Speech of the SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR IRAQ in the First International Counter-Terrorism Conference

Nouri's 2-day failed conference ended Thursday.  Wednesday, Nickolay Mladenov, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), spoke to the conference.

Speech of the SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR IRAQ in the First International Counter-Terrorism Conference 

Baghdad, 12-13 March 2014
Your Excellency Mr Nuri al Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq,
Your Excellencies, Ministers, Members of Parliament, Ambassadors,
Honorable conference participants,

Let me begin by thanking the Government of Iraq for convening this international conference to tackle a set of challenges that are of primary importance to the people of Iraq, to the countries of the region, and to the international community as a whole. Finding ways to end the scourge of terrorism is a subject that engages all of us deeply.


Today, sadly, we live in a world in which terrorism is expanding its reach and no country or region can be considered beyond the grasp of extremism. Thirteen years ago New York was hit by perhaps what remains to this day the most spectacular terrorist attack of our time. Yesterday, on March 11th, we commemorated the tenth anniversary of those killed in the Madrid bombings. Next year it will be the tenth anniversary of the London bombings. These three attacks, over the course of the last decade or so, have held the attention of global public opinion and to a large extent shaped the debate on the globalisation of the terrorist threat.
Today, as the global reach of armed groups and extremists expands, so does international awareness and cooperation in addressing the challenge that terrorism poses. In 2005 the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) was established by the Secretary-General with the goal of enhancing coordination of counter-terrorism efforts of the United Nations. A year later in 2006 the General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution enacting a UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and stating that terrorism "constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security”.


Today, no country is immune from the threat of terrorism or from its effects. Iraq’s people understand very well what this means.


Every day, Iraqi men, women, girls and boys suffer death, injuries, disabilities and destruction of livelihoods from violence perpetrated by terrorists who reject the vision of Iraq as a strong, vibrant, and inclusive democracy.


On behalf of the United Nations in Iraq, allow me to expresses our deepest sympathies to the Iraqi people for the terrible toll that they endure on a daily basis. I would like to honour the brave men and women of the Iraqi Security Forces who risk their lives every day to protect citizens from the threat of terrorism– often at a terrible cost to themselves and their families.


As we speak, armed groups seek to provoke a vicious cycle of violence reminiscent of the dark days of 2006 to 2008. Against the wishes of ordinary Iraqis, these groups are attempting to impose their will in parts of the country. They target community leaders, journalists, and government officials; they attack religious pilgrims and places of worship; they go after schoolchildren. Their aim is to incite communal conflict; their goal is to make Iraq ungovernable.


As the international community stands up to crimes against humanity, so we must take a firm stand against all forms of widespread and deliberate targeting of civilians.


Today’s conference will be a success if it promotes international and regional cooperation against the growing threat of terrorism and extremism; and if it helps this country – Iraq, use the best practices and lessons learned from around the world it bringing home peace and security.


Your debates today can send an important message to the public, a message of solidarity with a nation that has shown unparalleled resilience and a continuing commitment to build a democratic state.


The experience and knowledge that you bring to Baghdad today can help craft strategies that will address root causes of violence and lay the foundations for inclusive regional cooperation against all forms of extremism and terrorism.


On behalf of UNAMI and the United Nations in Iraq let me say that we stand ready to work with the Government and the people of Iraq in promoting political dialogue and investing in development. Through the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force we can assist Iraq in promoting her ability to contribute to the international effort to counter terrorism and implement the four pillars of the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy.


Experience has shown that successfully countering terrorism requires a range of political and developmental interventions that advance social cohesion, democratic accountability and the rule of law.


Most importantly, however, it requires leaders to work together to reduce political tensions and promote national unity.


Finding ways to put an end to terrorism will not be easy, some difficult decisions will have to be made – but together the Government and people of Iraq, with the support of the international community, can find ways to do so.


The Government has a duty to protect its citizens. But in addressing the phenomenon of terrorism, an exclusively military response will not be enough. Time and again, bitter experience has shown that States which rely only on such an approach rarely succeed. While terrorism cannot be justified for any reason or for any grievance, there are socio-economic and political conditions that let terrorists gain sympathy, spread extremism and develop a narrative in support for violence.


Let me focus on some of the lessons learnt and best practices from the international experience.
Perhaps the first of these lessons is that the concept of human rights is one of our greatest assets in finding sustainable solutions to countering extremism and terrorism. If human rights are disrespected, extremism will thrive. If human rights are protected – governments will have a strong case against terrorists.


Community involvement is perhaps the second most important lesson. Ensuring an appropriate security response, which involves local communities in decisions relating to their security, is vital for the success of counter-terrorism operations. Important pillars in this respect are the professional, non-partisan and impartial security forces that have integrity as the protectors of the people.


Investing in police and security forces that have appropriate resources and are appropriately trained is the third most important lesson learnt. Training in intelligence gathering, in forensic investigation techniques remains important to prevent terrorist acts and pursue those responsible while respecting the rule of law and human rights, in particular regarding arrests, detentions and trials.



Experience has shown that delivering immediate humanitarian support to those affected by violence is vitally important. In this process the United Nations Humanitarian agencies have relevant know-how. Care services, including compensation, access to healthcare and rehabilitation, financial support, etc remain important.


Any comprehensive approach would be incomplete if it were not matched by broad political dialogue, inclusive economic and social policies and community reconciliation.


Moving beyond the national level, in today’s integrated world cannot win the battle against terrorism alone. It is only within the framework of constructive regional and international cooperation that countries can succeed. This includes—among other things, synchronising legislation, monitoring financial flows and developing cross-border management systems that regulate the movement of people and goods. It entails all countries respecting the more than 14 international conventions on combatting terrorism.


Finally, let me underline that a good defence against terrorism is a strong sense of a shared national identity—an identity that is inclusive and allows people to celebrate their diversity while upholding their unity.


These are just some of the lessons learnt that may be helpful not just to Iraq, but to any country that faces a serious threat of terrorism today.


Most of these messages and lessons will reflect on Iraq and the current situation in Anbar province, where the Government and the people of Iraq are facing a real threat. It is a threat by terrorist groups who disregard national borders and use violence and brutality to achieve their means. Their activities are not just a threat to Iraq but to the region and beyond. This was recognised by the Security Council when on January 10th in a Presidential Statement the Council condemned the attacks by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) “against the people of Iraq in an attempt to destabilize the country and region” and stressed “the critical importance of continued national dialogue and unity, an inclusive political process, the holding of free and fair elections in April 2014, and the right to peaceful protest as guaranteed under the Iraqi Constitution”.


Since the beginning of January UNAMI and the United Nations in Iraq have worked tirelessly to deliver relief aid to the civilian population. As the UN humanitarian agencies work with the Ministry of Displacement and Migration to deliver assistance to the displaced, many people remain in the areas directly affected by the fighting.


We look forward to continuing our work with the Government, the security forces and the local authorities in delivering humanitarian aid across Anbar, including Fallujah.


On behalf of the United Nations in Iraq let me also state that we stand ready to continue our humanitarian engagement, assist in the reconstruction of Anbar province and promote dialogue among all components of Iraqi society.


Ladies and gentlemen,


I came first to Iraq in 2006 to help set up the functioning of the newly elected Iraqi Parliament. Since then I have followed the tribulations of this country from near and from afar. Today Iraq stands at a crucial cross-road in its journey towards stability and prosperity. It will either succumb to violence, or come together and build a democratic state that protects human rights and is inclusive for all its citizens. Iraq has already been on to the edge of the precipice and has stepped back. The people of this country are tired of violence and division. For three decades they have lived under one of the most brutal dictatorships in history. They have experienced wars, sanctions and violence. I have not met an Iraqi who wants to go back to the past, who wants to return to dictatorship or to the violence of 2006-2008. The best guarantee that this country has for a democratic future are its people.


In closing let me take the opportunity and urge the political leaders of Iraq to put their differences aside and work together to arrest the terrorist threat that seeks to tear the fabric of Iraqi society.


Let me also assure the Iraqi people that they are not alone and the United Nations in Iraq will work with them and their elected representatives to support the development of this country and to invest in its biggest resource—its citizens.


Thank you and allow me to wish this conference every success.

Repost from Great Britain's Socialist Worker:

Tony Benn 1925-2014 - Inspiring socialist who moved left through his life

by Charlie Kimber

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Tony Benn in Stratford, East London in 2011 (Pic: Guy Smallman)

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Tony Benn was one of the most important figures on the socialist left in Britain throughout the last four decades.


There has hardly been an important working class gathering for many years that has not tried to secure Benn as a speaker. And whenever possible he would speak.


The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) was proud to welcome Benn to its Marxism event for many years, and to work with him in countless campaigns.


While other Labour MPs moved to the right, Benn moved left.


The media reviled Benn during the 1980s as a “loony lefty”. He eventually achieved a status as a respected if ineffectual figure.


That’s not how campaigners and socialists saw him.


A lot of people genuinely loved Tony Benn for his commitment to working class politics and socialism.


I was once lucky enough to speak at a meeting with Benn and share a train with him.


Throughout the journey people begged for photos or asked him to “speak to my mum on the phone—you’re her hero”.


I don’t imagine that happens to Ed Miliband or Ed Balls—or that they are as accessible or friendly as Benn was.

Benn had that happy knack that, even though you might have heard the speech many times, it never lost the power to cheer you up.

He supported every significant working class struggle in the last 30 years and played a major role in building the Stop the War movement after 2001.


He campaigned across Britain, giving people inspiration and confidence.


Benn did not begin like this. As a newly-elected MP in the 1950s he described himself as “a sort of New Labour man”.


He backed right winger Hugh Gaitskell against the left’s Aneurin Bevan.


Benn then became embroiled in a constitutional hiatus. The wartime government had made his father a Viscount.


On his father’s death in 1960, Tony Benn inherited this peerage.


As a member of the House of Lords he was not allowed to be an MP in the Commons.


He fought a three-year campaign before being allowed to renounce his peerage.


As Postmaster General in Harold Wilson’s government his high point of radicalism was seeking to remove the queen’s head—from stamps, not her shoulders.


The plan was dropped when the queen made her disapproval clear.


Benn refused to back left wing campaigns against nuclear weapons, wage controls, proposals for anti-union laws or backing for the US war against Vietnam.


He changed through discovering something about socialist thought and, crucially, through the experience of workers’ struggle in the early 1970s.



Leading SWP member Chris Harman wrote, “He visited the Clyde in 1971 as opposition spokesperson when an enormous one-day strike against the attempt to close shipyards was followed by a work-in.


“He was soon echoing some of the language of the protests and being seen as a banner bearer of the left inside parliament.”


Benn reflected on the changes in his views in a diary entry from 1976: “There is no doubt that in the years up to 1968 I was just a career politician and in 1968 I began thinking about technology and participation and all that; it wasn’t particularly socialist and my Fabian tract of 1970 was almost anti-socialist, corporatist in character with a democratic theme—management and labour working together.


“Up to 1973 I shifted to the left and have been driven further and further towards a real socialist position.”


Harold Wilson and then Jim Callaghan led Labour governments from 1974-9.


Labour presided over a huge rise in unemployment and imposed cuts dictated by the International Monetary Fund.


It laid the basis for what would become known as Thatcherism.


Benn complained and argued inside the cabinet. But he stayed, accepting demotion from industry secretary to energy secretary.


He acted as left wing cover for the government and made it easier to blunt resistance—for example during a firefighters’ strike in 1977.


