Monday,
December 10, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, 3,000 US troops
supposedly entered Iraq (from Kuwait) last week, the Pentagon publishes
the memo of understanding signed with Iraq last Thursday, Barack got his
goal: more US troops in Iraq, Nouri tried to think of another reason
why Iraqis shouldn't talk about Iraqi women being tortured in prisons
(it distracts from the overall thoughts on human rights!), Senator Patty
Murray notes the just released homelessness rates for veterans in the
US, and more.
How many US troops remain in Iraq? December 12, 2011, Ted Koppel filed an important report on Rock Center with Brian Williams (NBC)
about what was really taking place in Iraq -- what 'reporters' insisted
on calling a 'withdrawal' but what the Pentagon had termed a
"drawdown." Excerpt.
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.
Over
3,000 US troops have secretly returned to Iraq via Kuwait for missions
pertaining to the recent developments in Syria and northern Iraq, Press
TV reports.
According to our correspondent, the US troops have
secretly entered Iraq in multiple stages and are mostly stationed at
Balad military garrison in Salahuddin province and al-Asad air base in
al-Anbar province.
Noting those 3,000 troops going into Iraq, The Voice of Russia adds today, "Another 17,000-strong force is preparing to cross the Kuwait-Iraq border over time, Iraqi press says."
Thursday DoD and the State Dept had officials in Iraq. The Defense Dept issued the following that day:
Under
the auspices of the Strategic Framework Agreement, the Governments of
the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq reaffirmed their
commitment to an enduring strategic partnership during the second
meeting of the Defense and Security Joint Coordination Committee on
December 5-6, 2012 in Baghdad.
The
meetings held at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense were co-chaired by Iraqi
Defense Minister Saadoun Al-Dlimi, the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense
for Policy James Miller, and the Acting Under Secretary of State for
Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller.
Defense
and Security Cooperation is one of the cooperation areas that were
agreed upon in the Strategic Framework Agreement signed in 2008 between
the United States Government and the Government of the Republic of Iraq
in order to strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual interest for the
two countries.
The
United States and Iraq discussed efforts to continue strengthening
their security cooperation, enhance Iraq's defense capabilities,
modernize Iraq's military forces, and facilitate both countries'
contributions to regional security. The two delegations explored
U.S.-Iraq training opportunities and Iraq's participation in regional
exercises.
The
United States and Iraq also discussed the strong and growing foreign
military sales program, a symbol of the long-term security partnership
envisioned by both countries. The United States stated its support for
Iraq's efforts to meet its defense and security needs.
Both
delegations reviewed regional security issues. They exchanged views on
the conflict in Syria and its effects on regional stability, with both
sides urging an end to the violence and support for a political
transition that would represent the will of the Syrian people. The two
sides agreed to continue consulting closely on regional security
matters.
The
capstone event was the exchange of a Memorandum of Understanding signed
by Defense Minister Saadoun Al-Dlimi and Secretary of Defense Leon
Panetta. This agreement represents the enduring strategic partnership
between the United States and Iraq, and provides mechanisms for
increased defense cooperation in areas including defense planning,
counterterrorism cooperation, and combined exercises.
Finally,
the United States and the Republic of Iraq committed to convene a third
recurring Defense and Security Cooperation Joint Coordination Committee
meeting in Washington, D.C., during 2013 to continue discussions on the
enduring security and military cooperation between the two countries.
As we noted in real time, Saadoun al-Dulaimi is not Minister of Defense he is 'acting Minister of Defense.' Back in July, Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observed,
"Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has struggled to forge a lasting
power-sharing agreement and has yet to fill key Cabinet positions,
including the ministers of defense, interior and national security,
while his backers have also shown signs of wobbling support." We also
noted that the DoD link did not work. It does now. It's a brief
document.
The White House got what they wanted: The right to add US troops on the ground in Iraq. Read over section two.
The Participants intend to undertake the following types of defense cooperation activities:
a) reciprocal visits and meetings by high-ranking delegations to military facilities and institutions;
b) exchanges of instructors, training personnel, and students between Participants' military academies and related institutions;
c) counterterrorism cooperation;
d) the development of defense intelligence capabilities;
e) cooperation in the fields of defense-related research and development and technology security;
f) acquisition and procurement of defense articles and services;
g)
exchanges of information and experiences acquired in the field of
military operations, including in connection with international
humanitarian and peacekeeping operations;
h)
training and exchange of information regarding the development of
military health services, military health facilities, and military
medicine training opportunities;
i)
training and exchanges of information regarding staff organization and
human resources for regulation and management of defense personnel;
j) cooperation for the development of logistics support and sustainment systems;
k) defense planning;
l) joint exercises; and
m) cooperation in the area of social, athletic, and military culture activities.
That's very clear if you understand contracts.
Sadly,
with the 2008 Status Of Forces Agreement, we learned that most people
-- including reporters -- don't understand contracts. For that reason we
did multiple and repeated walk throughs. We explained the aspect of
options. At one point, we even used Rick Springfield as an example. We
tried to make it interesting and basic. And we went over it over and
over. In the community, people understood. Outside the community, our
thanks for that was to have United For Peace and Justice loons attack
us. The SOFA, they just knew, meant after three years, it's over. Were
they lying or were that they stupid?
I'm
going to repeat what I said when I got the most ticked off: When you've
broken a multi-million dollar contract with a coporation and walked
without a lawsuit because you knew what you were doing, then sit
yourself down next to me and tell me about contract law. Until then, you
should probably just try to nod along to a conversation that is clearly
over your head. And if it helps, I didn't just break the contract, I
kept the bulk of the money.
As
we saw in 2011, the White House was attempting to re-negotiate the SOFA
or come up with a new agreement. As we said here, that was a possible
outcome. The White House team got caught on the immunity issue in 2011.
They also had a more active press which was being fed details of the
negotiations by some who did not support US troops remaining in Iraq
(for various reasons -- often solely because they didn't want Barack to
look like a liar in his 2012 re-election bid). So that ended up being
the sticky point. The press then falsely reported negotiations were
over. After their false report, we were at the hearing where both
General Martin Dempsey (Chair of the Joint Chiefs) and DoD Secretary
Leon Panetta testified that negotiations were still going on (Panetta
would state in that November Senate Armed Services Committee hearing
that he believed some agreement would be reached in 2012). A ton of
reporters were present at the hearing but only one reported that
aspect: Elisabeth Bumiller of the New York Times. The hearing made all
three broadcast networks' evening news -- and they all avoided the
actual news that the negotiations continued. Instead, they focused on a
'testy' exchange between Panetta and Senator John McCain that was
forgotten before the hearing ended (both men were laughing about the
exchange in the second round of questions). That really didn't matter
but ongoing negotiations did. (For coverage of that hearing, see
November 15th's " Iraq snapshot," November 16th's " Iraq snapshot," November 17th's " Iraq snapshot," Ava's " Scott Brown questions Panetta and Dempsey (Ava)," Wally's " The costs (Wally)," Kat's " Who wanted what?" and Third's " Editorial: The silences that enable and kill," " Enduring bases, staging platforms, continued war" and " Gen Dempsey talks "10 enduring" US bases in Iraq.")
Kid yourself that the news media in America is serving the public and informing them.
The
left's been taken over by a toxic strand in the last four years: Hatred
of women. You see it over and over especially when it comes to the
lives of Iraqi women. Thanks to the United States government, Iraqi
women have lost their most basic rights and Iraq has elements that wants
to create a home grown Taliban to control women. In that environment, a
US ambassador to Iraq has to be above board. You cannot send a man (and
the administration refuses to nominate a woman -- four times now,
Barack has refused to nominate a woman for the post) if his mere
presence means Iraqi women are not safe if they visit the Baghdad
embassy. Brett McGurk.
The
toxic strand silenced the bulk of the left on McGurk. He never should
have been considered for the post. But the left with outlets like The Nation and Democracy Now
didn't want to tell their audiences what was what. But when it turned
out that married Brett McGurk had an affair with married reporter Gina
Chon while McGurk was working for the administration, it should have
raised serious questions.
The
toxic left has been happy to document Lara Logan's sexual activities.
She slept with a contractor! When do I care about Lara Logan's sex life?
When she gets into bed with a US official. Until then, she can sleep
with whomever she wants and more power to her. But Gina Chon worked for
the Wall St. Journal. The paper was the only one who gave damn about ethics. The sick Victor Navasky made sure that CJR would
look the other way -- we've all been looking the other way for years as
Victor's been a menace to women, haven't we? But the Wall St. Journal grasped
that you can't sleep with a source and you can't let the source vet
your copy -- especially when your source is a government employee.
That's why Gina's no longer with the Wall St. Journal.
Sending 'swinging' Brett
back to Iraq as the US Ambassador would have been a threat to Iraqi
women. This scanald was huge in Iraq. While idiots took to the airwaves
to whine that Gina could sleep with whomever she wanted (forgetting the
fact that Brett was a source, a government employee and was shown her
copy in advance, before her editors even saw it, so he could provide
'input'), the issue was Brett cheated on his first wife while in Iraq.
