Al-Qaeda Militants Push Toward Baghdad, Storm Other Cities; U.S. Watches

[Allegra]

Thanks!  Glad to know that.   

Hi y'all! Yep, I'm stateside for now and not intending to go back to any war zones.  Dubai looks to be my next assignment.

I have a friend and former colleague who was on the F-16 training case at Balad. He messaged me yesterday and said they were preparing to evac. Lots of mortar and rocket fire in the area. I haven't had a follow-up message yet; I'm sure things are crazy right now.

Another guy at the Embassy in Baghdad, which is where I was working with the J8 last year said evac plans are underway, but they're still there.  I hope it doesn't become like the Saigon evacuation, because there are a *lot* more people at the Baghdad Embassy than there were at Saigon.

Thanks for thinking of me.

[mystery-ak]

Hi y'all! Yep, I'm stateside for now and not intending to go back to any war zones.  Dubai looks to be my next assignment.

I have a friend and former colleague who was on the F-16 training case at Balad. He messaged me yesterday and said they were preparing to evac. Lots of mortar and rocket fire in the area. I haven't had a follow-up message yet; I'm sure things are crazy right now.

Another guy at the Embassy in Baghdad, which is where I was working with the J8 last year said evac plans are underway, but they're still there.  I hope it doesn't become like the Saigon evacuation, because there are a *lot* more people at the Baghdad Embassy than there were at Saigon.

Thanks for thinking of me.

Thanks for checking in Allegra....I sure hope they can get all your friends out in time..ISIS seems to be moving fast across Iraq.

[SPQR]

Another guy at the Embassy in Baghdad, which is where I was working with the J8 last year said evac plans are underway, but they're still there.  I hope it doesn't become like the Saigon evacuation, because there are a *lot* more people at the Baghdad Embassy than there were at Saigon.

I mentioned that

[SPQR]

I just hope that this evacuation does not turn into the 1975 evacuation of Vietnam. We seen the film people cramming into those helicopters

It was a gigantic mess and logistical nightmare with no thought put into it.

[DCPatriot]

Hi y'all! Yep, I'm stateside for now and not intending to go back to any war zones.  Dubai looks to be my next assignment.

I have a friend and former colleague who was on the F-16 training case at Balad. He messaged me yesterday and said they were preparing to evac. Lots of mortar and rocket fire in the area. I haven't had a follow-up message yet; I'm sure things are crazy right now.

Another guy at the Embassy in Baghdad, which is where I was working with the J8 last year said evac plans are underway, but they're still there.  I hope it doesn't become like the Saigon evacuation, because there are a *lot* more people at the Baghdad Embassy than there were at Saigon.

Thanks for thinking of me.

 

[Ford289HiPo]

Hi y'all! Yep, I'm stateside for now and not intending to go back to any war zones. 

Uh-huh................ you have the Contracting Disease Syndrome. It's known to cause an a compulsive desire to live in substandard housing units, use Axe body spray, and an intense lusting for Green Beans coffee in 140 degree heat.   ^-^
It's only cure is retirement, but symptoms can be mitigated by going through a MOD 11 physical.

[SPQR]

It was a gigantic mess and logistical nightmare with no thought put into it.

The American cue to evacuate was played over Armed Forces Radio "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby

[SPQR]

The American cue to evacuate was played over Armed Forces Radio "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AiyFF9qOls

Vietnam Saigon Evacuation

[Fishrrman]

Question from katzenjammer above:
[[ Does anyone have any idea as to how many Americans are in Baghdad? ]]

Does the American embassy there have a helicopter pad up on the roof?

How much longer until we see a Saigon-style evacuation ?

You know it's what's coming.

Kinda like "Deja Vu, all over again...."

Aside: without the helicopters, it might very well end up like Tehran in 1979.
Even -more- Deja Vu !!

[EC]

Hi y'all! Yep, I'm stateside for now and not intending to go back to any war zones.  Dubai looks to be my next assignment.

Yeah, right. If there is a war, you'll be there. It's addictive. 

