Ann's Mega Dub: Risk continues to receive bad publicity

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Risk continues to receive bad publicity

Risk continues to generate bad press.

At CounterPunch, Thomas S. Harrington covers the film:

Then there’s the attempt to slyly conflate these insinuations about Assange’s insensitivity and inappropriateness (has the world ever been treated to a comparably endemic deployment of two more weaselly rhetorical placeholders?) on such matters to the apparent temper issues that his sometime collaborator Jacob Applebaum appears to have with the women he sleeps with, one of whom just happens to be named Laura Poitras.
So, the implied reasoning goes, if Laura and other women had nasty break-ups with Jake where he was “abusive” (whatever the hell that actually means in educated/progressive circles in 2017), and Jake works with Julian, and both, as the film clearly demonstrates, have an extraordinary sense of intellectual and moral self-confidence, then the best thing to do is to be fundamentally distrustful of Julian.
And so it goes in this 91-minute train of poorly structured subjective mush.

Laura Poitras seems to have no clue what she's done.

I have a feeling this is not something she can walk away from or that anyone will forget.

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, May 23, 2017. Chaos and violence continue, The Mosul Slog continues, US troops continue to deploy to Iraq and much more.

KCEN reports, "Around 250 Fort Hood soldiers from III Corps are set to deploy to Iraq and Kuwait in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. As part of the regular rotation of forces, III Corps will replace the 18th Airborne Corps in their mission against ISIS. The 18th Airborne is based at Fort Bragg, N.C."

Why?

Every day that should be the question: Why?

The US government kicked off this ongoing war in 2003.

It's 2017.

Why?

Why are US troops still going into Iraq?

Why does the Iraq War continue?

Why?

We need to think and we need to ask questions.

And we need to hold people accountable.

‏ @ColinKahl

Alleged civilian casualties in Iraq & Syria up under Trump. Data here: airwars.org/data/. New analysis here: airwars.org/news/internati…

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Are we supposed to cheer Colin?

If so, why?

He was perfectly happy taking part in the death of civilians during Barack's presidency, remember?

Now he's offended because the number of civilians killed -- "alleged civilians," he tells us -- has increased?

It was a crime to begin with.

Whether it's increased, decreased or stayed the same, it was a crime to begin with.

Colin Kahl is War Trash and people need to think.

Human Rights Watch notes:

As civilian casualties in Iraq and Syria rise in the battle against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), the Australian government should take all feasible measures to protect civilians during military operations and improve the transparency of its operations, Human Rights Watch said today. The Australian government is an active member of the United States-led coalition against ISIS and has dropped thousands of munitions on targets in Iraq and Syria since August 2014, but has been one of the least transparent members of the coalition.
On May 8, 2017, the Australia Defence Force (ADF) began releasing fortnightly reports on strikes taken by the Australian air force as a member of the US-led coalition, but more detailed reporting is urgently needed.

“The rise in reports of civilian casualties raises questions about the precautions and procedures in place to protect civilians,” said Elaine Pearson, Australia director at Human Rights Watch. “New fortnightly Australian defense reports are a welcome step, but the government needs to provide more detailed information to ensure greater transparency and accountability for its military operations in Iraq and Syria.”

It's day 216 of The Mosul Slog.

‏ @Danger6_1ID

#Update from #Rudaw on #Iraqi fight against #ISIS in #Mosul. #Coalition @CENTCOM @FORSCOM @CJTFOIR

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The United Nations News Centre notes:

22 May 2017 – With the liberation of Mosul imminent, the international community must maintain a dual focus on defeating the remaining Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) forces in Iraq, and on working towards post-conflict security and reconstruction, the United Nations envoy for the country told the Security Council today.

“The days of the so-called Da'esh caliphate in Iraq are numbered” and discussions on how to rebuild the country had begun, Ján Kubiš, Head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), said in a “briefing to the Council, where he announced that UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently received the long-awaited submission of the Iraqi Forces Coalition's vision of a national settlement.

Moreover, the recent “Turkmen Forum” held in Baghdad served as an inclusive platform for the sharing of reconstruction visions.

Mr. Kubiš went on to stress that the imminent defeat of ISIL must also provide an urgent impetus to address the needs of minorities, especially their ability to return to their homes.
The return of all internally displaced persons to all liberated areas must be a top priority, as should tackling increasing incidents of kidnapping and paying sustained attention to upcoming elections in 2017 and 2018.

“National reconciliation can only succeed if it reflects the aspirations of the population, including women and youth,” he said, adding that women and youth, who make up more than half of Iraq's population, are key constituencies. With this in mind, he noted that UNAMI has convened seven separate forums across the country: in Basra, Erbil, Najaf, Diyala, Sulaymanyah, Kirkuk, and Baghdad, bringing together over 750 young participants from all Iraqi provinces.

Urging Baghdad and Erbil to leverage their joint efforts against ISIL and to address such issues as border disputes and building a “functional federation” based on partnership, Mr. Kubiš noted that senior officials in Kurdistan recently announced their intention to hold a referendum on the region's future later in 2017.
They had indicated, he continued, that their aim was to “show the world the will of the people” on the status of Kurdistan, rather than assert independence immediately.
Meanwhile, Turkey's Armed Forces maintained their relentless air attacks against PKK fighters, he said, citing Ankara's declarations that they would continue in order to deny sanctuary to the PKK. The Prime Minster had deplored the attack, he added.

Noting that the overall rule of law remained weak, Mr. Kubiš said kidnapping was becoming an increasing problem, recalling that the National Intelligence Cell had met on 11 May to discuss the link between terrorism and organized crime, including kidnapping. The international community must vigorously pursue accountability for crimes committed by ISIL in Iraq, he said.

Meanwhile, the issue of internally displaced persons remained critical, with some 700,000 people having fled their homes since mid-October, he noted. Hundreds of thousands of others remain in ISIL-controlled areas, suffering lack of food and water and often finding themselves caught in crossfire.

Mr. Kubiš concluded by reporting on his recent visit to Kuwait, saying he had met with officials there on the issue of missing Kuwaiti nationals and property. They had voiced concern about the lack of progress on the ground, he said, urging the Government of Iraq promptly to fulfil its obligations under that file.

In other news . . .

‏ @FRBIU

#Iraqi VP #Nujaifi "We are not responsible for what he did" criticising #Maliki’s one-man rule

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What measures are in place to prevent a repeat of Nouri al-Maliki?

None.

The persecution of Sunnis continues.

There is no national reconciliation.

The following community sites -- plus Cindy Sheehan, NPR, PACIFICA EVENING NEWS -- updated: