because the murders of 8 children just wasn't enough.
April 23rd, the massacre of a sit-in in Hawija resulted by Nouri's federal forces storming in left many people dead and wounded. Alsumaria noted Kirkuk's Department of Health (Hawija is in Kirkuk) announced 50 activists have died and 110 were injured in the assault. AFP reported the death toll rose to 53. UNICEF noted that the dead included 8 children (twelve more were injured).
And this killer of the Iraqi people is who Barack's given drones and Hellfire missiles to and wants to rush F-16s to.
Apparently, the Leahy Amendment no longer matters.
It's supposed to:
Consistent with U.S. law and policy, the Department of State vets its assistance to foreign security forces, as well as certain Department of Defense training programs, to ensure that recipients have not committed gross human rights abuses. When the vetting process uncovers credible information that an individual or unit has committed a gross violation of human rights, U.S. assistance is withheld.
Nouri's actions should have resulted in the Leahy Amednment being applied long ago.
He's used the military to terrorize politicians.
Dropping back to December 17, 2011:
Like Tareq al-Hashemi, Saleh al-Mutlaq is a member of the Iraqiya political slate. Dar Addustour is reporting that the homes of al-Hashemi and al-Mutlaq as well as the home of Rafi Hiyad al-Issawi have been surrounded by "tanks and special forces." Dr. Rafi Hiyad al-Issawi was the previous Deputy prime minister (2007 through 2010). He was the head of Falluja General Hospital prior to that and he is currently the Minister of Finance. Like the other two, al-Issawi is a member of Iraqiya.
From the December 19, 2011 snapshot:
Late Saturday night online (Sunday in print), Liz Sly (Washington Post) noted that the 'government' in Iraq is "unraveling faster than had been anticipated Saturday." Really? All in one day. Well, no, not in one day. She continued, "In recent days, the homes of top Sunni politicians in the fortified Green Zone have been ringed by tanks and armored personnel carriers, and rumors are flying that arrest warrants will be issued for other Sunni leaders."
Could you imagine the outrage if Barack -- if any US president -- sent military tanks and special forces to stake out the homes of Senator Barbara Boxer or US House Rep. Charlie Rangel?
But that's what Nouri did. His charges against Tareq would be numerous. So let's focus on what led to Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq to be targeted.
His crime? He gave an interview. Arwa Damon and Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reported:
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is amassing dictatorial power as U.S. troops leave the country, risking a new civil war and the breakup of the nation, his deputy warned Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq told CNN that he was "shocked" to hear U.S. President Barack Obama greet al-Maliki at the White House on Monday as "the elected leader of a sovereign, self-reliant and democratic Iraq." He said Washington is leaving Iraq "with a dictator" who has ignored a power-sharing agreement, kept control of the country's security forces and rounded up hundreds of people in recent weeks.
[. . .]
"America left Iraq with almost no infrastructure. The political process is going in a very wrong direction, going toward a dictatorship," he said. "People are not going to accept that, and most likely they are going to ask for the division of the country. And this is going to be a disaster. Dividing the country isn't going to be smooth, because dividing the country is going to be a war before that and a war after that."
For that Nouri targeted him, tried to strip him of office and much more.
And that was 2011. Things have only gotten worse since.
Most recently? How about Decemeber 28th when Nouri ordered the arrest of Ahmed al-Alwani? There were a number of problems including that a dawn raid on a person's home left 6 people -- including al-Alwani's brother -- dead. Equally true, there was no right to arrest him. He's a Member of Parliament. He can be arrested by police if they catch him while he's carrying out a crime. Otherwise, Parliament's got to first vote to strip the MP immunity or there's no arrest.
He refuses to follow his own country's Constitution.
He refuses to follow the laws.
He abuses his power and position.
And he'll even order the deaths of children.
In what world can the US government justify continuing to arm the despot Nouri al-Maliki?
