Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Danforth Prince and Darwin Porter's Lana Turner: Hearts and Diamonds Take All

Lana Turner.  The name conjures stardom.  I grew up seeing Imitation of Life, to cite only one of her films.  She was a movie star in the 40s through the end of her life in the 90s.  Known around the world.  But did we know her?


Especially shocking in her list of scandals?  When she was dating gangster Johnny Stompanato and he ended up dead.  Danforth Prince and Darwin Porter argue in their book Lana Turner: Hearts and Diamonds Take All that Lana stabbed him to death and, knowing she would go to prison, took the advice of 'handlers' and let her daughter Cheryl take the fall.  They note the many holes in the story as well as the fact that the crime scene was cleaned before the police got there and that others -- such as gangster Mickey Cohen and Stompanato's family -- believed that Lana killed the man.

If so, she let Cheryl take the fall.  And pay the price.

Could a mother do that?  Even to save her own skin?  

In Madam X, Lana played a mother who sacrifices all for the man who doesn't know she is his mother.

In real life, Lana was married to Lex Barker when Barker began molesting Cheryl.  Cheryl told her grandmother the truth.  There's a sense throughout many passages after Lana learns the truth that Cheryl wasn't telling the truth.  And, later in the book, when Lana finds another guy she likes, she accuses teenage Cheryl of trying to steal the man from her just like before -- meaning Barker.

Cheryl lived for any moment, as a child, that she could spend with her mother.

Lana lived for fame and clothes.

Yes, I could see Cheryl doing the crime and letting Cheryl take the fall.

It's an interesting book that wraps up too quickly -- the 70s, 80s and 90s require much more length and coverage.  And, on Falcon's Crest, don't just tell me that she and Jane Wyman did not get along, give me examples.  

Other than that, I highly recommend this book.  Rebecca's offering her take tonight as we continue our pattern of doing a summer read together each year.

 

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

 

Wednesday, July 27, 2022.  Iraq makes its case to the United Nations Security Council, the political stalemate continues in Iraq, JACOBIN produces a groaner, and so much more


Let's start with JACOBIN and I'd honeslty probably let this pass without comment were it not for the fact that JACOBIN can't stop pimping war on Russia.  Eileen Jones, you're not the embarrassment that IN THESE TIMES has (their JUSTICUE JUDY review was a non--stop mess of errors) but you're not the writer you think you are either.  Your review of RESPECT was fairly spot on -- with many of the same points Ava and I had made weeks before.  But you don't know the industry so don't try to write about it.

Eileen wants you to know that NETFLIX bet big on THE GRAY MAN and NETFLIX lost.

What the hell is she talking about?

She's trying to write what industry papers were writing about ahead of the film streaming on NETFLIX and right after it started streaming.  The angle the industry papers were going with.

And had she published it then, it might have been less embarrassing.


By which point, the industry wags were silenced by reality.

NETFLIX is not losing -- big or otherwise -- on it.

And industry wags were stupid to have thought they would.  It was a bunch immature and ahistorical idiots who wrote that garbage to begin with.  Eileen saw it and ran with it.

At some point, the casting is not going to work.  We saw that as the 70s progressed.  But it is still new in streaming and the casting alone was going to make THE GRAY MAN a success globally.  You grab a variety of well known actors from various regions and put them in one film together.  It does well in the global market.

The $200 million price tag?  Does seem high but NETFLIX, as Jane Campion has already noted, is not going to stop making movies or stop making big movies.  It's going to be new talent and small films that will likely suffer as a result of any financial issues NETFLIX may face (that's a whole other story -- their financial woes -- and one Ava and I have covered in one story after another for years now).  

The Russo brothers are a team NETFLIX wants to be in business with for prestige and for hit potential.  It's the deal they made and it paid off.

The film is huge on NETFLIX.  The numbers came in and it's huge.  That's why the sequel to THE GRAY MAN was announced yesterday morning. 


Eileen and JACOBIN don't know the industry and shouldn't write about it.  They look like idiots.  Had Eileen just written the review trashing the film that she wanted, she might have been better off.

Should the film be trashed?  

Alfre Woodard is wonderful in the film.  Ryan Gosling was the perfect pick having already demonstrated in THE NICE GUYS that he worked very well with a child actor.  Everyone delivers a strong performance.  Were I casting it, I would've said no to Chris Evans.  He does a strong job but Captain America's not going to be easily accepted in the role he's playing -- maybe that's why he wears that mustache in the film.  I understand his need to break out of type casting but, at present, he's too associated with Captain America and I think it would have been better with a different actor.  That said, casting Chris in the role is part of the reason the film's a hit.

And, Eileen, it is a hit.  There will be a sequel.  People are streaming it like crazy.  You didn't understand the casting model and you didn't understand that some industry wags were finally smelling blood in the water with regards to NETFLIX (it's been bleeding for years) so you wrote your silly piece that made no sense.  Stick to reviews, not reporting, because your attempt at reporting blew up in your face because you didn't understand the models being used, industry jealousy or even industry terms.  That's how you end up writing a piece claiming NETFLIX has lost big on THE GRAY MAN when the film is a hit for NETFLIX.  Your entire premise was disproven by the time your piece was published.

That said, I do say "thank you."  Better readers at JACOBIN should read your garbage than the other garbage that's promoting war on Russia.  And if you're not getting how stupid the pro-war garbage they're publishing is -- try substituting "Florida" for "Ukraine" and "the United States" for "Russia" and see just how weak the case they're making is.


At JACOBIN's idealogical foe (WSWS), Andre Damon reports:


Behind the backs of the American public, the US military is preparing a provocation against China aimed at instigating a conflict that could lead to a full-scale world war between the world’s two largest economies.

This provocation comes in the form of a planned trip to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the third-ranking figure in the US government.

Despite US President Joe Biden’s publicly stated concerns about the provocative nature of the trip, New York Times journalist David Sanger, an unofficial spokesman for the US military/intelligence apparatus, reported Tuesday that “US officials said the planning for Ms. Pelosi’s trip was moving ahead.”

By all indications, sometime next month, the octogenarian grandmother of nine will strap herself into a C-130 cargo plane, possibly accompanied by an escort of F-35 fighters and supported by US aircraft carriers, and tempt fate by landing on Taiwan, amid warnings by Chinese military officers that they will “stop” her from entering the country.

This level of recklessness is a testament to the deep crisis and disorientation of the US political establishment, which is desperately lashing out in all directions in the face of an intractable social, economic and political crisis.

The dispatch of Pelosi, the highest-ranking US official to visit the island in a quarter century, is aimed at further undermining the one-China policy, which has been systematically dismantled by the Trump and Biden administrations, who have encouraged Taiwanese separatism as they have stuffed the island to the gills with weapons. Now, provocatively, Washington is acknowledging publicly a rising number of US military personnel on Taiwan. 


Turning to Iraq, last week's attack by the Turkish governmenti continues to dominate the news.  MEDIA LINE reports:


Six mortar rounds were fired Tuesday night at the Turkish Consulate in Mosul, in Iraq’s Nineveh province, landing nearby. There were no reported casualties and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. It comes six days after a resort in Duhok province, in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, was bombarded in a suspected Turkish artillery attack that killed nine tourists and wounded dozens of others. 


We'll note this Tweet:

Two rockets landed in the vicinity of the consulate, inflicting material damage, as reported by several media outlets, including Iran's state-affiliated Fars news agency and the GardaWorld Crisis24, https://bianet.org/english/world/265067-turkiye-s-consulate-in-mosul-targeted-in-rocket-attack-during-unsc-meeting-over-zakho-strike


There was an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council yesterday regarding last week's attack.   AP reports (it's not identified as AP by ASHARQ AL-AWSAT but it is AP):

[Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad] Hussein said the Iraqi government is “sure” the Turkish military was responsible for the attack. He pointed to the findings of its investigation that Turkey's army has bases in the area near the resort, PKK fighters have not been in the area for the last month and the Turkish army uses 155 mm artillery projectiles whose fragments were found at the scene.


Hussein added that many people in the area “gave us enough information about the activity of Turkish soldiers there.”


He called on the Security Council to urgently adopt a resolution demanding that Turkey withdraw what he said were about 4,000 combat soldiers from Iraq, and halt incursions into Iraqi airspace. 



Hussein said that Iraq has issued 296 official notes of protests to Turkey since 2018 in response to the neighboring country’s continued violations on Iraqi land, which he numbered at 22,742 cases, calling on the council to issue an emergency decision obliging Turkey to withdraw its forces from Iraq.

The Iraqi foreign minister stressed that there were no agreements between the Iraqi and Turkish sides which would allow the latter to roam Iraqi land under the pretext of targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as they have claimed.

Iraq’s demands before the council were listed by Hussein, which included obliging Turkey to withdraw its forces from Iraq, the formation of an international independent team to investigate the attack and hold the perpetrators responsible, asking the council to include the Iraq-Turkey situation in its agenda, and obliging the Turkish government to compensate for the losses and damages caused by the attack.


If the Security Council takes a pass, Iraq appears ready to address it themselves.  MEHR NEWS AGENCY reports:

An Iraqi Parliament member announced that the Iraqi Parliament is reviewing passing a law on expelling Turkish forces from Iraqi soil.

"The Iraqi parliament is determined to determine the task of the case of the illegal presence of Turkish army forces in the areas of northern Iraq, which is considered a clear violation of its sovereignty," the source cited.


 


The Coordination Framework, an umbrella parliamentary bloc including all Iran-backed Shia factions, formally nominated Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani to be the new Iraqi prime minister, Iraqi state media reported Monday. 

"Today, the leaders of the Shia framework met in positive conditions and they unanimously agreed to nominate Mr Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani for the [Iraqi] premiership," read a statement released by the Coordination Framework. 

Al-Sudani, 52, is a Shia Iraqi lawmaker from the south-eastern Maysan Governorate. He has a Bachelor's degree in agricultural sciences. He has held several posts and ministerial portfolios in the Iraqi government, including the governor of Maysan, the minister of human rights in 2010, and the minister of labour and social affairs in 2014.   


Doesn't that end the stalemate?  No.  As ARAB WEEKLY notes:

The attention of Iraqis has shifted to the disagreement between Kurdish forces over the nomination of the country’s next president, after the Shia camp within the Coordinating Framework managed to reach an agreement on the selection of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani as its nominee for prime minister.

Iraqi political analysts say that the approach of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) could scupper any deal with The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) to agree on a nominee for the presidency because the KDP is not looking for a compromise with the PUK and continues to pressure the pro-Iran Shia political alliance, the Coordination Framework in a way that some descibe as an "attempt at blackmail"...


You can't jump to the prime minister.  A prime minister-designate is named by the president.  Once named, the designate has 30 days to form a Cabinet which is the test that proves the designate is up to the job and, if so, can move from prime minister designate to prime minister.

By custom, the president is a Kurd.

The forming of a Cabinet in 30 days has never really been held and that's why Iraq's governments have been in disarray from the start.

So what might be considered is how much does the Constitution have to be followed?

The Constitution is clear that a president is elected and the president's first job is to then name a prime minister-designate.  Could Iraq use the existing president to name a prime minister-designate?  It probably could attempt to but doing so would make the KDP angry and probably lose their votes.

Another step around the impasse?

The Coordinating Framework could nominate, in front of Parliament, a person for the presidency.  By custom, it would need to be a Kurd and it would need to be someone popular enough to get the votes.  There is no rule in the Constitution that says the PUK and the KDP get to work out who the president of Iraq is.  They can be bypassed.  But you're going to need a very popular nominee to do that. 

So, at present, the political stalemate continues.


We'll wind down with this:


I need you to take action on the Equal Rights Amendment today, Common Ills.

The Equal Rights Amendment prohibits discrimination based on sex. Given the devastating Supreme Court decision to repeal Roe in late June, it is even more obvious that the ERA is needed more than ever.

We MUST act now to enshrine the ERA in the US Constitution.

Tell your Representative
you support House Res. 891

The US House has already removed the original time limit set on the ERA. Now the House is in the process of advancing House Res. 891, which expresses the sense of the House that the ERA to the US Constitution is valid. This means that the ERA has already been ratified.

The wording of House Res. 891 was intentionally modeled after language used to confirm the validity of the very important 14th Amendment and it’s Equal Protection Clause.

179 members of the House have already signed on to the resolution as co-sponsors. We need 218 total co-sponsors, the majority of the House, to sign on to House Res. 891. That has to happen as quickly as possible. To do that we need your help.

Your job is easy! We need you to urge your Representative who is pro ERA to become a co-sponsor of this historic House Res. 891. As well, please ask your Representative to urge other members of the House to become a co-sponsor of House Res. 891. To show its importance, Speaker Pelosi has become the leading cosponsor, along with chief co-sponsors Jackie Speier and Carolyn Maloney.

Tell your Representative
you support House Res. 891

We can do this!

Photo of Eleanor Smeal, President

Ellie Smeal

P.S. Please help be a part of this historic moment by reaching out to your Representative today!



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Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Keshia Geter

Here's some news out of South Carolina:


A South Carolina family wants to spread a message they find very important to the community: No one deserves to be killed for who they are.

 Days after 26-year-old Keshia Geter, of Eastover, was found shot to death at the Knights Inn Hotel on Boy Scout Road in Georgia, her family is raising awareness of the legacy she has left behind.

 [. . .]

The Richmond County Sheriff's Office responded to the Knights Inn on Boy Scout Road after reports of an unresponsive person at 10:28 a.m. ETD on July 20. That person was Geter, who had been shot at least once, according to officials.

"This senseless killing doesn’t make sense," Jordan added.

On July 21, the Richmond County Sheriff's Office arrested Jaquarie Allen, 22, in connection with the murder of Geter.

Allen is being charged with murder, as well as possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, in connection with Geter’s death.

Geter’s passing is another devastating loss for her tight-knit family. Shante Bethel is Geter’s cousin. She was already grappling with losing her 18-year-old son Carlos Bethel to gun violence in August 2019. Bethel opened Fab'Los Boutique at Dutch Square Center, and published "PUSH: Pray Until Something Happens" through the Pain of Losing Los'" to cope with the tragedies.

 

 She was very pretty.  It's so disgusting that there are people out there who thinks it's okay to kill someone because they're transgendered or gay or whatever.  How much hate has that person been raised with that they think this is okay.


Human Rights Watch notes:


Keshia Chanel Geter was an inspiration to others and an advocate in the LGBTQ+ community. She loved her family, and loved ones remember Keshia as “a light that shined brighter than most.” Keshia, a 26-year-old Black transgender woman, was shot and killed in Augusta, Georgia on July 20. Keshia’s death is at least the 21st violent killing of a transgender or gender non-conforming person in 2022. We say “at least” because too often these deaths go unreported — or misreported.

Keshia Chanel Geter lived her truth as a Black transgender woman. She should still be alive today to embrace those she loved and continue living a bright and full life. Instead, Keshia was fatally shot and then suffered the indignity of being misgendered by the media. We demand that more be done to protect Black transgender women so we can live our lives fully without violence, harassment or discrimination. It’s about respect and honor – treating everyone the way you would want to be treated.”

Tori Cooper, Human Rights Campaign Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative

Keshia’s mother, Michelle Jordan, said on social media that “no one should ever take somebody’s life because of what they are.”

Keshia was from Eastover, South Carolina. She was shot and killed outside the Knights Inn on July 20 in Augusta, GA, where she was traveling with her friend. The Richmond County Coroner Mark Bowen ruled her death a homicide, sparking an investigation by local deputies. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office said its Criminal Investigation Division is working on the case and a suspect has been arrested.

Tragically, interpersonal violence accounts for a significant number of fatalities against transgender and gender non-conforming people. A report by the HRC Foundation, “An Epidemic of Violence 2021,” found that between 2013 and 2021, approximately two-thirds of transgender and gender non-conforming people with known killers had their lives taken by an acquaintance, friend, family member or intimate partner. Intimate partners specifically accounted for over a fifth (21%) of all known perpetrators – and it is likely this may even be an undercount. To date, the relationship of the victim to the killer is still unknown for a plurality (43%) of all identified cases of fatal violence.

Additionally, according to the 2015 United States Transgender Survey, 54% of transgender and non-binary people have experienced some form of intimate partner violence in their life. Last year, HRC released a report, titled “LGBTQ Intimate Partner Violence and COVID-19,” that details the increased risk of interpersonal violence faced by LGBTQ+ people which has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 10,000 hate crimes in the U.S. involve a firearm each year, which equates to more than 28 each day, according to a 2020 report from HRC, Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, Giffords Law Center and Equality Florida titled “Remembering and Honoring Pulse: Anti-LGBTQ Bias and Guns Are Taking Lives of Countless LGBTQ People.” The report also notes a marked increase in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes, especially against transgender people. According to the 2017-2022 Transgender Homicide Tracker, three quarters (73%) of all confirmed homicides against transgender people have involved a gun, with Black transgender women accounting for 73% of all transgender gun homicide victims.

In an injustice compounding this tragedy, Keshia Chanel Geter was misgendered in some media and police reports. Anti-transgender stigma is exacerbated by callous or disrespectful treatment by some in the media, law enforcement and elected offices. According to HRC research, it is estimated that approximately three-quarters of all known transgender homicide victims were misgendered by the media and/or by law enforcement. In the pursuit of greater accuracy and respect, HRC offers guidelines for journalists and others who report on transgender people. HRC, Media Matters and the Trans Journalists Association have also partnered on an FAQ for reporters writing about anti-trans violence.

At the state level, transgender and gender non-conforming people in Georgia are not explicitly protected in state laws prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing, education and public spaces. Georgia’s hate crimes law includes sexual orientation but does not explicitly cover gender identity. Though we have recently seen some political gains that support and affirm transgender people, we have also faced anti-LGBTQ+ attacks at many levels of government this year. As of this writing, more than 270 anti-LGBTQ+ bills are under consideration in state legislatures across the country, more than 110 of which directly target transgender people.

We must demand better from our elected officials and reject harmful anti-transgender legislation at the local, state and federal levels, while also considering every possible way to make ending this violence a reality. It is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, especially Black transgender women. The intersections of racism, transphobia, sexism, biphobia and homophobia conspire to deprive them of necessities to live and thrive, so we must all work together to cultivate acceptance, reject hate and end stigma for everyone in the trans and gender non-conforming community.


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

 

Tuesday, July 26, 2022.  Two bigots and bullies in Congress attack a Canadian online, there is no medical plan to address COVID in the US, Iraq announces a nominee for prime minister-designate (we're not even to the point of them having a prime minister-designate yet) and Turkey continues to deny attacking Iraq.


Starting with Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Ugos Against (and jealous of) Drag Queens" which went up last night.


 US House Reps Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert are an international embarrassment.  The two hags decided to attack a man because he's gay.  The man's Canadian, doesn't live in the US but they wanted to spew hatred.   What they're doing is hate speech and in the US that's embarrassing.  However, our northern neighbor that we share a border with?  Well Canada has criminalized hate speech.  So the two hags aren't just being bitches, they're being potential criminals in the eyes of Canada.  There was no reason for the hags to pick on the man.  Now they should have the curse they deserve which is they should reap what they sow, they should have the life they truly deserve -- never ending misery.  May karma get them both.  


I don't understand why Congress has an ethics review board if nonsense like this takes place.  The two hags engaged in online bullying.  Supposedly, that's something that's not supposed to happen.  The man did nothing to them and they are encouraging attacks on him.  


