The strikes were conducted under authority to support Iraqi security force and Kurdish defense force operations, as well as to protect critical infrastructure, U.S. personnel and facilities, and support humanitarian efforts.
Since Aug. 8, U.S. Central Command has conducted a total of 101 airstrikes across Iraq.
Only in our media bizarro world could we be bombing a country while our White House says, "no" we are not at war with the people we are bombing, and the press not make an issue of it.
What about the official DoD name for this non-war? Like "Iraqi Freedom", "Infinite Justice", etc.? Well, this one seems to have no public name. This despite Obama's comment yesterday that getting rid of the cancer of Saddam Hussein's new terrorist army would be a long, difficult quagmire. More or less.
MORE 8/29/14
No need to worry, America. We have a big army and the Middle East is just going through some pain due to change. ISIL, ISIS, a few people will die, but this will pass. Let's hit the first tee!
Thanks to Mark Knoller, CBS, traveling with the president to his fund-raisers today, for bringing more light to the idea that this is actually the Obama Doctrine.
The Land of Fruits and Nuts. That's what they used to call California before that term became politically incorrect. But when they do nutty things they deserve it..
A bill that would prohibit California from displaying or selling merchandise with the Confederate flag is headed to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk, after getting final legislative approval in the Assembly on Thursday.
The measure by Assemblyman Isadore Hall III (D-Compton) would prohibit the state from displaying or selling merchandise emblazoned with the Confederate flag. The ban would not apply to images of the flag found in books, digital media or state museums if displayed for educational or historical purposes.
Speaking of nuts, a lot of people are going nuts on talk radio around here because they think the bill outright prohibits the flag, even private possession (or things like tattoos), but notice the explanation--the bill only applies to sales or display by the State of California.
How many rebel flags were being sold by the state in the first place? How many state offices were flying the flag? The bill doesn't apply to books or digital media or other displays deemed 'educational'. And it's not clear whether it applies to the "Stars and Bars" or the "Battle Flag", which are different, but it really doesn't make a difference on the ignorance/idiocy scale.
So there seems to be no point, other than maybe causing a national stir. Throw up a meaningless bill about banning the Confederate Flag and hope it causes a north versus south, civil war wasn't about slavery yes it was racial brouhaha in the press. The Dems know they need black turnout in November.
At any rate, if Governor Brown signs the bill into law that will mean he's banned a flag in the same week he welcomed illegal aliens into his state with open arms. Pretty nutty, overall.
It's funny to hear the administration trying to hornswaggle people about the lack of attention they paid to ISIS and it's predecessors up until recently. Reporters were not buying it today, at all. Looking back at my own blog I came across this post from July 13, 2013, over a year ago. Some key points:
“The Islamic State phoned me saying that they killed Abu Bassir and that they will kill all of the Supreme Military Council,” a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, Qassem Saadeddine, told the Reuters news agency, referring to the FSA executive body. “We are going to wipe the floor with them,” a rebel commander who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Reuters.
They are supposed to be allies.
Seeing this level of internecine warfare within the rebel ranks was for me the first time it became clear their situation had become completely beyond hope. Remember, chemical weapons had been used, which the administration blamed on Assad (and threatened him with bombing only to later punt to Congress). But not everyone was convinced on the perps, although most dismissed the source:
Early last month, informed sources told FNA that the innocent people killed in the Khan al-Assal area of rural Aleppo in Northwestern Syria were the victims of the chemical weapons supplied to the terrorists by a Saddam-era General working under head of the now outlawed Ba'ath party Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri.
"The chemical weapons used in the attack on Khan al-Assal area had been prepared by former Iraqi Military Industries Brigadier General Adnan al-Dulaimi and supplied to Ba'ath-affiliated terrorists of the Nusra Front in Aleppo through Turkey's cooperation and via the Turkish town of Antakya in Hatay Province," an informed source, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of his life, told FNA on April 6.
Leaving out the conspiratorial Iraqi connection, some very credible people thought the rebels were behind the WMD attacks, possibly to include lefty hero Seymour Hersh, who's reportage on the region was almost completely ignored in the mainstream press. Hersh reported that Erdogan's government worked with al-Nusra to launch the attacks in order to cross Obama's red line and draw him into the fight, which would benefit Turkey.
The post also had a reference to some of the possible backers of the emerging ISIS, who have been tied to their quick rise to power in recent articles in picayune outfits like the Daily Beast and NY Times.
As to the "Islamic State of Iraq", the Free Syrians basically called them a group who used religion to perpetrate murder and crime. Interesting, since Saddam's old number two Izzat al-Duri (number one on Iraq's most-wanted list) has variously been tied to AQ and insurgent thugs over the years when he wasn't playing dead. He's very much alive and still causing trouble around the country, trying to bring back the Ba'ath.
So, would it surprise anyone if the Sarin gas came from Iraq, even at the hands of former Ba'ath regime members? ISIS is a criminal organization as much as a terrorist outfit, unlike regular ole AQ. Has anyone heard from Zawahiri lately?
Anyway, this stuff has been rising up for over a year regardless of what the politicians say. Going forward, other than TV views of western hostages being trotted out (another Saddam tactic) we don't know what else ISIS might have under their hats as a deterrent. Maybe nothing, maybe these guys are bluffing again, or maybe there's something constricting a forceful response aside from politics. It's clear the US military could severely cripple these thugs over a few months if the order was given.
Whatever the case, chaos reigns. It's absolutely clear from the disconnected statements coming this administration that they've tied themselves into pretzels trying to grab a coherent policy out of the air that won't wreck their past snarky blame narratives or leave a mark politically, although hope sometimes dies hard. Quite fitting that a American named Douglas MacArthur McCain was just killed fighting for ISIS.
"The mother of all Battles continues to this day,"
Indeed it does.
Few analysts disagree on the nexus between the Naqshbandi Army and ISIS/ISIL, now Islamic State. Here's Foreign Policy:
The Islamic State has conquered broad swaths of Iraq thanks to a surprising alliance with secular veterans of Saddam Hussein's military.
Meanwhile Jack Murphy at SOFREP is questioning the very existence of al-Baghdadi himself, suggesting he may be a doppelganger figure, which is prudent considering the past. He believes the group is more than likely controlled, or heavily influenced both tactically and strategically, by the likes of Izzat al-Duri.
But one really doesn't need experts to know there's a Saddamistcomponent to the rise of ISIS to re-establish Sunni rule in parts of Iraq--just look at the news reports.
The question is, where does it go from here? The FP writer goes on to suggest their marriage of convenience is heading for a divorce as the Islamists have double-crossed their 'enemy of my enemy' friends.
Perhaps, but perhaps that depends on their real sources of support within Arabia. While it's fun to slam Obama for playing golf instead of bomb, bomb, bombing the IS, the situation seems almost indeterminably complex. A strong IS in Iraq makes it harder for Iran to support Bashar Assad, which hurts the Mullahs and by extension, Putin. Sounds like a good thing. Conversely, crippling IS in Iraq opens the door for a stronger Shia rule across the region, helping Iran and Assad, and by extension, Putin. Sounds like a bad thing. It's a real mess. The US is in a position where it can't even applaud Assad for attacking IS.
But it's a mess that can't be allowed to get much more messy. As some analysts have suggested, Obama may have to eventually chose a side, as deplorable as the side may be. One possibility is choosing Izzat al-Duri and his JTRN group and assisting them in dividing and conquering the Islamists. Yes, the guy with the 25 million dollar bounty still on his head. How that might shake out in Baghdad is anyone's guess.
If that happens it will probably happen at the CIA level, since nobody in the US government will want to be seen acting in concert with the likes of al-Duri. Of course there's always a link-up with Bashar Assad, but that bridge has already been politically burned. No matter what we do there's always the potential for blowback--remember Saddam once warned April Glaspie about "individual Arabs".
Speaking of politics, Obama has spoken to the nation on the IS "folks" and he will do more pin prick bombing to support "our interests" but it's likely he'll try to pivot to anything else as the mid-terms approach. There's simply no easy political win in the Middle East right now. He got a little one today in the strange release of the US hostage by al-Nusra, but he knows the public will be more than happy to whistle past the Middle Eastern graveyard with him, as everyone is tired of war. But the fighting will go on, and on, and on. And the US will continue to be involved, even if Rand Paul wins the presidency.
MORE 8/25/14
As to which enemy Obama might turn friendly with in order to go after ISIS-ISIL-IS, well it looks like Bashar Assad. Sounds like a better bedfellow than al-Duri--probably less fleas. But if true, the administration's press mousekateers are really going to have to spin up some PR magic to make reporters believe this is something other than what it is.
It's Sunday, so it's time for CNN to use religion to push for social justice...
Such a model allows us to feel good about our diverse congregations while nothing meaningful is being done to make significant changes in society.
It ignores the fact that we have to do more than call sinners to repentance, we have to call societies, systems and structures to repentance as well.
Jesus discouraged the accumulation of wealth, worried about its effects on those who had it, and took special pleasure in helping the poor, dedicating his efforts to them. He must have shaken his head at the large gaps between rich and poor throughout ancient Palestine in the first century.
Forget that this clown doesn't know the difference between the system the Jews lived under 2000+ years ago and the concept of America, where an obscure black man from Hawaii (and certainly not from wealth) rose to become president. If so he might have stumbled upon an analogy whereupon Obama's rise to power might be akin to a Jew rising to become Emperor of Rome. But no, he chose to only focus on the current racial money divide.
It doesn't matter, it's all about demonizing whitey to achieve a political end, no matter how it's done. Nice job, CNN. The White House press office must be proud of your work today.
Wow, for such a pitiful terrorist organization ISIL, ISIS, IS. sure grew up in a hurry. "Like nothing ever seen". Sneaking across the border and planning to "pivot to a 9/11 attack", maybe "blowing up a US city". Wow. Does anyone else think they've gone from underestimating these guys to overestimating them in a few weeks?
Not that we shouldn't acknowledge them, but it should be accurately. Brutal acts of terror towards Americans tend to produce reactions, but they tend to trigger ass-covering political kneejerks. These are the things Obama has referred to as "acting stupidly" and has hinted that the actual Obama Doctrine might be summed up as "don't do stupid stuff".
But real stupidity is making a Twitter hashtag saying "bring back our girls". Or underestimating groups like ISIS in the first place. Everyone should know, especially the leader of the free world, about the brutality of violent Islamic Jihadism by now. Obama said they don't belong in the 21st Century, hell they didn't belong in the 15th Century. It shouldn't take a beheading to wake people up.
But the narrative is now changing. The JV team are now flesh-eating monsters that must be confronted to save our cities, at least somehow--maybe via Iraq forces or someone in the region, if the moon is right, but not with US combat boots on the ground, only Special Forces and advisor boots are allowed, or pilot boots in the cockpit, and by the way, the hostages were almost rescued. Depending on which branch of government is speaking.
At least that's the political spin. The emotional spin is a little different, understandably:
Their brother was beheaded by terrorists. Now, the siblings of American journalist James Foley say more could have been done to save him from ISIS, and they hope more will be done to save another American hostage, Steven Sotloff.
"Even take the money aside, there's more that could have been done directly on Jim's behalf, and I really hope in respect to Steven, they do something quickly," Michael Foley told Yahoo! News.
"There is things that can be done, we're sitting on prisoners for example in Guantanamo, it doesn't even have to be financial," he said.
Bold added to indicate what happens when precedents are set by America negotiating with terrorists. And to use an Obama phrase let's be clear here--the axiom was always "America does not negotiate with terrorists, period". Not this kind of asterisked BS..
.."(we) do not provide ransom or any funding for terrorist organizations."
In other words, negotiation is OK. And there was apparently some negotiation with ISIS. As with recent AQ-affiliates, the IS 'folks' wanted Aafia Siddiqui, wife of 9/11 terrorist Ammar Baluchi. Evidently that was a bridge too far, something the families of the victims--and future victims--will not understand.
Meanwhile they gave a White House briefing today in Martha's Vineyard and some of the media came. Deputy spokesman Eric Schultz probably wishes they had all stayed at the pool. He was grilled by both ABC and CNN reporters on the optics of Obama giving his response to a head-chopping then zipping off to the first tee for high fives and laughs minutes later. Imagine Bush doing that. But an interesting thing occurred--the spokesman, in trying to defend the optics, released a bit of flop sweat...
On a final related note, the decision of the GAO that Obama's decision to transfer five Taliban terrorists for Sergeant Bergdahl was against the law was broached by the Fox News reporter, who wondered if the White House agreed (they don't) and whether they plan to act on the decision. The answer was seemingly no. In other words, Obama is the final arbiter of such things and has decided he was within his rights to break the law or something.
The Fox guy wondered about actual consequences (hehe), to which Schultz referred him to the GAO (as if they dole out punishment). OK, in a worse case scenario somebody (or somebodys) at the Pentagon may get a suspension for violating the Anti-Deficiency Act (ie, spending money that wasn't lawfully appropriated) but nothing will happen at the top level folks--they will simply say they don't agree with the decision if asked. And nothing will happen because the MSM won't pursue it. And Eric Holder is a black man.
It's unnecessary to point out how that kind of precedent might affect the rule of law going forward. At least it should be.
Syria is encouraging Sunni Arab insurgent groups and former Iraqi Baathists with ties to the leaders of Saddam Hussein’s government to organize here, diplomats and Syrian political analysts say. By building strong ties to those groups, they say, Syria hopes to gain influence in Iraq before what it sees as the inevitable waning of the American presence there.
...“The American project in Iraq is collapsing, and we decided it was important to reach out to fellow Iraqis now,” said Nizar Samari, the spokesman for the conference and a former media director for Mr. Hussein.
What a tangled web. But hey, Assad is still in power.
So an American journalist gets beheaded by Islamic nutcakes on You ube and a day later the administration unveils details of a top secret raid that failed to rescue him? And their excuse is that their hands were tied because the media already had the story? Which was followed by more detailed information provided to reporters? All as the Commander-in-Chief provided a backdrop of high fives and frivolity on the golf course?
Gee, who stole their copy of "President for Dummies"? Surely they can't desire such optics. God help us if they do.
And who leaked this to the media? How soon will the leak investigation begin, because after all, everyone else in DC has been investigated/jailed for leaking. Yes that was sarcasm. Oh right, Eric Holder is a black man or something.
Speaking of murdering bastards, Greg Gutfeld on Fox News broke a story tonight about an American who killed four innocent people in the name of Allah, right here in the United States. On both coasts. One was gay. Another was a white teenager. Yes, that's a similar body count to the Boston bombers. Yet nothing in the big media. We did learn that Obama had a hip party during his vacation at Martha's Vineyard where he danced and a great time was had by all.
And we've endured saturation coverage about the death of a young black man named Michael Brown who was killed by a cop in Missouri, yet another black man named Mohammed Brown who brags of committing jihad in America was a non-story. This despite the fact he was rounded up in Seattle in 2004 for suspicion of supporting terrorism, to which he pled to a conspiracy charge and was released on time served. Back in the day when people criticized Bush for arbitrarily rounding up people suspected of terrorism.
Is this perhaps part of the reason Obama mysteriously flew back to DC for a couple of days during the middle of his vaca?
A disturbing video posted online appears to show the beheading of American journalist James Foley, who was kidnapped while covering the Syrian conflict in 2012.
They claim to have at least one more journalist in captivity, mentioned in the story, whom they are threatening to kill if Obama drops more bombs. There is also McClatchy reporter Austin Tice, a former US Marine also captured in Syria in 2012--whereabouts unknown. Oddly enough during yesterday's State Dept briefing a question was asked about Mr. Tice. Watch the strange way it was handled by spokeslady Marie Harf:
As she stumbles around looking for something she blurts out "we're moving on after this?", as if not wanting to field anymore questions about it. In today's briefing the same question was asked about Tice, provoking this reply by Harf:
QUESTION: Marie, yesterday I asked you about Austin Tice and the anniversary.
MS. HARF: Yes.
QUESTION: Do you have something on that?
MS. HARF: I do. It has been now over two years since the disappearance of Austin Tice in Syria. We are in close contact with the Tice family. We share their concerns for Austin’s safety and well-being. We continue to work through our Czech protecting power in Syria to get information on his welfare and whereabouts and appreciate the efforts of the Czech mission on behalf of our citizens. We have long expressed concern about the safety of journalists in Syria and strongly urge all sides to ensure their safety. I don’t have anything more than that at this point.
