Iraq snapshot Thursday, December 4, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014. Chaos and violence continue, yes -- Virginia -- US papers do print astroturf, a few North American idiots continue to insist that US troops are out of Iraq -- this despite the fact that 3 US service members have been killed in the last two months, the US House of Representatives embraces eternal war on Iraq, and much more.
In one for Ripley's, Jean Sellmeyer Smith of Crowley has become the first person on the planet to prove it is possible to live without a brian. Sellmeyer Smith managed this achievement and evendocumented it via a letter to the editors of the Advertiser.
Let's now quote from the historic document, "Our soldiers are home from Iraq. . ."
Sellmeyer Smith composed the letter after apparent non-stop exposure to the propaganda of MSNBC.
While proving it is capable to live without a brain, Sellmeyer Smith has also provided hours of laughter with her idiotic claim which was published on the same day as the Associated Press reported:
The US has reached an agreement with Iraq on privileges and immunities for the growing number of troops based in the country, helping in the fight against the Islamic State (Isis)militant group, the new US ambassador said on Thursday.
Stuart Jones said prime minister Haider al-Abadi has given assurances that US troops will receive immunity from prosecution.
Reached for comment, Sellmeyer Smith reportedly responded, "What do you expect from me, I'm just a mindless zombie in the Cult of St. Barack."
Being a zombie is being bit of whore. You whore whatever's left of your name, sacrifice it on the temple alter to Barack Obama. Being whores, people like Sellmeyer Smith?
They put their dirty, trashy name to anything.
That's how Sellmeyer Smith came to write:
Our soldiers are home from Iraq; Osama bin Laden is dead. In sharp contrast to the Bush years, the United States again leads the world in respected internationality.
That's how she came to write it a month after the editor of the Pekin Daily Times, Amy Gehrt, quoted Richard Brunt writing:
America is leading the world once again and respected internationally — in sharp contrast to the Bush years. Obama brought soldiers home from Iraq and killed Osama bin Laden.
Oh, I get it, you take the first sentence and make it the second one and you change the second one from "America" to "United States" and then, presto, it's almost as if you're plagiarized words were your own?
What is it?
It's Astroturf. (And the Shreveport Times printed the letter at the end of last month. The exact same letter.)
We used to mock, on the left we did, all the crazy love slaves of Bully Boy Bush who used to copy and paste the same sentiments and send them out to newspapers across the land.
Like a nasty venereal disease, Astroturf has spread to the segments of the left -- the brain dead and whorish segments.
In the November 10, 2014 Iraq snapshot, we dealt with Richard Brunt's lies about US troops being out of Iraq:
Well just because you're letting the precum pool in your pants doesn't mean you need to share your erotic fantasies with the rest of us.
Brunt's so busy jizzing while moaning Barack, he actually writes, "Obama brought soldiers home from Iraq."
Indeed.
For example, he brought these two home last month -- in body bags.
That's Lance Cpl. Sean P. Neal (photo from Facebook). We noted his death in October 25th snapshot.
That's Cpl Jordan Spears (photo from Marine Corps). Last month, he was reclassified as the first death in 'Operation Inherent Resolve.'
Apparently, Brunt's been too busy jacking off to light bondage fantasies of Barack disciplining him to pay attention to actual events in the real world -- including the fact that 'Operation Inherent Resolve' has already claimed the lives of 2 American service members.
Jean Sellmeyer Smith is actually a bigger idiot and a bigger whore than Brunt. When he wrote his bulls**t, those two were the only US service members dead in the latest phase of the never ending war.
But this week, DoD issued the following:
In the early days of the Iraq War, I used to be left dumbfounded by the whorish efforts of Bully Boy Bush's love slaves to ignore reality in order to pimp their lover boy.
The Cult of St. Barack is no different.
They will whore.
They will lie.
They will look the other way.
Anything to avoid calling out Barack.
Barack Obama's time as president has demonstrated whorishness exists on all sides of the political spectrum. Long gone (and buried) are the days when I could kid myself that being on the left was a sign that we were smarter.
Moving over to violence in Iraq, Middle East Eye notes, "A car bomb blast in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province has killed at least 18 people, according to security officials" with twenty-two more people left wounded. Al Jazeera adds, "At least 16 people have been killed in two car bombs that went off in the Sadr district of Iraq's capital Baghdad, officials said." National Iraqi News Agency reports 4 people were shot dead "southwest of Baghdad" by assailants "riding in a taxi," the Islamic State executed 1 police officer in Mosul, south of Tirkit an attack on a car left 4 people shot dead and a fifth injured, 6 militia members were killed in a Baiji battle with the Islamic State, 3 musicians were executed in Mosul, a Miqdadiya battled left 5 militants dead, the "international coalition" dropped bombs on western Anbar resulting in an alleged 23 deaths -- all of whom, of course, must have been 'terrorists' because the US government does not acknowledge killing civilians in Iraq, and 1 corpse was discovered dumped in the streets of eastern Baghdad. Iraqi Spring MC notes that a bombing near the entrance to Baghdad's Green Zone has resulted in the closure of bridges. Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com) counts 139 people killed in violence across Iraq today and 116 were left injured.
Iraqi Spring MC reports that the Iraqi military has bombed Falluja General Hospital and that the bombing of Falluja's residential neighborhoods -- by the Iraqi military -- and, yes, this remains a War Crime -- resulted in the deaths of 15 civilians with eleven more left injured.
It was September 13th that the new prime minister Haider al-Abadi announced these bombings were over, finished. But the reality is they never stopped.
So either al-Abadi didn't really give the order to stop these ongoing bombings (which started in January of this year) or the Iraqi military in Anbar is refusing to take orders from him.
Like the violence, corruption continues to thrive in Iraq. NINA reports that MP Majda al-Tamimi, who serves on Parliament's Finance Committee, has declared that they are reviewing 9,000 governemtn projects from 2004 to the present for any corruption and that any people found guilty of "the theft of public money" should be prosecuted and held accountable.
NINA also reports, "Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi issued on Tuesday an order includes speeding up the release of detainees to whom court orders were issued for their release "
That might mean something if anyone could believe it.
But when you announce that you're going to do the right thing and stop the ongoing bombings of civilians in Falluja -- punishing for where they live -- and you don't?
On the US Senate, Patricia Zengerle (Reuters) reports that Senator John McCain put a block on Anthony Blinken's nomination for Deputy Secretary of State and
He's totally unqualified. [. . .] He's the guy who said we're leaving behind the richest, safest Iraq in history. Look it up
Blinken isn't qualified.
You can argue he was following orders but if you make that argument you also have to question his own personal ethics in following orders.
As Iraq 's turmoil could not longer be ignored (by 2012, even the stupid should have caught on), Blinken was dispatched to Iraq regularly where he held the hand of tyrant and then-prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. As one former White House official {from Barack's administration) pointed out to me earlier today, "Blinken should have been leading Maliki to a come-to-Jesus moment. Instead, he was encouraging Maliki in his paranoia and rubber stamping Maliki's attacks on the Sunni community."
While Blinken's nomination is currently blocked (at least for a week), in the House of Representatives today, a vote was taken on Barack's $585 billion 'defense' bill which also provides legal coverage for Barack's latest phase in the ongoing Iraq War. 300 members of Congress voted for it.
119 voted against it. US House Rep Walter Jones was a "no" vote and his office issued the following today:
Barack's been signing off on a lot of things. Let's look at terrorism and hostages. PBS' Frontlinenotes:
An Al Qaeda affiliate has given the U.S. three days to meet its demands to save hostage journalist Luke Somers, once again reviving an agonizing debate: Should the U.S. meet the demands of terrorists when hostages’ lives are in danger?
Somers, 33, was abducted in 2013 in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. In a video posted Wednesday, he says he is certain his “life is in danger” and explains that he was born in England but has American citizenship and lived in the U.S. for most of his life. The video also shows a person identified as a member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula threatening to kill Somers unless the group’s demands are met.
