Friday, April 2, 2021

Biden Should Commit to 100% Emissions Cut by 2030 at Earth Day Summit

 Do you believe in a better world?  A world that addresses climate change before we've completely destroyed the planet?  


I don't see Joe Biden getting us there.  Do you?


The Green Party issued the following:


Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Contact:

Michael O’Neil, Communications Manager, meo@gp.org, 202-804-2758
Holly Hart, Co-chair, Media Committee, media@gp.org, 202-804-2758
Craig Seeman, Co-chair, Media Committee,  media@gp.org, 202-804-2758

WASHINGTON — The Green Party of the United States said that President Biden at his upcoming international Earth Day summit should commit the U.S. to a 100% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. It also wants the President to formally declare a climate emergency, embrace a robust carbon tax, and increase U.S. funding for the climate mitigation fund for developing countries and Global South.

“We know how to do it. What we lack are politicians willing to stand up to the political power and campaign donations of the fossil fuel industry,” said Mark Dunlea, co-chair of the Green Party’s EcoAction Committee.

Green Party members are helping to organize events from Earth Day to May Day to highlight the urgent need for climate change, and to make the connection to the need for overall system change including environmental justice, labor rights and grassroots democracy.

The Greens, who started calling for an ecosocialist Green New Deal in the U.S. in 2010, recently called for Congress to pass a $4.1 trillion a year (for 10 years) green economic stimulus to create 30 million jobs and accelerate the transition to 100% renewable energy from all sources by 2030. Biden is reportedly considering a one-time, $3 trillion green infrastructure stimulus, though only about $400 billion for direct climate measures.

“At the world’s present rate of greenhouse gas emissions, we have 7 years left before we deplete our carbon budget if we want to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees C. The U.S. needs to declare a climate emergency to launch an all-out mobilization of our nation’s resources to give generations to come a chance for a decent future,” said Dunlea.

“Who led the industrial polluters to fight the rest of the world in Paris, five years ago, against lowering the climate target from 2 degrees C to 1.5 degrees? The United States,  under Obama, Kerry and Gore. And the U.S. defeated requiring countries to set firm emission reductions,” said Green Party National Co-Chair Trahern Crews.

“It is time to repeal the powers that Bill Clinton gave to the World Trade Organization to support corporate globalization. We must strip corporations of the power to veto national laws, especially those dealing with the environment and fair trade. We need the world to impose sanctions on any company and country that fails to take effective action to curb global warming,” said Hillary Kane, who serves on the Green Party’s Steering Committee.

The Global Greens are mobilizing Green Parties worldwide to win their agenda at the “last chance” COP26 meeting in Glasgow in November; many Green Party members will be voting delegates representing their respective countries.

In addition to mandatory greenhouse gas emission cuts, the Green Party supports imposing financial penalties on polluters with a robust carbon fee (not cap-and-trade or carbon offsets) combined with a significant dividend to low- and middle-income households to offset the regressive nature of any energy tax. The International Monetary Fund estimates that worldwide fossil fuel companies receive more than $5 trillion annually in subsidies, primarily due to governments failing to make them pay for the damages caused by their emissions.

The Green Party promotes public and worker ownership of the energy system. It supports democratic planning of the economy to focus on the public good rather than maximizing private wealth.

“The U.S. and the rest of the world must act immediately to address the climate emergency. We must halt fracking for oil and gas and new fossil fuel infrastructure, including gas and oil pipelines and gas-fired power plants. Climate recovery requires a ten-year plan to phase out fossil fuels as we phase in clean renewables. We must replace fossil fuels to heat buildings with heat pumps powered by clean electricity. We must reject false climate solutions, including carbon capture, biomass, natural gas, and nuclear power, while embracing natural means to draw carbon out of the atmosphere and into the biosphere with regenerative agriculture and reforestation,” said Howie Hawkins, the 2020 Green Party presidential candidate and the first candidate to campaign for a Green New Deal in the United States, in 2010.

MORE INFORMATION

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



Thursday, April 1, 2021.  Iraq finally passes the 2021 budget, attacks on protesters continue, and much more.


Anne Cassebaum writes a letter to the editors of THE BURLINGTON TIMES-NEWS:


March 20 marked the 18th anniversary of our war on Iraq. It’s time for Americans to ask how our empire and its wars are working. We prefer to talk about protecting vital interests, nation-building, human rights, anything but empire. But empire is what our endless wars and our 800-plus military bases are about, and why though Iraqis have voted for them to leave, 2,500 troops remain.

Has sending most of our taxes to the Pentagon to maintain an empire worked for us? Our communities feel the drain. Only a few profit from war and weapons production.

Are we safer for attacking others? The State Department’s advisory against travel to Iraq due to “terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict and Mission Iraq’s limited capacity to provide support to U.S. citizens” just scratches the surface.

Is our democracy stronger? Empire wars have brought illegal spying, government by executive orders, extraordinary rendition, denial of habeas corpus and secrecy. The Constitution put war decisions with Congress, not the president, to guard against the urge for foreign domination.

Will the Biden Administration pull back from empire? Secretary of State Anthony Blicken, an avid supporter of the Iraq War, announced that the world doesn’t organize itself without American leadership and that he wants to reclaim that leadership. Images of millions displaced, cities in rubble and Abu Ghraib come to mind as the continued hype of Russia and China as enemies and the bombing inside Syria signal the empire will continue.

And it will, unless we pressure Congress to repeal the blanket Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) and to cut the Pentagon budget. Congress must insist on its responsibility to check the use of war. We can be a great country or be an empire. Our founders knew we could not be both.


Waiting On Biden Tweets:


Today is the 71st day that Biden has chosen to expand the forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of move toward peace.
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7:26 PM · Mar 31, 2021


The Iraq War.  Arwa Damon filed a report for CNN this week and noted, "Each neighborhood, each street, each family has a story of pain and suffering.  The violence was so widespread here that I, in my 18 years covering the war in Iraq, do not know a single person who has not somehow been impacted by it.


18 years and the war still drags on and it's accomplished nothing worthwhile.


The Iraqi people are no better off and suffer at the hands of kleptocrats who steal from the people over and over again.


Iraq finally approved this year's budget yesterday.  MIDDLE EAST ONLINE notes, "Iraq's parliament on Wednesday approved a 2021 budget of 130 trillion Iraqi dinars ($89.65 billion) as the country wrestles with an economic and financial crisis due to low crude prices."  Abeer Abu Omar and Khalid Al-Ansary (BLOOMBERG NEWS) note that this budget is based on the belief that oil will sell for at least $45 a barrel.  While the Iraqi people suffer -- approximately 25% live in poverty -- don't worry about the officials, they'll keep getting their big checks. Dilan Sirwan (RUDAW) explains, "Article 20 of the budget bill, which concerns cuts to the salaries of the three presidencies, the ministries, and employees, was rejected, according to Iraqi state media. "

Ali Jawad (ANADOLU AGENCY) reports:

Iraqi protesters on Thursday closed three oil facilities in the southern province of Dhi Qar, protesting against the federal budget.

Late Wednesday, the Iraqi parliament voted to approve the annual general budget, with total expenditures amounting to 129 trillion dinars (about $88 billion).

The new budget did not include articles to guarantee protesters' job opportunities, a move that they responded with disruption of oil facilities.

The approval of the budget comes after the lapse of three months of the current fiscal year and it will be applied retroactively.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that "protesters with certificates specialized in the field of oil sector closed the entrances to the Dhi Qar Oil Company, its oil refinery, and the Oil Products Distribution Company, in an escalating step."

The eyewitnesses said: "Protesters set fire to the tires of vehicles in front of the entrances of the three oil companies and demanded urgent intervention to including them in the budget by providing them with job opportunities."

 




We'll note this Tweet:


Protesters on Wednesday shut down the Dhi Qar oil refinery in southern Iraq amid protests over the lack of job opportunities for local residents, according to eyewitnesses. #AlBawabaBusiness


Protests have been going on, the current wave of protests, since the fall of 2019.  Not even the pandemic has prevented the protests.  The protests succeeded in forcing the resignation of one prime minister.  The response from the government has been to attack the protesters, to stalk them outside of protests, to kidnap them, to kill them.  Suadad al-Salhy (MIDDLE EAST EYE) reports:


Jaseb Hattab al-Hiliji never noticed the motorbike carrying two young men. It was just another bike, squeezing between pedestrians in the crowded, narrow streets of Amara’s al-Sinaaiyah district.

Hiliji didn’t notice either, when one of the men got off and walked slowly but purposefully towards him.

According to eyewitnesses, that is when the man took out a gun, pointed it at Hiliji’s head and fired a bullet that silenced the 57-year-old forever.

Less than an hour later, the local police announced that they had arrested the murderer, and that the crime was triggered by a tribal dispute. 

"Hiliji is a cousin of the killer, and they had major disputes and mutual lawsuits. The killer made this clear in his confessions," a senior local police officer told Middle East Eye.

"The killer said that he was returning from work and he found Hiliji in front of him while passing through the al-Sinaaiyah area, so he took out his pistol and shot him dead."

Official statements and videotaped confessions by the killer were explicit: this was a non-political crime, a family dispute. But the exact nature of the dispute was never presented, nor why the killer carried a gun in the first place.

To many in the southern city of Amara and Iraq in general, there was a different story. Hiliji was the victim of an assassination epidemic. 

And like killings before, the motives given by the authorities just did not wash.

A son's disappearance

Hiliji’s tragedy stretches back further, to 7 October 2019. That’s when his son, lawyer Ali Jaseb Hattab al-Hiliji, received a phone call from a woman who said he had been assigned as her representative in a divorce case.

CCTV footage of that evening shows Ali waiting by his car in central Amara, when a woman in a black gown approached him. The footage shows him speaking to the woman, whose face cannot be seen, for several minutes before a black Chevrolet Tahoe stopped 10 metres from the two. Three masked men got out of the Tahoe and forced Ali to get into their car. 

As the black Tahoe left, a modern Toyota pickup appeared. The woman voluntarily climbed into it. The pickup left behind the Tahoe.

Soon after Ali’s disappearance, rumours began to fly that he was disappeared because of links to the October 2019 anti-government protest movement that was raging in Amara and across southern Iraq and Baghdad.

Yet according to several prominent activists in the city who spoke to MEE, Ali was not a demonstrator or an activist. He had, however, participated with a number of lawyers in defending some of the youths who were arrested because of their participation in the 2019 anti-government demonstrations in its first week.


Amnesty International Iraq Tweeted about Ali Jaseb Hattab al-Heliji back in December of 2019:


29-year-old lawyer Ali Jaseb Hattab al-Heliji was abducted by suspected members of #PMU in #Ammarah more than 2 months ago. Ali had been representing arrested protesters during the #Iraqiprotests. TAKE ACTION WITH US FOR ALI amnesty.org/en/documents/m
#علي_چاسب_وين #الحريه_لعلي_جاسب
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10:34 AM · Dec 13, 2019



The violent attacks on protester continue.  Sura Ali (RUDAW) reports:


Protesters have called for demonstrations in the city of Samawah, in al-Muthanna governorate, after activist Haider al-Khashan was kidnapped and threatened on Thursday. 

A close friend of Khashan, who asked not to be named, told Rudaw English that a car with four masked people intercepted Khashan's car while he was driving with his mother at one o'clock on Thursday morning. He was then taken to an unknown location and threatened to stop protesting before being released late in the morning.

“The kidnappers took his mother's phone as she had filmed the incident,” the source said.

“The kidnappers investigated Khashan on accusations of insulting Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, which are absolutely false,” said activist Haider Ali.

"The militia’s ways of kidnapping and threatening Samawah protesters will never stop us,” he added. 

Activists launched the ”al-Muthanna rising up” Twitter hashtag after Khashan’s abduction, calling for mass demonstrations on Friday in response to his kidnap and demanding the dismissal of the local government. 


While the US media continues to largely ignore the Iraq War, Iran's PRESS TV did offer a segment on it this week.




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Thursday, April 1, 2021

Awful episode of Charmed

I like the show Charmed but I hated this week's episode.


Abby's minor story was interesting -- she thought her sister put the curse on her and even got Jordan to let her mild-meld with him so she could see what curse her sister used.  But it wasn't her sister.  She had cursed herself.


What I didn't like?


Masie's storyline.


THe parent company that owns Safe Space has a hideous woman working for them and she wants Masie in a commercial for malaria.


She is rude and insulting to Masie.  She touches her hair.  She picks something that really is racist for her to wear.  And then she just goes off on Masie when Masie feels the ad is racist.


She goes off on Masie and then accuses Masie of threatening her and calls security to escort Masie out.


Now Masie should have objected when her hair was being touched and that pissed me off.


She should have walked out and not let security and the woman shame her -- Masie's crying with raccoon eyes from her make up when she's tossed out.


But let's say she's just stunned and too slow witted to do anything (and I mean stand up for herself, I'm not speaking magical).


Okay, well the next thing you do is file a complaint.


This is b.s.  This happened in front of tons of people.


It was racist and it was not appropriate for the workplace.


Instead of sending a strong message, they did nothing -- the people behind the show.


And I find that insulting.  I did not like the episode.



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


 Wednesday, March 31, 201021.  Abeer.



As women's history month in the US draws to a close, let's note Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi.  She'd be 29-years-old, if she were alive.  






Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi is the 14-year-old Iraqi girl who was gang-raped and murdered March 12, 2006. The illustration to the right is from The Third Estate Sunday Review's "Justice for Abeer and her family?" and the illustration is of James Barker and Paul Cortez beginning the gang-rape of Abeer while Steven D. Green was in the other room murdering Abeer's five-year-old sister and her parents. For that article, we based the illustrations on Barker's confession in court. At the time, the Guardian of London summarized Barker's written testimony, ". . . Green dragged the father, mother and younger sister into a bedroom, while Abeer was left in the living room. . . . Barker said Cortez appeared to rape the girl [Abeer], and he followed. He said he heard gunshots and Mr. Green came out of the bedroom, saying he had killed the family, before raping the girl and shooting her with an AK-47."






 "War Criminal Steven D. Green dies in prison" from February 18, 2014 -- in full:

War Criminal Steven D. Green is dead.  AP's Brett Barrouquere, who has long covered Green, reports  the 28-year-old Green was found dead in his Arizona prison cell on Saturday and that, currently, the operating belief is that it was a case of suicide.



Steven D. Green



May 7, 2009 Steven D. Green (pictured above) was convicted for his crimes in the  March 12, 2006 gang-rape and murder of Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, the murder of her parents and the murder of her five-year-old sister while Green was serving in Iraq. Green was found to have killed all four, to have participated in the gang-rape of Abeer and to have been the ringleader of the conspiracy to commit the crimes and the conspiracy to cover them up. May 21, 2009, the federal jury deadlocked on the death penalty.

Alsumaria explained, "An ex-US soldier was found guilty for raping an Iraqi girl and killing her family in 2006 while he might face death sentence.  . . . Eye witnesses have reported that Green shot dead the girl’s family in a bedroom while two other soldiers were raping her. Then, Green raped her in his turn and put a pillow on her face before shooting her. The soldiers set the body afire to cover their crime traces."

Evan Bright reported on the verdict:


As the jury entered the court room, Green(red sweater vest) let out a large sigh, not of relief, but seemingly of anxiety, knowing the weight of the words to come. As Judge Thomas Russell stated "The court will now publish the verdict," Green interlaced his fingers and clasped them over his chin. Russell read the verdict flatly and absolutely. Green went from looking down at each "guilty" to eyeing the jury. His shoulders dropped as he was convicted of count #11, aggravated sexual abuse, realizing what this means. A paralegal at the defense table consoled Green by patting him on his back, even herself breaking down crying at the end of the verdicts.
After Russell finished reading the verdicts, he begged questions of the respective attorneys. Wendelsdorf, intending to ensure the absolution of the verdict, requested the jury be polled. Honorable Judge Russell asked each juror if they agreed with these verdicts, receiving a simple-but-sufficient yes from all jurors. Green watched the jury flatly.


