Everyone is looking to blame someone for the rise of ISIS……….my previous post covered much of what is in this post….
Maybe these two posts will help give some clarity to the debate/argument…….
Month: May 2015
ISIS: From Out Of The Shadows
From the overworked fingers of Chuq
While doing research for a piece I am writing about the possibility of peace in the Middle East I came across a report from 2012 issued by a super secret intel group within our government. I found it fascinating and decided to put my “Peace” post on ice for awhile to do more research.
For months now the GOP and any other Right wing lunatic to get his/her name in the media has accused the Obama government as the creator of ISIS…….there have been so many and most of them are running for the GOP nomination in 2016……..so much talk and so little proof that it is becoming redundant.
One fine morning the American people woke up to a new problem on the horizon…….the civil war was not going as well as the government had wanted……and then there appears a new opponent, the Islamic State In Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and since that day it has gone through a wide array of acronyms to describe it…..AQI, ISIS, ISIL and just plain IS….you pick the one that stirs your loins…..
While the government was trying to decide whether to get involved in Syria or not……a group arose out of the ashes and started showing amazing fighting skills by overrunning cities, military complexes and then on to Iraq to do the same and before long this group controlled a sizable stretch of territory…..
This group’s rapid rise got the intel community into a rush to find something that can be useable……something the prez could use to make an adequate policy speech.
The CIA scrambled…..the NSA listened…….then out of the shadows came one of the most secret groups in Washington….the DIA……and their report on ISIS…..
Since Syria’s Assad’s father day the US has had a hard on for a regime change in the country……and then the Arab Spring caught fire and made it into Syria…..the DIA used its many resources and came up with a plan for Syria…..
- Al-Qaeda drives the opposition in Syria
- The West identifies with the opposition
- The establishment of a nascent Islamic State became a reality only with the rise of the Syrian insurgency (there is no mention of U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq as a catalyst for Islamic State’s rise, which is the contention of innumerable politicians and pundits; see section 4.D. below)
- The establishment of a “Salafist Principality” in Eastern Syria is “exactly” what the external powers supporting the opposition want (identified as “the West, Gulf Countries, and Turkey”) in order to weaken the Assad government
- “Safe havens” are suggested in areas conquered by Islamic insurgents along the lines of the Libyan model (which translates to so-called no-fly zones as a first act of ‘humanitarian war’; see 7.B.)
- Iraq is identified with “Shia expansion” (8.C)
- A Sunni “Islamic State” could be devastating to “unifying Iraq” and could lead to “the renewing facilitation of terrorist elements from all over the Arab world entering into Iraqi Arena.” (see last non-redacted line in full PDF view.)
Of course the AQM or AQI which morphed into ISIS was the best way to prompt a regime change in Syria……..to be honest they did foresee a problem with AQM……a problem that could come back and bite in the ass.
Realistic the US did not create ISIS…..it has been there the whole time just with another name AQM…….but their rush to end the Assad regime may have done more to enable the group than anyone would like to admit.
Why Are We in the Middle East? | Common Dreams
In all the years when I was teaching and lecturing on the Middle East there were two questions that I could guarantee would be asked by people in the class……1–Will there ever be peace in the Middle East and 2–Why are we in the Middle East?
This is a good article on the later of the questions and the first one I am working on a piece to explain the peace thing…….
If you have ever wondered why we, the US, is so deeply involved in the Middle East then try this article to help your search……
Why Are We in the Middle East? | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
Making the World Less Safe – The Unz Review
I have been questioning our foreign policy…..instead of managing our interests overseas we seem to be making the world a lot less safe.
When I was in college my foreign policy class tught that it was the US chore to make the world a safer place and to make war less likely.
If that is still the mission then we are failing miserably,
Why Saudi Arabia’s Yemen war is not producing victory
Nobody in the US is concerned with the situation in Yemen……that is until some douche mentions the “I” word (ISIS)…..and then all the mouths in Washington start flapping and as usual that is all that comes out of such a waste of time……a lot of hot air passed through the colon of democracy.
But all that aside ask yourself….If the US gives billions and billions to our “friends” in Saudi Arabia why cannot they actually win a war against a vastly inferior opponent?
Who benefits from an extended conflict? Now there is the question that needs an honest answer.
Why Saudi Arabia’s Yemen war is not producing victory – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.
Ramadi: The Blame Game
By now anyone interested in the war in the Middle East knows of the loss of the Iraqi city of Ramadi to the forces of ISIS……and by now the fingers are pointing in every direction…..who is to blame for this loss?
The US SecState has an opinion………
There is little denying that the war against ISIS is going poorly, and everyone is looking for a scapegoat. Over the weekend, Defense Secretary Ash Carter placed the blame squarely on Iraq’s military, saying they simply aren’t willing to fight.
After that bomshell was dropped the Iraqis fired back…….
Baghdad has authorized the deployment of Shi’ite militiamen, but many believe the militiamen could further aggravate sectarian relations. The U.S. government says it is looking into more training and weapons for local tribes. Meanwhile, local security forces in Anbar complained they have not received any support from Baghdad.
Basically it is the US fault for not properly supplying the Iraqi army……at least according to Iran…..
Iranian officials are feeling the loss of Ramadi too, but instead of blaming the Iraqis are placing the fault on America’s doorstep, with Gen. Qassim Suleimani declaring the US “has no will to fight” against ISIS and was leaving everything up to them and the Iraqis.
Love it when accusations go flying around like snowflakes on a wintery morn…….
Enough with the who did what…….what is the proper response?
