Paul Simon's Graceland

For many, Paul Simon's masterpiece is not "The Sounds of Silence" or "Bridge Over Troubled Water" but his Graceland album.  James Brewer has a very interesting piece at WSWS on the album which notes a new documentary to address various issues then and since.  Dusty Springfield (this is me, not the article) was the first name artist to publicly refuse to play South Africa.  That was in the 60s.  A cultural boycott quickly was put in place because, for those who don't know this, South Africa was a brutal regime for the native people -- who were Black -- with descendants from England (South Africa was a British colony) being in charge.  This was brutal and goes beyond Jim Crowe in this country.  Some would say it wasn't as bad as slavery, others would say there's no way you can compare the two because both were brutal in different ways.  In the 80s, Ronald Reagan was pro-South Africa and Nelson Mandela was a political prisoner.  In this period, Paul Simon was turned on to South African music and wanted to meet and record with the musicians.  This led to his 1987 album Graceland ("You Can Call Me Al" was the big hit off the album).  Now for Brewer:


The most enlightening comments in the film are the ones from the African musicians themselves. Through the controversy during the original 1987 Graceland tour, they behaved with courage consistent with life under the apartheid state. At one point during the European part of the tour, the musicians were ordered by the ANC to return to South Africa. This enraged guitarist Ray Phiri, who told ANC representatives, “I am a victim of apartheid. It is not possible to victimize the victim twice!”
Simon states several times that he would not have been able to stand up to the constant pressure of protests and some cases of violence from organizations that insisted Simon was aiding apartheid, during the tour without the strength of Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba, both exiled from South Africa.
Simon presents his defense from the standpoint that artists have the right to be “independent from politicians.” In response to criticism from the ANC that “you didn’t check with us,” Simon retorts, “Is that the kind of government you’re going to be? Will you check our lyrics? . . . Like so many others who f**k the artists?”
Belafonte is cited several times during the film. While he praises the music of Graceland, he attempts to express Simon’s position “that the artist is supreme and to go to any one group to beg the right of passage was against his instinct.”
Recent events in South Africa demonstrate that a critical and historical approach is required. Leaders of the ANC, including Dali Tambo, whose rapprochement with Simon is a keynote of the documentary, have become wealthy and part of the new South African establishment, which is determined to ruthlessly defend its interests.
The controversy over the cultural boycott of South Africa has apparently dissipated. Yet those who are eager to embrace Simon today and “let bygones be bygones” now have blood on their hands. The apartheid state has been gone since 1994, but the struggle between classes rages on, not only in South Africa, but globally.
The boycott demand received support from millions around the world seeking a way to smash the apartheid regime. As far as the ANC was concerned, however, it was a means of regulating the struggle, seeking to mobilize liberal public opinion and pressure the major powers to isolate the regime, while preparing to replace it with a government equally committed to capitalist property and imperialist domination.


It's the 25th anniversary of Graceland, by the way.  It won the Grammy for Album of the Year and the title song won Record of the Year.

Paul Simon is no relation to Carly Simon for any who wonder.  Like Carly, he is a singer-songwriter.  Like Carly, he achieved early success with a partner.  But whereas The Simon Sisters (Lucy and Carly Simon) had a hit with "Winkin, Blinkin' and Nod" and were a regional live act, Simon & Garfunkel were international superstars (Art Garfunkel -- Art sang lead on most of the songs, Paul wrote most of the songs).  In the 70s, the act broke up and Paul, like Carly, was a solo artist.  The hits continued with "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" and "One Trick Pony" among other songs.

Aside from music (and Paul's considered a gifted songwriter), Paul's best known for being the ex-husband of Carrie Fisher and for playing the music producer who romances Diane Keaton out from underneath Woody Allen in Annie Hall.

Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, September 11, 2012.  Chaos and violence continue, a new investigative report explores the continued persecuting and targeting of Iraq's LGBT community, Amnesty International decries the sentence of Tareq al-Hashemi, Jalal Talabani is said to return to Iraq shortly, the US Senate passes the Veterans Jobs Corps Bill, and more.     Senator Murray Urges Passage of Veterans Jobs Corps Bill Bill would help train and hire veterans as police officers, firefighters, and at our national and state parks     Watch video of Senator Murray's speech HERE.   (Washington, D.C.) – Today, Tuesday, September 11th, Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, spoke on the Senate floor in support of the Veterans Jobs Corps Act of 2012, which she is co-sponsoring. At a time when over 720,000 veterans are unemployed, this bill would increase training and      hiring opportunities for our nation's veterans, especially those from the post-9/11 era. The  Veterans Jobs Corps Act would help put our veterans back to work as police officers, fire fighters, and other first responders, positions that our communities are in sore need of after 85 percent of law enforcement agencies were forced to reduce their budget in the past year. In addition, this bill would also help train and hire veterans to help restore and protect our national, state, and tribal forests, our parks, our coastal areas, wildlife refuges, and VA cemeteries. Senator Murray pointed out that the bill contains ideas from both sides of the aisle, is fully paid for with bipartisan spending offsets, and should not be controversial at a time when our veterans continue to struggle. The bill is expected to be considered by the full Senate this week.   And we're jumping to Senator Murray's remarks on the bills:     Senator Patty Murray: "Our veterans have what it takes to not only find work, but to excel in the workforce of the 21st century." "We cannot and should not let that training – or the millions of dollars we have invested in these men and women - go to waste. But in far too many instances that's what has happened. Too often, on the day our service members are discharged, we as a nation pat them on their back for their service, without also giving them a helping hand into the job market. This has to end." "I urge my colleagues to build on the successes we have had in passing bipartisan veterans employment legislation. Veterans returning home all across the country are watching us and they certainly don't have time to let politics block their path to a job that will help serve their community." The full text of Senator Murray's speech: "Mr. President, last Friday, we were again reminded of the difficult employment picture our nation's veterans continue to face. "In the monthly unemployment report for August, we saw that across the country there are over 720,000 unemployed veterans. "It's a number that includes over 225,000 post-9/11 veterans - many of whom have served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan - and have sacrificed time and again for our safety. "Put simply, this shouldn't be the case. "Our veterans have what it takes to not only find work, but to excel in the workforce of the 21st century. "In fact, the characteristics that our veterans exemplify read like the job qualifications you might find at any major company or small business. That's because they have: leadership ability; discipline; and technical skills. "They know the value of teamwork like few others, and they certainly know how to perform under pressure. "And they have these skills because, as a country, we have invested in training them. "We cannot and should not let that training – or the millions of dollars we have invested in these men and women - go to waste. "But in far too many instances that's what has happened. "Too often, on the day our service members are discharged, we as a nation pat them on their back for their service, without also giving them a helping hand into the job market. "This has to end. "And Mr. President, this Senate has taken bipartisan action in the past to begin to change the way our veterans transition from the battlefield to the job market. "We were able to pass the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, which I co-authored, and which was signed into law last year. "Importantly, that new law transforms the way that we provide transition training to our service members when they leave the military. "It also includes a provision that today in my home state, and