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Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, Nouri's
accusations are noted by those he accused, Iraqiya calls for those imprisoned
who have not been convicted to be released, US Senator Patty Murray talks with
veterans in a new format, and more.
Wally: Who determines what diseae's or ailment's is agent orange. I
have several health issues and when i get a agent orange exam they tell me it is
not on the list, yet I know there are other vets witht he same problems. I know
the doctor I see at the exam does not record the symtoms. Why can't we see
someone who monitors the health issue to verify it might be agent orange
related. I was told the way health issues make the list is when the population
of all viet nam vets have a higher number of health issues than the regular
population. I know I was sprayed with agent orange why should my health issues
be diluted with vets that were not exposed?
Senator Patty Murray: We worked hard last year to defeat an
amendment in the Senate that would have changed the VA standard for determining
presumptions for Agent Orange because some wanted to just "save money" I knew
that was wrong and we beat that amendment. We will have to remain vigilant this
year as well. Research is going on as we speak and hopefully we will be able to
better help you and many more in the future.
That was Senator Patty Murray conversing with veterans last week and we'll
come back to that in just a moment. First, if you need to know how ugly the
Agent Orange issue got on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, you can refer
to the September 23, 2010 snapshot reporting on that
day's hearing when Senator Jim Webb had his little hissy, when Senator Roland
Burris insisted that "budget shortfalls" do not mean you cut needed health
benefits for veterans and, as Senator Burris said that, Senator Jon Testor, with
an angry look on his face, rose and stormed out of the hearing. Earlier Testor
had been backing up Webb who was furious that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki was
attempting to see to it that the victims of Agent Orange got the help they
needed.
WAVY reports (link has
text and video) that victims of Agent Orange
(specifically Vietnam era veterans) could recieve addition beneifts for B-Cell
Leukemia, Parkinson's disease and coronary heart disease. Could? A US Senator
is objecting to the proposed changes by VA. Jim Webb has written VA Secretary
Eric Shinseki that ". . . this single executive decision is estimated to cost
a minimum of $42.2 billion over the next ten years. A regulatory action of this
magnitude requires proper Congressional review and oversight." Besides, Webb
wrote, "Heart disease is a common phenomenon regardless of potential exposure to
Agent Orange." That is really embarrasing and especially embarrassing for the
Democratic Party (Webb is a Democrat today, having converted from a Reagan
Republican). It also goes a long way towards explaining Webb's refusal to get
on board with Senator Evan Bayh's bill to create a national registry that would
allow those Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans to be able to receive treatment
for their exposures without having to jump through hoops repeatedly.
Veteran Jim Webb did everything he could to prevent victims of Agent Orange
and Burn Pits from receiving the medical treatment they needed. That's why he
can't run for re-election. Veterans in Virginia pulled their support in 2010
over the Agent Orange issue. His decision not to seek re-election has to do
with the fact that he doesn't have the votes to win. And he shouldn't after
what he did. There's an important lesson there: A veteran isn't necessarily the
one to elect to Congress if you're concerned about veterans issues.
Back to Senator Patty Murray's remarks. She made them last Thursday at a
Town Hall. It was the first of its kind for veterans, being able to speak with
the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and from their home or work
or library. It was a Virtual Town Hall which Disabled American Veterans sponsored. A full
transcript of the exchange can be found here. Face to face contact is always best, yes. And that's
why Murray takes part in Town Halls frequently. But the Virtual Town Hall
allowed her and veterans from around the country to meet up online and that was
especially helpful to veterans who may have issues with mobility. Many issues
were raised, from VA charging for services that they are supposed to provide for
free, the need for better transitioning of Wounded Warriors, the long wait time
for medical appointments for mental treatment. One question dealt with an issue
on many veterans minds.
Jeremy K.: We have about 2 million combat veterans who are going to
be coming back, or are already back, from Iraq and Afghanistan. Too many of
them are sick and injured and will need VA. Given the government's debt, is VA
going to have the money and people to meet those needs while continuing to serve
5-6 million older veterans?
Senator Patty Murray: There is no doubt that we as a nation must
address the issue of our national debt. However we send our men and women into
combat and should never allow our budgets to be an excuse for not providing them
with the care that has been promised. We will be getting the Presidents budget
next week, and I will be looking at it very carefully to make sure we are
meeting the needs of our nation's veterans.
Veterans exposed to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan have health needs. Martin C. Evans (Newsday) is apparently the only
reporter at a major daily newspaper to cover yesterday's Burn Pits Symposium at
Stony Brook College. Evans reports that the Army sent Veronique Hauschild from
their "Public Health Command" to speak and she insisted that the military needs
to do its own studies and added, "I don't want to say there's not a problem
because I believe there is." But that "I" is herself and not the official
position of the Army. Her presence is encouraging, however. It attests to the
reality that the Pentagon can no longer outright dismiss the very real damage of
burn pits. If the government study (a bunch of subsidized scientists refusing to
disclose their government funding as they posed as independent) from last fall
had been a success, the Pentagon would not have felt the need to send someone to
the conference. But the pushback on that non-scientific nonsense and the
increased public awareness of the damage from burn pits was so great that the
paper is pretty much dead and rebuked.
