Gilles de Kerchove also warned that Western air strikes would increase the risk of retaliatory attacks in Europe.
The number of Europeans joining ISIL terrorists has surged to about 3-thousand over the past few months.
That’s according to E-U Counter-terrorism Chief Giles de Kerchove. He said the figure was just 2-thousand several months ago, but it has now increased by one thousand. The EU counter-terrorism chief said the rise might be due to the ISIL terrorists’ declaration of a caliphate in Syria and Iraq.
When you need boots on the ground to fight ISIS, press 888-HEZBOLLA
ReplyDeleteBEIRUT, Lebanon — They are sworn enemies who insist they will never work together, but in practice, Hezbollah and the United States are already working — separately — on a common goal: to stop the extremist Islamic State from moving into Lebanon, where Hezbollah is the most powerful military and political player and currently shares with Washington an interest in stability.
Weeks after Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group and political party, helped repel an Islamic State attack on the town of Arsal on the Syrian border, new American weapons are flowing to help the Lebanese Army — which coordinates with Hezbollah — to secure the frontier. American intelligence shared with the army, according to Lebanese experts on Hezbollah, has helped the organization stop suicide attacks on its domain in southern Beirut.
“The international community has an interest in isolating the Syria crisis,” Mohammad Afif, Hezbollah’s newly appointed head of public relations and a media adviser to its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said last week in a rare conversation. In the course of the informal hourlong meeting, he shed light on how the party views the often contradictory tangle of alliances and interests in Syria’s civil war, many of them in flux as President Obama contemplates expanding his military campaign against the Islamic State from Iraq into Syria.
NYTIMES
Both the United States and Hezbollah are reported to have conducted air strikes in Syria.
ReplyDeleteAnd Israel shot down a Syrian jet. (Just to be helpful- Deuce)
As my wife said over breakfast, "This is getting too bizarre. If it were a novel, the editor would say, ‘you're going too far.'"
The U.S. involvement in Syria is big news, but the Hezbollah strikes, conducted by armed drones, may be more historically significant. As my New America colleagues Peter Bergen and Emily Schneider observe, “Hezbollah's use of drones marks a milestone for terrorist groups worldwide: It would be the first time a group other than a nation state used armed drones successfully to carry out an attack, marking an important step towards closing the gap between the technological capabilities of countries such as the United States and militant groups such as Hezbollah."
I think we are at a point at which containing the fighting in Iraq and Syria to those countries is a best-case scenario.
But chances are the war will be bigger than that. My thinking is that what is going on now in Iraq, Syria and Kurdistan is in many ways simply the last fallout from the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire. We saw the beginning of this fallout century ago, with an assassination at the former western end of the Empire, in Sarajevo. And we got pulled into the final act of that crumbling, too, in Bosnia, Kosovo and (from the air) Serbia. Now we are seeing the other Ottoman shoe drop at the old empire’s eastern end.
Does taking such a cosmic view really inform us? I don't know. But I suspect that establishing context is the beginning of strategic wisdom. If you don’t know where you are, it is hard to know where you are going.
Only one thing struck me about President Obama’s comments this morning: They sounded just like the first President Bush.
FOREIGN POLICY
What is Hezbollah doing to help defeat ISIS vs What is Israel doing to eliminate ISIS
ReplyDeleteMisbah al-Ali| The Daily Star
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: There are reports that ISIS is looking to create trouble and instability via the sleeper cells it is believed to have implanted across the country.
Lebanese security sources said that ISIS was trying to create strife in areas in Lebanon’s north, south and the Bekaa Valley in order to undermine the country’s stability.
The starting point of this plan was the five-day clashes in Arsal, which have since been followed by sporadic incidents in north Lebanon such as gunmen opening fire on a Lebanese Army position Tuesday, leading to the death of soldier Mohammad Khaled al-Hussein.
The already tricky national and regional situation has been complicated by the capturing of Lebanese soldiers in Arsal, battle developments in Syria’s Rif Damascus and Qalamoun regions, and ISIS’ attempts to penetrate a border area close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and the disputed Shebaa area.
Meanwhile, there have been airstrikes against ISIS’ strongholds in north Syria and Iraq by the new international coalition formed to crush the extremist group. It is believed that ISIS did not take the American threats seriously until it saw that the international community had unified to eliminate it.
As Islamist militants fighting in Syria search for different ways to get hold of supplies needed in the ongoing war there, Lebanese political factions have been forced to mobilize to keep pace with the fast-moving developments.
For the first time in a long time, the various Lebanese security bodies have decided to join efforts in their fight against terrorism.
This has been made all the more urgent since senior security sources revealed that ISIS has been intensifying its efforts to create pockets of support across the country.
Luckily, several things have been achieved by the security forces in this matter, including the recent arrest of six Syrian nationals.
The group was suspected of planning to attack Army- and Hezbollah-controlled locations near the southern towns of Shebaa, Hebbarieh and Arqoub.
If they had succeeded, it is believed that the group would have tried to establish a base for ISIS in order to create a similar situation to what has been seen in Arsal.
The security authorities have warned that ISIS and the Lebanese branches of the Nusra Front and the Abdullah Azzam Brigades have united in order to establish a haven in the border area stretching from the north through the Bekaa Valley to the Shebaa farms in the south.
According to reports, if ISIS is to conduct attacks in these areas, they will be led by a figure known as Sheikh Abu Hasan al-Ramlawi.
Ramlawi – who goes by a nom du guerre – is a Palestinian who holds a Jordanian passport. Security forces marked him as an important figure because he used to mobilize Islamists in Deraa in southern Syria, before moving to an area closer to Lebanon.
Ramlawi is believed to have moved toward the Syrian part of the Golan Heights and Shebaa until he reached the area’s Lebanese Sunni villages, where he has reportedly been working on forming armed groups.
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DeleteAs a result of the sensitive location of this area, Hezbollah is believed to be monitoring the situation closely.
There are fears that Israel might try to take advantage of these developments to target Hezbollah. Some even believe that Ramlawi may have been coordinating with Israeli secret service agency Mossad in order to manipulate events in Syria.
Such reports pushed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah to give a speech Tuesday emphasizing the party’s position on the war against terrorism, while rejecting Lebanon’s participation in an international anti- ISIS coalition. Nasrallah also called on the Lebanese government to negotiate from a position of strength with the Islamist militants from ISIS and Nusra Front who are holding at least 21 soldiers and policemen.
The government has now handed the matter of the captured soldiers to Abbas Ibrahim, director-general of Lebanon’s General Security, who has pledged to resolve the issue through indirect negotiations with the kidnappers. To this end, he travelled to Istanbul, to seek help from the Turkish authorities, following his Qatar trip last week.
But even the travesty of the kidnappings seems to pale in comparison to dramatic developments predicted to be on the horizon.
In a statement, Sheikh Sirajuddine Zureiqat, a spokesman of Al-Qaeda-affiliated group the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, said he would be coming to Beirut soon. This statement was dismissed by Nasrallah in his speech.
Zureiqat is believed to now be with the Lebanese captives, which if true would be a dangerous indicator that the Nusra Front, ISIS and the Abdullah Azzam Brigades are starting to unify within Lebanon.
The threat posed by ISIS’ alleged sleeper cells is being taken sufficiently seriously that it prompted Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt to make a tour around Wadi al-Taym – a predominantly Druze area very close to the Syrian border – over the weekend.
The move comes as the Druze community is reporting feeling directly threatened by these extremists groups. As the area that the groups are believed to be interested in contains large numbers of Druze, it is natural to fear that the Druze would be displaced were the groups to take over. Therefore the targeting of the Druze in Shebaa is being prepared for.
The Lebanese government also senses the danger that the country is in, and is fully aware of the complications ahead. One senior political source compared the expected turmoil to the aftermath of Israel’s invasion in the summer of 1982.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam wants to get through the crisis with as little fallout as possible, and he is currently in New York working on ensuring Lebanon has a safety net amid the regional turmoil.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on September 25, 2014, on page 3
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Sep-25/271897-worrying-reports-emerge-of-isis-plans-to-wreak-havoc-in-lebanon.ashx#ixzz3EORNz8of
Follow us: @DailyStarLeb on Twitter | DailyStarLeb on Facebook
BEIRUT: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal pledged to provide any counter-terrorism support that Lebanon requested, saying the kingdom would do its best to eliminate ISIS.
ReplyDelete“If Lebanon asks for our support, we will provide it with it," An-Nahar newspaper quoted Faisal as saying Thursday. “We have supported Lebanon with a billion dollars to buy weapons, and the Lebanese brethren have showed appreciation for this aid.”
Saudi Arabia announced two donations to Lebanese Army and security forces earlier this year. The first was $3 billion worth of weapons that Lebanon would purchase from France, while a later $1 billion pledge was specifically designated to enhance Lebanon’s counterterrorism capacities and was announced during clashes in Arsal between the Lebanese Army and extremist groups.