Watch: Al Qaeda in Yemen FRONTLINE’s 2012 investigation of a growing Al Qaeda stronghold
The question of whether to pay ransom to win hostages’ release arose last month during a discussion about ISIS that included FRONTLINE filmmaker Martin Smith. Asked if he believes governments should pay ransom to bring kidnapped journalists home, Smith answered decisively: No.
“I’m not trying to sound heroic or brave at all,” said Smith, who has reported extensively in Iraq. “It’s simply a risk that comes with the work. A lot of people have jobs that entail a certain amount of risk, and I accept that that’s a risk. And I believe that the payment of ransom only promotes more hostage-taking.”
So that's a "no" then on the US government paying ransom to thugs who take hostages?
But what about when the US government itself is the thug taking hostages?
Yes, we're talking about the woman known as Saja al-Dulaimi, held for eleven days by the Lebanese military after she was seized with the help of the CIA and other elements of the US government. Seized?
The woman's accused of no crimes but the US government thought she might be "valuable" as did the Lebanese government. Vivian Salama and Bassem Mroue (AP) do stenography to serve up this:
If the woman is indeed al-Baghdadi's wife, she could potentially serve as a bargaining chip with Syria-based militants holding some 20 Lebanese security forces captured in a cross-border raid in August. Beirut has been under intense pressure from the families of the captured men to negotiate their release.
Ben Hubbard and Eric Schmitt (New York Times) do only slightly better. What's slightly better?
They at least float US government involvement. They also quote a Lebanese official insisting the woman is so the wife of Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi!
Or was!
"Lebanon’s interior minister, Nouhad Machnouk, told a local television station that Ms. Dulaimi was married to Mr. Baghdadi six years ago, but only for three months."
Oh.
Okay.
So now the world's supposed to rejoice over the kidnapping of a woman who is still not accused of committing any crimes but may have, six years ago, been married, "only for three months"!, to al-Baghdadi?
They don't know a damn thing.
Including the fact that it is terrorism to kidnap someone, that the rule of law is not the rule of the old west.
The thugs here? That would be the governments of Lebanon and the United States.
This is not how legitimate governments are supposed to act, they are not supposed to kidnap people in order to hold them as hostages to use for later negotiations.
BBC News via YaLibnan offers this twist:
Late on Wednesday, Mr Machnouk told MTV that Ms Dulaimi had been traveling with two sons and a daughter when they were detained by the army two weeks ago.
“Dulaimi is not Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s wife currently. She has been married three times: first to a man from the former Iraqi regime, with whom she had two sons,” he said.
“Six years ago she married Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for three months, and she had a daughter with him. Now, she is married to a Palestinian and she is pregnant with his child.”
The minister added: “We conducted DNA tests on her and the daughter, which showed she was the mother of the girl, and that the girl is [Baghdadi’s] daughter, based on DNA from Baghdadi from Iraq.”
Mr Machnouk said Ms Dulaimi’s children were staying at a care centre while she was being interrogated at the defence ministry’s headquarters.
A woman and one or three children have been kidnapped by the governments of Lebanon and the United States with the hope that the woman can be used as a "chip" in bargaining with terrorism -- thereby making the two governments agents of terrorism themselves.
Finally, today the US Dept of Defense issued the following:
In one for Ripley's, Jean Sellmeyer Smith of Crowley has become the first person on the planet to prove it is possible to live without a brian. Sellmeyer Smith managed this achievement and evendocumented it via a letter to the editors of the Advertiser.
Let's now quote from the historic document, "Our soldiers are home from Iraq. . ."
Sellmeyer Smith composed the letter after apparent non-stop exposure to the propaganda of MSNBC.
While proving it is capable to live without a brain, Sellmeyer Smith has also provided hours of laughter with her idiotic claim which was published on the same day as the Associated Press reported:
The US has reached an agreement with Iraq on privileges and immunities for the growing number of troops based in the country, helping in the fight against the Islamic State (Isis)militant group, the new US ambassador said on Thursday.
Stuart Jones said prime minister Haider al-Abadi has given assurances that US troops will receive immunity from prosecution.
Reached for comment, Sellmeyer Smith reportedly responded, "What do you expect from me, I'm just a mindless zombie in the Cult of St. Barack."
Being a zombie is being bit of whore. You whore whatever's left of your name, sacrifice it on the temple alter to Barack Obama. Being whores, people like Sellmeyer Smith?
They put their dirty, trashy name to anything.
That's how Sellmeyer Smith came to write:
Our soldiers are home from Iraq; Osama bin Laden is dead. In sharp contrast to the Bush years, the United States again leads the world in respected internationality.
That's how she came to write it a month after the editor of the Pekin Daily Times, Amy Gehrt, quoted Richard Brunt writing:
America is leading the world once again and respected internationally — in sharp contrast to the Bush years. Obama brought soldiers home from Iraq and killed Osama bin Laden.
Oh, I get it, you take the first sentence and make it the second one and you change the second one from "America" to "United States" and then, presto, it's almost as if you're plagiarized words were your own?
What is it?
It's Astroturf. (And the Shreveport Times printed the letter at the end of last month. The exact same letter.)
We used to mock, on the left we did, all the crazy love slaves of Bully Boy Bush who used to copy and paste the same sentiments and send them out to newspapers across the land.
Like a nasty venereal disease, Astroturf has spread to the segments of the left -- the brain dead and whorish segments.
In the November 10, 2014 Iraq snapshot, we dealt with Richard Brunt's lies about US troops being out of Iraq:
Well just because you're letting the precum pool in your pants doesn't mean you need to share your erotic fantasies with the rest of us.
Brunt's so busy jizzing while moaning Barack, he actually writes, "Obama brought soldiers home from Iraq."
Indeed.
For example, he brought these two home last month -- in body bags.
That's Lance Cpl. Sean P. Neal (photo from Facebook). We noted his death in October 25th snapshot.
That's Cpl Jordan Spears (photo from Marine Corps). Last month, he was reclassified as the first death in 'Operation Inherent Resolve.'
Apparently, Brunt's been too busy jacking off to light bondage fantasies of Barack disciplining him to pay attention to actual events in the real world -- including the fact that 'Operation Inherent Resolve' has already claimed the lives of 2 American service members.
Jean Sellmeyer Smith is actually a bigger idiot and a bigger whore than Brunt. When he wrote his bulls**t, those two were the only US service members dead in the latest phase of the never ending war.
But this week, DoD issued the following:
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release No: NR-599-14
December 02, 2014
Release No: NR-599-14
December 02, 2014
DoD Identifies Air Force Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of an Airman who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
Capt. William H. DuBois, 30, of New Castle, Colorado, died Dec. 1 when his F-16 aircraft crashed near a coalition air base in the Middle East. He was assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.
For more information media may contact the 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office at 803-895-2019.
Capt. William H. DuBois, 30, of New Castle, Colorado, died Dec. 1 when his F-16 aircraft crashed near a coalition air base in the Middle East. He was assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.
For more information media may contact the 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office at 803-895-2019.
In the early days of the Iraq War, I used to be left dumbfounded by the whorish efforts of Bully Boy Bush's love slaves to ignore reality in order to pimp their lover boy.
The Cult of St. Barack is no different.
They will whore.
They will lie.
They will look the other way.
Anything to avoid calling out Barack.
Barack Obama's time as president has demonstrated whorishness exists on all sides of the political spectrum. Long gone (and buried) are the days when I could kid myself that being on the left was a sign that we were smarter.
