The Common Ills: 2017-11-26

Saturday, December 02, 2017

Macron makes the call Trump should have

ICRC‏Verified account @ICRC 10 hours ago

“Here is a military aircraft. Here is a heart. Here is a flower. Here is a machine gun.” Things no child should know, or draw. War has robbed millions of their childhood in #Iraq.

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Michel Rose and Ahmed Aboulenein (REUTERS) report:

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday called on Iraq to dismantle all militias, including the government-sanctioned, Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a rare public call to do so by a major Western leader.
Macron’s call, which followed a meeting with Iraqi Kurdish leaders in Paris, underscores the tough balancing act Baghdad has to perform between its allies in the war on Islamic State, Iran and Western powers, which do not see eye to eye.

So Macron has done what Donald Trump won't.

Where's Trump?

Apparently Donald and company can't make the call.

The closest they can come?

Deb Reichmann (AP) reports:

CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Saturday that he sent a letter to a top Iranian military official warning him that the United States would hold Tehran accountable for any attacks it conducted on American interests in Iraq.
Pompeo, who has voiced staunch opposition to Iran, said he sent the letter to Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and elite Quds Force, but the general didn’t read it.

Let's drop back to Thursday's snapshot:

Starting with Iraq's militias. They were supposed to be disbanded long ago, were considered illegal. But the US-installed prime minister of Iraq Hayder al-Abadi has made them part of the Iraqi military and they aren't planning on leaving. AP reported last month:

With the [ISIS] group driven from nearly all of Iraq, US officials have suggested that the thousands of mainly Shiite paramilitary fighters who mobilised against the Sunni extremists three years ago lay down their arms.
But Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, who once battled US troops and is now the deputy head of the state-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Forces, says they are here to stay.

“The future of the (PMF) is to defend Iraq,” he told The Associated Press in his first extensive interview with a Western media outlet. “The Iraqi army and Iraqi police say they cannot operate without the support of the Hashd,” he added, using a shortened Arabic term for the paramilitary force.

Today, PRESS TV notes:

A senior commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, says American military forces must leave his country’s soil following the eradication of the Takfiri terror group.
In an exclusive interview with Press TV, Hadi al-Ameri, who heads Iraq’s Badr Organization, said the popular forces would call on the parliament to draw up legislation to demand the US pull out all its troops from the Arab country.
“We will adopt a parliamentary decision to pull out all American troops”, who were allegedly fighting [ISIS] terrorists in the conflict-stricken Arab country, he said.
Ameri said the popular forces won’t allow even “one US soldier” to remain in Iraq now that the Takfiri terrorists have lost their major bastions in the Arab state in the face of successful Iraqi army operations.

That is what an element of the Iraqi government is saying.

Where are the journalists at the White House demanding a response to this?

Where are they at the State Dept?

Where is the President's statement on this?

I believe the US forces should leave Iraq immediately.

That has nothing to do with the threat from the faction of the Iraqi military.

But if you believe the US military should remain in Iraq -- and clearly those in charge at the Defense Dept do -- then why aren't you addressing these comments?

Seems the press should be asking why US military personnel are in Iraq.

And if the answer is "to train and assist," the response should be, "How effective can they be training and assisting a military that publicly states they are the enemy and that they need to get out of the country?"

This goes beyond the philosophical musings of why.

This goes to the fact that these comments indicate "harms way" now includes potential harm to US troops from the Iraqi military.

Should something happen to even one US service member, heads should roll.

And if something should happen to one US service member and the press hasn't done their job of informing people what the situation actually is and hasn't done their job demanding answers from the administration, then the blame for any harm or deaths will not just belong to Donald Trump and company but also to the press.

And yet Macron's calling for the Iraqi militias to be dismantled and Donald Trump is silent.

The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley and NPR -- updated:

Veterans Call to Remove Provisions of Tax Reform Bills That Will Hurt Veteran Employment and Education

From IAVA:

PRESS CONTACT

Tel: 212-982-9699

press@iava.org

NEW YORK, NY (December 1, 2017) — Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the leading Post-9/11 veterans organization representing more than 400,000 members, raised concerns today that two proposals within the current tax reform bills on Capitol Hill will hurt veterans. One proposal would remove the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, which incentivizes employers to hire veterans. The other proposal removes the student loan interest tax deduction, which allows individuals to deduct interest on student loans that they took out while pursuing their studies. These proposals, if passed, would undoubtedly hurt veterans at a moment when our nation must be investing in veterans and ensuring that any proposed changes to our tax code help, not hurt, veterans. While the tax bill may be a partisan issue, veterans employment and education should not.

Veterans Employment

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit has been critical in decreasing veterans unemployment by incentivizing employers to hire veterans. Partially due to this tax credit, the unemployment rate for veterans has gone from being shamefully high to being lower than the national average. As of October 2017, the unemployment rate for post- 9/11 veterans was 3.6%, compared to 2.7% for all veterans and a 4.1% national average. Removing the Work Opportunity Tax Credit could reverse this positive trend and harm veterans seeking employment.

Veterans Education

The proposed removal of the student loan interest tax deduction within the House bill will also hurt veterans. While many post-9/11 veterans have used the GI Bill to obtain a college education, it does not always cover all the expenses that veterans incur while they pursue their education. Many have had to take out student loans to fill in gaps in funding, and as a result have accumulated their own fair share of student loan debt. In IAVA’s latest annual member survey 46% of respondents stated that they have taken out student loans to fill in financial gaps related to their education.

If anything, these types of tax relief should be expanded to further benefit our nation’s veterans. In addition to current tax policies that benefits veterans, IAVA has long advocated for other proposals that work to empower veterans and their families. Examples of some of these proposals, included in IAVA’s Policy Agenda, include: 1) Providing tax credits to patriotic employers who pay the difference between a Reserve or National Guard member’s civilian salaries and military wages when they are called to active duty, 2) Allowing taxpayers to designate a portion of their income tax payment to provide assistance to homeless veterans, and 3) Creating a tax credit for individual veterans who, within 10 years of separation from service, complete skills training beyond what their education benefits cover, among other tax proposals.

IAVA asks that veterans be given consideration in these debates, and that they be the safeguarded from proposals that would cause them financial hardship.

If you, or someone you know, needs help navigating the resources available to you, our RRRP Veteran Transition Managers (VTMs) are ready to assist. For more information please reference our FAQ page.

Note to media: Email press@iava.org or call 212-982-9699 to speak with IAVA CEO and Founder Paul Rieckhoff or IAVA leadership.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (www.IAVA.org) is the leading post-9/11 veteran empowerment organization (VEO) with the most diverse and rapidly growing membership in America. As a non-profit founded in 2004, IAVA’s mission is to connect, unite and empower post-9/11 veterans. Celebrating its 12th year anniversary, IAVA has connected more than 1.2 million veterans with resources and community, and provided more than 7,300 veterans with personalized support from IAVA’s Master’s level social workers.