The editorial board of the Washington Post weighs in on Iraq noting:
But Iraq’s troubles
are also due to the narrowly sectarian and quasi-authoritarian policies
of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who prosecuted Sunni leaders in his
own government and sent troops to attack a Sunni protest encampment.
[. . .]
The
Obama administration has for too long offered nearly unqualified
support to Mr. Maliki.
The board goes on to note that Nouri should be informed that future weapons and military assistance is dependent upon his ability to get along with political rivals (they are more specific).These are suggestions that many have offered (including neocon Kimberly Kagan -- she was actually right on that and we gave her credit for being right on that). Dar Addustour reports that an Iraqi military officer (Lt Gen Hamid) is being sent to Russia and the Ukraine to negotiate weapons . . . and goats. That doesn't negate the editorial board's point (and Iraq would prefer weapons from the US -- goats, I'm not so sure of).
Hopefully, the editorial board of the Post weighing in will have some impact.
A few things on the editorial. So we're all on the same page, let's first drop back to the April 30th snapshot:
December 6, 2012, the Memorandum
of Understanding For Defense Cooperation Between the Ministry of
Defense of the Republic of Iraq and the Department Defense of the United
States of America was signed. We covered it in the December 10th and December 11th
snapshots -- lots of luck finding coverage elsewhere including in media
outlets -- apparently there was some unstated agreement that everyone
would look the other way. It was similar to the silence that greeted Tim Arango's September 25th New York Times report which noted,
"Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that could
result in the return of small units of American soldiers to Iraq on
training missions. At the request of the Iraqi government, according to
[US] General [Robert L.] Caslen, a unit of Army Special Operations
soldiers was recently deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and
help with intelligence."
The editorial is entitled "Even without troops, the U.S. can assist troubled Iraq." If the argument is that the US can assist Iraq in ways other than troops, then the headline is correct; however, if the headline intends to convey that Iraq is without US troops, that is incorrect. Since the first paragraph refers to "Mr. Obama's decision to withdraw all U.S. forces," the intended meaning was apparently the second possibilities.
All US troops never left Iraq to begin with. And among those that 'left,' over 15,000 were moved to Kuwait and other surrounding countries. In addition, as Tim Arango reported, more US forces have been sent back into Iraq by Barack.
The editorial board also suggest that Barack consider the possibility the US "can offer Iraq's armed forces additional support."
Are they aware of the Memorandum of Understanding. Among the things it calls for -- as we noted back in December -- is joint-patrols by Iraqi and US forces.
But don't take our word on it from months ago. You can read the Congressional Research Service's
June report on Iraq, specifically this section:
Heightened AQ-I and other insurgent activity has shaken the Iraqi
leadership’s confidence in the ISF somewhat and apparently prompted the
Iraqi government to reemphasize security cooperation with the United
States. On August 19, 2012, en route to a visit to Iraq, Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said that “I think
[Iraqi leaders] recognize their capabilities may require yet more
additional development and I think they’re reaching out to us to see if
we can help them with that.”39 Iraq reportedly has expressed interest
in expanded U.S.
training of the ISF, joint exercises, and accelerated delivery of U.S.
arms to be sold, including radar, air defense systems, and border
security equipment.40 Some refurbished air defense guns are being
provided gratis as excess defense articles (EDA), but Iraq was said to
lament that the
guns would not arrive until June 2013. Iraq reportedly argued that the
equipment was needed to help it enforce insistence that Iranian
overflights to Syria land in Iraq for inspection.
After the Dempsey visit, reflecting the Iraqi decision to reengage
intensively with the United States on security, it was reported that, at
the request of Iraq, a unit of Army Special Operations forces had
deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and help with
intelligence, presumably
against AQ-I.41 (These forces presumably are operating under a limited
SOFA or related understanding crafted for this purpose.) Other reports
suggest that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) paramilitary forces have,
as of late 2012, largely taken over some of the DOD mission of helping
Iraqi counter-terrorism forces (Counter-Terrorism Service, CTS) against
AQ-I in western Iraq.42 Part of the reported CIA mission is to also
work against the AQ-I affiliate in Syria, the Al Nusrah Front, discussed
above.
Reflecting an acceleration of the Iraqi move to reengage militarily with the United States, during
December 5-6, 2012, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Miller and acting Under
Secretary of State for International Security Rose Gottemoeller visited Iraq and a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) was signed with acting Defense Minister Sadoun Dulaymi. The five
year MOU provides for:
• high level U.S.-Iraq military exchanges
• professional military education cooperation
• counter-terrorism cooperation
• the development of defense intelligence capabilities
• joint exercises
The MOU appears to address many of the issues that have hampered OSC-I from performing the
its mission to its full potential. The MOU also reflects some of the more recent ideas put forward,
such as joint exercises.
Is the editorial board unaware of the MOU? Maybe. Or they may be stating that Barack needs to review the options of the MOU.
Regardless, Barack needs to start addressing Iraq and stop protecting his pet Nouri al-Maliki.
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!)
The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4488.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
iraq
i hate the war
the ballet
