Al Quaeda splinter group sweeping through Iraq

I did.  

That stupid #bringbackourgirls just about sums it all up - don't do anything useful, just post on twitter with stupid signs to show we care.

The missing girls are still missing, the airliner is still missing, and all the caring hashtags in the world have acheived - zilch.

Agree, Sabot, as long as they're killing each other in the Middle East, they will be too occupied to kill anyone else. But if the West meddles yet again, they will stop fighting long enough to kill the foreigners, and then start looking for revenge in the West.

And King Obama, Hague and co should have thought of all this when they were arming and training the very people that were killing not only the 'wrong' kind of Muslim in Syria, but Christians and other minorities.

And then go back to killing each other.

There is news of some of these people who are British, going back to UK to kill. Surely not bailing out of the fight for Allah, are they? Or do they prefer an easier target?

No news of which Sect. So probably both. There is nothing like a common enemy to unite opposing forces. Has Cameron thought of that?

It's the Sunnis, I think. Cameron will wring his hands and do naff all, because it's against their Yuman Rites to have their passports removed and entry denied. Or something.

So they know who these people are then? Welcome home, but bring your own bombs. AK47s notwithstanding.

Meanwhile....

http://rt.com/news/167016-nato-convoy-attacked-afghanistan/

Taliban attack leaves 37 burned-out NATO fuel trucks in Afghanistan (PHOTOS)



NATO troops walk near burning NATO supply trucks after, what police officials say, was an attack by militants in the Torkham area near the Pakistani-Afghan in Nangarhar Province June 19, 2014. (Reuters / Parwiz Parwiz)

Abdulzai confirmed that 37 fuel trucks had been destroyed. One Afghan driver was reportedly wounded in the attack, Reuters report.

The convoy was reportedly making its way to Afghanistan from the Pakistani port of Karachi, the key supply route for ISAF forces in Afghanistan.

Why, you may ask, are NATO convoys running the gauntlet through hostile territory in Pakistan?

Simples. The genius in the White House took it into his head to stage a coup in Ukraine and then threw a strop at Russia for objecting to the US setting fire to a neighbouring nation.

Which means troops can no longer use the safe, northerly route to get in and out of Afghanistan via the -stans under the watchful eye of Mother Russia. The genius in the White House seems blissfully unaware that Russia detests militant islamomaniacs, unlike Pakistan, where they tend to be in the government...

Or maybe no-one told Obungle Afghanistan was landlocked?

http://rt.com/news/166964-f-18-patrol-iraq-skies/

US military intelligence and the CIA are tracking the key figures of ISIS, using data gathered by drones, satellites and friendly intelligence services. The data is massing up into detailed dossiers on insurgent commanders.

According to AP, such personal files on militants are also dubbed “targeting packages,” because usually they are used to establish their day-to-day location and movements information to target them using drones or military operations, or for non-lethal purposes.

*sigh*

That guarantees they're going to bomb wedding parties, hospitals and the Chinese embassy.

http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/06/18/president-obama-tickles-giant-talking-robot-giraffe-while-al-qaeda-retakes-iraq





President Obama met a giant talking robot giraffe on Wednesday. The president got the chance to interact with giraffe at the “White House Maker Faire” an event that “celebrates every maker — from students learning STEM skills to entrepreneurs launching new businesses to innovators powering the renaissance in American manufacturing.”

“Look at this! I like those ears,” Obama said. “Secret Service may not like that,” he said when giraffe maker Lindsay Lawlor of San Diego said that it can carry 30 people.

Pres Obama meets Russell the robotic giraffe at Maker Fair(e). (Pool photo by William Mcdonald @TalkRadioNews)

“Hee hee. That tickles,” the giraffe said as Obama rubbed its sensors.

COOL!

*sigh*

Perhaps they should elect it as President. It couldn't possibly do any more damage. And might actually frighten the muslims.

From:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/19/lawmakers-allies-reportedly-press-white-house-to-withdraw-support-for-iraqi-pm/

U.S. lawmakers and allies are pressing the Obama administration to publicly withdraw its support for embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom Washington increasingly sees as either unable or unwilling to reconcile with Iraq's Sunni minority and stabilize the country politically, according to a published report.

The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. officials have indicated their desire for Iraq's political parties to form a new government without Maliki that would comprise representatives of the country's Sunni and Kurdish communities. The hope of U.S. officials is that such a government could stem Sunni support for the Al Qaeda-aligned insurgency of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) that has seized large sections of territory in Iraq's north and west and attacked Iraq's largest oil refinery at Beiji.

"The Maliki government, candidly, has got to go if you want any reconciliation." Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told a congressional hearing Wednesday.

Yes, Washington mounting a coup against yet ANOTHER government will really help matters.

According to the Journal, that outlook is also shared by U.S. allies in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Some Arab allies reportedly are pushing for the White House to withdraw its public support for Maliki in exchange for providing help in stabilizing Iraq.

But Saudi is bankrolling ISIS......

Meanwhile, Britain's The Independent newspaper reported Thursday that U.S. officials have told their Iraqi counterparts that Maliki must leave office if the U.S. is to undertake any military action to halt the advance of ISIS.

Are we sure Obama really grasps this 'democracy' business?

