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- Trump considering visiting troops in Iraq or Afghanistan, has fears about going: report http://hill.cm/4UxE7mH
- Asked by Chris Wallace why he has has not visited American troops stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan since he took office, Trump cites his “unbelievably busy schedule.” So far he has spent 1 of every 4 days golfing, and 2-3 months at Mar-a-Lago.
- "He's never been interested in going," a former senior White House official said of Trump visiting troops in a combat zone, citing conversations with the president. "He's afraid of those situations. He's afraid people want to kill him." https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-discusses-possible-trump-visit-to-troops-in-iraq-or-afghanistan/2018/11/19/9f6724d8-ec2a-11e8-96d4-0d23f2aaad09_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9cc97b3c25b6 …
Our focus is Iraq.
In eight years as president, Barack Obama went to Iraq how many times?
Once.
It's a detail a lot of liars want you to ignore.
As I've noted here before, many times, when I would ask friends in the administration why Barack was not going back to Iraq, they would reveal this was a safety issue. With ISIS in Iraq and also with concerns (that still exist) about some of the US government's 'partners' in Iraq, it was not considered safe for Barack to visit.
There were other reasons given and there were other issues that destroyed Barack's approach to Iraq but let's note that.
Is it possible that Donald trump, a man despised by many around the world, might be an even bigger target in a war zone?
Why, yes, it is.
I do not like Donald Trump -- a point made clear here and at THIRD for years, long before this decade, in fact. However, unlike some of the rabid fools, I do not want him to be assassinated. I do not want him to be killed in office. I'd love to see him voted out in 2020 but I don't need the man dead.
As to the, "He's been golfing!" Golfing was an issue . . . for Bully Boy Bush. It was not for Barack, though. Nor was the fact that Barack repeatedly kept women out of his 'fitness' routines. It's really appalling how selective and hypocritical some of this outrage is.
These idiots are the office co-workers who whine when X comes in two minutes late because they can't stand X but go along with Y being 30 minutes late every day because they like Y.
These people do not come off mature or fair and they send those in the middle -- the people you want to reach and want to be on your side -- fleeing to the other side because we all know what fair looks like.
Does Donald golf? Yes, he does. Good. We all know if it wasn't for Monica Lewinsky, Social Security would have been on the chopping block under Bill Clinton. So let's hope whomever sits in the Oval Office is getting some down time.
I visit all 49 states (call me Barack!) speaking out against the wars. 49? I do not visit Alaska. I have nothing against it (though I've never liked the cold) but travel wise, it's not worth it. In the 14 years we've been online here, I have noted that repeatedly. So I'm not going to be a hypocrite -- rules for me and then rules for thee! -- and slam Donald if he's saying it would pull him away to visit Iraq.
May I also point out to the above Twittering heads that Iraq has airports. Meaning if it's so damn important to them that someone visits Iraq, buy a ticket and get your own ass over there. Be the change you want to see.
Donald not visiting Iraq is not news. There is real news. Iraq-related real news. I wonder, for example, how many times the same howler monkeys whining about Donald not visiting Iraq have bothered to Tweet about Wissam al-Ghrawi -- a protest leader in Basra who was recently assassinated. Maybe he doesn't get them hot and bothered the way Donald Trump does but Wissam's life and actions mattered and his death is a tragedy.
So this pretense to be 'aware' on the part of the so-called 'Resistance' is nothing but a cheap and dirty joke.
For the US, the news is not that Donald Trump won't visit Iraq so far, the news is that US troops remain in Iraq.
I'm not seeing that outrage from the Twits who can't stop Tweeting.
Where's that reality?
Because the Iraq War continues and US troops remain in Iraq.
Let's again note, Friday evening, Ryan Browne (CNN) reported:
Navy
SEAL Edward Gallagher is being charged by the Navy with stabbing and
murdering a wounded person, shooting at noncombatants, posing for a
photo and performing his re-enlistment ceremony next to a dead body.
