After the Kosgama explosions

by Izeth Hussain

( June 11, 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It has to be expected that after the Kosgama explosions most Sri Lankans will wonder whether the fell hand of the LTTE was behind them. That might be irresponsible speculation, but not if it is seen in the perspective of what was revealed, prior to the explosions, in the US State Department’s annual Report on terrorism. The crucially significant detail is that the LTTE has continued to get funds from its supporters in the West and elsewhere and has used those funds to purchase weapons. It reported also that LTTE members had been arrested in Malaysia in connection with plotted terrorist activity against the US and Israel in South India. We can assume, however, that the major objective behind the LTTE purchase of weapons would be for possible action in Sri Lanka.

Even if it turns out that the LTTE had absolutely nothing to do with the Kosgama explosions, we still have to consider the significance of those weapons purchases. A possible reason could arise out of the prevailing expectation of an agreement between the Government and the TNA about a political solution. If that materializes, the LTTE could leave behind a very horrible record for posterity: it could come to be seen as the greatest disaster that befell the Tamil people in their millennial history.

First of all, let us consider the credit side of its record. Discrimination against the Tamils reached its apogee with standardization of university entrance in 1971, and State terrorism sank to its worst abysmal depth in 1983. Tamils were burnt alive in the streets of Colombo with total impunity, a demonstration that they could be treated as worse than pariah dogs. When President JR addressed the nation, five days after the commencement of the riots, he horrified the rest of the world by striking a triumphalist note. The Tamils were put in the position of having to fight to affirm their humanity. The LTTE did so on behalf of the Tamils, and put up a performance as a guerilla force that was beyond comparison. That is how most of the rest of the world outside Sri Lanka sees that performance, while not approving of the quest for Eelam.

The debit side of the record began in 1994 with the LTTE rejecting every offer of a political solution, including an offer of federalism. It made the international efforts at mediation look farcical. On the military plane, it swallowed whole the myth of its own invincibility and sank to total defeat in 2009. The death tally was horribly disproportionate: 25,000 on the Sinhalese side and 75,000 on the Tamil side. During the period 2006 to 2009 it was seen that that though the LTTE had enormous prowess on the battle-field it had failed to understand that it could not win a conventional war against the Sri Lankan armed forces. The essential conditions for successful guerilla warfare were not available to it. After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, South India was no longer available as its hinterland, and the terrain for hit-and-run guerilla warfare was too limited in Sri Lanka, so that it found itself compelled prematurely to fight a conventional war that it could not possibly win. The myth of invincibility – the LTTE’s hubris – was behind its final military failure.

By 2009 the image of the LTTE was far distant from that of a liberating national movement. It had more than a savage streak for that, a savagery shown both towards the non-Tamils and the Tamils. There was for instance the killing of 600 policemen who had surrendered. There was also the expulsion of around 80,000 Muslims from the North, which has been classified as the only act of genocide in the quarter century war. It may be that some Muslims were engaged in espionage as alleged by the LTTE. But why was it necessary to expel 80,000 inclusive of women and children, at the notice of less than 24 hours, and with not much more than the clothes on their backs? More than a touch of savagery is indicated there. It is known that LTTE rule over the Tamils who were at their mercy was absolute and brutal. It is not just that child soldiers were used by the LTTE: the greater horror is that many were kidnapped and forcibly conscripted against the wishes of the parents. I wonder whether there is any parallel in history to the LTTE using around 330,000 fellow Tamils as human shields in the final days of the war. Now details are coming out about instructions given to LTTE cadres to shoot fleeing Tamils on their legs.

So, the LTTE which – for its devotees – began with the image of noble and courageous fighters for justice for an oppressed people ended the war with the image of gory savages who brought unparalleled disaster for that people. It would be understandable therefore if it now wants to redeem its image to the extent that might be possible, and that the weapons purchases have something to do with that. What might be its program? I think that it can be ruled out that the LTTE is so foolhardy as to start another war for Eelam. Its program – assuming for the moment that there is one – could have something to do with the core problem for the hard-line Tamils: to get not just fair and equal treatment for the Tamils but a very wide measure of devolution amounting to a confederal arrangement in lieu of Eelam. That is not something on which a Government in Colombo can ever be expected to deliver. Perhaps the LTTE wants to show – by engaging in hit-and-run destructive forays – that the alternative to a confederal arrangement might be too costly. We have to speculate because we have to try to make sense of the LTTE weapons purchases – while hoping that it’s a temporary aberration with no great significance for the future.

In recent articles I have been stressing the crucial importance of the international dimension of the ethnic problem, in which connection I have argued that Tamil Nadu is the core factor. I must make some clarifications as my argument could be misunderstood. Firstly, it is cold sober undeniable fact that we don’t have a purely indigenous Tamil ethnic problem. If there were no Tamils in Tamil Nadu, if there were no fall-out there from what is done to the Tamils here, there would be no Tamil ethnic problem that concerns the international community. Tamil Nadu is therefore the core problem in that factual sense. 

Secondly, Tamil Nadu can be more sympathetic towards our Tamils than Delhi because of commonalities of religion, language, and culture. Thirdly – and this is the crucial point – that does not mean that Tamil Nadu will go along with our Tamils on everything. The reason is that the two groups of Tamils are distinct, not identical, which means that their interests may not coincide at every point. I first argued the third point in a seminar paper presented sometime around 1990 – the first attempt at a systematic analysis of the Tamil Nadu factor in our Tamil ethnic problem. I believe that my argument was substantiated by developments after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, and I believe that it remains valid today. I don’t therefore anticipate really substantial support from Tamil Nadu for a recrudescence of violent LTTE militancy. The support from the rest of the international community will be even less. But to ensure that our Governments must be seen to be giving fair and equal treatment to the minorities.

How judges Thilina and Kanishka went whore hunting after drinking orgies abroad at public expense !

-Justice should be meted out to elephants not elephant rogues!

(Lanka-e-News -11.June.2016, 1.10PM) Bosom pals ,robber judge Thiina Gamage the elephant rogue who robbed elephant , and Kanishka Wijeratne the judge who robbed justice wholesale shamelessly despite being a judge to disgrace the courts and the bench by giving a lopsided verdict recently to save the former , have been going  abroad at the expense of pubic funds   saying they are attending a conference , but in fact spent their time abroad on drinking and sex orgies while enjoying with whores, based on reports reaching Lanka e news.

Some years ago, Thilina and Kanishka have attended a judges conference on intellectual property laws in Malaysia along with senior judges .These two liquor bottle comrades of SL without attending the conference after excusing   themselves on the grounds that they have to attend a birthday party , have moved out from the hotel they were staying.

The birthday was that  of Poojitha Manawadu a scoundrel of an  officer  of the forces who died recently after a cross bar of a roof fell on him (retribution for the sins scoundrels  commit). 

The celebration was held in a  SL Temple in Malaysia. These two erring and sinning judges who attended the party after getting  drunk until they were almost unconscious have gone in such of a Malaysian whore .

Similarly , when they attended a conference in Singapore too, the expenses of which were met out of public funds  , these two judges without attending the conference have spent their time on drinking orgies and whore hunting.  

It is a pity SL as though does not have better judges has to depend for judicial decisions on debauched scoundrels  like Kanishka who instead of gracing are disgracing  the bench . No wonder this duo - the elephant rogue judge (the accused)  and the shamelessly erring judge got together to take the country and the judiciary for a ride through a verdict given in favor of the accused which was an absolute miscarriage of justice from all angles.

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by     (2016-06-11 07:44:44)

Rajapaksa Regime Gave Millions Worth Free Rides To Militant Buddhist Monks And Journalists

June 10, 2016

Abusing tax payer money the former Urban Development Minister Wimal Weerawansa gave millions of rupees worth of free rides to both militant Buddhist monks and Journalists.

Iththakande Saddhatissa Balaya | Photo courtesy Ishara Kodikara

The convener of the militant Buddhist monk brigade Ravana Balaya Iththakande Saddhatissahad been given three vehicles a month amounting to almost Rs 2 million a year, whilst prominent Irida Lankadeepa journalist Prasanna Sanjeewa Thennakoon of the Wijeya Group’s vehicle cost was over Rs 800,000. These figures only for 2014.

These facts were revealed by Minister of Telecommunications and Digital InfrastructureHarin Fernando when the no confidence motion against Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake was been debated in parliament yesterday.

The militant Budhhist monk’s three vehicles were rented at a monthly cost of Rs 45,000 each with an annual fuel costing of Rs 386,742. On the other hand journalist Thennakoon’s monthly vehicle rental cost was Rs 38,000 with an annual fuel cost of Rs 373,253 being paid by the Urban Development Authority.

Thennakoon

It is yet to be established as to on what basis these vehicles were rented for both monk Iththakande Saddhatissa and Wijeya Group journalist Thennakoon, as they have no direct involvement with the Urban Development Ministry.

This revelation is contrary to the earlier audit report where it was stated that the militant monk Iththakande Saddhatissa was given only one vehicle.

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Fire breaks out at a factory in Pugoda



June 11, 2016

A fire has been reported at a factory in the Giridara area in Pugoda.

 Fire fighters are currently attempting to douse the flames with the help of army personnel while Security Forces Commander - West Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe has also arrived at the location.

 The cause for the fire is yet to be ascertained and there have been no reports of any casualties due to the fire, Ada Derana reporter said.  

Pavitra’s ex-secretary preyed on cultural centre!

 Jun 11, 2016

A sum of Rs. 10 million had been spent to build a cultural centre at Eheliyagoda, but the premises has now been overgrown with weeds, according to reports reaching Lanka News Web.

The contract to build the centre had been obtained without following the tender procedure by Nalinda Ratnayake, a former secretary of the then power and energy minister Pavitra Wanniarachchi, and another person by the name Semage.

Several attempts to contact the Eheliyagoda divisional secretariat over the phone in connection with this matter were unsuccessful.

After Tel Aviv attacks, Israel launches police-state crackdown

By Thomas Gaist -10 June 2016

The Israeli government deployed 600 additional combat troops to the West Bank Thursday, seizing on a shooting attack against the trendy Sarona market in Tel Aviv on the previous night to escalate its militarization drive and impose a package of police-state measures both inside Israel and in the Occupied Territories.

Hundreds of additional Israeli security forces will patrol Jerusalem beginning today. The government has revoked temporary internal passports for 83,000 Palestinians who sought to cross into Israeli sections of the city to visit relatives, including more than 200 relatives and associates of the suspected gunmen. On Thursday, Israeli courts imposed media bans on further coverage of the attack and its consequences.

In Yatta, the village of the alleged perpetrators of the Sarona attack, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has imposed a general blockade, preventing anyone from entering or leaving, and conducted house-to-house searches. The IDF is now preparing to demolish the family homes of the assailants.

“Life in the Yatta village won’t carry on as usual. A village that has terrorists leaving from its midst will pay the price,” Assistant Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan told media.

Responsibility for the bloodshed in Tel Aviv lies not with the villagers of Yatta, now facing harsh reprisals at the hands of the IDF, but with the Israeli state itself, which is responding to the immense crisis of Israeli society by escalating its decades-long oppression of the Palestinian people, and preparing for mass repression against the Israeli working class.

The shooting is the latest in a wave of violence provoked by the decision, handed down by then Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon in December, not to prosecute or even detain the perpetrators of a firebombing attack against a sleeping Palestinian family in the village of Kafr Duma, despite clear evidence of involvement by the extreme nationalist Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

The attacks launched by Palestinians angered over the government’s response have been seized upon by the Netanyahu regime to implement a brutal crackdown and advance its longstanding agenda of collapsing the Palestinian authority and imposing direct military rule by the IDF over the West Bank.

Ominously, the Sarona attacks are being characterized in US and Israeli media as a “major test” for newly appointed Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a fascistic demagogue with well known links to Israel’s ultra-nationalist milieu.

There can be little doubt that Lieberman, who assured media that he is “not going to settle for just talking,” aims to use the Sarona attacks to implement new and far-reaching repressions against the Palestinian and Israeli working class.

His rise to the highest civilian office within the US-funded Israeli military apparatus is a sharp expression of the ever more fascistic trajectory of Israeli politics, and was calculated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intimidate opposition throughout Israeli and Palestinian society.

In Israel, as in so many countries worldwide, extreme right figures are increasingly being welcomed onto the heights of power. The presidential candidacy of Donald Trump in the United States, the rise of the National Front in France and the ascension of Rodrigo Duterte to the Philippine presidency all give expressed to the same process.

The bourgeois establishment, faced with the growth of social inequality to levels not seen since the early 20th century, sees no other way of defending its privileges than the employment of the most vicious and degenerate social elements.

As the World Socialist Web Site noted in a July 2014 perspective, “The toxic crisis of Israeli society,” written on the occasion of the burning to death of a 16-year-old Palestinian boy, Muhammad Khdeir in East Jerusalem, by a gang of Israeli ultra-nationalists:

“There is a close connection between the violence being carried out by the Israeli government against the defenseless population in Gaza and the emergence of fascistic elements within Israel capable of such bestial crimes. These events are symptomatic of an immense social and political crisis within Israel itself. The unending and escalating repression of the Palestinian people requires the mobilization of the most reactionary forces.”

The pathological tendencies incubating within Israeli capitalism are so repugnant that they are openly commented upon by the more “liberal” figures within the Israeli establishment. Israeli Defense Forces General Yair Golan remarked in May that present day Israel increasingly resembles Germany during the years immediately prior to the Holocaust. Former Prime Minister and IDF Chief of Staff Ehud Barak described Lieberman’s appointment as “a red light for all of us regarding what’s going on in the government,” and warned that Netanyahu’s government is “infected by the seeds of fascism.”

These warning are accurate, but those making them have no solution to offer to the cancerous growth of fascistic forces in Israel and throughout world society. The drive toward openly dictatorial forms of rule and the mobilization of the far-right is the necessary outcome of the domination of society by capitalist oligarchies, a reality that is painfully evident in Israel, where a handful of billionaires rule by means of machine-gun checkpoints and endless miles of razor wire, as in every other country worldwide. Only through a unified movement of the Israeli, Palestinian and international working class, fighting for socialism on a world scale, can the return of fascism and the descent of society into barbarism be averted.

Russia Vows Countermeasures After US Vessel Enters Black Sea


Months after Russian jets responded to the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic, a US destroyer is now testing the waters of the Black Sea.

22:51 10.06.2016

On Monday, the guided-missile destroyer USS Porter entered the Black Sea to participate in bilateral military exercises as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.

© AFP 2016/ STR

USS Porter Enters Black Sea to Prepare for Combat - Expert

"The United States continues to demonstrate its commitment to the collective security of our NATO allies and support for our partners in Europe," reads a statement from the US Navy, adding that the ship’s operations are meant to "enhance maritime security and stability, readiness, and naval capability with our allies and partners."

The Russian government has criticized the presence of a US warship near its borders as a provocation and has vowed to take necessary countermeasures.

"American warships do enter the Black Sea now and then. Certainly, this does not meet with [Russia’s] approval and will undoubtedly lead to planning response measures," said Andrey Kelin, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s European Cooperation Department.

Kelin also expressed disapproval of the USS Harry S. Truman’s deployment to the Mediterranean, ahead of NATO’s Warsaw summit in July, a move he described as an obvious "show of power."

© AFP 2016/ VANO SHLAMOV

Real Deal? Nations in Pentagon Wargames Might Have Real World Counterparts

"There is nothing special about the movement of US vessels in this case. We know that aircraft carriers are moving the Mediterranean Sea and elsewhere, they have a right to do so, this is freedom of navigation," he said.

"But in general, this is a definite increase in [Russia-US] relations and all this is done ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw – this is a demonstration of force."

The USS Porter is expected to make port calls while operating in the Black Sea.

"We will see how things move forward," Kelin said. "But overall, we can absolutely not give up on the most important channel of cooperation and dialogue."

Speaking with radio Zvezda, military expert Viktor Murakhovsky also condemned the presence of American warships near Russia’s borders.

© AFP 2016/ MARCELLO PATERNOSTRO

US Government to Develop Airfields in Eastern Europe

"Permanent deployment of US destroyers in the European theater of war is already a provocation," he said, noting that there are four other similar US vessels permanently stationed at a Spanish naval base.

In April, the USS Donald Cook sailed near Russian waters in the Baltic Sea, resulting in its interception by a pair of Su-24 bomber jets. US officials described the jets’ maneuvers as "aggressive," as well as "unsafe and unprofessional."

Writing about the incident for The American Conservative, political commentator Pat Buchanan observed that "the Russian planes carried no missiles or bombs." This, he argued, was an indication that their "message [was]: What are the Americans doing here?"

"US warships based in Bahrain confront Iranian subs and missile boats in the Gulf. Yet in each of these regions it is not US vital interests that are threatened, but the interests of allies who will not man-up to their own defense duties, preferring to lay them off on Uncle Sam," Buchanan said.

"And America is beginning to buckle under the weight of its global obligations."

Twin blasts near Damascus kill 12, wounds dozens

Civilians and members of the Syrian army inspect the damage after an attack by suicide bombers in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab. (Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)

By Bassem Mroue June 11 at 3:40 PM

BEIRUT — Suicide bombers struck close to Damascus on Saturday, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens more. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombings through its Amaq news agency.

There were reportedly three attacks carried out by suicide bombers. Aamaq said two attackers were wearing explosive belts while the third used a car.

Syrian state TV said the blasts in the Sayyida Zeinab area, just south of the Syrian capital, killed 12 people and wounded 55 others. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 20 people were killed and dozens were wounded in the two explosions.

It was the latest attack to hit the predominantly Shiite area in recent months. Sayyida Zeinab has been a frequent target of bombings in Syria’s conflict, now in its sixth year.

The suburb is home to the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, one of the most renowned in Shiite Islam. The heavily guarded shrine to the daughter of the first Shiite imam, Ali, and granddaughter of the prophet Muhammad, receives thousands of Shiite pilgrims each year.

 

State news agency SANA said the first blast was caused by one of the suicide attackers with an explosive belt, while the second was the result of the one in a car rigged with explosives. SANA quoted Prime Minister Wael al-Halki as blaming the “brutal massacres” on Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which are the main supporters of the Syrian rebels trying to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power.

Saturday’s blasts came as U.S.-backed fighters in northern Syria tightened their siege on the Islamic State stronghold of Manbij, where tens of thousands of civilians are trapped by the fighting. The Syria Democratic Forces, a predominantly Kurdish group, encircled the town after capturing dozens of villages and farms near the Turkish border.

“The push toward Manbij slowed down because of fear for civilians there,” said Mustafa Bali, a Syrian journalist who visited the front line. “All telecommunications with the town have been cut,” he told the Associated Press by telephone.

The Observatory said that most bakeries have stopped working in the town and that food is running out. It said airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition have killed 30 civilians, including 11 children, since the SDF began its offensive on May 31.

Manbij, one of the largest Islamic State strongholds in Syria’s Aleppo province, is a way station on a key supply line between the extremists’ de facto capital of Raqqa and the Turkish frontier.

The United Nations estimates that 592,700 people live under siege in Syria, with about 452,700 of them under blockades by government forces.

In the central province of Homs, a 31-truck aid convoy from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent entered the besieged town of Houla on Saturday, according to ICRC spokesman Pawel Krzysiek. The trucks were carrying food for 14,200 families as well as products such as mattresses, blankets, water pumps, hygiene kits, diapers and vaccines.

This past week, the United Nations said the Syrian government had approved access to 15 of 19 besieged areas.

Lifting sieges on rebel-held areas was a key demand by the opposition during peace talks that failed this year in Geneva.

World's largest cemetery receives '100 bodies a day' from fighting in Iraq

MEE speaks with gravedigger at Al-Salam Valley cemetery, where Shia dead are delivered from fighting in Fallujah and across Iraq

Al-Salam Valley graveyard in Najaf (Wikicommons)

Alex MacDonald-Saturday 11 June 2016

NAJAF, Iraq -  As far as the eye can see, gravestones, tombs and Shia icons stretch out amid the baking summer heat. This is the Al-Salam Valley cemetery, the largest in the world, in Iraq's Najaf province.

As casualties increase in the fight to retake the Islamic State (IS) bastion of Fallujah, 200km to the south, gravedigger Hamid al-Wad says he has been busy interring the dead from the battlefield. 

“In my office, I've had an increase of 13 or 14 bodies a day, but the cemetery as a whole receives more than 100 fighters daily,” al-Wad told Middle East Eye.

He is one of a group of gravediggers at the cemetery, founded 1,400 years ago and said to contain the remains of about five million people buried across six square kilometres.

The fighting between IS and the Iraqi army and its allies has led to a rising death toll across the country.

Al-Salam Valley graveyard in Najaf (MEE/Alex MacDonald)

Al-Wad said the bodies of recently slain fighters come from not only Fallujah but also from “Saqlawiyah, Jurf al-Sakhar and Ramadi".

The Iraqi government does not release figures of those killed in the fighting, but a member of the security forces posted outside the cemetery told AFP that as of 1 June, more than 70 “martyrs” from the Fallujah operation had been buried.

Joel Wing, editor of the Musings on Iraq blog, said the government had an official policy of not releasing such figures in order to "keep up morale".

Fighting around Fallujah has been intense since the Iraq army, allied Popular Mobilisation Units (PMUs) and the US-led anti-IS coalition, launched their assault on the city a fortnight ago, and the death toll has been mounting.

A visit to any of the shrines that are dotted around Iraq will often coincide with mass mourning for new "martyrs". Draped in the Iraqi flag, men say prayers for the dead only metres away from the tombs of ancient fallen heroes of Shia tradition including Ali, Hussein and Abbas.

Mourners in Imam Ali shrine stand over coffin of fallen soldier or volunteer (MEE/Alex MacDonald)

The vast fields of markers, gravestones, tombs and icons of the Al-Salam Valley are testament to the sacrifices made by Shia Iraqis to protect their country and their religious beliefs, which they fear are threatened by IS's intolerant Sunni fundamentalism.

As it is located near the shrine of Imam Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and second-most revered figure in Shia Islam, many want to be buried in the cemetery.

Among the most-visited graves are those of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, killed in an ambush in 1999, whose son Moqtada al-Sadr would in 2004 seize the Imam Ali shrine in defiance of the US occupation authorities.

Despite the huge expanse of the graveyard, there are now signs that plots - particularly in the most prized spots closer to the Imam Ali shrine - are beginning to run out.

The price of plots in the graveyard has risen from about $1,500 for 500 square feet in 1991 to more than $10,000.

Burial plot featuring the deceased with popular image of Imam Hussein (MEE/Alex MacDonald)

Though the Iraqi government has been keen to portray the fight against IS as a struggle against religious intolerance - and highlight the multi-faith nature of the army and militias - for many of those fighting, the war has a distinctly religious and messianic edge.

Ahmed Hassan Khaled Salah, a former biology student and now a fighter with the Abbas Battalion PMU, told MEE that the defeat of IS would coincide with the return of the Shia saviour known as the Mahdi.

