Saturday, September 24, 2016

Look who's endorsing Trump

OMG -- did you see this:


RFK speechwriter: "The Democratic Party has becoming something both JFK and RFK would deplore -- the party of war."




From the article:

John and Robert Kennedy devoted their greatest commitments and energies to the prevention of war and the preservation of peace. To them that was not an abstract formula but the necessary foundation of human life. But today’s Democrats have become the Party of War: a home for arms merchants, mercenaries, academic war planners, lobbyists for every foreign intervention, promoters of color revolutions, failed generals, exploiters of the natural resources of corrupt governments. We have American military bases in 80 countries, and there are now American military personnel on the ground in about 130 countries, a remarkable achievement since there are only 192 recognized countries. Generals and admirals announce our national policies. Theater commanders are our principal ambassadors. Our first answer to trouble or opposition of any kind seems always to be a military movement or action.
Nor has the Democratic Party candidate for president this year, Hillary Clinton, sought peace. Instead she has pushed America into successive invasions, successive efforts at “regime change.” She has sought to prevent Americans from seeking friendship or cooperation with President Vladimir Putin of Russia by characterizing him as “another Hitler.” She proclaims herself ready to invade Syria immediately after taking the oath of office. Her shadow War Cabinet brims with the architects of war and disaster for the past decades, the neocons who led us to our present pass, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen, in Ukraine, unrepentant of all past errors, ready to resume it all with fresh trillions and fresh blood. And the Democrats she leads seem intent on worsening relations with Russia, for example by sending American warships into the Black Sea, or by introducing nuclear weapons ever closer to Russia itself.

 

Already Geezer Peter Edeleman is up in arms

Funny though, he and his wife didn't endorse Hillary in 2008.

Now they're all over her.

Like horny puppies need to hump at their master's feet.



Meanwhile caught the season premiere of MARVEL AGENTS OF SHIELD.

Not really impressed.

Loved the Daisy parts but they really didn't add up to much other than: Ghost Rider joines the cast.

And the rest of the show?  Phil's so boring.  And he got the last line of the episode: "Take advantage of the downtime.  Who knows what tomorrow brings?"

It was a weak episode.


Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"



Friday, September 23, 2016.  Chaos and violence continue, Zebari talks conspiracy and admits he has covered up fraud and corruption, Barack Obama does not use the d-word no matter what liars like Juan Cole tell you, and much more.




Kicking things off with Hillary Clinton's disgraced colleague and good friend Hoshyar Zebaria.









The disgraced Zebari was ousted this week due to corruption.

Like a Clinton, he's not going to take defeat easily.  So yesterday, he held a press conference in Erbil, drove the BMW (Bitch Moan and Whine) around for over and hour.

now you think, so that is
the way it's gonna be
that's what this is all about
i think that that is
the way it always was
you chose not to notice until now
yeah now that there's a problem
you call me up to confide
and you go on for over an hour

'bout each one that took you for a ride
and i guess that you dialed my number
'cuz you thought for sure that i'd agree
i said baby, you know i still love you
but how dare you complain to me

-- "Napolean," written by Ani DiFranco, first appears on her DILATE



But complain he did.  Over and over again.


Mahdi Talat (REUTERS) reports Zebari has found someone to blame for his ouster: Nouri al-Maliki.  Zebari is charging a conspiracy to oust him led by Iraq's former prime minister and forever thug Nouri.

Zebari is quoated insisting, "The side that is behind the questioning and withdrawal of confidence is the State of Law and its head Nuri al-Maliki in collusion unfortunately with the speaker of parliament Saleem al-Jabouri."




And if you didn't know how bad Zebari was, look, the whore of Baghdad herself is vouching for him.



slides further into the abyss with move to unseat finance minister Zebari, one of few credible ministers and senior Kurd in government







Of course, we believe you, Jane Arraf.

I mean, you refused to report the crimes of Saddam Hussein.  Then you refused to report the crimes of Nouri al-Maliki.

You've lied throughout your career as a 'reporter.'

If you say he's golden, then we know he's . . . rusted.

And corrupt.

Which he demonstrated in the press conference.

ASHARQ AL-AWSAT reports that he "threatened to publicly expose important corruption files in the country, accusing former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of orchestrating his removal from office to prepare for overthrowing the government of current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi."


They quote him declaring, "We confronted corruption at all state levels and we possess big and serious corruption files that we will send to international observers."


Excuse me.

I need to do a correction.

They quote him admitting, "We confronted corruption at all state levels and we possess big and serious corruption files that we will send to international observers."

