tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.comments2024-02-29T12:38:32.191-08:00MUSINGS ON IRAQJoel Winghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comBlogger3232125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-69015633192766965682024-02-29T01:19:35.139-08:002024-02-29T01:19:35.139-08:00https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/iraq-attracts...https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/iraq-attracts-wave-of-saudi-and-gulf-investments-for-the-first-time/ar-BB1j4ueR?ocid=msedgntp&pc=NMTS&cvid=870e1e1898264a20a3274e48525b1a53&ei=47<br /><br />The Iraqi government and Iraqi Army have finally won their post 2003 war.<br /><br />AnAn<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-39787014329360335392023-11-07T13:40:14.656-08:002023-11-07T13:40:14.656-08:00The children refers to the Basij who were very you...The children refers to the Basij who were very young and the clearing minefields comes from the human wave attacks so I think it's credible. Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-44086929565710853122023-11-06T18:30:36.313-08:002023-11-06T18:30:36.313-08:00He repeats the claim about Iran using children to ...He repeats the claim about Iran using children to clear minefields, a bit of atrocity propaganda which is still repeated but never fully confirmed just circular quotingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-15867511973685857862023-10-26T06:10:29.175-07:002023-10-26T06:10:29.175-07:00Our squad of Sappers was sent to the Fallujah Wast...Our squad of Sappers was sent to the Fallujah Waste Water Plant to find out how to "fix" it back in 03... What the hell do we know. We're not that kind of Engineer, let me know when you want us to blow it up. Did get some cool pictures sitting in front of all the... buttons. Like the Wizard of Oz or something.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-71206743951044579122023-10-04T08:22:39.518-07:002023-10-04T08:22:39.518-07:00It says 2/3 were damaged or destroyed. It says 2/3 were damaged or destroyed. Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-16929399201696464812023-10-04T07:02:37.492-07:002023-10-04T07:02:37.492-07:00Just a correction. Iraq did not lose 2/3rds of it...Just a correction. Iraq did not lose 2/3rds of its abrams tanks. Total losses were about a dozen. <br /><br />Also Iraq did not buy another 175 abrams. They bought 6 replacement tanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-71870886654934880512023-07-05T22:23:46.097-07:002023-07-05T22:23:46.097-07:00Thank you for reading and yes Iraq is basically in...Thank you for reading and yes Iraq is basically invisible in the Western media these days.Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-87083046189805037172023-07-03T13:59:48.897-07:002023-07-03T13:59:48.897-07:00Thank you for continuing to cover Iraq after most ...Thank you for continuing to cover Iraq after most English speakng media has moved on<br /> Yet again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-53152009392899588412023-06-28T12:15:31.942-07:002023-06-28T12:15:31.942-07:00Fadhel al-Jamali - typical Hitler's fan Nazi-A...Fadhel al-Jamali - typical Hitler's fan Nazi-Arab (in WW2) - who made (in the 1950s) "Nazi analogies" to Zionists..<br />( محمد فاضل الجمالي 1903-1997)<br /><br />Yehuda, Z. (2017). The New Babylonian Diaspora: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Community in Iraq, 16th-20th Centuries C.E.. Netherlands: Brill, p. 253:<br /><br />Nuri al-Sa'id, according to Grobba, agreed on the eve of the war to send a delegation from the al-Futuwwa youth organization to Germany in order to participate in a conference of the German Nazi Party. Senior officials in the Iraqi Ministry of Education, such as <b>Sami Shawkat and Fadhil al-Jamali, sustained firm ties with Grobba and frustrated an initiative by the Iraqi security services to deport German teachers who were spreading Nazi propaganda in Baghdadi high schools. They also maintained a pro-Nazi nationalist organization.</b><br />__<br /><br />Herut - חרות, 15 December 1958:<br /><br />Dr. Fadil Jamali... <br /><b>It is interesting that in all his speeches - I heard many of them - he always included one characteristic paragraph: that the attitude of the Jews to the Arab refugees It is worse than the attitude of the Nazis towards the Jews. Like a ghost drawn to the scene of his crime, Fadhil Jamali was always drawn to the analogy with Nazi Germany. Because he was one of Hitler's first followers, and stayed with him a few years before the outbreak of the World War.</b><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-30672375629353969082023-05-14T18:57:06.521-07:002023-05-14T18:57:06.521-07:00Hopefully the KRG's exports will restart soon ...Hopefully the KRG's exports will restart soon because the region is screwed without it. It's all up to Turkey to restart them. Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-15842719526691370582023-05-11T01:22:20.728-07:002023-05-11T01:22:20.728-07:00Kurd crude exports to Ceyhan still stopped , proba...Kurd crude exports to Ceyhan still stopped , probably until the Turkish Elections. If Erdogan loses then the 50 year agreement is over I hope. Kurds are ganged up on from all sides except USA it seems to me.Shout_freedomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13743562403778797985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-22469525866920214222023-04-18T14:33:41.698-07:002023-04-18T14:33:41.698-07:00You sound mentally unstable as you make things up ...You sound mentally unstable as you make things up in a personal attack upon my family and I. You have crossed the line and are now permanently banned from making comments. Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-70682520249385096672023-04-18T08:26:07.394-07:002023-04-18T08:26:07.394-07:00You're still acting like a child.You're still acting like a child. Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-20691060556959355232023-04-17T17:36:00.932-07:002023-04-17T17:36:00.932-07:00FANAR HADDAD
HOWEVER, IN THE ARTICLES FROM APRIL ...FANAR HADDAD<br /><br />HOWEVER, IN THE ARTICLES FROM APRIL 1991, THE OPPOSITE IS THE CASE: THE SHI’A ARE OPENLY CONDEMNED AND PORTRAYED AS AN ALIEN OTHER OR AT THE VERY LEAST A CONTAMINATED MEMBER OF THE GROUP. <br /><br />WHILST THE ARTICLE GOES ON TO EXPLAIN THE MANY PROBLEMS THE AUTHOR SEES IN THE SHI’A AS THE NET EFFECT OF IRANIAN INFLUENCE AMD MACHINATIONS, THE CENTRAL MESSAGE REMAINS UNCHANGED: THE SHI’A ARE DIFFERENT, IN A NEGATIVE WAY, TO THE’ REST OF US’ AND ARE INTENSELY SUBJECT TO IRNAIAN INFLUENCE HENCE THE EVENTS OF MARCH 1991. In fact, the Shi’a are presented as being of a fundamentally different and quintessentially less Arab character than the rest of Arab Iraqis. For despite pride and dignity being amongst, ‘the most important characteristics of Iraqis and .. of Arabs,” IRANIAN INFLUENCE HAS MADE, ‘A PART OF OUR PEOPLE IN IRAQ,’ SUBSERVIENT IN ABJECT HUMILITY TO IRANIAN INFLUENCE THROUGH IRANIAN RELIGIOUS DICTATES.Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-533850808600108122023-04-17T17:35:55.428-07:002023-04-17T17:35:55.428-07:00What are you 12 years old or did you just the miss...What are you 12 years old or did you just the miss whole part of growing up where you learn how to ACT LIKE AN ADULT and interact with people????<br /><br />This is what your comments are like:<br /><br />INSULT INSULT INSULT<br />Saddam Saddam Saddam<br />Oh I don't know this person or don't like them so you just make some shit up<br />INSULT INSULT INSULT<br /><br />Until you learn how to act like an adult I will not be publishing your comments.