The Common Ills: Impotent Nouri continues his assault on Anbar

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Impotent Nouri continues his assault on Anbar

Defense World explains, "Iraq has requested a sale of AH-64E APACHE LONGBOW Attack Helicopters and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $6.2 billion.
The proposed sale is divided into two separate contracts, valued at $4.8 billion and $1.37 billion, respectively." Jeremy Binnie (Janes) adds, "Iraq has requested another 500 AGM-114 Hellfire laser-guided air-to-surface missiles at an estimated cost of USD82 million, the US Defense and Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on 23 January 2014."

Barack must count himself lucky that fluffers like Nate Rawlings of Time magazine pass for reporters. Arming Nouri with (more) weapons is never questioned, just parroted. Natey, want a cracker?

Let's see what has Nouri done in 2013 with weapons and his forces? January 7th, Nouri's forces assaulted four protesters in Mosul, January 24th, Nouri's forces sent two protesters (and one reporter) to the hospital, and March 8th, Nouri's force fired on protesters in Mosul killing three.

And that was just the trial run for what was coming, the April 23rd massacre of a peaceful sit-in in Hawija which resulted from Nouri's federal forces storming in. Alsumaria noted Kirkuk's Department of Health (Hawija is in Kirkuk) announced 50 activists have died and 110 were injured in the assault. AFP reported the death toll rose to 53 dead. UNICEF noted that the dead included 8 children (twelve more were injured).

Or how about the innocents killed in Nouri's assault on Anbar? World Bulletin notes, "Some 650 people have been killed or injured and 140,000 displaced by indiscriminate army shelling in Iraq's western city of Fallujah, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama Nujaifi said Monday."

Nate Rawlings doesn't have time to talk about that, nope, just parrot the official line.

Could someone put a cover over Nate's cage? Then he'll think it's night time and stop his squawking.

Robert Fisk (Independent) notes:

Last year alone, 1,200 men and women were on death row, most of them sentenced after the usual pre-trial confessions under torture. In fact their court appearances were preceded, in many cases, by television interviews in which they admitted to their “crimes”. And sure enough, another 26 “terrorists” were executed in Baghdad last week as the country’s Shia Muslim prime minister tried to smother the Sunni revolt against him.

That's Nouri's Iraq. And I don't think it's fair to pin it all on Saddam Hussein. The Kurds managed to move beyond Saddam. Sunnis have certainly called for reconciliation. But Nouri's a tiny, impotent man-child. Never grew up enough to stand up to Saddam, so he fled the country and waited, like the chicken that he is, for foreign powers to topple Saddam then he returned and once he had command over a military what a tough guy the hateful, little boy could pretend to be.

Last Thursday, Iraqi Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi spoke at the Brookings Institution:

In the Kurdish provinces [Kurdistan Regional Government, three semi-autonomous provinces in northern Iraq] there was a law adopted to amnesty every one who committed a crime against the Kurdish people and worked with the previous regime. Some of them were accused of violent crimes but they decided to amnesty everyone. And the situation in the Kurdish provinces is stable and everyone is part of the political process. The Kurdish provinces are now an example of security and successful investment and wise politics.
But in central Iraq, we are still arresting people and we are also still implementing the law on the Justice and Accountability in a partial sectarian way. We are still banishing some of the Iraqi people who were not part of the previous regime and doing so for political reasons. That is unfair.

Repeating, I don't think you can blame it on the dead Saddam Hussein.

The Kurds wanted something more and managed to make it happen. The Sunnis would like to do so. I would say the stumbling block is Nouri al-Maliki.

And Nouri's who the administration fawns over.

All Iraq News notes US Vice President Joe Biden was again offering Nouri assurances on oil exports.

This means Nouri's being told that the US will 'handle' the Kurds. Thing is Jalal was a caver. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's in Germany, in his sick bed or on his death bed or who the hell knows? He hasn't been seen in public since December 2012. Massoud Barzani, KRG President, is the top Kurd these days and he's not as stupid as Jalal. He's been lied to three times by this administration. And after the White House lied about The Erbil Agreement, I'm sure anything he agrees to will only be after he's played hardball with the White House. The Kurds have been repeatedly screwed over by one administration after another since the early seventies.

And Barzani also was one of the ones lodging complaints about providing Nouri with helicopters and Hellfire missiles. It's going to take much more than the typical tap dance from Joe Biden to soften the Kurds up.

Already this morning, violence is being reported. National Iraqi News Agency reports 2 civilians were shot dead in Baquba, "the body of a man belonging to the police Intelligence" was discovered in the streets of Kirkuk (gunshot wounds), and an Arab Jbour Village bombing claimed the lives of 5 Iraqi soldiers and 1 Sahwa. Iraq Body Count counts 987 violent deaths so far this month through Monday.

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Angry Birds" went up earlier this morning. After both morning entries are up, I'll change the time on Isaiah's comic to make it the top entry for the day until tonight's snapshot.

The following community sites -- plus Susan's On the Edge, Jake Tapper, Dissident Voice, Antiwar.com and Pacifica Evening News -- updated last night and this morning: