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ISIS Gains in Iraq

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Mon Oct 13, 2014 at 02:01:16 PM EST
Tags: ISIS, Iraq (all tags)
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ISIS is making gains around Baghdad. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno today said he is "somewhat confident" the Iraqi Army can resist.

The army withdrew from Hit in the Anbar province following an attack on a military training camp.

Here's a photo by ISIS of its fighters being prepped for battle in the Diyala province.

Reuters says 180,000 have fled Iraq.

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    ISIS Gains in Iraq | 8 comments (8 topical)

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    They can have whatever gains they want (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by Jack203 on Mon Oct 13, 2014 at 09:16:45 PM EST
    in Sunni Anbar province. Let them have it.

    The Shiites should have no trouble protecting their own lands especially considering the help they are getting from their parent state Iran.  Any cry from help to get us further sucked into the black hole of helping the Shiites should be taken with a very large grain of salt.

    The important battle is in Kobane.  If ISIS suffers a major, public defeat against the Kurds.  There may be an opening for what our ultimate goal should be.  Which is to lessen our footprint in the Middle East.

    We will need to begin the negotiation with the Sunnis eventually.  An ISIS defeat is a good place to start.  I don't see this realistically ending in any other way than Sunni autonomy for their lands in Iraq and Syria.  We already tried giving them billions with the "carrot", We tried battling them relentlessly losing thousands of lives with the "stick".  Neither strategy worked.  

    The majority Shiites have no intention of sharing the power with the Sunnis in any reasonable way.   Why are not more people talking about negotiation and granting the Sunnis the autonomy for their own lands?

    It is the only and obvious solution that I see.  Am I the only one that sees it?   Our vice president brought it up years ago, but apparently it is now political suicide to say.

    Why?  Do we need war?  Is this country that influenced by the neocons?   The neocons want war with all three participants of the war in Iraq/Syria.  ISIS this year, Assad next year, Iran the year after.  It's complete madness.

    It seems that (none / 0) (#2)
    by Zorba on Tue Oct 14, 2014 at 12:12:00 PM EST
    Joe Biden suggested at least a partial three-state solution for Iraq back when he was a Senator in 2006.

    Ironically, Joe Biden had argued as a U.S. senator in 2006, when Iraq was in the throes of sectarian violence, that the country be divided into three autonomous regions with a weak central government . His idea never gained traction, and the administration in which he serves as vice president argues the opposite view.

    USAToday.

    Parent
    What's really going on here??? (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by Uncle Chip on Tue Oct 14, 2014 at 12:41:31 PM EST
    Susan Rice comes out and brags that the Turks are now going to allow us to use their bases to bomb ISIS to help the Kurds who are under siege.

    Turkish officials then come out and say that that's not true -- that the US is not going to be allowed to use Turkish bases.

    Then last night the Turks bomb the Kurds.

    WTH --

    WTH is right (none / 0) (#5)
    by Jack203 on Tue Oct 14, 2014 at 08:36:25 PM EST
    A fellow Nato member is overtly assisting our enemy.

    What a tangled mess.

    There is something to be said for sticking up for your friends.  If we let the Kurds be overrun by ISIS, we would have been even more despised and a laughing stock in the Middle East.  Sometime image is everything...and sometimes maybe we just shouldn't care what they think over there.

    We can't just solve all the Kurds problems and be their protector against all enemies.  

    Best case scenario at this point is that we help the Kurds defeat the ISIS invasion, and get out of this war as soon as possible.

    Parent

    Better they get blamed for the bombing... (none / 0) (#7)
    by unitron on Tue Oct 14, 2014 at 08:53:46 PM EST
    ...than us anyway.

    Parent
    Ooops! (none / 0) (#8)
    by unitron on Tue Oct 14, 2014 at 08:55:32 PM EST
    Disregard the above.  I misread the post to which I was replying.

    Also I should have refreshed the page before writing it and seen the other comments.

    Parent

    So far so good. (none / 0) (#4)
    by Jack203 on Tue Oct 14, 2014 at 08:27:56 PM EST
    Only one air strike in Iraq.   That is good.  

    But in Kobani...

    The US Is Dropping Serious Ordnance To Slow Down ISIS In Kobani

    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-dropping-serious-ordinance-slow-155401418.html

    please put your links in html format (none / 0) (#9)
    by Jeralyn on Wed Oct 15, 2014 at 03:41:09 AM EST
    otherwise I have to delete the comment. Use the link button at the top of the comment box. Long urls skew the site. Also, please do not reprint more than a paragraph or two of articles published elsewhere. Thanks.

    Parent
    ISIS Gains in Iraq | 8 comments (8 topical)

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