Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki, left, and his American counterpart, Barack Obama, make a joint appearance Monday to discuss the upcoming U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.
While he had visiting Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki close at hand, U.S. President Barack Obama took the opportunity Monday to make congratulatory noises from the podium about the end of the Iraq War and the imminent withdrawal of American troops from Maliki’s homeland. Obama also happened to point out that this constitutes the fulfillment of one of his campaign promises. But there’s more to the story than happy homecomings, clearly, and the U.S. presence in Iraq will carry on well past the withdrawal date. —KA
“Political Hotsheet” on CBS News:
Obama and al-Maliki met Monday to discuss the strategic relationship between the countries, which Mr. Obama described as an “equal partnership based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” He described Iraq as “sovereign, self-reliant, and Democratic,” telling the Iraqi leader, “You have a strong, enduring partner in the United States of America.”
Despite the positive rhetoric from Mr. Obama, the U.S. troop withdrawal comes at a time when it is far from clear that Iraq will be able to maintain its security and a health political system - and with Iran seeking to expand its influence in Iraq and in the region as a whole. Both Iran and Iraq are majority Shiite, and there are ties between the two countries’ political establishments; it is not clear whether Iraq will become a safe haven for America’s enemies once the United States fully leaves the country.
Mr. Obama said Monday that “Iraq faces great challenges, but today reflects the impressive progress that Iraqis have made.” He said Iraqis are “working” to build “efficient and independent and transparent” institutions.
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“Tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy is not surrounding your country – your enemy is ruling your country. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation.”
“The worst for me though, the language that haunts me, is Obama’s portentous philosophical declaration that we shouldn’t seek accountability for the crimes of the Bush administration because we need to go into the future with our “core values” intact. Any school kid should know that a core value of democracy is accountability. You can’t pretend to live by the rule of law if only some people are held accountable, and the biggest crimes are too big to prosecute because they implicate the entire corrupt system.
Such a pronouncement makes me very sad. Sad for Obama that he presents such absurd cant as wisdom. Sad for a culture that accepts it. Because, besides what it means in terms of castrating democracy, it means that memory is cleansed of the truth. It means that teachers can’t teach that Bush and Cheney, Powell and Rice, Rumsfeld and Tenet and the rest of that pathetic gang committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. It means that the truth is a matter of opinion, a partisan either/or, one half of the fair & balanced equation. Which is which is never identified.”
in the Hall of Mirrors, one door closes, another opens: http://counterpsyops.com/
Interview of Nizar Nayouf: US Troops Deploying on Jordan-Syria Border
Hundreds of US-NATO Soldiers Arrive and Begin Operations on the Jordan-
Syria Border
[...]
Our Iraqi journalist source in London provided us with the following related
information:
“Some of the US forces that left the Ain al-Assad Air base in Iraq last Thursday,
did not come back to the USA or its base in Germany, but were transferred to
Jordan during the evening hours.”
The above information was further corroborated by our correspondent and
advisor Nizar Nayouf who interviewed an employee in the London-based office
of Royal Jordanian Airlines:
“At least one US aircraft carrying military personnel landed in the Prince Hassan
Air base located about 100 km to the east of the city of Al-Mafraq.”
Earlier last week, Jordanian news websites disclosed that “Western officials have
requested the King to allow establishing an electronic spy station in the north
of Jordan (near the Syrian border) in order to access the Syrian army and
contact Syrian high-rank officers for convincing them to make a military coup
or (at least) rebel against the regime”.
Americans will of course now go to sleep feeling good about themselves. And then when there’s an Iraqi Revolution against the Vatican-size embassy and the thousands-strong State Department mercenary force in the country, people will slam the Iraqis for being ungrateful, anti-American fanatics.
By Maani, December 13, 2011 at 10:39 am Link to this comment
Al-Maliki is currently positioning himself to be the next Mubarak of the Middle East. Just watch.
Report thisBy thecrow, December 13, 2011 at 5:11 am Link to this comment
“Tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy is not surrounding your country – your enemy is ruling your country. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation.”
- George W. Bush
January 28, 2003
http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/enemies-list/
Report thisBy thecrow, December 13, 2011 at 5:00 am Link to this comment
“The worst for me though, the language that haunts me, is Obama’s portentous philosophical declaration that we shouldn’t seek accountability for the crimes of the Bush administration because we need to go into the future with our “core values” intact. Any school kid should know that a core value of democracy is accountability. You can’t pretend to live by the rule of law if only some people are held accountable, and the biggest crimes are too big to prosecute because they implicate the entire corrupt system.
Such a pronouncement makes me very sad. Sad for Obama that he presents such absurd cant as wisdom. Sad for a culture that accepts it. Because, besides what it means in terms of castrating democracy, it means that memory is cleansed of the truth. It means that teachers can’t teach that Bush and Cheney, Powell and Rice, Rumsfeld and Tenet and the rest of that pathetic gang committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. It means that the truth is a matter of opinion, a partisan either/or, one half of the fair & balanced equation. Which is which is never identified.”
- Robert Shetterly
http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/a-naming-of-parts/
Report thisBy blogdog, December 13, 2011 at 12:16 am Link to this comment
in the Hall of Mirrors, one door closes, another opens: http://counterpsyops.com/
Interview of Nizar Nayouf: US Troops Deploying on Jordan-Syria Border
Hundreds of US-NATO Soldiers Arrive and Begin Operations on the Jordan-
Syria Border
[...]
Our Iraqi journalist source in London provided us with the following related
information:
“Some of the US forces that left the Ain al-Assad Air base in Iraq last Thursday,
did not come back to the USA or its base in Germany, but were transferred to
Jordan during the evening hours.”
The above information was further corroborated by our correspondent and
advisor Nizar Nayouf who interviewed an employee in the London-based office
of Royal Jordanian Airlines:
“At least one US aircraft carrying military personnel landed in the Prince Hassan
Air base located about 100 km to the east of the city of Al-Mafraq.”
Earlier last week, Jordanian news websites disclosed that “Western officials have
Report thisrequested the King to allow establishing an electronic spy station in the north
of Jordan (near the Syrian border) in order to access the Syrian army and
contact Syrian high-rank officers for convincing them to make a military coup
or (at least) rebel against the regime”.
[...]
By Robespierre115, December 12, 2011 at 5:52 pm Link to this comment
Americans will of course now go to sleep feeling good about themselves. And then when there’s an Iraqi Revolution against the Vatican-size embassy and the thousands-strong State Department mercenary force in the country, people will slam the Iraqis for being ungrateful, anti-American fanatics.
Report this