As a public servant of Iraq, it was his duty to turn over files and evidence of corruption -- not after he gets caught himself, but when has documentation.

So Zebari is not just corrupt, he's willing to look the other way at others corruption as well -- provided they are silent about his own.

The people of Iraq are being robbed and defrauded and Zebari admits in public that he has proof of this that he has sat on but now that he's been tossed out for corruption he's willing to come forward.

Only Jane Arraf, whore of Baghdad, could Tweet in support of someone as corrupt as Zebari.


Stability built on corruption is worth nothing. Mr. Zebari had it coming.








And while Jane works a lonely street, for the firs time Abbas Kadhim and I manage to agree.  Well said, Kadhim.


The Q is: will the KDP punish Hoshyar Zebari for his corruption actions or will promote him to another higher position in Erbil or Baghdad?




,

Hillary Clinton's good friend needs to be shown the door permanently.


Yesterday, the US Defense Dept announced:




Strikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft as well as rocket artillery conducted 13 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

-- Near Baghdadi, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a repeater tower and a bunker.

-- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units and destroyed three weapons caches and suppressed a sniper firing position.

-- Near Qayyarah, four strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units and destroyed 38 vehicles, four watercraft and a land bridge. A culvert entrance was damaged and a tactical unit was suppressed.

-- Near Ramadi, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two vehicles, two supply caches and a fuel tank.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle and an artillery system.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a checkpoint.


Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.


Bombings will not run the Islamic State out of Iraq.

Driven underground is not an option for peace.


The reasons why the Islamic State received support in Iraq have to be addressed for ISIL to be defeated there.

That means ending the persecution of the Sunnis.


Nasim Ahmed (MEM) wants to join the Juan Cole club.

It's a club of stupid or lying.

Both wanted to weigh in this week on Iraq and Barack Obama.

Both insisted that the US President spoke about "D--sh."

No, he didn't, stop lying.


His full remarks appeared in Tuesday's snapshot (as did Hayder al-Abadi's but we're only reposting Barack's):





PRESIDENT OBAMA: Let me begin by just commenting on the events that have unfolded today. This morning, I talked about the fact that there was a person of interest that the FBI and law enforcement had identified with respect to the bombs that had been planted in the New York and New Jersey area. As everybody is now aware, that individual has been apprehended.
And I just want to start by commenting on the extraordinary work and coordination that's taken place between the FBI and local enforcement. For us to be able to apprehend a suspect in just a little over 24 hours after an event takes place like this, it is outstanding police work, outstanding law enforcement work.
I, in particular, want to give a heartfelt thanks to the New Jersey police officers who were able to apprehend this individual. I had a chance to talk to them briefly before I came down to my meetings here. They are going to be fine. They have sustained some modest injuries, but ones that they'll rapidly recover from. They were in good spirits. And I communicated to them how appreciative the American people were, as well as people in the region. It's just one more reminder of the extraordinary skill and sacrifice and courage of our law enforcement officers and what they put on the line every single day to make sure that we are safe.
Beyond that, obviously information is still unfolding about what might have motivated the suspect. I'm going to leave it to the FBI and local law enforcement authorities to discuss those details with you. I will also comment on the fact that, with respect to the Minnesota stabbings that occurred, I had a chance to talk to the off-duty police officer there who undoubtedly saved a lot of lives and prevented further injury because of his quick and effective action. And I told him that, once again, the American people were appreciative of his work and his heroism.
Now, one of the challenges that we face is -- in addition to being an open society in which individuals who are disturbed in some fashion can carry out violence against the American people -- the big danger we have right now is, is that we have an organization in ISIL that is actively trying to radicalize and promote extremism of this sort. In addition, they are directly carrying out and planning constant attacks not only overseas, but within Iraq and within Syria.
And so it is with great appreciation that I welcome Prime Minister Abadi here, along with his delegation. Thanks to the sacrifices of the Iraqi people and the Iraqi armed forces, since I last met with him face-to-face a year ago, we have significant progress in rolling back ISIL. They have now lost over half of the populated territory that they had gained and were still maintaining as recently as last year. And what we've seen now is just steady progress as the Iraqi security forces have gained more confidence as they have coordinated with the 67-member coalition against ISIL.
And now, what we have been discussing and what we're focusing on is to go right at the heart of the ISIL operations in Mosul. Now, this is going to be a challenging battle. Mosul is a large city, and ISIL has embedded itself deeply within that city. But because of the prepositioning of forces, because of the cooperation between the coalition and the Iraqi security forces, because of the cooperation and courage of the Kurdish Peshmerga, we feel confident that we will be in a position to move forward fairly rapidly.
Now, it will be a tough fight. And once it is initiated, one of the things that we discussed is the importance of not just driving ISIL out of Mosul but making sure that the population there that invariably is going to be displaced and will have suffered, and is going to be looking for warmth and food and water and shelter, that we are prepared to help provide rapid humanitarian assistance, and that we can rebuild the city in a way that assures not only ISIL does not come back, but extremist ideologies born out of desperation do not return.
And so a lot of our work today has been focused on making sure that that happens. I am very grateful that Prime Minister Abadi has consistently operated in a way that indicates his commitment to an inclusive Iraq that treats everybody fairly, respects human rights. And the work that we're doing with the Iraqi government will adhere to those principles, not just in the Mosul campaign, but beyond.
But this is going to be hard. This is going to be challenging and will require resources. We're going to be asking Congress to step up in support of this effort, and we're going to be asking other countries to step up in support of this effort.
And my thanks go out not only to the Iraqi forces that have borne the brunt of the progress that's been made inside of Iraq, as well as the Kurdish Peshmerga, but also obviously our outstanding men and women in uniform. Although they are not on the front lines of the fight and not involved directly in combat, it's still a dangerous area to operate. And I think Prime Minister Abadi would be the first to say that our men and women from all branches of our armed forces have operated with incredible effectiveness and courage in providing the training and the assistance that has allowed us to make these gains.
So, hopefully, by the end of this year, we will have seen further progress with respect to Mosul, and that we will continue to see further progress with respect to economic and political stabilization inside of Iraq.
Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your good work, and thank you to all the members of your team for the excellent work that they've done, as well.



Read over the above.

Slowly, if you need to.

Where does Barack use the d-word?

He doesn't.

When Robin Morgan started her xenophobic ranting and raving and attacks on Arabs -- that's what they were, Robin, and bringing on a French Arab the next week to vouch for you didn't change the way you were seen in the Arab world -- we noted that Barack had walked away from that term.

And we noted why.

Helps to have friends in the administration.

We've also noted that Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has avoided that term and the DoD does not use it.

Brett McGurk, Barack's special envoy, sometimes uses it.

The embarrassing John Kerry always uses it.

Barack doesn't.

He had a discussion about the term and how using it could alienate Arabs who were not part of the Islamic State which is the last thing anyone wants to do when they're seeking peace and support to defeat the Islamic State.

So stop saying Barack talked about the d-word because he didn't use that slur.

He knows better.

So to the MEM piece:



The results of governing Iraq as a country of three separate nations — Sunni, Shia and Kurds — have been calamitous. The sectarian politics of Nouri Al-Maliki’s government pushed Sunni Iraqis into the clutches of extremist groups like [the Islamic State]. As hard as it may be for us to imagine, any alternative to the corruption and sectarianism of Al-Maliki’s government seemed a better option to the people of Iraq; why should they stay as part of a union where they do not have a future?
This is a bleak reminder of the challenges facing Iraq on its road to becoming a stable country once more. With Obama’s eyes focused on defeating [the Islamic State], it’s quite easy to underestimate the deep-rooted problems which allowed Iraq to become a fertile ground for extremist groups in the first place.

Despite Obama’s acclamation that Prime Minister Al-Abadi is committed to an inclusive Iraq where everybody is treated fairly and human rights are respected, the problems of sectarianism, the lack of sovereignty and prevalent corruption still loom large.


I don't think Barack's under-estimated it so much as he's got a rogue Secretary of State on his hands with John Kerry more interested in playing Secretary of Defense than doing his own job.


As for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, earlier this month she insisted no US troops would ever be "boots on the ground" again.

US troops supporting Shia militias & Iraqi army in Northern Iraq fronts, probably south of
US troops supporting Shia militias & Iraqi army in Northern Iraq fronts, probably south of






Those don't look like ballet slippers.



The following community sites updated:












  • Friday, September 23, 2016

    They belong together

    The trashy Sidney Blumenthal.

    Emails Show Hillary Aide Blumenthal Pushed Obama "Birther" Conspiracy



    Blumenthal belongs with Hillary.

    In fact, she should leave her husband for him so that they can live in the same garbage bag.





    Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Wednesday, September 21, 2016.  Chaos and violence continue, Iraq's Finance Minister is voted out of office on corruption charges, Jim Rutenberg tries to relaunch McCarthyism and much more.



    We're starting with Jim Ruternberg -- a piece of human filth at THE NEW YORK TIMES.

    We know Jim as one of the original Operation Happy Talkers on Iraq and you can search the archive to read up on his sordid past.

    We're concerned right now with his more recent damage.  We were speaking on a campus yesterday and during an exchange, a student brought up a piece by Rutenberg where he slams RT and two Americans with shows on RT.

    RT is RUSSIA TODAY, a channel you can stream online and it's probably on some satellite and cable systems in the US.  RT is an English language channel similar to AL JAZEERA AMERICA (which is no more).

    It's a TV channel.

    Nothing more, nothing less.

    But to Rutenberg, it's the entire Russian government.

    If you've read Rooting, Tooting Rutenberg, you understand why he'd feel that way.

    Whether Bully Boy Bush was in the White House or whether it's been Barack Obama, Jim is nothing but a mouthpiece for the US government.

    So he assumes everyone's a government whore.

    You want to talk McCarthyism, then you start with Rutenberg.

    All the insults at Putin by government officials don't really matter -- except to a bunch of eastern eggheads who are, no doubt, rushing off to the next orgy at Charlie Rose's house (which, I believe, is legally defined as punishment in and of itself).

    But when you start accusing Americans of this and that, that's how you get McCarthyism.

    Rutenberg accuses Larry King and Ed Schultz of being in the arms of Russia because they each now have a show on RT.

    Let's start with Ed.

    I do not like Ed, I've never liked Ed, he's not my style.

    He has appealed to many other people over the years.

    It's strange to me that when his radio program was backed by Democrats -- financially -- and even Randi Rhodes would talk about that on her AIR AMERICA show and note how that limited him in what he could say, that now the same Ed is seen as a tool of Russia by Jim Rutenberg.

    I don't think Ed's a tool of Russia.

    He's someone trying to reach an audience and RT has given him a chance.

    Again, I don't like Ed so I have no reason to defend him here other than the fact that he's done nothing wrong.

    NEWS WITH ED SCHULTZ is the name of his program.

    Larry King.

    This really upsets me.

    It upsets me that aging hags have failed to defend Larry.

    Yes, Larry has given me soft ball interviews before.  (Thank you, Larry!)  But he's certainly given a ton to others as well.  Including one to a woman whose father would lament he didn't do more as the Blacklist was building and she would insist that, had she been an adult during those years, she would have taken it on.

    She wouldn't have done crap.

    Maybe gotten another face lift, maybe given another lifeless performance, maybe had implants put in and lied about it for over a decade and then had them removed and passed the removal off as 'feminism.'  Yeah, we all know who I'm talking about.

    I like Larry and I know Larry.

    And I'm going to hurt his feelings here by offering my honest take: Larry is a gossip columnist.

    That's what he was in print, he remained that when he moved to radio and then to TV.

    And there's nothing wrong with being that -- but most try to insist that they are journalists.

    And he is but just like an opinion columnist is a form of journalist so is a gossip columnist.

    His show is LARRY KING NOW.

    For years, he had his own show on CNN.

    Larry's latest show is not owned by RT.

    I've caught it from time to time, before RT, such as when a friend was promoting her book and asked me to watch to see if she made a fool of herself (she didn't, she did a great job and was very funny).

    The program's been around for about five years now so, without seeing any contracts, my guess would be RT is now a distributor of the show as of this year.

    Larry is a great interviewer.

    He makes you feel welcome, he can find a topic to discuss with anyone, and he's not out to destroy or harm anyone he interviews.  His gift is to get you to tell your story.  And that's no minor gift.  Barbara Walters does not have it.  She's done a lot of destroy interviews -- especially when the Reagans were in the White House -- once such destroy interview resulted in a divorce for Barbara because the guest being destroyed brought in millions for her then-husband's company.

    Larry has no preconditions -- unlike Barbara.  You talk to one of his screeners for 15 minutes, if that.  And that's if you have time.  When I was promoting one project, he had a cancellation and I was a last minute and I agreed to do it but said I didn't have time for the pre-interview (and I didn't, I was in a hotel room with one news outlet after another coming in every 20 minutes -- even during what was supposed to be a break for lunch).

    Larry is gifted and the best at what he does.

    CNN never should have pushed him out the door.

    Like many who have been pushed, he's exploring other options.

    Some go to NETFLIX, for example.  He's having his program -- already available online for years -- distributed by RT.

    To call him a stooge of Putin, as Rutenberg did is offensive.

    I don't know Ed and he's not my style but to call Ed Schultz a stooge of Putin is offensive.

    This is how McCarthyism gets started.

    Jim Rutenberg has done a vile thing in attempting to make Ed and Larry punching bags, that is how you start McCarthyism -- re-start.

    He needs to be rebuked and what he's done needs to be condemned.

    Those who are silent will be responsible if we re-enter McCarthyism.

    As for Jim personally, he's now at the top of my s**t list.  Hope he laughs at that.  Jill did.  Back when she was a big name at the paper.  Now she's a pathetic has-been scribbling love letters to Hillary at THE GUARDIAN.


    Turning to the Iraq War Rutenberg helped market, Haider al-Abadi is the latest US-installed prime minister.  After the US installs one, they give them 'time' and more 'time' to do nothing.  Finally, when patience is exhausted -- long after the Iraqi people have turned against the prime minister -- they may replace them.  By that time, the prime minister has carried War Crimes and persecuted the Iraqi people but democracy or the rights of the Iraqi people are never the concerns of the US government.




    Good discussion with Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern on increased support for Iraqi security forces to defeat terrorism








    Haider Tweets that he had a good discussion about Iraqi forces.

    Did, in the discussion, a question rise up?

    I have several.

    But there's one obvious one.


    Iraqi forces launch operation to take ISIL-held town








    Why is it that the Kurdish forces include women but the Iraqi security forces do not appear to?



    So much for inclusive Iraq under Haider -- a claim he made yet again this week.

    He also claimed the Iraqi forces were wonderful and great.


    So why did they need all those years of training?

    And why do they need all the help today?



    Task Force Strike advises and assists Iraqi security forces






    The US Defense Dept announced yesterday:


    Strikes in Iraq
    Attack, bomber, fighter, remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted 20 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:

    -- Near Baghdadi, three strikes destroyed an ISIL bunker and two command-and-control nodes.

    -- Near Huwayjah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

    -- Near Fallujah, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.

    -- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.

    -- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged four ISIL tactical units and destroyed a vehicle.

    -- Near Qayyarah, four strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and a communications facility and destroyed a vehicle, a heavy weapons system and a checkpoint.

    -- Near Ramadi, two strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and a staging area and destroyed two heavy machine guns, a weapons cache, two command-and-control nodes and two logistics hubs.

    -- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIL vehicle storage facility.

    -- Near Sinjar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a weapons cache and suppressed a mortar position.

    -- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike destroyed an ISIL mortar system and a supply cache.

    -- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed an ISIL tunnel entrance, a vehicle, a supply cache, a mortar system, a building and nine fighting positions.


    Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.



    Better living via bombing, apparently.

    It's been going on since August of 2014 and each bomb dropped, apparently, contains a spoonful of democracy and freedom.


    Now for the big news out of Iraq.

    Remember all the time we spent this month explaining Hoshyar Zebari was in trouble.  He was accused of corruption.  He was denying it.  We must have spent five days on this at least.

    And we did that via Arab media because western media didn't give a damn.

    In fact, only THE FINANCIAL TIMES OF LONDON filed a story on this topic and they did so after they thought it was safe and Hoshyar had survived.

    He didn't survive.

    A Parliamentary vote did not take place because they didn't have enough MPs present to meet a quorum.

    Now what they couldn't or wouldn't tell you is known: Hoshyar's out.


    AL ARABIYA reports Hoshyar Zebari has been "sacked." REUTERS adds it was a majority vote.


    Twitter reaction?



    1. Flash Parlementoya Iraqê ji ber gendeliyê Huşiyar Zêbarî yê PDKyî ji wezîfê girt. Zêbarî bi milyaran pere dizîbû.






    Le irakien démet le ministre des finances Hoshyar : défense, intérieur et finances sont désormais vacants






    after Zebari's ouster.



    Hoshyar Zebari is voted out.




    According to MP Haitham El Juburi, even some KDP MPs voted yes on sacking Mr Zebari.




    Just in: parliament removes Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari from office for corruption. Votes 158-77 (14 abstained).



    The Q is: will the KDP punish Hoshyar Zebari for his corruption actions or will promote him to another higher position in Erbil or Baghdad?



    Most non-KDP Kurdish MPs appear to have voted for Zebari's impeachment. A stunning indictment of the region's political divide.



    Iraq Parliament ousting veteran Kurdish Finance Minister Zebari hardly augurs well for stability. This amidst talk of Mosul offensive.






    So much said.

    But so much left unsaid.

    When we were noting this earlier in the month, we noted someone who described Hoshyar as "a colleague and a friend."


    Do you remember who that was?


    Need a photo to jog your memory?






    Yes, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, a woman who knows a thing or two about corruption herself, is pictured above with her dear friend Hoshyar Zebari  -- the man just voted out of office due to corruption.