Obama (and MSM) silent on the audacity of Alsammarae
It is just past 7:00 AM on the East Coast. RW just checked the headlines to be sure. MSM has given Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) another pass. How's that?Well, it's the only reasonable explanation for why Chicago's convicted Iraqi-American, Aiham Alsammarae, an Obama campaign contributor and long-time friend and business partner to convicted felon, political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, is NOT in the news—again.
The last time that Alsammarae did make the headlines was back in April 2008 when he put up three of his properties valued at $2.8 million as part of the $8.5 million surety against Rezko's bail prior to his federal fraud conviction.
Granted, Alsammarae did get honorable mention when Sen. Obama dumped those campaign war chest dollars a few days later. But then, every time in the past eighteen months or so Sen. Obama unloaded tainted campaign cash it has made the news. Hail fellow, well met.
Alsammarae and his shady past weren't the real story anyhow.
Of less interest—truth be told, of practically no interest at all—is the fact that Alsammarae should be serving time in an Iraqi jail. Well, he's not. He made a miraculous escape back in December 2006, aided by hired private security thugs, and calmly returned to his business as usual back home in Chicago.
It is obviously of no interest at all to the media that Alsammarae is wanted in Iraq because he stole an estimated $2 billion and the Iraqi government wants him to repay $650 million in Iraq reconstruction funds. Not that long ago Alsammarae was the subject of an Interpol warrant, since removed. Another miracle.
Chicago blogger Bill Baar and RW, among several others, remain puzzled that Alsammarae remains free as a bird, of insufficient interest to have been brought in for questioning by American authorities. Or at least there's been no report otherwise.
A couple weeks ago, in one of 36 articles published by RW either featuring or mentioning Alsammarae, RW asked who is protecting Alsammarae—and why.
Is Alsammarae untouchable?
Most recently, after Alsammarae boldly participated in an Amman, Jordan Radio Sawa interview, as reported by Hudson Institute visiting scholar Nibras Kazimi, in which Alsammarae announced not only that he was returning to Iraq to join up with Allawi's forces but also called for more insurgent attacks on U.S. troops, what do we hear from MSM? Crickets. Just crickets.
This brings us to today, when it should come as no surprise that, when "Iraqi Higher Judicial Council has declared today that Alsammarae will face prison time and more charges should he return to Iraq," as reported last night by Kazimi, at 7:00 AM Eastern Time, MSM has nothing to say. More silence. Just lots of crickets.
Kazimi writes:
The official spokesman of the Higher Judicial Council, Judge Abdul Satar al-Bairaqdar told Aswat Al-Iraq News Agency today (Arabic link) that there are several verdicts concerning Alsammarae that are still in effect and that carry varying prison sentences. These verdicts were rendered by Iraqi courts against Alsammarae on charges of corruption, such as misuse of public funds and receiving kickbacks, during his tenure as Minister of Electricity in the Bremer and Allawi cabinets (2003-2005).
Alsammarae’s financial crimes are widely perceived by the Iraqi public as the reason behind the government’s continuing failure to provide enough electrical power to Iraq’s population. Another widely-held perception is that Alsammarae embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars during his tenure.
Judge al-Bairaqdar clarified that some verdicts and charges against Alsammarae fall under the newly-passed Amnesty Law, but that there are still others that were not covered under the amnesty and hence are still in effect. He added that the documents that Alsammarae had presented at the press conference he held four days ago in Amman are not enough to exonerate him from a legal standpoint.
Yesterday, June 19, 2008, RW reposted an updated February 2008 article which not-so-subtly points out that there is an apparent connection between Sen. Obama's various positions on Iraq and his proximity to Iraqi-American Aiham Alsammarae, Iraqi-British billionaire businessman Nadhmi Auchi, and Syrian-American convicted felon, and personal real estate fairy, Tony Rezko.
Bill Baar, John Batchelor, Evelyn Pringle, and RW are no longer alone in this belief. Others are beginning to catch on to the idea, as well.
Kazimi comments:
Y'know, given how close Alsammarae was to Antoin Rezko, and how close Rezko was to Barack Obama, I'm certain that Alsammarae and Obama are intimately connected, and that at least some of Obama's worldview of Iraq was inferred by a slime-bucket such as Alsammarae, who now wants insurgents to kill more Americans and says so at the top of his voice. Yet even though in the past Alsammarae's story has been extensively covered by CBS, CNN, the New York Times and many others, his current shenanigans are being studiously ignored, presumably lest they reflect badly on the media's preferred presidential candidate: Mr. Obama, the anti-Iraq War candidate.
Once again, RW asks the same question. Who's protecting Alsammarae and why?
Baar was spot on back in May when he commented the "sad thing about the Alsammarae story is so many people in the Administration and Obama's campaign (and his supporters in Congress!) have an interest in keeping the story buried."
It's still working!
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