Tuesday, June 19, 2012

THIS JUST IN! CARNEY ON MESSAGE!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE



SUNDAY, CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O PLAYED HIS 100TH GAME OF GOLF SINCE BEING SWORN IN AS CELEBRITY IN CHIEF.

ASKED TO COMMENT ON THE CELEBRITY'S APPARENT FAILURE TO GRASP THE NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF HUGGER JAY CARNEY RESPONDED, "BARRY O KNOWS THAT IN THESE TIMES OF ECONOMIC WOES, AMERICA AND AMERICANS NEED TO KNOW THAT BARRY O CONTINUES TO LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST WHETHER BY JETTING HERE OR JETTING THERE, BY HOBKNOBBING WITH SARAH JESSICA PARKER OR WITH GEORGE CLOONEY, BY PLAYING GAMES OF BASKETBALL OR ROUNDS OF GOLF.  AMERICA NEEDS TO KNOW THAT THE ECONOMIC CRISIS IS NOTHING TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY AND WE BELIEVE BARRY O CONVEYS THAT DAILY."


FROM THE TCI WIRE:



 
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Special Envoy Angelina Jolie: Every minute, 8 people around the world are forced to flee their homes due to war and persecution.  No one chooses to be a refugee. Today, 43 million people worldwide have been displaced. We remember them.
 
Wednesday is World Refugee Day.  UNHCR notes that the last year alone saw an additional 800,000 refugees.  In the just released UNHCR Global Trends 2011, details such as 46% of refugees are under the age of 18, that three areas of concern are the displaced of Columbia, of the Democratic Republic of Congo and of Iraq, and that the Middle East and North Africa have a larger number of refugees than the Americas and and Asia and Pacific combined.  (Africa has the largest number of refugees with 2.1 million to the Middle East and North Africa's 1.9 million.) Through the end of last year, Iraq could claim 1,428,3000 refugees.  Only Afghanistan topped that figure (Afghanistan had 2.6 million).  Yesterday,  Oliver Maksan (Aid to the Church in Need) noted Iraqi Christian refugees in Jordan like Lina who declares, "I never want to go back to Iraq, ever." Why?  Because she was almost killed.  Because her nephew was among the many killed in the October 31, 2010 attack on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad. NPR's Deborah Amos has documented the refugee crisis and written the book on it with  Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East (now out in soft cover -- available at Amazon right now for $6.40).  We'll try to note World Refugee Day again tomorrow.
 
But turning to the big news of the day . . .
 
. . . the ridiculous nomination of Brett McGurk to be the US Ambassador to Iraq.
Andre Tartar (New York magazine) reported yesterday, "Just days after seven Republican senator on the Foreign Relations Committee urged President Obama to pick a new nominee for the ambassadorship to Iraq, the White House is doubling down on Brett McGurk.  Speaking on CNN's State of the Union this morning, senior White House adviser David Plouffe said, 'We've made this nomination and we think he will ably serve as ambassador'." Plouffe sounded as confident in the nomination as Gina Chon when she wrote in her fantasy e-mail, "The question I continue to have is when will the conversation return to issues?  Because when they do, I know Brett will become the next ambassador to Iraq."  She wasn't much of a reporter (the Wall St. Journal allowed her to save face by announcing her resignation last week) and it turns out she's not psychic either.
 
ABC News' Jake Tapper broke the news today that the nomination was no more. He quotes National Security Council spokesperson Tommy Vietor stating, "We greatly appreciate Brett's years of service on behalf of the United States, to include tireless and effective leadership in Iraq from the height of the war to the moment our last troops left Iraq in December and through the challenging transition earlier this year.  He served in two administrations, and his commitment to the national interest and to the mission was always clear.  He has proven himself to be a skilled diplomat willing to take on some of the toughest challenges at the toughest times in a difficult region.  While we regret to see Brett withdraw his candidacy there is no doubt that he will be called on again to serve the country." In addition, to six Republican Senators serving on the Foreign Relations Committee asking that the nomination be withdrawn, many Democrats also voiced concerns last week.  Senator John Kerry is the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee spoke of postponing the vote which was to be held tomorrow. The Washington Post reported Senator Barbara Boxer had serious resevations about McGurk. CNN's Ted Barrett and Paul Courson reported Senators Ben Cardin and Bob Casey were stating that further thought needed to go into the nomination. Peter Baker (New York Times) states that "few Senate Democrats were eager to lead a battle against Senate Republicans on his [McGurk's] behalf."  Andrea Mitchell (NBC News reporter and host of MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports) Tweeted:
 
