Since the world did not end with the latest snow storm and the world will not end because some balls had less air in them……and the news presented today was just pathetic and mind numbing…..I will do what I do best……listen to some music!
A little rock and roll….to soothe the soul!
Good day…..and if the world does not end thanx to snow in NYC I will continue to keep my readers updated on the situation in the fight against ISIS
Item 1–As reported here in the last briefing Korbane has by won by Kurdish fighters…….
Reports from Kurdish officials say that after 112 days of fighting they have finally expelled ISIS from the contested border city of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab in Arabic), and that the YPG militias are now fully in control.
YPG officials confirmed the takeover, and Idriss Nassan, the city’s deputy foreign minister (because apparently some cities have those) said there will be an official announcement of victory on Tuesday.
Good news that has been pushed aside to bring the reader….WINTER!
Item 2–More good news in the fight……but there may be a new problem arising…….
Tribal leaders and Sunni politicians in the Diyala Province are complaining, in the wake of reports that the Iraqi government has ousted ISIS from the area, Shi’ite militias are carrying out massacres against Sunni tribesmen.
The officials say 70 Sunni civilians were killed in attacks by the Shi’ite militias as part of the three day “anti-ISIS offensive.” Complaints of such massacres have been common where Shi’ite militias have taken Sunni towns.
More victories, at a price, but thew question now is…..Is ISIS back on their heels?
Item 3–Is Canada in the thick of the fight against ISIS?
Canada’s deployment of 69 special forces troops to Iraq has become an intriguing case study in how quickly “advise and assist” operations can get escalated into outright combat.
Last week, it was revealed Canadian troops had engaged in a gunbattle with ISIS. Today, officials confirmed they’ve gotten involved in two more firefights in recent days
Is this an indication of the fight to come?
Item 4–Appears anger has been directed to commercial flights into Baghdad…….
Iraqi officials say gunshots were fired at an Emirati passenger plane during landing at Baghdad airport.A security and an airport official say a spray of bullets hit the plane as it touched down on Monday night, slightly damaging the aircraft but causing no casualties.
Could this be a new front in this war?
Item 5–CIA’s mission to the ISIS fight is far from a done deal…….
There’ve been stories going around for awhile about how poorly the CIA program to smuggle arms in to various Syrian rebel factions is going, but the Wall Street Journal is offering some of the most stark details of a failed program, which failed to get those so-called moderate rebels any real gains, and indeed has seen a large number of them abandoning the battlefield, or joining ISIS and other Islamist groups outright.
Cash given to the rebel groups is increasingly drying up as well, as the US shifts to the plan of training up a whole new rebel force to fight against ISIS, and leaves the future of their old allies uncertain, at best.
The plan to build a new Syrian rebel force will be met with disaster……
Item 6– Idea for Iraq is a multi-ethnic National Guard……
Details about the National Guard — which Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi acknowledges as providing legal “cover” to assemble armed factions and tribes — are still being discussed in political corridors prior to the passage of legislation on its creation, but Oil Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has posted some general points about the draft law on his Facebook page.
Abdul-Mahdi wrote, “Members of the National Guard are of two types: the permanent section, namely, the professional apparatus, which will be key to this institution and will have the same responsibilities and rights of the army. The other section is temporary, and it will be mobilized whenever the need arises. This section is allocated to serve for a certain period of time and then return to its regular duties. This section will be asked to serve for a month every year to be trained, fit and ready.”
He also stated, “The idea is for the National Guard to be situated in each province, but it can be summoned when needed in other provinces for antiterrorism purposes, in periods of war, emergencies or natural disasters.” Abdul-Mahdi further observed, “It will definitely be possible to organize the Popular Mobilization forces, the Sons of Iraq and the peshmerga under the umbrella of the National Guard, knowing that the main goal of the latter is to prevent the emergence of militias, put all the weapons under the supervision of the state and provide backup forces when needed. This could limit the phenomenon of militias. The National Guard draft law, if approved, will be the alternative to the conscription system that prevailed in Iraq before 2003. In other words, there will be permanent forces with a high level of professionalism as well as backup forces, all under the umbrella of the National Guard.”
Another idea that is good on paper….but will not be effective in reality?
That concludes today’s briefing…….
Thanx for your time and attention……..
Turn The Page!
Red state voters loathe the president and anything Democratic…….they vote for people that promise to slice federal spending and will be a better day for everyone…..
The problem is in their haste to send mental midgets to DC they are systematically screwing themselves……does that speak to civic illiteracy?
Red states suffered higher rate of federal budget cuts between 2009-2013: report.
I know most Americans have heard of the disease, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)……I have even heard some people accuse soldier of faking such problems as cowards or worse……WW1 had “shell shocked”….WW2 had “combat fatigue….Vietnam forward it has been PTSD or some variation.
PTSD manifest itself in many forms…depression, flashbacks, nerves, suicide etc…..no matter what it causes in the individual its leading cause is….WAR!
There is historic evidence that PTSD is not a modern disease made up to gather in grant money……….
It’s not uncommon for modern-day soldiers to return from Iraq suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. But now it turns out that soldiers who fought there 3,000 years ago did the same, say UK researchers. They’ve found texts dating back to 1300BC in which warriors in ancient Mesopotamia describe symptoms that sound very much like PTSD, reports the Telegraph. The earliest previous account of PTSD-like symptoms came from the Greek historian Herodotus in 490BC, which would make this the first description of the problem, says one of the lead researchers from Anglia Ruskin University.
“They described hearing and seeing ghosts talking to them, who would be the ghosts of people they’d killed in battle—and that’s exactly the experience of modern-day soldiers who’ve been involved in close hand-to-hand combat,” professor Jamie Hacker Hughes tells the BBC. In that era, men were expected to fight every third year, and they were more likely to die of injuries sustained in battle given the lack of medical know-how, he adds. “The risk of death and the witnessing of the death of fellow soldiers appears to have been a major source of psychological trauma.” (One report suggests that only about half of US vets suffering from PTSD are getting the proper treatment.)
PTSD is a SILENT KILLER and should be a top priority for the military to confront and help treat this affliction……
To anyone that thinks this is some how a made of problem……then I suggest that they get off their ass, grab a gun and go face the trials of WAR……OR SHUT THE HELL UP!
The US is all over itself with praise for the recently dead Saudi king……at what point is a ruling family that subscribes to punishment like beheading or stoning or lashes worthy of a contest to honor it? Or a society that does not allow women much lee way….in essence keeps them as 2nd class citizens.
I realize that this is more about geopolitics than the truth……the US has never been one for the truth if it gets in the way of BS foreign policy……
To what purpose is this competition?
Sorry, but I have a large problem with type of pure BS and propaganda……
Defense.gov News Article: Dempsey Sponsors Essay Competition to Honor Saudi King.