BREAKING: Unconscious Iraqi prez sent to Jordan

Here's the link from yahoo.  

One wonders just how many unexpected turns to this godawful mess the US has created there will be before we get the hell out......and for his part, Cheney continues to hawk it up about Iran.

Does anyone have any clue as to how Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's ill health might affect:  the Brits plans to reduce their numbers; our plans to increase ours; the sectarian violence?  Love to hear from those who know much more than I about the subject.

•  Wow! I don't know how Britain will

  deal with this but Iraq was failed the day the chief idiot diverted from the war on terror to attack Iraq to destabilize the middle east so he could establish his new order.
     If he does not recover and quickly this will certainly speed up the process exponentially.

  by jmsjoin on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:22:46 PM PDT

•  The diary title is a little misleading

  He was apparently unconscious when he was taken to the hospital in Iraq, not when he went from there to Jordan for further checkups.  I read somewhere else that he has a history of fainting during periods of great stress, and this would certainly be one of them.

  by leevank on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:25:46 PM PDT

  •  Another link

    http://www.cbsnews.com/...

    An official at Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, said the president had a long history of fainting when he is exhausted — a condition dating back to his years as a Kurdish guerrilla leader fighting Saddam Hussein's regime decades ago.

    by operculum on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:30:59 PM PDT

    •  I saw that and...

      I just wonder what that is about, medically speaking.  Does the guy not eat or drink when he works?

      by BoxerDave on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:32:46 PM PDT

      •  See this

        comment.

        He tends to go 'til he drops.

        by jhritz on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:38:56 PM PDT

  •  His son said he walked from the airplane

    to the hospital in Jordan, after he (the son, Qubad) pressured him into going to Amman for tests.

    He says he thinks it is exhaustion due to a nonestop schedule, but they want the tests to make sure.

    This was off an interview with Qubad Talabani on CNN a few minutes ago.

    by jhritz on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:32:07 PM PDT

  •  Agree. The fustercluck doesn't need hyping.

    by Gary Norton on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:32:30 PM PDT

  •  Presidents under great stress

    he has a history of fainting during periods of great stress

    beats a history of reading children's books during periods of great stress.

    by John DE on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:56:49 PM PDT

    •  Not only that, but...

      ...he read it phonetically!

      by BoxerDave on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:59:27 PM PDT

•  I just wonder how much you can believe...

  Its difficult to accept that a normally healthy 71 or 72 year old would collapse from two days of hard work.

  by nupstateny on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:27:24 PM PDT

  •  I dunno...

    ...I'm not that old, and somedays I want to collapse at the end of my work day :)

    Seriously, seems to me that if he quickly returns to work, this may have no bearing on what's happening over in Iraq.  However, if he stays out of work for sometime, I can't help but think that this would have a de-stabilizing effect on the shakey government.  And, yes, I realize that the work de-stabilizing may not be the best word here....de-stabilizing relatively speaking.

    by BoxerDave on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:30:54 PM PDT

    •  I wonder if he's been

      exiled to a safer area while the bombing is going on.

      by nupstateny on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 03:07:17 PM PDT

      •  Hmmmmmm

        we'll have to see what violence happens tonight and tomorrow in Baghdad.  Interesting possibility.

        by BoxerDave on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 03:11:55 PM PDT

      •  Yeah, that was my first thought, too

        Uncharitable soul that I am.

        Guess I'll have to confess to pastordan tonight. ;)

        by texasmom on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 04:18:02 PM PDT

  •  It's more than two days

    Jalal Talabani has been going non-stop for fifty years.  From what the people around him say, he has a tendency to keep going until he drops.

    CNN just confirmed he walked off the plane and into the hospital.  They say he is dizzy from low blood pressure due to over-exertion.  He was advised by his doctors in Iraq to go to Jordan for tests.  He was reluctant to go, but went at his family's insistence.

    Remember, this is the guy who led the PUK during Saddam's years, through the battles with the KDP and with the PKK.  He may look like everyone's favorite uncle (they call him mam jalal - uncle jalal), but he's a long time fighter.

    I hope this is all it seems, tests to talk him into slowing down.

    If it's more than that, Iraq is way worse off.

    by jhritz on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:37:41 PM PDT

    •  Yeah

      If the newspapers say it's nothing, no cause for concern, not a heart attack, not a stroke, just low blood pressure and tiredness they airlifted him out of the country for, I believe them.

      I mean, if you can't trust an unnamed spokeman for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, who can you trust?

      by Garrett on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 03:41:45 PM PDT

      •  Not unnamed

        Qubad Talabani, that's who gave the report, his son.  

        Not saying whether I trust Qubad or not, he is a politician (a talented one) and there would be good reason to downplay any true illness, given Kurdish politics.  

        But I do hope that his father's okay, because he's the only one who has been keeping the Kurds from declaring independence, which is what would lead to a far wider war than anyone can imagine.  

        Either way, I don't see the value of speculating until we have more information.

        I just hope he's okay.

        by jhritz on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 10:10:31 PM PDT

•  Brit reduction

  I have read that the British reduction in force in Iraq is a result of an assessment that the British need to redeploy troops into Afghanistan.

  by marthature on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:39:26 PM PDT

  •  I heard that, too

    they're being redeployed to the fight in Helmond province.

    by jhritz on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:40:33 PM PDT

•  Talabani is 73

  So health issues are to be expected, but this is hardly ideal timing given the chronic instability in Iraq right now.

  by Nathaniel Ament Stone on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 02:47:53 PM PDT

  •  He's also overweight

    every bit as much as Sharon.  The president of Iraq is more of a ceremonial type of job.  The power is with the Prime Minister.  Talibani has been making trips to Iran and Syria trying to negotiate this and that.  I read he tried to get Syria to send refugees back to Iraq who went there.  That seemed very strange.  Most of those refugees are Sunni, so going back to Iraq at this point can't be healthy for them.

    by ljm on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 03:20:31 PM PDT

•  ominous

  Bush has taught us to believe nothing--thus I think he went to Jordan because he expects an upheaval in Baghdad.  Whether that means a coup or increased violence, he took his whole family with him.

  On a tangent, there is little doubt that eventually Turkey will be sucked into this mess.  Bush has destroyed world order--to the disadvantage of all.  What a prick!

  by melvynny on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 03:32:54 PM PDT

•  According to medecinenet, there are multiple

  causes, including things as simple as dehydration--certainly a possiblity in Iraq.

  by jfdunphy on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 03:50:43 PM PDT

•  If things are getting so much better in Iraq

  as the White House keeps telling us, then why can't they even provide basic medical care to their own President?  Mr. Cheney, I don't understand. Please explain it to me.

  by cjmarshall on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 04:23:43 PM PDT

•  Bad dates. n/t

  by LarryInNYC on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 05:01:50 PM PDT