Barry sports his love of bitchy

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


FADED CELEBRITY AND FOREVER BITCH BARRY O LET HIS CLAWS OUT YET AGAIN TODAY BECAUSE, PERIODICALLY, HE FEELS BLUE AND DOWN.

SO HE ATTACKED G.O.P. POLITICIAN MITT ROMNEY AND ROMNEY'S REMARKS REGARDING CONCERN OVER POVERTY.

BARRY O SNAPPED AND DID A NECK MOVE AS HE DECLARED, "THAT'S GREAT! LET'S DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!"

BARRY O THEN THREW HIS HEAD BACK AND SNORTED.

BRAYING, HE LEFT THE ROOM AT A GALLUP.

FROM THE TCI WIRE:


First off, Dirk Adriaensens has another important article, this one is entitled "Iraq: Media professionals assassinated in 2014." We will note it in the next snapshot (hopefully a Friday snapshot and not a Saturday one -- but the next one regardless).  It's an important topic, it's an important issue.  However, since the September 8, 2011 assassination of Iraqi journalist and activist Hadi al-Mahdi, I have to be in place for this topic.  I'll go to that place next time but there's too much to do to fall apart now.

So instead we'll zoom in on the United Nations.


Today, Human Rights Watch issued their [PDF format warning] 25th annual World Report which, as usual, is a wealth of information about the world.  Here, our focus is Iraq.

While the report rightly calls out the actions of the Islamic State, unlike many, it doesn't limit itself to that nor does it pretend that the Islamic State sprung up in a vacuum or that it was an initiating action.

In Iraq, the Islamic State exists as a response -- specifically as a response to an abusive government.

HRW's report notes:

On December 30, 2013, security forces attacked demonstrators in a public square in Ramadi where Sunnis had gathered every Friday for a year to protest perceived government abuses of the Sunni population. The attack left 17 people dead and helped to trigger renewed conflict in Anbar province that continued throughout the year. The army closed the main eastern, northern, and southern checkpoints to Fallujah, and elsewhere in Anbar, refusing to allow people, medicine, or food to enter or leave the city.

The government failed to investigate the April 23, 2013 attack on a demonstration camp in Hawija in which soldiers, federal police, and SWAT forces fired on a crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators, killing more than 50.



Those are part of the injustices that bred the reaction that is the Islamic State in Iraq.

Let's note the  April 23rd massacre of a sit-in in Hawija which resulted from  Nouri's federal forces storming in.  Alsumaria noted Kirkuk's Department of Health (Hawija is in Kirkuk)  announced 50 activists died and 110 were injured in the assault.   AFP reported the death toll eventually (as some wounded died) rose to 53 dead.   UNICEF noted that the dead included 8 children (twelve more were injured).

That is appalling.

The shock and outrage many felt was completely understandable.

But somehow that shock didn't make over the ocean and over the airwaves to the United States.

The minute that took place, the White House should have repudiated Nouri al-Maliki.

They refused to do so.

The cowardly and craven administration continued to embrace thug Nouri.

8 children killed.  Peaceful protesters killed and wounded.

In an attack order by Nouri al-Maliki and carried out by Iraqi forces he commanded.


Here's the weak ass response from the US government:


The United States strongly condemns the actions that resulted in the death and injury of civilians and security personnel in Hawija.  We regret that this violence took place before ongoing efforts to reach a peaceful resolution of this situation were given sufficient time to succeed.
All sides should immediately refrain from further violence or provocative actions.
U.S. officials have been in contact with senior Iraqi leaders to help defuse political and sectarian tensions. We call for a transparent investigation with the broadest possible participation.  Perpetrators of unlawful actions – whether from the government, security forces, or protestors – must be held accountable under Iraqi law.

The United States expresses its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and urges all Iraqis to move beyond this tragedy and to work together to prevent any recurrence.



All sides should immediately refrain from further violence?


What violence had the dead children participated in?

Huh?


Not that most Americans know because the US media never bothered to report on the protests themselves -- even though they were spread out across Iraq and lasted over a year -- but these protests weren't just male or one type of male.  Women participated, children participated.

And Iraq's challenged or disabled communities participated.

We noted that.

Check any Friday piece here during the year  of protests and you'll encounter a look at the diversity of the protests.

But we need to grasp what so many have refused to -- the dead and wounded in Hawija also included the challenged or disabled.

These were peaceful protesters.

What kind of monster orders an assault on peaceful protesters?

What kind of monster orders an assault on children?

What kind of monster orders an assault on people in wheel chairs?


BRussells Tribunal carried a translation of one activist who was an eye-witness to what went down:


 

I am Thamer Hussein Mousa from the village of Mansuriya in the district of Hawija. I am disabled. My left arm was amputated from the shoulder and my left leg amputated from the hip, my right leg is paralyzed due to a sciatic nerve injury, and I have lost sight in my left eye.
I have five daughters and one son. My son’s name is Mohammed Thamer. I am no different to any other Iraqi citizen. I love what is good for my people and would like to see an end to the injustice in my country.
When we heard about the peaceful protests in Al-Hawija, taking place at ‘dignity and honor square’, I began attending with my son to reclaim our usurped rights. We attended the protests every day, but last Friday the area of protest was besieged before my son and I could leave; just like all the other protestors there.
Food and drink were forbidden to be brought into the area….
On the day of the massacre (Tuesday 23 April 2013) we were caught by surprise when Al-Maliki forces started to raid the area. They began by spraying boiling water on the protestors, followed by heavy helicopter shelling. My little son stood beside me. We were both injured due to the shelling.
My son, who stood next to my wheelchair, refused to leave me alone. He told me that he was afraid and that we needed to get out of the area. We tried to leave. My son pushed my wheelchair and all around us, people were falling to the ground.
Shortly after that, two men dressed in military uniforms approached us. One of them spoke to us in Persian; therefore we didn’t understand what he said. His partner then translated. It was nothing but insults and curses. He then asked me “Handicapped, what do you want?” I did not reply. Finally I said to him, “Kill me, but please spare my son”. My son interrupted me and said, “No, kill me but spare my father”. Again I told him “Please, spare my son. His mother is waiting for him and I am just a tired, disabled man. Kill me, but please leave my son”. The man replied “No, I will kill your son first and then you. This will serve you as a lesson.” He then took my son and killed him right in front of my eyes. He fired bullets into his chest and then fired more rounds. I can’t recall anything after that. I lost consciousness and only woke up in the hospital, where I underwent surgery as my intestines were hanging out of my body as a result of the shot.
After all of what has happened to me and my little son – my only son, the son who I was waiting for to grow up so he could help me – after all that, I was surprised to hear Ali Ghaidan (Lieutenant General, Commander of all Iraqi Army Ground Forces) saying on television, “We killed terrorists” and displaying a list of names, among them my name: Thamer Hussein Mousa.
I ask you by the name of God, I appeal to everyone who has a shred of humanity. Is it reasonable to label me a terrorist while I am in this situation, with this arm, and with this paralyzed leg and a blind eye?
I ask you by the name of God, is it reasonable to label me a terrorist? I appeal to all civil society and human rights organizations, the League of Arab States and the Conference of Islamic States to consider my situation; all alone with my five baby daughters, with no one to support us but God. I was waiting for my son to grow up and he was killed in this horrifying way.

I hold Obama responsible for this act because he is the one who gave them these weapons. The weapons and aircrafts they used and fired upon us were American weapons. I also hold the United States of America responsible for this criminal act, above all, Obama.



Americans should be outraged.

They should be outraged that Bully Boy Bush installed Nouri as prime minister (2006) and then (in 2010) when Nouri lost the election Barack Obama demanded that Nouri get a second term.

Americans should be outraged by that.

They should be outraged by what Nouri did.

They should be outraged with a press that failed to report honestly and accurately what Nouri was doing to the Sunnis.

 They should be outraged with the United Nations.



Recommended: "Iraq snapshot"
"New Veterans Thank Secretary Chuck Hagel For Lifet..."
"United Nations: In business to protect governments..."
"Tweet of the week"
"Best CW Show"
"How To Get Away With Murder -- the end is coming"
"scandal"
"How To Get Away With Murder"
"Income inequality"
"The verdict on Roy is in"
"Tweet of the Week"
"Vouchers"
"Jerry White keeps hitting us with the truth"
"Hey, Barry, American Idol is lookng for you!"
"THIS JUST IN! HE SINGS!"

Hey, Barry, American Idol is lookng for you!

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

FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O DOES NOT HAVE TIME TO FOCUS ON THE ECONOMY OR IRAQ BUT DON'T WORRY AMERICA BARRY O IS WORKING!

ON HIS BRUNO MARS IMPERSONATION!

IF ONLY, IN 2008, HE'D AUDITIONED FOR AMERICAN IDOL INSTEAD OF RUNNING FOR THE WHITE HOUSE.

SMOOTH JAMS, BARRY, SMOOTH JAMS.



FROM THE TCI WIRE:


Starting in the United States and starting with some basic questions about the VA.

"How many veterans are being seen? What are they being seen for?".

Very basic questions.

Fundamental, you could argue, to understanding what quality of care the VA is delivering.

But as the Congressional Budget Office's Matthew Goldberg explained to the House VA Subcommittee on Health this morning, in response to Chair Dan Benishek, these basic questions remain unanswered by VA year after year.

And while much has been made (here at this site and elsewhere) about VA and DoD's computers still being unable to link up and 'talk' to one another -- allowing for a seamless electronic medical record to follow a service member from active duty status to veteran's status -- Goldberg noted the reality that the computers for VBA (Veterans Benefits Administration) and VHA (Veterans Health Administration)  can't link up and talk to each other.


These were among the issues discussed in this morning's Subcommittee on Health hearing.  Benishek is the Chair and US House Rep Julia Brownley is the Ranking Member.

The witnesses appearing before the Subcommittee were the Congressional Budget Office's Matthew Goldberg, Paralyzed Veterans of America's Carl Blake, the American Legion's Louis Celli Jr. and the VA's Dr. James Tuchschmidt.

The hearing was about the quality and cost of VA health care and was set in motion by a December 2014 Congressional Budget analysis entitled [PDF format warning] "Comparing the Costs of the Veterans' Health Care System With Private-Sector Costs."



In his opening statement, the American Legion's Celli noted that "if CBO is looking for a baseline by which to estimate the cost of non-VA care, they need look no further than their own library of published reports when in June of 2014, they estimated the cost of outsourcing VA care to exceed $50 billion over 5 years, or roughly $10 billion dollars per year, just to eliminate the backlog of veterans waiting more than 30 days to see a VA doctor. One important point to keep in mind is that this $50 billion represents an additional $10 billion per year to VHA’s already existing $65 billion annual budget, and this measure was only designed to serve less than one percent of VA’s total patient population. After reducing eligibility and constricting payments not to exceed Medicare rates, and a couple of other adjustments, CBO was able to come back with a second score that trimmed about $15 billion from the figure and came in with a second estimate of $35 billion."



Subcommittee Chair Dan Benishek: Mr. Tuchschmidt do you know what the average cost for speciality care for the VA for a routine colonoscopy within the VA versus the private?

James Tuchschmidt: I-I don't have that in my head.  Uh, uhm, we can probably get that information.  Uh, I --

Subcommittee Chair Dan Benishek: I don't think you can.  See, that's the whole point of what we're doing here. We don't know what it costs to do some of the routine things in the VA because we've inquired on this in the past and that's the kind of data that we need to -- we need to have and we need to provide oversight because I agree with these other gentlemen here that VA provides care to our veterans that can't be provided in the prviate sector and yet a lot of things the VA provides can be and in those areas I think a comparison is in order so that we can provide the best speciality care for our veterans.

Pressed by Ranking Member Brownley, the VA's Tuchschmidt tried to spin, "I think that asking what is the cost of care is the wrong question to be asking."

Oh, really?  The VA is above the budget now?

Now?

I shouldn't say "now."

As Paul Giblin (Arizona Republic) reported last November, the VA "didn't track its number of unfilled medical positions until June"  and that, in November, the VA learned they had over 31,000 vacant medical positions.

The VA was unanswerable under Bully Boy Bush and it's only become more so under President Barack Obama.


Former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's tenure (January 2009 through May 2014) was characterized by one scandal after another -- not limited to the backlog, the wait times, the doctored lists to make the wait times disappear,

Shinseki was finally forced to resign in disgrace during the spring of 2014.

Had Congress being doing their job, he could have -- and should  have -- been forced out in the fall of 2009.


The first big scandal he weathered was during that time period.  Veterans going to college on the GI Bill suddenly found themselves with tuition and cost of living expenses but with no check from the VA.

Many had to take out loans.

Many had to beg landlords to be forgiving about rent being late.

Some would still be waiting in December 2009 for their fall 2009 checks.  As a result, some veterans had to postpone Christmas for their children.

