Good Day……
First topic today is those Middle East “experts” that you see and hear daily on your fave news shows……..there is NO such thing as a Middle East expert! Even people living in the region are not experts….they may be well informed on their respective region or country but as a Middle East wide expert…NOT happening. Take any white dude telling you the situation on the ground in the ME with a grain of salt………that includes me…I can give my educated opinion but since I do not live there any longer….I am NO expert.
With that….shall we begin today’s briefing?
Item 1–Just as the beginning of airstrikes the US is making the case for the use of ground troops in the conflict……and the effort by the media and the admin seems to be working…….
More Americans now say that they believe U.S. military action against ISIS should include American combat troops on the ground, according to a new NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll.
Forty-one percent of respondents believe both troops on the ground and airstrikes are necessary for the mission against ISIS, versus 35 percent who think it should be restricted to airstrikes; another 15 percent say no military action should be taken.
That’s a reversal from the NBC/WSJ poll in September, when 40 percent wanted just airstrikes and 34 wanted both airstrikes and combat troops.
Now all that is needed is a big ‘humanitarian’ crisis or attacks on the Green Zone in Baghdad…..we will be watching!
Item 2–The White House has issued a comment on the coalition efforts to check ISIS……
As ISIS gains continue to mount both in Syria and Iraq, the White House has reiterated its belief that the war on ISIS is “succeeding,” with White House spokesman Josh Earnest citing the evacuation of Mount Sinjar as proof.
There is a problem with that example…..it seems there were virtually NO Yanzidis on the mountain cited……NO one sees this operation as a success….it is only spin doctors that are saying such an outlandish claim.
Item 3–ISIS continues to make gains in Anbar……not looking good for the region at all……
Just one day after ISIS forces seized an Iraqi military base on the outskirts of Hit, they are preparing a move against an even bigger site in the Anbar Province, one of the last significant Iraqi military presences there.
The new target seems to be the al-Assad airbase, the second largest airfields in Iraq, and one of the last bases around Haditha Dam. The base is now surrounded, according to reports.
This should give the Iraqi army something to do….that is if they are up to the challenge.
Item 4–There is a crack in Assad’s armor…..loyalists are started to re-think their allegiance……
Two high ranking Syrian security officials have been fired in what residents and a rights group say is a response to protests by government loyalists angered by the death of 41 children in a bombing in Homs city.
Official concessions to popular demands are rare in Syria. But many loyalists are starting to feel abandoned by the government for whom they have sacrificed much to defend since President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011 led to an armed uprising and civil war.
Maybe the CIA should take heed…this could be the opening they need to have an inside man….that is if they had prepared for the situation…my guess is they did not.
Item 5–The Middle East has always been a volatile place but in recent years the danger has gone off the charts…..and the rise of powerful militias…….
Embattled governments in Iraq and Syria have come to rely on Shiite militias as their armies have crumbled in the face of mostly Sunni insurgents and rebels. In Libya, various armed groups loosely allied with two rival governments have fought over bullet-riddled airports. Shiite rebels in Yemen have swept down from the north, capturing the capital and, on Tuesday, a key port city.
The chaos unleashed by the Arab Spring has led to the rise of powerful militias — including many Islamic extremist groups — across a Middle East where many central governments have been exposed as weak. Some of the groups are allied with the governments, while others are fighting to topple them. Some — like the Kurdish peshmerga in northern Iraq — are seen as vital allies for the West. All could prove to be major obstacles to peace or stability in the region.
I include this in my briefing because I believe that things are only going to get worse in the Middle East….the ISIS thing is only the beginning of many years of wars we cannot afford.
That concludes today’s briefing…..the information so that those concerned about the endless wars our country has been involved in and will be involved in…….hope the info is useful…….
Thanx for your time and attention.
Turn The Page!