The Common Ills: Barack Obama prevents elections in Iraq

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Barack Obama prevents elections in Iraq

Someone's a wee bit defensive this morning:

Maybe if the White House would answer whether or not there's a new Status Of Forces Agreement in place (or rather the troops are covered under the memo of understanding with the Defense Dept), Col Warren wouldn't have to start his day sounding so defensive?

But then the White House has so much to be defensive about when it comes to Iraq.

Michael Safi and Elle Hunt (GUARDIAN) report:

A militia group in Iraq has purportedly used Instagram to put to a vote the fate of a captured Islamic State fighterwhich, if genuine, is “unquestionably” a war crime.
The account @iraqiswat, claiming to be that of Iraq Special Operation Force, posted an image to its 80,400 followers on Monday that appeared to show a captured Isis fighter.

The White House, the State Dept, they've yet to denounce the above rumors.

But maybe they just don't want to raise the issue of voting?

Because they're taking illegal action in Iraq.

The US put Haider al-Abadi into place as prime minister.

They forced Nouri al-Maliki to step down (though nothing, apparently, can force him to give up the palatial home of the prime minister).

Haider was supposed to be filling out the rest of Nouri's term.

There were no elections.

What does the Constitution of Iraq say:

Article 54:
First: The electoral term of the Council of Representatives shall be limited to four calendar years, starting with its first session and ending with the conclusion of the fourth year.

Second: The new Council of Representatives shall be elected forty-five days before the conclusion of the previous electoral term.

Yes, as we asked in yesterday's snapshot, where are the elections?

Why are we the only ones who can ask that?

The last parliamentary elections were when?

2010.

The first were at the end of 2005.

The next were supposed to take place in late 2009.

But Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi vetoed the bill passed by Parliament, the election law, because it did not recognize the multitude of displaced Iraqis.

By the time a law was in effect, March 2010 was the earliest elections could take place.

And some of us (that includes this site) noted the long delay between elections and how things were not running smoothly.

Even allowing for the Parliament not officially standing until November 2010, everyone's four year term expired in November of 2014.

It is now 2016.

Where are the elections?

Yesterday, State Dept spokesperson John Kirby shot off his ridiculous mouth:

QUESTION: Yes. The Iraqi prime minister, Mr. Al-Abadi, has been pushing ahead for reform in its government, and he claims to reshuffle his own cabinet. I was curious about your position on these claims about Abadi has been trying to accomplish.

MR KIRBY: What you call claims I think are, in fact – you almost – it makes it sounds like he’s doing something wrong here. Prime Minister Abadi is --

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

MR KIRBY: Prime Minister Abadi is trying to make necessary political reforms in his country and he has moved some officials around, and that’s the obligation, that’s the responsibility; those are the choices that a prime minister has to make. We continue to support his efforts to improve governance in Iraq and to enact appropriate reforms to try to facilitate that process.

QUESTION: But bringing what he calls technocrats into his cabinet at this moment would definitely make a lot of people angry because he is going to exclude a lot of party appointed into his government. How would you react to that?

MR KIRBY: Again, these are decisions that he has to make and his government has to make and the Iraqi people have to make, and those are internal decisions that we aren’t going to involve ourselves in each individual appointment that he makes. These are internal matters for Iraq to speak to and for him to speak to. In general, we support his efforts at reform and we support his efforts at trying to get a government in place – and keep a government in place – that can be responsive to the needs of the Iraqi people and can help them deal with the very real threat inside their own country represented by [the Islamic State].

QUESTION: So wait, wait. So this – the position of the U.S. is that you’re not going to interfere in the president – or the leader of a country, his choices for cabinet, but you will interfere in who the – or you will choose who should be the leader of the country, but once your selected person is in power, they can have whoever they want in the cabinet? Is that basically what --

MR KIRBY: Well, it was the Iraqi people that --

QUESTION: After you guys --

MR KIRBY: -- put Prime Minister Abadi in the position he’s in.

QUESTION: After the U.S. pulled the rug out from under --

MR KIRBY: We’re not – we don’t involve ourselves in the internal decisions of an electorate like that.

Haider was not elected by the electorate.

But Kirby's remarks (lies) should remind everyone that in supposedly 'free' Iraq, elections ate nearly two years overdue.

And Barack Obama, who is sending more US troops into Iraq for 'democracy' and 'freedom,' has yet to insist that Iraq hold elections.

The failed state of Iraq is a puppet state of the United States and Barack doesn't even pretend to want the veneer of democracy.

You can see it with Kirby and others backing the push to get a new Cabinet of Minister -- while the old remains in place.

The Iraqi Constitution outlines how you get rid of a Cabinet Minister:

Eighth:
A. The Council of Representatives may withdraw confidence from one of the Ministers by an absolute majority and he is considered resigned from the date of the decision of confidence withdrawal. The issue of no confidence in the Minister may be tabled only on that Minister's wish or on a signed request of fifty members after an inquiry discussion directed at him. The Council of Representatives shall not issue its decision regarding the request except after at least seven days of its submission.

Barack supports the rule of law . . . when he likes the law.

Iraq needs to hold elections.

This is not open to debate.

This is the law.

Every member of Parliament -- that includes Haider al-Abadi -- should have seen their term expire in November 2014.

There is no legitimate government in Iraq at present.

And until Barack demands that there are elections in Iraq, the US is involved with an illegitimate and unelected government.

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