And, thing is, when Eric Shinseki took over as Secretary of the VA, he was told that the Post 9/11 GI Bill would not be able to make the college payments in a timely manner in the fall of  2009.  He knew it months ahead of time.  Neither he nor anyone else in the administration made Congress aware of the looming problem.  When the fall semester rolled around in 2009, veterans were planning on those checks.  They took out loans to cover tuition and books, they spent their own money, they did whatever they could to stay afloat and enrolled as they waited and waited on the checks that did not come.   October 14, 2009, he told the House Committee on Veterans Affairs:

Secretary Eric Shinseki: I'm looking at the certificates of eligibility, uh, being processed on 1 May and enrollments 6 July, checks having to flow through August. A very compressed time frame. And in order to do that, we essentially began as I arrived in January, uh, putting together the plan -- reviewing the plan that was there and trying to validate it. I'll be frank, when I arrived, uh, there were a number of people telling me this was simply not executable. It wasn't going to happen. Three August was going to be here before we could have everything in place. Uh, to the credit of the folks in uh VA, I, uh, I consulted an outside consultant, brought in an independent view, same kind of assessment. 'Unless you do some big things here, this is not possible.' To the credit of the folks, the good folks in VBA, they took it on and they went at it hard. We hired 530 people to do this and had to train them. We had a manual system that was computer assisted. Not very helpful but that's what they inherited. And we realized in about May that the 530 were probably a little short so we went and hired 230 more people. So in excess of 700 people were trained to use the tools that were coming together even as certificates were being executed. Uhm, we were short on the assumption of how many people it would take.

When we reported on that hearing, we became the only ones to report on the fact that Shinseki knew months ahead of time that the VA wouldn't be able to issue the checks in a timely manner.

The so-called news outlets wanted to give Eric a pass because he's such a 'good guy.'

I don't care if rainbows and candy corn flow out his ass, his job performance is what matters and he failed at it repeatedly.

A functioning press would've led the charge on that but we don't have a functioning press in the United States, we have a fawning public relations group that latches onto personalities and sells them and their 'life struggle' stories as news -- Lifetime Intimate Portraits passed off as investigative journalism.

And it wasn't just that Shinseki knew months ahead of time that veterans going to college would be screwed over in the fall of 2009.

Let's remember too what the VA did in real time: Blamed veterans.  The VA said the veterans filled out the wrong form or that their schools did.  The VA  stalled and stalled.   The VA didn't suffer.  Christmas bonuses continued at the VA.


The recent scandals were on the mind of the Subcommittee members this morning.


US House Rep Mike Coffman:  We need to know what procedures cost and we don't know that right now.  And we need transparency.  And we don't have that right now in the VA system. And we're talking about a system that --  I mean, we're talking about the quality of care -- that just excluded veterans by virtue of manipulating wait lists -- appointment wait lists, so that people could get cash bonuses.

Tucschmidt was full of nonsense and when he really didn't want to answer a question, he fell back on he wasn't sure if he understood the computer systems and accounting and thought it might date back to, gasp, the 1940s and how was simple him supposed to grasp all that?

The VA is one embarrassment after another and as they continue to play dumb in hearings and refuse to fork over information Congress requests, it's really time for Congress to start censuring them.


RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Paralyzed Veterans of America Calls on the House a..."
"Free e-book from Greece's new Finance Minister and..."
"Pentagon lets slip an admission about combat in Ir..."
"Thom Hartman, Truth Out and other f**king idiots"
"Diana"
"iraq"
"Arrow -- is it wrong to wish someone dead?"
"The loony left"
"Nancy Pelosi needs to show leadership"
"William Boardman can rot in hell"
"Emotional?"
"Look at all the little . . ."
"And that's why no one takes CodeStink seriously"
"Tea, Texas Tea! Bubbling In The Atlantic!"
"THIS JUST IN! BARRY CRIES 'DRILL, BABY, DRILL!'"

Tea, Texas Tea! Bubbling In The Atlantic!

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

FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O THOUGHT ABOUT RELEASING A BOOK OF SELFIES UNTIL HE LEARNED KIM KARDASHIAN WAS ALREADY DOING THAT.

SO INSTEAD, HE'S DECIDED TO PROPOSE DRILLING IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN FOR OIL.

REACHED FOR COMMENT, BARRY O TOLD THESE REPORTERS, "ECO-SCHMECO.  IF I GAVE A DAMN ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT I'D STOP ALL THE PREGNANCIES.  YOU KNOW HOW MANY LANDFILLS HAVE DIAPERS IN THEM?  AND THESE DIAPERS ARE FILLED WITH STINKY POOS.  STINKY POOS!  BABIES ARE THE BIGGEST POLLUTERS IN THE WORLD.  STINKY BABIES AND THEIR STINKY POOS."


FROM THE TCI WIRE:




This morning, the Senate Armed Services Committee heard testimony from three retired military officials: Gen James Mattis, Gen John Keane and Adm William Fallon  or, as Senator Kelly Ayotte described them, "three of America's most distinguished military leaders."


Ayotte presides over the hearing as Acting Chair since John McCain was not present.  He's out of the country and we'll note why later but while he had an excuse for missing the hearing, others really didn't.

Unlike Senator Lindsay Graham, I'm referring to members of the Committee.  We'll note his criticism in a minute but it would have been nice if all members in the country could have been present.  There are twenty-five members on the Committee.  Seven are women.  That's a big deal.  The Senate Judiciary Committee, by contrast, has only two women on it.

Only two.

The Armed Services has seven women and three things on that.

First, show up for the hearings.  You wanted on the Committee, show up.

At a time when even Brookings can decry the low number of women invited to participate in Middle East discussions, female senators on the Armed Services Committee should consider themselves obligated to participate in hearings on the Middle East.

Second, Senator Kelly Ayotte's noted here but we're not excerpting.  That's not that she did anything wrong but most of her time was wasted by a witness giving an ahistorical view of the Cold War.  I don't include known lies.  People can have different opinions and I'm fine with that and fine with including different opinions or even different or new facts or factoids.  But when you lie about history and I know it's a lie, I'm not including it. That witness took up Ayotte's entire questioning time in the first round with his rewriting.  Senator Joni Ernst did attend -- one of the few women to show up.  She's new and I would've graded anything on a curve because she is new.  The first female Iraq War veteran to serve in the Senate, I expected Ernst would reflect on the war.  I expected her view to be different than mine and I thought we'd include it.  We're not noting her because she didn't talk about Iraq.  She didn't ask about Iraq.

This isn't the "Afghanistan snapshot." This isn't the "Iran snapshot."  This isn't the "sequestration snapshot."  If Iraq's discussed, that's our focus.

One female senator did show up and did ask about Iraq.



Senator Mazie Hirono:  Gen Keane, you described life in Mosul where schools are set up just to radicalize the population, where every day life has changed.  And one wonders how long ISIL can so-called 'govern'  in this way?  So you're indicating that we need to be doing -- we, in the United States, should have people on the ground -- not boots on the ground -- when the people in Iraq finally get to the point where they want to fight ISIL.  Now the question becomes then, when is that time?   And would you say that is perhaps a major role for our intelligence community?  To inform us as to when that critical point is that we need to be there to help the people fight back? And I'd also like to ask that question of Gen Keane because Gen Keane you noted the importance of our intelligence community in establishing priorities.


Gen John Keane:  Yeah the -- Listen, that's a very tough question, Senator.  The only thing I can -- in helping you with that -- is just look back a bit.  We had an insurgency begin in Iraq in the spring and summer of 2003 -- led by Saddam Hussein and his people -- and the al Qaeda fell in on that very quickly.  And the in 2006, some two-and-a-half, three years later, Sunni tribes began -- who were aligned with them -- began to push back -- and much of it was literally driven by women, frankly.  Because the women were putting pressure on the tribal leaders that they did not want their children and their grandchildren to live like this for generations to come with 7th century Talibanism, under the foot of what al Qaeda was doing, controlling every aspect of their life -- from diet to costume behavior, Sharia law, etc.  That frustration is already there.  I do believe that given the fact that -- particularly in Anbar Province -- that this has existed before, the accelerate will be faster and not take three years.  I'm going to make an assumption that our intelligence community, with the use of informants and others are-are monitoring what is taking place and we have some sense of what the conditions are and more importantly what the attitude and behavior of the people are themselves.  But let's also be honest that there's just so much those people in Mosul will be able to do against a well armed and well equipped force as ISIS is -- in Mosul and in its suburbs.  To eject them out of there will take a conventional military force to do that -- supported by air power and some pretty good intelligence on where people are.  The attitude and belief of the people will be a factor.  But I don't believe in and of itself it will be decisive.  What will be decisive is the use of military force to defeat the military organization that is there.

Senator Mazie Hirono:  And the conventional military force should be the Iraqi military itself? With --

Gen John Keane:  Yes.

Senator Mazie Hirono:  -- possible air support --

Gen John Keane:  Yes.

Senator Mazie Hirono:  -- from us and our allies.

Gen John Keane:  Well it's the Peshmerga, as you know, who is the militia from Kurdistan who have the will to fight and the skill.  They don't have all the weapons they need.  Iraqi army?  And by the way the Iraqi army is probably in better shape based on some recent reports I just got this weekend from people who returned [Kimberly and Fred Kagan] and many of the military reports are suggesting -- But secondly, and thirdly, would be the Sunni tribes.  Now the Shi'ite milita are part of this and they have strengthened the Iraqi military very considerably.  The best fighters in the army are Iranian-backed Shia militia



Third thing regarding the women on the Committee?  Ava's going to grab that at Trina's site tonight (it's a joke we polished in the hearing).  Kat's going to grab a topic at her site and Wally's planning to grab an exchange that took place during Senator Thom Tillis' round of questioning (he'll be posting at Rebecca's site).




Of all the idiotic moments in the history -- and there were a good many -- Senator Joe Manchin provided the worst as he used his time to advocate and argue for re-instating the draft -- a position that even the three generals were reluctant to embrace.  Manchin kept insisting the US forces would still be in Vietnam today if there had not been a draft during the Vietnam era.  He also, when he realized no one was supporting his call for a return of the draft, began proposing an enlisted force with "some" element of a draft.

Is Manchin insane?

That was the Vietnam era.

You had people drafted and you had them enlist.

I'm confused that Manchin's confused by this.

He graduated high school in 1965, he lived in this era.

Of course, he didn't serve.

The Chicken Hawk who now wants to bring back the draft didn't serve in Vietnam.

He took a football scholarship to college.

Had a -- we're sure -- 'brutal' injury on the football field -- why, he's practically a P.O.W.!

It takes a lot of nerve to be a sitting US Senator trying to bring back the draft, pointing to the Vietnam era, and failing to note that your own ass sat that war out.

By choice.

And via war babies, right?  Avoiding the draft by rushing into marriage and popping out war babies? Dick Cheney did the same thing.  We've called him out for it as well.

When Manchin starts trying to bring back the draft, how he avoided it becomes news worthy.

And Senator Jeanne Shaheen should be happy about that.  It allows us to ignore her show up for the hearing over two hours after it started and the prepared question she brought with her.



Senator Graham had criticism, as I noted earlier.

Senator Lindsey Graham:  I just regret, to our media friends that are here, thank you for coming.  Maybe if we had Tom Brady, we'd fill up the room.  But that's the world in which we live in.  We're talking about consequential things and got [only] a couple of reporters here.



 Where was the media?

Where was CodePink?  Oh, right, if the media's not there, CodeStink's not there.


But this was an important hearing.  It was noted, by Gen John Keane, that Iraq required "a political and military alliance."  He elaborated further:



Gen John Keane:  There is no other way I believe that you can cope with this scale of problem without bringing the countries involved together whether they're in the region or have interests outside of the region as many do because of the export of terrorism to their countries and develop a strategy to deal with it.  This isn't about the United States driving a strategy.  This is about the countries together because much of what has to be done in the region where the radical Islamists are growing has to do with those countries themselves, has to do with the conditions that exist in those countries.  This issues simply are -- and what the Arab Spring was about if you recall, it was about seeking political reforms, social justice and economic opportunity.  Nobody was demonstrating in the streets for radical Islam.  But the radical Islamists saw the Arab Spring as an opportunity and it became an accelerate for them because they saw political and social upheaval and they could take advantage of it.  So using that as a backdrop -- it drives you -- those issues are still there -- political reform, social injustice and lack of economic opportunity.  







RECOMMENDED:  "Iraq snapshot"
"Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Barack Goes To..."
"The short supply of common sense"
"The Hollywood Reporter caught lying"
"Drones and Stalker"
"Arrow"
"Tired of the fake asses"
"A solar system discovered"
"The threat from the Islamic State (Wally)"
"The forever delayed report from the Iraq Inquiry"
"Naming the prettiest and the ugliest members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (Ava)"
"The Originals (bring on Rebekkah)"
"Sequestration"
"His trade, your lives"
"THIS JUST IN! HE'LL SHIP THOSE JOBS OVERSEAS, YES, HE WILL!"

His trade, your lives

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

FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O IS STILL SCRAMBLING TO GET THE TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP TREATY DONE.


THE SHOW HORSE WAS NEVER MUCH OF A WORK HORSE BUT THESE DAYS HE'S A REGULAR MY LITTLE PONY.


REACHED FOR COMMENT, BARRY O TOLD THESE REPORTERS, "LOOK, ALL I'M TRYING TO DO IS CREATE MILLIONS OF LOW PAYING JOBS IN OTHER COUNTRIES AND THE EASIEST WAY TO DO THAT IS TO SHIP OVERSEAS ALL THE JOBS THAT STILL REMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.  IT'S ABOUT SACRIFICE.  IF MY TWO TERMS AS PRESIDENT HAVE TAUGHT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NOTHING ELSE, IT'S THAT I WILL FORCE THEM TO SACRIFICE AND THEY WILL BE GRATEFUL -- DAMN GRATEFUL!"


HE THEN ASKED THESE REPORTERS TO BRAID HIS MANE AND PUT A PRETTY PINK BOW ON IT.



FROM THE TCI WIRE:




And Iraqi Spring MC reports that Falluja General Hospital received the corpses of 4 civilians and seven wounded civilians today -- a result of the Iraqi military's one-year-plus of bombing residential neighborhoods in the Sunni city of Falluja.


These attacks would not be tolerated by the Shi'ite Prime Minister of Iraq if the victims were Shi'ites. Haider al-Abadi became prime minister in August and, September 13th, he announced these daily bombings -- which are War Crimes -- had been stopped.

Either he's a liar or the Iraqi military does not listen to their commander in chief.

Within 24 hours of his announcement that the bombings had ended they were already going on again.

And they continue each day.

Maybe four lives don't matter to the international community?

I'd hope they would but maybe they don't.

If they don't, try to grasp that this is four people dead today.  Today.  These bombings have been going on daily since January of last year.  Over 12 months of these daily bombings -- which, again, are War Crimes -- the toll adds up -- the number dead and the number injured.

And the international community should be demanding answers starting with whether Haider al-Abadi lied or if he's just so ineffective that the Iraqi military blows off any order he gives them?


Staying with the topic of the targeting of the Sunnis . . .

شمرية العراق ‏@MoonNor27 6h6 hours ago

My senses no longer bear the pain &sadness cause I cant save innocent Sunni civilians who are die every day, by shia Gangs in #Iraq

0 replies 486 retweets 27 favorites

Ahmed Rasheed, Stephen Kalin and Robin Pomeroy (Reuters) report:

Sunni politicians and tribal chiefs from Iraq's eastern Diyala province accused Shi'ite militias on Monday of killing more than 70 unarmed civilians who had fled clashes with Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) militants.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan denied the claims, saying ISIL was trying to undermine the reputation of Iraqi security forces.


The Minister of the Interior is a laughable joke and far from a trusted source on the topic of thugs murdering Sunnis.  As Loveday Morris (Washington Post) noted last October:


The new interior minister is Mohammed Ghabban, a little-known Shiite politician with the Badr Organization. But there is little doubt that Hadi al-Amiri, head of the party and its military wing, will wield the real power in the ministry.

The Badr militia ran notorious Shiite death squads during Iraq’s sectarian war, after infiltrating the Interior Ministry. A leaked 2009 State Department cable said sources had indicated that Amiri may have personally ordered attacks on up to 2,000 Sunnis. Amiri has denied such allegations.




Margaret Griffis (Antiwar.com) counts 215 people dead from violence (299 injured) today while, over the weekend, she added Friday, Saturday and Sunday's numbers coming up with the total of 692 people killed and another eighty-nine injured.




RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Google helps Barack break the law"
"Hejira"
"I Hate The War"
"Paralyzed Veterans of America Responds to Presiden..."
"Harper hits (and gropes?) below the belt"

• Truest statement of the week
• Truest statement of the week II
• A note to our readers
• Editorial: We speak out when?
• Media: American Sniper
• Documentary roundtable
• Tweet of the week
• They raise 'em real stupid at Information Clearing...
• Nancy Pelosi wants to talk ethics
• This edition's playlist
• Paralyzed Veterans of America Responds to Presiden...
• President Admonished for Overlooking Veterans in S...
• Michigan Greens Tie Values to Issues in 2015 'Stat...
• How radical are the Greens? (Socialist Worker)
• Highlights

"Am I the only one tired of Amy Goodman's White Power racism?"
"Drones"
"Mission Impossible 5?"
"a moderately good episode of revenge"
"Bernie Sanders, sit your fake ass down"
"Let's get real about Cindy, Military Families Speak Out and World Can't Wait (a whole lot White)"
"Michael Moore's big mouth"
"Calling out the b.s."
"Iraq"
"Ruth Conniff is an idiot (and worse and, yes, I say it)"
"Who will teach Barry O to count?"
"THIS JUST IN! HE CAN'T EVEN COUNT TO SIX!"

Who will teach Barry O to count?

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

SOME ARE SEEING FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O'S WORDS OF "I HAVE NO MORE CAMPAIGNS TO RUN . . . I KNOW BECAUSE I WON BOTH OF THEM" SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF.

THOSE IDIOTS PROBABLY APPLAUDED WHEN BARRY O CLAIMED TO HAVE VISITED "ALL 57" STATES IN THE U.S.

FOR THE RECORD, THERE ARE 50 STATES IN THE U.S.

AS DISTRESSING AS IT IS THAT SOMEONE OVER THE U.S. ECONOMY CANNOT COUNT CORRECTLY TO 50, IT'S EVEN SADDER THAT HE CAN'T COUNT TO SIX.

LOOK, BARRY O, HOW MANY IS THIS?

NO, NOT TWO!

BARRY O HAS RUN 6 CAMPAIGNS IN GENERAL ELECTIONS AND WON SIX.

HE RAN FOR THE ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE 3 TIMES WINNING EACH TIME.  HE RAN FOR THE U.S. SENATE ONCE AND WON.

WE ARE NOW UP TO FOUR.

F--O-U-R -- IF WE SAY IT SLOWLY, IT WON'T BE SO SCARY, BARRY.

HE RAN FOR U.S. PRESIDENT TWICE AND WON TWICE.

THAT IS SIX GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS AND SIX RUNS.

(HE HAS HAD 7 PRIMARY RUNS WITH 6 WINS.  IN 2000, HE RAN IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRIMARY FOR A U.S. HOUSE SEAT.  BUT BOBBY RUSH SLAPPED HIS ASS, PULLED HIS PANTS DOWN, TOOK HIM OVER THE KNEE, SPANKED HIM IN PUBLIC EMBARRASSING TYPE OF LOSS.)


FROM THE TCI WIRE:



AFP reports that Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared Thursday that Iraq was lacking in sufficient weapons -- that's right, that Iraq did not have enough weapons -- and stated, "We don't want to see a military defeat because of budget and fiscal problems."

Again, Haider believes Iraq is starved for weapons.  All the bullets and all the bombs have not been enough for Haider.

These were not off the cuff remarks but something's he's been harping on for some time.


Vivian Salama and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) quote him declaring in an on Wednesday interview that "we are in this almost on our own."  These are similar to the remarks he made last week.

Last week, AFP reported that Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi was slamming the coalition the US government has put together and saying it was taking to long to provide "military support" to the Iraq military, "The international coalition is very slow in its support and training of the army."


At the Pentagon on Thursday, US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was asked about the statements.