Speaking from New York, where he is participating in the 69th General Assembly of the United Nations, Faisal said Saudi Arabia would back any effort that targeted terrorism.
“We will participate in any action that pushes back the terrorist organizations, and especially ISIS,” he said, calling ISIS an “evil that must be eliminated.”
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Sep-25/271945-saudi-foreign-minister-well-support-lebanon-against-terrorism-anytime.ashx#ixzz3EOSPNC3e
Follow us: @DailyStarLeb on Twitter | DailyStarLeb on Facebook
Israel must be pleased that the West and ME is coalescing to fight the evil of ISIS, surely they must...well, maybe not.
ReplyDeleteSaying a nuclear Iran would be a “thousand times” greater threat to the world than ISIS, Israel’s ambassador to the United States warned against including Iran in any coalition to derail the jihadist group.
Ron Dermer, speaking Wednesday to guests at a pre-Rosh Hashanah reception at his residence in suburban Maryland, also cautioned the U.S. against accommodating Iran during the current effort to degrade ISIS.
His urgent tone was the latest sign of a split between the Obama and Netanyahu governments over how to deal with Iran’s role in stopping ISIS, which is seizing swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Dermer noted the presence of Obama administration officials at the event and praised the American president for leading a coalition to defeat the terror group. He said, however, that Iran must not be a partner in this effort.
“Now I know there is still some absurd talk in certain quarters about Iran being a partner in solving problems in the Middle East,” Dermer said. “They are not a partner, they were not a partner, they never will be a partner. Iran as a nuclear power is a thousand times more dangerous than ISIS.”
Iran has assisted the Iraqi and Syrian governments, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that Iran and the United States should communicate — but not coordinate — their respective efforts in the battle against ISIS.
Kerry said earlier this week that such communication could take place on the sidelines of nuclear talks currently underway between the major world powers and Iran. The Iranians have resisted such overtures, apparently holding out for an elevated level of cooperation.
Israeli officials have said that any cooperation with Iran would be counterproductive.
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/206027/israel-warns-against-anti-isis-alliance-with-iran/#ixzz3EOSzEVil
It will be a great day when our most valued ally of all time and in all places advances to being merely useless to US vital interests in the ME. It will be refreshing progress.
ReplyDeleteIran Didn’t Create ISIS; We Did
ReplyDeleteInstead of shifting blame for ISIS’s rise, the West and its allies should look in the mirror.
By Ben Reynolds
August 31, 2014
The Baroness Turner of Camden recently argued in The Diplomat that Iran is the “major driving force” in Iraq’s civil war, and furthermore, that Iran is “central to the broader conflict that has seemingly put the entire Middle East beyond hope of stability.” The Baroness’ article is right about one thing: the Iranian regime brutally suppresses dissidents. But it is not the main party responsible for Iraq’s civil war, or for the broader conflict in the Levant. It may be convenient for dissidents and opponents of the current Iranian regime to blame Iran for the rise of ISIS, but history tells a different story.
The U.S., Western Europe, and their regional allies in fact bear most of the responsibility for the rise of extremist groups like ISIS. The U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, which Britain notably supported, was a strategic disaster. Contrary to speculation at the time, Saddam Hussein’s secular Ba’athist regime prevented Al Qaeda from operating out of Iraq. Iraq had also been supported by the West before the 1991 Gulf War as a counterbalance against the revolutionary Islamic Republic during the Iran-Iraq War. The U.S.-led invasion changed all of that.
The Iraq War toppled Saddam, destabilized the country, and led to a wave of sectarian bloodshed. It also made Iraq a safe haven and recruiting ground for Al Qaeda affiliates. Al Qaeda in Iraq, ISIS’s forerunner, was founded in April 2004. AQI conducted brutal attacks on Shia civilians and mosques in hopes of sparking a broader sectarian conflict. Iran naturally supported Shia militias, who fought extremists like AQI, both to expand its influence in Iraq and protect its Shia comrades. Iran cultivated ties with the Maliki government as well. Over the long term, Iran tried to seize the opportunity to turn Iraq from a strategic counterweight into a strategic ally. The U.S. didn’t do much to stop it.
When the U.S. helped to establish Iraq’s government, it consistently supported Maliki, even going so far as to assist in Maliki’s persecution of dissidents and civil society activists. The U.S. was probably more instrumental than Iran in cementing Maliki’s power in Iraq. Maliki alienated Sunnis in Iraq by cracking down on his opponents and pursuing discriminatory policies in government and the armed forces. When Maliki’s troops stormed Sunni protest camps in 2013, they were armed with U.S.-made weapons. By the time the U.S. and Western Europe finally decided Maliki was enough of a liability to push out of government, fertile ground already existed for an ISIS-led Sunni insurgency in Western Iraq.
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The Syrian story is even more important. In 2011 the Assad regime violently suppressed peaceful pro-democracy protests. This civil society movement rapidly transformed into an armed uprising against the Syrian government. Why? In the early stages of the war, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey began funneling arms to opposition forces, seeing an opportunity to destabilize a key ally of Iran and Hezbollah, their geopolitical foes. As the civil war deepened, extremist groups joined the fight against what they saw as an odious secular regime. They also became the beneficiaries of large amounts of arms and funding from America’s regional allies.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey knowingly funded extremist groups including Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda’s official affiliate in Syria. Jabhat al-Nusra quickly became one of the most effective and influential rebel groups fighting against the Syrian government. ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra have been fighting over doctrinal and practical matters for months, but some al-Nusra elements have also merged into ISIS. The extent of Saudi support for ISIS is uncertain and hotly debated, but many analysts agree that there has been a substantial bleed of funding and weapons between rebel groups.
The U.S.’s own involvement in the Syrian conflict is telling. Early in the civil war, the Obama administration expressed its conviction that Bashar al-Assad’s regime had to go. Given U.S. antagonism toward Iran and its allies, this statement did not come as a surprise. The U.S. offered nonlethal aid to the Syrian rebels and eventually covertly armed them, going so far as to operate a training camp for rebels in northern Jordan.
But the U.S. didn’t appear to expand its direct support for the Syrian rebels beyond this point, and for good reason. When the Obama administration asked Congress for $500 million to train and equip “moderate rebels,” the Pentagon testified that it anticipated difficulties finding moderate fighters to train and arm. In plain English, this means that they don’t really exist. With ISIS’s victories in Iraq, the U.S. strategy of fueling the fire in Syria without allowing either side to win is finally revealing its inherent contradictions.
No one is innocent in the Iraqi and Syrian civil wars, but Iran is not primarily responsible for the current state of affairs. The U.S. and its allies destabilized Iraq and Syria in turn, creating safe havens for extremists that previously did not exist. U.S. allies provided the material support that allowed ISIS and groups like it to become threats to the entire region, despite lacking any substantial popular base in Syria and Iraq. It is not unreasonable for Iran and Hezbollah to fight against these groups, which murder and enslave Shia and other religious minorities. Their actions conceivably fall under one of the West’s favorite principles of international law: the duty to protect.
Iran has been the most serious foreign force fighting against ISIS from the very beginning of the Syrian civil war. The Syrian Army is constantly beset by manpower and equipment problems. It is difficult to believe that the Syrian government would have held its own without the assistance of the Iranian Qods Force and Iran’s allies in Hezbollah, much less without Iranian weapons. Contrary to the Baroness’ objections, Iran is the most viable regional partner for a temporary, pragmatic alliance against ISIS.
Western politicians and activists like the Baroness of Camden understandably oppose the Iranian regime’s domestic repression. But Iran and its regional allies are not the cause of ISIS’s rapid and brutal rise. Extremist groups like ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra have been consistently aided by disastrous Western interventions in the Middle East and the influence of regional actors like Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Responsibility for the rise of ISIS isn’t much of a mystery: the West and its allies just have to look in the mirror.
Ben Reynolds is a writer who graduated from the College of William and Mary. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
The purposeful destabilization of Iraq Syria, Lebanon and Libya ...
DeleteAll part of the Israelis "Yinon Plan".
Israel prefers al-Qeada in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies
No comment is necessary
ReplyDeleteGENEVA — An Iraqi lawyer known for her work promoting women’s rights has been killed by Islamic State fighters, the head of the United Nations human rights office said on Thursday, continuing a pattern of attacks on professional women.
The lawyer, Sameera Salih Ali al-Nuaimy, was seized from her home by Islamic State fighters last week and tortured for several days before a masked firing squad executed her in public on Monday, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the United Nations human rights commissioner, said in a statement.
Ms. Nuaimy had posted comments on her Facebook page condemning the “barbaric” bombing and destroying of mosques and shrines in Mosul, a northern Iraqi city, by the Islamic State, the militant group also known as ISIS or ISIL. She was convicted of apostasy by a “so-called court,” Mr. Zeid said, adding that her family had been barred from giving her a funeral.
The killing follows the execution of a number of Iraqi women in areas under Islamic State control documented by United Nations monitors, including two candidates contesting Iraq’s general election in Nineveh Province, who were killed in July. A third female candidate was abducted by gunmen in eastern Mosul and has not been heard from since.
NY Times
No different than Hamas treats traitors.
DeleteYou can't figure out my point, Quirk?
ReplyDeleteHow then are you going to 'knock it down'?
Obama took the troops out too soon.
Now we have a mess.
Free Kurdistan.
knock, knock
Shave and a haircut, ten cents....
Who is there?
The Iranians are allied with the Kurds of Iraq, while at the same time ...
DeleteIsrael prefers al-Qeada in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies
Out of this
ReplyDeleteClusterfuck
May the Kurds
Catch some Luck
I wish to remind the general reader that I was never really for intervention in Iraq in the first place.
I submit again the dialogue with my "Jewish Lawyer" of that day.
It was an interview of about 30 seconds....after which we got down to paperwork.......
The bombs were dropping......
"Baab, Baab. Baab. we are attacking the wrong country" he said.
"We should be attacking Iran", I replied.
"Yes" he replied.
.
Delete"By the way," he said, "on another subject, with regard to your latest malfeasance, I suggest you plead 'not guilty'. I'm sure we can keep you out of jail by proving non compos mentis.
.
The Iranians are allied with the Kurds of Iraq, Robert Peterson, if you wish for a "Free Kurdistan", you have to support Iran, not bomb them.
DeleteIsrael prefers al-Qeada in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies
David Cameron says Iran 'could help in defeating the threat from ISIL - Euronews
Your "Jewish Lawyer" has a different "Goal" than you do.
DeleteJack's continued outing of bloggers real names is a blogger violation that could get this blog shut down.
DeleteNo one has been outed, only names that have been posted, in connection to Google accounts have been used.
DeleteRobert PetersonSun Jul 13, 02:44:00 PM EDT
Pasted from
http://2164th.blogspot.com/2014/07/malikis-failings-are-not-reason-why.html?showComment=1405293776348#c2594985028115746661
DeleteSorry, "O"rdure, but another of your claims has been proven to be false.
Both avatars used the same Google Account.
DeleteWhich is "real"?
I certainly do not know, all I have to go on is what Robert Peterson has posted, for public consumption.
After this my male servant, Q, gathered up our legal belongings, and we left the law office.
ReplyDelete.
DeleteWhile Obumble picked up some illegal belongings from the lawyers desk and stuffed them in his pockets.
.
On another day I noticed a copy of Plato's Republic on his honest desk.
ReplyDeleteI said "That is the very copy I have."
He nodded.
The Good, The True, and the Beautiful.
Along with the 10 we are now a long way on the path to 'Western Philosophy'.....much of which came to Egypt in the form of a White Bull......as their myth says.......and that is to say from......India........
Their philosophical writing is stunning.
Like the eyes of my Hindu Niece.....
Delete.
DeleteEspecially to one who is easily stunned (or who always appears as if he has just been stunned).
.
.
ReplyDeleteI respond to Obumble on this stream only because he has trouble keeping up with the general flow of the conversation on the blog due to his infirmity.
Bob OreilleThu Sep 25, 11:33:00 PM EDT
Audio: Iraq War critic says Iraq withdrawal may have been the worst strategic mistake of all
posted at 3:21 pm on September 25, 2014 by Ed Morrissey
Dexter Filkins has long been a skeptic and critic of the Iraq war...that hasn’t kept Filkins from reporting honestly on developments in the theater...in 2008, while at the NYT, he wrote extensively about the success of the surge...A month later, Filkins wrote again about the “literally unrecognizable” and peaceful Iraq produced by the surge. Six years later, Filkins was among the skeptics reminding people that the Iraqis’ insistence on negotiating the immunity clause for American troops was more of a welcome excuse for Obama to choose total withdrawal — and claim credit for it until this year — rather than the deal-breaker Obama now declares that it was.
Yesterday, Filkins told Hugh Hewitt that while one can argue whether the 2003 invasion was ill-advised, the total withdrawal in 2011 was the worst strategic mistake made by the US.................
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/09/25/audio-iraq-war-critic-says-iraq-withdrawal-may-have-been-the-worst-strategic-mistake-of-all/
Yes.
=============================
Bob OreilleThu Sep 25, 11:35:00 PM EDT
Generals A, D,Q, R, R weigh in please.....
=======================================
Once again, Colonel Obumble falls for the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy involving the 'surge' as propagated by the neocons as a face saving tactic to cover for the FUBAR that was Bush's Iraq war. As an appeal to authority Obumble trots out some dick from the NYT.
(continued below)
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DeleteThere was a wind down of hostilities in Iraq after the surge; however, while the surge may have contributed to that slow down, it was hardly as important as factors that predated it. Those include:
One, prior to Petraeus and the ‘surge’, George Casey and John Abizaid, two guys who wanted as small a US footprint as possible to reduce Iraqi nationalism, ran a classified operation to take out al-Qaeda leaders like al-Zawqawi. They also paid off Sunni militants and brought about the Sunni ‘awakening’ throughout Anbar province. This was in 2006 prior to the 2007 ‘surge’.
Two, also in 2006, the US military forced the segregation of neighborhoods (especially in Baghdad, by forcing Sunnis out of Shia neighborhoods and vice versa so that you had separate Sunni and Shia enclaves divided by concrete barriers thus reducing the violence significantly.
Three, Moktada al-Sadr leader of the Mahdi Army issued a unilateral cease-fire, reportedly at the urging of his patrons in Iran who were interested in cooling down regional tensions and speeding up the U.S. withdrawal.
Four, by 2008, another factor in the declining violence was the growing awareness among Iraqis that the U.S. military’s occupation indeed was coming to an end. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was demanding a firm timetable for American withdrawal from Bush and Bush gave it to him.
(continued below)
.
.
DeleteObumble’s author, Dexter Filkens, seems convinced of two things. First, he seems convinced that the surge was the primary reason for the reduction in violence in Iraq after 2007. Second, he seems convinced Obama was wrong in not demanding that a residual force of US troops be left in Iraq after 2011. In both cases, he is wrong.
Obumble seems to agree with Filkens and so he is also wrong.
WRT the surge, as pointed out above, it was one of many factors that led to the reduction of violence in Iraq in 2007 but it can be argued that it was also one of the least effective factors. Remember, at the time of the surge, 100,000 Sunnis took part in the awakening. The US had about 169,000 troops in Iraq. The Iraqi government had about 200,000 troops as I recall. The surge added another 30,000. Against this, Al-Qaeda had about 6,900 members operating in Iraq. You can’t compare Iraq then with Iraq now.
With regard to the Status of Forces Agreement, while Filkens is right in stating that Obama likely was happy that he wasn’t able to negotiate an agreement that allowed for US troops to remain in Iraq, that doesn’t make it wrong.
First, Bush was unable to negotiate a SFA that would keep troops stationed in Iraq. He signed an agreement that called for all US troops to be out by December 31, 2011. It was a legal agreement and as noted above was probably a key factor in helping to reduce sectarian violence in the last few years of the US occupation. Whether Obama really wanted to keep troops in Iraq or not, at the end of negotiations he was unable to negotiate an extension to that legal document. He couldn’t legally keep US troops in Iraq without it. The neocons and Obumble argue that giving up on the agreement was a mistake. They are wrong.
Regardless the amount of troops we had in Iraq they would have become targets for ISIS. Even if ISIS had kept most of their army in Syria and been unable to employ the blitzkrieg tactics that allowed them to gobble up so much territory in so short an amount of time, they would have still attacked the US troops in Iraq eventually even if they had to use asymmetrical tactics. When the US troops were attacked, it would have resulted in a rapid build-up in logistics and support, both personnel and equipment, putting even more US troops in harm’s way.
One thing to remember about the ‘surge’. While the slowdown in violence that followed the surge provided an opportunity for the neocons and Bush to eventually declare victory and go home, it also resulted in the war lasting an additional four years, four years in which an additional1000 US servicemen lost their lives.
If one thing is certain, it is that the clusterf**k we left behind in Iraq wasn’t worth one of those 1000 lives.
.
You have avoided the true argument.......which is what should we do
ReplyDeleteNOW
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Just as we are.
DeleteSupporting those that will support themselves.
The US is on course.
Support the President, or support al-Qeada and Daesh, like the Israeli do.
Israel prefers al-Qeada in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies
The General Staff will have to take actions with out your further input.............
ReplyDeleteYou are DISMISSED.
Boobie,
DeleteHe answered your specific questions regarding the surge and your response is to say he didn't answer your specific question of what to do now which he, as even you in your diminished state, knows he has answered.
You are worse than a fool. Go away!
If true I must have missed it.
DeleteI don't much care what his opinion is anyways.
