Friday, August 29, 2014

In Hushed Voices, Europeans Are Whispering : "He has no plan "

The Associated Press reports there is only one shiite community in northern Iraq that has decided to stay and fight ISIS as they drive across the region, seizing vast swaths of territory and driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. The Shiite Turkmens living in the town of Amirli have decided to stay and fight. They have dug trenches, placed armed watchers on roofs and have actually held off the ISIS unit trting to take their town of 15,000 and undoubtedly slaughter them. The Turkmens have held out for more than six weeks under siege they don't know how much longer they can hold out. Residents say militants with the Islamic State group first attacked the town in late June. When the townsmen fought them off, the militants retaliated by blowing up the main power station to the north, according to Ali al-Bayati, head of the Turkmen Saving Foundation, a local NGO. The insurgents also destroyed several water wells on the outskirts of town, he said. Earlier this week, the UN special representative for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, called for immediate action in Amirli "to prevent the possible massacre of its citizens." Iraqi shiite forces are trying to relieve the town by breaking the blockade with an incursion from the west. Their US-made Apache helicopters have targeted militant positions with airstrikes, but ground troops faced fierce resistance from the insurgents, who have also slowed their progress with booby-trapped homes and roadside bombs. Amirli is the last symbol of resistance for the shiites in Iraq," according to Michael Knights, an Iraq expert at the Washington Institute who made numerous visits to the town before the latest fighting began. "It is the last non-sunni community that is totally exposed to ISIS right now, and it is fully encircled." The Obama administration has already engaged to protect the Kurdish autonomous region and religious minorities elsewhere in northern Iraq and Obama is now weighing whether to begin an aid operation for Amirli, according to unnamed US defense officials. ~~~~~ The UN reports that as of today three million Syrian refugees will have registered in neighboring countries, but many remain trapped by the advance of Islamist militants or are having difficulty in reaching open border crossings, according to the UN. Syrians desperate to leave their war-engulfed homeland are forced to pay large bribes at armed checkpoints proliferating along Syria's borders, or to smugglers, the UN refugee agency said. The record figure is one million refugees more than a year ago, while a further 6.5 million are displaced within Syria, meaning that "almost half of all Syrians have now been forced to abandon their homes and flee for their lives. The Syrian crisis has become the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era, yet the world is failing to meet the needs of refugees and the countries hosting them," Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. There are 1.17 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, 830,000 in Tuekry and 613,000 in Jordan. ~~~~~ President Barack Obama's acknowledgement the US still lacks a strategy for defeating the growing extremist threat emanating from Syria is, in part, an admission that he has either not tried or has not been able to form an international coalition to engage in the Middle East. The US is faced with the need to root out the ISIS group that has seized large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, as a matter of American and European security and to protect people from inhumane conditions in Syria and Iraq. The President is meeting with his top advisers and consulting members of Congress to prepare US military options. At the same time, he is looking for allies around the world to help the US root out the ISIS group that has seized large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq. They've beat back al-Assad forces in Syria while co-opting and then practically eliminating the original mainstream Syrian freedom fighters. They have clashed with al-Qaida's local affiliate, routed Iraq's army and pushed back Kurdish peshmerga fighters. American airstrikes in Iraq have recently caused some ISIS pause and backtracking. But US military leaders say the terrorists can't be crushed unless their sanctuaries in Syria are targeted. ~~~~~ Dear readers, the most complete condemnation comes from his own lips -- that as US President, Barack Obama has no strategy for Syria. His advisors are quick to add that he was referring to ISIS in Syria, but that there is an Obama Iraq strategy, although we have yet to be made privy to it. Perhaps airstrikes at targets of opportunity and urging Iraq to unite to save itself constitutes a strategy. Perhaps it is the Obama Middle East policy. Perhaps the President would add to that his continuing complaints that Congress is hampering him - how, he doesn't say - and that Americans are weary of war, notwithstanding that they disapprove of his anemic Iraq actions by a whopping 58%. But, America and the world are supposed to take comfort from the White House announcement that he is huddling with his advisors this weekend to try to figure out what to do in Syria. I cannot fully express my shock and fear at such antics coming from an American President. Words do not do justice to the gaping absence of prior planning, prepared white papers, doomsday analysis, or even the most ordinary common sense that comes from reading newspapers and watching TV news. In Europe, newscasters are whispering in hushed tones : "He has no plan." It begins to sound like Hans Christian Anderson's tale of pride and gullibility and the little boy who said : "But, the Emperor has no clothes."

12 comments:

  1. He has never had a plan for anything that he has undertaken – not one, none!

    But let’s forget about plans & policies, objectives, etc. This is but isn’t if we don’t want it to be a sole military operation. The United States has no dog in the fight in Syria-Iraq region or for that matter any place else in the Middle East except Israel. There we are involved and always will be.

    What is happening in the Syria-Iraq region is more “HUMANATARIAN” or all humanitarian from an outside involvement view. The question here is not how much to help, but to help PERIOD. These people aren’t dying from disease, famine, political strife. No, they are dying because of a marauding bunch of murderers that believe they are back in the 7th century with their self-appointed “Last Prophet of God – Mohammad.”

    This is Hitler thinking all over again except ISIS is not taking the time to build the ovens – beheading is what Mohammad prescribes.

    How can Obama sit in the lap of luxury, paid for by the US taxpayers, admit he has NO plan, has NO scheduled staff meetings on the subject and do NOTHING? Does he think the Syrians, Kurds, Christians; even the Islamic people will be unharmed until he makes up his precious mind; or better until Valerie Jarrett decides what he should do. Let’s remember she is of the Islamic faith with a heap of socialism thrown in.

