The Common Ills: Everything they (Arraf and the Christian Science Monitor) told us was wrong!

Friday, April 18, 2014

Everything they (Arraf and the Christian Science Monitor) told us was wrong!

Iraq is set to hold parliamentary elections April 30th. They last held these elections in March of 2010. In those elections, Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law lost to Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya. Though Allawi should have been named prime minister-designate, loser Nouri threw an eight month long tantrum and the White House indulged him. They did more than that, they also worked to find a way to let the loser have a second term as prime minister. Since he lost the vote, they went to the leaders of the political blocs and pointed out Nouri could hold out for 8 more months (Parliament wasn't able to meet during Nouri's tantrum, he brought government to a standstill) and got them to sign a contract (The Erbil Agreement) which Nouri used to grab a second term.

The contract didn't just have the leaders say, "Second term for Nouri!" In exchange for that second term, the contract outlined actions Nouri would have to take.

Nouri refused to honor the contract once he became prime minister (actually, once he became prime minister-designate). It's among the reasons he's so loathed today. Salah Nasrawi (Al-Ahram Weekly) reports:

With the vote only days away, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s prospects for re-election look dim, and the country’s Shia parties, which together are poised to win the most seats in parliament, have started looking for a challenger to the incumbent leader.
Al-Maliki, who is seeking a third term in office, is in trouble as Iraq is teeming with problems. Many blame him for the country’s sectarian violence, political turmoil and economic deadlock and are eager to see a new prime minister in place.
For the time being, there is no frontrunner in Iraq’s elections, scheduled for 30 April, as several Shia politicians have been vying for the powerful position which also includes the key post of commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Nouri's prospects look dim? Shi'ites resist him?

B-b-b-but Jane Arraf's propaganda at the Christian Science Monitor this week had Nouri deeply popular and beloved!!!!

That's what happens when a whore's paid for prose instead of sex. And that's why we honored Jane with The Quil Lawrence Award.

Hey, let's go regional for a moment. Ilnur Cevik (Daily Sabah) reports:

Iraqi Kurdish leaders feel that if the current impasse in relations with the Iraqi central government continues after the April 30 elections they will have no other option but to gradually weaken their ties with Baghdad and eventually declare a separate state. Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani was in Ankara to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Wednesday night to feel the pulse of Ankara if the Kurds eventually move away from Baghdad. A source close to Barzani told Daily Sabah on Thursday that Barzani returned home late Wednesday night "satisfied."
The central government of Iraq led by Nouri el-Maliki has been at odds with the Kurds over an array of issues stemming from an oil and gas dispute. Baghdad has thus been slow in sending the KRG's share of Iraqi oil revenues and therefore pushed the Kurds into a financial bottleneck with serious delays in even the payment of civil servant salaries in the KRG.

Conflict with Nouri? The Kurds in conflict with Nouri?

B-b-b-but Jane Arraf had the Kurds ready to vote for Nouri!!!! This despite the fact that they didn't in 2010. He had no coalition in 2005 (December 2005 parliamentary elections were held). But in that 2005 election, the Kurds voted for their own -- as they always do.

But Jane Arraf got to lie, didn't she?

The Christian Science Monitor let her.

It was the worst whoring of the week, possibly of the month. In fact, it was so fact free that it may qualify as the worst whoring of the year.

On the election, All Iraq News reports:

Ahrar bloc of Sadr Trend described granting a 3^rd term for the Premier, Nouri al-Maliki, as "Dreams."

MP, Hussien al-Shireifi, of Ahrar bloc stated to AIN "The majority of the political blocs object renewing a 3^rd term for Maliki due to his policies that caused crises and problems for the country."

What!!!!

B-b-b-but Jane told us Moqtada al-Sadr's followers would vote for Nouri!!!!!

You mean Jane lied about everything?

Pretty much.

Toss coins at a whore and he or she will do anything.

Again, Jane earned The Quil Lawrence Award this year.

While Jane keeps lying for him, Nouri al-Maliki continues killing civilians in Anbar. Alsumaria reports a military shelling of a residential neighborhood in Ramadi left 3 people dead "including a child." Iraqi Spring MC notes Nouri's three murders here. Iraqi Spring MC also notes people demonstrated in Ramadi calling on Nouri to pulls his forces out of the city and the military 'responded' by firing randomly. Meanwhile Nouri's forces continued their bombing of Falluja's residential neighborhoods. Alsumaria reports 1 civilian was killed and ten more were injured in the latest assault from Nouri's military. NINA quotes Sheikh Mohammed Fayyad stating, "Friday sermons in Fallujah focused on demands to stop the indiscriminate shelling of the city if the government rely want to develop a solution to the crisis , the abolition of the provincial government and members of the board because of their frustrated stands as they escaped to the northern provinces or out of Iraq and stealing by some of them aid, food and funds allocated by many local and international agencies for the displaced people of Anbar moreover of exploited the stolen funds and material to serve them in the propaganda of electoral campaign."

In other violence, National Iraqi News Agency reports security sources state they killed 3 suspects to the northeast of Baquba and an attack on a Ramadi checkpoint left 3 Sahwa dead and four more inured. Alsumaria reports 1 person was shot dead in Kirkuk, west of Mosul a former Iraqi soldier was shot dead, a southern Baghdad bombing left a police member and 2 of his kids dead,

The following community sites -- plus the ACLU, Tavis Smiley, Antiwar.com, Jake Tapper, Ms. magazine's blog, Pacifica Radio and Susan's On the Edge -- updated: