Sunday, January 17, 2010

The puzzling disqualifications

"The disqualification of Iraq’s defense minister, Abdul-Kader Jassem al-Obeidi, appeared most puzzling of all. He has run the ministry since 2006, by most accounts capably, and is running as a candidate on Mr. Maliki’s coalition. A spokesman for the ministry, Brig. Gen. Ali Salih, declined to comment on Sunday, but said a response was expected Monday.

...The accountability commission, a remnant of the original committee created to purge Iraq’s government ministries of former leaders of the Baath Party after the American invasion in 2003, appeared to be digging in.

Its chairman, Ali Faisal al-Lami, stood by the disqualifications in spite of the furor, and the country’s election commission has, so far, agreed. Mr. Lami previously headed the de-Baathification committee, as it was known, until his arrest in 2008. Once he was released in August, he returned to the new commission.

In a statement on Sunday, Mr. Lami’s commission accused the United Nations of interfering in Iraq. The United Nations, with the United States, has lobbied against the disqualifications."

The "Angry Arabs" are not angry about US interference here, probably.

16 comments :

Iraqi Mojo said...

Ahmad Chalabi is behind the disqualifications.

A post by Ali Faisal Al Lami, Executive Director at the Debaathification Committee:

'I was a follower of the late Sayyed Mohammed Mohammed Al Sadir, father of Sayyed Muqtada Al Sadir. After the liberation I worked as a deputy to a member of the US-appointed Governing Council member Sheikh Abdul Kareem Mahood (Abu Hatem) when I first met with Dr. Ahmad Chalabi. I was under the impression that he was a lackey of the Americans and did their bidding without question. I soon discovered the true relationship between Dr. Ahmad Chalabi and the Americans from the way he stood up for Iraqi interests and confronted Ambassador Bremer at every turn when Iraqis were mistreated, threatened or humiliated by the American occupiers. I became increasingly anxious about the attitude of Bremer and his associates towards Dr. Ahmad Chalabi and their tendency of using violence against him. This came to pass in May 2004 when he was nearly killed by an American-led raid on his home and office on the 20th of May 2004.

I am always questioning myself and I am proposing this questioning to public opinion. Is it possible that US civil organizations which are working in Iraq would behave in this heinous way because of my relation with a person whom I believe that he is honest, patriotic and efficient? I have come to realize that without Dr. Ahmad Chalabi, Saddam Hussein would have never been brought down. I also came to realize that his contribution to resolving violent conflicts by negotiations. Also I believed that if it was not for Ahmad Chalabi, there will be no sovereignty for Iraq (although Iraqi sovereignty is still violated due to behavior of Iraqi political forces). Also it should be realized if it was not for Ahmad Chalabi the shedding of blood between Iraq's different sectors will continue.

A testimony on this is Chalabi's reconciliatory stance between the Iraqi Government and the Sadrists which led to the cessation of the fighting and the blood in Najaf and the rest of the areas in different provinces in Iraq. I am very disappointed and dismayed that Chalabi's goodwill mediation in Spring 2008 in which I participated between the Shia militants, the Iraqi Government and the US led Coalition would be tuned into a conspiracy against us.

Dr. Chalabi has played an effective role in forming civil society organizations which have effectively participated in the reduction of and the return of thousands of Iraqi families who were forcefully deported from their hones in Baghdad. Does it make sense that I pay the price for my support to this by fabricating false charges against me? Does it make sense that I was blackmailed in order to conspire against Ahmad Chalabi? "

Iraqi Mojo said...

"The two commissions are dominated by officials appointed by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, so it’s not surprising that many Iraqis believe that the prime minister’s Shiite-dominated government is disqualifying large numbers of political rivals, particularly Mr. Mutlaq, who had already allied himself with Ayad Allawi, a former prime minister widely considered Mr. Maliki’s most dangerous foe. There is no evidence of this, but the perception is widespread and in Iraq, perception can do as much damage as reality. Meanwhile, many informed Americans and Iraqis are pointing to Ahmed Chalabi, the one-time political favorite of the Bush administration, as the real culprit. Mr. Chalabi, they say, is trying to manipulate the elections to become prime minister by default.

It’s true that many of the disqualified politicians were once Baathists. But Iraq needs reconciliation, not payback. Any bans must be careful, selective and well-explained. They should not disqualify people like the defense minister — a former Baathist, but one who turned against the party in the 1990s and was imprisoned and tortured by the regime. Moreover, in recent years he has served the new Iraqi government loyally."

Habis said...

Stupid have you decided if you are going to go to Iraq and help the puppet police? You said you were thinking about it, but if you do not make up your mind soon we might begin to think you are thinking long and hard because deep down you are scared, never had any intention of going, and you just threw out that sentence for fun.

Apostate said...

Habis, you moron, have you considered the possibility that, unlike you, Mojo has a life, and can't just fly off to places at short notice. Why don't YOU go to Iraq and comfort your Baathist hero Chemical Ali in his final days.

Dolly said...

Here is a sick article, showing what Iraqi traitors are allied with:
US magazine claims Guantanamo inmates were killed during questioning

Iraqi Mojo said...

'When the three men – Salah Ahmed al-Salami, 37, a Yemeni, and two Saudis, Talal al-Zahrani, 22, and Mani Shaman al-Utaybi, 30 – died in June 2006, the camp's commander declared that they had committed suicide and that this had been "an act of asymmetrical warfare", rather than one of desperation.'

Two Saudis and a Yemeni were strangled to death at Gitmo? Damn, cry me a riverbend. Perhaps it is better that they committed "suicide" in Gitmo rather than actually committing suicide in an Iraqi market, or at an Iraqi police station.

