THE DALIBAMA, FRESH FROM MINISTERING TO THE LEPERS CONFINED TO THE GHETTOS OF MARTHA'S VINEYARD, RETURNED TO THE WHITE HOUSE ONLY TO DISCOVER HERETICS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WERE DOUBTING HIM.
A NEW POLL FOUND SUPPORT FOR BARRY O HAD FALLEN TO A NEW LOW OF 45%. EVEN MORE SHOCKING TO HIS LOWLIEST WAS THAT ONLY 35% APPROVE OF HIS HANDLING OF THE ECONOMY.
REACHED FOR COMMENT, BARRY O EXPLAINED THE PROBLEM WAS THAT "THE AMERCIAN PEOPLE ARE SO STUPID. CLEARLY THEY NEED, REQUIRE, ANOTHER SPEECH FROM ME WHERE I EXPLAIN HOW GREAT AND HOW WONDERFUL I AM. NO DOUBT AS SOON AS I MAKE THE TIME TO EXTOLL MY VIRTUES AND SING MY OWN PRAISES, THE STUPID AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL BE BACK ON BOARD."
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Today in Iraq, another member of the protest movement is assassinated. "Gunmen assassinated, late last night, Haitham al-Abadi, one of the organizers of the demonstrations, in his home in Rifai area west of Mosul." Iraqi Spring MC notes that he had been threatened by government forces.
Of course by government forces. Who kills protesters? Fellow citizens who disagree with their stance may yell at them as they pass but who kills protesters? It's usually the government. Take the US, who killed 4 Kent State University students and left nine more injured? Angry professors? Nope. It was the US government (the Ohio National Guard was the weapon the US government used). What happened August 28, 1968 in Chicago? The government, via the local police, attacked protesters. Protests take place around the world and when protesters are targeted with violence, the trail of blood usually leads back to the government.
In January of this year, Shafaq News reported:
Civilian activists confirmed on Saturday, that demonstrators of Mosul gave three days for Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki as a respite to respond to their demands, threatening from civil disobedience if he rejects these demands.The civil rights activist, Haitham al-Abadi said in an interview for "Shafaq News", that "the crowd gathered in the main central area of Mosul gave the central government a maximum period of three days to respond to their demands," stressing that “they threatened to resort to civil disobedience if the government did not respond to these demands."
He explained that "the civil disobedience would lead to the closure of shops and street in addition to other measures", Abadi preferred not to disclose it now.
Abadi added that "he was subjected to beating a few days ago by unknown men because of his activity in Ahrar Square", adding that "hundreds of people came out today to protest near the building of Nineveh province, heading to Ahrar Square in the center of Mosul."
Today Shafaq News reports:
“An armed group assassinated activist Haitham al-Abadi in Ras al-Jadaa area in central Mosul, after they opened fire and shot Abadi dead immediately,” the source told “Shafaq News”.
Abadi was exposed a few months ago to a threat, before being beaten by unknown people.
He was known by his activity within the Liberal Square protesting against the policies of the government in Baghdad.
The Iraq Times adds that the assassins used automatic weapons. Qatar News Agency notes, "A police source in Nineveh said that gunmen killed Haitham al-Abadi in his home in Rifai area west of Mosul, adding that one of the tribal elders, who was with him in the house, was wounded in the attack."
In other violence today, National Iraqi News Agency reports 3 Shabaks were shot dead in Mosul, a Tuz Khurmato bombing claimed 3 lives and left eight injured, a Mosul home bombing left 1 police officer dead and six members of his family injured, a Baquba roadside bombing claimed 1 life and left another injured, 1 police officer was shot dead in downtown Mosul, 1 civilian was shot dead in Mosul, a Hilla bombing claimed 1 life and left two people injured, and an armed attack in Rashad left 8 rebels dead. Alsumaria adds a Hawija bombing left two police officers injured. Xinhua reports "a child and a civilian were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol at al-B'aj area, some 120 km west of Mosul, a local police source said" and "seven policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their patrol in the city Dujail, some 60 km north of Baghdad, a local police officer told Xinhua."
In addition, AFP reports Iraq's Ministry of Justice has announced 17 executions (bringing the total for the year to at least 67). AFP's Prashant Rao Tweets:
- Iraq announced today that it has executed 17 people (including 2 women, 1 Egyptian) -
@AFP: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Aug-19/227858-iraq-executes-17-people-ministry.ashx#axzz2cKb8cD00 …
Prashant Rao AFP's WG Dunlop Tweets:
#Iraq violence update: More than 3,500 people killed, over 9,200 wounded so far in 2013 http://bit.ly/13fEvco@AFP figures
W.G. Dunlop Through Sunday, Iraq Body Count counts 481 violent deaths so far this month.
Friday's snapshot noted Iraq Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari's speech (and one of the answers to a question) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Center for Strategic and International Studies has posted video and audio of the DC event.
The first question asked was, "Your excellency, what are the safeguards you're implementing now to ensure that Iraq does not slide back to the bad old days of 2005 through 2007 especially in light of the merging of al Qaeda in Iraq and al Qaeda in Syria? And how would that figure into a new SOFA [Status Of Forces Agreement] security agreement so to speak without introducing troops on the ground, boots on the ground?" Zebari blathered away about 'the surge' (2008) and other nonsense for three minutes and forty seconds before declaring:
Now there is no plans to have a new SOFA. We have concluded the SOFA, it's done. It's over. We have another agreement, the Strategic Framework Agreement, that's a longterm, that defines Iraq - United States relations for many years to come. And under this there are joint-commissions on security, on diplomatic, political issues, on services, on energy, on cultural things. I have attended the fifth meeting of the Joint-Coordination Committee on Political and Diplomatic with Secretary Kerry yesterday at the State Dept. So this is an indication that this is going on but, under the SFA, I think there is room for more security cooperation between Iraq and the United States.
Hoshyar Zebari lied by omission.
Before asking questions, each person identified themselves. I'm not interested in calling the person out so I've omitted his name. But this is no longer just about the fact that, December 6, 2012, the Memorandum of Understanding For Defense Cooperation Between the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Iraq and the Department Defense of the United States of America was signed and the fact that we covered it in the December 10th and December 11th snapshots -- stressing the joint-patrols (US and Iraqi) it allows for. It's not about that the ignorant press doesn't know about the US Congressional Research Service report by Kenneth Katzman entitled "Iraq: Politics, Governance, and Human Rights:"
General [Martin] Dempsey's August 21, 2012, visit focused on the security deterioration, as well as the Iranian overflights to Syria discussed above, according to press reports. Regarding U.S.-Iraq security relations, Iraq reportedly expressed interest in expanded U.S. training of the ISF, joint exercises, and accelerated delivery of U.S. arms to be sold, including radar, air defense systems, and border security equipment. [. . .]
After the Dempsey visit, reflecting the Iraqi decision to reengage intensively with the United States on security, it was reported that, at the request of Iraq, a unit of Army Special Operations forces had deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and help with intelligence, presumably against AQ-I. (These forces presumably are operating under a limited SOFA or related understanding crafted for this purpose.) Other reports suggest that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) paramilitary forces have, as of late 2012, largely taken over some of the DOD mission of helping Iraqi counter-terrorismf orces (Counter-Terrorism Service, CTS) against AQ-I in western Iraq. Part of the reported CIA mission is to also work against the AQ-I affiliate in SYria, the Al Nusrah Front, discussed above.
Reflecting an acceleration of the Iraqi move to reengage militarily with the United States, during December 5-6 2012, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Miller and acting Under Secretary of State for International Security Rose Gottemoeller visited Iraq and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with acting Defense Minister Sadoun Dulaymi. The five year MOU provides for:
* high level U.S.-Iraq military exchanges
* professional military education cooperation
* counter-terrorism cooperation
* the development of defense intelligence capabilities
* joint exercises
The MOU appears to address many of the issues that have hampered OSC-I from performing its mission to its full potential. The MOU also reflects some of the more recent ideas put forward, such as joint exercises.
Joint-exercises. It's not about that. Now they should know, they're reporters. But they're dumb reporters, really dumb ones. So let's allow that their stupidity allowed them to make it to Friday, August 16th without ever knowing the above.
That still doesn't excuse their ignorance on Friday. Not when the State Dept issued a statement on Thursday which included:
Both delegations emphasized their commitment to close and ongoing security cooperation, noting in this regard the Memorandum of Understanding on security cooperation signed at the Defense and Security JCC in December 2012, the inaugural U.S.-Iraq Joint Military Committee (JMC) hosted by U.S. Central Command in June 2013, and the more than $14 billion in equipment, services, and training purchased by Iraq for its military and security forces through the Foreign Military Sales program. Both delegations pledged to enhance this cooperation in pursuit of their joint interests in denying terrorists a safe haven anywhere within Iraqi territory.
And guess what? That was one of two statements the State Dept issued noting the Memorandum of Understanding. Here's the other State Dept press release from Thursday, in which the Dept noted:
At the December 2012 JCC, Acting Defense Minister al-Dlimi signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Security Cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense. This agreement represents the strong military to military relationship between the United States and Iraq, and provides mechanisms for increased defense cooperation in areas including defense planning, counterterrorism cooperation, and combined exercises.
You go to ask questions from Zebari about Iraq on Friday and can't even familiarize yourself with the documents the State Dept issued the day before? That's too much work for you? Then maybe your employer should assist you in finding another job.
Hoshyar Zebari lied. And he got away with it because the press was too damn lazy to do their work. It goes beyond stupidity to the careless manner in which they 'report' and their lousy work habits.
We'll return to the Friday event later this week (hopefully tomorrow) for at least one more issue.
Thursday, the US State Dept held a background briefing on Iraq. This was the most important question asked.
QUESTION: Good. One of your five pillars, you mentioned the democracy piece of this, and you mentioned the parliamentary elections next year. I have a quick question related to that and then a larger question on Iraq and stability in the region. But on the democracy piece, did you all talk to the delegation today or have you been talking about the efforts to term limit the presidencies to two terms, which I think would include Prime Minister Maliki, who has gone back and forth on this issue several times. Has that come up?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That was not a topic of discussion, at least in these meetings.
QUESTION: Do you know where they stand on that? I mean, do you think that Maliki is going to not try to seek a third term?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think this will really heat up, I think, in the fall as coalition building starts, and that’s when we’ll know a little more. I think right now, and what we’re trying to do with the Iraqis is say before you really get into the heat of the political season, the silly season that we also have here every four years, let’s take the next three – two to three months to focus on getting some concrete things done, and one of them was revenue sharing, for example. And that’s really where we’re trying to focus the efforts before we get into the 2014 election season.
Nouri is an abject failure. He is the reason for the increased violence. Back in July 2012, Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observed, "Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has struggled to forge a lasting power-sharing agreement and has yet to fill key Cabinet positions, including the ministers of defense, interior and national security, while his backers have also shown signs of wobbling support." That remains true and that's on Nouri. (It's also on Barack but we don't have time to review that today.) As Ayad Allawi rightly noted in real time, this was a power grab and Nouri had no intention of appointing people to those posts. (Nouri nominates, Parliament approves. Once Parliament approves, the person has the appointment unless they step down -- or die -- or unless Parliament votes to strip them of the appointment. Nouri cannot fire any Minister which is why he has refused to nominate people to head those ministries and instead created 'acting' ministers -- this allows him to control them -- and it is unconstitutional.) All Iraq News noted last week:
Mouaed al-Oubaidi, the leader within the National Reformation Trend headed by, Ibrahim al-Jaafary, called the government to expedite nominating the security ministers.
He stated to All Iraq News Agency (AIN) "The ministers of the Interior and Defense Ministries must be nominated, but the ministers must not be acting ones."
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