Q: Mr. Secretary, yesterday Prime Minister Abadi said that he was upset by what he considered the slow, stalled pace of U.S. weapons and training, both by the U.S. and the coalition in Iraq. Do you agree with his assessment? Has that been slow or delayed? And the 6,000 -- the reports of 6,000 insurgents killed, is that a measure of what the U.S. is doing, and is that number accurate?


SEC. HAGEL: Well, regarding Prime Minister Abadi's comments, first, I don't agree with those comments. I met with Prime Minister Abadi, as many of you know who accompanied me on that trip about a month ago. The fact is that we have put a particular emphasis on getting the kind of equipment and materiel, ammunition, the needs, the requirements for the Iraqi Security Forces and the -- and the Kurds.
To give you some examples, last year we were able to move more than 1,500 Hellfire missiles, expedited in every one of these cases, all of the requests that the Iraqi government has made.
We'll have provided over 250 MRAPs, some of those went to the Kurds. Tens of thousands of small arms and ammunition. The flow of ammunition and materiel and the requests continue at an accelerated rate.
So, I do -- I do disagree with the prime minister's comments. I would say even further, I don't think they're helpful. We have a coalition of over 60 countries that have come together to help Iraq. And I think the prime minister might want to be a little more mindful of that.
We are continuing to deploy more American troops for training. And we have three of four training sites now operational in Iraq. We have about a dozen coalition partners who have trainers there, along with our trainers. We'll have a fourth training camp up soon.
So, we are doing everything we can possibly do to help the Iraqis.
As to the second part of your question, first, I have not seen any verification of that number of 6,000 that you referred to. We do know that thousands of ISIL fighters have been killed, and we do know that some of ISIL's leadership have been killed.
But also, as you ask, is that the measurement or a significant measurement of progress? It is a measurement. But I don't think it is the measurement. I mean, I -- I was in a war where there was a lot of body counts every day. And we lost that war.
What you look at is you look at things like do you have ISIL on the defensive? And I think by most every measurement, not imperfect, not perfect, they have been on the defensive.
Are they having difficulty recruiting? Yes they are.
The Peshmerga and the Iraqi Security Forces cut into their supply lines? Yes, they have.
Has there been a distortion in command and control networks of ISIL? Yes, there has been. Significant, tangible, measurable.

  These are also the metrics you look at as to how much progress you're making in a war.


Poor Haider al-Abadi.  Is he nuts?

If he's not insane, he's just the biggest idiot in the world.

Any time he has a chance before the world media,  he makes a fool of himself.

That is his pattern.

As September drew to a close, he visited the United States and quickly made a fool of himself in the media.  As Ray Sanchez and Evan Perez (CNN) explained then:

From Washington to New York, a flurry of denials followed media reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told reporters at the United Nations that his country's intelligence agency had uncovered an imminent ISIS plot against United States and Paris subways.

"We don't have anything to back it up at this point," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told CNN. "We'll keep looking at it."

What had been a mini-triumph -- Haider proved he could both stand erect and speak, traits puppets don't always possess -- was destroyed when Haider decided to 'reveal' plots against the NYC subway that Iraqi 'intelligence' had learned of.

He hurried back to Iraq a laughing stock.


Thursday, Hagel took on Haider's remarks which Hagel clearly sees as carping.


On the issue of the 6,000 number raised to Hagel, that number comes via Al Arabiya reporting:


The U.S.-led airstrikes have “taken more than half” of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group’s leadership, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones told Al Arabiya News Channel in an interview aired Thursday.
Jones described the airstrikes as having a “devastating” effect on ISIS after Baghdad criticized Washington for not doing “enough” to eliminate the Islamist group.

“We estimate that the airstrikes have now killed more than 6,000 ISIS fighters in Syria and Iraq,” Jones said.
The U.S. ambassador added that the airstrikes have “destroyed more than a thousand of ISIS vehicle inside Iraq.”


Back to Haider who had a chance to shine today that he spoiled with his own mouth yet again.

It's not a surprise that Haider wants more weapons.  He's done nothing since August -- in fairness to him, the US government hasn't encouraged or pressed him to -- when he became prime minister to heal the serious rifts in Iraq -- the rifts at the heart of the ongoing crises in the country.

So, like any puppet installed as opposed to a leader elected, he fears being toppled.

What keeps a puppet from being toppled, arms and more arms.

RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Kerry wants to glory-hog a meet-up"
"State of the Union Lies"
"New album coming"
"We need good music"
"none of you liked sunday's episode of 'revenge'"
"X-Men"
"New album coming from Rickie Lee Jones"
"Well is she here, I look in the drug store . . ."
"Rickie Lee Jones"
"A stupid Tweet"
"Oh, Bob, really?"
"The shocker!"
"THIS JUST IN! BARRY JR. HAS AN EX-WIFE!"

The shocker!

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

IT'S THE SHOCKING DISCOVERY NO ONE EXPECTED . . .

FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O HAS AN EX-WIFE -- ONE WHO IS A WOMAN.

TO FIND OUT THAT HE HAD A MALE LOVER OR TWO IN HIS PAST?  WELL THAT'S LONG BEEN WHISPERED.

BUT WHO KNEW MICHELLE WAS NOT HIS FIRST WIFE.

WHERE IS THE FIRST WIFE?

HAS SHE BEEN IMPRISONED IN GUANTANAMO?

CAN ANYONE UNCOVER THE TRUTH?



FROM THE TCI WIRE:




Last night, US President Barack Obama blathered on about a couple who fell in love and it was one of the most embarrassing speeches ever given as a State of the Union Address.  We focused on Iraq last night.  Dan Murphy (Christian Science Monitor) had hours to reflect on the speech before he weighed in today and here are his 'deep' thoughts re: Iraq, "He also glossed the fact that he's sent troops back to Iraq, with Baghdad at risk of falling to Islamic State." Kaveh Waddell (National Journal) adds, "The president mentioned Iraq, where Islamic State extremists have taken over significant swaths of land, only twice, compared to an average of five over his last five State of the Union speeches."


Things only got worse.

Barack declared, "Six years ago, nearly 180,000 American troops served in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Today, fewer than 15,00 remain."  And the do-nothing Win Without War responded with this Tweet:

Win Without War @WinWithoutWar  ·  Jan 20

"Our combat mission in #Afghanistan is over." President Obama. When will our remaining 15,000 troops there come home, Mr President? #SOTU

0 replies 8 retweets 4 favorites

Now I know they're whores.  But are they stupid?  15,000 was not given by Barack as the number of US troops in Aghanistan, it was Afghanistan and Iraq.


Win Without War is a  group who thinks they can take over the Democratic Party from within.  It's never worked out that way for them.  They just whore and whore until they stand for nothing while they continue to try to herd voters over to the Democratic Party.


In 2006, they couldn't stop pretending to care about Iraq.

Today?


Not so much.

And then there's Ruth Conniff.

The aged princess of The Progressive is bound and determined to run the magazine into the ground -- and knowing Ruth, she'll succeed at that.

Ruth couldn't stop Tweeting throughout the speech.

But not about Iraq.

Remember this is the stupid woman that went on KPFA and bragged about how none of her friends had children who enlisted and she didn't no anyone who served in the Iraq War.


Ruth thought that was something to share.

No surprise, her ascension at the magazine has only resulted in an already muddied approach getting worse.


Unlike Ruth, many Americans do not veterans of today's wars.


March Forward!'s Mike Prysner offers his take at Veterans for Peace and concludes, "A system set up like this can only replicate the same heart-wrenching tragedies for people like us. No need to watch the State of the Union--we need a revolution."  Following Barack's speech, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America issued the following:


WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 20, 2015) – Tonight, President Obama failed to address critical priorities for the veteran community, including restoring trust in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) after last summer’s scandals and reforming veteran mental health care services. Despite praising the Joining Forces initiative to improve veteran unemployment and mentioning the VA disability claims backlog, the President remained silent on critical veterans issues.


Particularly disappointing was the President’s failure to affirm his administration’s support for urgent passage of the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act – historic bipartisan legislation that will increase access to quality mental health care and combat veteran suicide. With 22 veterans dying by suicide every day, IAVA has partnered with more than 20 veteran service organizations and partners and lawmakers from both parties to promote the bill, named after Marine veteran Clay Hunt who died by suicide in 2011.


“Tonight, the Commander-in-Chief once again thanked our veterans and servicemembers for their selfless service to our country. However, actions speak louder than words,” said IAVA CEO and Founder Paul Rieckhoff. “Yes, the President must speak to many constituencies in the State of the Union, but no other group fought and sacrificed for its country like veterans. After the VA scandal and marking more than 13 years of combat, veterans were hoping for a proactive policy agenda from our President. As the recent success of the film “American Sniper” attests, our country is beginning a sober discussion on the impact of the post-9/11 wars on our servicemembers, their families and our country, and we had hoped for the President to lead that conversation. He didn’t.”


Rieckhoff continued, “This next year will be crucial for the veteran community as more servicemembers return home and transition to civilian life. But in the address tonight, the President rarely mentioned veterans. Veterans exist, and many among us need assistance, particularly in the often overlooked area of mental health care. But we refuse to have our issues swept under the rug, and we will not rest until Congress passes and the President signs the Clay Hunt SAV Act, designed to combat the tragedy of 22 veterans dying by suicide every day.”


“Furthermore, in last year’s address the President committed to slashing the VA’s disability claims backlog. A year later, we are nowhere near “backlog zero.” Currently, more than 242,000 veterans are still waiting to get the benefits they earned. The state of the union is strong, but the state of the VA is still smoldering. Last summer, IAVA members and veterans across the country were shocked to learn about the alleged misconduct and wrongdoing at VA hospitals. For many veterans, the VA health care system is their only health care system. While we appreciate the efforts of Sec. McDonald and his team to enact reforms, we are frustrated the President did not mention how he will restore veterans’ faith in the VA after months of scandal. Our veterans don’t deserve to be ignored,” said Rieckhoff.


IAVA looks forward to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) delivering the Republican response to the State of the Union Address. As the first female combat veteran elected to serve in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Ernst is in a unique position to fight for the nation’s veterans, particularly the female soldiers who bravely served the country. Sen. Ernst served in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and currently serves as a Lt. Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard. IAVA urges her to publicly address the veteran suicide crisis and to endorse urgent passage of the SAV Act as well.


At IAVA offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City, veterans attended SOTU watch parties and live-tweeted the President’s address using the hashtag #SOTUVets.

Note to media: Email press@iava.org or call 212-982-9699 to speak with IAVA CEO and Founder Paul Rieckhoff or IAVA leadership.


Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org) is the nation's first and largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization representing veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and has nearly 300,000 Member Veterans and civilian supporters nationwide. Celebrating its 10th year anniversary, IAVA recently received the highest rating - four-stars - from Charity Navigator, America's largest charity evaluator.

RECOMMENDED:  "Iraq snapshot"
"President Admonished for Overlooking Veterans in S..."
"Chairman Miller Statement Regarding President Obam..."
"Michigan Greens Tie Values to Issues in 2015 'Stat..."
"Iraq and the realities Barack avoided in the hollo..."
"J-Lo"
"Tweet of the Week"
"The Robot"
"Cherry Limeade"
"The thin line"
"Child care is too expensive?"
"Cosby"
"The Originals"
"revenge"
"That awful Selma film"
"Now he plans to fix parenting"
"THIS JUST IN! COMING NEXT OBAMACHILDCARE!"

Now he plans to fix parenting

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

CALLING UNIVERSAL CHILD CARE A MUST-HAVE IN LAST NIGHT'S SPEECH, FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O FEELS HE'S FIGURED OUT HOW TO PROVIDE IT.

"I SLEPT ON IT!" HE EXCITEDLY TOLD THESE REPORTERS THIS MORNING.  "AND IT JUST CAME TO ME! ANOTHER ONE OF MY BRILLIANT IDEAS!"

TO PROVIDE UNIVERSAL CHILD CARE, BARRY O EXPLAINED, HE'S GOING TO PASS A LAW REQUIRING EVERY PARENT PURCHASE IT.

"INSTANT BINGO! I'VE CREATED UNIVERSAL CHILD CARE -- JUST LIKE I DID WITH HEALTH CARE!" HE INSISTED.



FROM THE TCI WIRE:




"I have no more campaigns to run," declared US President Barack Obama tonight in a possible attempt to provide comfort to a put-upon nation as he delivered yet another State of the Union Address.

He first ran for the oval office, for example, promising to close the gulag at Guantanamo.

In his campaign literature entitled "The War We Need To Win" in 2007,"  the promise was made, "As president, Barack Obama will close the detention facility at Guantanamo."  Eight years later, it remains open.


President Barack Obama: As Americans, we have a profound commitment to justice -- so it makes no sense to spend three million dollars per prisoner to keep open a prison that the world condemns and terrorists use to recruit. Since I've been President, we've worked responsibly to cut the population of GTMO in half. Now it's time to finish the job. And I will not relent in my determination to shut it down. It's not who we are.



Has he "worked to cut the population of GTMO in half"?  Well the promise was to close it.

And not to close it in his second term.

Pointing out realities makes one one of the "cynics" Barack referenced in his speech, a reference that left him sounding truly Nixonian.

The editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune saw the speech as "self-flattery" and observed:

The notion that a broadly resurgent United States can “turn the page” on a recent era of economic pain, wars and terrorism builds off a sunny assessment of the world that we don’t think many people share.