Iraqi Mojo said...

June 2008: "Al-‘Ajmi, the ex-Guantanamo guy, is seemingly responsible for an earlier truck bombing at the Iraqi Army HQ in the Harmat neighborhood of Mosul on March 23, 2008 that left 13 Iraqi soldiers dead and 30 injured, including 12 civilians. At least six of the dead soldiers were from Iraq’s Yezidi minority.

Today, there was another suicide bombing targeting a police station in Mosul that left scores dead and injured. I wonder if today's terrorist was yet another Kuwaiti or Saudi that had been released from Guantanamo..." --Nibras Kazimi

Iraqi Mojo said...

"A Yemeni, Al-Salami had quit his job and moved to Pakistan with only $400 in his pocket. "

Quit his job and moved to Pakistan. OK. If al Salami was innocent, Allah Yirhama. Dolly, what have the rich Saudis and Qataris been doing for the poor Yemenis?


"The fate of a fourth prisoner, a forty-two-year-old Saudi Arabian named Shaker Aamer, may be related to that of the three prisoners who died on June 9. Aamer is married to a British woman and was in the process of becoming a British subject when he was captured in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in 2001. United States authorities insist that he carried a gun and served Osama bin Laden as an interpreter. "

Now this guy's story sounds suspicious. He was married to a British woman and was in the process of becoming a British citizen, and he wanted to go to Jalalabad for what? Snowboarding?

Habis said...

So stupid has a life? Stupid must be lucky because over a million Iraqis do not have a life after being slaughtered by the US. So stupid should enjoy his life in California and stop cheering for the murder of Iraqis.

Habis said...

Stupid were you really considering going to Iraq with the US terrorist army? Or is that something just because you were feeling tough that moment. You told me you were thinking about it. You even mentioned you might be a little too old for that but would still go, and you also said even though your rifle skills are a little rusty because it has been so long since your rugged war days, lol, you would may still go fight.

I just want to know if you have reached that decision stupid. Obviously you are still in california blogging away for your two visitors but does that mean you are not going? Or are you still thinking about it stupid?

Iraqi Mojo said...

"Starbucks Jordanian partners responded that:

We are not here to comment on Howard Schultz as an individual, those are his personal circumstances. As a corporation we are a nonpolitical organisation and what is unanimous for both Starbucks and Howard Schultz is that any form of violence in the world is upsetting, particularly when there may be a personal connection to the region. "

I like the Jordanian flag with the Starbucks logo. Looks good! LOL

So Jordanian businessmen are allowed to be "nonpolitical", but if a cafe owner serves tea to Iraqi "puppet" police, then the cafe may be bombed by the "resistance". It is quite appropriate that Habis does not see the irony and hypocrisy.

Habis said...

So stupid you basically know nothing about Arabs and Muslims. You live in California and do not speak Arabic. You have nothing to contribute, no thought process, no insight, nothing at all. You cheer war. I also noticed how you went out to play with Arabs and came back with the name bow wow. Americans have attacked you and told you to leave. Arabs despise you. Iraqis find you disgusting and a traitor. How do you feel stupid? If I was you I would just shoot myself.

Iraqi Mojo said...

I have learned that Arabs and Muslims never really cared about Iraqis. I've learned they cared only for Saddam.

In Nov 2006 I wrote: "Until 2005, the Iraqi Shia for the most part did not retaliate against Sunni civilians, partly due to Sistani’s efforts to call for calm despite the mass murder of Shia and the numerous attacks on Shia mosques. In 2005 the Shia militias, evidently supported by the Interior Ministry, started rounding up ordinary Sunni men in Baghdad and jailing them without trial and often torturing them to death. Earlier this year, after the attack on the Askariya mosque in Samarra, Shia militias sharply escalated their attacks on Sunni civilians, and the sectarian violence has turned into a full blown civil war. Even Sistani is apparently no longer able to influence the Shia militias and politicians. The escalation of random sectarian violence by Shia militias has obviously aggravated the already tense situation in Iraq and has tainted the image of the Iraqi government. I hope to see Prime Minister Maliki fire Minister of the Interior Bayan Jabr**, who spent many years in Iran and has undoubtedly been influenced by the Iranian regime, like so many prominent members of the Iraqi government have. Maliki must crack down on all militias that target innocent Sunni civilians for the sake of Iraq, for the sake of justice. Maliki and his government should not be influenced by the Iranian regime, who may only want revenge against Sunni Arabs who worked for and supported Saddam’s regime. Most Sunni Arabs in Iraq are good people after all, and they do not deserve to be jailed or killed just because they are Sunni. Even among the Baathists there were many decent people who did not necessarily support the unjust policies of Saddam, and those decent ex-Baathists who spent many years working diligently for Saddam while silently denouncing his mayhem are still capable of participating in governing Iraq. The Prime Minister must pull those good Iraqis into the current government, and he must rid the government of people whose only interest is revenge."

Iraqi Mojo said...

العرب منافقين

Iraqi Mojo said...

Speaking of Christians and Arabs in America, I just saw that Doug Flutie is campaigning with the Republican candidate in the Massachusetts Senate race.

I just read this interesting factoid about Doug Flutie:

"Flutie was born in Catonsville, Maryland to Lebanese-American parents.[4]"

Anybody find it ironic that some Arab Americans vote Republican? I'm assuming that Doug Flutie's parents voted Republican.

Aton said...

Most adults vote republican.

I see the all American California kid, Habis, is ranting about Lebanese Christian grandmothers.

Brilliant Habis!