The government of Iraq Tweets:
Because of the ongoing Iraq War, started by the US government in 2003, Iraq is a land of widows and orphans. Mustafa al-Kadhimi had a busy day, honoring Orphans Day, addressing the security forces and chairing the energy commission's meeting as they attempted to prepare for electrical needs this summer. At least he looks busy, right? He;s supposed to be gone. His term ended. But, despite having held elections October 10th, Iraq still doesn't have a new prime minister -- they don't even have a prime minister-designate. Moqtada al-Sadr wants that person to be his cousin but the cleric and cult leader has failed for months not to form a large enough coalition for a new government. He hasn't even been able to see his nominee for president (actually nominees -- the first was struck down by the Iraqi court) be confirmed -- which is actually the step required before you can even move on to the topic of prime minister.
Last week, Moqtada finally announced he was going to step away for forty days to see if anyone else could form a government. The KDP and the Sunnis supporting Moqtada immediately stated that they would remain firm with Moqtada.
Well . . .
Their leaders said that. The goal now is for opposing groups to try to peel away that support. In the past that hasn't been difficult. Who was it that mastered peeling away support? Getting members to step away from their leaders?
Oh, Nouri.
Nouri al-Maliki, former prime minister and forever thug. Two terms as prime minister -- elected neither time. First time 2006 and he was supported by Bully Boy Bush due to the infamous CIA profile on him which found his motivating force was paranoia which, the CIA believed, could be used to manipulate and control him. In 2010, the voters tried to kick him out of office but the US government wanted him to remain prime minister. So Joe Biden oversaw the negotiations of The Erbil Agreement which tossed aside the votes and gave Nouri a second term. President Barack Obama had put Joe in charge of Iraq and -- like an Academy Award Board Governor -- when a test came up, Joe failed.
The second term led to the rise of ISIS in Iraq.
NRT Tweets:
ALAHAD TV Tweeted:
/When we note Nouri, e-mails always follow insisting I'm supporting Nouri for prime minister. No, I'm providing analysis. As a consistent rule, I do not support thugs. And Nouri's title since he became ex-prime minister -- his title here -- has been repeatedly "former prime minister and forever thug" except for when I've called him "forever thug and former prime minister." And we've called him a thug since the summer of 2006 when he began targeting reporters. We weren't the only ones to call him a thug. In the US Senate, then-senators Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden were three calling him a thug in open meetings -- Joe's remarks got less attention because few members of the press bothered to show up for that hearing -- it was the week of The Petraeus & Crocker Show and the poor little journalists were exhausted.
We've treated Nouri as a viable candidate because he was one.
We've noted he remained powerful. We've noted that with Iraqi lives getting even worse in the last eight years and with two incompetent prime ministers, Nouri was looking good for some in retrospect.
That's why we took him seriously here. Ask the US press why they didn't? Then ask them while they still don't?
I know why they supported cult leader Moqtada al-Sadr. I know why they overlooked his persecution of Iraq's young LGBTQs. I know why they ignored his attacks on women's rights. They even overlooked his long history of killing US troops. They did all of that because the US State Dept asked them to rally behind Moqtada -- the same State Dept that 'rewarded' (bribed) Moqtada in August.
Some are behind Nouri. Even when he disgusted me the most (when he was in power), he had legions of supporters. Some of his detractors then -- not a lot, but some -- are of the opinion that if he returned to power things might be better in day-to-day life.
Are they right?
I don't know. I think it could be a very fearful time. He's been motivated by vengeance so it's very likely that a return to power could see, as it did in his previous two terms, a rise in secret prison and torture centers, for example. It's also true that he could have learned something. I doubt it, but he could have learned that he needed support from other political groups -- including rivals -- and that might make him a better prime minister. He might want to use a third term to salvage his reputation.
I have no idea.
But I'm not here to gamble or to cheer him (or anyone) on. I'm here to comment on what's taking place. I'd love for the various US outlets that spent the last months (since the bribe took place) trying to spit-polish all the blood off Moqtada to explain what they thought they were doing when they ignored Nouri from the pre-election and post-election coverage?
Nouri is the reason Moqtada has repeaedly failed to form a government. When it wasn't Nouri's say-so, it was still Nouri because they were pulling from Nouri's playbook and using moves that he previously worked for Nouri.
They'll probably ignore the big story on social media right now. Supposedly, Ayad Allawi is seriously ill and in a hospital in Baghdad right now. He was a very big leader in Iraq.
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