 
mitchellreportsmitchellreports Until today @statedept was publically standing by #Brett McGurk now that he's "withdrawn" theyre referring q's to the white house2:57pm on 6/18/2012
 
 
CNN makes the news of the no-longer nomination a "Gut Check" for the day.  Jon Swaine (Telegraph of London) notes, "Flirtatious emails between Mr McGurk and Ms Chon from 2008, when both were working in Baghdad and married to different spouses, were leaked last month, throwing his nomination into crisis. [. . .]  Ms Chon, who worked at the Wall Street Journal, resigned last week after the newspaper said she had broken its in-house rules by sharing details of forthcoming articles with an outsider [McGurk]."  Among the questions McGurk would have faced had the process gone forward were what, if any, information was leaked to Gina Chon in her capacity as a reporter.  With leaks being a big issue in DC these days and with Chon and McGurk mentioning trading favors in their e-mails to one another, this issue was on the minds of some.  Ted Barrett and Kate Bolduan (CNN) point out, "In an e-mail to friends Friday, she said the e-mails she traded with McGurk 'which were exposed just before Brett's confirmation hearing reflected flirtatious banter and nothing more'."
 
Emily Heil (Washington Post) reminds, "The e-mails were not the only hurdle to Senate confirmation for McGurk. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had previously criticized his handling of U.S. policy in Iraq, including the inability of U.S. and Iraqi negotiators to reach a deal that would have left a small U.S. military presence behind."  There were many reasons not to support him.  That includes the e-mails which made it very unlikely that Iraqi women could access the US Embassy.  While stupid sob sisters in the US would huff, "They got married!," that doesn't mean a damn thing in Iraq.  That he entered into an affair with Chon while he was married and while she was does matter in Iraq.  And Iraqi women would have to fear accusations -- which could result in the so-called 'honor' killings -- if they didn't avoid the embassy.  In addition, as a community member in Tikrit pointed out early this morning, the e-mails meant that Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and other clerics probably wouldn't meet with him.  He wouldn't just be seen as a non-believer or follower of another religion, his actions portrayed in the e-mails would mean they would shun him.  You also have to wonder that since he was e-mailing Chon about his "blue balls" before they'd slept together or kissed, exactly how were US State Dept employees who were women going to be treated by new boss McGurk?  He couldn't speak Arabic.  Iraqiya -- the political slate that won the most votes in the 2010 elections -- was against him and lodged an official complaint objecting to his being the new US Ambassador.  
 
Then there were the statements he made at the hearings.  As we noted at Third two weeks ago:
 
 

McGurk took credit for the surge.  The only aspect of the surge that was successful was what Gen David Petraeus implemented and US service members carried out.  That was not what McGurk and other civilians were tasked with.  Their part of the surge?  The military effort was supposed to create a space that the politicians would put to good use by passing legislation.  It didn't happen.  McGurk's part of the surge was a failure.He revealed incredible ignorance about al Qaeda in Iraq and seemed unaware that, in 2011, then-CIA Director (now Secretary of Defense) Leon Panetta told Congress it amounted to less than 1,000 people or that in February of this year, the Director of National Intelligence declared that a significnat number (of that less than 1,000) had gone to Syria.Though the press has reported for years about Nouri's refusal to bring Sahwa members into the process (give them jobs) and how he refuses to pay these security forces (also known as "Awakenings" and "Sons of Iraq"), McGurk told Congress that Nouri was paying them all and had given government jobs to approximately 70,000.  (For point of reference, in 2008, Gen David Petraues told Congress there were approximately 91,000 Sahwa.)
 
