Monday, March 07, 2016

Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk Visits Iraq

That's Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi above meeting with Barack Obama's Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL Brett McGurk. Below is the statement the US State Dept issued yesterday on Brett's trip to Iraq.

Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk Visits Iraq

March 6, 2016

On March 2-4, Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk visited Iraq for meetings with senior Iraqi government and security officials, and United Nations representatives. Accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Stuart E. Jones, Mr. McGurk met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Speaker of Parliament Saleem al-Jibouri, the governors of Diyala, Salah ad-Din, Ninewa and Anbar provinces, along with other Iraqi leaders to discuss the International Coalition’s support for Iraq’s ongoing operations to defeat [the Islamic State]. He commended Iraqi forces for their courage, bravery, and recent successes in Anbar and Salah ad-Din provinces. Mr. McGurk underscored that the United States and the Coalition is prepared to increase support to the Iraqi governments we work together to accelerate [the Islamic State]'s defeat.

In all his meetings, including with UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Iraq Jan Kubiš, Mr. McGurk stressed the United States’ commitment to supporting post-conflict stabilization in newly liberated areas, facilitating humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons and refugees, and promoting the safe, voluntary return of displaced persons to their homes. Meetings also addressed Iraq’s economic challenges, and ways the U.S. is prepared to help address them, under our Strategic Framework Agreement with Iraq. This includes deferring payment on $2.7 billion ‎in U.S. security equipment to ensure Iraqi forces are able to accelerate operations over the coming months.
Mr. McGurk also delivered remarks at a graduation ceremony for 900 federal and local Iraqi police who completed training courses conducted by the Government of Iraq and Italy's Carabinieri as part of the Coalition's train, advise and assist mission. Mr. McGurk thanked the Italians for their vital contributions to the anti-[Islamic State] campaign and commended the Iraqi police for their brave commitment to restoring the rule of law in areas liberated from [the Islamic State].

Mr. McGurk reaffirmed the United States’ condemnation of the recent [the Islamic State] attacks in Sadr City and Abu Ghraib, extending condolences to the families and friends of those who were killed and wounded in the attacks.

Iraq

Protests can wait?

From Vancouver, BC, we'll note this Tweet:

Antiwar rallies in Canada?

Just to the north of the United States.

And what will there be in the US?

World Can't Wait is apparently planning something.

If you can navigate their crappy website.

First, you'll have to endure their 'analysis' which is gloss over.

Where in their 'learned' explanation of the Islamic State do they note that Barack Obama overturned the 2010 election in Iraq and gave Nouri al-Maliki a second term (even though Nouri's use of secret prisons was already established in the press)? Or that this second term found Nouri going after everyone -- activists, Sunnis, women, LGBTs -- and all without any public criticism from the US government?

Or when Nouri slaughtered peaceful protesters staging a sit-in in Hawija, the US government 'responded' by calling for peace on both sides?

For those who weren't paying attention, the April 23, 2013 massacre of a sit-in in Hawija which resulted from Nouri's federal forces storming in. ALSUMARIA noted Kirkuk's Department of Health (Hawija is in Kirkuk) announced 50 activists have died and 110 were injured in the assault. AFP reported the death toll eventually (as some wounded died) rose to 53 dead. UNICEF noted that the dead included 8 children (twelve more were injured).

It's really amazing that a group -- World Can't Wait -- supposedly against imperialism will refuse to call out the US government overturning an election in a foreign country.

Here's Emma Sky explaining it to the Australian ABC:

In the 2010 national elections, there was very high turnout, Iraqis were excited, and the party that won the most seats in the election was called al-Iraqiya. It campaigned on a platform of 'no to sectarianism, Iraq for all Iraqis'.
Unfortunately, the incumbent, Nouri al-Maliki, refused to accept the election results and the Obama administration just wanted a quick exit. They thought the quickest exit was to maintain the status quo, keep Maliki in power. They said: 'Look, he's a strong Iraqi leader, he'll give us an agreement to keep some troops in Iraq after 2011, let's keep Maliki.'
The Iranians managed to come in, they managed to form the government, and all the US troops were forced to leave at the end of 2011. Maliki used his second term as prime minister to just go after the Sunni politicians, accused them of terrorism, and drove them out of the political process. He reneged on his promises to tribal leaders who'd risen up and fought against Al Qaeda and he arrested Sunnis en masse.
This led to all these Sunni protests which Maliki violently crushed. The Islamic State rose out of the ashes of Al Qaeda in Iraq and said: 'We will defend the Sunnis from the Iranian-backed sectarian regime of Nouri al-Maliki.' Unfortunately many Sunnis looked at Islamic State, they looked at Maliki, and they decided that the Islamic State was the lesser of two evils. And that's how Iraq has plunged into this tragic situation.

The protest you can't (easily) find at their website, you can find at their Facebook page:

the World Can't Wait shared an event.

March 5 at 12:29pm

Join us in protesting the anniversary of the US War on Iraq "Shock & Awe" Invasion, Saturday March 19 in NYC

MAR19

March 19 Protest Endless Iraq War

Sat 12:00 PM in EDTNYPL The New York Public LibraryNew York, NY, United States

31 people interested · 21 people going

So a local event then?

As opposed to a national one in DC?

Well that certainly pleases (appeases) the faction that fought against any actions not all that long ago.

So instead of pushing for a real event, a national one, they're going for a local event.

Hmm.

The event should be national and there should be pressure placed on every candidate to attend -- Democratic or Republican.

And Hillary should be pressured to atone for what she's labeled a 'mistake' (her support of the Iraq War) by speaking to those assembled.

Probably wouldn't happen but when the biggest we can dream is a local event (and apparently only one local event), it's for sure not going to happen.

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

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Sunday, March 06, 2016

Hejira

The US Defense Dept announced today:

Strikes in Iraq
Fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 13 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Bayji, a strike suppressed an ISIL fighting position.

-- Near Hit, two strikes struck an ISIL improvised weapons factory and an ISIL weapons storage facility.

-- Near Kirkuk, a strike destroyed three ISIL bulldozers.

-- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed an ISIL mortar position.

-- Near Mosul, two strikes struck an ISIL weapons production facility and destroyed an ISIL vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED).

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Ramadi, two strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL frontend loader.

-- Near Sinjar, two strikes destroyed an ISIL fighting position and suppressed an ISIL heavy machine gun position and an ISIL mortar position.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed an ISIL assembly area.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

Well thank goodness for that, right?

It's provided so much safety in Iraq.

Uh . . .

Except for the big bombing today.

AP notes the suicide truck bombing in Hillah. BBC NEWS notes at least 47 dead. REUTERS explains at least 60 or dead with over seventy injured. Mohammed Tawfeeq and Chandrika Narayan (CNN) report the Islamic State have claimed the bombing.

So the US bombings aren't really solving anything.

This despite the claims Barack's special envoy Brett McGurk made to Robin Wright -- which THE NEW YORKER published yesterday.

By the way, do you think Gina Chon freaks out every time Brett speaks to a female reporter?

Once a cheater . . .

We will give Brett credit for one thing.

Though not credited by Brett, that's Stuart Jones, US Ambassador to Iraq, in the photo with Brett and Ammar.

Good for Brett for meeting with Ammar al-Hakim, leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq.

For those not paying attention, the US government had a good relationship with Ammar -- a relationship that they let splinter and fall apart in 2014.

I'll give him credit for working to re-establish that relationship.

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] 4497 (plus 10 in Operation Inherent Resolve which includes at least 1 Iraq War fatality).

The following community sites -- plus PBS NEWSHOUR, NPR and Jody Watley -- updated: