Iraqi Journalist's Death Sends a Warning "To Whomever Listens"

By Lt. Colonel James Zumwalt, USMC (ret)

 

Hadi al-Mahdi, who was shot dead on September 8th.

 

He was home alone. According to the ominous entry on his Facebook page reporting his life was in danger, it was approximately 2:30 pm. He was right—he had but minutes to live. An Iraqi journalist,  Hadi al-Mahdi hosted a three-day-a-week radio program—“To Whomever Listens”—on which he voiced concerns that the fear and intimidation so much a signature of Saddam Hussein’s regime was returning under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s. Soon after Mahdi’s last Facebook entry, there was a knock on his door. He apparently recognized his visitor(s), inviting him/them into his house. He went into the kitchen to pour water for his guest(s). As he did so, someone came up behind him. The last sound Mahdi would hear in this life was the report of a small handgun as two bullets were fired into the back of his head. He fell to the floor, still clutching the water jug in his hand. His last worldly act of kindness towards a guest in his home was reciprocated with a cowardly, violent act to silence the journalist forever.

 

It was a bitterly ironic end for Mahdi as he always sought to preserve life and avoid violence, even by those supporting the concerns he voiced over the radio. In February, riots erupted in Baghdad over widespread corruption and lack of services. Demonstrators began throwing rocks at police who attacked them. Mahdi led an effort to form a human chain, interlocking arms with one another, to separate the two groups and restore calm. For his peaceful efforts, he was arrested, blindfolded, interrogated, tortured and threatened with rape. He was forced to sign a criminal confession and to agree not to participate in future demonstrations. 

 

Released the next day, Mahdi continued organizing and participating in weekly protests to focus the al-Maliki government on issues of social inequality. For these efforts, he began receiving numerous warnings, followed by threats. Despite these, he organized a major protest for the end of Ramadan, to take place on September 9.     

 

Mahdi’s last Facebook entry reveals his fear and frustration as well as his determination to give power to the people:

 

“Enough ... I have lived the last three days in a state of terror. There are some who call me and warn me of raids and arrests of protesters…I will take part in the demonstrations, for I am one of its supporters. I firmly believe that the political process embodies a national, economic, and political failure. It deserves to change, and we deserve a better government…I do not represent any political party or any other side, but rather the miserable reality in which we live. ... I am sick of seeing our mothers beg in the streets and I am sick of news of politicians’ gluttony and of their looting of Iraq's riches.”

 

Mahdi was murdered September 8, the day before the demonstration he helped organize took place.

 

Iraq is proving to be one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist. A 2010 UN report indicated within a four year period, 77 journalists lost their lives while countless others were threatened or attacked. While some simply were in the wrong place at the wrong time, a concerted effort is now underway to silence those seeking to awaken the Iraqi people to groups trying to maximize their control at the expense of minimizing the freedoms of the people.

 

Another journalistic critic of the Maliki government, Emad al-Ebadi, suffered a violent attack in 2009. Despite three gunshots to the head and a fourth to the neck by unknown attackers, he miraculously survived the attempt on his life. 

 

Each time a journalist has been attacked or killed, a call has gone out for an investigation. However, just like in countries, such as Russia, where powerful people seek to murder their journalistic critics, the calls for investigation go unheeded or are undertaken without any intention of solving the crime.

 

Three groups benefit from Mahdi’s death and should be targeted for investigation. Interestingly, all share a common bond—Iran.

 

First, Maliki and his supporters should be investigated as possible suspects. As the Prime Minister looks to solidify his control, the last thing he needs are independent journalists spotlighting his lack of interest in the welfare of the Iraqi people. Stirring up social unrest with protests such as the one scheduled for September 9 ran contrary to Maliki’s interests.

 

Second, Tehran is not above suspicion. As the withdrawal date of all US forces from Iraq draws near, Maliki has drawn closer to Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He has unabashedly become his puppet for ridding Tehran of an Iranian opposition group—the MEK—residing at Camp Ashraf in Iraq. Despite the fact MEK was disarmed by US forces in 2003, Maliki has launched several unprovoked attacks against the Camp, murdering dozens of Iranians. As majority-Shia Iran seeks to dominate majority-Shia Iraq through Maliki, any journalistic attacks against the Prime Minister run contrary to this interest. Special units of Iran’s paramilitary Qods force operate freely in Iraq, affording them the opportunity to coordinate such assassinations.

 

Third, also suspect is one of the most influential religious and political leaders in Iraq—Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr (the name “Sayyid” indicating he is a direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad). He is not a stranger to murder. Ever since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, al-Sadr has demanded the withdrawal of all foreign troops, organizing a militia force that violently sought to achieve this end. After promoting instability in Iraq, al-Sadr suddenly departed for Iran in 2007. Allegedly, this was due to a lack of formal religious training and the opportunity to pursue same to “earn his wings” as an Ayatollah. However, a possible criminal prosecution also provided motivation for his four-year hiatus that followed. 

 

In April 2003, Imam Abdul Majid al-Khoei—a moderate Islamic leader who sought to mediate a sensitive issue involving control of the shrine of Imam Ali—was attacked by al-Sadr supporters. Bloodied and semi-conscious, he was dragged before al-Sadr who directed the mob execute him. They did. An arrest warrant was issued for al-Sadr and his lieutenants by an Iraqi judge in April 2004, only to be sealed by the Coalition Provisional Authority—undoubtedly as enticement for al-Sadr to lower his profile.  As al-Sadr later became active again in stirring up violence, he felt more secure directing it from the safe haven provided by Iran. 

 

In January 2011, with US influence waning in Iraq, al-Sadr returned again to ensure a complete US withdrawal by year’s end. He claims he wants foreign forces out and an “Islamic democracy,” similar to Iran’s, established. As we saw with Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei who made the same claim 32 years ago as he sought to replace Iran’s Shah, Islamic “democracy” is code for “theocracy.” Al-Sadr has been called “the single greatest threat to US military and economic control of Iraq.” As such, al-Sadr had no use for journalists such as Mahdi who sought to maximize the rights of the people at the expense of minimizing authoritarian control.

 

Next month, in Washington DC, a memorial will be dedicated to honor an American hero, Dr. Martin Luther King, who embraced nonviolent resistance in the 20^th century fight he led for social equality. Like Mahdi, King had a dream “to make justice a reality to all of God’s children.” Like Mahdi, King’s nonviolent push for equality met with an act of cowardly violence when he was gunned down in 1968. Perhaps the future holds a memorial dedication in Baghdad to honor Hadi al-Mahdi—a martyred hero who embraced nonviolent resistance in the 21^st century fight he led for social equality. If so, it will be despite the violent efforts of Al-Maliki, Ahmadinejad and al-Sadr to ensure such a day never happens.  

 

Like the title of his radio program, Mahdi’s life and death sends an important warning “To Whomever Listens.”

 

 

Family Security Matters Contributing Editor Lt. Colonel James G. Zumwalt, USMC (ret) is a retired Marine infantry officer who served in the Vietnam War, the US invasion of Panama and the first Gulf war.  He is the author of “Bare Feet, Iron Will–Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam’s Battlefields” and frequently writes on foreign policy and defense issues.

A Diverse Opinion About Diversity

By Burt Prelutsky

Recently, I heard from a guy who claimed that squirrel tasted just like chicken. Some days, I swear, I get the idea that everything's supposed to taste like chicken. But it brought home the fact that what we eat, as well as what we think, is often more a matter of geography than of anything else. Frankly, I wouldn't care if it tasted like chocolate ice cream, I've never had squirrel on my plate and I aim to keep it that way. As with frogs and snakes, there are some things I regard as food and some things I'd prefer not to think about at all. And that's how I want to keep it.

So it will probably come as no surprise that I am not a champion of diversity even though I am aware that the word, itself, has taken on sacred qualities in certain quarters, along with such words as liberal, progressive and Obama. Leftists mainly enjoy using the word as a club with which to bash conservatives over the head. Suggest that you believe that America's traditional values and culture trump those of other countries, and you can expect to get whacked.

For a couple of hundred years, foreigners have been flocking to the shores of this most welcoming of nations. They would bring along their art and music along with their cuisine, but they adapted their ways in order that their children and their children's children would acclimate and be full-fledged Americans. There was a reason, after all, that America was nicknamed the Great Melting Pot.

But somewhere along the way, there was a sea change. Now we have that oddest of strange creatures known as the dual citizen and we have millions of people living here who apparently have no particular loyalty to this country and are being encouraged to retain their own language and their old ways. "Press one for Spanish, two for English" has become commonplace. Teenagers who have never even set foot in Mexico, Salvador and Guatemala, demonstrate in our streets while carrying foreign flags, and we're all supposed to respect them or be labeled as bigots and xenophobes.

American citizens who are being taxed to death to support illegal aliens are called racists if they object to footing the bill for health care and education for millions of freeloading ingrates who insist they're only reclaiming land that is rightfully theirs.

On top of all that, our kids are being brainwashed in their schools into accepting that the only truly evil society on the face of the earth isn't North Korea, Iran, China or Syria, but their own. They're taught to accept that Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah, aren't gangs of butchers and terrorists, but simply freedom fighters. They are carefully taught that Christian and Jewish symbols and traditions are oppressive, but that they mustn't be judgmental when it comes to burkas, beheadings and female mutilation.

