MENAF reports, "On Tuesday, two security personnel were murdered in an attack by suspected IS militants in Iraq's northern Nineveh, according to a local military officer." The Islamic State remains active in Iraq. And it will remain active until the reasons for its rise are addressed. Frank Gardner (BBC NEWS) offers:
The jihadist terror group's self-proclaimed "caliphate", which once ruled over nearly eight million people across Syria and Iraq, has been all but eliminated.
The temptation for triumphalism in Western capitals is overwhelming. It has taken four and a half years of relentless military pressure by a 79-nation coalition to get to this point. It has cost billions of dollars and thousands of lives, many of them civilian.
But people who have access to secret intelligence on the Islamic State (IS) group's activities and intentions are calling for caution.
At the recent Munich Security Conference, Alex Younger, the chief of Britain's secret intelligence service (MI6) - an organisation that was frankly caught completely off-balance by IS's lightning advances in 2014 - said this:
"The military defeat of the 'caliphate' does not represent the end of the terrorist threat. We see it therefore morphing, spreading out... within Syria but also externally... This is the traditional shape of a terrorist organisation."
Does MI6 really believe that? If they did, they might want to urge Iraq to address serious issues. By not addressing those issues, war is being prolonged. Maybe that's actually what MI6 wants?
THE JERUSALEM POST reports:
Former Iraqi PM Nouri Al-Maliki has accused “Zionist Jews” of plotting to bring down Iraqi society.
In a video, translated to English this week by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Al-Maliki says that “our Iraqi society is under a dangerous attack.” He explains that this attack is coming from “Zionist Jews [who] are exerting efforts to thwart everything we have achieved in Iraq."
For those who have forgotten it was thug Nouri al-Maliki's actions that resulted in the rise of ISIS during Nouri's second term as prime minister.
No outside forces, Jewish or otherwise, were required.
All it took was a coward who fled Iraq and only returned years and years later when US forces invaded. That's Nouri al-Maliki. A coward with a chip on his shoulder. Someone who knows he wasn't strong enough to stay in Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein on his own. Instead, he had to flee like the coward he was and beg and plead for foreigners to invade Iraq.
Installed as prime minister by Bully Boy Bush in 2006 (because the CIA assessment was that Nouri's paranoia would make him easy to control and manipulate) and then reinstalled by Barack Obama in 2010 (after the Iraqi people voted to evict him as prime minister), Nouri was still haunted by his past fears and constantly worried about being run out of office by Sunnis. The coward ran on fear and a lust for vengeance.
He persecuted the Sunni people. He went after elected Sunni officials. The day US forces completed their drawdown, he had military tanks begin circling the homes of Sunni politicians. Barack Obama, then president of the United States, was apparently okay with this. He accused the Sunni vice president of terrorism. He raided the home of a Sunni politician.
Let's stop summarizing and let's start spoon fooding because so many didn't pay attention in real time. Dropping back to December 28, 2013:
National Iraqi News Agency quotes Iraqiya MP Hamid al-Mutlaq declaring:
Prime Minister again resorted to use the brutal force and bypass the law and the Constitution in dealing with problems and crises that he himself and his government provoked them. al-Mutlaq, as member of the security and defense parliamentary. The violation of the law and the killing of demonstrators in Fallujah, Hawija and the displacement of the people in Diyala, Baghdad , and Dhi- Qar provinces ,personify a fanatic sectarian rends and irresponsible behavior which peaked today by the arrest of al-Alwani, killing his brother, and the violation of the sanctity of his home.
At dawn today, on Nouri al-Maliki's orders, an MP's home was raided with the intent of arresting him. Nouri is the chief thug and prime minister of Iraq. Possibly, the real intent was to kill the MP -- that would explain a dawn raid on someone's home.
That's Ahmed al-Alwani, via All Iraq News, being arrested.
Alsumaria reports that his home was stormed by Nouri's SWAT forces at dawn and that 5 people (bodyguards and family) were killed (this included his brother) while ten family members (including children) were left injured.
al-Alwani's a Member of Parliament and he's a Sunni. Nouri is a Shi'ite.
More importantly, al-Alwani is a member of Iraqiya -- the political slate that defeated Nouri's State of Law in the March 2010 parliamentary elections. (The people of Iraq did not vote for Nouri. He has a second term as prime minister only because his buddy Barack demanded The Erbil Agreement be drafted -- going around the Iraqi Constitution, every principle of democracy and the will of the Iraqi people.)
Nouri's long targeted Iraqiya.
In December of 2011, he went after Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq -- Sunni and (then) a member of Iraqiya -- and Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi -- Sunni and a member of Iraqiya.
Saleh played footsie with Nouri and, in May of 2012, Nouri ended his war on Saleh and his failed attempt to have Saleh stripped of immunity by the Parliament. Nouri had wanted Saleh sued for calling Nouri the new Saddam (and doing so to CNN). The government is made up of members of Parliament. Even Nouri is one. And as a member of Parliament you have certain rights.
For example, Tareq remains Vice President. If parliamentary elections are held April 30th and new vice presidents (at least two -- although in 2010, they expanded it to three) are named, Tareq's term will have expired. But Nouri can't strip anyone of their rights or office. Parliament can.
Parliment refused to strip Saleh al-Mutlaq of his office and they've refused all this time to strip Tareq al-Hashemi of his post.
All Iraq News reports that MP Karim Elewi (Iraqi National Alliance) insists that al-Alwani's immunity doesn't need to be lifted to prosecute him because he's an "assassin" and a "criminal."
I'm sorry Baby Cum Pants, did you not understand how the law works? You took an oath to uphold the Iraqi Constitution, Baby Cum Pants, so you might try grasping that it enshrines the principle of innocent until proven guilty. Not "innocent until arrested."
All Iraq News also quotes Tariq Harb who says immunity doesn't need to be lifted by Parliament. He's identified as a "legal expert."
If I want to know what Nouri's small cock tastes like, I'll go Tariq Harb.
Anything else?
Nope.
He's repeatedly lied for Nouri.
He's not a legal expert and he's not objective. We've seen that since 2010.
Excuse me, those of us who paid attention -- a very small number -- have seen that since 2010. Tariq Harb, you may remember, agreed, in the midst of Nouri's 8-month political stalemate (when loser Nouri refused to step down from his job) that Nouri was correct and the president (Jalal Talabani) and the vice presidents (Tareq al-Hashemi and Adil Abdul-Mahdi) were no longer in office.
That would have just left Nouri in office. And Nouri lost the March 2010 election.
I was wrong, hold on.
If I want to know what Nouri's asshole tastes like?
That's another thing Tariq Harb could probably explain. So I was wrong to imply that he could only tell us one thing with accuracy.
We've documented his bias for years now. He's not objective.
He's also not familiar with the law. Vengeance is not the law.
He's such an idiot. This is what he tells All Iraq News: "Any Parliamentary Member who commits a crime that can be proved can be arrested without need to lift immunity from him according to Article 63 of the Iraqi Constitution which gave the MPs immunity on unproved crimes only."
He's such a dumb ass.
I'm going to pull this, after this entry goes up, and put it also as its own entry. I don't suffer legal idiots lightly. The law is the law.
That is not what Article 63 says and we'll get to that in just one minute.
First though, his statement is also illogical. He is arguing an MP "can be arrested" if they are "proved" to have committed a "crime."
The stupidity just wafts off Tariq Harb.
A crime can only be proven in a court of law. Since no trial has taken place, no MP can be arrested.
Nothing has been proven, assertions have been made, presumably charges have been filed. None of that is "proved." The only "proved" recognized in the Iraqi Constitution is a verdict by a court.
Let's go to the Iraqi Constitution.
Article 63:
First: A law shall regulate the rights and privileges of the speaker of the Council of Representatives, his two deputies, and the members of the Council of Representatives.
Second:
A. A member of the Council of Representatives shall enjoy immunity for statements made while the Council is in session, and the member may not be prosecuted before the courts for such.
B. A Council of Representatives member may not be placed under arrest during the legislative term of the Council of Representatives, unless the member is accused of a felony and the Council of Representatives members consent by an absolute majority to lift his immunity or if he is caught in flagrante delicto in the commission of a felony.
C. A Council of Representatives member may not be arrested after the legislative term of the Council of Representatives, unless the member is accused of a felony and with the consent of the speaker of the Council of Representatives to lift his immunity or if he is caught in flagrante delicto in the commission of a felony.
(C) does not apply because al-Alwani is a Member of Parliament. His term has not expired.
That leaves (A) and (B). (A) applies to statements so that has nothing to do with al-Alwani.
That leaves (B). By the first section Harb is right.
But learn to read, you stupid idiot, because there are two parts to (B) and they must both be met.
B. A Council of Representatives member may not be placed under arrest during the legislative term of the Council of Representatives, unless the member is accused of a felony and the Council of Representatives members consent by an absolute majority to lift his immunity or if he is caught in flagrante delicto in the commission of a felony.
See that "and" in there. While al-Alwani is accused of a felony crime (killing), that's not all of (B). He can only be arrested if the Parliament consents "by an absolute majority."
Know the damn law.
We went over this with Tareq al-Hashemi and how the court verdicts didn't matter because they were unconstitutional. Even if Tareq al-Hashemi had shot someone dead on live television, he couldn't have been arrested without Parliament voting to lift his immunity.
That vote never happened.
[ADDED: 10 minutes after this went up a friend -- National Lawyers Guild member -- phoned to say I was wrong about Tareq shooting someone on live TV and then still needing immunity removed to be arrested. No, I wasn't. And I clarified it on the phone -- I've obviously worded it badly above. If Tareq shoots someone on live TV and walks away, he's not "caught in the act" of committing the crime and he can argue it wasn't him, it was someone who looked similar etc. Tareq al-Hashemi could shoot someone on live TV and walk away and not get arrested after the fact due to the immunity. If he shot someone on live TV and was immediately rushed by the police -- while he was committing the act -- then he could, per the Constitution, be arrested. I apologize for my poor wording and thank my friend for calling. But the point of the clause is not that 'Eye witnesses can get you arrested.' It's that the security officials catch you in the act. That is what "he is caught in flagrante delicto in the commission of a felony" means and flagrante delicto means caught red handed. It does not mean you rob a bank and witnesses identify you and 30 minutes or an hour later cops show up at your home and arrest you. It means you are caught in the midst of robbing the bank, caught by police and arrested on the spot. And added 30 minutes after this went up, NINA reports Parliament's Rapporteur Muhammad al-Khalidistates the arrest was illegal since there was no vote to strip al-Alwani of his immunity.]
The next time Tariq Harb tries to show off his expertise, he should be arrested for prostitution and contributing to the delinquency of a country.
The arrest shouldn't have even taken place.
From the April 6, 2012 snapshot:
Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi is currently on a
diplomatic tour of the surrounding region having already visited Qatar
and currently Saudia Arabia. Raman Brosk (AKnews) reports
that State of Law is arguing that al-Hashemi should not be allowed to
re-enter Iraq and Iraqiya's spokesperson Maisoun al-Damlouji is
responding, "This is not acceptable at all. Hashemi is the vice
president of the Republic and he will return to the region." In
December, after most US troops left, Nouri al-Maliki upped the political
crisis by insisting that Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq be
stripped of his post and that Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi be
arrested on charges of 'terrorism.' Both al-Mutlaq and al-Hashemi are
members of Iraqiya (both are also Sunni) which is the political slate
that won the most votes in the March 7, 2010 elections. Nouri's State
of Law slate came in second to Iraqiya. The two slates are political
rivals. As an Iraqi correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers observed at Inside Iraq this week:
In
a press conference Maliki said that he had a criminal file on Hashimi
that he had been sitting on for three years, and was now ready to
prosecute him. For the objective observer, the timing of this
announcement was telling. [. . .] Confessions of Hashimi's security
personnel were aired on state television and an arrest warrent for
Hashim himself was issued and also made public on state TV -- All this
publicity on Maliki's side in order to burn the bridges and make any
political deal impossible in this country where government is glued
together with political deals.
He sat on a file for three years?
Yes, Nouri has files on all of his political rivals and he orders their arrest when they're a political threat to him.
State of Law's popularity has dropped repeatedly each year. I'm not sure whether it's their violence, their stupidity or the fact that so many of them are butt ugly. Like this one who looks like his head was attacked with forceps during the delivery and who tells Alsumaria that al-Alwani was "caught red handed" in the arrest. Again, they're ugly and they're stupid. Being arrested does not mean "caught red handed." By the way, in that attack? The forceps clearly won.
National Iraqi News Agency reports MP Saleem al-Jubori (Mottahidoon Lilslah Coalition) denounced the arrest and the klling of al-Alwani's brother in the raid. Iraqiya MP and Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi went to Ramadi in an attempt to sort out what happened and to calm heightened tensions. NINA also reports:
Chairman of Anbar Provincial Council, Sabah Karhout, described the arrest of lawmaker Ahmed al-Alwani as a grave mistake.
In a statement on Saturday, Dec. 28, to NINA Karhout said that the Anbar Provincial Council, condemns the arrest of lawmaker from Anbar province, Ahmed al-Alwani, and killing his brother, as well as a number of his guardsmen and family members, after clashes between the military and Alwani’s guards at dawn Saturday, as a grave mistake because of the way Alwani was arrested.
Karhout added that Anbar Council held an emergency meeting, and came out with important decisions, including demanding the Prime Minister to immediately release Alwani and make the military force that arrested him accountable for the way it carried out the arrest.
Those deaths are on Nouri's hands. There's no excuse for the deaths, there's no excuse for wounding children. Thug Nouri unleashed his thugs and murder happened. Safaa Abdel-Hamid and Mohammed Shafiq (Alsumaria) report that Osama al-Nujaifi is calling for an investigation into the arrest itself.
And this was Falluja's response to the arrest.
A massive protest.
I sat through the only Congressional hearing on Iraq in November and the only one in December.
Democrat or Republican, every member was clear that Nouri needed to stop going after his political rivals. Every member was clear that violence would not be reduced until Nouri stopped misusing his office.
The White House has nothing to say today. (Though Barack's could Tweet and beg people for five bucks. Don't say, 'It didn't have his signature!' It's his organization and his photo on the feed. He's a cheap little hustler working at a clip joint.) The State Dept is still trying to figure out how to respond.
And Nouri is terrorizing Iraq. Friday, he said that was the last day of protests against him and that he would set the tents in the public squares on fire.
Nouri's a murderous thug who is out of control. He's a rabid dog terrorizing a community.
And he continued to terrorize. That is what gave rise to ISIS in Iraq, that is what gave them legitimacy.
This took place -- this and so much worse -- with so little real attention from the US media and with Barack acting, repeatedly, as though nothing was going on.
Let's be clear that the western press has blood on its hands. Over and over, they rushed to pretend that Tareq al-Hashemi deserved to be attacked by Nouri. Over and over, they treated it as normal. They did that because the US government wanted Nouri to remain in power. I am not extra-intelligent. They saw the same thing go down that I did and they chose to lie -- like that piece of trash Samantha Bee chooses to lie now. In her latest commercial, she pretends four women are running for the Democratic Party presidential nomination -- she leaves out Tulsi Gabbard and she leaves out Marianne Williamson -- what a cheap little whore Samantha Bee is.
With Nouri's second term, the press went out of their way to ignore what was taking place. Over and over. There were exceptions. Liz Sly did a strong job throughout Nouri's second term for THE WASHINGTON POST. Liz and NPR did a strong job documenting Nouri's war on the Iraqi press.
But that's really about it.
The western press, especially the US press, couldn't even blame him for the problems he was causing until -- UNTIL -- June 19, 2014 found Barack publicly blaming Nouri. Suddenly, the US press could find their tongue. Possibly, prior to that moment, the press' collective tongue was shoved too far up Barack's ass for them to use it.
Nouri now blames Jewish people for the rise of ISIS. He thinks he can get away with it because for years and years the US press let him get away with it.
That's reality and maybe the US press can take accountability for their actions just once?
No wonder people don't believe them. They lie repeatedly. They cause wars, they cover up for killers, for despots. It's nothing new. If you believe it is, two words: Salvador Allende. Henry Kissinger and so many others should be in prison. Even to this day, the US press cannot get honest about the murder, the assassination of Salvador or the reality that the US government was a partner in that assassination. In fact, it's worse today. We knew the FBI and the CIA were the enemy. Today, they're being treated like heroes. The willfully stupid are miseducated by the US press and we're all suffering as a result.
I've not endorsed anyone for president. I may or may not. But I am not a cheap whore like Samantha Bee -- that acne alone should get her pulled from TV. I know she wall papers on the foundation but it doesn't really hide her pockmarks, does it?
I'm glad women are running. Plural. I don't have to support them to be glad about that fact. I don't have to agree with them to be glad about that fact. This primary will be historic due to the number of women running for office.
I know Marianne Williamson and she has the background that argues she would be a wonderful president. How appalling that she's being ignored by the likes of Samantha Bee. From Marianne's Twitter feed:
Prosperity and peace do not emerge from sources outside ourselves; they emerge when we unleash the spirit and creativity and genius of human beings. #marianne2020 https://www.instagram.com/p/BuESzbmgeDm/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=1ajmexj56w4h1 …
We need to do a whole lot more than simply elevate the conversation; we need to elevate America... https://www.instagram.com/p/BuC-NVQgfse/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=1uhzhpiivex35 …
This is from my interview with Ebro on Hot 97 radio. https://www.hot97.com/news/interviews/author-marianne-wiliamson-her-2020-bid-president-reparations-colin-kaepernick-video … https://www.instagram.com/p/BuC26W1gP9T/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=vb2ga5ewu61m …
From today's Town Hall Discussion at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics #marianne2020 I'll be in Northwood, NH tonight at 6pm! Please join me: https://www.marianne2020.com/event/northwood-new-hampshire …
I'm continuing to campaign in New Hampshire this week. Please join me for my events. See the schedule here: https://www.marianne2020.com/events
Marianne Williamson Retweeted
"Politics should not be chugging along like an old outdated train... We’re talking about the survival of our planet, the survival of our democracy & the survival of the human race here. Old thinking has no place in conscious living now, personally or collectively." Who wrote it?
I do not know Tulsi Gabbard but what she's done in Congress suggests that she gets the real issues that effect the American people. She is also a strong choice for president. From her Twitter feed.
Pinned Tweet
Check it out and share! TulsiTV Ep 2 - On The Road: Manchester, Newington, Portsmouth, North Hampton. #Tulsi2020 https://tulsi.to/tv
I will bring a soldier's values & principles to the White House, restoring dignity, honor & respect to the presidency. Above all, a soldier lives by the principle of putting service before self. As your president, I will bring this spirit to the Oval Office. #ServiceBeforeSelf
Tulsi Gabbard Retweeted
Rep. @TulsiGabbard was in New Hampshire over the weekend. View more photos from her visit in our photo gallery: http://bit.ly/2TVlleX #Election2020
Tulsi Gabbard Retweeted
Credit to @TulsiGabbard for being (to my knowledge) the only presidential contender to speak out against regime change & military intervention in Venezuela.
This is the strength of her candidacy.
Monsanto proves they’ll do anything to pad their pockets, including manufacturing “scientific studies” to influence the EPA while destroying small farmers. They unleashed the scourge of Roundup on us and should be held accountable for the consequences.
I'm not understanding how TBS can go along with Samantha not recognizing all women. Seems like they're using their airtime to slant the election, to give huge donations to the campaigns of four women. Seems biased to me. But what do I know? I'm just one of many in the industry laughing at the fact that Samantha actually believes her husband Jason Jones is being faithful to her. Oh, Samantha, you're the ugly girl whose pretty husband is cheating on her and everyone knows. Does it get any sadder for you?
The following sites updated:
