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.
Beyond Iraq and a Hard Place
Bremner, Bird and Fortune.
We don’t have satire like this nowadays.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_jUboo66d8
There are 3 more parts linked on the page.
I missed this but I expect the subject of Iraq came up.
Rushanara Ali MP,
Charles Moore,
George Galloway MP,
Nigel Evans MP
Duration: 48 minutes
First broadcast:Friday 13 June 2014
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from the Althorp Literary Festival in Northampton with Shadow Education Minister Rushanara Ali MP, Respect MP for Bradford George Galloway, Former Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans MP and the columnist and official biographer for Margaret Thatcher Charles Moore.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0460znf
plus Any Answers which was on today http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b046j1rm
Peacewisher 14 Jun, 2014 – 12:58 pm
“… so am I. But no-one is going to listen to a couple of bloggers. Stop the War Coalition, or (better) Amnesty International should be leading this.”
Peacewisher,
Our desire for others to act on our behalf is learned, stupefying and bound to disappoint.
Out of interest where do you blog?
Jemand
I do agree that it is hard to understand, when the Qur’an tells us to worship God alone, the Shi’a worship saints. It is difficult to understand how they believe in the book, understand the Arabic, but refuse to obey its instructions.
But it’s easy to understand why they do it. If God delegated His power to the prophet SAW, and he delegated it to holy men, and a little bit for the Queen, and a bit for the Royal Mail…and a little bit for the Ayatollah and his brainless hordes of fighters.
The children of Israel were deceived into worshipping the twinkle dust put into the golden calf. So it follows quite easily that Shi’a can also be deceived.
In both cases they were not deceived until after they received clear instructions not to do the worship they ended up doing.
How can Muslims force people to not to do what they have had clear instructions not to do. The US gave Maliki a chance to form a new country in Iraq. They say if you took commonsense down to the market place no one would buy it. Those who have it have no need for it, and those who do not have it would consider it a waste of time.
Malik has just done what Saddam used to do, buy CIA weaponry. That should have been sufficient warning to him that his neck was on the block. Might come in handy for Daish to use on Assad though.
When Daish do that, its time for the US to intervene on them.
Scooby-dooby-doo
I guess that shouting is like a dog barking A Node, to alert the pack to danger. It is the artist taxi driver’s signature.
Another one of these female loudmouths from the US State department has just been shown making a accusatory statement about the Ukrainian separatists and blaming them for the downing of a Kiev plane in which 49 died when it crashed. Does she have evidence for her accusations?
One Marie Harf. ex CIA and she majored in Jewish Studies and Russian and European Studies. On the last elect Obomber election trail.
That all fits.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/220636.htm
She is from the same department as Psakis.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/220636.htm
Now the fucking Pope tells of his doubts over Scottish independence.
The West Central and Highlands being Catholic and the rest being Protestant.
Divide and rule:
“Pope voices fears over Scottish independence”
“The Pontiff argues that the break-up of Yugoslavia was justified but questions whether “things are quite as clear” for other independence movements, including that in Scotland”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/10897888/Pope-voices-fears-over-Scottish-independence.html
What a complete tosser!
“That above was from the troll who contributes NOTHING here except dissent, distortion, distraction, and destruction.”
____________________
Which is a bit rich coming from the bitch who mindlessly cuts and pastes away the whole day and never ever responds to perfectly reasonable and pertinent questions.
Ni discussion, no reasoning, no thought, no follow through.
An ostrich bitch.
More from the bitch:
“Another one of these female loudmouths from the US State department……One Marie Harf. ex CIA and she majored in Jewish Studies and Russian and European Studies.”
_______________________–
Why don’t you come into the open and say it, Mary – SHE’S A ….JOOOOOOOO!!
***********************
Habbabkuk against sly anti-Jewishness, racism and sexism
“Does she have evidence for her accusations?”
I don’t believe anybody is actually denying it.
RT are reporting the plane was shot down with a missile and the pro Russian Ukrainian forces are confirming it.
http://rt.com/news/165880-ukraine-lugansk-jet-paratroopers/
Mr Scorgie
“The Pontiff argues that the break-up of Yugoslavia was justified but questions whether “things are quite as clear” for other independence movements, including that in Scotland”
____________________
Sounds quite reasonable to me as a point for discussion, Doug. What exactly are you objecting to?
And please state whether or not you think that the Holy Father is allowed to have a view and to express it, Doug.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=
“Now the fucking Pope tells of his doubts over Scottish independence……What a complete tosser!”
_______________
Whatever the Holy Father’s view is, Doug, I suspect he manages to express it slightly more elegantly than you do. But he is, of course, an educated man.
************************
Lq vita è bella, life is good!
“Now the fucking Pope tells of his doubts over Scottish independence.
……..
Apparently some guy walked into a Glasgow Ladbrokes today and put £400k on No. That is, by some accounts, the largest ever political bet placed in the UK. He has undoubtedly landed himself £290,000, tax free. I see Ladbrokes are no longer accepting bets over £137.50 on the Scotch bottling it.
Even the ex Hitler Youth/Pope was lightly beginning to clean the house of pedophiles. Frankie? Meh.
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/pope-francis-silence-on-pedophilia-and-argentina-s-dirty-war/17875-pope-francis-silence-on-pedophilia-and-argentina-s-dirty-war
While it may be understandable that Bergoglio was unwilling to risk his life during the “Dirty War,” which would have been threatened had he vigorously spoken out against the military dictatorship’s human rights abuses, it is far less understandable why, for the longest time, he has remained virtually indifferent to those who suffered at the hands of sexually abusive clergy in Argentina.
The Washington Post’s Nick Miroff recently reported on the case of Father Julio Cesar Grassi, an Argentine priest who, in 2009 was convicted of sexual abuse, and is now free on appeal. According to Miroff, “in the years after Grassi’s conviction, Bergoglio … has declined to meet with the victim of the priest’s crimes or the victims of other predations by clergy under his leadership. He did not offer personal apologies or financial restitution, even in cases in which the crimes were denounced by other members of the church and the offending priests were sent to jail.”
There is no evidence, Miroff reported, that Bergoglio “played a role in covering up abuse cases.” However, “during most of the 14 years that Bergoglio served as archbishop of Buenos Aires, [prominent] rights advocates say, he did not take decisive action to protect children or act swiftly when molestation charges surfaced; nor did he extend apologies to the victims of abusive priests after their misconduct came to light.”
Ernesto Moreau, a member of Argentina’s U.N.-affiliated Permanent Assembly for Human Rights and a lawyer who has represented victims in a clergy sexual-abuse case told the Associated Press that “Bergoglio has been the strongest man in the Argentine church since the beginning of this century, [and yet] the leadership of the church has never done anything to remove these people from these places, and neither has it done anything to relieve the pain of the victims.”
400k on No vote?
Never knew Salmond was a gambler 🙂
Well, if the authoritarians and elites are agin it, it’s most likely good for the peeps.
This is The Reformation all over again.
People are increasingly seeing the elites for the decadent destructive lying thieving parasites they are.
New forms of communication sidestepping the elite’s mass media, rationalism, individual thinking and of course the pampleteers on their blogs.
The Holy Father.
Are you an adult child, habby.
What is it you have against the Pope, Herbie? Washing and kissing the feet of convicts too elitist for you?
“Washing and kissing the feet of convicts too elitist for you?”
Sandpaper and varnish won’t cure the dry rot and wormy woodiness.
Get back to the peace pipe, Ben. You’re not making any sense!
Bush and Blair: ‘Let’s go to bed.’ ‘Let’s go to war.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvVltIQjo-4&feature=youtu.be
The bet story is as are most of them, a stunt, it never happened outside the made reality of the mainstream media, the Daily Record (circulation: the plughole) once again blunders, they should, but no doubt will not apologise for misleading the public, but misleading the public is what they do, it is their core function, it has Daily Sport levels of credibility and merely fabricates filler between the Arnold Clark adverts and idolising New Labour nonentities, crooks and thieves. The innumerate “Anon” has doubled the amount from 200k to 400k, and it didn’t happen “today” as you claim, or yesterday, or last week when the story was last printed in the Record, and probably didn’t happen in June 2013 either, though it was a year ago when the press release on the William Hill website was dated, which the Record lifted last week, in their desperation to please Miliband D.
http://wingsoverscotland.com/against-all-odds/
Comments on the article suggest the whole thing is fishy tale from start to finish, a publicity stunt by William Hill, I’ve never been inside a betting shop in my life, but insiders suggest in the real world such things do not, could not happen as described.
“Man bets £400,000 on Scotland saying ‘no'”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/10889315/Man-bets-400000-on-Scotland-choosing-to-remain-in-union.html
4 days ago.
William Hill though, not Ladbrokes.
Tony M,
Exactly.
Although i made a joke of it earlier i immediately sensed the ‘story’ reeks of shite.
Nowt new there with regard to the abysmal Daily Record.
File under pish.
Anon Scotch is whisky. Scots are the people.
~~
In come the trolls two by two just like Noah’s menagerie.
Is there some schizophrenia present or are there more than one Habbabkuks?
These on Squonk yesterday which I thought were really sweet.
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella! { You forgot to mention far fewer butterflies. } – Jun 13, 9:02 PM The General Discussion…
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella! { Mary Just to tell you that I do like reading your posts about animals and nature generally…. } – Jun 13, 9:01 PM The General Discussion
” Scotch is whisky. ”
or eggs, tape, mist, pie, broth or a Corner.
So what has Petro got in mind? Doesn’t he know the saying You reap what you sow?
14 June 2014
Ukraine’s Poroshenko vows response to Luhansk plane downing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27849435
Ukraine’s new president Petro Poroshenko is taking on a poisoned inheritance
http://www.thenational.ae/world/ukraine/ukrainex2019s-new-president-petro-poroshenko-is-taking-on-a-poisoned-inheritance
Mary
Beyond Iraq and a Hard Place
The situation is awful and can only be mourned.
Aahhh. The problem isn’t that there is too much war in the world, it’s that there isn’t enough ……
…. and apparently war is good for us …..
OK. Right.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/upshot/the-lack-of-major-wars-may-be-hurting-economic-growth.html?_r=0
Calling Scots “Scotch” elicits just the sort of precious whinging reaction one hopes for when using the term, the only surprise this time being that it comes from a Surreyite.
This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.