You by the way are a Canadian Idiot and worse than a fool..
Go away!
And by the way, you haven't submitted your orders to Central Command either, you worse than a fool, so you get the boot too.
DeleteNeither has General D.................
Where are General Q's written orders?
ReplyDeleteA command can be given in a short paragraph.
I ain't never seen 'em.
You ain't either Ash.
Quirk has zero idea what to do.
ReplyDeleteHe just passes gas but a little less so than General Rat.
.
DeleteIf true I must have missed it.
Why does this not surprise? You come here for a while to muse about your 'niece', or those swell guys the Kurds, or the monomyth or some such bull and then you go away to drink or sit around the casino. Then when you come back, rather than go back to see if anyone has answered your childish questions questions you start asking the same questions all over again and expect people to respond.
You are either inordinately lazy or you are reverting to the state of a child. I won't go further into your pathologies.
I don't much care what his opinion is anyways.
Then, why don't you chug another brewski or head back to the casino to see if your favorite seat is open and stop bothering us with your vacuous prattle?
.
The number of Europeans joining Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq has risen to more than 3,000, the EU's anti-terrorism chief has told the BBC.
ReplyDeleteExcellent...
Moths to the flame.
One can only hope the fire ignites in Iran sooner than later.
The ONLY solution to the current ISIS/ISIL verses the Shites?
DeleteCreate a safe haven for civilians fleeing the fighting in Iraq and Syria.
ALLOW the ISIL nut jobs to attack the Iranian backed forces in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Libya & Gaza.
It cannot be stopped.
ISIS/ISIL is the blow back of the Iranian overreach. The Shia, make up only 10% of the world's islamic folks. But are on a roll invading and taking over the Sunni Arab areas.
The ONLY solution? WAR between the "Shits" and the Suns"
The west should revoke all passports to any and all fighters that go and fight, strip them of citizenship. (Briton has done that but in America the Democrat party in the Senate refuses to pass legislation the House has passed)
But the Shiites are on the move.
Strap in, it's going to get interesting...
The "Yinon Plan" in motion
Delete
DeleteIsrael prefers al-Qeada in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies
The Kurds and Kurdish-speaking Yezidis are once again caught in the grip of the Sunni-Shia vice · Against this background and often isolated, their special relationship with Israel stands out for the good: military advice, equipment and training are only some of the ways Israel has helped the Kurdish struggle for independence · "They only have trust in Israel," says Brigadier General (res.) Tzuri Sagi, the man who led the Kurds to their stunning victories against Iraq in the sixties and seventies
DeleteThe Kurds ARE Sunni Muslims, for the most part.
DeleteThey are caught in the Israeli "Yinon Plan"
Israel prefers Daesh (al-Qeada) in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies
There is only one clone of Nazism in the Arab world, namely the Syrian social national party, which was founded by a Arab Christian, Antoun Saadeh.
DeleteThe Kurds? Are NOT ARABS
DeleteBrigadier General (res.) Tzuri Sagi is a man who is behind the curve. Speaking of history, not the present.
DeleteGen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who runs the Guard's aerospace division, said top Gen. Ghasem Soleimani was instrumental in preventing the fall of Irbil.
"If it were not for Iran's help, the IS would have captured (Iraq's) Kurdistan," he said on state television late Tuesday. ...
"O"rdure always wants to reference the past, unles we are quoting Israel's Ambassador to the US.
DeleteIsrael’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post that Israel so wanted Assad out and his Iranian backers weakened, that Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.
“We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.”
Even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated with al-Qaeda.
“We understand that they are pretty bad guys,” Oren said in the interview.
http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328
While Israel has choen sides in the "Sunni-Shiite" fight ...
DeleteIn broad daylight, a Saudi-Israeli alliance
Israel prefers Daesh (al-Qeada) in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies
Syria is fundamentally no different from Lebanon except in the strong military regime which rules it. But the real civil war taking place nowadays between the Sunni majority and the Shi'ite Alawi ruling minority (a mere 12% of the population) testifies to the severity of the domestic trouble.
DeleteFrom the Yinon Plan..
An oppressive minority, has created apartheid in Syria over the Sunnis…
the Alawites and Christians
Reference that, Danial Pipes does not concur.
DeleteObviously, "O"rdure, your understanding of what apartheid is ... is flawed.
... Daniel Pipes ...
DeleteMy understanding of what real apartheid is quite accurate.
DeleteIt's folks like you, the real evil apartheid promoters, that steal the native lands and deny them their rights.
La Raza is seeking your arrest….
Final (for now) 2nd qtr. GDP 4.6% annualized
ReplyDeleteAt least my Niece said the other day -
ReplyDelete"The Kurds need to be free, Uncle Bob"
And she is busy as hell with other stuff.
The Iranians are doing all they can to assist.
DeleteDAMASCUS: US warplanes launched new air strikes against militants in Syria and Iraq on Friday (Sep 26) as Britain considered joining the military campaign against the Islamic State group.
ReplyDeleteAmerican planes destroyed four tanks operated by militants in Syria as well as several vehicles and militant positions in neighbouring Iraq, the Pentagon said. The coalition also bombed oil facilities in east and northeast Syria where IS militants extract crude for sale on the black market, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.
Also, Denmark is sending 7 F-16's.
Ongoing
David Cameron says Iran 'could help in defeating the threat from ISIL - 'euronews
Delete.
ReplyDeleteStoring Wind Power?
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A proposal to export twice as much Wyoming wind power to Los Angeles as the amount of electricity generated by the Hoover Dam includes an engineering feat even more massive than that famous structure: Four chambers, each approaching the size of the Empire State Building, would be carved from an underground salt deposit to hold huge volumes of compressed air.
The caverns in central Utah would serve as a kind of massive battery on a scale never before seen, helping to overcome the fact that — even in Wyoming — wind doesn't blow all the time.
Air would be pumped into the caverns when power demand is low and wind is high, typically at night. During times of increased demand, the compressed air would be released to drive turbines and feed power to markets in far-away Southern California.
It's a relatively simple concept proven decades ago on a much smaller scale by utilities in Alabama and Germany. Yet, experts said Wednesday there's a reason similar projects don't exist elsewhere: The technology known as "compressed air energy storage" is expensive, particularly when stacked against other power sources such as cheap, natural gas.
"Stored energy technically is wonderful stuff. But it's primarily the capital costs that get you," said Brendan Kirby, a private consultant and former senior researcher at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. "If it made a lot of economic sense, you'd be seeing these projects duplicated."
Still, Kirby and other experts added that the concept holds great promise for broader application as expenses drop, wind power capacity expands and West Coast utilities look to Rocky Mountain states to supply more electricity. It also could help rebut renewable energy skeptics who point to the variability of wind power as reason enough to stick with fossil fuels...
http://news.yahoo.com/renewable-energy-plan-hinges-huge-utah-caverns-073757162--finance.html
.
Old News Quirk
Deletehttp://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/R40797_20090908.pdf
In Ohio AEP actually got turned down to do a water upstream pumping at night, when the nuke plants were not high demand.
In Ohio AEP actually got turned down to do a water upstream pumping at night, when the nuke plants were not high demand.
DeleteBack to ESL, "O"rdure, that sentence is unintelligible.
To those that can read and comprehend not a problem, to arab jihadists like yourself?
Deleteit could be problematic.
Jack HawkinsFri Sep 26, 09:49:00 AM EDT
DeleteWhile Israel has choen sides in the "Sunni-Shiite" fight …
Back to ESL, Jack the Rat, that sentence is unintelligible.
No, "O"rdure, that is one dropped letter, not a unintelligible sentence.
Deletewiggle wiggle wiggle..
DeleteThe great "jack rat" fucks up again….
The only one to call Jackrat "Great" is the "O"rdure.
DeleteFancy that.
The Syrians entered Israeli airspace.
ReplyDeleteThey got shot down.
Too fucking bad.
Boo Fucking Ho..
The Alawites and the so called "Christians" that supported Hitler? Now get their support from the Shiites of Iran and have already mass murdered 200,000 and created 11 MILLION real refugees….
Apartheid in Syria by the non-sunni minority.
The best part?
Sunnis and Shiites are killing each other..
To this? I toast….
The Zionist support of Hitler and the NAZI is well documented
ReplyDeleteZionist collaboration with NAZI
(From link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avraham_Stern)
In January 1941, Stern attempted to make an agreement with the German Nazi authorities, offering to "actively take part in the war on Germany's side" in return for helping Jewish refugees to come to Israel into a Jewish State. Another attempt to contact the Germans was made in late 1941
Also let us read about Yitzhak Shamir a Zionist allied with Avraham Stern and the Stern Gang, Shamir would later become the 7th Prime Minister of the illegal Zionist "state" of "Israel":
(from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Shamir)
In the British Mandate of Palestine
In 1935 he came to the Palestine and in the same year changed his family name to Shamir. He joined the Irgun Zvai Leumi, an underground Jewish militia organization directed against the British control of Palestine and inspired by the views of Vladimir Jabotinsky. When the Irgun split in 1940, Shamir sided with the most militant faction, headed by Avraham Stern. In secret contacts with German representatives at Beirut the group offered to open up a military front against the British in the Middle East in return for the expulsion of the Jewish population of Europe to Palestine (Heller, 1995, pp. 85-86).
