AL-MALIKI ON THE WAY OUT?

"I never staged a coup. They picked me up. Like I say, they forced me to become premier, maybe hoping that by that way, they send me to the electric chair."
~ Nguyen Cao Ky.

It's beginning to sound like al-Maliki will soon be replaced because he's proven not to be as strong as the next strongman of Iraq needs to be for the US.

The best article on the subject can be found at Harper's by Scott Horton. In it, he discusses the scuttlebutt among Washington's dirtiest, the lobbyists:

For the last three weeks, rumors have been swirling around a relatively depopulated Washington to the effect that the Bush Administration is very unhappy with Prime Minister al-Maliki. “They’re going to take him out,” one lobbyist told me, “and replace him with former interim Prime Minister Allawi.”

[ . . . ]

I heard that the “town was flooded with Allawi money.” It was “being spread around everywhere and was drawing results.”

[ . . . ]

I started watching the media closely. Suddenly an Allawi op-ed showed up in the hallowed editorial pages of the Washington Post. And then a faint whisper against al-Maliki got louder and louder. Suddenly it was on CNN, Fox and other broadcast media. Then a story surfaced pointing to former RNC chair Hailey Barbour’s lobbying firm as the source of all of this. Barbour, of course, is now governor of Mississippi and no longer running this lobbying outfit (though his name is invoked in connection with it continuously). Carl Levin, Pete Hoekstra and a number of others made sudden and dramatic statements that seemed carefully jiggered to help the Allawi campaign.

It's only fair to mention that the lobby firm mentioned (Barbour Griffith & Rogers) is the same one that the KRG hired. It was also BGR that produced The Other Iraq campaign, which turned out to be a colossal waste of KRG money.

Horton quotes another article on Allawi from ABCNews that mentions Allawi's past relationship with the CIA through his Iraqi National Accord and Horton reminds us of how well the lobbyist pimps are able to plant their own paid-for propaganda in American media, by referencing Ken Silverstein's recent investigation into Washington's very expensive red-light district.

For more on Allawi's lobbying, see Outside the Beltway.

As Horton comments, Allawi "seemed to get along just swell with the Neocon clique, right from the beginning," and that's probably true in more ways than one. In a fine example of campaigning Washington for the top job in Baghdad, Allawi's hopped onto the neoconservative bandwagon that tries to make the claim that the failure in Iraq is not the fault of the US, but is the fault of the Iraqi government. A little backgrounder on Allawi from Sourcewatch makes mention of Allawi's involvement with helping to spread the disinformation on the Saddam regime's non-existent links to Mohammed Atta and 9/11, as well as to the non-existent Iraqi purchase of yellowcake from Niger, and the non-existent Iraqi WMD's. All of this is on top of Allawi's longtime membership in the Ba'ath party and his relationship with Britain's MI6.

Horton definitely hits the nail on the head by referring to Allawi as "a fairly repulsive figure with a dark background." There's more on Allawi's filth at the Institute for Public Accuracy. TPMmuckraker talks about Allawi's close affiliation with the head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service, and tell how, after US funding of $3 billion, the INIS told the CIA that al-Maliki was "too close to the Iranians." But the bottom line for the US is that INIS provides Allawi with the intelligence backing it would take to become Iraq's new puppet-strongman:

Shahwani's U.S.-funded independence from the Iraqi government helps contextualize the recent push for Allawi. Unlike most alternatives to Maliki, Allawi has at least something resembling a security apparatus that he can call upon. Of course, whether it can actually take control of fractious, chaotic Iraq is a dubious proposition -- and Allawi has never called for an outright coup. But when Maliki opens his newspaper and reads about Allawi's push in Washington to become premier again, he has reason to look to INIS and see a threat to his administration.

Last week, Allawi's political "bloc" withdrew from the Iraqi government.

Lest anyone think that the whole Iraq adventure is merely for Republicans and their corporate controllers, or to disabuse any remaining illusions about the US being anything but a single-party system, check Democratic support for Allawi's ouster as described at Counterpunch and remember, it was the Democratic JFK who ordered the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem (see photos at the Harper's link) in South Vietnam.

As Ho Chi Minh reportedly said after Diem's assassination: "I can scarcely believe the Americans would be so stupid," providing a striking example of how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

DEEP STATE ON VIDEO

"Every breath you take
And every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
Ill be watching you"
~ The Police, Every Breathe You Take.

Below is a link to a shortened version of the video, Kill The Messenger, about the Sibel Edmonds case. This is a short version, running 52 minutes . . . BUT until we see this aired in the US, we will content ourselves with that which is available on the Internet.

Get something to drink, get a snack, click on the video, sit back and enjoy.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

One part of the video makes me think of something though, when it mentions that Turkey used Israeli supporters in the US to gain $12 billion in military hardware during the 1990s, and then Turkey opened Turkish airspace to Israeli military aircraft . . . I wonder how many Israelis were actually bombing Kurds instead of Turks bombing Kurds? I wonder how many Israelis were actually bombing South Kurdistan under the "safe haven?"

After all, what's a few thousand dead Kurds among friends?

For more on KTM, check Lukery's other blog and, of course, more backgrounder on the video from Sibel's site.

There's something on the Islamist government of Turkey attempting to strike back at their rulers, the Paşas, from the Financial Times:

Senior ministers held an unplanned meeting hours after an unusually tough statement by the Turkish general staff that has thrown the constitutional process of choosing a new president into disarray.

The statement suggested the military was ready to intervene more directly in the political process to “defend secularism”, stirring memories of the ousting of an Islamist government in 1997.

[ . . ]

Cemil Cicek, justice minister and spokesman for the government, said the military’s announcement was an attempt to influence a constitutional court hearing on the vote in the coming days.

Once again, inquiring minds wanna know if the Paşas are going to be charged under Article 288 for their attempt to influence the court. If you ask me Cicek is full of hot air; the Paşas have more battalions than Cicek does.

For those of you who missed what the Turkish military had to say, the following should sum it up:

“The problem that has recently stood out in the presidential election process has focused on the issue of questioning secularism. The Turkish armed forces are following this with concern,” the general staff said in a statement late in the evening.

[ . . . ]

“It should not be forgotten that the Turkish armed forces are a side in this debate and are a staunch defender of secularism.

“The Turkish armed forces are against those debates... and will display their position and attitudes when it becomes necessary. No one should doubt that,” the statement said.

Don't you just love election years?

PLOT AGAINST TURKISH GENERAL STAFF IN UTAH, AND OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE

"The root of the conflict unquestionably lies in Turkey's insistent refusal to give ear to Kurdish demands for equal political, social and cultural representation as well as an end to economic disparity between the Kurdish regions of Turkey and more prosperous areas of western Turkey."
~ Ismet Imset.

Ah, about those British sailors the mullahs are holding . . . I think the UK simply needs to acquiesce in the treatment it's getting from Iran.

Al-Maliki is not cooperating with the two big bullies of the region--Turkey and the US--when it comes to holding a meeting about Iraq in Istanbul. I have to agree with al-Maliki's position, from the Washington Post:

Washington has focused intense pressure on Maliki, who may yet agree to send Zebari to Istanbul rather than see the conference aborted. The reasons for his resistance were explained in these terms by an Iraqi official who requested anonymity in order to speak frankly:

"Why should we go to a meeting to be ganged up on by European and Arab countries that were against the liberation of Iraq to begin with? Why should it be held on the soil of a country that threatens and slights Iraqis instead of helping them?"

Turkey's military stands prepared to invade northern Iraq to destroy Kurdish guerrilla camps or to take control of the disputed city of Kirkuk, if circumstances warrant. Ankara has also pointedly refused to deal with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd who asserts that his home town of Kirkuk is Kurdish, or with the regional Kurdish government of Massoud Barzani. Ankara's non-dialogue policy has led to interruptions of the movement of petroleum supplies across the Turkish border in recent weeks.

Turkey is merely an instigator. Remember, it was Turkey that had sent JITEM into South Kurdistan in 2003, to instigate the Turkmen population of Kerkuk. It appears that a US-based Turkish mercenary company will be taking over in that department so that the Ankara regime can claim plausible deniability in the event of any more "bagging" incidents.

NEWSFLASH: Kurdish politician delivers political speech in Kurdish! How long before he faces charges? Don't hold your breath; it's only Serafettin Elci. They'll never charge him for violating the law.

Let's see . . . who was it last week who was shooting off his big mouth about "financing terrorism?" Oh, yeah, it was Joseph Ralston's bosom buddy, Edip Baser! What exactly did he say?

Underlining that terrorism should not be considered only in terms of armed actions, Baser said that it has also financial and political dimensions. Thus, he said, cooperation with other countries is essential in the fight against terrorism.

"We cannot manage to eliminate financial sources of terrorism such as illicit drug trafficking and human smuggling without cooperating with the other countries since those sources are most present in Western Europe and NATO-allied countries," he said. "We cannot fight terrorism by rendering armed militants ineffective unless we drain financial resources."

Hmm. . . in light of the US State Department's recent report on drug-trafficking, it seems to me that Baser needs to take his own advice:

Turkey is an important regional financial center, particularly for Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as for the Middle East and Eastern Europe. It continues to be a major transit route for Southwest Asian opiates moving to Europe. However, local narcotics trafficking organizations are reportedly responsible for only a small portion of the total funds laundered in Turkey.

[ . . . ]

Money laundering takes place in both banks and non-bank financial institutions. Money laundering methods in Turkey include: the cross-border smuggling of currency; bank transfers into and out of the country; and the purchase of high value items such as real estate, gold, and luxury automobiles. It is believed that Turkish-based traffickers transfer money to pay narcotics suppliers in Pakistan and Afghanistan, reportedly through alternative remittance systems. The funds are transferred to accounts in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries. The money is then paid to the Pakistani and Afghan traffickers.

[ . . . ]

With the passage of several new pieces of legislation, the Government of Turkey took positive steps in 2005 to strengthen its anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing regime. It now faces the challenge of decisively implementing these laws and of securing final passage of the MASAK law that will, among other provisions, specifically criminalize terrorist financing in support of international terrorist groups. Turkey should improve its coordination among the various entities charged with responsibility in its anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing regime, including the various courts with responsibilities for these issues, in order to increase the number of successful investigations and prosecutions. Turkey should also regulate and investigate alternative remittance networks to thwart their potential misuse by terrorist organizations or their supporters. It should also strengthen its oversight of charities.

I wonder how much OYAK makes off of all that money laundering? Say, what a stroke of luck it is that TSK is getting ready to take over the NATO command in Kabul. They'll be able to use military transports to transfer all those funds around. How convenient!

Shame, shame, Edip Paşa. Seems that you're cut from the same cloth as Ralston. Or at least, Edip Paşa is the same kind of liar as Ralston, again from TNA:

Baser said the closure of the [Maxmur] camp was a long process, stating that it has turned into a PKK camp rather than a refugee camp.

But let's reiterate what the UN says about Maxmur:

Çorabatır explained that a census conducted in the camp revealed that of the 12,000 people living there, 51 percent were women and 49 percent were children. Arguing that the inhabitants of the camp have no connections with the terrorist organization, he said, "The people living in the camp are civilians; they are not terrorists."

Noting that this was the first comprehensive study undertaken by the UN pertaining to the camp, he revealed that despite remarks by the US military to the contrary, no weapons were being kept in the camp and that measures had been taken to this end.

"In all our searches, we found no weapons," said Çorabatır, who maintained that almost all the inhabitants of the camp had gone there from Turkey and that a significant number of them were eager to return.

When he stated that the inhabitants of the camp had no connections with terrorist organizations, the deputies asked him about contradictory statements made by US commanders. In a speech delivered at the Turkish Parliament, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül claimed that a significant portion of the camp had begun to support the PKK due to propaganda disseminated by the group's members.

Of course, Abdullah Gul's claim is ridiculous. The best possible pro-PKK "propaganda" comes directly from Ankara itself, through its policy of genocide and its twenty military "pacification operations" against the Kurdish people. I mean, you can't buy "propaganda" like that. I also like how Baser claims that "Turkey has 'undeniable' information that some Kurdish groups and Kurdish leaders in Iraq are involved in efforts to support the PKK." Baser should be more worried about the fact that 20 million Kurds in Turkey's colony Kurdistan definitely support the PKK.

But it certainly looks like the entire US military is nothing more than a pack of dirty liars. Kinda makes you wonder what else they're lying about.

Yusuf Kanli has a pretty funny opinion piece today about Fethullah Gulen. It's hilarious how he describes Gulen bawling about not being able to return to Turkey--which may be an indication that Gulen is off his meds. What's even more interesting about Kanli's piece is his suspicion that an Islamist "mole" in the Turkish General Staff is leaking worse than a puppy with a small bladder:

Interesting enough, we are learning that despite all the expulsions from the Turkish Armed Forces over the past decades in a bid to prevent infiltration by Islamists into the senior ranks of the military there might still be some loyal deep-throat messengers loyal to political Islam who are e-mailing top secret military documents to Utah, where the Gülen brotherhood is active. Why Utah and to which address in Utah? A military statement on the recent sensitive electronic leakage to Utah unfortunately did not elaborate on such questions except underlining that investigations have shown that a draft prepared to be used in renewal of media accreditation to military events was illegally e-mailed to an address in the United States and was then made available excluding the section on Islamist media from that source to various news people in the country.

Lawyers of the Gülen brotherhood organization immediately issued a statement stressing that Fethullah Gülen was not related at all with any such thing and efforts by some quarters in Turkey to implicate Gülen with the electronic theft of the military document lacked any legal basis and were the product of some ulterior motives and legally constituted denigration.

Who said Gülen was involved in that electronic theft? Gülen is not living in Utah anyhow. Or, did anyone try to implicate the Gülen brotherhood with the so-called memoirs of the former Navy commander, Özden Örnek, which are being distributed electronically from a Utah-registered Web domain? Or, is there a Utah-based campaign to harm the prestige of the Turkish military. If so, of course, the Gülen brotherhood is not involved in any way with such dirty games...

Oddly enough, in a discussion with a friend from Amed yesterday, we came to the same conclusion. The coup plans of the Turkish General Staff was the big news all through the weekend, and some general idea of that scoop can be read at Zaman, or in Turkish at Radikal, if you're so inclined.

Yusuf Kanli opined about this leakage on Saturday, as well. However, if anyone thinks it's time to "re-affirm our commitment to democracy," then they'd better understand that it's long past time to boot out the ruling elites at the Turkish General Staff.