SICKOFITRADLZ: The hits

I think she means "a span of more than 20 years of top ten hits" and not "between" (the latter would mean you had 1 top ten hit and then another 20 years ago).

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, October 10, 2017. IAVA moves into political advocacy, the number of displaced in Iraq vastly increases, where is ISIS, and much more.

Let's start with stupidity.

‏Verified account @rolandsmartin

Hey @realDonaldTrump @VP. This poll of 8,000 people who actually served in the military? 62% say players can protest

69 replies1,115 retweets2,462 likes

Who said that?

Roland Martin?

Who?

Oh, right. He used to be at CNN. But his homophobic attacks resulted in CNN kicking him to the curb. (Tom, why do you keep this trash on your show? You will answer for it -- you and I both know it.) Roland can't be on CNN because he's a homophobe.

But when did Roland serve?

Oh, right, never.

IAVA did release what Roland's talking about.

We haven't highlighted it here because several IAVA members feel the sample size was too small and IAVA has heard from members who disagree with the press release issued.

More to the point, Roland's misses many points, IAVA represents only one generation of veterans.

Certainly the American Legion, to name but one example, would have a more varied group of veterans -- veterans from the current wars as well as Vietnam, Korea, WWII, etc.

The size and the results of the poll are being questioned by IAVA members -- questioned and criticized -- so we've avoided that poll. But Roland's so stupid, he seems to think that the only veterans in the world are the ones who've fought in the ongoing Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.

Maybe Roland should be less worried about what underwear David Beckham wears and more worried about how so many of us always saw his homophobia as a way for him to hide in his own closet?

As for IAVA, the poll was a mistake.

They had already issued a statement that was respectful to everyone.

That should have been the end of it.

They are not an 'activist' organization in the way that Iraq Veterans Against The War were.

Stepping into this, and away from veterans' issues, hurts them.

Again, members of IAVA are upset -- some who feel they aren't represented in the poll results, some who feel IAVA should not have done a poll on this.

There are many veterans issues and now instead of shining a spotlight on that, IAVA is caught in an issue they have no business in.

More than any other veterans group, they need to focus on legislation.

That's because they're members are veterans who've returned home recently -- as opposed to the VFW, for example, whose members include many who have been veterans for several decades.

This is a distraction for IAVA. This is upsetting their membership.

The statement issued was respectful and allowed everyone some comfort.

That wasn't good enough and now there is a feeling that activists have hijacked IAVA for political purposes.

Roland doesn't grasp that -- nor do idiots like Roland who just want to grab anything they can and turn it into a political football.

IAVA is supposed to focus on veterans issues.

As one member said to me on Sunday, "So I guess next I can ask for the poll on whether or not we should leave Iraq, the one they've refused to do because we're not an 'advocacy group'."

I guess he's right.

‏Verified account @AFP

Moscow accuses US of reducing air strikes on IS in Iraq to allow jihadists to enter Syria and fight the Assad regime u.afp.com/4zMi

4 replies30 retweets13 likes

The US Defense Dept regularly announces strikes on Iraq. It does that on a daily basis.

Excuse me, it did that on a daily basis.

It's last announcement was October 8th when it noted.

Oct. 7 Strikes in Iraq

On Oct. 7, coalition military forces conducted 10 strikes consisting of 16 engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq:

-- Near Qaim, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a headquarters and a vehicle.

-- Near Bashir, a strike destroyed an ISIS tactical vehicle.

-- Near Hit, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a tunnel system.

-- Near Rawa, four strikes destroyed an ISIS headquarters, a vehicle-borne IED and a weapons cache.

-- Near Tuz, a strike destroyed four ISIS-held buildings.

-- Near Huwija, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.
Yesterday's Strikes in Iraq

Coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of seven engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq yesterday:

-- Near Qaim, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Huwija, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Rawa, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed three staging areas, a headquarters and a vehicle.

Is this what no strikes look like?

I doubt they feel like no strikes to the Iraqis on the ground.

‏Verified account @BBCWorld

Where have all the IS fighters gone? Hundreds are believed to have fled the city of Hawija, after it was recaptured by the Iraqi army 

1:37 / 1:37

46 replies187 retweets237 likes

Were ISIS members allowed to escape? Probably. The same thing happened with the Mosul operation -- why should the Hawija operation be different? They went to Syria, remember? Some publicity on this noted the ones traveling by bus.

‏ @arabstodayEN

UN says 5.4 million displaced from Iraq since 2014 dlvr.it/PtcG8w

0 replies0 retweets0 likes

That is deeply disturbing.

Mainly because the corporate media in the US has avoided it.

Grasp that by 2010, Iraq was already the place for the greatest displacement since 1949 in the Middle East.

And now we learn that the last three years has seen further displacement, the displacement of over five million more people.

‏Verified account @UNIraq

UN concerned for safety of more than five million displaced in northern #Iraq

0 replies4 retweets3 likes

‏Verified account @OCHAIraq

Press Release: The UN remains deeply concerned for the safety of civilian populations. #Iraq
Link: bit.ly/2yShOTH

UNAMI and UNHCR Iraq

0 replies11 retweets9 likes

Turning to the topic of the KRG . . .

‏Verified account @KamalChomani

Iraqi VP Al-Nujayfi says "Masoud Barzani agreed on suspending referendum in return of lifting sanctions on KRI" 

6 replies11 retweets13 likes

As we've noted repeatedly, the vote took place, Barzani can now do whatever he wants.

He's achieved with the vote, taken the KRG further than anyone else.

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