BULLY BOY
PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID
TABLE
THE INCREASINGLY USELESS A.P. WANTS TO TREAT AS 'NEWS' THAT CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O HAS RISEN 5% IN APPROVAL RATINGS SINCE THE ELECTION.
AN INCREASE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE ELECTION AND THROUGH THE INAUGURATION IS TO BE EXPECTED AND ALWAYS HAPPENS FOR THE INCUMBENT.
NEWS WILL BE HOW QUICKLY BARRY O WILL SQUANDER THAT GOOD WILL. NEWS IS ALSO HOW LOW THE APPROVAL RATING IS. EVEN THE BUMP DIDN'T CARRY HIM TO 60% AND HE'S A SITTING PRESIDENT.
AS BARRY O GEARS UP FOR A SERIES OF BALLS DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE GREAT RECESSION CONTINUES AS DOES WAR, LET'S SEE HOW QUICKLY THE POLLS DROP.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
The press is supposed to
want to report. If they can be accused -- collectively -- of a bias its
having a desire for conflict because conflict makes news. So explain Qassim Abdul-Zahra's AP story this morning which has only been teased out to a longer story by this afternoon
despite it grossly misunderstanding what was stated by Nouri al-Maliki
about the country's most recent crisis which Nouri sparked when he sent
forces into the disputed regions of northern Iraq. Let's deal first with
what actually happened today. All Iraq News notes Nouri
held a news conference with United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon today and Nouri declared that there were proposals (plural) to
resolve the current standoff between Baghdad and Erbil. Alsumaria reports
Nouri said there were two proposals for ending the military standoff in
disputed areas between Nouri's Tigris Operation Command and the Kurdish
Peshmerga. One proposal is locals are in charge of security while
another proposal is a joint patrol by Nouri's Tigris forces and the
Peshmerga. The key on the second proposal would be whether or not the
Peshmerga remains under Kurdish control.
Also today All Iraq News reports Iraqi President Jalal Talabani gave a speech about how this crisis is threatening the security and the peace. Al Mada adds
that Talabani declared that threatening language -- a reference to
Nouri's speech on Saturday -- has no place in this discussion. And as
Thursday ended in Iraq, Alsumaria reported that Talabani met with Ahmed Chalabi who gave his support to Talabani and his efforts to peacefully resolve the crisis. All Iraq News notes
that Talabani also met with US Ambassador to Iraq Robert S. Beecroft
today and they agreed on the need for a peaceful solution to this
ongoing dispute.
That's all really basic. Yet this morning, AP wanted
to report that Nouri stated an agreement had been reached on how to
resolve the crisis. That's not what's reported by Arabic outlets. They
report Nouri held a press conferences and talked about proposal(s). They
continued to insist an agreement had been reached as the day went
along. No agreement's been reached. Jalal Talabani wouldn't have given
the speech he did today or met with Chalabi to discuss the crisis if it
was resolved.
Let's drop back to the November 26th snapshot:
In a development everyone is trumpeting, representatives from the KRG and the central Iraqi government met in Baghdad today. KUNA notes,
"Iraq's federal government and provincial government of Iraq's
Kurdistan region reached an agreement in principle stipulating return of
all military foces to their previous locations." In principal? And
that's the more upbeat version. Isabel Coles and Alison Williams (Reuters) lead
with, "Iraqi military leaders agreed on Monday with commanders from the
Kurdistan region to defuse tension and discuss pulling their troops
back from an area over which they both claim jurisdiction." That's not
quite the same thing and when you include a quote from Iraq's
"commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces" (that would be Nouri)
that states the two sides will "discuss a mechanism to return the forces
which were deployed after the crisis to their previous positions." So
they're going to discuss that. And even less has been accomplished
according to Almanar,
"Top federal and Kurdish security officials agreed in Baghdad on Monday
to 'activate' coordinating committees between their forces and work to
calm the situation in northern Iraq, a statement said." Almanar also notes that those attending the meeting including US Lt Gen Robert Caslen.
As we noted the next morning, that story fell apart. AP was
one of the outlets that got that story grossly wrong. You'd think
they'd have learned and you think the fact that the press feeds on
conflict would mean that the same reporters wouldn't repeatedly fall for
the same "Everything solved! Nothing here to see!" This morning, we
pointed out that if an agreement had been reached, KRG President Massoud
Barzani and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani would probably be making
announcements. That didn't strike AP as strange? That the person who initiated the conflict would be the one to announce it was over?
And
if that doesn't seem plausible how about the fact that there's nothing
on the KRG website about an agreement being reached? There is this article in Arabic
(probably there in Kurdish as well but I can't read Kurdish). It's
about today's meeting of Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and his
Cabinet and among the topics discussed was the conflict and the Tigris
Operation Command and how the General Command of the Peshmerga states
that they are prepared to defend and protect if violence breaks out.
