From THE COMMON ILLS:
Iraq
It's Memorial Day weekend. US President Joe Biden decided to celebrate by lying yet again:
President Biden Friday again made an exaggeration about the number of times he's been to the Middle East, as he gave a commencement speech to U.S. Naval Academy graduates in Maryland.
"I've been in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan of over 40 I think 38 times," the president said.
That number was incorrect, however. A spokesperson for Biden's National Security Council (NSC) said Friday the correct number of times Biden visited Iraq and Afghanistan is 21.
Joe's not the only liar in the news, there's also Amber Heard. Jamie Burton (NEWSWEEK) reports:
A "disabled combat veteran" says that Amber Heard's PTSD score from her marriage to Johnny Depp is allegedly higher than his own.
The tweet, sent out by the account @KurtMyers1982, whose bio describes him as a "retired Army, homeschool dad" from Nebraska, went viral and caught the attention of thousands of people invested in the court case between Depp and Heard.
Depp and Heard are currently embroiled in a $50 million defamation suit which comes after Heard wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in 2018, stating that she was the survivor of domestic violence. Heard has countersued her ex-husband for $100 million.
"I am a disabled combat veteran that lost a close friend in Iraq in 2005," he tweeted on Thursday. "Amber Heard scored much higher than me on her PTSD test, according to Dr. Hughes. Evidently, being married to Johnny Depp is far more traumatic than the Iraq War." The popular hashtag #JusticeForJohnnyDepp was included in the tweet.
Remember, boys and girls, Amber has never been in combat -- it's age and drugs that make her face look that way.
Meanwhile the government of Turkey continues its assault on Iraq. MEHR NEWS notes:
According to "almaalomah" news website, the Secretary-General of Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) Qais al-Khazali made the comments in a meeting with tribal leaders in the holy city of Najaf.
"The Turks have long dreamed of 'Mosul province', which includes parts of Iraqi Kurdistan and Kirkuk. Turkey is trying to occupy part of Iraq in 2023, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the so-called Lausanne Treaty."
"Today, Turkish forces have about 66 military bases in Iraq, and Ankara uses PKK as a cover to conduct military action in Iraq. Turkish forces are advancing and establishing military positions in Iraq as the 100th anniversary of the end of the Lausanne Treaty, signed in 1923, approaches and it is preparing to occupy parts of Iraq in 2023," the Shia Iraq politician added.
Member of the Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee in Iraq, Ahmed Al-Moussawi, said in a press statement, on Saturday, that "the committee held urgent and intensive meetings during the past days in order to stop the Turkish incursion into the Iraqi depth," according to what Roj news reported.
He added, "The Turkish presence is rejected, and an urgent meeting will be held with the Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and security leaders in order to find a common formula to deal with the Turkish occupation."
Al-Moussawi explained that "the Turkish army penetrated more than 50 kilometers into the Iraqi depth and established several military bases under various pretexts, which is a clear occupation and a flagrant violation of Iraq's sovereignty."
Though Jeremy Corbyn has found his voice on this issue and called out the government of Turkey, most in the west just look the other way. This as Turkey apparently intends to intensify their attacks. NEWS AM reports:
Turkey has almost completed preparations for two military offensives into Syria and Iraq, the HaberTürk network reported, a day after the country's Security Council issued a statement stating the need for an invasion.
Preparations for the invasion of both countries are 90% complete, HaberTürk said, citing military officials, noting that offensive operations will be limited to the west of the Euphrates River.
Turkey continues terrorizing citizens, wounding them and murdering them while violating Iraq's sovereignty. RUDAW noted Thursday:
Two children were killed in Duhok province’s Zewa village on Thursday
during clashes between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish
army, according to sources.
Birqi Omar, mukhtar (chieftain) of Zewa village in Amedi town, told
Rudaw’s Hunar Rashid that people from nearby areas picnicked in the
village but were targeted with bombs.
“As far as we know, the PKK on Metina mountain targeted Turkish military
base with three bombs. Then, Turkey bombed our families, killing two
people, aged 10, and injuring another,” said the official.
That's the government of Turkey, making the world 'safer' from children who picnic.
A village on the border of Duhok province’s Akre was bombarded by suspected Turkish warplanes on Tuesday without resulting in any casualties, local officials told Rudaw, presumably targeting positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the mountainous regions of the area as Turkey continues its operations against the Kurdish opposition group in the Kurdistan Region.
We'll wind down with this from Kevin Reed (WSWS):
The baby formula crisis that is threatening the lives of infants across the US deepened this week as the out-of-stock rate for baby formula on store shelves surged to 70 percent for the week ending May 22. The shortage rate during the previous week was 45 percent, according to the retail tracking firm Datasembly.
The supply shortage is so severe that there are now reports in some areas of the country of mothers attempting to purchase breast milk online from anonymous and independent sources such as Facebook and Craigslist. Pediatric nutritionists are warning that such measures are potentially very harmful to children.
The crisis of powdered formula supplies, 90 percent of which are produced by four monopolies that dominate the US pediatric nutrition industry, is not a mistake or a product of unforeseen circumstances. It is the outcome of a society run by a ruling elite that, in its singular preoccupation with increasing its wealth, is totally indifferent to the lives and well-being of children.
There has been a combination of criminal negligence, corporate profiteering, stock market manipulation and government complicity that have resulted in the shortage of the essential food needed by infants and toddlers, especially those from poor and working-class families.
The supply shortage began almost immediately following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in February 2020 when supply chains and transportation were disrupted internationally. During the initial days of the pandemic, families stockpiled the formula and emptied shelves. This was followed by a sharp fall in sales, and manufacturers cut back on production.
Now, with an uptick in births and a dramatic decline in breastfeeding rates among new mothers, demand has shot up again. The inability of the producers to adapt to fluctuations in demand is itself an expression of the anarchistic and unplanned nature of capitalist economics.
The following sites updated:
-
Olivia Newton-John32 minutes ago
-
The Blacklist1 hour ago
-
The Motels1 hour ago
-
Bo Hopkins3 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
