BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL AID TABLE
POOR FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION IS SHOVED OUT OF THE LIMELIGHT BY CRANKY CLINTON AND COL. BERNIE SANDERS.
REACHED FOR COMMENT, BARRY O TOLD THESE REPORTERS, "IT'S JUST NICE TO POSE FOR PICTURES AGAIN, YOU KNOW? IT'S LIKE IF THE CAMERA'S NOT THERE NEITHER AM I."
Starting with the sadly laughable US State Dept where, today, spokesperson John Kirby moderated a press briefing today.
QUESTION: But it seems bizarre that you find Iran’s role in Iraq as kind of positive. I have heard Secretary Kerry saying that whoever kills ISIS is kind of – is positive. And then on the other side, Iran and Assad are kind of the same – different sides of the same coin in --
MR KIRBY: What we’ve said about Iran’s involvement in Iraq is – and nothing’s changed about that, that – and we understand they have concerns, they got a border there, and certainly we’re not unmindful of the fact that they provide some measure of support to some of the Shia militia inside Iraq. But our message has been the same to Iran as it is to every country in the region, and that is: If you’re going to get involved in Iraq, you need to do it through the Government of Iraq and – officially – and don’t do anything that’s going to further inflame or arise sectarian tensions.
Really?
John Kirby said what?
"If you’re going to get involved in Iraq, you need to do it through the Government of Iraq."
Hmm.
No, they didn't say that to "every country in the region."
Sorry, John, you're wrong.
No one said that, for example, to Turkey.
Let's drop back to the July 28th snapshot for an extended memory jog:
The Daily Sabah notes that Turkish F-16 war planes continue bombing northern Iraq.
In related news, the US State Dept noted today, "There is NO Daily Press Briefing."
Of course not.
No way could they send John Kirby back out to face the press after yesterday's embarrassing performance.
For those who missed it, we noted this in Monday's snapshot, Kirby prattled on and on about the rights of the Turkish government.
Yes, it was embarrassing but, as we noted, what about the rights of the Iraqi government?
Kirby created a 'right' where Turkey can bomb any country in the world.
He just didn't recognize Iraq's sovereignty.
Not everyone plays it so stupid.
Haider Al-Abadi
The Council stressed commitment not to allow any attack on Turkey from Iraqi territory and called on Turkey to respect good relations (2/3)
Council of Ministers also called on Turkey to increase water discharge to Tigris and Euphrates in accordance with bilateral agreements (3/3)
Haider al-Abadi is the Prime Minister of Iraq.
In the US government's rush to embrace the bombings Turkey is carrying out, they forgot (a) that Iraq's supposed to be an ally and (b) that these bombings had previously outraged Iraqis.
It's a reality we were noting in Saturday's snapshot:
The Turkish government -- probably like many others -- is using the pretext of the Islamic State to attack Iraq.
In doing so, it is violating Iraq's sovereignty yet again.
This didn't work out well before, for any who paid attention.
The Turkish warplanes, announcements swore, killed 'terrorists.' Reality, they bombed farming communities and killed civilians.
This didn't endear them to the Iraqi people.
There was outrage, naturally.
The US government is now scrambling to craft a 'position' on the strikes -- hoping to approve of Turkey's bombings while still pretending to respect Iraq's sovereignty.
And that's why there was no press briefing today.
But there's a good chance that, had the State Dept held a press briefing today, the press would have ignored the issue of Iraq's sovereignty.
The press ignored it in Monday's briefing.
And while we've raised the issue every day (here for Sunday and you can also read Third's "Editorial: Turkey attacks Iraq"), the western press has avoided it.
Now that the prime minister of Iraq has weighed in publicly, the western press may have to cover this aspect of the story.
Or maybe not.
It was maybe not.
Listen to me, don't walk that street
There's always an end to it
Come and be free, you know who I am
We're just living people
We won't have a thing
So we got nothing to lose
We can all be free
Maybe not with words
Maybe not with a look
But with your mind
-- "Maybe Not," written by Chan Marshall (also known as Cat Power), first appears on Cat's You Are Free.
And today John Kirby was insisting that, "If you’re going to get involved in Iraq, you need to do it through the Government of Iraq" -- but that was never the policy for Turkey.
The US government gladly ignored Turkey violating Iraq's sovereignty and gladly ignored it again today.
AFP reports, "Turkish forces crossed into northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish militants Tuesday after the deadliest rebel attacks in years left dozens dead as the decades long conflict escalated. Thirteen Turkish police were killed Tuesday in a new attack by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants as violence in the east threatened to spiral out of control."
Turkey's allowed to repeatedly violate Iraq's sovereignty and even when Iraq's leaders -- including the prime minister object -- the US government just looks the other way.
If Mexico was bombing parts of California or Texas and launching ground raids, you better believe this same US government would be screaming its head off about national sovereignty being violated.
There's also the harm that these raids can cause in the battle against the Islamic State. AP observes, "The operations however, threaten to complicate the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq. The PKK, which maintains bases in northern Iraq, has fought against the extremist militants in Iraq alongside Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces which are allied with the United States."
But State Dept spokesperson John Kirby just pretends nothing is happening.
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