Puppet and thug of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki is gearing up for another power grab. Al Mada reports that Nouri's State Of Law is stating that Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi needs to go and quotes State Of Law's Hussein al-Asadi stating that al-Nujaifi isn't "fair" and al-Asadi's whine continues that "some cases" find al-Nufaifi allowing topics to be aired and some do not. They say they can replace him the way Mahmoud al-Mashhadani was replaced.
For those who have forgotten, though supposedly on the same side, al-Mashhadani stood in Nouri's way (Nouri being a puppet, al-Mashhadani stood in the way of the US as well). The theft of Iraqi oil was one of the big stumbling blocks, as the US government saw it, and reason enough to give al-Mashhadani the heave-ho. So a campaign of lies was started. This went on for months and months. At its worst, the MSM was enlisting and whoring (as were elements of the 'left'). They were running LIES about al-Mashhadani. These lies included that he was "despondent" and hiding out in his father's home. At the time, Parliament was in recess and al-Mashhadani was traveling the region, al-Mashhadani was in Jordan meeting with government officials. It was disgusting. It was beyond whoring. You never expect people to be so willing to be caught lying in public. But they were.
And Ava just reminded me that when the news that he was in Jordan went up here, the response was for the MSM to attack. From the August 17, 2006 snapshot:
Moving to an item a friend's wanted noted for the last two days: Where is Mahmoud al-Mashhadani? On Tuesday, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani was 'the' news in many Iraq reports. Was he on his way out? One report noted that al-Mashhadani didn't return a phone call -- why was that? Marie Cocco (Truthdig) offers today that he's "openly toying with relinquishing his post". From where? From where is he openly toying with the idea? Juan Cole (Salon) offers that "when the Iraqi parliament reconvenes next month, the first item on the agenda will be firing Mashhadani." Cole feels that al-Mashhadani "has put his foot in his mouth too many times." al-Masshadani may very well be on the way out next month but right now he is in Jordan working on a trade agreement. It's an interesting part of the story left out of the mainstream media's he's-so-out-of-here narrative. Whether or not he remains speaker after the parliament reconvenes may be influenced by what's going on in Jordan.
As noted, a friend had asked that we note where al-Masshadani was. And we did. From that night's "And the war drags on:"
First, picking up from the snapshot today where it was noted that Mahmoud al-Mashhadani was in Jordan, five (count 'em five) reporters wrote in and Ava and Jess say they were their usual 'charming selves' as they argued that (basically) "you can't just make something up!" Oh, can't you? Seems the mainstream does that quite often. Their problem is that there is no "proof." The Jordan item was passed on verbally over the phone by a friend who is a foreign correspondent (mainstream media). I take the friend's word, I've known him for many years. He's wanted that noted for two days now and pestered me to do so. (Which is sometimes the only way something gets included, there's a lot to cover and I don't have a lot of time.) Though I'm not surprised that the five e-mailers weren't quick to take my word, I am surprised (maybe I shouldn't be?) that the five can't do their own research instead of screaming "liar! liar!"
From Petra:
Jordanian and Iraqi parliamentarians held talks on Tuesday in Amman on bilateral ties and means of strengthening them, especially in the economic and parliamentary fields.
Talks, which were co-chaired by Speaker of the Lower House of the Parliament Abdel Hadi Al Majali and his Iraqi counterpart Mahmoud Al Mashhadani, also covered regional developments, especially in Iraq.
[. . .]
For his part, Mashhadani stressed the Iraqi keenness on enhancing relations with Jordan in all fields, noting to Jordan's supportive stances towards Iraq.
'' Jordan, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II, exerts great efforts to restore security and stability to Iraq,'' said Mashhadani, calling on Jordan to play a greater role and build ties with all segment of Iraqi people.
He also underlined the importance of promoting parliamentary ties between the two sides, calling for benefiting from the Jordanian parliamentary expertise in this regard.
Mashhadani highlighted the necessity of establishing the Jordanian- Iraqi parliamentary brotherhood committee, which is expected to have a vital role in developing bilateral ties.
From KUNA:
Speaking during talks with Iraqi Speaker of Parliament Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, Al-Zoo'bi said "Iraq is considered Jordan's number one trading partner since both countries have strong commercial and economic links." He added the free trade agreement with Iraq was waiting for Iraq's endorsement to become official.
Use the links, learn something. It might improve your reporting abilities. As for what you're 'entitled to,' you are entitled to listen in on a private conversation taking place in a public sphere. That's about all you're entitled to from this site. You're not entitled to a personal reply. You're not entitled to me dropping everything to soothe your egos and walk you through reality (even if it hasn't been reported in the domestic mainstream media -- or maybe especially if it hasn't been reported in the domestic mainstream media). You're not entitled to the last word.
Nouri got his way (and the US' way) back then. Will he this time? Dar Addustour notes that among the complaints is that al-Nujaifi, last Thursday, did not go in alphabetical order when putting vice presidential nominees forwardfor a vote (none were voted in) but, as Dar Addustour notes, there is nothing in the Constitution that requires the Speaker to go in alphabetical order. If you're confused by the sudden need of Nouri's supporters to attack al-Nujaifi, let's drop back to yesterday's snapshot:
Alsumaria TV reports that Osama al-Nujaifi, Speaker of Parliament, declared in a press converence today that if the government cannot resolve the current problems (corruption, imprisonment and other issues which started the protests this year) within the 100 day period . . .. "if the Cabinet fails to provide people with their rights and to deal with the services, unemployed, security and foreign relations files. . . therefore this partnership shall not last for a long time and there will be demands to hold new elections." The 100 days is supposed to end June 7th. But then again, Iraq held national elections March 7, 2010 which was supposed to create a new government; however, all these months after the election, they still have no vice presidents and no full Cabinet.
Hopefully al-Nuijafi won't be as naive as Mahmoud al-Mashhadani who, as late as 2009, continued to insist that Nouri was his "ally" and not involved in his ouster. When he was ousted, it was months and months before a replcaement was agreed upon and that should bother a number of Iraq watchers. Nouri still lacks a full Cabinet all this time later -- specifically, he has no security ministers. And now he and State of Law are attempting to kick out the Speaker of Parliament?
Dar Addustour notes that al-Najaifi called out the possible cancellation of the Aab Summit which is supposed to be held in May. This was supposed to take place in March but was cancelled due to security reasons. Over the weekend, Ayad Allawi (of the Iraqiya slate, as is Najaifi) called out what he said was a push to cancel the summit. Gulf Daily News notes that Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari is stating that a delay could take place. Zebari's remarks are seen by some as part of a rollout to announce the summit will not take place as scheduled.
Xiong Tong (Xinhua)reports the US State Dept's Jeffrey Feltman has concluded his business in Iraq. Left unstated is what it was. He was there to offer more pressure to extend the SOFA. Don't expect many in the US press to note the multi-day visit. The narrative currently is poor little Barack being pressured by the military. It doesn't fit with the narrative to note Barack's hand picked person going to Iraq. So watch it be ignored.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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