Kenny_Logins Posted February 6, 2020 Report Share Posted February 6, 2020 2 hours ago, umbertino said: It seems that mr. Suleimani was in Iraq in order to organize and set up a repression machine against the protesters ( among other things) since they had done same in Iran.......As soon as they get their stuff together there will be a Revolution in Iran This seems obvious to me too, which makes it so strange than an Iraqi in the US would support the Iranian regime, which by default also makes him anti US. It's disturbing because he's working at a major US corporation. I tried to tell him yesterday that positive changes are coming to Iraq as soon as they clean up the corruption. He responded with a tirade about the US being corrupt, as if we're keeping score. I'm thinking "Ok, so there's 30% unemployment because Iraq is NOT corrupt?" It's like arguing with a socialist who rejects the fact that Communism killed 90 million. Dogma causes otherwise rational people to be delusional. 5 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregHi Posted February 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 Tonight my friend was talking about how nobody is protecting the protestors. He said the new PM came on TV saying how the violence needs to stop and how he may have to step down due to the violence, blah blah blah.. but still did not provide a solution to end it. He said the Interior Minister went to Najaf earlier today and was basically ran out of the area by the “blue hats” as he was claiming the security forces need to protect them, but also nothing was really done about it. These Militia gangs are a lot more powerful than they are given credit for if the police and everybody is afraid of them. Sad situation for the protestors.. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregHi Posted February 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 (edited) Also forgot to mention. My friend said if anyone is caught videoing the “blue hats” with a cell phone, then they are instantly a target. They don’t want any video evidence of their crimes but that is not stoping the protestors from taking videos and putting them on Facebook, etc, If they can... Edited February 7, 2020 by GregHi 2 8 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregp Posted February 7, 2020 Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 1 hour ago, GregHi said: Also forgot to mention. My friend said if anyone is caught videoing the “blue hats” with a cell phone, then they are instantly a target. They don’t want any video evidence of their crimes but that is not stoping the protestors from taking videos and putting them on Facebook, etc, If they can... Sounds like we wait till Iran is cleared out. we have a long wait ahead of us. Thanks Hi. 👍🏻 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umbertino Posted February 7, 2020 Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, GregHi said: Tonight my friend was talking about how nobody is protecting the protestors. He said the new PM came on TV saying how the violence needs to stop and how he may have to step down due to the violence, blah blah blah.. but still did not provide a solution to end it. He said the Interior Minister went to Najaf earlier today and was basically ran out of the area by the “blue hats” as he was claiming the security forces need to protect them, but also nothing was really done about it. These Militia gangs are a lot more powerful than they are given credit for if the police and everybody is afraid of them. Sad situation for the protestors.. 6 hours ago, GregHi said: Also forgot to mention. My friend said if anyone is caught videoing the “blue hats” with a cell phone, then they are instantly a target. They don’t want any video evidence of their crimes but that is not stoping the protestors from taking videos and putting them on Facebook, etc, If they can... Thanks GregHi Edited February 7, 2020 by umbertino 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_Logins Posted February 7, 2020 Report Share Posted February 7, 2020 7 hours ago, GregHi said: Also forgot to mention. My friend said if anyone is caught videoing the “blue hats” with a cell phone, then they are instantly a target. They don’t want any video evidence of their crimes but that is not stoping the protestors from taking videos and putting them on Facebook, etc, If they can... This is exactly what's happening in Iran. I would show the video proof to my Shia friend at work, but I don't want to die by IED during my commute. 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregHi Posted February 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 Guys, I won’t see my friend tonight, but I should see him late tomorrow night. If you have any questions for him let me know. He is not an expert on the GOI or anything like that, he was just a poor Iraqi when he lived there but if somebody has a simple question like where is a certain place located or how he feels about certain things, I can certainly ask him for you.. we typically just shoot the bull about current events and he tells me his thoughts in passing.. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregp Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 18 minutes ago, GregHi said: Guys, I won’t see my friend tonight, but I should see him late tomorrow night. If you have any questions for him let me know. He is not an expert on the GOI or anything like that, he was just a poor Iraqi when he lived there but if somebody has a simple question like where is a certain place located or how he feels about certain things, I can certainly ask him for you.. we typically just shoot the bull about current events and he tells me his thoughts in passing.. Ask him WTF happened?!!! . 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregp Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 22 minutes ago, GregHi said: Guys, I won’t see my friend tonight, but I should see him late tomorrow night. If you have any questions for him let me know. He is not an expert on the GOI or anything like that, he was just a poor Iraqi when he lived there but if somebody has a simple question like where is a certain place located or how he feels about certain things, I can certainly ask him for you.. we typically just shoot the bull about current events and he tells me his thoughts in passing.. Ask him if oil drops, will Iraq be forced to increase the rate? Thanks Hi !!! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregHi Posted February 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 2 hours ago, gregp said: Ask him if oil drops, will Iraq be forced to increase the rate? Thanks Hi !!! Lol, I kinda doubt he will know the answer to that but I can try.. lol 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fancy Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 Can you ask him if there is a particular person that the protesters are looking forward to rise in power, someone that the protesters truly want, someone that represents the people. And ask him if he thinks that's even possible. Thanks Hi 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregHi Posted February 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 15 minutes ago, fancy said: Can you ask him if there is a particular person that the protesters are looking forward to rise in power, someone that the protesters truly want, someone that represents the people. And ask him if he thinks that's even possible. Thanks Hi Sure Fancy, I will ask him.. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny_Logins Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 4 hours ago, GregHi said: Guys, I won’t see my friend tonight, but I should see him late tomorrow night. If you have any questions for him let me know. He is not an expert on the GOI or anything like that, he was just a poor Iraqi when he lived there but if somebody has a simple question like where is a certain place located or how he feels about certain things, I can certainly ask him for you.. we typically just shoot the bull about current events and he tells me his thoughts in passing.. I have two questions: 1) What could Tafiq Allawi do to instantly earn his trust? 2) If Sadr were killed tomorrow, would most Iraqi Shiites be happy or upset? 5 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregHi Posted February 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 30 minutes ago, Kenny_Logins said: I have two questions: 1) What could Tafiq Allawi do to instantly earn his trust? 2) If Sadr were killed tomorrow, would most Iraqi Shiites be happy or upset? Good questions Kenny! I will ask home tomorrow night. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckFinley Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 Thanks GregHi for getting us some info. 3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umbertino Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, fancy said: Can you ask him if there is a particular person that the protesters are looking forward to rise in power, someone that the protesters truly want, someone that represents the people. And ask him if he thinks that's even possible. Thanks Hi Good question....I'm afraid there's nobody they trust ( and understandably so) for the time being though..... Edited February 10, 2020 by umbertino 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueskyline Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 Hello Greg . Thanks for what you are bringing us. Can you ask him what payments are they using the most in daily business. Dinar , Dollar or ATM cards. And . What denominations of dinar are they using on the street. Thank you ! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregHi Posted February 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 Hi blue! I will ask him but I may be able to answer your question based on what my Kurdish friend told me a few tears ago. I used to work for a different company from 2010 - 2018 and got to know a guy there and found out he was a Kurd from Erbil. His situation was the exact opposite of my Shia friend as in he did really well for himself and my Shia friend grew up very poor. Anyway at one point rumors were going around that Iraq was installing ATM machines, so I asked my Kurdish friend if that was true and he looked at me funny. He told me ATM machines had been outside of banks for many years.. as a matter of fact if you had a bank account (which most Iraqis didn’t) but if they did, they could withdrawal their money from the ATM in either USD or Dinar.. The ATM would give them the option. He said people used USD for large purchases and Dinar for small purchases. He told me that nobody trusted the banks and everybody hoards their money in the homes or in their cars. He himself had 300 million dinars hidden in the walls of his house in Erbil. Now that was probably about 5-10 years ago but I’ll ask my Shia friend if that’s still the case.. 1 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueskyline Posted February 10, 2020 Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 Thank You ! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregHi Posted February 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 Ok a few answers to the questions above.. keep in mind some of his answers may be some of his opinion alongside his experience... Is there anything the new PM can do to win over the protestors? NO.. he said Allawi has already been negotiating on the number of Kurds in the new GOI with Barzani, he said Allawi has been negotiating with others as well so the corruption remains.. If Sadr were killed tomorrow would most Iraqi Shia be happy or upset? Happy! He said Sadr has betrayed more than once and most of the Shia in how he flip flops on issues and he is exposed for what he is, one of the reasons he now spends most of his time in Iran.. what currency are they using for payments in Iraq? They are using both as a matter of fact sometimes for the same sale they will use a combination of a few dollars and a few dinars. All denominations are being used. They don’t like the fact that the exchanges take a percentage when they use their Qi card to exchange funds. fancy, I forgot to ask him your question, but I will tomorrow night. any other questions just let me know. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screwball Posted February 11, 2020 Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 20 hours ago, blueskyline said: Hello Greg . Thanks for what you are bringing us. Can you ask him what payments are they using the most in daily business. Dinar , Dollar or ATM cards. And . What denominations of dinar are they using on the street. Thank you ! Good,questions 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screwball Posted February 11, 2020 Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 You will never rule out corruption 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screwball Posted February 11, 2020 Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 What we want will be answered soon 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screwball Posted February 11, 2020 Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 Iran will be eliminated soon enough...al Sadr will run soon 2 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckFinley Posted February 11, 2020 Report Share Posted February 11, 2020 Thanks GregHi for doing this. Has there been a decrease in the availability or denomination of the dinar. Was interested to know how much the CBI has pulled in and if it is more chunky money out there being used vs newer larger notes. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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