    Obama get off your *** and do something right and decent for someone else.

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  2. Mrs. Obama said on the eve of her husband’s first Oath of Office …”this is the first time that I have been proud to be an American”. Well Michelle except for everyday of your husband’s administration – this is the first time that I have been embarrassed to be an American. Your husband’s inaction in aiding the people of Syria & Northern Iraq is the most inhuman action I have ever known any American president to take.

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  3. Sometimes, there is no substitute for doing a job ourselves. Bombing a single ISIS artillery piece—or even a dozen—is not going to change the outcome of war. Limited airstrikes and repeated statements are worse than whack-a-mole; they are more finger wagging at the mole. Intermittent bombing may create the illusion of threat reduction, but action absent strategy is little more than symbolism over substance. Obama’s willingness to reengage in Iraq is admirable, but until he crafts a coherent strategy that recognizes ISIS’ roots and motivation—not only in Iraq, but also in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon—he will be doing little more than using American pilots to kick the can down the road.

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    1. President Barack Obama’s air strikes against militants from the group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) “could increase the likelihood that ISIS or somebody inspired by ISIS, would strike against the homeland,” says Seth Jones, a terrorism expert with Rand Corp. ISIS has long threatened America openly. In June the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, warned Americans that “soon enough, you will be in direct confrontation with us.

      This unthoughtful rush to direct military involvement action by the US in Syria & N. Iraq could produce the Mother of all “BLOWBACKS” that the United States has ever been responsible for. This action could quickly place the world into a state of chaotic upheaval in the matter of a few months. That’s (Blowback) one of the downsides of U.S. involvement. The more we visibly get involved in helping the [Iraqi] government fight these guys, the more we become a target.

      Humanitarian aid certainly. Defensive air support for the people of N. Iraq certainly. The US through various countries in the Middle East goes out “Ex-Spec Ops” to go to Amirli yet this weekend certainly. But do we under the guise of being Mr. Goodfellow rush in with Blackhawk chopper, the Air First Cav, and a few teams of SpecOps.

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    2. Directly for the handbook …Blowback is unintended consequences of a covert operation that are suffered by the aggressor. To the civilians suffering the blowback of covert operations, the effect typically manifests itself as “random” acts of political violence without a discernible, direct cause; because the public—in whose name the intelligence agency acted—are unaware of the effected secret attacks that provoked revenge (counter-attack) against them.

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    3. “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.”
      ― Abraham Lincoln

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  4. Obama lives in a buzz world, in a PR world, an image world, not in reality. Certainty not the reality of Iraq and Syria What you can make people think, what impression you can make or leave what image you can create… that’s Obama idea of presidential leadership. He’s working on a plan for ISIS and Iraq and that’s all we need to know. That he believes will keep us happy.

    Today we are talking about a village that stands in the way of ISIS having complete control of Northern Iraq – Amirli. A week ago this small hamlet of 1500 or so inhabitants was not even on the discussion map. Obama doesn’t get it that the real world of “life, death & survival” doesn’t move at Washington DC pace.

    By the time Obama comes up with a plan the plan will be antiquated and another Obama action will stumble into a footnote.

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  5. The scary part is where this all leads to....

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  6. It can lead no where or somewhere.

    If it leads no where then many residents of Northern Iraq and Syrians will parish. ISIS/ISIL will have another foothold in the region and be the beneficiary to more Arabs donations. Thereby swelling their daily average take well above its present $2 million a day.

    If it goes somewhere - the some where would probably be a coalition of forces from Britain, France, Germany, NATO, UN Military, and United States ( depending on Obama predetermined idea). ISIS march would be slowed some, but not halted. One defeat would not be a crushing blow to ISIS.

    Some people if the region would be saved. But the region would require a major rebuilding program funded by other Middle East countries.

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  7. History is now repeating itself, and America and the Western world find themselves in an uncomfortable but familiar place. ISIS and the Islamic State war machine has ramped up to the point where it has begun to irrevocably change the balance of power in nations like Iraq and Syria. Horrific, momentous change is knocking at the door, and the leadership and resolve needed to answer that call is nowhere to be seen.

    King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has warned that the West will be the next target of the jihadists sweeping through Syria and Iraq, unless there is "rapid" action. "If we ignore them, I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America in another month.” King Abdullah went on to say in the interview that the world must “fight terrorism with force, reason and necessary speed.” Except for the absolute absurdity of a statement coming from the Saudi King regarding the necessity of stopping terrorism …it shows the level of urgency that the countries see necessary for some US intervention.

    This expressed urgency spoken about by Abdullah could be a bargaining chip in Middle East affairs that the US has not had since before 9/11.

    "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9

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  8. I don’t think this changes the ISIS/ISIL calculus at all. They are likely planning attacks in the US, whether the U.S. conducts targeted air strikes or not. We shouldn’t have reactionary policy when it comes to ISIS/ISIL anyway — why would we let them continue to grow just because they aren’t attacking us now?

    That would be irresponsible and in-human. It is most likely just what ISIS wants Obama to do … sit back and do what he always do – NOTHING. This is a word game that the terrorists have thought up – a game with violence all over it no matter what Obama elects not to do.

    In one way or another I believe that all those commenting here today agree that we should destroy them as soon as possible. With DESTROY being the salient point.

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  9. William Shakespeare
    “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”

    ― William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

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