HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_027117.jpg
2.83 MB
Extraction Summary
4
People
5
Organizations
12
Locations
4
Events
3
Relationships
4
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Political analysis / intelligence report / news article excerpt
File Size:
2.83 MB
Summary
This document appears to be a page from a geopolitical report regarding the political instability in Iraq around late 2012. It details the sectarian conflict between Prime Minister Maliki (Shiite) and Sunni leaders Rafie al-Issawi and Tariq al-Hashimi, as well as the military tensions with Kurdish forces. The text highlights a constitutional crisis exacerbated by President Talabani's stroke, leaving the country effectively without a president during a time of mass protests. The document bears a House Oversight stamp.
People (4)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Rafie al-Issawi | Finance Minister |
Sunni moderate technocrat from Anbar; his bodyguards were arrested for alleged terrorist activities.
|
| Tariq al-Hashimi | Vice President (former/exiled) |
Sunni; fled to Turkey; sentenced to death in absentia for murder and financing terrorism.
|
| Nouri al-Maliki | Prime Minister (implied) |
Referred to as 'Maliki'; accused of sectarian moves; demanded Hashimi's trial; subject of no-confidence efforts.
|
| Jalal Talabani | President of Iraq |
Incapacitated by a stroke on Dec. 17; out of country for treatment; described as the link holding Baghdad and Kurdist...
|
Organizations (5)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Iraqi Government |
Discussed in terms of constitutional crisis and sectarian division.
|
|
| Iraqi Army |
Involved in standoff with Kurdish troops.
|
|
| Kurdish pesh merga |
Troops involved in standoff with Iraqi army.
|
|
| al-Qaeda in Iraq |
Conducted attacks in the disputed area.
|
|
| House Oversight Committee |
Source of the document stamp (HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_027117).
|
Timeline (4 events)
December 17 (Year Context: 2012)
December 20 (Year Context: 2012)
October (Year Context: 2012)
10-day standoff between Iraqi army units and Kurdish pesh merga troops.
Kirkuk / Green Line
Locations (12)
| Location | Context |
|---|---|
|
Primary location of events.
|
|
|
Home region of Rafie al-Issawi.
|
|
|
Location where Hashimi fled.
|
|
|
Ramadi
|
Site of demonstrations.
|
|
Site of demonstrations.
|
|
|
Site of demonstrations.
|
|
|
Capital city; highway closed.
|
|
|
Highway destination.
|
|
|
Highway destination.
|
|
|
Site where resistance spread.
|
|
|
Disputed city involved in military standoff.
|
|
|
Region separated by the 'Green Line'.
|
Relationships (3)
Maliki's government arrested Issawi's bodyguards; Sunnis viewed it as a sectarian assault.
Maliki demanded Hashimi's trial in absentia leading to a death sentence.
Talabani was the 'critical link' holding regions together; his incapacity paralyzed efforts to hold a no-confidence vote in Maliki.
Key Quotes (4)
"Iraq has been, in effect, operating without a president."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_027117.jpg
Quote #1
"Maliki’s move as sectarian and an assault on government participation by Sunnis not under the prime minister’s thumb."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_027117.jpg
Quote #2
"Talabani had been the critical link holding Baghdad and Kurdistan together"Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_027117.jpg
Quote #3
"The recent protests underscore the collapse of the inclusive political accommodation reached in 2007"Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_027117.jpg
Quote #4
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (2,227 characters)
bodyguards of Finance Minister Rafie al-Issawi, who is Sunni, arrested for alleged terrorist activities on Dec. 20 — almost exactly one year after he ordered the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi’s security detail. Hashimi fled to Turkey and is unlikely to return soon to Iraq, where he was sentenced to death after Maliki demanded his trial in absentia for murder and financing terrorism.
The threat to Issawi, a moderate technocrat from Anbar, galvanized Iraqi Sunnis, who rightly saw Maliki’s move as sectarian and an assault on government participation by Sunnis not under the prime minister’s thumb. Three days after the arrests, demonstrations broke out in Ramadi, Fallujah and Samarra. Three days after that, a large protest closed the highway from Baghdad to Syria and Jordan. The popular resistance spread to Mosul on Dec. 27.
These protests erupted during a constitutional crisis and as an expanding Arab-Kurd conflict has become increasingly militarized. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was incapacitated by a stroke on Dec. 17 and has been out of the country for treatment. Iraq’s constitution specifies a line of succession — but with one vice president in exile and the other a Shiite and obvious Maliki proxy, Iraq has been, in effect, operating without a president. Political processes that require presidential involvement have been paralyzed, including moving forward with long-standing efforts by Sunnis and Kurds to hold a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in Maliki.
Talabani had been the critical link holding Baghdad and Kurdistan together since tensions rose following a 10-day standoff between Iraqi army units and Kurdish pesh merga troops in October, after Maliki sent the army toward the disputed city of Kirkuk. That move followed a series of skirmishes and mobilizations along the “Green Line” separating Kurdistan from Arab Iraq and a series of attacks in the area by al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The recent protests underscore the collapse of the inclusive political accommodation reached in 2007, which had been reconfirmed by the formation of a grand Sunni-Shiite-Kurd coalition government after parliamentary elections in 2010. By November 2012, Maliki had evolved
The threat to Issawi, a moderate technocrat from Anbar, galvanized Iraqi Sunnis, who rightly saw Maliki’s move as sectarian and an assault on government participation by Sunnis not under the prime minister’s thumb. Three days after the arrests, demonstrations broke out in Ramadi, Fallujah and Samarra. Three days after that, a large protest closed the highway from Baghdad to Syria and Jordan. The popular resistance spread to Mosul on Dec. 27.
These protests erupted during a constitutional crisis and as an expanding Arab-Kurd conflict has become increasingly militarized. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was incapacitated by a stroke on Dec. 17 and has been out of the country for treatment. Iraq’s constitution specifies a line of succession — but with one vice president in exile and the other a Shiite and obvious Maliki proxy, Iraq has been, in effect, operating without a president. Political processes that require presidential involvement have been paralyzed, including moving forward with long-standing efforts by Sunnis and Kurds to hold a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in Maliki.
Talabani had been the critical link holding Baghdad and Kurdistan together since tensions rose following a 10-day standoff between Iraqi army units and Kurdish pesh merga troops in October, after Maliki sent the army toward the disputed city of Kirkuk. That move followed a series of skirmishes and mobilizations along the “Green Line” separating Kurdistan from Arab Iraq and a series of attacks in the area by al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The recent protests underscore the collapse of the inclusive political accommodation reached in 2007, which had been reconfirmed by the formation of a grand Sunni-Shiite-Kurd coalition government after parliamentary elections in 2010. By November 2012, Maliki had evolved
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_027117
Discussion 0
No comments yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this epstein document