http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-27/bombs-away-washington-has-gone-stark-raving-mad
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/27/2014 20:53 -0400
Vineyard of the Saker...
Evening tweets....
Anti War.....
Yet it’s not really a question of if, but when, as the surveillance flights are clearly the first step toward such attacks. The primary question is how to start launching such attacks without Syrian coordination, since officials want to avoid the appearance of cooperating with Syria.
The Syrian government has made it clear they welcome an intervention on their behalf against ISIS, but they want it to be a public coordination, and not just unilateral US strikes wherever they feel like.
As usual, the focus was on a long war with a growing collection of missions attached, today’s being revenge for the execution of journalist James Foley. As the signs of an open-ended war in Iraq mount, the question of Congressional involvement remains unresolved.
Bombs Away! Washington Has Gone Stark Raving Mad
Submitted by David Stockman via Contra Corner blog,
America’s spanker-in-chief is at it again - threatening to bomb Syria owing to the uncivilized actions of its inhabitants. And when it comes to Syria, Washington avers that there are punishable malefactors virtually everywhere within its borders.
Exactly one year ago Obama proposed to take Bashir Assad to the woodshed because he had allegedly unleashed a vicious chemical attack on his own citizens. That was all pretext, of course, because even the CIA refused to sign-off on the flimsy case for Assad’s culpability at the time—-a reluctance corroborated since then by the considerable evidence that hundreds of Syrian civilians were murdered during a false flag operation staged by the rebels with help from Turkey. The aim of the rebels, of course, was to activate American tomahawk missiles and bombers in behalf of “regime change”, which was also the stated goal of the Obama Administration.
Now the White House is threatening to bomb Syria again, but this time its “regime change” objective has been expanded to include both sides! In 12 short months what had been the allegedly heroic Sunni opposition to the “brutal rule” of the Assad/Alawite minority has transmuted into the “greatest terrorist threat ever”, according to the Secretary of Defense.
So Obama has already unleashed the drones and surveillance apparatus to identify targets of attack that will help bring down a regime in northern and eastern Syria—the so-called Islamic State—which did not even exist a year ago. And a regime that is now armed to the teeth with America’s own latest and greatest weaponry as previously supplied to the disintegrated Iraqi army and the Syrian rebels trained by the CIA in Jordan.
Adding to this blinding farce is the warning of Syria’s Foreign Affairs minister that Obama should please to request permission before he rains destruction from the sky on the Opposition—-that is, the opposition to the very same Damascus regime which the White House has vowed to eradicate. Needless to say, the Washington apparatus is having nothing to do with aiding the enemy of its new enemy:
White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Monday tried to tamp down the notion that action against the Islamic State group could bolster Assad, saying, “We’re not interested in trying to help the Assad regime.” However, he acknowledged that “there are a lot of cross pressures
In fact, there is apparently an option emerging from the bowels of the war machine that calls for an odd/even day plan to bomb both sides, thereby making clear that Washington is an equal opportunity spanker. Apparently, whether you use a 12th century sword or 20th century attack helicopter as a means of rule, you will be bombed by the “indispensable nation”, as Obama put it, adding that “no other nation can do what we do”.
Well, that involves some “doing”. According to AP, it appears that Syrian airstrikes are imminent, but could be carried out under the odd/even day plan:
“In an effort to avoid unintentionally strengthening the Syrian government, the White House could seek to balance strikes against the Islamic State with attacks on Assad regime targets.”
Is any more evidence needed that Washington has gone stark raving mad than even the possibility that such an absurd option could be under consideration? Has not the imperial city on the Potomac become so inured to its pretensions of global hegemony and to instant resort to deployment of its war machine that any semblance of rationality and coherence has been dissolved?
Indeed, in the context of Syria’s fractured and riven tribal, religious and political splinters how could anyone in their right mind think that a bombing campaign without boots on the ground will accomplish anything other than function as a potent recruiting tool for ISIS, and a generator of jihadist blowback for years to come. By the same token, the White House’s polling machine surely documents that an outright Iraq-style invasion of the Islamic State is overwhelmingly opposed by the American people, and rightly so.
Accordingly, the silly, hapless man in the Oval Office stumbles forward, apparently unaware that he’s not merely playing video games during his sojourns in the Situation Room. Indeed, the make-believe “nuanced” bombing options that are likely to be ground out by the national security machinery are destined to fail and drag Washington ever deeper into the violent cauldron of Mesopotamia and the Levant. The trillions of treasure wasted, the millions of lives lost and the venomous tribal enmities resulting from Washington’s misbegotten ventures in Iraq and Afghanistan provide all the proof that is needed.
The fact is, the artificial states created by the Sykes-Picot map drawn up by the French and British foreign offices in 1916—- as they carved up the Ottoman empire— are now destined for the dustbin of history. The fracturing remnants of Syria and Iraq cannot be fused back together by means of lethal deposits of metal and chemicals delivered by tomahawks and F-16s.
So let the region rearrange itself without Washington’s unwelcome meddling and mayhem. If Turkey and an independent Kurdistan can make mutually acceptable political and economic arrangements, which are already well-advanced, so be it. If the Shiite south in Iraq and the Alawite/Shiite southwest in Syria break-off from their present Europe-bequeathed boundaries and form independent regimes, how does that jeopardize the safety and security of the citizens of Lincoln NE and Spokane WA?
And, yes, if the Islamic State temporarily manages to coalesce within the Sunni lands of the Euphrates Valley and the upper Tigress why is that really a national security threat which requires launching an unwinnable war, a new round of hostility to America in the Islamic world and the blowback of legions of jihadi with a score to settle?
Now that you know about the Yazidis, did you ever hear of the Sheitaat tribe of Sunnis who inhabit the minor oil province around Deir al-Zor in northeastern Syria? There appear to be about 100,000 members of that sect in the region and they have been declared apostates by the medieval butchers who run ISIS:
Hundreds of members of the Sheitaat clan have been executed after their tribe refused to submit to Islamic State. The entire tribe have been deemed “hostile apostates” by the group, an offshoot of al Qaeda that has declared a “caliphate” in the territory it holds.Islamic State has declared the Sheitaat tribe “an unbelieving sect” that should be fought as if they were infidels, according to a report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks violence in the Syrian war.At least 700 hundred members of the tribe have already been executed, the Observatory reported on Aug. 16.Another 1,800 are still missing after being detained by Islamic State, according to the Observatory, which gathers information from all sides in the Syrian war. Its efforts to pledge allegiance to Islamic State have been rebuffed.Pictures of the bodies of men apparently slain by Islamic State fighters in Sheitaat areas are surfacing every day, said Rami Abdelrahman, founder of the Observatory. “We have repeatedly expressed concerns about extermination,” he said.“It is the first time that the Islamic State has used these (religious) concepts against an entire tribe,” he said.Three Sheitaat villages seized by Islamic State have been designated as a military zone, the rebel and another activist from the area said. The clan’s property andlivestock have also been seized, another person from the area said.Islamic State has declared that no truce is possible with the Sheitaat, that its prisoners can be killed, and its women are unfit for marriage, according to the Observatory.“We’re still seeing Islamic State trucks loaded up with furniture and rugs from Sheitaat homes in those villages, which are now totally abandoned,” said one person from the area contacted by internet link, speaking on condition of anonymity.Islamic State has started to use house demolitions as a punishment. A video posted over the weekend shows what appears to be the detonation of a rural home as the narrator, who identifies himself as from Islamic State, explains that the home belongs to Sheitaat “apostates”.
Why would you believe that a viable state can be built in today’s world on the tactics of Genghis Kahn? The Islamic State, such as it is, is not rich, does not have enough oil to make a difference, will soon be bogged down in the insuperable problems of governance by the sword and will flounder on the impoverished economics of the dusty villages and desert expanse which comprise its natural territory. And it will eventually mobilize its neighbors—-Turkey, Hezbollah, the rump regime of Assad’s Alawite Syria, Kurdistan, the Shiite alliance of Iran and lower Iraq, and even Saudi Arabia and the oil sheikdoms—to contain its external ambitions.
So Washington should call off the bombers and get out of harm’s way. The American Imperium has failed and the prospect of bombing both sides of an irrelevant non-country’s ancient tribal wars ought, at last, to make that much clear.
Vineyard of the Saker...
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014
August 26th-27th Iraq SITREP by Mindfriedo: Sistani, Sistani, Sistani! May God keep you till the Mahdi!
Retraction: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was referring to Concessions being given by the West on compromises made in Arak, where nuclear facilities are located, and not on Iraq, its neighbour.
26th Aug: Iraqi Security Forces are stating that they have arrested the terrorist responsible for the bombing that took place in Babil on Monday.
26th Aug: Daash has destroyed using explosives the house of the advisor to the Salah Al Din Governor, Martyr Umayah Jebarah. She was killed fighting Daash on the 22nd of June. May God give her a better home close to Him.
26th Aug: Daash terrorists have detonated the house of Ahmed al-Khalaf al-Ibraheem, a tribal chief in Mosul.
26th Aug: The Peshmergas release a statement stating that they are firmly in control of Mosul Dam and they will legally prosecute anyone spreading rumours to the contrary. This is after an Iraqi media outlet claimed that Mosul Dam had been taken over by Daash and that 200 Peshmerga fighters had been imprisoned by Daash.
26th Aug: Saddam's Tactics: Militants in Fallujah block the flow of water by closing the 10 gates of Fallujah's Dam in an attempt to dry up areas to the south and flood areas around Baghdad. The Iraqi airforce bombs and damages three of the gates. The cracks in the gates start to free water being blocked by the dam.
26th Aug: Enemy of my enemy: Obama authorises reconnaissance flights over Syrian air space in order to be able to bomb Daash fighters in Syria.
26th Aug: Mullah Khalid, head of the Sunni Iraqi Scientist Group, condemns the retaliatory sectarian attacks targeting Shia Muslims: bombings in Karbala, Hilla, and Baghdad and sectarian statements being made by Sunni leaders after the attack on the Sunni Musab bin Omair mosque in Diyala as being irresponsible and nothing short of pouring oil on fire.
26th Aug: Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Interior Minister of Iran, states that any attack on the Sacred Shrines in Najaf and Karbala will result in an automatic military response by Iran, no matter who the attacker is. He stated that President Rouhani has given the necessary permission to the people concerned to act in case this red line is crossed.
26th Aug: Massoud Barzani personally receives Javad Zarif at Erbil airport and hosts him at his house. At a joint press conference Zarif stresses that there is no need for Iran to send troops to Iraq as both Iraqi troops and Peshmerga forces are sufficient and strong enough to deal with Daash. Barzani refers to Iran as the First Nation to have come to the aid of Iraqi Kurdistan.
26th Aug: Fool me twice: US congressman Ed Royce talks of arming the good rebels in Syria once more.
26th Aaug: The Iraqi Security Forces kill seven Daash leaders in Al Karama, Baghdad: Samir Khaeed, Arkan Rashwan, Ahmed al-Suedawi, Zamel al-Halbusi, Saddam Rokan and Qatada from Saudi Arabia and Abu Osama from Libya
26th Aug: Daash has expelled 60 families from Nijana village in Al Atheem and killed three residents who refused to cooperate. Daash needed the houses of the civilians to booby trap them to impede the advance of Security Forces. Daash had asked the families to give all their money and belongings to Daash fighters evicting them. Daash has reportedly booby trapped 350 houses north of Baqouba.
26th Aug: Hitler's Youth: Daash starts to prepare young boys as suicide bombers in Saadia in preparation of Peshmerga assaults on the town. Daash was forced to retreat into the town in the face of artillery strikes by Peshmergas and air strikes by the Government.
26th Aug: Daash executes 12 residents of Hawija on suspicion of spying for the Iraqi government. The men executed belonged to Awakening forces or were police personnel.
26th Aug: Iraqi Security Forces are stating that they have arrested the terrorist responsible for the bombing that took place in Babil on Monday.
26th Aug: Daash has destroyed using explosives the house of the advisor to the Salah Al Din Governor, Martyr Umayah Jebarah. She was killed fighting Daash on the 22nd of June. May God give her a better home close to Him.
26th Aug: Daash terrorists have detonated the house of Ahmed al-Khalaf al-Ibraheem, a tribal chief in Mosul.
26th Aug: The Peshmergas release a statement stating that they are firmly in control of Mosul Dam and they will legally prosecute anyone spreading rumours to the contrary. This is after an Iraqi media outlet claimed that Mosul Dam had been taken over by Daash and that 200 Peshmerga fighters had been imprisoned by Daash.
26th Aug: Saddam's Tactics: Militants in Fallujah block the flow of water by closing the 10 gates of Fallujah's Dam in an attempt to dry up areas to the south and flood areas around Baghdad. The Iraqi airforce bombs and damages three of the gates. The cracks in the gates start to free water being blocked by the dam.
26th Aug: Enemy of my enemy: Obama authorises reconnaissance flights over Syrian air space in order to be able to bomb Daash fighters in Syria.
26th Aug: Mullah Khalid, head of the Sunni Iraqi Scientist Group, condemns the retaliatory sectarian attacks targeting Shia Muslims: bombings in Karbala, Hilla, and Baghdad and sectarian statements being made by Sunni leaders after the attack on the Sunni Musab bin Omair mosque in Diyala as being irresponsible and nothing short of pouring oil on fire.
26th Aug: Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Interior Minister of Iran, states that any attack on the Sacred Shrines in Najaf and Karbala will result in an automatic military response by Iran, no matter who the attacker is. He stated that President Rouhani has given the necessary permission to the people concerned to act in case this red line is crossed.
26th Aug: Massoud Barzani personally receives Javad Zarif at Erbil airport and hosts him at his house. At a joint press conference Zarif stresses that there is no need for Iran to send troops to Iraq as both Iraqi troops and Peshmerga forces are sufficient and strong enough to deal with Daash. Barzani refers to Iran as the First Nation to have come to the aid of Iraqi Kurdistan.
26th Aug: Fool me twice: US congressman Ed Royce talks of arming the good rebels in Syria once more.
26th Aaug: The Iraqi Security Forces kill seven Daash leaders in Al Karama, Baghdad: Samir Khaeed, Arkan Rashwan, Ahmed al-Suedawi, Zamel al-Halbusi, Saddam Rokan and Qatada from Saudi Arabia and Abu Osama from Libya
26th Aug: Daash has expelled 60 families from Nijana village in Al Atheem and killed three residents who refused to cooperate. Daash needed the houses of the civilians to booby trap them to impede the advance of Security Forces. Daash had asked the families to give all their money and belongings to Daash fighters evicting them. Daash has reportedly booby trapped 350 houses north of Baqouba.
26th Aug: Hitler's Youth: Daash starts to prepare young boys as suicide bombers in Saadia in preparation of Peshmerga assaults on the town. Daash was forced to retreat into the town in the face of artillery strikes by Peshmergas and air strikes by the Government.
26th Aug: Daash executes 12 residents of Hawija on suspicion of spying for the Iraqi government. The men executed belonged to Awakening forces or were police personnel.
27th Aug: Nouri Al Maliki criticises remarks made by Kerry that suggested that Iraq be divided on sectarian lines. He has asked other blocs: Sunni and Kurdish to lower their demands prior to government formation and has asked Haider Al Abadi to go ahead with majority rule if they do not show flexibility.
27th Aug: Overwhelmed: The High Commission for Human Rights in Iraq States that there is no accurate figure of the number of people displaced by fighting in Iraq. But a "reasonable" assumption is that 500000 to 1000000 have been displaced.
27th Aug: Nechirvan Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, States that the Kurds had a very bitter experience with Maliki. However, he repeats something that Maliki has been repeating since 2006, that fighting terrorism (Daash) is the responsibility of everybody and that the Kurds (Iraq) are fighting terrorism.
The Kurds are keen to resolve issues related to article 140 of Iraq's constitution. Read here http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkuk_status_referendum
Most of the territory, though not all that the Kurds had moved into after the Iraqi army fled Daash in June was this same contested territory.
The Kurds state that negotiations between them and the National Alliance are moving forward in the right way. They mention that the National Alliance is cooperating with demands that are within the constitution.
27th Aug: The Kurds bombard Daash positions in Bashiqah, north east if Mosul with artillery and the United Staes bombs them with air strikes killing and injuring many.
27th Aug: Former Speaker and Sunni Politician Ayad al-Samarrai (head of the Iraqi Islamic Party) states that Iraqi Sunnis are also divided in their opinion of whether or not to work with the next government being formed.
27th Aug: One of three Indian nationals missing and believed to be fighting for Daash, Arif Majid, is reported killed in Iraq.
27th Aug: Javad Zarif concludes his three day visit to Iraq. He refers to Iran as being trustworthy and that he had a chance to consult with all political blocs including the Marjas in Najaf (and excluding Daash).
27th Aug: The Iraqi Security Forces hope to be able to free Tikrit in the next 14 days. The plan is to gradually attack and free other areas from Daash after Tokrit has fallen. The besieged sub district of Amerli will also be freed after Tikrit. Food supplies are running low in Amerli and it's Turkoman Shia inhabitants are at risk of mass murder by besieging Daash terrorists.
27th Aug: Salim Al Jubouri holds a meeting with the concerned officials of Salah al Din province concerning the fate of the 1700 Shia recruits murdered by Daash terrorists.
27th Aug: Death from above: The US carries out two air strikes against Daash targets near Erbil.
27th Aug: Feeling the pain before feeling their maker: A significantly large number of Daash casualties are being reported at the al-Salam Hospital (Saddam) and the al-Jumhori Hospital, and the General Hospital in Mosul. The hospitals lack medicine and anaesthetics. The Daash wounded are from US air strikes and Peshmerga artillery strikes north east of Mosul.
27th Aug: Tribal fighters from the Albu Faraj clan in Dhuluiya, believed to be a Salafi/Wahabi stronghold of Daash fighters 60 km south of Tikrit, attack and kill 7 fighters of Daash on a farm property and sequester their weapons and ammunition.
27th Aug: The Iraqi Air Force claims to have killed over a 100 fighters of Daash in different parts of Iraq.
27th Aug: Douglas McAuthur McCain, an American national, is killed fighting for Daash in Syria. Another 15 Australian fighters are reported killed in Iraq and Syria. Robert Fisk has correctly pointed out that most fighters from the West fighting on behalf of Daash are ethnically either Indian or Pakistani.
27th Aug: Iraqi security forces have used air borne troops to secure the road linking Haditha and Baiji.
Related:
27th Aug: Al Nusra fighters have taken over the Syrian Israeli crossing of Quneitra across from the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. Fighting with Syrian troops is continuing.
An Israeli soldier was hit in stray fire and Israel responded by shelling two Syrian army posts. like always a very measured response by the Israelis. It involves an algorithm that takes into account the total number of Israelis, the total number of Muslim Arabs, the Military strength of both sides, the Economic disparity of both sides, the influence and media outlets available to both sides etc etc etc
27th Aug: End of political correctness? Being British is a privilege: Police in the UK are reporting a five fold increase in the arrests of would be Daash fighters. While the US is tracking up to 300 Americans fighting for Daash.
27th Aug: Shirley Sotloff, mother of journalist Steven Sotloff held by Daash, makes a video appeal for his release. May Allah protect him and give him courage.
Meanwhile, Daash is demanding a 6.6 million USD ransom for a 26 year old Aid worker they had kidnapped. Let's hope Qatar pays for her too.
27th Aug: An example to all: A Syrian soldier about to be executed by Daash screams out "I swear to God we will eradicate the (Islamic) state." Amen, ya Rabal Alameen, so be it, oh lord of the Universe(s). The soldier was later executed.
27th Aug: Jordanian Islamic scholars are asking that Daash fighters not be referred to as Jihadists. As they tend to do things that are completely UnIslamic.
27th Aug: Until next time: Following the cease fire in Gaza, Qatar offers to rebuild the entire strip.
27th Aug: Iran announces that it has started to arm resistance groups in the a West Bank.
27th Aug: Pro Daash twitter accounts show photos of captured Syrian soldiers, weapons and Sukhoi aircraft that Daash has captured in Raqqa. It also shows photos of regime soldiers being executed.
27th Aug: Overwhelmed: The High Commission for Human Rights in Iraq States that there is no accurate figure of the number of people displaced by fighting in Iraq. But a "reasonable" assumption is that 500000 to 1000000 have been displaced.
27th Aug: Nechirvan Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq, States that the Kurds had a very bitter experience with Maliki. However, he repeats something that Maliki has been repeating since 2006, that fighting terrorism (Daash) is the responsibility of everybody and that the Kurds (Iraq) are fighting terrorism.
The Kurds are keen to resolve issues related to article 140 of Iraq's constitution. Read here http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkuk_status_referendum
Most of the territory, though not all that the Kurds had moved into after the Iraqi army fled Daash in June was this same contested territory.
The Kurds state that negotiations between them and the National Alliance are moving forward in the right way. They mention that the National Alliance is cooperating with demands that are within the constitution.
27th Aug: The Kurds bombard Daash positions in Bashiqah, north east if Mosul with artillery and the United Staes bombs them with air strikes killing and injuring many.
27th Aug: Former Speaker and Sunni Politician Ayad al-Samarrai (head of the Iraqi Islamic Party) states that Iraqi Sunnis are also divided in their opinion of whether or not to work with the next government being formed.
27th Aug: One of three Indian nationals missing and believed to be fighting for Daash, Arif Majid, is reported killed in Iraq.
27th Aug: Javad Zarif concludes his three day visit to Iraq. He refers to Iran as being trustworthy and that he had a chance to consult with all political blocs including the Marjas in Najaf (and excluding Daash).
27th Aug: The Iraqi Security Forces hope to be able to free Tikrit in the next 14 days. The plan is to gradually attack and free other areas from Daash after Tokrit has fallen. The besieged sub district of Amerli will also be freed after Tikrit. Food supplies are running low in Amerli and it's Turkoman Shia inhabitants are at risk of mass murder by besieging Daash terrorists.
27th Aug: Salim Al Jubouri holds a meeting with the concerned officials of Salah al Din province concerning the fate of the 1700 Shia recruits murdered by Daash terrorists.
27th Aug: Death from above: The US carries out two air strikes against Daash targets near Erbil.
27th Aug: Feeling the pain before feeling their maker: A significantly large number of Daash casualties are being reported at the al-Salam Hospital (Saddam) and the al-Jumhori Hospital, and the General Hospital in Mosul. The hospitals lack medicine and anaesthetics. The Daash wounded are from US air strikes and Peshmerga artillery strikes north east of Mosul.
27th Aug: Tribal fighters from the Albu Faraj clan in Dhuluiya, believed to be a Salafi/Wahabi stronghold of Daash fighters 60 km south of Tikrit, attack and kill 7 fighters of Daash on a farm property and sequester their weapons and ammunition.
27th Aug: The Iraqi Air Force claims to have killed over a 100 fighters of Daash in different parts of Iraq.
27th Aug: Douglas McAuthur McCain, an American national, is killed fighting for Daash in Syria. Another 15 Australian fighters are reported killed in Iraq and Syria. Robert Fisk has correctly pointed out that most fighters from the West fighting on behalf of Daash are ethnically either Indian or Pakistani.
27th Aug: Iraqi security forces have used air borne troops to secure the road linking Haditha and Baiji.
Related:
27th Aug: Al Nusra fighters have taken over the Syrian Israeli crossing of Quneitra across from the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. Fighting with Syrian troops is continuing.
An Israeli soldier was hit in stray fire and Israel responded by shelling two Syrian army posts. like always a very measured response by the Israelis. It involves an algorithm that takes into account the total number of Israelis, the total number of Muslim Arabs, the Military strength of both sides, the Economic disparity of both sides, the influence and media outlets available to both sides etc etc etc
27th Aug: End of political correctness? Being British is a privilege: Police in the UK are reporting a five fold increase in the arrests of would be Daash fighters. While the US is tracking up to 300 Americans fighting for Daash.
27th Aug: Shirley Sotloff, mother of journalist Steven Sotloff held by Daash, makes a video appeal for his release. May Allah protect him and give him courage.
Meanwhile, Daash is demanding a 6.6 million USD ransom for a 26 year old Aid worker they had kidnapped. Let's hope Qatar pays for her too.
27th Aug: An example to all: A Syrian soldier about to be executed by Daash screams out "I swear to God we will eradicate the (Islamic) state." Amen, ya Rabal Alameen, so be it, oh lord of the Universe(s). The soldier was later executed.
27th Aug: Jordanian Islamic scholars are asking that Daash fighters not be referred to as Jihadists. As they tend to do things that are completely UnIslamic.
27th Aug: Until next time: Following the cease fire in Gaza, Qatar offers to rebuild the entire strip.
27th Aug: Iran announces that it has started to arm resistance groups in the a West Bank.
27th Aug: Pro Daash twitter accounts show photos of captured Syrian soldiers, weapons and Sukhoi aircraft that Daash has captured in Raqqa. It also shows photos of regime soldiers being executed.
Evening tweets....
Crimes against humanity are committed by both sides as Syria and Islamic State trade brutalities during bitter war. http://bit.ly/1tLzZCM
Abadi "will not have that much of a different vision than Maliki," says his friend, Iraq's US envoy Faily. Quite. http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/08/27
Obama again faces Congress question on Syria http://bit.ly/1qyPayQ
Obama is "nearing a decision" to authorise airstrikes and airdrops around the town of Amerli http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/27/world/middleeast/us-mobilizes-allies-to-widen-assault-on-isis.html?_r=0 … #SaveAmerli #Iraq
Retweeted by Tom Rollins
@YallaSouriya 250 in their underwear executed near the brick factory #Raqqa by Daesh claims they r SAA;#Syria 4/+
#Assad SAA prisoners from #Tabqa air-base in the hands of #Caliphate soldiers.. #ISIS #Syria pic.twitter.com/lMhCNDG0Z4
US Centcom: fighter, attack,& remotely piloted aircraft conducted 3 airstrikes near #Irbil & #MosulDam.in #Iraq today.Total 101 since Aug 8.
Anti War.....
US Surveillance Flights A Step Toward Expanding War Into Syria
Pretext for Strike Remains Unclear
by Jason Ditz, August 26, 2014
Officials confirmed the move toward surveillance flights over ISIS targets in Syria, leaving somewhat open the question of when the US is going to start launching airstrikes against targets inside Syria, expanding the Iraq War across the border.
Yet it’s not really a question of if, but when, as the surveillance flights are clearly the first step toward such attacks. The primary question is how to start launching such attacks without Syrian coordination, since officials want to avoid the appearance of cooperating with Syria.
The questions abound about expanding the war into Syria and are mostly unanswered, with Gen. Dempsey pushing the attacks, and the US already giving targeting intel to Syria’s government for the ISIS war.
Escalation in Iraq is continuing, with the Anbar Provincial governor talking about planned US deployments there. Nothing’s been confirmed yet, but the US seems eager to expand the conflict in several ways, turning the “humanitarian intervention” into a full-scale war spanning multiple countries.
US Rules Out Coordinating With Assad on ISIS Strikes
Syria Warns Against Attacks Without Coordination
by Jason Ditz, August 26, 2014
Though the US seems to be moving closer to expanding its new Iraqi air war into neighboring Syria, the question of how to do so without coordinating with the Assad government remains unclear.
The Syrian government has made it clear they welcome an intervention on their behalf against ISIS, but they want it to be a public coordination, and not just unilateral US strikes wherever they feel like.
That’s a problem for the US,which today ruled out any coordination with Syria under any circumstances. The US was prepared to attack Syria only a year ago, on behalf of the Syrian rebels, and doesn’t want to publicly admit to support for Syria against those selfsame rebels now.
Despite that, the US is providing aid to the Assad government in the form of targeting intelligence funneled through Germany. The pretense of not cooperating with Syria, then, appears to be the primary issue.
Exactly how the US will get around that is uncertain, but convincing Syria to allow the airstrikes without some sort of public rapprochement so soon after a threatened US invasion is no small task.
Obama Talks Up Long Iraq War, Congressional Role Unclear
Sen. Corker Pushes for Congress to 'Weigh In' on Conflict
by Jason Ditz, August 26, 2014
President Obama has made his latest in a long line of comments on the new Iraq War today, declaring “rooting out a cancer like ISIS won’t be easy and it won’t be quick.”
As usual, the focus was on a long war with a growing collection of missions attached, today’s being revenge for the execution of journalist James Foley. As the signs of an open-ended war in Iraq mount, the question of Congressional involvement remains unresolved.
The administration has downplayed the idea of even needing Congressional authorization for wars, saying they can launch them unilaterally and will “keep Congress informed” of the decisions they make. Where Congress as a whole would stand on such a vote is unclear, though many seem reluctant to hold the vote at all,preferring to avoid scrutiny of their position on the war come election time.
Sen. Bob Corker (R – TN) is among those pushing for a vote, saying that there is a general consensus among Congress that they should be a part of the war-starting process, and should at the very least “weigh in.”
At present, however, exactly what the war they’re weighing in on looks like is a mystery to everyone but the administration’s inner-circle, with expansions coming sometimes several in a single day, and the end game planning, as with so many American wars these days, non-existent.
The public is being taught, slowly but surely, to fear ISIS, but that doesn’t mean they’ll embrace another open-ended war in Iraq. That’s going to leave many Congressmen, ever testing the air, reluctant to have a vote down publicly either way on the conflict.
Tweets of the morning .....
The Fun of Empire: Fighting on All Sides of a War in Syria: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/08/26/fun-empire-fighting-sides-war/ …
#Kurdish PM Wants #Baghdad to Guarantee Demands - #BasNews http://www.basnews.com/en/News/Details/Kurdish-PM-Wants-Baghdad-to-Guarantee-Demands/32041 …
#TwitterKurds #Kurdistan #Iraq
"Elite British & #US special forces troops are forming an #IslamicState hunter killer unit called Task Force Black"
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/sas-special-forces-forming-hunter-4097083#ixzz3BZzBDMkz …
ROUNDUP: #Nusra holds off #regime, new alliance in #Aleppo, a warning for #Hezbollah, rebel sights on #Idlib - http://syriadirect.org/rss/1517-syria-direct-news-update-8-26-2014 …
#KRG Welcomes Texas Court Decision on #Kurdish Oil Tanker - #BasNews - http://www.basnews.com/en/News/Details/KRG-Welcomes-Texas-Court-Decision-on-Kurdish-Oil-Tanker/32018 …
Reports: #Syria Minister of Defence Fahd Freij will be fired for loss of bases: http://all4syria.info/Archive/164504 (via @aron_ld)
PT: Weapons captured included: 57 mm AZP S-60 guns, AA-2 Atoll missiles, [old] MiG21 jets, 9M113 Konkurs ATGMs #Syria pic.twitter.com/m1rzSqd3jm
IS published images from capture of Tabaqa Airbase, #Raqqa: https://justpaste.it/tahrermtar1 https://justpaste.it/tahrermtar2 #Syria pic.twitter.com/ETWy9RVW7b
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