He was now, if Barack Obama got his way, going back to Iraq. Every Iraqi
woman meeting with him would be assumed to have slept with him.
In Iraq, that can get a woman killed.
But where was The Nation, where was Democracy Now, where was the so-called Progressive,
go down the list. None of them, as evidenced by their silence, gave a
damn about Iraqi women. They were prepared to back Barack in sending an
ambassador to the country that women could never meet with unless they
wanted to risk their lives.
Because
United For Peace and Justice grossly misinformed the American public,
they didn't know who Brett was. UFPJ should have been telling them about
Brett in 2008. The SOFA almost faltered once -- only once was it in
serious danger.
No,
that doesn't fit with the 'hard bargain' Nouri was driving meme which a
bunch of crazies pushed (and, continue to which makes them look insane
and like the flash card for raving "America-haters" -- when you need to
believe an untruth just because it makes it appear someone 'stuck it to'
the US, that's how you get the right-wing calling you "America-haters"
or worse so self-check frequently because the rest of us on the left
suffer enough without your crazy leading us to all be tarred and
feathered). Nouri drove no hard bargains. Nouri wanted the troops there.
As he demonstrated twice before with the UN extensions. If you don't
know about those two extensions, you need to go to the outlet you
counted and demand accountability. We don't have enough space in this
snapshot to spoon feed visitors and passerbys.
But
the only real time the SOFA was in jeporady was when the immunity for
US troops came up. Brett's the one who found the legal language to
satisfy the US government and provide Nouri with cover (the Blackwater
shooting spree in Baghdad had caused many to question immunity). For
having done that in the past, the supposedly anti-war left (does it
exist anymore on Pacifia or in magazines -- I don't think so -- but it
does remain at the grass roots) should have opposed Brett McGurk.
Just
for having done that in 2008, they should have opposed him. When you
factor in that he was nominated after Panetta declared in an open Senate
hearing that the US was still in negotiations with Iraq over US troops,
the last thing anyone against the Iraq War should have wanted was to
send contract 'fixer' Brett to Iraq as the US Ambassador.
But it didn't matter to them. Where are there ethics?
I have no idea. But we've repeatedly noted where Brett's been: Iraq. And that he's worked on the negotiations.
Nouri
always wanted to do the contract via Memo Of Understanding. But some in
the White House -- the same raising objections to the immunity aspect
in October 2011 -- felt it had to go through Parliament. It would never
pass Parliament. In part because so little passes Parliament. So Brett's
been very resourceful.
And
some of the usual American stupid will insist that the Memo Of
Understanding is being misunderstood by me. I can be wrong and I often
am. But I do understand contracts and I do comprehend what I'm reading
when I read the latest Memo Of Understanding.
There
will be 'attachments' added to the Memo but, for now, the big news is
Barack Obama got what he wanted and did so while tricking the American
public.
We stood
alone in pointing out that while Candy Crowley wanted to fact check Mitt
Romney, she had no interest in fact checking Barack on Iraq. This
despite the fact that Tim Arango's report noting Special-Ops back in
Iraq and that negotiatons were ongoing to send even more troops into
Iraq -- that report was only weeks old. Crowley allowed Barack to claim
that all US troops were out of Iraq (a lie -- as Wiliam Rivers Pitt observed at Truthout last week,
"if you think we're not still at war in Iraq, I can introduce you to
some military families who are still posting love-you-be-safe letters to
that particular delivery code"), she didn't question the ongoing
efforts to negotiate with Iraq on sending more troops in, she didn't
question anything. She didn't do her job and none of the other
moderators did because they also avoided Iraq. Yet Crowley was the
worst because she wanted to be a participant and assigned herself the
role of fact checker -- but she only fact checked one side.
Where
are the US reports -- confirming or rejecting foreign reports -- about
3,000 US troops just going into Iraq last week? Probably in the same
trash can the stories about last week's memo are in. Again, let's not
pretend that the US media is interested in an informed public. They're
not. They suck up to power and that's really all the bulk of them do.
And, on the left, we get outraged when a Republican is in the White
House and we yell and scream about how embarrassing the media is. But
when it's a Democrat in the White House, suddenly we are outraged that
they're even expected to be accountable. We no longer care about ethics
or about the pbulic being informed. Instead, we're all supposed to run
defense for the president. Don't confuse that with ethics, don't confuse
that with independence. Accept it for what it is: whoring.
The
world has more than enough cheap whores and they don't help the people
of Iraq and they don't stop wars. We need to hold everyone's feet to the
fire and a bit of advice to the Cult of St. Barack: It's a bit hard to
hold his feet to the fire when you're so busy sucking his toes.
Human
Rights Day presents an opportunity, every year, to celebrate human
rights, highlight a specific issue, and advocate for the full enjoyment
of all human rights by everyone everywhere.
This
year, the spotlight is on the rights of all people -- women, youth,
minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous people, the poor and
marginalized -- to make their voices heard in public life and be
included in political decision-making.
These
human rights -- the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, to
peaceful assembly and association, and to take part in government
(articles 19, 20 and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
have been at the centre of the historic changes in the Arab world over
the past two years, in which millions have taken to the streets to
demand change. In other parts of the world, the "99%" made their voices
heard through the global Occupy movement protesting economic, political
and social inequality.
Al Mada reports
that women's organizations gathered in Najaf yesterday for a conference
to prevent violence against women. One attendee explained that when her
husband beat her she found no assistance from her family, her community
or even the law. She is divorced now. For some women, divorce in Iraq
can mean losing the children. Being divorced can also be a social
stigma. The conference called on the clergy to educate regarding
violence against women
The conference also found
that laws need to be changed. MP Batoul Farouk attended the conference
and she noted that the Parliament is attempting to pass more equitable
laws but that their application is often impacted by customs and
traditions. Staying on the topic of women and their rights, the next four paragraphs are from an article we wrote at Third yesterday.
Al Mada reports
that Saturday in Falluja, women demonstrated to demand an investigation
into the treatment of women in Iraqi prisons and detention centers. If
you count on US press outlets, you won't learn of that protest or even
why it took place. But, in reality, this is an issue that has been
building for several weeks now.
November 27th, All Iraq News reported
that the Women, Family and Children's Committee was calling for the
Ministry of Justice to make prisons and detention centers open to
legislative committees so they can see what the conditions are. All Iraq News also noted
MP Safia al-Suhail is calling on the Ministry of Women to focus on
eliminating violence against women in prison. November 29th, Alsumaria reported
that Iraqiya MP Hamid al-Mutlaq accused security forces of raping and
torturing women prison and he traces the culture back to the torture of
Iraqis by Americans at Abu Ghraib prison.
November 30th, Al Mada reported
that a fight broke out in the halls of Parliament between State of
Law (Nouri al-Maliki's political slate) and Iraqiya (led by Ayad Allawi)
and that it was over the issue of what is happening to Iraqi women in
prisons and detention centers as well as an allegation that State of Law
had attempted to bury the report and refusing to allow Parliament's
Committee on Women to issue the report on the International Day for the
Elimination of Violence Against Women (November 25th). Dar Addustour added
that the Committee report is said to have found that women are being
arrested without judicial warrants and that, while in prison, women are
being tortured to force confessions against their husbands.
And
the government's response? Saturday, December 1st, Nouri gave a speech
(that has since been called out by many including Moqtada al-Sadr, Jalal
Talabani, Massoud Barzani and Ayad Allawi) in which he threatened to
arrest those members of Parliament who had discussed the violence
against women in Iraqi prisons and detention centers.
Imagine
that, Nouri wanting people to talk about something other than Iraqi
prisons. He's got a long history of running secret prisons. (Ned
Parker's Iraq reporting for the Los Angeles Times repeatedly touched and
exposed the secret prisons. He was also one of the few American
reporters to write seriously about the Ministry of the Interior.) Barack
Obama ignored that public record when he backed Nouri for a second
term. The Iraq Times reports
that there are rumors of another secret prison as families of tens of
thousands of Iraqis who've disappeared believe their loved ones are
being held. Yes, Nouri would have a reason to distract from the reports
that women are being tortured in Iraqi prisons.
Nouri
has started many crises in Iraq. The latest crisis was ignited by his
sending forces (Tigris Operation Command) into the disputed areas. A
military stand-off between his forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga is
ongoing. Al Rafidayn reports
KRG President Massoud Barzani visited Kirkuk today to inspect the
Peshmerga who are stationed around the province. This follows Nouri's
attack on Barzani to the Kuwait press on Sunday. Nehro Muhammad (Rudaw) notes
that Halgurd Hikmat, Peshmerga spokesperson, declared today that the
KRG "will not give in to demands by Baghdad to withdraw its Peshmerga
troops from all disputed territories." AFP offers
this thought, "The visit may increase already-high tension with
Baghdad, which has seen both sides deploy military reinforcements to
areas in north Iraq" Dar Addustour adds Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is in discussions with Iraqiya head Ayad Allawi on how to best resolve the crisis. Al Mada notes
that Talabani met with Communist Party officials in Baghdad yesterday.
Why would he be there? It could be any number of reasons.
But
if you were Nouri al-Maliki and your hold on power was said to be
slipping, you'd look at Jalal's meeting with the Communist Party and
conclude that Jalal's sounding out to see where everyone stands on a
no-confidence vote to remove Nouri from office. Nouri's notoriously
paranoid -- as well documented in the State Dept cables -- but you don't
have to be paranoid to look at Jalal's meeting with the Communist Party
in the midst of this Baghdad and Erbil crisis to realize the only thing
of value the Communist Party can offer currently is their support for a
no-confidence vote.
Today
Nouri pretended to care about Palestinians. I'm not in the mood to
cover his propaganda. He has been prime minister for over six years now.
And Palestinians in Iraq were herded into camps, really unprotected
from the elements and treated worse than animals. ( Here and here for more on the topic.) When they've managed to leave those camps, it has not been pretty. Just a few months ago, Ali Abunimah (Electronic Intifada) was reporting
on one group of Palestinian refugees. In an attempt to muster some
regional support for his iffy position, Nouri wanted to grandstand on
the back of Palestinians after being behind their mistreatment in Iraq
for over six years now.
The US State Dept issued the following this afternoon:
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
December 10, 2012
Deputy
Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas Nides departed
for Baghdad, Iraq today where he will meet with senior Iraqi officials
to discuss areas of mutual interest in the U.S.-Iraq relationship.
Deputy Secretary Nides will also meet with Ambassador Beecroft and
senior embassy leadership for a progress report on our efforts to
streamline our presence in Iraq and to discuss ways to accelerate these
efforts going forward.
Upon departure from
Iraq, Deputy Secretary Nides will lead a delegation of U.S. Government
officials to the annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), to be held
in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on December 11-12. Deputy Nides will be
joined by U.S. Department of Commerce Under Secretary for International
Trade Francisco J. Sánchez; Assistant Secretary of State for Economics
and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez; Executive Vice President of OPIC
(Overseas Private Investment Corporation) Mimi Alemayehou; and also
from the Department of State, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Science, Space and Health in the Bureau of Oceans and International
Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Jonathan Margolis; Special
Representative for Global Partnerships Kris Balderston; Special Advisor
on Global Youth Issues Zeenat Rahman; and Special Representative for
Commercial and Business Affairs Lorraine Hariton.
In
2009, President Obama elevated entrepreneurship as a critical pillar of
U.S. global engagement to deepen ties between the United States and the
international community. Since then, the U.S. Government has committed
to supporting entrepreneurship to help channel the creativity,
innovation, and potential of millions of individuals around the world to
create economic opportunity. The GES is the leading U.S.
Government-supported forum for promoting economic growth through
entrepreneurship. The Summit provides an opportunity to link U.S.
economic leadership with an encouraging trend towards entrepreneurship
in Muslim-majority countries.
The U.S.
Government remains committed to supporting innovation and
entrepreneurship through our many agencies, organizations and programs
dedicated to promoting sustainable growth, expanding trade, and
improving the investment climate.
Viewers may follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag (#GES_EVA).
For further information, please contact Jeffrey Ladenson at ladensonjl@state.gov, 971-(0) 50-616-2935.
Lastly,
Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs
Committee and her office issued the following today on homelessness:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, December 10, 2012
Contact: Murray Press Office
(202) 224-2834
HOMELESS VETERANS: Chairman Murray Statement on Decline in Homeless Veterans Population
WASHINGTON,
D.C. -- Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Chairman of the Senate
Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee
on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD), made the
following statement after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs, released the 2012 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR). The
report showed a 7.2 percent decline in veterans homelessness since 2011
and a 17.2 decline since 2009. However, the report also details a 1.4
percent increase among persons in families.
"Those
who heroically served America in the military should not find
themselves struggling to find a bed to sleep in or a meal to eat," said
Chairman Murray. "With new servicemembers returning home every day and
the economy on the road to recovery, it is critically important to
continue supporting programs like HUD-VASH and the SSVF. I am grateful
for the progress we have seen, because these programs have been working.
However, I am deeply concerned about the data indicating an increase in
homeless families. I firmly believe the success of our nation's
families and the future of our economy are rooted in the investments we
make in basic necessities like education and housing. And I remain
committed to providing Ameirca's families and veterans with the sense of
security and dignity they all deserve."
###
Megan Roh
Deputy Press Secretary | New Media Director
Office of U.S. Senator Patty Murray
202-224-2834
| 
