1/08/2020

what is nbc thinking - or not thinking?

so i'm reading through the premiere dates for the new season and get all the way through and realize that there's nothing on 'blindspot' - which has 13 new episodes to air in what will be its final season - and that there's nothing on 'the blacklist' - which ended the 1st half of its season last month.

what is this nonsense?

do they want viewers or not?

if they do, they need to announce when the shows will start airing new episodes.

this is such nonsense.

but maybe 'nbc' doesn't care because it appears 'fox' may have the best new show?  'carla' sounds like a hit.  it's a sitcom that will star jim parsons and mayim bailik in their 1st sitcom since 'the big bang theory' ended.


another show that sounds worth watching? '9 perfect strangers' which will be a limited series for 'hulu' starring nicole kidman and melissa mccarthy.

on the topic of melissa mccarthy, by the way, her sequel to 'the spy' is filmed and titled 'superintelligence.'  it will not go to the movies.  it will instead air on 'hbo.'





let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'


Tuesday, January 7, 2020.  Julian Castro's endorsed Elizabeth Warren for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders is noting real differences with War Hawk Joe Biden, Joe's dealing with CNN fact checking him and charges that his drug addict son Hunter posed as his dead son Beau, all that and much more including, yes, Judge Judy.


Starting in the US where the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues.  And it continues with one less candidate.  Julian Castro dropped out last week.  Now he's announced who he's backing for the nomination.

Just days after ending his 2020 campaign, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro is endorsing Sen. Elizabeth Warren for president.




With .'s endorsement, a good reminder that Elizabeth Warren has highest rating on 's Presidential Scorecard. Castro also rated in top three for policy solutions important to Black and Brown voters.





“Castro, who had been the only Latino candidate in the presidential field, said he was endorsing Warren because she was “one candidate I see who’s unafraid to fight like hell to make sure America’s promise will be there for everyone.”

Right now our government and our economy are working great for the wealthy and well-connected, but not so much for everyone else. Every family should have the opportunity to thrive, and and I are going to fight for that—together.
Elizabeth Warren and Julián Castro.








There's speculation that Elizabeth might be announcing Julian would be her running mate.

Meanwhile charges of identity theft swirl around Joe Biden.  No, not about the way Joe keeps pretending to be Barack Obama's conjoined twin separated at birth.  It's his rascal of a son Hunter Biden.  When not seeking out hookers and drugs or sending strippers out of the club to fetch a fresh dildo to use on him, it appears Hunter may have been pretending he was someone else.  Stephanie Pagones (FOX NEWS) reports:

Newly submitted court documents link Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, to an identity theft case from 2016 when he was allegedly being checked into an unidentified Arizona facility.
The court papers were filed Monday in an Arkansas court as part of a paternity battle over a child the Hunter Biden shares with Lunden Roberts, who met the scandal-plagued businessman at a Washington, D.C., strip club where she worked. While the question of whether or not Biden is a father is no longer an issue — a DNA test confirmed he is the baby's father — the parents are at odds over issues such as child support.
[. . .]
The court papers, which cite a Prescott, Ariz., police report, describe what allegedly happened on the morning of Oct. 28, 2016, when a Hertz rental car employee reportedly received a phone call around 10 a.m. and subsequently discovered "suspicious" items inside one of the rental cars.
“Stolen identities were used to check defendant Robert Hunter Biden into an Arizona facility and providing false statements to the Prescott Police Department,” the document states. “These stolen identities include his deceased brother Joseph R. Beau Biden III, and Joseph McGee.”
An attorney for Biden, whose full name is Robert Hunter Biden, did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment. His brother, who went by Beau Biden, died in 2015.


Spencer Neale (WASHINGTON EXAMINER) adds:

“A bag containing the suspicious items, a cellular telephone (Apple) belonging to Shauna Stanglr, who is also known as Puma St. Angel, and a Delaware attorney general badge belonging to Hunter Biden's deceased brother Joseph R. Beau Biden III were provided to the police officer," the filing stated. The existence of the Delaware attorney general badge was first reported last May.

Puma St. Angel is the co-founder of Grace Grove at Rejuvenation and Performance Institute, a "lifestyle center" in Sedona, Arizona.

So they used the image Beau Biden had created through a lifetime of real and hard work to try help the drug addict?  Hunter's never had to take responsibility for anything, that's true.  But to do that to Beau's legacy?  What was Joe thinking?  And causing him more problems?  TV's JUDGE JUDY.  Reed Richardson (MEDIAITE) reports:

TV personality Judge Judy Sheindlin, who is now starring in a campaign ad for Mike Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential run, damned with faint praise Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden, saying he was “a very nice man” but that he “wasn’t great for 40 years.”
Speaking with CNN host Chris Cuomo, the notoriously blunt Sheindlin tried to more diplomatically make the case for her Bloomberg, while taking some not so subtle swipes at Biden’s legacy. Sheindlin is currently on a media tour touting the former New York City mayor’s prospects in defeating President Donald Trump, telling The Five that writing Bloomberg off as simply a “rich guy” would be “one of the greatest injustices.”



Also hurting Joe?  Pete Buttigieg isn't the only candidate calling out Joe these days.



Joe Biden helped lead the effort for the war in Iraq. He voted for trade deals that cost us millions of jobs. He pushed a bankruptcy bill that has been disastrous for working families. That is not the kind of record that will bring forth the energy we need to defeat Trump.
/>


1:00




Imagine if 'anti-war' Tulsi Gabbard had called out Joe in the July debate instead of using both chances Jake Tapper provided her with to instead say nothing -- and then used the next three days of press interviews to praise Joe.  What an anti-war warrior she was (that's sarcasm).

Bernie Sanders on CNN tonight: “Joe Biden has been on the floor of the Senate talking about the need to cut Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid." Fact check: True 👇





"Joe Biden voted, and helped lead the effort for the war in Iraq. Joe Biden voted for the disastrous trade agreements like NAFTA and PNTR. Joe Biden has been on the floor of the Senate talking about the need to cut Social Security. Joe Biden pushed a bankruptcy bill"
/>


0:33




Even CNN is calling Joe out.



l

Link to headline article




The Emperor's got no clothes on
No clothes? That can't be; he's the Emperor
Take that child away
Don't let the people hear the words he has to say

One small voice
Speaking out in honesty
Silenced, but not for long
One small voice speaking with the values
   we were taught as children


So you walk away and say, Isn't he divine?
Don't those clothes look fine on the Emperor?
And as you take your leave
You wonder why you're feeling so ill-at-ease
Don't you know?

Lies take your soul
You can't hide from yourself
Lies take their toll on you
And everyone else


One small voice speaking out in honesty
Silenced, but not for long
One small voice speaking with the values
   we were taught as children
Tell the truth
You can change the world
But you'd better be strong

-- "One Small Voice," written by Carole King, first appears on her SPEEDING TIME


Not a fan of Pete's but he deserves credit for calling out Joe and refusing to be shamed for doing it.  Glad Bernie's seriously drawing lines between what he does and what Joe has done.  Should have happened a lot sooner.


RT notes:


          
CNN has blasted Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for claiming once again that he opposed the Iraq War from the beginning, when in fact he was an advocate of the war, speaking in favor of it many times.
In a piece published on CNN's ‘Facts First’ blog Biden was scolded for “dishonestly” claiming he opposed the invasion of Iraq. The fact-check came after Biden told a voter in Iowa at the weekend that he was against the war “from the very moment” George W. Bush launched it. In reality, Biden “repeatedly spoke in favor of the war both before and after it began,” CNN wrote.
The network called Biden's comment “highly misleading even under the most generous interpretation,” given that the former VP was “actually a vocal supporter” of military action and voted to authorize Bush's use of force. 


Maybe we can start talking about Joe's actions in destroying democracy in Iraq?  The 2010 election that he overturned?  The way he sided with Nouri al-Maliki and Iran -- including the now dead Soleimani -- to overturn the votes of the Iraqi people?  Oh, look, Adam Kredo (FREE BEACON) finally goes where everyone else has refused to.  Joe's 2010 move was as damaging to Iraq as his 2002 vote was.  It's about time people start dealing with it because the people of Iraq have been dealing with it for years now.  While we're noting Soleimani, let's note that if he was invited into Iraq last week by the outgoing prime minister, it wasn't about Saudi Arabia.  The only reason Mahdi's ever met with Soelimani was when he was trying to destroy a rival (usually cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr) or when he was trying to get backing from Iran.  As outgoing minister, something Mahdi doesn't want to be, all of his statements are suspect as is any interaction he's had with Soelimani since he (Mahdi) announced he had 'resigned.'  Let me also be clear, this site doesn't exist to advance Mahdi's lies.  His comments about the protesters are slander and meant to cover his own ass and to try to allow him to remain prime minister.  He is scum and he's supposed to be out of office.


The ongoing protests in Iraq might not have been needed if the US government hadn't overturned the votes of the Iraqi people in 2010.  But the protests continue.


Replying to  
We have been protesting for three months for our bad government and for this protest iraq government and iran killed a 931 Peaceful protesters and 20,000 injured in this three months I agree with any one can end iran Interventions from iraq



We have been protesting for three months for our bad government and for this protest iraq government and iran killed a 931 Peaceful protesters and 20,000 injured in this three months




The protesters have been targeted all along.  The targeting continues.

Protest sites in Nasiriyah & Basra attacked yesterday by funeral processions for Gen Suleimani In Basra shot at sit in square and burned tents Nasiriya killed 1 demonstrator



We'll wind down with this from an essay at MEDIUM written by an Iraqi protester:



Today as I wait for more awful things to happen to us as they usually do in this doomed region, I am feeling an incessant need to keep reminding myself and everyone else who is reading this to NEVER FORGET ABOUT TAHRIR!
With all the "World War III/Impending Doom" hot takes that are flooding conventional and social media, news of an imminent proxy war that is going to be fought in Iraq between the US and Iran has made it even easier for many to overlook the fact that many people in Baghdad and several other Iraqi provinces have been relentlessly protesting systematic corruption since October 2019.
The Tahrir Uprising has impressively morphed itself from scattered, unorganised protests into a larger-than-life, invincible sociopolitical "movement". Unlike some previous protest waves in this country that were unfortunately marred by outright sectarian bigotry and public manifestations of extremist ideologies, Tahrir protesters have made a point of embracing a wholesome Iraqi identity and affirming the patriotic nature of the Uprising from the start.
One of the MANY strengths of Tahrir is its inclusivity, the fact that it has become a welcoming home for all concerned Iraqi patriots regardless of their individual backgrounds. Tahrir not only tolerates but embraces and encourages the active participation of female protesters, The authentic Iraqi flavour of Tahrir is a major contributor to the continued public support of the Uprising.
Protesters have endured weeks of brutal oppression by players on the pro-government side. Despite the fact that the intensity of the protests has understandably lessened recently for obvious reasons protesters are still admirably determined to continue with their revolution until their demands are met.
One of the most important demands of the protesters has always been restoration of Iraq's sovereignty and a swift end to ALL malevolent foreign interferences in the country, they want a homeland that is free and stable, they want a system that puts the interests of Iraqis first and foremost and makes sure to safeguard their welfare at all times.




The following sites updated:





1/06/2020

golden globes: where women wear ugly dresses


did you watch?  i didn't.  i did check out the photos the next day.

applause for laura dern and nicole kidman who dressed well.

a lot dressed poorly. j-lo looked like a christmas present forgotten under the tree.

some were outright disasters.

patricia arquette?  dear, no one wanted to see your aereolas when you were 19.  we certainly, don't need to see them now that you're 51.  we also don't need you to spend hours taping those things up - the way you did.  or wearing a dress that only half covers your nipple.  c'mon.  you're old.  you're fat.  you're ugly.  she's shelly winters without the talent.  and those hideous blue lens glasses?  i get it, you didn't want a close up on all your eye wrinkles.

beyonce.  what the hell do you call that outfit?

those 'shoulder puffs' were ridiculous and went up past her ears.  did she think she was filming an episode of 'star trek'? 

it's hard to figure out who looked worse - beyonce or patricia?

i'm going to go with patricia.  beyonce wore and ugly dress but her face looked real and pretty which is more than any 1 can say for patricia.


let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'


Monday, January 6, 2020. A resolution passes the Iraqi Parliament but it's not yet a law, Donald Trump threatens sanctions, fools hail Qasem Solei mani as the defeater of ISIS, and much more.


Sunday, the Iraqi Parliament declared that all US troops should leave Iraq.  We're wording it that way for a reason, we'll get to that reason shortly. This morning, Louisa Loveluck  (WASHINGTON POST) notes:

While parliamentary approval seems not to be needed, at least technically speaking, their vote Sunday provides political cover for a prime minister who has been operating in a caretaker capacity since mass protests forced his resignation back in November.
“There is no law required to kick the U.S. military out because a law did not establish their presence,” Mardini said. “Baghdad has demonstrated its signal to Washington that the presence of the U.S. military is no longer wanted in Iraq. Since parliament is responsible for determining who is the next prime minister, it’s hard to imagine that individual going against the parliament’s vote."

SPUTNIK adds:

The Iraqi authorities have begun the preapartions for removing US troops from the country, Abdul-Karim Khalaf, a security spokesman for Iraq's prime minister, told reporters on Monday.
He said that the US-led international coalition will be allowed to consult, arm and train Iraqi military personnel and security forces, but the troops will be removed.

Khalaf added that the Iraqi government had limited the movements of foreign forces on the ground and in the air.

THE NATIONAL explains that what the Parliament voted on yesterday was a resolution and not a law, a "non-binding resolution" which will not go to the Cabinet.  They explain of Parliament's actions on Sunday, "The session was boycotted by nearly half of all Iraqis parliamentarians and led by caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, a man who had resigned from his position last month. He was largely discredited among Iraqi youth for overseeing a ruthless crackdown that took the lives of hundreds of unarmed protesters - many of whom died at the hands of pro-Iranian militias represented in parliament."


It's non-binding.  It's also true that US troops could remain in Kuwait and, yes, Iraq.  How?

Well the Kurds didn't attend the session on Sunday (nor did most Sunnis) and the Kurds are semi-autonomous.  When thug Nouri was prime minister and trying to arrest Vice President  Tareq al-Hashemi as part of his purge of all Sunnis, where did Tareq go?  The KRG.  And he stayed there for months before leaving Iraq.  And there was nothing Baghdad could do about it but bluster and scream.

So the US could keep US troops in Iraq via the KRG if they had to ("had to" meaning they were truly kicked out -- which at this point they haven't been).  Baghdad would issue threats and probably cut off monies.  The US government would probably be willing to pay monies of its own to keep US troops in Iraq.  The US government could also send US troops to Turkey -- don't forget there's already a CIA compound near the border Turkey shares with Iraq, Bully Boy Bush negotiated that during his second term.

US President Donald Trump is threatening sanctions against Iraq if US troops are kicked out.  Joanna Tan (CNBC) reports:

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, the U.S. president said: “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.”
“We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time. We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,” Trump said.
The president added that “If there’s any hostility, that they do anything we think is inappropriate, we are going to put sanctions on Iraq, very big sanctions on Iraq.”

We'll note this response on Twitter.

Mr.President I was tasked by many Iraqis to carry a message to you, Iraqis are in fear of what will happen if their country is sanctioned, lmajority of them do not agree with the parliament nor their government and they have been protesting for the past 95 days
 
 


And, again, their Parliament was not in full attendance -- all Kurds and most Sunni lawmakers boycotted the Sunday session.

Sanctions terrify Iraqis more than war. The majority not seeing a problem with severing ties with the U.S. never lived through sanctions. Majority of protesters were born after 1991. They remember the sanctions.
 
 





Now let's turn to the public e-mail account where 15 drive-bys all repeat -- word for word -- the same e-mail that vanillagoddess2000@yahoo.com sent (with a virus, sorry, Vanilla, I have protection and then some) which boils down to the charge that before last week I had never even heard of Qassim Soleimani.  I saw that first on Twitter about right wingers.  Some less than factual lefties making that charge -- and making the whole left look stupid as a result.  If you were an adult -- right, left, whatever -- following Iraq, you were well aware of Soleimani.  We are left and Soleimani has been noted here repeatedly over the years.

In fact, September 25, 2018, the focus of that entire snapshot really is on Soleimani.  There's a sentence in there that I have no idea what I'm trying to say -- I dictate these snapshots and I speak very fast so I'm amazed anyone's able to type them up.  But But we do address Soleimani.  That's not the first time, use Google and you'll see we've addressed him repeatedly over the years.  But I bring up that snapshot because we talk about the US terrorist designation at length -- including noting the following 2011 release from the US Treasury Dept:



 Treasury Sanctions Five Individuals Tied to Iranian Plot to Assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States


10/11/2011 


WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of five individuals, including four senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) officers connected to a plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States Adel Al-Jubeir, while he was in the United States and to carry out follow-on attacks against other countries’ interests inside the United States and in another country. As part of today’s action, Treasury also designated the individual responsible for arranging the assassination plot on behalf of the IRGC-QF.
 
Designated today pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 for acting for or on behalf of the IRGC-QF were: Manssor Arbabsiar, a naturalized U.S. citizen holding both Iranian and U.S. passports who acted on behalf of the IRGC-QF to pursue the failed plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador; IRGC-QF commander Qasem Soleimani; Hamed Abdollahi, a senior IRGC-QF official who coordinated aspects of the plot and oversaw the other Qods Force officials directly responsible for coordinating and planning this operation; Abdul Reza Shahlai, an IRGC-QF official who coordinated this operation; and Ali Gholam Shakuri, an IRGC-QF official and deputy to Shahlai, who met with Arbabsiar on several occasions to discuss the assassination and other planned attacks.
 
Arbabsiar and Shakuri were named by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in a criminal complaint unsealed today connected with the IRGC-QF plot. Among the charges brought against them was conspiracy to engage in foreign travel and use interstate and foreign commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire. According to the criminal complaint, Arbabsiar arranged for $100,000 to be sent from Tehran to the U.S. as a down payment for the assassination of the Saudi ambassador. Two wire transfers totaling approximately $100,000 were sent from a non-Iranian foreign bank to a bank in the United States, to the account of the person recruited by Arbabsiar to carry out the assassination.
 
“Iran once again has used the Qods Force and the international financial system to pursue an act of international terrorism, this time aimed against a Saudi diplomat,” said David S. Cohen, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “The financial transactions at the heart of this plot lay bare the risk that banks and other institutions face in doing business with Iran.”
 
As a result of today’s designations, U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with these individuals, and any assets they may hold in the U.S. are frozen.
 
Manssor Arbabsiar
Arbabsiar met on a number of occasions with senior IRGC-QF officials regarding this plot and acted on behalf of senior Qods Force officials – including his cousin Abdul Reza Shahlai and Shahlai’s deputy Gholam Shakuri – to execute the plot. During one such meeting, a $100,000 payment for the murder of the Saudi ambassador was approved by the IRGC-QF. After this meeting, Arbabsiar arranged for approximately $100,000 to be sent from a non-Iranian foreign bank to the United States, to the account of the person he recruited to carry out the assassination.
 
Qasem Soleimani
As IRGC-QF Commander, Qasem Soleimani oversees the IRGC-QF officers who were involved in this plot. Soleimani was previously designated by the Treasury Department under E.O. 13382 based on his relationship to the IRGC. He was also designated in May 2011 pursuant to E.O. 13572, which targets human rights abuses in Syria, for his role as the Commander of the IRGC-QF, the primary conduit for Iran's support to the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate (GID).
 
Hamed Abdollahi
Abdollahi is also a senior IRGC-QF officer who coordinated aspects of this operation. Abdollahi oversees other Qods Force officials – including Shahlai – who were responsible for coordinating and planning this operation.
 
Abdul Reza Shahlai
Shahlai is an IRGC-QF official who coordinated the plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States Adel Al-Jubeir, while he was in the United States and to carry out follow-on attacks against other countries’ interests inside the United States and in another country. Shahlai worked through his cousin, Mansour Arbabsiar, who was named in the criminal complaint for conspiring to bring the IRGC-QF’s plot to fruition. Shahlai approved financial allotments to Arbabsiar to help recruit other individuals for the plot, approving $5 million dollars as payment for all of the operations discussed.
 
Shahlai was designated by Treasury in September 2008 pursuant to E.O. 13438 for threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and the Government of Iraq.
 
Ali Gholam Shakuri
Shakuri is an IRGC-QF officer and deputy to Abdul Reza Shahlai who acted on behalf of Shahlai in support of this plot. Shakuri provided financial support to Arbabsiar and met with Arbabsiar several times to discuss the planned assassination and other attacks. With Shakuri’s approval, Arbabsiar arranged for the $100,000 down payment to be sent from a non-Iranian foreign bank to the United States.
 
Background on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force
The IRGC-QF is the Government of Iran’s primary foreign action arm for executing its policy of supporting terrorist organizations and extremist groups around the world. The IRGC-QF provides training, logistical assistance and material and financial support to militants and terrorist operatives, including the Taliban, Lebanese Hizballah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.
 
IRGC-QF officers and their associates have supported attacks against U.S. and allied troops and diplomatic missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The IRGC-QF continues to train, equip and fund Iraqi Shia militant groups – such as Kata'ib and Hizballah – and elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan to prevent an increase in Western influence in the region. In the Levant, the IRGC-QF supports terrorist groups such as Lebanese Hizballah and Hamas, which it views as integral to its efforts to challenge U.S. influence in the Middle East.
 
The Government of Iran also uses the IRGC and IRGC-QF to implement its foreign policy goals, including, but not limited to, seemingly legitimate activities that provide cover for intelligence operations and support to terrorist and insurgent groups. These activities include economic investment, reconstruction, and other types of aid to Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, implemented by companies and institutions that act for or on behalf of, or are owned or controlled by, the IRGC and the Iranian government.
 
The IRGC-QF was designated by Treasury pursuant to E.O. 13224 in October 2007 for its support for terrorism, and was listed in the Annex to E.O. 13572 of April 2011 as the conduit for Iran's support to Syria’s GID, the overarching civilian intelligence service in Syria which has been involved in human rights abuses in Syria.
 
 
Indentifying Information:
 
Individual:                  Manssor Arbabsiar
AKA:                            Mansour Arbabsiar
DOB:                           March 15, 1955
Alt. DOB:                     March 6, 1955
POB:                           Iran
Citizenship:               United Staes
Driver’s License:      07442833 (United States); expires March 15, 2016
Passport:                   C2002515 (Iran)
Alt. Passport:             477845448 (United States)
 
Individual:                  Ali Gholam Shakuri
DOB:                           1964
Alt. DOB:                    1965
Alt. DOB 2:                 1966
Location:                    Tehran, Iran
 
Individual:                  Abdul Reza Shahlai
AKA:                           Abdol Reza Shala'i
AKA:                           Abd-al Reza Shalai
AKA:                           'Abdorreza Shahlai
AKA:                           Abdolreza Shahla'i
AKA:                           Abdul-Reza Shahlaee
AKA:                           Hajj Yusef
AKA:                           Haji Yusif
AKA:                           Hajji Yasir
AKA:                           Hajji Yusif
AKA:                           'Yusuf Abu-al-Karkh'
DOB:                          Circa 1957
Location:                   Kermanshah, Iran
Alt. Location:             Mehran Military Base, Ilam Province, Iran
 
Individual:                  Hamed Abdollahi
AKA:                            Mustafa Abdullahi
DOB:                           August 11, 1960
Passport:                   D9004878
Citizenship:                Iran
 
Individual:                  Qasem Soleimani
AKA:                           Ghasem Soleymani
AKA:                           Qasmi Sulayman
AKA:                           Qasem Soleymani
AKA:                           Qasem Solaimani
AKA:                           Qasem Salimani
AKA:                           Qasem Solemani
AKA:                           Qasem Sulaimani
AKA:                           Qasem Sulemani
DOB:                          March 11, 1957
POB:                          Qom, Iran
Passport:                  1999 Diplomatic Passport 008827 (Iran)
x
We note that the US government has labeled him a terrorist and we note that if that designation is correct, why has the US government not acted?  From that snapshot:
The report says Qasem Soleimani has told the Kurds that they must have only one nominee for president or he will make choose the nominee himself.  Who?  The Iranian labeled a terrorist by the US government.  It's amazing, isn't it, how drones are used to kill 'terrorists' -- that's what our government insists, anyway.  But Qasem, labeled a terrorist by the US government as well as the UN, is apparently an untouchable.  Is he a terrorist?  If he is, why has the US arrested him or, as the US government prefers, killed him?  They've known where he is -- during the fight against ISIS, he was repeatedly in Iraq.  He is labeled a terrorist and has been for years.  Why has no US president been able to arrest him?

Is he a terrorist or not?  If he's not, he needs to be taken off the list.  If he is, the US government needs to do their job and arrest him.  Barack Obama [. . .] and Donald Trump have both allowed [Q]Asem Soleimani to traipse all over Iraq.  Now he's dictating to the Iraqi Kurds what they can and cannot do.  If the US government -- supposedly so concerned about terrorism -- had done its job, Qasem would be in a prison right now, not threatening Kurdish politicians.

Is it all just a game, a fraud against the people of the world, or does the label terrorist actually have a meaning?
I argued for him to be arrested.  I stand by that call.  I have not praised the use of drone strikes, I have called them out here repeatedly.  I also believe if we accuse, we bring before a court.
Those are my beliefs, others can disagree -- and many do.  
But he was labeled a terrorist by the US government which then went on to do nothing about it.  
We've noted him at this site for years.  We noted him repeatedly.  We've noted other things as well.  Such as?  
Well there's the lie -- among the deluded -- that Soleimani defeated ISIS in Iraq.
ISIS was never defeated in Iraq.  Some of the people repeating that lie do so because they hate Sunni Arabs.  Some, for example, in Syria or with the ties or support of the Syrian government.  They hate Sunnis.  I didn't realize they hated them so much -- these people.  Some of whom were quoted here re: War on Syria.  And would be quoted again because we don't need more wars.  But do grasp that in Syria, the majority are Sunni and yet the Shi'ite government oppresses them.  Remember that when you're on a Twitter and Syrian woman's praising Soleimani.  Of course she is, she's pro-Assad and she's pro-death to the Sunnis.  
They lie.  They whore.
Hayder al-Abadi was the prime minister of Iraq during the efforts to unseat ISIS -- especially to retake Mosul.  
What was the militas role?
Well they terrorized Sunni towns early on, remember?
Do you not remember that?  Oh, that's because, in America, you weren't paying attention to Iraq anymore.  Via a 2015 snapshot, let's journey back to those days when Mitchell Prothero (McClatchy Newspapers) reported
 
Concern about Shiite militia behavior as they moved into a Sunni area was one reason the United States withheld air support from the operation until Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi gave assurances that the militias would not enter the city itself as part of the final push. But the militias had a heavy presence in the town after its liberation and were seen openly looting government buildings and private homes, as well as burning buildings belonging to suspected collaborators.
Fred Abrahams (Human Rights Watch) pointed out, "In other areas retaken from ISIS, pro-government militias and volunteer fighters, along with Iraqi security forces, have looted Sunni villages, destroyed homes with explosives, and burned buildings to the ground.Rod Nordland (New York Times) noted the Shi'ite militias crimes in Tikrit were seen in earlier 'liberation' efforts and he offers:
Prime Minister Abadi publicly criticized the looting and ordered the militias to be withdrawn from Tikrit on Saturday as a result, a move that was widely praised by Sunni leaders.
On Tuesday, Mr. Abadi went a step further, ordering that all the popular mobilization forces be placed under the direct command of the prime minister’s office. The collective popular mobilization had been led by Hadi al-Ameri, a prominent Shiite politician and leader of the Badr Organization and militia, who has close ties to Iran.
“He tried his best to stop the looting in Tikrit, and we appreciate that, but he couldn’t,” Hamid al-Mutlaq, a Sunni member of Parliament from Anbar, said of the prime minister’s efforts. “The people of Anbar will not let that happen there.”
Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) linked to Nordland's article and observes, "Iraqi PM Hayder Abadi is trying to give lip-service to the US idea, saying they’d like more Sunni involvement. He doesn’t seem to be ruling out the Shi’ite militias, however, and given the looting and lynching the militias have carried out virtually every time they take Sunni towns, the number of Sunnis who might get on board for the offensive are shrinking by the day."
I don't hate Shi'ites, I don't hate Sunnis.  I'm for people and that puts me ahead of many apparently.  Including a certain Syrian Twitter poster who better pose for another selfie since it appears her 'wisdom' won't advance her so maybe her looks will.
In April 2015, Hayder al-Abadi put the militias under his control as part of the Iraqi military and did so not because they were achieving but because they were destroying.
Saying Soleimani defeated ISIS is a lie on so many levels.
1) It ignores the fact that ISIS is still active in Iraq and that this was supposed to be the big news story for the first of this year.  The rollout had already started.  The BBC was only one outlet spending the last weeks of 2019 on ISIS.  I didn't feel the need for those stories here because we said, in real time, ISIS is not vanquished.  
2) Soleimani is an Iranian.  In what world do we give him or any foreigner (that would include the US) credit for what a country's people did?
3) Many Iraqis lost their lives in the battles against ISIS -- that's civilians who stood up and members of the military who fought.  Why in the world would you wipe all of them away to give credit to one person?
4) He was barred -- as were the militias -- from entering areas (that includes Mosul) that the Iraqi military was trying to liberate from ISIS.
Only an idiot would look at the Iraqis who fought ISIS and try to say, "Soleimani defeated ISIS!"
Here's what supporters of Soleimani did in Basra on Sunday.
Basra, Iraq , PMF and Militia members/supporters attacked the tents of the Peaceful protesters yesterday هجوم عناصر تحمل اعلام الحشد و الميليشيات على خيم المتظاهرين في البصرة
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Register that, Margaret Kimberley, while you pretend you care about those in need.  Protesters in Iraq have been ignored by you for over 95 days.  They don't matter to you so you clearly won't give a damn about the above.  But that's who you're canonizing.  
Last night, I called out Ben Connable for his nonsense and there's a whiner in the public e-mail account saying I don't grasp his column.  Oh, I do.  I also grasp how it does not fit with any comments that Ben has previously made.  For example, September of 2014, I was at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing where Ben declared, "The thrust of my proposition here is that the success or failure of any coalition effort to defeat IS --  and ultimately to stabilize Iraq -- hinges not on tactical considerations or tribal engagement efforts, but on the more critical issue of Sunni Iraqi reconciliation. I believe the new anti-IS coalition can succeed if it predicates all of its actions in Iraq on national reconciliation between Sunni and Shia Iraqis. If political reconciliation is not the core aspect of an anti-IS strategy then coalition efforts are likely to fail in the long run."
Grasp what he said then and what he babbles about in his column.  Grasp that there has never been political reconciliation. Grasp that he knows its needed and he avoids the topic now.  That topic is at the heart of what's going on Iraq and what's led to the months long protests.
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