Tidbits From TNT Monday Morning 3-2-2020
TNT:
Fuze: In spite of how things look, I think we are so close!
When the prolonged demonstrations started in Iraq first week of October 2019, coupled with the initial Iranian murderous response, at the behest of the GOI; I started focusing on a solution to the Crisis.
It was very obvious and factual the CBI was right in the middle of the roll out of the monetary reforms, that some of us had been waiting on for over a decade. However, Iran and the corrupt political blocks whom are the Iraqi mafia did what they always do to stop the reforms, create havoc and chaos. But this time I don't think it will all end as times before, with another few years of looting opportunities for the corrupt . No, this time I think Iran and corrupt will finally be "Sufficiently" vanquished.
Crisis Solution
Simple: I think this Crisis will culminate REAL SOON, with some type of Official UN intervention on behalf of the Citizens and Country, desolving the Parliament and installing a transition GOI. Maybe even made up of this MTA cabinet, that appears now to be rejected by Parliament! I think the launch of what we await will happen on schedule, the 1st quarter 2020 as they planned all the time!
CaliforniaSugar: Allawi made the speech announcing his withdrawal ... let's see what happens next
IanJohns: I bet this goes Monday or Tuesday. Kuwait lost their leader….. next day boom!!
Briona: A watched pot will actually boil if you wait long enough.
OKRocks: IMO this all served a purpose and now Iraq and us can move forward... I have faith...CBI can still go at any time
Jambie67: Guaranteed, there is a well-planned out strategy being played out right before our eyes. Nothing is a surprise to the puppet masters... only the responses to their moves, however calculated. I can’t help but still feel a little excitement about the seeming severity of Allawi’s resignation. I feel if we stay tuned, the master plan will begin to make total sense. The A-HA moment is to come!
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Harambe: AP News: Iraq's PM-designate withdraws from post, prolonging deadlock (3/2/20)
Baghdad (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister-designate announced his withdrawal from the post Sunday night after failing to secure parliamentary support for his Cabinet selection, prolonging the political deadlock in the country amid multiple economic, health and security challenges.
Prime Minister designate Mohammed Allawi blamed political parties he did not name, saying they “were not serious about implementing reforms that they promised to the people” and accusing them of placing obstacles in the way of a new and independent government.
“If I agreed to offer concessions, I would be prime minister now, but I tried everything possible to save the country from sliding toward the unknown and resolve the current crisis. But the negotiations hit repeated snags,” he said in a short address to the nation, explaining his decision to withdraw. He accused some parties of negotiating “purely for narrow interests.”
Allawi’s withdrawal a month after he was selected for the post plunges the country in more uncertainty at a critical time and as the country weathers troubled times, including ongoing anti-government protests and the constant threat of being ensnared by festering U.S.-Iran tensions.
Shortly after he spoke, two mortar shells landed in Iraq’s Green Zone where the U.S. Embassy and government offices are located, without causing any injuries, two security officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Iraq on Sunday marked five months since a popular uprising against the country’s corrupt political class erupted in Baghdad and southern provinces. Iraqis took to the streets in the thousands on Oct. 1 to decry rampant government corruption, unemployment and poor services. Demonstrators rejected Allawi’s candidacy outright, saying he was the choice of the political elite and not the street.
Iraq also faces multiple challenges including on the economic and security fronts, and the most recent challenge of containing the coronavirus, with a failing health system and 19 confirmed cases so far.
Allawi’s withdrawal came after he twice failed to secure a quorum for parliament to meet to vote on his Cabinet selection.
Allawi’s cabinet formation process was beset with political turmoil as opposing factions threatened to withdraw support over the prime minister-designate’s secretive selection of ministers -- unusual in the country’s power-sharing system — while in the streets of Baghdad, anti-government protesters camped in a central square for five months said they would reject his authority if early elections weren’t held.
An ambitious government program proposed by Allawi that included reforms and anti-corruption measures was criticized by protesters who said it was not enough.
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 protests.
The weeks leading up to Sunday’s Parliament session was marred by delays and political infighting as Allawi insisted he would select his own ministers — a move that alienated Kurdish and Sunni parties in particular and sparked threats of boycott.
With Allawi’s withdrawal, President Barham Saleh now has 15 days to appoint a replacement.
Tishwash: Iraqi demonstrators do not fear Corona and consider that politicians are the "real virus"
Detection of new cases of Coronavirus in Iraq has caused anger in protesters, who have been calling for political reforms for five months and changing the political class, as they considered it further evidence of the authorities' inability to provide public services.
"The real virus is Iraqi politicians," protester Fatima, an 18-year-old medical student, told AFP, adding, "We are immune from almost everything else."
New cases of coronavirus were registered in Iraq, they are Iranians who have been returned to his country, 18 Iraqis are all returning from neighboring Iran, where 54 deaths and nearly a thousand cases have been recorded.
For months, the protesters have also criticized the vast Iranian influence in their country.
Anti-government demonstrators in the squares of the capital where sit-ins have continued since October and in the hot southern regions have taken up the issue of public health on their shoulders.
Volunteer youth distribute leaflets and lectures on ways to prevent corona virus, and they also distribute free medical masks after the prices of masks increased more than three times in local markets.
Field clinics that had been equipped with medical equipment and medicines for months to treat bullets and tear gas canisters turned into centers for the distribution of antiseptic cleaning fluids and advice.
In Tahrir Square in the center of the capital, volunteers in protective suits were checking the heat of protesters queuing up.
"Our health system is completely exhausted in natural conditions," said Fatima, a volunteer in Tahrir Square.
Activists are posting on social networks, photos and videos of the amount of garbage spread in the vicinity of hospitals that have been subject to a lot of neglect due to decades of conflicts in which Iraq has passed.
Poor conditions in bathrooms, especially in medical centers, where health conditions are not met to the minimum degree, are of great concern.
There are less than ten doctors in Iraq for every 10,000 citizens, according to recent figures from the World Health Organization.
The death toll from the emerging coronavirus in Iran is the largest outside of China, which is the epidemic center.
Iran is the second largest exporter to Iraq. Iraq is a popular destination for Iranian visitors who flock to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala throughout the year. Many Iraqis also go to Iran for tourism, medical treatment and religious studies.
Iraq closed its borders with Iran, which stretches for hundreds of kilometers, and prevented travel to and from it.
In protest camps against the Authority, where protesters accuse the Islamic Republic of interfering in internal affairs - doubts also persist about the reported figures about the virus in both Iran and Iraq.
"We note that there are numbers that have not been announced by the Iraqi government," said protester Russell, in the southern city of Diwaniya.
"The government should announce these figures, such as those related to quarantining suspected cases. Healthier measures such as hospital sterilization must be taken," the young woman who is studying medicine told AFP.
Some protesters accuse Iranian officials of endangering the safety of Iraqis "because of the cover-up of the epidemic."
- "Corona doesn't scare us."
After the Iraqi authorities announced the closure of schools, universities, cinemas, cafes, and other public places until March 7, participation in the protests is expected to decrease, especially after officials said they will impose restrictions on large gatherings.
The cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who had been supportive of the protests before he gave up the movement last month, prevented his loyalists from demonstrating because of fears of the virus.
But students, who make up the bulk of the protesters on the street, took advantage of the study's suspension to return to protest.
On Sunday, demonstrators in Baghdad and southern cities participated in major protests aimed at pressuring the government to implement political reforms. A number of them wore protective masks.
And chanted "Your sniper did not deter us, what is Corona?"
Security forces used tear gas, live and rubber bullets, and even automatic weapons to disperse the protests.
About 550 people have been killed and 30,000 injured, since October 1, most of them protesters.
Last week, four protesters were killed, along with an activist inside his house.
The political crisis is expected to continue with Designated Prime Minister Mohammed Allawi’s apology last night for not forming a government. The President of the Republic, Barham Salih, has 15 days to propose a candidate to form a new government.
"We have a virus that is more dangerous than Corona, which is the parties, politics and corruption, and we went out to eliminate this virus once and for all because it destroyed Iraq," Mohammed said during a demonstration in Diwaniya, stressing, "Corona does not fear us, and we are continuing." link