After the turbulent past year, it is hard to conceive of how anyone could argue the world is safer because of U.S. leadership.

Obama’s self-congratulation on the economy is also baffling. When unemployment was high and growth low, Democrats blamed an obstructionist House. Now that the jobless rate is coming down and growth is rebounding in much of the nation, suddenly the gridlock narrative is gone in favor of the idea that the good news is due to the president’s vigorous stewardship of something vaguely described as “middle-class economics.” But wait — wasn’t that stewardship utterly stymied? Isn’t it far more likely that the U.S. rebound is because of the private sector’s vitality — especially in energy and tech — not the actions of government?

AP opens their fact check of the State of the Union Address with, "The U.S. may not have 'risen from recession' quite as rousingly as President Barack Obama suggested in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night. Seven years after that severe downturn began, household income hasn't recovered and healthy job growth is complicated by the poor quality, and pay, of many of those jobs."


Perhaps to avoid charges of being a "cynic," AP avoids fact checking Barack on Iraq (one aside is not a fact check -- especially an aside that combines Iraq with Syria).

Barack insisted, "Six years ago, nearly 180,000 American troops served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, fewer than 15,000 remain."

Fewer than 15,000?

But he promised they would be gone -- from Iraq.

August 1, 2007, Barack promised, "When I am president, we will wage the war that has to be won, with a comprehensive strategy with five elements: getting out of Iraq and on the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan; developing the capabilities and partnerships we need to take out the terrorists and the world's most deadly weapons; engaging the world to dry up support for terror and extremism; restoring our values; and securing a more resilient homeland."

The drawdown at the end of 2011 was a drawdown, not a withdrawal.

It was a point made  December 12, 2011, when Ted Koppel filed an important report on Rock Center with Brian Williams (NBC) about what was really taking place in Iraq:

 

MR. KOPPEL: I realize you can't go into it in any detail, but I would assume that there is a healthy CIA mission here. I would assume that JSOC may still be active in this country, the joint special operations. You've got FBI here. You've got DEA here. Can, can you give me sort of a, a menu of, of who all falls under your control?

 

US AMB. JAMES JEFFREY: You're actually doing pretty well, were I authorized to talk about half of this stuff.

Not only did Barack not get "out of Iraq," in June he began openly sending more US troops in.

More and openly being the key words.

In the fall of 2012,   Tim Arango (New York Times) reported, Barack sent a brigade of US Special-Ops into Iraq. In the US, the brief passage on Iraq buried in a report on Syria garnered very little attention.  To other outlets it was major news and a story they pursued.  One example of that would be  Press TV reported which reported in December 2012::

 

Over 3,000 US troops have secretly returned to Iraq via Kuwait for missions pertaining to the recent developments in Syria and northern Iraq, Press TV reports.
According to our correspondent, the US troops have secretly entered Iraq in multiple stages and are mostly stationed at Balad military garrison in Salahuddin province and al-Asad air base in al-Anbar province. 

In June of 2014, he began sending US troops in openly and publicly.

In June of 2014, he insisted that the only answer for Iraq was a "political solution."

Tonight, Barack declared:

  

I believe in a smarter kind of American leadership. We lead best when we combine military power with strong diplomacy; when we leverage our power with coalition building; when we don't let our fears blind us to the opportunities that this new century presents. That's exactly what we're doing right now – and around the globe, it is making a difference.


But that isn't what's being done.

Barack may say he believes "in a smarter kind of American leadership" which combines "military power with strong diplomacy."  He may say that.

But as we've noted for months here, he's instead focused on bombing and getting foreign governments to send troops into Iraq while ignoring the diplomatic issues and the diplomatic power.

Sunday brought not one but two major reports noting the lack of political progress in Iraq.  Martin Chulov (Guardian) reported:

Iraq’s vice-president for reconciliation, Iyad Allawi, said a lack of a political process between the Shias who dominate the country’s power base, and disenfranchised Sunnis was a “grave mistake” that could mean the air attacks end up achieving little.
“The whole strategy needs to be revisited and readdressed and the international allies should be part of this,” Allawi told the Guardian. “People are asking me what will come after Isis. What would be the destiny of [local] people? Are they going to be accused of supporting or defeating Isis? Would they be accused of being Ba’athists? It is going to be really difficult for them to engage without reconciliation.”


And Tim Arango and Omar al-Jawoshy (New York Times) reported:

On any given day, Sunni women gather here in search of answers about their men, some of whom have been jailed for years.

“The Iraqi Army took my son in March of 2014,” said Tawfika Abbas. “Until now, I don’t know where he is. Zero information.”

Another woman, Entisar Gannos, cried for her four sons: one jailed since 2006, another since 2010, and the other two since 2011, all without court hearings.

Their grief, and the pain of not knowing what is happening to their loved ones, highlight a vital task for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi: reforming Iraq’s criminal justice system. Well-documented abuses of the system, including long detentions without trial and confessions obtained by torture, are the primary grievance of the country’s Sunni minority.

But tonight he didn't own up to that reality.




President Barack Obama:  In Iraq and Syria, American leadership – including our military power – is stopping ISIL's advance. Instead of getting dragged into another ground war in the Middle East, we are leading a broad coalition, including Arab nations, to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group. We're also supporting a moderate opposition in Syria that can help us in this effort, and assisting people everywhere who stand up to the bankrupt ideology of violent extremism. This effort will take time. It will require focus. But we will succeed. And tonight, I call on this Congress to show the world that we are united in this mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against ISIL.



By passing what?  Oh, yeah, that authorization for force, the one he sent US Secretary of State John Kerry to argue, December 9th, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- sent Kerry to argue  that Congress must pass an authorization for Barack's actions in Iraq and Syria and that this legislation must include that Barack can send US combat troops into Iraq.


Secretary of State John Kerry: However, while we certainly believe this is the soundest policy, and while the president has been clear he's open to clarifications on the use of U.S. combat troops to be outlined in an AUMF, that does not mean we should pre-emptively bind the hands of the commander in chief  or our commanders in the field -- in responding to scenarios and contingencies that are impossible to foresee. 


Barack wants ground troops in Iraq to be in combat.

Tonight was the perfect time for him to get honest with the American people.

He elected not to do so.



RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Great news for Supernatural fans (TV Now!)"
"That lousy speech"
"Justified?"
"Ed Snowden"
"not thrilled with revenge"
"Barbara Lee (a continued embarrassment)"
"Arsalan Iftikhar and MSNBC need to apologize"
"Jamie Dumbf**k"
"Revisiting the last post"
"Iraq Tweet to know"
"Iraq Tweet to catch"
"The applause getting line"
"THIS JUST IN! HE WANTS TO BE A CROWD PLEASER!"