Fears of collapse of Iraqi state reignites debate over sacrifices made by Britain to topple Saddam Hussein

[Acebb]

GWB may not have physically hung the banner, but he DID say The Following. "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended," Bush said, the infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner hovering over him. "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." He may not have physically hung the banner, but he verbally conveyed the message.

Uh, major combat operations were over, you pathetic piece of shit.

President Bush also said this:

We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We're pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime who will be held to account for their crimes. We've begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons, and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated.

We are helping to rebuild Iraq where the dictator built palaces for himself instead of hospitals and schools.
And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by and for the Iraqi people.
The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done and then we will leave and we will leave behind a free Iraq.


You left that part out you pathetic rat.

 

[Acebb]

[h=1]Joe Biden update: Iraq one of Obama's 'great achievements'[/h]
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/was...update-larry-king-iraq-obama-sarah-palin.html

 

[superbeets]

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The man is led to his death. ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani today promised that the battle would 'rage' on Baghdad and Karbala, a city southwest of the capital. So far government forces have stalled the militants' remarkably rapid advance near Samarra, a city just 110km (68 miles) north of Baghdad

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A man is executed in a propaganda video released this morning by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as the Al Qaeda-inspired militants continue their march towards Baghdad

 

[superbeets]

FINALLY THE KURDS GET THEIR JERUSALEM: HOW ISIS INVASION IS REDRAWING THE MAP OF IRAQ

Iraqi Kurds seized control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk today as the central government's army abandoned its posts in a rapid collapse that has lost it control of the north.

Peshmerga fighters, the security forces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish north, swept into Kirkuk after the army abandoned its posts there, a peshmerga spokesman said.

'The whole of Kirkuk has fallen into the hands of peshmerga,' said Jabbar Yawar.

'No Iraqi army remains in Kirkuk now.'
Kurds have long dreamed of taking Kirkuk, a city with huge oil reserves just outside their autonomous region, which they regard as their historical capital.
The swift move by their highly organized security forces demonstrates how this week's sudden advance by fighters of the Al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has redrawn Iraq's map.
Kurds have been determined to return to Kirkuk after they were driven from the oil-rich city under Saddam Hussein's programme of 'Arabisation.'
He replaced them with settlers from the south, and the Iraqi government has control over the nearby oil fields.

In May 2013, Kurdish fighters took up positions on the outskirts of Kirkuk after Iraqi security forces were redeployed to deal with Sunni militants elsewhere.

Today they made the final push after the army fled before an Islamist offensive nearby.

 

[superbeets]

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Kurdish Iraqi Peshmerga forces deploy their troops and armoured vehicles on the outskirts of the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk, only 1 kilometre away from areas controlled by Sunni Muslim Jihadists

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Kurds have been determined to return to Kirkuk after they were driven from the oil-rich city under Saddam Hussein's programme of 'Arabisation'

 

[Acebb]

At a closed-door gathering of Gulf states in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in May, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his Arab counterparts all signaled agreement on one thing for the first time: Islamist forces seizing territory in Syria and Iraq had become a regionwide menace that can’t be ignored.

What they didn’t agree on was what to do about it, U.S. officials said.The fall this week of the Iraqi cities Mosul and Tikrit to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham rebel group shows how the insurgent threat is outpacing the response and posing a challenge to President Barack Obama‘s approach of limiting U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts.

The quickly unfolding drama prompted a White House meeting Wednesday of top policy makers and military leaders who were caught off guard by the swift collapse of Iraqi security forces, officials acknowledged.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/iraqi-drama-catches-u-s-off-guard-1402529874

Mr. Peace Prize...

 

[Acebb]

But Iraq’s appeals for a military response have so far been rebuffed by the White House, which has been reluctant to open a new chapter in a conflict that President Obama has insisted was over when the United States withdrew the last of its forces from Iraq in 2011.


The swift capture of Mosul by militants aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has underscored how the conflicts in Syria and Iraq have converged into one widening regional insurgency with fighters coursing back and forth through the porous border between the two countries. But it has also called attention to the limits the White House has imposed on the use of American power in an increasingly violent and volatile region.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/w...rstrikes-on-militants-officials-say.html?_r=1

What a joke this Administration is.

