Saturday, July 10, 2021

Iraq

Lara Seligman and Andrew Deisderio (POLITCO) inform:


A series of Iranian-backed militia attacks against Americans in Iraq and Syria is piling new pressure on President Joe Biden, with some Republicans criticizing his approach as insufficient and ineffective.

U.S. troops and diplomats in Iraq and Syria were targeted in six rocket and drone attacks this week alone, including when at least 14 rockets hit a base in Iraq on Wednesday, injuring two U.S. service members. The development is the latest in an escalating back-and-forth between the U.S. and Iranian-backed militia groups, which have stepped up attacks on U.S. troops in recent months despite Biden’s stated goal of deterrence through retaliatory airstrikes.


If that's surprising, you haven't been paying attention.  And as we noted Thursday and Friday morning, the calls have been coming from Dems in Congress as well.  People like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi have been pressuring Joe for a military response -- immediate -- with no real thought to any impact it might have.


I guess we're all just pretending not to notice?  And pretending like we can let the conversation take place without us on the left offering any input?  


We don't need more war and we certainly don't need military strikes just to say a response took place.



In other news . . .


Protests are growing in Iraq amid extreme heat and power shortages dlvr.it/S3Ts2m
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10:52 PM · Jul 10, 2021



AFP reports:


Hundreds of Iraqis demonstrated on Friday in several southern towns and at a government-run power plant against prolonged electricity cuts as the mercury soars.

“We want electricity to be restored and if it isn’t we’re not leaving this plant. We’re going to stay put and shut it down,” demonstrator Diaa Wady said outside Al-Khairat electricity station near Karbala.

The predominantly male crowd surrounded and attacked the car of an official, smashing its rear window and shouting.

“We are peaceful protesters who are here only for our rights. Our demand is for electricity to return and if it doesn’t we’ll bring our tents and camp out,” said frustrated demonstrator Sajjad Aoun Al-Kiriti.


Mustafa Kadhimi's worst fears are coming true.  Protests are taking place ahead of expected elections in October.  He's tried to woo the protesters -- he needs votes.  He's had no luck with some going on the record insisting that they won't be voting.  More to the point, protests right now might impact and/or sway undecideds or those who are lukewarm on Mustafa.  The protests will continue.  Eliav Breuer (JERUSALEM POST) notes:


According to Roey Kais of KAN news, protestors are blaming the government for its energy inefficiencies. A protestor he spoke to claimed that "this is one of Iraq's worst years, as we don't have electricity in nearly the entire country." 
According to the protestor, a political activist, "you can see tens of thousands of Iraqi students writing their exams in sweltering heat. It is unimaginable that in the 21st century, we are putting our babies in the refrigerator, and that old people are beginning to die." 
The protestor claimed that the main causes of the lack of electricity are governmental corruption and the country's dependency on neighboring Iran. He added that Iran is intentionally supplying Iraq with insufficient energy in order to create economic pressure and force it to speed up payments on loans of up to 5 billion dollars.


The following sites updated:


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