"Tidbits From TNT" Saturday 7-16-2022

TNT:

Tishwash:  Al-Kazemi's advisor: Iraq will open 3 files at the Saudi summit

The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed today, Friday, that Iraq will open 3 important files at the Saudi summit, which will be held in Jeddah.

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi will participate in the summit, which will be attended by King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, US President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, King Abdullah II of Jordan and leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Saleh told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "I believe that today there is no file that exceeds the file of the water and food security strategy for Iraq as an existential syndrome and contributes to food security in Iraq and then the world."

He added, "The food and water files will have priority in Iraq's proposals for the summit, because they are related to the lives of the Iraqi people and are not overtaken by any other file."

And on the energy file, Saleh stressed that "the Iraqi energy policy also represents a vital basis in stabilizing the needs of the machine of economic life in the world, despite its importance as a financial leverage to finance economic development in our country."

He pointed out, "Defending the sustainability of energy resources and ensuring their flow in global trade is no less important than defending the sustainability of life in Iraq, and with them the sustainability of water flow, promoting agriculture and food and ensuring their security for a country with a population of more than 40 million citizens."

He pointed out that "ensuring water security means ensuring food security for Iraq and the world at the same time, and they are an existential and strategic syndrome that Iraq seeks to achieve and defend strongly." 

Yesterday, Thursday, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi confirmed that Iraq is not part of any axis or alliance in the region, and that the Saudi conference will address the files of economic cooperation and the challenges created by the Corona pandemic and the two crises of food security and climate change.

Today, Friday, US President Joe Biden arrived in Saudi Arabia, prior to his participation in the Jeddah summit.   link

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Puddledpnw:  Iraq: Thousands of Moqtada al-Sadr supporters rally in Baghdad

Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims rallied in Baghdad under the scorching midday sun. Powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr did not make an appearance.

In a show of strength for the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, hundreds of thousands of his supporters gathered for Friday prayers in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad amid failed attempts to form a government.

The worshippers, wearing white and carrying Iraqi flags under the scorching sun, filled the al-Falah street of Sadr City — the neighborhood seen as a stronghold of the populist figure.

Al-Sadr's bloc became the biggest faction in the Iraqi parliament, but he ordered his lawmakers to resign en masse after Sunni and Iraqi parties failed to come to a power-sharing agreement acceptable to the cleric. Al-Sadr seeks to exclude his rivals from Iran-backed Shiite groups.

Although al-Sadr himself did not attend the Friday prayers, the mass gathering showed his ability to mobilize his support base and potentially disrupt the political process.

What does al-Sadr want?

Sheikh Mahmoud al-Jiyashi led the prayers, reading out a speech from al-Sadr in which he reiterated his calls to disband armed groups in reference to the Hashed al-Shaabi, an Iranian-backed Shiite paramilitary group that has since been integrated into the Iraqi army.

He said that the group "must be reorganized and undisciplined elements must be removed," lamenting "foreign interventions" but without naming specific countries.

Many worshippers had hoped to see al-Sadr himself and were disappointed by his no-show

"We are at a difficult... crossroads in the formation of the government, entrusted to some we do not trust," al-Jiyashi read out from the cleric's sermon.

The show of force is seen as an attempt to push ahead government talks while he maintains his extra-parliamentary power, and to threaten al-Sadr's Shiite rivals.

Iraq's political stalemate

The oil-rich nation has been stuck in its second-longest period without a government following the election in October. The vote saw particularly low participation following widespread protests against the government in previous years.

With al-Sadr's lawmakers having resigned from parliament, it is now up to the Iranian-backed parties to try forming a government with the Sunni and Kurdish parties, but it is unclear what will happen next.

Iranian-backed parties have dominated Iraqi politics since the 2003 US invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein's regime. But many see them as the cause of Iraq's many problems.

Large-scale protests, with the potential for violence, are an established tactic for al-Sadr. In 2016, his supporters rallied at the Green Zone — the highly fortified complex in Baghdad that houses government buildings.

Iraqi leaders, especially those close to Iran, now fear that al-Sadr may use his working-class Shiite base to bring down political leaders in the future. This scenario is believed to be even more likely if al-Sadr's rival, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, returns to power.

ab/dj (AP, Reuters, AFP)

https://www.dw.com/en/iraq-thousands-of-moqtada-al-sadr-supporters-rally-in-baghdad/a-62491904

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CandyKisses:  Observers : Al-Kazemi's government has strengthened Iraq's position and openness externallty

The world is witnessing major changes at the level of international relations and the emergence of new hot spots and conflicts at the level of great countries and intersections that threaten the international system, which has affected the various countries of the world to expand the scope of what was mentioned due to the policy of axes and international alliances.

The policy of axes and international alliances was not a product of the moment. Rather, decades ago, there were political and military alliances between various countries in the world, and the countries of the Middle East, including Iraq, which recently played a pioneering and pivotal role in bringing the views of the regional parties closer and away from the policy of axes, have been affected. And try to catch the stick from the middle.

Iraq seeks to build balanced relations with all countries in the region and the world, moving away from the policy of the axes that have cast a shadow on its security and internal stability. To his hosting of the Saudi-Iranian talks, the first in several years, in addition to strengthening his political and economic relations with the countries of the region and the world.

 This coincides with the participation of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi in the Jeddah Security and Development Summit, which is being held in Saudi Arabia, with the participation of US President John Biden.

International changes

In this regard, political analyst Saadoun Al-Saadi told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "every period of time, international relations witness changes, and sometimes they are decisive and fundamental, and sometimes they are minor changes, as in recent years after the increase in the strength of the Russian Federation, which returned to its normal state." as an international superpower.

Al-Saadi continued: "In addition to this, the emergence of some aspiring regional powers, such as Iran, Turkey, India and others, large regional organizations and the European Union, all of which cast a shadow over international relations," noting that "in the current period, the global system has witnessed a major imbalance and hot spots, including the conflict." The indirect Russian-American in Europe, especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in a significant rise in energy and food prices, which made the world witness great tension.” He pointed out that "Iraq since 2003, to the present day, has not witnessed a great development in international and regional relations due to the circumstances that Iraq has experienced in the past years."

A clear diplomatic development

He pointed out that "Iraq has witnessed during the current period a clear diplomatic development thanks to the government of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, which is a realistic government, especially as it took upon itself not to interfere in international and regional affairs and not to pivot with an alliance at the expense of another, and announced it since the beginning of its formation is that it is a rational, balanced government far from pivoting, and Iraq can play a role as a bridge for the convergence of regional rivals, and this is what happened after the meeting of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein in several Arab, international and international capitals such as Tehran, Washington, Munich, Berlin, London, Paris, Riyadh, Cairo and Amman, which created stability and a safe environment. for Iraq."

Important diplomatic center

And he indicated that "Iraq began to turn over time into an important diplomatic center, especially after the success of the summit attended by the French president and where the international political parties met, where Turkey met with Egypt, Saudi Arabia with Qatar and the Emirates with Egypt, and this is a point of major transformations that occurred in the Iraqi political course."

Realistic challenges

In turn, political analyst Ghaleb al-Dami told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "any Iraqi government that will come in the future will face a problem represented in how to establish balanced relations and partnership with all neighboring countries, and it must hold matters from the middle and convince others that it is a government whose goal is to serve." Iraq and not to fall into one axis against another. Al-Daami added: "Perhaps Al-Kazemi's government was able to achieve this goal, as Iraq entered the tunnel of international relations, and this was evident on the surface." He pointed out that "the US-Chinese relations and the expansion of China, the Gulf, Russia, Turkey and Iran, all of these countries do not agree with each other, so Iraq must be accurate in its relations and take wise and balanced decisions to move away from this dark tunnel."

For his part, Kurdish politician Imad Baglan told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "Iraq occupies a position and a strategic position, but it needs a strong and intelligent government that can invest this position and play a leading role in international and regional relations between East and West between the United States The United States, between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and between Turkey and Iran, and among the rest of the axes, and this matter we have not seen except in the government of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi.” He pointed out that "Iraq has dozens of accumulated internal problems, conflict between parties and blocs, accumulated problems between Erbil and Baghdad, and problems between the provinces and the capital, and therefore if the next government is temporary and transitional, it will not be able to change anything from the equation."

Two options before Iraq

As for the head of the Center for Political Thinking, Ihsan Al-Shammari, he said that "Iraq adopted the principle of balance, but this was fragile, as previous governments could not achieve any progress at the level of foreign policy for Iraq. On the contrary, Iraq witnessed a breach of its sovereignty and interference in its internal affairs and the control of countries over decision centers inside Iraq.

Al-Shammari continued, during his speech to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the current government, when it took a step forward in adopting the principle of effective balance, has made progress at the level of foreign policy from an active role and mediation and attending important seminars and meetings, all of which can be at least a part of from trying to keep Iraq away from the existing conflict, but this is not enough, as it is necessary to go towards guarantor diplomacy in Iraq’s foreign relations, whether with Arab countries and by relying on Arab pivot countries and those related to regional and even Western countries in particular, and establishing relations on the basis of Iraq’s interests first. 

And he added: "As for the other thing, it is that this relationship should be bilateral between Iraq and countries that guarantee its sovereignty and interests. Therefore, it is not logical for Iraq to rely on the logic of balance with countries that in the end violate its sovereignty and confiscate its internal decisions. Therefore, the next government, if it believes in the development of Iraq, will be a player." important in the region. 

And he concluded: "On the other hand, if there is a regression in what Iraq has achieved, we will be faced with international isolation and sufficiency in the Iraqi interior, and this makes Iraq a dependent state at the level of foreign policy."

 For his part, a member of the Victory Coalition, Ahmed Al- Wondi, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the next government must complete the ingredients that establish a moderate and systematic governance equation, whose foreign policy is based on moderation and rapprochement, not on exclusion and marginalization, and adopting the policy of axes." 

He pointed out that "the current government has succeeded in keeping Iraq's external cover effective, and Iraq sees it as a center of polarization and convergence of views within the Middle East," stressing that "the next government has major tasks, one of which is to complete this approach, as any wrong policy in adopting pivotal policies will lead to failure." The system and the equation of governance from the beginning.

Mot:  When you're the passenger, you're also the research assistant. 

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