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Iraq Update: Jihadists Seize 2 More Iraqi Towns; Close To 30 Miles Of Baghdad; Iran Rushes To Help
While the US scrambles to figure out what the least painful way is to admit yet another humiliating foreign policy defeat, things in Iraq continue to deteriorate as the relentless blitzkrieg unleashed by the ISIS/ISIL Al-Qaeda spin off, which has shocked everyone by its speed and scale, takes two more towns, as it rushes for its target: Baghdad itself.
As Reuters reports, "Islamist rebel fighters captured two more Iraqi towns overnight in a relentless sweep south towards the capital Baghdad in a campaign to recreate a medieval caliphate carved out of fragmenting Iraq and Syria. Thrusting further to the southeast after their lightning seizure of the major Iraqi city of Mosul in the far north and the late dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, ISIL entered two towns in Diyala province bordering Iran. Saadiyah and Jalawla had fallen to the Sunni Muslim insurgents after government troops fled their positions, along with several villages around the Himreen mountains that have long been a hideout for militants, security sources said."
As the following map shows, as of this moment the Al Qaeda extremeists are now just 30 miles away from Baghdad and closing fast, although Iraqi forces may have succeded in halting the advance for now near the town of Samarra.
What the map above also shows is the extensive US presence in the region, one which however as Obama stated yesterday, he is so far unwilling to unleash on the ISIS army.
Obama said military action alone was no panacea against ISIL. He alluded to long-standing Western complaints that Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has done little to heal sectarian rifts that have left many of Iraq's minority Sunnis, cut out of power since Saddam's demise, aggrieved and keen for revenge.
"This should be also a wake-up call for the Iraqi government. There has to be a political component to this," Obama said.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden assured Maliki by telephone that Washington was prepared to intensify and accelerate its security support. The White House had signaled on Wednesday it was looking to strengthen Iraqi forces rather than meet what one U.S. official said were past Iraqi requests for air strikes.
But fears of jihadist violence spreading may increase pressure for robust international action. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said international powers "must deal with the situation".
In Mosul, ISIL staged a parade of American Humvee patrol vehicles seized from a collapsing Iraqi army in the two days since its fighters drove out of the desert and overran the city.
The parade can be seen in the clip below:
So will Baghdad fall as rapidly as all other cities in the north? For now that appears unlikely:
ISIL and its allies took control of Falluja at the start of the year. It lies just 50 km (30 miles) west of Maliki's office. ISIL has set up military councils to run the towns they captured, residents said. “'Our final destination will be Baghdad, the decisive battle will be there' - that’s what their leader kept repeating," said a regional tribal figure.
The senior U.N. official in Iraq assured the Security Council that Baghdad was in "no immediate danger". The council offered unanimous support to the government and condemned "terrorism".
As with the concurrent war in Syria, the conflict cuts across global alliances. The United States and Western and Gulf Arab allies back the mainly Sunni revolt against the Iranian-backed Syrian President Assad, but have had to watch as ISIL and other Islamists have come to dominate large parts of Syria.
Now the Shi'ite Islamic Republic of Iran, which in the 1980s fought Saddam for eight years at a time when the Sunni Iraqi leader enjoyed quiet U.S. support, may share an interest with the "Great Satan" Washington in bolstering mutual ally Maliki.
The global oil benchmark prices have jumped, as concerns mounted that the violence could disrupt supplies from a major OPEC exporter. Iraq's main oil export facilities are in the largely Shi'ite areas in the south and were "very, very safe", Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi said.
Until they aren't. As a reminder, ISIS's immediate ambition is to create an independent religious state-entity/caliphate that looks like this:
Which probably is why none other than the country's most senior Shiite cleric urged broad mobilization, telling people across the land to take arms:
A representative of Iraq's most influential Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, urged people in a sermon at Friday prayers to take up arms and defend their country from mostly Sunni insurgents.
Sheikh Abdulmehdi al-Karbalai, who was delivering the sermon at prayers in the city of Kerbala, holy to Iraq's majority Shi'ites, said those killed fighting the militants would be martyrs.
"People who are capable of carrying arms and fighting the terrorists in defence of their country... should volunteer to join the security forces to achieve this sacred goal," Karbalai said.
In response, worshippers chanted "Labbeik Ya Hussein", meaning they would act at the behest of Imam Hussein, who is buried in a shrine in Kerbala.
But what virtually assures that it is only a moment of time before the situation spirals out of control is the arrival of Iran troops who are now being sent to guard Baghdad, and fight Al Qaeda:
Reports coming out of security sources in Iran say that two battalions of Quds Force troops from the nation’s Revolutionary Guard have deployed into neighboring Iraq to guard Shi’ite holy sites as well as the capital city of Baghdad. Some have also reportedly taken part in fighting in Tikrit.
The move comes in response to al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) taking most of the country’s Sunni west, and moving dangerously close to Baghdad on multiple fronts. Iraq’s Shi’ite government is on good terms with Iran.
Earlier today, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country can’t tolerate the growth of a terrorist group so close to their borders, and promised unspecified aid to the Maliki government.
Iran has already been aiding the Assad government in Syria against AQI’s advances there, albeit without much success. As the problem of this new AQI-run state grows, Iran is likely to try to increase support for its struggling allies, out of whose territory the state is being carved.
More from Reuters, which reports that Iran, a Shiite republic, is so alarmed by Sunni insurgent gains in Iraq that it may be willing to cooperate with Washington in helping Baghdad fight back, a senior Iranian official told Reuters. The idea is being discussed internally among the Islamic Republic's leadership, the senior Iranian official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official had no word on whether the idea had been raised with any other party.
Officials say Iran will send its neighbor advisers and weaponry, although probably not troops, to help its ally Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki check what Tehran sees as a profound threat to regional stability, officials and analysts say.
Islamist militants have captured swathes of territory including the country's second biggest city Mosul.
Tehran is open to the possibility of working with the United States to support Baghdad, the senior official said.
"We can work with Americans to end the insurgency in the Middle East," the official said, referring to events in Iraq. "We are very influential in Iraq, Syria and many other countries."
For many years, Iran has been aggrieved by what it sees as U.S. efforts to marginalize it. Tehran wants to be recognized as a significant player in regional security.
...
Rouhani on Thursday strongly condemned what he called violent acts by insurgent groups in the Middle East.
“Today, in our region, unfortunately, we are witnessing violence, killing, terror and displacement," Rouhani said.
"Iran will not tolerate the terror and violence ... we will fight against terrorism, factionalism and violence.”
That's right: as a result of the epic US leftover mess in Iraq, it is now up to its arch nemesis Iran to get in and protect the country from none other than Al-Qaeda. And not only that, but Iran is prepared to work with the "great Statan", America, to defend the middle east from Al-Qaeda!
And to think: this is only the beginning.
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Ah, the old, "are they stupid, or are they venal?" debate.
Everyone always overlooks the obvious answer: they are both.
The stupid part is that they think, when they kill all of us, they'll survive.
Heh, cloward piven, Please. You must be joking. Tell me you're joking.
I fail to understand in all seriousness how this is not the best possible outcome of the situation?
Seriously, a fanatical sunni state to check the fanatical Shi-ite state of Iran? Muzzy blowing up Muzzy, is better than Muzzy blowing westerner up. This time the sides have changed, we arm the Sunni's and Russia / China arms the Shi-ites... same shit as the iran iraq war...... just different colored jersies....
Ohblowhard loves it because gas will at least see $5, possibly higher, and America will be further crippled.
Don't fall for the demonize Iran bs and don't drool over slaughter.
Don't fall for the demonize Iran bs and don't drool over slaughter.
Oh, yeah?
What if....the influx of Messicans grows so large Bath House calls in the Blue Helmets to help "restore order?"
"yes we can"
Free the people of Iraq from Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum. Screw the Queens and tell Obama to stop being someone's elses bitch.
Long live everyone. We will come rejoicing bringing in the thieves.
The US leadership doesn't know whether to shit or wind its wrist watch. On one hand they are telling Russia not to protect eastern european interests and people on the other they are supporting Ukraine using military force against civilians.
Then you have the US created humanitarian crisis in Libya and Iraq that has led to untold numbers of human death and heartache. Now that obummer has done his, war is over in Iraq victory lap, he may have to kill some more civlians in pursuit of the new boogeyman. The kicker is he may need Iran's help to do it.
What a clusterfuck. Oh, but this has nothing to do with oil and gas. It is about principles and the spread of democracy. cough
BREAKING NEWS,
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday he expects President Barack Obama to make "timely decisions" on Iraq due to gravity of the situation.
"Given the gravity of the situation, I would anticipate timely decisions from the president regarding the challenge," Kerry told reporters at a news conference with British Foreign Minister William Hague.
I guess LURCH hasn't paid attend to the car bombings over the last 8 years.
It would be a huge mistake to assume that what is happening in Iraq is not actually a planned event and ISIS is not a US/SA/Israel front organization.
Things are not going particularly well for the Zionist trio n Syria, nor in the Ukraine, so this is another front in the big game.
Not a bad move, really, as if ISIS is able to incorporate part of Syria plus Iraq into a new nation state, the Qataris have a path for their pipeline. Good luck with that over the long run however...
Guantanamo is likely where all the ISIS leadership has been MKUltra programmed to follow the orders of the Zionist (whoops, I meant Saudi) leadership...
giving weapons to Al-quida to overthrow Syria was a mistake, they turned around and invaded Iraq; Fast and Furious on steroids
"Mistake" how? I think that's TBD, given that a Caliphate state of Sunnis would be on Iran's border.
And, interestingly enough, the radicals' target is fellow Muslims (Shiites), not Israelis. You don't find that interesting? Wake up bud, have a second cup of coffee.
Caliphate... Sunni... The main reason the ME will be carved up further: Divide and conquer.
(others say Divide and rule, so really, it works for the takeover and administration of the territory thereafter)
Lucky that the Iraqi Central Bank gold has already been airlifted to the FRB vault in New York
It's probably been sold to China ....
Well that was Gold plated Tungsten,the original gold has been sold at least a thousand times to 3 million people since then.
So if this happens in Iraq, imagine what will happen in Afganistan the minute the US pulls out.
But,but, our president said the war there is over this year.What an arrogant POS! Any troops left there will have targets on their backs and will rival Custers last stand.Will look like the airlift out of Saigon!
A quick recap for those coming out of a coma.
We went into Afghanistan.
Then into Iraq.
Then back to Afghanistan.
And now preparing ot go back to Iraq.
Then probably back to...
Fucking Federal Fucktards.... The big BOZO is fucking clueless.... I am tired of this shit..
The fed, always wrong, but never in doubt.
Don't think TPTB are not considering an Expiration Date for the Taupe Crusader.
It may come down to a single SS agent to protect Our Queen.
Amazing no one saw it coming or was it ALLOWED to happen.Western economies in ruins,lets have another crisis.Amongst the lies of our times,David Cameron tells the truth,President Obama is in his position to do good for all Americans,Bankers are nice people,Monsanto are a not for profit company wanting to feed the world and other BS.
I feel bad for the people there, but as for the USA's humiliation ... well we are getting what we fucking deserve for becoming a nation of spineless cunts.
Fuck the USA (and I say that as an american).
(and I say that as an american)
The American people are mostly pretty decent, even if a bit confused and sheepish. The USA government, however, that's organized crime... stupid organized crime.
Yes ... we are decent ... decent spineless passive cunts who elect assholes who rob us of liberty in trade for getting other people's property stolen and redistributed. Soooo fucking decent, we are.
Only a spineless cunt would vote for a robbing asshole. The robbing assholes know this, thus the creation of the spineless cunt.
It is a global discovery.
No wonder i feel like an outsider. I am surrounded by spineless cunts, throbbing assholes and a bunch of dicks! What's a guy with a brain suppoosed to do?
Sounds like an orgy, so if you don't fit in, I guess you could wanxalot.
