Good day……while you were distracted by a whole lot of BS the war in the Middle East marches on……I will try to keep you informed….after all your children may be fighting this conflict for a long while.

Item 1–One could ask…..how well are the airstrikes doing at slowing ISIS?

ISIS continues to gain substantial ground in Syria, despite nearly 800 airstrikes in the American-led campaign to break its grip there.

At least one-third of the country’s territory is now under ISIS influence, with recent gains in rural areas that can serve as a conduit to major cities that the so-called Islamic State hopes to eventually claim as part of its caliphate. Meanwhile, the Islamic extremist group does not appear to have suffered any major ground losses since the strikes began. The result is a net ground gain for ISIS, according to information compiled by two groups with on-the-ground sources.

In Syria, ISIS “has not any lost any key terrain,” Jennifer Cafarella, a fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War who studies the Syrian conflict, explained to The Daily Beast.

Does that answer the question?

Item 2–Is that a troop build up?

The Pentagon is confirming that hundreds of additional US ground troops are heading to Iraq, to be deployed at myriad locations in the role of military trainers.

The US has been sending ever-growing numbers of ground troops to Iraq, and positioning them deeper and deeper into ISIS territory, for months, and officials said today that the plan is for ground operations to begin sometime in the spring.

Officials say the program is going to involve around 1,000 troops, split between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar. 400 troops are said to be heading for Qatar to begin the training.

The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is about to launch an online TV channel, according to the Vocativ website.A “teaser” for the new channel was published this week on a popular ISIS online forum with a link to the page that will host the 24/7 propaganda channel.The new channel is expected to feature a new video series by British captive John Cantlie, who has already made several videos for ISIS, and a daily news program.Also scheduled is a program called “Time to Recruit,” which is expected to deal with the recruitment of young Muslims to the ranks of the jihadist organization. The program will be broadcast on Wednesdays at 5 P.M. Islamic State Time (GMT+3.)

(Reuters) – The Syrian state news agency on Friday attacked U.S. military plans to train and equip Syrian rebels, saying they amounted to support for terrorists.

The insurgency is today dominated by hardline Islamist groups including Islamic State and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. The non-jihadist opposition has little presence.

The United States has not yet said exactly which elements of the opposition it plans to train, though it says the support will go to moderates.

Good day and welcome to the briefing…….

Item 1–I have long said that airstrikes and supplies will not be enough to defeat the advance of ISIS……..

Iraqi officials have told US special envoy to the ISIS war General John Allen that they don’t believe the US-led coalition is doing enough in that war, and that their support is “not convincing.”

With the US not wanting to directly coordinate with Iran on the war, despite having virtually identical interests, this is putting the two nations into competition with each other for buying the support of the Abadi government in Baghdad, a question which will likely be more important as the war winds down and the territories of the respective powers become more stationary.

The problem is that any minor successes will be short lived without a constant state of war from the Us and the Coalition.

Item 2–US training troops continue to face enemy fire……

The 300 US soldiers and Marines at al Asad air base in Iraq’s Anbar province continue to see mortar fire directed at their positions, with six more mortar rounds landing on the sprawling complex last week.

Item 3–When will Iraq be ready for a massive offensive?  Good question, huh?

A statement from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office said the alliance should “increase the tempo of the effective air strikes on Islamic State positions,” while also calling for an expansion of the training program for Iraqi security forces.

Speaking with Reuters on Jan. 11, Abadi predicted that the US-led training program would take three years, and that “the most difficult thing is to restructure and build the Army while you are in a state of war. … Our aim is to create a balance between both, restructuring the Army in a way that will not impact the fighting.”

Item 4–Remember Korbane?

It is a stunning reversal for the Islamic State group, which just months ago stood poised to conquer the entire town — and could pierce a carefully crafted image of military strength that helped attract foreign fighters and spread horror across the Middle East.

