Wednesday, January 5, 2022. Julian Assange remains persecuted, DoD
admits US troops in Iraq are still in harms way, and much more.
Julian Assange remains persecuted.
Ending
the perseuction is not that difficult. The US government just has to
agree to stop punishing people for jounalism. The US government just
has to accept that The First Amendment exists and is a law. Joe Biden
has to realize that not only has this been wrong-headed, it's seriosly
damaged Julian's health. To put this right, charges need to be dropped
and Joe has the power to do that.
John Pilger notes:
Julian #Assange has now spent 1000 days in Belmarsh prison. His crime is truth. Watch this powerful video by Hong Kong's leading journalist, Yonden Lhatoo, whose work I admire. Watch and learn about our true enemy.
Quote Tweet
In his New Year’s message, Yonden Lhatoo demands Western governments free WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange before preaching press freedom to everyone else.
This
latest NBC News article on Assange by former FBI Assistant Director
Figliuzzi features all of these corrupt dynamics. MSNBC has been repeatedly promoting it.
That is remarkable on its own: a so-called "news outlet” is cheering —
indeed, salivating over — the Biden administration's attempt to
criminalize Assange under “espionage” laws for the sin of reporting
genuine documents showing all sorts of improper conduct by the agencies
whose former operatives now staff that network. Given that press freedom
groups in the West have uniformly condemned
the prosecution of Assange as a grave threat to a free press, it is
stunning to watch a corporation that claims to be in the news business
cheering rather than denouncing it.
But for the U.S. media, that
is just ordinary corruption and subservience to the CIA: it is hardly
rare to find "journalists” giddy over the prospect of Assange's ongoing
imprisonment. What makes this new article particularly notable is that
the FBI — when Figliuzzi was a senior official there — was directly
involved in the attempt to investigate, frame and prosecute Assange. Yet
the article, while identifying its analyst as “the assistant director
for counterintelligence at the FBI, where he served 25 years as a
special agent and directed all espionage investigations across the
government,” makes no mention of his direct personal interest in the
Assange prosecution.
The primary claim of this article is an
unhinged conspiracy theory. Figliuzzi asserts that extraditing Assange
onto U.S. soil could endanger Donald Trump. The former FBI official
barely conceals his glee over the prospect that Assange could somehow
offer up dirt on Trump in exchange for a promise of leniency from
prosecutors:
If the Department of Justice plays its
cards right, it can make the case precisely about those Russian
government hacks and WikiLeaks' dissemination of the content of those
hacks by offering a deal to Assange in return for what he knows.
That’s
what should worry Trump and his allies. . . . Assange may be able to
close the gap between collusion and criminal conspiracy. Assange got the Democratic National Committee data dump
from an entity long suspected to be a front for the GRU, the Russian
military intelligence service. . . Assange may be able to help the U.S.
government in exchange for more lenient charges or a plea deal.
Prosecutions can make for strange bedfellows. A trade that offers a deal
to a thief who steals data, in return for him flipping on someone who
tried to steal democracy sounds like a deal worth doing.
So, DOJ, if you’re listening…
That
Assange "stole data” is an absolute lie — not even the U.S. Government
claims this — but NBC News has previously shown that it has no qualms
about disseminating that particular lie.
As for Figliuzzi’s belief that Assange possesses secret information
about Trump's collusion with Russia over the 2016 election: that is
nothing short of madness. Robert Mueller did not even attempt to
interview Assange, precisely because the Special Counsel (Figliuzzi's
former boss) obviously recognized that Assange had no information that
would assist Mueller's investigation to determine whether Trump or his
associates criminally conspired with Russia. If Assange really has
information showing Trump criminally worked with the Kremlin, how can
Figliuzzi justify that Mueller, during eighteen months of investigating
that question, never even sought to speak to Assange?
Moreover, if
— as Figliuzzi fantasizes — Assange were in possession of some sort of
smoking gun that Mueller never found but which would finally prove
Trump's guilt on various crimes, why did Trump not pardon Assange? After
all, if this twisted fantasy that NBC News is promoting had any
validity — namely, Trump will be in big trouble once the U.S. succeeds
in extraditing Assange to the U.S. to stand trial — why was it the Trump
administration that brought these charges against Assange in the first
place, and why would Trump not have pardoned Assange in order to prevent
such a deal from taking place? None of what Figliuzzi is claiming has
any evidence to support it or even makes any minimal sense.
But
as usual, that is no bar to NBC News and MSNBC publishing and
aggressively promoting it. As I will never tire of pointing out, it is
the corporate media outlets that most vocally denounce disinformation
which are the ones guilty of spreading it most frequently and
destructively.
Meanwhlie,
last year found US President Joe Biden announcing combat was over for
US troops in Iraq. Combat did not end just because Joe tossed out a few
words. This is from the US Defense Dept:
Even though the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq has
changed, the troops are still in a hazardous environment and retain the
ability to defend themselves, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby
told reporters today.
24:29
Video Player
The mission of U.S. forces shifted from combat to advise and assist two
weeks ago, per an agreement between the United States and Iraq. Yet
troops advising and assisting Iraqi forces are at risk.
Forces launched strikes against rocket-launching sites near Green
Village in Syria and shot down two armed drones targeting forces in Al
Asad Air Base. There were no casualties among friendly forces.
The strikes against the rocket-launching sites were not airstrikes,
Kirby said. Forces hit the sites to ensure rockets were not launched
against coalition forces.
But that begs the greater question of if U.S. personnel are at risk in
the mission. "They clearly are at risk in the region," Kirby said. "I
mean, one of the reasons why these sites were hit was [that] we had
reason to believe that they were going to be used as launch sites for
attacks on Green Village. So clearly, our men and women remain in harm's
way. And we have to take that threat very seriously. We always have the
right of self-defense."
Kirby would not say who manned these rocket-launching sites. "That said,
we continue to see threats against our forces in Iraq and Syria by
militia groups that are backed by Iran," he said. "But again, I don't
have specific attribution on who was responsible for these specific
sites."
Iran is a major player in Iraq and U.S. officials have been consistently
concerned about the threats to U.S. forces in the region. "That is not a
new concern," Kirby said. "And I think we've seen in just the last few
days, that there have been acts perpetrated by some of these groups that
validate the consistent concern that we've had over the safety and
security of our people."
On Russia, Kirby said should NATO
allies ask for more U.S. capabilities in Europe, "we would be
positively disposed to consider those requests." Still, he noted, the
United States has a "very large and robust footprint" in Europe that
complements the sizable capabilities that European allies possess.
"There already exists a lot of capabilities [in Europe]," he said. "And
some of those capabilities could be moved around — if that was, in fact,
the request and was decided that would be the most prudent thing to
do."
There are many options that President Joe Biden has if Russia
decides to launch another incursion into Ukraine, Kirby said, but
nothing has been asked for yet.
Let's wind down
because I'm tired. COVID. The pandemic hasn't ended. More government
resources need to be targeted towards the pandemic.
I
got both shots and the booster. Monday, I took a test and found out
the next day that I have COVID. I'm fine and will be fine. Others are
not so fortunate. I don't have to worry about money or losing a roof
over my head. Others are not so fortunate. A UBI is needed for the
American people. And a serious plan is needed for addressing this
pandemic. Joe Biden ran for president knowing about the pandmeic. His
refusal to address issues related to the pandemic are appalling.
That
Joe Biden is failing at his job is bad enough but he is also failing
the country and that cannot be allowed. If he's not up for the job, he
should resign.
Anthony Fauci is an abject failure and Joe should fir him immediately.
I'm not an Andy Cohen fan, I've never cared for him. But what are the ethics for CNN?
Outlets are reporting that Andy's apologizing -- including on air -- for what he said on CNN on New Year's Eve. He was a paid co-host and he made questionable remarks.
Where my concern comes in is that he's using the excuse that he was drunk.
Tuesday, January 4, 2022. Another attack on US forces in Iraq, War
Criminal Tony Blair inspires more outrage, Mexico's president offers
asylum to Julian Assange, and much more.
Sinan Mahmoud (THE NATIONA) reports, "US troops in western Iraq shot down two drones on Tuesday morning, Iraqi andUS-led
international coalition officials said." And before you think, "Wait,
that was covered in yesterday's snapshot -- No. This is anothe drone
attack. Two days in a row. Cameron Jenkins (THE HILL) explains:
A
second attempted drone attack on U.S. forces in Iraq was foiled on
Tuesday after Iraq's air defenses shot down armed drones that were
headed toward a U.S. air base west of Baghdad.
An official with the U.S.-led international military coalition confirmed the attempted attack on the Ain al-Asad air base, according to Reuters.
So
let's again raise the important question: Are US forces in Iraq getting
combat pay? They are in a war zone, so they should; however, US
Presidnet Joe Biden is so bound and determined to claim 'combat' troops
are gone, they may not be.
Moving from one War Criminal to
another, as 2021 drew to a close Tony Blair became a knight. Yes, the
royal family of England took time out from embracing the rapist Prince
Andrew to embrace Was Criminal Tony. John Pilger Tweets:
The contempt in which Britain's elite holds the public has never been more eloquently expressed than in the decision to award Tony Blair the highest order of knighthood. One million Iraqis dead, three million dispossessed, a trail of blood to 7/7. Rise Sir Tony!
Desmond Tutu refused to share a platform with Tony Blair, describing him as a war criminal who shud stand trial. Blair is also a war profiteer, having made 10s of millions personally from the invasion of Iraq & his corrupt arms trade links.C ‘The Shadow World’ book for references
Tony Blair's final act as a human wrecking
ball could well bring down the British monarchy following the
controversial decision by Queen Elizabeth II to award him a knighthood.
Not just any old knighthood, you understand; he has been made a member
of the Order of the Garter, the country's oldest and most prestigious
order of chivalry.
As the world's
longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth's many admirers have lavished
her with praise for the way she has steered the ship of state for nigh
on seventy years by avoiding any embroilment in hot political issues. It
wasn't always like this, though. In 1997, the death of Princess Diana
exposed fault lines
within the monarchy which revealed Britain's royal family to be out of
touch with the British people. It was the Queen's then Prime Minister,
Tony Blair, and his "peoples' princess speech" which apparently turned public opinion and softened republican murmurs.
Such
murmurs are being revived now, though, following her controversial
decision to honour the 68-year-old former Middle East envoy in this way.
So much so, that "Sir Tony" could well be the undoing of the monarchy.
It really is that serious.
Blair's knighthood has also been greeted with bewilderment and outrage
around the world, especially in the Middle East where conflict and
turmoil continue today as a result of the 2003 war in Iraq which brought
untold death, misery, injury and hardship to millions. Blair, of
course, hung on the coat tails of US President George W Bush and sold
the invasion of Iraq on blatant lies regarding "weapons of mass
destruction" in the oil-rich country.
More than half a million people have called on the British
government to rethink the award of a knighthood to former Prime Minister
Tony Blair.
Sir Tony, who served as prime minister from 1997 to 2007, was named a
knight companion of the most noble order of the garter — the highest
accolade possible — in the queen’s honors list for 2021.
An online public petition calling on the government to push the queen to rescind the honor has accrued over 550,000 signatures.
The petition says: “Tony Blair caused irreparable damage to both the
constitution of the United Kingdom and to the very fabric of the
nation’s society. He was personally responsible for causing the death of
countless innocent, civilian lives … in various conflicts. For this
alone he should be held accountable for war crimes.”
The anger over Mr Blair’s knighthood
comes from his decision to send UK Armed Forces into Iraq and
Afghanistan following 9/11 – which led to the deaths of more than 600
British military personnel and tens of thousands more civilians.
The war with Iraq began in 2003 with the invasion of the
country by a US-led coalition of forces, and ended with the withdrawal
of US forces in 2011.
At the time, the then PM built the case for military action
against Saddam Hussein’s regime by saying there appeared to be evidence
mounting of weapons of mass destruction that could be used within 45
minutes.
However the subsequent Chilcott Inquiry – which looked into
the UK’s involvement in the Iraq war – concluded in 2016 that the former
Labour leader overplayed the ‘flawed’ intelligence about the dictator’s
weaponry and ignored peaceful means to resolve the issue.
The anti-apartheid hero archbishop Desmond Tutu who recently passed away, was even more scathing.
In an opinion piece
almost a decade ago, he wrote, "the immorality of the United States and
Great Britain's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, premised on the lie
that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, has destabilised and
polarised the world to a greater extent than any other conflict in
history."
Yet while he has been held generally held in
contempt in the public realm, Blair has raked in tens of millions of
dollars mingling with some of the world's more corrupt and despotic
regimes.
If Tony Blair was worried that his post-prime
ministerial career would shudder to a halt given the hate he inspired,
he didn't show it.
His first major contract was with the US banking giant JP Morgan, who gave him a five-year contract of $4 million per year.
Tony
Blair was also appointed as a Middle East Peace Envoy, at a cost of
more than $13 million, a role he held between 2007 and 2015.
For many,
that the man who had helped trigger so much war and destruction in the
Middle East should be appointed to find a resolution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, smacked as a cruel joke for those living
in the region.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Tony Blair resigned in 2015, not having brought peace to the Middle East.
However,
by this time, Blair had brought a measure of peace and prosperity for
his family, amassing a string of houses in central London worth millions
of dollars. His net worth is estimated to be around $60 million.
As
revelations of Blair's dealings with the super-rich and authoritarian
regimes have periodically trickled into the press, his stature has
fallen in equal measure with one British paper calling the former prime
minister a "political embarrassment".
Meanwhile journalist John McEvoy Tweets:
Tony Blair being awarded a knighthood while Julian Assange suffers a stroke in prison tells you everything you need to know about Britain.
As
TELESUR reports in the video above, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the
Presidnet of Mexico, has again offer Julian Assange political asylum in
Mexico. REUTERS notes:
López Obrador reiterated the asylum offer he had made for Assange a year ago, and said that before Trump was replaced as President by Joe Biden last January, he had written him a letter recommending that Assange be pardoned.
Mexico did not receive a reply to the letter, López Obrador told a regular government news conference.
“It
would be a sign of solidarity, of fraternity to allow him asylum in the
country that Assange decides to live in, including Mexico,”
López Obrador said.
The world watches as Joe Biden continues to persecute Julian Assange.
Monday, January 3, 2022. A base with US forces in Iraq comes under
drone attack this morning, the western media rushes to turn a small
group demonstrating into something large, a leopard is captured in
Kurdistan, what's the deal with THIRD, and much more.
Two armed drones were shot down on Monday as they approached an Iraqi
military base hosting US forces near Baghdad’s international airport,
Iraqi security sources said, adding that nobody was hurt in the
incident.
AFP goes on to note the assassination by
drone in 2020 (by the US government) of terrorist Qassen Soleimani.
Solemani'ss actions of terror go to why SUnnis weren't bothered by his
death and wh most Shi'ites weren't bothered. He was a fundmantelist who
was behind terrorizing many of Iraq's marginalized people -- including
LGBTQ persons.
They leave that out. They leave so
much out. Including the fact that combat has not ended for US forces.
Two drones tried to attack today and they were shot down. That's
combat, boys and girls. Joe Biden and the press are lying to you when
they maintain otherwise.
US forces shouldn't be in
Iraq. But they are. And those in Iraq better be recieving combat pay
becuase they are in a combat zone.
Below you can see the handful that turned out on a busy street.
If
you wtch the whole video, you'll note that the protest/demonstration
collects more observers than it has participants but, hey, so what if
the US media is pimping as a huge turnout -- while repeatedly ignoring
protest against the Iraqi government -- since when did reality belong in
what passes for reality?
Hasn't that always been how
the western media has covered Iraqi gatherings? With lies. They ignore
the real ones -- such as all the ones that took place in 2021. As we
noted Saturday, in the year in review "2021: The Madness of the Partisan Left (The Year of Silencing Speech):"
When
these protests aren't covered, I guess it's easier for the media to
pretend that the ongoing Iraq War is a success. After all, if the US
truly 'liberated' the Iraqi people, all would be fine and dandy and
Iraqis would have no reason to take to the streets.
But
all is not well and that's why Iraqis are making their voices heard --
heard on the streets, heard via social media and heard via the Arabic
press. Sadly, the US press really doesn't pay attention to what's
actually going on in Iraq. It's so much easier to just write 500 words
or so of nothing while tossing around the term "king-maker."
Not
only did the US press refuse to cover those protests, it also has never
informed their readers and viewers that, at the end of last month, not
one, but two, governors resigned their positions due to protests. Kind
of an important news item. But the US press has always lied about
protest going back to when the US military, in 2003, pulled down a
statue of Saddam in Baghdad and the press worked overtime to lie that
the Iraqi people had done it.
A number of international journalists who were
covering the invasion moved into the Palestine Hotel on Firdos Square,
where Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf held his amusing press conferences. They
had been relocated from the Al Rasheed Hotel, closer to the city’s
political centre, after much of it had been destroyed by bombing. Though
the Palestine Hotel was known to be a media refuge, an American tank fired a shell
at it on 8 April, mistaking a camera on a balcony for an Iraqi spotting
device. Two journalists were killed, three were injured, and the rest
were outraged.
It was fortunate, then, that a
story would come along to distract them from their anger at the Pentagon
the next day, and that it would happen on Firdos Square – right outside
their hotel. Fortunate, but not planned by the Pentagon. The story was
created spontaneously by American soldiers on the ground. It was spun
into a full-blown global event by the international news media.
On 9 April 2003, Lt Col
Brian McCoy, in charge of the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines, was told by a
journalist at the Palestine Hotel that there were no Iraqi forces in
Firdos Square. Simon Robinson, a reporter for Time magazine, said McCoy
knew that journalists would be there, so “there were going to be
opportunities”.
Capt Bryan Lewis, leader
of McCoy’s tank company, blocked the streets leading to the square.
Gunnery Sgt Leon Lambert, in an M-88 armoured recovery vehicle, radioed
him with an idea: should they pull down Saddam’s statue? Lewis replied:
“No way.”
McCoy went into the Palestine Hotel
to meet reporters. Just after 5pm, Lambert radioed Lewis again, telling
him that now local Iraqis themselves wanted to pull down the statue.
There were a few of them in the square, and a lot of journalists.
Lambert’s claim that some Iraqis wanted to pull
down the statue is corroborated to some extent by Kadhim Sharif Hassan
al-Jabouri, a local mechanic. Kadhim claimed that he had once fixed
motorcycles for Saddam and his son Uday, but there had been a dispute
over money. Uday had him thrown in prison. “Fourteen or 15 people in my
own family were executed by Saddam,” Kadhim told the BBC. When he heard
American forces were coming, he was happy. He says he took his
sledgehammer and left his nearby garage to go to Firdos Square.
Lambert asked Lewis: “If a sledgehammer and rope fell off the 88, would you mind?”
“I wouldn’t mind,” Lewis replied. “But don’t use the 88.”
Lambert
says he gave the Iraqis his sledgehammer, though Kadhim claims to have
brought his own. It is unclear, then, whether the idea to attack the
statue came from a relatively low-ranking US soldier, from an Iraqi
civilian, or from both.
Kadhim began to hammer
at the statue, but all he could really do was get a couple of plaques
off the base. Lambert’s rope was thrown around the statue’s neck. There
was little chance of this small crowd toppling such a large bronze. An
hour went by.
Saddam was not budging. “We
watched them with the rope, and I knew that was never going to happen,”
Lambert told journalist Peter Maass, who wrote a detailed investigation of the felling of the statue in 2011. “They were never going to get it down.”
At
this point, the handful of Iraqis having a go at the statue seemed
inclined to give up and go home. Just then, McCoy came out of the hotel.
“I realised this was a big deal,” he said. “You’ve got all the press
out there and everybody is liquored up on the moment. You have this
Paris 1944 feel. I remember thinking, the media is watching the Iraqis
trying to topple this icon of Saddam Hussein. Let’s give them a hand.”
McCoy radioed a senior officer, who authorised him
to involve troops directly in pulling down the statue. McCoy told his
troops they could use the M-88 recovery vehicle after all, providing
there were no fatalities.
Around 6.50pm the
M-88 drove away from the statue, dragging it face forward with the chain
around its neck. Slowly, the bronze bent forward at the knee and ankle,
Saddam’s huge figure bobbing for a few seconds in a horizontal position
as the modest crowd of Iraqis whistled and cheered. Finally, the statue
snapped off its plinth, leaving its feet behind. Iraqis ran forward,
jumped on it and danced. It was crushed to pieces.
[. . .]
Baz
hurried back [from aonther assignment] to his room at the Palestine Hotel to send his pictures to
his editors, then heard a commotion outside and witnessed the Firdos
Square toppling. Only one of the Saddam topplings made the front pages,
and it was not the one that Iraqis had done for themselves. There was a
real story here about pulling down a statue in Saddam City. The world’s
media preferred the simulation in Firdos Square.
As
two hours of non-stop coverage of Firdos Square was beamed around the
world that night, the news networks desperately wanted it to have a
meaning. Wolf Blitzer of CNN described the footage as “the image that
sums up the day and, in many ways, the war itself”. Over on Fox, the
anchors agreed. “This transcends anything I’ve ever seen,” said Brit
Hume. His colleague agreed: “The important story of the day is this
historic shot you are looking at, a noose around the neck of Saddam, put
there by the people of Baghdad.” But it was an American rope, put there
by American soldiers.
Between 11am and 8pm on 9
April, Fox News replayed the footage of Saddam’s statue coming down
every 4.4 minutes. CNN replayed it every 7.5 minutes. The coverage of
Firdos Square – which heavily implied that the statue had been pulled
down by a large crowd of cheering Iraqis – suggested that the war was
over. The hated dictator was symbolically ousted when his statue fell.
In reality, it was not the end. The fighting was still going on. Armed
engagements were underway in Baghdad and northern Iraq while the pageant
was proceeding in Firdos Square.
[. . .]
t the time, the fall of the Firdos Square
statue was presented as a satisfying end to the story of the invasion of
Iraq. In the weeks after it came down, coverage of the Iraq war on Fox
News and CNN decreased by 70%.
Remember the toppling of that Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad (4/9/03)
that signified the “end” of the Iraq War? At the time, there were
critics who pointed out that the extensively televised images of a
jubilant crowd of Iraqis were misleading.The sense of media excitement was unmistakable; as FAIR pointed out, the Los Angeles Times ran a headline the next day, “Iraq Is All but Won; Now What?”
So
the media treats a small turn out on the second annverisary of Qasem as
a major event becuase he was so damn popular. Not popular enough to
result in a big turnout two years later. Oh and how about that October
10th election that the US press refused to cover. Day after day,
candidates campaigned. Who was the group using Qasem in their campaign
material -- including posters? That's right, the group that suffered
the biggest loss at the polls. Granted, members of the Shi'ite militias
linked to Iran had trouble voting since they weren't allowed to vote
when other members of the security forces voted. But they didn't make
that their case to Iraq's supreme court. Had they done so and noted the
last minute decision that said they were not able to take part in early
voting, they might have won. But might have isn't really important now
-- the Court has ruled. Posters of and references to Qasem did not
turn out the votes but I guess that's reality and, of course, the US
press isn't interested in reality. Nor, really, is the western press.
In
May, explosive drones struck the coalition's sprawling Al Asad base in
western Iraq, a US base in Erbil – the capital of Iraq's Kurdish region –
and a coalition facility in the Baghdad airport complex.
There
were more drone attacks on Al Asad base in June, prompting US air
strikes against suspected drone sites on July 27. In December, armed
drones were used in an unsuccessful attack on the US consulate in Erbil.
The
US has used a range of systems, including the C-Ram system, which can
fire 4,500 rounds a minute, and new laser systems to defend joint
facilities and its embassy in Baghdad. These are more advanced systems
than Iraq's government currently possesses.
Changing topics . . .
MEMO notes, "An endangered leopard has been captured in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan
region after it was caught in a shepherd's trap. The endangered Persian
Leopard needed to have its hind leg amputated on Friday due to the
injuries sustained caused by the trap, an AFP photographer said." World Land Trust explains:
The Caucasian Leopard, also called the Persian Leopard, is one of the
biggest of the eight recognised sub species of leopard. All the leopards
have stocky bodies with comparatively short legs; their total body
length (including tail) can be up to 190cm and their weight up to 70kg.
Coats have a range of base colours from yellow to golden brown with
paler fur under the chin and across the belly. They have black spots on
the head, limbs and belly and spots arranged in rosettes across the back
and flanks. Their spots give unique coat patterns which can be used to
identify individuals.
Diet will vary across their range and leopards can adapt what they
eat to the available prey species. Across Armenia, Iran and Turkmenistan
typical prey will include species such as Bezoar Goats,
Wild Boar and Mouflon. Leopards use vantage points such as rocky
outcrops to locate their prey and will then stalk them, waiting until
they are within 3-10m before attacking.
Generally leopards are
nocturnal although, in the absence of other large predators such as lion
and tiger, they are reported to be less nocturnal.
Little
research has been done in the regions inhabited by the Caucasian
Leopard. They are solitary, males and females only come together to
mate, and females usually give birth to one or two cubs that stay with
her for up to 18 months. They communicate by making a rough, rasping
sound which they use to advertise their presence and for contact between
individuals. They also growl, roar and hiss and mark their territory
with urine, faeces and claw marks.
XposeTrophyKilling Twets:
An endangered Persian leopard captured in Iraq’s north had its hind leg amputated following a trap-inflicted wound. The leopard had killed 20+ sheep. Thankfully the leopard was saved, but will now live in Dohuk zoo. Only, 1,000 left in the wild.
The female leopard, believed to be three-years-old, was found after she
attacked the goats of Khwaja Yahya in Zreza village. The man who
captured the creature initially did not know his livestock were killed
by the leopard, so he set up a trap and was suprised to discover on
Tuesday that the culprit was a leopard. She was injured in the leg after
being stuck in the trap.
A number of villagers attempted to capture the animal but they could not. She attacked them, injuring two.
Ranger police, accompanied by environmentalists, were able to calm the animal and sent it to Duhok Zoo for treatment.
“It has lost too much blood. Therefore we need to provide it with
antibiotics for 20 days or a month … We have lost its leg,” Sulaiman
Tamar, Head of Kurdistan Environmental Organisation, told Rudaw.
I
have no idea. Ava and I wrote a piece last week that was time
sensitive. We were told late Christmas Eve we could go ahead and post
it, that there was no other content to go with it. At that point, it
was really too late. It was outdated. The bulk was.
We
did have one topic in there that we could still keep but we had to
refashion it to ask why one woman could hate her mother so much That's
the piece we finished yesterday. SUpposedly, there will be other
content to go with it. If there isn't by the time I go to bed tonight,
probably midnight PST, Ava or I will go ahead and post it here. I have
no idea what's going on with THIRD. A few e-mails to the private
account are asking if THIRD's going to fold? Maybe. I don't know. If
it does, Ava and I can carry our weekly media coverage over to this
site.
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