Monday, June 03, 2013

The Godfather of the Divide?

Violence continued today in Iraq,  National Iraqi News Agency reports a Mosul roadside bombing claimed the lives of 2 police officers and left a civilian injured, a Baghdad bombing left two Iraqi soldiers injured, the son of a judge was injured in a Tikrit shooting, an assassination attempt was made on Hazem al-Araji ("a leading figure in the Sadrist movement") who survived but one of his companions was killed in the shooting, and an Anbar Province assassination attempt (by bombs) on a military division commander left five people injured (the commander wasn't one of the injured).


On the violence, the editorial board of the Saudi Gazette observes:
“Iraqi political leaders must act immediately to stop this intolerable bloodshed,” says Martin Kobler, UN envoy to Iraq, expressing concern at the new surge in violence. Unfortunately, Nouri Al-Maliki is yet to convince Iraq’s minorities or its neighbors that he is the prime minister of a country, not the leader of a sect. To make matters worse, he is exercising authority and centralizing power in ways that belie American claims that Iraq is now a “democracy” unlike in the days of Saddam Hussein. Maliki’s security agencies continue to round up minority leaders inviting charges that he is using terrorism as a pretext to destroy or neutralize political rivals.
[. . .]

If Iraqi politicians must act to stop the bloodshed, as UN’s Kobler urges, Maliki should take the lead. He has once again proved that he is not equal to the occasion, confounding Iraq’s tragedy. Unless the UN and Arab League do something to bring the warring factions to the negotiating table, civil war may return to Iraq, making an end to the Syrian violence all the more difficult.



Turning to The Godfather of the Divide as he's been dubbed, US Vice President Joe Biden.  Peyamner News Agency reported yesterday that, "U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in the meeting with Iraqi delegation in Washington announced that Iraq should be divided into three separate areas, Kurd, Shiite and Sunni, to resolve the current crisis in Iraq."  As a US senator, Biden proposed Iraq become a federation -- split into three regions: Shi'ite (largely in the south), the KRG already in the north, and a segment of the central part of the country going to Sunnis.  The south and the north are oil rich.  While seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2007, he supported the plan.  By January 2008, before he dropped out, he was saying that if there was support for it in the US Congress, it would go through but otherwise it was dead.  There was not support for it in the Congress.

Though Joe Biden has not spoken of it to Americans, for weeks the rumors have been that he was proposing it to Iraqis.

Today, All Iraq News reports, "The National Dialogue Front, headed by Deputy Premier, Saleh al-Mutleq criticized the US Vice President Joseph Biden's renewing for his call to split Iraq into Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish regions to achieve the security and political stability in Iraq."  They go on to note news reports from last week about his three phone calls two weeks ago.  (For the three phone calls, drop back to the May 24th snapshot.)

It is really pass time that Jay Carney was asked in a White House press briefing if the Vice President is proposing to Iraqi leaders that Iraq be split into three regions.  And if it's not being proposed, the White House needs to issue an official statement saying so.  They've allowed this rumor to take hold.  If it's true, fine, let it take hold.  But let the American people know what you're doing as well.  If it's false, it needs to be denied.



 Isaiah's latest goes up in a bit (one more entry, than Isaiah).  On this week's Law and Disorder Radio,  an hour long program that airs Monday mornings at 9:00 a.m. EST on WBAI and around the country throughout the week, hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian, Michael S. Smith and Michael Ratner (Center for Constitutional Rights) topics addressed include Lynne Stewart, CCR business, Jeremy Hammond, Bradley Manning and since Ratner represent Julian Assange look for them to make it all about Julian as usual, then Ray McGovern chatters about how he's just not sure Barack is that sincere in his promises.  I'm just not sure that Ray McGovern is that naive. 

As we noted in Friday's snapshot, Monday on NPR's Here and Now, Slate's Emily Bazelon will be a guest to discuss the issues involved in Bradley's court-martial. That's today.  It should be interesting.


The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.




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