Moving over to violence in Iraq, Middle East Eye notes, "A car bomb blast in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province has killed at least 18 people, according to security officials" with twenty-two more people left wounded. Al Jazeera adds, "At least 16 people have been killed in two car bombs that went off in the Sadr district of Iraq's capital Baghdad, officials said." National Iraqi News Agency reports 4 people were shot dead "southwest of Baghdad" by assailants "riding in a taxi," the Islamic State executed 1 police officer in Mosul, south of Tirkit an attack on a car left 4 people shot dead and a fifth injured, 6 militia members were killed in a Baiji battle with the Islamic State, 3 musicians were executed in Mosul, a Miqdadiya battled left 5 militants dead, the "international coalition" dropped bombs on western Anbar resulting in an alleged 23 deaths -- all of whom, of course, must have been 'terrorists' because the US government does not acknowledge killing civilians in Iraq, and 1 corpse was discovered dumped in the streets of eastern Baghdad. Iraqi Spring MC notes that a bombing near the entrance to Baghdad's Green Zone has resulted in the closure of bridges. Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com) counts 139 people killed in violence across Iraq today and 116 were left injured.
Iraqi Spring MC reports that the Iraqi military has bombed Falluja General Hospital and that the bombing of Falluja's residential neighborhoods -- by the Iraqi military -- and, yes, this remains a War Crime -- resulted in the deaths of 15 civilians with eleven more left injured.
It was September 13th that the new prime minister Haider al-Abadi announced these bombings were over, finished. But the reality is they never stopped.
So either al-Abadi didn't really give the order to stop these ongoing bombings (which started in January of this year) or the Iraqi military in Anbar is refusing to take orders from him.
Like the violence, corruption continues to thrive in Iraq. NINA reports that MP Majda al-Tamimi, who serves on Parliament's Finance Committee, has declared that they are reviewing 9,000 governemtn projects from 2004 to the present for any corruption and that any people found guilty of "the theft of public money" should be prosecuted and held accountable.
NINA also reports, "Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi issued on Tuesday an order includes speeding up the release of detainees to whom court orders were issued for their release "
That might mean something if anyone could believe it.
But when you announce that you're going to do the right thing and stop the ongoing bombings of civilians in Falluja -- punishing for where they live -- and you don't?
Let's move over to today's US State Dept press briefing moderated by Marie Harf.
QUESTION: Yes. Can we go to Syria/Iraq/ISIL?
MS. HARF: We can.
QUESTION: There was apparently some activity on the Hill this morning, and Senator Menendez put on hold a possible vote on use of military force.
MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: And he said that he’s keen on listening to Secretary Kerry next week.
MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: So is the Secretary going to go to the Hill tomorrow morning – Monday morning? So --
MS. HARF: Well, a few weeks ago, we had actually offered him to testify on this coming Monday, so we’ve had that offer on the table for a while now. We’re looking at the schedule now, given latest developments, but obviously, the Secretary is happy to engage when he can. Certainly, this is an important issue, and we’ll see if we can get something on the calendar. But we had offered this date a few weeks ago.
Silence. Yes.
MS. HARF: We can.
QUESTION: There was apparently some activity on the Hill this morning, and Senator Menendez put on hold a possible vote on use of military force.
MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: And he said that he’s keen on listening to Secretary Kerry next week.
MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: So is the Secretary going to go to the Hill tomorrow morning – Monday morning? So --
MS. HARF: Well, a few weeks ago, we had actually offered him to testify on this coming Monday, so we’ve had that offer on the table for a while now. We’re looking at the schedule now, given latest developments, but obviously, the Secretary is happy to engage when he can. Certainly, this is an important issue, and we’ll see if we can get something on the calendar. But we had offered this date a few weeks ago.
Silence. Yes.
On the US Senate, Patricia Zengerle (Reuters) reports that Senator John McCain put a block on Anthony Blinken's nomination for Deputy Secretary of State and
quotes
McCain declaring:He's totally unqualified. [. . .] He's the guy who said we're leaving behind the richest, safest Iraq in history. Look it up
Blinken isn't qualified.
You can argue he was following orders but if you make that argument you also have to question his own personal ethics in following orders.