From the September 4th, 2009 snapshot:


Turning to the United States and what may be the only accountability for the crimes in Iraq.  May 7th Steven D. Green (pictured above) was convicted for his crimes in March 12, 2006 gang-rape and murder of Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, the murder of her parents and the murder of her five-year-old sister while Green was serving in Iraq. Green was found to have killed all four, to have participated in the gang-rape of Abeer and to have been the ringleader of the conspiracy to commit the crimes and the conspiracy to cover them up. May 21st, the federal jury deadlocked on the death penalty and instead kicking in sentence to life in prison. Today, Green stood before US District Judge Thomas B. Russell for sentencing. Kim Landers (Australia's ABC) quotes Judge Russell telling Green his actions were "horrifying and inexcusable."  Not noted in any of the links in this snapshot (it comes from a friend present in the court), Steven Dale Green has dropped his efforts to appear waif-ish in a coltish Julia Roberts circa the 1990s manner.  Green showed up a good twenty pounds heavier than he appeared when on trial, back when the defense emphasized his 'lanky' image by dressing him in oversized clothes.  Having been found guilty last spring, there was apparently no concern that he appear frail anymore. 
Italy's AGI reports, "Green was recognised as the leader of a group of five soldiers who committed the massacre on September 12 2006 at the Mahmudiyah check point in the south of Baghdad. The story inspired the 2007 masterpiece by Brian De Palma 'Redacted'."  BBC adds, "Judge Thomas Russell confirmed Green would serve five consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole."  Deborah Yetter (Courier-Journal) explains, "Friday's federal court hearing was devoted mostly to discussion of technical issues related to Green's sentencing report, although it did not change Green's sentence. He was convicted in May of raping and murdering Abeer al-Janabi, 14, and murdering her parents, Kassem and Fakhriya, and her sister, Hadeel, 6, at their home outside Baghdad."
Green was tried in civilian court because he had already been discharged before the War Crimes were discovered.  Following the gang-rape and murders, US soldiers attempted to set fire to Abeer's body to destroy the evidence and attempted to blame the crimes on "insurgents."  In real time, when the bodies were discovered, the New York Times was among the outlets that ran with "insurgents."  Green didn't decide he wanted to be in the military on his own.  It was only after his most recent arrest -- after a long string of juvenile arrests -- while sitting in jail and fearing what sentence he would face, that Green decided the US Army was just the place he wanted to be.  Had he been imprisoned instead or had the US military followed rules and guidelines, Green wouldn't have gotten in on a waiver.  Somehow his history was supposed to translate into "He's the victim!!!!"  As if he (and the others) didn't know rape was a crime, as if he (and the others) didn't know that murder was considered wrong.  Green attempted to climb up on the cross again today.  AP's Brett Barrouguere quotes the 'victim' Green insisting at today's hearing, "You can act like I'm a sociopath.  You can act like I'm a sex offender or whatever.  If I had not joined the Army, if I had not gone to Iraq, I would not have got caught up in anything."  Climb down the cross, drama queen.  Your entire life was about leading up to a moment like that.  You are a sociopath.  You stalked a 14-year-old Iraqi girl while you were stationed at a checkpoint in her neighborhood.  You made her uncomfortable and nervous, you stroked her face.  She ran to her parents who made arrangements for her to go live with others just to get her away from you, the man the army put there to protect her and the rest of the neighborhood.  You are one sick f**k and you deserve what you got.  Green play drama queen and insist "you can act like I'm a sex offender" -- he took part in and organized a gang-rape of a 14-year-old girl.  That's a sex offender.  In fact, "sex offender" is a mild term for what Green is.
Steven D. Green made the decision to sign up for the US military.  He was facing criminal punishment for his latest crimes, but he made the decision.  Once in the military, despite his long history of arrests, he didn't see it as a chance to get a fresh start.  He saw it as a passport for even more crimes.  What he did was disgusting and vile and it is War Crimes and by doing that he disgraced himself and the US military.  His refusal to take accountability today just demonstrates the realities all along which was Green did what he wanted and Green has no remorse.  He sullied the name of the US military, he sullied the name of the US.  As a member of the army, it was his job to follow the rules and the laws and he didn't do so.  And, as a result, a retaliation kidnapping of US soldiers took place in the spring of 2006 and those soldiers were strung up and gutted.  That should weigh heavily on Steven D. Green but there's no appearance that he's ever thought of anyone but himself.  He wants to act as if the problem was the US military which requires that you then argue that anyone serving in Iraq could have and would have done what he did.  That is not reality.  He does not represent the average soldier and he needs to step down from the cross already.
 AFP notes, "During closing arguments at his sentencing, Green was described alternately as 'criminal and perverse' and deserving of the death penalty, and as a 'broken warrior" whose life should be spared'."  Brett Barrouquere (AP) has been covering the story for years now.  He notes that Patrick Bouldin (defense) attempted to paint Green as the victim as well by annoucing that Green wanted to take responsibility "twice" before but that Assistant US Attorney Marisa Ford explained that was right before jury selection began and in the midst of jury selection.  In other words, when confronted with the reality that he would be going to trial, Steven D. Green had a panic moment and attempted to make a deal with the prosecution.  (The offer was twice rejected because the 'life in prison' offer included the defense wanting Green to have possible parole.)  Steve Robrahn, Andrew Stern and Paul Simao (Reuters) quote US Brig Gen Rodney Johnson ("Commanding General of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command") stating, "We sincerely hope that today's sentencing helps to bring the loved ones of this Iraqi family some semblance of closure and comfort after this horrific and senseless act."


Green went into the military to avoid criminal charges on another issue.  He was one of many that the military lowered the standards for.

May 28, 2009, the family of Abeer gave their statements to the court before leaving to return to Iraq. WHAS11 (text and video) reported on the court proceedings:


Gary Roedemeier: Crimes were horrific. A band of soldiers convicted of planning an attack against an Iraqi girl and her family.

Melissa Swan: The only soldier tried in civilian court is Steven Green. The Fort Campbell soldier was in federal court in Louisville this morning, facing the victims' family and WHAS's Renee Murphy was in that courtroom this morning. She joins us live with the information and also more on that heart wrenching scene of when these family members faced the man who killed their family.


Renee Murphy: I mean, they came face to face with the killer. Once again, the only thing different about this time was that they were able to speak with him and they had an exchange of dialogue and the family is here from Iraq and they got to ask Steven Green all the questions they wanted answered. They looked each other in the eye. Green appeared calm and casual in court. The victims' family, though, outraged, emotional and distraught. Now cameras were not allowed in the courtroom so we can't show video of today's hearing but here's an account of what happened. (Video begins] This is a cousin of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl raped and killed by Steven Green. He and other family members in this SUV were able to confront Green in federal court this morning. Their words were stinging and came from sheer grief. Former Fort Campbell soldier Steven Green was convicted of killing an Iraqi mother, father and their young daughter. He then raped their 14-year-old daughter, shot her in the head and set her body on fire. Today the victim's family was able to give an impact statement at the federal court house the young sons of the victims asked Green why he killed their father. an aunt told the court that "wounds are still eating at our heart" and probably the most compelling statements were from the girls' grandmother who sobbed from the stand and demanded an explanation from Green. Green apologized to the family saying that he did evil things but he is not an evil person. He says that he was drunk the night of the crimes in 2006 and he was following the orders of his commanding officers. In his statement, Green said if it would bring these people back to life I would do everything I could to make them execute me. His statement goes on to say, "Before I went to Iraq, I never thought I would intentionally kill a civilian. When I was in Iraq, something happened to me that I can only explain by saying I lost my mind. I stopped seeing Iraqis as good and bad, as men, women and children. I started seeing them all as one, and evil, and less than human." Green didn't act alone. His codefendants were court-martialed and received lesser sentences. Green will be formally sentenced to life in prison in September. [End of videotape.] The answers that Green gave were not good enough for some of the family members. at one point today, the grandmother of the young girls who were killed left the podium and started walking towards Green as he sat at the defendant's table shouting "Why!" She was forcibly then escorted to the back of the court room by US Marshalls. She then fell to the ground and buried her face in her hands and began to cry again. The family pleaded with the court for the death sentence for Green. but you can see Green's entire statement to the court on our website whas11.com and coming up tonight at six o'clock, we're going to hear from Green's attorneys.


Steven D. Green was convicted of War Crimes.


US soldiers gang-raped and killed an Iraqi girl and they killed three members of her family.  Andy Mosher (Washington Post) would quote the go-to-military law expert for the press, Eugene Fidell stating, "This is not a defense known to the law.  But this kind of evidence could come in during the court-martial, and it might be pertinent to the sentence.  They could be setting the stage to avoid a death penalty."  And at the Article 23 hearing, Captain Alex Pickands, for the prosecution, responded to the defense's argument: "Murder, not war. Rape, not war. That's what we're here talking about today. Not all that business about cold food, checkpoints, personnel assignments. Cold food didn't kill that family. Personnel assignments didn't rape and murder that 14-year-old little girl."  Yet somehow this was not front page news.  AP did cover the topic regularly.  Despite KPFA's Sandra Lupien covering the news before anyone else, KPFA wouldn't lead on this, DEMOCRACY NOW! couldn't be bothered with this.  Over and over, Abeer was betrayed by national media and by what passes for 'left' in the beggar media ("Send money! Always send money!").  


The murder of her family was a War Crime.  The murder and gang-rape of Abeer was a War Crime.  Men were sent to prison for their crimes but where was the press?



In January of 2007, Jane Fonda gave a speech announcing the start of WOMEN'S MEDIA CENTER and the speech included:






I want to share a story.  I wonder how many know the name, Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi.  How many know who she was?

Abeer was a 14-old-girl, living with her family about 50 miles south of Baghdad, trying to grow up as best she could in a country ravaged by violence and war.

Until March 12, 2006, when her life was cruelly cut short. On that night, five American soldiers, dressed all in black, allegedly burst into the home where Abeer lived with her family.

After spending the evening drinking whiskey mixed with energy drinks and playing cards, the soldiers must have decided to execute the crime they allegedly had been planning for weeks.  According to the charges, the men took turns raping 14-year-old Abeer before shooting her. In the next room, her mother, her father, and her five-year-old sister were executed. When the men were done, they drenched the bodies in kerosene and set them on fire.

Then, the prosecutors say, they went back to base and grilled up some chicken wings for dinner. It was months before this crime came to light.

The cold-blooded murder of Abeer and her family is a tragedy. But it’s almost as great a tragedy when her story, and all the other stories that are difficult to hear and difficult to accept, are buried in the back of the news pages—quickly shuffled off the nightly news by politicians and their handlers desperate to change the subject. Or never told at all.

Like so many Americans, I have felt frustrated and betrayed by the state of the mainstream media in this country— media whose priorities seem out of step with their responsibilities.

Media Must Be the Defenders of Democracy.

We need a media that strengthens democracy, not a media that strengthens the government. We need a media that enriches public discourse, not one that enriches corporations. There’s a big difference.

When we talk about reforming the media, what we’re really talking about is creating a media that is powerful, not a media that serves the interests of the powerful; a media that is so powerful that it can speak for the powerless, bear witness for those who are invisible in our world, and memorialize those who would be forgotten.

A truly powerful media is one that can stop a war, not start one.




And a truly powerful media is still needed and still required.  Women's history celebrates the progress women have made, yes, but it also includes the barriers that still have to be overcome.  Abeer's life didn't matter to corporate media.  They begged off coverage of the Article 32 hearing (or else lied about it -- Robert Worth, THE NEW YORK TIMES) due to not having reporters in Iraq.  Well Steven D. Green had a civilian prosecution and he was tried in the state of Kentucky.  This did not mean that the outlets suddenly rushed to cover what had happened.

Abeer's life mattered and it's a sad and sorry excuse for a press when they don't believe the same.

From 2006 through 2014, the story was unfolding and they repeatedly failed.  

We're having problems logging into blogger this morning so this is being e-mailed to the site. 



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