Good day and welcome…please sit back and learn……

Item 1–Rand Paul is trying to make it official…..

Paul’s resolution, introduced Wednesday, would declare war on the Islamic State, which has already been the target of more than 1,120 air strikes in Iraq and Syria that dropped 2,770 munitions since missions started Aug. 8. But Paul, a Kentucky Republican considering a presidential campaign in 2016, voted against arming and training fighters in Syria and has claimed that the military action underway is illegal.

More on this issue in a post later……

Item 2–Obama admin seems to be determined to put a good face on the ISIS conflict…….

Officials have been optimistic from the start, and seen “progress” being made in some vague way that cannot be measured in any rational manner.

The new ISIS war seems to be going to same direction, with Secretary of State John Kerry today bragging about the “significant impact” the new war has made, despite ISIS still controlling pretty much everything they controlled when the US war began, and then some.

Kerry claimed that “roughly 1,000 air missions” were flown against ISIS and that it had “inflicted damage on its logistical and operational capabilities.”

optimism is a good thing….but bullsh*t will always be bullsh*t.

Item 3–There are lots of questions about the effectiveness of the Coalition airstrikes…..Assad weighs in (if you care about his opinion)…….

(Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said U.S.-led strikes in Syria have made no difference and described himself as a captain trying to save his ship, in comments to a French magazine and carried by the presidency’s Twitter feed on Wednesday.

Coalition forces led by the United States began bombing Islamic State militants and other jihadist factions in Syria in September. Asked whether this had been helpful to him, Assad, whose forces have fought the same groups, told Paris Match: “You can’t end terrorism with aerial strikes.

“Troops on the ground that know the land and can react are essential. That is why there haven’t been any tangible results in the two months of strikes led by the coalition,” he said according to interview extracts on Paris Match’s website in English.

From everything that I have read seems to support his claim……airstrikes are of minimal effectiveness.

Item 4–Iraq is asking for more aid (in geek speak that means….CASH)

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq appealed for help on Wednesday in training his military and reconstructing towns and cities that Iraq hopes to wrest from the Islamic State’s control.

Mr. Abadi outlined the requests after having arrived here for a meeting of nearly 60 nations on ways to counter the militants from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Item 5–Is ISIS operating from within Turkey?

According to the Kobani watchers in Caykara [Mahzer] village, Islamic State (IS) forces crossed from Turkey and attacked the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) forces controlling the Syrian side of Mursitpinar border, crossing from the rear. IS badly wants to capture the crossing.

Those who constantly watch the border from Caykara insist that IS had attacked YPG from the rear by crossing the border from Turkey. For them, the lack of intervention by the Turkish military tasked with border security is a sign that Turkey prefers to have IS control the border crossing.

But even more worrying are the allegations that IS people have been freely entering abandoned houses on the Turkish side. There is no need to elaborate what kind of security fears this causes in the region and how it amplifies the distrust felt for security forces. Contradictory statements by senior civil servants and their ignoring of eyewitness accounts only intensify people’s lack of confidence.

As much as it is important to provide a full and clear explanation of the attack at the Mursitpinar crossing, it’s vital to give proper responses to claims that IS militants are freely entering and leaving Mursitpinar and its fringes.

If true….this could be a disastrous turn for the Coalition that all are so proud of…….

This ends today’s briefing……hopefully it has been informative and helpful……

Thanx for your time and attention…..

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