The Obama admin and now the Brits keep patting themselves on the back for putting together this coalition, which now we are told consist of 60 nations……the problem is there are NO answer to any of the question proposed to the pundits…..
So what kind of coalition is this….the one that all are so proud of…….
Good Morning and welcome to the briefing for today…….
The war is going….well as good as could be expected……things are about to change and change that will mean more problems in the long run……
Item 1–Syria is trying a new tactic….he has called for a cease fire to help trapped civilians in Homs and other towns…….the government is trying to make it easier for their war to continue….they are hoping this would give them a rest and room to regroup…….
Item 2–Now for the costs of war……..
According to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments:
Assuming a moderate level of air operations and 2,000 deployed ground forces, the costs would likely run between $200 and $320 million per month. If air operations are conducted at a higher pace and 5,000 ground forces are deployed, the costs would be between $350 and $570 million per month. If operations expand significantly to include the deployment of 25,000 U.S. troops on the ground, as some have recommended, costs would likely reach $1.1 to $1.8 billion per month.
The rising costs will present a problem especially when some are trying to cut funds already.
Item 3–The sectarian problem in Iraq is about to get worse…..
Security and military officials in Kirkuk say Shiite militias are acting with impunity as they fight the Islamic State (IS), carrying out brutal campaigns against Sunni Arabs who are asking for protection from Kurdish forces.
Following the fall of Mosul to IS and as the extremist group inches toward Baghdad, thousands of Shiite militiamen have heeded Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s call to fight IS and mobilized to battlefields in Kirkuk, Mosul, Diyala and Tikrit.
In Iraq there are at least two dozen known Shiite militia groups, including the Badr Brigades, Mehdi Army, Hezbollah, Ali ibn Abutalib and Asaib Ahl al-Haq. The militias are heavily armed and are believed to receive support from the Iraqi army.
A new stronghold for the Shiite militias is the town of Amerli, Salahaddin province, which was under IS siege until a rare joint operation between Peshmerga forces, the Shiite militias, the Iraqi Army and US airstrikes ousted IS in late August. Shiite militias took over the town after IS was pushed back
Sectarianism is back and with a vengeance……it will be far worse than the years the Us was trying to deal with it.
Item 4–Turkey is about to vote on whether to jump into the war militarily……..
Addressing lawmakers in Ankara, the Turkish capital, before a Thursday vote to authorize military intervention in Syria and Iraq, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed his country’s readiness “for any cooperation in the fight against terrorism.”
Erdogan urged lawmakers to vote in favor of the resolution authorizing intervention in Syria and Iraq, which renews a similar 2012 mandate set to expire Saturday. Significantly, this authorization adds language allowing the government to permit “foreign militaries” to use Turkish soil for cross-border attacks, potentially paving the way for the United States to launch airstrikes from Turkish bases. The proposal is expected to pass because Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party has a majority in parliament.
If the vote is yes then it becomes a double edge sword…..it will put a well funded and equipped army on the ground…..but it would give them access to the Kurds who they have been fighting for decades./….if you would like a reference point….think Armenians in the early days of WW1.
Item 5–Canada has started thinking about entering in the air war……..
the Conservative government contemplates sending CF-18 fighter jets into Iraq, Canadian pilots may soon be bombing some of the same gunmen their actions supported several years ago elsewhere.
Item 6–According to the UN the CW production sites in Syria are due to be destroyed…….
The dismantling of Syria’s chemical weapons facilities is expected to begin this month, and the first of the 12 facilities should be destroyed by the end of November, the organization tasked with eliminating the country’s chemical weapons program says.
The report by the director of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has been sent to the U.N. Security Council.
The council found rare agreement on Syria last year to unanimously approve the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons program, a deal reached under threat of U.S. airstrikes after images of civilian victims laid out after an attack on a Damascus suburb shocked the world. More than 1,000 people are thought to have been killed. President Bashar Assad’s government denied involvement and blamed rebel groups.
Item 7–ISIS continues to find ways to make the news….giving them a PR boost…….
Fighting continues to rage over the Kurdish border town of Ayn al-Arab in northern Syria today, with ISIS continuing its advance and engaging in close-quarters combat with Kurdish militias.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that nine of the Kurdish fighters were captured by ISIS and beheaded, and images emerged claiming to show the heads of display in nearby Jarablous.
This will not be last we hear of this technique…….look for more and more as the war continues…..
Thus reducing the possibilities that Syria can return to the use of CWs in this conflict.
That concludes the briefing for today……watch for further briefings as the events start to unfold……
Thanx for you time and attention…….
Turn the page!
Since the American s were beheaded the nation has been preoccupied with the subject…..to the point that some citizens had to give it a try for themselves……and others have used it to scare their fellow Americans into some stupid visions….
This is a brutal exercise that should not be tolerated No matter where it occurs……this article is well written and should be read…..that is if you are interested in learning a thing or two.