Diebold votes and if not, we get the illusion of choice. The nest of vipers needs removal. This shit show has accelerated....on purpose. Baffle them with bullshit and then steal the molding from the walls as we scramble for crumbs. This won't end well.
I agree. Most people just wanna be left alone. This country's people are largely good. That is why they wanna flood us with immigrants and keep people on the dole so they can keep us under the thumb of this shitty progression towards socialism.
Yep, the Indians wanted to be left alone, they signed multiple treaties to meet that goal.
They overflooded with immigrants who took their land.
This country's people are largely, for sure.
'Americans' love to live in a world of fantasy, that is why they need that large fictional entertainment industry: to keep lulling them into thinking they are not what they are.
Which is ironic, AnAnonymous, because the New World was found while they were looking for a direct route to China! Mainly because fleas cannot live in silk, so silk was a great luxury, better than wool, cloth or fur (in that regard). They also wanted spices (cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic, cinnamon, mint...)
There were times where Natives and newcomers got along, and probably equal amount of times they didn't. But this idea of a wholeside slaughter of Indians is ridiculous. There were casualties from war (on both sides) and disease (again, both sides, but more Indians as they had no Malaria-resistance).
Here's a question. How come the Chinese never took Manila from the Spanish?
Let's remember this next time we're thinking of liberating countries of their evil dictators.
The crisis is Obama believes his own BS,America pays for it and the puppet masters just fill the vaults in the tax havens.
So, these ISIS guys were our allies and we wanted to arm them when they were in Syria. Not they're in Iraq they're our enemy. If they go back to Syria will they become our ally again?
Dear Sen. McCain,please help me out.Tell me again what a moderate terrorist is!
Dear Sen. McCain,please help me out.Tell me again what a moderate terrorist is!
What happens if Assad joins in in Iraq ?
What happens if RUSSIA joins in in Iraq?
Russia's too busy sending tanks over the Ukrainian border while the press is covering Iraq.
follow the money. who is funding these people? who would want a sunni takeover of iraq? there are only two possibilities. the eurasian axis or the western axis. iraq has become an ally of iran by virtue of the shiite leadership. that automatically rules out russia and china. why would they oust the friend of their friend? that makes this another twist in the disaster the usa calls its middle east policy. iraq never looked so good under hussein to the idiots in dc. they are trying to put humpty dumpty back together again.
Middle East only understands a hard fist, stern leadership. Democracy will never work there and it's unfortunate that our .gov only now has realized this. A Sunni gov in ?Iraq only benefits the West.
Always ask: quo bono?
How's democracy working out where you live?
Seems to be a big failure now in America.
Banksters buried the Republic. Then they buy off the mob with freshly conjured cash. Nothing new under the Sun.
"They are an unruly people and shall be a thorn in your side forever."
Sunni ----> Saudi Arabia...
I'm confused. Should I learn Mandarin, Russian or Arabic?
All 3 plus Chinese to be on the safe side.
You do know what Mandarin is, right?
Oranges?
Russian, they are the ones who make out good in all this
whatever you do, don't speak american english. you may get away with ebonics, though. the enemy will think your stupidity could be put to some use.
Don't forget Klingon - for the alien invasion.
All on script. Just like Days of Our Lives.
,,,,, or As The Stomach Turns.
+1 for the Carol Burnett reference
Islamist terror group grabs $425 million in cash from Mosul bank, making it rich as several small nations. Iraqi soldier: 'we can't win.'
latest on ISIS:
http://tersee.com/#!q=isis&t=text
Killer move there.
Over time, I have written thousands of letters and emails and made calls without success. If ZH readers and all their friends called and emailed perhaps some of the politicians up for reelection may hear us. Unlikely but we have nothing to lose by trying. Think of whatever torks you off... the millions murdered in your name, the looting of American (and other countries') treasury when we're broke or anything that gets your goat.
senate.gov
house.gov
Cantor is gone and we have more work to do.
NO offense, but I'm done with dc, voting, and pretending that we live in a representative democracy. When demands are made in other ways, I'll be on target, so to speak.
What demands? Impeachment and imprisonment for treason, of course.
Was it Edmund Burke who said "All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing"?
Heres news for you - The selfish, the ignorant the racialy motivated outnumber the good.
I hope your right and more power to you, but something tells me if I write the government how I really feel, I'll have federal agents at my door before they even get through the first paragraph.
And I feel the same but I have no intention of going to jail.
DC can eat a sweaty dick.
I busted my ass in my county to rally support for a liberty candidate for Senate in Texas and people overwhelmingly voted for John Cunt-Cornyn.
They can keep their gov since they love it so much.
"I have written thousands of letters and emails and made calls without success...." I even sang kumbaya and no effect.
My next act is standing in front of the ocean and commanding the tides to go back.
Sorry AtTheLake, Ain't gonna work that way. Exactly who do you think are reading those emails and postcards? They don't take policy suggestions from below. Only above.
You gonna offer them millions in Cayman accounts? A corner office after their term? Are ya even gonna offer them free hookers and blow?
ps, btw, who DID you write to? The Gambino's or the Genovese?
Letters and emails?? I think we are WAY past that point. I used to do that back in 08...but am way to negative about the whole system now to waste my time. After a while you get kind of tired of either not getting a response at all or getting the following:
Thank you Mr. Dish for your interest in (INSERT ISSUE HERE). I am deeply concerned about (INSERT ISSUE HERE) as well and am working hard for the American People, blah blahblah blah blah...
I fucking hate when politicians constantly say "the American People"...like they actually give a flying crap what we think. "Oh please Mr. jerk off politician can I have another ass fucking???"
I won't waste another minute of my time dealing with these motherfuckers.
So does this mean Ann Margret is not coming?
pods
they are trying to line up louis ck to replace bob hope.
So now under Obama, the US is going to join forces with Iran to fight the Islamists the US has been arming in Syria.
Putin must be falling about with laughter.
Why dosen,t Obama do something good for America like resign.
or do a Kennedy headcatch...
Yes that will really improve things...this is America's war and it belongs to all who went along with the lies and the arrogance of Imperialism. You own this defeat pal, even though you'de like to blame Obama... Enjoy.
These guys seem to be rolling up Iraq even faster than the US did.
You start beheading people, news travels.
the horror
charging someone with beheading someone else in this war is like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500
and eating human liver with a fine white wine
Foie gras homospien
Oooohhhhh - excellent meme.
Well, when you don't have a huge MIC entourage to support, you too can be a agile effective mobile fighting force.
Religious fever may be better than meth.
These guys seem to be rolling up Iraq even faster than the US did.
____________________________
That is a fair point. 'Americans' have weakened a lot of states around the world.
It comes with the desire of the 'american' middle class to get even more war action through private military.
A private military would struggle against a State army but if an 'american' government has done the job before, leaving only a ghost of a state, then it is a good opportunity for a private army to join in.
That theater is just one of the multiple testing grounds the 'american' politician servants to WeThePeople use to satisfy the demand of their master.
In such a time of grave events, it is fortunate we have a leader proven time and again, able to take the helm of the most powerful military on earth, and steer the ship of liberation onto the rocks. Go "Choom" Go. Time to hit the links.
Fate the Magnificent
"Push the Button, Max
I find this pretty amusing :)
That's a good sign you're "normal".
While most Americans are making every effort to ignore it Iraq is rapidly falling into chaos. Things are beginning to unravel at a rapid pace. Civilian deaths in Iraq, including police casualties, totaled 7,818 last year, surpassing the 6,787 in 2008 this data compiled by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq gives an idea just how dire the situation has become.
On top of that figure an additional 17,981 civilians were injured last year. In cities across Iraq bombs exploding and attacks against civilians have become a daily occurrence. The Iraqi military has seen its capabilities dwindle since American forces left the country. More on the woes facing Iraq in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2014/01/iraq-rapidly-falling-into-chaos.h...
"If you break it, you Fix It."
Once we committed, we were obligated to stabilize the place, not run off due to political expediency.
Hard facts; nobody likes it, but that's it.
Isn't this McCain, Lindsey Graham and their boss Soros ISIS? Did Nudelman provide cookies again like the Ukriane?
I wonder if the terrorists even know the West calls them ISIS.
If you went there and shouted, "ISIS!" in the native language people would look at you like WTF you talking about whitey.
Two different tribes of mooslim barbarians killing each other over their f-ing religion just like they've been doing for hundreds of years. good riddance.
The essence of it, as I understand it, is the Shia felt the Caliph should be from the Prophet's family. A royal family with a scent of divinity if you will. In the context of Islamic and Arab history, not a good idea.
A very family-oriented and suspicious people, the Semitic.
"The Sunnis are coming! The Sunnis are coming!"
Who gives a Sh'ite?
Ship Obama out so he can direct operations with his buddies personally.Nobody would know he was away on a career break.
Dick? Georgie? Mission Accomplished Yet?
Words of Mass Distruction indeed - WMDs, Yellow Cake, Aluminium Tubes, Mobile Bio units.....
Flat out lying to the country to start a war. Treason Trial would be too good for them: Obama, Biden, Bush, Cheney, Rumsdum, Wolfwitz, et al.
Has the recent events filled you with;
Shock and Awe?
Indeed. Wait until they find the WMDS 'americans' failed to find.
Are we going to see choppers lifting people of the roof of the billion dollar Embassy? That would be a cake-taker.
Saigon Redux, Bob!
And soon, a repeat performance in Kabul!
some may understand this, many will not...the ability of nsa cia dia hls, to pinpoint leadership of any country is 100% in any given period of time (a week or month no more)..we could have decapitated any countries leadership, but seems fighting long drawn out wars is better for debt and incr the wealth of a few. also our leadership in .gov and out and the unk true rulers fear this could happen to them so the little people bleed and die.
some think pappy bush was targeted by the Iraq security police on saddam's order, and so the Iraq war and the killing of all it's top leadership, he (saddam) broke the unwritten code, never attack the leadership of an enemy until all the enemies armies are first eliminated.
Are we going to see choppers lifting people of the roof of the billion dollar Embassy?...
If Lybia is any indication, it will be a resounding "No". Besides, what difference would it make?
For those of us who witnessed live television coverage of the Saigon saga, it was a highly emotional event. If / when the same occurs in Bahgdad, it will likely leave the same scars on this next generation. Hope and Change indeed.
"This sucker's going down."
US futures now Green !!!!!! Gold negative LOL
So IRAN and the US will be allies, fighting together, in Iraq against the US backed rebels.
No, these guys are so bad even the regular AQ kicked them out and took back their membership cards.
I forsee a trail of headless bodies all the way to Bag-Daddy.
Go long Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
But they are McCain's Boys. Like McHale's Navy.
Johnny McCain's ISIS boys with Gruber as the slap happy cook and the jokster who beheads people.
Yes !!! one great big arms fair
If they keep up the pace the will be in Kuwait at the end of the month.
Does every third post at this site have to be about this drama? I'd put more value into it if I actually believed AQ was some big bad organization rather than just a CIA front looking to create tension when it suits them.
The least we can do is send some ammo.
Every .Gov agency got a few hundred million rounds in the last few years. Hell even the Meter Maids might be able to to spare a few hundred thousand rounds to aid the cause.
Backdoor Barry is too obsessed with turning Amerika into a soviet paradise with him at the top. With all the other countries laughing at him, the only place left he can take draconian action is the USSA.
"My new EO assures only the State and the criminal element will be armed. You white breads can still have knives, though."
There is no soviet paradise.
Only an 'american' paradise. Obama is your typical 'american' president who keeps pushing 'americanism' at much as it is possible.
Remember the good old days of Saddam? Fuck with Saddam and he kills your family, that Saddam? Saddam took care of business so shit didn't get this bad. Must be quite humiliating for the Iraqis to get help from Iran.
You know what they say, Greeks ara always looking to help someone going in through the rear.
