When inept met inept? Will that be the phrase to describe tomorrow when Iraq's prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi meets up with US president Joe Biden? The point is to keep US troops in Iraq for many reasons including to keep the puppet government propped up.
AP notes, "Iraq’s prime minister says his country no longer requires American combat troops to fight the Islamic State group, but a formal time frame for their redeployment will depend on the outcome of talks with U.S. officials this week." Oh, is Mustafa ready to finally stand on his own. Come on, big boy, take your step, you can do it, you can do it, you can . . .
Oh, he fell his on diapered butt. Well he tried. Or pretended to.
AP adds, "Mustafa al-Kadhimi said Iraq will still ask for U.S. training and military intelligence gathering."
AFP must have seen baby Mustafa stumble when he tried to stand up because they (rightly) refer to him a "weakened leader" and note, "Technically, there are no actual combat troops on the ground in Iraq, where the US military has officially only deployed advisors or trainers."
Look at that, the truth can be told. The press can do it. If the outlet is based in France. If it's US-based, apparently not.
In October, elections are supposed to be held and this latest spin and garbage is an attempt to help build support for Mustafa's weakened government.
Mustafa's statements are similar to those made by Fuad Hussein, Foreign Minister of Iraq, to THE WALL ST JOURNAL. THE TEHRAN TIMES noted, "According to the American newspaper, the purpose of the statement, current and former officials said, is to enable the Iraqi leader to blunt the political pressure from Shiite factions who want all of the approximately 2,500 American troops in the country to depart, while maintaining U.S. support for Iraqi security forces."
As elections approach, Shi'ite cleric, goon squad head and one-time movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr pouted that he would sit out the process. At THE NEW ARAB, Azhar al-Rubaie notes reactions to Moqtada's tantrum,
“Muqtada al-Sadr withdrew from the next election just in the media, but nothing is official,” Ahmed Sameer, a 35-year-old Basra-based resident told The New Arab.
“The Sadrists run the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Electricity and both sectors have corruption, so his announcement was to clean up his movement after getting a bad reputation since they won the majority of parliament seats,” he added.
“I will never vote for anyone in the next elections, we all hope that Iraq will be ruled by a good person but unfortunately all of them have an affiliation to outside [powers], mostly supported by Iran-backed wings,” said Sameer.
He added: “The government, with or without al-Sadr, will do nothing in favour of the people, they work in their own favour, they have run Iraq for more than 18 years. What will they bring to us? They bring us poverty, crime, corruption, and zero services”.
For political analyst and activist Ghanim al-Abid, Sadr’s withdrawal leaves many unanswered questions as to his motivations.
“The Sadrist movement’s withdrawal from the early elections has raised many question marks, considering that the Sadrist movement was keen to hold the elections on time,” he told The New Arab.
The Iraqi government is a failure. It is unable to deliver even the basics such as potable water and electricity.
In other news, Will Smith (PRESS STORIES) reports:
Russian archaeologists in Iraq have discovered what they believe to be the remains of a 4,000-year-old settlement that emerged from the ashes of the Babylonian Empire.
The “Lost City” was discovered on June 24 in The Car, Iraq, the heart of the ancient Sumerian Empire, considered one of the world’s first civilizations.
“The discovered city is an urban settlement in Del Duhaila, located on the banks of a stream,” Alexei Yankovsky-Dygonov, researcher at the St. Petersburg Institute of Oriental Manuscripts and head of the Archaeological Department, told Al Monitor.
The team found a number of artifacts, including a rusty arrow, traces of stoves, and prehistoric clay camel statues.
They found the remains of a temple wall seven feet high and 13 feet wide, and an ancient harbor where river and sea ships came from.
And here's an AL-MONITOR video report.
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