By their lights, tolerance is the greatest of all virtues, but only so long as it's not tolerance of anything American.

I accept that our ways wouldn't suit everyone in the world. In some places, after all, cock fights and bullfights are the norm, just as the execution of homosexuals in Iran, the sublimation of women in Saudi Arabia and the eating of dogs in parts of Southeast Asia are apparently part of their disgusting cultures. So while I may not approve of these loathsome activities, I figure they can do what they like, so long as they stay where they are. In fact, staying where they are strikes me as being one hell of an idea.

Read more excellent articles at The Patriot Post.US

Changing Sides?

Arabs and Israelis standing together against a common threat?!!
Is it a possibility?

* * *

Recent events are moving quickly. Here's a current assessment from the Asia Times Online:

    The great chess game of the Middle East
    Aug 28, 2010

    it is hard to avoid the fact that despite all threats on the Jewish state, Israel profits to a certain extent from Iran's belligerent posture.

    . . . "The countries of the Arabian Peninsula are infinitely more interested in the threat from Iran than in the existence of Israel and, indeed, see Israel as one of the buttresses against Iran."

    For the first time since its creation, Israel finds itself in the same camp as many Arab states, and for better or for worse, having a common enemy is perhaps the best way to make friends in the Middle East.-more

And a "hot off the press" news item just reported by the Palestinian Maan News Agency.

    Egypt: 3rd weapons cache found in 48 hours
    Aug 29, 2010
    Al-Arish– Ma'an
    – Egyptian State Security discovered a third weapons storehouse within 48 hours on Tuesday, security sources said.

    Egyptian forces were informed that smugglers were attempting to transfer explosives and weapons to a storehouse in the Sinai peninsula, sources told Ma'an.

    Forces raided the area south of the Al-Arish port city and discovered 65 anti-aircraft missiles, 35 anti-tank missiles, as well as large quantities or ammunition, the sources added.

    Egyptian security forces said they discovered weapons and explosives on Monday, hidden in the border city of Rafah, prepared for smuggling into Gaza through tunnels.

    Security sources told Ma'an that Egyptian forces raided a cemetery in Rafah, 3 kilometers from the Gaza border, and found a weapons cache including anti-tank land mines.

    A second weapons store was found in the Al-Ahrash border area, which included machine guns and ammunition, also prepared for smuggling into Gaza, sources said. -more

Your thoughts?

In the Oval Office

The Obama administration has managed to alienate America's friends without picking up any new allies. Most intriguing is his loss of popularity on the Arab Street and in the Muslim world. According to a report published three days ago by the Christian Science Monitor:

New poll: angry at US, Arabs support an Iran nuclear bomb
A majority of Arabs said it would be a positive development if the Iran nuclear program built a bomb – a first in the Arab Public Opinion Poll. Pollsters say it's part of an anti-US Arab backlash.

By Howard LaFranchi, Staff writer / August 6, 2010
Washington

"A new poll of Arab opinion finds that for the first time a majority of the public across the region – including a sizable minority in Saudi Arabia – believes a nuclear-armed Iran would be a positive development in the Middle East.

The portion of the Arab population thinking that way has doubled since a similar survey a year ago, in part because of huge majorities this year in Egypt and Morocco. Egypt, which makes up a quarter of the Arab world, was not in last year’s survey.

The findings, however, say less about a change in Arab opinions of Iran than they do about a change in opinions about another country, say the organizers of the 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll: Arabs have soured on the United States of Barack Obama." -more

* * * Your thoughts?

Read more Great ToonLogs at Dry Bones by Yaakov Kirschen

Assessment

Today's cartoon can be seen as a serious assessment of the situation ...or as a blatant grab for a laugh. Personally, I find it funny, which explains the joke-telling expression on the face of the guy delivering the punchline in the last panel.
And your assessment of the Obama administration's record so far would be?

What Did It Say?

What did it say?

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls Rush Limbaugh and tells him, "Rush, I had a wonderful dream last night. I could see America, the whole country, and on each house I saw a banner."

"What did it say on the banners?" Rush asks.

Mahmoud replies, "UNITED STATES OF IRAN."

Rush says, "You know, Mahmoud, I am really happy you called, because believe it or not, last night I had a similar dream. I could see all of Tehran, and it was more beautiful than ever, and on each house flew an enormous banner."

"What did it say on the banners?" Mahmoud asks.

Rush replies, "I don't know. I can't read Hebrew."

What pirates can expect

And now for cartoons

More Cartoon Humor at Patriot Humor
Read more great articles at The Patriot Post.US