Saturday, April 27, 2019

Moqtada floats closing the US Embassy, the Iraqi government demands the US delete a FACEBOOK post



The Pointer Sisters performing their hit "Freedom" which first appears on CONTACT (a great album -- listen to their vocals on "Twist My Arm," for example).

"Freedom"?  While the Iraq War continues -- never ends -- how can their be freedom for the Iraqi people.  They continue to live under the US occupation.  XINHUA reports:
Iraqi prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday called for stopping dragging Iraq into U.S.-Iran conflict and suggested to close the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
A statement by al-Sadr said that he is concerned about the "increase of interventions" in the Iraqi affairs that aimed at dragging Iraq into the U.S.-Iran conflict, and made 10 proposals including closing the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and withdrawing the Iraqi militias from the neighboring Syria.
"My concerns are increasing day after day, as I see that the interventions from both sides (U.S. and Iran) in the Iraqi affairs took roots and deepened," al-Sadr said.
He said that the weakness of the Iraqi government, political infighting and widespread corruption made Iraq depend on both sides and unable to give up, according to the statement.
Al-Sadr called for closure of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad if Iraq is dragged in this conflict, warning that the embassy will be under fire of the resistance fighters again, referring to the attacks carried out by militias previously on the Green Zone where the U.S. embassy is located.
Al-Sadr's proposals also included sending delegations to the United Nations, European Union, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Saudi Arabia to ease the tension in the Middle East region.

He also called for withdrawal of the Iraqi militias, including those affiliated with Hashd Shaabi, from Syria. In addition, he urged the signing of a treaty between Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia to bring some peace to the region, the statement added.

On the latter, RUDAW adds:

 Hashd al-Shaabi, an Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitia established to fight the Islamic State (ISIS), should withdraw from Syria so that Iraq does not get dragged into a conflict between Iran and the US and Israel, firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Saturday. 

Sadr, who leads the strongest bloc in the Iraqi parliament, issued the warning as Baghdad tries to balance relations between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia and navigate the escalating confrontation between Iran and the United States.

Sadr made a total of ten suggestions to the Iraqi government aimed at trying to avoid involvement in regional conflicts, including “the withdrawal of Iraqi groups affiliated to Hashd al-Shaabi and others from Syria and returning them to Iraq immediately without delay”.

“I am concerned about the conflict between Iran and the bilateral union [of the US and Israel] – the union which is responsible for starving people in the worst way and humiliate them in the pretext of terrorism,” Sadr said in the statement.

Hashd al-Shaabi was established in 2014 after Iraq’s influential cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling on Iraqis to fight ISIS. It was officially integrated into the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in 2016, when it became widely known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).



Shi'ite cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr pulls a lot of weight in Iraq.  It will be interesting to see what happens if he makes a call for the closing of the security compound known as the US Embassy in Baghdad.  (Right now, he's only floating the idea.) 

Some are not pleased with Moqtada's remarks including the government of Bahrain which has issued an official statement and Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid al-Khalifa who says that Moqtada zoomed in on Bahrain to avoid calling out Iran.  ALSUMARIA reports that Iraqiya coalition member Jamal al-Karbouli stated he sometimes does not agree with Moqtada but he supports Moqtada's remarks regarding national issues.  Also voicing support for Moqtada's statements is Bahaa al-Araji -- not a surprise since he is part of Moqtada's bloc in Parliament.  ALSUMARIA reports that Iraq's Foreign Ministry has called on the government of Bahrain to apologize for their remarks about Moqtada.




Moqtada's floating of closing the US Embassy in Baghdad comes one day after foreign fighters -- the US-led coalition -- killed 1 Iraqi service member and injured two more in what is being termed a "friendly fire" incident.  Iraq still has no Minister of Interior.  So when press outlets tell you that  Aqeel Mahmoud al-Khazali is the Minister of the Interior, grasp that they are lying.

The laughable prime minister of Iraq has slid him into an unofficial post that has no real power.  On the killing in 'friendly fire,' al-Khazali posted to his FACEBOOK page the following.


د. عقيل محمود الخزعلي
April 26 at 8:54 AM
مهم
===
قيادة العمليات المشتركة تشكل لجنة تحقيقية في حادث استشهاد مقاتل وإصابة اثنين آخرين من الفوج الأول باللواء الحادي عشر / شرطة اتحادية خلال قيام طائرات التحالف بعملية الإسناد لقطعات جهاز مكافحة الإرهاب اثناء تنفيذ عملية انزال في قرية الدب التابعة لناحية الرياض في قضاء الحويجة بمحافظة كركوك.
... See More
Important
===
The command of joint operations is an investigative commission in the incident of the martyrdom of a fighter and injured two other first regiment of the eleventh brigade / Federal Police during the operation of the coalition aircraft in the process of attribution of anti-terrorist parts during the execution of the In Kirkuk Portfolio.
... See More




So that's one problem for the US government.  Here's another -- this is from the US Embassy in Baghdad's FACEBOOK page:


يستشري الفساد في جميع مفاصل #النظام_الإيراني، بدءا من القمة. فممتلكات مرشد النظام علي #خامنئيوحده تقدر بـ 200 مليار دولار، بينما يرزح كثير من ابناء الشعب تحت وطأة الفقر بسبب الوضع الإقتصادي المزري الذي وصلت اليه #ايران بعد أربعين عاما من حكم الملالي.
#فساد_قادة_إيران
Corruption is rife in all parts of the #IranianRegime, starting at the top. The possessions of the current supreme leader Ali #Khamenei alone are estimated at $200 billion, while many people languish in poverty because of the dire economic situation in #Iran after 40 years of rule by the mullahs.
#ThecorruptionoftheleadersofIran
See Translation



As ALSUMARIA notes, the Iraqi government sees that post as interfering in Iraqi affairs and they says it goes too far.  They are calling for the US Embassy to remove the post. 

Will it? 

Better question, why is it that the US media is ignoring this?  Normally, when the US and another government clash, it's news.  Does no one in the US media pay attention to Iraq anymore?  Or are they all desperate to save the US government any embarrassment by ignoring this story?




The following sites updated:

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