Evans notes a study Dr. Anthony Szema did "published in the September issue
of the Journal of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine, area soldiers who served combat tours in Iraq and
Afghanistan were found to be about seven times more likely to display signs of
damaged lungs than enlistees who never served there." Last week, Kelley B. Vlahos (Antiwar.com) explained:
We've been following the issue of toxic
environmental exposure of U.S. servicemen and women here at Antiwar.com since 2009. Mounting
evidence strongly suggests that the unregulated open-air burn pits used to
incinerate everything from medical waste to batteries and rubber tires, has
contributed to the fine particulate matter found carried in the dust, including
metals and bacteria, and has something to do with the dramatically changed
health of returning veterans.
"What makes healthy individuals who have never had
asthma end up in wheelchairs on oxygen, or a 34-year-old non-smoker who has
near-normal [physical fitness tests] but is short of breath and has lungs that
are totally destroyed? These are the problems we are trying to solve," exclaimed
Dr. Anthony Szema, Stony Brook University Medical Center Assist Professor of
Surgery, in a recent interview for the Army Times.
Szema recently wrote about a soldier serving both
in Iraq and Kuwait who has lung tissue riddled with fine particles of titanium,
iron and copper. He published his findings recently in the Journal of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine. It is part of his ongoing study of
soldiers suffering from unexplained illnesses.
This particular soldier, according to the report,
is suffering from nonspecific interstitial pneumonitis, a rare and dangerous
type of pneumonia that afflicts people for no known reason, cannot be treated
and is 60 percent fatal within the first six months of diagnosis, according to Wikipedia. What we
know about the soldier is where he was stationed, and that he came into contact
with "the laundry facility, improvised explosive device blasts, sandstorms, burn
pits and the occasional cigar."
In Iraq violence continues, AP notes a Baghdad bombing has
claimed 1 life and left six other people injured. In addition, Reuters notes 1 Asaish was shot
dead in Kirkuk and, dropping back to Monday, the corpse of 1 woman was
discovered in Baquba (strangled), 2 corpses were discovered elsewhere in Baquba
(the two are thought to have been killed in 2006). Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reports military General Aziz Hamzah
was shot dead in Baghdad, a second Baghdad bombing left two peple injured and a
Mosul bombing claimed 3 lives and left nineteen people injured.
Violence includes the targeting of various groups in Iraq with threats of
violence or with actual violence. The Secretary of the South Asia Council for
Minorities Navaid Hamid (Two Circles) notes the
targeting of Iraqi Chrisitans:
After a month of the withdrawal of the Allied forces from Iraq and
its becoming a sovereign state, one of the serving US Military Archbishop
Timothy P. Broglio admitted in an interview to CNA in Rome, "Yes, you can say in
a certain sense that the invasion of Iraq did provoke this tremendous diminution
of the Christian population in that country. And what the future holds, that
still remains to be seen," Archbishop Timothy believes that the collapse of
Iraq's Christian population is among the legacies of America's invasion in 2003
and he is perfectly correct.
[. . .]
While announcing the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq,
President Obama had confidently thundered on 15th December 2011, "they were
leaving behind a "sovereign, stable and self-reliant," country and just 10 days
after his pronouncement the Christian community in Iraq was under such
tremendous pressure that fear of an attack forced Christians during Chrism to
cancel the Chaldean Catholics' midnight Christmas celebrations. Services were
moved to the daytime, and Christians were warned by community leaders not to
display decorations outside their homes.
I wonders whom to blame for the decimation of the patriotic Iraqi
Christians from Iraq, invading Allied forces under US command or Al
Qaida?
Last week, Aswat al-Iraq noted "that Italy granted
Iraq a loan of half a billion Euros (approximately $660,000 in US dollars) to
support Iraqi infrastructures and human development" with the provision that 10%
of the loan "be allocated to support the Iraqi Chrisitans." Also last week, the Vactian Ambassador to
Baghdad, Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, met with Yousif al-Shukri, the Minister of
Planning in Iraq, to discuss the Iraqi Christians "and the difficulties theya re
facing" and to note that, in 1977, Christians made up 5% of the population in
Iraq; however, that number has fallen to "less than 1 percent." While al-Shukri
noted that all segments of Iraq are under attack, the Archbiship noted that
Iraqi Christians are fleeing due to violence.
We'll note three reports on Iraqi Christians who left Iraq and relocated.
