The Common Ills: 'Progress' in Iraq

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

'Progress' in Iraq

The big news of the morning?

The Iraqi Parliament has refused to confirm the nominees for Minister of the Interior and Minister of Defense. Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) reports, "Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi put forward Sunni lawmaker Jaber al-Jabberi as his candidate for defense minister, and Shiite lawmaker Riyad Ghareeb as his pick for interior minister. Parliament, which could confirm the nominees with a simple majority, voted 118-117 against Ghareeb, and 131-108 against al-Jabberi."

At a time when the Iraqi government -- if not the Iraqi people -- are asking for various foreign fighters and weapons, they can't even get it together to fill the heads of the security ministries?

Anyone remembering US President Barack Obama's talk about how the Iraqi government would have to demonstrate this and that to get US military support?

More empty words from Barack.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott doesn't care either. He just wants to play with the war toys and not be left out. Emma Griffiths (Australia's ABC) reports the price tag for Tony's new boyhood "is likely to cost about $500 million per year." AAP adds that he's sending 600 troops to Iraq.

Mark Thompson (Time) notes that, since June, Barack's sent approximately 1600 US troops into Iraq:

The Obama Administration has taken pains to explain that “no boots on the ground” inside Iraq actually means “no boots on the ground engaged in combat” inside the country. The line begins to blur when it comes to missions like calling in U.S. airstrikes. Many such attacks are best directed by someone on the ground near the target, ideally by a fellow American fluent in language, lingo and lethality. But it’s not as important as it used to be.

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