Iran and Iraq sought to defuse diplomatic tensions yesterday over an Iraqi oil well in a disputed border area.
Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian Foreign Minister, flew to Baghdad to meet his counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari, after weeks of hostility over an incident in the Fakka oil field in the south of Iraq. The Iraqis claim that Iranian forces seized the well last month, raising Iranian flags and firing on their troops.
Iranian forces have since retreated, but not before strident statements from Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki. He is usually known for his closeness to the Iranian regime but this time declared that "not one hand-span" of land would be ceded.
Both ministers indicated after the meeting that they had not been able to resolve the ownership of the parts of Fakka oil field disputed since the 1988 end of the Iran-Iraq war, nor had they agreed on a version of what happened in the incursion. Mr Zebari said that after "direct action" was taken by the Iraqi Government the Iranian flag was lowered at the site, while Mr Mottaki said that the Iraqi side might have been partly to blame.
The above is from Alice Fordham's "Iranian and Iraqi envoys meet after border clash at Fakka oil well" (Times of London) and would seem to officially settle last month's issue: Iran did occupy an oil field. Rightly or wrongly? Iran claims it is their oil field and Iraq says, no, it is our oil field. When the occupation took place and for how long is still not clear which is probably fitting for details in an ongoing war based and sold on lies.
In London, the Iraq Inquiry continues but in the US nothing like that takes place. Is it a whitewash? Possibly. Will nothing come of it as a result? Possibly. But, in public, various officials -- civilian and military -- are being asked to explain key details of the Iraq War. Among those who will testify in public is Tony Blair.
Tony Blair was the liar in chief in England back in 2003. As then-prime minister, he resorted to fear mongering with false claims that we now know, via the Inquiry, were false and were known to be false before the start of the Iraq War.
In the US, the Democratic Party elected to run in 2006 and 2008 with assertions of accountability 'just around the corner' if they were elected in sufficient numbers. Unless that number is 100%, the Democratic Party leadership was apparently lying.
There is no Iraq Inquiry taking place in DC, NYC or LA and none scheduled to take place. No move to call George W. Bush before a committee and make him, at the very least, publicly uncomfortable.
Accountability? America didn't get it after the 2006 elections nor after the 2008 elections. And any attempts by the Democratic Party in 2010 to drum up votes by (again) promising "accountability" should be met with loud laughter.
Now if there was media pressure, maybe the US government could do what the British government has done -- launch an inquiry. But the media ran from Iraq (yawning) long, long ago. They have no interest in it. Even those who made names and money off the Iraq War. Which really should lead to a big point being made when the next illegal war is launched: "War is money. Even for a number of people who hop a soapbox." Take Norman Solomon. The illegal war put two of his books into hardcover and in book stores across the country. They really didn't sell (especially the second one, the clip job), but it got him stocked and after all of those straight to paperbacks 'books' from previous decades, no one would have expected that to happen. Today? Norman Solomon neither writes of or speaks of the Iraq War.
He made as much money as he could off the Iraq War and then he ran from it. He's far from the only one to do so. A lot of people grandstanded on the Iraq War. And then fell silent. Where's that Out Of Iraq caucus today? Hmm? Where's PDA on Iraq? Where's Leslie Cagan on Iraq? They all lost interest.
Think about how passionately they spoke and how they pretended to be concerned. Every day Iraqis die in the ongoing, illegal war. That hasn't stopped. Norman and the other losers have 'moved on' but the war hasn't moved on. And it's past time for people to grasp that the soapbox riders never gave a damn about the Iraq War. They were using the Iraq War as a political tool to put Democrats into power. It's why Norman Solomon continues to preach 'elect Dems' as the answer. It's the only trick the old whore has left.
It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)
Last Thursday, ICCC's number of US troops killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war was 4371. Tonight? 4373. (Yes, they did have it at 4374 earlier today. They've dropped it down to 4373.)
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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