Provide the same for your claims about the Alawite and Christians, "O"rdure.
If you can. If you cannot ... Well, that's par for you.
But beyond token support offered to the NAZI,, the Zionist went much further, actually murdering Jewish refugees.
ReplyDeleteZionists murder civilians, Jewish refugees in a False Flag operation
On Nov. 25, 1940, a boat carrying Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe, the “Patra,” exploded and sank off the coast of Palestine killing 252 people.
The Zionist “Haganah” claimed the passengers committed suicide to protest British refusal to let them land.
Years later, it admitted that rather than let the passengers go to Mauritius, it blew up the vessel for its propaganda value.
“Sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice the few in order to save the many,”
Moshe Sharett, a former Israeli Prime Minister said at memorial service in 1958.
http://beforeitsnews.com/strange/2013/03/zionists-led-jews-to-annihilation-in-ww2-2447940.html
No need to provide your families nazis ties.
ReplyDeleteThey are all known to all of us at the blog.
Your Father, a Nazi death camp guard.
Your personal nazi-like hatred of Judaism, Jews, Zionism and Israel well documented.
My only hope?
Is that some day you will stand trial for your own crimes against humanity, or if not a trial?
A meeting with the Mossad.
You are one sick, twisted evil prick of a human. We all know that.
It's just a question of time when one or more of your ongoing violations of laws come back and kick your ass..
And the day that that happens?
I will spit on your grave.
Oh, sorry to see how your friends (Hamas) plans for the New Year went south…
ReplyDeleteBillion dollars in tunnels, 168 palestinian kids cold bloodily executed after digging said tunnels all for nothing..
NOTHING….
LOL
Once again we see the vacuousness of "O"rdures remarks.
ReplyDeleteHis claims are consistently without foundation. His ideology, a castle built of sand.
Police: Woman beheaded at Oklahoma workplace
ReplyDeleteMOORE, Okla. (AP) — Police say a woman who was killed by a co-worker at a food distribution center in suburban Oklahoma City was beheaded.
Moore Police Sgt. Jeremy Lewis said Friday that the woman, who has not been identified, was beheaded by a man who attacked her and another woman Thursday at Vaughan Foods in Moore.
An off-duty officer who was working at the business shot the suspect. The surviving victim and the suspect were still hospitalized Friday.
“Jack HawkinsThu Sep 25, 12:10:00 PM EDT
ReplyDeleteThat is reasonable and expected thing for a Zionist owned newspaper to do.”
The NYT is not owned by “Zionist” Jews. Indeed, the owners are as Zionist as Mr. Obama.
In order to attack these offensive Jews, you morphed them into Zionists, an absurdity of the first order. Like a good little trooper you did follow the “Call Them Zionists” plan developed by the KGB for Arafat, shielding anti-Semitism when anti-Semitism wasn’t cool. You have been its most vocal proponent on this site. You hate all Jews, but that’s uncouth and you are a coward. Thus, you conveniently label Jews as Zionists when need be. In this way you can hate all Jews, using the aegis of Zionism. Going after the NYT on the grounds of Zionism is one of the most laughably stupid things you have ever done; it is, also one of the most self-revelatory – Thanks, Adolph.
Mr Obama and his Vice President are both Zionists.
DeleteMr Obama's primary financia supporter, is a leading Zionist.
The NY Times ... largely (nearly 90%) by the descendants of Adolph Ochs, who purchased The New York Times newspaper in 1896. The CEO - Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr.
Zionist to the core.
Mr Obama's primary financial supporter, is a leading Zionist.
DeleteThat would be Lester Crown and his family.
You state over and over again your arguments against jews, Judaism, zionism and israel.
DeleteIn the end you are nothing.
Israel IS.
And Israel did not suffer a mass terror attack yesterday that cost over a BILLION dollars, years of planning and work and the lives of over 168 palestinian forced kid slave labor (executed after they finished digging), 900,000 TONS of concrete and more.
The world may not like to admit it but Hamas got it's ass handed to it…
4500 rockets and mortars shot trying to murder Israelis, failed but for a few unlucky souls.
Another BILLON dollars in launchers, buried in the ground, the labor, the time, the logistics, the smuggling, the cost, the planning, poof up in smoke, and what did Hamas get?
2000 Dead, 10,000 wounded and 6-7 BILLION in property damage……
So go back to playing with yourself as the arab/islamic world continues to self destruct.
Israel killed 2,000 out of 1,800,000, how merciful are the Zionists.
Assad, supported by Iran, have murdered 200,000, wounded 800,000 and truly made homeless 11 MILLION, now couple that with Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Mali, Chechnya, Indonesia, Pakistan and more and your "peeps" are dying..
Yep I said it…
DYING…..
Now Israel?
Growing, Building, Liberating! Embracing even the gay people you hate….
A tolerant, open society that has free arabs, moslems, gays, christians, druze, Bhais and yes JEWS, and secularists and even tattoo'd pagans…
LOL
Israel is doing fine. And your side?
Beheading one another, barrel bombs, starvation, rape…
I stand with Israel. I am a proud ZIONIST.
I am a true American patriot that stands for American values.
Now you?
You stand with Assad & Iran.
Another of the many vacuous posts by our Islraeli student, "O"rdure.
DeleteThe man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic.
He has no place here; and the sooner he returns to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance, the better it will be for every good American.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
As for where I stand, that is in and with the United States and its Constitutional government.
DeleteNo other polity has my support.
Unlike yourself, "O"rdure, whose loyalties are to be found in foreign lands.
That you continually project your lack of solidarity with the United States upon others, tells your tale, explicitly.
Hey wait a minute, Jack. Aren't you the posse comitatus rat turd that wanted to lead your little militia on a march on D.C. and overthrow the government?
DeleteNo, that is another of the fictions that you have created Robert.
DeleteAnother figment of your own imagination.
That you have come to believe it, another indicator that your mind has been turned to mush.
Like you not being a racist ?
DeleteJack HawkinsFri Jul 18, 12:36:00 AM EDT
I mean, you are an Israeli, and here is nothing worse than that.
In all the world, the Arabs of Israel are the scum.
Now if you were a European, well thatd be different, but Israelis are all Arabs, Semites.
Scum of the Earth
;-)
Have a nightmare tonight and a shitty tomorrow,
QuirkFri Jul 18, 01:13:00 AM EDT
.
And the voice of the rat is heard in the land.
And the world once again cringes.
.
Bob OreilleFri Jul 18, 02:35:00 AM EDT
"I mean, you are an Israeli, and there is nothing worse than that."
There we go. That's a keeper. I am going to store that one.
Jack "Hamasass PsychoRat of the Desert" Hawkins puts it in one concise line.
His whole outlook. Simple, ignorant, unbelievably irrational.
No wonder most people can't stand him.
British Parliament votes to join US-led airstrikes in Iraq
ReplyDeleteMy Claims?
ReplyDelete"Billion dollars in tunnels, 168 palestinian kids cold bloodily executed after digging said tunnels all for nothing.."
You'd deny the sun if I acclaimed it.
Fucking moron.
This claim ...
ReplyDeleteWhat is "Occupation"Fri Sep 26, 10:45:00 AM EDT
No need to provide your families nazis ties.
They are all known to all of us at the blog.
Your Father, a Nazi death camp guard.
Another of your libelous ad hominem statements. Another of your continuing lies.
Par for the Zionist
There is intense competition between "O"rdure and Robert Peterson to see which can post the most fatuous, vapid and empty-headed statements.
ReplyDeleteThey're running neck and neck.
hardly, the most libelous ad hominem statements. the most fatuous, vapid and empty-headed statements come from you and your dozen or so fake sign on's
ReplyDeleteYou are a professional distorting, lying, misdirecting toad.
:)
Now on here believes a word you type.
You threaten, stalk, distort, lie, slander in order to get attention.
Your sickness, being a narcissist is well renowned.
But I don't give you and excuse for your illness, to me? You are just a prick, a jew hating, Israel bashing, zionist loathing, Judaism anti-semite.
I am just waiting for the day you piss off someone out there in your womb of security that finds you the asshole that we all know you to be.,
One day you will disappear.
And the world will not mourn.
No one will care.
"We need boots on the ground, yet Obama refuses to send troops on the flimsy excuse that no one in the world thinks that's a good idea." -- Stephen Colbert
ReplyDeleteExcept for Bob Oreille
Kurdistan is not a bad place for some boots.
ReplyDeleteSouth of there, naw.......let them kill on another.
American troops might even be safer in Kurdistan that in Detroit, Michigan or Ferguson, Missouri.
DeleteOr Phoenix, Arizona.......
than in
DeleteAnother comment by Robert Peterson, the Draft Dodger, indicating he wants US troops to die, in Iraq.
DeleteTo fulfill some fantasy he entertains.
I never dodged the draft. Got a high lottery number.
DeleteAnd I didn't say I wanted US troops to die in Iraq.
I said that as a matter of long term foreign policy for safety of us all we should support a free Kurdistan. US boots would be welcomed there.
But you know that.
Several years ago you were giving us all detailed tactical insights about how you would place American troops around Iraq.
DeleteAnybody else recall General Jack's Orders of the Day back then?
DeleteI ain't gonna do it, go look it up yourself.
I still have a memory.
BobSun Jun 22, 01:42:00 PM EDT
DeleteWhen did I ever say I was a scholar??
I don't recall saying that.
I have a college degree in English Lit. from U of Washington.
To avoid being drafted ...
To Avoid Draft = Draft Dodger
ReplyDeleteJack HawkinsFri Jul 18, 12:36:00 AM EDT
I mean, you are an Israeli, and here is nothing worse than that.
In all the world, the Arabs of Israel are the scum.
Now if you were a European, well thatd be different, but Israelis are all Arabs, Semites.
Scum of the Earth
;-)
Have a nightmare tonight and a shitty tomorrow,
QuirkFri Jul 18, 01:13:00 AM EDT
.
And the voice of the rat is heard in the land.
And the world once again cringes.
.
Bob OreilleFri Jul 18, 02:35:00 AM EDT
"I mean, you are an Israeli, and there is nothing worse than that."
There we go. That's a keeper. I am going to store that one.
Jack "Hamasass PsychoRat of the Desert" Hawkins puts it in one concise line.
His whole outlook. Simple, ignorant, unbelievably irrational.
No wonder most people can't stand him.
Those that, on average kill 15 chidren a month, each and every month of the 2st century are the Scum of the Earth.
DeleteSaid it then, Say it now.
Jack HawkinsFri Jul 18, 12:36:00 AM EDT
ReplyDeleteI mean, you are an Israeli, and here is nothing worse than that.
In all the world, the Arabs of Israel are the scum.
Now if you were a European, well thatd be different, but Israelis are all Arabs, Semites.
Scum of the Earth
;-)
Have a nightmare tonight and a shitty tomorrow,
QuirkFri Jul 18, 01:13:00 AM EDT
.
And the voice of the rat is heard in the land.
And the world once again cringes.
.
Bob OreilleFri Jul 18, 02:35:00 AM EDT
"I mean, you are an Israeli, and there is nothing worse than that."
There we go. That's a keeper. I am going to store that one.
Jack "Hamasass PsychoRat of the Desert" Hawkins puts it in one concise line.
His whole outlook. Simple, ignorant, unbelievably irrational.
No wonder most people can't stand him.
Apparently, he is using his own unique interpretation of the 1935 Nuremberg Laws to make the case that the current owners of the NYT are Zionists because they have "Jew blood." They are not Zionists, of course, although they are Jews, ethnically. To this person, Jew=Zionist and Zionist=Jew. So perverted has become this site that he no longer bothers to hide his true colors, openly spouting the NAZI racialist spiel.
DeleteMay we next expect him to admit he is of Muslim heritage?
May we expect to see Rufus rise in thunderous righteous indignation at such obvious racism?
I did not 'adopt black enough', allen.
DeleteRufus is indignant.
My Niece is only 50% 'Aryan' whatever the hell that is, like Rufus his very self...............
DeleteWhat I do know is she has the most beautiful eyes in the world and lot of spunk................and never sees double cause she don't drink or do drugs...............
DeleteShe would be against selling heroin at the local pharmacy as it f's up the information flow in the brain......
Those that, on average kill 15 children a month, each and every month of the 21st century are the Scum of the Earth.
DeleteSaid it then, Say it now.
The Israeli are the Scum of the Earth, because they do not respect life that is not "Jewish"
So it is written thus in their "Book", the Talmud, so it must be.
ReplyDeleteREPORT: Suspect tried to convert others to Islam...
BEHEADING IN OKLAHOMA
.................drudge
The 'suspect' is not a Hindu...............
Nor a Jew.......
DeleteIs this the future of our "Psycho Jack" ?
ReplyDeletehttp://kfor.com/2014/09/25/reports-police-respond-to-possible-shooting-near-moore-grocery-store/
(see videos for details)
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteFrom the FT
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bb39b6c4-44a1-11e4-ab0c-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz3ERvRn9Vq
September 25, 2014 6:23 pm
Obama revives the failed logic of the war on terror
By Ramzy Mardini
The US cannot target militants and also keep out of a sectarian contest, writes Ramzy Mardini
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 10: U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a prime time address from the Cross Hall of the White House on September 10, 2014 in Washington, DC. Vowing to target the Islamic State with air strikes "wherever they exist", Obama pledged to lead a broad coalition to fight IS and work with "partner forces" on the ground in Syria and Iraq. (Photo by Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images)©Getty
The US invaded Iraq in 2003 with misplaced certainty, misconstrued assumptions and poor foresight. The same is true of its armed intervention against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (known as Isis).
President Barack Obama’s Middle East policy is adrift amid the region’s shifting currents. Indeed, since the Arab uprisings began, the White House has misdiagnosed each crisis, intervened with little heed to the consequences and overestimated its ability to shape the outcomes in its favour.
Last month’s US air strikes in Iraq were defined and defensive. That posture has evolved into one that is open-ended and offensive, as seen in this month’s extension of air power into Syria in the quest to “degrade” Isis.
Yet Isis is not the fundamental cause of the problems in Iraq and Syria; it is a deadly symptom of a toxic environment. Mr Obama is following the flawed logic behind the failed “war on terror”, focusing on body counts rather than the conditions that give rise to radicalisation. After more than a decade, western military intervention has generated more threats than it has defeated.
In addition, while the physical Iraq-Syria border may be erased, integrating the two theatres ignores the fact of the political border. The risks of involvement in Syria are greater than in Iraq, and more prone to escalation and entanglement. That is because US intervention overlooks the fact that the civil wars in Iraq and Syria derive not from militancy but from power struggles driven by the parochial interests of indigenous factions and external powers.
Intervention is likely to deflate interest within Iraq in compromise, and inflate opportunism on all sides in the Syrian conflict. Indeed, a western commitment to take responsibility for fighting Isis reduces the need for local and regional parties to make concessions to unite against this common enemy.
More video
(continued below)
.
.
DeleteFurthermore, the involvement of a superpower could intensify regional competition, perpetuating Sunni hubris and Shia fears, and increasing the prospect of war among states in the Middle East. Indeed, the US cannot target militants in Syria and also assume it is not an active participant in a regional and sectarian contest over the balance of power.
On one hand, current US policy perpetuates the Sunni Arab perception of an axis between Washington, the Shia and Shia-aligned regimes in Tehran, Baghdad and Damascus. It also could raise fears among Shia that confronting Isis is a prelude to regime change in Syria. On the other, it may weaken the incentive of Iraq’s factions to compromise, and could intensify competition among regional rivals in Syria.
Moreover, the “moderate” rebels favoured by the west are a small fraction of the Syrian opposition. Unlike the more radical and foreign elements their size is finite, and likely to fall as the civil war continues. Some argue for arming them to “level the playing field”, forcing the regime to the negotiating table. But this overlooks the fact that the civil war is a multidimensional power struggle among local, regional and international actors. Whichever side is given arms, increased intensity is to be expected, not equilibrium, and certainly not resolution.
History shows channelling weapons and capital into insurgencies can make bad situations worse. The constant fragmentation and consolidation within both insurgencies makes it unlikely that western resources would remain in favoured hands. There is also a risk that favoured hands, whether Iraqi Kurds or western-backed insurgents in Syria, would use those resources for aims other than pushing back Isis.
As he steps up his rhetoric and deepens US involvement, Mr Obama must understand that defeating Isis will not remove the logic behind the conflicts in Iraq and Syria – but risks adding more fuel to the conflagration.
The writer is a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
.
.
DeleteI tend to agree with the author on most of the things he has said. Yesterday, in frustration, I wrote out a response to Obumble's repetitive query, "What would you do?". It mirrored many of the author's concerns about USA policy in Syria/Iraq. The one point I made that the author ignores is that regardless of how we got here or the mistakes we have made in getting here, here is where we are, and we have to deal with it. Obama has pushed this too far for him to turn back.
.
"Yet Isis is not the fundamental cause of the problems in Iraq and Syria'
ReplyDeleteIt's the Hindus, the Jews, the laid back Swedes.............of course !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quart, I'm thinking of a psychological intervention for you if I can get court to agree..........
ANY court to agree
ReplyDeleteISIS is not the problem........
ReplyDeleteFURTHERMORE...............Islam is not the problem..............
good god Q...............
What Do Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Jordan have in common?
ReplyDeleteOh, . . . . . that's right, they're All Sunni regimes.
DeleteSo what, genius?
DeleteThey are all of them fucked up, even more than you.......................
The Sunni/Shia divide is a
BLESSING
Did you read Quirk's article? Or, were the words too big?
DeleteIt's obviously the Hindus that are the problem.......
ReplyDelete100 million dead and never did 'submit'..................
Those beautiful people who celebrate weddings for a week or more..............usually in the spring.................
Hindu weddings -
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_wedding
:)
I've been asked to 'walk me down the aisle' by my Niece.
I intend to do so.
.
ReplyDeleteI post one man's opinion of the current conflict in Iraq/Syria and Obumble responds with a discussion of Hindu weddings.
What can one say.
.
THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DeleteWho offered this maiden?, to whom is she offered?
Kama (the god of love) gave her to me, that I may love her
Love is the giver, love is the acceptor
Enter thou, the bride, the ocean of love
(I think this were I step - down the aisle- we haven't practiced yet)
With love then, I receive thee
May she remain thine, thine own, O god of love
Verily, thou art, prosperity itself
May the heaven bestow thee, may the earth receive thee
Where, not were, I always get things fucked up....and a wedding ceremony?........oooooo SHIT
DeleteIs where....
Delete!!!!!!!!!
for Kama's dear sake
The most interesting thing in the last day or two, I believe, is the seeming reticence of the U.S. to help the Syrian Kurds at Kobani.
ReplyDeleteDeference to the Turks? (this assumes that the Turks want Kobani to fall - an assumption that is, admittedly, pretty far "out there.")
No, Rufus, the US reticence is cause by our connection to the Israeli.
DeleteIsrael prefers Daesh (al-Qeada) in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post that Israel so wanted Assad out and his Iranian backers weakened, that Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.
Delete.
ReplyDeleteObumble, this is the last time. This post is long so it will be hard to miss even for some one as ‘tired’ as you, although it may be difficult for you to get through it for the same reason. And since you have the attention gnat, I assume that by the time you get to the end you will have forgotten most of it. Regardless, after this, don’t ask me anymore. Make a copy and stick it in your diary along with that crushed rose you got from Darryl down at the general store.
I have said right along the US should stay out of the ME. The foreign policy we have used there has been misinformed and misguided and has caused more problems than it has prevented. This is especially true, more often than not, when we decide to intervene militarily.
1. With regard to ISIS.
a. I thought the humanitarian aid provide by the US to save those people on the mountain was right and just. No problem. When we also started to bomb ISIS forces around the mountain I, like most Americans, took a visceral pleasure in seeing ISIS nose bloodied a little, but at the same time I warned of mission creep.
b. When we bombed around Irbil, I thought the excuse we used, ‘to protect US personnel there’, was a thinly veiled lie. The obvious point of the mission was to provide time and space for the Kurdish forces to regroup and defend their capital. Stopping the ISIS advance made sense. Again no problem. Although it was a further expansion of the original mission, it was limited in nature and doable.
c. With the intervention at the Mosul dam, no one could deny the US’ true aims in this little tussle; and despite claims that this would be the biggest massacre in military history it was obvious to the casual observer that this would be a drawn out affair.
d. When Obama finally laid out his objectives in this war, to “degrade and destroy” ISIS, along with the strategy and the tools he would employ, IMO, the tools did not meet the needs. I continue to see a broader US presence likely in this war and despite whatever you call them there will be more US ‘boots on the ground’ in combat situations where their lives are at risk.
e. The move into Syria was an obvious one. There is no way you can defeat ISIS in Iraq when two thirds of their army is in Syria. In my opinion, the move is illegal under International law absent a Syrian government request and despite any arguments the US may stretch to excuse it. However, at this point, the niceties of law appear irrelevant.
f. IMO, the move into Syria will carry with it a highly expanded risk. There will be unintended consequences. And it is likely we will lose Assad along the way even though any move against Assad will likely result in some of those unintended consequences I mentioned.
(continued below)
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DeleteAll that being said,
2. What would I do? To argue as I have that we shouldn’t be there at all is pointless now. We are there, and with the coalition we have and continue to try to expand the US is front and center has no choice but to continue. Given that we are now up to our ass in this war, I would proceed much as we are doing right now as well as employ tactics that have worked in the past.
i. Keep pushing for a political solution to Iraq’s sectarian divide. Unfortunately, despite Maliki's leaving this expanded war may make that goal more difficult to achieve.
ii. Maintain as small a US footprint as possible.
iii. Continue to develop a coalition.
iv. Continue to try to minimize the number of troops we have in combat situations.
v. Use US air power, logistical support, and intel to aid local, regional, and international allies in the fight against ISIS.
vi. Develop or use existing sources and means to locate ISIS leadership especially Baghdadi and take them out.
vii. Try to convince key groups within Iraq and Syria that ‘this time will be different’ and that at the end of it all we won’t leave them high and dry and fucked over so as to try to wean them away from providing aid to ISIS.
viii. As with any war, continue to try to degrade their supply lines and financial lifelines. Attack their infrastructure, their ability to recruit, and the means by which they finance their operation.
Since we are in it, these would seem to be logical steps to take in order to minimize the loss of US lives and treasure. If it works it would be great.
My suspicion is that in the end the steps mentioned will likely not be sufficient, that the mission will once again morph and expand, that unintended consequences will ensue, that as the war goes on we will be faced with outside pressure from countries who are not part of the ‘coalition of the willing’, that our actions will inevitably result in innocent lives being lost, and that, depending on the length of the war, public support for the war will begin to wane. The last two are obvious and happen in every war. However, when any of these things occur we will have to deal with them one way or the other as they surface. It’s the way of war.
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Btw, it IS shaping up to be a "massacre for the record books." The score, so far, is probably somewhere over 1,000 - 0.
ReplyDelete.
Delete:o)
1,000 - 0 US.
Try telling the Kurds or those Iraqi military killed at that army base that was overrun near Baghdad last we week that there have been no casualties. Try telling it to the 21 Kurdish villages that were overrun in one day a week or two ago. Try telling it to any innocents taken out by US bombs.
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Not My (Our) Problem.
DeleteAnd, the base was not "over-run." They let in some suicide bombers, they made "all go ka-boom." The last we heard there were still 60, or so, Iraqi soldiers, manning the base.
As for those Syrian Kurdish villages that got over-run - one would have to assume that (and, a hell of a lot more) was going to happen, anyway; right?
If we prevent 100,000 civilians from being killed, but inadvertently kill 10 or 20 along the way are you going to harp on the ten or twenty?
DeleteOf course you are.
.
Delete"massacre for the record books."
Sorry, Colonel Hyperbole, you are whackadoodle. As I recall, we didn't take any combat injuries in eight months of war in Libya. It's kind of hard to get hurt when you are basically fighting tribesmen with no army or navy or anti-air capability but 'massacre for the record books', 1000 militants? Get serious. Hell we ended up killing that many citizens in Libya in a two month period.
Not My (Our) Problem.
The fox-hole view of war as brought to you by Corporal Hyperbole.
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DeleteYou might notice that you were demoted within the span of a single post.
:o)
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DeleteIf we prevent 100,000 civilians from being killed, but inadvertently kill 10 or 20 along the way are you going to harp on the ten or twenty?
Of course you are.
Nonsense verse.
You try to shift the subject. My reference to the activities of ISIS was merely to point out the inanity of characterizing this shitty little war as a massacre for the record books. You degrade any argument you make when you indulge in such hyperbole.
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You referenced "the innocents taken out by U.S. bombs."
DeleteThe only claims of that are from ISIS. I think the number was 10.
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DeleteTry reading it again. The only civilians I mentioned having been taken out were in Libya.
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http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-overruns-iraqi-army-base-near-baghdad-executes-300-soldiers-1695131
ReplyDeleteISIS Overruns Iraqi Army Base Near Baghdad, Executes 300 Soldiers
...looks like they will break any day now...
how do 300 soldiers surrender KNOWING they will be executed?
DeleteThey didn't. That story was debunked. All it was was a 5 Humvee suicide bombing.
DeleteThe Fort held out. Was not overrun and 300 Iraqi troops did not surrender.
DeleteMore misinformation from those that are Israeli
The groom faces west, while the bride sits in front of him with her face to the east, he holds her hand while the following Rg vedic mantra is recited:[3][12]
ReplyDeleteI take thy hand in mine, yearning for happiness
I ask thee, to live with me, as thy husband
Till both of us, with age, grow old
Know this, as I declare, that the Gods
Bhaga, Aryama, Savita and Purandhi, have bestowed thy person, upon me
that I may fulfill, my Dharmas of the householder, with thee
This I am, That art thou
The Sāman I, the Ŗc thou
The Heavens I, the Earth thou
This is old mythy stuff but exceedingly beautiful...............
Beats Vegas......
Why does the Bride face east.........
Deletehmmm ??
It is much older than Islam..............
Deletebut it fits........
:)
General Quart:
ReplyDeleteI would proceed much as we are doing right now as well
......................
Then what the fuck are you fuck bitching about?
I intend to attend a Hindu nuptial next spring......and never put a Hillary for President bumper sticker on the back of my broken down Detroit car.......they are all pricks............
If I have the great good luck I hope to have I hope for a long drive with my Niece down through Northern Nevada someday.......
She said the other day.............can my boyfriend come too............what can I do but sadly consent.....?????????
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DeleteWhat am I bitching about?
You dumb shit, I am bitching about your constant whining demanding the opinion of others even though they have given them here numerous times before. Reference, your post to Ash below.
You want to talk about a Hindu wedding, do it. It's easy enough to scroll by.
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Bob OreilleFri Sep 26, 05:34:00 PM EDT
DeleteGeneral Quart:
I would proceed much as we are doing right now as well
...................................................
Finally got General Q's true opinion, folks.
And that is to say:
WATCH TELEVISON
And fart.
DeleteBob OreilleFri Sep 26, 05:34:00 PM EDT
ReplyDeleteGeneral Quart:
I would proceed much as we are doing right now as well
..............................
Gentlemen, proceed as ordered.
General Ash ?
ReplyDeleteAnother !!! out break of 'work place violence'
ReplyDeleteBEHEADING IN OKLAHOMA...
REPORT: Suspect tried to convert others to Islam...
Police classify as workplace violence...
Drudge
Quirk:
Social and Economic Conditions Are Not What We Wish
see:
Detroit Political Commentary
Q Publishings
Detroit, Michigan
P.O. Box 00000000000010
This is getting Q wait close to northern Mississippi, the heart of Tolerance in Our Nation.
DeleteYou are losing it Quirt.
ReplyDeleteQuart.
Delete
ReplyDeleteBEHEADING IN OKLAHOMA...
REPORT: Suspect tried to convert others to Islam...
Fired After Argument Over Stoning Women...
Celebrated Terrorists on FACEBOOK...
'SHARIA LAW IS COMING!!!!'
'America and Israel Wicked'...
Police classify as workplace violence...
Muslims Shout 'Praise Allah!' Following Press Conference.............drudge
Palestinian Leader Urges UN to Press for Deadline to End Israeli Occupation
ReplyDeleteNew York Times
Poor allen, he seems to think that anyone not in lock step with Bibi is not a Zionist.
ReplyDeleteLet's have a reference to any editorial from the NYTimes that calls Israel illegitimate.
Calls for a "One State Solution" that rejects the premise that Israel is a "Jewish State".
If it is not available, it is because the NY Times has always been a Zionist mouthpiece, was, and still is.
Let's look for the editorials in:
ReplyDeleteThe Arizonial Shitter
Let's get a link to that Udaho
DeleteBEIRUT: A senior Islamic State (IS) group militant was killed on Friday (Sep 26) in an air strike in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
ReplyDelete"A coalition warplane fired on a motorbike with two men on it after it left a headquarters" of IS west of Deir Ezzor city in the province of the same name, the head of the Britain-based monitor told AFP.
"One of the men on the bike was an important IS official, an Arab national," Rami Abdel Rahman said, without giving details about his identity or role. "He was killed, as was the other man."
The militant group controls much of Deir Ezzor province bordering Iraq, and Abdel Rahman said Friday's strike indicates that the target's movements were being closely monitored.
The United States, driving force behind the growing international coalition against IS, began bombarding the group's positions in Iraq on August 8, and has . . . . . . . .
On a Motorbike?
No "boots on the ground," eh? :)
Fast Movers picking'em off motorbikes in the heart of Syria.
DeleteNah, nothin' ta see, here; move along.
:)
I wonder if they'll have a hard time ordering pizza, today? :) :) :)
DeleteCould have been a Predator, loitering "On Station" with a Hellfire.
DeleteOne shot, two kills.
Hellfire from the Sky
Maybe.
DeleteBritish army orders hundreds of armored vehicles as Western countries consider how to react to Russia’s incursions in Ukraine.
ReplyDeleteGeneral Dynamics GD is to get a $5.76 billion order for nearly 600 Armored Fighting Vehicles from the British army, in a landmark deal ahead of a NATO summit in Wales later this week.
The order, for 589 Scout Specialist Vehicles, is the biggest from the British army in 30 years and comes as the conflict in Ukraine has exposed the degree to which the U.S.’s allies in Europe have let their defense capability degrade in the 23 years since the end of the Cold War.
With President Obama telling the world that the US will no longer be carrying the water alone, seems others are now stepping up to buy Lester's products.
Doing more, by doing less.
That's often referred to a "Good Technique"
That's often referred to as "Good Technique"
DeleteAfter years of seeing the peace dividend going to others, GD gets a taste of the new Cold War dividend.- General Dynamics
Deletehttp://fortune.com/2014/09/03/as-the-russian-bear-growls-general-dynamics-lands-a-5-8-billion-order-from-the-u-k/?xid=ob_rss
The Brits buying almost 600 Infantry Fighting Vehicles, while the Egyptians will have bought 1,400 M1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, financed by ...
Things are looking peachy for the Lester Crown family trust.
U.S. Central Command said four Islamic State tanks were destroyed in Syria's Deir el-Zour province.
ReplyDeleteChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said Friday the military campaign is an Iraq-first strategy, but not an Iraq-only strategy. He said the strikes in Syria show Islamic State fighters they have no safe haven.
DeleteHe added that any ground troops he might recommend be used in Iraq in the future would be international, and comprised of Iraqis, Kurds and Syrian opposition forces.
Man alive, now even Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey is advocating the ...
Delete"Rat Doctrine"
Behind Islamic State's Battlefield Gains, Battle-Hardened Chechens
ReplyDeleteAmong the legions of foreign fighters who have turned the Islamic State into the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization, the Chechens stand out.
They crow on YouTube videos about battlefield successes, wave Arabic language flags referencing the war-torn Russian region, and in some cases, sport striking red beards.
In all, hundreds of fighters from Russia’s North Caucasus, where Chechnya is located, and other Russian-speaking regions are believed to be fighting in Syria and Iraq, alongside the Islamic State and al-Qaida-linked groups like the Al-Nusra Front.
...
“I think that’s a reason why the Islamic State has been as successful as they’ve been,” said Bill Roggio, founder of the Long War Journal, a website that tracks jihadi groups.
“The fighters from the Caucasus, they have experience in fighting professional militaries, the Russians, they’ve been doing guerrilla warfare for decades and this experience is translating to the battlefield," he said. "They tend to be tactically proficient.”
The Chechen cause in Syria is not monolithic; different groups have different loyalties, experts said.
DeleteAnd Chechens traditionally have strong identification with their clans or extended family networks, which makes rivalries and turf wars common, at home or abroad.
In Syria, Batirashvili’s decision to pledge allegiance to the head of the Islamic State created a rift among Chechen units, experts said.
Fighters with his former unit, the Muhajireen Brigade, retained their loyalties to the Caucasus Emirate, which had ties to Al-Qaida dating back more than a decade. Lister argued that could strengthen the Caucasus Emirates’ links to Al-Qaida in the long-term.
“I’m sure the Russians are as worried about that as anybody,” Barnett said. “Blowback is always possible. As the Islamic State gets knocked back by the U.S., there’s more of a likelihood that these fighters will be pushed back into other regions” like the Caucasus.
http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-chechens-islamic-state-iraq/2462711.html
The Observatory also reported another apparent coalition air raid on Islamic State positions outside the city of Hassakeh in northeastern Syria. Those strikes targeted an oil-production area, as well as vehicles the militants had brought in from Iraq and tried to bury in the ground to protect them, according to Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman.
ReplyDeleteThey is buryin' theys vehicles.
Nah, this ain't no "pidgin shoot."
They can't run and they can't hide.
DeleteIsrael prefers Daesh (al-Qeada) in Syria, over the Alawites, Christians and their Kurdish allies
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post that Israel so wanted Assad out and his Iranian backers weakened, that Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.
That the US will not accept that scenario seems ever more clear.
Those boys has badly misunderestimated our man, Obomb'em.
ReplyDeleteThey be daid men walkin'.
It's never a good sign when you're burying your wheels. :)
DeleteGood New Ford F 150 4x4 "Self Bury Jihadi".
ReplyDelete;)
So now let us now get it straight, O'Roofy, you like this shit when it is your guy O'bomb em' droppin' the ordinance but not the guy you once voted for O'Bush?
ReplyDeleteCherokee Democracy, folks.
ReplyDeleteThe Good, the True, and the Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOh, Rufus.
ReplyDelete