As Iraq 's turmoil could not longer be ignored (by 2012, even the stupid should have caught on), Blinken was dispatched to Iraq regularly where he held the hand of tyrant and then-prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. As one former White House official {from Barack's administration) pointed out to me earlier today, "Blinken should have been leading Maliki to a come-to-Jesus moment. Instead, he was encouraging Maliki in his paranoia and rubber stamping Maliki's attacks on the Sunni community."
While Blinken's nomination is currently blocked (at least for a week), in the House of Representatives today, a vote was taken on Barack's $585 billion 'defense' bill which also provides legal coverage for Barack's latest phase in the ongoing Iraq War. 300 members of Congress voted for it.
119 voted against it. US House Rep Walter Jones was a "no" vote and his office issued the following today:
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) voted against the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2015, which cuts military benefits and provides billions of dollars in spending toward President Obama’s unconstitutional expansion of military force in Iraq and Syria.
The NDAA for FY 2015 cuts military benefits by requiring a $3 increase in certain pharmacy co-pays and a 1 percent decrease in the housing allowance for uniformed service members.
In addition to cuts in military benefits, the NDAA for FY 2015 also includes President Obama’s $5 billion request to fund Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. Of that $5 billion, $3.4 billion will be used for airstrikes against ISIS and $1.6 billion will be used for training Sunni tribes and forces in Iraq. Overall, the NDAA for FY 2015 authorizes $63.7 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere.
“I cannot vote for a bill that cuts military benefits while funding wars that Congress never declared,” said Congressman Jones. Congress repeatedly authorizes spending on undeclared wars that put our troops in danger and then has the audacity to cut the benefits of those they are unconstitutionally sending overseas to fight. It’s just not right.”
Congressman Jones also opposed a provision in the bill which directs the U.S. government to give away 2,300 acres in Arizona to a foreign-controlled corporation (Resolution Copper) without going through a competitive bidding process and without the approval of local native American Indian tribes who consider the land home.
The House of Representatives passed its version of the NDAA bill in the spring, and it has been in conference with the Senate until this month. The House-Senate conference version of the NDAA was filed in the House of Representatives late on Tuesday night, and was voted on today – less than 72 hours after it was filed. Once it passes the Senate, it will be sent to President Obama for him to sign into law.
The NDAA for FY 2015 cuts military benefits by requiring a $3 increase in certain pharmacy co-pays and a 1 percent decrease in the housing allowance for uniformed service members.
In addition to cuts in military benefits, the NDAA for FY 2015 also includes President Obama’s $5 billion request to fund Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. Of that $5 billion, $3.4 billion will be used for airstrikes against ISIS and $1.6 billion will be used for training Sunni tribes and forces in Iraq. Overall, the NDAA for FY 2015 authorizes $63.7 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere.
“I cannot vote for a bill that cuts military benefits while funding wars that Congress never declared,” said Congressman Jones. Congress repeatedly authorizes spending on undeclared wars that put our troops in danger and then has the audacity to cut the benefits of those they are unconstitutionally sending overseas to fight. It’s just not right.”
Congressman Jones also opposed a provision in the bill which directs the U.S. government to give away 2,300 acres in Arizona to a foreign-controlled corporation (Resolution Copper) without going through a competitive bidding process and without the approval of local native American Indian tribes who consider the land home.
The House of Representatives passed its version of the NDAA bill in the spring, and it has been in conference with the Senate until this month. The House-Senate conference version of the NDAA was filed in the House of Representatives late on Tuesday night, and was voted on today – less than 72 hours after it was filed. Once it passes the Senate, it will be sent to President Obama for him to sign into law.
Barack's been signing off on a lot of things. Let's look at terrorism and hostages. PBS' Frontlinenotes:
An Al Qaeda affiliate has given the U.S. three days to meet its demands to save hostage journalist Luke Somers, once again reviving an agonizing debate: Should the U.S. meet the demands of terrorists when hostages’ lives are in danger?
Somers, 33, was abducted in 2013 in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. In a video posted Wednesday, he says he is certain his “life is in danger” and explains that he was born in England but has American citizenship and lived in the U.S. for most of his life. The video also shows a person identified as a member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula threatening to kill Somers unless the group’s demands are met.
