The Common Ills: The day after the big meet-up

Wednesday, June 03, 2015

The day after the big meet-up

This Tweet says a great deal about the embarrassment that is Haider al-Abadi:

Early Start ‏@EarlyStart 4 hours ago

Iraqi government begging for more help in fight against #ISIS -- latest: http://cnn.it/1Jpkp8x @ianjameslee http://cnn.it/1KM6OtV

99 retweets 64 favorites

He's unable to defend Iraq, despite being the prime minister, so he lashes out at other countries insisting that they are not doing enough to protect his country -- that they are not doing enough.

And the reality is that he is the new Nouri who was the new Saddam. Like Nouri al-Maliki, he offers empty words, a pretense of unity. No action ever follows the words.

Take last November when the press was atwitter over the deal he had with the Kurds.

There is no deal.

He gave empty words.

He earned applause.

The Kurds continue to try to get him to honor his statements.

He continues to refuse.

Haider is the new Nouri.

Yesterday's conference in Paris accomplished little.

It had no clear cut goals and was focused on the military despite allegedly being a diplomatic conference.

Haider got to whine and whine and he's getting more weapons as a result of his whining.

That's about it.

Human Rights Watch's Ken Roth Tweeted ahead of the conference:

Kenneth Roth ‏@KenRoth 24 hours ago

Anti-ISIS coalition meeting today should focus on not only ISIS atrocities but also Iraqi ones that fuel its growth. http://bit.ly/1AIjdfn

39 retweets 21 favorites

And that remains true.

France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was the only one to seriously raise the issue of the lack of reconciliation in Iraq and, without that, there is no solution.

Reconciliation comes about not by words but by actions.

Haider's produced nothing but words.

Sunnis and Kurds have no reason to support a government that repeatedly attacks them.

It was the targeting of Sunnis throughout Nouri's second term that led to the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq. Haider was supposed to allow a 're-set' -- a new prime minister would show a new chance for an engaged and unified Iraq.

That did not and has not happened.

And instead of pressuring Haider to do what is needed, the US government has indulged him and looked the other way.

For those who've forgotten, that was the policy with regards to Nouri.

And we all know -- at least those of us paying attention -- how that ended.

The following community sites -- plus the Guardian, Black Agenda Report and the Center for Constitutional Rights --updated: