Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in Iraq in an unannounced stop on his Mideast tour meant to promote the White House's hard-line position on Iran. abcn.ws/2CYeX09
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The Iraq War, the ongoing Iraq War, hits the 16 year mark in two months
and still US officials have to make "unannounced visits." All these
years later.
ABC avoids
reality by allowing Elizabeth McLaughlin and Conor Finnegan to insist,
"The president visited Iraq, also unannounced, the day after Christmas,
saying the U.S. still could use bases there for operations in Syria."
BAGHDAD
— In an unannounced visit shrouded in secrecy, Vice President Joseph R.
Biden Jr. came to Iraq on Thursday for the first time in almost five
years, ...
New York Times
As US president, Barak Obama made one visit to Iraq in his two terms (eight years). Guess what? It was unannounced.
BAGRAM
AIR BASE, Afghanistan — President Obama arrived in Afghanistan on
Sunday for an unannounced visit to mark Memorial Day with U.S. troops,
now in ...
Almost every visit by a Western figure to a warzone since the US-led
invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 has been done without warning. US President Barack Obama made regular unannounced visits to Afghanistan, as did Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair to Iraq. Earlier
this year Secretary of State John Kerry turned up in Somalia, a
war-ravaged state currently waging an armed campaign against al-Shabab
Islamist rebels - with reports suggesting even Somali officials believed
a more junior US official would be attending. But clearly these
leaders - and their advisers - judge that the advantages of paying these
visits outweigh the attendant security risks, both in terms of boosting
morale of personnel overseas and in giving the leader in question a PR
lift.
For those attempting to provide 'context,' grasp that there was a world
before President Donald Trump (and there will be a world after him).
Back to Pompeo:
Pompeo Makes Surprise Stop In Iraq During Mideast Trip To Rally Allies
AP notes: In Baghdad, Pompeo met with Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi,
President Barham Salih, Foreign Minister Mohamed Alhakim and Parliament
Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi. Pompeo and the Iraqi officials made no statements to the media.
The US State Dept issued the following this morning:
Readout
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 9, 2019
The below is attributable to Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino:
Secretary Michael R. Pompeo met today with Iraq’s Council of
Representatives Speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi and members of the Council
of Representatives Foreign-Relations Committee. The Secretary emphasized
U.S. support for the long-term bilateral partnership, anchored by the
Strategic Framework Agreement, and the necessity of supporting Iraq’s
democratic institutions, economic development, energy independence, and
sovereignty. Secretary Pompeo emphasized the U.S. commitment to
addressing Iraq’s security challenges, including the continuation of our
security partnership with Iraqi Security Forces.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo made an unannounced visit to
Baghdad on Wednesday, which appeared partly aimed at patching up
relations strained during Donald Trump’s surprise visit last month.
The
U.S. president upset Iraqi lawmakers when he visited troops at the Ain
Al-Asad base west of Baghdad but didn’t meet with the country’s new
prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, though the two leaders did speak by
phone.
If that was the point of the visit, it doesn't appear to have been very successful:
Iraqi Council of Representatives’ Foriegn Affairs Committee met today and called for reviewing US-Iraq relations following Pres Trump’ “uncoordinated” Visit to Iraq’s Anbar Province last month.
If US Gov fails to handle Iraq file properly, it may lose it.
Again, if that was the purpose of the trip, it doesn't appear to have
been successful. But when has the US government ever delivered success
in Iraq?
Never.
Well, that's not fair of me. They have helped Big Business make tons of
money off the lives of Iraqis because -- blood stained or not -- greed
requires dollars, dollars and more dollars.
I'll tell you who is *really* unhappy at the thought of pulling out of Syria and Afghanistan. The contractors and the generals connected to the contractors. $$BILLIONS$$ @realDonaldTrump
Iraqi persecution of Sunni men helped to transform Al Qaeda in Iraq into ISIS. Now Iraq is doing it again--collective punishment of Sunnis that may help transform ISIS into ISIS 2.0. bit.ly/2FlzsFZ
In Iraq, the government’s harsh counterterrorism strategy, which is widely perceived as collectively punishing the
Sunnis, is generating new grievances that could increase local support
for an Islamic State 2.0. More than 19,000 people have been detained on
terrorism-related charges since 2014. Over 3,000 have been sentenced to
death in rapid-fire trials that are sometimes decided in less than 10 minutes.
Convictions are often based on thin and circumstantial evidence, the
testimony of secret informants, or confessions induced through torture,
making it easy for innocent people to be falsely accused and unfairly
punished.
These injustices are fueling anger, and with it, a new wave of violence. Since 2016, the average number of Islamic State attacks in Iraq — including suicide bombings and targeted assassinations — has risen to 75 per month. In August, U.S. and U.N. reports estimated that the number of Islamic State fighters active in Iraq and Syria might exceed 30,000.