But seriously, this weekend ya'll were trying to figure out why "Death 11" and "Death 12" were deployed. I think you have your answer.
Mission Accopmlished to get oil prices to soar.
Saudi Arabia would be the big target. Take down that and grab the oil fields and it's over.
The Federal Reserve can't control oil prices although they will attempt to do so with oil derivatives/contracts.
It is too bad Maliki had a top-heavy Shia government. Had he been more inclusive of the Sunni population, he would not be in this fix, IMO.
Now he will have to get help from Iran. With luck, he can hold on to Baghdad and the traditional Shia areas.
The problem goes back to WW1 though, when Iraq was crafted out of Kurdish, Sunni, and Shi'ite tribal areas, so all though everyone (me included) laughs at Biden, I have never thought he was too far off the mark on this one (about creating 3 states).
Maliki should have allowed a reform of and re-introduction of the Ba'ath Party.
Of course, Western Parliamentary systems are somewhat foreign to their culture.
Paul Bremer never, ever...ever should have been allowed to dissolve the Iraqi military. Sunni and Shia men mixed fairly well in the ranks, by the way.
Sending all those fellas home, then essentially shoving the Sunnis out of power... yeah, I'd say infighting was guaranteed. I consider it an open question as to how accidental it was.
That Paul Bremer who was an exec with a 9/11 related company.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_fp5kaVYhk
It also answers why Bldg 7 came down because there were bonds being held in custody there.
Finally, a decent comment...they're very far and few in between today.
Let's see. Will the new pipeline to Turkey and Europe have Iranian or Qatari gas in it?
Or is it Sunni gas or Shia gas?
So now the absurdity has reached its conclusions. The US spends trillions on defence so it can fund wars to fight itself. A perpetual motion money machine for the defence corporations of the world. win win.
Thats why I propose just blowing the shit up at the end of the Raytheon/GE/General Dynamics assembly line. MIC gets their hot loot, brown kids and USGI get to live. We would be cutting out the transport sector but we could keep. gov fleet vehicles running all night to help warm up the planet and avoid those winter GDP contractions. Works for me.
Well, it's good they don't have designs on the Israeli part of the Golan, right?
Mission Accomplished!
Couldn't we have saved 10 years, thousands of lives and billions of dollars to get to this predictable outcome?
Sure, but then we wouldn't be 'Merica!
Cue slow-motion bald eagle....aaaaaaand fade to slow-motion 'Merican flag flying........aaaaaaand fade to black.
"Couldn't we have saved 10 years, thousands of lives and billions of dollars to get to this predictable outcome?" YES, and you can add the loss of friendships and confidence all around the world ...
Remember also how much hate FRANCE got in the US for NOT wanting to contribute in this dirty Irak war.
The whole dumbass "LIBERTY FRIES" , the “cheese-eating surrender MONKEYS” things – all kind of silly jokes still continuing, even in ZH …. Five years of Anti-French slander and vilification was thus thrust by the White House, the administration, members of Congress, governors and by lackeys in the media (like Fox News or Murdoch Press).
May all Americans remember what they did, and how it speaks volumes about how are treated dissent, opinion and opposition.
It came for the 'american' middle class.
The servants to the 'american' middle class are usually eager of bowing to their master and dance to the tune.
It was a bottom to top movement, the 'american' middle class pouring their hatred and politicians pushing their best efforts to seduce the 'american' middle class.
No government coercion was needed to achieve the result. On the contrary, no government coercion could have prevented the move of hatred.
It was spontaneous and a sign that it was going to be 'americans' vs 'americans'.
In an 'american' society, the 'american' middle class has the power.
"In an 'american' society, the 'american' middle class has the power."
What fuckin "america" are you talking about? Certainly not the one I've resided in the past 4 decades.
The Iraq war and the reaction to the event mentioned in the previous post happened in the last four decades.
The reaction came from the 'american' middle class. They spontaneously organized their hatred by launching various local libel, boycotting etc operations.
The politicians only jumped on the bandwagon in fear of displeasing their master. Politicians who would called or oppose the movement would have been destroyed.
It showed that the 'american' middle class was at least in charge for that event that happened in the last four decades.
Ok, didn't we recently arm and train these same Al Quada rebels, to take down Syria, but they obviously figured Iraq is a much softer target, and now we're joining up with Iranian forces to stop their blitzkrieg? Scorecard just got blurry.
They are McCain, Nudelman and Soros boys. The NWO, NeoCon, RINO, Democrats, Cintons, Bushes, Obama's boys.
ISIS. They should be a boy band.
Didn't they say they were laser focused on the economyand jobs?
Well yes, but they've burnt a big hole through both. So it's Mission Accomplished and on to the next slide.
I can't say it enough: If this is another thing that we know about, I shudder to think about what we don't know is coming.
I think you have to consider the idea that God does not like the Middle East.
You should also consider the idea that Saudi Arabia and/or Turkey and/or Israel and/or the United States clandestine services are fully behind "ISIS" and that weapons proliferation, inter-Arab/Muslim conflict and instability are a feature, not a bug.
Jesus, you guys don't think that the kind of people who are willing to have tens of thousands of civilians die to depose some leader or other give a particular fuck about some disruption to the oil supply do you?
Go long, gentlemen... go long.
Sunni and Shiite have been killing each other since the beginning. Walking into the middle of it is a fools game. Same with Jews and Arabs. It's all family feud.
Read a very interesting 34 year old document that explains a lot. It's called the Zionist Plan for the Middle East.
Just enter the title in a Search field on the Internet.
>>> "This should be also a wake-up call for the Iraqi government. There has to be a political component to this," Obama said."
OBAMA's 'wake-up call' acronym = Oh Boy Another Massive Atrocity
... and Obomber's 'political component to this' showed on his most recent dwindling popularity survey .... it's between Iraq and a hard place ...
There's never been a better time to spend your summer vacation in sunny Baghdad - sale now on!
Um, is this a good time for a vacation to Iraqi?
I mean, shouldn't hotel rates be more affordable now?
First-time poster, long-time lurker.
I do not think that all those muslim bandits appeared out of thin air, and are most probably elements of beaten anti-Assad militias from Syria, in search of greener pastures.
Their Saudi handlers had them taken out of manifestly losing position in Syria, and now they try to loot everything thats not nailed down in Irak.
It will last till their encounter serious opposition, ie pasdarans or peshmergas, then they will do what arab militaries do the best - run away.
I seem to recall Hezbollah standing up pretty well to a better equipped and funded IDF.
Speaking of which, isn't it about time Israel faked a rocket attack and invaded Lebanon for the 100th time, targeting civilian infrastructure, all while claiming of course to be acting it its own defense and not to grab Lebanese water and gas?
Bombing civilians in countries without adequate air defense is, of course, what the IDf does best.
;o*}
"Bombing civilians in countries without adequate air defense is, of course, what the IDf does best."
Not to mention training US LEOs to shoot protesters in the head because that's how they roll in the Occupied Territories.
It's for the children. Because Freedom.
Nobody could have seen this coming.
Seriously... except everybody who saw it coming.
GDP will go through the roof next month! The ferris-wheel of bogus accounting is starting to spin again. Soon, prosperity for all in America! Rosy the riveter, where are you?
Bankster's are SMILING!
The war machine manufacturer's are SMILING!
SMILING Obama, finally gets his own WAR !
Figured it all out.
Russia gets Crimea - move #1.
US arms "the black flag of ISIS" which storms out of the desert to take Mosul and central Sunni Iraq - move #2.
Israel works to forge Kurdistan in thanks for many years of service and in an effort to take some pressure off Turkey internally and otherwise reward all parties for their work on Syria. - move #3.
Shia government in Baghdad consolidates closer to Iran - benchmark for Shia/Sunni conflict move #4.
Iraq generally split into 3 parts a la another colonial age - oil production not impacted.
Russia gets eastern Ukraine as consolation prize - move #5.
WW III averted.
"These atrocities will not stand! Just this morning I decided to cancel my afternoon tee time! That is how dire the situation has become."
BHO