Love that rolled dollar bill up his nostril.
Oh! I almost missed something. C.I. told me she had sent me something and I forgot. It is Larry Johnson's latest column at INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE:
Many of the critical tools employed in the coup to paint Donald Trump as a tool of the Russians and to manufacture a pretext for removing him from office, were created more than twenty years ago. I am talking about the surveillance state that the American electorate has ignorantly accepted as necessary in order to keep us safe from terrorists. Despite previous warning from whistleblowers like Russ Tice, Bill Binney, Ed Loomis and Kird Wiebe, no action to rein in the surveillance monster was taken until Edward Snowden absconded with the documents exposing the vast amount spying that the U.S. Government is doing to its own citizens. But even those weak efforts to supposedly rein in the NSA proved to be nothing more than mere window dressing.
The spying got worse. Just ask Donald Trump and the members of his campaign that were targeted first by the CIA and NSA and then by the FBI. Fundamental civil rights were trampled.
The real irony in all of this is that Barack Obama, as President, took credit for helping revise the laws in order to prevent the spying exposed by Edward Snowden. But under the Obama Administration, spying on political opponents--both real and perceived--escalated. We know for a fact that journalists, such as James Rosen and Sheryl Atkinson, were targets and their communications and computers attacked by the U.S. Government.
We know, thanks to a memo released by Judge Rosemary Collyer, that "FBI consultants" were making illegal searches of NSA material using the names of Donald Trump, his family and members of his campaign staff.
Okay, this is the year end review pieces from the community:
2019 in film -- Ann and Stan
1 day ago
Be sure to check them all out. This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:
Thursday, January 2, 2019. A distraction from a flunky?
Two days after the US Embassy in Baghdad is stormed, Queen Useless slithers out from her rock to the pages of USA TODAY. Yes, Wendy Sherman who has never had anything to say about Iraq is now an expert because she was part of the people working on the Iran deal in the Obama administration. Queen Piss Wendy wants you to know:
Noticing a lot of Iran in the above? It only gets worse as you read along. Wendy can't talk Iraq because she's just too stupid so she talks Iran over and over and pretends she's writing about Iraq. Some will be fooled by the whore. Hopefully, some will catch how she's distracting.
One problem in Iraq, right now, goes to the militias (plural, Wendy) being folded into the Iraqi army. That's got nothing to do with Donald Trump. It does have everything to do with Barack Obama but you'll never tell that truth will you?
Another problem, the popular unrest? It also goes to Barack.
The Iraqi people are not represented by the government. This is not a new issue.
Iraq has been ruled by US appointed exiles who fled Iraq and only returned after the US-led invasion. They have destroyed the country and that probably was why the US backed them to begin with -- keep the Iraqi people off balance, they can't object to the theft of their treasures.
In 2010, despite violence, despite threats, the Iraqi people went to the polls in March and voted. They voted thug Nouri out of office. Bully Boy Bush had installed thug Nouri in the spring of 2006 and he was installed over others because the CIA assessment was that with Nouri's paranoia issues, he'd be easy to manipulate.
The Iraqi people voted him out in March of 2010. How'd he end up with a second term in November of 2010, Wendy?
Nouri refused to step down creating the political stalemate that lasted over eight months.
Instead of standing for democracy as many (including Gen Ray Odierno) advised, Barack and Joe decided to overturn the Iraqi people's vote and give Nouri a second term.
Election interference? Not Barack and Joe!
They were behind the US-negotiated Erbil Agreement that gave the loser Nouri a second term. And Joe then went to Iraq to sell it and in his usual stupidity Joe tried to lecture the Iraqi leaders about the IRA -- Irish Republican Army -- because, well, of course Joe would have a long winded story that had nothing to do with the topic.
Maybe he just should have told them about Cornpop?
The protests today stem from the fact that Iraq has been denied self-rule -- even when they vote their leaders out of office, the US government overrules them.
Want to talk about that, Wendy? Of course, you don't. Whores don't deal in honesty.
"Iran nuclear deal was solid progress," Wendy wants to insist as though that has anything to do with the conversation at hand. Whores.
She's a whore stroking her War On and bound and determined that no US troops will leave Iraq.
Kata'ib Hezbollah, she tells us, "want the 5,000 American troops out of the country. But perhaps even Pompeo understands that a longer term challenge remains, and thus his change of travel plans. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to withdraw American troops from just about everywhere. However, a withdrawal from Iraq at this moment only serves Iran’s desire to exert greater control over Iraq. To much of the world, it would signal U.S. disengagement and weakness -- not strength."
If whores were forced to tell the truth, the world would be better off. If the garbage that is USA TODAY would fact check their opinion columnists, the world would be better off.
Kata'ib Hezbollah wants US troops out of Iraq? Yes, and the Iraqi people do as well.
The Iraqi people? As usual, a whore like Wendy leaves them and their needs out of the picture.
She can whine for paragraphs about her Iran deal -- and she does -- but heaven forbid she use a paragraph to address the needs of the Iraqi people. They'll do what she tells them to, apparently.
And that, after all, is how we've arrived at this point. Whores like Wendy who are going to tell another country what to do. Whores like Wendy who will risk the lives of the children of America so that the Iraqi people can be bossed around.
And whores like Wendy will then pass off the terror they inflict as 'liberation' and 'democracy.'
There's no reason for US troops to be in Iraq.
Wendy Whore wants to blame Donald Trump. His crime, as she notes, is that he "has repeatedly said he wants to withdraw American troops from just about everywhere."
Bullies like Wendy Whore use the presence of US troops to intimidate, to blackmail, to coerce.
How fitting that Wendy Whore served under 'reporting for duty' John Kerry. The toy soldier of the State Dept who never believed in diplomacy and thought he was actually Secretary of Defense.
Grasp that the US Embassy in Baghdad is the most fortified US embassy in the world. Grasp that it was supposedly impenetrable. Turns out, not really. That's why the US Ambassador was evacuated from it this week.
This reality should lead people to ponder the mission -- forever undefined -- and the continued presence of US troops.
Wendy Whore doesn't want anyone to ask questions. She certainly doesn't want anyone to say, "Hey, Wendy Whore, you were part of the State Dept so why aren't you writing a column about diplomacy instead of insisting that US troops must be on the ground in Iraq?"
Wendy Whore really hopes you don't make that connection.
She's a tiny-minded 'warrior' who wants to send our children to physically fight battles that her soft, cushy ass will never take part in.
Wendy Whore is a cancer on democracy.
Kata'ib Hezbollah was defined as a terrorist organization by the Obama administration July 2, 2009 so, Wendy Whore, where were the objections when they were made a part of the Iraqi military? That happened under Barack. Many objected -- we objected here -- and it wasn't an issue to Barack or any of his underlings -- not even Wendy Whore. Now the chickens come home to roost, to quote Barack's one-time pastor, and Wendy Whore thinks she can show up and pretend like this whole bloody history didn't take place.
Wendy Whore, your bravado is embarrassing.
Two days after the US Embassy in Baghdad is stormed, Queen Useless slithers out from her rock to the pages of USA TODAY. Yes, Wendy Sherman who has never had anything to say about Iraq is now an expert because she was part of the people working on the Iran deal in the Obama administration. Queen Piss Wendy wants you to know:
It is President Donald Trump’s failed policy toward Iran that has brought us to this combustible moment.
Iraq
is a tough country under any circumstances, made more so after the 2003
U.S. invasion that upended the Middle East and cost so much in U.S.
lives and treasure. But Iraq also created strange bedfellows. The U.S.
troops worked alongside Iraqi and Iranian militia to destroy a common
enemy, the Islamic State group. And even as the United States was
confronting Iran over its nuclear program and malign behavior elsewhere,
we maintained an uneasy coexistence in Iraq, where Tehran holds
considerable sway.
Noticing a lot of Iran in the above? It only gets worse as you read along. Wendy can't talk Iraq because she's just too stupid so she talks Iran over and over and pretends she's writing about Iraq. Some will be fooled by the whore. Hopefully, some will catch how she's distracting.
One problem in Iraq, right now, goes to the militias (plural, Wendy) being folded into the Iraqi army. That's got nothing to do with Donald Trump. It does have everything to do with Barack Obama but you'll never tell that truth will you?
Another problem, the popular unrest? It also goes to Barack.
The Iraqi people are not represented by the government. This is not a new issue.
Iraq has been ruled by US appointed exiles who fled Iraq and only returned after the US-led invasion. They have destroyed the country and that probably was why the US backed them to begin with -- keep the Iraqi people off balance, they can't object to the theft of their treasures.
In 2010, despite violence, despite threats, the Iraqi people went to the polls in March and voted. They voted thug Nouri out of office. Bully Boy Bush had installed thug Nouri in the spring of 2006 and he was installed over others because the CIA assessment was that with Nouri's paranoia issues, he'd be easy to manipulate.
The Iraqi people voted him out in March of 2010. How'd he end up with a second term in November of 2010, Wendy?
Nouri refused to step down creating the political stalemate that lasted over eight months.
Instead of standing for democracy as many (including Gen Ray Odierno) advised, Barack and Joe decided to overturn the Iraqi people's vote and give Nouri a second term.
Election interference? Not Barack and Joe!
They were behind the US-negotiated Erbil Agreement that gave the loser Nouri a second term. And Joe then went to Iraq to sell it and in his usual stupidity Joe tried to lecture the Iraqi leaders about the IRA -- Irish Republican Army -- because, well, of course Joe would have a long winded story that had nothing to do with the topic.
Maybe he just should have told them about Cornpop?
The protests today stem from the fact that Iraq has been denied self-rule -- even when they vote their leaders out of office, the US government overrules them.
Want to talk about that, Wendy? Of course, you don't. Whores don't deal in honesty.
"Iran nuclear deal was solid progress," Wendy wants to insist as though that has anything to do with the conversation at hand. Whores.
She's a whore stroking her War On and bound and determined that no US troops will leave Iraq.
Kata'ib Hezbollah, she tells us, "want the 5,000 American troops out of the country. But perhaps even Pompeo understands that a longer term challenge remains, and thus his change of travel plans. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to withdraw American troops from just about everywhere. However, a withdrawal from Iraq at this moment only serves Iran’s desire to exert greater control over Iraq. To much of the world, it would signal U.S. disengagement and weakness -- not strength."
If whores were forced to tell the truth, the world would be better off. If the garbage that is USA TODAY would fact check their opinion columnists, the world would be better off.
Kata'ib Hezbollah wants US troops out of Iraq? Yes, and the Iraqi people do as well.
The Iraqi people? As usual, a whore like Wendy leaves them and their needs out of the picture.
She can whine for paragraphs about her Iran deal -- and she does -- but heaven forbid she use a paragraph to address the needs of the Iraqi people. They'll do what she tells them to, apparently.
And that, after all, is how we've arrived at this point. Whores like Wendy who are going to tell another country what to do. Whores like Wendy who will risk the lives of the children of America so that the Iraqi people can be bossed around.
And whores like Wendy will then pass off the terror they inflict as 'liberation' and 'democracy.'
There's no reason for US troops to be in Iraq.
Wendy Whore wants to blame Donald Trump. His crime, as she notes, is that he "has repeatedly said he wants to withdraw American troops from just about everywhere."
Bullies like Wendy Whore use the presence of US troops to intimidate, to blackmail, to coerce.
How fitting that Wendy Whore served under 'reporting for duty' John Kerry. The toy soldier of the State Dept who never believed in diplomacy and thought he was actually Secretary of Defense.
Grasp that the US Embassy in Baghdad is the most fortified US embassy in the world. Grasp that it was supposedly impenetrable. Turns out, not really. That's why the US Ambassador was evacuated from it this week.
This reality should lead people to ponder the mission -- forever undefined -- and the continued presence of US troops.
Wendy Whore doesn't want anyone to ask questions. She certainly doesn't want anyone to say, "Hey, Wendy Whore, you were part of the State Dept so why aren't you writing a column about diplomacy instead of insisting that US troops must be on the ground in Iraq?"
Wendy Whore really hopes you don't make that connection.
She's a tiny-minded 'warrior' who wants to send our children to physically fight battles that her soft, cushy ass will never take part in.
Wendy Whore is a cancer on democracy.
Kata'ib Hezbollah was defined as a terrorist organization by the Obama administration July 2, 2009 so, Wendy Whore, where were the objections when they were made a part of the Iraqi military? That happened under Barack. Many objected -- we objected here -- and it wasn't an issue to Barack or any of his underlings -- not even Wendy Whore. Now the chickens come home to roost, to quote Barack's one-time pastor, and Wendy Whore thinks she can show up and pretend like this whole bloody history didn't take place.
Wendy Whore, your bravado is embarrassing.
US Embassy in Baghdad fire damage seen in new photos following militants' attack
- Iraqi Badr Corps Chief Who Led Today’s Raid On US Embassy In Baghdad — Was Once Invited To White House By Barack Obama statedepartmentwatch.org/2020/01/01/ira… via @State Department Watch
US embassy in Baghdad
The United States authorized the deployment of an infantry battalion
from the Immediate Response Force (IRF) of the 82nd Airborne Division to
the US Central Command area of operations in response to recent events
near the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, announced Secretary of Defense
Mark Esper.
In a statement, Esper indicated that approximately 750 soldiers will deploy to the region immediately and additional forces from the IRF are prepared to deploy over the next several days.
In a statement, Esper indicated that approximately 750 soldiers will deploy to the region immediately and additional forces from the IRF are prepared to deploy over the next several days.
Greg Myre and Larry Kaplow (NPR) offer:
Since early October, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been protesting against their government. Many are young citizens seeking real representation in a political system dominated by sectarian parties with corrupt leaders. They decry the stagnant economy. And they rally against foreign influence — namely Iran. Some demonstrators burned down an Iranian Consulate in southern Iraq in November.
Those protesters are not the same as the militia members and supporters who attacked the U.S. Embassy. In fact, the Iranian-backed militias have opposed and even opened fire on the popular protests. Hundreds have been killed since October.
Iraqi security forces appeared to go easier on the militias on Tuesday, letting them into the Green Zone. The Iraqi government forces have opened fired on the other protesters attempting the same thing.
One result of last week’s U.S. airstrikes against the militia was this: Whereas many Iraqis had focused their anger on Iran, the airstrikes helped shift that anger back at the U.S. The airstrikes were widely condemned throughout Iraqi politics and made America look like it was once again a foreign power meddling in their affairs.
That last paragraph? Yeah, the Condi Rice effect. When you don't know how to leave well enough alone so you end up blowing your advantage. Zoe Drewett (UK MIRROR) notes:
Clashes continued on Wednesday when demonstrators hurled stones while US forces fired tear gas. But the demonstrators finally ended their siege after commanders of the Popular Mobilization Force (PMF), of which Kataeb Hezbollah is a member, asked its supporters to stand down. It said in a statement: ‘You delivered your message.’
Emma Sky (THE NATIONAL) observes:
So far, over 521 Iraqi protesters have been killed by sniper shots to the heart and gas canisters to the head fired by Iraqi security forces and pro-Iranian Shia militias. Around 21,000 have been wounded.
The outcome of this confrontation will have consequences not only for the Iraqi people but also for the region.
To date, the protests, now in their fourth month, have brought about the resignation of the prime minister, the passing by parliament of a new election law, and the torching of Iranian consulates and buildings of pro-Iranian groups.
The contest between Iraq’s people and its politicians is likely to come to a head in 2020. And while the first round may have been won by the people – there is no guarantee that they will triumph in the end.
In the largest grassroots mobilisation since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, young Iraqis have taken to the streets of Baghdad and southern cities to express their frustration at government corruption, poor public services, unemployment and Iranian interference. The protesters were initially young men from the deprived Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr City. However, following the violent response of the Iraqi government and Iranian-backed militias, they were joined by students, civil society groups and middle-class professionals. Through the organisation of food, security, media, music and murals – and with the participation of women – the protesters are creating the sort of society they wish to live in, and building a new sense of citizenship and belonging from the bottom up.
The demonstrators are calling for not only a change of politicians but also for the replacement of the political system which they hold responsible for keeping the country in a cycle of repression and insurgency. Introduced by the US-led coalition, the post-2003 order was supposed to ensure pluralism but instead institutionalised sectarianism with positions allocated according to quotas, muhassassa. The system evolved into a kleptocracy in which Iraq’s political elites divide up the country’s oil wealth between them, with ministries serving as fiefdoms to provide patronage to those connected to parties and militias. Large contracts are awarded to companies that are close to the politicians – and fraud results in poor delivery of basic services.
Search in vain for Wendy Whore addressing any of the above issues. But USA TODAY serves her up as a valid voice.
Doug Silliman is a former US Ambassador to Iraq and he spoke with Mary Louise Kelly on NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED yesterday. And he notes that it was the host country's duty to protect the embassy and that they failed to do so.
Some rush in with stupidity. We once had such high hopes for Chris Murphy. Once. The Senator's stupidity knows no bounds.
Really hard to overstate how badly Trump has bungled things in the Middle East. One of the only good things going - anti-Iran street protests in Iraq - have now morphed into anti-U.S. protests thanks to Trump's mishandling of Iran policy.
These are two different sets of protesters. It's really stupid to condense them into one group. It's also insulting to those real protesters who have risked their lives for months to demand freedom.
Chris Murphy should really try to inform himself before speaking.
The following year end pieces went up in the community:
2019 in film -- Ann and Stan
1 day ago
And the following sites updated:
New Year Reads
17 hours ago
Happy New Year
1 day ago
I believe it
1 day ago
Iraq
1 day ago
We need Bernie
1 day ago