Farid Farid (The Conversion) observes
that Iraqi Christians make up over "40% of forced migrants and refugees" and he
notes the Iraqi Christians who have migrated to Australie: It is
important to understand that the pain, indiginity and humiliation of war still
resides deep within Iraqi hearts, minds and bodies.
As Aghnar Niazi, an award winning visual artist residing in Sydney,
has said, "if you look at my paintings you will see the internal expressions
what we as Iraqi have been going through -- sadness, joy and exhuastion . . . we
are an open book for the world to see."
Her words and her paintings are a testament to a new chapter in
Iraq's future which hopefully will be less bloody.
Nicole E. Smith (Rock Hill Herald)
reports on Mazen Asaqa whose father expressed that he "couldn't have asked
for a better son" the day before the father was kidnapped in Mosul for being a
Christian. The father's corpse turned up within the week. In 2009, Mazen Asaqa
was able to join "his mother, Awitif, and sisters Maha, 28, and Rand, 27" in
Detroit. With the Presbyterian Peacemaking progam, he has been speaking in
South Carolina about his and other Iraqis experiences including the phone call
his father got in 2006, ordering him to pay $20,000 and shut down the church,
"He told me, 'I've been therre 40 years, and I'm not closing it now. I could not
go to sleep thinking how the money went to weapons, explosives and killing more
innocent people'." Steve Schmidt (San Diego Union-Tribune)
reports on a group of Iraqi Christians who have resettled in El Cajon,
California and are hoping to continue their card games throughout they year in
spite of a new ordinance banning them. The vice president of the Chaldean
American Association, Noori Bakra states, "People drink tea and they play and
they play. It has nothing to do with gambling. For you, a card is for gambling.
For us, a card is for fun. I wouldn't put myself in a gambling place." El Cajon
is home to at least 30,000 Chaldeans.
Some believe that when things calm down, Iraqi Christians will return to
Iraq. That might happen if the violence were reduced. It might not. In
Detroit or El Cajon, for example, where large populations have established homes
and lives, asking them ten years down the road to uproot themselves and return
to Iraq might be expecting too much. They will have made lives here. They will
have met friends here. That will include Chaldeans who, back in Iraq, might
live several towns over. They will raise children here. All these issues
complicate the simplistic view that some day the Iraqi Christians who were
threatened and forced to flee their homes go skipping back into Iraq.
Though it's still not safe, Iraq did open an oil sea port, you may
remember. It was the site for a big photo op on Sunday. See yesterday's
snapshot, this was going to be Nouri's prestige lifter. It's not lifting all
that well currently. Al Forat News reports that "dozens" of
residents took to the streets of Basra to protest againt Royal Dutch Shell.
They are calling for the oil corporation to provide jobs in the area.
Turning to the political crisis caused by Nouri's refusal to honor the
Erbil Agreement that allowed him to (circumvent the Constitution and) remain
prime minister. Things remain tense and Al
Mada reports there is still disagreements over exactly what's
being proposed for the national conference with State of Law insisting that the
issues around Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq and Vice President Tareq
al-Hashemi would not be addressed and the Kurdistan Alliance insisting that
Iraqiya is not asking for those issues to be addressed. Alsumaria TV notes that al-Hashemi declared
Friday, "Human Rights status is deteriorating to sad levels in Iraq which
requires the International Community's interference on a large scale. We totally
understand fears behind Human Rights Watch's report and conclusions it reached
aout Iraqi tribunals that accept testimonies, evidence and confressions acquired
by force."
Al Mada reports that Iraqiya
spokesperson Maysoun al-Damlouji referenced Nouri's remarks Saturday on the
anniversary of the Dawa Party and how his remarks were "provocative" (they were
insulting and threatening). She states that they escalate the situation in Iraq,
not help it.
The remarks by Nouri were made Saturday. The same Nouri who insists that
no one must accuse him of anything and laments that various political actors air
problems in the press. That Nouri al-Maliki insisted Saturday that his
political rivals in Iraqiya were following orders from "other countries. Al
Mada reported that he made this charge -- one that he'd sue
over if it were aimed at him -- while 'celebrating' Dawa in his hometown of
Touirij. (Dawa is Nouri's political party, State of Law is his political
slate. Iraqiya bested State of Law in the March 2010 elections.)
As Sheikh (Dar Addustour) observes that "the
differences are over the details." Alsumaria TV notes
that the Turkmen will provide their written proposals today and are calling for
the studying of political blocs among other things. Alsumaria TV speaks with former MP Mithal
al-Alusi who declares the political process to be a failure and who insists
Iraq will emerge from Nouri al-Maliki's control. He also states that US
President Barack Obama sold out Iraq to Iran.
Fiscal
year 2012 started October 1, 2011. And Iraq still has no 2012 budget. Muhammad Abdul-Jabbar (Al Sabaah) writes that this
terrifies him and he is not pleased by the words of Parliament's Financial
Committee about there not being a specific target date to pass one still. He
states that the citizens are kept in the dark. Repeating, Fiscal Year 2012
started October 1, 2011. It's now February 14, 2012. Iraq still hasn't passed
their 2012 budget. In other budgetary news, remember last year, the
February 25th protest in Baghdad's Tahrir Square and how it had Nouri promising
that (a) he would reduce his (unknown) salary in half (didn't happen), (b)
address corruption in 100 days (didn't happen), (c) eliminate positions in his
cabinet (he didn't unless you consider his refusal to name a Minister of
National Security, Minister of Interior and a Minister of Defense as
eliminating). But now Al
Mada reports an unnamed source "close to" Nouri declares that
he will be announcing the expansion of support staff for members of his Cabinet.
Let's remember this sort of thing is why Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi
resigned last summer, in protest of this sort of nonsense. He considered the
government a failure and also felt the government needed to save money (his
salary was supposed to be at least US $100,000 annually.) Al
Mada notes the judiciary's insistence that it is independent.
Al
Sabaah notes MPs in Parliament state that and independent
judiciary is one of the strongest indicators of a democratic state. Alsumaria TV notes
Kurdish Alliance MP Mahmoud Othman states that the Parliament is forming a
committee to study the disturbing requests by the judiciary to lift immunity on
certain MPs and deputies. Iraqiya has called these requests politically
motivated. Alsumaria also speaks
with Iraqiya's spokesperson Haider Mulla that this is an attempt to "muzzle"
discussion and opponents, an attempt to gag the Parliament and prevent them from
conducting their oversight role. In related news, Al Forat News reports that Iraqiya is
calling for an end to "random arrest" and for the many prisoners arrested on
policital grounds. Iraqiya notes all the blather of a coup and how that was
used to arrest political rivals. Aswat al-Iraq notes that this is taking
in place in Basra as well where "a number of MPs from Basra's al-Iraqiya Bloc
today demanded the release of detained Basra citizens who had not been
convicted."
Jane Arraf covers Iraq for Al Jazeera and the Christan Science
Monitor. She Tweets:
janearraf getting serious re
curbs on Western security contractors - checking badges at green zone checkpoint
to look for several banned firms.
Deputy Secretary Thomas Nides: Twenty-three
percent of the budget is spent on the frontline states -- Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan. Twenty-eight percent of our budget goes to preventing conflicts,
supporting our allies and partners through direct assistance and multilateral
contributions, among other things. Another 28 percent is also spent on human and
economic security. And the remaining 20 percent -- or 21 percent supports our
people, embassies, and global presence.
Now, the specific numbers. First, the 23 percent or one -- or $11.9
billion of requests goes in defending our now security interests in the
frontline states of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Our Civilian Overseas
Contingency Operations budget, better known for OCO, funds the temporary
extraordinary cost associated with these missions. Using the same methodology
from the last year's request, we've asked for $8.2 billion in OCO, and $3.7
billion in our base budget for a total of $11.9 billion for the frontline
states. And let me now just break it down to you specifically.
In Iraq, we're requesting $4.8 billion for next year, which is
about 10 percent less than last year. The transition is already saving American
taxpayers a great deal of money. With now -- with State in the lead, and with
the troops no longer on the ground, the government is spending $40 billion less
this year than last. And as discussed during last week's press briefing, we're
continuing to be thoughtful about the rightsizing of our presence in Iraq,
hiring more local staff, procuring more goods locally, which should further
reduce our spending.
In Afghanistan, we're requesting $4.6 billion. Civilians are vital
to our efforts and they are securing our gains against the Taliban. They're
helping us take Afghans lead responsibility for their own security and they're
laying the groundwork for what comes next: sustainable economic growth, national
reconciliation, and the long-term civilian partnership, all of which helps us
ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes the safe haven for
terrorists.
Consul Thomas Yazdgerdi presided over a ceremony at the Kirkuk Library on Februay 6, 2012, where he
presented the library with 41 books sent by American school children from Hilo,
Hawaii.
The children raised about $740.00, and with guidance from former
PRT Kirkuk members, they selected a few dozen children's picture books, and
adult picture and reference books about Hawaii from a local bookseller. When
the Kirkuk PRT mission ended, the Consulate Public Affairs Officer corresponded
with the schoo, arranged shipment, and organized the presentation ceremony.
The Kirkuk Library just underwent a $450 million renovation funded
by the U.S. military. The book donation reaffirmed U.S. commitment to the
Strategic Framework Agreement in the area of Cultural Cooperation. During the
ceremony, Consul Yazdgerdi stated, "connections as we have here today between
Americans and Kirkukis will continue to forge strong, long lasting bonds of
friendship and mutal respect."
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