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

[mystery-ak]

http://news.yahoo.com/u-watches-iraq-speeds-toward-094500826.html;_ylt=AwrBEiJOiJhT3VgA4I3QtDMD

The Fiscal Times
By David Francis

Fighters for the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took Mosul today, giving the militant group control of Iraq’s second largest city and setting the country on a path toward chaos.

ISIS militants already control Fallujah, a city that American Marines took in 2004 in what was the bloodiest battle of the Iraq War. Now, with both Mosul and Fallujah under their control, nearly half of Iraq is in the grips of a group that is a formal affiliate of a terrorist group.

Equally troubling are the circumstances under which the city fell. Iraqi security personnel simply abandoned their posts, according to reports.

This is problematic for a host of reasons. First, it shows that the American-trained Iraqi military is not adequate. Second, Iraqi soldiers left their weapons behind – giving ISIS a huge cache of equipment.

But the most disturbing aspect of the desertion is what Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki proposed to replace the missing troops. In an address to the nation Tuesday, he called on Iraqi citizens to take up arms against ISIS in an attempt to retake the city.

“We will not allow for the remainder of the ... province and the city to fall," he said, adding that he would arm them. “This requires all efforts, both civilian and official, to confront this ferocious attack that harms all Iraqis, from a deteriorating security situation to a humanitarian crisis.”

continued

[mystery-ak]

All our sacrifices for nothing....thanks Obama

[mystery-ak]

If there are any Christians left in Iraq they better get the hell out now...

[Oceander]

GWB saved Iraq from al-qaeda

Barack Obama gave it to them on a silver platter

[truth_seeker]

In the words of Gen. Colin Powell, "you break it, you own it." So much for the "nation building" of muslim lands.

So much for training the military in muslim lands. So much for wasting our country's lives, limbs and treasure on the pipedream that these types of places will adopt democracy, live in peace, etc.

[Oceander]

In the words of Gen. Colin Powell, "you break it, you own it." So much for the "nation building" of muslim lands.

So much for training the military in muslim lands. So much for wasting our country's lives, limbs and treasure on the pipedream that these types of places will adopt democracy, live in peace, etc.

too true

[mystery-ak]

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/11/u-s-embassy-prepares-for-possible-evacuation-as-militants-take-control-in-iraq/

U.S. Embassy Prepares for Possible Evacuation as Militants Take Control in Iraq
Jun. 11, 2014 5:25pm    Sara Carter

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is preparing contingency plans to evacuate its employees if necessary now that one of the deadliest Islamic militant groups in the region has taken control of large swaths of Iraq, a U.S. official told TheBlaze.

The State Department also warned U.S. citizens against traveling to Iraq, following several days of bloody clashes between insurgents with the Al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Iraqi military forces. ISIL has taken control of Mosul, Tikrit and Fallujah and aims to create an Islamic state across the Iraq-Syria border.

The U.S. official told TheBlaze that the U.S. Embassy, United Nations and other foreign organizations with a presence in Iraq are “preparing contingency plans to evacuate employees.”

Mortar rounds and rockets have hit Baghdad International Airport and Mosul’s airport has been the target of militant assault. The State Department advisory warned U.S. citizens to avoid public gathering places because of the high risk of kidnapping and terrorist violence.

A U.S. counterterrorism official said the violence has reached “levels not seen since 2007.”

Iraqi forces are conducting military operations in Nineveh and Anbar provinces against the insurgent and terrorist organizations that have occupied those territories, the State Department said.

“We are working with Iraqi leaders from across the country to support a coordinated response and you can expect we will provide additional assistance to the Iraqi government to combat the threat from ISIL,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday.

[mystery-ak]

They better evac them now before they have another Benghazi on their hands...but then again they may not care.

[Atomic Cow]

Obama will sit idly by while the Caliphate is restored.

[Chieftain]

Obama will sit idly by while the Caliphate is restored.

Not quite.  What we are seeing is Iraq breaking up into essentially three groups: Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds, which is what the Bush Administration warned about endlessly to little or no avail.  When we summarily withdrew from Iraq because Obama failed to negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement, it set the stage for years of civil war.

We are witnessing the Obama Doctrine in action.