The Congressional War Hawks are thumping their chests as always…..especially my fave Hawk, McCain………
McCain on Sunday said the Obama administration needs a more defined strategy to defeat the terrorist group and suggested “a number of thousands” of Americans could do the job.
“We need to have a strategy,” he said told CBS News. “There is no strategy, and anybody that says that there is, I’d like to hear what it is, because it certainly isn’t apparent now, and right now.”
Nothing new there….that is people like McCain’s only plan….send in American troops to fight and die……if not that…..what?
How about the testimony before a Senate committee…….
Witnesses testifying before the Senate Armed Services panel May 21 all agreed that the current strategy is failing and that the United States must work closely with Sunni fighters battling the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS). They stopped short of endorsing a surge in combat troops — a nonstarter after the 2003 invasion — but argued for a boost in the number of US advisers and a substantial increase in their role.
“Without adequate force structure on the ground — and commitment — you cannot get out there and engage with the Sunni Arabs … They won’t believe you’re serious unless you put enough skin in the game,” said retired Col. Derek Harvey, the director of the Global Initiative on Civil Society and Conflict at the University of South Florida. “And to do that we’re going to need, in my judgment, about 15,000 or more” extra advisers on top of the 3,000 or so already there.
Really is there a real plan?
NOTHING! Keep on keeping on…..there is not one Congressional person with enough balls to put anything down on paper that can be used against them in an election…..after all that is what is paramount….preserve the campaign cash.
Winning an election is far important than winning the war of terror……
Keep in mind…..the longer a war continues….the more money is made……
And there is the plan you have been looking for all this time!
Go Bernie Go!
It is damn official! We now have a challenger to Hillary….Vermont’s Bernie Sanders…..who made it official yesterday on the shores of Lake Champlain………
“Thank you all very very much for being out here today. Let me just make a brief comment and take a few questions. We don’t have an endless amount of time. I have to get back.
Let me just say this. This country today in my view, has more serious crises than any time since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
For most Americans, their reality is that they are working longer hours for lower wages. In inflation-adjusted income, they are earning less money than they used to, years ago, in spite a huge increase in technology and productivity.
So, all over this country, I have been talking to people, and they say, “How does it happen? I’m producing more, but I’m working longer hours for lower wages. My kid can’t afford to go to college, and I’m having a hard time affording health care. What happened, while at exactly the same time, 99 percent of the income being generated in this country is going to the top 1 percent?”
Read the rest of his announcement speech………
But if reading some of the best words you will ever read is too much a chore…..or if you are just too damn lazy to read the whole thing…..then……watch the video…….
announcement made by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders that he intends to campaign for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2016.
Bernie will be the recipient of many negative ads……slogans and labels will be thrown at him endlessly look at every issue he puts forth he is the exact person for the American people……
If the American people voted for issues instead of some beauty contest then Bernie can be easily elected our next president……I expect to see Hillary hit on every issue Bernie raises….but without the passion. She will chip away on the edges of these issues but there will be NO specifics and no total commitment.
Any thoughts?
Hillary And Her Benefactors
Ms. Hillary has been the darling of the MSM for years and now she has the whole industry behind her presidential aspirations……
Before I get the usual hate mail….I am not dissing Hillary because of her gender….I do NOT like her policies and her stand on issues…..save the hate for when I write about Muslims or gays or something equally as mundane…..
Media Executives Are Salivating Over Big Money Flooding the 2016 Election Cycle – The Intercept
There is a huge movement to undo “Citizens United”……lots of people want to get the big money out of politics…..what are the chances that it will happen”
My answer….slim to NONE! Why?
The media is making barrels of money from elections and why would they work to eliminate their cash flow?
And that is how you BUY a president!
Media Executives Are Salivating Over Big Money Flooding the 2016 Election Cycle – The Intercept.
ISIS: Assigning Blame
Opinion from the bewildered mind of Chuq
It is election time in case you missed the memo……ISIS is in the news so by extension it will be an election talking point……of Iraq will also and there have already been lots of announced candidates that have stepped into that pile of do-do.
Cruz, Bush, Santorum, Rubio et al have said that “mistakes” were made in the run up to the invasion of Iraq but that the Prez is to blame for the creation of ISIS…..that AQM had been destroyed by 2007 and because Obama would not leave a residual force in Iraq ISIS was allowed to rise.
First of all….there is NO one with half a brain that does not know that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was unneeded and just plain wrong. The more these GOP douches try to put the situation off on someone besides GW………the more pathetic they look.
Okay…..this is a yawner!
The Bush admin set the date of 2011 as time for US forces to leave the country…..Maliki would not guarantee immunity of US forces that remained behind and wanted us gone. He would not sign a “status of forces” agreement and because he wanted us gone…….we left.
AQM was not destroyed…..if it had been there would have been NO one left to re-name the group ISIS. That one should be self-evident….but then half a brain would be needed to make such an observation.
Since Obama was president when the group emerged then it is ALL HIS FAULT! HE CREATED ISIS! More bullshit disguised as logic!
“It was a mistake to invade Iraq in 2003″….is the new talking points and all the GOP candidates are using that explanation to answer the media’s questions…….but ISIS is Obama’s fault for not leaving troops in 2011…….now spend a little time exercising that tiny brain and think about that for a moment.
I have been hard on Obama for many of his policies and I do not approve of his handling the ISIS situation……but to pretend that everyone is clean because they admit to “some mistakes” being made in 2003 is a cowardly act……..which is expected from politicians especially the GOP.
Cowards will always find a good excuse………