“An IS defeat in Kobani would quite visibly undermine the perception of unstoppable momentum and inevitable victory that IS managed to project, particularly after it captured Mosul,” said Faysal Itani, a fellow at the Atlantic Council, referring to the militants’ seizure of Iraq’s second-largest city during its blitz into Iraq from Syria last summer.

It would also rob the group of a “psychological edge that both facilitated recruitment and intimidated actual and potential rivals, as well as the populations IS controlled,” Itani said.

Events are unfolding and the American public is more concerned with the antics of some big butt broad or a group of adrenalin junkies climbing a rock….eventually this war will slap them in the face and they, public, will clamor to know why they were uninformed of the turn in the war……

I shall continue as often as good news is available……

Thanx for your time and attention……..

Turn The Page!

Good day…..I apologize for the lessening number of briefings but world events have kicked a WAR off the radar of the media and the people’s thoughts….I will return to a more constant update as events permit……

Item 1–It appears that Iran’s involvement in the war on ISIS is more positive than few will admit…….

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Jan. 8 that Iran’s influence in Iraq could be “positive.”

Dempsey, who spoke with reporters following a meeting at the Pentagon with Lt. Gen. Benjamin Gatz, chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, said, “If it is a path that ties the two countries [Iran and Iraq] more closely together economically or even politically, as long as the Iraqi government remains committed to inclusivity of all the various groups inside the country, then I think Iranian influence will be positive. But what really matters is where it all goes, and we’re watching that very carefully.”

Item 2–And then there is this report on Iran……

In the eyes of most Iraqis, their country’s best ally in the war against the Islamic State group is not the United States and the coalition air campaign against the militants. It’s Iran, which is credited with stopping the extremists’ march on Baghdad.

Shiite, non-Arab Iran has effectively taken charge of Iraq’s defense against the Sunni radical group, meeting the Iraqi government’s need for immediate help on the ground.

Two to three Iranian military aircraft a day land at Baghdad airport, bringing in weapons and ammunition. Iran’s most potent military force and best known general — the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force and its commander Gen. Ghasem Soleimani — are organizing Iraqi forces and have become the de facto leaders of Iraqi Shiite militias that are the backbone of the fight. Iran carried out airstrikes to help push militants from an Iraqi province on its border.

US interests could be in danger……someone needs to watch this closely.

Item 3–ISIS is gaining a foothold in Afghanistan…….

In the wake of a video showing regional ISIS supporters beheading a Pakistani soldier, Afghan officials confirmed that ISIS is not only active in Afghanistan, but increasingly so in the southern Helmand Province.

Gen. Mahmoud Khan admitted that ISIS fighters are openly recruiting in Helmand, and that a religious leader named Mullah Abdul Rauf has been trying to bring tribal leaders on board.

Mullah Rauf was a commander for the Taliban years ago, but now seems to be on the ISIS bandwagon. This could be problematic not just for the Afghan government, but for the Taliban as well.

Sad…..so sad……more thorns in the world’s butt.

Item 4–A short report on Coalition airstrikes……..

In Syria, military forces conducted 11 airstrikes, including nine near the long-contested city of Kobani, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials said in a statement. The air raids obliterated ISIS fighting positions and buildings, officials said.

In Iraq, an assortment of attack aircraft, fighter jets and drones executed 16 strikes. They destroyed some of the terror group’s fighting positions, vehicles, an artillery system, rocket launcher and buildings, officials said.

Coalition forces hit targets near a slew of Iraqi cities, including Baiji, Taji, Al Qaim, Ramadi, Tal Afar, Al Asad, Sinjar and Mosul.

Item 5–There is more from the Iranians……….

/ The Deputy of Iran’s Interior Ministry , Hossein Ali Amiri said on Tuesday, that his country’s security forces are monitoring the movements of ISIS terrorist organization

in Iraq, stressing that the organization does not constitute any threat to Iran.

Amiri said at a news conference seen by “Shafaq News”, that “ISIS terrorist organization is at a distance far from the borders of Iran, noting that the western border enjoy full security and the necessary actions have been taken on the eastern border as well.”

He added that ISIS will not pose a threat to us and our forces are able to ensure the security of the border in the best possible shape, noting that the security and military services are monitoring ISIS movements accurately.

If true….maybe then it is time for a closer relationship with Iran on this issue….at least……..

That concludes today’s briefing…….

Thanx for your time and attention……..

Turn The Page!

Good day.

Today will be another slow day……a family member had an heart attack and I will be back and forth to the hospital……sorry for the lack of info for you guys………

Item 1–US troops in Anbar are increasingly coming under fire from ISIS…..

Though the Pentagon has denied previous reports that US ground troops in the Anbar Province had engaged in any combat with ISIS, they today conceded that those 320 troops at the Ayn al-Asad airbase are under fire from ISIS on a “regular basis.”

So far, they are only facing indirect mortar fire from ISIS fighters in the region, but with reports of ISIS expanding closer to the base, that may get more and more dangerous.

Item 2–ISIS and its rival for prominence AQ are having a heated war of words…..

Al-Shamali’s salvo, which is perhaps unprecedented in its detail and airing of dirty laundry, is the latest in the public war of words between al-Qaeda and IS that has been taking place for much of the past year. One pro-al-Qaeda commentator speculates that the article could lay the groundwork for takfir (excommunication) of al-Qaeda’s central leadership by IS.

Perhaps the intel people could find a use for this info….just a thought.

Item 3–Training has begun for the rebels ti fight ISIS….but as usual there is a problem….

Turkey has been adamant that any force deployed in Syria must have as a goal defeating the Assad government, but the Obama administration has insisted it is interested only in battling the Islamic State. There is no need to define the ultimate target now, the Turkish official said, because rebel forces already are fighting a two-front war, against both the Syrian government and the Islamic State.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2015/01/05/3572599_us-turkey-agree-to-syrian-rebel.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

The scope of Iranian involvement in the Iraqi war with ISIS is never really apparent, but Badr Brigade leader and Iraqi MP Hadi Ameri today made clear that he believes Iranian involvement “saved” Baghdad, and indeed Iraq in general.

“If it were not for the cooperation of the Islamic Republic of Iran and General Suleimani, we would not today have a government headed by Hayder Abadi in Baghdad,” Ameri insisted, “it would not have existed.”

Gen. Suleimani, the head of Iran’s powerful Quds Force, has been in Iraq advising them militarily for months to the chagrin of western officials who have claimed Iraq is violating UN sanctions by allowing Suleimani to travel there.

Good day and hope everyone had a good New Years Day……..We begin a new year and an attempt to keep the situation in the Levant in perspective……

Item 1–With all the spurious info about ISIS being hurt by all the Coalition airstrikes they should soon be on the run everywhere right?

Several months in, the US war hasn’t amounted to much on the ground, with ISIS losing a handful of minor towns, while seizing a number of others elsewhere. In Syria the war has centered around destroying oil infrastructure, while the Assad government shifts its focus to other, smaller rebel groups.

While ISIS’ biggest gains came in spurts, and most of the time they were just consolidating newly-captured territory, there’s no denying 2014 was a major win for them, and going into 2015 the group will be looking to keep that momentum.

In Syria, the ISIS focus will probably continue to be on Kobani and other minor targets, with an eye toward eventually moving on the contested city of Aleppo. In Iraq, the ambitions are clearly much bigger, with the group having gotten its territory extend to the outskirts of Baghdad, increasing pressure on the Iraqi capital.

Iraq and Syria are where the biggest battles will doubtless be happening in 2015, but ultimately ISIS is also hoping to expand into other nations, with Lebanon and Jordan both likely near-term targets, and their successful recruiting worldwide meaning they could have a sudden presence virtually anywhere.

