IRAQ NEEDS HELP (WARNING: GRAPHIC PIX)

[HairOfTheDog]

All right MS -- I think things are winding down here, so I'm gonna post a couple of your picks now.

Sadly, I don't think your musical gems are gonna help Iraq though, so I'll see you down in the Good Shit forum.

[aussiefriend]

Aussie can consider this her "residency" and apply all of her new-found knowledge to heal the suffering . . . physically and mentally.

And it would keep her off the bottle, too.

Oh Tiki keep me out of this one, I was unsure about the other war in 2003, I was over in the Middle East then, I even had a Iraq channel, that was showing that everything was fine, there were pop songs on the channel that were singing about what a great guy Saddam was and all the great things he had done. Along with children chanting with flowers similar to North Korea.

I was unsure, I didn't know what the answer was. This time, a whole bunch of men being killed in cold blood affects the whole world. It's evil. I don't have the answers on how to address it.

It's another planet over there and human rights abuses are the order of the day. Terrible business.

[crash]

What if the US wants oil?

I don't believe the US is dependent on Iraqi oil. Let Europe deal with the thugs if they want to keep the spigot flowing.

However, if Canada and Mexico start getting all pissy and demanding, that's a different ballgame.

Iraqi oil, maybe not. Yet anyway. Iranian controlled Iranian-Iraqi oil; sooner. Middle Eastern oil; nearly now...

[HairOfTheDog]

Iraqi oil, maybe not. Yet anyway. Iranian controlled Iranian-Iraqi oil; sooner. Middle Eastern oil; nearly now...

A significant factor in what's going on within the Middle Eastern countries, regardless of western actions and motivations, revolves around regional oil supply and the power that goes with it.

I think Iraq may end up being split into 3 separate factions and at least partially parceled out to bordering countries sometime in the foreseeable future -- something that the US government and others in the west wouldn't likely want to see happen. IMO, the writing is already on the wall though.

If the Kurds can stop politically battling amongst themselves, they could carry some real clout.

Turkey's leadership made a surprising media statement the other day -- it now supports full Kurd independence from Iraq (Kurdistan has been an autonomous region of Iraq for over two decades, but not an independent nation) -- according to Huseyin Celik, a spokesman for Turkey's Justice and Development Party. Turkey's one of the US's key allies in the ME, but they've got their own agendas to consider, of course.



Snip:
Control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk -- known as "the Kurdish Jerusalem" -- has long been an obstacle to independence. The Kurds controlled it briefly in 1991 before Saddam Hussein drove them out amid a horrific chemical weapons attack. Last week, they retook control of the disputed city when Iraqi forces fled ISIS, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to give up the city’s oil reserves. Kirkuk is capable of producing as much as half of all of Iraq's oil exports, although Kirkuk’s pipeline is currently offline following militant attacks in the spring.

Turkey and Kurdistan have signed a 50-year energy deal and Kurdish oil is exported via a pipeline that connects the autonomous region to the port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.

Refs:
http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/130620142
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/17..._ref=world

[HairOfTheDog]

Who's Driving the ISIS Steamroller and How'd He Get Behind the Wheel?

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the leader of the ruthless Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS or ISIL), and he oversees thousands of fighters in his quest to create a Sunni Islamic caliphate straddling the border of Iraq and Syria.

Baghdadi was kept by Americans in an Iraqi detainee camp from 2005 through 2009 -- he was described by Col. Ken King, who oversaw Camp Bucca in 2008 and 2009, to be "savvy" and not coming across as "one of the worst of the worst".

Baghadadi was released from US detainment in Iraq in 2009 per signed 2008 agreement by George W. -- all detainees were to be released from American control to the Iraqi officials.

It wasn't long before Baghdadi was rising through the ranks of the Islamic State of Iraq, the successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq.

And when the organization's two leaders were killed in 2010, Baghdadi stepped into the void. He kept a low profile compared to other militants, with their grandiose taped statements — one key to his survival, analysts said.

"When you start making videos and popping off, it increases the chance you're going to get caught or killed," Skinner said. "He's been around five years, and that's like cat years. It's a long time."

Another benefit to his mystique: recruitment of younger fighters. "He's managed this secret persona extremely well, and it's enhanced his group's prestige," said Patrick Johnston of the RAND Corporation. "Young people are really attracted to that."

Baghdadi — which is not his birth name — uses a host of aliases and is said to wear a bandana around his face to conceal his identity from everyone except a very tight inner circle that is almost certainly comprised only of Iraqis.

There are only two known photos of him, one put out by the Iraqi Interior Ministry and one by the U.S. Rewards for Justice Program, which has offered $10 million for his capture — a bounty second only to the reward for Ayman al-Zawahiri, chief of al Qaeda's global network.



The recent seizure of 160 computer flash sticks revealed the inside story of Isis, the band of militants that came from nowhere with nothing to having Syrian oil fields and control of Iraq's second city.

The group's leaders had been meticulously chosen. Many of those who reported to the top tier – all battle-hardened veterans of the insurgency against US forces nearly a decade ago – did not know the names of their colleagues. The strategic acumen of Isis was impressive – so too its attention to detail.

"They had itemised everything," the source said. "Down to the smallest detail." Over the past year, foreign intelligence officials had learned that Isis secured massive cashflows from seizing the oilfields of eastern Syria, which it had commandeered in late 2012, and some of which it had sold back to the Syrian regime.

It was also known to have reaped windfalls from smuggling all manner of raw materials pillaged from the crumbling state in Syria, as well as priceless antiquities from archaeological digs. But here before them in extraordinary detail were accounts that would have breezed past forensic accountants, giving a full reckoning of a war effort. It soon became clear that in less than three years, Isis had grown from a ragtag band of extremists to perhaps the most cash-rich and capable terror group in the world.

Refs:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/ju...alth-power
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-tu...di-n132311
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-19...bated.html

[HairOfTheDog]

^ I think that fear of something similar happening a couple of years down the road is one of the main reasons some Republican and Democratic congresspersons are so irked about not being informed and given a chance to weigh-in on the transfer/release of the five Taliban detainees in exchange for Bergdahl.

Meanwhile...

-I've seen a lot of press and claims from officials and experts in the US (some named, some not) minimizing the power of ISIS and focusing on its perceived weaknesses.


-And, the US (and France) is now seemingly pushing for the ouster of twice-elected Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki (pictured above with Bush and Obama) -- the leader whom the US has been financially backing since 2006. Many global politicians, leaders, and pundits are claiming that it's his exclusion of Sunnis and Kurds from the government, along with discriminatory policies towards them by his all-Shia regime, which has fueled and empowered ISIS.

-Also, the Iraqi government publicly called-out Saudi Arabia for financing/supporting ISIS -- a claim that the Saudi government is denying as pure bullshit spewed by an inept Iraqi leader.

-Plus, US officials are hitting the media with how important it is to Iraq's stability (and ability to remain one country, no doubt) that a new government which includes representatives from the Shiite, Sunni, and Kurd communities be established. US-allies Saudi Arabia and Turkey are publicly supporting this position (and, IMO, eying the oil-rich areas of Iraq near their borders -- just in case things don't go as planned, again, with the possible "new government").

(HOTD edit: pics)

[Maggot]

It's gonna be alright! John Kerry is going over there to explain that the smoke from their bombs are raising the CO2 levels world over.

[Duchess]

Whatta clusterfuck.

[FAHQTOO]

You're funny and cute HotD.

But I promise, no more pervy commentary directed your way.

Now, on with the countdown:

#9 .38 Special 'If I'd Been The One'
#10 The Cult ' Fire Woman'

#10...you finally got some 'cool' in your song bank. I crank the shit out of that song when I hear it.

[crash]

There's been an unseasonably high amount of crank talk in Mock today..

