This was again underscored when Saudi Arabia carried out a series of executions.
Michael D. Regan (THE NEWSHOUR, PBS) explained last week, "Saudi Arabia executed 47 people this week including leading Shia Cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was accused of inciting violence and was often critical of Saudi’s royal family."
The execution of the Shi'ite cleric, and only his execution, led to protests in Iraq.
Matt Bradley and Ghassan Adnan's WALL ST. JOURNAL reported:
Shiite politicians and religious leaders urged their followers to take to the streets of Baghdad on Wednesday to protest Saudi Arabia’s execution of a dissident Shiite cleric as the prime minister appealed for calm amid a threat of fresh sectarian violence.
Outside of Iraq?
In the US, many segments of the left wanted to weigh in.
To oppose the death penalty?
No, not that.
They'd have to call out Iraq as well since the last years have seen Iraq in the top three repeatedly for countries carrying out the most executions.
So if they weren't upset about the death penalty, what were they upset about?
Really, they just wanted to attack the government of Saudi Arabia.
We're not defending that government.
We are saying that there were important issues at play that no one wanted to explore.
As usual, the worst offender was FOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS.
In 2015, the outlet 'distinguished' itself by wishing for more bombings on Iraq.
As noted at THE COMMON ILLS, FPIF has already gotten off to a bad start in 2016:
The increasing useless FOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS offers Giorgio Cafiero's "Saudi Arabia Executed a Nonviolent Shiite Cleric. It’s Going to Cost Them Big." They don't seem to grasp what they're saying.
Words we use say a great deal.
So do words we choose not to use.
The execution -- which we'll again get to in a moment -- will "cost them big," Giorgio huffs and puffs like the bulls**t sexism offender that he and FPIF are.
Strange, isn't it, how you can search their archives and never find a single report on the Sunni women of Iraq being thrown in prison when they're charged with no crime (other than being related to someone the police couldn't round up) and then beaten and raped.
By its silence in real time and its silence since, FPIF made damn clear that beating and raping female prisoners came with no cost, that a government could carry these crimes out and not only get away with it but not even be called out for it.
Today sexist Giorgio is suddenly concerned because a cleric was executed.
(I oppose the death penalty.)
Today sexist Giorgio is outraged and insists the cleric was non-violent.
He bases that on hearsay.
But when Rasha al-Husseini, a politician's secretary, 'confessed' under what many bodies saw as torture (Human Rights Watch, here), FPIF said what?
Oh, that's right.
FPIF said not a damn thing.
It's a funny sort of concern.
The same 'concern' that led them to embrace Nouri al-Maliki and stay silent about his many crimes -- including torturing Iraqis (including torturing Iraqi journalists).
But today, today FPIF is suddenly concerned.
It would be touching if it were so ghastly and so whorish.
Perspective.
The one thing The Cult of St. Barack may have lost forever.
Saudi Guardians
The #Iraqi Shia cleric al-Sarkhi al-Hasani: "Shias clerics have forgotten about the executions of Sunnies in #Iraq"
Not everyone has lost it.
Just those who whores their ethics and common sense to enshrine War Monger Barack.