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The incoming Biden administration has pledged to do even more to partner with allies on the China challenge.
In another step in that direction, on December 2, the foreign ministers of the NATO members, along with delegations from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea, gathered virtually to discuss the rise of China and the implications for the global balance of power.
Der wachsende militärische Einfluss Chinas wird nach Einschätzung von NATO-Generalsekretär Jens Stoltenberg nicht zu einer Öffnung des Verteidigungsbündnisses für asiatische Staaten wie Japan und Südkorea führen. „Wir sind ein regionales Bündnis und werden ein regionales Bündnis bleiben“, sagte der Norweger heute bei einer Diskussion der Denkfabrik Carnegie Europe.
Konkret. Am 20. Dezember 2016, dem Tag nach dem Anschlag, fand im Bundeskanzleramt wie jeden Dienstag die Besprechung der nachrichtendienstlichen Lage statt. Der BND, der vom Kanzleramt beaufsichtigt wird, übermittelte eine Information über den IS (Islamischer Staat), die Anfang November 2016 gewonnen worden war. Darin geht es um Beispiele für Anschläge mit Kraftfahrzeugen wie LKW auf Märkte oder in Fußgängerzonen. Die IS-Vorschläge lesen sich wie ein Drehbuch für die aktuelle Tat vom Breitscheidplatz.
Under a draft order circulating at the Pentagon on Monday, the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan would be halved from the current deployment of 4,500 troops, officials said.
In Iraq, the Pentagon would trim force levels slightly below the 3,000 troops that commanders had previously announced. And in Somalia, virtually all of the more than 700 troops conducting training and counterterrorism missions would leave.
Le Drian said Friday that he would raise the concerns of France – which has been hit by a number of jihadist attacks – over Trump’s plans to speed up the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Heading a high-ranking delegation of military commanders, Anad will arrive in the Iranian capital on Saturday upon an official invitation by Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami.
President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC
Dear Mr. President:
Under your leadership, our nation has achieved unprecedented prosperity. Now, as we observe Veterans Day, I hope you will look abroad and continue to strategically draw down our nation’s military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq.
(…)
I commend your efforts so far to bring our engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq to an end, including your bold decision to open negotiations with the Taliban and your ambitious plan to remove thousands of United States servicemembers from these two countries. I urge you to continue to aggressively pursue these and all other related efforts in the coming weeks. What greater gift could we give the American people as we head into the holiday season?
Sincerely,
Andy Biggs
Member of Congress, Arizona 5th District
(26.4.2018)
As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.
After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.
(Original: Nov 30, 2009)
When we elected you we didn’t expect miracles. We didn’t even expect much change. But we expected some. We thought you would stop the madness. Stop the killing. Stop the insane idea that men with guns can reorganize a nation that doesn’t even function as a nation and never, ever has.
Stop, stop, stop! For the sake of the lives of young Americans and Afghan civilians, stop. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God’s sake, stop.
Tonight we still have hope.
Tomorrow, we shall see.
(Jul 11, 2009)
Obama’s Presidential campaign was pretty much based on getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan, playing to the anti-war movement, to be fair he did make statements about Afghanistan deteriorating and being ignored, but he has doubled the number of troops there now and the anti-war groups seem to be eerily silent.
Bereits im März, nach dem Auslaufen des Einsatzes der Tornado-Luftaufklärung, hatte der Bundestag (Drucksache 19/17790) in einem Ergänzungsmandat den Auftrag der Bundeswehr nicht mehr nur im Rahmen der internationalen Koalition, sondern auch unter der NATO-Trainingsmission im Irak ermöglicht:
Der Zweck des Journalismus ist es, Wahrheit – insbesondere unbequeme Wahrheit – aufzudecken und zum Wohle der Gesellschaft zu veröffentlichen. In einer freien Gesellschaft müssen wir über die kriminellen Handlungen informiert werden, die von den Regierungen im Namen des Volkes begangen werden. Im Laufe der Geschichte haben Journalisten immer wieder aufgedeckt, auf welch vielfältige Weise Regierungen lügen, betrügen und stehlen – und welche großen Anstrengungen sie unternehmen, damit das Volk nichts davon erfährt.
Große Journalisten wie Seymour Hersh, der uns über die Tragödie des Massakers von Mai Lai und die Schrecken, die im irakischen Gefängnis von Abu Ghraib stattfanden, berichtete, sind unverzichtbar.
Iraqi authorities Tuesday reopened a bridge in central Baghdad leading to the high-security Green Zone, in a sign of easing tensions a year after the launch of an anti-government protest movement.
(26.4.2018)
As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.
After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.
Obama framed the election as a battle for democracy.
“Our democracy is not gonna work if the people who are supposed to be our leaders lie every day and just make things up,” Obama said. “This notion of truthfulness and democracy and citizenship and being responsible — these aren’t Republican or Democratic principles. They’re American principles. … We need to reclaim them.”
The 291 new signatures announced Tuesday join 489 national security leaders who previously endorsed former Vice President Biden as having “the character, principles, wisdom and leadership necessary to address a world on fire.”
(26.4.2018)
As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.
After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.
(23. Mai 2013)
Now, the speech:
The president who dramatically expanded the CIA secret drone war, ordered a troop surge in Afghanistan and aggressively prosecuted leakers made a forceful defense of his actions and an even more forceful case for winding down the war on terrorism.
The key line: „This war, like all wars, must end. That’s what history advises. That’s what our democracy demands.“
Obama, after speaking at the Democratic National Convention and headlining a number of fundraisers for the party, is expected to hit the campaign trail next week, according to Democratic Party officials, as he looks to support Biden in the final weeks of the election.
Obama also said that he has seen growth from Biden on foreign policy, noting that while the former Delaware senator voted in 2002 to authorize military force in Iraq, a vote that became a flashpoint during the 2008 presidential primary, Biden had „learned a lesson“ from that.
The General also had a detailed meeting with Chief of the Air Staff. Both Commanders discussed various matters pertaining to security and mutual cooperation.
On Tuesday, Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan will hold a tripartite summit at the ministerial level in Cairo
The U.S. warning caused alarm in Iraq, where it was seen as a step towards air strikes, potentially turning Iraq into a battleground in a proxy war between the United States and Iran. A broad array of politicians called on the militia to stop provoking the Americans.
Vergangenen Monat hatten die USA mit der Schließung ihrer Botschaft in Bagdad gedroht, sollte die irakische Regierung die Milizen nicht zügeln. Das hatte auf irakischer Seite Sorgen ausgelöst, denn die Schließung der Botschaft könnte ein Schritt hin zu US-Luftangriffen und einer Ausweitung der Konflikte sein. Mehrere irakische Politiker hatten deswegen die Milizen aufgerufen, die USA nicht weiter zu provozieren.
(September 11, 2020)
The Asymmetric Warfare Group and the Rapid Equipping Force will be deactivated by Sept. 30, 2021, the statement said. Personnel and resources from both organizations will be absorbed into the larger force, the Army said.
IRNA reported that Fuad Hussein planned to meet his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani, in what marked his first visit to the Iranian capital.
Mehrere deutsche Sicherheitsbehörden beschäftigen sich derzeit mit der in Hamm ansässigen Firma Asgaard – dies ergeben Recherchen des ARD-Politikmagazins Kontraste in Kooperation mit dem Nachrichtenmagazin „Der Spiegel“. Die Behörden treibt die Sorge um, dass Asgaard enge Kontakte in die Bundeswehr sowie in mehrere deutsche Sicherheitsbehörden auf Bundes- und Länderebene hinein unterhält.
There will be no media opportunity.
McKenzie also offered an update on the Afghanistan drawdown, saying that the current level of 8,600 wound be down to 4,500 by late October. This figure was roughly announced in the past, but details show that they’re still on track for that.
The United States will withdraw more than 2,000 troops from Iraq this month, the top U.S. general in the region said Wednesday.
Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command (Centcom), announced the reduction from roughly 5,200 troops to 3,000 troops during a visit to Iraq.
(26.4.2018)
As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.
After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.
Macron is also expected to meet Nechirvan Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region.
31. Aug. 2020
One big roadblock to finally leaving Iraq alone is President Trump’s de facto Secretary of War, Mike Pompeo. Although he’s supposed to be the top US diplomat, Pompeo is a bull in a china shop. He seems determined to start a war with Iran, China, Russia, Venezuela, and probably a few more countries.
Leider gibt es in dieser Regierung ein Muster, bei dem Präsident Trump den Rückzug der Truppen aus einem der anscheinend endlosen Konflikte ankündigt, in die wir verwickelt sind, und ein Regierungsmitglied – oft Pompeo – die Erklärung des Präsidenten so „erklärt“, dass sie das Gegenteil von dem bedeutet, was der Präsident gerade gesagt hat.
His Majesty King Abdullah, Egypt President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, and Iraq Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi on Tuesday held the third trilateral summit between Jordan, Egypt and Iraq in Amman.
The Democratic nominee and his closest advisors served in the Obama administration—but their foreign-policy vision is finding inspiration in Harry S. Truman.
John Negroponte, who served as director of national intelligence under former President George W. Bush, endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden in his race against President Trump on Thursday in an interview with the Daily Beast.
“All roads lead to Trump in a way,” Negroponte told the website. “I’m just not sure the country can withstand another four years of the presidency with a man who has shown such disregard to the office.”
… zusammen mit dem Parlament den Bundeswehreinsatz in Syrien und dem Irak umgehend zu beenden und den sofortigen Ausstieg Deutschlands aus der Operation „Inherent Resolve“ zu erklären, insbesondere da diese tatsächlich nicht mehr der Bekämpfung des sog. Islamischen Staats (IS) sondern anderen politischen Zielen dient.
(22. Juli 2004)
Welch ein Kontrapunkt zu einem anderen Tod, der den Beginn von Blairs Laufbahn markiert hat. Im Mai 1994 erlag der Labour-Vorsitzende und Oppositionsführer John Smith überraschend einem Herzinfarkt, und nach gebührender Anstandsfrist wurde Blair sein Nachfolger. Den 21. Juli 1994, als dies geschah, wird man vielleicht einmal als den Gründungstag von „New Labour“ feiern. Doch heute macht die Partei möglichst wenig Aufhebens davon, denn im verflixten siebten Jahr der Regierung Blair muß man die Leute nicht auch noch mit Gewalt zum Nachsinnen bringen, wie grandios alles einmal begonnen hatte und wie viele Hoffnungen seither enttäuscht worden sind.
1. Operation Mason, the police code-name for the search for Dr Kelly, was officially started before his family had reported him missing. The official explanation is that operation start times are often made retrospective to cover any preceding period relevant to the operation; but if this were the reason in this case, then the start time would need to be weeks, not hours earlier. Who authorised the opening of documentation on the operation and at precisely what time?
2. Why were there no fingerprints on Dr Kelly’s knife, pill packets, water bottle, glasses, mobile or watch? He wore no gloves. Police knew this when they gave evidence to Hutton but the absence of prints wasn’t mentioned.
3. Lord Hutton said photographic evidence showed Dr Kelly’s body was found propped against a tree, yet the first paramedic to reach the scene said he was originally flat on his back. Who moved the body and why?
………..
Dr Kelly had been unmasked by officials a week previously as the assumed source of a highly damaging BBC report which suggested Blair’s government had ’sexed-up‘ the case for the Iraq war.
He always denied being the BBC’s prime source, yet its report added to mounting questions about the existence of the infamous weapons of mass destruction (WMD), used by the then Prime Minister to justify sending British troops into the conflict.
(06.07.2020)
They turned to an industry of power-brokering little known outside the capital: strategic consultancies. Retiring leaders often open firms bearing their names: Madeleine Albright has one, as do Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen. Their strategic consultancies tend to blur corporate and governmental roles. This obscure corner of Washington is critical to understanding how a President Joe Biden would conduct foreign policy. He has been picking top advisers from this shadowy world.
(07.06.2020)
The liberal establishment is desperate to return a centrist to the White House in November and reestablish the country’s more stable military dominance of the world order, disrupted only briefly by Donald Trump. Joe Biden’s terrible track record on foreign policy — including his championing of war in Iraq — suggests a return to Obama-style strong military interventions abroad.
The southern and eastern border of Iraq with Iran had been closed since March following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) sent a letter to President Trump earlier this week, calling on him to not only complete the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, but leave Iraq as well, saying the country can’t stay a great power and engage in endless war.
Linke und Rechte können ihre sinnlosen Debatten über „Patriotismus“ führen, so viel sie wollen. Sie sollen aber den Teil weglassen, der besagt, dass die Invasion und Besetzung eines Landes, das die Vereinigten Staaten nie angegriffen hat, das Recht der Amerikaner auf freie Meinungsäusserung schützt, weil das einfach nicht wahr ist.
Über Ramstein in Rheinland-Pfalz läuft die Versorgung der US-Einsätze im Irak und in Afghanistan, im benachbarten Landstuhl steht das größte US-Militärkrankenhaus außerhalb der USA, in Stuttgart befinden sich die Kommandozentralen für die US-Streitkräfte in Europa und in Afrika, das hessischen Wiesbaden beherbergt die Zentrale der US-Army in Europa, und im bayrischen Grafenwöhr gibt es einen der größten Truppenübungsplätze Europas.
(28.8.2011)
Diese bis heute verbreitete Darstellung ist unangenehm für die Bundesrepublik. Deutschland steht da als ein Land, das ein Doppelspiel betrieben hat: nach außen den Pazifisten geben – und hintenherum über seinen Geheimdienst einen entscheidenden Grund für die militärische Intervention liefern. Der Bundesnachrichtendienst nahm die Vorwürfe schweigend hin.
Werden die Amerikaner wieder leichtgläubig sein, wenn die politischen Entscheidungsträger in Washington und ihre Medienverbündeten das nächste Mal schwachsinnige Vorwände aushecken, um irgendein unglückliches fremdes Land in die Luft zu jagen?
Im von der Türkei besetzten Teil Nordsyriens etabliert die Türkei immer intensiver ein umfangreiches völkerrechtswidriges Besatzungsregime. Die milliardenschweren Finanzhilfen und die Rüstungsgeschäfte mit der Türkei müssen jetzt wirklich gestoppt werden.
Kristian Brakel von der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Istanbul meint, dass andere Interessen nicht dahinterstecken müssten, aber könnten: etwa die innerkurdischen Friedensverhandlungen, die in Syrien gerade stattgefunden haben. „Zwischen dem PKK-Ableger PYD beziehungsweise YPG und dem eher Barzani-nahestehenden kurdischen Lager aus dem Nordirak, die erst Verhandlungserfolge verkündet haben. Da ist etwas, dass der Türkei sicherlich nicht Recht ist“.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed separately at a news conference that a „strategic dialogue“ between the United States and Iraq will begin Thursday.
He said the US delegation will be led by David Hale, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, and include representatives from the Defense and Energy Departments, Treasury and other agencies.
As thousands across the US take to the streets for another day of protests demanding justice for George Floyd, more than 17,000 members of the National Guard are standing ready to support local law enforcement.
That represents approximately the same number of active duty troops deployed in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
As of Monday, nearly half of the US has activated guard members to respond to civil unrest.
„What you are witnessing these days are only signs of big changes in the region that’ll offer greater opportunities than we had previously in the past decade” read an online message on Thursday from new ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Qurashi, translated by Hassan Hassan, director of the Non-State Actors in Fragile Environments Program at the Center for Global Policy and a co-author of „ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror.“
(26.4.2018)
As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.
After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.
Iran has now restarted some of the dangerous aspects of its nuclear program that the nuclear deal stopped dead in their tracks. And unfortunately, it’s taken a series of provocative actions endangering our own forces in the Middle East, in Iraq and Syria, as well as our citizens. And all of that has happened at the same time that we managed to alienate ourselves from our closest allies. We disagree fundamentally with the approach the administration took on Iran. So this is just not working on its own terms. If Iran comes back into compliance with the deal, then yes, Joe Biden said we would do the same thing, but we would use that as a platform to try to build a stronger and longer deal working with our partners.
And I think we’d have a decent chance of doing that because our partners would be with us, not alienated from us. And at the same time, much more likely to join us in trying to curb other actions by Iran that we find objectionable.
Hatamai underlined the need for defense cooperation between Baghdad and Tehran to restore security and stability in the region.
The Supreme Judiciary Council said in a statement it ordered the release of protesters detained since demonstrations erupted last year in line with the new prime minister’s call.
The council released detainees based on Article 38 of the constitution that guarantees the right to protest, „provided that it is not accompanied by an act contrary to the law“, it said.
“In support of the new government the United States will move forward with a 120-day electricity waiver as a display of our desire to help provide the right conditions for success,” the State Department said in a statement on a call between Pompeo and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
Iraq’s parliament selected Mustafa Khadmini, a former intelligence chief reportedly backed by America, as the country’s new prime minister.
The Iraqi Parliament voted on Wednesday night to approve the government of Mustafa Al Kadhimi, ending weeks of political deadlock.
More than 250 members attended the session in Baghdad and passed 15 ministers while rejecting five – those for trade, justice, culture, agriculture and migration.
Earlier this month, the US brought two Patriot air defense missile batteries into Iraq. One is based at al-Assad and the other is deployed in Erbil.
The United States has renewed a waiver for Iraq to continue importing Iranian electricity, a State Department official said on Sunday, but this time for a shorter period of 30 days, adding that Washington would be reassessing whether to renew again once a ‘credible government’ is formed in Iraq.
Baghdad meets a part of its demand by purchasing resources it needs to supply its power plants from its neighbors like Iran.
„The international coalition forces had departed the base and the K1 base now is under full control of the Iraqi forces,“ the office said.
On the other side, a U.S.-led coalition spokesman said in a tweet that the troops departed the compound inside K1 airbase in coordination with the Iraqi government, asserting that the coalition troops will support Iraq from fewer places with fewer troops.
Anstatt sich dem Beschluss des irakischen Parlaments zu fügen, der ja auch für deutsche Truppen gilt, peitscht die Bundesregierung am heutigen Mittwoch trotz der derzeitigen kompletten Lahmlegung des öffentlichen Lebens sogar eine Erweiterung des Irak-Mandats im Eilverfahren durch den Bundestag.
Am 5. Januar brachte der geschäftsführende irakische Ministerpräsident Adel Abd Al-Mahdi einen Resolutionsentwurf ins irakische Parlament ein. Weil die US-Armee mit dem Drohnenmord am iranischen General Kassem Soleimani und mehreren Begleitern am 3. Januar sowohl die irakische Souveränität als auch die irakisch-US-amerikanischen Vereinbarungen, die der Stationierung von US-Truppen in dem Land zugrunde liegen, verletzt habe, solle die irakische Regierung ihr Hilfsgesuch an die »Internationale Koalition gegen den Islamischen Staat« zurücknehmen und alle ausländischen Truppen zum Abzug auffordern.
4.Aufgaben
Die Aufgaben für die beteiligten Kräfte der Bundeswehr werden ergänzt um:
• Einsatzunterstützung durch Luftbetankung über den 31. März 2020 hinaus;
• Lufttransport für die internationale Anti-IS-Koalition, internationale Organisationen, Alliierte und Partner;
• bodengebundene Luftraumüberwachung. Zu den übrigen, unverändert fortgeltenden Aufgaben wird auf den Zustimmungsbeschluss des Deutschen Bundestages vom 24. Oktober 2019 verwiesen.
5. Einzusetzende Fähigkeiten
Die militärischen Fähigkeiten schließen die Fähigkeit zum strategischen und taktischen Lufttransport ein.
6. Ermächtigung zum Einsatz und Dauer des Einsatzes
Der deutsche Beitrag zur Luftbetankung wird über den 31. März 2020 fortgesetzt. Im Übrigen bleibt die Befristung des gesamten Einsatzes bis zum 31. Oktober 2020 unberührt.
7. Einsatzgebiet
Luftbetankung sowie der Beitrag zur Luftraumüberwachung und Lagebilderstellung können im irakischen Hoheitsgebiet, im Luftraum über dem Operationsgebiet von IS in Syrien und im Hoheitsgebiet von Anrainerstaaten, von denen eine Genehmigung der jeweiligen Regierung vorliegt, erfolgen. Lufttransport als Unterstützungsleistung für die internationale Anti-IS-Koalition, internationale Organisationen, Alliierte und Partner können in Irak, Jordanien, in weiteren Anrainerstaaten, von denen eine Genehmigung der jeweiligen Regierung vorliegt sowie in EU- und NATO-Staaten erbracht werden.
Donnerstag, 26. März 2020 (155. Sitzung)
09.00 – 09.35 Uhr 30 Min. TOP 7 Persönlichkeitsschutz bei Bildaufnahmen
09.35 – 10.40 Uhr 60 Min. TOP 8 Frontex-Finanzierung
10.40 – 11.15 Uhr30 Min. TOP 9 Bundeswehreinsatz Irak
Berlin weitet Einsatz der Bundeswehr im Irak aus.
Wegen der Coronakrise soll das deutsche Kontingent nun zwar vorläufig abgezogen werden; laut Berichten gilt dies nicht nur für die mehr als 40 Soldaten in der Nähe von Bagdad, sondern auch für die über 90 Militärs im kurdischsprachigen Nordirak.[7] Allerdings ist die Aussetzung des Einsatzes lediglich befristet – bis zum 11. Mai. Anschließend sollen die deutschen Soldaten im Rahmen der Anti-IS-Koalition in den Irak zurückkehren.
(17.03.2020)
Das Verteidigungsministerium will wegen der Coronakrise alle Soldaten aus dem Irak abziehen. Nach SPIEGEL-Informationen wurde zudem auch ein Awacs-Überwachungsjet aus der Türkei zurückgeholt.
Syria’s government has started testing in areas in the rest of the country, although has not yet reported a case to the WHO. Turkey to the north confirmed its first case last week and Iraq has at least 93 confirmed cases.
via @Pressecop24com
He also said that the U.S. is in the process of moving Patriot anti-missile batteries into Iraq, adding it will be „some days“ before they became operational.
US-Verteidigungsminister Mark Esper teilte auf Twitter mit, die USA würden vom Iran unterstützte Angriffe gegen Amerikaner und ihre Alliierten nicht tolerieren. In Tadschi sind aktuell auch etwa 50 deutsche Soldaten stationiert. Es habe unter ihnen keine Verletzten gegeben, sagte ein Sprecher des Einsatzführungskommandos.
(September 18, 2007)
“Generals lie, Soldiers die,” chanted pro-testers when general David Petraeus appeared before a Congressional committee in Washington on 10 September.
Petraeus’s mission? To provide military cover for Bush’s cynical tactic of playing for time.
The strikes come one day after the US assessed an Iranian-backed group was responsible for a rocket attack on a base where coalition forces are located, killing two American service members and one British service member. Fox News was first to report on the strike.
In a largely party-line 227-186 vote, the House approved the resolution that would direct the president to “terminate the use of United States Armed Forces for hostilities against” Iran unless Congress specifically authorizes it. Six Republicans voted for the measure.
The Senate passed the resolution in a 55-45 vote last month, with eight Republicans siding with Democrats to support it. Neither chamber of Congress is expected to have the votes to override Trump’s likely veto.
(today)
Citing two unnamed US officials, Reuters reported that based on preliminary information, about a dozen coalition members had also been injured in the Wednesday attack against Iraq’s Taji military camp, located some 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) north of Baghdad.
Earlier, the Iraqi Interior Ministry’s Security Media Cell announced in a statement that the incident took place in the evening when 10 rockets landed on Camp Taji, located some 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) north of Baghdad.
(September 30, 2004)
KERRY: Thirty-five to forty countries in the world had a greater capability of making weapons at the moment the president invaded than Saddam Hussein. And while he’s been diverted, with 9 out of 10 active duty divisions of our Army, either going to Iraq, coming back from Iraq, or getting ready to go, North Korea’s gotten nuclear weapons and the world is more dangerous. Iran is moving toward nuclear weapons and the world is more dangerous. Darfur has a genocide.
The world is more dangerous. I’d have made a better choice.
LEHRER: New question. Two minutes, Senator Kerry. What is your position on the whole concept of preemptive war?
KERRY: The president always has the right, and always has had the right, for preemptive strike. That was a great doctrine throughout the Cold War. And it was always one of the things we argued about with respect to arms control.
The First Presidential Debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry on Thursday September 30th, 2004 at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
The troops were killed by “enemy forces” during a joint operation with Iraqi security forces to “eliminate an ISIS terrorist stronghold” in a mountainous area of north central Iraq, Operation Inherent Resolve said in a statement.
No additional information about the incident was provided.
Dr. Angela Merkel: Sie machen sich Sorgen, ob wir, die Politiker – egal ob Regierung oder Opposition –, unser Land durch eine schwierige Zeit, insbesondere durch den Irakkonflikt und durch den Kampf gegen den Terrorismus mit Klugheit und Weisheit führen können. Die Menschen in diesem Lande wollen keinen Krieg.
(Hans-Werner Bertl [SPD]: Das ist wahr!)
Diejenigen, die in diesem Saale sitzen, wollen auch keinen Krieg.
(Lebhafter Beifall bei der CDU/CSU und der FDP)
Sehr geehrter Herr Bundeskanzler, wie sehr Sie innerlich unter Druck stehen, hat man schon an der Lautstärke Ihrer Stimme gemerkt.
(Lachen bei der SPD)
Dass Sie es aber nötig haben, die Opposition dieses Hauses als Kriegstreiber zu verleumden,
(Hans Michelbach [CDU/CSU]: Pfui!)
zeigt, in welcher Ecke Sie stehen. Aus dieser Ecke werden Sie nicht herauskommen können.
(Anhaltender Beifall bei der CDU/CSU und der FDP)
Wer als Bundeskanzler der Bundesrepublik Deutschland den Eindruck erweckt, irgendjemand würde sich die Entscheidung über Krieg und Frieden leicht machen und die letzte Chance aus der Hand geben, der, sehr geehrter Herr Bundeskanzler, hat nicht erfasst, worum es geht.
(Beifall bei der CDU/CSU und der FDP)
Ich sage Ihnen: Sie sind seit Wochen auf einem Irrweg. Das Schlimmste ist – das sage ich mit großem Ernst; das ist meine feste Überzeugung –, dass insbesondere Ihr Verhalten auf dem Marktplatz von Goslar den Krieg im Irak leider nicht unwahrscheinlicher, sondern wahrscheinlicher gemacht hat; denn Sie haben den Druck auf Saddam Hussein verringert.
(Beifall bei der CDU/CSU und der FDP – Lothar Mark [SPD]: Das ist unglaublich! – Weitere Zurufe von der SPD)
Im Gegensatz zu Ihnen war ich in München und weiß, was ich gesagt habe. Niemand hat behauptet, dass es aufgrund der Resolution 1441 einen Automatismus der Gewalt gibt.
(19. März 2003)
Ein ungleiches Bündnis von 30 Regierungen muss einer Mehrheit von Kriegsgegnern in seinen Ländern standhalten.
(09.01.2016)
Köln und München. Moralisch-politischer Zusammenbruch und Kapitulation von Liberalen, Demokraten, Pazifisten, Sozialdemokraten und politischen Linken in Zeiten des Krieges. Kontext einer Republik außer Funktion.
Am 23. August warnte Radio Utopie vor einer
„von der Regierung von oben nach unten in die Gesellschaft hinein organisierten neuen Kampagne zur Schürung von Konflikten, Spaltungsbewegungen, bis hin zur Kreation von Spannungsfällen in die Quere, die einerseits den „Sicherheits“-Apparat, als auch die „Europäische Union“ begünstigen, die Republik destabilisieren und dadurch die herrschende Machtarchitektur stabilisieren sollen.“
Gestern begannen, jedenfalls nach Angaben des Militärs bzw des Einsatzführungskommandos, die Tornado-Kampfbomber-Einsätze der deutschen Luftwaffe im 2003 durch eine Invasion des Westblocks begonnenen und danach faktisch nie geendeten Irak-Krieges, dem sich Staatsparteien, Organisationen und vor allem die Bevölkerung Deutschlands seinerzeit noch wiedersetzt hatten. Doch seltsamerweise wurde dieser Kotau von Staat, Militär und Regierung Deutschlands vor dem seit 14 Jahren weltweit nach eigenem Ermessen Krieg führenden Imperium der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika kaum oder gar nicht zur Kenntnis genommen. Ebenso willig hingenommen wurde die organisierte Kollaboration beim verfassungswidrigen Angriffskrieg gegen Syrien, welcher 2011 (zunächst im Windschatten einer ursprünglichen Demokratiebewegung) begonnen wurde, mit dem Ziel der Kontrollgewinnung über diesen Staat bzw dem Sturz des bisherigen Regimes.
Eigentlich seltsam, nicht wahr? Im Jahre 2016 wird Deutschland in zwei Angriffskriege mit hinein gezogen, in einen weiteren Krieg auf dem Territorium eines Mitglieds vom Nordatlantikpakt verwickelt, der Türkei, und es passiert – nichts.
Nichts.
(26.4.2018)
As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.
After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.
(18.02.2020)
As Biden hopes for a comeback, a new short documentary sheds light on his extensive role in the Iraq War — an issue that has been raised repeatedly on the campaign trail. Biden has apologized for supporting the war, but the new film, directed by the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s Mark Weisbrot, exposes Biden’s central role in pushing for an Iraq invasion. It’s called “Worth the Price? Joe Biden and the Launch of the Iraq War.” The documentary is narrated by Danny Glover.
He was selected as premier designate on Feb. 1, two months after Adel Abdul-Mahdi, now caretaker prime minister, resigned under pressure from anti-government demonstrations.
Die Bundeswehr gehört zur Koalition der internationalen Kräfte im Kampf gegen die Terrororganisation Islamischer Staat (IS“Islamischer Staat“). Auch wenn der IS“Islamischer Staat“ im Irak inzwischen als besiegt gilt, stellt er doch immer noch eine ernstzunehmende Gefahr dar. Die Bundeswehr kann sich mit 700 Soldatinnen und Soldaten am Einsatz beteiligen.
WikiLeaks revealed – in partnership with major international publications, including the two involved in the Pentagon Papers Case – videos of American troops murdering civilians and celebrating the murders (a war crime) as well as documentary proof of American complicity in torture (also a war crime).
(08.07.2019)
Wie gefährlich und für die Allermeisten unübersichtlich die Situation in diesem von allen Großmächten mit Ansage gezüchteten Hexenkessel in Syrien ist, mag man daran erkennen, dass die Staatsführungen von Russland, Iran und Syrien im August 2016 dem von der Türkei aus erfolgten Einmarsch der Internationalen Kriegskoalition in Syrien tatenlos zusahen und hofften, dass das nicht weiter auffiel.
Alle Kriegsparteien lügen um die Wette.
Ob nun die U.S.-Anforderung deutscher Truppen die Bundeswehr in Nord-Syrien bzw Idlib zur Schutztruppe oder zur Zielscheibe für Al Kaida und Konsorten macht, oder ob sie als „Ersatz“ für oder mit U.S.-Truppen gemeinsam Unterstützung für die vom U.S.-Zentralkommando geführten mehrheitlich kurdischen Milizen der „Syrian Democratic Forces“ leisten, ist aus Sicht der Protagonisten irrelevant. Ziel ist schlicht der Krieg um des Krieges willen.
Explizit Deutschland soll weiter im bereits seit achtzehn Jahren andauernden endlosen und ungewinnbaren Terrorkrieg gehalten werden. Für, wegen, gegen wen und wofür spielt dabei für die Kriegslobby – dazu zählen in Deutschland u.a. de facto alle Parteien, das Militär, sowie der geheimdienstliche und Medien-Komplex – keine Rolle.
Assange’s extradition hearing will begin on February 24 in Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s London courtroom. More than 70 lawyers and legal academics, as well as at least 12 former heads of state, have signed a letter that will be sent to the U.K. Home Secretary, stating, “The fact that the charges are brought under the Espionage Act further reveals that this is a matter of a pure political offence [citation omitted].
Assanges Auslieferungsanhörung wird am 24. Februar im Londoner Gerichtssaal der Richterin Vanessa Baraitser beginnen. Mehr als 70 Rechtsanwälte und Rechtswissenschaftler sowie mindestens 12 ehemalige Staatsoberhäupter haben ein Schreiben unterzeichnet, das an den britischen Innenminister geschickt wird und in dem es heißt: „Die Tatsache, dass die Anklage nach dem Spionagegesetz erhoben wird, zeigt außerdem, dass es sich um ein rein politisches Vergehen handelt. Es besteht ein breiter internationaler Konsens darüber, dass solche Straftaten nicht der Auslieferung unterliegen sollten“.
He also promised to hold an early election free from “the influence of money, weapons, and foreign interference” and called on protesters to give his government a chance in spite of a “crisis of confidence in everything related to politics” that he blamed on the failures of his predecessors.
But Koch/Soros don’t really want to end endless US interventions overseas. They want to fund the same old think tanks who are responsible for the disaster that is US foreign policy, re-brand interventionism as non-interventionism, and hope none of us rubes in flyover country notices.
Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Saturday that production at the so-called West Karoun oilfields would reach one million barrels per day (bpd) if Iran secures the expertise and funds needed for the development of the fields.
Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi has vowed to announce this week his cabinet made up of „independent“ and „impartial“ figures.
„(Iraqis) have continuously rejected the deals with GE and Exxon,“ a senior administration official told AFP, weeks before the recent waiver expired.
Der moralische Hochsitz ermöglicht der deutschen Außenpolitik einen wunderbaren Überblick über das Getümmel – aber von da oben mischt man nicht mit. Und Autonomie gibt es in dieser Welt für niemanden.
(2. Septemmber 2014)
Auf dem Gipfel des Nordatlantikpakts in Wales wird es weniger um Russland als um die Frage gehen, mit welcher schwachsinnigen Ausrede nun die N.A.T.O. den am 4. Oktober 2001 ausgerufenen „kollektiven Verteidigungsfall“ aufrechterhalten will.
Eine Option: Noch mehr Eroberungen islamischer Staaten, wegen dem „Islamischen Staat“.
Mr. Stoltenberg briefed the Coalition on the decision in principle by Allied ministers to enhance NATO’s training mission in Iraq. As a first step, this will consist of NATO taking on some of the Global Coalition’s current training activities in the country.
Mr. Stoltenberg highlighted that NATO’s work in Iraq is helping strengthen the Iraqi armed forces and institutions to ensure ISIS cannot return, and Iraq no longer requires support.
He briefed on the Allied decision to enhance #NATO’s training mission in #Iraq. #MSC2020.
Read more: http://bit.ly/2UUFLb5
Noch vor Tagungsbeginn kommt die Anti-IS-Koalition auf Einladung der deutschen Verteidigungsministerin Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer und ihres amerikanischen Amtskollegen Mark Esper zusammen. Der Kampf gegen den IS müsse fortgesetzt werden, der IS sei noch nicht besiegt, bekunden beide danach.
NATO is ready to expand its military training effort in Iraq, the alliance’s top civilian official said Wednesday, but the Iraqi government is not yet ready to approve the move.
The Canada-led operation was launched in 2018 but suspended last month after a U.S. missile strike at Baghdad Airport killed Iran’s top general and Iraq’s government and lawmakers demanded that foreign troops leave. U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has demanded that U.S. allies do more in the Mideast.
Die Nato-Staaten beschließen, sich künftig stärker im Irak zu engagieren. Die Zustimmung Bagdads steht aber noch aus. Und auch die Bundeswehr-Beteiligung ist offen.
Der Herstellung von Kriegsgerät komme in Deutschland »strategische Bedeutung« zu, heißt es in dem Papier. Ziel der Bundesregierung sei es, immer auf innovative und leistungsfähige Waffenschmieden zurückgreifen zu können. Damit wäre nicht nur für die Bundeswehr, sondern auch für profitable Rüstungsexporte gesorgt. Die Sicherheitskonferenz kann kommen.
Tatsächlich wurden die drei großen offen völkerrechtswidrigen Angriffskriege der vergangenen drei Jahrzehnte von westlichen Mächten geführt: der Jugoslawien-Krieg von 1999 auf maßgebliches Drängen der Bundesrepublik; der Irak-Krieg des Jahres 2003 vor allem von den USA; der Libyen-Krieg von 2011 insbesondere von Großbritannien und Frankreich. Die Zerstörung des Irak und Libyens sowie die Kriege im Sahel gehen ursächlich auf die erwähnten westlichen Angriffskriege zurück.
Choreographed sword fights, such as those traditionally performed in Gulf Arab countries, may look like clashes between deadly enemies but in fact require close coordination between the participants.Many Arabs believe the conflict between the US and Iran in Iraq is similar.
Vorausgesetzt, auch der Bundestag gibt grünes Licht, wird die Bundeswehr länger in zwei Krisenregionen Afrikas bleiben.
Es besteht eine echte Gefahr für außenpolitische Berater und Analysten – und insbesondere für diejenigen, denen sie dienen -, wenn sie sich in einer Blase, einem Echoraum, befinden und alle ihre Schlussfolgerungen auf fehlerhaften Eingaben beruhen. Es ist natürlich noch schlimmer, wenn sie glauben, sie könnten ihre eigene Realität schaffen und Ergebnisse erfinden, die Hand und Fuß haben.
Unter diesen Umständen laufen die Dinge selten wie geplant.
President Trump has argued that prohibiting funds for military action against Iran actually makes war more likely, as he would be restricted from the kinds of military-strikes-short-of-war like his attack on Syria after the alleged chemical attack in Douma in 2018 (claims which have recently fallen apart). The logic is faulty and reflects again the danger of believing one’s own propaganda.
Allawi would run the country until early elections can be held. He must form a new government within a month.
It’s unclear how many Republicans will support the bills on Thursday. Just three GOP lawmakers supported a war powers resolution the House passed earlier this month that was also aimed at limiting Trump’s ability to strike Iran.
I couldn’t know it that morning, but the interview would entirely change my perspective on America’s involvement in Iraq, and set me on a decades-long course of struggling with the false narratives used to persuade us to march into that conflict and other ones.
Der irakische Präsident Barham Saleh hat dem Parlament ein Ultimatum für die Nominierung eines neuen Regierungschefs gesetzt. Sollte es den „betroffenen Kräften“ im Parlament bis zum Samstag nicht gelingen, einen geeigneten Kandidaten zu benennen, werde er jenen mit der Regierungsbildung zu beauftragen, „den ich am akzeptabelsten für das Parlament und die Bevölkerung halte“, schrieb Saleh heute in einem Brief, den AFP einsehen konnte.
The Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr. Qahtan Taha Khalaf, met with Mr. Suleiman Al-Hamdan, the Saudi Minister of Civil Service, the two parties discussed strengthening bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries and the importance of developing them in all fields, …
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, speaking in an interview at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, said that Germany aims to keep its forces in Iraq, but can only do so at the behest of the government in Baghdad.
“We need to keep in mind that in Iraq, IS is not yet defeated,“ Kramp-Karrenbauer told Bloomberg Television in Davos, Switzerland. “If the pressure is reduced, then the danger is great that it resumes its regime of terror.”
Nach Informationen der Deutschen Presse-Agentur steht die Fortsetzung des Auftrags unmittelbar bevor. Das Verteidigungsministerium bestätigte die Fortführung des Einsatzes.
“The tempo is coming back,” Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie Jr., who heads U.S. Central Command, said during a visit to a constellation of tiny American outposts in eastern Syria.
American troops in Syria, like those in neighboring Iraq, shifted their focus from anti-extremist operations to force protection after a Jan. 3 strike in Baghdad killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s most influential military figure.
„No ally has suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkey. They are important in the fight against Daesh. They are the only ally which is bordering Syria and Iraq,“ he said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIL.
Stoltenberg’s remarks came during a speech at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The Iraqi President, Barham Salih, met with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, in Davos on Wednesday to discuss a number of topics, including the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq.
Maas warnte zudem vor einem Abzug der Streitkräfte der Anti-IS-Koalition aus dem Irak. Wenn es das Ergebnis der Tötung des iranischen Generals Soleimani sei, dass sich der Irak in seiner Souveränität verletzt fühle und das Parlament ausländische Streitkräfte des Landes verweisen wolle, serviere man „im Ergebnis den Irak Iran auf dem Silbertablett“. Das könne auch nicht im Interesse der Vereinigten Staaten sein, sagte Maas
16.01.2020
Bundesaußenminister Heiko Maas (SPD) und eine Mehrheit der Fraktionen im Bundestag sprechen sich für einen Verbleib der Bundeswehr im Irak aus.
A source close to the Iraqi government told Al-Monitor, “Abdul Mahdi has told Kurdish officials the Kurdistan region is part of the Iraqi federal state, thus they must abide by the Iraqi parliament’s decision to eject US forces from Iraqi soil once the decision is put into practice.“
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, added, “Abdul Mahdi also told the Kurds his government soon will try to reach an agreement with the US on how to implement the Iraqi parliament’s decision. Kurds should cooperate with Baghdad in this regard. No foreign forces are allowed to stay in Iraq under any pretexts.“
Siemens hat einen 15 Milliarden Dollar schweren Auftrag für die Entwicklung der Stromversorgung im Irak.
Incredibly, Americans will vote this year in the fifth straight presidential election haunted by the Iraq war — proof of the trauma seared on the nation’s psyche.
At CNN’s Democratic debate last night in Iowa, candidates exhumed the decision to topple Saddam Hussein, prompted by fears Donald Trump could plunge the US into another Middle East war — with Iran.
The United States has about 5,000 troops in Iraq leading the fight against ISIS. There are also about 800 U.S. troops fighting ISIS in Syria. Meanwhile, about 14,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan helping Afghan forces fight the Taliban and conducting counterterrorism operations against groups such as ISIS.
Outside of combat zones, the United States has also deployed about 14,000 more troops throughout the Middle East since the summer in an effort to deter Iran.
The two sides also discussed the work of the NATO mission in Iraq, and how to continue cooperation between the two sides in the light of the Iraqi government’s decision to require member states in the international coalition against Daesh to withdraw their forces present in Iraq, noting the importance of increased communication in order to develop a new program of action that accommodates the developments in the situation in Iraq and the region.
On Thursday Iraqi Prime Minister Mahdi phoned Pompeo to urgently request that Washington enact a US troop “withdrawal mechanism” in Iraq. American troops are in Iraq by invitation of the Iraqi government and the Iraqi government had just voted to revoke that invitation.
The State Department responded with a statement titled “The US Continued Partnership with Iraq,” in which it essentially said that the US would not abide by the request of its Iraqi partners because the US military is a “force for good” in the Middle East and that as such it is „our right“ to maintain „appropriate force posture” in the region.
Das Außenministerium antwortete mit einer Erklärung unter dem Titel „Die fortgesetzte Partnerschaft der USA mit dem Irak“, in der es im Wesentlichen sagte, dass die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika dem Wunsch ihrer irakischen Partner nicht nachkommen würden, weil das US-Militär eine „Kraft für das Gute“ im Nahen Osten sei und dass es daher „unser Recht“ sei, eine „angemessene Truppenstärke“ in der Region beizubehalten.
Das Land ist Teil der Anti-IS-Koalition, von Jordanien aus beteiligt sich auch die Bundeswehr im Kampf gegen den IS, etwa mit Aufklärungstornados und einem Airbus-Tankflugzeug.
Aber ob die deutschen Soldaten in der Region bleiben werden?
Die »Tornados« seien bereits seit Sonnabend wieder im Einsatz, sagte der Kommandeur des deutschen Kontingents der Operation »Inherent Resolve«, Oberst Markus Kleinbauer, am Montag der Deutschen Presseagentur im jordanischen Al-Asrak.
After decades of an enduring cycle of violence, Iraqis are hardened to conflict. But many say they have little vested interest in the latest tit-for-tat between the US and Iran.
In October 2002, he was one of 77 senators who gave President George W. Bush the authority to use force in Iraq. He is still trying to explain that choice.
(26.4.2018)
As Barbara Lee presciently warned her colleagues before she cast her lone dissenting vote in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” But these wars have not been accompanied by fearsome military parades (not yet) or speeches about conquering the world. Instead they have been politically justified by “information warfare” to demonize enemies and fabricate crises, and then waged in a “disguised, quiet, media free” way, to hide their cost in human blood from the American public and the world.
After 16 years of war, about 6 million violent deaths, 6 countries utterly destroyed and many more destabilized, it is urgent that the American public come to terms with the true human cost of our country’s wars and how we have been manipulated and misled into turning a blind eye to them – before they go on even longer, destroy more countries, further undermine the rule of international law and kill millions more of our fellow human beings.
(15.03.2018)
Taking ORB’s estimate of 1.033 million killed by June 2007, then applying a variation of Just Foreign Policy’s methodology from July 2007 to the present using revised figures from Iraq Body Count, we estimate that 2.4 million Iraqis have been killed since 2003 as a result of our country’s illegal invasion, with a minimum of 1.5 million and a maximum of 3.4 million.
The State Department warned that the U.S. could shut down Iraq’s access to the country’s central bank account held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a move that could jolt Iraq’s already shaky economy, the officials said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi previously said Iran sent Iraq an official verbal message that an attack „had begun or would begin shortly,“ on unspecified US military locations.
An Arab diplomatic source also told CNN that Iraq gave advance warning to the US on „which bases would be hit“ after Iranian officials passed on the information.
But the United States also sent secret messages through Swiss intermediaries urging Iran not to respond so forcefully that Mr. Trump would feel compelled to go even further. After it did respond, firing 16 missiles at bases housing American troops without hurting anyone as a relatively harmless show of force, a message came back through the Swiss saying that would be the end of its reprisal for now. The message, forwarded to Washington within five minutes after it was received, persuaded the president to stand down.
“The fact is that we were promised by a president, by an administration, that they were going to do it as a last resort after exhausting diplomacy, that if they have to go to war it would be with a coalition that they built broadly, and that they would do it only in conjunction with our allies,“ Kerry said Friday, according to NBC News.
“It was a mistake to have trusted them, I guess, and we paid a high price for it,” Kerry continued. “But that was not voting for the war.”
„It is appalling that after 18 years Joe Biden still refuses to admit he was dead wrong on the Iraq War, the worst foreign policy blunder in modern American history,“ Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to the Sanders campaign, said in a statement late Saturday. „Unlike 23 of his Senate colleagues who got it right, Biden made explicitly clear that he was voting for war, and even after the war started, he boasted that he didn’t regret it.“
The unsuccessful operation may indicate that the Trump administration’s killing of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani last week was part of a broader operation than previously explained, raising questions about whether the mission was designed to cripple the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or solely to prevent an imminent attack on Americans as originally stated.
Mr. Shahlai was based in Yemen, where Iran is supporting the Houthi rebels, who are fighting a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and that gets logistical help, intelligence and weapons from the American military and American arms makers. The attempted strike on Mr. Shahlai was first reported by The Washington Post.
On Friday, Mr. Trump expanded his description of the threat from Iran that he said prompted the strike on General Suleimani, saying Iran had planned to attack multiple embassies across the Middle East, including the American Embassy in Baghdad.
The United States most likely committed an act of aggression against Iran and killed Soleimani in violation of human rights law. Here is why:
Aggression was originally defined at the Nuremberg Tribunal and was then later codified in part by General Assembly Resolution 3314 as well as by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC uses a definition of aggression derived from international customary law, which generally prohibits the invasion or attack with a state’s armed forces against the territory of another state — including through bombing a state, blockading its ports and coasts, or sending irregular/partisan/paramilitary forces to accomplish the same.
Mahdi habe Pompeo gegenüber zudem erklärt, dass es einige US-Truppen gebe, die ohne Erlaubnis der Regierung ins Land gekommen seien. Auch US-Drohnen seien ohne Zustimmung der Regierung im Irak aktiv. Das stelle einen Verstoß gegen die Abkommen dar, hieß es weiter.
Die US-Truppen sind auf der Grundlage einer Vereinbarung mit der irakischen Regierung aus dem Jahr 2014 im Land, bei der es um den internationalen Kampf gegen die Dschihadistenmiliz „Islamischer Staat“ geht.
In a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi asked the United States to send a delegation to Iraq to set up a mechanism for U.S. troop withdrawal from the country, a statement from the prime minister’s office said Friday.
The request followed a vote by the Iraqi parliament to expel thousands of U.S. troops, a direct consequence of a U.S. drone attack that killed senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and nine companions in Baghdad a week ago.
Graham told reporters on Wednesday that he thought Paul and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) were „overreacting“ by criticizing comments made during a closed-door Iran briefing.
„They’re libertarians,“ Graham said. „I think they’re overreacting, quite frankly. Go debate all you want to. I’m going to debate you. Trust me, I’m going to let people know that at this moment in time to play this game with the war powers act … whether you mean to or not, you’re empowering the enemy.“
Die Flugzeuge fliegen von Jordanien aus Aufklärungseinsätze über dem Irak. „Ich hoffe natürlich, dass alle Piloten heil zurückkommen. Aber auch dieser Einsatz ist dringend notwendig, um den IS wirksam bekämpfen zu können“, erläuterte Wadephul dem NDR Schleswig-Holstein. Sie beobachten IS-Nester und geben Daten an die Soldaten weiter, die die Bekämpfung durchführen.
Die USA würden Irans Aggressionen nicht unbeantwortet lassen, sagte er bei einer Ansprache im Weißen Haus. Zugleich erklärte er, die USA wollten ihre militärische Stärke nicht anwenden. „Die Tatsache, dass wir dieses großartige Militär und die Ausrüstung haben, bedeutet allerdings nicht, dass wir es einsetzen müssen“, so Trump. „Wir wollen es nicht einsetzen.“
Now the reality TV showman who used new media to bypass conventional campaign channels, rally a fan base and win the White House must confront those very same factors in a complicated world theater, and this time, they may turn against him.
Das U.S.-Aussenministerium und das U.S.-Verteidigungsministerium haben was sie wollten: eine weitere Eskalation. Mike Pompeo und Mark Esper eilten sofort zu Donald Trump, der im U.S.-Wahlkampfjahr 2020 den starken republikanischen Präsidenten demonstrieren wird.
Ballistic missile strike: Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases that house US troops, after a US killing of its top military commander last week.
No casualties: US and Iraqi sources said there were no known casualties as a result of the strikes.
Trump says „All is well!“: US President Donald Trump has yet to address the nation Wednesday morning US time, but on Twitter he said that „all is well!“
Die US-Luftfahrtbehörde FAA sperrte nach den Angriffen für US-Fluggesellschaften vorübergehend den Luftraum über dem Irak, dem Iran, dem Persischen Golf und dem Golf von Oman.