As energy secretary Benn prepared troops to break a strike at the Windscale nuclear plant.


The bitter experience of Labour in office sparked a huge debate among Labour activists—and Benn moved further to the left.


He stood for deputy leader in 1981 and his campaign attracted all those angry at Labour’s betrayals.


Thousands of people came to hear Benn at meetings across Britain. Socialist journalist Paul Foot described the campaign as “exhilarating”.


He said Benn was “talking socialism in terms at once more easy to understand and more powerful than anything which had come out of the Labour Left in my adult life.


“And the result was to electrify the political scene. Interest in politics on the Left soared.”


There was a venomous media onslaught against Benn and a betrayal by a group of MPs led by Neil Kinnock.


He lost the election—by 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent. Benn wasn’t dismayed. Many of his supporters were and they steered right.


Benn threw himself into supporting the miners’ strike in 1984-1985, but its defeat accelerated Labour’s surge rightwards.


As Kinnock and then Tony Blair forced Labour into open acceptance of capitalism and the “war on terror”, Benn stood against them.


He marked himself out as an opponent of imperialist war in 1982 when he opposed the Falklands War.


He opposed war on Iraq in 1990 and was one of very few MPs not to back the Kosovo war in 1999.
Benn did not stand at the 2001 general election. He said he was “leaving parliament in order to spend more time on politics”.


Why didn’t he leave Labour and help to build something better?


Again and again he despaired about Labour.


His diary entries show he raged not just about this or that decision or leader but about the entire project.


On 15 January 1978 he wrote, “The whole Labour leadership now is totally demoralised and all the growth on the left is going to come up from the outside and underneath.


“This is the death of the Labour Party.”


On 5 May 1989 he wrote, “The Labour Party has never been a socialist party.”

And again, on 29 November 1993, Benn wrote, “The Labour Party is dead; it just criticises the Tories and has no policy.


“If I am asked what Labour policy is I say I don’t know what it is on anything.”


Benn sometimes recognised that power lies outside parliament.


In 1994 he told David Miliband, "In order to get anywhere, to be a legitimate leader of the Labour Party, you have to come to terms with MI5, the City of London, the monarchy, Brussels, the press lords and the senior civil servants.”


In the introduction to his 1963-7 diaries he wrote, “The UK is only superficially governed by MPs and the voters who elect them.


“Parliamentary democracy is, in truth, little more than a means of securing a periodical change in the management team, which is then allowed to preside over a system that remains in essence intact.”


But he remained imprisoned by the belief that outside Labour there was only a wilderness populated by feuding sects.


He didn’t argue for an approach based centrally on action outside parliament.


Every time his diaries record anger at Labour, they are followed by the latest manoeuvres and respect for parliamentary institutions.


He records friendly talks with Tories and bigot Ian Paisley. He defends going to the funeral of “a friend”—Enoch Powell.

Such contradictions never stopped Benn playing a very important role for the socialist movement.

But it did stop him showing those enthused by his arguments how they could change the world.

It will be a long time before we grow used to Benn not appearing at meetings, campaigns and strikes. He will be hugely missed.

In 2009 Benn told an interviewer, “All I would want on my gravestone would be: ‘Here Lies Tony Benn: He Encouraged Us.’”


Tony Benn did that and a great deal more.

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Neocolonial regime in Libya faces war over oil exports (Abayomi Azikiwe )

Repost from Workers World:

Neocolonial regime in Libya faces war over oil exports

By Abayomi Azikiwe on March 16, 2014

On March 19, 2011, the United States and allied NATO war planes began a massive bombing campaign against the North African state of Libya. Under the guise of protecting the lives of civilians, the imperialist war machine was unleashed on a country of 6 million people.


Three years later, the conditions for working and oppressed people in Libya have gone back to where they were under the monarchy of King Idris I, who was installed by the Italian colonial regime when it ruled the oil-rich nation from 1911 to 1951.


It was Col. Moammar Gadhafi who, along with the Revolutionary Command Council, overthrew the feudal system on Sept. 1, 1969, and proclaimed Libya a genuinely independent territory, in solidarity with oppressed and struggling people throughout the world.


During the period of the Jamahiriya, Gadhafi’s political system after 1977, Libyan development strategies created the highest standard of living in Africa. Libya’s support for national liberation movements and progressive governments around the world made it a target for successive U.S. administrations, from Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan, who bombed Tripoli and Benghazi on April 15, 1986, to the current Obama government. Washington and the Pentagon were behind the war in 2011 and created the conditions for the brutal assassination of Gadhafi.


Libya was producing 1.6 million barrels of oil per day during the Gadhafi era. Today the flow of crude has been reduced to a near trickle. Disgruntled rebel factions and oil workers have shut down ports in the east of the country.


Since mid-2013 the situation has reached crisis proportions. Militias based in the eastern region, where the counterrevolution against Gadhafi’s Jamahiriya began in February 2011, have pledged to export oil without the permission of the U.S.-backed regime in Tripoli, the capital.


Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and his weak constituency in the so-called General National Congress parliament do not have control of the strongest militias in the east. Even within the capital itself, the GNC parliament is often invaded and taken over by angry rebels who complain of payless paydays and other poor conditions.

North Korean-flagged tanker threatened

Exemplifying the oil crisis, a standoff has arisen at the Es Sider terminal in port Ras Lanuf over the loading of a north Korean-flagged tanker. The Zeidan government in Tripoli warned the rebels controlling the eastern ports that the government would destroy any vessel sailing from Libya with oil shipments unauthorized by Tripoli.


Reuters news agency reported March 10: “Libya’s parliament has ordered a special force be sent within one week to ‘liberate’ all rebel-held ports in the volatile east, officials said on Monday, raising the stakes over a blockage that has cut off vital oil revenues. The rebels, who have seized three ports and partly control a fourth in the OPEC member country, said they had dispatched forces to deal with any government attack.”


The potential for a full-blown military conflict between the forces loyal to the GNC in Tripoli and other western cities and the militias in the east is accelerating.


Much speculation has surrounded the north Korea-flagged vessel. It was not clear at the time of this writing if the tanker was owned by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or by another country.


Nonetheless, by emphasizing that the oil tanker flew a north Korean flag, the Western press could be attempting to justify the aggressive stance by the regime in Tripoli. Washington maintains a hostile position against the DPRK and has been conducting military exercises on its borders.

Gadhafi son extradited to Libya

A son of the late Col. Gadhafi has been extradited by the regime in Niger, which is backed by both France and the U.S. Saadi Gadhafi, a professional soccer player, had taken refuge in Niger in the aftermath of the collapse of his father’s government.


Niger is a major producer of uranium, but the facilities are owned by the Areva firm based in France. At present the U.S. maintains a drone station in Niger as well as hundreds of Special Forces.


The rebel regime in Tripoli says it will put Gadhafi on trial for alleged crimes committed in Benghazi during the early days of the Western-backed counterrevolution. Saadi Gadhafi’s brother, Seif, has been held for two years by a militia group in Zintan, Libya, without a trial.


Judicial institutions in Libya are virtually nonexistent. Violence and targeted assassinations take place frequently without legal redress. Under such circumstances, no one associated with the previous government could get a fair and impartial trial.


Washington, London and Brussels achieved the overthrow of the Gadhafi regime with an all-out military assault on Libya: NATO planes flew 26,000 air missions over Libya between March and October of 2011; Central Intelligence Agency operatives, along with Special Forces units from the allied regimes in Egypt and Qatar, were deployed to all strategic points. Nevertheless, the Western forces have been unable to set up even a semblance of normality and stability inside the country.


It will take the organized will of the Libyan people to stabilize the country through a revolutionary movement designed to overthrow the U.S.-backed clique in Tripoli and other regions of the country. In recent months, several towns and cities in the south of Libya were seized by loyalist forces still committed to the Gadhafi-era form of politics and economics.


Based upon developments in Libya over the last three years, it is quite obvious that the imperialist states that engineered the overthrow of the Jamahiriya government have no program for the reconstruction and unity of what was once a prosperous and respected country. Other states, from Ukraine and Syria to Venezuela, are facing similar challenges that necessitate a clear anti-imperialist stance on the part of progressive and left organizations based in the Western imperialist countries.

Articles copyright 1995-2014 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Highlights

This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.


"Iraq snapshot" -- most requested highlight of the week by readers of this site according to Ty who passes on that readers loved the cocktail napkin joke.


 "Iraq snapshot:" and  "House Appropriations State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee hearing" -- C.I. and Kat report on a Congressional hearing.

"Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Nouri The Child Molestor" and "Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The 'Patriot'" -- Isaiah offered two comics last week.

"Kat's Korner: Are you listening to Ben Taylor?" -- Kat reviews the state of music.


"scandal leaves no 1 to root for," "Elementary," "community - just lousy," "Arrow and Flash and others," "The closets on TV," "The Hollywood Reporter lies," "Revolution," "Sady Doyle's reaching -- and then some," "From Lena Dunham's lips to God's ears," "The Originals -- bye, bye Rebekah," "Thoughts on ABC's Revenge," "revenge - the good," "Raising Hope, failing Ronan," "revenge - the bad," "Fat racist Lena Dunham harms everyone again," "The Good (but not so smart) Wife," "Revenge" and "Tim Connaway, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Debra Messing, Matthew Perry and Josh Lucas"  -- Rebecca. Mike,  Stan. Betty, Marcia, Elaine and Ruth cover TV.


"Veronica Mars and her lost boys," "Veronica Mars limps a long like a TV movie," "Movies and female superheroes" and "Need For Speed" -- Marcia, Betty, Kat and Stan go to the movies.



"Quick casserole in the kitchen" -- Trina offers a recipe and covers the illegal spying.



"Mirror, Mirror ponders Barry O" and "THIS JUST IN! AGING POORLY!" -- Cedric and Wally cover the evil queen.



"Ms. magazine needs to stop insulting Black women" and "Janell Hobson is a piece of garbage who hates her own race" -- Ann and Betty make it clear.

"The continuing assault on Detroit" -- Trina continues to cover the assault on Detroit.

"MSNBC's Boldest Lie" -- Isaiah dips into the archives.


"music thoughts," "Beyonce the fake," "Donny Osmond, Olivia Newton-John (ready to take Vegas by storm) and Roberta Flack" and "That embarrassing Harper's Magazine" -- Rebecca, Ann, Kat and Elaine cover music.

"Matthew Rothschild's back" -- Ruth reflects.


"Barry goes shopping" and "THIS JUST IN! BARRY O THE FASHIONISTA!" -- Cedric and Wally on Barack's attempt at Vivian's Pretty Woman shopping spree.

Truest statement of the Week

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand blamed the White House's lack of support for the failure of her sexual-assault bill in the Senate on Thursday, and she vowed to keep fighting to reform the military justice system.
"I made my greatest case, I advocated for this position, this reform, and the president has been very clear: He wants to end sexual assault in the military, he wants it to be further studied, and he wants to see progress and whether it's been accomplished in the next year," the New York Democrat said at a press conference after her bill went down.
When asked if she would have succeeded if President Obama had pushed for her bill and whether she was disappointed by the White House's lack of support, she quickly answered, "Yes, yes."

-- Stacy Kaper, "Kirsten Gillibrand Blames White House in Failure of Military Sexual-Assault Bill"  (National Journal).

Truest statement of the Week II

Prominent journalists in the United States may as well be on the White House payroll. They are consistent cheerleaders for whoever occupies the oval office and the corporate corner office. They make no attempt to hide their allegiance to power and their lack of interest in informing the public.