all across the country, is providing thousands of dollars in tax credits to businesses that are hiring veterans. "In addition to that bill, we have also worked to build partnerships with private sector businesses in order to tap into the tremendous amount of goodwill that companies have toward our returning heroes. "Sometimes this is a simple as working with companies to show them easy steps that help bring veterans aboard, like ensuring they are advertising job openings with local veterans service organizations and on local military bases, or having veterans in their HR departments. Or just having someone on staff that can help translate the experience of veterans into the work a company does. "Time and again - at big companies like Microsoft and Amazon – or much smaller businesses I have seen these steps make an impact. "Particularly, when veterans unemployment rates among young veterans ages 18-24 continues to hover around 20% action must be taken. Because that is one in five of our young veterans who can't find a job to support their family; one in five that don't have an income that provides stability; and one in five that don't have work that provides them with the self-esteem and pride that is so critical to their transition home. "It's a problem that manifests itself in veterans homelessness, in broken families, and far too often in our veterans taking their own lives. "It's a problem that neither the veterans themselves, nor government alone can solve. "But it is also one we need to do everything we can to address. "And here in the Senate that means a bipartisan 'all hands on deck' strategy. "And that is exactly what the Veterans Jobs Corps represents. "Over the next five years, the Veterans Jobs Corps will increase training and hiring opportunities for all veterans using successful job training programs from across the country. "It will help hire qualified veterans as police officers, fire fighters and other first responders at a time when 85 percent of law enforcement agencies were forced to reduce their budget in the past year. "It will also help train and hire veterans to help restore and protect our national, state, and tribal forests, our parks, and other public lands. "All at a time when we face a $10 billion maintenance backlog for our public lands – a backlog I have seen personally in many of the parks and lands in my home state of Washington. "And because training and hiring our veterans has never been, and should never be, an effort that divides us along partisan lines - the Veterans Jobs Corps takes good ideas from both sides of the aisle. "In fact, the bill will provide veterans with access to the internet and computers to conduct job searches at one-stop centers and certain other locations an idea championed by Senator Toomey. It will help guarantee that rural and disabled veterans' have access to veterans' employment representatives a bill from Senator Tester. It will increase transition assistance programs for eligible veterans and their spouses a bill that was introduced by Senator Boozman. And it will require consideration of a veteran's training or experience gained while serving on active duty when they seek certification and licenses a bill cosponsored by Democrats and Republicans. "This bill says that all good ideas are welcome, because our veterans need all the help they can get. "And it is also fully paid for in a bipartisan way. "It has been endorsed most recently by the National Association of Police Organizations but but there are also many veterans service organizations that stand behind this bill. "And they do so because they know that helping veterans find employment is critical to meeting so many of the challenges they face returning home. "You know, Mr. President our veterans don't ask for a lot. "Often times they come home and don't even acknowledge their own sacrifices. "My own father never talked about his time fighting in World War II. "In fact, I never saw his Purple Heart, or knew that he had a wallet with shrapnel in it, or a diary that detailed his time in combat, until after he had died and my family gathered to sort through his belongings. "But our veterans shouldn't have to ask. "We should know to provide for them. "When my father's generation came home from the war – they came home to opportunity. "My father came home to a community that supported him. "He came home to college - then to a job. "A job that gave him pride. "A job that helped him start a family. "And one that ultimately led to me starting my own. "That's the legacy of opportunity this Senate has to live up to for today's veterans. "I urge my colleagues to build on the successes we have had in passing bipartisan veterans employment legislation. "Veterans returning home all across the country are watching us and they certainly don't have time to let politics block their path to a job that will help serve their community. "Surely, this is something that we can show them that we can come together on, no matter how close or far away we are from an election. "Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor."     Kathleen Hunter (Bloomberg News) reports the bill passed the Senate today with 95 senators voting for it and one voting against it.   Today the White House issued the following list of nominations:     Robert Stephen Beecroft, of California, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Iraq. T. Charles Cooper, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, vice Jeffrey J. Grieco. Rose Eilene Gottemoeller, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, vice Ellen O. Tauscher, resigned. F. Scott Kieff, of Illinois, to be a Member of the United States International Trade Commission for the term expiring June 16, 2020, vice Daniel Pearson, term expired. Joshua D. Wright, of Virginia, to be a Federal Trade Commissioner for the term of seven years from September 26, 2012, vice J. Thomas Rosch, term expiring.     Robert S. Beecroft is Barack Obama's 4th nominee to be the US Ambassador to Iraq.  Senator Barack Obama participated in this process by voting to confirm presidential nominees.  But Barack's only been president since January 2009 -- not yet four years.  No, it is not common for a president to have to repeatedly nominate people to the same post over and over in one term.  And, no, no one died in the post.    When Barack was sworn in, Ryan Crocker was the US Ambassador to Iraq.  Barack nominated Chris Hill who, once confirmed and in Iraq, quickly set a record for afternoon naps.  When it was realized that Chris Hill wasn't working, James Jeffrey was nominated.  Then Jeffrey wanted out and Brett McGurk was nominated.  But he withdrew his name, as Press TV notes "over a sex scandal" and  Peter Baker (New York Times) notes, when "Democrats were unwilling to defend him because he previously worked for President George W. Bush." Currently, Robert Stephen Beecroft  is the Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Baghdad.  This means he's been running things since the US has no Ambassador to Iraq at present.  Yesterday, Barack Obama nominated Beecroft to be the latest in his conga line of US Ambassadors to Iraq.  Unlike Chris Hill and Brett McGurk, Beecroft actually speaks Arabic. From June 6, 2008 through June 4, 2011, he was the US Ambassador to Jordan -- he was sworn in to that post July 17, 2008 with his wife Anne and their daughter Blythe present as then-Secretary of State Condi Rice conducted the ceremony.   Their daughter attended Brigham Young University, as did Robert S. Beecroft (if you're wondering, yes, he is a Mormon and his missionary work was done in Venezuela).  Anne and Robert Beecroft married in 1983, Blythe is their oldest child (22) followed by Warren, Sterling and Grace.  After practicing law for six years (UC Berkeley Law School, 1988), Robert Beecroft  joined the diplomatic corps in 1994. Iraq, we were told, was a democracy -- or at least an emerging one.  If that were true, it certainly would have needed a steady hand in terms of the US diplomatic mission.  It didn't get that.  And possibly that's allowed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Maliki Thugettes to believe they could get away with anything?   This believe that they can get away with anything and that others have no rights and no right to expect safety or human kindness goes a long way towards explaining how members of a group that was an oppressed majority less than ten years ago is now represented by thugs who want to harm others, not lift Iraq to a higher place.   Natalia Antelava, Peter Murtaugh, Bill McKenna and Daniel Nasaw (BBC News -- link is video) report on the targeting of Iraq's LGBT community.  Excerpt.     First Iraqi Man:  They came to me face-to-face and told me that I have to stop being gay otherwise we will kill you.    Second Iraqi Man: They made every excuse to get us out of the car.  They took us away and five men started raping us.      Natalia Antelava: In a tiny stuffy room, Ahmed, Nancy and Allou are hiding from their families and the police.  All three have received death threats.  Ahmed has not left this room for over two months now.    Ahmed: I came here because I was gay and I was threatened by my family -- my immediate family -- and some unknown guys from my neighborhood.  The situation a few years ago was very bad.  But at that time, they did not pay any attention to gays.  Now they have nothing to do but look for gays -- to kill them.   Allou: The threat is much bigger now than before.  It's not only the militias now.  It's the police, the government who are going after us.   Natalia Antelava: I really wish we could show you their faces.  Ahmed's got big, dark, worried eyes on his thin face.  Nancy's really pretty and I would have never guessed that she was born male.  And Allou's got this very trendy haircut which would be completely normal in the West but here in Iraq, this sort of hair could get you killed.  Nancy is especially vulnerable in Iraq.  Born a transgender, she dreams of a sex change operation but it is impossible to have it done in Iraq, she says, and she has no way of leaving the country.   Nancy: My mom tried to persuade me to act like a man because I am supposed to be a man   I couldn't.  She didn't know what was inside me.  She couldn't understand that.  I can't tell you how many times I've been raped at checkpoints -- with the police, it's countless.  The worst incident was at a checkpoint on Al Sadun street.  They asked me for my ID, then asked me to get out of the car.  It was dark.  They put me against the blast wall.  Nine of them raped me.   There was nothing I could do.  If I had resisted, they would have arrested me.   Natalia Antelava:  If you could have anything that you wanted, what kind of life would you want to have?   Nancy: I want to live the life I want.  I want to be a woman and to be treated like one.  I am a human being and this is my right.   Natalia Antelava:  It's not just transgender, Allou had been raped too.   And I heard many other similar stories -- gay men, with even a slightly feminine appearance say they're often raped by police at checkpoints.   Allou:  I am so tired, so sad.  I have no freedom.  I can't say that I am gay.  I can't live my life.  I can't go home.  I have to stay here doing nothing and just wait.   Natalia Antelava:  He doesn't know what he's waiting for.  The situation in Iraq he says is only getting worse and without the support of international organizations, they can't find the way out of the country. They appear regularly without a warning. Each  neighborhood gets its own hit list with  names and addresses of local residents who are believed to be gay.  Each time, it drives the already hidden gay community here further underground and further into panic.  Each time, one of the gays told me, it signals the beginning of a new witch hunt.  Radical milita groups are believed to be behind this hit list.  Although officially they've been disbanded, militias still pose the greatest threat to homosexuals. But those we spoke to say that they're just as fearful of countless police and military checkpoints that are supposed to be making Baghdad safe.  This checkpoint is manned by the Interior Ministry troops.  But in Iraq, one's uniform never tells you the full story.   In this country, you can be a police man by day, a militia man by night.  These blurred lines and mixed allegiances have made it easy for the government to blame militia groups for the killings of gays. But we've discovered evidence that directly links the police with attacks on gays in Iraq. Qais is gay and a former police man. He told me he had been ordered to go after homosexuals.  He couldn't refuse and so he quit his job.   Qais: In 2006, 2007 and 2008, we were busy fighting terrorsm.  We didn't pay attention to gays.  On top of it, the Iraqi government had to respect the rule of law when the Americans and the British were here.  But now?  They have a lot of free time and the police are going after gays.   Natalia Antelava:  Have you ever been called to arrest gays or kill gays or go after gays in any way?   Qais:  Yes, twice.  We had to arrest this guy.  He was having an argument with someone.  Once they arrested him, they accused him of being gay. We were told to send him to another town where he was wanted for being gay.  We sent him to that town and he disappeared.  His family came to ask about him and we sent them to another town where they could not find him. Then they got a death certificate from the police but they never got the body.   Natalia Antelava:  With so much secrecy, fear and loathing, it's difficult to establish the exact level of the government's involvement in the persecution. But 17 gay men interviewed for this investigation said they believed they were being singled out and hunted by the state.  All see the police as a major threat.  All have recently had friends or boyfriends killed.  All said arrests were still happening.  Until recently, Ghaith worked a a police station.  One day, he came to work to find his boyfriend in a pre-trial detention cell.   Ghaith: Being gay is not illegal in Iraq, it's not a crime. But he was told he was arrested because he was gay.  They call gays "puppies." They would beat him, saying,  "Puppies are destroying our country.  We must rid our country of you. We must kill you all.   He was in the police station for a week.   Natalia Antelava: The last time  Ghaith saw his boyfriend was the day before he died.   Ghaith:  I was upset. I lost all control, had a fight with the guards.  I was screaming, "Why did you kill my lover!"  They said, "Since you're like him, you should be dead too."  I started looking for any document related to his death.  I told them I was going to international human rights organizations and tell them everything.   Natalia Antelava:  Ghaith is now in hiding, terrorfied that he is next.     Credit to the BBC which has been the world leader on this issue for broadcast outlets. No other broadcast news outlet has done as much to raise this issue or to report on the violence as the BBC has. In print form, the Denver Post has done more than any other daily newspaper and Boston's The Edge has done more than any other weekly (especially reporter Kilian Melloy).  And I don't want to take anything away from those three news outlets but it is a real shame that their strong work has not been matched by others in what is not a one day or one month or one year story but what is a story that's been going on since the start of the war and a story whose latest wave of persecution has been going on for nearly four years.  A big thank you to those who have done such a great job covering the story (and there are others who have -- especially among the LGBT press) but it is shameful that so many outlets -- so many name news outlets -- have elected to ignore this story -- repeatedly ignore it.     In Iraq, the persecution and the violence continues.  Today All Iraq News notes a Falluja home invasion of a police officers home in which 1 family members was killed and five more were left injured.  Alsumaria notes 2 corpses were found dumped on a main road in Mosul, both men had been shot to death. The political crisis continues in Iraq.  Al Rafidayn notes that Nouri has been very skillful in playing various political blocs against one another, tossing them off balance and allowing him to continue doing whatever it is that they had been objecting to before he pitted them against one another.  (They also note Sunday's violence -- over 100 dead, over 400 wounded -- and speak with analyst John Drake who feels that the violence was more likely carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and not supporters of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.) The political crisis has lasted over a year.  You can chart its beginning to the end of December 2010 when it should have been clear that Nouri was trashing the US-brokered Erbil Agreement (which gave him a second term as prime minister) or the summer of 2011 when Iraqiya, Moqtada al-Sadr and the Kurds were all calling for a return to the Erbil Agreement publicly.  The political crisis can be seen as beginning in December of 2011 when Nouri's war on the Sunnis moves from mass arrests of academics and the elderly in the fall of that year to targeting Iraqiya (with his demand that Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq be stripped of his post and his arrest warrant for Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi -- al-Mutlaq and al-Hashemi are members of Iraqiya and also Sunni). Immediately after the political crisis begins, Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi and Iraq President Jalal Talabani begin calling for a National Conference -- a meet-up of the political blocs -- to address the crisis.  Nouri is immediately against it and says it's not necessary.  He'll go for a reform commission, he insists, but not a national conference.  He tries to throw one road block after another before the National Conference as prep meetins are held.  In late February, he announces it can't take place in March because the Arab League Summit will be held in Baghdad that month.  Talabani uses the international press spotlight to schedule the National Conference -- he did that by announcing the weekend before the Summit, with press arriving in Iraq in large numbers that were only expected to increase (and did increase -- for the Summit) that they would hold the National Conference Thursday, April 5th.  The announcement having been made to the press, Nouri tries to save face by announcing it himself while instructing his State of Law MPs to work on killing the conference.  The day of the conference al-Nujaifi is forced to hold a press conference to announce that the National Conference is off. It was supposed to be re-scheduled.  Nouri then focused his efforts on killing a no-confidence vote.  Once he had done that (with the tremendous help of Jalal Talabani), he announced that the reform commission he'd earlier spoken of would do the work the national conference was supposed to. No. That was never going to happen.  And it ended up being nothing but a set of non-binding statements written by his National Alliance allies.  Turns out it was even worse than that.  Al Mada reports today that the National alliance is stating that they will review the reform paper before it's put forward.  Review it?  Al Mada reports State of Law wrote it. State of Law is Nouri's slate.  Nouri wrote his own little 'reform' list.  Iraqiya is the political slate that came in first in the March 2010 elections.  Nouri's slate came in second.  Nouri is part of the National Alliance (as is Moqtada al-Sadr and his bloc of MPs and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and other Shi'ite groups).  The Reform Commission was supposed to be similar to the National Conference -- a face to face meet-up of blocs where the various issues were addressed.  Instead, it became a paper written by elements of the National Alliance sympathetic to Nouri.  Now it's become a paper written by State of Law. It is a joke.  I-Was-Right rights today go to Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi who was the first Iraqi to publicly call out the Reform Commission and note that the whole thing was nothing but a distraction. The Reform Commission will accomplish nothing.  Nouri implemented a power-grab at the end of 2010 and has continued it.  That's part of the objection -- and why some Iraqi politicians have compared Nouri to Saddam Husssein.  The idea that the man accused of a power grab can have his political slate write the reforms is laughable. Part of Nouri's power grab was ignoring the Constitution which requires a prime minister-designate to name a Cabinet in 30 days or else someone else will be named prime minister-designate and get the 30 days to accomplish the task.  The Constitution requires that you name the Cabinet in 30 days or you don't get moved from prime minister-designate to prime minister.  That's not 'partial Cabinet.'  That's name your Cabinet. Nouri couldn't do that because he wouldn't do that.  He never named ministers to head the Interior, Defense or National Security.  And, again, Ayad Allawi was the first to publicly call this out.  He said it was a power-grab.  The press insisted it wasn't.  They insisted that in a matter of weeks, Nouri would name nominees for these posts.  It's now September 2012 and he's never named nomineess.  Al Mada notes Iraqiya is calling for nominees and saying they need to come quickly in light of Sunday's violence.  Iraqiya MP Hamid al-Mutlaq states that the country is vulnerable to terrorists as a result of Nouri leaving those positions empty.  All Iraq News adds that Iraqiya has submitted a list containing the names of four members they say are qualified to be Minister of Defense. The PUK is Talabani's political party (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan).  They tell Al Rafidayn that Jalal will return at the start of next week.  In May, as the no-confidence vote on Nouri was about to happen, Jalal suddenly began declaring signatures void.  He then ignored the request of the Kurdish officials that no one leave Iraq.  Iraq's vagabond president fled to Germany with his office insisting that he needed life-threatening surgery. That ended up being knee surgery.  (What a close call!)  He has remained in Germany ever since.  He's been said to be on the verge of returning before.  He may or may not return next week but his political party is stating he will be returning. He did note yesterday that the Sunday sentencing of his Vice Presdient Tareq al-Hashemi to be hanged was not helping the crisis.  Al Manar runs BBC's report about Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declaring today that al-Hashemi is welcome in and safe in Turkey and that "We will not hand him over."  Hurriyet Daily News states that Turkey's position is "crystal clear" and quotes Erdogan stating, "We will host al-Hashemi in our country as long as he wants to remain in Turkey.  We will not hand him over."   Amnesty International weighed in today on Sunday's violence and on the sentence against Tareq al-Hashemi: The Iraqi authorities must urgently launch a thorough, impartial investigation into a wave of bomb attacks and shootings across Iraq on Sunday which reportedly killed at least 81 people, many of them civilians, and left scores more injured, Amnesty International said. The apparently coordinated attacks in multiple cities appear to have targeted Iraqi civilians. Members of the security and armed forces also seemed to have been targeted. Car bomb explosions in several, predominantly Shi'a areas were among the deadliest attacks.  "This horrific wave of attacks shows an utter disregard for humanity – the Iraqi authorities must ensure an immediate, thorough, impartial, and transparent investigation is carried out and those responsible are brought to justice in proceedings that comply with the most rigorous internationally recognized standards for fair trial," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. "There is no justification for the deliberate targeting of civilians – it is abhorrent and shows a total disregard for international human rights standards as well as the basic principles of humanity." Several bombings across southern Iraq – including in the cities of Basra and Nasiriyah and a market near the Imam Ali al-Sharqi shrine – also resulted in deaths and injuries. Meanwhile, a car bomb near the northern city of Kirkuk appeared to have targeted people lining up to seek employment at an oil facility, and two explosions in Kirkuk itself killed three people and wounded scores more. Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks Trial in absentia The attacks came as an Iraqi court sentenced the Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi to death after he was convicted, together with his son-in-law, Ahmed Qahtan for allegedly ordering killing a lawyer and a Shi'a security official. Al-Hashemi, is now in Turkey and has been in office since 2005. He has denied the charges, which he claims are politically motivated. "The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, degrading and inhuman punishment and a violation of the right to life. This latest sentence is part of an alarming and sweeping use of the death penalty in Iraq. We call on the authorities to commute al-Hashemi's sentence immediately" said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. Background In December, state run TV channel Al-Iraqiya broadcast "confessions" by men said to be al-Hashemi's bodyguards saying that they had killed police officers and officials from ministries in exchange for payoffs from al-Hashemi. This is in violation of fair trial standards, especially the presumption of innocence. One of the bodyguards, Amer al-Battawi, died in custody in March 2012 after being held for three months. His family reportedly claimed his body bore signs of having been tortured. The Iraqi authorities denied the torture allegations and said al-Battawi died of kidney failure. One of al-Hashemi's female employees is currently in detention. Rasha Nameer Jaafer al-Hussain, who was working at the Iraqi Vice-President's Office, was arrested without a warrant at her parents' house in Baghdad district on 1 January 2012. The security forces claimed they were taking her away for questioning and that she would return two hours later. Her family did not hear of her whereabouts for weeks. A second woman, Bassima Saleem Kiryakos, was released, apparently without charge, on around 10 April.  She was arrested after her house in Baghdad was raided by over 15 armed security men in military uniform. The men did not have an arrest warrant. ENDS   For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org    cc0           xxx   iraq the new york times peter baker press tv johnny barber all iraq news bbc news al rafidayn  al mada kitabat al jazeera

One Lousy Con

That's Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Tom Hayden Democrats" and this is from Joseph Kishore's piece for WSWS:



Mass unemployment, poverty, unending war, the erosion of the most basic democratic rights—this is the “new normal.” The conditions that prevail stand as an unanswerable indictment of the capitalist system and therefore pose the necessity for its alternative: socialism.
The conventions, in their own way, expose the bankruptcy of the economic system that the two parties jointly defend. In the course of two weeks, the Democrats and Republicans vied with one another in their displays of demagogy and lying aimed at cloaking the fact that they have nothing to offer the American people.


And doesn't that just about sum it all up.

It was bulls**t.

It was all a con, like Ava and C.I. noted in "TV: Pig In A Poke" yesterday.

One lousy con that's supposed to take us in and trick us.


Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Monday, September 10, 2012.  Chaos and violence continue,  an Iraqi vice president is convicted and sentenced to be hanged, Iraq experiences the second most violent day of the year with over 100 dead, poor Victoria Nuland is forced to address the topic of Iraq, Senator Patty Murray prepares to fight for a Veterans Jobs Corps bill, and more.   Starting with veterans.  In the US, Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.  August 10th, she, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and veterans held a press conference to discuss S.3429 - the Veterans Jobs Corps bill.     Senator Patty Murray (at the press conference): Just last week I helped introduce the Veterans Jobs Corps bill in the Senate -- and it will be one of the very first bills we consider when we return to DC in September.  It's a bill that is modeled off successful job training programs across the country and in states like ours.  And it's a bill based on President Obama's call to hire more veterans as police officers, firefighters, and in our national partk.  The bill is a $1 billion investment in our veterans and their capacity to strengthen America.  And over the next five years, the Veterans Jobs Corps will increase training and hiring opportunities for all veterans, help restore and protect our national, state, and tribal forests, our parks, our coastal areas, wildlife refuges, and VA cemeteries.  It will also help hire qualified veterans as first responders at a time when 85 percent of law enforcement agencies were forced to reduce their budget in the past year.  This bill contains ideas from both sides of the aisle, is fully paid for with bipartisan spending offsets, and should not be controversial at a time when our veterans continue to struggle.  Like I said, it will be job number one when we return, and I am hopeful that regardless of party affiliation this is an idea we can all get behind.     That matters at any time but especially right now because the Senate will be considering the bill tomorrow.  From Senator Muarry's office:   TOMORROW: Senator Murray to Speak in Support of Veterans Jobs Corps Bill   BILL WOULD HELP TRAIN AND HIRE VETERANS AS POLICE OFFICERS, FIREFIGHTERS, AND AT OUR NATIONAL AND STATE PARKS   (Washington, D.C.) -- Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 11th, Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, will speak on the Senate floor in support of the Veterans Jobs Corps Act of 2012, which she is co-sponsoring.  At a time when over 720,000 veterans are unemployed, this bill would increase training and hiring opportunities for our nation's veterans, especially those from the post-9/11 era.  The Veterans Jobs Corps Act would help put our veterans back to work as police officers, fire fighters, and other first responders, positions that our communities are in sore need of after 85 percent of law enforcement agencies were forced to reduce their budget in the past year.  In addition, this bill would also help train and hire veterans to help restore and protect our national, state, and tribal forests, our parks, our coastal areas, wildlife refuges, and VA cemeteries.    Senator Murray will point out that the bill contains ideas from both sides of the aisle, is fully paid for with bipartisan spending offsets, and should not be controversial at a time when our veterans continue to struggle.  The bill is expected to be considered by the full Senate this week.     WHO:        U.S. Senator Patty Murray   WHAT:       Senator Murray will give a speech on the Senate floor in support of the Veterans Jobs Corps bill   WHEN:         TOMORROW: Tuesday, September 11, 2012                      Approximately 12:00 PM EST/9:00 AM PST (this may change depending on floor schedule)   WHERE:       U.S. Senate Floor   LIVE WEBCAST: http://www.c-span.org/Live-Video/C-SPAN2/   ###   Kathryn Robertson Specialty Media Coordinator Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray 448 Russell Senate Office Building Washington D.C. 20510 202-224-2834     Senator Patty Murray's office   Senator Murray's YouTube Channel   Senator Murray's Press Office Twitter Account   RSS Feed for Senator Murray's office       Now we shift over to Canada where  Kim Rivera is being threatened with deportation.  She is a US war resister, an Iraq War veteran who came back to the US on a pass and decided she couldn't return to the war because of what she had seen.  So at the start of 2007, she and her husband and their two children went into Canada.  She has applied for refugee status.  In the years since, as she's waited, she and her husband have put down roots in Canada and had two more children.  The Canadian government is currently stating that they will deport her on or by September 20th.  The United Steelworkers of Canada issued the following statement today:     TORONTO – "The USW calls on Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to grant Iraq War resister Kimberly Rivera's application to stay in Canada," said Ken Neumann, United Steelworkers (USW) National Director. "The minister can choose to step in and allow Kimberly and her family to stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds," said Neumann. "Two of Kimberly's children were born here, yet the process for deporting her failed to consider the wellbeing of her family." Rivera is to be deported on Sept. 20, according to a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) for Rivera, her husband Mario and their four young children (two of whom are Canadian citizens). Rivera joined the U.S. Army when she was 24 and was stationed in Iraq. She believed the U.S. efforts would make her country safer and bring democracy to Iraq. Disillusioned by the reality of civilian casualties and Iraqi children devastated by loss and filled with fear, she came to Canada in 2007 and applied for refugee status. Rivera felt she could no longer participate in a war where she was contributing to causing harm and death to innocent people. The USW has supported U.S. Iraq War resisters since 2004 when the first war resister arrived in Canada. The Toronto Steelworkers Hall is offered for the War Resisters Support Campaign's public meetings. Members of the USW are encouraged to sign the War Resisters Support Campaign's petition and call Minister Kenney to ask that he allow the Rivera family to stay in Canada. During the Vietnam War, 100,000 war resisters came to Canada and more than half of them remain here today. Many of them volunteered and, like Kimberly, later developed moral objections to the war that they could not ignore. In the 1970s, conscientious objectors who had voluntarily joined the U.S. military were accepted as permanent residents here without distinction from those who were drafted. "Across the country, war resisters, including some who are now Steelworkers, were accepted here because they could not in good conscience participate in a war. They, and all of the Vietnam War resisters, have made invaluable contributions to Canadian society and to our economy," said Neumann. Public opinion polling shows that a majority of Canadians want our government to continue that tradition today. A 2008 Angus Reid poll found that 64% of Canadians would let U.S. military deserters stay in Canada. War Resisters Support Campaign's petition More information: Ken Neumann, United Steelworkers National Director, 416-544-5951 Bob Gallagher, United Steelworkers, 416-544-5966 bgallagher@usw.ca     Iraq Veterans Against the War notes Kim ("Send a letter now or call the office of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration: 613-954-1064 ") and Rodney Watson.  Rodney?  Rodney is one of those who was affected by stop-loss aka the backdoor draft.  When his service contract should have ended, he was informed that additional years were being tacked on.  Dropping back to the June 17, 2008 snapshot and this is about rallies taking place across Canada in support of war resisters:     On Saturday, rallies took place. Mario Cootauco (Canwest News Service) reported on one in British Columbia that US war resister Rodney Watson attended. Watson explained that he didn't want to return to Iraq, "There's no need for us to be over there and I saw that first-hand. I decided I needed to get out of there. I wanted to go just to be a support. I didn't want to go kicking down doors, killing children or innocent people or getting my hands dirty or anything. I support my country, but I don't support the way we're going about it."       In October of 2009, Krystalline Kraus (Rabble) reporting on US War Resister Rodney Watson:   The latest flashpoint in the battle to keep war resisters in Canada has been the case of Rodney Watson who on Monday October 19, 2009, decided to seek sanctuary in a B.C. [British Columbia] church rather than face deporation to the United States to face desertion charges. Watson, who is originally from Kansas City,  Kansas, enlisted in the US Army in 2004 for a three-year contract with the intentions of becoming a cook since he wanted to serve the troops in a non-combat capactiy. In 2005, he was deployed to Iraq just north of Mosul, where he was put in charge of searching vehicles and Iraqi civilians for explosives, contraband and weapons before they entered the base. He was also expected to "keep the peace" by monitoring Iraqi civilians who worked on the base and fire his weapon at Iraqi children who approached the perimeter.   Rodney sought asylum at  Vancouver's First United Church on Hastings Street.   In December of 2009, Rodney, still at the church, had a column in the Toronto Star: I have been here in Vancouver since early 2007. I have been self-sufficient. I have fathered a beautiful son whose mother is Canadian. I plan to marry her and to provide our son with a loving and caring family unit. I have made many friends and I have built a peaceful life here. My son and my wife-to-be are my heart and soul and it would be a great tragedy for my family and for me personally if I were deported and torn away from them. I think being punished as a prisoner of conscience for doing what I felt morally obligated to do is a great injustice. This Christmas I hope and pray that people will open their hearts and minds to give peace and love a chance.   IVAW notes of Rodney:   Send letters of support to Rodney Watson Jr. at First United Church, 320 East Hastings Street, Vancouver BC V6A 1P4 Join and Share Rodney's Facebook page: War Resister in Sanctuary Kim and Rodney are two Iraq War veterans who were changed by what they saw.      Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi:  Yesterday Prime Minister Maliki and his politicized judiciary concluded the final phase of their theatrical campaign against me using a kangaroo court set up for this purpose. It was really a shamble.  Therefore, while reconfirming my and my God's absolute [authority],  I totally reject and will never recognize the unfair, the injust, the politically motivated verdict which was expected from the outset of the unfair trial.  I consider verdict a medal on my chest and a fair cost that I have to pay in return of my absolute dedication in serving my country Iraq.   That's Iraq's Vice President al-Hashemi speaking in Turkey today at a press conference -- video here. and here.   Sunday, Ramadan al-Fatash (DPA) explained "that a Baghdad court sentenced in absentia Iraq's vice president, Tareq al-Hashemi, to death on terrorism charges. Al-Hashemi, Iraq's most senior Sunni Muslim official, has called the charges a political ploy by the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki."   Lara Jakes (AP) reported, "The Baghdad courtroom was silent Sunday as the presiding judge read out the verdict convicting al-Hashemi and his son-in-law of organizing the murders of a Shiite security official and a lawyer who had refused to help the vice president's allies in terror cases. The court sentenced both men in absentia to death by hanging. They have 30 days to appeal the verdict."  Al Jazeera adds: Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Istanbul, where Hashemi currently is, said the vice president "didnt seem very worried at all" as Turkey has refused to hand him over to the Iraqi authorities. "He knows he is safe," she said. Our correspondent also noted that the final sentence was a lot more watered down than the initial charges. "At the beginning he was being indicted for financing and organising death squads. He was told he was behind at least 150 attacks. If you look at today's sentencing it has been completely watered down. Compared to what he was accused of, he has just been sentenced on the killing of a lawyer and a security official," she said. BBC News notes, "Other Sunni politicians have denounced Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki - who issued the warrant for Mr Hashemi - as a dictator, accusing him of deliberate provocation that risked plunging the country back into sectarian conflict.  Correspondents say the fragile coalition government of Sunnis, secularists and Shia has appeared to be in danger of collapse ever since."  Emily Alpert (Los Angeles Times) reports, "Turkey has not tried to send Hashemi back to Iraq, despite Interpol issuing a 'red notice' to member countries requesting his arrest in May. The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet quoted an anonymous diplomat calling the death sentence 'obviously a political decision ... an absurd situation'."  Attorney Muayad Obeid al-Ezzi headed al-Hashemi's defense team and he tells Al Jazeera, "This ruling has no legal value or effect.  In-abstentia rulings cannot be considered final or enforced."  Hurriyet Daily News notes: "This is obviously a political decision. Sentencing the country's vice president to death is an absurd situation," a Turkish diplomatic source told the Daily News. Recalling that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said al-Hashemi could stay in Turkey for as long as he wants, the source said he was not anticipating a change in this position. The Turkish government had said it would not extradite al-Hashemi to Iraq, after Interpol issued a red bulletin against the fugitive Iraqi politician in May. State of Law got what it wanted which is one reason for them to stop gloating.  Another reason is that their glee backs up the belief that this was politically motivated.   Alsumaria reports that State of Law's Haitham al-Jubouri is insisting Turkey must hand over Tareq and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand Turkey hand the vice president over.  Even worse, State of Law MP Saad al-Muttalibi immediately rushed to Iran's Press TV to offer 'facts' like, "It has nothing to do with politics.  The court was not politically motivated.  There was hard evidence linking the person to the death squad."  I'm sorry, Saad al-Muttalibi was a courtroom observer?  No, he wasn't.  So his statements which have him seeing the evidence is suspect.  Either he's lying when he maintains "there was hard evidence" and he has no idea whether there was or wasn't or else he did see the evidence and since he was neither judge nor juror, why was he shown the evidence in an ongoing trial?     Al Mada reports that some believe Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will intervene in the crisis. Kitabat notes that al-Hashemi has repeated his call for an end to the executions in Iraq which are seen as politically motivated (and amnesty law is supposedly on the verge of being passed but in the meantime Nouri is ordering that Sunnis be executed -- this has led to two prisons have hunger strikes and a prison riot when Sunnis were taken out of the prison to Baghdad to be executed).  Omar al-Jawoshy and Michael Schwirtz (New York Times) quote Talabani stating, "It was regrettable to issue, at this particular time, a judicial decision against him while he still officially holds office."   Sam Dagher and Ali A. Nabhan (Wall Street Journal) report, "Many saw the verdict against Tariq al-Hashemi -- a prominent Sunni politician who has professed his innocence and has been sheltered by the Sunni Islamist-led government in Turkey since April -- coupled with Sunday's attacks as emboldening those among Iraq's Sunni minority who see violent confrontation rather than politics as the only way to regain powers lost to the Shiite majority after the U.S.-led ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime more than nine years ago." And why would anyone assume that politics was a way to regain power when the March 2010 election results were overturned by the White House?  We called that out in real time while many remained silent.  It was not minor.  If you say you used war to create a democracy -- an illegal reason for war -- and you then turn around and nullify the results of an election, then don't be surprised when people -- especially people new to democracy -- lose faith in the process. The March 2010 elections saw Iraqiya come in first.  Iraqiya is a political slate that welcomed all and was more concerned with a national identity than a sectarian one.  Nouri refused to run with Dawa (his political party) and instead created the slate State of Law which was sectarian.  The Iraqi people turned out in record numbers to vote and despite bribes from Nouri -- he bribed in the 2009 provincial elections as well -- and violence, they put Iraqiya in first place. Which means Ayad Allawi should have had first crack at forming a government.  That's what the Constitution says.  Instead, Nouri dug his heels in because he wanted that second term and the White House backed him up.  He would not have survived causing an 8 month political stalemate without the backing of his puppet masters. And it was the White House that brokered the Erbil Agreement in November 2010 which finally ended the political stalemate.  The Erbil Agreement was supposed to see Nouri make various concessions to get a second term as prime minister -- but Nouri used the agreement to get that second term and then broke the contract and the US played oblivious -- this after swearing to the blocs that it was a binding contract and it had the US government's full support. When the bulk of the US military left Iraq (the drawdown), Nouri amped up his targeting of Iraqiya and Sunnis.  He screamed for Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq to be removed from office, he swore out an arrest warrant on Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, etc. Nouri's refusal to honor the Erbil Agreement has created a second political stalemate that's over a year old.  His actions starting in December 2011 have created a political crisis. Chelsea J. Carter and Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) quote  al-Hashemi stating, "The verdict is unjust, political and illegitimate and I will not acknowledge it. [. . .] To my dear people, I say, make sure that al-Maliki and those who stand behind him don't get what he wishes.  Because they want sectarian strife."  Reporting on the press conference in Turkey, Ahul Bayt News Agency states,  "Mr Hashemi was the most pro U.S. politician in Iraq and his case has sparked a political crisis."   Wow.  What a way to repay Tareq for that, huh?  The US government couldn't have been more in character if they'd put him on the refugee application list and then spent two to three years ignoring his application.    The State Dept issued the following today:     Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC September 10, 2012 Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns will travel to Amman, Jordan, Baghdad and Erbil, Iraq and Ankara, Turkey September 10-15 to engage leaders on our strategic regional priorities. His visit will provide a strong signal of U.S. commitment to the region and enhance international coordination efforts on Syria. And because of the verdict, Iraq actually figured into a US State Dept press briefing.  Follow along and note what happens.     QUESTION: To start with, Iraqi Vice President Tariq Hashemi, as you know, has been sentenced to death in absentia. Do you have any comment on the verdict?   MS. NULAND: Well, as you know, Arshad, we have discussed the Hashemi case with a number of Iraqis leaders over these many months. Consistent with our prior positions on Iraqi legal and judicial matters, the United States supports a fair and transparent judicial process in accordance with the constitution and the laws of Iraq and its international legal obligations. We are concerned about the potential for an increase in unhelpful rhetoric and tension on all sides, and we call on all of Iraq's leaders to continue to try to resolve their disputes consistent with the rule of law and in a manner that's going to strengthen Iraq's long-term security, unity, and commitment to democracy. I would simply add that our understanding is that under Iraqi law, there is an opportunity for Mr. Hashemi to appeal this. We will, obviously, monitor this case and see what happens.     QUESTION: Do you regard this as having been a fair and transparent process?     MS. NULAND: Well, again, I think we've said all the way along that we have concerns, and we look forward to seeing where this case goes in the future.   QUESTION: No, no. But you began by saying you reiterated your support for a fair and transparent process. When you say you've said all along you've had concerns, I mean, are you – now that there's a verdict and a sentence, can you not say – I mean, do you continue to be concerned that this was not fair nor transparent – the process by which this was arrived at?     MS. NULAND: Well, again, I think I made clear that it is not clear that this legal process is necessarily over, so I don't think I want to go any further than I did at this time. Please.     QUESTION: Mr. Hashemi said today from Turkey that his case is political, so he doesn't really believe it's a legal issue at all. Do you see it as a political? He's accusing Prime Minister Maliki of making a case based on allegations mainly politically targeted rather than legal system in the court system, the court.   MS. NULAND: Well, again, I think we've said – and I said it again here – that with regard to political disputes, political concerns between figures in Iraq, we want to see those solved through discussion among them, through a political process. I don't think with regard to this specific case I'm going to go any further than I went in responding to Arshad. Said.   QUESTION: But I mean, can I just say – I mean, you're saying – you're saying – in response to these particular questions, you're saying a very general statement about politically motivated cases. And so it's unclear whether you think this is a politically motivated case, or you're just taking the time to remind people that you have a problem with politically motivated cases.   MS. NULAND: I would say what we've been saying all along, that we've had concerns about the way this has been dealt with. The legal process continues. Please.   QUESTION: A quick follow-up on this.   MS. NULAND: Yeah.   QUESTION: Mr. Hashemi is – of course, Iraq is a close ally of the United States. You've spent a lot of time and effort training its judiciary and so on. And he is on the run. He is a fugitive. He also is in a country that is another country that is allied with the United States. So how do you handle this? If they call for his extradition, how do you deal with it? Just to follow up on Nadia's question, is it a political or is it a judicial --   MS. NULAND: Well, I think you're taking me into hypothetical places having to do with extradition, et cetera.     QUESTION: But they are – I mean, they are asking for him to be turned over.   MS. NULAND: Yeah. I think I'm not going to go any further than I've already gone, Said.   QUESTION: I'm just a little confused on what type of discussion you want to have. You say a discussion that avoids unhelpful rhetoric. But now you have a death penalty against someone. Should they be discussing, what, how to implement his death, or I mean, what's left to discuss at this point?   MS. NULAND: Well, as I said at the beginning here, the Iraqi judicial process provides for appeal. It's up to Mr. Hashemi how he's going to proceed there. But given the fact that this – the legal process here may not be over; I don't think I'm going to go any further than I already have. Please, in the back.   QUESTION: In order for him to appeal, he needs to be physically – according to what legals are saying in Iraq – physically to be present in Iraq. And him and people from his party, Al-Iraqiya, are having fears over his safety, and that's one of the reasons why he fled from Iraq. So do you think that his concerns and his people's concerns are legit? And also, I mean, the death penalty seems like, I mean, if he gets there and if those concerns are proven to be true, I mean, that's really another death penalty. So it's either – whether he goes or he stays out, he has the penalty, the same verdict.   MS. NULAND: Well, again, this is an issue that is something that's going to have to be worked out going forward. I think I'm not going to comment any further than I already have. Moving on to something else? Samir, please.   QUESTION: Was this on the agenda in the U.S.-Iraq talks that Assistant Secretary Jones had last week in Iraq?   MS. NULAND: Whether this specific case of Mr. Hashemi came up with Assistant Secretary Jones, I will check on that for you, Samir. I think we've been pretty clear and transparent with the Iraqis all the way through about our concerns about all of this. Please.   QUESTION: One more on this?   MS. NULAND: Yeah.   QUESTION: You, I think, said that you had concerns about the possibility that this could lead to an increase in tensions and heated rhetoric, something like that.   MS. NULAND: Mm-hmm.   QUESTION: When you say tensions, do you mean violence?   MS. NULAND: I think there's concern about whether it's rhetoric, whether it's violence, whether it is anything that takes us further away from the kind of political dialogue that Iraqis have got to have with each other in order for the country to move forward.   QUESTION: Just a quick follow-up on this. Do you expect with – in the increased sectarian tension, and Mr. Hashemi being the most senior Sunni in Iraq, do you expect that this actually will spill over into a more sectarian strife?   MS. NULAND: Well, again, I'm not going to predict the future here. I think we have concerns, as I said at the beginning, that there will be increased tension going forward. Please. Moving on? Go ahead.   Did you catch it?  Did you catch how many times she wanted to change the topic.   I'm sorry Victoria Nuland is discussing Iraq boring you?  Forget that your own family -- husband, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and possibly a pet monkey -- all advocated the Iraq War as did you while working for Dick Cheney, whether you want to discuss it or not, the US tax payer is on the hook for billions in Iraq but now spent by the State Dept.  In other words, you should be discussing Iraq every damn day, not working to avoid the topic.           Yesterday, Iraq was slammed with violence -- this despite Tom Hayden flaunting his xenophobia just last week and declaring the war over (the entitled and xenophobic think that just because the US government starts a war, the war is over when the US government says so) -- and it was the second most violent day of the year.  July 23rd saw 115 people killed in violent attacks.  (Monday July 23rd, the death toll was 107 . . . until all the bodies were counted.  On Tuesday the 24th, "This morning, AP notes that the death toll from Monday's attacks 'has risen to 115.'  Reuters notes the increase and credits it in part to a Baghdad bombing and a Baquba bombing 'late on Monday' which claimed 9 lives and thirty-one injured.")    Jamal Hashim and Mustafa Sabah (Xinhua) reported, "The deadliest attack in the day occured near the city of Amara, some 365 km south of Baghdad, when two car bombs exploded at a marketplace near the shrine of Shiite Imam Ali al-Sharqi in the town that holds the name of the Imam, killing 18 people and wounding some 70 others."  Mohammed Tawfeeq, Chelsea J. Carter and Josh Levs (CNN) have the best break down of the violence, reporting it by city: Baghdad, Amara, Kirkuk, Western Basra, Tikrit, Taji, Nasiriya, Falluja, Abu Ghraib. Sky News counted 109 dead and notes that Baghdad accounts for 51 deaths alone.  Kareem Raheem, Aseel Kami, Raheem Salman, Ahmed Rasheed, Patrick Markey, Barry Malone and Andrew Osborn (Reuters) quote Sadr City's Alla Majid stating, "I heard women screaming, I saw people running in all directions, chairs scattered in the street.  My windows were blown out, my mother and two kids were injured too."   Suadad al-Salhy and Raheem Salman (Reuters) note that attack targets included "the French consular building in the usually stable city of Nassiriya" and 1 guard was killed and four more injured.  Through yesterday's attacks, Iraq Body Count counts 140 people dead from violence in Iraq so far this month.     Violence continued today.   Sinan Salaheddin (AP) reports an attack on a Dujail checkpoint that has left 3 Sahwa dead.  (Sahwa are fighter originally put on the US payroll to stop attacking US troops and US equipment, in 2008, then top US commander in Iraq David Petreaus -- now CIA Director -- credited Sahwa with turning a phase of the war around.  Sahwa are also known as "Sons of Iraq" and "Awakenings.")  All Iraq News notes a Falluja roadside bombing has left two Iraqi soldiers injured.  Alsumaria adds police are stating that they killed a suicide car bomber in Falluja.  All Iraq News also notes an armed attack in Samarra which left 2 people dead and three people injured.  Trend News Agency notes that Turkish warplanes bombed northern Iraq for over an hour in their ongoing conflict with the PKK.    Aaron Hess (International Socialist Review) described the PKK in 2008, "The PKK emerged in 1984 as a major force in response to Turkey's oppression of its Kurdish population. Since the late 1970s, Turkey has waged a relentless war of attrition that has killed tens of thousands of Kurds and driven millions from their homes. The Kurds are the world's largest stateless population -- whose main population concentration straddles Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria -- and have been the victims of imperialist wars and manipulation since the colonial period. While Turkey has granted limited rights to the Kurds in recent years in order to accommodate the European Union, which it seeks to join, even these are now at risk."  AFP notes Turkish TV (NTV network) today stated that battles between the PKK (and other Kurdish rebels -- PKK are in northern Iraq) and the Turkish military this year  have left over 461 people dead after 1,000 military assaults.     Alsumaria notes that KRG President Massoud Barzani is stating that the Baghdad-based government is failing the people, that is has created a crisis (the political crisis) and, instead of addressing it, has exploited it.  Equally true, Nouri made time to dash over to Iran when Tehran beckoned for a summit when he should have been addressing the ongoing issues in Iraq.   It is assumed (true or not) that al Qaeda in Mesopotamia is responsible for the attacks.  Dar Addustour notes the Ministry of the Interior is blaming that group while Parliament wants answers as to how the attacks happened, how the attacks continue to happen? That's a question people should ask.  They should have asked it in 2010 when they were going to vote in parliamentary elections.  Nouri's been prime minister since 2006.  At what point does he get held accountable for his actions? Remember that Nouri has not filled the security ministries.  He was supposed to do that in December 2010.  Instead, he has assumed leadership of them in what was rightly called a power-grab at the start of 2011.  As violence has increased in Iraq, there has been no Minister of Defense, no Minister of the Interior and no Minister of National Security.  Just two months ago,   Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observed, "Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has struggled to forge a lasting power-sharing agreement and has yet to fill key Cabinet positions, including the ministers of defense, interior and national security, while his backers have also shown signs of wobbling support."   At what point does Nouri get held accountable for failing to provide security and failing to staff the security posts?       iraq rabble krystalline kraus rodney watson the los angeles times emily alpert the associated press sinan salaheddin bbc news al rafidayn  al mada kitabat al jazeera alsumaria all iraq news antiwar.com margaret griffis the wall street journal sam dagher ali a. nabhan cnn chelsea j. carter mohammed tawfeeq ahlul bayt news agency