He lies again

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

FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O CAN'T STOP LYING IN AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE HIMSELF SEEM IMPORTANT.

FEBRUARY 20TH, HE CLAIMED THAT 7 MILLION AMERICANS HAD HEALTH CARE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

TO WHICH THE WASHINGTON POST SAYS LIAR AND POLIFACT SAYS LIAR

SOMEONE GRAB THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER BECAUSE BARRY'S PANTS ARE ON FIRE.


FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Tasnim News Agency reported today that Hoshyar Zebari, Foreign Minister of Iraq, was due in Tehran today for the start of a two-day visit.

Of course he was.

Why?

The most likely reason is because Iraq has no Minister of Defense.  Dropping back to February 21st:

To be fair, the blood lusting White House isn't the only one supplying weapons.  Al-Manar reports that Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari met yesterday with Russian officials and the Russian government has "agreed to speed up the delivery of Russian arms to the oil-rich Arab country."
In the US, there would be some objection if Zebari's US counterpart Secretary of State John Kerry was sticking his nose into what would clearly be Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's area; however, Iraq has no Minister of Defense.  Nor do they have a Minister of Interior or a Minister of National Security.


Yesterday, Ahmed Rasheed (Reuters) reported, "Iran has signed a deal to sell Iraq arms and ammunition worth $195 million, according to documents seen by Reuters - a move that would break a U.N. embargo on weapons sales by Tehran."  Today, Heba Qudsi (Asharq Al-Awsat) notes, "Diplomats in the Iran sanctions committee at the UN, speaking anonymously, expressed concern about the deal but refused to make further comment."  But one Iranian diplomat, outside of Iran, did comment.  Tasnim News Agency reports, "Iran's Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Danaeifar on Tuesday denied reports claiming that Iraq has signed a contract to purchase arms from the Islamic Republic."  Mary Casey and Cortni Kerr (Foreign Policy) add that "Maliki would neither confirm nor deny the reports."  So what happened?

Reuters saw the documents, it's silly for the governments of either Iran or Iraq to deny the deal.  Ahmed Rasheed, Patricia Zengerle, Matt Spetalnick, Ned Parker and Mark Heinrich (Reuters) report today:

Hasan Suneid, a senior lawmaker from Maliki's Dawa Party who heads parliament's security and defence committee, said Iraq had bought weapons from Iran and insisted this was within its right and violated no international sanctions.
"The U.S. government is not the Iraqi government's guardian," Suneid told reporters at the national parliament.
"We have the right to buy arms from any state that is friendly and cooperates with Iraq. The arms we purchased from Iran are nothing more than light weapons and ammunition.

"We have the right to select different sources for weapons. Iran is a friendly, neighboring state just like Kuwait, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia," he said.


World Bulletin quotes Nouri's spokesperson Ali Musawi declaring, "Nothing prevents us from buying arms and ammunition from any party."

The issue was raised today when State Dept spokesperson Jen Psaki was giving the daily briefing:


QUESTION: Okay. So my three very brief ones. You were asked, I believe, yesterday about this alleged arms deal between Iraq and Iran.

MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: Did – have you gotten any more clarity on that?

MS. PSAKI: Sure. Well, as I mentioned yesterday, we raise our concerns at the highest levels with the Government of Iraq and reiterated that any transfer of arms from Iran is in direct violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The Government of Iraq assured us that it would look into this matter. Today, we have seen the press release issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense denying that any contracts for military equipment were signed with Iran. And we will continue to follow up with the Government of Iraq on this issue.

QUESTION: You take them at their word? You believe their denial?

MS. PSAKI: Well, suffice it to say, we will continue to discuss the issue with the Government of Iraq, and we’ve of course seen their statement.

QUESTION: The issue in general of buying things from Iran or the issue specifically as related to this report that came out about this big – alleged big sale?

MS. PSAKI: Both.

QUESTION: So you’re not necessarily convinced that their denial is bona-fide?

MS. PSAKI: I’m not. I’m just conveying that, obviously, we’ll continue the discussion and these reports remain a concern of ours. But of course, we’ve seen the statement that they put out.

QUESTION: Well, are you heartened by the denial? I mean, or do you – that they say it’s not true? Is that a good thing?

MS. PSAKI: They did say that. We’ve seen that. They assured us they’d look into it, and this was a follow-up to that.

QUESTION: Second one is, I’m --

QUESTION: (Inaudible) Iraq.

MS. PSAKI: Hold on one moment, Said. One moment, one moment.

QUESTION: On Iraq.

QUESTION: Well, no. I’ve got a --

MS. PSAKI: Oh, on Iraq? Okay.

QUESTION: No, I got a --

QUESTION: I just want to ask you on this very issue --

MS. PSAKI: Okay.

QUESTION: There was a breakdown of lists. I mean, buying $35 million worth of, let’s say, mortars, or the equipment for tanks or whatever. I mean, it was really a very thorough and specific breakdown, which shows that the laundry list --

MS. PSAKI: I think I went through a thorough list with you yesterday.

QUESTION: I understand.

MS. PSAKI: Okay.

QUESTION: I’m saying that there was today – there was a laundry list published of the exact specific equipment and so on that the Iraqis allegedly signed back in November immediately after the return of Nuri al-Maliki from his visit to Washington. So I’m saying that your – the veracity of their denial – is it something that you believe, as Matt said, or despite the fact that it was really that specific?

MS. PSAKI: I think I’ve already answered the question. I don’t have anything more to add.

QUESTION: And what if it proves that they actually did contract the Iranians? What would you do?


MS. PSAKI: Well, as I said yesterday, that would raise serious concerns, given it would be a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.



The developments come as Global Security Newswire is reporting the US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel  is considering ending the US government's business relationship with Michelin over the company's business relationship with Iran (see Josh Rogin's report for The Daily Beast).

Patricia Zengerle (Reuters) notes that US Senator John McCain is calling for answers and stating this could jeopardize the US government's plan to allow Iraq to purchase 24 Apache attack helicopters.  Geoff Holtzman (Talk Radio News) quotes White House spokesperson Jay Carney declaring today, "Any transfer or sale of arms from Iran is in direct violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution."  Yes, it is a point that State Dept spokesperson Jen Psaki made on Monday.


In other Iraq and Iran news, Fars News Agency reports that the Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Danayee-Far, denied today that the Embassy in Baghdad was under fire.  Shots were heard.  But National Iraqi News Agency reports police says "a member of the force charged with protecting the Iranian embassy in central Baghdad, committed suicide by shooting himself."



RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Old Man Seth""
"Nouri's Iraq: Over 800 killed in violence so far t..."
"The Power of Parliamentarians in Abolishing Nuclea..."
"Sen. Murray Addresses Landmark Veterans Legislatio..."
"A Stiff and Iffy Start for Seth (Ava and C.I.)"
"FT lies about Iraq (again)"
"Lena's granny panties and other disgusting things"
"Pentagon wants more war"
"Where are the jobs?"
"Perez Hilton and other idiots"
"Larry Johnson just gets nuttier"
"The Originals"
"Julie Chen's an idiot"
"oh, dana"
"Bruce Dern is my pick"
"The princess can't be a king"
"THIS JUST IN! HE'S NOT A KING!"