Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Violence continues with security forces still targeted

Al Rafidayn notes 3 Tunis bombings targeting a convoy of a police chief  Lt Col Salman Kadhim al-Khazraji which left him,  2 bodyguards and 1 civilian dead and left two bodyguards injured while a Yathrib roadside bombing claimed the  lives of 2 police officers.  AFP adds that an attack on an Iskandiriyah checkpoint left 2 soldiers dead and another injured. Press TV notes that 1 police officer was shot dead in Kirkuk and 1 soldier was shot dead in Mosul.  And if you wonder why AFP's monthly count is always so off, they only count 7 dead yesterday.  Iraq Body Count notes 14 were killed yesterday and that 279 for the month through yesterday.

Meanwhile Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has invited Iraq's chief thug and prime minister Nouri al-Maliki for a visit.  AFP observes, "Ties between Iraq and Turkey have been marred by a flurry of disputes this year, most recently Ankara's refusal to extradite Iraqi Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi, who has been sentenced to death in absentia by an Iraqi court."  The invitation comes as Hurriyet notes, "Iraq is now capable of shooting down Turkish jets entering Iraqi airspace to target Kurdish militants, Iraqi Air Force Officer Iskander Witwit recently told the New York Times."  For years now, Turkey has sent warplanes over northern Iraq to bomb suspected PKK camps (Turkey also sends drones over the area -- drones supplied by the US and some coming from the US CIA station on the Turkish border).  This new capability by Iraq's Air Force (or alleged capability -- they have an issue with flying these planes and currently Iraq has sent a small group of pilots to the US for training) has not detered Turkey.  Selcan Hacaoglu (Bloomberg News) reports there's an effort by the Turkish government to continue the bomb raids, "Parliament will reconvene from its summer holiday on Oct. 1 and is expected to give priority to a one-year extension of the mandate for cross-border attacks, which expires on Oct. 17, Arinc told reporters in Ankara late yesterday."

The Electoral Commission in Iraq is quickly becoming a joke.  Al Mada reports MP Shaalan Quran states the 8 commissions came from political deals and he specifically decries Saleh al-Mutlaq (Nouri's companion and travel buddy these days) on the political deals.  (Both Quran and al-Mutlaq are members of Iraqiya.)  Quran notes that this is not how the members are supposed to be elected, that this compromises their independence and he predicts fraud in the next elections as a result of the back door deals.  All Iraq News adds that Parliament is scheduled to vote tomorrow on the 9th commission member as well as the amnesty bill.  Alsumaria quotes Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi stating, regarding the ongoing political crisis, that the Constitution must be followed.

We noted yesterday that Moqtada al-Sadr's blocs and others had grave concerns about the law for infrastructure -- specifically that it could turn over $40 billion to Nouri to spend as he likes and could lead to the militarization of Iraqi society.  Today Ayad al-Tamimi (Al Mada) reports that Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi is asking the Iraqiya bloc not to vote in favor of the bill.  All Iraq News reveals that Allawi, Nouri, Osama al-Nujaifi, Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq's Ammar al-Hakim and Moqtada al-Sadr were all together recently when they all attended the memorial for Mohammed Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr -- Moqtada's father.  They add the memorial was held at Baghdad's Rashid Hotel.

And Al Mada notes that Parliament's Integrity Committee has published a list of people who are accused of engaging in criminals.  The list includes MP Abdul Hadi al-Hassani.  Which is known as darma.  For those who've forgotten the State of Law MP, he was all over the place in 2010 when Iraqiya members (including Saleh al-Mutlaq) were being pulled from running for Parliament by the Justice and Accountability Commission.  You can drop back to the January 19, 2010 snapshot for examples of al-Hassani being really concerned about 'fairness' and 'legality.'  What goes around comes around.


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