BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
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FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi: Yesterday Prime Minister Maliki and his politicized judiciary concluded the final phase of their theatrical campaign against me using a kangaroo court set up for this purpose. It was really a shamble. Therefore, while reconfirming my and my God's absolute [authority], I totally reject and will never recognize the unfair, the injust, the politically motivated verdict which was expected from the outset of the unfair trial. I consider verdict a medal on my chest and a fair cost that I have to pay in return of my absolute dedication in serving my country Iraq.
That's Iraq's Vice President al-Hashemi speaking in Turkey today at a press conference -- video here. and here. Sunday, Ramadan al-Fatash (DPA) explained "that
a Baghdad court sentenced in absentia Iraq's vice president, Tareq
al-Hashemi, to death on terrorism charges. Al-Hashemi, Iraq's most
senior Sunni Muslim official, has called the charges a political ploy by
the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki." Lara Jakes (AP) reported, "The
Baghdad courtroom was silent Sunday as the presiding judge read out the
verdict convicting al-Hashemi and his son-in-law of organizing the
murders of a Shiite security official and a lawyer who had refused to
help the vice president's allies in terror cases. The court sentenced
both men in absentia to death by hanging. They have 30 days to appeal
the verdict." Al Jazeera adds:
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Istanbul, where Hashemi currently is, said the vice president "didnt seem very worried at all" as Turkey has refused to hand him over to the Iraqi authorities. "He knows he is safe," she said.
Our correspondent also noted that the final sentence was a lot more watered down than the initial charges.
"At the beginning he was being indicted for financing and organising death squads. He was told he was behind at least 150 attacks. If you look at today's sentencing it has been completely watered down. Compared to what he was accused of, he has just been sentenced on the killing of a lawyer and a security official," she said.
BBC News notes, "Other Sunni politicians have denounced Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki - who issued the warrant for Mr Hashemi - as a dictator, accusing him of deliberate provocation that risked plunging the country back into sectarian conflict. Correspondents say the fragile coalition government of Sunnis, secularists and Shia has appeared to be in danger of collapse ever since." Emily Alpert (Los Angeles Times) reports, "Turkey has not tried to send Hashemi back to Iraq, despite Interpol issuing a 'red notice' to member countries requesting his arrest in May. The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet quoted an anonymous diplomat calling the death sentence 'obviously a political decision ... an absurd situation'." Attorney Muayad Obeid al-Ezzi headed al-Hashemi's defense team and he tells Al Jazeera, "This ruling has no legal value or effect. In-abstentia rulings cannot be considered final or enforced." Hurriyet Daily News notes:
"This is obviously a political decision. Sentencing the country's vice president to death is an absurd situation," a Turkish diplomatic source told the Daily News. Recalling that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said al-Hashemi could stay in Turkey for as long as he wants, the source said he was not anticipating a change in this position. The Turkish government had said it would not extradite al-Hashemi to Iraq, after Interpol issued a red bulletin against the fugitive Iraqi politician in May.
State of Law got what it wanted which is one reason for them to stop gloating. Another reason is that their glee backs up the belief that this was politically motivated. Alsumaria reports that State of Law's Haitham al-Jubouri is insisting Turkey must hand over Tareq and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand Turkey hand the vice president over. Even worse, State of Law MP Saad al-Muttalibi immediately rushed to Iran's Press TV to offer 'facts' like, "It has nothing to do with politics. The court was not politically motivated. There was hard evidence linking the person to the death squad." I'm sorry, Saad al-Muttalibi was a courtroom observer? No, he wasn't. So his statements which have him seeing the evidence is suspect. Either he's lying when he maintains "there was hard evidence" and he has no idea whether there was or wasn't or else he did see the evidence and since he was neither judge nor juror, why was he shown the evidence in an ongoing trial?
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Istanbul, where Hashemi currently is, said the vice president "didnt seem very worried at all" as Turkey has refused to hand him over to the Iraqi authorities. "He knows he is safe," she said.
Our correspondent also noted that the final sentence was a lot more watered down than the initial charges.
"At the beginning he was being indicted for financing and organising death squads. He was told he was behind at least 150 attacks. If you look at today's sentencing it has been completely watered down. Compared to what he was accused of, he has just been sentenced on the killing of a lawyer and a security official," she said.
BBC News notes, "Other Sunni politicians have denounced Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki - who issued the warrant for Mr Hashemi - as a dictator, accusing him of deliberate provocation that risked plunging the country back into sectarian conflict. Correspondents say the fragile coalition government of Sunnis, secularists and Shia has appeared to be in danger of collapse ever since." Emily Alpert (Los Angeles Times) reports, "Turkey has not tried to send Hashemi back to Iraq, despite Interpol issuing a 'red notice' to member countries requesting his arrest in May. The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet quoted an anonymous diplomat calling the death sentence 'obviously a political decision ... an absurd situation'." Attorney Muayad Obeid al-Ezzi headed al-Hashemi's defense team and he tells Al Jazeera, "This ruling has no legal value or effect. In-abstentia rulings cannot be considered final or enforced." Hurriyet Daily News notes:
"This is obviously a political decision. Sentencing the country's vice president to death is an absurd situation," a Turkish diplomatic source told the Daily News. Recalling that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said al-Hashemi could stay in Turkey for as long as he wants, the source said he was not anticipating a change in this position. The Turkish government had said it would not extradite al-Hashemi to Iraq, after Interpol issued a red bulletin against the fugitive Iraqi politician in May.
State of Law got what it wanted which is one reason for them to stop gloating. Another reason is that their glee backs up the belief that this was politically motivated. Alsumaria reports that State of Law's Haitham al-Jubouri is insisting Turkey must hand over Tareq and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand Turkey hand the vice president over. Even worse, State of Law MP Saad al-Muttalibi immediately rushed to Iran's Press TV to offer 'facts' like, "It has nothing to do with politics. The court was not politically motivated. There was hard evidence linking the person to the death squad." I'm sorry, Saad al-Muttalibi was a courtroom observer? No, he wasn't. So his statements which have him seeing the evidence is suspect. Either he's lying when he maintains "there was hard evidence" and he has no idea whether there was or wasn't or else he did see the evidence and since he was neither judge nor juror, why was he shown the evidence in an ongoing trial?
Al Mada reports that some believe Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will intervene in the crisis. Kitabat notes
that al-Hashemi has repeated his call for an end to the executions in
Iraq which are seen as politically motivated (and amnesty law is
supposedly on the verge of being passed but in the meantime Nouri is
ordering that Sunnis be executed -- this has led to two prisons have
hunger strikes and a prison riot when Sunnis were taken out of the
prison to Baghdad to be executed). Omar al-Jawoshy and Michael Schwirtz (New York Times) quote
Talabani stating, "It was regrettable to issue, at this particular
time, a judicial decision against him while he still officially holds
office."
Sam Dagher and Ali A. Nabhan (Wall Street Journal) report,
"Many saw the verdict against Tariq al-Hashemi -- a prominent Sunni
politician who has professed his innocence and has been sheltered by the
Sunni Islamist-led government in Turkey since April -- coupled with
Sunday's attacks as emboldening those among Iraq's Sunni minority who
see violent confrontation rather than politics as the only way to regain
powers lost to the Shiite majority after the U.S.-led ouster of Saddam
Hussein's regime more than nine years ago."
And why would anyone assume that politics was a way to regain power when the March 2010 election results were overturned by the White House? We called that out in real time while many remained silent. It was not minor. If you say you used war to create a democracy -- an illegal reason for war -- and you then turn around and nullify the results of an election, then don't be surprised when people -- especially people new to democracy -- lose faith in the process.
The March 2010 elections saw Iraqiya come in first. Iraqiya is a political slate that welcomed all and was more concerned with a national identity than a sectarian one. Nouri refused to run with Dawa (his political party) and instead created the slate State of Law which was sectarian. The Iraqi people turned out in record numbers to vote and despite bribes from Nouri -- he bribed in the 2009 provincial elections as well -- and violence, they put Iraqiya in first place.
Which means Ayad Allawi should have had first crack at forming a government. That's what the Constitution says. Instead, Nouri dug his heels in because he wanted that second term and the White House backed him up. He would not have survived causing an 8 month political stalemate without the backing of his puppet masters. And it was the White House that brokered the Erbil Agreement in November 2010 which finally ended the political stalemate. The Erbil Agreement was supposed to see Nouri make various concessions to get a second term as prime minister -- but Nouri used the agreement to get that second term and then broke the contract and the US played oblivious -- this after swearing to the blocs that it was a binding contract and it had the US government's full support.
When the bulk of the US military left Iraq (the drawdown), Nouri amped up his targeting of Iraqiya and Sunnis. He screamed for Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq to be removed from office, he swore out an arrest warrant on Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, etc.
Nouri's refusal to honor the Erbil Agreement has created a second political stalemate that's over a year old. His actions starting in December 2011 have created a political crisis.
Chelsea J. Carter and Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) quote al-Hashemi stating, "The verdict is unjust, political and illegitimate and I will not acknowledge it. [. . .] To my dear people, I say, make sure that al-Maliki and those who stand behind him don't get what he wishes. Because they want sectarian strife." Reporting on the press conference in Turkey, Ahul Bayt News Agency states, "Mr Hashemi was the most pro U.S. politician in Iraq and his case has sparked a political crisis." Wow. What a way to repay Tareq for that, huh? The US government couldn't have been more in character if they'd put him on the refugee application list and then spent two to three years ignoring his application.
And why would anyone assume that politics was a way to regain power when the March 2010 election results were overturned by the White House? We called that out in real time while many remained silent. It was not minor. If you say you used war to create a democracy -- an illegal reason for war -- and you then turn around and nullify the results of an election, then don't be surprised when people -- especially people new to democracy -- lose faith in the process.
The March 2010 elections saw Iraqiya come in first. Iraqiya is a political slate that welcomed all and was more concerned with a national identity than a sectarian one. Nouri refused to run with Dawa (his political party) and instead created the slate State of Law which was sectarian. The Iraqi people turned out in record numbers to vote and despite bribes from Nouri -- he bribed in the 2009 provincial elections as well -- and violence, they put Iraqiya in first place.
Which means Ayad Allawi should have had first crack at forming a government. That's what the Constitution says. Instead, Nouri dug his heels in because he wanted that second term and the White House backed him up. He would not have survived causing an 8 month political stalemate without the backing of his puppet masters. And it was the White House that brokered the Erbil Agreement in November 2010 which finally ended the political stalemate. The Erbil Agreement was supposed to see Nouri make various concessions to get a second term as prime minister -- but Nouri used the agreement to get that second term and then broke the contract and the US played oblivious -- this after swearing to the blocs that it was a binding contract and it had the US government's full support.
When the bulk of the US military left Iraq (the drawdown), Nouri amped up his targeting of Iraqiya and Sunnis. He screamed for Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq to be removed from office, he swore out an arrest warrant on Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, etc.
Nouri's refusal to honor the Erbil Agreement has created a second political stalemate that's over a year old. His actions starting in December 2011 have created a political crisis.
Chelsea J. Carter and Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) quote al-Hashemi stating, "The verdict is unjust, political and illegitimate and I will not acknowledge it. [. . .] To my dear people, I say, make sure that al-Maliki and those who stand behind him don't get what he wishes. Because they want sectarian strife." Reporting on the press conference in Turkey, Ahul Bayt News Agency states, "Mr Hashemi was the most pro U.S. politician in Iraq and his case has sparked a political crisis." Wow. What a way to repay Tareq for that, huh? The US government couldn't have been more in character if they'd put him on the refugee application list and then spent two to three years ignoring his application.
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