Day: March 13, 2015

ISIS Coalition SITREP #78

Good day and we shall waste no time getting to the point……

Item 1–The troop build up continues….only it is NOT all the US doing so……

The UK is to send nearly 60 extra Army personnel to Iraq to support the fight against self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) militants, it has been announced.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: “This counter-IED training will give Iraqi forces a vital capability in taking the fight to Isil and is another example of our commitment to the campaign against Isil.

“Along with our airstrikes, Britain is making a major contribution to training Iraqi forces to help them defend their country.

Item 2–ISIS is attempting to eliminate the noise of battle from its troops……

ISIS really wants to make sure it covers all its bases: A recruitment video released yesterday stars two deaf and mute fighters using sign language. “We, the deaf and mute, direct our message to the Islamic world,” the video begins, per Vocativ. The video, titled “From Who Excused (sic) To Those Not Excused,” “represents an attempt by the group to recruit other physically or otherwise impaired individuals, as well as demonstrates the multifaceted responsibilities of those in its ranks,” a researcher tells NBC News. Those “multifaceted responsibilities” apparently include directing traffic, as that is what the fighters are doing (while heavily armed) in the video.

Item 3–As Iraqi forces attack to retake Tikrit, is the US seemingly sitting it out?

The Tikrit campaign lays bare the layered dilemmas facing the U.S. in Iraq. For months, Washington has sought to paint its war against ISIL as separate from, if parallel to, that of Iran and its Shia proxies — a line is growing harder to maintain. As Tikrit shows, the U.S. is uneasy about the leading role Iran has taken against ISIL, an effort that is spearheaded on many fronts, including in Tikrit, by hard-line Shia militias that many say are liable to exacerbate the alienation of Iraq’s Sunni minority. Sectarian resentments were part of what made ISIL’s surge across Sunni lands in Iraq last June possible, with Sunnis in many areas allowing ISIL forces to move in unchallenged or even providing local conscripts. With Iraq’s fight against ISIL taking an increasingly sectarian cast, the U.S. is staying behind the scenes, limiting its role to airstrikes or military advisers.

Oh God…..playing politics in a time of war…..truly a disgusting turn of events……

Item 4–The Arab league has issued a statement…….

The Arab League called for the creation of a regional force to combat militants as countries face a growing threat from Islamic State and other groups.

Speaking at the opening session of an Arab League meeting of foreign ministers, Secretary General Nabil el-Araby called for action.

“What is required now and urgently is to look into creating a…multi-national force that is able to look at what unites them in terms of responsibilities in the areas of quick intervention to fight terroism, the activities of terrorist groups, helping in peacekeeping operations and securing humanitarian operations,” he said.

Okay unless I missed something…..is not that what the US-led Coalition is suppose to be?

Item 5–Does ISIS have an eye for Lebanon?

A group of young men from Akkar were recruited to an ISIS cell recently and traveled to Turkey with the intention of undergoing training in a militant camp in Syria, sources told The Daily Star Tuesday.

Is Lebanon in the sights?  If Iraq goes bad….will they surface in Lebanon?

Update:  As writing of this SITREP….reports coming out of Iraq say that the Iraqis are winning the battle for Tikrit………Iraqi forces are claiming major progress in the ongoing war with ISIS saying they seized the town of al-Alam, just north of Tikrit, and have made their “final push” into the major Sunni city.  This may be a typical chest thumping by the army…..awaiting confirmation before going any further with this story.

Item 6–The new SecState has hit the ground running with the war drums……

Top administration officials, including Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, are pushing hard for Congress to sign off on President Obama’s Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against ISIS.

Carter claimed ISIS is “metastasizing” outside of Syria and Iraq, and that US military action is “desperately needed” to counter them. US military action has been going on for months now, of course, without the AUMF.

Item 7–US main strategy in Iraq is religious unity as well as a unity government…..but events are not cooperating….

Taking back ISIS-held towns for the Iraqi military has become a much bigger long-term problem than anyone expected. It’s not just the fighting that’s the problem, it’s the brutality that comes afterward.

Iraq claims they’re investigating reports of atrocities carried out by the Shi’ite militias, but those investigations never go anywhere. It’s not just the militias, either, with Iraqi troops getting involved oftentimes.

With the US couching their entire Iraq strategy on religious unity, an admittedly unrealistic plan in the first place, regular sectarian massacres are really leaving that plan in tatters. Iraqi Sunnis may not like living under ISIS control, but they may look fondly back on that if living under Shi’ite occupation is too brutal.

A problem that must be solved before any measure of success can be counted.

This concludes the briefing…..have a great weekend and we will be back next week.

Thanx for your time and attention.

Turn The Page!

Police: Is That Camera On?

The rash of civilian deaths at the hands of police in the last six months or so has brought the attention of the country on what could be seen as a growing problem……there have been many people talking….debating…..arguing over what to do about this situation.  There have been many opinions on a solution from sensitivity training to the wearing of body cameras to record any altercation…..

The camera solution seems to be growing in popularity and some PDs are already using this technique…..I believe that LA was one of the first. Of course there are those brave citizens that take it upon themselves to get involved and record any thing they see as unusual on the phones………….. And since it is a growing trend it seems that Texas has taken it upon itself to set itself above the rest……

Texas Legislator Proposes Criminalizing Filming Police Up Close – Hit & Run : Reason.com.

Now I will wait to see how many of the limited thought people on the Right will seize this moment to talk about our 1st amendment rights……my guess is NOt many….if anything they will side with the d/bag in Texas.

Now your turn….throw the thoughts out there and let’s start a dialog……

Genius Must Be Applauded!

My readers know that I have a personal relationship with Palestine….it is not that I hate Jews….,just that the government of Israel is a racist bunch of pigs (I chose pigs for an ethnic reason)……I have also been a critic of the US government for its blank check to the Israeli government and their treatment of humans, in this case Palestinians……

I recently read a piece about an Israeli that has flipped the bird at the Israeli government….and I think he is a genius…….

In 1971, Eli Avivi and his wife, Rina, ripped up their Israeli passports and were hauled off to jail, where they were charged with destroying passports and “creating a country without permission,” per the BBC. That charge was eventually dropped, but their “country,” Akhzivland, is still kicking. Located just north of the Israeli city of Nahariya, near the Lebanon border, the 3.5-acre Akhzivland has just two citizens (the Avivis), a national flag complete with mermaid, a national anthem (the sound of the sea), and a House of Parliament, the BBC notes. It features its own passport, and 85-year-old Avivi is president for life—”democratically elected by his own vote.” Even though Israel doesn’t recognize his state status, Avivi’s reign would almost make him the longest-serving ruler in the region, second only to the sultan of Oman.

Born in Iran, Avivi moved to Israel at a young age. He became a soldier, fighting in Israel’s War of Independence, but he soon became disillusioned and started his own state in an abandoned Arab fishing village called Akhziv, per a 2014 article in the Daily Beast. “I loved Israel. I fought for Israel. But I didn’t like the government,” he told Lonely Planet in 2009. He’s had some skirmishes with the Israeli government over the years: He says he suffered broken bones when he refused to get out of the way of bulldozers trying to raze Akhziv into a national park in 1963, and in 1971 officials put a fence around his property to cut off his beach access. Oddly enough, Israel more or less leaves Avivi alone these days, even erecting an official sign on the road nearby that points to “Eli Avivi.” “I’m stronger now than before,” he tells the BBC. “There’s nothing they can do or say to me.”

This man and his wife will get my nomination for Persons of the Year award…….A stroke of genius…….keep up the good fight!

Please help get this story out into the ether……this man deserves our recognition for his principles and bravery!

Firearms: What We Need Is A Good Scare!

Ever noticed that when the media hands us a crisis to be afraid of, then gun sales hit record heights……there is of course ISIS and Ebola and….well hard to pen down the crisis du jour for Americans….but as I have said…..we need a good……why?

The number of Americans who live in a household with at least one gun is lower than it has ever been, according to a major American trend survey that finds the decline in gun ownership is paralleled by a reduction in the number of Americans who hunt. According to the latest General Social Survey, 32% of Americans either own a firearm themselves or live with someone who does, which ties a record low set in 2010. That marks a significant decline since the late 1970s and early 1980s, when about half of Americans told researchers there was a gun in their household. In 1977, 32% said they lived in a household with at least one hunter, but less than half that number say so now.

Data from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System suggest the total number of firearms being purchased is going up. But those are concentrated in fewer hands than they were in the 1980s, the General Social Survey finds. The poll found that 22% of Americans own a firearm, down from a high of 31% who said so in 1985. The survey also finds a shrinking gender gap in personal firearm ownership, but a growing age gap, with 14% of adults under age 35 and 31% of those over age 65 saying they personally own a gun. In 1980, younger adults were only slightly less likely than older ones to report that they owned a gun.

Maybe the NRA should work harder on ‘everyone’ owning a gun and stop worrying about the price of bullets…..if they lose any more support then the firearm industry will have to kick in more cash….and if that is not profitable then they may have second thoughts about their bought and paid for politicians……

However the recent shooting in Ferguson ought to make sells soar again….thanx to the media.

Whatcha think?

It’s Time to Rethink American Exceptionalism | The Nation

I have written a few times on the subject of “American Exceptionalism”……I have found that it is a subjective topic….has many definitions and some not so comprehensible…….it has been a rallying call…..and a political slogan……and a bumper sticker……..but seldom understood.

Regardless what you think the term means…..maybe it is time to re-think the slogan……I found this article over the weekend……give it a read and let me know what you think……

 

It’s Time to Rethink American Exceptionalism | The Nation.