(04.01.2019)
Mike Prysner gives a powerful anti-war speech at the demonstration against Trump’s bombing of Iraq and potential war against Iran on January 4 in downtown Los Angeles at Answer Coalition’s National Day of Action.
Iraq War Vet Mike Prysner
Protests Obama’s Wars
Veterans for Peace
White House
December 16, 2010, 10 am
(05.01.2020)
(recorded 1992)
Song: Rockets and Penises in the Persian Gulf
Artist: George Carlin
Album: Jammin‘ in New York
(1992)
I’d like to talk a little bit about the war in the Persian Gulf… biiiiiig doings in the Persian Gulf. You know my favourite part of that war? It’s the first war we ever had that was on every channel plus cable… and the war got good ratings too, didn’t it? Got good ratings! Well, we like war!!! We like war! We’re a war-like people! We like war because we’re good at it! You know why we’re good at it? Cause we get a lot of practice. This country’s only 200 years old and already, we’ve had 10 major wars. We average a major war every 20 years in this country so we’re good at it! And it’s a good thing we are; we’re not very good at anything else anymore! Huh? Can’t build a decent car, can’t make a TV set or a VCR worth a fuck, got no steel industry left, can’t educate our young people, can’t get health care to our old people, but we can bomb the shit out of your country all right! Huh? Especially if your country is full of brown people; oh we like that don’t we? That’s our hobby! That’s our new job in the world: bombing brown people. Iraq, Panama, Grenada, Libya, you got some brown people in your country, tell them to watch the fuck out or we’ll goddamn bomb them! Well when’s the last white people you can remember that we bombed? Can you remember the last white— can you remember ANY white people we’ve ever bombed? The Germans, those are the only ones and that’s only because they were trying to cut in on our action. They wanted to dominate the world! BULLSHIT! THAT’S OUR FUCKING JOB!!!
(05.01.2019)
According to Abdul-Mahdi, he had planned to meet Soleimani on the morning the general was killed to discuss a diplomatic rapproachment that Iraq was brokering between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Abdul-Mahdi said that Trump personally thanked him for the efforts, even as he was planning the hit on Soleimani – thus creating the impression that the Iranian general was safe to travel to Baghdad.
Iraq’s Arabic-language al-Forat news agency reported that the alliance took the decision on Tuesday to move its command center from the Iraqi capital Baghdad to Kuwait City.
The Qatar-based and Arabic-language al-Jazeera news network, citing a report published by German DPA news agency, later confirmed the account.
Die Bundeswehr verlegt einen Teil ihrer Soldaten aus dem Irak nach Jordanien und Kuwait. „Ich halte den Abzug aus Sicherheitsgründen für unsere Soldaten vertretbar“, so der CDU-Außenpolitiker Roderich Kiesewetter.
Germany is moving some of its military personnel from Iraq to neighbouring countries over security concerns, the government told lawmakers, days after the killing of a top Iranian military commander in a US drone strike.
About 30 of the 120 German soldiers in Iraq who mainly train Iraqi security forces will be redeployed to Jordan and Kuwait, the government told parliament in a letter on Monday.
Our own sources in Baghdad confirmed that the letter was genuine and that they too had seen it.
One source said their understanding of the US position was that a partial withdrawal or repositioning of some troops to Kuwait was taking place.
Konflikt um Iran eskaliert. Irakisches Parlament fordert Abzug der Bundeswehr
Two leading Senate Democrats are calling on President Donald Trump to declassify the formal notification given to Congress regarding the US drone strike that killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.
It’s not publicly known what exactly is in the formal notification, though such messages to Congress typically explain legal justification for military action.
Video
The North Atlantic Council at Ambassadorial level will meet this afternoon at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
After the meeting, the NATO Secretary General will briefly address the Press in the Agora Podium. (Estimated time: ±16:30)
The event will be available live on the NATO Website.
03.Dezember 2019 (Dienstag):
5 Raketen trafen die Ain al-Asad Airbase.
Keine Schäden, keine Verletzte, keine Tote.
Niemand bekennt sich zu der Tat.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/12/03/612765/Iraq-rocket-barrage-United-States-troops-Anbar-Trump-Pence
https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/293371/iraq-no-casualties-reported-after-rockets-land-near-military-base-in-anbar-province-december-3
05.Dezember 2019 (Donnerstag):
2 Mörsergranaten oder Katjuscha-Raketen treffen die Balad air base.
Keine Verletzte, keine Tote.
Niemand bekennt sich zu der Tat.
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/rockets-hit-base-hosting-us-forces-in-western-iraq
…
“If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday afternoon when asked about the vote by Iraq’s parliament to end U.S. troop presence in the country.
»Angesichts der sich immer weiter eskalierenden Lage im Nahen Osten ist es dringend geboten, dass der Bundestag von der Bundesregierung informiert wird und über die dortigen Situation und den Einsatz der Bundeswehr debattiert«, sagte Korte der dpa. Als Termin schlug er kommenden Mittwoch vor. Regulär kommt der Bundestag erst in der darauffolgenden Woche wieder zusammen. Vertreter des Auswärtigen Amts, des Verteidigungsministeriums und des Bundesnachrichtendienstes sollten eingeladen werden, schrieb Korte.
Zudem solle die Regierung ihr Hilfsersuchen im Rahmen der Anti-IS-Koalition widerrufen.
Das wäre faktisch sowohl das Ende der US-Präsenz im Land als auch das Ende des Antiterrorkampfes gegen den IS im Irak. Die USA haben derzeit rund 5000 Soldaten im Irak stationiert. Auch die Bundeswehr ist in dem Land präsent.
A statement on Sunday from Operation Inherent Resolve said the US-led coalition was “fully committed” to protecting its bases in the light of “repeated rocket attacks” from pro-Iranian militias over the past two months.
“This has limited our capacity to conduct training with partners and to support their operations against Daesh [Isis], and we have therefore paused these activities, subject to continuous review,” the coalition said.
In an extraordinary session, the lawmakers voted with majority in favor of passing a law requiring the government to cancel the request for assistance from the international coalition to fight Islamic State (IS) group due to the end of military operations and war in Iraq.
Parliamentary resolutions are nonbinding to the government, but Abdul-Mahdi had earlier urged parliament to take urgent measures and end the presence of foreign troops as soon as possible.
„Maybe they won’t change the government’s mind but it will help organize the working class here in America and make them realize that they should be treated better and when we work together we can make a difference,“ Lee said.
Clinton’s vote became a major vulnerability when she ran against then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. Biden’s backing for the war remains a sore point for some on the left even now.
“The elites and the establishment are going to try to say that because Joe Biden sat next to Barack Obama he has the most ‘foreign policy credentials,’ but that is insane,” said progressive strategist Jonathan Tasini, who supports Sanders. “Joe Biden made one of the worst foreign policy blunders ever by voting for the Iraq War, which shows he is completely without judgment.”
„Der Irak darf nicht im Chaos versinken. TerrorkriegUnd schon gar nicht darf der Irak unter die Kontrolle von Extremisten geraten“, sagte Verteidigungsministerin Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer am Samstagabend nach Regierungsberatungen und einer Unterrichtung der Obleute im Bundestag zur Lage.
Despite the heightened tension in the region, Maas said he wanted to continue Germany’s deployment of around 120 troops in Iraq under the U.S.-led Operation Inherent Resolve.