<br /><br />On top of that it appears you DON'T KNOW HOW TO READ. I gave you the books that the the timeline event came from. <br /><br />ERIC DAVIS<br /><br />In his last article, “The Kurds, Turkomans, and the Struggle for Supremacy – the March 11 Declaration” (April 14), SADDAM PORTRAYS IRAQ'S MINORITIES AS THE VEHICLES FOR OTTOMAN TURKISH AND IRANIAN INTERFERENCE in the nation’s internal affairs. Despite ethnic differentiation, he argues, the peoples of ancient Iraq were never divided. This unity continued when Baghdad became the capital of the Abbasid Empire. Only in modern times did sectarianism spread, as Iraq became a battleground between the Turks to the west and the Persians to the east. by arguing that the Iranians used the city of Khanaqin as a base from which to attack Baghdad, and that the Ottoman sultans used the Khanaqin-Madnali-Kirkuk axis to create a “human barrier” between themselves and Iran, SADDAM CASTS FURTHER DOUBT ON THE LOYALTY OF BOTH THE SHI’A AND THE KURDS. Because Khanaqin and Mandali are two northern cities with large Shi’I populations, and Kirkuk is largely inhabited by Kurds, HE IMPLIES THE LOCAL INHABITANTS OF THE THREE CITIES CONSPIRED WITH FOREIGN FORCES AT IRAQ’S EXPENSE. <br /><br />Finally, treating the most important event that split the country, Abd al-Karim Qasim’s rule, SADDAM ASSERTS THAT IRAQ’S PRESENT PROBLEMS CAN BE TRACED TO THE INCLUSION OF THE KURDS IN THE QASIM REGIM’S CONSTITTUIONAL CONSTITUTION (by which means the clause that stated that Arabs and Kurds share an equal partnership in Iraq). With the communists’ help, Qasim promoted shu’ubi (anti-Arab nationalism) thinking and behavior, thereby undermining Iraq’s unity. When Qasim turned against his former allies, the communists established a base of operations in Kurdsitan under al-Barzani family control. The ICP’s dependence on the Kurdish Democratic Party increased after the 1963 Ba’thist revolution. THUS THE KURDS WERE SUCCESSIVELY AGENTS FOR THE BRITISH (BAKR SIDQI), Iraqi nationalsits (The Shu'ubi Qasim and his supporters) and communists (after 1963), ALL OF WHOM SOUGHT TO DIVIDE IRAQ AND CREATE DISUNITY. SADDAM GOES ON TO DISCUSS THE WELL-KNOWN ASSISTANCE THAT MUSTAFA AL-BARZANI RECEIVED DURING THE 1970S FROM THE UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL, both of whom coveted control of Iraq’s oil production and tried to disrupt Pan-Arab unity. <br /><br />IN REFERRING TO “THE ENEMIES OF IRAQ AND THE ARABS” SADDAM PITS URBAN SUNNI AND TRIBAL ARABS AGAINST THE SHI’A AND NON-ARABS. IN USING THE SUNNI ARAB COMMUNITY’S VALUES AND HISTORY AS A STANDARD BY WHICH TO MEASURE ALL OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS, SADDAM ASSERTS THAT, AT ITS CORE, IRAQ IS A SUNNI ARAB STATE. WHEN THE DAY IS DONE, IRAQ’S PROBLEMS STEM FROM THOSE GROUPS THAT ARE NOT CULTURALLY AUTHENTIC, INCLUDING THE SHI’A OF THE SOUTHERN MARSHES AND THE KURDS AND TURKOMANS IN THE NORTH. <br /><br />Groups marginal to Iraq's core culture had, by relying on backwards values and forms of behavior, FACILITATED BY THE INFLUX OF IDEAS FOREIGN TO IRAQI SOCIETY, THEREBY CREATING DISCONTENT AND DISORDER. <br /><br />WHY DID HE [SADDAM] INTENSIFY SECTARIANISM BY CASTING STILL FURTHER ASPERSIONS ON THE SHI’A, THE MAJORITY COMMUNITY IN IRAQ? … FIRST, THIS SERIES [OF ARTICLES] WAS INTENDED ABOVE ALL TO REASSURE SADDAM’S SUNNI ARAB BASE THAT THE [1991] INTIFADA WAS NOT CAUSED BY A FLAWED SYSTEM, BUT RATHER BY DEVIANT IRAQI ELEMENTS WHO ALLOWED FOREIGN INTERESTS – IRAN, THE UNITED STATES, AND ISRAEL – TO CREATE DISORDER AND POLITICAL CHAOS. Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-92160412841342644802023-04-17T04:24:50.534-07:002023-04-17T04:24:50.534-07:00Still not approving comments debunking your lie wi...Still not approving comments debunking your lie with the books you point out that don't say what you claim they say.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-83507659342961305392023-04-15T02:58:01.965-07:002023-04-15T02:58:01.965-07:00Hi genius,
Saddam posted 7 articles on the 1991 ...Hi genius, <br /><br />Saddam posted 7 articles on the 1991 uprising in Al-Thawra. You could read about it in Eric Davis' book Memories of State or Fanar Haddad's Sectarianism in Iraq but I'm sure you won't. Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-24468790320711764202023-04-14T23:39:09.207-07:002023-04-14T23:39:09.207-07:00Source: Kanan Makiya or another infamous hoaxer.
...Source: Kanan Makiya or another infamous hoaxer.<br /><br />Yes, Saddam would totally insult and alienate most of his RCC, over 70% of hist Baath party, most of the military, and most of his supporters among the population, despite to this day no evidence of him being sectarian and plenty to prove he was pluralistic and Iraqi nationalistic.<br /><br />Most intelligent Joel Wing post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-39885890414348852382023-02-26T00:37:45.343-08:002023-02-26T00:37:45.343-08:00Sorry the tape was captured after 2003 and taken t...Sorry the tape was captured after 2003 and taken to the United States where it was part of the Iraq Memory Foundation contained in California. Those files were returned to Baghdad recently and are in some vault off limits to the public. So no you did not hear the tape. <br /><br />And here's from another researcher who went through the captured Baath docs and found no Iraqi military report from the Iran-Iraq War that said the Iranians gassed Halabja: <br /><br />"Like any source, the Iraqi records should be approached cautiously and critically. B.H. Lidell Hart’s warning that “nothing can deceive like a document” remains timely. However, the Iraqi records are as revealing in terms of the claims they contain as they are with respect to those one might expect to find but are missing. ABSENT IS ANY ATTEMPT TO ATTRIBUTE IRANIAN RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE GASSING OF HALABJA or claim that Iran was the first to use chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq War. With respect to Halabja, the only relatively close claimed instance of Iranian chemical weapons use, both geographically and temporally, was twenty mustard gas shells fired at the 34th Division on March 30, 1988, more than two weeks after the gassing of Halabja.[6] In this regard at least, internal Iraqi documents are consistent with what Iraqi officials told the United Nations investigative team that visited Iraq in April 1988."<br /><br />https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/part-iii-we-attacked-them-chemical-weapons-and-they-attacked-us-chemical-weapons-iraqi<br /><br />The fact that your posts are mostly full of insults says what you're really about. Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-38085540038635785772023-02-25T19:38:04.690-08:002023-02-25T19:38:04.690-08:00From the internet including from PUK who claims to...From the internet including from PUK who claims to have taken the recording and HRW and there's good-enough translations out there but it helps to know Arabic, something you don't know. Have you tried YouTube? I've seen it there before. You are the first person to say it was Saddam. You were wrong about that just like most things. The speaker, assuming it wasn't a fake which we have to take Jalal Talabani's word for, has always been said to have been Ali Hassan Majid.<br /><br />It was a vague threat along the lines of "If the militias keep fighting I'll threaten to kill them all." This was after Halabja so it's not relevant to March 16, no places named, not threatening civilians, and no admission of having made chemical attacks. The reason why something that, assuming it was legitimate, was desperately tied to Halabja in US propaganda especially in the years leading up to the Iraq War, despite no relevance, is there is to this day no evidence to blame Iraq unlike there having been evidence to blame Iran.<br /><br />I see you admit you had no idea what you were talking about when you made that snide response to the anon in 2020 which backfired on you, so my work here is done and I'll take my leave. I'll take proven facts and evidence over a amateur and highly subjective American blogger with no research and analytical skills. One who goes to any lengths to support lies and propaganda as admitted by their own originators as being false and tries to lecture Iraqis and everyone else about Iraq, despite admitting to having no understanding or background on Iraq, no training or background in research and analysis, and can't speak or understand any Arabic or other languages in the region.<br /><br />Joel, you're an obsessed hobbyist like American Civil War larpers, nothing more. Not an analyst, researcher, and you have proven for years capable of nothing more than superficial understanding of any Iraq topic made worse by biased American nationalist narratives and views that drive all your own views. I'm glad that I and others have reminded you being a subjective, low skilled amateur on many occasions. Stick to your day job instead of embarrassing yourself with your oversized ego. I'm sure you're far better at teaching English to children than you are at any of blogging and pushing twisted opinions and histories of Iraq. Good luck.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-73756975989811577722023-02-24T21:53:50.050-08:002023-02-24T21:53:50.050-08:00Here's a simple question. How did you hear the...Here's a simple question. How did you hear the tape? Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-46498542907167696522023-02-24T18:19:30.237-08:002023-02-24T18:19:30.237-08:00Joel, or should I say Dick Cheney, glad to know yo...Joel, or should I say Dick Cheney, glad to know you're so stubbornly ignorant about Iraqi history that you call everyone Saddam for proving you wrong including Kurds like me. This shows you are a supporter of Bush and his wars because just like he called the UN and IAEA Saddam for proving him wrong, anyone who calls out your lies you call them Saddam.<br /><br />Your response to someone calling you out for lying about Halabja in 2020 amounted to "Investigations and evidence be damned. A questionable recording having nothing to say about Halabja, nothing about having made chemical attacks and came months after Halabja is all the proof I need, and I'll make up another lie that it was Saddam and not Ali Majid as is commonly attributed on the recording."<br /><br />You defend a lie by making up another lie because you have a surface level reddit level knowledge and understanding about Iraq, and this is why you're an ignorant, amateur blogger who doesn't know the first thing about Iraq or Iraqis. No wonder what few Iraqis and Americans know about your schizo blog think you're a pathetic ignoramus.<br /><br />Seeing how you deny evidence and make up lies when your fictional beliefs are challenged, what you're saying is that you know Iran gassed Halabja but you're too stubborn to accept a reality opposite of a disproven lie made up by Khomeini the day it happened and with no evidence parroted by US officials when it became politically convenient in the 1990s but especially after 9/11 when it became your hero George W. Bush's mantra. Speaking of Bush, you believe he never really wanted war but was fooled into it and it was all an "accident".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-62853576079620573932023-02-19T15:01:01.096-08:002023-02-19T15:01:01.096-08:00It's nice to know Saddam is alive and well. P....It's nice to know Saddam is alive and well. P.S. Was against the war from the start so you're just throwing dumb insults. Joel Winghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09611810110771744360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-13724624736226561792023-02-19T14:53:12.931-08:002023-02-19T14:53:12.931-08:00Joel, your famous ignorance is showing again like ...Joel, your famous ignorance is showing again like your typical poor analysis of anything to do with Iraq. First, your response has nothing to do with Iran using chemical weapons or not in the wear. They did in the war's last years, and Halabja was only one instance.<br /><br />The alleged tape was from May 1988, which was after the Halabja battle and chemical attack, so it's irrelevant. It was said to be Ali Majid, not Saddam so you're doubly wrong. "Alleged tape" because its legitimacy was never verified. Still assuming it is legitimate, it came after the only proven Iraqi chemical attack on Iraqi Kurds and yes Peter Galbraith admitted to lying about what he said to the Senate in September 1988, for which the UN, Red Cross, Iran, Turkey, and others found no evidence for. Having listened to the full tape, the speaker was saying he would threaten Kurdish militants with chemical weapons, not that he would or did take action. We shouldn't forget most Kurdish fighters were fighting for the Iraqi side either.<br /><br />I'll take the studies and investigations done on the case and the people who knew the most about it over a pathetic ignorant blogger who is obsessed with a country he knows nothing about, lies about, and advocates the war and occupation that destroyed it. Your "blog" is nothing more than astroturfing for debunked neocon propaganda.Masoudnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953410733493889728.post-58370238451867890682022-07-11T02:55:22.147-07:002022-07-11T02:55:22.147-07:00Politics of Iraq
Iraq is a federal parliamentary r...Politics of Iraq<br />Iraq is a federal parliamentary republic. In terms of political and civil liberties, Iraq ranks 3rd. Citizens of Iraq experience little to no civil liberties and political rights. Citizens are not free to express themselves and enjoy neither political freedom nor representative government. Countries with this political situation are dangerous for investment as an authoritarian government may have over-control over economic affairs. The head of government is Fuad Masum.<br /><br />According to the World Bank Group, Iraq's Government Effectiveness Index is -1.13. This suggests that the Iraqi government is ineffective. Public and civil services are severely affected, leading to potential for social and political upheaval. In Iraq, legislative power rests with a Council of Representatives. The Global Peace Index (GPI) for Iraq is 3,444. The Strength of the Rights Index for Iraq is 1. Overall, it is considered to be rather weak – bankruptcy and collateral laws fail to protect borrowers' and lenders' rights in the event of credit-related complications; Credit information, if any, is scarce and difficult to access. In 2013, Iraq received $1,300.7 million in foreign aid. In 2014, foreign aid was $1,908. Iraq is a member of the United Nations (UN). On December 21, 1945, it joined the UN as a full member state on its founding date. Iraq is one of the original UN member states that founded the organization.<br /><br />Federico Castillohttps://www.confiduss.com/en/jurisdictions/iraq/politics/noreply@blogger.com