 

[Acebb]

Nearly 500,000 Iraqis flee Mosul and the surrounding province after rebel takeover

http://news.yahoo.com/sunni-insurgents-close-iraqs-biggest-oil-refinery-111013537.html

 

[neverbend]

ISIS initially was one of the most powerful groups fighting against Assad in Syria while the dopey Obama administration was contemplating
arming the enemies of Assad under the umbrella group (Friends of Syria), luckily as of yet Obama hasn't armed these fundamentalist nut jobs yet but with Obama's hideous track record he may arm these ISIS killers yet.

 

[ScottL]

NB I've followed the uprising from the start and at the outset it was domestic I believe. As lawlessness spread jihadis crossed the border and filled the vacuum.


Guesser why am I not surprised you like Stephen Walt?

 

[Acebb]

“These groups were unified by the same goal, which is getting rid of this sectarian government, ending this corrupt army and negotiating to form the Sunni Region,” said Abu Karam, a senior Baathist leader and a former high-ranking army officer, who said planning for the offensive had begun two years ago.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/world/middleeast/iraq.html?referrer=

Gee, why would they start planning this 2 years ago?

Oh, President Dummy announced the date he was pulling troops out of Iraq.

Never mind.

 

[Acebb]

Shortly after Mosul, Iraq, fell to al Qaeda militants earlier this week, the White House repeated some familiar talking points claiming the decimation of “core al Qaeda” and the end the Iraq war as the president’s top foreign policy accomplishments.
Here’s what incoming White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said on Tuesday when asked to name the top accomplishments of Hillary Clinton’s term as President Obama’s secretary of state:

“In terms of important foreign policy accomplishments for which Secretary Clinton can rightly claim her share of the credit, I would put ending the war in Iraq, responsibly winding down the war in Afghanistan, and decimating and destroying core al Qaeda – that those are a handful of accomplishments that certainly this president and this commander-in-chief are proud of. But it’s one that – those are the kinds of accomplishments that Secretary Clinton can justifiably be proud of, as well.”
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American troops are out if Iraq, of course, but with the flag of al Qaeda flying over major Iraqi cities, it may be time to adjust talking points suggesting the war in Iraq is over and that al Qaeda – core or otherwise – has been decimated.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politic...te-house-talking-points-on-iraq-and-al-qaeda/

The entirety of the Obama Presidency reads as if it is a story out of The Onion.

 

[ScottL]

He certainly wouldn't have invaded Iraq, toppled Sadaam, and let Iraq become the Hotbed for Iran and AQ Branch Off Terrorist groups that it is today. Invading Iraq and Taking down Sadaam, and removing a Strong Arab counter to Iran and AQ is the single worst Foreign Policy decision since the Vietnam War, and it will continue to cost the region for years.
GWB may not have physically hung the banner, but he DID say The Following. "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended," Bush said, the infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner hovering over him. "In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." He may not have physically hung the banner, but he verbally conveyed the message. There's hardly any comparison to a tweet sentt out about the wrong Moon landing year by someone with little connection to The President.
I have criticized Obama repeatedly for staying in Iraq and Afghanistan for too long, and will continue to. He should have pulled our troops out of Iraq in 2009, and Afghanistan the day after Bin Laden was put in the Ocean. What's happening now in Iraq and what will happen in Afghanistan is what happens when you engage in wars that are unwinnable, barring permanent huge occupation forces, which are not sustainable physically nor economically. The Soviet Union learned that lesson.
If you object to simple cartoonish BS, I hope you'll be consistent in decrying Simplistic Cartoonish BS down here, such as Obama's workout Postings or Gum Chewing.

No he wouldn't have. His modus operandi is to say all options are on the table and then build a coalition of the willing to do absolutely nothing. We can't play guessing games about what would have happened had we not toppled Saddam so why bother. You can't say for sure how bad the situation would be for Iraq, the US or the world had he stayed.

You can type your non-interventionist platform in every thread if you like and still be wrong. Instability in almost any nation spreads and effects shit negatively around the world. Oil has risen today due to events in Iraq. The Kurds seized an oil field as well.