Item 2–The capture of a Jordanian pilot has put a monkey wrench in the Coalition ……

A week after a Jordanian pilot was shot down and captured by ISIS, Jordanian MP Rula al-Hroob has confirmed that the nation has halted its involvement in the ISIS war, and is no longer conducting airstrikes.

Al-Hroob insisted the move was not a “permanent decision,” but rather a step back from the conflict to try to get a deal done to recover the pilot. So far there are no indications ISIS is close to releasing them.

Sounds like Jordan is worried about ISIS expansion into the country…..

Item 3–Iraqi general warns that the army of Iraq is NOT capable of a complete victory over ISIS at this time……he stated that it will take many months of training and luck for them to be in a position to win.

Item 4–US attempt to rescue downed Jordanian pilot fails……more on this in a separate cover……

Today’s SITREP will be the last daily for now….the situation is NOT lending to a daily briefing…..I will go to a weekly one until more info is available…..sorry for the inconvenience….

Thanx for your time and attention…….

Turn The Page!

Good day…..news coming out of the battle with ISIS has slowed to a leak……I have decided to postpone any further briefings until 05Jan15……this will be the final report of 2014.

We have learned about the plane falling out of the sky into the Java sea and a ferry burning off Greece and a new Ebola person in UK…..but with all that the war continues and people die…….

Item 1–Finally!  Someone has spoke the truth within the Obama inner group…….

Trying to decipher this complex enemy — a hybrid terrorist organization and a conventional army — is such a conundrum that General Nagata assembled an unofficial brain trust outside the traditional realms of expertise within the Pentagon, State Department and intelligence agencies, in search of fresh ideas and inspiration. Business professors, for example, are examining the Islamic State’s marketing and branding strategies.

“We do not understand the movement, and until we do, we are not going to defeat it,” he said, according to the confidential minutes of a conference call he held with the experts. “We have not defeated the idea. We do not even understand the idea.”

General Nagata’s frustration is shared by other American officials. Even as President Obama and his top civilian and military aides express growing confidence that Iraqi troops backed by allied airstrikes have blunted the Islamic State’s momentum on the ground in Iraq and undermined its base of support in Syria, other officials acknowledge they have barely made a dent in the larger, longer-term campaign to kill the ideology that animates the terrorist movement.

Item 2–US and ally airstrikes are down to a dribble…..lack of targets is the culprit…..

Item 3–100’s of Iraqis and Syrians die daily……we should ask them what they desire…..maybe in 2015 might be a good time.

I apologize for the brevity of this briefing situations are under-reported…..hopefully a war becomes a priority in the media and the story is better told than today.

I will return to the briefings on 5Jan15….have a good holiday.

Thanx for your time and attention.

Turn The Page!

Good day….I do hope that everyone had a lovely holiday…..shall we move on to what is happening in the Middle East?

Item 1–During the Xmas break a Jordanian plane was downed by ISIS and the pilot captured and put on display.  This could open another front in this war….Jordan has its supporters of ISIS.

A warplane in the US-led coalition that is bombing ISIS in Syria went down near Raqqa today, the AP reports, and Jordan is confirming ISIS claims that one of its pilots has been captured by the militants. The pro-ISIS Raqqa Media Center published photos to Facebook showing a bleeding man they claim is the Jordanian pilot, reports the BBC. The photos show a man in a white shirt being taken out of a body of water by armed men, as well as an image of a military card and a caption identifying him as Royal Jordanian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Moaz Youssef al-Kasasbeh, the BBC notes. The lieutenant’s father confirmed to a Syrian newspaper that his son’s plane went down in Syria and passed a message along to ISIS: “May Allah plant mercy in your hearts and may you release my son.”

It would be the first warplane shot down by the Islamic State since airstrikes began three months ago, and the first foreign soldier to fall into the group’s hands, notes the AP. Activists from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claim ISIS used an anti-aircraft missile. Some worry what this incident means for how well ISIS fighters are armed, how well US-led aircraft can protect themselves, and whether Arab nations will be more reluctant to join. In its air mission against Syrian ISIS sites, the US has been joined by Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, with Qatar lending logistical aid, the AP notes

Item 2–Some are searching for a negotiated settlement of the war in Syria…….

The search for a negotiated settlement to the Syrian civil war is gaining steam, as President Bashar Assad’s forces feel increasingly squeezed on the battlefield and Islamic extremist groups proliferate across the region.

Russia, Assad’s chief international ally, is trying to convene peace talks in Moscow between Syrian government representatives and the mainstream opposition on how to move toward a political transition. Its diplomats have been shuttling between various sides of the conflict to try to arrange talks without preconditions.

Elsewhere, U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura is attempting to decrease the level of carnage in Syria through a plan that calls for “freezing the conflict” in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo as a building block for a wider solution to the war.

So far, there is little to suggest that either of those plans has a real chance of success. But analysts say there is a greater chance now for a settlement as a result of recent government losses in the north and south as well as growing resentment toward Assad among his traditional supporters ? particularly after the mass killings of soldiers by militants.

The longer the war in Syria goes on the worse everything will become…..this will gain traction in 2015….as the war in Iraq gets further expanded….

Item 3–As the US continues the military build-up of troops so with the defense contractors……those overpaid people that do what the troops should be doing….

As the Pentagon continues to add ground troops to Iraq for the ISIS war, it is expected that considerable numbers of private military contractors will follow.

The Pentagon made it clear, before they even started going into Iraq this next time, that they were looking for contractors for long-term deployments. Officials say the exact size will depend on how spread out the actual ground troops are, but signs are it will be considerable.

What this means is that corporations will be raking in massive profits from the use of US Troops.

Item 4–Reports are that the Islamic State is a failed state……

Recent reports out of ISIS territory are declaring the region a “failed state,” with shortages of medicine and rising food prices. The major city of Mosul has run out of chlorine, making its drinking water dangerous.

Though being spun as a failure of leadership by ISIS, such sights are pretty common in war zones, and all of ISIS territory is undergoing regular bombardment by the US and its allies, while US sanctions aim to prevent commerce from the oil-rich Syrian territory ISIS holds.

This of course sounds more like a propaganda piece…..yes there are difficulties but I do not think the end is near…..right now.

Item 5–Is there a sign that the Us will be more involved than today in the battle with ISIS?

For years, the US was wondering what it was going to do with many thousands of war vehicles it shipped to Afghanistan when the drawdown left so many of them in surplus. At times they talked about giving them away, or shredding them.

Instead, 3,100 such vehicles have been sent to Kuwait, where the US is massing them for use in the ever-escalating war against ISIS. Officials simply found another war for them

US Transport Command says that the Army has “room” to hold all the gear in Kuwait, and is simply storing it there until they figure out what they have a need for. History suggests they’ll invent needs for it, if nothing immediately springs up.

A small piece of intel but warrants keeping an eye on…….these vehicles are close….”if needed”.

Item 6–

Good day and welcome to today’s briefing.  This will be the last one until 29Dec14…….

Item 1–Pentagon is now saying US troops were not involved……

Officials from the command for US troops fighting ISIS in Iraq have publicly denied recent media reports that they have engaged in direct combat operations against ISIS in Anbar Province.

“The reports are unfounded,” insisted Combined JTF_Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Gary Boucher, insisting there were no plans for US troops to take part in any offensive operations in Anbar.

Please make up my mind for me…..

Item 2–Kurds with US assistance have been making good headway in the North of Iraq….but that has slowed down…..

US warplanes continue attacks around the Sinjar district, in northwestern Iraq, claiming to have weakened ISIS in an area where Kurdish Peshmerga forces are trying to seize new territory.

The momentum seems to be shifting away from the Peshmerga today, however, for after taking Mount Sinjar and parts of the town of Sinjar in the past few days, they are now facing heavy ISIS resistance and not making significant gains.

Conflicting reports makes the truth very elusive…..

Item 3–Jordan is opening itself up to retaliation……

– Jordan will begin training the first group of army troops from neighbouring Iraq in the next few weeks as part of the international effort to fight Islamic State, the Iraqi defence minister said on Monday.

Speaking after meeting Jordanian King Abdullah, Khaled al Obeidi said Amman would also supply the Iraqi army with arms needed for its drawn-out fight against the radical Islamists who have seized wide swathes of the north and west of his country.

Obeidi aims to rebuild the Iraqi army, which fell apart last summmer in the face of Islamic State’s blitz across northern Iraq during which at least four Iraqi divisions crumbled.

That concludes today’s briefing……I would like to take this chance to wish all a very Merry Christmas and will be back after the holiday…..

Thanx for your time and attention…..

Turn The Page!

Good day and I would like to report that this week will be a short with the celebrating of the holidays

Item 1–The slow build-up of US troops in the fight with ISIS continues…..

There are about 1,600-1,700 US ground troops in Iraq right now, but by the end of January it is expected to be nearly twice as many, according to the most recent Pentagon announcement.

Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby today announced that 1,000 paratroopers will be sent to Iraq in late January, and that another 300 troops from other services will be sent in January as well.

Slow but steady build up of US troops……this keeps it off the MSM radar…

Item 2–What is the cost of the war so far?

Constantly trying to downplay the massive cost of the new ISIS war in both Syria and Iraq, the Pentagon today issued a statement claiming the “total cost of operations” has been $1.02 billion since the war began, an absurdly low number considering what’s involved.

At present, the US has some 1,700 ground troops in Iraq and has carried out 1,371 airstrikes across both Iraq and Syria, including scores of attacks with Tomahawk cruise missiles, which by themselves cost $1.5 million each.

Item 3–US officials are claiming that ISIS is back on its heels……..

US officials claim Islamic State extremists have lost their momentum in fighting in Iraq and Syria and have been demoralised by heavy casualties inflicted by American air strikes

A senior US official said Isis had suffered particularly high casualties as a result of its determination to capture Kobani, sending many fighters to the border town, where they could easily be targeted by US planes. As a result, the official claimed, Isis fighters in the Isis Syrian stronghold of Raqqa were increasingly reluctant to go to Kobani and were growing disillusioned with the leadership.

“It was presenting itself as an unstoppable movement,” he said. “That kind of unstoppable momentum has been blunted, to say the least. We have killed over 1,000 of their fighters, particularly in Kobani, and that gets to Raqqa because they wanted to take Kobani and had been making the biggest flag they had ever made and they were going to put it up there because to them this is a war of flags.

News out of the region is NOT recognizing this optimism…….

Item 4–Has US Troops entered into the fray in Iraq?

US ground troops were confirmed to have been joined Iraqi forces in attempting to repel an ISIS attack on the strategic Anbar Province town of Baghdadi, northwest of Ramadi.

The Iraqi police confirmed US troops from the al-Assad airbase joined the battle. Some 350 US troops are stationed at the base, deep in ISIS territory, and officials have often presented attacks on ISIS near the area as “self-defense.”

Self -defense?

Tomorrow’s briefing will be the last until next week…that is unless large happens and needs covering…..

Thanx for your time and attention…..

Turn The Page!

I would like to say that the credible info coming out of the Middle East is slim at best….when there is little good news the media has a tendency to move to greener pastures…..News from Sony….news on Cuba…..news on attack in Pakistan….all this is stifling all other news……reports coming out of the Middle East are few….but we will carry on…….

Item 1–Cannot bomb what you cannot find……

Large numbers of airstrikes were launched by US and allied warplanes in the first nine days of the air war against ISIS in Syria. The number of strikes dropped in October, dropped again in November, and are now almost entirely halted.