-- Margaret Kimberley, "'Journalists' follow Obama on Ukraine" (Black Agenda Report).

A note to our readers

Hey --

Another Sunday.



First up, we thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:




The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.


And what did we come up with:

• Truest statement of the Week

Senator Gillibrand's remarks should have been everywhere.  Instead, it was pretty much just National Journal.

• Truest statement of the Week II

Margaret Kimberley gets a Truest as well.

• Editorial: Dear John Kerry

We were at a loss for an editorial.  In part because I (Jim) was running out the clock thinking it would force Ava and C.I. to agree to do one more article this edition.  They wouldn't budge.  They plan to write it next week.  In the meantime, we decided the photo of Ben Affleck, John Kerry and Russ Feingold needed to be included and went with an editorial to John Kerry.

• TV: A week of putrid and puerile

Ava and C.I. felt this was all they had to do.  And they do have a point.  This covers a great deal: an Oliver Stone interview, Randi Rhodes, Rachel Maddow's bad 'special' and Saturday Night Live as well as Democracy Now! and they could have done more.  This is the big piece for the edition.

• Congress and Veterans

Dona moderated a discussion on Congress and veterans.  

• Even the children doubt he has a heart

Short pieces!!!  Yes, we love them.

• Who would you send to a desert island?

I thought a poll was needed.  This was one of the biggest monkey wrenches.  Here's what happens next week when the poll closes.  I take a screen snap and we delete it. The poll is on the side of the page as well as in this post.  I worked for hours trying to get it to disappear on the side.  I had Dona work on it, C.I. and Ty, Jess, Wally . . . We had no luck at all.  

• This edition's playlist

What we listened to.

• Tweet of the Week

Liz Phair gets it this week. 

• The other big SNL question . . .

Really, the lead singer did look like Alec Baldwin as a blond.

• Dropped bomb you shouldn't have missed

This should be a big, huge story everywhere.

• Must See Video of the Week

Jake Tapper's The Lead (CNN).

• Tragically, today the Senate failed them (Senator ...

Statement from Senator Kirstin Gillibrand's office. 

• Anger at Moazzam Begg ‘terrorism related’ charges ...

UK Socialist Worker repost.

• U.S. escalates Ukraine crisis (Fred Goldstein)

Workers World repost.

• Highlights

Mike and the gang wrote this and we thank them for it.




Peace.

-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.

Editorial: Dear John Kerry

We get it.  We really do.

John Kerry's bellowing is his attempt to play bad cop.

He was hoping Barack Obama would play good cop.

But all Barack can almost manage is meter maid.

So Kerry has to become the Howard Cosell of diplomacy.

But could someone remind the Secretary of State that he already has duties and they don't include declaring war?



No, no, not a bro hang with Ben Affleck and Russ Feingold.

No, John Kerry is supposed to be over the US mission to Iraq.

Right now, people are worried that chief thug and prime minister Nouri al-Maliki intends to refuse to allow Anbar Province to vote in the planned April 30th elections.

That's a serious concern.

And while William Burns was all over Baghdad last week, meeting with many officials and leaders, is delegating all of this really the answer 51 days before an election?

Also, your concern over what's going on with the Ukraine?

Might seem a little less fake if you called out Nouri using US weapons to kill Iraqi civilians.

That's right, did you miss the War Crimes taking place for months now?


Just today, his indiscriminate shelling of Falluja residential neighborhoods left 6 people dead and seventeen injured.  It's collective punishment and the US defines it as a War Crime.


You're over Iraq for the administration and you've got nothing to say.


Nouri tears down protest camps, starts shelling residential neighborhoods in Anbar, doing so with weapons the US government provided him with, and you've not said a word.


As you might have said when you had a sturdier spine, how do you ask someone to be the last Iraqi to die at the hands of an Iraqi tyrant?