear gas and sound grenades.
“They used a lot of tear gas. Even
the army was suffocating and started leaving. When the army left, the
protesters started burning tyres and trash,” he said, adding that
protesters began to throw stones in response.
“Around 8pm they started using live ammunition to disperse us. At first it was a little, then it started increasing,” he added.
The eyewitness said that at around
11pm anti-riot police cars began charging towards the peaceful
protesters, attempting to run them over. He said the tactic of using
cars to run over protesters was also used in protests over the weekend.
Another protester said he was
attending the largely peaceful protest when he heard gunshots coming
from the area near the government buildings. He described how security
forces dressed in black were chasing protesters.
“There were about seven to 10 cars
driving fast towards us and the men inside were shooting in the air to
scare people. We all started retreating… protesters and the army were
injured alike. These other forces started catching people and beating
them, even young boys. They beat them so savagely. They grabbed me and
started hitting me on my head…. The live fire was non-stop. It was
complete horror. There were children as young as 12 among the
protesters.”
One protester who was arrested in
Karbala on 28 October described the appalling detention conditions at
the anti-crime station inside a complex of government buildings.
“There was blood all over the walls.
There were boys who were under the age of 18. We heard screams from the
other room,” he said, adding that he saw at least one child bleeding
heavily from the mouth after being kicked in the face and another young
man with similar wounds denied medical care.
“Iraqi forces must order an
independent impartial investigation into events last night in Karbala
and ensure all those responsible are held accountable for their
actions,” said Lynn Maalouf.
Amnesty International is also
calling on Iraqi authorities to end arbitrary arrests and lift the
curfews imposed in several areas in the country, including Karbala.
The following sites updated:
