The Common Ills: Thug Nouri still wants a third term, White House tries to pick a fight with the Kurds

Friday, July 04, 2014

Thug Nouri still wants a third term, White House tries to pick a fight with the Kurds

CBS and AP report thug Nouri al-Malik is portraying himself as the one who can defeat the 'terrorists' and this implies "he won't step down despite pressure for him to do so." All Iraq News reports that Nouri has issued a statement today announcing he remains determined to seek a third term as prime minister. Mark Landler, Michael R. Gordon and Mark Mazzetti (New York Times) observe, "Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is still insisting on a third term, but Kurdish, Sunni and even some Shiite politicians say a new prime minister must be selected, which also portends more wrangling."

Al Jazeera adds:

Sistani on Friday reiterated his call for the new government to have "broad national acceptance", a formulation many officials have interpreted as a signal Maliki should step aside.
Also on Friday, Osama al-Nujaifi, former Iraqi parliament speaker and a major political foe of Maliki, said he would not nominate himself for another term to make it easier for the Shia political parties to replace the prime minister.

Actually, Osama's decision was announced Thursday -- from yesterday's snapshot:

Tuesday, Iraq's Parliament met for the first time since the April 30th election and they were unable to name a Speaker of Parliament. NINA reports today that Osama al-Nujaifi (who became Speaker in November 2010) has announced he is withdrawing his name for that post. Along with the Speaker of Parliament, the President of Iraq and Prime Minister of Iraq are the posts to be decided by Parliament.

All Iraq News notes Osama made his statement on TV Thursday and that he issued a statement today repeating that he was not seeking the post of Speaker of Parliament.

For some harsh realities on thug Nouri and how he got his second term, refer to Ali Khedery's "Why we stuck with Maliki -- and lost Iraq" (Washington Post). Excerpt.

Within a short span, Maliki’s police state effectively purged most of them from politics, parking American-supplied M1A1 tanks outside the Sunni leaders’ homes before arresting them. Within hours of the withdrawal of U.S. forces in December 2011, Maliki sought the arrest of his longtime rival Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, eventually sentencing him to death in absentia. The purge of Finance Minister Rafea al-Essawi followed a year later.

Iraq's suffered so much. Nouri's desire for a third term is not helping anyone but Nouri.

Turning to violence, National Iraqi News Agency reports a Mkeshifah suicide car bombing left 16 Iraqi soldiers dead and twenty-eight more injured, a roadside bombing "near a mosque in al-Ghazaliya district" left 2 people dead and nine more injured, a battle in Mansueiyya left 6 rebels dead, a Ras Dumex roadside bombing left three police members injured, "journalist Fadhil Hadid and his son" were kidnapped from their Wadi Hajar home, Hawija and Abbasi battles left 7 rebels dead and ten more injured, and 2 corpses were discovered dumped west of Mosul.

In other news, the White House is objecting to the Kurds exercising their Constitutional right to explore full automony.

Oh, look, Barack's stabbed the Kurds in the back.

Again.

Again.

Can someone please tell the White House spokesperson to not take a position on Kurdish issues at a time when the White House desperately needs the help of the Kurds?

Or is the spokesperson expressing Barack's desire to f**k up repeatedly on Iraq?

This is not a White House concern, nor is it anything that's going to happen in the next few weeks.

So maybe the White House could learn to keep their big nose out? Maybe Barack and company could learn that the world doesn't need an opinion on them about every damn thing? That sometimes, especially when you're attempting diplomacy, the smartest thing you can do is not express opinions on side issues when you know the opinions will only anger the people whose help you need?

The Kurdistan Regional Government issued the following today:

Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRP.org / KRG.org) – Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani visited the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament yesterday, requesting the Parliament to immediately undertake the task of creating an independent electoral commission for the Region, and to begin preparations for holding a referendum for the people of Kurdistan to decide their future.

In his remarks to the Parliament, the President urged Members of Parliament to “promptly create an independent electoral commission and to begin preparations for holding a referendum to determine the future, as this would strengthen our hand. The time has come for us to determine our future; we should no longer wait for others to determine our future. In the meantime, we will do whatever we can to help Shia and Sunnis to save the country from this crisis.”

The President stated that the wrong policies of the Iraqi government and the collapse of the Iraqi Army have caused the current security crisis in the governorates of Anbar, Ninewa, Salahaddin, and Diyala. He said that four days prior to the events in Mosul the KRG offered to cooperate with Baghdad to confront the terrorist groups, but this was rejected by Baghdad.

Regarding the deployment of Peshmerga forces to the disputed areas, the President said that all of these areas are now under the control of Peshmerga forces. He added, “The Peshmerga forces are there to protect the people of those areas and they will not be pressured into withdrawing. We will protect these areas and we are also ready to help both Shia and Sunnis to save them from this crisis, but this can only be achieved with new people who believe in co-existence, democracy, and the Constitution. This cannot be done with people who have destroyed the country.”

The following community sites -- plus Tavis Smiley, Cindy Sheehan, Jake Tapper, Susan's On the Edge, Antiwar.com, Z on TV, McClatchy Newspapers and Pacifica Evening News -- updated: