IRAQ NEEDS HELP (WARNING: GRAPHIC PIX)

[HairOfTheDog]

THINGS GET MESSIER IN THE MIDDLE EAST -- WHAT'S UP TODAY



Lots going on as ISIS continues its effort to erase borders and create a united Islamic Sharia emirate across Iraq and Syria.

IRAQ
The Iraqi Kurds and the Iraqi Sunnis want PM Maliki and his all-Shiite government ousted and President Obama is pushing for a new more inclusive government to be in place by the end of the week. That's tough to do prudently in such a short time, IMO, but that's the push.

US
Obama has made an official statement that it's up to the Iraqis if they want to keep Maliki involved in the country's leadership, but I think it's clear that the US wants him gone.

The US has now sent 775 American troops to Iraq. Most of them will focus on securing the embassy and other American interests. About 200 of them will train Iraqi forces and assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Iraqi forces and the ISIS fighters. To say that we don't have "boots on the ground" is just playing with semantics at this point, IMO.

ISRAEL
Israel air struck several military bases in Syria last week in retaliation for the killing of an Israeli teen in the Golan Heights border between the countries. It's unclear whether the boy was killed as a result of Syrian forces or their rival ISIS rebels, but Netanyahu sees them as equally evil entities and holds Assad responsible either way.

Israel has also publicly promised to strike back at Hamas, whom Netanyahu considers responsible for the kidnapping and murder of three teens who went missing week before last; Hamas denies responsibility. The Palestinian government is in talks with Hamas leaders for closer ties, so the tensions are rising between Israel and Palestine, again.

SYRIA
Syria air struck several sites in Iraq last week, reportedly to weaken ISIS and in support of PM Maliki and the Iraqi forces.

ANTI-ISIS SUPPORT
Iran and Russia are providing military equipment and support to Maliki and the Iraqi forces in their fight against ISIS Sunni insurgents. The US has agreed to provide more support to Iraq once a new government is formally established.

[Cynical Ninja]

My middle east solution.

The west says to all sides and factions in the middle east “stop fighting or we will nuke all of you, the middle east will still be largely a desert but instead of sand it will be made of glass and fallout”

[aussiefriend]

That Mullah guy in black giving the 'Sermon on the Mount' the other day is terrifying. His eyes going back and forth like the devil, scared the shit out of me.

[HairOfTheDog]

This is the video/audio (with English subtitles) to which aussie referred; ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi giving a sermon asking for jihad at an Iraqi mosque earlier this week.



ISIS reportedly released it via Twitter to spread the message.

[Maggot]

Happy Birthday "Satan"

[HairOfTheDog]

ISIS Defeats Kurds

While the world is watching the conflict between Israel and Palestine, ISIS is busy gaining more ground in Iraq. The threat of ISIS is so strong that the Kurds and Prime Minister Maliki are reportedly putting aside their conflicts in order to thwart ISIS.

Snip:
Kurdish peshmerga fighters, who cut their teeth fighting Saddam Hussein's troops, were regarded as one of the few forces capable of standing up to the Sunni insurgents who faced almost no opposition from Maliki's U.S.-trained army during their lightning advance through the north in June.

Then on Sunday the Islamic State inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Kurds with a rapid advance through three towns to reach the Mosul Dam, acquiring a fifth oil field to fund its operations along the way.

State television and witnesses said that the Islamic State had seized Iraq's biggest dam. Kurdish peshmerga officials said they have pushed militants from the dam area and were in control of it. This could not be immediately confirmed.

One senior Kurdish official urged the United States to step in and provide weapons "for the sake of fighting terrorism".

Maliki has been at odds with the Kurds over budgets, oil and land, and tensions deepened after the Islamic State seized control of large swathes of land in the north and west of OPEC member Iraq.

In July, the Kurdish political bloc ended all participation in Iraq's national government in protest over Maliki's accusation that Kurds were allowing terrorists to stay in Arbil, the capital of their semi-autonomous region known as Kurdistan.