Links go to the three snapshot where we reported on the hearing.  Those issues and more go to his qualifications.  He is not the 'expert' the White House has made him out to be.
 
Adam Entous and Janet Hook (Wall St. Journal) add, "Some Republican senators said Mr. McGurk lacked the experience to head a major embassy in a volatile region.  Mr. McGurk, 39 years old, hasn't served as ambassador to any other countries." They also quote James Jeffrey making some idiotic remarks.  Word to Jeffrey, when you're a US diplomat and you put your foot in your mouth like you did last week (signing the letter declaring Brett McGurk "the best man for the job" -- not person), probably a good idea to lower your profile. You have no idea how many women in the State Dept your little letter pissed off -- rightfully so.  Matthew Lee (AP) plays nice insisting Jeffrey "and his two predecssors in Baghdad" along with the administration "had staunchly defended McGurk as the right person for the job". But Matthew Lee is aware of the actual word choice since he reported on the letter Jeffrey, Chris Hill and Ryan Crocker sent, noting he was quoting from "a copy of the letter obtained by The Associated Press" when he included this statement the 'diplomats' signed off on, "Brett is the right man for the job."  Funny, at a time when Hillary Clinton is the second female Secretary of State, you might think the notion of "right man for the job" would have flown out the window.  Again, women at the State Dept, career employees, were not pleased with the letter and if Jeffrey feels the need to speak again, he might want to issue an apology for his word choice.  That would be the 'diplomatic' thing to do. 
 
He should have stepped down as soon as the e-mails became public.  It was idiotic not to.  What is acceptable in the US really didn't matter though CJR and others didn't seem to get it, so gripped with their own feelings of superiority and xenophobia.
 
What mattered was the way Iraqis would respond to a US Ambassador with that history.
 
That was the most important thing.  Not what the US press thought, what the Iraqis would think.  He was supposed to be the US Ambassador to Iraq but for some reason the US press repeatedly chose to ignore Iraqis and to ignore how Iraqis would react to him.   This is not a minor thing and the host country should be considered with all nominations.  That doesn't mean, for example, we don't nominate an openly gay person to be an ambassador to a country where there is tremendous homophobia.  It does mean that we have to be aware of it and we have to ask, "Can we send a message that helps the LGBT community in the host country with this potential pick?"  If we can, it can very well be worth it.
 
The US government, with the illegal war, turned Iraq over to exile thugs and thugs.  They did so at the expense of Iraq's educated class (why do you think the 'brain drain' took place to begin with -- they left because of who the US installed).  In the process, they destroyed the rights of women and they turned a secular country into a fundamentalist one.  And someone thought the answer was to send an adulterer -- who committed adultry in the host country?  Do they not get how insulting that was?  Does no one in the administration understand the Arab world?
 
Today Reuters notes, "McGurk's withdrawal throws a fresh question mark over Washington's uncertain relations with Iraq following the departure of U.S. forces last year."
I'm sure it does.  I'm also sure that confirming McGurk would have been seen as an offense by a significant number of Iraqis.
 
 
 
Brett, all joking aside, I feel for you man. I know how it is to have State turn on you, push you out of a job and all that. Despite some water under the bridge between us, I think maybe we could get along, you know, maybe hang out now that both of us have afternoons free. Whattaya say, we leave the wives at home and hit a few rooftop bars, see what comes up, um, goes down, aw dammit, I just did it again didn't I?
But we're moving on. Who's next to claim the head job at the world's largest and most expensive embassy? The previous landlord, Jim Jeffrey, quit the job so quickly that he didn't even wait for his replacement to arrive. Now everyone else in Iraq falls under a State Department policy requiring the outgoing person to stay on for a week overlap with his/her replacement, but like lots of things at State, that only applies to the little people.
So who will it be? One rumor is that Obama will nominate Meghan O'Sullivan. Sully, like McGurk, is another Bush administration left over covered in Iraqi blood.


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