Octopus Overlords

Iraq's Shiite-led government issued an arrest warrant Monday for Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, the country's highest ranking Sunni official, on terrorism charges.

The move, a day after the last U.S. troops left Iraq and ended the nearly nine-year war, signaled a sharp new escalation in sectarian tensions that drove Iraq to the brink of civil war just a few years ago.
...
Al-Hashemi is one of the leaders of the Sunni-backed political bloc Iraqiya, which has just suspended its participation in parliament to protest the control of key posts by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The boycott decision by Iraqiya, headed by Ayad Allawi, was in response to the government's failure to share more powers, particularly the authorities over the security forces, said Sunni lawmaker Hamid al-Mutlaq, a member of the bloc.
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The dispute is a reminder that the U.S. left behind an Iraq still riven by sectarian division. The United States completed its withdrawal from the country, with the last troops crossing the border into neighboring Kuwait early Sunday.

Al-Mutlaq warned that Iraqiya could take a further step if its demands are not met — pulling its seven ministers out of al-Maliki's coalition government.

In a statement issued Saturday, Iraiqiya criticized the "unjustified" random arrests conducted by the government's security forces against Sunni areas.

Bombings that targeted civilians killed at least 57 people in Baghdad amid an escalation of political infighting in Iraq that has followed the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The attacks yesterday also injured 176, Ziad Tariq, a spokesman for the Health Ministry, said by phone from the capital. Residential areas, schools and shops were hit, said Qassim Atta al-Mousawi, spokesman for the security forces in Baghdad. The blasts took place in mainly Shiite Muslim areas, where security forces cordoned off neighborhoods and some businesses shut for the day.

“The timing of the crimes and the choice of their areas confirms again to all those in doubt the political nature of the objectives that these people want to achieve,” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a statement on his website. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Holman wrote:War Nerd piece from 2007: Who Won Iraq?

GreenGoo wrote:

Holman wrote:War Nerd piece from 2007: Who Won Iraq?

I was against Iraq from the start and extremely happy we stayed out (despite following and supporting the US in Afghanistan), and I thought that article was almost pure garbage. There were a few points in there, but not many.

Holman wrote:You mean you *don't* believe Dick Cheney is actually an Iranian mole?

Isgrimnur wrote:Ah, the thread where we get to munch on popcorn and get the ringside seat for the fallout from the withdrawal of our forces.



First up: VP arrested on terrorism charges:

Iraq's Shiite-led government issued an arrest warrant Monday for Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, the country's highest ranking Sunni official, on terrorism charges.

The move, a day after the last U.S. troops left Iraq and ended the nearly nine-year war, signaled a sharp new escalation in sectarian tensions that drove Iraq to the brink of civil war just a few years ago.
...
Al-Hashemi is one of the leaders of the Sunni-backed political bloc Iraqiya, which has just suspended its participation in parliament to protest the control of key posts by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The boycott decision by Iraqiya, headed by Ayad Allawi, was in response to the government's failure to share more powers, particularly the authorities over the security forces, said Sunni lawmaker Hamid al-Mutlaq, a member of the bloc.
...
The dispute is a reminder that the U.S. left behind an Iraq still riven by sectarian division. The United States completed its withdrawal from the country, with the last troops crossing the border into neighboring Kuwait early Sunday.

Al-Mutlaq warned that Iraqiya could take a further step if its demands are not met — pulling its seven ministers out of al-Maliki's coalition government.

In a statement issued Saturday, Iraiqiya criticized the "unjustified" random arrests conducted by the government's security forces against Sunni areas.

Iraq's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political leaders have squared off over the December arrest warrant for al-Hashimi, Iraq's top Sunni political figure. In a January interview with CNN, al-Hashimi accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki -- a Shiite -- of pushing the country toward a deep sectarian divide.

In February, Iraq's top judicial committee accused al-Hashimi's security detail of carrying out 150 attacks against security forces and civilians between 2005 and 2011. Al-Hashimi said the nine-judge council was under the control of the Shiite-dominated central government and has denied the charges, calling them "politically motivated."

Charges against al-Hashimi appear to be based on the purported confessions of three men, identified as the vice president's security guards. Iraqi state television aired video of the confessions in December, but CNN has not been able to verify the men's identities independently...

...al-Hashimi argued he had been denied the right to defend himself fairly in court. He also claimed he still held the post of Iraqi vice president.

"Some of the media call Mr. Hashimi as fugitive. I am not," he said, adding, "I'm still in my position as a vice president."

Fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi today rejected the death sentence meted against him yesterday by an Iraqi court, calling the verdict a political vendetta by the prime minister's office.

Mr. Hashemi, who, along with his son-in-law Ahmed Qahtan, was sentenced to hang for allegedly organizing the murders of a lawyer and a Shiite security official, said the ruling was the result of a political campaign by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to eliminate his rivals and consolidate dictatorial power, reports the Associated Press.
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Hashemi was a long-standing critic of the Maliki administration even before murder charges were laid against him in December, within a week of the US military's departure from Iraq. In an extensive interview with the Monitor's Dan Murphy published yesterday, Hashemi warned that Maliki's government is a worse human rights offender than Saddam Hussein's.
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CNN notes that the verdict is apt to further sour Iraq's relationship with Turkey, where Hashemi has been given sanctuary. After Hashemi's sentence was announced, the Turkish foreign ministry said that he was welcome to stay in the country as long as he wished. Ankara and Baghdad are already at odds over Syria and over the Kurdish separatist group PKK, which has launched attacks into Turkey from Iraq.

1. I thought the Iraq war was over. Why is there still fighting?

Well, actually last year was the deadliest since 2008.... tensions continue to be fueled by widespread discontent among the Sunnis.

2. Wait, I thought al Qaeda was on the run? Now they control parts of Iraq?

The U.S. made impressive gains in weakening the so-called "core al Qaeda" leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but affiliate groups, specifically in Iraq, are gaining strength.

Since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops, the Sunni-led group tied to al Qaeda, known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), has staged a comeback amid Iraq's growing sectarian tensions...

...Conflicting reports say ISIS this weekend captured the western city of Falluja and took control of most parts of the principal capital of Ramadi. Iraqi troops are now battling insurgents in both places for control.

3. Falluja and Ramadi were pretty important to the U.S. during the Iraq war. Isn't the U.S. going to help?

Kerry said Sunday the U.S. would help the Iraqis in their fight against al Qaeda, but "this is their fight."

4. What does Syria have to do with it?

The international community has long been concerned about spillover from the civil war in Syria, and the conflict is clearly helping to fuel violence and tensions in neighboring and tensions in Iraq. ISIS was formerly known as al Qaeda in Iraq but was renamed to reflect its growing ambitions in Syria and Lebanon...Anbar province shares a 400-mile border with Syria and because of the power vacuum there, ISIS fighters move back and forth between the countries and mount attacks on both sides of the border. But with recent setbacks in Syria, ISIS has increased its attention to Iraq.

5. I heard these ISIS guys are in Lebanon, too? This region is a mess.

There are signs ISIS may have its sights on Lebanon as well. The group said it carried out a suicide bombing on Thursday in a Hezbollah-controlled southern suburb of Beirut...

Iraq, Syria and Lebanon are all seen by many experts as proxy wars between Shiite Iran and Saudi Arabia, a Sunni nation. A full-blown civil war in Iraq, in addition to Syria, could further increase sectarian tensions and destabilize the region.

The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, a study released on Thursday said.

The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number, according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

When security forces, insurgents, journalists and humanitarian workers were included, the war's death toll rose to an estimated 176,000 to 189,000, the study said.

Holman wrote:Update!

It looks like the waiter brought the check: $2,000,000,000,000.

The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, a study released on Thursday said.

The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number, according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

When security forces, insurgents, journalists and humanitarian workers were included, the war's death toll rose to an estimated 176,000 to 189,000, the study said.

The estimate for all of our post-9/11 wars now stands at close to $4 trillion, with total deaths at between 275,000 and 329,000.

Pyperkub wrote:Bzzt! Wrong answer!

Holman wrote:Update!

It looks like the waiter brought the check: $2,000,000,000,000.

The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, a study released on Thursday said.

The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number, according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

When security forces, insurgents, journalists and humanitarian workers were included, the war's death toll rose to an estimated 176,000 to 189,000, the study said.

The estimate for all of our post-9/11 wars now stands at close to $4 trillion, with total deaths at between 275,000 and 329,000.

Kraken wrote:
When did they stop counting? Iraqis are still dying at the rate of 700 or 800 a month and we are still giving Iraq aid.

Rip wrote:

Pyperkub wrote:Bzzt! Wrong answer!

Looks close to six trillion to me and we have a few trillion left before he is done.

In August 2010, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that extending the tax cuts for the 2011-2020 time period would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt, comprising $2.65 trillion in foregone tax revenue plus another $0.66 trillion for interest and debt service costs.[29]

Pyperkub wrote:

Rip wrote:

Pyperkub wrote:Bzzt! Wrong answer!

Looks close to six trillion to me and we have a few trillion left before he is done.

At least 3.3 Trillion of Obama's is the Bush Tax cuts:

In August 2010, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that extending the tax cuts for the 2011-2020 time period would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt, comprising $2.65 trillion in foregone tax revenue plus another $0.66 trillion for interest and debt service costs.[29]

4+ trillion in wars, plus the costs of the Bush Tax cuts in the 2001-2010 range puts us probably over $10 trillion in the hole under our good buddy who took a surplus and turned it into a 1.4trillion deficit AND a great recession with banks failing left and right as well as the rest of the economy, and stuck us with that ongoing tab.

Rip wrote:

Pyperkub wrote:

Rip wrote:

Pyperkub wrote:Bzzt! Wrong answer!

Looks close to six trillion to me and we have a few trillion left before he is done.

At least 3.3 Trillion of Obama's is the Bush Tax cuts:

In August 2010, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that extending the tax cuts for the 2011-2020 time period would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt, comprising $2.65 trillion in foregone tax revenue plus another $0.66 trillion for interest and debt service costs.[29]

4+ trillion in wars, plus the costs of the Bush Tax cuts in the 2001-2010 range puts us probably over $10 trillion in the hole under our good buddy who took a surplus and turned it into a 1.4trillion deficit AND a great recession with banks failing left and right as well as the rest of the economy, and stuck us with that ongoing tab.

If he didn't like the cuts he could have ended them. He is the president after all, he can do what he wants.

So, you think we can't afford Obama, as he attempts to clean up the mess. Here you go:

2 unpaid for wars: $4.4 Trillion +

Unpaid for Tax Cuts: $6.4 Trillion +

Leaving the bill to a Democrat to pay... just like Daddy did?

Priceless!

Redfive wrote:Please define the concept of unpaid for tax cut

gbasden wrote:

Redfive wrote:Please define the concept of unpaid for tax cut

A tax cut without associated reduction in spending so that the end result is a higher deficit?

Redfive wrote:

gbasden wrote:

Redfive wrote:Please define the concept of unpaid for tax cut

A tax cut without associated reduction in spending so that the end result is a higher deficit?

That's a totally spin worthy name and comparison but you would get no argument from me about the practical application of that phrase with regard to the Republican approved spending orgy during Bush's years.

Militants seized control of the airport, TV stations and the governor's offices in Iraq's second-largest city as police and soldiers ran away from their posts Tuesday, a stunning collapse of the security forces that has raised questions about Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ability to hold the country together.

Thousands of people -- some carrying plastic bags, others pushing carts -- have fled the fighting in Mosul, creating a humanitarian crisis that has caught the government off guard.

The militants are believed to be members of the extremist group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, an al Qaeda splinter group also known by its acronym ISIS. Many foreign fighters are believed to be among their number, senior police officials said.

The fighting that began five days ago culminated with the militants taking control of security checkpoints, military bases and a prison, where they freed up to 1,000 prisoners, authorities said.
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Earlier, the speaker of Iraq's parliament said that a "foreign invasion" of the country was under way by "terrorist groups" and that the northern province of Nineveh, of which Mosul is the capital, was under "total occupation."

Speaking at a news conference in Baghdad, Osama al-Nujaifi appeared to point the finger at the central government, accusing security forces of abandoning Mosul when the fighting began.

Al-Nujaifi said security forces "abandoned their weapons, their tanks and their bases and left them to terrorist groups, even Mosul airport." He also said gunmen had taken over ammunition storage facilities.

The speaker, whose brother Atheel al-Nujaifi is the governor of Nineveh province, said the central government had been warned over the past few weeks that militant groups were gathering but had taken no preventive action.

Sepiche wrote:
We'll see how things play out, but I suspect Isis has overplayed it's hand with seizing Mosul.

The extent of the Iraqi army's defeat at the hands of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) became clear on Wednesday when officials in Baghdad conceded that insurgents had stripped the main army base in the northern city of Mosul of weapons, released hundreds of prisoners from the city's jails and may have seized up to $480m in banknotes from the city's banks.

Iraqi officials told the Guardian that two divisions of Iraqi soldiers – roughly 30,000 men – simply turned and ran in the face of the assault by an insurgent force of just 800 fighters. Isis extremists roamed freely on Wednesday through the streets of Mosul, openly surprised at the ease with which they took Iraq's second largest city after three days of sporadic fighting.

Senior government officials in Baghdad were equally shocked, accusing the army of betrayal and claiming the sacking of the city was a strategic disaster that would imperil Iraq's borders.