The present problems of Iraq are 100% down to our murderous invasion and occupation. The idea that further western bombing will make things better is so deluded as to beggar belief.
I was surprised to find during my Burnes research that the imperialist powers of Britain and Russia were explicitly exploiting Sunni and Shia divisions to further their conquests of Islamic lands as early as the 1830’s. This has been the major tool of the neo-con Middle Eastern gameplan for some time, spreading disunity and crippling war throughout the Middle East, with the hope that this will benefit the interests of Israel.
The peculiar result has been that in general the West is very actively supporting Sunni armies and miscellaneous forces, but in Iraq is supporting the Shia. ISIS – which is heavily backed by the Saudis, who hate al-Maliki – brings this paradox into sharp relief. The current US and UK strategy is to persuade Saudi Arabia to get ISIS to reconcentrate their efforts against Assad, on the understanding they will be allowed to keep the Sunni areas of Iraq (the old neo-con plan of dividing Iraq is firmly back on the agenda).
The BBC News this morning said that ISIS would not be capable of using the billions of dollars of sophisticated western armaments they have captured. I think you will find the Saudis remedy that one quite quickly. It is quite possible we will see some token airstrikes to kill civilians in Mosul, in order to appease Obama’s domestic backers who are never happy if Americans aren’t killing enough people, but only after agreement has been reached with the Saudis that no serious harm will be done – except to the ordinary people neither Obama, the Saudis or al-Maliki care in the least about.
Global News Canada – Iraq crisis: What does the future hold for Kurdistan?
By Nick Logan
Kurdish-controlled areas of Iraq have been largely spared the country’s worsening turmoil as Islamist militants make their way further south, taking over cities and towns en route to Baghdad….
Are Kurdish forces fighting with ISIL?
Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told BBC on Tuesday that peshmerga fighters would not assist Iraqi efforts to reclaim Mosul.
“It would be a mistake to fight the ISIS at this stage,” Kurdish politician Arif Taifour told Rudaw . “We should defend our own Kurdish territories outside the Kurdistan Region and not become part of the religious fight in Iraq.”….
But since Hussein’s fall, Iraq’s Kurdistan region thrived – largely thanks to the oil industry. It’s grown about 10 per cent annually, according to an Oct. 2013 report in the New York Times.
International oil companies are pouring billions of dollars into Iraqi Kurdistan, home to about 45 billion barrels of oil, according to Forbes magazine.
And the Kurds have built a new pipeline to Turkey that will eventually allow 400,000 barrels per day to flow to the Turkish port of Ceyhan….
http://globalnews.ca/news/1402355/iraq-what-does-the-future-hold-for-kurdistan/
That fits.
Jemand ‘@BZ – Thanks. I want to block everyone…..
Talking out of your head to your hand or your mirror then? LOL
Right on cue. To repeat: The latest ISIS surge is all about Syria (Iran)
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/209988-obama-official-military-action-could-extend-into-syria
The state of our ‘democracy’.
Another vitally important EDM – 156 – has been posted regarding the scandalous delays in publishing the Chilcot report. It states:
That this House calls for publication in full of the Chilcot Inquiry report to give closure to the loved ones of the 179 UK fallen soldiers, to inform serving soldiers that Parliament’s decisions on warfare are founded on rigorous examinations of evidence and to reveal to hon. Members the full truth on the evidence for Parliament’s decision to join America’s war on Iraq in 2003; and believes that an expurgated version of the report would create an impression of an establishment cover-up by politicians and civil servants to protect their reputations.
25 signatures. 1 Tory. http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/156
In addition, EDM 136 requires the support of all MPs who have learned from mistakes of the past. It states:
That this House welcomes the Fourteenth Report of Session 2013-14 from the Defence Committee on Intervention: Why, When and How?; notes the Committee’s recommendations on the role of Parliament and the importance of parliamentary approval before use of military force; stresses the need for debate on conflict decisions to ensure the approval of both Parliament and the public; further notes in particular the emerging convention that the House should have an opportunity to debate military action abroad; and calls on the Government to clarify that the convention will be applied to use of drones outside Afghanistan, whether or not they are operated from the UK and to publish a statement of criteria articulating the legal basis and circumstances in which the UK may commit to military intervention of any sort.
http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2014-15/136 12 signatures.
Says it all.
Speaking of al shabaab, try this one: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/kenya/10908481/Kenya-al-Shabaab-attack-was-led-by-white-man-speaking-fluent-British-English.html
Navy seals in Iraq; SAS in Kenya. Job done.
So surreal, so funny but very chilling.
Howard Aussie stooge for the Iraq war
and
Harper the Canadian stooge for the Iraq war
make identical speeches on March 18 and March 20 respectively.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtd7o9x5uN0
Amy comment Jemand?
That nice Mr Rasnmussen (aka the Fogh of War) is kindly keeping us up to date on Ukraine whilst the equally nice Mr Obomber makes plans for more killing in Iraq, even though by proxy.
Washington Post: Rasmussen reports new Russian troop buildup along the Ukrainian border
http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine-abroad/washington-post-rasmussen-reports-new-russian-troop-buildup-along-the-ukrainian-border-352649.html
“Amy[sic] comment Jemand?”
On what, Mary? Your link? Or your insatiable demand for attention from those you claim are unwelcome trolls?
I gave up visiting links you post when I discovered that, much like you, they have zero relevance and zero intellectual substance.
How’s that ‘lower back’ pain going?
No pains here but I consider you to be one of the most unpleasant of the trolls. The others we can laugh at but you spit venom which is both dangerous and hard to wash off. You are a sort of cane toad.
And your contributions to the blog = a bit fat zero.
I think this synopsis of the tormented history and current factionalism of the region SHOULD serve as a corrective to those automatically ascribing what’s going on to the US’s hegemonic* intentions. Not that they don’t have them, but they really aren’t that clever.
http://www.loonwatch.com/2014/06/the-fall-of-mosul-and-the-false-promises-of-modern-history/
* I have invented a new musical instrument – the hegemonica. It blows. And it sucks.
Thanks for your stamp of approval, Mary. Knowing that you disagree with most of my observations is reassuring of their validity.
Get a room. Or Habbabreak ™
Perhaps this will suit most here, except Jemand of course.
Written by an Israeli, Uri Avnery, about another Israeli, Shimon Peres.
Sisyphus Redeemed
by Uri Avnery / June 20th, 2014
If there is a God, he surely has a sense of humor. The career of Shimon Peres, who is about to finish his term as President of Israel, is clear evidence.
Here is a life-long politician, who has never won an election. Here is the world-renowned Man of Peace, who has started several wars and never done anything for peace. Here is the most popular political figure in Israel who for most of his life was hated and despised.
Once, several decades ago, I wrote an article about him with the title “Mr. Sisyphus”. Sisyphus, it will be remembered, was condemned for all eternity to roll a heavy rock to the top of a hill, and each time when he was nearing his goal the stone slipped from his hands and rolled down again.
/..
http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/06/sisyphus-redeemed/
We await Mr Rivlin with interest and the Palestians await with dread.
Israel orders dismantling of camera that captured murder of Palestinian boys
On 15 May, Israeli security forces fatally shot Nadim Nuwara, 17, and Muhammad Abu al-Thahir, 16, at a demonstration near the Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank village of Beitunia. Four days after the killings, on 19 May, Defence for Children International-Palestine (DCI-Palestine) released footage from Zayed’s security cameras that showed the boys walking slowly in a calm scene when they were shot.
Now the Israeli military has ordered Fakher Zayed, the man whose security cameras captured the closed circuit TV footage that shows Israeli security forces shooting the two teenage boys, to dismantle his cameras within 24 hours or face legal proceedings/ (The footage and an earlier interview with Zayed can be seen in the DCI-Palestine video above.)
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/charlotte-silver/israel-orders-dismantling-camera-captured-murder-palestinian-boys
No words.
‘We await Mr Rivlin with interest and the Palestians await with dread.’
Palestinians even.
Do you remember the maps in the old bibles printed on very thin paper where Palestine was marked in pink?
‘Palestine (Arabic: فلسطين Filasṭīn, Falasṭīn, Filisṭīn; Greek: Παλαιστίνη, Palaistinē; Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: פלשתינה Palestina) is a geographic region in Western Asia between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is sometimes considered to include adjoining territories. The name was used by Ancient Greek writers, and was later used for the Roman province Syria Palaestina, the Byzantine Palaestina Prima and the Umayyad and Abbasid province of Jund Filastin. The region is also known as the Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ־ישראל Eretz-Yisra’el), the Holy Land, the Southern Levant, Cisjordan, and historically has been known by other names including Canaan, Southern Syria and Jerusalem.
Situated at a strategic location between Egypt, Syria and Arabia, and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity, the region has a long and tumultuous history as a crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics. The region has been controlled by numerous different peoples, including Ancient Egyptians, Canaanites, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, the Sunni Arab Caliphates, the Shia Fatimid Caliphate, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mameluks, Ottomans, the British and modern Israelis and Palestinians.
Boundaries of the region have changed throughout history, and were last defined in modern times by the Franco-British boundary agreement (1920) and the Transjordan memorandum of 16 September 1922, during the mandate period. Today, the region comprises the State of Israel and Palestinian territories in which the State of Palestine was declared.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine
Added: ‘This article is about the historical geographic region. For the sovereign state (country), see State of Palestine. For the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, see Palestinian territories. For other uses, see Palestine (disambiguation).’
When you go to Palestinian Territories, you read:
‘Not to be confused with Palestine (region).
This article is about the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. For other uses, see Palestinian territories (disambiguation).’
How very true.
Jerusalem Post first to announce the de facto break-up of Iraq!
boasts about its first oil shipment from their Kurdish friends:
Kurdish advances
Iraq is now divided on a de facto basis into a Shi’ite south and center, including Baghdad, a Sunni, ISIS-dominated west and a Kurdish-ruled north…
The biggest winners from this situation, apart perhaps from ISIS itself, are the Iraqi Kurds…
Iraq is now divided on a de facto basis into a Shi’ite south and center, including Baghdad, a Sunni, ISIS-dominated west and a Kurdish-ruled north…
Largely ignored by the Western media, the Kurds have been quietly building their autonomy in the three northern provinces of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk, granted to them by the Iraqi Constitution of 2005…
http://www.jpost.com/Features/Front-Lines/Kurdish-advances-359980
Israel receives first ever oil shipment from Iraqi Kurdistan
The SCF Altai tanker was anchored near Ashkelon port early on Friday morning, ship tracking and industry sources said.
A tanker delivered a cargo of disputed crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan’s new pipeline for the first time on Friday in Israel, despite threats by Baghdad to take legal action against any buyer…
But the new export route to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, designed to bypass Baghdad’s federal pipeline system, has created a bitter dispute over oil sale rights between the central government and the Kurds…
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Israel-set-to-receive-oil-from-Iraqi-Kurdistan-360054
MSM all stating today that Sistani has called on Maliki to go, but naturally that isn’t quite the story! it’s a representative simply giving the weekly sermon & calling for the constitution be followed following the recent elections. one of the problems – the president of the republic is supposed to call on the leader of the winning list to form the government, but president, Jalal al-Talbani, has been absent for over a year due to ill health.
Reuters – Iraq Ayatollah calls for new parliament to start work without delay
A sermon by Sistani, highest religious authority for the country’s Shi’ite Muslims, was read out by his representative Sayed Ahmed al-Saafi at the Imam Hussein shrine in Kerbala. It called for parliament to convene after Iraq’s federal court ratified election results this week.
“The federal court ratified the results of the elections and there are timings according to the constitution to hold the session for the new parliament to choose its speaker, president and the prime minister and also to form the new government,” it said…
According to the constitution, the parliament’s first session should be held within 15 days of the ratification of results. But Iraqi political blocs are divided over whether to hold the meeting, faced with a war against Sunni militants, who seized Mosul and other northern cities last week.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/20/uk-iraq-security-sistani-idUKKBN0EV11720140620
As you were saying Oddie. I do not have the Murdoch paywall btw.
This is the first para.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/article4125787.ece
The Nixon of the Middle East must go now
Michael Burleigh
June 21 2014
Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s embattled prime minister, must be replaced before the US and allies join the fight against Isis
The fate of Iraq hangs on the isolated, gloomy figure of Nouri al-Maliki. To western eyes, the embattled prime minister is as monochrome as an accountant, but to many Iraqis — and not just Sunnis and Kurds — he is all too colourful, though not as vividly tyrannical as Saddam Hussein and his psychopathic offspring. Even Raghad, the dictator’s eldest daughter, is urging on the Sunni Islamist armies of Isis so she can worship at Saddam’s tomb.
……paywall
~~~
Aa tells us about his prescriptions. An instant NHS saving to be made by Mr Unt in that case!
Taking statins won’t make me a couch potato
David Aaronovitch
June 19 2014
Doctors who oppose extending prescriptions of the heart pill are putting anecdote before evidence. That’s dangerous.
At midday yesterday, in the middle of writing this, I took a break and walked down the hill to the GP’s surgery to pick up my prescription — two drugs for hypertension and one for cholesterol. The last is a statin and if the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) maintains its present stance many more of you will join me in popping one of these little fellows every night
……paywall
Did my eyes deceive me, or did I see the BBC’s main news last night cover civilian casualties in East Ukraine? It even mentioned the lack of water and electricity in Slavyansk.
Careful, Auntie, that was dangerously close to balanced reporting !
Better late than never, I suppose.
Today’s Telegraph article by Charles Moore
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/10914793/How-Tony-Blair-made-bedfellows-of-Deirdre-Spart-and-Col-Blimp.html
is worth reading for three reasons. First, it’s a well-constructed argument – even though I do not agree with it. Second,it’s a reminder that silencing Tony Blair now would contribute even less to peace now than did the removal of Saddam. Third, the House of Commons bears the heaviest responsibility for supporting Blair’s messianic folly: for those MPs who had eyes to see and ears to hear it was clear that Blair was asking them to do the wrong thing for the wrong reasons. Even an honest Chilcott enquiry – unlikely though that is – would not absolve those who allowed themselves to be conned into voting for the war.
It’s much more than a deadly fiasco – it’s a massive strategic blunder.
To think that one country can continue to play divide-and-rule policies with increasing force in an area already deeply divided is just mindlessness.
Ultimately, the losing side will reorganize, changing the game dramatically, and the manipulators will be obliged to join in directly for fear of losing everything.
First time for everything Iain Orr. I have to disagree with you about Moore’s defence of BLiar however well constructed you say his argument is. BLiar is a psychopathic war monger. End of.
These lines made the hackles rise.
‘But perhaps because I am one of those who never loved Mr Blair, I do not hate him. I was unseduced, and therefore did not feel betrayed later on. This makes it easier to see that he is now being treated with a venomous, un-British unfairness.’
And how were his victims in Iraq and Afghanistan treated?
Mary – two points. First, Moore’s argument being well-constructed does not mean that it is right. As I said, I don’t think it is. But, it deserves to be treated seriously. He’s also a good polemicist in suggesting if those who are usually at daggers drawn both want to impeach Blair, they might reflect on what it is they have in common.
Second, your argument “Blair is a psychopath – end of” is almost too strong. How did the UK political system allow a psychopath to become PM? I would not wish to hear Blair apologise: that would only confirm that psychopaths are past-masters at faking sincerity. The real apologies needed are from MPs, lawyers and journalists for their poor judgement and – for most the far more culpable crime – putting their political and material interests before respect for truth and their own consciences.
I would like to see a medal struck to honour those who voted against invading Iraq. Tricky, however, to decide who should be asked to present them in a Parliament Square ceremony.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/21/tony-blair-syria-wmd-iraq-john-morrison
Impeach the lying bastard.
can u believe the beeb? look at the photo they use for this story!
BBC – Israeli troops kill Palestinian in West Bank clashes
PHOTO CAPTION The three teenagers disappeared while hitchhiking home
He would be the third Palestinian to have died in clashes with Israeli
troops searching for the students…
The man shot in Nablus was named by the Palestinian security officials and
medics as 26-year-old Ahmad Fahnawi.
Israeli officials said he had approached soldiers in a “threatening manner”.
His family said he had been undergoing treatment for mental illness…
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27961927
Abbas to Haaretz: Netanyahu should denounce deaths of three Palestinian teenagers
“I do not want to make excuses, but the kidnapping occurred in Israeli-controlled Area C,” Abbas said. “In addition, the Israelis didn’t brief us on the kidnapping until 12 hours after the fact. Our security forces began to search for the hostages immediately after this.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.600256
in the above, netanyahu tell abbas to end alliance w/ hamas; abbas asks Netanyahu to provide evidence hamas did the kidnapping. in jerusalem post, netanyahu is now saying he’ll soon provide the evidence, yet this was the story a week ago!
Haaretz: Al-Qaida linked organization takes responsibility for alleged kidnapping
Dawlat al-Islam is linked to ISIS, the Sunni militant organization behind
this week’s Iraq insurgency. Validity of claim still being investigated by
Israel
Last November, Israeli commandos killed three members of a Salafi terror
cell in the South Hebron Hills village of Kfar Yatta. The three were
planning an attack on Israel, and pistols and explosive devices were found
at the site of the operation….
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.598630
Israel elected to leadership of UN committee on “Decolonization”
Just when it appeared that the United Nations could not be more ineffective in protecting Palestinian rights and holding Israel accountable for violating them, here comes the news that Israel has been elected as vice-chair of the UN Special Political and Decolonization Committee – which deals among other things with matters related to Palestinian refugees…
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-elected-leadership-un-committee-decolonization
ISIS IS US
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/06/20/its-all-for-israel/
Bush creates a painting about Iraq
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/24379-bush-creates-painting-of-what-he-imagines-iraq-is-like-today
funny how only israel reports on this angle:
Haaretz: Kurds re-discover their old ally Israel
Washington opposes Kurdish oil exports in principle since it detracts from Iraq’s unity, but it is unlikely the United States will object to selling oil to Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.600257
Zionism in practice – Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Property
24 hours to 8am 19 June 2014
5 air strikes – 1 attack – 55 raids including home invasions – 7 beaten – 13 injured – 4 acts of agricultural/economic sabotage – 36 taken prisoner – 8 detained – 123 restrictions of movement
Israeli air strike injures resident in Beit Lahiya
East Jabalya farmland under Israeli Army fire
17-year-old youth injured in Israeli Army raid on refugee camp
Israeli troops abduct handicapped youngster
Israeli Army home occupations – resident beaten, tear-gassed and hospitalised
Israeli Army bulldozes 6 Palestinian homes to destruction
More Israeli Army home invasions – 5 residents beaten and injured
Israeli Occupation Army destroys 3 livestock shelters and a well
Night peace disruption and/or home invasions in 5 refugee camps and 35 towns and villages
http://www.sapienspromise.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3181