Glad you are safe at home for the moment. Word on Dubai - wife says it is getting risky for a woman to walk down the street on her own. Something I never figured she'd say about there, but she's rather good with people and picking up vibes. Her last Dubai trip (about a month back) she refused to leave the hotel and two of her female colleagues were followed and harassed. So be careful there, eh?

[Oceander]

Question from katzenjammer above:
[[ Does anyone have any idea as to how many Americans are in Baghdad? ]]

Does the American embassy there have a helicopter pad up on the roof?

How much longer until we see a Saigon-style evacuation ?

You know it's what's coming.

Kinda like "Deja Vu, all over again...."

Aside: without the helicopters, it might very well end up like Tehran in 1979.
Even -more- Deja Vu !!

Unfortunately, I think it would be much bloodier than Tehran in 1979.

[alicewonders]

Hi y'all! Yep, I'm stateside for now and not intending to go back to any war zones.  Dubai looks to be my next assignment.

I have a friend and former colleague who was on the F-16 training case at Balad. He messaged me yesterday and said they were preparing to evac. Lots of mortar and rocket fire in the area. I haven't had a follow-up message yet; I'm sure things are crazy right now.

Another guy at the Embassy in Baghdad, which is where I was working with the J8 last year said evac plans are underway, but they're still there.  I hope it doesn't become like the Saigon evacuation, because there are a *lot* more people at the Baghdad Embassy than there were at Saigon.

Thanks for thinking of me.

It's good to hear from you Allegra and that you're alright!  I've thought about you the past few days and wondered how you were doing.  Glad you're back!

 

[SPQR]

Question from katzenjammer above:
[[ Does anyone have any idea as to how many Americans are in Baghdad? ]]

Does the American embassy there have a helicopter pad up on the roof?

How much longer until we see a Saigon-style evacuation ?

You know it's what's coming.

Kinda like "Deja Vu, all over again...."

Aside: without the helicopters, it might very well end up like Tehran in 1979.
Even -more- Deja Vu !!

A State Department official said in January that it still had about 5,000 contractors working in Iraq at the embassy in Baghdad and at consulates in Basra and Irbil. About 2,000 were U.S. civilians. That reflected a steep decrease from January 2013, when the State Department had about 12,500 contractors — 4,500 of them Americans — but it still underscores the significant logistics an evacuation of U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq would require.

The article validated my logistical nightmare fiasco

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/06/12/diplomats-pilots-and-hired-guns-here-are-the-americans-left-in-iraq/

[mountaineer]

So when is he going to say what - if anything - the US will do about it? Valerie? Mommy? Help!

Iraqis flee as militants close in; Obama says Iraq's government needs help
By Faith Karimi and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN
June 13, 2014 -- Updated 1209 GMT (2009 HKT)

CNN) -- Radical Islamists pushed forward in Iraq as an increasingly nervous United States sought ways to stop the militants from closing in on Baghdad.

As Iraq further disintegrated, residents fled Mosul in droves. Militants captured the country's second-largest city this week after soldiers scattered, leaving their uniforms and weapons behind.

Jittery families eager to leave sat in traffic jams stretching as far as the eye could see.

Violence is spreading and security deteriorating in the nation, prompting U.S. President Barack Obama to say the beleaguered government required assistance.

"It's going to need more help from us, and it's going to need more help from the international community," Obama said Thursday. "I don't rule out anything, because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either Iraq or Syria."

A senior Obama administration official said Friday that the president has not yet made a decision on whether to act on any military options. But another senior administration official indicated that a decision could come as early as this weekend.

Airstrikes are among the options on the table, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Thursday. But there will be no repeat of a large U.S. troop presence on Iraqi soil.

"We are not contemplating ground troops," Carney said. "I want to be clear about that."

U.S. officials have also discussed bolstering ongoing efforts to send arms, equipment and intelligence information to help Iraq and its military.

The militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, want to establish an Islamic caliphate, or state, in the region.

ISIS has had significant success in Syria, where it is battling President Bashar al-Assad's government.

