The Common Ills: Wesley Clark, voice of Big Oil, wants US airstrikes on Iraq

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Wesley Clark, voice of Big Oil, wants US airstrikes on Iraq

At the National CounterTerrorism Center, you will find the following:

Abu Du’a

Date of Birth: 1971
Place of Birth: Samarra‘, Iraq
Complexion: Olive
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown

Wanted

Abu Du‘a is the senior leader of the terrorist organization al-Qa‘ida in Iraq (AQI). Abu Du’a is in charge of overseeing all AQI operations and is currently based in Iraq. AQI was listed by the UN 1267 Committee in 2004 under permanent reference number QE.J.115.04. Abu Du’a is responsible for managing and directing AQI large-scale operations, such as AQI’s 28 August 2011 attack on the Umm al-Qura mosque in Baghdad which killed prominent Sunni lawmaker Khalid al-Fahdawi.
In a statement eulogizing Usama Bin Ladin, Abu Du‘a threatened violent retaliation for Bin Ladin’s death. Three days after Bin Ladin’s death, Abu Du‘a claimed responsibility for an attack in Hilla, Iraq,
that killed 24 policemen and wounded 72 others. On 15 August 2011, a wave of AQI suicide attacks began in Mosul, Iraq, which culminated in over 70 deaths. Shortly thereafter, Abu Du‘a pledged on AQI’s Web site to carry out 100 attacks across Iraq in retaliation for Bin Ladin’s death.

Reward

Up to $10 million Reward

If you have any information concerning this person, please contact your local FBI office if you are in the United States, or the nearest US Embassy or Consulate.
If you prefer to use e-mail, send your information to rfj@state.gov.
If you prefer to use the telephone, please call 1-800-US REWARDS.
www.rewardsforjustice.net

Aliases

Dr. Ibrahim ‘Awwad Ibrahim ‘Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai‘, Ibrahim ‘Awad Ibrahim al-Badri al Samarrai, Abu Duaa‘, Dr. Ibrahim, Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi

Yesterday, Al Baghdadi was a topic on The Lead with Jake Tapper (CNN -- link is video and text) with Jake speaking to the Rand Corporation's Seth Jones:

Jake Tapper: [Abu Bakr] Al Baghdadi, reportedly, was in United States custody for about four or five years at Camp Bucca in Iraq before that camp closed and reportedly said before he left the camp 'I will see you in New York.' I don't know how nefarious that was when he said it. What do you make of Al Baghdadi and the threat that he and ISIS pose to not only US interests abroad but to the homeland itself?

Seth Jones: Well first of all it's not uncommon for most of these jihadist leaders, where ever they are -- north African, The Levant, Iraq, Pakistan -- to make these comments about the United States. The US for many of these groups is the great Satan. The question though becomes how much evidence do we see of plotting by Baghdadi and others in Iraq and Syria against the US? And the concern there is that we have seen a growing use of networks for fundraising and recruitment into Europe. There was an assassination recently in Brussels by someone who had been trained by ISIS in Syria. So there are growing concerns about the external operations capability of Baghdadi and his organization.

Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi was in US custody and was released. For those fretting over ISIS, they might need to hold those who made the decision to release Al Baghdadi accountable.

For those of us who see what's taking place as a resistance to the continued occupation, Iraq War veteran Ross Caputi (ZNet) offers an analysis which opens:

This week Iraq emerged from the recesses of American memory and became a hot topic of conversation. Alarming headlines about ISIS’s “takeover” of Mosul and their march towards Baghdad have elicited a number of reactions: The most conservative call for direct US military action against ISIS to ensure that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki remains stable in Baghdad. The most liberal lament the ongoing violence and divisions in Iraqi society caused by the US occupation; though they make no attempt distinguish between the violence of ISIS and the violence of the Maliki government.
This range of ideas and perspectives is fascinating, and it says much about American war culture, but mostly for the ideas and perspectives that are omitted from this debate. Entirely absent is the perspective of Iraqis and the issues that are important to them: accountability, independence, and resistance. Moreover, the real complexities of this issue have been lost in a number of the Western media’s favorite binaries: terrorism vs. counterterrorism, good vs. evil, and insurgency vs. stability.
If we dare to take Iraqi voices seriously and think outside of the dominant framework presented to us by the mainstream media, a very different picture of the violence in Iraq emerges and a whole new range of options open up for achieving peace and justice.

Meanwhile, if you ever wondered what kind of president Wesley Clark would have made, click here and stream Jake Tapper's interview with Wesley where Wesley plays Up With People: War Hawk Division. The crisis, the deaths, they're "an opportunity" for the United States. The world is watching, insists Wesley, so the US must step forward.

Of course, many in the world -- and in the region -- think the US bombing (which Wesley favors) would be picking sides in a civil war. Yesterday, Mohamed Salman (McClatchy Newspapers) reported:

A former Qatari ambassador to the United States offered up a warning to the Obama administration Monday that any military intervention on behalf of the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki would be seen as an act of “war” on the entire community of Sunni Arabs.
Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad al Khalifa also warned against the United States working with Iran to repulse the advance by the radical Sunni group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, something that Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday the United States would be willing to consider.

But Wesley just knows everything, right?

Hey, check this out:

General Wesley K. Clark – Director

General Wesley K. Clark (retired) served 38 years in the United States Army. His last military position was NATO's Supreme Allied Commander and the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. European Command. He now heads his own strategic advisory and consulting firm, Wesley K. Clark & Associates and is active in the energy, banking and business servics field. He is a noted author and television commentator, a Senior Fellow at UCLA's Burkle Center and works with numerous not-for-profit efforts, including the International Crisis Group. He graduated first in his class from West Point and received a BA and MA as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and numerous honorary degrees from other institutions. Among his awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Silver Star, Purple Hearts and honorary knighthoods from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

What's that from?

BNK Petroleum's Board of Directors.

And that's why Wesley shouldn't be on TV talking about Iraq. We are aware, right, of what BNK's telling shareholders? Maybe Wesley could go on TV and talk about that? Or about the accusations of BNK avoiding paying taxes? Independent Balkan News Agency reported three months ago:

Bankers Petroleum, a company specializing in the exploration of fuels in Albania, is accused by parliament structures of a 40 million USD tax evasion.
Spartak Braho head of the parliamentary committee on order and security says that prosecution is investigating on suspicion of tax evasion.

Considering Iraq's oil reserves and Wesley serving on the Board of Directors of BNK Petroleum, he really shouldn't be brought on as an 'independent' expert and, anytime he does show up, he should be identified as the voice of big oil.

Some of today's reported violence? National Iraqi News Agency reports 1 person was shot dead in northwest Baghdad, a central Baghdad bombing left 3 people dead and five more injured, Tigris Operations Command stated they killed 27 suspects, and 1 corpse was dumped northeast of Baghdad.

The following community sites -- plus Antiwar.com, the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Black Agenda Report, Pacifca Evening News, Ms. magazine's blog and Jake Tapper -- updated: