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unhappycamper
unhappycamper's Journal
unhappycamper's Journal
July 20, 2014
Mosul w/out Christians for First time in 1,900 Years as Radical Fundamentalists Threaten Minorities
By Juan Cole | Jul. 20, 2014
For the first time in nearly 2000 years, there are virtually no Christians in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq. The community is reported to have fled en masse after the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) of radical fundamentalists warned them that they faced the choice of converting to Islam, paying a poll tax, fleeing the city, or… the sword. The incorrectly named “Islamic State,” which is a kind of criminal cartel, said that if they chose to depart, the Christians of Mosul would only be allowed to leave with the clothes on their backs, and their homes and property would be confiscated by IS. There were an estimated 3,000 Christians in Mosul, a city of about 2 million.
IS allegedly set fire to an ancient church in Mosul that goes back to the early centuries of Christianity, though some reports dispute this allegation.
Christianity may have spread to the Jews of Babylon in the time of St. Peter. Penny Young writes:
“It is thought that the Christian population of Iraq is one of the oldest in the world. In his book By the Waters of Babylon (1972) James Wellard hypothesizes that when St Peter referred to ‘the Church at Babylon’, he may have been referring to an actual Jewish Christian community in the region of the Mesopotamian city, similar to other Nazarene communities which were springing up all over the Roman Empire to the west. The word ‘church’ was figurative. The earliest dated church building to have been found in the world so far is at Dura Europos in Syria on the Euphrates close to today’s border with Iraq. The murals were painted between 232 and 256 ad, three quarters of a century before Constantine recognized Christianity.”
Mosul w/out Christians for First time in 1,900 Years as Radical Fundamentalists Threaten Minorities
http://www.juancole.com/2014/07/christians-fundamentalists-minorities.htmlMosul w/out Christians for First time in 1,900 Years as Radical Fundamentalists Threaten Minorities
By Juan Cole | Jul. 20, 2014
For the first time in nearly 2000 years, there are virtually no Christians in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq. The community is reported to have fled en masse after the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) of radical fundamentalists warned them that they faced the choice of converting to Islam, paying a poll tax, fleeing the city, or… the sword. The incorrectly named “Islamic State,” which is a kind of criminal cartel, said that if they chose to depart, the Christians of Mosul would only be allowed to leave with the clothes on their backs, and their homes and property would be confiscated by IS. There were an estimated 3,000 Christians in Mosul, a city of about 2 million.
IS allegedly set fire to an ancient church in Mosul that goes back to the early centuries of Christianity, though some reports dispute this allegation.
Christianity may have spread to the Jews of Babylon in the time of St. Peter. Penny Young writes:
“It is thought that the Christian population of Iraq is one of the oldest in the world. In his book By the Waters of Babylon (1972) James Wellard hypothesizes that when St Peter referred to ‘the Church at Babylon’, he may have been referring to an actual Jewish Christian community in the region of the Mesopotamian city, similar to other Nazarene communities which were springing up all over the Roman Empire to the west. The word ‘church’ was figurative. The earliest dated church building to have been found in the world so far is at Dura Europos in Syria on the Euphrates close to today’s border with Iraq. The murals were painted between 232 and 256 ad, three quarters of a century before Constantine recognized Christianity.”
July 19, 2014
F-35 To Royal Air Tattoo: Wait Till Next Year
Angus Batey, Amy Svitak and Tony Osborne | Aviation Week & Space Technology
Jul 21, 2014
The absence of the F-35B from its highly anticipated international debut at two air shows in the U.K. was a public relations embarrassment for U.S. program leadership, prime contractor Lockheed Martin and, especially, engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, whose F135 caused the fire that grounded the entire Joint Strike Fighter fleet.
The disappointment and wisecracks circulating as a result will eventually subside, and the debut that wasn’t likely will be reduced to a footnote in the program’s storied history.
But the graver implications of a three-week full stand-down of test flights followed by a very restricted flight clearance are yet to be fully understood. Program Executive Officer U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said on July 10, before the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford, that about 50 test-flight opportunities had been missed as of that day; flights resumed six days later. While grounded, aircraft were updated with modifications slated for later in the test program, building extra margin that can be used for later flights, he said.
But the F-35’s return to the skies is very limited. Pilots are restricted to Mach 0.9, 18-deg. angle of attack, -1 to 3 gs and half a stick deflection for rolls. The overall impact on the program and its key milestones will depend on how long these limits are in place.
F-35 To Royal Air Tattoo: Wait Till Next Year
http://aviationweek.com/awin-only/f-35-royal-air-tattoo-wait-till-next-year?NL=AW-13&Issue=AW-13_20140718_AW-13_63&YM_RID=%27email%27&YM_MID=%27mmid%27&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_2F-35 To Royal Air Tattoo: Wait Till Next Year
Angus Batey, Amy Svitak and Tony Osborne | Aviation Week & Space Technology
Jul 21, 2014
The absence of the F-35B from its highly anticipated international debut at two air shows in the U.K. was a public relations embarrassment for U.S. program leadership, prime contractor Lockheed Martin and, especially, engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, whose F135 caused the fire that grounded the entire Joint Strike Fighter fleet.
The disappointment and wisecracks circulating as a result will eventually subside, and the debut that wasn’t likely will be reduced to a footnote in the program’s storied history.
But the graver implications of a three-week full stand-down of test flights followed by a very restricted flight clearance are yet to be fully understood. Program Executive Officer U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said on July 10, before the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford, that about 50 test-flight opportunities had been missed as of that day; flights resumed six days later. While grounded, aircraft were updated with modifications slated for later in the test program, building extra margin that can be used for later flights, he said.
But the F-35’s return to the skies is very limited. Pilots are restricted to Mach 0.9, 18-deg. angle of attack, -1 to 3 gs and half a stick deflection for rolls. The overall impact on the program and its key milestones will depend on how long these limits are in place.
July 19, 2014
New militant group replacing ‘Islamic State’ jihadists in Mosul, says Iraqi city’s governor
By Luke Harding, The Guardian
Friday, July 18, 2014 10:37 EDT
Isis fighters have partially withdrawn from Iraq’s second city, Mosul, where another militant group – closely linked to former members of Saddam Hussein’s regime – has taken over large areas, according to the city’s governor.
In an interview with the Guardian the governor, Atheel Nujaifi, who escaped from Mosul last month, said the Islamic State’s main “strike force” had withdrawn from the city to fight the Iraqi army further south in Tikrit, he said. A smaller number of local Isis supporters remained in Mosul’s western part, known as the right bank, he said.
Last month Isis staged a stunning advance, seizing Mosul and Tikrit, and raising the spectre of Iraq’s collapse. On Tuesday the Iraqi army was forced to retreat from Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s birthplace, 100 miles north of Baghdad, after its latest attempt to retake the city met heavy Isis resistance.
But according to Nujaifi, most of the eastern half of Mosul is now dominated by the Naqshbandi Army, a group led by high-ranking Saddam-era Ba’athists including Izzat al-Douri, the king of clubs in the US deck of “wanted Iraqi” playing cards. Naqshbandi militants had taken down Isis flags from “a lot of buildings” and replaced them with their own, he said. Other sources inside Mosul confirmed that Isis fighters began to withdraw from the city about a week ago.
New militant group replacing ‘Islamic State’ jihadists in Mosul, says Iraqi city’s governor
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/18/new-militant-group-replacing-islamic-state-jihadists-in-mosul-says-iraqi-citys-governor/New militant group replacing ‘Islamic State’ jihadists in Mosul, says Iraqi city’s governor
By Luke Harding, The Guardian
Friday, July 18, 2014 10:37 EDT
Isis fighters have partially withdrawn from Iraq’s second city, Mosul, where another militant group – closely linked to former members of Saddam Hussein’s regime – has taken over large areas, according to the city’s governor.
In an interview with the Guardian the governor, Atheel Nujaifi, who escaped from Mosul last month, said the Islamic State’s main “strike force” had withdrawn from the city to fight the Iraqi army further south in Tikrit, he said. A smaller number of local Isis supporters remained in Mosul’s western part, known as the right bank, he said.
Last month Isis staged a stunning advance, seizing Mosul and Tikrit, and raising the spectre of Iraq’s collapse. On Tuesday the Iraqi army was forced to retreat from Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s birthplace, 100 miles north of Baghdad, after its latest attempt to retake the city met heavy Isis resistance.
But according to Nujaifi, most of the eastern half of Mosul is now dominated by the Naqshbandi Army, a group led by high-ranking Saddam-era Ba’athists including Izzat al-Douri, the king of clubs in the US deck of “wanted Iraqi” playing cards. Naqshbandi militants had taken down Isis flags from “a lot of buildings” and replaced them with their own, he said. Other sources inside Mosul confirmed that Isis fighters began to withdraw from the city about a week ago.
July 18, 2014
http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.1868444.1405530744!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_300_160/image.jpg
Guatemalan illegal immigrants deported from the US wait to be processed on their return to Guatemala City this week.
US must address its responsibilities south of the border
Mary Lawlor
Thu, Jul 17, 2014, 01:00
Since October 2013, 52,000 undocumented children entered the United States from Central America and it is estimated that this will reach 90,000 by year end. While official statements describe this as an “urgent humanitarian crisis” the government’s less than humanitarian response has been to request more power from Congress to fast track the deportation of these unaccompanied minors, many of them girls under 13 and children as young as four or five, back to Central America, including Honduras and Guatemala.
Under the umbrella of the war on drugs, the United States has consistently supported some of the most repressive governments in the region and has at times colluded in human rights abuses. This unquestioning support has helped to create a highly polarised society where the majority of people live in poverty, caught between state indifference and the violence of the drug cartels which has effectively spiralled out of control.
On a recent mission to Guatemala to assess the situation for human rights defenders (HRDs), environmentalist Yuri Melini explained the history of the country. Guatemala never had a war of independence but a negotiated handover of power from Spain so that the 10 families who controlled every aspect of the country’s political and economic life remained in power – as they still do.
Ninety per cent of the country’s wealth is controlled by this powerful oligarchy and their influence extends to manipulating elections so that their candidate always wins. According to Melini, himself the survivor of an assassination attempt linked to his environmental work, with “virtually complete control of national media and close links to the military leadership their power is firmly entrenched.” A similar situation prevails in neighbouring Honduras, where a 2009 coup led to an upsurge in violence.
US must address its responsibilities south of the border
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us-must-address-its-responsibilities-south-of-the-border-1.1868446-http://www.irishtimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.1868444.1405530744!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_300_160/image.jpg
Guatemalan illegal immigrants deported from the US wait to be processed on their return to Guatemala City this week.
US must address its responsibilities south of the border
Mary Lawlor
Thu, Jul 17, 2014, 01:00
Since October 2013, 52,000 undocumented children entered the United States from Central America and it is estimated that this will reach 90,000 by year end. While official statements describe this as an “urgent humanitarian crisis” the government’s less than humanitarian response has been to request more power from Congress to fast track the deportation of these unaccompanied minors, many of them girls under 13 and children as young as four or five, back to Central America, including Honduras and Guatemala.
Under the umbrella of the war on drugs, the United States has consistently supported some of the most repressive governments in the region and has at times colluded in human rights abuses. This unquestioning support has helped to create a highly polarised society where the majority of people live in poverty, caught between state indifference and the violence of the drug cartels which has effectively spiralled out of control.
On a recent mission to Guatemala to assess the situation for human rights defenders (HRDs), environmentalist Yuri Melini explained the history of the country. Guatemala never had a war of independence but a negotiated handover of power from Spain so that the 10 families who controlled every aspect of the country’s political and economic life remained in power – as they still do.
Ninety per cent of the country’s wealth is controlled by this powerful oligarchy and their influence extends to manipulating elections so that their candidate always wins. According to Melini, himself the survivor of an assassination attempt linked to his environmental work, with “virtually complete control of national media and close links to the military leadership their power is firmly entrenched.” A similar situation prevails in neighbouring Honduras, where a 2009 coup led to an upsurge in violence.
July 18, 2014
The Nato promise
Ray McGovern
Friday, July 18, 2014
From Print Edition
Absent from US media encomia for recently deceased former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze is any mention of the historic deal he reached with his US counterpart James Baker in 1990 ensuring that the Soviet empire would collapse “with a whimper, not a bang” (Mr Baker's words).
Mr Baker keeps repeating that the Cold War “could not have ended peacefully without Shevardnadze.” But he and others are silent on the quid pro quo. The quid was Moscow's agreement to swallow the bitter pill of a reunited Germany in Nato; the quo was a US promise not to “leapfrog” Nato over Germany farther east. Washington welched on the deal.
It began to unravel in October 1996 during the last weeks of President Bill Clinton's campaign for re-election. Mr Clinton bragged that he would welcome Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic into Nato, explaining, “America truly is the world's indispensable nation” (and, sotto voce, can do what it wants).
Those three countries joined Nato in 1999, and by April 2009, nine more became members, bringing the post-Cold War additions to 12 – equal to the number of the original 12 Nato states. The additional nine included the former Baltic Republics that had been part of the USSR, but not Ukraine. Nato intentions, however, were made clear at its summit in Bucharest in April 2008, which formally declared, “Georgia and Ukraine will be in Nato.”
The Nato promise
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-262477-The-Nato-promiseThe Nato promise
Ray McGovern
Friday, July 18, 2014
From Print Edition
Absent from US media encomia for recently deceased former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze is any mention of the historic deal he reached with his US counterpart James Baker in 1990 ensuring that the Soviet empire would collapse “with a whimper, not a bang” (Mr Baker's words).
Mr Baker keeps repeating that the Cold War “could not have ended peacefully without Shevardnadze.” But he and others are silent on the quid pro quo. The quid was Moscow's agreement to swallow the bitter pill of a reunited Germany in Nato; the quo was a US promise not to “leapfrog” Nato over Germany farther east. Washington welched on the deal.
It began to unravel in October 1996 during the last weeks of President Bill Clinton's campaign for re-election. Mr Clinton bragged that he would welcome Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic into Nato, explaining, “America truly is the world's indispensable nation” (and, sotto voce, can do what it wants).
Those three countries joined Nato in 1999, and by April 2009, nine more became members, bringing the post-Cold War additions to 12 – equal to the number of the original 12 Nato states. The additional nine included the former Baltic Republics that had been part of the USSR, but not Ukraine. Nato intentions, however, were made clear at its summit in Bucharest in April 2008, which formally declared, “Georgia and Ukraine will be in Nato.”
July 18, 2014
Hatred as politics in Myanmar
By Kyaw Win
Jul 18, '14
This month's tragic anti-Muslim violence in Mandalay has again revealed that dark forces are alive and well in Myanmar. The violence left two dead and many injured, causing damage to property and generating a climate of fear in the country's cultural and historic capital.
In the aftermath of the violence, the government has moved to crack down on hate speech but has also warned the media against making statements that could destabilize national security, saying that "action will be taken against those who threaten state stability."
Tellingly, however, no action has been taken against those responsible for triggering the Mandalay violence by spreading false rumors on social media, while journalists reporting on the riots have already been threatened with violence. In addition, some observers have noted that the violence has also had a secondary effect- it has successfully distracted public interest from a signature campaign calling for amendment to the 2008 Constitution.
Such patterns are finally leading more and more analysts to ask critical questions about the nature of recent anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar and the real motivations behind it. Outside of Myanmar, reporting has been less critical, with some major media wires referring to the violence as 'sectarian'.
Hatred as politics in Myanmar
http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/SEA-01-180714.htmlHatred as politics in Myanmar
By Kyaw Win
Jul 18, '14
This month's tragic anti-Muslim violence in Mandalay has again revealed that dark forces are alive and well in Myanmar. The violence left two dead and many injured, causing damage to property and generating a climate of fear in the country's cultural and historic capital.
In the aftermath of the violence, the government has moved to crack down on hate speech but has also warned the media against making statements that could destabilize national security, saying that "action will be taken against those who threaten state stability."
Tellingly, however, no action has been taken against those responsible for triggering the Mandalay violence by spreading false rumors on social media, while journalists reporting on the riots have already been threatened with violence. In addition, some observers have noted that the violence has also had a secondary effect- it has successfully distracted public interest from a signature campaign calling for amendment to the 2008 Constitution.
Such patterns are finally leading more and more analysts to ask critical questions about the nature of recent anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar and the real motivations behind it. Outside of Myanmar, reporting has been less critical, with some major media wires referring to the violence as 'sectarian'.
July 18, 2014
Zarif and Kerry signal nuclear momentum
By Gareth Porter
Jul 18, '14
WASHINGTON - As the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear programme approach the July 20 deadline, both US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have signaled through their carefully worded statements that they are now moving toward agreement on the two most crucial issues in the talks: the level of Iranian enrichment capability to be allowed and the duration of the agreement.
Their statements after two days of meetings suggest that both Kerry and Zarif now see a basis for an agreement that would freeze Iran's enrichment capacity at somewhere around its present level of 10,000 operational centrifuges for a period of years.
Once the difference between the proposed duration of the two sides has been reduced to a very few years, both sides may well conclude that the difference is not important enough to sacrifice the advantages of reaching agreement.
They also indicated that the two sides have not yet agreed on how many years the agreement would last, but that the bargaining on that question has already begun.
Zarif and Kerry signal nuclear momentum
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-02-180714.htmlZarif and Kerry signal nuclear momentum
By Gareth Porter
Jul 18, '14
WASHINGTON - As the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear programme approach the July 20 deadline, both US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have signaled through their carefully worded statements that they are now moving toward agreement on the two most crucial issues in the talks: the level of Iranian enrichment capability to be allowed and the duration of the agreement.
Their statements after two days of meetings suggest that both Kerry and Zarif now see a basis for an agreement that would freeze Iran's enrichment capacity at somewhere around its present level of 10,000 operational centrifuges for a period of years.
Once the difference between the proposed duration of the two sides has been reduced to a very few years, both sides may well conclude that the difference is not important enough to sacrifice the advantages of reaching agreement.
They also indicated that the two sides have not yet agreed on how many years the agreement would last, but that the bargaining on that question has already begun.
July 18, 2014
Health Catastrophe in Gaza after Israel bombs water infrastructure
By contributors | Jul. 18, 2014
By: Ahmed Hadi
Gaza – Bassem Siam carried two plastic gallons as he left his home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza, ignoring the intense bombardment and the continued Israeli military flights. He went to his neighbors who happen to have a small supply of drinking water to get a sip of water for himself and his family and to help his wife wash the dishes that have accumulated in the kitchen because water has been cut off for two days. The 30-something-year-old man held the two gallons tightly to his chest and returned home quickly as Israeli planes bombed farm land near his home. When he entered the building where he lives, he exhaled deeply, having survived the devastating missile shrapnel.
In addition, three main water lines that feed al-Shujaiya and al-Sabra neighborhoods and provide about 21,000 people with water were also hit. Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza live under the threat of water scarcity due to the fact that Israeli fighter jets bombed wells that provide water to several residential areas in the Gaza Strip. Municipalities in charge of these wells believe that the Israeli targeting of wells is motivated by a decision to destroy the infrastructure in Gaza and to undermine the people’s ability to remain steadfast.
Israeli planes targeted a well located in al-Nasr neighborhood, west of the city of Gaza, which provides water to about 20,000 people and the Ali well in al-Zaitoun area, south of the city, which provides water to about 7,000 people. In addition, three main water lines that feed al-Shujaiya and al-Sabra neighborhoods and provide about 21,000 people with water were also hit.
This targeting appears to be systematic and its obvious objective is to deprive people of water, the single most important element of daily life, especially during the month of Ramadan.
Health Catastrophe in Gaza after Israel bombs water infrastructure
http://www.juancole.com/2014/07/crisis-israel-infrastructure.htmlHealth Catastrophe in Gaza after Israel bombs water infrastructure
By contributors | Jul. 18, 2014
By: Ahmed Hadi
Gaza – Bassem Siam carried two plastic gallons as he left his home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza, ignoring the intense bombardment and the continued Israeli military flights. He went to his neighbors who happen to have a small supply of drinking water to get a sip of water for himself and his family and to help his wife wash the dishes that have accumulated in the kitchen because water has been cut off for two days. The 30-something-year-old man held the two gallons tightly to his chest and returned home quickly as Israeli planes bombed farm land near his home. When he entered the building where he lives, he exhaled deeply, having survived the devastating missile shrapnel.
In addition, three main water lines that feed al-Shujaiya and al-Sabra neighborhoods and provide about 21,000 people with water were also hit. Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza live under the threat of water scarcity due to the fact that Israeli fighter jets bombed wells that provide water to several residential areas in the Gaza Strip. Municipalities in charge of these wells believe that the Israeli targeting of wells is motivated by a decision to destroy the infrastructure in Gaza and to undermine the people’s ability to remain steadfast.
Israeli planes targeted a well located in al-Nasr neighborhood, west of the city of Gaza, which provides water to about 20,000 people and the Ali well in al-Zaitoun area, south of the city, which provides water to about 7,000 people. In addition, three main water lines that feed al-Shujaiya and al-Sabra neighborhoods and provide about 21,000 people with water were also hit.
This targeting appears to be systematic and its obvious objective is to deprive people of water, the single most important element of daily life, especially during the month of Ramadan.
July 18, 2014
Blow-Back: How Bush-Cheney Reduced Iraq to Ashes
By contributors | Jul. 18, 2014
By Dahr Jamail
For Americans, it was like the news from nowhere. Years had passed since reporters bothered to head for the country we invaded and blew a hole through back in 2003, the country once known as Iraq that our occupation drove into a never-ending sectarian nightmare. In 2011, the last U.S. combat troops slipped out of the country, their heads “held high,” as President Obama proclaimed at the time, and Iraq ceased to be news for Americans.
So the headlines of recent weeks — Iraq Army collapses! Iraq’s second largest city falls to insurgents! Terrorist Caliphate established in Middle East! — couldn’t have seemed more shockingly out of the blue. Suddenly, reporters flooded back in, the Bush-era neocons who had planned and supported the invasion and occupation were writing op-eds as if it were yesterday, and Iraq was again the story of the moment as the post-post-mortems began to appear and commentators began asking: How in the world could this be happening?
Iraqis, of course, lacked the luxury of ignoring what had been going on in their land since 2011. For them, whether Sunnis or Shiites, the recent unraveling of the army, the spread of a series of revolts across the Sunni parts of Iraq, the advance of an extremist insurgency on the country’s capital, Baghdad, and the embattled nature of the autocratic government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were, if not predictable, at least expectable. And as the killings ratcheted up, caught in the middle were the vast majority of Iraqis, people who were neither fighters nor directly involved in the corrupt politics of their country, but found themselves, as always, caught in the vice grip of the violence again engulfing it.
~snip~
“Life in Iraq has become impossible, and even more dangerous, and there is now no way to leave here. To the north, west, and east of Baghdad there is fighting, and with so many groups of Shiite militias in the south, it is not safe for us to go there because of the sectarianism that was never here before the invasion. The price for bus tickets has become very expensive and they are all booked up for months. So many Iraqi families and I are trapped in the middle now.”