Barzani noted that he was speaking with all Kurdish leaders including
KRG President Massoud Barzani.
Seems
to me if a deal was reached, KRG President Massoud Barzani would know
and I don't see why he'd keep it from the Prime Minister (who is also
his nephew). Again, it's just not plausible. Last time when AP and
others pulled this nonsense, I didn't name them, I just said outlets.
Well I'm sorry this is the second time you're claiming events happened
when they didn't, the second time that your 'solution' story tells the
world "Look away, nothing to see here." It's a bit hard to excuse it. It
goes against what Iraqi outlets are reporting happened, it goes against
what's plausible and it goes against the nature of journalism.
On the standoff, let's note two views of what's unfolding. First, David Romano (Rudaw) offers this take:
From my perch in the West, far outside the halls of power in Baghdad or Erbil, it's hard for me to know how serious the threat of outright conflict between the Kurds and Maliki has become. As a political scientist, however, I know of too many historical cases where such tensions led to wars that none of the parties intended or really wanted. In other cases, some of those who chose or desired war expected a quick victory, only to become mired in terrible, grinding and long lasting fighting. The region remembers when Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1967 famously took provocative action after action, from threats and blockades against Israeli shipping to demanding the withdrawal of United Nations observer forces from the Sinai. Finally the Israelis attacked, and somehow took him by surprise and then proceeded to defeat the combined forces of Egypt, Jordan and Syria in 6 days. Several years later, Saddam Hussein thought to launch a similar surprise attack on Iran, after its new religious leaders began inciting Iraqi shiites to revolt. Expecting quick victory similar to Israel's lightning war of 1967, he instead condemned Iraq and Iraq to eight years of war, poverty and over a million war dead. The point is that when you overturn the cart, or even threaten to turn it over, no one really knows where its contents will fall.
If serious armed conflict between Maliki and the Kurds does erupt, intentionally or not, the media war of interpretation will undoubtedly rage as well. How such conflict gets framed will likely play a crucial war in determining the winner, in fact. If Mr. Maliki manages to cast the issue as a war between Kurds and Arabs (or "an ethnic war," as he recently referred to a possible conflict), the advantage will go to him. Given how seriously Arabs outnumber Kurds in Iraq, the medium and long-term consequences of such a framing of the conflict would prove extremely disadvantageous to Kurdistan. Mr. Maliki and his "State of Law" Party will tell Iraqis that Barzani is trying to expand Kurdistan's borders at Arab expense. Under such circumstances, it would be hard even for Arabs who oppose Maliki not to rally to his cause of protecting Arabs against Kurdish maximalism. As long as leaders in Kurdistan insist that Article 140 be implemented and the disputed territories be given a chance to join Kurdistan, it will prove extremely difficult to oppose Maliki's framing of the issue as one of "Arab vs. Kurd."
And for another view, Qassim Khidhir Hamad (Niqash) speaks with the Islamic Supreme Council's Bashir Adel Gli
NIQASH:
Despite all this though, it seems that both sides are sending more
military into the disputed areas every day. People here in Iraqi
Kurdistan are frightened, they think that war is inevitable.
Bashir Adel Gli: I have no fear. There won't be a war.
NIQASH: And what makes you so sure of that?
Bashir
Adel Gli: Because al-Maliki has a lot of opponents in Baghdad – such as
the Islamic Virtue Party [the Fadhila party], the Islamic Supreme
Council, the Sadrists [Editor's note: the latter three are all
Shiite-Muslim dominated] and the Iraqiya party. All of his opponents
simply won't let this happen. And the Kurdish won't allow the Kurdish
military [the peshmerga] to attack the Iraqi army either.
NIQASH: So what do you think will happen in Iraqi politics in 2013?
Bashir Adel Gli: I
can't really predict that. But I do think it will be the end of
al-Maliki. I think if al-Maliki tries to run for the third term, he will
find that those opposed to him will multiply.
On a related note, Ayad al-Tamimi (Al Mada) reports
that the National Alliance (Shi'ite political body headed by Ibrahim
al-Jafaari) declared that they believe Nouri is attempting to isolate
them politically. Dar Addustour notes
the talks going on between KRG President Massoud Barzani, Moqtada
al-Sadr (cleric and leader of the Sadr movement) and Iraqiya head Ayad
Allawi over the current crisis and the belief that Nouri has escalated
this.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"AP sucks off Nouri and swallows"
"Nouri mistakes a club for an olive branch"
"4 women, 2 men (and the racism of Lincoln)"
"Random thoughts"
"The never-ending Great Recession"
"revenge"
"Media consolidation"
"Conspiracies do exist"
"I wouldn't notice him either"
"Remember when Bully Boy Bush tried to do this?"
"The November 29th walkout"
"Here comes the war repeat"
"She finds it easier to just make it up!"
"THIS JUST IN! IT'S ALMOST LIKE WRITING!"
