REACHED FOR COMMENT, CRANKY CLINTON SCOFFED AND DECLARED "ANYONE WHO EXPECTS HONESTY FROM A CLINTON AT THIS LATE DATE IS A F**KING IDIOT, A DAMN MORON. AND I'LL SAY THAT TO ANYONE'S FACE -- RIGHT AFTER THE NOVEMBER ELECTION."
ALSUMARIA notes that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan announced that US forces were backing Iraqi forces on the ground in Nineveh Province. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is one of the three main political parties in the KRG (the other two being the KDP and Goran). It was created in 1975 and the head of it remains Jalal Talabai who served as President of Iraq from 2005 to December 2012. He continued to hold office through 2014 but, in December of 2012, he suffered a stroke. The incident took place late on December 17, 2012 (see the December 18, 2012 snapshot) and resulted in Jalal being admitted to Baghdad's Medical Center Hospital. Thursday, December 20,2012, he was moved to Germany where he remained for approximately a year and a half, returning in July of 2014.
During the time he was in Germany, the Talabani family insisted Jalal was fine while refusing to allow people to visit him -- including the then-Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi.
When the first wave of rumors that Talabani had either died or was permanently incapacitated, took hold in May, Jalal was posed for a series of photos that appear to indicate his body was present but that was all.
The photos were compared to the film Weekend At Bernie's in Arabic social media. (In the 1989 film, Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman play two men who drag the corpse of their boss, Bernie, around and pretend he's alive.)
The Talabani family was down playing his condition. By doing so, they allowed him to remain as president when he actually should have been removed from office because he was unable to carry out the duties of the president.
RECOMMENDED: "
"Beauty & the Beast and politics."
"Beauty & the Beast and politics."