The hags are members of Congress.  


How is this considered appropriate behavior?


From sick minds to sickness, US President Joe Biden has COVID 19.  Benjamin Mateus (WSWS) reports:


At yesterday’s White House COVID-19 press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declared, “As we have said, almost everyone is going to get COVID and because of the hard work we have done since day one turning around the disjointed COVID response we had inherited, we have the tools to ensure that people can go about their daily life and work.”

Biden’s spokewoman then added, “The president is fully vaccinated, twice boosted, and taking Paxlovid. His current health speaks to how Americans should avail themselves to boosters and treatments.”

This is a remarkable admission in that it explicitly states that the Biden administration has washed its hands of any attempt to stem a pandemic that has already killed a million people in America and 20 million around the world. “Everyone is going to get COVID” should be read as a statement of intent. It confirms that a policy of mass infection, mass death and mass murder is the agenda of the US president and the ruling class for which he speaks.

Hospitalizations and deaths continue to climb as BA.5’s dominance grows. Nearly 450 people are dying every day from COVID-19. This translates to 164,000 a year, five times the average killed by influenza and a toll that would have been considered inconceivable before the beginning of the pandemic. And this does not take into account the predictions by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of another massive surge of infections this fall and winter.

Beyond the immediate death toll, one in five of those who are infected and survive will experience Long COVID, and a third of these can suffer from debilitating disease. Yet, with $1.3 billion given to the NIH (National Institutes of Health) to study the Post-Acute COVID Syndrome (the formal title of Long COVID), there is not a single therapeutic trial up and running. The press secretary was not asked about this and would have had nothing to say.

Meanwhile, study after study has documented that even mild COVID-19 infections can accelerate the aging process in adults and children. Allowing everyone to get infected means a generation of children and teenagers who will be deliberately crippled even before they have ventured into the world on their own.  

Hospitals across the country are facing drastic and unprecedented staffing shortages, which are further compounding worker burnout. Infections and reinfections are causing health care workers to fall sick and forcing them to choose between staying home to care for themselves or coming in to work and infecting their patients. Many hospitals are considering eliminating routine COVID-19 testing to cut wait times in overcrowded emergency rooms. 



Moving on to Iraq, The attack by the Turkish government last week remains in the news.  Of course, the government of Turkey denies the attack.   The same way the government of Turkey denies the historic Armenian genocide.  Iraq lodged a complaint with the United Nations Security Council and they want the council to hold a session addressing the attack.  That session is supposed to take place today.  In the meantime,  ASHARQ AL-AWSAT reports:


The United Nations Security Council condemned in the strongest terms on Monday the attack on a tourist resort in Iraq’s northern Dohuk province on July 20.


The attack resulted in at least nine civilian deaths, including children.


The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and to the Iraqi government and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, wished a speedy and full recovery to those who were injured, and expressed their support for the Iraqi authorities in their investigations, read a statement. 


PRESS TV notes:


The statement comes as Baghdad has filed a complaint against Turkey at the UNSC, requesting an urgent session to discuss the deadly artillery attack that Baghdad blames on Turkey, the Iraqi foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The ministry spokesman Ahmad al-Sahaf said Iraq's chargé d'affaires had been recalled from Ankara in the wake of the attack. Iraq's parliament also held a special session Saturday, with lawmakers deciding to form a committee to investigate the matter further.

Authorities in Iraq insist that the attack was carried out by Turkish forces, holding them directly responsible for the deaths and injuries of Iraqi civilians. Ankara has attributed the attack to members of the PKK terrorist group.


THE NATIONAL spoke to some of the survivors of the attack:


The National spoke to two families who lost two members, one an 11-month-old baby and the other a 24-year-old woman.

Some of the victims were from the city of Hilla, located in central Babylon province.

Durgham lost his first and only baby daughter, Zahraa.

“You can see me alive, but I am like a dead body,” he told The National.

“My daughter was less than a year old, the family and I were waiting and preparing for her birthday party, so, what kind of life would we live after this big loss?” he asked.

“I cannot forget her image, her voice while playing at home, or even the last phone call with her when she can only say: ‘Baba’”, he said.

“I had not seen my daughter since she went with my family to Kurdistan, she was killed with the same clothes she wore at home”.


Alex MacDonald Tweets:


"Turkey’s operations in Iraq have continued for years and claimed civilian lives before. The casualties were largely met with silence since they were mostly local villagers, while the latest victims were tourists from other parts of Iraq."
al-monitor.com
Tourist massacre marks turning point in Turkish-Iraqi ties
Iraq’s major political actors have all condemned Turkey over a deadly attack on a tourist site in what many believe signal a major downturn in bilateral ties.
5:32 AM · Jul 26, 2022


Mina Aldroubi (THE NATIONAL) notes, "In 2016, Turkey established a permanent military presence in Bashiqa, about 75 kilometres from Dohuk."  Turkey now has at least five military bases in Iraq, they have ground troops in the country and they attack with War Planes and drones.  All of this takes place in violation of Iraq's national sovereignty and all of these actions amount to acts of war carried out by the government of Turkey against Iraq.


Fehim Tastekin (AL-MONITOR) offers:

A 1984 protocol that allowed Turkish troops to pursue militants to a depth of five kilometers (three miles) inside Iraq and required them to pull out within 72 hours ended in 1988, when the two sides failed to renew it. Such an arrangement would have become irrelevant anyway, given the extensive web of Turkish military bases, outposts and checkpoints inside Iraq today as well as repeated air raids as far as in Sinjar and Mahkmour, lying respectively 160 kilometers (99 miles) and 218 kilometers (135 miles) from the border. Ankara has cited the UN Charter’s Article 51 on self-defense to justify its cross-border operations since 2017.

There is growing apprehension that Turkey’s actions amount to an expanding occupation. Statements coming from Ankara have not helped allay such fears. Presidential adviser Ayhan Ogan, for instance, warned July 21 that “if Turkey’s security concerns are ignored and, moreover, provoked, Turkey would create a new security belt all the way from Aleppo to Mosul.” Such a perspective points to an integrated approach on Ankara’s plan for a 30-kilometer-deep safe zone in northern Syria and its actions in northern Iraq.


 

Najah  Mohammed Ali (INTERNATIONAL POLICY DIGEST) observes:

Erdogan has taken advantage of the escalating tensions between Moscow and Western capitals over the conflict in Ukraine, to ensure the West remains silent over its escalating military operations in northern Iraq as it prepares to send its forces into neighboring Syria to target the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a group that Ankara considers an offshoot of the PKK, while the United States considers it a strong ally.

It is speculated that Turkey, which is a member of NATO, agreed to the accession of Finland and Sweden on the condition that NATO looks the other way as Turkey launches renewed attacks against PKK militants.

Since the parliamentary elections in October last year, Iraqi political parties have entered into a fierce competition to form a new government. With continued political dysfunction, sectarian conflict and institutional corruption, the attempt to push back against renewed Turkish operations against PKK militants could be in vain before the formation of a strong central government. Until a permanent government is formed, Iraqi sovereignty will be viewed as malleable.


A permanent government?  Back in October, Iraq held elections.  The country still doesn't have a new prime minister or president.  However, there is some movement on the political front.  THE NEW ARAB reports:


The Coordination Framework, an umbrella parliamentary bloc including all Iran-backed Shia factions, formally nominated Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani to be the new Iraqi prime minister, Iraqi state media reported Monday. 

"Today, the leaders of the Shia framework met in positive conditions and they unanimously agreed to nominate Mr Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani for the [Iraqi] premiership," read a statement released by the Coordination Framework. 

Al-Sudani, 52, is a Shia Iraqi lawmaker from the south-eastern Maysan Governorate. He has a Bachelor's degree in agricultural sciences. He has held several posts and ministerial portfolios in the Iraqi government, including the governor of Maysan, the minister of human rights in 2010, and the minister of labour and social affairs in 2014.  




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