ISIS fighters amid civilian population

According to several U.S. officials, the U.S. military has not finalized a proposed set of ISIS targets in Iraq for Obama, amid significant military concerns that strikes may prove futile against ISIS fighters who are dispersed and mingled with a civilian population.

Several more top-level meetings are scheduled in the next 48 hours, as Obama mulls his course of action.

"Our planning is looking at the full range of options," a senior U.S. official told CNN. Those options range from increasing U.S. surveillance flights over ISIS areas to potential airstrikes, the official acknowledged.

But conducting airstrikes by either manned aircraft or drones presents several problems now being discussed inside the administration, the official said.

The official said that while the U.S. military and intelligence community had been watching events in Iraq closely, there is some surprise in the last few days about how fast ISIS has moved, and the scope of the lack of response from Iraqi forces.

Iraq has indicated a willingness for the U.S. military to conduct airstrikes against the militants.

Washington has already provided $15 billion in training, weapons and equipment to the Iraqi government.

The militants' march in Iraq has caught the world's attention, especially the United States, which led the 2003 invasion that toppled longtime leader Saddam Hussein.

Since then, instability and violence have plagued Iraq; though, until now, its woes had not included a fast-moving takeover of key cities.

Peshmerga gains

On Friday, fighting for control of towns in Iraq continued.

While the Iraqi army has done little to resist the advance of the ISIS militants, Kurdish fighters deployed by the semiautonomous Kurdish regional government, in coordination with Baghdad, are having more impact.  ...

More from CNN

[alicewonders]

So when is he going to say what - if anything - the US will do about it? Valerie? Mommy? Help!More from CNN

They're putting the finishing tweaks on his speech, where he will say he found out about this the same way we have - seeing it on television.  And how he's mad as hell and going to send John Kerry over there to negotiate with ISIS.

[SPQR]

Its too late.

[mountaineer]

Is our pal "Allegra" still there?

[EC]

Is our pal "Allegra" still there?

She is home at the moment - posted yesterday.

[Allegra]

Uh-huh................ you have the Contracting Disease Syndrome. It's known to cause an a compulsive desire to live in substandard housing units, use Axe body spray, and an intense lusting for Green Beans coffee in 140 degree heat.   ^-^
It's only cure is retirement, but symptoms can be mitigated by going through a MOD 11 physical.

 

I definitely desire indoor plumbing these days. The upcoming gig will have nicer accommodations, no T-walls and no Hesco barriers.

My friends got out of Balad over the weekend and are waiting things out in the UAE.

My friend at the Embassy is still at the Embassy. That does not evoke a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Note to Embassy recreation staff: Do not show "Argo" at the Embassy theater right now, 'K?

[Allegra]

Is our pal "Allegra" still there?

I'm home! Thanks for asking.  :dx1:

[Allegra]

It's good to hear from you Allegra and that you're alright!  I've thought about you the past few days and wondered how you were doing.  Glad you're back!

 

Thanks! Me too. Last year at this time, I was working at the Embassy in Baghdad and the situation outside the wire had begun to deteriorate.

The only good thing was, they weren't paying any attention to us infidels.

[Allegra]

Question from katzenjammer above:
[[ Does anyone have any idea as to how many Americans are in Baghdad? ]]

Does the American embassy there have a helicopter pad up on the roof?

How much longer until we see a Saigon-style evacuation ?

You know it's what's coming.

Kinda like "Deja Vu, all over again...."

Aside: without the helicopters, it might very well end up like Tehran in 1979.
Even -more- Deja Vu !!

There are a couple of helo landing zones at the Embassy.

Sorry for the brevity - I probably should refrain from being any more specific.

[Allegra]

Yeah, right. If there is a war, you'll be there. It's addictive. 

Glad you are safe at home for the moment. Word on Dubai - wife says it is getting risky for a woman to walk down the street on her own. Something I never figured she'd say about there, but she's rather good with people and picking up vibes. Her last Dubai trip (about a month back) she refused to leave the hotel and two of her female colleagues were followed and harassed. So be careful there, eh?

Will do! Good to see you!