BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O CAN'T STOP LYING IN AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE HIMSELF SEEM IMPORTANT.
FEBRUARY 20TH, HE CLAIMED THAT 7 MILLION AMERICANS HAD HEALTH CARE FOR THE FIRST TIME.
TO WHICH THE WASHINGTON POST SAYS LIAR AND POLIFACT SAYS LIAR
SOMEONE GRAB THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER BECAUSE BARRY'S PANTS ARE ON FIRE.
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Tasnim News Agency reported today that Hoshyar Zebari, Foreign Minister of Iraq, was due in Tehran today for the start of a two-day visit.
Of course he was.
Why?
The most likely reason is because Iraq has no Minister of Defense. Dropping back to February 21st:
To be fair, the blood lusting White House isn't the only one supplying weapons. Al-Manar reports
that Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari met yesterday with Russian
officials and the Russian government has "agreed to speed up the
delivery of Russian arms to the oil-rich Arab country."
In the US, there would be some objection if Zebari's US counterpart
Secretary of State John Kerry was sticking his nose into what would
clearly be Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's area; however, Iraq has no
Minister of Defense. Nor do they have a Minister of Interior or a
Minister of National Security.
Yesterday, Ahmed Rasheed (Reuters) reported, "Iran has signed a
deal to sell Iraq arms and ammunition worth $195 million, according to
documents seen by Reuters - a move that would break a U.N. embargo on
weapons sales by Tehran." Today, Heba Qudsi (Asharq Al-Awsat) notes, "Diplomats in the Iran sanctions committee at the UN, speaking
anonymously, expressed concern about the deal but refused to make
further comment." But one Iranian diplomat, outside of Iran, did comment. Tasnim News Agency reports, "Iran's Ambassador to Baghdad Hassan Danaeifar on Tuesday denied reports
claiming that Iraq has signed a contract to purchase arms from the
Islamic Republic." Mary Casey and Cortni Kerr (Foreign Policy) add that "Maliki would
neither confirm nor deny the reports." So what happened?
Reuters saw the documents, it's silly for the governments of either Iran or Iraq to deny the deal. Ahmed Rasheed, Patricia Zengerle, Matt Spetalnick, Ned Parker and Mark Heinrich (Reuters) report today:
Hasan Suneid, a senior lawmaker from Maliki's Dawa Party who heads
parliament's security and defence committee, said Iraq had bought
weapons from Iran and insisted this was within its right and violated no
international sanctions.
"The U.S. government is not the Iraqi government's guardian," Suneid told reporters at the national parliament.
"We have the right to buy arms from any state that is friendly and
cooperates with Iraq. The arms we purchased from Iran are nothing more
than light weapons and ammunition.
"We have the right to select different sources for weapons. Iran is a
friendly, neighboring state just like Kuwait, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi
Arabia," he said.
World Bulletin quotes Nouri's spokesperson Ali Musawi declaring, "Nothing prevents us from buying arms and ammunition from any party."
The issue was raised today when State Dept spokesperson Jen Psaki was giving the daily briefing:
QUESTION: Okay. So my three very brief ones. You were asked, I
believe, yesterday about this alleged arms deal between Iraq and Iran.
MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: Did – have you gotten any more clarity on that?
MS. PSAKI: Sure. Well, as I mentioned yesterday, we raise our
concerns at the highest levels with the Government of Iraq and
reiterated that any transfer of arms from Iran is in direct violation of
UN Security Council resolutions. The Government of Iraq assured us that
it would look into this matter. Today, we have seen the press release
issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense denying that any contracts for
military equipment were signed with Iran. And we will continue to follow
up with the Government of Iraq on this issue.
QUESTION: You take them at their word? You believe their denial?
MS. PSAKI: Well, suffice it to say, we will continue to
discuss the issue with the Government of Iraq, and we’ve of course seen
their statement.
QUESTION: The issue in general of buying things from Iran or
the issue specifically as related to this report that came out about
this big – alleged big sale?
MS. PSAKI: Both.
QUESTION: So you’re not necessarily convinced that their denial is bona-fide?
MS. PSAKI: I’m not. I’m just conveying that, obviously, we’ll
continue the discussion and these reports remain a concern of ours. But
of course, we’ve seen the statement that they put out.
QUESTION: Well, are you heartened by the denial? I mean, or do you – that they say it’s not true? Is that a good thing?
MS. PSAKI: They did say that. We’ve seen that. They assured us they’d look into it, and this was a follow-up to that.
QUESTION: Second one is, I’m --
QUESTION: (Inaudible) Iraq.
MS. PSAKI: Hold on one moment, Said. One moment, one moment.
QUESTION: On Iraq.
QUESTION: Well, no. I’ve got a --
MS. PSAKI: Oh, on Iraq? Okay.
QUESTION: No, I got a --
QUESTION: I just want to ask you on this very issue --
MS. PSAKI: Okay.
QUESTION: There was a breakdown of lists. I mean, buying $35
million worth of, let’s say, mortars, or the equipment for tanks or
whatever. I mean, it was really a very thorough and specific breakdown,
which shows that the laundry list --
MS. PSAKI: I think I went through a thorough list with you yesterday.
QUESTION: I understand.
MS. PSAKI: Okay.
QUESTION: I’m saying that there was today – there was a
laundry list published of the exact specific equipment and so on that
the Iraqis allegedly signed back in November immediately after the
return of Nuri al-Maliki from his visit to Washington. So I’m saying
that your – the veracity of their denial – is it something that you
believe, as Matt said, or despite the fact that it was really that
specific?
MS. PSAKI: I think I’ve already answered the question. I don’t have anything more to add.
QUESTION: And what if it proves that they actually did contract the Iranians? What would you do?
MS. PSAKI: Well, as I said yesterday, that would raise serious
concerns, given it would be a violation of UN Security Council
resolutions.
The developments come as Global Security Newswire is reporting
the US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is considering ending the US
government's business relationship with Michelin over the company's
business relationship with Iran (see Josh Rogin's report for The Daily Beast).
Patricia Zengerle (Reuters) notes
that US Senator John McCain is calling for answers and stating this
could jeopardize the US government's plan to allow Iraq to purchase 24
Apache attack helicopters. Geoff Holtzman (Talk Radio News) quotes
White House spokesperson Jay Carney declaring today, "Any transfer or
sale of arms from Iran is in direct violation of the United Nations
Security Council Resolution." Yes, it is a point that State Dept
spokesperson Jen Psaki made on Monday.
In other Iraq and Iran news, Fars News Agency reports
that the Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Danayee-Far, denied today
that the Embassy in Baghdad was under fire. Shots were heard. But National Iraqi News Agency reports
police says "a member of the force charged with protecting the Iranian
embassy in central Baghdad, committed suicide by shooting himself."
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Old Man Seth""
"Nouri's Iraq: Over 800 killed in violence so far t..."
"The Power of Parliamentarians in Abolishing Nuclea..."
"Sen. Murray Addresses Landmark Veterans Legislatio..."
"A Stiff and Iffy Start for Seth (Ava and C.I.)"
"FT lies about Iraq (again)"
"Lena's granny panties and other disgusting things"
"Pentagon wants more war"
"Where are the jobs?"
"Perez Hilton and other idiots"
"Larry Johnson just gets nuttier"
"The Originals"
"Julie Chen's an idiot"
"oh, dana"
"Bruce Dern is my pick"
"The princess can't be a king"
"THIS JUST IN! HE'S NOT A KING!"