 

[EC]

(CNN) -- Iraq's government Wednesday indicated a willingness for the United States military to conduct airstrikes against radical Islamist militants who have taken over one large city and are threatening to fully control another, a U.S. official told CNN.

Several U.S. officials said Washington views the situation as "extremely urgent" and is looking to see what more support the United States can provide to the Iraqi government, in addition to weapons and vehicles it has already provided.

Part of this will be giving Iraqi officals intelligence they can use to go going after the militants, believed to be from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS and ISIL.

Assistance could also involve training and "kinetic" activity, U.S. officials told CNN, but they wouldn't specify whether those options included airstrikes.

Baghdad's openness to airstrikes was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday night.

More plus video report: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/11/world/meast/iraq-violence/index.html

[Oceander]

However, Obuttocks is closed to anything of that sort.

[EC]

BAGHDAD — Sunni militants consolidated and extended their control over northern Iraq on Wednesday, seizing Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, threatening the strategic oil refining town of Baiji and pushing south toward Baghdad, their ultimate target, Iraqi sources said.

As the dimensions of the assault began to become clear, it was evident that a number of militant groups had joined forces, including Baathist military commanders from the Hussein era, whose goal is to rout the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. One of the Baathists, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, was a top military commander and a vice president in the Hussein government and one of the few prominent Baathists to evade capture by the Americans throughout the occupation.

“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. “The decisive battle will be in northern Baghdad. These groups will not stop in Tikrit and will keep moving toward Baghdad.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/world/middleeast/iraq.html

[EC]

I don't know. A few high altitude bombing runs are a minimal risk and would shore up his foreign policy chops in the eyes of his base.

[Fishrrman]

Sounds like South Vietnam, 1975, all over again.

From early on in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the outcome once we left was a foregone conclusion.

Tell me folks, honestly -- who did NOT expect this?

Who in this forum REALLY BELIEVED that once we were no longer present there, that the islamic militants would not make their moves?

The enemy in Iraq was never really Saddam.
The enemy in Afghanistan was not, and is not now, the taliban.
The enemy is something else.

Have you figured out what (and who) that is, yet ??

[SPQR]

Just all that American equipment such as night vision goggles and other material in the hands of Al Queda

[EC]

WASHINGTON –  The United States is preparing to send new aid to Iraq to help slow a violent insurgent march that is threatening to take over the nation's north, officials said Wednesday. But the Obama administration offered only tepid support for Iraq's beleaguered prime minister, and U.S. lawmakers openly questioned whether he should remain in power.

With no obvious replacement for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki -- and no apparent intent on his part to step down -- Washington is largely resigned to continue working with his Shiite-led government that has targeted Sunni political opponents and, in turn, has inflamed sectarian tensions across Iraq.

"He's obviously not been a good prime minister," said Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "He has not done a good job of reaching out to the Sunni population, which has caused them to be more receptive to Al Qaeda efforts."

The panel's chairman, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., noted only lukewarm support for al-Maliki, both in Iraq and among U.S. officials. "I don't know whether or not he will actually be the prime minister again," Menendez said. "I guess by many accounts, he may very well ultimately put (together) the coalition necessary to do that."

Insurgents with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which is inspired by Al Qaeda, overran the northern Iraqi town of Tikrit on Wednesday, a day after seizing Mosul, the nation's second-largest city. The insurgent network has controlled the western city of Fallujah since the start of this year, and is fighting to take over Beiji, a key northern oil refinery town.

The rampage has raised new doubts about al-Maliki's ability to protect Iraq in areas that were mostly calm when U.S. troops withdrew from the country less than three years ago. Since then, violence has roared back to Iraq, returning to levels comparable to the darkest days of sectarian fighting nearly a decade ago when the country teetered on the brink of civil war.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/12/white-house-weighs-sending-fresh-aid-to-iraq-amid-distrust-al-maliki/


A very good analysis of the "rock and a hard place" nature of dealing with Iraq.

[mystery-ak]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-12/iraq-seeks-to-check-advance-of-islamists-near-saddam-s-hometown.html

 Iraq Battles Islamists in Saddam’s Hometown, 80 Miles From Baghdad
By Glen Carey and Mahmoud Habboush Jun 12, 2014 9:21 AM CT

Iraqi forces sought to check the rapid advance of Islamist militants who had seized major cities, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responded to the greatest threat to his government since taking power.

The military attacked fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in Saddam Hussein’s former hometown of Tikrit, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Baghdad, state-sponsored Iraqiya television reported. In Mosul, the air force struck ISIL positions after they seized the largest city in Iraq’s north earlier this week, Iraqiya said. Al-Sumaria television reported heavy clashes as the army fought for Tikrit backed by air support.

The surge in violence across northern and central Iraq, three years after U.S. troops withdrew, has raised the prospect of a return to sectarian civil war in OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer. Al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government is struggling to retain control of Sunni-majority regions, and his army units in northern Iraq collapsed in the face of the Islamist advance.

“This can’t be looked at as anything other than a comprehensive failure by the Iraqi army,” Crispin Hawes, managing director of the research firm Teneo Intelligence in London, said in a phone interview. “If the army can’t protect Mosul, how are they going to protect other cities?” he said. “Moving southward would be the logical thing to do for ISIL.”

Refugees fleeing from Mosul head to the self-ruled northern Kurdish region in Irbil,... Read More
Oil Prices

The advance of ISIL fighters has rattled oil futures and markets in both Iraq and Turkey. Brent crude oil rose to the highest since the start of March and West Texas Intermediate to an eight-month high amid the violence.

Kurdish authorities, who control the territory to the east of Mosul, have fortified defenses around their borders and also dispatched their armed forces to take control of Kirkuk, home to the biggest northern oilfield, the semi-autonomous Kurdish government said on its website.

continued

[rangerrebew]

Obama Won’t Try To Stop al-Qaida Army In Iraq

Posted By Neil Munro On 10:35 AM 06/12/2014 In | No Comments


President Barack Obama denied U.S. air support to the elected government of Iraq, which is reeling in the face of a large-scale jihadi invasion from the Syrian desert.

The invasion comes three years after Obama pulled out the last U.S contingent from a then-quiet Iraq.

From 2003 to 2011, 4,485 U.S. soldiers were killed by jihadis and their allies as the U.S. helped establish Iraq’s democratic government. A 2007 “surge” offensive established a shaky peace, and helped reconciliation talks.

But Obama’s 2011 pullout completed his 2008 campaign promise, which Obama has frequently congratulated himself for doing.

Obama’s rejection of support was announced by a late-night statement from his press secretary.

The statement notably ignored the Iraq government’s request for a U.S. force of high-tech airpower — such as aircraft and drones — that could destroy jihadi groups as they advance in the open desert. (RELATED: Al-Qaida Establishes Islamic Caliphate Across Syria, Northern Iraq)

The letter instead offered reassurances of support, the promise of future financial aid and the promise of some military supplies.

If approved, U.S. airpower would boost the morale of the damaged Iraqi military, and give them time to organize a counter-attack against the jihad army, which is a regional spin-off of the al-Qaida force.

 
The jihadi force, named the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, captured the country’s second largest city this week. It has also captured an armored column and several smaller cities in the western part of the country, and is threatening to wreck the nation’s major source of revenue, its oil refineries.

Without U.S. air support, Iraq may be forced to ask for combat support from the Iranian military.

“We offer our condolences to the families of those killed and underscore our commitment to assist the Iraqi people as they confront the threat… [and] the United States will stand with Iraqi leaders across the political spectrum as they forge the national unity necessary to succeed in the fight,” said Obama’s statement.

“We will work with Congress to support the new Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund, which will provide flexibility and resources to help Iraq respond to emerging needs,” it added.

“We will also continue to provide, and as required increase, assistance to the government of Iraq to help build Iraq’s [military] capacity,” the note said.

Obama’s decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq, despite the hard-fought victory by U.S. forces, is a reason for pride, Obama’s press secretary declared June 10.

“I would put ending the war in Iraq, responsibly winding down the war in Afghanistan, and decimating and destroying core al-Qaida… are a handful of accomplishments that certainly this president and this commander-in-chief are proud of,” Josh Earnest said.

Follow Neil on Twitter


Article printed from The Daily Caller: http://dailycaller.com

URL to article: http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/12/obama-wont-try-to-stop-al-qaida-army-in-iraq/

[mystery-ak]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10895007/Repent-or-die-al-Qaeda-forces-announce-rules-for-Iraqi-territory-they-now-control.html

Repent or die: al-Qaeda forces announce rules for Iraqi territory they now control
ISIS, the al-Qaeda group that has swept through northern Iraq, releases list of rules that citizens must live by: including 'repent or die'


A man is executed in a new video released by ISIS


By Damien McElroy

12:51PM BST 12 Jun 2014

 Iraq crisis: follow live updates

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham has set out a list of rules for residents of Mosul as it seeks to impose its Islamist rules on Iraq's second city.

Referring to the area by its ancient name, Nineveh, the group says it has a clear set of instructions for the remaining occupants of the city and surrounding area.

continued

[mystery-ak]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2655977/ISIS-militants-march-Baghdad-trademark-bullet-head-gets-way-control-north.html#ixzz34PqXWUxn

The battle for Baghdad is nigh: Thousands of men answer Iraqi government's call to arms as ISIS jihadists bear down on capital

    Iraq's government has indicated a willingness for the US military to conduct airstrikes against radical Islamist militants
    Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have taken over Iraq's second biggest city Mosul and town of Tikrit
    Government forces have stalled the militants' advance near Samarra, a city just 110km (68 miles) north of Baghdad
    ISIS's goal is to create a Islamic caliphate (state) - it already controls territory in eastern Syria and western/central Iraq
    Iraq's parliament were to hold an emergency session today but it was postponed due to a opposition boycott
    Kurdish forces are in full control of Iraq's oil city of Kirkuk after the federal army abandoned their posts
    Iran has sent special forces and a unit of elite troops to Iraq to assist the Iraqi government halt the advance
    Turkey is negotiating for the release of 80 nationals held by Islamist militants in Mosul
    Iraqi air force is bombing insurgent positions in and around Mosul - 1.3 million citizens still remain in the city

By Jill Reilly

Published: 02:15 EST, 12 June 2014 | Updated: 10:14 EST, 12 June 2014

Thousands of Iraqis young and old have answered the beleaguered Shia-led government’s call to arms and signed up to protect the capital, and country, from ISIS militants.

As jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant march on Baghdad after capturing swathes of northern Iraq male supporters of the government turned out in droves today to enlist and fight back.

The militants have already seized control of Iraq's second largest city Mosul where it is reported that roughly 30,000 soldiers fled as just 800 fighters approached.

Less than 24 hours later the oil-rich city of Tikrit was captured by the militants, who then turned their attentions to the capital.

But so far government forces have stalled the militants' remarkably rapid advance near Samarra, a city just 110km (68 miles) north of Baghdad and they are now bombing insurgent positions in and around Mosul - although 500,000 residents have fled, 1. 3 million citizens still remain in the city.

Nevertheless ISIS is pushing ahead with its aim to overthrow the western-backed government as part of its goal to create an Islamic emirate spanning both sides of the Iraq-Syria border.

continued

[Chieftain]

This is the Obama Doctrine in action.  The four year ongoing slaughter in Syria is not enough, Obama is going to stand by and do nothing while Iraq descends back into even bloodier civil war.

I fear the day is coming when one of these warring extremists gets their hands on a nuclear warhead, uses it, and sets off a nuclear brush war all over the Middle East.

 

[flowers]

Not quite.  What we are seeing is Iraq breaking up into essentially three groups: Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds, which is what the Bush Administration warned about endlessly to little or no avail.  When we summarily withdrew from Iraq because Obama failed to negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement, it set the stage for years of civil war.

We are witnessing the Obama Doctrine in action.

 

The Kurds are Christian?

[Chieftain]

I wonder if Obama would do anything if the Pakistani Government called to say that their nuclear warheads are in jeopardy, and requesting US Military aid to secure them??  I think the warheads would be long gone before Obammy got around to making up his mind about anything.

 

[kevindavis007]

This is the Obama Doctrine in action.  The four year ongoing slaughter in Syria is not enough, Obama is going to stand by and do nothing while Iraq descends back into even bloodier civil war.

I fear the day is coming when one of these warring extremists gets their hands on a nuclear warhead, uses it, and sets off a nuclear brush war all over the Middle East.

 

Plus I fear the day this very thing happens here in the states..