"One year, that is enough, and we are waiting on one person," he said. "His name is the Mahdi. We are waiting on him and when he comes we will start fighting with him, God willing."

"We are defending our religion, but we prioritise defending our nation," he added.

The names of the numerous militias suggest a distinctly Shia Islamic flavour to the conflict.

The Abbas Battalion was founded by the Abbas shrine in Karbala after a call to arms by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani for units to form and fight against IS. The likes of Kataeb Hezbollah (Party of God Battalions), the Ali Akbar Brigades, Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas, the Mahdi Army and others all denote the leanings of those involved in the fighting.

US helicopter fires on cemetery in 2004 while fighting with Sadrists (Wikicommons)

The development of Shia identity, which accelerated after the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, has fed growing concerns that Islam's largest minority group - which makes up as much as 13 percent of the world's Muslims - is under concerted attack from the Sunni majority in the region.

"The truth is always targeted," said Ahmed Hassan, the former biology student. "No one wants the truth to prevail."

The millions of bodies that reside in Al-Salam Valley testify to the fervour with which Iraqi's Shia espouse their faith and their desire to be buried near their religious forebears.

Its continuing expansion is also a memorial to the hundreds of thousands who have died since 2003 at the hands of the US occupation forces, former Baathists, in inter-sectarian warfare and fighting against IS.

The graveyard is not likely to lose its appeal as the burial site of choice for Shia, but many may hope that when the war against IS is finally over, the influx of bodies might slow for the first time in many years.

This Isn’t Your Babushka’s Communist Party: Lenin, Marx, and Stalin Get Millennial Makeovers

BY REID STANDISH-JUNE 10, 2016 - 11:59 AM

A youthful Vladimir Lenin, the Russian revolutionary, wears a large wristwatch and grasps a laptop as he stands next to a young woman holding a mobile phone. Next to the pair is Karl Marx, the 19th-century socialist philosopher, wearing a leather jacket. In another image, a mustachioed Josef Stalin, the former strongman of the Soviet Union, vapes an e-cigarette as a plume of smoke escapes his lips.

This is the new look of Russia’s Communist Party. The images are part of a campaign rolled out earlier this week in an effort to appeal to young voters before parliamentary elections in September by updating the appearance of the revolutionary figures for a new generation of Russians.

In an interview with L!FE, a pro-Kremlin news site, Igor Petrygin-Rodionov, the party member who designed the posters, explained that he was trying to bring Lenin into the 21st century by depicting him as young, handsome, and athletic.


“I wanted to bring him to life a bit, to show that he was a beautiful and educated man and this is why he succeeded,” said Petrygin-Rodionov during the interview. “He is a character full of energy, maybe even a sex symbol.”

The following image — which shows the updated looks of Lenin and Marx next to a modern, yet ostensibly Communist, young woman — features the slogan: “There is such a party.”

Another poster, in an attempt to show that revolutionary Communism can have a sense of humor, has the leather-clad Marx quoting Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous catchphrase from the Terminator movies: “I’ll be back.”

In mid-May, the Communist Party announced that it would use Stalin’s image during the upcoming election, as the dictator who led the Soviet Union from the late 1920s until his death in 1953 is becoming more popularthroughout Russia. It appears that this image of Stalin nonchalantly taking a drag on an e-cigarette is one way the party hopes to use their former leader to get a boost at the polls.


Long seen as the party of the elderly and pensioners, the Communist Party has managed to keep its organizational base throughout Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In more recent years, the party has managed to broaden its appeal, bringing students, business people, and intellectuals into the fold. However, overcoming the memories of repression in the old communist Soviet Union — including labor camps, show trials, and killings — remains challenging.

Still, polls have shown that controversial figures like Stalin are gaining in popularity. A report released on March 1 by the Moscow-based Levada Center, a research organization, found that 40 percent of Russians thought the Stalin era brought “more good than bad,” a 27 percent increase from 2012. In another Levada report published in January 2015, 52 percent of Russians surveyed said Stalin “probably” or “definitely” played a positive role in the country.

Photo credit: IGOR PETRYGIN-RODIONOV/Communist Party of the Russian Federation

India Markets Weekahead: Global risks could dominate

By Ambareesh Baliga-June 11, 2016

(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters)

The Nifty did not cross the 8,300 level despite early momentum, as negative cues from global markets and a rebound in crude oil prices dented sentiment this week. The index oscillated in the 8,150 – 8,300 range to settle at the lower end of the band, down 0.6 percent.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan attends a news conference after their bimonthly monetary policy review in Mumbai, India, June 7, 2016. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/Files

FIIs were net buyers to the tune of $451.23 million in equity. Crude oil prices rallied above $51 a barrel during the week and settled near $49 a barrel amid profit-taking. A sharp rebound in crude prices sparked concerns of its impact on India’s macroeconomic fundamentals with the country’s fiscal and current account deficit under threat if oil prices continue to rise.

The much-awaited Reserve Bank of India (RBI) policy was on expected lines. Rates were kept intact at 6.5 percent with the stance remaining accommodative. The RBI highlighted upside risks to inflation such as a pick-up in food inflation, sticky services inflation and a reversal in commodity prices. But the central bank maintained its inflation trajectory from the April policy at around 5 percent by the end of FY17. For this year, there seems to be scope for a 50 bps rate cut.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his three-day visit to the United States. His thrust this time has been on defence cooperation to expand India’s defence horizons. India’s imminent entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime has been the most important gain. Eyes are now firmly set on membership of the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Entry into the NSG will boost India’s arms exports and allow the United States to use India’s key military bases. Defence stocks such as Reliance Defence and Bharat Electronics rallied as a result.

In stock-specific action, IT major Infosys was the biggest index loser. The stock fell 6.76 percent after the

Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledges applause as he arrives to address a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 8, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

management said overall demand remains volatile and it does not expect a recovery in spending from the energy sector before 2017.

State Bank of India rose 4.94 percent on reports the bank is considering a proposal to hive off its stressed-loan portfolio into a separate company, a ‘bad bank’. Transferring of NPAs to a separate company will help the bank concentrate on core banking services. Meanwhile, media reports also suggested that some sovereign wealth funds and private equity players have shown interest in acquiring a stake in the so-called bad bank proposed by SBI.

In the coming week, markets are initially expected to react to April IIP data which came in below expectations. It fell to -0.8 percent (vs 0.1 percent in March) as against expectations of 0.86 pct. Poor performance in manufacturing, mining as well as a decline in capital goods output led to lower industrial growth. Asian markets will react to China’s IIP data for May which will be out on Sunday. Progress of monsoon rains will be keenly watched.

Among key macro-economic announcements, the government is scheduled to unveil CPI data for May on Monday. It surged to 5.39 percent in April from a six-month low of 4.8 percent in March. WPI for May is scheduled to be released on Tuesday. For April, WPI inflation came in at 0.3 percent; it turned positive following 17 consecutive months of negative growth.

Among global macro events during the week, the Bank of Japan will unveil its monetary policy statement on Wednesday, while the Bank of England will decide on interest rates on Thursday.

The Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington September 16 2015. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Files

Two important themes are expected to dominate global financial markets – the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday and the Brexit referendum the following week. Both events have wide-ranging repercussions for global financial markets as well as currencies. A June rate hike remains off the table given the risk from the UK’s EU referendum on June 23. Global market volatility in the next two weeks could be exceptionally high.

The Nifty is expected to stay within a range of 8,050 to 8,300 for the next week or so. Possible domestic and international triggers for the markets in the next few weeks include the monsoon, possibility of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill being passed in parliament’s monsoon session, Brexit, Fed action if contrary to market expectations of a status quo, and last but not least, the fate of RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan whose term ends in September.

Markets are expected to open gap down on Monday following dismal IIP data unless China IIP is a positive surprise. However, Nifty support at 8,050 should hold for the time being.