Day: April 20, 2015

Iraq: “It’s No Big Deal”

My loyal readers know that I have a passion for the study of war and its consequences……most Americans do not seem to care for it does not effect them but that could change any day now.  I like to know what my defenders may step in on their way to war.

Iraqi troops and Shi’a militias have something to celebrate…..it appears that they have attacked and beaten ISIS in the Northern Iraq city of Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam.  Airstrikes should be slapped on the back also for it was those that made the ground forces possible for their win in the city.

While the Iraqis were celebrating their success ISIS took it on the lamb and re-appeared in the capital of Anbar province, Ramadi…..this is not a good thing because Ramadi is not far from Baghdad and there are a wealth of American assets in the region of Anbar.

McClatchy is reporting……..

Iraq deployed elite troops to the besieged provincial capital of Ramadi on Thursday in hopes of stemming an Islamic State offensive but the city remained surrounded, with Islamic State forces in control of many, if not most, districts, according to witnesses and government officials.

The Islamic State also claimed that its fighters had entered the strategic oil refinery at Baiji, a huge reversal for the government, which until Thursday had prevented the radicals from gaining a foothold in Iraq’s largest oil-processing center.

The two battles 120 miles apart marked major setbacks for the government in Baghdad just two weeks after it triumphantly captured the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State, and they were a reminder that Iraqi forces still face an uphill climb in wresting much of their country from the group. The troops dispatched to Ramadi on Thursday were the same well-trained Interior Ministry commandos who’d spearheaded the final assault on Tikrit.

Ramadi has been a hub in the past but it seems that but for some reason an American general is not concerned…….

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey is dismissing the talk of Ramadi’s fall would be no big deal, and adding that the city is “not central to the future of Iraq.”

The reality, however, is that the US was making a big deal about the need to make inroads in the Anbar Province just last week, and now instead is facing the loss of the Anbar capital to ISIS, and another big setback for Iraqi troops.

The admin has gotten all think tanks to trot out to the cameras and push the positive that Ramadi is NO big deal……..Your propaganda machine in full operational capability…..I find it interesting that the capture of a smaller town of Tikrit is being sold as a win and a huge success and Ramadi is being dissed.  The loss of Ramadi would be a devastating blow to the narrative of success that the US is trying to sell……..maybe Dempsey is conceding that Ramadi is already lost and is trying to do a little damage control.

The flippant attitude of Gen. Dempsey does not seem to be echoed by the PM of Iraq…….

Iraqi PM Hayder Abadi clearly sees it differently, and warns the latest ISIS push against Ramadi, a city which has been contested since January of 2014, proves the group is a growing threat.

Abadi warned ISIS is recruiting young people “not only in Iraq but across the world,” and is both a transnational nation and one that is capable of establishing a serious presence on the ground.

“If Daesh has developed this capability, no uniformed army can stop them,” warned Abadi. The comments come as he is trying to get more military aid from the US for the war against ISIS.

As in any war the word games are just amazing…..then who do you believe is delivering the truth?  Is it Dempsey?  Or is it the Iraqi PM?

Any time the possibilities of the troops being put in harms way…………then……….. IT IS A BIG DEAL!

What Say You?

How NBC Knowingly Let Syria Rebels’ False War Propaganda Stand For Years | The Nation

This is a continuation of my previous post on NBC’s failure in Syria and the Middle East……..

As one who spends a lot of time reading, researching and writing on the Middle East……I have used NBC’s Richard Engel as a reliable source……a lot has happened and I am starting to question the reliability.

I still think that Engel is a very good and thorough journalist in the Middle East and more than qualified to report on the situation in the region……what I am questioning is NBC as a reliable purveyor of news for the Middle East.

So much is coming out about the situation in Syria and ISIS thatr leads me to believe that they are only a source for propaganda and not news…….

I use to like CNN as a reliable source of information for the Middle East and they have lost my respect and I No longer turn to them for accuracy………and now NBC is starting to generate doubts for me…….

 

How NBC Knowingly Let Syria Rebels’ False War Propaganda Stand For Years | The Nation.

NBC’s Conduct in Engel Kidnapping Story is More Troubling than the Brian Williams Scandal – The Intercept

As one who spends a lot of time with the Middle East and events that occur I like Richard Engel….he knows the region and he speaks Arabic so he can interview people without using a go between….

I heard some rumblings about his kidnapping last summer…..some of them were disturbing……….

I recall when I saw the news that he and his team had been kidnapped in Syria I was concerned….journalist have not been too fortunate in Syria and Iraq…..and then he was “rescued”……

Now a story has come out about that kidnapping and NBC…..it is a disturbing story at that……..while Engel still has my respect and confidence I cannot say the same for NBC……..they are starting to show the same lack of professional journalism as CNN has shown…….

 

NBC’s Conduct in Engel Kidnapping Story is More Troubling than the Brian Williams Scandal – The Intercept.

Butterflies Are Free

I remember a hippie-dippie movie with Goldie Hawn back in the “good old days”…..and this post has absolutely nothing to do with this post….

TECHNOLOGY…..My Friend…….as they say is the way of the future.  And drones is the technology leading the way into future warfare……..

This is a piece I found while surfing Middle East news sites…….I do not doubt that there are butterfly drones spying on people…..but is Israel capable of such techno stuff?

You decide.

 

Israel’s e-butterflies latest toy in hi-tech war.

Birth Of A Nation

Nope not talking about the movie from the 20’s, which was a bit racist, but the birth of a real live nation……awhile back I wrote a post about this Israeli dude that was pissed at the nation of Israel and started his own country on his little slice of land……..An Israeli man has been ruler of his 3.5-acre “country” for more than 40 years……

I liked the idea……had enough of BS from your government then declare your own country….(did not someone make a movie about something along these lines?)

It seems there is another brave soul that has had enough……

There is a staggering amount of bloodshed associated with nationhood movements in the Balkans, but a Czech politician says the new country he has declared is a peaceful—and real—project. On Monday, Vit Jedlicka appointed himself president of Liberland, which sits on 2.7 square miles of what he says is unclaimed territory between Serbia and Croatia on the south bank of the Danube, reports the BBC. The population currently stands at seven, but application for citizenship can be made through Liberland’s website, which says more than 20,000 people have already applied. People with respect for others and for private property are welcome, the website says, and people with Communist or Nazi pasts are not.

Jedlicka, a member of the Czech Republic’s libertarian Party of Free Citizens, tells Time that Liberland started out as a protest, but is “turning out to be a real project with real support.” Wisely, he says the new country—which has the national motto “To Live and Let Live”—will have no military and will offer only “passive defense” if it meets opposition from its neighbors. In the incredibly unlikely event that Liberland becomes an actual country, it will be the third-smallest in the world behind Vatican City and Monaco, notes Slate, which wishes its “brave citizens” luck whether the project turn out to be “publicity stunt, impossible dream, or future libertarian utopia.

What amazed me is that in this day that there4 was a piece of land not claimed…..