Lawk Ghafuri (RUDAW) reports that the US-led coalition has turned over the Taji base to Iraq. At what point does the press plan to ask real questions of Joe Biden? Such as? How about: If elected president, when would you get US troops out of Iraq?
Would we believe him? Probably not. He and Barack promised all US troops would come home in their 2008 campaign and then failed to deliver. But the question needs to be asked.
And isn't he the "Iraq expert" for Barack's administration? Isn't that why Barack tasked him with Iraq for eight years. On Biden, Christopher Hamil-Stewart (ARAB NEWS) reports:
A recently resurfaced video of US presidential hopeful Joe Biden advocating for Erdogan’s removal has caused uproar in Turkey.
In a December meeting with US journalists, the Democratic nominee called Erdogan an “autocrat,” suggested the US “embolden” his opponents, and said: “What I think we should be doing is taking a very different approach to him now, making it clear that we support opposition leadership.”
He added that Erdogan “has to pay a price” for Turkey’s treatment of their Kurdish population.
Biden’s wide ranging comments also called attention to Turkey’s hostile regional stance, “particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean in relating to oil” — an issue that has now come to the fore as Turkey pushes forward with energy surveying despite being widely rebuked by allies and adversaries alike.
Biden’s comments, ignored at the time, have now caused uproar across the political spectrum in Turkey.
Erdogan’s head spokesperson, Ibrahim Kalin, branded Biden’s comments “pure arrogance, ignorance and hypocrisy.”
Wow, what do you know, Joe could show real leadership. Then again, words are easy -- especially when unreported and under-reported -- actions a little harder. Erdogan's gotten away with a great deal. Last week alone, he's responsible for the murders of five Iraqis -- three with the military, two civilians. Fehim Testko (AL-MONITOR) offers:
Fallout with a neighbor is the last thing Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi would like at a time when the Iranian-American tussle is dangerously escalating and domestic challenges persist, including growing popular anger with the establishment, resurging Islamic State attacks and the coronavirus pandemic. Eager to extricate Iraq from being a hostage to regional rivalries, Kadhimi has prioritized Tehran, Riyadh and Washington for his first foreign trips after becoming prime minister in May. He is trying to keep Kurdistan aboard as it reels from the Turkish operations, which have claimed civilian lives as well.
Yet the conditions that long ensured Baghdad’s acquiescence to Turkey’s military incursions are changing. Above all, a new political climate, marked by growing sensitivity against foreign interventions, is taking hold in Iraq after years of havoc wreaked by the Islamic State, sectarian strife and the US occupation.
The Iraqi Kurds, meanwhile, have grown anxious that Turkey could be aiming beyond the PKK as part of designs to undermine Kurds across the region, including their autonomous government. Such fears have led them to seek collaboration with Baghdad in protecting the border. Though the border guard is comprised of Kurds, it is an arm of the central government.
Iraq also is emerging as a new ground in the influence war between Turkey and its Arab adversaries after Syria and Libya. The bloc led by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is seeking to extricate Iraq from the grips of Iranian influence on the one hand, while taking advantage of Iraqi anger against Turkey on the other. The same bloc has sought to develop contacts with the Kurds as well, especially in Syria.
The Arab League and its parliamentary assembly pledged support for Iraq in any international move to stop Turkey as the league condemned the deadly drone strike Aug. 12. Separately, Egypt said Turkey’s actions were a “threat to regional security and stability,” while the UAE accused Turkey of “meddling in Arab affairs.”
In other news, the number of coronavirus cases in Iraq continue to rise and break previous records. XINHUA reports:
The Iraqi Health Ministry on Sunday reported 4,348 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily increase since the outbreak of the disease, while the health authorities decided the partial curfew to be imposed seven days a week.
The 4,348 cases brought the total nationwide infections to 176,931, as the ministry's health teams and institutions have used 19,278 testing kits across the country during the day, the highest daily tests so far, raising the total testing kits used so far to 1,282,928, the ministry said in a statement.
Kat's "Kat's Korner: Haim and how it took a lifetime to get here" went up just an hour or so earlier.