One Kurdish colonel said the withdrawal was tactical and forecast that several Kurdish brigades would take back all territory lost on Sunday and even win back Mosul, Iraq's biggest northern city which is firmly in the hands of the Islamic State.

"We will attack them until they are completely destroyed we will never show any mercy," he (Kurdish Colonel) told Reuters. "We have given them enough chances and we will even take Mosul back. I believe within the next 48-72 hours it will be over."

Full Story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/04...47532.html

[Duchess]

We are so lucky to live in the US. Even with all our own bs we are still very fortunate. That's the thought that has been running through my mind. There is so much discord out there, death and destruction rule the evening news.

[Maggot]

We are so lucky to live in the US. Even with all our own bs we are still very fortunate. That's the thought that has been running through my mind. There is so much discord out there, death and destruction rule the evening news.

I was thinking the same thing in France,Italy,Spain,Scotland and England back in 1981. Gitmo in Cuba .........not so much, that place was great!

[HairOfTheDog]

IS IT TIME FOR OUTSIDE MILITARY ACTION IN IRAQ?

ISIS (now rebranded to IS -- Islamic State) is kicking ass in Iraq. They're too well organized, well-equipped, and ruthless to be fended off by the Iraqi military or the Kurds.

Snip:
The Pentagon is looking at conducting emergency air drops to the estimated 15,000 stranded ethnic minority Yazidis in northern Iraq, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.

A decision is expected today. Martin says if the U.S. military makes drops, the transport planes would almost certainly be escorted by fighters.

Concerns are growing that IS attacks in Syria and Iraq may be emerging genocide

The Islamic State, issued an ultimatum to tens of thousands of people from the Yazidi community on Saturday to convert to Islam, pay a religious fine, flee their homes or face death. Yazidis follow an ancient religion with links to Zoroastrianism. The Islamic State regards the Yazidis as "devil-worshippers".

About 150 Yazidis were admitted into Turkey on Thursday, Reuters reported (HOTD: Turkey's already taken in over 1 million refugees from Syria).

The UN Security Council said in a press statement approved by all 15 members that the group poses a threat not only to Syria and Iraq "but to regional peace, security and stability."

It expressed deep concern for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced, many from vulnerable minority communities especially the Yazidis who have lived in the area for hundreds of years. The Security Council said many Iraqis from Tal Afar and Sinjar have been forced to flee and seek refuge "while many others have been executed or kidnapped."

Meanwhile, Islamic State militants on Thursday seized Iraq's largest dam, placing them in control of enormous power and water resources and access to the river that runs through the heart of Baghdad.

Iraqi government forces, Kurds and allied Sunni tribal militiamen have been struggling to dislodge the ISIS militants with little apparent success.

Full story: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pentagon-con...eing-isis/

[Duchess]

It seems that everything that happens there is so much worse than Saddam's atrocities.

[HairOfTheDog]

It seems that everything that happens there is so much worse than Saddam's atrocities.

That's the thing.

By western or democratic standards, Hussein was positioned as the devil (back then; I think a lot of people are looking at things with new eyes and with more information available to them).

I'm not saying Hussein wasn't a tyrant, but he did not have WMDs and was not an al-Qaeda supporter as Bush and Cheney claim. And, the country was more stable (with more religious minority tolerance) under his leadership than it is under his US-backed successor Maliki. Now this. The Islamic Fundamentalists are taking over the country and there is no room from their extreme Sharia policies for non-Muslims who won't convert to Islam, nor for moderate Muslims. Convert, flee, or die -- those are the options for the Iraqis.

Over in Syria, Assad's military is doing better at fighting back against the same IS groups, but it's not been easy and over 100,000 Syrians have been killed by both his forces and the rebels fighting against him for control of the country. Many more than that have fled to Turkey, Jordan, Qatar... I think, and it's just my opinion, that extremists fueled the early protests -- to which Assad responded way too heavy handedly -- hoping to ignite a civil war in what was one of the most stable countries in the Middle East (where various religious populations co-existed). Now IS holds some of the Syrian oil fields and grounds used for IS militant training, etc... Take Assad out and you've quite likely got another Iraq, IMO. He may be a ruthless SOB by our standards, but he's still got a lot of support in his country.

Ironic, right? We're still officially backing the "freedom fighters" in Syria to bring down Assad whilst those same "freedom fighters" are now labeled "terrorists" as we condemn them for trying to topple the Iraqi government.

From where I'm sitting, it sure looks like IS is succeeding in breaking down the border between the two countries and establishing an Islamic (Fundamentalist) State.

[Maggot]

Are there no good strategists in the world today? I personally do not care what a country does to their own people. If its to rough they will rise up and start something new. North Korea is due. But who cares what they do, as long as they don't bomb anyone or me.

[HairOfTheDog]

IT'S ON.............US LAUNCHES FIRST AIR STRIKES IN IRAQ

The U.S. conducted its first airstrike against Islamic militants. The targets were just outside the Kurdish city of Irbil in Iraq.

US AIRSTRIKE LOCATION AND IS MILITANT ACTIVITY MAP


Military aircraft dropped two 500-pound bombs on ISIL artillery being used to shell Kurdish forces. Obama authorized targeted airstrikes in Iraq on Thursday evening, along with a humanitarian mission to aid thousands of refugees who fled to a nearby mountaintop.

"To stop the advance on Irbil, I've directed our military to take targeted strikes against ISIL terrorist convoys should they move toward the city," he said in a statement from the White House.

"We intend to stay vigilant, and take action if these terrorist forces threaten our personnel or facilities anywhere in Iraq, including our consulate in Irbil and our embassy in Baghdad. We're also providing urgent assistance to Iraqi government and Kurdish forces so they can more effectively wage the fight against ISIL."

The United Nations says it is working on opening a humanitarian corridor in northern Iraq to allow stranded people to flee.

Refs:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28709530
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/08...61576.html

[Maggot]

The first air strikes were launched off the USS George HW Bush.

[Duchess]

[Maggot]

Now Obama can blame Bush.

[HairOfTheDog]

That damned Bush!

Just when you think he's off painting and gardening and shit, in he sails.

[HairOfTheDog]

^^ Oops, wrong Bush -- the ship is named after Bush Sr. Understandable mistake on my part.



Seriously, wouldn't surprise me if Bush Sr. is laughing so hard that his dentures fall out. Another chance to go after Hussein -- this time in the form of Saddam's old devotees in IS.

[Duchess]

I'm starting to hear people compare this to Hitler and what he did while the world stood by.

Is it IS or ISIS? Meh. For the sake of this I don't suppose it matters. They are savages.

Photos were released yesterday showing prisoners being forced to march through the desert by masked ISIS fighters.

Bent double and barefooted, their hands are bound behind their backs with rope.

Some of them can be seen holding the t-shirt of the prisoner in front of them with their teeth to keep up with the line.

Their tormentors push and force the prisoners to bow their heads.

None of the prisoners appear to be wearing any form of military insignia. They are all clad in civilian clothes, including one man wearing a faded Inter Milan shirt.

They are then lined up and ordered to kneel down on the dusty ground.

Around 20 ISIS fighters stand behind the line of men and the squad of jihadis begin to gun down the line of prisoners.

Thick brown dust billows up as the bullets of their AK-47s strike the prisoners.

[Midwest Spy]

All in the name of Islam.

Hamas kills their own too, the ones that don't believe their way is the right way.

Who'll 'fix' Islam?

It won't be any individual, it'll take nations standing against these savages to take them (or more likely, eradicate them).

In the meantime, peaceful, moderate Muslims will pay the price for the extremists.