Gallagher
is being charged with various violations of the Uniform Code of
Military Justice while deployed to Mosul, Iraq, in 2017, related to the
various incidents.
Gallagher "did ... with premeditation, murder a
wounded male person" under his care by "stabbing him in the neck and
body with a knife" while battling ISIS in Mosul in May 2017, according
to the charge sheet dated Friday.
Cmdr.
Tamara Lawrence, public affairs officer with the Naval Special Warfare
Command, said the Navy is taking the allegations seriously.
These charges are charges. No one has been tried yet. He has had an
Article 32 hearing. That's not a trial, it's like a hearing in civilian
courts where a plea is entered before someone goes onto a trial. It's
purpose is to determine whether there is a need to go forward with a
trial (they are determining probabilities -- going forward says there
are probabilities -- it does not determine the person is guilty). Gidget Fuentes (NAVY TIMES) notes:
But during two days of testimony in his Article 32 hearing here,
Gallagher’s criminal defense attorneys painted a different picture of
the highly-decorated SEAL, describing him as a battle-hardened hospital
corpsman who properly treated a gravely-wounded ISIS fighter, only to
have his reputation smeared by a handful of spiteful SEAL malcontents in
the 19-man platoon who griped about his gruff leadership style.
Gallagher, a veteran of eight overseas and combat deployments, is
facing 14 criminal counts, including premeditated murder for allegedly
stabbing to death an alleged ISIS fighter Iraqi forces brought for
medical care by his SEAL Team platoon in Mosul, Iraq, in early May 2017.
Vaishnavee Sharma (WASHINGTON EXAMINER) reports: "Gallagher was arrested Sept. 11 and held at San Diego’s Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar. He considered filing a civil rights lawsuit
against Navy investigators after alleging that they 'laid siege' to his
home and marched his children out of the house during a probe."
On the charges, Dave Phillips (NEW YORK TIMES) notes the charges, "They said he fired into civilian crowds, gunned down a girl walking along a riverbank and an old man carrying a water jug, and threatened to kill fellow SEALs if they reported his actions."
I hope Gallagher is innocent. If he's not, it would be great if some of the people responsible for him being in Iraq in 2017 were also on trial.
Let's turn to John Stauber -- a voice often shut out of the conversations today because of his 'crime' of being fair and holding everyone accountable.
- Remember 2007, when #NancyPelosi and @MoveOn kept the Bush wars funded and running so the Dems could run against Bush and his wars? It destroyed the peace movement. A twofer! @consent_factory http://counterpunch.org/2016/07/07/whe … @consent_factory https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/07/wheres-the-us-chilcot-report-blame-obama-hillary-biden-and-kerry/ … by @NatCounterPunch
Last night, Kat noted how Disaster Nancy Pelosi should not be Speaker of the House again. She also takes on Cher sharing her opinion that Nancy should. I'm avoiding Cher (her view, I'm actually listening to "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" as I dictate this) because she's far from the only one making a fool of her/his self over this. Here's reality, when you have Nancy's big loss of the 2010 mid-terms, you don't get to stay on as House leader. Why did Nancy get to stay on? Because she brings in the big corporate donors. That's what Cher and others are standing up for, they should grasp that.
They should also grasp that Nancy promised to end the war in Iraq. Give the Democrats just one house of Congress, she insisted in the lead up to the 2006 mid-terms, and the Iraq War would be over. We gave the party both houses of Congress. And the war is not over.
Because they realized it was a hot-button issue they could use to scare up votes. Both sides whine about abortion (I believe it should be legal and abortion is a health decision that belongs to the individual, not to the government). But it's not like they ever do anything about it. The Dems never really strengthen it, the Republicans never really destroy it. They just use it to turn out votes.
Which is what Nancy and her ilk decided to do after getting both houses of Congress. Sure they could have then ended the war in 2007 or in 2008, but, hey, so many votes in the mid-term, let's use this to also win the White House.
And who won?
Donald's deporting immigrants! Yes, but he still hasn't reached Barack's record -- Barack surpassed every Oval Office holder that came before him combined. Now in your Anglo White world it was probably something you could -- and did -- ignore. But those concerned about immigrant rights -- not just seeking an issue to use as a club against a political opponent -- those actually concerned about immigrant rights were well aware that Barack had been dubbed The Deporter In Chief.
This is not a defense of Donald Trump. This is noting the reality that some of the 'shock' and 'dismay' registering is being registered by ahistorical asses who would do better to get off Twitter and pick up an actual book.
Nancy Pelosi not only didn't end the Iraq War, she also buried it in the House. Even now, tell me where the hearings on Iraq are?
Twittering Fools are appalled that Donald Trump hasn't visited troops in Iraq! Okay, well where are the Congressional hearings on Iraq? Where is the oversight?
That's on Nancy. I can't stand macho Tammy Duckworth but when she was not allowed to vote on House leadership by Nancy, I defended Tammy here. And that move by Nancy should offend us all. Tammy was not able to fly to DC per her doctor's orders (she was pregnant). She had a valid medical reason for not traveling and she should have been allowed to vote from her home but Nancy wouldn't let her.
That's gender discrimination and Cher and the others might want to try exploring that reality instead of offering their knee-jerk sympathy and support.
Why didn't Nancy want Tammy to vote? Because Tammy wasn't going to support Nancy's preferred candidate for Ranking Member on the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
I supported Tim Walz. He was the one with the most insight on the Committee. He was also the one veterans groups supported -- both newer groups like IAVA as well as older groups like the VFW. Tammy, a veteran, supported Tim Walz.
Nancy didn't.
Nancy supported her own pet pig. And Nancy, as she told me, got her way. As I told her, "Bitch, this isn't over." Who was right? I'd argue I was.
Nancy's pet pig isn't in Congress anymore. She's in prison. We all knew Corrine was a thief. It was only a matter of finding what she was stealing at that moment in time and making sure the theft was reported.
A known thief, an American born idiot who couldn't even master conversational English, a woman who used her position on the Committee to attack veterans -- and we documented that in real time in 2009 and 2010 -- was Nancy's choice.
From November 23, 2014, Isaiah's "Let's Be What's?"
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Let's Be Whats!." US House Rep Corrine Brown (apparently soon to be the Ranking Member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi take a ride (at veterans' expense) and star in the new film Let's Be Whats! -- "Fake Patriots. Real Pieces Of Work." Corrine declares, "Screw veterans!" Nancy thumbs up and chuckles, "I hear you!" Isaiah archives his comics at The World Today Just Nuts.
Nancy did get her choice. But her choice is in prison. Behind bars. For many years to come.
And how about that? Doesn't that go to character and judgment? Tim Walz is an upstanding person (and Minnesota's new governor! Congratulations, Tim!). But Nancy didn't reward hard work or ethics. She instead went with Crooked Corrine. She chose convicted felon Corrine over Tim. Tim's about to become a governor. Corrine's learning to make license plates.
Thanksgiving, an e-mail this morning states, "For those of us who do not get the community newsletters and are just 'drive bys' in your words, could you tell us the schedule for the holiday?" It's the same as it's always been. I will post every day. The last planned Iraq snapshot will be Wednesday. If there's a need for one after that, one will be done. Thanksgiving 2008? That's when Bully Boy Bush got the SOFA pushed through -- we did a snapshot. If there's a need for it, there will be one on Thursday. I will probably review a book over the next few days, Kat plans to review an album, Isaiah plans to do a comic.
Back to Iraq. The fish that ended up dead, all those fish? A development in that story.
Iraq. Fish Deaths: (WHO) investigation results-toxic substances were placed in fish ponds-Laboratory tests conducted on water samples-Euphrates River in Iraq, showed that the water was contaminated with high content of coliforms, heavy metals and a high concentration of ammonia.
The following community sites -- plus DISSIDENT VOICE, the Center for Constitutional Rights and BLACK AGENDA REPORT -- updated:
