7 men, 2 women

On the first hour of today's The Diane Rehm Show (NPR), the guests were David Newhouse, Mary Leary, Mark Horner, Chris Gavagan and Fred Berlin. The second hour was Andrew Rosen, Josh Wyner, Claudi Goldin and Barmak Nassirian.

Meanwhile in the ongoing Iraq War, Press TV reports a US base was attacked:

Unknown gunmen have attacked a US military base in the southern Iraq city of Basra with several mortar shells, military sources say.

Possible casualties or damages are yet to be reported.

The outpost is located in Basra International Airport, the second largest international airport in Iraq.

The Iraq War hasn't ended and with the militarization of the State Dept, it doesn't end December 31st. Believe the liar Barack if you want.

I didn't.

I never did.

And three years later, I've not had to bang my head against a wall and play the "Why! Barack! Why!" game.

He's a cheap ass liar and a War Hawk who should be thrown in prison for what he's done -- including his assault on Libya.

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, December 14, 2011. Chaos and violence continue, a rally takes place in Falluja, new information on contractor violence in Iraq emerges, Moqtada's not pleased with Nouri's trip to the US, Joe Biden makes a statement he shouldn't have, and more. The reposturing of the US military (DoD's term) means that many US troops have left Iraq though some will remain in Iraq after January 1st and some will remain in the surrounding areas. That tens of thousands have left resulted in celebration today . . . in Iraq. Deng Shasha (Xinhua) reports, "Thousands of Iraqis rallied Wednesday in the central city of Fallujah, once the epicenter of anti-U.S. insurgency, celebrating the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The demonstrators set U.S. and Israeli flags on fire and raised Iraqi flags along with banners saying 'the people want occupation be removed,' and Fallujah is the flame of resistance and symbol of liberation'." No, that's not how it was in Germany at the end of WWII. But then, at the end of WWII, the US government didn't have to pay local leaders to guarantee that US troops could depart safely as they've had to do with tribal sheikhs in Iraq. Aswat al-Iraq also covers the protests, "The demonstration had witnessed reading of poems and verses, commemorating the victims who fell due to American attacks, whilst some of the demonstrators raised the previous Iraqi flag, with 3 stars and burnt American and Israeli flags, along with raising placards expressing their rejoice for the American withdrawal from Iraq, including 'Falluja, the Spark of Resistance and Address of Liberation'." Press TV notes, "Burning US and Israeli flags and carrying photos of Fallujah residents killed by US forces after the 2003 US-led invasion, the demonstrators on Wednesday described resistance against American invaders key to their country's freedom. The demonstration was dubbed the first annual 'festival to celebrate the role of the resistance'." Al Jazeera adds, "Widespread fighting in Fallujah against the occupation begun in 2003, after a controversial event known as the 'pupil's' uprising. The US military had turned a primary school into their city headquarters in April 2003. When 200 demonstrators gathered outside asking for the school to be reopened, US forces opened fire, killing at least 13 civilians and injuring dozens." Along with protesters in Iraq today, the country also a visit from a US official. Dar Addustour reports US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta arrived in Baghdad today on "an unannounced visit" -- all this time later, US officials still have to sneak into Iraq. But 'with honor!' Barack would insist, 'with honor!' Al Rafidayn notes he is expected to attend a ceremony in Baghdad Thursday. Simon Tisdall (Guardian) observes, "The idea that the Iraq war is over is attractive but deeply misleading." Erik Slavin (Stars and Stripes) explains, that military hardware Iraq is ordering from the US will include trainers, "Following years of training and reorganizing the Iraqi army, a mix of 157 servicemembers and Defense Department civilians working for the State Department's Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq will oversee what they hope will be the next big step: the modernization of three Iraqi army divisions by Dec. 31, 2014. [. . .] The training the contractors will provide is included in the prices of acquiring the various weapons systems. Those systems include 18 F-16 fighter jets; 140 M1A1 Abrams tanks; 24 self-propelled Howitzers; 120 towed Howitzers; six C-130J cargo planes; 15 T-6A fighter training jets; and 12 patrol boats." Additional US personnel that will remain in Iraq were discussed by Fareed Zakaria and Joe Johns on Fareed Zakaria GPS (CNN): Joe Johns: Not to be too cynical, several thousand U.S. nonmilitary personnel and contractors will end up on the ground after the military leave. Are those people there for Iraq or are they there for the United States? Fareed Zakaria: Well, it's a little bit of both. They are, in a sense, disguising the drawdown so it is not a drawdown quite to zero. We have some paramilitary forces, some who are protecting the embassy, embassy personnel, USAID people. There's going to be a fairly healthy contingent, I'm sure, of CIA people. There'll be people from the DEA. You add that together and the United States will have a certain kind of offensive presence in Iraq. It's entirely justified. The U.S. consulate in Basra is minutes from the Iranian border. What were to happen if some Iranian thugs were to cross the border and try to launch an attack on the U.S. consulate in Basra? Well, you've got to be able to protect yourself. The U.S. is appropriately taking precautions so they don't end up in some situation that looks like the Iran hostage crisis all over again. On the topic of contractors/mercenaries, earlier this week Suzanne Kelly Simons (CNN and author of Master of War: Blackwater USA's Erik Prince and the Business of War) reported that ACADEMI was the latest name change for the private mercenary company once known as Blackwater. AFP quotes the company's president and chief executive Ted Wright stating, "We are going to become the best at governance." And should that prove impossible, they can always change their name next to Happy Meals. Cory Doctorow (Boing Boing) notes, "Four years after their initial Freedom of Information Act request, Gawker has received and published 4,500 pages' worth of detail on the way that mercenaries from Blackwater and other defense contractors conducted themselves in Iraq. Their basic procedure appears to have been to shoot any car that attempted to pass or tailgate any of the convoys they guarded, especially if the driver was a 'military aged male'." Richard Hall (Independent) reports: Thousands of field reports filed by private security contractors operating in Iraq have been made available to the public for the first time. The documents reveal details of nearly 200 shootings by contractors working in the country for companies hired by the US government between 2005 and 2007. On Andrea Mitchell Reports (MSNBC -- link is video) today, Andrea spoke with Stephen Hadley (from the Bully Boy Bush administration) about Joe Biden's assertion that the White House would never have gone along with a request for 20,000 US troops from Nouri al-Maliki. Andrea Mitchell: There were reports, plenty of reports, that the military wanted at least 20,000 and that we did as well and tried to negotiate that and couldn't with the Maliki government in Iraq. What is your take on this? Stephen Hadley: Well I think Vice President Biden's quote makes it quite clear that they were not -- the administration was not interested in having 10 - 20,000 troops there. That's a decision they made. I think others, including myself, I would have made a different decision. But I think we have to look going forward, I think it's great that Prime Minister Maliki was here. I think it's good that they're focusing on the Strategic Framework Agreement which is a framework [negotiated by the Bush Administration] for an ongoing relationship between Iraq and the United States with political, economic and security dimensions. And I hope they are exploiting that agreement in laying out a framework for a relationship going forward that includes a vehicle for helping to continue training Iraqi security forces and help them incorporate into their force structure the new hardware that they're doing and help them the counter -- counter-terrorism operations they need to do so Iran cannot destabilize the position in Iraq. Andrea Mitchell: On that point, our new collegaue Ted Koppel, on Rock Center [with Brian Williams, NBC Monday night], showed just how exposed our new consulate is in Basra and how much security is being built in and, as you know very well, we have 17,000 American civilians, contractors, diplomats, CIA and other personnel still at our Embassy and outposts in Iraq. How vulnerable are we and how much can we rely on the Maliki government to withstand Iranian influence? Stephen Hadley: The Iraqis have made it clear that they are Iraqis first and Shia second. And we always felt in the end that Iraqi nationalism will trump Shi'a-ism. I think that is true. And I think Maliki showed that in 2008 when he went south [Basra] and took on an Iranian-backed militia [Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi militia] that he is an Iraqi first. That is very important. But look we never tried to do what we're doing in Iraq now through a stricly State Department mission. And that's another reason many people think if we left 10 to 20,000 American troops there, it would make it easier to ensure security so that our State Department people can do what they need to do in this situation going forward, to help strengthen ties between the United States and Iraq. First, Andrea noted published reports on the numbers of US troops that were tossed around. She's correct but I'll note that we can establish 16,000 via Congressional testimony (because some will say, "Those are unsourced reports! Anonymous sources!" and they'll be right in some cases). So Congressional testimony, this exchange is between Senator John McCain and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey. Senator John McCain: Since you brought up regrettably, General Dempsey, 2003 and 2004. The fact is that you did not support the surge and said that it would fail. Secretary Panetta was part of the Iraq Study Group which recommended withdrawal from Iraq and opposed the surge. And so we're all responsible for the judgments that we make and obviously that effects the crediblity of the judgments that we make now on Iraq. I regret that you had to bring that up, General Dempsey. The fact is that there were some of us who were over there in those years you talked about, in fact, maybe even had other members of their family there and saw that it was failing and that we needed to have the surge and the surge succeeded. And the fact is that we could have given sovereign immunity as we have in other countries to keep our troops there and give them the immunity that they needed. We have other agreements with other countries that guarantee sovereign immunity. The fact is, that every military leader recommended that we have residual forces at minimum of 10,000 and usually around 20,000. That was the recommendations made before this committee by General [Ray] Odierno, recommendations made by General [David] Petraeus, recommendations made by even lower ranking military who had spent, as you mentioned a great amount of time there and did not want to see that service and sacrifice all wasted away because of our inability and lack of desire to reach an agreement with Iraqis. As I said in my opening statement, Iraqis are largely responsible as well. But the fact is that when Senator Lieberman, Senator Graham and I were there the Iraqis were ready to deal. And what was the administration's response? They didn't have a number last May as to our residual force in Iraq. So as things happen in that country, things fell apart. Now can you tell the Committee, General Dempsey, if there was any military commander who recommended that we completely withdraw from Iraq? General Martin Dempsey: Uh, no, Senator. None of us recommended that we completely withdraw from Iraq. Senator John McCain: When did we come up with the number of uh troops that we wanted to remain in Iraq? Do you know when that final decision was made as to exact numbers that we wanted? General Martin Dempsey: Uh, it to my knowledge the process started in Augustof [20]10 and, as you know, there was a series of possibilities or options that started at about 16,000 and ended up with about 10[000] and then migrated to 3[000] and then we ended up with [cross talk] -- That's from the November 15th Senate Armed Services Committee -- covered in the November 15th "Iraq snapshot," November 16th "Iraq snapshot," November 17th "Iraq snapshot," Ava's "Scott Brown questions Panetta and Dempsey (Ava)," Wally's "The costs (Wally)," Kat's "Who wanted what?" and Third's "Gen Dempsey talks '10 enduring' US bases in Iraq" -- and the excerpt above is from the November 15th snapshot. Now on Hadley's remarks, I'm not comfortable "And we always felt in the end that Iraqi nationalism will trump Shi'a-ism." I don't think (I could be wrong, I often am) a majority of Americans would find that reassuring considering the Bush administration's track record on predictions when it comes to Iraq. We should also note that his observations re: Iraq and Shi'ites (that a national identity will trump Shi'ite identity) aren't born out by other observers. Richard Engel (NBC News -- link is text and videos) shares many observations in his report today and they include: When I looked closely, I noticed three words were engraved on the cups: Allah, Mohammed and Ali. Including the name Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law, has only one meaning. Ali is the patron of all Shiites. These were Shiite cups. Even the tea at the tourism authority was being served in Shiite cups. The tourism official is like most government officials in Baghdad these days. He's a religious Shiite from one of the many Shiite political parties. He served our TV crew sweet tea in small hourglass shaped cups. There are people who want a national identity. But, talk to political experts, they tended to support Iraqiya in the 2010 elections, the political slate which came in first, the one the US government helped prevent from becoming the rulers to keep Nouri al-Maliki on as prime minister. In addition to them, many of the youth protesters in Iraq strongly favor a national identity. A national identity could win out. But saying that it has is incorrect and saying that it will is a prediction and not a fact. It should also be noted that 2 of the 15 provinces Baghdad controls are attempting to become semi-autonomous and, no, that's not a good indicator that a national identity it 'trump'ing in Iraq. Other than that, Hadley's underscoring (lightly*) that a stupid thing was done last night on MSNBC when Joe Biden declared that they would have turned down a request for 20,000. (A) It flies in the face of previously reported claims. (B) It fuels points made in that Senate Armed Services Committee by Senators McCain, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham. (C) If things go bad in Iraq -- especially if US hostages or US deaths take place after January 1st, Joe just gave video for his critics to play constantly. Iraq has repeatedly refused to flow with the never-ending waves of Operation Happy Talk. That's from this administration and the previous one. No 'turned corner' ever stayed turned if, in fact, one was reached. And Joe knows that. It was a stupid remark for him to make. I know Joe, he's a great person but I cannot believe that he made that remark. It would have been bad enough in print but to give the GOP video for campaign ads? Can you imagine the ads if Iraq doesn't live up to the Happy Talk (and it never has before)? Let's say there are two hostages or two brutal deaths -- and most likely it would be Moqtada's militias -- picture something like the killing of Blackwater contractors in Falluja in 2004. And they've got photos of something like that to run Joe's comments over? It won't be pretty. [*Hadley also lightly but very clearly stated that Barack should have given the order for the US drone -- now in the possession of the Iranian government -- to have been detonated so that it would not have ended up in the possession of the Iranian government. His argument is that technology is now at risk. That's probably what most people will take away from Andrea Mitchell's discussion with him.] While we're on the topic of statements Joe shouldn't have made, we'll note this from Patrick Cockburn's "Wars without victory equal an America without influence" (Independent): This is misleading spin, carefully orchestrated to allow Mr Obama to move into the presidential election year boasting that he has ended an unpopular war without suffering a defeat. We already had a foretaste of this a couple of weeks ago, when Vice President Joe Biden visited Baghdad to laud US achievements. Over the years, Iraqis have become used to heavily guarded foreign dignitaries arriving secretly in Baghdad to claim great progress on all fronts before scurrying home again. But even by these lowly standards, Mr Biden's performance sounded comically inept. "It was the usual Biden menu of gaffe, humour and pomposity delivered with unmistakable self-confidence and no particular regard for the facts on the ground," writes the Iraq expert Reidar Visser. Mr Biden even tried to win the hearts of Iraqis by referring to the US achievement in building hospitals in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea, a city he apparently believes is located somewhere in Iraq. Republican candidates in the presidential election have been denigrated and discredited by gaffes like this. It is a measure of Mr Biden's reputation for overlong, tedious speeches that the US media did not notice his ignorance of Middle East geography. Dr Visser points out that "when Biden says 'we were able to turn lemons into lemonade', refers to 'a political culture based on free elections and the rule of law', and even highlights 'Iraq's emerging, inclusive political culture ... as the ultimate guarantor of stability', he is simply making things up." Sadly, Iraq is a much divided wreck of a country. Nouri al-Maliki continued his visit to the US. Al Sabaah reports that immunity for US troops was raised to Nouri by Barack and Nouri, according to an unnamed Iraqi who is part of the delegation visiting the US, refused to make any promises. Having just gotten 18 more F-16s approved this week, Nouri is now angling for drones as well. Dar Addustour notes that Nouri and Barack laid reefs at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and that Moqtada al-Sadr is criticizing the visit and the talks on immunity. In a longer story focusing just on Moqtada's criticism, Dar Addustour notes that Moqtada and his bloc are stating that the US is attempting to weaken Iraq as well as the Arab and Islamic world and that economic agreements are being dangled in an attempt to trick the Iraqi politicians. Iraq continuing to be under Chapter VII at the UN is raised and the Sadr bloc states that this is proof that the US is not sincere. The continued occupation via the US Embassy is called out as well. But the trip to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier especially results in a tongue lashing at Nouri, "Maliki's visit to that tomb of the dead Americans in Washington is an insult to the blood the dead of Iraq. It would have shown more respect for Maliki to visit the cemetery in Najaf." Still on Moqtada, Aswat al-Iraq reports, "Shiite Sadrist Trend leader called not to interfere in Syrian events, pointing that it is a country with sovereignty and dignity. Muqtada al-Sadr expressed his concern of the foreign intervention and internationalization of this case. On the other hand, a Sadrist MP denied news of sending militias to Syria to suppress the protests there, describing these accusations as aimed against the political process in Iraq." Tensions abound in Iraq. Al Sabaah reports on issue raised in Parliament this week including Turkey's building another damn on a river thta flows through Dohuk Province (part of the Kurdistan Regional Government) which has damaged the water resources and Turkey's non-response to complaints led for calls to take this issue to the international courts. Jim Michaels (USA Today) explores Iraqi concerns and observes, "An inability to finalize a government 22 months after elections has raised concerns about the sincerity of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's efforts to form a coalition representing all Iraqis." Still on tensions, Kelly McEvers (NPR's Morning Edition, link has audio and text) reports that when the US turned over a base in disputed and oil-rich Kirkuk, the Iraqi military and the Peshmerga both attempted to claim it leading to six-hour standoff which included drawing guns on one another. Kelly McEvers: The standoff is an illustration of the larger problem in Kirkuk. Kurds want to regain control of a city they say was once theirs. Arabs don't want to let go of a city that they settled in at the encouragement of Saddam. Turkmen, Christians, and other ethnic groups are caught somewhere in the middle. In a market in the center of Kirkuk, most people are afraid to talk about the departure of the Americans, and who could help the Kurds and Arabs resolve their differences now that U.S. troops are leaving. One young Arab, named Mustafa, says his family was offered about $17,000 as part of a government program to move Arabs out of Kirkuk. But that wasn't enough. Kirkuk was a site of violence today. Reuters notes 1 Kurdish security official was wounded in a Kirkuk shooting, a Kirkuk sticky bombing injured one person, 1 Iraqi soldier was injured in an attack on a Mosul military checkpoint, a Mosul roadside bombing injured a woman, a police colonel was injured in a Baghdad shooting, a Baghdad roadside bombing injured three people and 2 Tal Afar car bombings claimed "at least" 3 lives and left thirty-five people injured. Kael Alford (MSNBC) has a photo series up from her return to Iraq over the summe and in the text of her essay, she notes: When I returned this summer, the violence had diminished but was once again climbing. On the morning of my arrival in Baghdad, a loud explosion shook me awake. At first I thought it was a nightmare, but a characteristic second explosion a few minutes later confirmed I wasn't dreaming. The target was a Turkish restaurant across the street from the compound where I was staying. No motive was known, and luckily no one was injured at that early hour. A week later, even the shattered glass of the nearby windows had been replaced and life returned to normal. Also offering a photo essay on Iraqis is Shannon Stapelton (Reuters). Stephen Farrell and the New York Times' Baghdad Bureau survey a variety of Iraqis about their thoughts as the US military is repostured. Nour Kasim, 30, Housewife 1. It is not the right time for America to leave Iraq with such internal conflicts and the security situation so unstable and unsafe. We need more time to stabilize security and to be ready for any external confrontation. I don't think Iraq is ready to do this alone. 2. I don't know exactly the American goals, but I believe that they achieved them, otherwise they wouldn't decide to leave. I don't have any problem with America, Saddam or any ruling party because I don't get myself involved in politics. I hope Iraq will be liberated, but we have to be able to protect our country first. In the US, only one anti-war candidate is declared so far: Ron Paul. He's running for the GOP's presidential nomination. Yesterday, On Point with Tom Ashbrook (WBUR -- link is audio) spent the hour exploring his campaign. iraq xinhua deng shasha aswat al-iraq simon tisdall erik slavin the stars and stripes wikileaks cnn fareed zakaria gps msnbc andrea mitchell reports andrea mitchell richard engel dar addustour al sabaah al rafidayn al mada npr morning edition kelly mcevers msnbc kael alford reuters shannon stapleton iraq the chicago tribune john k. collins usa today jim michaels the new york times stephen farrell the independent patrick cockburn

2 men, 5 women

Today on the first hour of The Diane Rehm show, the guests were Major Garrett, Lisa Lerer and Juan Williams. For the second hour, it was Linda Gordon, Carolyn Hax, Katherine Newman and Jennifer Page.

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, December 13, 2011. Chaos and violence continue, so many press lies continue as well (CNN may take the prize today for their re-invention of how a government is formed in Iraq), however, NBC and NPR deserve praise, Iraq's Parliament -- per their Speaker -- is willing to go for "partial immunity," Nouri intends to ignore the UN (and the European Union's) call for more time on Camp Ashraf, another province wants to go semi-autonomous, and more. Let's start in the US and with some veterans news. US Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and her office notes: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Murray Press Office Tuesday, December 13, 2011 (202) 224-2834 Senator Murray's Statement on Drop in Veterans Homelessness (Washington D.C.) -- Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, issued the following statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that their annual point-in-time survey of veterans homelessness showed an estimated 12% decrease in homeless veterans. "This is welcome news. It means that the steps we have taken to invest in the HUD-VASH housing voucher program, prioritize veterans employment, and support rapid re-housing efforts are making an impact. "No one who has made sacrifices to serve our nation should ever be homeless, and this problem should never be ignored. I've been proud to work with the Obama Administration to stem the tide of this national crisis and am pleased that we are moving toward the bold goals they've laid out. We have a long and difficult road ahead, but it's clear that with investments in proven solutions and cooperation between government agencies we are making progress." ### Matt McAlvanah Communications Director U.S. Senator Patty Murray 202-224-2834 - press office 202--224-0228 - direct matt_mcalvanah@murray.senate.gov News Releases | Economic Resource Center | E-Mail Updates Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki continues his visit in the US. As Sheikh (Dar Addustour) reports that Nouri has several issues to address in the visit including the issue of trainers and immunity, bilateral relations, garnering US support at the UN for removing Iraq from Chapter VII, security, energy, education, and judicial partnerships and the F16 aircraft order. Sheikh notes the F-16s are in place of the F-18s Iraq wanted but the US wouldn't sign off on due to concerns that technology might be leaked to Iran. Al Rafidayn notes that US Nationcal Security Council spokesperson Tommy Vietor declared yesterday that the US had agreed to sell Iraq a second batch (18) of F-16s. There's a development on the trainers front. In what Al Mada calls a remarkable development, Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi publicly declared yesterday that Parliament has agreed to grant foreign troops "partial immunity." US talks broke down over one legal reading-- no the official administration reading of the law - that US troops could not stay in Iraq without immunity granted by the Parliament. As negotiations continue, the Parliament is now ready to offer "partial immunity." Today on Talk of the Nation (NPR -- link has audio and text), Ted Koppel and host Neal Conan discussed the Iraq War and what's being billed as a US withdrawal. Excerpt. CONAN: Though the president cheers his accomplishment, you say not so fast. KOPPEL: I do say not so fast, and I think he knows better. But he's right, he did make the campaign promise to get all the troops out, and all the troops will be out, save 157 who will be guarding the embassy, and a few hundred U.S. military trainers. But as you pointed out, 16 to 17 thousand others will be remaining behind, and the extraordinary thing, Neal, is we're hearing echoes now of what we heard nine years ago. You know, we can't have that smoking gun be a mushroom cloud. No one is actually using that particular formulation anymore, but the fear of nuclear weapons. The danger of a nation that is supporting terrorism. Oil, which was the great unspoken issue in 2002 and 2003, very much a part of this. The difference, of course, now is that the target is Iran, not Iraq. But the two are very close to one another, and the fact of the matter is that Iran is exercising an enormous influence throughout Iraq. And the oil fields, which have under the surface, they have something - I believe it's the second-largest reserves of any country in the world. That's all very close to Iran, and if Iran were to exercise significant political, let alone military, control in that region, together with their own oil and gas, they would have the capacity to wreak havoc on Western economies. During the segment, they took calls from listeners and noted Ted's report on last night's Rock Center with Brian Williams (NBC). Here's an excerpt of Ted's report from Iraq and it's where they are discussing the US consulate in Basra. Ted Koppel: If those Iranian backed militias were to launch a full scale attack on this consulate, would the US calvary ride to the rescue? US Ambassador James Jeffrey: We depend upon the Iraqis and if we need security support, we will turn to them and we will tell them, "I've got a problem in Basra and you need to help us. Ted Koppel: The question is will they? US Ambassador James Jeffrey: I believe they will. Ted Koppel: That's what an ambassador has to say about his hosts. This is the man who might actually have to deal with that nightmare, Lt Gen Robert Caslan. General, how are you going to get 1320 people out of there? I mean if you've 24 hours notice that something like this was going to happen, you're telling me the Iraqi government would evacuate immediately? Would get them all out of there? Lt Gen Robert Caslan: I would argue that we do have, in theater, whether it's in Kuwait or elsewhere in theater, that we fall under the central command, Centcom, and I feel confident that Centcom has the necessary assets to take whatever measures they need to to counter that attack. In addition to the reporting on Rock Center with Brian Williams (there are online features from last night's show including some that are online only, FYI) Brian Williams also spoke with Ted after the report. Excerpt of that. Brian Williams: I wrote down the words "dangerously exposed?" while watching the piece. So many people speaking through clenched jaws. You can almost hear it in the voice of that Lieutenant Colonel from the 1st cavalry. Why aren't the remaining Americans to be considered dangerously exposed? Ted Koppel: They are. They are dangerously exposed. And you have to remember, Brian, that the military command in Iraq did not want the US troops heading home. The commanding general asked for 27,000 troops to stay behind. The fact of the matter is, if the Iranians were to launch an attack against the consulate in Basra, you have to be willing to put your money on the Iraqi government. And if the Iraqi government doesn't do it, who else is going to do it? Well as you've heard there are a lot of American troops in that region and I would put my quota on saying, they're coming back and they'll be the ones to evacuate. Ted is raising serious issues and, to their credit, NPR today and NBC last night (and anchor Brian Williams) were willing to go beyond the nonsense on Iraq that has cluttered up so many networks -- broadcast and cable, commercial and PBS (The NewsHour hasn't done anything like what NPR and NBC have done this week). With Nouri al-Maliki visiting the US right now, you would assume everyone would be trying to offer something deeper than a bumper sticker and platitudes. But that's all the airwaves have been interested in. Some might argue CNN deserves credit for Arwa Damon and Mohammed Tawfeeq's report which includes: Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq told CNN that he was "shocked" to hear U.S. President Barack Obama greet al-Maliki at the White House on Monday as "the elected leader of a sovereign, self-reliant and democratic Iraq." He said Washington is leaving Iraq "with a dictator" who has ignored a power-sharing agreement, kept control of the country's security forces and rounded up hundreds of people in recent weeks. "America left Iraq with almost no infrastructure. The political process is going in a very wrong direction, going toward a dictatorship," he said. "People are not going to accept that, and most likely they are going to ask for the division of the country. And this is going to be a disaster. Dividing the country isn't going to be smooth, because dividing the country is going to be a war before that and a war after that." Any credit the above might get it outweighed by an attempt to distort reality -- either due to time, space or just not being honest. They also insist: Al-Maliki won a second term as prime minister in 2010 after a months-long dispute among the leading parties in the country's parliamentary elections. Al-Mutlaq's largely secular Iraqiya movement won two more seats than al-Maliki's party, but a merger of the premier's Shiite Muslim slate with a smaller Shiite bloc put him first in line to form a government. No, that is not what happened and that's grossly embarrassing for CNN. I'm embarrassed for them. The Constitution outlines what happens in the elections. Nouri didn't follow it. He also got an opinion from the court he controls in his favor. Per the Constitution, Ayad Allawi (leader of Iraqiya) had the first crack at forming a government. But Nouri refused to follow the Constitution. The United Nations actually was exploring a request from some Iraqi officials to put a caretaker government in place (during the political stalemate caused by Nouri refusing to step down) but the US government blocked that. I don't expect CNN to tell the truth about what the US government did; however, the Iraqi Constitution is a public document. And how the government is formed following an election is detailed precisely in the Constitution. There's no need to 'invent' or 'improve' upon reality. Just stick to the law. Nouri refused to and CNN refuses today to inform people of that fact. Nouri's visit ends shortly. His return to Iraq should be very interesting. We're back to Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi's press conference yesterday. In it, Dar Addustour reports, he declared that he and/or members of Parliament -- not Nouri -- was the target of the assassination attempt, he also stated that 15,000 US employees for diplomatic reasons was illogical, and that Nouri will be appearing before Parliament to answer questions regarding the country's military readiness. Reuters notes a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed the lives of 2 police officers and left five more people (three were police officers) injured, 2 Christians (husband and wife) were shot dead in Mosul, an Ishaqi sticky bombing claimed 2 lives and left three people injured, a Falluja gun and bomb attack in which 3 people died and five were injured (three of the five were judges), 1 police colonel was shot dead in Mosul and a Shirqat sticky bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) adds, "The judges were headed to Ramadi, where they work. One of them is the chief judge of the criminal court there." Al Mada reports Diyala Province's provincial council voted Monday to become a semi-autonomous region. Iraq has 18 provinces. Three of them -- Sulaymaniyah, Dahuk and Erbil -- are semi-autonomous and form the Kurdistan Regional Government. Al Mada explains that, following the vote, members of the council held a press conference where they explained that the majority vote of the members meant they had now signed a formal request to move towards semi-autonomy. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) quotes provincial council member Suhad al Hiyali stating, "There is nothing in the constitution that talks about the necessity of holding an official session for the council to sign the request. We tried every legal way with the central government to have administrational and financial authorities that enable the members to practice their role in helping the people who voted for us. But we failed and that is why we used our last legal right, announcing the region." Thursday, October 27th, Salahuddin Province's council voted to go semi-autonomous. The next step would be a referendum (that Nouri al-Maliki's government out of Baghdad would have to pay for) and, were the popular vote to back up the council and were the rules followed (always a big if with Nouri as prime minister), Baghdad would control only 14 provinces (of the 18). Friday, October 28th, residents of Anbar Province took to the streets advocating for their province to follow Salahuddin's lead. When Nouri finally issued a public statement on Salahuddin's move, what did he do? Play the B-card. Ahmed Rasheed (Reuters) quoted a statement from Nouri declaring, "The Baath Party aims to use Salahuddin as a safe haven for Baathists and this will not happen thanks to the awareness of people in the province. Federalism is a constitutional issue and Salahuddin provincial council has no right to decide this issue." Yesterday Aswat al-Iraq reported, "Iraqi Parliament Speaker Usama Nujaifi today charged the Cabinet with violating the constitution by rejecting requests to refer Salahal-Din Province's request to declare itself a region to the Election Commission." How could Nouri be violating the Constitution? Back in October, Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) explained, "In actual fact, article 119 of the Iraqi constitution requires only that a referendum be held in a province following a request for regional status by one-third of the members of the provincial council, or one-tenth of the population." From the Iraqi Constitution: Article 119: One or more governorates shall have the right to organize into a region based on a request to be voted on in a referendum submitted in one of the following two methods: First: A request by one-third of the council members of each governorate intending to form a region. Second: A request by one-tenth of the voters in each of the governorates intending to form a region. Per the Constitution, Salahuddin Province has already met step one. And met it back in October. Nouri's refusal to follow the next step is what puts him in violation of the Constitution. Attacks on residents of Salahuddin Province may have influenced the decision to go semi-autonomous (some public figures in the province have said it did, some have said it did not). Regardless, it wasn't a smart move on Nouri's part to launch a crackdown on political enemies. Reporting on fears in Salahuddin Province, AP notes, "In Tikrit there's a perception -- right or wrong -- that the national government treats the Sunnis, and especially people from Salahuddin, differently from Shiites." Reporting on that crackdown and on what some have seen as a power grab by Nouri, Jack Healy, Tim Arango and Michael S. Schmidt (New York Times) offer this call on Nouri's claim that the crackdown was needed because of 'Ba'athists' who were out to destroy the government: "It's highly unlikely to be much validity behind" the coup plot, said a Western official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, to avoid upsetting relations with the Iraqi government. "Baathism here is a symbol that Maliki uses as a bogyman. It gives them the leeway to go around arresting people. It's about a climate of fear." The Tehran Times reports, "The Iraqi ambassador to Iran has said that according to the 'irreversible decision of Iraq's government all members of Mojahedin Khalq Organization should leave the country by end of 2011." Press TV adds, "In a recent visit to Baghdad, the UN special envoy to Iraq, Martin Kobler, urged Iraqi officials to extend the deadline for MKO presence in Iraq." Background, Camp Ashraf houses a group of Iranian dissidents (approximately 3,500 people). Iranian dissidents 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. 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 attacked twice. 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 8th of this year 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." Nouri al-Maliki is seen as close to the government in Tehran. They have made it clear that they want the dissidents out of Iraq and returned to Iran -- where they would face trial at best, torture most likely. Nouri has announced he will be closing Camp Ashraf at the end of this year. UK MP Brian Binley (Huffington Post) writes, "As things are evolving and if Maliki gets away with his plan to impose the deadline, just as the Christmas and New Year holidays are in full swing, the prospect is that the world will sit and watch while men and women are killed in cold blood or mutilated, crushed by US-supplied armoured personal carriers." Martin Kobler is the UN Secretary-General's special envoy to Iraq. Attorney Geoffrey Robertson (Daily Beast) shared his opinion of Kobler last week, "The U.S. has abandoned them and UNAMI, the remaining U.N. mission, has been pathetic -- its 'ambassador,' a German diplomat, has refused to meet the residents and has allowed himself to be fobbed off for months by the government. He is not even objecting to Camp Ashraf's closure, but only asking for its residents to be relocated inside Iraq, which would make it easier for more of them to be killed." Kobler offered testimony to the UN Security Council last week and it included three steps that need to be taken. SRSG Martin Kobler: The Secretary-General has spoken personally to Mr. Maliki to appeal for flexibility and for full support for the UN's efforts to faciliate this peaceful solution the government has assured that it seeks. He has asked me to attach the highest priority to this case. In trying to facilitate a solution, we are emphasizing a number of important points. First, that lives are at stake and must be protected. The government has a responsibility to ensure the safety, security and welfare of the residents. Any forced action that results in bloodshed or loss of lives would be both ill-advised and unacceptable. Second, we believe that any workable solution must be acceptable to both the government of Iraq and to the residents of Camp Ashraf. The solution must respect Iraqi soveriegnty on the one hand and applicable international humanitarian human rights and refugee law on the other hand. Third, a solution must also respect the principle of nonrefoulement. No resident of Camp Ashraf should be returned to his or her home country without consent. While some progess has been made in our latest discussions in Baghdad, many obstacles remain to arriving at a plan that would meet the concerns and requirements of all concerned. Subject to all conditions being met, UNHCR is ready to begin verification and interviews for the purpose of refugee status determination; however, the process will take time to complete and clearly the situation cannot be fully resolved before December 31st. I, therefore, appeal to the government of Iraq to extend this deadline in order to permit adequate time and space for a solution to be found. I also appeal to the leadership and residents of Camp Ashraf to engage constructively and with an open mind to this process. They should give serious consideration to the proposals under discussion. There should be no provocation or violence from their side nor a challenge to Iraqi sovereignty. Finally I appeal to the international community to do more to help. A lasting solution cannot be found and as governments step forward and offer to accept Camp Ashraf residents to resettle in their countries. Marc Daou (AFP) quotes Brig Gen David Phillips stating, "Initially, when I arrived at Camp Ashraf, I was told simply that they're a foreign terrorist organisation. I tried very hard to get information as to why they are that type of organisation. I was never able to substantiate any of those allegations, [which was] very frustrating for my soldiers and I." Paul Courson (CNN) reports that a protest took place yesterday at the White House and that demonstrators included former US Senator Robert Torricelli and former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Torricelli is quoted stating, "When President Obama welcomes Mr. Maliki to the White House he may have noticed something. When he took his hand back, there was blood on it." And we'll close with something a friend at the State Dept wanted noted. For several years now, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari have been meeting to discuss diplomatic issues and ties for the two countries. Now that the the US has militarized diplomacy, their partnership may be even more significant. The two met again yesterday and, afterwards, spoke briefly with the press (click here for video). SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon. It's my honor to welcome Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari and his distinguished delegation here to the third meeting of our political and diplomatic Joint Coordination Committee. We have had a series of very constructive discussions, starting at dinner last night and going through the meetings at the White House with the President, and now here at the State Department. Together, we are opening a new chapter in the relationship between Iraq and the United States under our Strategic Framework Agreement. We believe these are truly historic days for both nations, and as we complete the withdrawal of American troops, we are defining our new partnership with a free and democratic Iraq. Our Strategic Framework Agreement commits our countries to work together on a wide range of issues, from governance and rule of law, to economics and education, to energy and the environment. And we are committed to following through. As Vice President Biden said in Baghdad two weeks ago, we intend to keep our promises. Now, our new beginning is founded in mutual understanding, shared interests, and mutual respect for each other as sovereign equals. We share the same goal, building a self-reliant Iraq with a government that is able to serve the needs of the Iraqi people. And we have made a lot of progress together. Iraq is in charge of its own security and it stands as an important example of democracy in a region experiencing historic transformation and democratic transition. We are very committed to doing everything we can to support this new Iraqi democracy. We are pleased by the steps being taken by the government to secure the country and to protect Iraq's minorities as well. And we are very committed to working with our friends in Iraq to create opportunities for minorities and women to participate in the life of this new country that Iraqis together are building. Likewise, we want to help Iraq increase its voice and engagement on the regional stage. It's one of the most important countries, certainly in the Arab world and in the region. The upcoming summit of the Arab League to be held in Baghdad represents a key step in reestablishing Iraq's status in the region and in the international community. We also want to continue working with Iraq to resolve Iraq's remaining UN Chapter 7 issues. The Joint Coordination Committee has been critical in helping meet several of the requirements, and the United States was proud to help pass three key resolutions at the UN Security Council last December that recognized Iraq's progress. We will continue working with Iraq to address the outstanding issues between Iraq and Kuwait through initiatives such as the Tripartite Commission for Gulf War Missing. We look forward to Iraq taking its rightful place and building strong, peaceful ties with its neighbors. So the Strategic Framework Agreement provides a strong roadmap for us to work together at the highest levels. And we know that there will be challenges ahead, but we will encounter them together as strategic partners and as friends. The United States, Minister, will continue to stand with Iraq and work with the Iraqi people and your government to build a nation that is stable, secure, and prosperous. Thank you very much. FOREIGN MINISTER ZEBARI: Thank you. Thank you, Madam Secretary. On behalf of myself and my colleague in the delegations, we want to thank you for hosting us. Iraq is committed to an enduring partnership with the United States on the basis of the Strategic Framework Agreement, which is very comprehensive, and in fact, it provides both countries ways for mutual cooperation in the future in many fields in Iraq and the United States. Also, Madam Secretary, we think that the withdrawal of the United States forces in Iraq doesn't mean the withdrawal of U.S. presence and friendship and influence in Iraq. We believe that will continue but in different forms, not through the military means or security means, through the civilian and diplomatic means, which we will carry out. And we want to make sure that your Embassy, your missions will have a secure, healthy environment to work and operate to help us. Also, we appreciate your help and assistance to free Iraq from the sanction regime, from the many Security Council resolutions under Chapter 7. We look forward also to you to help us to finish the remaining Chapter 7 resolutions related to the situation between Iraq and Kuwait. And lastly, Madam Secretary, Iraq nowadays has a say in what's happening -- what goes on in the region. And rest assured that Iraq will be an ally to the United States and a friend, and also committed to enduring partnership. SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much, Minister Zebari. Thank you very much. iraq npr talk of the nation rock center with brian williams nbc news ted koppel the new york times jack healy tim arango michael s. schmidt mcclatchy newspapers laith hammoudi brian williams cnn mohammed tawfeeq arwa damon

