As Al-Monitor's Amal Sakr pointed out earlier this month, over 9.5 million Iraqis -- out of 34.7 million -- "are living below the poverty line." Iraq's chief thug and prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's on year eight, the end of his second term, and he's done so very little to help improve the Iraqi economy or create jobs.
That's all changing, however.
This week, Nouri introduced a new jobs program.
And if he can get people to carry around video camera or use their cell phones to film, he can create even more jobs by turning the whole thing into a television program.
He could make a programming bloc of it, pairing it with the forced confessions which already air on Iraqi TV.
The program could be called Who Wants To Be A Vigilante?
In a country marked by poverty, Nouri's grand idea?
Vigilante justice -- which is more justice than the country currently has, granted.
Al-Shorfa reports Nouri's attempting to turn the country into bounty hunters. Kill a 'terrorist' and you'll get 20 million dinars (that sounds better in Iraqi currency, in US dollars it's $17,172.53) and 30 million dinars ($25,758.80) if they capture the 'terrorist' alive.
Anyone else bothered by this?
Apparently not.
White House hasn't said a word.
So if you are an Iraqi in Iraq and you have someone you dislike, grab your gun, find them and shoot.
All you have to do is claim the person was a 'terrorist.'
You might get a reward.
But certainly you won't get prison because Nouri's not doing 'Most Wanted.' No, he's not providing a list of ten people for you to hunt down.
He's leaving it up to you to determine who is and who isn't a 'terrorist.'
And, hey, mistakes get made.
So you kill an innocent person or two.
Again, is anyone else bothered by this?
Vigilante justice in Iraq.
There are thousands of people on death row in Iraq right now -- at least 50 are foreign nationals from other countries. There have been repeated cries for a moratorium. These are ignored.
And Iraqis are encouraged to embrace and cheer on executions.
Into this environment, you want to turn the country into vigilantes?
At what point is the US government going to assist the Iraqi government with supporting rule of law?
Those of us who had to sit through those awful 2011 Congressional hearings where the State Dept offered one tight-lipped official after another -- who could never explain what the billions they were getting for Iraq were going to be spent on -- well know, the State Dept was going to work on so many issues. Rule of law was one. Women's rights was another.
They boasted loudly -- in generalities.
Well, as Human Rights Watch recent report entitled (PDF format warning) "'NO ONE IS SAFE: Abuses of Women in Iraq's Criminal Justice System" proves, the State Dept clearly failed at attempts to improve the lives of women or the rule of law.
Fiscal Year 2012 is the most recent year USAID has posted numbers for. In FY2012, USAID spent $13.5 million of US tax payer dollars -- spent them in Iraq on strenghtening what?
The rule of law and human rights.
The big ticket item for that year? $148.4 million -- US tax payer money -- was spent in Iraq on "Democracy and Governance."
Talk about money wasted. Sadly, it's not refundable.
The State Dept never gets asked about any of those problems.
It's hard to tell if the US press is just an enabler or a co-conspirator.
At any rate, it was just weeks ago that Nouri made the same appeal but without cash.
There was no embrace of it so now Nouri's tossing money and hoping that will put over the plan.
The plan, please note, that reveals what a total failure Nouri al-Maliki is.
With all the weapons provided by the US and other foreign governments, with all the 'intelligence' the US military is currently providing Nouri, with command of the Iraqi forces, the unconstitutional Tigris Operation Command, SWAT, the federal police and so much more, he still can't defeat the people he's defined as the 'enemy' (the ones others call Iraqis).
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Text is C.I. from the Feb. 21st "Iraq snapshot." Illustrations are Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "I See Ba'athists," "These days, puppets pull the strings" and "The Plan For Day 101."