Monday, September 09, 2013

President John Kerry thunders about Syria

US President John Kerry, in London today, declared today that Syrian President Bashir al-Assad could stop war on Syria by turning over chemical weapons (which may or may not exist).  Reuters quotes the US President stating, "Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week -- turn it over, all of it without delay and allow the full and total accounting (of it) but he isn't about to do it and it can't be done."

What's that?  Kerry isn't president?

No, he's not and he needs to calm down.

Supposedly, there are concerns that Barack will look weak if he doesn't attack Syria.  You know what makes Barack look weak?  The little princess standing on the sidelines while Kerry thunders and travels the world acting like he's president.  It's ridiculous and makes Barack look like a wimp.


As noted on the latest Moyers & Company (which began airing on PBS stations around the country Friday and which is video and transcript), guest host Phil Donahue spoke with military historian Andrew Bacevich:


 PHIL DONAHUE: Well, I'm pleased to have this chance to chat with you for a lot of reasons. One, I don’t know who else has more cred than you.  What would a 23-year graduate of West Point offer us now regarding the dilemma in which Obama finds himself, regarding Syria?
ANDREW BACEVICH:  You know, I have to say, I'm just struck by the fact that Secretary of State Kerry has become the leading proponent for war. It's our secretary of state's job apparently--
PHIL DONAHUE: He threw his medal-- he threw his medals back.
ANDREW BACEVICH: Well, that's why it's doubly ironic. 'Cause the Secretary of State is the war promoter. And that our secretary of state happens to be a guy who came into politics basically advertising himself as the guy who because of his--
PHIL DONAHUE: Understands war?
ANDREW BACEVICH: --Vietnam experiences, understands war, understands the lessons of Vietnam, and is therefore going to prevent us from doing dumb things. On the contrary, he's the lead cheerleader to go through another dumb thing.


Exactly.  At what point does Kerry sit his little ass down, let Barack be president and let Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel do his job?

Not since Alexander Haig's attempt to seize control following the assassination attempt on then-President Ronald Reagan have we seen a Secretary of State so desperate to take control.

Whatever happens -- whether Barack attacks Syria or not, the White House better grasp that Barack's image on the world stage is being damaged by Kerry's statements and actions.  When Kerry thunders and boasts, Barack looks weak.  That people like Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger could grasp that regarding Haig and took action (Weinberg deliberately undercut Haig with the press to make him look a fool after Haig announced to the press that he was in charge) while nothing is done in Barack's administration is outrageous.  Even with Reagan in the hospital, having just been shot, with the Cabinet unaware of the outcome -- the medical outcome -- they were able to 'right the ship' when Haig's ridiculous actions and comments were endangering the Reagan presidency.  But today?  They're fine and dandy letting the world see John Kerry apparently in command of the US military and the US government.

He really should have been told to sit his ass down by now.

Instead, he's in London insulting the protesters there who shouted, "Keep your hands off Syria!" at him, insisting that "keep your hands off chemical weapons that kill your own people" should have been shouted instead.

Oh, is that the standard, John?

Not keep your hands off chemical weapons but instead keep your hands off chemical weapons that kill your own people?

The faux outrage, the pretense of morals, slips here and slips there and before you know it, we're confronted with John's naked ass and that's nothing to get excited about.  

"Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week -- turn it over, all of it without delay and allow the full and total accounting (of it) but he isn't about to do it and it can't be done."

The remarks are awful but let's pretend they had to be made.  If they had to be made, they needed to come from the president.

We all get it.  Princess Barack's little feelings are hurt and he's stomping his feet.  He hasn't been this embarrassed since step-daddy caught him prancing around in Mommy's heels.  He was pretending then and, yet again in his life, Barack's feeling like a pretender.  Well too damn bad.  No one with a brain pushed him to run.  (Harry Reid has no brain.)  He chose to run.  Not only did he lack the experience needed for the job, he also brought baggage that most people are unaware of.  That baggage has crippled his presidency.  That baggage is now making him look like a joke.

He needs to start acting like a president or he needs to resign.

John Kerry needs to be reigned in, his statements on what the US will do or could do on Syria stopped.  Hagel needs to step up on military issues and Baby Barack needs to at least give the impression that he's in charge.

Then again don't.  Just let all of us laugh at the weak ass who wanted the year book credit by his name but never wanted to do any actual work.

Paul Steinhauser and John Helton (CNN) report, "The CNN/ORC International poll released Monday shows that even though eight in 10 Americans believe that the Bashar al-Assad regime gassed its own people, a strong majority doesn't want Congress to pass a resolution authorizing a military strike against the regime.  More than seven in 10 say such a strike would not achieve significant goals for the U.S. and a similar amount say it's not in the national interest for the U.S. to get involved in Syria's bloody two-year long civil war."  The American people don't want war.

If Barack does, he should have the guts to make the case and stop letting others run out ahead of him and act like they're in charge.

Refusing to launch a military strike on Syria will not make Barack Obama look weak.  It can be sold as "crisis averted" a la the Cuban missile crisis which remains a sign of strength and intellect for JFK.  But allowing John Kerry to deliver news to the world, to deliver ultimatums?  That makes Barack look weak.  Kerry's flights of fancy need to be grounded immediately.

Bonnie reminds that Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Defending Miss Barack's Honor." On this week's Law and Disorder Radio,  an hour long program that airs Monday mornings at 9:00 a.m. EST on WBAI and around the country throughout the week, hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian, Michael S. Smith and Michael Ratner (Center for Constitutional Rights) topics addressed include a discussion on the drive for war on Syria (guest: Professor Rashid Khalidi), a discussion of Heidi Boghosian's new book Spying on Democracy: Government Surveillance, Corporate Power and Public Relations, the 50th anniversary of the coup in Chile and more.  Also, tonight on The Charlie Rose Show (PBS), Charlie's interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad airs.  This has been teased (with clips) on CBS News since yesterday morning; however, despite claims made by some outlets, the interview will air on Charlie's PBS show (tonight) not on CBS -- CBS has just and will just air clips of it.



The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.







 

 

 



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Sunday, September 08, 2013

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Defending Miss Barack's Honor"

miss baracks honor


Isaiah's latest The World Today Just Nuts "Defending Miss Barack's Honor." A courtly Senator John McCain insists, "Miss Barack, I will protect your honor on Syria."  Waiving a fan, Barack replies, "Senator McCain, you make a girl blush."  Isaiah archives his comics at The World Today Just Nuts.










 

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Hejira

Today in Iraq, there were at least 17 people killed and seventeen people left injured,  Hoshyar Zebari sneered at the Ashraf community and, most important in terms of Iraq's many current crises, rumors emerged of an arrest warrant.

The increasingly disgusting Hoshyar Zebari probably thought he'd be the big news in Iraq today.  The Kurd who became Nouri's flunky suddenly wanted to remember his roots when Iraqi President Jalal Talabani took ill.  When it was made clear to Zebari, by his own political party, that they wouldn't back him for the presidency, he returned to being Nouri's good little boy.  Alsumaria reports he was that again today  as he stood side-by-side in Baghdad with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Jabad Zarif and Zebari announced that the Ashraf community has no place in Iraq.



Camp Ashraf housed a group of Iranian dissidents who were  welcomed to Iraq by Saddam Hussein in 1986 and he gave them Camp Ashraf and six other parcels that they could utilize. In 2003, the US invaded Iraq.The US government had the US military lead negotiations with the residents of Camp Ashraf. The US government wanted the residents to disarm and the US promised protections to the point that US actions turned the residents of Camp Ashraf into protected person under the Geneva Conventions. This is key and demands the US defend the Ashraf community in Iraq from attacks.  The Bully Boy Bush administration grasped that -- they were ignorant of every other law on the books but they grasped that one.  As 2008 drew to a close, the Bush administration was given assurances from the Iraqi government that they would protect the residents. Yet Nouri al-Maliki ordered the camp repeatedly attacked after Barack Obama was sworn in as US President. July 28, 2009 Nouri launched an attack (while then-US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was on the ground in Iraq). In a report released this summer entitled "Iraqi government must respect and protect rights of Camp Ashraf residents," Amnesty International described this assault, "Barely a month later, on 28-29 July 2009, Iraqi security forces stormed into the camp; at least nine residents were killed and many more were injured. Thirty-six residents who were detained were allegedly tortured and beaten. They were eventually released on 7 October 2009; by then they were in poor health after going on hunger strike." April 8, 2011, Nouri again ordered an assault on Camp Ashraf (then-US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was again on the ground in Iraq when the assault took place). Amnesty International described the assault this way, "Earlier this year, on 8 April, Iraqi troops took up positions within the camp using excessive, including lethal, force against residents who tried to resist them. Troops used live ammunition and by the end of the operation some 36 residents, including eight women, were dead and more than 300 others had been wounded. Following international and other protests, the Iraqi government announced that it had appointed a committee to investigate the attack and the killings; however, as on other occasions when the government has announced investigations into allegations of serious human rights violations by its forces, the authorities have yet to disclose the outcome, prompting questions whether any investigation was, in fact, carried out."  Those weren't the last attacks.  They were the last attacks while the residents were labeled as terrorists by the US State Dept.  (September 28, 2012, the designation was changed.)   In spite of this labeling, Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observed that "since 2004, the United States has considered the residents of Camp Ashraf 'noncombatants' and 'protected persons' under the Geneva Conventions."  So the US has an obligation to protect the residents.  3,300 are no longer at Camp Ashraf.  They have moved to Camp Hurriyah for the most part.  A tiny number has received asylum in other countries. Approximately 100 were still at Camp Ashraf when it was attacked Sunday.   That was the second attack this year alone.   February 9th of this year, the Ashraf residents were again attacked, this time the ones who had been relocated to Camp Hurriyah.  Trend News Agency counted 10 dead and over one hundred injured.  Prensa Latina reported, " A rain of self-propelled Katyusha missiles hit a provisional camp of Iraqi opposition Mujahedin-e Khalk, an organization Tehran calls terrorists, causing seven fatalities plus 50 wounded, according to an Iraqi official release."