[HairOfTheDog]

Whatta clusterfuck.

If you get a few minutes and you're interested, check out this NY Times piece about how much effin' wealth ISIS has been able to accumulate over the last couple of year to fund its operations -- via heists, social media campaigns and advertising, kidnap for ransom, etc..

Amazing. This isn't a band of cave-dwelling camel-humping disgruntleds. It's a sophisticated criminal enterprise, IMO.

Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/....html?_r=0

[Duchess]

I actually had been reading about their wealth. This is no rinky dink operation and they are using social media as well. They are enticing young people from all over to join their fight and people are paying attention to them.

[Duchess]

I followed your link & read the piece. I'm trying to understand why they do what they do, the brutality of it all. It's shocking the way they kill people and a good part of the time I don't know who is the good guy & who is the bad.

Some of them look like kids one would see on any college campus across America.

I just read that they took over the border of Jordan. The King of Jordan has close American ties. Things are only going to get worse.

[Maggot]

Has WWIII started yet? I would appreciate an announcement.

[HairOfTheDog]

Pssst...................Maggot.

Wake up, Maggie, I think I got something to say to you.



It's on, baby...

[FAHQTOO]

Has WWIII started yet? I would appreciate an announcement.

Nope...not until Iran and Russia attack Israel...

[HairOfTheDog]

Speaking of Israel...



This ain't good and it seems to be getting less press than it would be if US Sec of State John Kerry wasn't en route to Baghdad, where reports indicate that a quarter of the US-trained Iraqi military troops are running away when confronted by ISIS militants.

But, I think Israel air-striking Syrian military installations is very significant -- it's the first physical involvement by Israel in the Syrian civil war, which has now been waging for three years.

Israeli PM Netanyahu doesn't even know who's his country's bigger threat, the Syrian rebel/terrorists forces or the Syrian government, but he's diminishing the capacity of the government and holds the government officials responsible for any spill over of violence from Syria onto the Israeli-controlled defacto Golan Heights border, no matter if it was Syrian military or rebel/terrorist forces who committed the acts.

Snip:
Israeli warplanes bombed a series of targets inside Syria early Monday, the Israeli military said, in response to a cross-border attack that killed an Israeli teenager the previous day.

In all, Israel said it struck nine military targets inside Syria, and "direct hits were confirmed." There was no immediate response from Syria.


Full story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/22...20202.html

[Duchess]

Those Israelis are badass and won't take much shit.

As an aside, I like how they run their airlines too, if we had their security I would fly again.

[Maggot]

What really sucks about this entire thing is that the United states and any other country that helped supplied these Iraq invaders (jihadis,ISIS) with the weapons that they are now using against Iraq.

I think Col. John Warden (USAF – Ret.) would be good for this he orchestrated the 1991 Persian gulf conflict and won within 100 hrs.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think Col. John Warden (USAF – Ret.) would be good for this he orchestrated the 1991 Persian gulf conflict and won within 100 hrs.

Colonel Warden is no longer needed, Maggot.

With the discord between Russia and the Ukraine seemingly improving and the Iraq mess surpassing Eastern Europe in terms of global attention and focus..................Vladimir has galloped onto the playing field!!!



Putin is sending 25 fighter planes to Iraq, pronto -- reportedly because Iraqi PM Maliki (who is now on the US shit list and being held accountable for the Sunni insurgency) claimed that his government and army couldn't effectively counter terrorism without the air power and the US wasn't delivering.

Iraqi PM Maliki told the BBC: "I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract with the United States". "Iraq has now turned to Russia and Belarus to buy fighter jets". "God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens."

The US response: U.S. fighter jets have not been slow in coming, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said. The first two promised F-16s "weren't expected to be delivered until the fall, which is still months away," Kirby said. "And we were in the process of working towards that delivery." The advance of an al Qaeda splinter group "couldn't have been stemmed through the use of two particular fighter planes."

Story: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/30/world/...?hpt=hp_t2