Any sign of US 'military intelligence' explaining how they somehow missed this?

http://rt.com/news/166920-isis-iraq-offensive-report/

ISIS, Inc. – Jihadists attract investors, fighters with annual reports & glossy PR
Published time: June 19, 2014 02:45
Edited time: June 19, 2014 11:32 Get short URL

The notorious ISIS, which has been slicing through Iraq moving closer to Baghdad, behaves like a big corporation, issuing press releases to create an image of a well-structured, disciplined and effective organization to attract investors and new members.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL), which has made lightning advances against government forces seizing key cities, is determined to sweep towards Baghdad, prompting the Iraqi government to request US air support.

The United States however is reportedly ill-prepared to wage such attacks due to lack of intelligence on ISIL operations following its lightning advance. US military’s Joint Chief of Staff, Dempsey, says that although “it is in our national security interest to counter ISIS” the results of US involvement would be unknown “until we can clarify this intelligence picture” in Iraq.



Maybe they should just buy a copy of ISIS' annual report, see if it sheds any light on things?

Frankly, I am struggling to believe that such apparent utter incompetence isn't deliberate, I find it terrifying that Washington can seemingly be so blind and stupid.

Am running out of sighs here.     

Oh Lord, Obama's going to make A Statement shortly.

Probably to say he's got his golf handicap down.

Oh, this is good news, he's sending Kerry according to Fox:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/19/senators-blast-obama-foreign-policy-as-political-war-over-iraq-heats-up/

President Obama is expected to send Secretary of State John Kerry to Iraq, Fox News confirms, as he prepares to address the public about the unfolding crisis in that country.

Brilliant news! Hope they keep him!

Oh, but wait...

According to senior U.S. officials, he is looking at sending dozens of additional special military advisers into Iraq to assist the Iraqi Security Forces. He is expected to announce a plan to send U.S. Special Forces, but not to approve airstrikes at this time, sources say

'Military advisors'? Isn't that how Vietnam started? No, I think the US should just parachute Kerry into ISIS-held territory to start negotations. By himself.

And if they cut his head off, well, that's a bonus for world peace!

That's a fantastic thought, Bonny.

Lord save us, he's still wittering on and STILL trying to destabilize Syria. Lily, your president is totally, completely out of his depths.

Either that, or he's doing it on purpose.

There are times I vacillate between the two but in honesty, I go with the latter more often than not. I would prefer the former but......

At least he isn't sending troops in in large numbers to get killed and maimed, Lily. He's sending in just enough to make things worse and then get killed and maimed.

I am astounded that he thinks all the warring factions in the region are going to sit down and talk things through, and decide to be fair and inclusive. This has been going on for CENTURIES.

And why does he still think it's a great idea to try to overturn the Syrian government? Whether he likes it or not, the vast majority of Syrians want Assad to stay, if only because the alternative is worse.

Does their opinion count for nothing?

Does their opinion count? No. Does our opinion count? Not if it's what he doesn't want to hear.

He is an Absolute Monarch after all....

If Kerry stubs his toe in Iraq, will he want another Purple Heart, like he did in Vietnam?

Or more Bonny. If he can?

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/18/after-backing-sunni-rebels-in-syria-gulf-nations-face-blowback-in-militant/


I can understand their concerns.

Yup. I am, as always, deeply sorry for the ordinary citizens caught up in their rulers' machinations, but it's hard to have any sympathy at all for said rulers.

Sow wind, reap whirlwind seems to cover it...

Maybe the US should do something really treacherous, in their own interests, and STOP supporting any rebels, 'nice' or otherwise, in Syria? This schizophrenic apology for a foreign policy is madness, IMO. Then they can stop obsessing over Putin, and, if not actually back Assad, at least let him get on with it.

Without outside interference from the US and others, he's in the best position to deny ISIS a base to retreat to from Iraq.

Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia's Cabinet put out a statement blaming the insurgent explosion on al-Maliki's government's marginalization of the Sunni minority — "the sectarian and exclusionary policies practiced in Iraq over the past years."

Mind you, you've got to admire the sheer nerve of KSA, of all countries, coming out with a statement like that.

The Gulf's polices supporting rebels in Iraq and Syria have been a "double-edged sword," said Matthiesen. "My prediction is that in the mid to long term this will turn out to have been a bad policy

That's a real, No sh*t, Sherlock.

The US won't though, Bonny. There is such a humungous amount of money to be made by a few people and they are too greedy to stop? Then it opens up Pandora's Box.

On my flights in that part of the world, have met so many people from UK Ministers going to KSA to sell them stuff......to mercenaries. Now I fear seeing why..........

There's a whole big business going on.

So many of the ordinary people are lovely and kind but I am aware of the other side of some.......I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of them.   

I saw one US politician - a senator, I think - saying ISIS couldn't be allowed to win, because then they'd have someplace to organise terrorist attacks.

I don't really see how that works, personally. One thing that could - would - have stopped 9/11 was someone noticing there were rather a lot of Saudis in the States learning how to fly jets, without wanting to know how to land them.

That, IMO, is the kind of military intelligence that's needed, not NSA spying on everyone and missing armies forming up, because they pay more attention to high-tec toys than human intelligence.