dagblog - Comments for "Parts of 2 Key Iraqi Cities Fall to Qaeda Group Active in Syria"

U.S. veterans despondent over

artappraiser — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 05:24:58 +0000

In reply to Parts of 2 Key Iraqi Cities Fall to Qaeda Group Active in Syria

U.S. veterans despondent over al-Qaeda’s resurgence in Iraq
By Ernesto Londoño, Washington Post, January 10, 2014

[....] “Could someone smart convince me that the black flag of al-Qaeda flying over Fallujah isn’t analogous to the fall of Saigon?” former Army captain Matt Gallagher asked on Twitter. “Because. Well.”

Gallagher, 30, who left the Army to pursue a writing career in New York, has kept close tabs on Iraq since the end of his deployment as a platoon commander in the outskirts of Baghdad in 2009. He has a Google alert for Saba al-Bor, a small village northwest of Baghdad where his infantry platoon spent 15 months living in terror of armor-penetrating roadside bombs and in awe of the complexities of tribal politics.

Gallagher, who was part of the troop surge ordered by the George W. Bush administration, felt his stomach churn a couple of months ago when an alert prompted him to click on a video of a suicide bombing in his old battleground [....]

Iraq: Four armed groups

artappraiser — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 08:29:28 +0000

In reply to Parts of 2 Key Iraqi Cities Fall to Qaeda Group Active in Syria

Iraq: Four armed groups fighting in Fallujah
By Mushreq Abbas, Iraq Pulse @ Al-Monitor, Jan. 8, 2014

A little more than a week after the outbreak of violence in Anbar province, the picture of the forces fighting on the ground has become clearer. It does not, however, correspond to official Iraqi pronouncements that the conflict only involves two parties: al-Qaeda versus Iraqi security forces and their Sahwa tribal allies. At the same time, the picture also does not support declarations by Fallujah tribal leaders that the conflict is mainly one of the tribes versus government forces. Rather, Al-Monitor sources in Fallujah have confirmed the presence of at least four distinct fighting forces in and around that city [....]

U.S. and Iran Face Common

artappraiser — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 05:16:36 +0000

In reply to Parts of 2 Key Iraqi Cities Fall to Qaeda Group Active in Syria

U.S. and Iran Face Common Enemies in Mideast Strife
By Thomas Erdbrink, New York Times, Jan. 6/7, 2013

The United States and Iran are being drawn together by their mutual opposition to a movement of Sunni fighters raising Al Qaeda’s flag in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen.

US rules out military aid to

artappraiser — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 20:21:04 +0000

In reply to Parts of 2 Key Iraqi Cities Fall to Qaeda Group Active in Syria

US rules out military aid to Iraqi forces in fight against al-Qaida in Falluja
By Spencer Ackerman in Washington, theguardian.com, 6 Jan. 2014

[....] “We’re not doing tactical work with the Iraqis,” said army colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, who raised doubts about the severity of the past days events in Anbar.

“I don’t know that it’s as urgent as maybe some of the press reporting [indicated]”, Warren said. “Ramadi is back under Iraqi government control. The Iraqi army has yet to even really engage.”

As part of a $14bn program of military hardware sales begun in 2005, the Iraqis recently received 75 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles. A follow-on shipment will be expedited, as will the delivery of 10 ScanEagle unarmed surveillance drones. “We do share a lot of information,” Warren added.

But neither the new missiles nor the drones will finish arriving before the spring, the Pentagon said. An additional contingent of under 200 US advisers, the final cohort of US troops in Iraq following the December 2011 withdrawal, advises the security ministries and shares intelligence.

US officials have said they were willing to help bolster Iraq’s indigenous intelligence capabilities.

“We do want to help the Iraqis develop the capability to target these [terrorist] networks effectively and precisely,” a senior administration official said in October during a visit by Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The CIA has reportedly been assisting Iraq with targeting militant networks. The CIA declined to comment on Monday.

Beyond that, the Iraqis must rely on the training, small arms, vehicles and other hardware that the US provided in rebuilding the military it defeated and then cashiered in 2003 following its invasion [....]

Iran ready to help Iraq fight

artappraiser — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 08:16:16 +0000

In reply to Parts of 2 Key Iraqi Cities Fall to Qaeda Group Active in Syria

Iran ready to help Iraq fight al-qaida
Jerusalem Post, 01/06/2014

Iran is prepared to assist Iraq in fighting al-quida, Press TV reported on Sunday night.

Deputy Chief of Staff of Iran's armed forces brigade General Mohammad Hejazi says that Iran is willing if needed to give military assistance to Iraq to help combat al-qaida.

“Nothing has been discussed about a joint operation against Takfiri terrorists, but if Iraqis need equipment and consultation, we will help them,” the Iranian commander said.

Iran offers to help Iraq in fight against al-Qaeda
Associated Press, Jan. 6, 2014

A senior Iranian military official on Monday Iran is ready to help Iraq battle al-Qaeda “terrorists” in the neighboring country’s Sunni-dominated western Anbar province [....]

They must lament the failure

jollyroger — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 09:27:00 +0000

In reply to McCain, Graham blast Obama

They must lament the failure to agree that US forces be tried in Iraqi courts for local misdeeds, since it is down to that refusal by the Obama admin that a Statuf Of Forces agreement was not concluded.

Power Vacuum in Middle East

artappraiser — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 08:25:20 +0000

In reply to Parts of 2 Key Iraqi Cities Fall to Qaeda Group Active in Syria

Power Vacuum in Middle East Lifts Militants
By Ben Hubbard in Beirut, Robert F. Worth in Washington and Michael R. Gordon in Jerusalem, New York Times, Jan. 4/5, 2013

The bloodshed that has engulfed Iraq, Lebanon and Syria exposes the emergence of a post-American Middle East in which no broker has the will or power to contain the region’s sectarian hatreds.....

Fairly good summary of the developments for those who haven't been able to keep up. Especially helpful with events in the region being put in a wide chronological context rather than as individual national developments, as in "it's all inter-related."

A good line: Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose rulers — claiming to represent Shiite and Sunni Islam, respectively — cynically deploy a sectarian agenda that makes almost any sort of accommodation a heresy.

McCain, Graham blast Obama

artappraiser — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 04:18:16 +0000

In reply to Parts of 2 Key Iraqi Cities Fall to Qaeda Group Active in Syria

McCain, Graham blast Obama for Al Qaeda-related takeover of Fallujah, call situation 'predictable'
Fox News, Jan. 4, 2014

I am reminded, how things

Resistance — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 21:44:50 +0000

In reply to No charts. Things are far too

I am reminded, how things considered small and insignificant, can engulf the entire world into turmoil. Even after the war the death toll continued to rise due to pestilence. Who could have foretold this event? Want a hint?

http://www.history.com/topics/the-death-of-archduke-franz-ferdinand-and-the-outbreak-of--world-war-i

No charts. Things are far too

artappraiser — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 21:30:33 +0000

In reply to ArtA by chance have you ever

No charts. Things are far too complicated for that. I don't agree with your implications. This is not global. It's strictly radical Islamic, Sunni vs. Shia radicals. Actually, there's a bigger chance they kill a lot of each other leaving fewer U.S. drone hits necessary. The Al Qaeda Sunnis have removed their attention from fighting the big powers to seeing a chance to set up their dream Islamic state that was always their end goal. As if they were successful, all Muslims will then look at that state and say "oh boy, we want that too!" Not.

Sometimes I even wonder if Saudi royals are doing some of the same thing they've done in the past, send their troublemakers elsewhere so they're no trouble at home. Iran's leaders are cynical, they support Hezbollah in the past for strategic purposes, now they have probably lost control and probably not happy about what's going on either.

Look, Egypt is a huge Sunni country and they won't even tolerate the Muslim Brotherhood any more, calling them terrorists, much less Al Qaeda. The big world conflagration you seem to be excited about is Al Qaeda's dream but most of the rest of the world don't see it going that way. All that's going to continue to happen is just an awful lot of pain and suffering for a lot of civilians as borders and rulers and rule of law constantly change and their terrorist hits cause an infinite variety of ramifications.

The approach of Russia is instructive, doesn't want to have anything to do with radical Sunnis and will support any dictator willing to put them down. But they already did Afghanistan and Chechnya, been there done that, ain't going to get further involved themselves beyond supporting strong dictators putting a lid on things and continuing cracking down on them when within their own borders.