The problem is lack of targets. There was little intelligence on ISIS territory in eastern Syria, and what few obvious stationary targets there were got destroyed early on.

Once again it all comes down to intel….and we have NONE!

Item 2–The Kurds have broken the siege of Sinjar Mountain in northwest Iraq………

Iraqi Kurdish officials have reported that the Peshmerga, backed by US warplanes, have seized control over Mount Sinjar again, opening a corridor between the Yazidi territory and Kurdistan.

WAIT!  Was not the people trapped on the mountain as a pretext for the return of US Troops?  I thought we4 had solved the problem some 3-4 months ago.  And why were not these “thousands” trapped not making news like the previous people trapped?

Item 3–Drone usage have been the subject of much debate and now the CIA report tells the tale……

Wikileaks on Thursday has made public a never-before-seen internal review conducted by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency that looked at the agency’s drone and targeted assassination programs in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and elsewhere.

The agency’s own analysis, conducted in 2009, found that its clandestine drone and assassination program was likely to produce counterproductive outcomes, including strengthening the very “extremist groups” it was allegedly designed to destroy.

Here’s a link to the document, titled Best Practices in Counterinsurgency: Making High-Value Targeting Operations an Effective Counterinsurgency Toolocument (pdf).

I do not expect much media coverage of this….why>  Does not fit the paradigm that DC is pushing.

Item 4–Iraqi troops retake the city of Baiji………

Iraq made a big deal of retaking the city of Baiji a little over a month ago, but lost the city back to ISIS without putting up much resistance, as they ordered troops to flee the city and reinforce at the nearby Baiji Refinery.

Iraqi officials had presented the retaking of Baiji as proof that they had shifted momentum against ISIS. The loss of the city suggests that the momentum shift was nowhere near as significant as advertised.

My thought is that thr Kurds and Iraqis are having amazing successes…..kinda cool since the A-10 Warthogs are now deployed in Iraq for close combat support….if I were a betting person I would say the new found success is thanx to the soon to be retired ‘Hog.

Item 5–Any success, a ultimate success, will have to include the Sunni tribes…..

Washington: The US plan to save Iraq from the advances of the so-called Islamic State was in trouble even before it was conceived – years before its unveiling in September, the marauding fundamentalists had systematically eliminated hundreds of the Iraqi tribal warriors who Washington believed would take up arms against the new threat posed by IS.

It says a lot about IS – which campaigns as a force that will “save” Sunnis – that in girding its loins for war with the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, it first set about murdering an entire leadership layer in its own community.

No one took much notice. But Craig Whiteside was counting. A veteran of the Iraq war and now a professor at the US Naval War College, Whiteside has identified 1345  members of the Awakening or Sahwa movement – Sunni tribesmen who fought against al-Qaeda – who have been executed, in what he bills as the most successful assassination campaign since the Viet Cong’s attack on the Diem regime in 1959-60.

There cannot be a final victory against ISIS without the tribes of al-Anbar….time for the US to get serious about their plan or go home.

Item 6–Finally there may be some good news…at least for the Obama group……….

the Pentagon’s top officer says US air strikes have killed several high-ranking military leaders of IS in Iraq.

The Kurdish offensive against IS forces besieging Mount Sinjar began early on Wednesday with the most intensive round of air strikes yet by US and coalition forces – 45 in all.

“The Wall Street Journal” cited U.S. officials as saying that U.S. military air strikes had killed three top leaders: Abd al-Basit, head of IS military operations in Iraq; Haji Mutazz, a deputy to the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; and Radwin Talib, the group’s self-styled governor in Mosul, Iraq.

Be cautious with this news…I remember an Afghan leader that was reported killed at least 3 times……plus this will be only, if true, a minor setback….there are others capable and willing to step up to replace their “leaders”…..

Thanx for your time and attention……I will return Monday….next week will be a short week and will return after the Xmas holiday.

Turn The Page!