4 men, 2 women

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Scrub Buddies" from last night. Hilarious and true.

Today on The Diane Rehm Show (NPR), first hour guests were Eric Toder, Tamara Keith and David Kocieniewski. The second hour guests were Alan Rabinowtiz, Caroline Alexander and Herb Raffaele.

A man e-mailed to whine that I never say anything nice about Diane Rhem.

Not true, I complimented her interview with Diane Keaton.

Second, I'm tracking the gender make up of the guests.

But I will note that unlike some radio hosts -- think Scott Horton on Antiwar Radio -- Diane doesn't cut her guests off to make points about how she was right and how she knew and blah, blah, blah.

Diane actually listens. The only one I can say that about besides Diane is the guy who does Talk of the Nation (Neal Conan?).

Most don't listen at all. Terry Gross doesn't listen. That was especially obvious in her olive oil piece today.

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Monday, December 12, 2011. Chaos and violence continue, did ABC News deliberately try to distort the way Ron Paul speaks, the Iraq War claimed another US life (though the press looked the other way), Ted Koppel offers an adult discussion on Iraq tonight on NBC's Rock Central (10:00 pm EST and Pacific, 9:00 pm Central), the US press goes soggier than usual with pomp and, well, pomp, NATO says it's out of Iraq at the end of the month, Iraqi Christians are taxed for practicing their religion, and more. Today NATO issued (link is text and video) a statement announcing they would be doing no more training in Iraq. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen: NATO has decided to withdraw the training mission from Iraq by the 31st of December this year when the current mandate of the mission expires. Agreement on the extension of this successful program did not prove possible despite robust negotiations over several weeks. NATO remains fully committed to our partnership and political relationship with Iraq through our existing Structured Cooperation Framework. The NATO Training Mission in Iraq, which started in 2004 at the request of the Iraqi authorities, has been a success. Our trainers can be very proud of what they have achieved over the last seven years, contributing to Iraq's security capacity and helping to develop a more sustainable, multi-ethnic security force. Since 2004, we have trained over 5,000 military personnel and over 10,000 police personnel in Iraq and provided over 115 million euro worth of military equipment. We're determined to build on the success and the spirit of our Training Mission to further strengthen our partnership and political relationship with Iraq, so that together we can continue to contribute to regional peace and stability, which is beneficial for the whole international community. AFP notes, "On November 29, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraq was studying a contract to extend NATO's presence in Iraq beyond the year's end, but noted that such a deal would not grant its troops immunity from prosecution." David Brunnstorm and Alistair Lyon (Reuters) report that NATO has approximately 100 trainers in Iraq currently and quote an unnamed official stating, "Our minimum line was that if we are asking our people to live and work in another country, we need to maintain our own jurisdiction over them. It wasn't possible to agree to that." Before the announcement, Dar Addustour reported this morning the deal was off and that the sticking point was immunity. As Al Rafidayn notes, news that the deal was off leaked out Sunday though NATO issued denials. Sunday was when, Al Mada observes, Faleh al-Fayad, the National Security Adviser, declared that Iraq regretted NATO had decided to withdraw from Iraq over the issue of immunity. In other news, Alsumaria TV reports: Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama Al Nujaifi considered, on Monday, that keeping 15 thousand employees at the US embassy in Iraq after US troops' withdrawal is illogical. This issue requires answers from Iraqi government, Nujaifi revealed indicating that the parliament will host Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki to discuss Security Forces' readiness at his return from Washington. "Under diplomatic representation and bilateral relations' exchange in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement signed with Iraq, it is illogical to have 15 thousand employees at the US embassy after US troops' withdrawal from Iraq," Osama Al Nujaifi told a press conference attended by Alsumarianews at the parliament building. That US State Dept battalion of employees was also raised in a debate over the weekend. Saturday ABC hosted a debate of those vying for the Republican presidential nomination. Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos moderated. US House Rep Ron Paul: Well -- well I want to -- extend the tax cut, because if you don't, you raise the taxes. But I want to pay for it. And it's not that difficult. In my proposal, in my budget, I want to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from overseas. The trust fund is gone. But how are we gonna restore it? We have to quit the spending. We have to quit this being the policemen of the world. We don't need another war in Syria and another war in Iran. Just get rid of the embassy in Baghdad. We're pretending we're coming home from Baghdad. We built an embassy there that cost a billion dollars and we're putting 17,000 contractors in there and pretending our troops are coming home. I could save and we don't have to raise taxes on Social Security -- on the -- on the -- on the -- on the tax -- That's kind of from the ABC official transcript. When I attend a hearing and we cover it here, I try to be accurate. There are times when I can barely keep my eyes open out of boredom and if someone's uh-uh-ing, I won't include it because in my notes that I take, I'm just trying to get through the hearing. But most of the time, we do capture it. I think, to be accurate, you need to. Sometimes the uh-uh (or whatever) is not merely a manner of speaking but indicative of something -- such as a witness who works for the government trying to think of way to answer without actually answering. So when there was the mini-drama over AP's transcript of Barack last month, I did have to wonder how pathetic some people's lives were that they needed to wrongly call the Associated Press racist because Barack clearly dropping the "g"s at the end of his words was noted in the transcript. It should have been. If that's how he speaks -- and it was how he was speaking -- then it should be noted. So should you starting over in the middle of a sentence. Such as: "So should you -- So should you starting over in the middle of a sentence." I expect transcripts to be accurate. I had that expectation when Bush was in the White House. I have it now. A news outlet that does a transcript needs to be accurate. I have changed ABC News' official transcript because Ron Paul did not say, for example, "wanna." "Gonna"? Yes, he says that once. But he never says "wanna." Click here for the Ron Paul highlights. When I heard what was in the ABC transcript, I thought, "That's not how he speaks. But I was not about to stream that entire debate. The link goes to just Ron Paul's parts of the debate. Repeating, that did not sound like how he speaks from Congressional hearings I've attended. And if you stream the video, you'll see he's not saying "wanna" and "gonna" and I forget the other thing I corrected. But when Ron Paul says "want to," he usually goes up a note on the "to," something I noticed back in 2006 and why I doubted ABC's transcript to begin with. I'm not calling it "racism" but I am saying that transcript is inaccurate with regards to Ron Paul and I think people are right to wonder if ABC News was attempting to make Ron Paul sound a certain way, a way that might make some believe he was less educated than he is. The press pattern with regards to Ron Paul makes the transcript distortion an issue. Back to what he was saying. US House Rep Ron Paul: Well -- well I want to -- extend the tax cut, because if you don't, you raise the taxes. But I want to pay for it. And it's not that difficult. In my proposal, in my budget, I want to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from overseas. The trust fund is gone. But how are we gonna restore it? We have to quit the spending. We have to quit this being the policemen of the world. We don't need another war in Syria and another war in Iran. Just get rid of the embassy in Baghdad. We're pretending we're coming home from Baghdad. We built an embassy there that cost a billion dollars and we're putting 17,000 contractors in there and pretending our troops are coming home. Yes, a lot of people want to pretend things are different than they actually are. It was an important point -- made by someone who truly was against the Iraq War. And one of the few functioning members of the press noted that on yesterday's Meet The Press (NBC). Ted Koppel: The point is Ron Paul was almost right last night. You remember, and it was one of the overlooked points in the debate, he spoke of the 17,000, he spoke about civilian contractors who are still in Iraq. We do have 17,000 people still in Iraq. They're not all civilian contractors, but a great many of them are. You've got a consulate in Basra, a consulate in Erbil. The one in Basra is just less than 20 miles from the Iranian border; 1,320 Americans down there. They are rocketed two or three times a week. They are about as vulnerable as any Americans have been since 1979 at the embassy in Tehran. And if they were to be frontally attacked, and I'm suggesting that that's not unlikely at all, you're going to see the U.S. military come back in. Because, while the ambassador said, "No, no, no, we're going to rely on the Iraqis to do the job," there is no way that the U.S. military will wait for the Iraqis to save those Americans, and they're going to need saving. Also on Meet The Press, they highlighted a small segment of an interview Ted did with US Ambassador James Jeffery as part of a report to air tonight on Rock Center (NBC): MR. KOPPEL: I realize you can't go into it in any detail, but I would assume that there is a healthy CIA mission here. I would assume that JSOC may still be active in this country, the joint special operations. You've got FBI here. You've got DEA here. Can, can you give me sort of a, a menu of, of who all falls under your control? AMB. JAMES JEFFREY: You're actually doing pretty well, were I authorized to talk about half of this stuff. Yes, the CIA will still be there (and in a new subdivision in Turkey) and so will Special Ops. And this has been addressed. But there aren't a lot of grown ups in the press. When Ted left Nightline, it wasn't just that program that suffered, it was the quality of news. Rock Center airs tonight at 10:00 pm. EST and Pacific, 9:00 pm Central. Rock Center's Tom Bettag notes of Ted Koppel's report tonight: But is America really leaving? Many people have the impression that the U.S. presence -- and U.S. government spending -- is finally ending in Iraq. Koppel makes it clear that this is far from the truth. He tells the story of some 16,000 people who will be left behind. Koppel and his team obtained extraordinary access to the U.S. embassy, the largest embassy in the world, with a footprint the size of Vatican City. He also traveled to the U.S. consulate in Basra, which faces regular rocket attacks from Iranian-funded militia. For them, it isn't over; it's just about to begin. So grown ups should tune in to Rock Center tonight on NBC. You'll be informed with some realities. Realities just don't make a lot of the US outlets which is fully staffed with sycophants. Maybe Steve Kroft kicked off the latest wave of press nonsense with the interview of Barack that 60 Minutes (CBS) aired last night? Conor Friedersdorf (The Atlantic) offers a brilliant critique of the interview: An interviewer determined to challenge a sitting president, as every interviewer of every president should do, could've asked what Obama thinks about the fact that his drone strikes in Pakistan are destabilizing a nuclear power and killing innocent children; or whether Solyndra got special treatment because of its insider connections; or what he thinks about the Fast and Furious scandal and what Eric Holder knew about it. Kroft could've challenged Obama to explain why he decided to proceed with military action in Libya even though it violated the War Powers Resolution, or asked him about the controversy surrounding federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries, or echoed the concerns that progressives have with his immigration policies. But nope. Kroft asked none of those questions; nor did he press Obama about his views on indefinitely detaining American citizens; nor did he ask about the killing without due process of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American; nor did he ask about the controversy surrounding whether the morning-after pill should be available over-the-counter for people of all ages or not; nor did he ask about the private security contractors that America will pay to stay in Iraq after we leave; nor about the state secrets privilege; nor about aggressively prosecuting whistleblowers; nor about many other issues of concern to liberals, conservatives, and libertarians, all of whom have earnest complaints. Nouri al-Maliki is in the US. Al Mada reports on Nouri's visit to DC and notes that Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc is stating that the visit is about finding a way for the US military to work out a deal on 'trainers.' It is stated that they will dangle investment opportunities in an attempt to smooth the way. Al Rafidayn quotes Ali al-Moussawi, Nouri's media advisor, stating that all aspects of the relationship will be addressed. Dar Addustour reports the multi-day visit will address many issues including "immunity for US trainers' and, of course, Chapter VII. One of the worst reports on the meet up between Barack and Nouri is this Washington Post article that's free of anything that might actually matter. A friend at CBS News asked for a link to Brian Montopoli's report -- I haven't read it and stated, "Don't tell me what's in it." I don't want to slam him. But we'll include a link and I'll hope Brian broke from the pack and offered something of value. What's the value of worship if you worship? In Iraq, a religious minority is being forced to pay a tax for worshipping. Catholic Culture reports, "The Latin Rite archbishop of Baghdad says that some Christians have been reduced to dhimmitude and are being forced to pay the jizya, a special tax that permits them to practice their faith." Independent Catholic News adds, "Mgr Jean Benjamin Sleiman, Latin Archbishop of Baghdad, said that in recent years, some Christians have experienced persecution and today they continue to live in the most dangerous areas such as Baghdad and Mosul. They are considered 'dimmi' (infidels), therefore legally and socially inferior, and even forced to pay the 'jizya', the tax due from the non-Muslim minorities in order to practice their faith." Assyrian International News Agency adds, "The latest attacks of Kurds on Assyrian businesses, cultural centres and houses in Zakho (Northern Iraq) clearly indicate that bomb attacks, robberies and systematic discrimination are still present and force Assyrians to flee their homeland. They are denied their constitutional rights of establishing their own civil society organisations. They are being oppressed and deprived of their equal rights in a systematic way." There will be protests outside the White House during Nouri's visit by supporters of Camp Ashraf. Former FBI director Louis Freeh is supposed to be among those protesting. Maybe supporters of Iraqi Christians should be out protesting as well? At the end of last week, Joel Gehrke (Washington Examiner) noted: Thirty-seven House legislators from both sides of the aisle signed a letter to President Obama requesting that he intercede on behalf of persecuted Iraq Christians and other religious minorities in his upcoming meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "The Iraqi Government needs to understand," wrote Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., on behalf of his colleagues yesterday, "that the protection and preservation of these communities will be a key component of our future bilateral relations and critical to our alliance, given its own centrality to our own basic values." The legislators -- including Democrats such as Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Rep. Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., D-Ill. -- reminded Obama that a 2004 commission found that rapes, beheadings, and bombings of Christians in Iraq often take place. "Too often, attacks of the sort described above are not adequately investigated, prosecuted, or punished, fostering a deadly climate of impunity," they said. Possibly Iraqi Christians could appeal to Iraqi government officials. Like Hakim al-Zamili? Elizabeth Palmer (CBS Evening News -- link is text and video) reported last week: Meet Hakim al-Zamili, member of Parliament for the Shi'a stronghold of Sadr City. This morning he's touring local schools and getting an earful from teachers about their lousy pay. But just four years ago, al-Zamili was a wanted man. At the time, he was Iraq's deputy health minister. The U.S. authorities believed he was using that position to funnel money to the Mahdi Army and to order assassinations. The Mahdi Army was the feared Shi'a militia that murdered hundreds -- probably thousands -- of Sunnis and Christians in a vicious religious war. Its fighters also attacked U.S. forces. Today Reuters notes two Baghdad roadside bombings left six people injured and that, last night, 1 police officer was shot dead in Mosul. Over the weekend, the government of Iran began floating claims that the US government was lying about the number of US dead and wounded from the Iraq War. Hossam Acommok (Al Mada) reported that Iran's military commander, Brig Gen Massoud Jazayeri, is questioning the official numbers provided by the US Defense Dept on the number of service members injured and killed in Iraq stating that the official numbers of less than 5,000 dead and 11,000 wounded are incorrect. On the same story, Press TV noted: Despite US efforts to impose an information blackout on its war casualties, the number of US troops killed and wounded in Iraq has surpassed 50,000, a senior Iranian commander says. "Based on the existing figures and data, the American forces killed and injured in Iraq are estimated to be 50,000. However, it seems that the real statistics are much higher than this," said Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri, the deputy head of Iran's Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Friday. "Of course the figure 50,000 killed and wounded Americans, is notwithstanding the mercenaries of other nationalities who are in the US Army fighting against the people of Iraq," the Iranian commander added. The Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Jazayeri stating, "Today with over 15 trillion dollars of debts, the US government has the greatest debt of a government in the world, and is therefore a bankrupt government, on the verge of collapse. But of course the psychological propagation media of the US administration and the super-capitalism camp's media levers prevent the possibility of revealing such realities for the US public, but sooner or later the truth would be unveiled and then the world nations would be taken aback by the sudden downfall of the US Empire." And all the above could be dismissed as the ranting of one goverment opposed to another -- well not the money, there's no arguing the trillions thrown away on the illegal war -- but the claim of lying could be disputed and dismissed as Iranian propaganda. Or could have been if it weren't for the fact that the US military had another fatality in the Iraq War in the last seven days but DoD failed to issue an announcement of the death and the lazy press corps in the US can't be bothered with following the Pentagon's official count -- hell, they don't even acknowledge that it exists. But it does exist and, as we noted last night, DoD's fatality count of US military personnel in Iraq now stands at 4487 which is up one from the Sunday prior -- use the link before and after 4487, there are screen snaps of the official DoD count, you'll see it went up one. Apparently announcing that death would have marred the soft coverage of Barack and Nouri and the so-called end of the occupation of Iraq. We'll close with this from Debra Sweet's "Mumia, Obama's Birth Control Obstruction; Action Vs. Torture" (World Can't Wait): Wednesday, in direct contradiction to the recommendations of the FDA, Kathleen Seblius announced that the administration will not allow women under 17 to get Emergency Contraception (EC, Plan B) without a prescription. This makes Barack Obama the first president to counter the FDA by executive order. His action goes against the science. There is no medical or ethical reason to impede a woman of any age, who, for whatever reason, wants to avoid an unplanned pregnancy. How does it help the future of that young woman to put her through more hoops, including a doctors' visit, potentially leaving her vulnerable to all the complications of a pregnancy for a young person? My blog on this continues here. This president, this government, just acted against the interests of all of us who are women, or who care about women's' lives, in a craven way which will only give encouragement to those on the right who want to enact even worse measures, including bans on abortion and all birth control. iraq ted koppel the atlantic conor friedersdorf al mada al rafidayn dar addustour catholic culture independent catholic news the washington examiner joel gehrke the cbs evening news elizabeth palmer hossam acommok press tv islamic republic news agency cbs 60 minutes the world cant wait debra sweet