Watch: Al Qaeda in Yemen FRONTLINE’s 2012 investigation of a growing Al Qaeda stronghold
The question of whether to pay ransom to win hostages’ release arose last month during a discussion about ISIS that included FRONTLINE filmmaker Martin Smith. Asked if he believes governments should pay ransom to bring kidnapped journalists home, Smith answered decisively: No.
“I’m not trying to sound heroic or brave at all,” said Smith, who has reported extensively in Iraq. “It’s simply a risk that comes with the work. A lot of people have jobs that entail a certain amount of risk, and I accept that that’s a risk. And I believe that the payment of ransom only promotes more hostage-taking.”
So that's a "no" then on the US government paying ransom to thugs who take hostages?
But what about when the US government itself is the thug taking hostages?
Yes, we're talking about the woman known as Saja al-Dulaimi, held for eleven days by the Lebanese military after she was seized with the help of the CIA and other elements of the US government. Seized?
The woman's accused of no crimes but the US government thought she might be "valuable" as did the Lebanese government. Vivian Salama and Bassem Mroue (AP) do stenography to serve up this:
If the woman is indeed al-Baghdadi's wife, she could potentially serve as a bargaining chip with Syria-based militants holding some 20 Lebanese security forces captured in a cross-border raid in August. Beirut has been under intense pressure from the families of the captured men to negotiate their release.
Ben Hubbard and Eric Schmitt (New York Times) do only slightly better. What's slightly better?
They at least float US government involvement. They also quote a Lebanese official insisting the woman is so the wife of Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi!
Or was!
"Lebanon’s interior minister, Nouhad Machnouk, told a local television station that Ms. Dulaimi was married to Mr. Baghdadi six years ago, but only for three months."
Oh.
Okay.
So now the world's supposed to rejoice over the kidnapping of a woman who is still not accused of committing any crimes but may have, six years ago, been married, "only for three months"!, to al-Baghdadi?
They don't know a damn thing.
Including the fact that it is terrorism to kidnap someone, that the rule of law is not the rule of the old west.
The thugs here? That would be the governments of Lebanon and the United States.
This is not how legitimate governments are supposed to act, they are not supposed to kidnap people in order to hold them as hostages to use for later negotiations.
BBC News via YaLibnan offers this twist:
Late on Wednesday, Mr Machnouk told MTV that Ms Dulaimi had been traveling with two sons and a daughter when they were detained by the army two weeks ago.
“Dulaimi is not Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s wife currently. She has been married three times: first to a man from the former Iraqi regime, with whom she had two sons,” he said.
“Six years ago she married Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi for three months, and she had a daughter with him. Now, she is married to a Palestinian and she is pregnant with his child.”
The minister added: “We conducted DNA tests on her and the daughter, which showed she was the mother of the girl, and that the girl is [Baghdadi’s] daughter, based on DNA from Baghdadi from Iraq.”
Mr Machnouk said Ms Dulaimi’s children were staying at a care centre while she was being interrogated at the defence ministry’s headquarters.
A woman and one or three children have been kidnapped by the governments of Lebanon and the United States with the hope that the woman can be used as a "chip" in bargaining with terrorism -- thereby making the two governments agents of terrorism themselves.
Finally, today the US Dept of Defense issued the following:
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release No: NR-603-14
December 04, 2014
Release No: NR-603-14
December 04, 2014
Secretary Hagel Releases Progress Report to the President on Sexual Assault in the Military, Announces Four New Directives to Strengthen Department Response
Today, Secretary Hagel released a report on the Department of Defense’s recent progress in addressing sexual assault in the military, and announced four directives to further strengthen the department’s prevention and response program.
Sustained senior leadership engagement over the past three years – including 41 secretary of defense initiatives – has changed how the military works to prevent, respond to and effectively adjudicate sexual assault crimes.
“Eradicating sexual assault from our ranks is not only essential to the long-term health and readiness of the force; it is also about honoring our highest commitments to protect our fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines,” Secretary Hagel said today.
Preliminary survey data indicate that our efforts are driving progress. Service members experienced fewer sexual assaults in fiscal year 2014 than in fiscal year 2012 – an estimated 19,000, down from 26,000. Although this is a reduction, there is clearly more work to be done.
In addition, the number of service member victims choosing to report these crimes has increased by more than 50 percent over the same period of time. This indicates an increased confidence in the department’s ability to support victims, and adjudicate these crimes.
While signs of progress are encouraging, the mission is far from complete.
The secretary announced today four directives intended to further improve the department’s sexual assault prevention and response programs by: (1) creating a pilot program for select installations that will customize prevention efforts (2) requiring commanders to identify and prevent retaliation, (3) training first-line supervisors to lead sexual assault and prevention programs, and (4) further publicizing resources for victims.
“DoD will continue its strong and committed efforts to pursue comprehensive and dynamic approaches to fighting sexual assault in the military. President Obama and all of DoD’s leaders, both military and civilian, are committed to doing whatever it takes to stamp out this scourge,” said Hagel.
The department is committed to eradicating sexual assault in the ranks, and will continue our focused, transparent, collaborative approach to further ensure that each service member is treated with dignity and respect.
The report is available online athttp://sapr.mil/public/docs/reports/FY14_POTUS/FY14_DoD_Report_to_POTUS_Full_Report.pdf.
The directives are available online athttp://sapr.mil/public/docs/reports/FY14_POTUS/FY14_DoD_Report_to_POTUS._SecDef_Initiatives.pdf
More information about the department’s sexual assault prevention efforts can be found at www.sapr.mil.
Survivors are encouraged to contact the Safe Helpline at 877-995-5247 or visitwww.safehelpline.org for confidential and anonymous crisis intervention services.
Sustained senior leadership engagement over the past three years – including 41 secretary of defense initiatives – has changed how the military works to prevent, respond to and effectively adjudicate sexual assault crimes.
“Eradicating sexual assault from our ranks is not only essential to the long-term health and readiness of the force; it is also about honoring our highest commitments to protect our fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines,” Secretary Hagel said today.
Preliminary survey data indicate that our efforts are driving progress. Service members experienced fewer sexual assaults in fiscal year 2014 than in fiscal year 2012 – an estimated 19,000, down from 26,000. Although this is a reduction, there is clearly more work to be done.
In addition, the number of service member victims choosing to report these crimes has increased by more than 50 percent over the same period of time. This indicates an increased confidence in the department’s ability to support victims, and adjudicate these crimes.
While signs of progress are encouraging, the mission is far from complete.
The secretary announced today four directives intended to further improve the department’s sexual assault prevention and response programs by: (1) creating a pilot program for select installations that will customize prevention efforts (2) requiring commanders to identify and prevent retaliation, (3) training first-line supervisors to lead sexual assault and prevention programs, and (4) further publicizing resources for victims.
“DoD will continue its strong and committed efforts to pursue comprehensive and dynamic approaches to fighting sexual assault in the military. President Obama and all of DoD’s leaders, both military and civilian, are committed to doing whatever it takes to stamp out this scourge,” said Hagel.
The department is committed to eradicating sexual assault in the ranks, and will continue our focused, transparent, collaborative approach to further ensure that each service member is treated with dignity and respect.
The report is available online athttp://sapr.mil/public/docs/reports/FY14_POTUS/FY14_DoD_Report_to_POTUS_Full_Report.pdf.
The directives are available online athttp://sapr.mil/public/docs/reports/FY14_POTUS/FY14_DoD_Report_to_POTUS._SecDef_Initiatives.pdf
More information about the department’s sexual assault prevention efforts can be found at www.sapr.mil.
Survivors are encouraged to contact the Safe Helpline at 877-995-5247 or visitwww.safehelpline.org for confidential and anonymous crisis intervention services.
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