In our working paper based
on an original household survey of over 1,400 Mosul residents — the
Islamic State’s former de facto capital in Iraq — we identify two
serious flaws in the government’s approach to prosecuting and punishing
individuals accused of joining or supporting the Islamic State. First,
it is unwilling to recognize variation in the severity and voluntariness
of “collaboration.” Second, it relies heavily on unproven criminal
justice and counterterrorism theories.
I feel like poking myself in the eye for promoting and supporting @DrJillStein ‘s recount debacle.
Show this thread
She should poke herself in the eye for being such a bad actress. Her dazed stumble over her words wooden performance is the same in everything -- True Romance, Medium, her failed CSI show, that awful movie where she married the little Mormon boy (talk about #TimesUp!Patricia!), etc.
Patti's the drop out in the family, right?
And then she was too busy sleeping around to educate herself though she did make time to blame and shame the dead Anais Nin for Nin's sexuality and for the abuse Nin suffered.
Tuesday, January 8, 2019. Military justice? Dems gear up for 2020 and more.
Starting in the US, War Crimes have been scrubbed from an individual's record. Jeff Schogol (TASK AND PURPOSE) reports
that US Maj Fred Galvin's record will no longer reflect the original
findings regarding "a March 2007 incident" in Afghanistan or a later
finding that ended his military career. Though the Marines fired Galvin
over the incident, the Board for Corrections of Naval Records has
cleaned his record:
Galvin's attorney Raymond Toney said the board's decision was
unusually in depth and detailed for a correction of records request. "Basically,
it's a clean scrub of his record," Toney told Task & Purpose on
Monday. "Normally, when you read a favorable decision, it's very hard to
tell even what the case is about. There may be a sentence or two
describing what the issues that were raised. In the past, they
assiduously avoided providing the level of detail that they did in this
case. My impression is the board wanted to set the record straight with
this decision."
The military has launched an investigation into how a U.S.
contractor received fatal head wounds while working with special
operations Marines in Irbil, Iraq, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the investigation.
The
Lockheed Martin employee died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in
Germany last week, just days after he was found in his barracks room
with severe head trauma, according to two U.S. officials.
Now,
the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is looking into what
two Marine Raiders and one U.S. Navy Special Amphibious Reconnaissance
Corpsman know about his injuries and whether a fight on New Year's Day
is where he suffered the fatal blows, according to three U.S. officials
familiar with the investigation.
News of the incident in Erbil comes as elite U.S. forces are under multiple investigations for deadly misconduct. On Friday, a U.S. Navy SEAL pleaded not guilty in the stabbing of an Islamic State teenage fighter in Iraq in 2017. And in December, President Donald Trump said he would review the case of a former U.S. Green Beret charged with the murder
of a suspected Taliban bomb maker in 2010. In November, two SEALs and
two Marines were charged with murder and involuntary manslaughter in the
death of Army Green Beret Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar in Mali in June 2017.
This spring, a Department of Defense report is due to the Senate and
House Armed Services Committee on ethics and standards in the special
operations community.
While Congress awaits that report, a number of its members consider
running for the presidential nomination of their respective party. One
example is Senator Elizabeth Warren. Christina Wilkie (CNBC) reports:
Warren, like most Democrats, has been quick to criticize Trump's
methods. But she shares his skepticism of the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan and supports the return of U.S. troops from both theaters. In November, Warren wrote a major essay
in Foreign Affairs magazine, where she described the Middle East as a
"tangled mess," and concluded that "neither military nor civilian
policymakers seem capable of defining success, but surely this is not
it."
Warren did not, however,
offer her own vision of what success in the region would look like. And
absent this vision, Warren, like Trump, seemed to favor withdrawal
without an emphasis on longer-term strategic objectives.
Elizabeth Warren spent the weekend in Iowa speaking to various groups. Cheyenne Haslett (ABC NEWS) reports: Her message: Such a rise is rarely possible anymore.
"When I was a kid, a minimum wage job in America would support a family
of three," she said several times during the Iowa visit. "Today, a
minimum wage job in America will not keep a mama and a baby out of
poverty.”
For Warren, the Washington of today doesn't work for the little guy -- a
message not unlike Sen. Bernie Sanders', who did well in Iowa in 2016.
"Why has America's middle class hollowed out? Why is the path so rocky
for so many people and so much rockier for people of color? Why has this
happened in America?" Warren said at multiple stops. "It's corruption,
plain and simple."
Will the senator use her anti-corruption message to note the billions
flowing into these endless wars? The lack of social services at home
because of all the War Profiting? It remains to be seen. But she
better figure out that foreign will matter in 2020. The issue of the
standing of the United States in the world will be an issue. Are we
better off now than we were four years ago? That question will be
framed not only from a domestic point but also from an international
one. She needs to be combining her messages now before she's reduced --
and her own party will do this to her, if given the chance -- as a
domestic senator who doesn't grasp the way the world works.
Joe Biden's day is over. He chose to stand with Bully Boy Bush, to honor him. There's not a comeback from that.
Joe was never popular enough on his own to make it through the primaries
-- despite repeated runs -- failed runs. The one thing he had going
for him was that some saw Barack's administration as a repudiation of
Bully Boy Bush. But now that Joe's handing out awards to Bully Boy
Bush, he doesn't even have that.
The time to run was 2016 and he blinked.
Beto?
Beto needs to present himself in the manner he did in Congress when
critiquing the 'progress' in Iraq. He comes off mature in those moments
and wise -- saddened but wise. Is it sincere? I have no idea but I've
been at multiple hearings where Beto spoke of the Iraq War and he can
create quite a spell on those assembled when he plays the grown up in
the room.
Bernie is Bernie and if he runs will have his own base in place.
Already people are gaming ways for him to increase his chances.
..but but but if he takes 37 yr old Tulsi Gabbard as his running mate he'll be fully hedged. Beauty and the Beast. Young Surfer and Old Gheezer. Voluntary Tours in Iraq vs Draft Dodger. Liberal Hawaiian and Semi Liberal EastCoaster, etc.
Tulsi is already the target of attacks encouraged by the DNC. It'll be
interesting to see how she weathers the attacks. It'll be interesting
to see whether
so-and-so-who-you-have-never-heard-of-says-she-is-attached-to-groups-you've-never-heard-of-and-honest-to-heaven-though-it-looks-like-this-is-an-attack-on-her-religion-we-swear-it's-not
works as a smear strategy. She's a threat to many in power because of
her foreign policy vision.
Senator Corey Booker plans to run as well in an effort to apparently
represent corporations and revive triangulating. No doubt, he's
prepping a new book with Al Gore, RE-REINVENTING GOVERNMENT: HOW IT
DOOMED THE COUNTRY IN THE 90S BUT WILL REALLY WORK THIS TIME!
Senator Kamala Harris is also said to be potential contender. Her
biggest obstacle? A lack of record to run on. No, "I'm tough on crime"
is not going to appeal to the Democratic base or the left which has
grasped just what a trap are prisons are. She has the most to overcome
because everyone of her cases becomes a potential minefield as the press
rushes to examine them. And that's all she's got to run on. She's not
distinguished herself during her brief time in the Senate, she's not
given any impassioned speeches on workers or wars.
There will be others from the Democratic Party who consider running, the
Republicans will put up their own candidates -- Trump will most likely
be the GOP's 2020 candidate but that will probably lead to some
Republican running as a third party candidate. In addition, there are
smaller parties -- Greens, Libertarians, etc. who will be putting people
forward for Americans to consider supporting.
Dropping back to a past administration, when we noted that Barack Obama
had to downplay (conceal) the fact that he put a Jewish woman over Iraq
on the National Security Council, a few people missed the point.
Iraq and the Jews is not a pretty story. The property of Jews in Iraq
was confiscated. When some of it surfaced decades later, the Iraqi
government insisted it belonged to them (the Iraqi government). Since
the start of the Iraq War in 2003, Jews in Iraq have not only been
targeted, they've been driven out of Baghdad (there are reports that one
elderly Jewish man remains in Baghdad). Iraqi media is frequently
filled with reports that maintain Israel destabilized the region and the
country.
If you doubt how huge the conflict remains, this week reports surfaced
that Iraqi officials had met with Israeli officials. Outside of Iraq,
this was touted as signs of progress or growth or something.
The Iraqi parliament yesterday demanded a probe into reports that three delegations of Iraqi leaders visited Israel.
In
a statement yesterday, First Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi parliament
Hassan Karim Al-Kaabi called for “an investigation to identify those who
went to the occupied territory [Israel], particularly if they are
lawmakers.” Al-Kaabi added: “To go to the occupied territory is a red
line and an extremely sensitive issue for all Muslims,” the Times of Israel reported.
Meanwhile,
other Iraqi officials claimed that the visit – in which several
delegations of Iraqi leaders allegedly travelled to Israel – did not
take place at all. The New Arab
claimed that an unnamed Iraqi cabinet official had told the newspaper
in a phone call yesterday that the claim of a visit was “misleading”.
The cabinet official added: “The information we have asserts that no one
has left Iraq to visit the Zionist entity.”
Meanwhile, more problems for Iraq. Recently, there were all the dead fish that turned up floating in the rivers. Now?
