The United States has officially worn out its welcome in Iraq. Throughout eight years of occupation the US-backed government appears to have grown tired of taking the endless array of Congressional delegations and spokesman Ali Dabbagh today declared that the current delegation is “not welcome” in the country.
Each delegation comes with its own set of talking points aimed at a certain agenda. The current group has already touched some very sore nerves, however, with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R – CA) suggesting the war-torn nation should pay reparations to the United States to help defray the cost of the 2003 invasion and nearly a decade of occupation.
Rohrbacher, who was flanked by other members of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, also reported that he threatened Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during their nearly two hour meeting. Rohrbacher suggested the Iraqi government’s crackdown on the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MeK), a US State Department designated terrorist organization, amounted to “a crime against humanity.” The delegation was not allowed to visit the MeK in their camp.
Though the MeK retains its terrorist designation, it has become something of a darling for pro-war US Congressmen who see the group’s repeated accusations against Iran as a pretext for a US occupation there. The group established a base in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and the Maliki government has taken an extremely dim view of them remaining in the nation.
So now we invade countries, smash the hell out of their infrastructure, kill over 500,000 of their citizens, drive 2 million into exhile in Jordan and Syria and then demand payment for all these actions. Give me a break! If anything, the USA should be brought before the world court and be made to pay about 1 trillion dollars for reparations. If you invade and break the china, you are responsible. What world does Rohrbacker come from?
"What world does Rohrbacker come from?"
Answer: Orange County. Home to the Crystal Cathedral. It's like a little slice of Fundamentalist America nestled right in the heart of Southern California. soul-less, sterile, corporate conservatism mixed with Jerry Falwell-style faux Mega-Churches. I still have nightmares about the place.
The USG starts a war of aggression against the people of Iraq that kills hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children. A war that ripped to shreds all the bonds of social cohesion that existed in Iraq, and set the various ethnic and religous groups at each others throat. A war that created thousands of orphans and has caused untold suffering to thousands and thousands of innocent people whose only crime was to be born in the wrong place. Then this creature, Dana Rohrabacher, plunging into the deepest depths of psycopathy, suggests that Iraq should pay reparations to the United States! That such a thing as Dana .Rohrabacher is serving in Congress and not confined to an institution for the criminally insane is just further proof of how low the United States has sunk.
I'm not sure I agree with you entirely, Ira. Don't you feel a little safer when our Congressmen are outside of the US? Maybe they shouldn't be in Iraq, however. Having watched our Solons during Bibi's visit, I think they all should go to israel and stay there, as they seem to be running America for the benefit of the zionist enterprise and not for US citizens.
The 'blowback scenario'- US Congressional delegation to Iraq is "arrested for war crimes and crimes against humanity" for the illegal war against Iraq. Talk about karmically sweet. But, scenarios are merely the stuff of fiction and the illusion of justice.
Rohrabacher's a real piece of work.
A few years ago, he suggested using slave labor to keep agricultural wages down in California, so as to discourage them furriners from coming to America.
Oddly enough, his name was at one time associated with the libertarian movement. Don't know if he fell on his head after that or what.
He got religion and succumbed to the power of a committee chairmanship under Bush the Lesser (and the smell of free money rolling in from the believers and those who WANT.) Libertarian philosophical ideals will never survive in a weak man whose heart isn't into being a real Libertarian.
Look people.., US and NATO had a unsuccessful plan for Middle East and therefore they are not getting out of Afghanistan and don't want to get out of Iraq. Afghanistan is strategically important to attack Iran from North and Mid East. Occupying Pakistan would have accomplish most part of the idea.., the idea in occupying the entire northern part of Persian Gulf…, protecting the Saudis and Arab Emirates Tyrant family's, controlling the shipment of Oil from Persian Gulf. The importance for US and NATO in all these wars been for occupying entire Persian gulf from Lebanon to Pakistan, including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That was the Idea presented by Paul Wolfowitz to Bill Clinton and later George W. Bush, the idiocy and lies by George W. Bush was succeed using UN-NATO to help out in occupying Iraq, this was a illegal war and thereby committed crimes are well noted.., look the illegal wars is the name of the game.., what do you expect for Iraqis people or the government to do.., welcome those who betrayed their own people by lying to them.., what would that tell the Iraqi people…? Libyan war is the same thing.., is a lie and Hillary Clinton and Obama knows it.
There are a lot of very sick "people" in the u.s government including its president it sickens to think of what americans allowed its "govt" to do to other countries that posed no threat.My fervent hope that the u.s become insolvent and unable to continue this carnage
Iraqis needed America much like German Jews needed Hitler. Not surprising that the Iraqis have grown tired of 'help' from Congress.
Most congressmen and senators only hold office because of the AIPAC bribes. Why would iraq want to have AIPAC agents in their country. I am sure the leaders in iraq understand that every congress man will gather information and then sell it to AIPAC for campaign contributions. Congress does not care about the American public or they would take trips to their own district. Why would the iraq feel that they would want to help Iraq? Iraq has already had too much of our help.