Good Day and thanx for joining the conversation……

Item 1–The US wants to end ISIS funding from oil……their plan is to bomb the pipeline that carries this oil…..that may cause a fire, an oil fire…..did we not appreciate it when Iraqi troops set wells on fire back in 1991?  What would the difference be?  A fire to prevent an enemy from using the oil….not a lot of difference there.

Item 2–The disturbing part about the Coalition’s fight with ISIS is the lack of reliable intel…….

The lack of intelligence on ISIS, both in failing to predict the various ISIS advances in both Syria and Iraq, and in lack of information on the organization’s current operations, is a major concern, particularly as the US continues to escalate an open-ended war against them.

Yet the official response so far is a broad exercise in blame-shifting, as administration officials point their fingers at the intelligence community for “underestimating” ISIS.

Finger pointing is what our bureaucrats do when times get tough……we need to  form a reliable intel gathering apparatus…..

Item 3–Coalition fixation on ISIS has allowed the Syrian forces to make gains……..

With the US air war and fighting with Kurds more or less keeping ISIS occupied, the Syrian military is moving apace in the central Hama Province, where they ousted al-Qaeda and its allies from the key town of Morek.

Rebel mouthpiece the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Morek has more or less entirely fallen, and that it is under the control of the military. Syrian state media’s most recent report merely said they held the majority of the town.

This situation needs monitoring closely……..the Coalition’s success could be aiding the Assad forces….which could present yet another obstacle to across…..

Item 4–A new report from the Iraqis say that ISIS is using CWs……..

Iraqi Defense Ministry officials have reported three separate incidents recently in which security forces, either police or military, have fallen suddenly ill in clashes with ISIS, and were hospitalized with symptoms consistent with chlorine poisoning.

Iraqi forces say that the incidents are signs that ISIS is increasingly turning to the use of crude chemical weapons, in the form of chlorine gas attacks, and warn that ISIS might be increasing its capabilities.

A turn of events that has yet to be independently confirmed…..if true would make another level of worry…..

Item 5–The Iraqi army had a major set back at the beginning of the Iraq sector of the ISIS war…….and there have been questions about their capabilities………

….Iraq’s fractured army has begun to regroup and stage modest, localized attacks on the Islamic State militants who routed them last spring and summer, but they are unlikely to be ready to launch a major counteroffensive for many months, senior U.S. military officials said Thursday.

“We’ve seen them start to act like an army,” one official said in a lengthy exchange with a group of Washington reporters who were invited to U.S. Central Command headquarters for the command’s most extensive briefings on operations in Iraq and Syria.

The Iraqi security forces, trained for years by the U.S. prior to its departure from Iraq in 2011, have suffered sectarian divisions, a breakdown in leadership and a loss of confidence. To compound the problem, they surrendered tanks, armored personnel carriers and other U.S.-supplied equipment several months ago when IS fighters overtook Mosul.

Slowly may not be the most prudent action…….

The news reported in the media seems to be fair to good….the problem with that is that it is all hype….the only successes the coalition is having is from the air and that cannot continue before someone has to take it to the ground…..

That concludes today’s briefing…..I hope that it was informative…..

Next briefing will be Monday unless something breaks that needs covering….

Thanx for you time and attention……..

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