Hezbollah Denounces Attack on Iraqi PM, Urges Preserving of Iraq’s Security

 Nov 8, 2021

Translated by Staff, Hezbollah Media Relations

Hezbollah condemns the attack that targeted Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and urged the prevention of sedition and preserving Iraq’s security.

Hezbollah issued the following statement:

Hezbollah condemns in the strongest terms the treacherous attack that targeted the house of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and felicitates him on his well-being and the well-being of those with him, calling for a thorough and decisive investigation to uncover the circumstances of this attack, those behind it and its sinister goals.

Furthermore, Hezbollah urges that sincere efforts be made to prevent sedition, maintain security and stability, and address political differences with wisdom, dialogue, patience, communication and firm determination to find peaceful solutions and block the way in front of whoever wants to bring down Iraq from within in order to serve the projects of the enemies. God protect the great Iraq and its people.

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IRAQ FACING A GREAT US THREAT: CHINA, AL-HASHD AND IRAN OUT, OR ELSE! … (2/2)

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai

No country could fail to be shaken by the kind of profound struggle between all its political groups that currently prevails in Iraq. The US does not need to make any great effort to sow discord between the parties because they are currently intrinsically fragmented. The removal of Major General Qassim Suleimani from the Iraqi scene– whose personal objective had been to bring the various political parties together – was a major event, but not a game-changer. It did not profoundly modify the Iraqi political scene because he had already failed, two months before his assassination by the US, to persuade the parties to agree on a single Prime Ministerial candidate, following the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. Iraqi politicians put their differences above all else in order to protect their political influences, unmoved by the patriotic duty for unity in the light of the serious challenges facing their country.

Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi was not mistaken when he once told me: “We do not know how to rule. We are good at opposing the ruler.” No ruler in Iraq will be able to get the country out of its current severe financial crisis, the political acrimony, and COVID-19 health crisis, because the financial means are lacking. The pressure from the street, where protestors were demanding improved living conditions, will return stronger than ever. The low price of crude oil is undermining Iraq’s yearly income. The state’s budget deficit is skyrocketing; its external debts are persistent and its need for help from the World Bank, which is under US control, is greater than ever. America will not provide financial assistance until its demands are fulfilled and Iranian influence is removed from Iraq.

America rejects Iraq’s balancing policy. Iraq considers its relationship with the US only as important as its relationship with neighbouring Iran. Washington wants Iraq for itself, adopting one principle: “after me, the great flood” (après moi le deluge) an expression said to be often used by Louis XV of France to indicate that he is the centre of attention, no other consideration matter but his own self-obsession and that any other considerations are irrelevant.

The US is supporting Iraqi Kurdistan by expanding its “Harir” military base and establishing another large military base on the border with Iran. The message to Baghdad seems blunt: US forces will remain in the face of resistance from those parts of Iraq more subject to Baghdad’s authority. In Kurdistan, the central government authority is not as effective as in other parts of the country. The US supports the Kurdish Peshmerga and arms them through its allies, the United Arab Emirates, who are providing the Kurdish armed men with weaponry: four cargos full of weapons landed recently in Erbil. 

It is not excluded, if Trump remains in power, that his administration will help the Kurdistan region detach itself from Iraq, as it may also support a Kurdish secession attempt in north-eastern Syria. In the part of Syria, the US is occupying with Kurdish help, US forces are stealing Syrian crude oil- even if its price is no longer sufficient to pay the expenses of the troops deployed around it- indicating that there is another reason for their presence, related to the US ally, Israel. 

Iraqi protestors refer to the United States as the “Joker,” a powerful force exerting influence on events in Iraq, often covertly. This influence was evident in last year’s demonstrations, but most conspicuously in the Kurdistan independence movement. Kurdish officials already rejected the binding constitutional decision of the Iraqi parliament – in a clear rebellion against the authority of Baghdad –which demanded the US withdrawal from Iraq.

Iraqi decision-makers in Baghdad believe that US President Donald Trump acts only in accordance with his own country’s interests. He thanked Adel Abdul-Mahdi for his protection of the US embassy because it was attacked in Baghdad. The US President sent a positive message to Iran through Abdul-Mahdi and then, a few days later, killed the Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. The US administration is also working for Israel’s interests in Iraq – and not according to the “declared” interest of the US in building a strong and friendly Iraq-US relationship. 

Trump did not listen to his protests when Abdul-Mahdi called him personally and told him that US actions in attacking security forces were angering the Iraqis and that any unilateral action would have catastrophic consequences for everyone. Rather, Trump listened to his aides who consider the Middle East leaders as subordinates, not allies. This US condescension serves the interests of Iran, which knows how to benefit from American mistakes, said the sources.

There is no doubt that Iraq is facing a crisis, with severe domestic bickering adding to the difficult economic and sanitary situation affecting all countries. But the greatest danger to the country comes from the Trump administration, which can only imagine subduing states by force. The US will certainly end up “reaping the whirlwind” rather than gaining a robust alliance with Iraq.

There is no doubt that Iraq is experiencing difficult labour in the midst of severe domestic bickering, plus the difficult economic and sanitary situation affecting all countries. But even more dangerous is the fact that Iraq is in the eye of the storm, pulled off course by the winds of Trump, who can only imagine subduing states by force. The US will certainly end up “reaping the whirlwind” rather than gaining any kind of robust allies.

Proofread by:  Maurice Brasher and C.G.B

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محنة العراق بين الأسباب الداخلية والتدخل الخارجي

ديسمبر 28, 2019

د. وفيق إبراهيم

يتدحرج العراق بسرعة من أزمة تبدو سياسية في ظاهرها، الى قضية وطنية كبرى تهدّد بالتحوّل الى صراع مكشوف بين أقاليم عرقية ومذهبية.

هذا لا ينفي السمات الطبقية والسياسية للانتفاضة الشعبية التي تجتاح العراق منذ ثلاثة أشهر متواصلة في المناطق الجنوبية وبعض أنحاء العاصمة بغداد وجوارها.

ما يُشجّع على استيعاب أفضل لحركة جماهيرية عفوية ضاقت ذرعاً بالفساد السياسي الذي يدكّ أرض الرافدين منذ 2003 تقريباً ويحرم أهلها من المياه العذبة والبنى التحتية وفرص العمل والحياة الكريمة ويستوعب أكثر من ضرورة الفصل بين هذه الانتفاضات المحقة وبين انخراط سياسي فيها لا ينتمي اليها، إلا بالتحريض والعمل على تأجيجها لتصبح مبرراً لصراعات قد تؤدي الى تمزيق العراق الى اكثر من كانتونات.

وإلا كيف نفهم حركة رئيس الجمهورية برهم صالح الذي رفض تطبيق المادة 76 من الدستور العراقي التي تنصّ على تسليم الرئيس اسم المرشح لرئاسة مجلس الوزراء على أن يكون منبثقاً من الكتلة الأكبر في المجلس النيابي.

وبما أن الدوائر الدستورية أفتت بأن كتلة «البناء» التي يترأسها هادي العامري هي الأكبر، فكان لزاماً على الرئيس برهم صالح إعلان مرشحها اسعد العيداني رئيساً للحكومة ومكلفاً بتشكيلها.

لكنه وفي إطار مناورة لم يصدقها أحد، أعلن رفضه هذا التكليف، وهذا ليس من حقه الدستوري، مؤكداً في رسالة الى رئيس المجلس النيابي الحلبوس استعداده للاستقالة مستولداً بذلك نيراناً اضافية تزيد من حدة الاضطرابات التي أدّت حتى الآن الى نحو 500 قتيل وآلاف الجرحى، في تظاهرات مفتوحة اندس فيها مأجورون يطلقون النار على المتظاهرين والقوى الأمنية معاً، وتبين أن الفاعلين هم من بقايا حزب البعث التابع للرئيس السابق صدام حسين، ومندسّين محسوبين على الاخوان المسلمين وبعض الإماراتي، بالاضافة الى الدور الأميركي الواضح الذي يتدخل في العراق انطلاقاً من تسع قواعد عسكرية تنتشر من الحدود السورية وحتى أعالي كردستان.

ان كل الاطراف السياسية الإقليمية والدولية ذات صلة بالأزمة العراقية، وجدت فرصتها التاريخية السانحة لتتدخل ببعد وحيد وهو القضاء على بنى سياسية عراقية متحالفة مع ايران وسورية، هذا فضلاً عن قوى عراقية ككتلتي «سائرون والحكمة» التي تعتقد أن هذه التظاهرات قد تتيح لهما احتكار رئاسة مجلس الوزراء من المنافسين في حركة «البناء».

هناك ايضاً لاعب مهم وهو المرجعية الإسلامية العليا التي لا تمارس السياسة إلا من زاوية مصلحة عموم العراقيين وأمن البلاد.

لكنها لا تستطيع الولوج في لعبة اختيار الأسماء المناسبة، لما تشكله من ضرر بالإجماع العراقي حولها، لذلك نجدها مأزومة لكنها نجحت في دفع مجلس النواب الى الموافقة على قانون انتخابات جديد، وتضغط لإجراء انتخابات عاجلة لإعادة انتاج طبقة سياسية جديدة تتلاءم مع مطالب الانتفاضة الشعبية، وبذلك تكون المرجعية قد اسهمت في مشروع لحل الازمة الشعبية الداخلية ووضعت حداً لتدخلات القوى الداخلية التاريخية المهزومة وارتباطاتها الإقليمية والأميركية.

ويبدو أن القوى السياسية العراقية تفضل الدخول في معادلة تشكيل حكومة جديدة لتهرب من انتخابات تبدو نتائجها المرتقبة بأنها لمصلحة الانتفاضة الشعبية.

ضمن هذا السياق، يجب استيعاب ان ما فعله برهم صالح هو مزيد من تأزيم الأزمة لمصلحة إحداث فراغ دستوري في مجلس وزراء ينتج القرار في العراق، وممارسة لعبة التعطيل يندرج في إطار السياسات نفسها التي يلعبها الاميركيون في العراق، فكيف يمكن لبرهم أن يذهب هذا المنحى وهو الذي يعرف مدى ارتباط الإصلاح الداخلي بالصراع بين المكونات العرقية والمذهبية والاحتلال الاميركي والادوار الخليجية والتركية، كما يعرف ايضاً ان كردستان التي ينتمي اليها محكومة من آل البرزاني الذين ينهبون موازنتها ونفطها ويبيعونه لتركيا، وهو لا يجهل أن آل البرزاني يتحضّرون لاعلان استقلالية اقليمهم نسبياً وربما الى حدود الانفصال الكامل، لذلك فإن اعتكافه في كردستان يأتي مثابة تشجيع على التقسيم وتشجيع لقوى الوسط على انتهاج الأسلوب نفسه، وهنا يأتي فوراً مدى التأثير الأميركي على برهم وأمثاله.

هل هذا يعني ان الانتفاضة الشعبية ليست اصيلة؟ إنها اكثر من ذلك لأنها تأتي رداً على فساد سياسي تشكل القوى التي حكمت العراق منذ 2003، عمودها الرئيسي، وهي نفسها التي تشكل الغالبية النيابية وتتحالف مع إيران التي لا علاقة لها بهذا الفساد.

ما هو المطلوب اذاً؟ ليس معقولاً أن تتقدم كتلة البناء بترشيح أسعد العبداني محافظ مدينة البصرة المحرومة من أبسط أنواع الخدمات العامة، حتى من مياه الشرب، ويوجد فيها أعلى نسبة بطالة وفساد، فجاء هذا الترشيح ليشكل تحدياً للمتظاهرين الذين يشكل أهالي الجنوب نحو 90 بالمئة منه، وعاصمتهم البصرة التي تحوّلت في الخمس عشر عاماً الاخيرة أرضاً يباساً جافة تحتاج الى كل شيء وتحتجب ويعمها فقر غير مسبوق.العراقالىأين؟نصيحةالمرجعية بالانتخابات العاجلة ضرورة، على أن يليها تشكيل للحكومة وفق ترشيح من تختاره الكتلة الأكبر، واستعادة الممكن من لاموال المنهوبة ، بذلك يجري تجديد الطبقة السياسية التي يجب أن تحكم العراق ببرنامج عمل عنوانه إنقاذ أرض الرافدين من الفقرالمدقع والاحتلال الأميركي

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What is not considered by America and the Gulf? ما لم يكن في الحساب الأميركي والخليجي

Written by Nasser Kandil,

The only valuable impressive political bet agreed upon by Washington and the Gulf capitals during the months that preceded and followed the parliamentary elections in Iraq was the distinct political position of Al Sayyed Muqtada Al-Sadr among the forces that met in the Popular Crowd. The Popular Crowd that represents the project of resistance through a cooperation and alliance relationship with the resistance forces in the region especially with Iran and Hezbollah and its field partnership in the battlefield where it offered blood in the battles of defending Syria. The source of the trust in that bet and its importance stems from the fact the Al Sayyed Muqtada Al-Sadr is a unique example in Iraq; he inherits a popular leadership of the poor of Baghdad since the Days of his father Mohammed Sadiq Al-Sadr. He was distinguished from the Shiites leaders who entered the political process under the occupation because he did not come from the exile as them but he was in Iraq and refused the participation, he called publically to resist the American occupation. These positions especially those during the battles of Fallujah and during Al Anbar protests in the face of the government of Nour Al-Maliki have provided him a cross-sect feature, he is highly appreciated among the people, so it is difficult for the anti-resistance leaders to accuse him of partnering in the political process or in his patriotism, as it is difficult for them to accuse him of sectarianism especially the representation of an extension of Iran.
Al Sayyed Muqtada-Al Sadr’s disagreement with Iran and his repeated critical positions of its policies as well as his fundamental dispute with the President Nouri Al-Maliki made his hostile positions a separation between America-Gulf opponents and their allies. This dual distinction has encouraged the Americans and the Gulf people to make a cooperation project between him and their direct allies from Kurdistan to the governorates of the center. They built dreams on that cooperation to make a historic change in Iraq especially by depending on his position towards Iran’s allies and the resistance forces and towards Al Najaf authority by talking about an Arab religious authority that competes the non-Arab authority of Qom. The media run by the Americans and the Gulf has contributed in making an aura around the pure Iraqi positions issued by Al Sayyed Muqtada Al-Sadr.

During the formation of the resigned government headed by Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi, “Sairoun” bloc supported by Al-Sadr competed with “Al Binaa” bloc represented by the resistance forces on the nomination of a prime minister, finally, they agreed on nominating Abdul Mahdi. The opponents of Iran and the resistance promoted that Al-Sadr was under threat, but this justification seemed inconsistent with the facts which everyone who knows Al-Sadr and his stubbornness know. That justification was the only possible way in order not to lose the upcoming moment of collision between Al-Sadr and the resistance forces supported by Iran. Therefore, the only logic to enhance that hope is what is being said in their analyses about Al-Sadr’s aspiration to leadership at any cost.

With the outbreak of the uprising in Iraq, Al Sayyed Muqtada Al-Sadr was the real support of the uprising’s youth, the source of their protection, the one who puts the political ceiling in front of the government towards its resignation, and the one who calls for crowded demonstrations, even though the Americans and the Gulf people were running the groups that organized the uprising and providing the media coverage , employing it in slogans against Iran, they were happy that Al Sayyed Muqtada was overlooking that employment. All the Western and the Gulf analyses that deal with the Iraqi popular path concerning the Iranian presence were seeing in the position of Al Sayyed Muqtda Al-Sadr a factor that can make imbalance which the resistance forces and Iran are trying to avoid until the assassination of the commander Qassem Soleimani and the leader Abu Madhi Al-Muhandis occurred.

There was a call to oust the Americans from the region in response to the assassination, but the most important surprise in the history of the American and Gulf scrutiny is the fact that Al-Sadr has initiated this call followed by the gathering of resistance forces as their gathering behind the prime minister in the official confrontation to oust the Americans. The vote of the deputies influenced by the positions of Al-Sadr along with the approval of the parliament of the recommendation addressed to the government to start the removal was the first step. The call launched by Al-Sadr for the million demonstration under the same title was a source of the greatest concern, because the Iraqis in all their sects will emerge to meet the call of Al-Sadr, and whoever has reservation about the calls coming from the resistance forces and their relations with Iran cannot be reserved about the call of Al-Sadr since he is the symbol of the pure Iraqi patriotism, therefore, no one can remove this title from him because he calls to oust the Americans from Iraq.

America and the Gulf lost the biggest beg, and they will lose what is coming after due to the normal position of Al Sayyed Al-Sadr which they did could not understand or read, as their allies who are opponents to Hezbollah did in Lebanon in similar bets on the position of the Speaker of the parliament Nabih Berri taking in into consideration the differences of forces, people, and countries.

Translated by Lina Shehadeh,

ما لم يكن في الحساب الأميركي والخليجي

ناصر قنديل

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خلال الشهور التي سبقت وتبعت الانتخابات النيابية في العراق كان الرهان السياسي الوحيد الذي يملك قدراً من القيمة والتأثير، وتجتمع حوله واشنطن وعواصم الخليج، هو انتقال السيد مقتدى الصدر إلى موقع سياسي متمايز عن القوى التي التقت في الحشد الشعبي وتمثل مشروع المقاومة وتربطها علاقة تعاون وتحالف مع قوى المقاومة في المنطقة، وخصوصاً مع إيران وحزب الله، وترجمت موقفها بشراكة ميدانية قدمت خلالها الدماء في معارك الدفاع عن سورية. ومصدر الثقة بقيمة هذا الرهان وأهميته ينبع من كون السيد مقتدى الصدر يشكل نموذجاً فريداً في العراق، فهو يرث زعامة شعبية يلتقي تحت عباءتها فقراء بغداد منذ أيام والده السيد محمد صادق الصدر. وهو تميّز عن أقرانه من زعماء الشيعة الذين دخلوا العملية السياسية في ظل الاحتلال، أنه لم يأت مثلهم من المنفى بل كان في العراق، وأنه رفض هذه المشاركة، ودعا علناً لمقاومة الاحتلال الأميركي، وقد وفّرت له هذه المواقف، وتراكمها، خصوصاً أثناء معارك الفلوجة، وأثناء احتجاجات الأنبار بوجه حكومة نور المالكي، رصيداً عابراً للطوائف. فهو يملك لدى عامة الناس تقديراً عالياً، ويصعب على القادة المناوئين للمقاومة اتهامه بالشراكة بالعملية السياسية والطعن ولو شكلا بوطنيته، كما يصعب عليهم اتهامه بالطائفية، وخصوصاً يصعب عليهم اتهامه بتمثيل مجرد امتداد لإيران.

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تمايز السيد مقتدى الصدر عن إيران وإطلاقه لمواقف انتقادية لسياساتها مراراً، وخلافه الجذري مع الرئيس نور المالكي، الذي جعل الأميركيون والخليجيون من العداء له خطاً فاصلاً بين معسكر خصومهم ومعسكر حلفائهم. وهذا التمايز المزدوج شجع الأميركيين والخليجيين على الاستثمار في مشروع تعاون بينه وبين حلفائهم المباشرين، من كردستان إلى محافظات الوسط، وبنوا على هذا التعاون أحلاماً بتحقيق تحول تاريخي في العراق، خصوصاً أن الرهان على تموضع السيد مقتدى خارج حلفاء إيران وقوى المقاومة، فتح شهيتهم على رهان مشابه تجاه مرجعية النجف، بالحديث عن مرجعية عربية تتنافس مع مرجعية قم غير العربية. وساهمت وسائل الإعلام التي يديرها الأميركيون والخليجيون بصناعة هالة ربطت المواقف التي تستحق صفة العراقية الصافية لتلك التي تصدر عن السيد مقتدى الصدر.

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خلال تشكيل الحكومة المستقيلة والتي ترأسها الدكتور عادل عبد المهدي، تنافس تكتل سائرون الذي يدعمه الصدر مع تكتل البناء الذي يمثل قوى المقاومة على تسمية رئيس الحكومة، ولكن في نهاية الطريق تم التفاهم بينهما على تسمية عبد المهدي، وروّج خصوم إيران والمقاومة أن استجابة الصدر جاءت تحت التهديد، وبدا هذا التبرير منافياً للحقيقة التي يعرفها كل من يعرف الصدر ويعرف صلابته وعناده، لكنه كان التبرير الوحيد الممكن لعدم خسارة الاستثمار على رصيد الصدر، والمضي في بناء الآمال على لحظة تصادم مقبلة لا محالة بين الصدر وقوى المقاومة ومن خلفها إيران. والمنطق الوحيد لتعزيز هذا الأمل هو ما يقولونه في تحليلاتهم عن الصدر كمتطلع للزعامة بأي ثمن.

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مع اندلاع الحراك في العراق كان السيد مقتدى الصدر هو السند الحقيقي لشباب الحراك، ومصدر حمايتهم، ومن يضع السقف السياسي بوجه الحكومة، وصولاً لاستقالتها. وكانت التظاهرات الحاشدة للحراك هي تلك التي يدعو إليها الصدر، بالرغم من أن الأميركيين والخليجيين كانوا هم مَن يدير الجماعات المنظمة للحراك ويوفرون التغطيات الإعلامية، ويحرصون على توظيفه بهتافات مناوئة لإيران، ويفرحون بغض نظر السيد مقتدى الصدر عن هذا التوظيف. وكل التحليلات الغربية والخليجية التي تناولت المسار الشعبي العراقي، في ميزان الحضور الإيراني كانت تقرأ الحراك وموقع السيد مقتدى الصدر كبيضة قبان يشكل موقعها اختلالاً بالتوازن الذي تسعى قوى المقاومة وإيران لتحقيقه، حتى وقع اغتيال كل من القائد قاسم سليماني والقائد أبو مهدي المهندس.

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جاءت الدعوة لإخراج الأميركيين من المنطقة رداً على الاغتيال،.فكانت المفاجأة الأهم في تاريخ المتابعة الأميركية الخليجية تصدُّر الصدر للدعوة، وتلاها اجتماع قوى المقاومة خلفه، كمثل اجتماعها خلف رئيس الحكومة في المواجهة الرسمية الهادفة لإخراج الأميركيين، وجاء تصويت النواب المتأثرين بمواقف الصدر مع إقرار المجلس النيابي للتوصية الموجهة للحكومة لبدء إجراءات إخراج الأميركيين أول الغيث، وتأتي الدعوة التي أطلقها السيد الصدر للتظاهرة المليونية تحت العنوان ذاته مصدر القلق الأكبر، حيث سيخرج العراقيون بكل طوائفهم تلبية لدعوة الصدر، ومن يتحفظ على دعوات آتية من كنف قوى المقاومة وعلاقتها بإيران لا يستطيع التحفظ على دعوة الصدر بصفته رمزاً للوطنية العراقية الصافية. ومَن أطلق عليه هذا اللقب لا يملك القدرة على نزعه عنه لكونه يدعو لإخراج الأميركيين من العراق.

–

خسرت أميركا وخسر الخليج الرهان الأكبر وسيخسرون ما بعده بفعل هذا الموقع الطبيعي للسيد مقتدى الصدر الذي لم يتمكّنوا من فهمه، ولا قراءته، كما فعل حلفاؤهم في لبنان في رهانات مماثلة على موقع الرئيس نبيه بري في خصومتهم مع حزب الله، مع حفظ الفوارق بين القوى والأشخاص والبلدان.

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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Opening Iran’s Black Box

By David Macilwain

Source

As Western governments continue to poke at the Iranian bear, thinking it is busy licking its wounds, they should keep an eye on its claws, and not turn their backs, or their minds to other matters. But neither should we, because the regime changers have not abandoned their plans, nor written off their investment in creating this disorder, as the sudden resumption of NATO-backed “protests” in Iraq and Lebanon demonstrate. A new leader of Islamic State has even been launched into the fray in a timely fashion – on the third anniversary of Trump’s infamous inauguration.

It’s now twenty days since the ‘B’ team murdered their chances of a peaceful settlement in Iraq, but barely enough time for the Iranian bear to muster its strength after such a shock, though that strength is now many times greater and extends across its borders. Had that shock been isolated, with only the close involvement of Iraq, then the subsequent ballistic missile attack by Iran on US bases could have passed for a response, and even led to a peaceful pull-out of Western forces, as demanded by the Iraqi government.

But at that point, the two sides diverged, irreconcilably – the shooting down of Ukrainian flight PS 752 changed everything.

The argument over whether this pre-emptive extrajudicial assassination was a crime was partly down to opinion – on whether Qasem Soleimani was “a terrorist” who needed to be “taken out”,  or the Hero of Shia Islam who saved his Iraqi and Syrian brothers from brutal Salafists and Zionist occupiers. As a soldier in the war against the US coalition and its mercenaries, he was in some sense a legitimate target, but the US crime was in denying him the chance to die and kill in a fair fight. Being picked off by some gum-chewing coward a thousand miles away is the yardstick for US morality and criminality not lost on Iranians or Iraqis, or the IRGC which promptly declared the US army to be a terrorist organization.

For the 167 innocent passengers and crew on PS 752 however, there can be no such argument; their killing, accidental or not, was a crime because of its means, and someone may be held responsible, even if indirectly, as indeed they already are by those rushing to judgment in the West. Despite the initial qualification of the crash by most leaders and media as a “tragic accident”, it is now referred to simply as “the plane shot down by the Iranian military”, implicitly suggesting a civilian airliner was intentionally targeted. But just as with MH17, if Iran was responsible for shooting down a civilian plane carrying Iranians on its own territory it was quite clearly an accident, and should be treated as one – particularly as Iran’s leaders have accepted responsibility and apologized profusely.

But the similarity to MH17 goes further, as the consequences of the Iranian missile defense action for Western public opinion have been devastating for Iran but remarkably beneficial for her enemies, as noted before. On the back of this sudden turn around, the IRGC now appears as it has always been portrayed by Iran’s greatest foes – Israel and the US, while the Iranian government’s entirely reasonable abandonment of the farcical JCPOA provides just the excuse needed for NATO to step up the nuclear pressure and even re-introduce sanctions.

To an impartial observer – and in this case to all those aligned with Iran, Russia and China – this looks grossly unfair, and offensive to any sense of International law and justice.

America and its local allies and co-conspirators have committed a totally illegal political assassination as a provocation, which has led to an environment where hundreds of innocent people have died – including those in the stampede at Soleimani’s funeral. Rather than offering help and sympathy, and understanding of the circumstances behind this tragedy, Western regimes have exploited the disaster to their own ends, almost as if it were their intent.

But perhaps it was.

Forgetting the substantial evidence of covert planning for actions following the killing of the IRGC commander such as staged anti-government protest rallies, and even questions about the identity of the person who shot the video of the missile strike, a little giveaway in a second NYT report could be the clue Iran needs to close its case – that tricking the IRGC into shooting down PS 752 was an integral part of the operation that saw the IRGC leader first assassinated.

A few days after the New York Times publicized the missile video, unleashing a volley of abuse at Iran’s leaders for “lying” about it being a technical malfunction, but then needing to answer difficult questions on how the videographer just happened to be there with camera at the ready, the NYT put out a second report showing that two missiles had been fired:

“The New York Times has verified security camera footage on Tuesday that shows, for the first time, that two missiles hit Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on Jan. 8. The missiles were launched from an Iranian military site around eight miles from the plane.

The new video fills a gap about why the plane’s transponder stopped working, seconds before it was hit by a second missile.

An earlier Times analysis confirmed what Iran later admitted: that an Iranian missile did strike the plane. The Times also established that the transponder stopped working before that missile hit the plane. The new video appears to confirm that an initial strike disabled the transponder, before the second strike, also seen in the video, around 23 seconds later.”

As explained elsewhere, the absence of a transponder signal from a flying object immediately identifies it as hostile to a missile defense system, and it was generally accepted that the apparent failure of PS 752’s transponder just two minutes after take-off was what led to its tragic shooting down. The question was why did the transponder suddenly fail, or get disabled?

This was a key question being asked by those who suspected foul play, such as may have occurred two days earlier during “maintenance”, or through some cyber means. It was a question that also needed answering by the Bellingcat club, and the second NYT report and video was their answer.

But it doesn’t work! It really doesn’t work!

On hearing first of this second missile that “took out the transponder”, my thought was simply that this was ridiculous and impossible, but it took two days to realize just why:

Why did the missile defense unit fire the first missile at PS 752 when its transponder was working?

Nine other flights took off from Imam Khomeini Airport that morning, including a Qatar airways flight just 30 minutes earlier, and passed by the IRGC missile defense systems without notice – with their transponders operating normally. Their pilots would have been particularly conscious of the need to turn transponders on at take-off given the extreme tensions following Iran’s missile volley early that morning – about four hours before the Ukrainian jet took off bound for Kyiv.

Flight PS 752, which flies five times a week on that popular route for Iranian Canadians, followed the identical flight path to those earlier jets, according to Flight Radar 24. But this site is hardly the only one tracking aircraft and other movements in Iran. In a report on the Iranian missile strikes on Ain al Asad base, the NYT candidly admits that the NSA was following the movements of Iranian missile defense systems as well as monitoring IRGC communications networks “with spy satellites”, and anticipating a response to Soleimani’s murder following his funeral. But much evidence points to the use of these cyber-warfare systems to confuse and control Iran’s defenses, in the same way that the Western public is confused and controlled by disinformation and emotive propaganda coming from their own governments.

But Iran has the Black Box, and holds the Ace. Because if the “conspiracy” theory is correct – that enemy intelligence actions caused the “accidental” downing of the chosen aircraft, the electronic record from the flight recorders will prove it. It only needs to show that the first missile hit PS 752 one second after the transponder stopped working to turn this Iranian tragedy into a US coalition atrocity, and the most infernal and criminal conspiracy since the demolition of the Twin Towers.

Perhaps then it will finally be the citizens of the countries who suffer under the Great Satan’s boot who benefit from its Imperial Overreach.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Analysis: Historical inevitability of ‘1979 US embassy’ event in Iraq: not now, but soon

Thursday, 02 January 2020 12:47 PM 

Supporters of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi force hold placards depicting trampled US symbols reading in Arabic “Welcome” during a protest outside the US embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on January 1, 2020 to condemn the US air strikes that killed 25 Hashd fighters over the weekend. (Photo by AFP)

By Ramin Mazaheri

Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea and elsewhere. He is the author of the books ‘I’ll Ruin Everything You Are: Ending Western Propaganda on Red China’ and the upcoming ‘Socialism’s Ignored Success: Iranian Islamic Socialism.’

The recent protests at the US embassy/city-state/Superman fortress of solitude in Iraq undoubtedly served notice of what the 2020s will bring for Iraq: freedom from three decades of US domination and terrorism.

The protests were shocking for many reasons. Iraq has been under the boot of the US for so long many around the world thought such resistance was impossible. Pity the poor, underestimated Iraqis: even when they did engage in civic disobedience the West sought, as usual, to give all the credit/blame to Iran. After dominating them so long, the West is incapable of seeing Iraqis as a people/culture with the power of self-determination. The endless refrain is “Iran-backed militias”, but it is Iraqis who staff those militias and who crossed into the Green Zone.

The past few days have produced much for us to comment about, but what good are such comments regarding the Iraqi context if we divorce ourselves from their past few decades?

There was a lot of debate, first provoked by the British medical journal The Lancet, about the death toll from Gulf War II, but few seem to remember the horrific death toll from Gulf War I of Bush père: 400,000 Iraqi dead, half of them civilians. Just 300 deaths combined among the anti-Iraq axis.

That’s a stunning figure which should not be forgotten, but to the “blame Iran” crowd in the West this war never happened. In fact, Gulf War I to Americans is something of a joke: the images of precision missiles going down chimneys, ecstatically broadcast in a ratings uber-bonanza for the still-new 24-hour news of CNN, helped “restore pride” to an America whose last conflict was Vietnam. The short-lived economic boom of the 1990s followed, and Gulf War I was barely an afterthought immediately.

Top cleric condemns US strikes on PMU bases, urges respect for Iraq sovereigntyThe drone strikes killed at least 27 individuals and wounded 51 others.

Sanctions, however, are not a ratings bonanza for CNN – the blockaded Cubans, allegedly starving North Koreans and the horrifically-sanctioned Iraqis (which ran until Gulf War II) do not provide exciting, pride-swelling, jingoism-fuelling footage. Quite the opposite, which is why the US runs no such footages; they didn’t have to ban footage of dead US soldiers for Gulf War I, but the “free press” of the US allegedly remained “free” even when they did just that for Gulf War II. One would think that in the “blame Iran” crowd one or two Americans might point out that this era of Husseinian splendor amid everyday want (and during the last era of global economic expansion) might have produced just a bit of anti-American resentment which may still linger?

Gulf War II came, but has it really gone? Is Iraq any different than a French neo-colonial subject in Africa, with foreign troops protecting the interests of foreign capital and not the welfare of the people?

Questions worth answering, but the “blame Iran” crowd only insists that the Gulf War II devastation of Iraq – maybe unparalleled since the “Korean conflict” – is the fault of non-belligerent Tehran. The destruction of infrastructure capital, the wasting/fleeing of human capital, the lives ruined by death/maiming/psychological trauma – this is all too much for a human to fully grasp, but one should not take the approach of the US and make no effort to grasp it at all.

This lack of effort at self-reflection is very typically American even within their own society – if America’s leaders will push a McCarthy-era Russophobia wave for three years just to avoid honest discussion of the failures of the Democratic Party and “democracy with American characteristics”, then why should we expect those leaders to be honest about Iraq? Why should we ask those leaders to honestly account for the murders, bombings, assassinations, strangulations and corruption they ordered for three decades?

Given the three decades of US domination and occupation, how can anyone be surprised by the recent protests targeting their embassy?

Indeed, many Iraqis, especially their young, are probably saying, “Why did it take so long to get here?”

A protester wearing the Iraqi flag stands outside the US embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on January 1, 2020 during a demonstration. (Photo by AFP)

Two thousand nineteen was a momentous year in the Middle East because a local nation proved for the first time in two centuries that they have technological and military parity with Western capitalist-imperialists in the war theater of the Middle East. That country is Iran, which already began proving 40 years ago that they have a political, intellectual and artistic (cinema) culture equal to or better than, and certainly more modern and “of the historical moment”, than that of the West. What we saw on these Western new year’s eve protests in Iraq is a spreading confirmation of these slow, long-running historical trends, processes and facts. 

The protests were cheered by many worldwide of course: even if the Western political and media elite has these insane anti-Iran and pro-US capitalism-imperialism blinders on, the average person does not. Many hoped the protests would turn into a new Tahrir Square, like in Egypt, but they were disbanded after only two days.

That seems like a sad development, but the people of Iraq, Iran and their allies realize that sending out a force is no good unless that force can be controlled. Egypt was not under foreign occupation, after all. Many Iraqis justifiably feel they are at war and the embassy protests were an “attack” – it was not a place to spontaneously express patriotism and see how that may or may not coalesce. 

I suggest that the protest force was sent home because the damage has been done. After all, has the Green Zone ever been so breached?

The psychological and cultural consequences of this two-day affair are nothing but positive for Iraqis and nothing but negative for Americans and their corrupt, self-interested allies.

US airlifts forces to Iraq embassy amid protestsFootage shows US military aircraft dropping off as many as 100 marines to the American Embassy in Baghdad amid angry anti-US protests.

It is thus very similar to Iran’s military victories in 2019 – shooting down a drone, stopping a British-flagged tanker: these are not enormous military victories but they are enormously symbolic. They are not the momentous result of long battles but instead herald the very beginning of new long-term forces which are increasing in inevitability every moment.

Yet again in the past year, American planners were dumbfounded, scared and did not know how to react. The US is not powerless in Iraq but for a long moment they felt that way – for a long moment Iraqis felt powerful over Americans. These are not small cultural and psychological things, given the Iraqi historical context.

On a larger level: Hussein came to power by repressing the intersection of democracy and Islam with as much bloody zeal as any Western neo-imperialist. He fought a war at the behest of the West to destroy the Iranian democratic revolution because it dared to unify these two ideas, and proved that they are not acids and bases. When Hussein insisted that Iraqi Baathists are equal to their secular Western counterparts, the West destroyed his country with a blockade and then occupation.

The role of Baathism in Iraq is up to Iraqis to decide, not me. However, its history – and for many reasons beyond their control – is not very stirring, to say the least. If a majority of Iraqis want more of an intersection between Islam and Iraqi democracy than what Baathism tolerated, they do have an example to look at – Iran. It is precisely because Iran provides this example that they are the root of all evil in the Muslim world to Western capitalist-imperialists and Islamophobes. It is not only that Iranians have created a successful society on par with the top Western nations, but the West most certainly needs a scapegoat, due to their history in the region. 

A 1979 US embassy occupation is an historical inevitability in Iraq – we thought maybe this was it, but it was not.

In pictures: Iraqis hold angry protest outside US EmbassyIraqi protesters gather outside the US Embassy in Baghdad to condemn American airstrikes on PMU bases. Here are some exclusive photos.

Perhaps Iraq is truly not ready? They have been rather debilitated for several decades, after all. Nor does Iraq have a shah to kick out first – an embassy occupation for Iraqis would seemingly be the start of their revolution, whereas in Iran the occupation came nine months after the victory of their revolution.

Iraq is not Iran, of course, but the recent events at the Baghdad embassy show that both cultures view the presence of the US in their country as a major, major source of domestic strife and problems.

The reason a US embassy occupation in Iraq is an historical inevitability is because – despite the “blame Iran” propaganda – there is no chance that the US and Iraqis can have a mutually beneficial co-existence due to:

1) the presence of American soldiers,

2) the three decades of violent war, sanctions and occupation waged by the US,

3) the network of corruption created by US capitalist-imperialist influence and ideology, which ensures only and always a subservient role for Iraq, and which purposely disempowers their full potential,

4) the very ideology, practices and culture of the Washington, which are predicated on competition, violence and corruption, which makes them fundamentally opposed to mutually-beneficial cooperation.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Iran Studying Next Step to Reduce JCPOA Commitments – FM Spox

By Staff

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said that the Islamic Republic is currently studying the next step to reduce its nuclear deal commitments, adding that all of the signatories slammed the US withdrawal from the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA].

He said that all the remaining signatories of the JCPOA believe that the US is responsible for the current situation. “They do not recognize the US illegal sanctions on Iran, he said in reference to the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 in 2015 which backed the JCPOA, requiring to lift international sanctions on Iran.”

Mousavi further stressed in his weekly press conference on Monday that there aren’t any negotiations between the Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia other than the Hajj issue.

“There are countries seeking to settle dialogue between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which we think are based on good intentions, and Iran welcomes this but sometimes we figure out doubled statements by Saudi officials, which contradict with the spirit of the Iranian path and the efforts of other countries,” Mousavi explained.

In response to a question about exchanging prisoners, Mousavi noted that “When we find that prisoners’ swap with other countries serve our nationals then we will carry out. We carry out prisoners’ swap with other countries from a humanitarian motive.”

Commenting on the unrest engulfing Iraq, Mousavi stressed that Iran doesn’t intervene in Iraqi affairs and hopes that the country restores stability.

Asked about Russia’s stopping cooperation in Fordow nuclear facility, he said it is due to technical difficulty and that the issue is under examination by the two sides.

Mousavi told reporters that the main reason is simultaneity of two actions; the Russians want to see if it is possible to do two projects at the same time.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Hashd Shaabi: ISIL Exploiting Unrest in Iraq, Carrying out Attacks

December 2, 2019

Iraq’s Hashd Shaabi paramilitary force said that Isil Takfiri group is exploiting the unrest taking place in the country to carry out attacks in several areas.

In a statement, Hashd Shaabi, also known as Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), said that 6 fighters of its fighters were martyred and 17 others were injured as they confronted ISIL attacks.

“Several areas which were cleansed earlier have been subjected to repeated attacks by ISIL terrorists who have been trying to exploit the unrest and deteriorated security situation in the country,” the Hashd said in a statement.

“Fierce battle took place yesterday in Diyala province, leading to the martyrdom of six of our heroes and the injury of 17 others including the Brigade 20 commander,” the statement added.

Terrorists have been trying to infiltrate into Imam Weis in Diyala during the previous days, the statement noted.

It warned, meanwhile, that several movements of ISIL operatives have been spotted in Salahuddine, Anbar, Kirkuk and Baghdad surroundings in a bid to take control of these areas.

Source: Agencies

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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!