The Common Ills: Iraq snapshot

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Iraq snapshot

Tuesday, November 27, 2018. In the US or Iraq, nothing ever changes.

We'll start with this Tweet from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

‏Verified account @iava

If you’re a vet in financial trouble because you’re experiencing a late #GIBill payment our Rapid Response Team will do all we can to connect you with non-profit resources in your area: http://www.iava.org/rrrp 

Our bandwidth is limited, but we’ll try to help as many as we can.

2 replies77 retweets76 likes

The problem that never goes away.

Remember when it first surfaced? We were at the first House hearing, check the archives, and remember the member of the Committee who blamed the veterans? She's not on the Committee any more. She's behind bars. In prison. Probably still wearing a really ugly wig. Corrine Brown. She attacked the veterans over and over in hearing after hearing whenever the VA made a mistake. She couldn't call out the VA (not when Barack was president). And as if that's not bad enough, what happened next? Nancy Pelosi made Corrine Ranking Member on the Committee.

The woman couldn't speak coherently. She attacked veterans -- which is why all the Veterans Service Organizations backed Tim Walz and not Corrine for the post. But that's who Nancy wanted. And Nancy got her way. For a little bit. Corrine's a convicted felon.

Nancy's judgment has always been questionable and it remains so.

The notion that it's Nancy or no one is laughable. She did a lousy job as Speaker from 2007 through the start of 2011. Seven years later, she's going to be re-installed and people act like it's normal. No, it's not. When you suffer the defeat the Dems did in the mid-terms of 2010, you don't go back to leadership. You're eased out. But because she brings in the big bucks, she gets to remain.

Nancy has accomplished nothing. She was always a poor communicator but that's only gotten worse as she's gotten older. It's time for new blood. That doesn't mean a freshman member of the House. There are many qualified members who could be Speaker.

Nancy became speaker in 2007 on her promise to get US troops out of Iraq. That never happened.

U.S. Army‏Verified account @USArmy 8 hours ago

#USArmy Soldiers get ready to board a CH47 #Chinook during a live-fire training exercise in Iraq, Oct. 31, 2018. @USNationalGuard photo by 1st Lt. Leland White

5 replies100 retweets363 likes

They remain in Iraq to this day.

Will she become Speaker? Probably. She got rid of a rival for leadership a few years back by blackmailing him with photos of him and underage boys drinking and partying. Nancy always knows how to win -- dirty. The people supporting her are supporting corruption. Granted, most are knee-jerk supporting her (Cher) because Nancy's a woman. But as far as history will be concerned, it will be Nancy's power plays and blackmail that she's remembered for, not her gender.

‏ @DavidMWitty1

In Iraq, protests resume in Basra City. President of Basra Tribal Council: nothing has changed, still no jobs & dirty water. Protests will spread throughout the province. If security forces use violence, we will take decisive action.
http://mobp.as/uzzNn 

Nothing has changed in Basra. The protests started in July.

It's now November.

Over 100,000 people have been sent to the hospital for drinking the water in Basra. Even that's not been fixed. All around the world, politicians pocket money and refuse to serve the people they are supposed to represent.

On the topic of lawmakers, ALBAWABA offered:

Iraq’s parliament will vote on Tuesday to approve the remaining eight ministers in Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s government.

The process is not expected to go smoothly after the Sunni National Axis Alliance, allied with the Binaa bloc, threatened to obstruct any vote on the Defense Ministry portfolio, which 28 nominees are vying for.
Ahmed al-Jabouri, a leader in the National Axis Alliance and a deputy at the Legal Affairs parliament committee, told Asharq Al-Awsat Monday that the bloc must have power over choosing the next defense minister because it represents Sunnis in the country. He cited how other blocs submitted candidates based on their representation of the Iraqi people.

The actual wording, for the above to have been a news report, should have been "Iraq's parliament is scheduled to vote . . ." That's reporting. "Will vote"? That's predicting.

And guess what? They got their prediction wrong.

There was no vote today. MIDDLE EAST ONLINE reports:

Iraq's parliament will vote next week on whether to approve the remaining eight candidates for Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's cabinet, the speaker's office said on Monday.
The session initially scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 27, was delayed late on Monday night by one week.
Lawmakers last month confirmed only 14 out of the 22 ministers Abdul Mahdi initially presented, but nevertheless approved a confidence motion, allowing him to become prime minister.

Eight ministries, including the vital defence and interior portfolios, remain vacant. Parliament initially said it would vote on the remaining ministers earlier this month but the vote was delayed due to disagreements over nominees.

Adel Abdul al-Mahdi still can't form a government. Maybe he needs to follow through on his threat earlier this month and just resign?

Iraq's suffering and he can't even get a Minister of Defense confirmed?