The victory over Daesh in the region was sanctioned by Allah.
End of discussion.
March 14, 2019
By Bobby Ghosh
Ostensibly, (click here) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Iraq was meant to deepen economic ties between the two neighbors, historically divided by political and sectarian enmities as much as they are connected by geography. The trip was also meant to demonstrate to the U.S. that Tehran and Baghdad would still do business with each other, despite the Trump administration’s sanctions on Iran.
None of this was especially remarkable: the Islamic Republic’s influence over Iraq has grown exponentially in recent years, underscored by Iran’s control of Shiite militias that have captured much of the state security apparatus and now loom ever larger on the political stage. No Iraqi government, much less one led by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, a weak Shia politician, would dare give a representative of the Iranian regime anything less than an effusive welcome.
Only one Iraqi leader could have kept Rouhani at arm’s length: Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country’s most revered cleric. But he didn’t. The audience he gave the Iranian president in the Shia holy city of Najaf says as much about Sistani’s own political adventurism as it does about Iraq’s subservience to Iran....
How did I know there was such a problem? It shows. It shows in big huge ways. The USA may be welcome in Iraq today, but, it should not push it. Iraq will never be the 51st state.
March 13, 2019
By Mustafa Salim and Tamer El-Ghosbashy
Baghdad — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (click here) capped his state visit to Iraq on Wednesday by meeting the country’s most respected religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani— a sit-down that has eluded previous Iranian presidents and American leaders alike.
The meeting signals to Washington that the religious, cultural and economic bonds that tie Iran and Iraq will not be undermined by a focused U.S. effort to isolate Tehran, analysts said. At the same time, it is likely to bolster Rouhani’s standing at home.
The session came after Rouhani and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi announced agreements to boost trade, establish a rail link between the two countries and take steps to remove travel restrictions for tourists and investors. Abdul Mahdi also said Iran agreed to return to the original terms of a 1975 agreement on the sharing of an important waterway....
Everything is politics to this bozo. This is about campaigns that Trump likes to play with. The intelligence and military told Trump that it was a bad idea. Let's embrace that reality for now.
If it was up to Netanyahu, he'd make Mother Hubbard a terrorist if she were from Gaza. So, let's put this mess into perspective. Next thing you know Trump will be naming members of the USA Congress as terrorists.
The name for Iran's Revolutionary Guard comes from the success of the Iranian Revolution that removed the Shah.
Iranian Revolution - Revolutionary Guard. Get it?
April 8, 2019
By Anne Gearan and Carol Morello
The United States (click here) moved Monday to list Iran’s elite military Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization as the Trump administration looks for new ways to increase economic and political pressure on the regime in Tehran.
The designation marks the first time Washington has branded a foreign government entity a terrorist group and came despite warnings from U.S. military and intelligence officials that other nations could use the designation as a precedent against U.S. action abroad.
The announcement also comes one day before Israeli elections in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term by highlighting his close ties to the Trump administration and hawkish promises to battle threatening Iranian behavior across the Middle East.
“This action sends a clear message to Tehran that its support for terrorism has serious consequences,” President Trump said in a statement. “We will continue to increase financial pressure and raise the costs on the Iranian regime for its support of terrorist activity until it abandons its malign and outlaw behavior.”...
Trump is going to start another civil war and the rise of extremists again.
The beginnings of the Iraqi parliament was nothing but militias. Perhaps one might remember how difficult it was to bring all the GROUPS of people to the table of the Iraqi Parliament. Why should they? They were secure in their own enclaves and it was nonsense as far as they were concerned. Eventually, the benefits to representation within the Iraqi Parliament awakened the groups of protected people and they had their own elections, etc., etc., etc..
March 19, 2019
By Edward Wong and Eric Schmitt
Kuwait City — The United States’ (click here) attempts to isolate Iran, including by punishing Iraqi militias and politicians who are supported by Iranian officials, has deepened tensions not only between Washington and Baghdad but also within the Trump administration.
American military and intelligence officials said the increasing pressure on Iraq risks infuriating its Parliament, including politicians linked to Iran, which could limit the movements of the 5,200 United States troops based in Iraq.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose confrontational stand on Iran has already strained ties with European allies, is leading the push for Iraq to confront its fellow Shiite-majority neighbor. He arrived in the Middle East on Tuesday to speak with officials in Kuwait, Israel and Lebanon about containing Iran.
Under plans recommended by Mr. Pompeo and some White House officials, the State Department would designate Iran’s military Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a foreign terrorist organization. It would be a first instance of the United States designating a unit of another government’s military as a terrorist group. American officials said it could put United States troops and intelligence officers at risk of similar actions by foreign governments....
The USA may think it is in good standing in Iraq, but, it's presence will become intolerable if they lean too much on the people of Iraq in their relationships with other countries (Holy Pilgrimages have no boundaries.). If the pressure on Iraq to conduct itself differently within the region brings about isolationism and westernization; the country will splinter and the fluidity of the lack of cohesion will breed extremism again.
There are probably elements of that going on now. The one thing that holds the region in cohesive governments is the right to live within the religious ties they have. Those religious ties do carry brevity in the region and should not be ignored. Currently, Iraq is already divided into three distinct provinces. It would take very little to completely dissolve the sovereignty of Iraq if those religious ties are severed.
There are lots of reasons for the oil area to simply begin their own revolution. I would not force the issue. There are always religious extremists willing to be radicalized in this region of the world. Holy men are important and what they say is even more important.
March 14, 2019