Again, very brief and vague. Was she deflecting to avoid bad publicity or in an attempt to protect
the life of Foley and others, who for all anyone knows might have been
part of sensitive negotiations between the White House and IS, maybe prompting some high level meetings? After
all, we negotiate with terrorists now, officially. One would think US citizens/journalists/soldiers being beheaded might
prompt at least a quick cabinet meeting.
Clearly, red lines are being
drawn around the world. Tragically, with this terrorist group, they are not afraid
to uphold theirs. Put all the politics aside for a moment--the Commander-in-Chief has some serious presidenting to do. This is not an easy gambit.
As if that's not enough, the US media has largely ignored this weird bombing in Libya:
Air raids carried out last night over Tripoli on the positions of Misratan-led forces could not have been made by Libyan warplanes the General Chief of Staff has said.
In a statement made this afternoon the leader of the armed forces, Major General Suleiman Obeidi, said no Libyan-based force had the technology nor the capacity to carry out the attacks.
Obeidi said the missiles, one of which had been identified as a US made Mark 83 general purpose bomb, could only have been dropped using in-flight targeting technology, unavailable to the Libyan Airforce.
He added that the weapons had been used with extreme precision and had hit only the Grad missiles and howitzers they were intended to destroy.
Not sure if this alone would have been enough to get Obama off his unisex bike or the first tee, unless something else was tied to this Libya event. Rumors do have it the other IS captive was actually transferred from Libya, suggesting a terror nexus between the war-torn regions.
Yet it's questionable as to whether anything out of the country can tear Americans away from the Ferguson story, even with ISIS signs in the parade, as a war-weary public has tuned out. If it doesn't resonate it's obviously bad news for the country but also bad news for any other western captives, because the terrorists will likely keep escalating their YouTube barbarity to get our attention. If the barbarism gets bad enough a kneejerk reaction might occur with the public clamoring for another can of whoopass over there--that is if our own country isn't involved in a race war by then. If the St. Louis Grand Jury doesn't return an indictment of officer Wilson, who knows. But at least that monster Rick Perry was indicted. The country is safe.
MORE 8/20/14
Obama managed to squeeze in a 5 minute response to the headchoppers before his afternoon tee time. It was a typical uninspiring collegial speech, more of a eulogy than a forceful reply, and it will scare no one. Then again, with this passage maybe it's not really designed to scare anyone:
...they may claim out of expediency that they are at war with the United States or the west, but the fact is they terrorize their neighbors and offer them nothing.... etc
In other words, we here in Crusader-land have nothing to worry about because despite just chopping the head off a US citizen and lining up others, IS is just a regional threat. He basically called them dead-enders.
Speaking of Saddam, IS's thug tactics and military organization lean more towards his kind of gangster-ocracy as opposed to pure Islamic jihad, explaining in part why even Zawahiri denounced them last year. But it makes perfect sense seeing as how the group was mentored by former Saddam regime elements (duh, General Vallely).
Meanwhile, the White House this afternoon released a report about a failed rescue mission of the hostages that took place earlier in the summer. No details of significance other than dozens of forces were involved across the DoD spectrum. No Situation Room photos, either.
The release of this data seems to say a few things; 1) we were evidently not negotiating recently, despite some emails to the contrary, and 2) they are giving up on the remaining hostages. Both are speculation, it's hard to say anything with certainty but the release about the raid seems designed to protect political fanny rather than scare anyone or set up another raid. Then again, with this president nothing is clear-cut. Did anyone get any kind of concrete message out of his speech today? Even the terrorists must be wondering what's really going on, watching the prez scurry back out to the course.
MORE.. 8/20/14
Lots of details being leaked by anonymous administration officials to the WaPo and Times, but they aren't the only ones leaking..
Two Defense Department officials, who spoke separately on the condition of anonymity because of the operation’s delicate nature, expressed anger at the administration for revealing the mission. One of the officials said the aborted raid had alerted the militants to the Americans’ desire and willingness to try to rescue the hostages, and, in the aftermath, had probably forced the captors to tighten their security.
But, the official said, the conference call on Wednesday revealed new details that ISIS is not likely to have known. “This only makes our job harder,” the official said. “I’m very disappointed this was released. We knew any second operation would be a lot harder.”
Seems self-evident. Let's hope they have a massive rescue raid going on RIGHT NOW before these thugs can react, otherwise this release simply smacks of raw ass-covering politics.
By the way, hopefully it's also self-evident to some of the clueless just how stupid the Twitter "bring back our girls" campaign was in light of recent revelations.
That pretty much describes most of the loud-mouths on social media and the real media on the Mike Brown mess in St. Louis, along with the so-called witness (otherwise known as a co-conspirator), city spokesmen, governor of Missouri and PD officials, not to mention the solider wannabes who harrassed the media.
And of course the president, who has no business saying much other than 'everyone please let justice take its course and refrain from violence'. But he just couldn't stop at that, he had to plow forward and lecture everyone on both sides, per usual. He did everything but tell Bill O'Reilly whether there were any smidgens of corruption involved.
This is the kind of 'never let a crisis go to waste' piece that can transcend the Ferguson facts, be they for or against the police officer. Against a backdrop of Obama redistribution initiatives, it may work pretty well as a Democrat theme for the mid-terms to get out the needed vote.
Here we go. Airstrikes in Iraq from the same president who ended the war in 2011. The mainstream media has even noticed, which has engaged the White House spin machine: America is simply protecting a bunch of people from genocide and protecting Irbil. It has nothing to do with Bush's disaster.
In Baghdad, Saddam Hussein remained defiant. He said the "Mother of all Battles had begun". He urged the Iraqi people to "stand up to evil".
And today, as airstrikes return, the Mother of all Battles continues, against terrorists and former members of the old guard helping them:
It was not quite two years after a U.S.-led coalition drove Saddam out of Kuwait in Desert Storm, and al Douri was presiding over a hate-America conference for jihadists from all over the map. Chechens in Persian-lamb hats, Gulf Arabs in short thobes, North Africans in kaftans—radicals “from Jakarta to Dakar,” as one Senegalese delegate put it—had gathered (all expenses paid) at Baghdad’s enormous Rashid Hotel.
“Everyone has a task to do, which is to go against the American state,” al Douri proclaimed. The line against the USA would be drawn in Iraq, he said: “Our stand now can lead us to final victory, to Paradise.”
By this time Saddam had shed the Ba’athist ideology of secularism to embrace his own showy brand of Islamic radicalism. “God Is Great” written in Saddam’s hand was emblazoned on the national flag. Liquor was banned. Draconian punishments were meted out to supposed sinners and traitors. (Saddam especially liked to order tongues and ears cut off.) And al Douri proclaimed that the whole Islamic world would follow “the mujahed Saddam Hussein, who is leading this nation against the nonbelievers.”
As with times in the past, America is yawning. But as the Butcher of Baghdad told US diplomat April Glaspie before the Gulf War in 1991, Iraq could not cross the ocean and attack America, but "individual Arabs" could--and they did. And as the current situation in Iraq illustrates, they will try again. Let's hope our leadership can put aside politics long enough to understand their true responsibility to protect in this overall struggle.
Looked around for a decent live version of this song; most were of the lip-sync variety, so this was about it..
It is interesting though to see a big time band like LRB sing in what looks to be a club setting. Glenn Shorrock didn't need to lip-sync and the band is tight and the sound good, which comes through despite the relatively poor quality audio. The group resembles a bar band, some baldness, not the hippest clothes and the lead singer wearing a suit befitting a gig at the Holiday Inn. Still, their talent comes through, especially in the harmonies.
Yes, according to our Commander Guy the United States tortured some "folks" after 9/11. Folks? Should we call ISIS fighters "folks" now? "Some folks over in Iraq just chopped off the heads of 50 people". Sounds weird to use that term for people like KSM, who beheaded Danny Pearl on video and planned 9/11.
But the presser itself wasn't weird, it was vintage Obama. He came out, bloviated for 8 minutes, then called on three--count 'em three--pre-selected reporters, the answers consuming over 30 minutes (the questions themselves barely amounted to a minute's time).
But an interesting thing happened when he tried to exit stage left after the filibuster...
They were shouting questions instead of wishing him a happy birthday! How dare they, after he professorially answered three questions. What a bunch of f&cksticks.
Meanwhile, he said he had full confidence in John Brennan despite him apologizing to a Senator for the CIA spying on Congress. As usual, nothing will happen. Well, maybe a blue ribbon accountability review panel to make sure it never happens again--headed by John Brennan--with a report due back on December 24th at 8 pm.