Last Sunday, they were again attacked -- the 100 or so residents still in Ashraf -- with at least 52 killed.

With the White House focusing all their time on Syria, there's no one to ensure that the US protects the Ashraf community despite the US government's legal obligation to do so.

Today, Zebari poured gasoline onto a burning fire and scored points with Iran off the back of the Ashraf community.

Even so, even with all that toadying, he's still not the biggest news out of Iraq today.


Yesterday Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni and member of Iraqiya, met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite and the head of State of Law (an alliance) and Dawa (a political party).  The meeting was news since Nouri has repeatedly demonized Sunni leaders and Iraqiya members after Iraqiya beat Nouri's State of Law in the 2010 elections. (Actually, before that he attempted to have many disqualified from holding office -- including Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq -- insisting they were Ba'athist -- a ruling the Justice and Accountability Commission was always happy to render.)

As the Americans completed the drawdown of 2011, Nouri immediately went after Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.  al-Hashemi went to the Kurdistan Regional Government (Iraq's semi-autonomous northern region) and then onto Turkey where he remains.  Nouri's tried him in absentia and Tareq's been repeatedly sentenced to death.  Tareq is Sunni and a member of Iraqiya (Shi'ite Ayad Allawi heads the Iraqiya slate).

In December of 2012, Nouri went after Minister of Finance Rafie al-Issawi.  The following day, December 21st, a new wave of protests was kicked off.  Those protests are ongoing and hit the nine month mark in two weeks.  al-Issawi was -- you know this already -- Sunni and a member of Iraqiya.

So the meet-up with Nouri and Osama al-Nujaifi was important.  They released a joint-statement announcing they'd found agreement and common ground on a topic: Syria.  Both agreed a military strike would help no one and called for a peaceful solution to the conflict. It was also news because State of Law MPs regularly trash al-Nujaifi and because one of Nouri's biggest foes in Osama al-Nujaifi's brother.

Alsumaria reports that brother, Nineveh Province Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi (also sometimes spelled Ethyl al-Nujaifi) who just won a second term as governor this summer, has an arrest warrant out for him for 'integrity' crimes.  If the warrant does exist and Nouri executes it (if it exists, he's the one who initiated it), expect the various crises in Iraq -- especially the political crisis -- to intensify even more.

If a warrant is executed against the immensely popular Governor of Nineveh (again, just re-elected to a second term this summer), look for the protests to intensify, look for rebels to feel Sunnis are being further attacked (therefore the rebels will up their attacks) and look for the already inflamed tensions to soar ever higher.

It's a shame the State Dept -- which grabbed so many US tax dollars for Iraq 'work' in the last yearly budgets -- is unable/unwilling to work on Iraq.  Clearly, the know how to take money, they know how to waste money, they just don't know how to do their jobs.

In the past, when everything else fell apart, the US could count on Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

That's because Jalal would back stab the Iraqi people.  Let's be honest.  Nouri would steal power or a position and the others would be up in arms -- other leaders of political blocs.  Jalal would insist he was outraged as well.  But when push came to shove, Jalal would declare Nouri had a right to whatever he had stolen and the issue was considered dead after that (for any number of reasons).  Jalal could humor Nouri -- he had to give everything up to do, but he could humor him.

Last December,  Iraqi President Jalal Talabani suffered a stroke.   The incident took place late on December 17th (see the December 18th snapshot) and resulted in Jalal being admitted to Baghdad's Medical Center Hospital.    Thursday, December 20th, he was moved to Germany.  He remains in Germany currently.  Early Sunday, All Iraq News reports, Osama al-Nujaifi declared he attempted to meet with the hospitalized Jalal five months ago  (that would have been around April) but was rebuffed.  He states he has again asked for another meeting.  He further states if Jalal is unable to resume his tasks shortly, a new president needs to be named.


On Syria, All Iraq News reports Ayad Allawi says that before any government orders an attack on Syria, they have an obligation to build or create a refuge area for those who will immediately begin fleeing Syria.



Let's look at today's violence.  NINA notes a Baghdad bombing left three of Nouri's federal forces injured, a Basra home invasion left 6 family members dead, a Baiji sticky bombing injured one person, an armed attack in Falluja left four people injured, and a suicide bomber targeted the Directorate's Building in Jalawla killing 2 other people and injuring eight.  All Iraq News adds a Mosul bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer. Alsumaria reports a Yahtrib attack (Salahuddin Province, south of Tikrit) resulted in the deaths of 4 Sahwa and a fifth was left injured, and a Samarra attack (also in Salahuddin Province) left 3 Sawha dead.





I'm traveling in some vehicle
I'm sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
That shell shock love away
-- "Hejira," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her album of the same name

 The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4488.




The latest from Third went up earlier tonight:




Isaiah's latest goes up after this.  The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.






 
















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