The Common Ills: What did Nouri ask Barack for?

The last week of October, chief thug and prime minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki visited DC. On Friday, November 1st, US President Barack Obama hosted Nouri at the White House.

Though the visit received some attention, it may be about to get a little more. At least in the Arab world which has a more functioning press than we do in the United States.

Kitabat reports on an interview Paul Bremer gave. I'll assume it was to a non-US outlet since there's no US coverage of Bremer's remarks (although the US press ignores Iraq repeatedly so maybe not).

Bremer stated in the interview that Nouri asked Barack to send US troops.

What answer did Nouri receive?

According to Bremer (according to Kitabat), he was not turned down, he was told the US was prepared to study how to best do this.

National Iraqi News Agency reports Col Abid Homaish al-Jumaily's Ramadi home was attacked leaving two of his body guards injured, a Mosul sticky bombing left Mayor Abid Abbass Ali (a Shaback) dead, in al-Khalis 1 cleric and 1 of his relatives were shot dead leaving a mosque, a Baghdad roadside bombing (Mada'in distrcit) left 3 people dead and six injured, a Baghdad sticky bombing (Adhamiya) left 1 doctor dead, a Baghdad bombing (Tarmiya) left 3 Sahwa dead and three more injured, a Baghdad bombing (Abu Ghraib) left 1 person dead and four more injured, and a Baghdad bombing (Saydiya) left 1 person dead and nine more injured. Reuters adds, "The deadliest attack took place in a predominantly Sunni Doura neighborhood in southern Baghdad, where two roadside bombs exploded near a soft drinks store, killing six people and wounding 18, the police and medics said."

On the issue of the flooding, UNAMI issued the following today:

UN Iraq working closely with Government to assist flood victims

Baghdad, 22 November 2013 - The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG) Mr. Nickolay Mladenov and the UN family in Iraq have been closely following with Iraqi officials the assistance that the United Nations can provide to the Government, more particularly the Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MoDM), in its efforts in assisting the communities affected by the recent floods caused by heavy rains.

At an emergency meeting yesterday between representatives of the MoDM and the United Nations Humanitarian Country Team, it was announced that, while an overall joint assessment of needs is ongoing, the United Nations agencies are providing emergency assistance to the most affected populations, and are ready to support affected populations as required.

The UN Iraq assistance includes the distribution of Non-Food Items (NFIs) packages by the UN Refugee Agency (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - UNHCR) to 600 families in several affected areas in Najaf, Kerbala, Anbar, Babylon and Baghdad; as well as pumping out water in flooded internally displaced settlements in Baghdad, through its implementing partners.

The UNHCR NFIs packages contain plastic sheets, mattresses, blankets, jerry cans, stoves, and kitchen and hygienic sets.

The United Nations agencies including the World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are liaising and coordinating with the MoDM to identify the support needed towards ensuring a coordinated response to those in need.

The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley, Antiwar.com, Tavis Smiley and Pacifica Evening News -- updated last night and this morning: