KTFA Members "News and Views" Thursday PM 7-30-2020

KTFA:

Bravo13:  just listened to (Wed Night) Franks update that was after the Wil's call, sounds like huge amounts of IQD moving into the USA as well as other countries.  I thought Frank said this was for some payment?   Confused here, guess I just dont understand the significance or the purpose. Perhaps once this goes international this money can be used to support the redemption of our funds, ie IQD. Not sure, would appreciate if someone has a good explanation of this. ??? Thanks in advance  

DeepWoodz:  I am a simpleton when it comes to economics but I have a thought. I read something a while back about countries having reserves of foreign currencies in their respective treasuries. Especially of the American dollar I guess because of the solid value. I assume to back up other countries currencies as if it were gold……maybe this is respective of the value the iqd will have when it sets off. Which could mean a very good solid international value. Frank kept saying it represents the value and not the quantity. Imo

Wed Night CC PLAYBACK : 605.313.5153  / PIN: 319183#

7-FA:  U.S. Embassy Baghdad

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad wishes Muslims in Iraq and around the world a blessed Eid al-Adha. May the values and spirit of this special occasion extend to all the people of Iraq during these challenging times.

Eid_al_Adha #USEmbassyBaghdad #StayAtHome

************

Samson:  The President of the Republic congratulates the Iraqi people and the Islamic nation on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha

30th July, 2020
Today, Thursday, President of the Republic Barham Salih stressed the importance of holding early legislative elections.

Saleh said in a presidential statement to the Iraqi people on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, "With the advent of the blessed Eid al-Adha, I extend my sincere congratulations and blessings to our people and to the entire Islamic nation, asking the Most High, the Mighty, to make this holiday a good opening, blessing, security and peace for our country."

He added that "this blessed occasion calls us today to synergy and cohesion and unite efforts to face the challenges that our country is going through in light of the outbreak of the Corona Virus pandemic and its implications for the economic and health conditions."

Saleh stressed, "The national responsibility and duty calls on all political forces and blocs to join hands and work together to meet the demands of our people in a capable and sovereign state, to establish the foundations for reform, fight corruption and provide the necessary services to all citizens, and create job opportunities for our conscious youth and ensure their vital participation in building Iraq." And create a decent future for our generations."

The President of the Republic stressed that, "holding early elections and restoring confidence to all Iraqis in ensuring that their electoral rights are exercised in a fair manner is an irreversible demand, hoping to create the appropriate atmosphere and requirements needed to contribute to building a state of citizenship, equality and justice."  LINK

************

Samson:  Thirty years since Iraqs invasion of Kuwait: "We forgive ... and do not forget."

30th June, 2020

Thirty years ago, Saddam Hussein invaded the neighboring state of Kuwait and declared it "the 19th governorate" for Iraq. Today, his opponents, who are in power, have restored relations with the strategic neighbor, but the wounds of the second Gulf War remain for Kuwaitis and Iraqis.

From Baghdad to Basra, and from Kirkuk to Babylon, Iraqis agree that the invasion that began on August 2, 1990 and the occupation of Kuwait that ended on March 6, 1991 with the intervention of an international coalition led by Washington "was the beginning of the end."

Umm Sarah, a retired school from Baghdad, says that "since the invasion of Kuwait, we have seen neither stability nor security," as the list goes on starting from the blockade, through the American invasion, civil war and sectarian violence, until the Islamic State invaded the country.

It all started four days after the Iraqi forces entered Kuwait. At the time, the United Nations declared a blockade, from which Iraqis did not escape until after the Americans invaded the country in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein's regime.

And the Iraqi dinar, which was once worth three dollars, was divided into nine thousand.

Jassim Muhammad, a teacher in the city of Kut, south of Baghdad, was equal to "the price of a chicken in the market". Therefore, on some days, "we ate everything in the siege, so that the animal feed we turned into food," according to Yasser al-Saffar, 44, who was a witness to the years of the siege.

War ... live.

"The siege is not the ethics of society, and it was the first step to creating financial and administrative corruption in the country," which Muhammad ranks today in the list of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Hisham Mohamed lived through the low class level of his father, who was one of the major importers of construction equipment.

Muhammad al-Baghdadi, fiftieth, says, "After entering Iraq in a severe siege, the currency collapsed, and the importation stopped completely, my father lost his business and all the money he had in cash, approximately one hundred thousand dinars, which was equivalent to three million dollars, and suddenly became worthless."

Other classes of society flourished at the time, namely the "find in existence" or "manage yourself" layer, and they were those who knew how to renew a perforated tire, or convert turbines without spare parts, and who reused the gas lamps with no electricity, or used worn clothes For hundreds of times. As for the army, it lost everything, and in full view of the cameras of the whole world that was accompanying the "Desert Storm", the first of the wars transmitted directly on the air.

Sarmad Al-Bayati, who was an officer in that era, saw soldiers returning to Iraq on foot! Upon their return, "they were engaged in small businesses while on vacation to make ends meet."

As Iraq plunged into recession, Kuwait prospered. But many families still inherit their dead and missing, and former prisoners still talk of torture. Also, last summer, bodies found in mass graves in southern Iraq were returned to Kuwait.

The Ahmed Qabazard family, one of the faces of the "Kuwaiti resistance" who was tortured and executed, turned the house, which was partially destroyed by the Iraqis, into a small museum of the horrors of the occupation.

Despite rebuilding the house today, his seven-year-old daughter, Shurooq, said at the time: "I cannot say that I am reconciled with myself in my feelings with the Iraqi people, but this is not their fault. We discovered after years that the Iraqis were suffering from repression and suffered from the tyrant Saddam. Hussain".

Ghaida Al-Amir also felt "joy" when the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. 20 years ago that day, her sister was hanged "by an electric cord after the Iraqi forces took her (...) because of her joining the Kuwaiti resistance."

- Debt outstanding -

Kuwait recorded all the destruction, killings, torture, and imprisonment, determined its losses, and the United Nations submitted the bill to Iraq.

During thirty years, Baghdad paid 51 billion dollars, and Iraq, which is experiencing the worst economic crisis in its history today, remains in debt of about four billion dollars.

It took 20 years to repair relations between the two countries. The United Nations did not lift the sanctions imposed in 1990 until 2010, that is, seven years after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Nevertheless, border disputes remain, as Iraq recognizes the land borders established by the United Nations in 1993, but considers that its maritime borders prevent it from reaching the Gulf, which is vital for its economy. Therefore, the Kuwaiti Navy regularly arrests Iraqi fishermen.

As for the missing, they are still in the thousands on both sides. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, only 215 Kuwaitis and 85 Iraqis have been returned.

But in the bigger picture, relations between the two countries improved dramatically. In 2018, Kuwait hosted a donors' conference to rebuild Iraq, and was the first to contribute $ 2 billion. But Shorook Qabazard notes that "I cannot forget the invasion."

"The invasion is the most important stage for my generation (...) We can tolerate and reconcile, but we cannot forget what happened," she added.    LINK

Samson:  Trump is carrying out his threat to Germany, withdrawing more than 12,000 soldiers, and turning them over to other European countries

30th July, 2020

Pentagon officials said that the United States will withdraw 12 thousand soldiers from Germany, and will return about 6400 of them to the country, while 5400 will be transferred to other countries in Europe.

General Todd Walters, the top commander of US forces in NATO in Europe, said that the United States will transfer the headquarters of the US forces mission in the European Union from Germany to Belgium, noting that the headquarters of the US forces operating in Africa "Africom" may move to a location that is Select it as well.

"We also plan to reassign three brigade-sized headquarters, an air defense artillery battalion, an engineering battalion to Belgium, and two smaller support forces to Italy," Walters told reporters at the Pentagon.

The senior US military official indicated that an F-16 fighter squadron will be transferred from Germany to Italy, and two battalions will be transferred from Germany to Italy as well.

And US President Donald Trump issued the decision, which will be implemented in years, and will cost billions of dollars, due to Berlin's refusal to raise the budget for its military spending in NATO from 1.38% of the country's GDP to 2%, although military spending in Belgium Less than that is 0.93%, while Italy spends 1.22%.

Last month, US President Donald Trump said that Germany was one of the countries that refused what it was supposed to spend in NATO. "So let them pay, we will withdraw our soldiers, we will reduce the number of soldiers to about half, we'll see where we are headed."

The head of the German parliament's Foreign Relations Committee Norbert Reutgen, a staunch ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, criticized the US decision, and wrote in his tweet on Twitter: “By withdrawing 12,000 soldiers from Germany, the United States is achieving the opposite of what US Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced, of strengthening NATO alliance, saying that the American move "will weaken the alliance. The military influence of the United States will not increase, but will decrease, with regard to Russia and the Near and Middle East.

The Governor of Bavaria, a member of the Merkel bloc, expressed regret over the US government’s decision, adding, “Unfortunately, this is seriously damaging to German-American relations. No military benefit can be seen, "confirming that the US decision weakens NATO and the United States itself."

The German Ministry of Defense issued a short press release on the withdrawal, confirming that it had been informed of the action by the Pentagon, and that it would "work closely with the affected German states, as well as the US government and NATO in its implementation." Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that the United States will establish a combat squadron of the US Army in Poland as soon as a defense cooperation agreement is concluded between Washington and Warsaw.  LINK

*************

Samson:  NASA launches first helicopter on Mars

7/30/2020 13:32:54

 Today, the American Space Agency "NASA" launches a small spacecraft equipped with a helicopter; In order to explore the possibility of life on Mars.

The "Presence" vehicle is launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V missile from the Cape Canaveral base in Florida, and is scheduled to reach Mars in February 2021, according to the British newspaper "Daily Mail".

The spacecraft is scheduled to land on the Jerzo Crater area, which is believed to have been a lake site 3.5 billion years ago, if it successfully lands on Mars. The spacecraft will search for any samples that indicate past microbial life, as well as collect rock samples in thin metal instruments that will be temporarily stored on Mars to be recovered in 2026 while returning to Earth. The spacecraft will not make the trip alone, as it will be accompanied by an Ingenuity helicopter, the first time in history that an air plane has flown on another planet.

Matt Wallace, deputy director of the project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said: "For the first time, we are looking for signs of life on another planet, and for the first time we will be collecting samples in the hope that they will be part of the first sample to come from another planet."

It is reported that Viking 1 and Viking 2 were the first two spacecraft to land on Mars and landed in 1976 to search for signs of life. Although a new view of the surface of Mars was presented, they failed to reveal evidence of life.

Commenting on this, Kenneth Farley, a project scientist and professor at the California Institute of Technology said that Viking vehicles were not equipped with the best technology, and compared to what we know today, they had no advanced understanding of how to actually look for life. And "NASA" had sent a number of shuttles to Mars, which allowed it to find the "Jerzo Crater", and it is said that the huge hole flowed with water and it was filled with carbonates and water silica.

The carbonates at the inner edge of the nozzle keep fossils alive on Earth for billions of years, and hydro silica is known for its ability to conserve vital elements.  LINK