The most admired

BULLY BOY PRESS &    CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

WAR HAWKS BARRY O AND HILLARY CLINTON ARE THE TWO MOST ADMIRED PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES.

NO WORD ON WHETHER CHARLES MANSON CAME IN THIRD.



FROM THE TCI WIRE:


Before we get to Iraq, Kia Makarechi (Vanity Fair) explains:

President Barack Obama declared the 13-year war in Afghanistan officially over on Sunday, praising the troops and claiming that Americans are safer for their efforts. In Kabul, General John Campbell folded the flag of the International Security Assistance Force, and unfurled the flag of a new mission, Resolute Support.
But while the administration would like to characterize this as a victory, the end of a conflict, it’s more of a re-branding. More than 10,000 United States troops will remain in Afghanistan, and just over one month ago, the president secretly expanded their 2015 combat mission to include fighting with the Taliban and/or al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network, or other insurgent groups. The expansion of duties, which was first reported in The New York Times, also allows for the use of American manned aircraft and drones. Some 4,000 NATO troops will also remain in Afghanistan next year.


If only there'd been that kind of honesty with regard to the Iraq drawdown -- which didn't end the war and, look around, hasn't ended US military involvement in Iraq.

At today's US State Dept press briefing, moderated by spokesperson Jeff Rathke, the following exchange took place.


QUESTION: Okay. So first on Iraq, yesterday, General Allen told Der Spiegel that an Iraqi ground offensive will occur when the time is right. What is your current assessment of Iraqi forces, and do you have an update – a timetable for any kind of ground offensive? And a separate one on Russia/Syria.


MR. RATHKE: Well, of course we are engaged with Iraqi forces to help improve their capacity. We’ve already seen Iraq take the initiative in places like Sinjar, where now the siege has been broken, and in a variety of other places where they have taken the fight to ISIL. I’m not going to get ahead of their decisions about further military activity, of course. That’s – that is something that one wouldn’t want to telegraph, and it’s also a question for the Iraqis to decide first and foremost.



Well that's good to know.

Better to know would be reality.

It wasn't the Iraqi military that "we've already seen . . . take the initiative in places like Sinjar."  Sinjar was the Peshmerga.  They are not part of the Iraqi army.  They are the Kurdish elite force trained and based in the Kurdistan Region (northern Iraq) and answerable to the Kurdish government.

That's reality.

The US government knows it -- Rathke damn well should -- because there have been stand offs regarding disputed areas in Iraq -- stands offs between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army.

Do you think just because the US government pretends otherwise -- and because some stupid people in the US nod along -- either side in Iraq has forgotten it?

They haven't.

The Peshmerga has always had their act together.

When Shi'ite militias became a recognizable problem in Baghdad, the Kurds offered to send the Peshmerga in.  Baghdad didn't want that, the Shi'ite government in charge of Iraq did not want that.

But from the beginning of the Iraq War, the only functioning military in Iraq has been the Peshmerga.

I don't understand how pretending that reality hasn't taken place helps anyone.

Now the Iraqi military has had some limited successes -- both with the help of the Peshmerga and all by themselves.  But what happens after?

Isabel Coles (Reuters) reports:

Like dozens of other communities in Iraq, this small Sunni settlement in northern Salahuddin province’s Tuz Khurmatu district has been reduced to rubble. In October, Shia militiamen and Kurdish peshmerga captured the village from the Sunni militant group ISIS. The victors then laid it to waste, looting anything of value and setting fire to much of the rest. Residents have still not been allowed to return.
“Our people are burning them,” said one of the Shia militiamen when asked about the smoke drifting up from still smouldering houses. Asked why, he shrugged as if the answer was self-evident.


Well, it's something.

It's nothing you can build on.

It's something only fool would bill as a "success."

But it's something -- something very disturbing and troubling..


And that destruction taking place on a smaller scale it mirrored by the nonstop bombings of Iraq, from the air, that the US is leading.


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"THIS JUST IN! MAYBE YOU DON'T GOTTA HAVE THESE FRIENDS?"

"Look who's standing up for him now"

"Dirty Debbie"

 

Look who's standing up for him now

BULLY BOY PRESS &    CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O STILL HAS A FEW FRIENDS LEFT.

LIKE STEROID USER AND CONVICTED LIAR BARRY BONDS.

BARRY BONDS TOOK TIME OUT FROM, PRESUMABLY, FILING A NEW APPEAL TO HIS LATEST FAILED APPEAL TO OVERTURN HIS CONVICTION, IN ORDER TO SEND BARRY O A CHRISTMAS GREETING.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE . . . BARRY O'S LOOKING LIKE A REAL LOSER.


FROM THE TCI WIRE:



The Washington Post's David Ignatius looks back on 2014 in terms of Iraq in a column which notes, "The problem, the tribal leader argued, was that because the United States was working so closely with the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, Sunnis in Anbar doubted there was any U.S. commitment to giving them more power. Without this political commitment, weapons and even Apache gunships would be of little use."

He's referring to Sahwa.

Also known as "Awakening," "Sons of Iraq" (and it's female counterpart "Daughters of Iraq").

Sahwa's a complex issue that many want to turn simplistic.  I'm not referring to David Ignatius, I'm referring to cheerleaders on various sides.

Sahwa was a US government plan to get Sunnis fighters -- resistance -- to big-tent it in Iraq.

By 2007, the Awakening movement was finally getting traction.

However, for over a year prior the US government repeatedly claimed success there when there was no success and many in the press ran with articles about this great new movement that did not exist.

On great.  Some tribal leaders were like any other people on the face of the earth -- the mixture of positive attributes and faults.  But equally true, some leaders of Sahwa -- at least two noted ones -- were mafia.  Iraqi mafia.  One, in fact, making big money in the cement industry.

That's part of it too and you can't talk about the history and be dishonest.

That's the leadership.

David Petraeus was a US general who was the top commander in Iraq. By 2008, a number of things were going on in Iraq resulting in a reduction of violence.

Sahwa was one component.  Another was the 'surge.'

The 'surge' is something I have a real problem with.  As late as 2010, I could hear someone on my side (the left) talk about the surge and dismiss it completely and think we could disagree and that was that.  But the reality is, as the years have shown since, this is not an area where people are honest or thoughtful.  This is a knee-jerk area with a lot of uninformed stupid people.  If that seems simplistic, so does, in 2014, saying "The surge didn't work!"

I opposed the surge, check the archives.  I called it out when it was proposed.  I called it out when it was started.  I said it would be a failure.


I was half-wrong and I was half-right.

The surge was two parts.

(1) Bully Boy Bush was greatly increasing the number of US troops in Iraq and (2) this was being done so that a 'diplomatic surge' would take place -- violence would be reduced and the US troops would be leading on that to allow the Iraqi politicians to focus on the always spoken of but never achieved "political solutions."

The US military did what they were tasked with.

They succeeded.

I don't know why some on my side have a problem admitting that.

Check the archives, I said it wouldn't happen.  I was wrong.  I have no problem admitting that.

But part one, the success, was supposed to create the space for part two and that never happened.

This is a really important point because it's not just history from a few years back, it applies to today when Barack Obama is doing the same thing that Bully Boy Bush did, focusing on the military aspect and just assuming the political will fall into place all by itself.

At any rate, the reduction in violence came about for three reasons.  The surge and Sahwa were two of those reasons.  The third reason was ethnic cleansing.

Many still want to call it a civil war.

It wasn't and we didn't play like it was in real time.

Baghdad was 'cleansed' and went from an integrated city to one that is predominately Shi'ite.

The bulk of the external refugees of this period were Sunnis.  The bulk of the dead were Sunnis.

You can play it off as 'civil war' for however many decades before you're comfortable admitting the US government's role in it.

But that's why violence began to decrease: Sahwa, the surge (the military aspect, the only success) and ethnic cleansing.

The reduction in violence was such a success that it distracted from the political failures which included Nouri al-Maliki -- then prime minister of Iraq and forever thug -- being unable to meet the White House defined benchmarks for success (which Nouri agreed to and signed off on).

To sell the continuation of the illegal war, April 2008 offered a week of  The Petraeus and Crocker Show, where the then top-US commander in Iraq Petraeus and then-US Ambassador Ryan Crocker testified to Congress repeatedly.  By focusing on violence, they tricked the bulk of Congress (or maybe the bulk of Congress was in on the con? -- certainly some were) into talking about that and ignoring the lack of progress on the political front.  (US House Rep Lloyd Doggett was the only one who, that entire week, used his questioning time to bring up the issue of the failed political benchmarks).  We were at all the hearings that week and we'll drop back to April 8, 2008 for  that day's snapshot:

Today The Petraeus & Crocker Variety Hour took their act on the road.  First stop, the Senate Armed Services Committee.  Gen David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker are supposed to be providing a status report on the Iraq War.  They didn't.  In fact, Petraeus made clear that the status report would come . . . next September.  When the results are this bad, you stall -- which is exactly what Petraeus did. 

 The most dramatic moment came as committee chair Carl Levin was questioning Petraeus and a man in the gallery began exclaiming "Bring them home!" repeatedly.  (He did so at least 16 times before he was escored out).  The most hilarious moment was hearing Petraeus explain that it's tough in the school yard and America needs to fork over their lunch money in Iraq to avoid getting beat up.  In his opening remarks, Petraues explained of the "Awakening" Council (aka "Sons of Iraq," et al) that it was a good thing "there are now over 91,000 Sons of Iraq -- Shia as well as Sunni -- under contract to help Coalition and Iraqi Forces protect their neighborhoods and secure infrastructure and roads.  These volunteers have contributed significantly in various areas, and the savings in vehicles not lost because of reduced violence -- not to mention the priceless lives saved -- have far outweighed the cost of their monthly contracts."  Again, the US must fork over their lunch money, apparently, to avoid being beat up. 

How much lunch money is the US forking over?  Members of the "Awakening" Council are paid, by the US, a minimum of $300 a month (US dollars).  By Petraeus' figures that mean the US is paying $27,300,000 a month.  $27 million a month is going to the "Awakening" Councils who, Petraeus brags, have led to "savings in vehicles not lost".  Again, in this morning's hearings, the top commander in Iraq explained that the US strategy is forking over the lunch money to school yard bullies.  What a [proud] moment for the country.

Crocker's entire testimony can be boiled down to a statement he made in his opening statements, "What has been achieved is substantial, but it is also reversible."  Which would translate in the real world as nothing has really changed.  During questioning from Senator Jack Reed, Crocker would rush to shore up the "Awakening" Council members as well.  He would say there were about 90,000 of them and, pay attention, the transitioning of them is delayed due to "illliteracy and physical disabilities."  

Sahwa was paid to stop attacking US equipment and US troops -- that was the order Petraeus repeatedly gave that week and where he placed the emphasis.

Could the movement exist without buy-offs?

If the payments stopped would the movement stop?

In 2008, I believed it wouldn't.

I was hugely wrong.

During that week, Senator Barbara Boxer noted the millions being spent on this program and wondered why the US government was footing the bill and not the oil-rich government of Iraq?

This took both Petraeus and Crocker by surprise and, realizing they a potential nightmare on their hands, they basically rewrote policy while testifying by insisting they could and would raise that with the Iraqi government.

Which was Nouri.

Nouri loved Iraqi money.  Loved it so much, he took it home and played with it.  Also known as embezzlement and theft.

But while he'd grab it for himself (and for his crooked son), he wasn't keen on using it to better Iraq.  Which is why there was no improvement to Iraq's crumbling public infrastructure under Nouri -- despite his serving 8 years as prime minister.

He also didn't want to pay Sahwa.

But, more than money, his problem was that they were Sunnis.

When the US insisted on coward Nouri in 2006 -- insisted he become prime minister because the CIA analysis on Nouri argued his paranoia would make him an easily controlled puppet -- they pretty much doomed the country.  (Barack sealed the doom by insisting, in 2010, that Nouri get a second term as prime minister even after he lost the election to Ayad Allawi.)

Nouri was back in Iraq not out of love for the country.  Love didn't cause the coward to flee either.  He hated Sunnis and he wanted revenge.

And though he was being told by the US government that he'd have to pay Sahwa and that he'd have to incorporate them into the Iraqi forces and into the Iraqi government, he had no intention of doing so.

And, in the end, he didn't.




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He finally got his crown

BULLY BOY PRESS &    CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

HE MAY BE JUST ANOTHER FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BUT HE'S MORE THAN THAT AS WELL.

BARRY O'S DONNED A TIARATO SEND OUT THE MESSAGE THAT ALL LITTLE GIRLS ARE PRINCESSES.

IT'S A MESSAGE SHIRLEY TEMPLE EARLIER SENT IN "THE LITTLE PRINCESS."

BUT BARRY O INSISTS SHE DOESN'T COUNT BECAUSE "NO ONE EVEN KNOWS WHO SHE WAS.  ALSO I AM MUCH PRETTIER."


FROM THE TCI WIRE:


Let's start with the crazy.

Alsumaria reports State of Law is accusing Osama al-Nujaifi and Ayad Allawi -- two of Iraq's three vice presidents -- of wasting money on decorating their offices.  However, State of Law MP insists that his precious Nouri al-Maliki asked for nothing.

No one believes State of Law.  (Nouri created and heads State of Law.)

They're professional liars, first off.

Secondly, when Nouri wants to 'return' the jet plane that he doesn't own (the government owns) or when he wants to finally move his dirty ass out of the Prime Minister's residence (Haider al-Abadi became the new prime minister in August -- when does Nouri plan to vacate?) maybe someone will take 'office decoration abuse' seriously.

Maybe not -- because, third, State of Law's policies and actions took an Iraq moving closer to stability and unleashed non-stop violence.

Nouri alienated everyone, spread lies about everyone -- including leaders of foreign countries.

Has thug Nouri changed?

No.

Iraq Live Update ‏@IraqLiveUpdate 2h2 hours ago

Maliki: Kurdish officers in Iraq Army fled and were ordered to abandon positions by 'Kurdish leadership' during fall of Mosul

0 replies 5 retweets 4 favorites

That's an interesting assertion.  Every other report has noted that the Iraqi military -- that Nouri ran -- not the Peshmerga (Kurdish fighting force) deserted.

The White House has even noted that reality.

But Nouri has to lie because that's all he has and that's how hideous he is.

He has damaged Iraq so badly.  If he had any decency at all, he'd hang his head in shame and slink off, mortified by the violence he bread in Iraq.

But Nouri has no ethics, Nouri has no decency.




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BULLY BOY PRESS &    CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE


ERIC COHN HAS BEEN RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL.

THE ALLEGED REPORTER WAS DISCOVERED NEARLY CHOKED TO DEATH.

AFTER PARAMEDICS REMOVED HIM FROM THE COCK OF FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O, THEY ATTEMPTED TO SPEAK TO COHN WHO INSISTED THAT EVEN THOUGH BARRY O HAD DONE NOTHING TO "SAVE" THE INTERVIEW IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR A CHEAP AND DIRTY WHORE LIKE ERIC COHN TO GIVE HIM CREDIT.

"I REGRET THAT MY GAG REFLEXES DID NOT ALLOW ME TO FULLY PLEASURE MY CULT LEADER," ERIC INSISTED WITH TEARS FLOWING FROM HIS EYES.

PARAMEDICS TOLD THESE REPORTERS THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER SOMEONE CAN "JUST AS EASILY CHOKE ON A TINY VIENNA SAUSAGE AS ON AN EARL CAMPBELL HOT LINK" MEANING DON'T MISTAKE COHN'S NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE FOR MEANING THAT PRINCESS TINY MEAT IS LARGELY ENDOWED.




FROM THE TCI WIRE:




Starting with WikiLeak's latest exposure.  Last week, they released a report the CIA prepared for US President Barack Obama.  The report, dated July 7, 2009, is entitled [PDF format warning]  "Making High-Value Targeting Operations an Effective Counterinsurgency Tool" and is the CIA's flash-card style explanation to Barack of counterinsurgency and the value of killing.


The term they use is "High-Value Targeting" which they explain:


We define high-value targeting as focused operations against specific individuals or networks whose removal or marginalization should disproportionately degrade an insurgent group's effectiveness.  The criteria for designating high-value targets will vary according to factors such as the insurgent group's capabilities, structure, and leadership dynamics and the government's desired outcome. 



The biggest shock of the brief paper is how much they dumb it down -- apparently not expecting much of their intended audiences.


A few things emerge.


On Iraq, we learn that cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr was smart to spend those long periods of time outside of Iraq -- the Sadr movement was targeted and, the report makes clear, not just by the United States, "The Iraqi Government has been using HVT efforts to eliminate irreconcilable Sadrist militant leaders and moderate the Sadrist movement. "


An outstanding arrest warrant was out on Moqtada al-Sadr and it was often noted, while he was in Iran, that one of the reasons he remained out of the country was that he suspected/feared Nouri al-Maliki would issue it to have him arrested.


Clearly concerns of being targeted by the government were valid ones.


Also clear, the CIA is a huge embarrassment when it comes to referencing,  "In Iraq, Jaysh Muhammad (JM) suffered a significant setback in late 2004 after British replacements in short succession, according to the Jordian General Intelligence Directorate."  You're the CIA and you're shoring up a point with "according to the Jordian General Intelligence Directorate"?


Then again, maybe that was another part of dumbing it down for the intended reader?


Also writing?  Joshua J. McElwee (National Catholic Reporter) notes:


Pope Francis has written a Christmas letter to the dwindling Christian community in the Middle East, offering his solidarity in what he calls their "enormous suffering" amid the horrific and sustained violence of the Islamic State militant group.
Issuing the almost 2,000-word letter in eight languages Tuesday, the pope also says that he wishes to visit the region and condemns continued arms trafficking there "in the strongest possible terms."



Arms trafficking sales are big business -- legal sales and illegal sales.  The leading legal arms trafficker to Iraq would appear to be the United States.  Doug Cameron (Nasdaq) reports:



U.S. government approvals for U.S. weapon sales to Iraq have nearly tripled this year to almost $15 billion, promising much-needed work for U.S. weapons factories if the proposed deals can overcome congressional concerns.
The slew of deals includes $3 billion in possible sales announced last week that still need to be approved by Congress and would boost sluggish U.S. demand for General Dynamics Corp.'s M1A1 Abrams tanks as well as Humvee armored cars produced by closely held AM General LLC.

And the US just keeps pouring weapons into Iraq.  Joe Pappalardo (Popular Mechanic) informs,  "The State Department just approved the sale of $3 billion in Humvees and M1A1 Abrams tanks to the Iraqi government, which is trying desperately to hang on to power in the fight against the well-equipped army of the Islamic State. (Congress still must approve the sale.) "

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BULLY BOY PRESS &    CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O WAS INTERVIEWED BY TELETUBBY CANDY CROWLEY AND INSISTED HE WOULD DO "EVERYTHING I CAN" TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO.

OF COURSE, HE PROMISED, RUNNING FOR THE OFFICE IN 2008, THAT HE'D CLOSE IT.

AND HE DIDN'T.

AND HE HAD THE POWER TO DO IT THEN AND HAS IT NOW -- A POINT WE'RE SURE TELETUBBY CANDY WOULD HAVE RAISED WERE SHE NOT SO BUSY SHOVING FOOD INTO HER GULLET.

GOT A KNOSH?



FROM THE TCI WIRE:




CNN's Jake Tapper Tweets:

                           Retweeted 235 times

Jake Tapper ‏@jaketapper 18h18 hours ago

Approximately 1,000 paratroopers from the Army’s famed 82nd Airborne Division will deploy to Iraq http://www.stripes.com/news/us/1-000-soldiers-from-the-82nd-airborne-headed-to-iraq-1.320194 …

0 replies 235 retweets 61 favorites

And who will they find there?


To read this week's press, they'll find  R.E.M.'s   "Shiny, Happy People" come to life.


That's what the press has insisted all week long and what we've disputed all week long.



"Why would they fight for a government that refuses to respect them? [New Prime Minister Haider] Abadi is just another face on the same Shiite agenda – and the Sunni anger will continue until there is meaningful change in Baghdad."


That's Sunni Sheikh Mohammad Ramadi (al-Bajan tribe) and we'll get back to him and the article that's the most important one on Iraq this week in a moment.

But first . . .

Let's take a moment to reflect on this week, this week of propaganda.

Where the US State Dept worked overtime in Iraq.

A first!

Sadly, the work wasn't on the Iraqi government or diplomacy.

It was selling propaganda to the press.

Again, I hope the press got something out of it because all news consumers got was b.s.

If you've forgotten, the propaganda effort was Haider al-Abadi and his healing touch.

The rollout started early this week with any outlet the State Dept could corral, blackmail, bully or buy pimping the lie that Haider had brought unity to Iraq.

The effort was supposed to culminate with the column written for -- not by -- Haider which appeared on the op-ed pages of the Wall St. Journal exclaiming that a national identity had been forged for Iraq via the Iraqi military.  For those a little slow on the uptake that would mean, ultimately, by Haider himself since he is commander-in-chief of the military.

Wow.

How amazing.

How wonderful.

The war is being won!  Soon the US will be able to come home!

There are some who will believe that nonsense.

There are idiots all over the world.

Equally true, to some, this spin is new.

They were too young to have caught it from 2003 through 2007 when it was constantly repeated.  (And when it constantly proved to be false.)

But most adults should have caught on.

And they should have called it out.

Instead, it was just us.

And there's gonna come a time when we're not here.  I'm sick of the internet.  I'm sick of writing every day for over ten years now without a day off.

What was this week's big faux scandal?  The thing that had the Center for American Progress, The Nation, The Progressive, et al up in arms?

Because it sure as hell wasn't Iraq and it sure as hell wasn't the same corporate media yet again selling lies to the American people about Iraq.

I hope whatever crap the faux independent media of CAP, The Nation, et al passed off as important at least provided giggles because it provided no substance and had no real point at all.

(What was it?  Largely it was a propaganda effort to convince you that Senator Elizabeth Warren -- anti-Palestinian rights, Republican until she ran for the Senate, falsely passed herself off as a Native American to benefit in hiring, anti-Iran, etc -- was the one to take down Hillary Clinton. Reality, Elizabeth doesn't photograph normal and her voice will be irritating to most American ears.  The best she could hope for is the same results as another politician who struck Americans as a "freak," Paul Simon.  She's not electable on a national scale for 2016.)


Some place the cost of the Iraq War at a trillion dollars for US taxpayers.

If for no other reason, this week's lies of success should matter for financial reasons.

As the work week came to a close, the Pentagon sotto voice admitted the cost of Barack's latest wave of war, which began August 8, 2014, have already reached $1.02 billion.

That's four months.

And US President Barack Obama has said this will last years.

If for no other reason than cost, this should outrage Americans.

3 US service members have died in the operation during the four months.  But no one wants to talk about that either.




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"Joe Biden, seriously?"
"I would love it if Jeb Bush ran for president"
"The Dishonest Cheese Doodle"
"She's living in a terrorist world and she is just a terrorist girl"
"THIS JUST IN! WHO'S THE REAL TERRORIST, MADGE?"

She's living in a terrorist world and she is just a terrorist girl

BULLY BOY PRESS &    CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

MADONNA DECLARED THAT LEAKING NEW MUSIC IS A FORM OF TERRORISM.

STRANGE, THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT ALL THE MUSIC MADONNA'S RELEASED  SINCE 1993'S "RAIN."

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Staying on the topic of fake ass, the Wall St Journal's round up of corruption reporting includes one on Iraq:

Iraq’s prime minister is quoted saying he’s willing to be assassinated, if that’s what it takes to effectively fight corruption. (NY Times)


That's from Tim Arango's report we've noted already this week.


Haider al-Abadi only looks more ridiculous when he makes statements like that.

In 2016, the United States will vote on a new American president.

That person will be sworn in during the month of January 2017.

And that person (and his or her family) will move into the White House.

You can find similar situations in other countries with elected leaders.

Where does Haider al-Abadi live?

Not in the home of the prime minister.

In August, he was named prime minister.

But the previous one refuses to vacate the home.

Thug Nouri al-Maliki continues to live in the home of the prime minister.

Haider, that's corruption.

Nouri is not the prime minister and he needs to vacate the home immediately.

Haider's either too much of a chicken or in league with Nouri.

(A video of the two emerged last week that records how close the two actually are.)

Tim Arango's article notes Nouri continues to occupy the residence of the prime minister.

The Iraqi people foot the bill for that housing occupation.

That's corruption.

And if Haider can't even weed that out, lots of luck seeing him punish those officials who've stolen money from Iraq (that would also include Nouri).

Tim Arango's article also noted Nouri's plane but insisted he'd surrendered the private jet.

No, he hasn't.

It's parked at Baghdad International airport but it's not been handed over -- and this point has been firmly established repeatedly by both Iraq Times and Kitabat.

I have no idea whether or not Ibrahim al-Jaafari is a fake ass but he's a joke.

In December 2005, Iraqis voted.  No one was named prime minister-designate for months because the Iraqi Parliament wanted to name Ibrahim al-Jaafari to the post but Bully Boy Bush and his administration didn't want that.  They didn't care for al-Jaafari, they feared his personal militia, didn't want him to have a second term as prime minister, etc.

So they forced the pockmarked faced thug Nouri off on Iraq.

Ibrahim never really stood up to Nouri in the eight years that followed despite the hopes of Ibrahim's followers that their leader would discover a spine.

Now Ibrahim has a post.

Foreign Minister!

Yeah, it is a huge step down.

All that's left below it is parking valet.

Hoshyar Zebari held the post for 8 years.  It's photo ops and nothing more.


Xinhua reports of Jaafari:

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's government has been in power for only months' time, and the city of Mousl is still in the hands of the IS militants, yet Iraq has made "great" progress in political reforms and the security situation is improving, he said, adding that the IS terrorists have started to pull back.


That's a sweet little dream.  It's not reality but fairy tales have lulled many at bedtime.

In the real world, Hamza Mustafa (Asharq Al-Awsat) notes:

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is boosting its presence in Iraq’s restive Al-Anbar province in a bid to turn Baghdad’s attention away from the liberation of Mosul, a senior Iraqi military commander said on Wednesday.
The senior Iraqi military officer, who spoke on the condition that his name and rank would not be disclosed, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the battle for Mosul, which government forces are presently gearing up for, would be “critical” to the defeat ISIS. Mosul, the provincial capital of neighboring Nineveh governorate, has been under ISIS control since June.

“We can say that the fate of ISIS is tied to the result of the battle of Mosul, more than any other battle, whether in Iraq or Syria,” the officer said. 





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THE METH LAB REMAINS OPERATIONAL AT THE NATION MAGAZINE AND NO ONE SMOKING MORE CRANK THAN GREG GRANDIN WHO FEELS BARRY O HAS JUST WON FLORIDA FOR THE DEMOCRATS IN 2016 AS A RESULT OF PLAYING FOOTSIE WITH RAUL CASTRO.


THOUGH IT MAY BE HARD TO SEE IT FROM BROOKLYN, FLORIDA IS A HOT BED OF CUBAN EXILES.  THEY WERE PART OF THE BAY OF PIGS PLOT AND THEY'VE ONLY MULTIPLIED.

THE NOTION THAT BEING COZY WITH THE CASTRO GOVERNMENT WINS CUBAN VOTES IN FLORIDA IS RIDICULOUS.

GIVE UP THE CHUNKY LOVE, GRANDIN.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:


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BULLY BOY PRESS &    CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

IN LIGHT OF RUMORS ABOUT ONE DIRECTION SINGER HARRY STYLES BANGING FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O (SEE "Love is all around, even at the White House" AND "THIS JUST IN! BARRY GOT A BRITISH LAD!"),  SONGSTRESS TAYLOR SWIFT HAS RELEASED A NEW SINGLE CLEARLY AIMED AT HER EX-HARRY AND THE NEW COUPLING:

HE CAN TWIST YOUR THIRD TEET
BUT CAN HE HANDLE YOUR MEAT?
YOU'RE GOING DOWN, BOY
GOING DOWN
THE SOCIAL LADDER
HE'S GOT NO CLASS
AND A PANCAKE ASS
YOU REALLY WANT TO BE CAUGHT WITH THAT?


REACHED FOR COMMENT, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON JOSH ERNEST STATED, "WHILE NEITHER CONFIRMING NOR DENYING, WE OBJECT TO THE CARICATURE THAT BARRY O HAS NO CLASS."


FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Which shines a light on the lies told to the US Congress this week. Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  This was covered in Tuesday's snapshot,  Ava covered it at Trina's site with "Ground Hog Day (Ava)," Wally at Rebecca's site with "Barack wants war all over the world (Wally)" and Kat with "John Kerry, damn liar."  Wednesday, the State Dept's Brett McGurk testified before the House Foreign Affairs Comittee and we covered it in Wednesday and Thursday's snapshot (and will continue covering it later in this snapshot).  Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Organizations held a hearing and we covered it in the Wednesday snapshot (and noted it elsewhere repeatedly).

The Tuesday Subcommittee hearing was an embarrassment and we've called out Subcommittee Chair Barbara Boxer and Ranking Member Rand Paul.  We've largely ignored the others -- the spook, the hired gun, all of them.


The hired gun?

When news of Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar broke, at this site we were for air drops of food and water and medical supplies for the thousands trapped on the mountain by the Islamic State and we were against bombings.  We built our case around the plight of the Yazidis historically.  We ignored one person, one woman, except to offer a Tweet by a journalist of the Cry Baby.


Cry Baby may not have been a fair call when she was speaking before the Iraqi Parliament and shooting out the tears.  It may have been fair.  We didn't call her that then but I did think it.

And Cry Baby went on to become a hired gun.  Early on in August we noted the Yazidis had no US p.r. firm but that they were being used in the US in an effort to promote wider war on Iraq.

Let's also note the bitchiness of Yazidi speakers in Iraq.

Iraqi Christians were being attacked and killed and when the Yazidis ended up trapped on the mountain, a number of them started whining to the press that Iraqi Christians got all the attention.

Iraqi Christians get very little attention in the mainstream media.  When the western press does cover them, it's usually because they're taking up arms in Iraq to protect themselves.


Whether it's true or not, bias charges are better left to others.

When there are at least two groups under attack and one of them whines the other gets more attention -- true or not -- it looks petty and bitchy.

And here's a little more reality for the Yazidis, Christians are a larger group in the world and when you start whining that Iraqi Christians are getting more attention -- especially when they're not -- you risk pissing off a lot of people who will no longer help you amplify your issues.

And while outsiders can say that Palestinians get far more attention, for a Yazidi to write that also looks petty and bitchy -- so maybe Cry Baby shouldn't have written this post?


Cry Baby.

Again, we've only previously noted her in a journalist's Tweet.  And that was due to a request and due to it being pointed out that she was a woman, "you run a pro-women, feminist site and you haven't noted her."


We should probably name cry baby, I don't think she was named in the journalist's Tweet, just identified as a Yazidi who was a Member of Parliament.  We did name her when she was in a helicopter crash.  Her name is Vian Dakhil.

And since her tearful performance -- and I am calling it a performance -- she's attracted foreign money but no one wants to talk about that.

No one wants to question how this woman's everywhere all the sudden.

She was at the hearing on Tuesday, she was speaking to the Woodrow Wilson Center, at John Cabot University, she's just been everywhere outside of Iraq.  And the reason is she's now a hired gun to promote war and she's represented by a public relations group.

And as I listened to her spin at Tuesday's hearing, I knew all of that but thought, "There's so much more to focus on."  Then she started making the media circuit.

First off, know your facts or don't appear before Congress.

She's lucky she appeared before Boxer and Paul who are so eager for war that they also don't care about the facts.

Before the Subcommittee she tried to present herself as the voice of the Yazidis.

She is not.

Some Yazidis bill themselves as that and that alone.

Others bill themselves as Kurds.

That split alone, forgetting everything else, means she cannot speak for all Yazidis.

Equally true, she's not from the city with the biggest concentrations of Yazidis (that would be Shekhan followed by Sinjar -- she is from Mosul originally and then moved to Erbil).

At the hearing, she made one ridiculous statement after another.  Here's one example:

Since the invasion of the so-called Islamic State in June 2013, I have been working tirelessly to bring attention to the plight . . .

It was January, at the start of the year, when the Islamic State seized Falluja.  And the Islamic State was in Iraq prior to that.   As a member of the Iraqi Parliament and as a member of the KDP, she's actually supposed to speak for all of Iraq and should know these basic facts.  Added: April 8, 2013 is when the press begins -- world press -- acknowledging the Islamic State is in Iraq. They were there prior to April.


It was an awful hearing and we would have ignored her but then she went on NPR's Here and Now and NPR highlights this section of her remarks regarding what the US needs to do:

“They first started out with a great mission and attack on ISIS, and that made us very happy. That was only for one week. After one week, they stopped. They suspended airstrikes and we were kind of surprised. We were looking to see why they were suspended for a while, and we’re hoping to understand why.”
“What is really urgently needed right now, there are five women and children being held by ISIS and we really need assistance right away to help them be free and run away from ISIS. Plus humanitarian aides are mostly needed at the moment for those refugees who ran away from ISIS and made a way to get to the shelters. We’re here to tell the people in the United States that this is what we are living through right now in Iraq, and that’s what we need your help with at the moment.”


We've been nice.

Maybe too nice.

Maybe I've baby-ied?


Here's some harsh truths.

You claim to have 500,000 Yazidis, ma'am, there are no more than 30,000 Islamic State members in Iraq.

Maybe you should stop traveling to other countries to speak and do media appearances to advocate for war and instead return to Iraq, pick up a gun, urge your fellow Yazidis to take up arms and address the problem yourself.

If that sounds harsh, well your request for US forces on the ground due to five people being held sounds stupid and insane.

Worse yet, it also sounds cowardly.

Stop coming to the US demanding US troops and start using your position as a Member of the Iraqi Parliament to advocate for action from your own country's troops.





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BULLY BOY PRESS &    CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O HAS A NEW LOVE -- AND THIS ONE HAS 3 NIPPLES!

RUMORS SWIRL THAT BARRY O'S BEEN TAKING A HEAVY ASS POUNDING FROM ONE DIRECTION SINGER HARRY STYLES.

REPORTEDLY, HARRY TOLD BARRY, "BABY JUST SHOUT IT OUT, SHOUT IT OUT, BABY JUST SHOUT IT OUT, YEA."

AND, REPORTEDLY, BARRY O DID JUST THAT, "POUND ME BRITISH DADDY! POUND ME!"


FROM THE TCI WIRE:



Yesterday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing.  During it, a member offered a testimonial to the greatness:



US House Rep Gregory Meeks:  It's easy for many of us to be up here and think that it's simple.  We thought it was simple to get rid of Saddam Hussein.  We said that it would take just a few days.  In fact, we got on the ship that said Mission Accomplished a few days after shock and awe.  I am glad we are not being that simplistic about this.  The administration has been honest to say it will take years to get this done and to get it done right not based upon emotion, not based upon trying, just get it together so we can say rah-rah [. . .]


Testimonials and endorsements can be important.  But let's first see just what sort of person was slobbering over Barack.  Here's how CREW sees Meeks:


A swirling federal corruption probe into crooked charities associated with Rep. Meeks is just the tip of the iceberg in the congressman’s litany of ethical lapses.
Rep. Meeks has accepted numerous improper gifts while in office, including a below-market rate on a new home, major loans that he failed to disclose for years, and discounted rent on his district office.  He has also accepted at least six trips to Caribbean resorts from a non-profit backed by convicted financier R. Allen Stanford, on whose behalf Rep. Meeks may have sought a favor from the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

• Nine-term member of Congress representing New York’s 5th district
• Under federal investigation for his ties to several corrupt non-profit groups, including one that lost track of thousands of dollars intended for victims of Hurricane Katrina
• Previously named to CREW’s Most Corrupt in 2011 and 2012
• One of four members of Congress from New York named to CREW’s Most Corrupt
• Appeared in CREW’s Family Affair exposé

"It's complicated. It's going to take some time.  We're going to have to figure this out," declared Meeks but he wasn't talking about his legal strategy.

First thing Meeks might figure out is how to pronounce areas in Iraq.  Erbil can be spelled Arbil but no one pronounces it "EE-BRILL."

Nor does anyone say "KurDICKstan."

It's Kurdistan.

Gregory Meeks, please keep your dick out of Kurdistan.


Yesterday's House Foreign Affairs Committee may have actually been hugely revealing in a way no one noticed.


US House Rep Albio Sires:  Can you talk a little about Camp Liberty and any of the abuses by the Iraqis.  I know you're on  the discussion.

Brett McGurk:  Well I get a briefing on this every single day.  I get reports from the residents and also from the United Nations.  And as you know UN monitoring teams confirms to us about humanitarian supplies and the overall situation at the camp.  We look at it every single day.  My colleague Jonathan Winer who's our  senior advisor on the MEK resettlements.  He's in Albania today with a team, an interagency team with DHS represented as well -- representatives as well.  And we've gotten about 600 residents of Camp Liberty out of Camp Liberty and out of Iraq to safety over the past year and we're looking to increase that number this year and Albania has been very helpful in this regard.  And Jonathan Weiner has really done a heroic, courageous job of getting this moving.  And I think the new government will be even more cooperative. And we want to get all the residents of Camp Liberty -- as I've testified before -- out of Iraq to safety.  That is our goal and we're working with partners around the world to achieve that goal.  And right now Albania has been extremely cooperative and we should thank them for taking in hundreds of residents.  And the residents are assimilating quite well in Albania.  But Jonathan -- my colleague --  Mr. Winer is there addressing this issue right now, and I'm sure he'd very happy to follow up with you.



600?

Some outlets wrongly reported this year that Winer took his post in October of 2013 (here for Huffington Post getting it wrong)..

No.

He was first noted by the State Dept in a September 6, 2013 press statement by spokesperson Marie Harf:

Marie Harf

Washington, DC

September 6, 2013

---

We are continuing to follow with urgency the situation at Camp Ashraf in Iraq. The United States reiterates its condemnation of the horrific attack that took place on September 1 and we express our condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
We further reiterate our support for the United Nations Assistance Mission (UNAMI) and its efforts to conduct an independent fact finding investigation into this terrible event and to document what took place. We have called on the Government of Iraq to fully support UNAMI’s efforts to conduct a full investigation of its own and to help find and return to safety those who are missing. We insist that the perpetrators of this barbarous act be brought to justice.
We also note the troubling statements issued by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) praising the attack, and call on the Government of Iran to use whatever influence it might have with groups that may be holding missing persons from the camp to secure their immediate release.
Regarding the immediate situation at Camp Ashraf, we urge all parties to cooperate with a plan proposed by UNAMI to ensure the safe and secure relocation of the survivors to Camp Hurriya as soon as possible. Consistent with this plan, we call on the Government of Iraq to move expeditiously to enhance security structures within Camp Hurriya, pursuant to the plan discussed with UNAMI, and we call on the MEK to make all necessary preparations to move remaining residents at Camp Ashraf to Camp Hurriya in full cooperation with UNAMI. The United States stands behind the UNAMI efforts to resolve this crisis.
The State Department has appointed a Senior Advisor for MEK Resettlement, Jonathan Winer, to oversee our efforts to help resettle the residents of Camp Hurriya to safe, permanent, and secure locations outside of Iraq, in addition to those countries, such as Albania, that have admirably assisted the United Nations in this important humanitarian mission.

He's been 'on the job' since at least September 2013 and Brett's proud of him for finding homes in that time for 600 Ashraf residents?

Most people presented with approximately 3,000 people who needed to get out of country -- a life-or-death issue -- would work to successfully get them out in 90 days tops.  Check out previous evacuation efforts by the US is you doubt that.

But the White House is fine with it taking 15 months for Winer to relocate 600 people is acceptable?

At this rate, it will take over five years to relocate all the refugees -- over five years to do what previous administrations accomplished in 90 days.

No wonder Barack thinks his 'plan' (bombing Iraq) will require years to 'fix' things.

By the way, Brett may be impressed with Winer's work but he's likely the only one.

Not only is 600 a ridiculously small number, Winer's position isn't important enough in the eyes of the State Dept.



As Domani Spero (Diplopunidit) noted May 22nd, State Dept spokesperson Jen Psaki declared in a press briefing:

Jonathan Winer, who you also may know, visited Tripoli in February in his role as Special Coordinator for Libya and met with a variety of Libyan and international partners, and he’s working closely with Ambassador Satterfield and our NEA team.


Spero pointed out:

Jonathan Winer, the new Special Coordinator for Libya was previously appointed by the State Department as Senior Advisor for MEK Resettlement in 2013.  In that capacity, he was tasked with overseeing USG efforts to help resettle the residents of Camp Hurriya to permanent, and secure locations outside of Iraq. He also previously served as chief counsel and principal legislative assistant to then Senator Kerry for 10 years and was a DAS at INL.


Again, Brett may be impressed but the State Dept and White House felt it was such a nothing assignment that they tasked him to be Special Coordinator for Libya as well.



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