CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O IS STILL SWOONING OVER THE FEATHER KISSES STEVE KROFT GAVE HIM ON SUNDAY. AS A RESULT, HE'S DECIDED TO DO FOUR LOCAL TV INTERVIEWS. HE SAYS IDEALLY, HE'LL GET HIS SOFT BALLS RIGHT BEFORE THE NIGHT'S WINNING LOTTO NUMBERS ARE ANNOUNCED.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Today NATO issued (link is text and video) a statement announcing they would be doing no more training in Iraq.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen: NATO has decided to withdraw the training mission from Iraq by the 31st of December this year when the current mandate of the mission expires. Agreement on the extension of this successful program did not prove possible despite robust negotiations over several weeks. NATO remains fully committed to our partnership and political relationship with Iraq through our existing Structured Cooperation Framework. The NATO Training Mission in Iraq, which started in 2004 at the request of the Iraqi authorities, has been a success. Our trainers can be very proud of what they have achieved over the last seven years, contributing to Iraq's security capacity and helping to develop a more sustainable, multi-ethnic security force. Since 2004, we have trained over 5,000 military personnel and over 10,000 police personnel in Iraq and provided over 115 million euro worth of military equipment. We're determined to build on the success and the spirit of our Training Mission to further strengthen our partnership and political relationship with Iraq, so that together we can continue to contribute to regional peace and stability, which is beneficial for the whole international community.
AFP notes, "On November 29, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraq was studying a contract to extend NATO's presence in Iraq beyond the year's end, but noted that such a deal would not grant its troops immunity from prosecution." David Brunnstorm and Alistair Lyon (Reuters) report that NATO has approximately 100 trainers in Iraq currently and quote an unnamed official stating, "Our minimum line was that if we are asking our people to live and work in another country, we need to maintain our own jurisdiction over them. It wasn't possible to agree to that." Before the announcement, Dar Addustour reported this morning the deal was off and that the sticking point was immunity. As Al Rafidayn notes, news that the deal was off leaked out Sunday though NATO issued denials. Sunday was when, Al Mada observes, Faleh al-Fayad, the National Security Adviser, declared that Iraq regretted NATO had decided to withdraw from Iraq over the issue of immunity.
In other news, Alsumaria TV reports:
Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama Al Nujaifi considered, on Monday, that keeping 15 thousand employees at the US embassy in Iraq after US troops' withdrawal is illogical. This issue requires answers from Iraqi government, Nujaifi revealed indicating that the parliament will host Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki to discuss Security Forces' readiness at his return from Washington.
"Under diplomatic representation and bilateral relations' exchange in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement signed with Iraq, it is illogical to have 15 thousand employees at the US embassy after US troops' withdrawal from Iraq," Osama Al Nujaifi told a press conference attended by Alsumarianews at the parliament building.
"Under diplomatic representation and bilateral relations' exchange in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement signed with Iraq, it is illogical to have 15 thousand employees at the US embassy after US troops' withdrawal from Iraq," Osama Al Nujaifi told a press conference attended by Alsumarianews at the parliament building.
That US State Dept battalion of employees was also raised in a debate over the weekend. Saturday ABC hosted a debate of those vying for the Republican presidential nomination. Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos moderated.
US House Rep Ron Paul: Well -- well I want to -- extend the tax cut, because if you don't, you raise the taxes. But I want to pay for it. And it's not that difficult. In my proposal, in my budget, I want to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from overseas. The trust fund is gone. But how are we gonna restore it? We have to quit the spending. We have to quit this being the policemen of the world. We don't need another war in Syria and another war in Iran. Just get rid of the embassy in Baghdad. We're pretending we're coming home from Baghdad. We built an embassy there that cost a billion dollars and we're putting 17,000 contractors in there and pretending our troops are coming home. I could save and we don't have to raise taxes on Social Security -- on the -- on the -- on the -- on the tax --
That's kind of from the ABC official transcript. When I attend a hearing and we cover it here, I try to be accurate. There are times when I can barely keep my eyes open out of boredom and if someone's uh-uh-ing, I won't include it because in my notes that I take, I'm just trying to get through the hearing. But most of the time, we do capture it. I think, to be accurate, you need to. Sometimes the uh-uh (or whatever) is not merely a manner of speaking but indicative of something -- such as a witness who works for the government trying to think of way to answer without actually answering.
So when there was the mini-drama over AP's transcript of Barack last month, I did have to wonder how pathetic some people's lives were that they needed to wrongly call the Associated Press racist because Barack clearly dropping the "g"s at the end of his words was noted in the transcript. It should have been. If that's how he speaks -- and it was how he was speaking -- then it should be noted. So should you starting over in the middle of a sentence. Such as: "So should you -- So should you starting over in the middle of a sentence." I expect transcripts to be accurate. I had that expectation when Bush was in the White House. I have it now.
A news outlet that does a transcript needs to be accurate. I have changed ABC News' official transcript because Ron Paul did not say, for example, "wanna." "Gonna"? Yes, he says that once. But he never says "wanna." Click here for the Ron Paul highlights. When I heard what was in the ABC transcript, I thought, "That's not how he speaks. But I was not about to stream that entire debate. The link goes to just Ron Paul's parts of the debate. Repeating, that did not sound like how he speaks from Congressional hearings I've attended. And if you stream the video, you'll see he's not saying "wanna" and "gonna" and I forget the other thing I corrected. But when Ron Paul says "want to," he usually goes up a note on the "to," something I noticed back in 2006 and why I doubted ABC's transcript to begin with.
I'm not calling it "racism" but I am saying that transcript is inaccurate with regards to Ron Paul and I think people are right to wonder if ABC News was attempting to make Ron Paul sound a certain way, a way that might make some believe he was less educated than he is. The press pattern with regards to Ron Paul makes the transcript distortion an issue.
Back to what he was saying.
US House Rep Ron Paul: Well -- well I want to -- extend the tax cut, because if you don't, you raise the taxes. But I want to pay for it. And it's not that difficult. In my proposal, in my budget, I want to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from overseas. The trust fund is gone. But how are we gonna restore it? We have to quit the spending. We have to quit this being the policemen of the world. We don't need another war in Syria and another war in Iran. Just get rid of the embassy in Baghdad. We're pretending we're coming home from Baghdad. We built an embassy there that cost a billion dollars and we're putting 17,000 contractors in there and pretending our troops are coming home.
Yes, a lot of people want to pretend things are different than they actually are. It was an important point -- made by someone who truly was against the Iraq War. And one of the few functioning members of the press noted that on yesterday's Meet The Press (NBC).
Ted Koppel: The point is Ron Paul was almost right last night. You remember, and it was one of the overlooked points in the debate, he spoke of the 17,000, he spoke about civilian contractors who are still in Iraq. We do have 17,000 people still in Iraq. They're not all civilian contractors, but a great many of them are. You've got a consulate in Basra, a consulate in Erbil. The one in Basra is just less than 20 miles from the Iranian border; 1,320 Americans down there. They are rocketed two or three times a week. They are about as vulnerable as any Americans have been since 1979 at the embassy in Tehran. And if they were to be frontally attacked, and I'm suggesting that that's not unlikely at all, you're going to see the U.S. military come back in. Because, while the ambassador said, "No, no, no, we're going to rely on the Iraqis to do the job," there is no way that the U.S. military will wait for the Iraqis to save those Americans, and they're going to need saving.
Also on Meet The Press, they highlighted a small segment of an interview Ted did with US Ambassador James Jeffery as part of a report to air tonight on Rock Center (NBC):
MR. KOPPEL: I realize you can't go into it in any detail, but I would assume that there is a healthy CIA mission here. I would assume that JSOC may still be active in this country, the joint special operations. You've got FBI here. You've got DEA here. Can, can you give me sort of a, a menu of, of who all falls under your control?
AMB. JAMES JEFFREY: You're actually doing pretty well, were I authorized to talk about half of this stuff.
Yes, the CIA will still be there (and in a new subdivision in Turkey) and so will Special Ops. And this has been addressed. But there aren't a lot of grown ups in the press. When Ted left Nightline, it wasn't just that program that suffered, it was the quality of news.
Rock Center airs tonight at 10:00 pm. EST and Pacific, 9:00 pm Central. Rock Center's Tom Bettag notes of Ted Koppel's report tonight:
But is America really leaving? Many people have the impression that the U.S. presence -- and U.S. government spending -- is finally ending in Iraq. Koppel makes it clear that this is far from the truth.
He tells the story of some 16,000 people who will be left behind. Koppel and his team obtained extraordinary access to the U.S. embassy, the largest embassy in the world, with a footprint the size of Vatican City. He also traveled to the U.S. consulate in Basra, which faces regular rocket attacks from Iranian-funded militia.
For them, it isn't over; it's just about to begin.
So grown ups should tune in to Rock Center tonight on NBC. You'll be informed with some realities. Realities just don't make a lot of the US outlets which is fully staffed with sycophants. Maybe Steve Kroft kicked off the latest wave of press nonsense with the interview of Barack that 60 Minutes (CBS) aired last night? Conor Friedersdorf (The Atlantic) offers a brilliant critique of the interview:
An interviewer determined to challenge a sitting president, as every interviewer of every president should do, could've asked what Obama thinks about the fact that his drone strikes in Pakistan are destabilizing a nuclear power and killing innocent children; or whether Solyndra got special treatment because of its insider connections; or what he thinks about the Fast and Furious scandal and what Eric Holder knew about it. Kroft could've challenged Obama to explain why he decided to proceed with military action in Libya even though it violated the War Powers Resolution, or asked him about the controversy surrounding federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries, or echoed the concerns that progressives have with his immigration policies.
But nope. Kroft asked none of those questions; nor did he press Obama about his views on indefinitely detaining American citizens; nor did he ask about the killing without due process of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American; nor did he ask about the controversy surrounding whether the morning-after pill should be available over-the-counter for people of all ages or not; nor did he ask about the private security contractors that America will pay to stay in Iraq after we leave; nor about the state secrets privilege; nor about aggressively prosecuting whistleblowers; nor about many other issues of concern to liberals, conservatives, and libertarians, all of whom have earnest complaints.
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