Regarding Iran ISIS (Islamic State Iran Syria) is extreme right wing Sunni, a bitter enemy of Shia Iran. In a perverted way their rise to power weakens Iran. In a different perverted way you call Saddam a deterrent to Iran. He was a deterrent to Iran the same way poison ivy makes you momentarily forget you have a migraine. The AQ quest for Middle Eastern supremacy and its stated goal of global domination did not begin with Saddam's ouster. If anything it began during the Carter adm as the US got its first punch from radical Islam in Iran in the revolution against the shah and in the 444-day captivity of American diplomats in Tehran. The weakness Obama shows that you cheer only encourages more jihadi attacks. This is a fight we have to win, not postpone. When terrorists control an entire country is the time they can plot to attack the country they hate the most, the US. And if you think doing nothing now in Iraq is an option just wait until ISIS blows up a Shia holy site.

Every issue is different in its cartoon worthiness. I did not make fun of Obama's workout. I used it for entertainment. The worst message that sent was of security -- How could he be taped and no one know it? The gum chewing was in poor taste. Glad he didn't pick a booger and mix it into his Juicy Fruit.

 

[ScottL]

Just want to add, what to do in Iraq now is not an easy call. Nor was it ever. Too many factions. I just don't like Obama's track record.

 

[neverbend]

NB I've followed the uprising from the start and at the outset it was domestic I believe. As lawlessness spread jihadis crossed the border and filled the vacuum.


Guesser why am I not surprised you like Stephen Walt?

Just this April Israel’s Debkafile website reported that two moderate Syrian rebel militias — the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Revolutionary Front — have been supplied with advanced US weapons, including armor-piercing, optically-guided BGM-71 TOW missiles, thanks to the Pentagon. Now how long will it be before ISIS begins to share these weapons by force or in collusion with these so called moderates not too long in my estimate.

So ISIS reinforced with these weapons, another Obama blunder, takes city after city zeroing in on Bagdad & Obama is forced to stem the advance. We'll
be trying to stop ISIS whose advance has been enhanced by weapons provided by Obama himself, what an utter disaster BO's is.

The "Commander In Chief" is the greatest security threat this nation has ever faced.

 

[festeringZit]

Hmm.... I wonder why the rapist-supporting sewer rat didn't mention Biden and the Obama Admin doing the exact same thing?

[h=1]Biden Once Called Iraq One of Obama's 'Great Achievements'[/h]"I am very optimistic about -- about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government," said Biden.
"I spent -- I've been there 17 times now. I go about every two months -- three months. I know every one of the major players in all of the segments of that society. It's impressed me. I've been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences."

 

[Dave007inVegas]

Just want to add, what to do in Iraq now is not an easy call. Nor was it ever. Too many factions. I just don't like Obama's track record.

Two-and-a-half years after U.S. military forces departed Iraq, President Obama said American military intervention is likely to be deployed there to assist a weakened government overrun by insurgents sympathetic to al-Qaeda.

Read more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ar...help_likely_in_iraq_122965.html#ixzz34SDMz6nT

 

[neverbend]

Looks like the Iraqi Army that we trained has a lot of Bergdahl types in there ranks, there deserting in droves!

 

[Dave007inVegas]

Looks like the Iraqi Army that we trained has a lot of Bergdahl types in there ranks, there deserting in droves!

Fuck Iraq and horse they rode in on. They made their bed now they can shit on it. They’re just not worth any help.

 

[superbeets]

[h=1]Déjà vu[/h]The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam (ARVN; Vietnamese: Lục quân Việt Nam Cộng hòa), also known as the South Vietnamese Army (SVA), were the ground forces of the Republic of Vietnam Military Forces, the armed forces of South Vietnam, which existed from 1955 until the Fall of Saigon in 1975



Starting in 1969 President Richard Nixon started the process of "Vietnamization", pulling out American forces and rendering the ARVN capable of fighting an effective war against the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) of the North (Also called NVA for North Vietnamese Army) and the ally, the National Liberation Front (NLF or Viet Cong).


The U.S. had provided the ARVN with 793,994 M1 carbines,640,000 M-16 rifles, 34,000 M79 grenade launchers, 40,000 radios, 20,000 quarter-ton trucks, 214 M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks, 77 M577 Command tracks (command version of the M113 APC), 930 M113s (APC/ACAVs), 120 V-100s (wheeled armored cars), and 190 M48 tanks; however on the eleventh hour, an American effort in November 1972 managed to transfer 59 more M48A3 Patton tanks, 100 additional M-113A1 ACAVs (Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicles), and over 500 extra aircraft to South Vietnam.

ARVN forces were quickly thrown into chaos and taken down by the well-supplied PAVN, no longer having to worry about U.S. bombing.