Blow-Back: How Bush-Cheney Reduced Iraq to Ashes
http://www.juancole.com/2014/07/cheney-reduced-ashes.htmlBlow-Back: How Bush-Cheney Reduced Iraq to Ashes
By contributors | Jul. 18, 2014
By Dahr Jamail
For Americans, it was like the news from nowhere. Years had passed since reporters bothered to head for the country we invaded and blew a hole through back in 2003, the country once known as Iraq that our occupation drove into a never-ending sectarian nightmare. In 2011, the last U.S. combat troops slipped out of the country, their heads “held high,” as President Obama proclaimed at the time, and Iraq ceased to be news for Americans.
So the headlines of recent weeks — Iraq Army collapses! Iraq’s second largest city falls to insurgents! Terrorist Caliphate established in Middle East! — couldn’t have seemed more shockingly out of the blue. Suddenly, reporters flooded back in, the Bush-era neocons who had planned and supported the invasion and occupation were writing op-eds as if it were yesterday, and Iraq was again the story of the moment as the post-post-mortems began to appear and commentators began asking: How in the world could this be happening?
Iraqis, of course, lacked the luxury of ignoring what had been going on in their land since 2011. For them, whether Sunnis or Shiites, the recent unraveling of the army, the spread of a series of revolts across the Sunni parts of Iraq, the advance of an extremist insurgency on the country’s capital, Baghdad, and the embattled nature of the autocratic government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were, if not predictable, at least expectable. And as the killings ratcheted up, caught in the middle were the vast majority of Iraqis, people who were neither fighters nor directly involved in the corrupt politics of their country, but found themselves, as always, caught in the vice grip of the violence again engulfing it.
~snip~
“Life in Iraq has become impossible, and even more dangerous, and there is now no way to leave here. To the north, west, and east of Baghdad there is fighting, and with so many groups of Shiite militias in the south, it is not safe for us to go there because of the sectarianism that was never here before the invasion. The price for bus tickets has become very expensive and they are all booked up for months. So many Iraqi families and I are trapped in the middle now.”
July 17, 2014
George Bush the worst president in 100 years: here's why
Paul Sheehan
July 13, 2014
President Barack Obama is regarded as the worst US president since World War II according to the most recent opinion poll conducted by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in Connecticut. Quinnipiac is one of the most respected polls in the US, but this is absurd. President Obama has many problems, many of his own making, but he inherited a whirlwind from his predecessor, George Bush, who was a trillion-dollar disaster.
Yet it is Obama who was chosen by 33 per cent of those surveyed as the worst president of the modern era, while Bush came second, chosen as worst by 28 per cent.
I’ve spent the past month in the US, where I lived for 12 years, and I was struck by the impact of the miscalculations, insularity and ineptitude of President Bush’s defining decisions that are still rippling through American society. The events of recent weeks reveal the scale of the cost of his prodigiously wasteful invasion of Iraq in 2003.
In 2013, the Watson Institute of International Studies at Brown University studied the direct cost of the war and came up with a figure of $US1.7 trillion. The indirect costs would take this figure to at least double that figure. That is a heavy burden of wasted productivity even for America.
George Bush the worst president in 100 years: here's why
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/george-bush-the-worst-president-in-100-years-heres-why-20140713-zt5y4.htmlGeorge Bush the worst president in 100 years: here's why
Paul Sheehan
July 13, 2014
President Barack Obama is regarded as the worst US president since World War II according to the most recent opinion poll conducted by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute in Connecticut. Quinnipiac is one of the most respected polls in the US, but this is absurd. President Obama has many problems, many of his own making, but he inherited a whirlwind from his predecessor, George Bush, who was a trillion-dollar disaster.
Yet it is Obama who was chosen by 33 per cent of those surveyed as the worst president of the modern era, while Bush came second, chosen as worst by 28 per cent.
I’ve spent the past month in the US, where I lived for 12 years, and I was struck by the impact of the miscalculations, insularity and ineptitude of President Bush’s defining decisions that are still rippling through American society. The events of recent weeks reveal the scale of the cost of his prodigiously wasteful invasion of Iraq in 2003.
In 2013, the Watson Institute of International Studies at Brown University studied the direct cost of the war and came up with a figure of $US1.7 trillion. The indirect costs would take this figure to at least double that figure. That is a heavy burden of wasted productivity even for America.
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