The disputable meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and US President Barack Obama will be held later today in the White House Oval Office, as was announced some time ago.
Mr. Maliki will be accompanied by Hadi Ameri, a government minister, who has been the Commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards 9th Badr corps, responsible for many terrorist operations in Iraq. Badr Organization is the military wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council with close ties with Iran.
The trip will be the first of its kind by the Iraqi premier to the US since he took office six years ago. But the timing of the meeting coincides with Mr. Maliki's highly controversial plan to evict 3400 Iranian refugees from their homes in Camp Ashraf, where they have lived for the past 25 years.
After US led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the people of Ashraf were all granted the 4th Geneva Convention "protected persons" status by the US Forces.
However in 2009, as Obama took office in Washington -- and to the ignorance of warnings by international observers including European Parliament and UN mission to Iraq -- the security of Ashraf was handed over by US to the pro-Tehran government of Nouri Al-Maliki. Two months later in a meeting between Iranian supreme leader and Iraqi president, a secret mutual agreement between Iran and Iraq to close down Ashraf and expel the residents was unveiled.
Ashraf has since been the scene of gross human rights violations including an inhuman blockade of food, medicines, fuel and other basic necessities. The Camp is officially off-limits to media and visitors including parliamentarians, lawyers and even family members of the residents.
At the gaze of the international community, the Iraqi military under the command of Prime Minister Maliki twice attacked Ashraf in July 2009 and April 2011. Live ammunition was used to hunt defenseless refugees. Some were crushed under Humvees and tanks, leaving 47 dead and a total of 1070 wounded.
At a press conference in Washington, former Democratic party leader and presidential candidate Howard Dean called Nouri Al-Maliki a "mass murderer" for the cold-blooded murder of unarmed refugees including eight young women.
Two days after the April attack, in a blatant effort to void international calls for independent investigation into that crime, Maliki announced his unilateral deadline to close Ashraf by the year's end.
Subsequent international efforts by UN, EU and other international bodies to help resettle the residents in other countries remain blocked as Iraq refuses access to UN Refugee Body (UNHCR) to register the residents and verify their applications for asylum.
The clock is fast ticking and unless a solution is found within the remaining 19 days, a new human tragedy of a much larger scale could very well be on the plate for the New Year's Eve.
Last week US Congress again warned Maliki for any further bloodshed at Ashraf while reminding President Obama that he should honor US obligations to protect the Camp as the current fragile situation of the Camp was a result of US written assurances of protection to the refugees in exchange for their voluntarily disarmament in 2003.
"If they are deported and subjected to another massacre, the blood in the sand will also stain the Gucci shoes of our State Department," Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Chairman of Subcommittee on Oversights and Investigations, told the State Department officials during the hearing of December 7th.
"The overriding objective of Obama administration's dialog with Iraq on the matter of Camp Ashraf should first and foremost be to encourage the protection of Camp residents and ensure appropriate humanitarian aid is provided to the residents," Congressman Steve Chabot, Chairman of Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia told the hearing.
Democrat Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a vocal human rights defender, called on Obama to abstain from meeting with Maliki until he has given assurances to that no further human rights abuses will be committed by his forces at Camp Ashraf. "I want to cut off funds for Maliki. I believe he should not have an Oval Office meeting with the President until he agrees before he walks into the Oval office that he will not murder, kill or maim the people of Camp Ashraf."
Whether Obama will be wise enough to follow Congress' advice when he meets Prime Minister Maliki later today is unclear. What is clear, though, is that if he fails, his human rights legacy and the Nobel Peace Prize he received at the beginning of his term might very well lose its shine for good.
Al-Maliki should not be an invitee to the White House. We should simply say "good night and good bye".....
Israel's Netanyahu addresses Congress as an old friend
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sounded a 'we stand together' theme multiple times as he was warmly received by Congress. On the thorny issue of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, he says Israel will make some sacrifices but not others.
Speaking to a friendly and enthusiastic congressional audience, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday gave his vision of the Middle East, based on a strong Israel irrevocably linked to the United States and willing to make some, but not all, sacrifices for peace with the Palestinians.
"Israel has no better friend than America, and America has no better friend than Israel. We stand together to defend democracy," Netanyahu said, in a key theme he repeated in different forms in his 45-minute speech.
Who? W. Bush?
I thought from the headline, that Bush and Cheney had been invited.
Its not even really close
but bush isn't mentioned being at this meeting
Obama was
1/3 of MEK te.rrorists have asked to be repatriated to Iran under Iran's amnesty.
1/3 of MEK te.rrorists have European residency/citizenship and can go back to Europe.
1/3 of MEK te.rrorists have only Iranian citizenship and have committed acts of te.rror in Iran and are under arrest warrants in Iran. Some of them who are leaders of the organization are also under indictment in Iraq and will be arrested in Iraq.
Iran has announced under amnesty the 1/3 who have committed crimes in Iran, if repent and go through a fair trial, will be fairly treated, particularly if their crimes were not severe. They will serve a few months in jail and then they go on their way. European commission has also asked European countries to take these people if they don't want to take up Iranian government's offer.
There are less than 50 people who are hard core te.rrorists and kingpins. Some of them will be tried for crimes in Iraq, the rest should just fade away.
This whole article is about keeping 50 or so hardcore te.rrorist out of answering for their crimes, while keeping 3350 others hostage.
This is the end of the road for camp Ashraf, the author and everyone else associated with this te.rror group should learn to live with it, instead of causing hundreds of unnecessary deaths to make a nonsensical point.
After the end of this year, the Sadr forces will start to steer up the violence to the scale that US must either charge in with the troops or leave the hell out of there, because an Obama in an election year cannot take the number of causalities. Which one do you think an Obama in mid-election campaign will choose? Sadre movement is on sleep mode
Hence the saying: if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy or yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
The third option has been and seems to be the best description of the case of US administrations in Iraq from the beginning.
Look how we are handing over Iraq to the Iranian mullahs on a silver platter!
They pick and choose and then make promises which they then refuse.
They will learn that the Corporation speaks with a forked tongue.
THE RONBOT HUNTER
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
jabidi was right