Zero Hedge.....
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/17/2014 22:01 -0400
President Obama informed Congress that the latest war goal, the Kurdish capture of Mosul Dam, would require US airstrikes to support it, and claimed the loss of the dam would be a threat to the US Embassy in Baghdad.
Kurdish media reported that the Peshmerga has control of “most of the dam,” with some officials putting the figure at 80%, with the offensive continuing. It is likely that the dam will continue to be fought over, as a hugely valuable asset for any side to control.
According to rebel mouthpiece the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syrian warplanes hit 26 different ISIS targets across Raqqa and neighboring Tabqa, including a military court and several bases of operations. 31 ISIS fighters were reported killed.
Ron Paul: "What Have We Accomplished In Iraq?"
By Ron Paul
What Have We Accomplished in Iraq?
We have been at war with Iraq for 24 years, starting with Operations Desert Shield and Storm in 1990. Shortly after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait that year, the propaganda machine began agitating for a US attack on Iraq. We all remember the appearance before Congress of a young Kuwaiti woman claiming that the Iraqis were ripping Kuwaiti babies from incubators. The woman turned out to be the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US and the story was false, but it was enough to turn US opposition in favor of an attack.
This month, yet another US president – the fifth in a row – began bombing Iraq. He is also placing in US troops on the ground despite promising not to do so.
The second Iraq war in 2003 cost the US some two trillion dollars. According to estimates, more than one million deaths have occurred as a result of that war. Millions of tons of US bombs have fallen in Iraq almost steadily since 1991.
What have we accomplished? Where are we now, 24 years later? We are back where we started, at war in Iraq!
The US overthrew Saddam Hussein in the second Iraq war and put into place a puppet, Nouri al-Maliki. But after eight years, last week the US engineered a coup against Maliki to put in place yet another puppet. The US accused Maliki of misrule and divisiveness, but what really irritated the US government was his 2011 refusal to grant immunity to the thousands of US troops that Obama wanted to keep in the country.
Early this year, a radical Islamist group, ISIS, began taking over territory in Iraq, starting with Fallujah. The organization had been operating in Syria, strengthened by US support for the overthrow of the Syrian government. ISIS obtained a broad array of sophisticated US weapons in Syria, very often capturing them from other US-approved opposition groups. Some claim that lax screening criteria allowed some ISIS fighters to even participate in secret CIA training camps in Jordan and Turkey.
This month, ISIS became the target of a new US bombing campaign in Iraq. The pretext for the latest US attack was the plight of a religious minority in the Kurdish region currently under ISIS attack. The US government and media warned that up to 100,000 from this group were stranded on a mountain and could be slaughtered if the US did not intervene at once. Americans unfortunately once again fell for this propaganda and US bombs began to fall. Last week, however, it was determined that this 100,000 was actually only about 2,000 and many of them had been living on the mountain for years! They didn’t want to be rescued!
This is not to say that the plight of many of these people is not tragic, but why is it that the US government did not say a word when three out of four Christians were forced out of Iraq during the ten year US occupation? Why has the US said nothing about the Christians slaughtered by its allies in Syria? What about all the Palestinians killed in Gaza or the ethnic Russians killed in east Ukraine?
The humanitarian situation was cynically manipulated by the Obama administration -- and echoed by the US media -- to provide a reason for the president to attack Iraq again. This time it was about yet another regime change, breaking Kurdistan away from Iraq and protection of the rich oil reserves there, and acceptance of a new US military presence on the ground in the country.
President Obama has started another war in Iraq and Congress is completely silent. No declaration, no authorization, not even a debate. After 24 years we are back where we started. Isn’t it about time to re-think this failed interventionist policy? Isn’t it time to stop trusting the government and its war propaganda? Isn’t it time to leave Iraq alone?
This month, yet another US president – the fifth in a row – began bombing Iraq. He is also placing in US troops on the ground despite promising not to do so.
The second Iraq war in 2003 cost the US some two trillion dollars. According to estimates, more than one million deaths have occurred as a result of that war. Millions of tons of US bombs have fallen in Iraq almost steadily since 1991.
What have we accomplished? Where are we now, 24 years later? We are back where we started, at war in Iraq!
The US overthrew Saddam Hussein in the second Iraq war and put into place a puppet, Nouri al-Maliki. But after eight years, last week the US engineered a coup against Maliki to put in place yet another puppet. The US accused Maliki of misrule and divisiveness, but what really irritated the US government was his 2011 refusal to grant immunity to the thousands of US troops that Obama wanted to keep in the country.
Early this year, a radical Islamist group, ISIS, began taking over territory in Iraq, starting with Fallujah. The organization had been operating in Syria, strengthened by US support for the overthrow of the Syrian government. ISIS obtained a broad array of sophisticated US weapons in Syria, very often capturing them from other US-approved opposition groups. Some claim that lax screening criteria allowed some ISIS fighters to even participate in secret CIA training camps in Jordan and Turkey.
This month, ISIS became the target of a new US bombing campaign in Iraq. The pretext for the latest US attack was the plight of a religious minority in the Kurdish region currently under ISIS attack. The US government and media warned that up to 100,000 from this group were stranded on a mountain and could be slaughtered if the US did not intervene at once. Americans unfortunately once again fell for this propaganda and US bombs began to fall. Last week, however, it was determined that this 100,000 was actually only about 2,000 and many of them had been living on the mountain for years! They didn’t want to be rescued!
This is not to say that the plight of many of these people is not tragic, but why is it that the US government did not say a word when three out of four Christians were forced out of Iraq during the ten year US occupation? Why has the US said nothing about the Christians slaughtered by its allies in Syria? What about all the Palestinians killed in Gaza or the ethnic Russians killed in east Ukraine?
The humanitarian situation was cynically manipulated by the Obama administration -- and echoed by the US media -- to provide a reason for the president to attack Iraq again. This time it was about yet another regime change, breaking Kurdistan away from Iraq and protection of the rich oil reserves there, and acceptance of a new US military presence on the ground in the country.
President Obama has started another war in Iraq and Congress is completely silent. No declaration, no authorization, not even a debate. After 24 years we are back where we started. Isn’t it about time to re-think this failed interventionist policy? Isn’t it time to stop trusting the government and its war propaganda? Isn’t it time to leave Iraq alone?
Anti War....
Escalation: Obama Broadens War Goals
Informs Congress About Latest Round of Attacks
by Jason Ditz, August 17, 2014
The US air war in Iraq has moved into its second week, and they are continuing to announce new, broader war goals virtually every today, with the White House today announcing a new notification was sent to Congress.
President Obama informed Congress that the latest war goal, the Kurdish capture of Mosul Dam, would require US airstrikes to support it, and claimed the loss of the dam would be a threat to the US Embassy in Baghdad.
Obama initially made the war just about protecting US troops in Irbil, then expanded it to Baghdad as well, then broadened it further to denying ISIS territory, and is now focusing on the Mosul Dam.
The Kurdish Peshmerga reported taking “most” of the dam today, backed by the US strikes. Holding it is another matter, as the dam has been heavily contested for awhile. The ever-broadening US war goals don’t stop there, of course.
On Thursday, Anbar Province Governor Ahmed Khalaf al-Dulaimi reported a deal with the US on putting troops on the ground in the province, along with a substantial round of airstrikes aiming to chase ISIS out of the area.
The push for constant escalation was somewhat slowed last week when it was revealed that the “trapped Yazidi” crisis was largely untrue, and the Pentagon has since been openly talking about looking around for other opportunities for “humanitarian” intervention.
They won’t have to look far, because after the long US occupation, Iraq is still a trainwreck in a lot of places. The ISIS incursions have only made matters worse, and the US war will only add to that humanitarian crisis.
Telling in how long the US war is liable to take is that the British military, which is talking about joining the war to a limited extent to back the US, is saying their role will last months.
Kurds Seize Contested Mosul Dam Once Again, Ousting ISIS
Peshmerga Controls 'Most' of Dam
by Jason Ditz, August 17, 2014
Backing by escalating US airstrikes, the Kurdish Peshmerga once again attack the Mosul Dam, Iraq’s largest hydroelectric dam, and has reportedly regained primary control over the heavily contested site.
Kurdish media reported that the Peshmerga has control of “most of the dam,” with some officials putting the figure at 80%, with the offensive continuing. It is likely that the dam will continue to be fought over, as a hugely valuable asset for any side to control.
The Peshmerga offensive began yesterday with a push against villages in the immediate vicinity, and with US airstrikes hitting ISIS targets in the area, they finally got ahold of the dam once more.
Though Kurdish officials are touting the takeover as a major accomplishment, they had only lost the dam a little over a week ago to begin with, and it remains to be seen if they will actually be able to hold it when ISIS inevitably launches they own counter-counter-offensive.
Syrian Warplanes Pound ISIS in Raqqa, Killing 31 Fighters
26 Strikes Hit ISIS Bases Across Their Capital City
by Jason Ditz, August 17, 2014
The United States isn’t the only country engaged in airstrikes against ISIS territory. While the US launches attacks against targets in ISIS’ eastern holdings in Iraq, Syrian warplanes today hammered the ISIS caliphate’s capital city of Raqqa.
According to rebel mouthpiece the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syrian warplanes hit 26 different ISIS targets across Raqqa and neighboring Tabqa, including a military court and several bases of operations. 31 ISIS fighters were reported killed.
Raqqa locals have reported increased numbers of airstrikes over the course of the past week, and that they picked up dramatically Sunday. They complained, however, that many of the strikes hit civilian targets.
It is noteworthy, then, that while the US had been among the first to complain about Syrian strikes against residential areas in ISIS territory before, they have decided to remain silent today. That likely reflects the ongoing US airstrikes in and around the major Iraqi city of Mosul, also an ISIS possession, and the inevitability of the US strikes hitting civilian targets as well.
Tweets.....
#Isis statement on the latest events & their confrontation to the #U.S._Kurdish alliance. pic.twitter.com/mNfm9F7xvJ
Memlik Pasha
ISIS apparently rapidly withdrew via the western side of the dam complex, leaving the area laced w/ huge IED emplacement belts (1/2)
.@MemlikPasha and 10+ VBIEDs and HBIEDs emplaced in bldgs in the dam complex. ISOF and Pesh currently sweeping the area (2/2).
#US ask #FSA to conduct airstrikes against #IslamicState on #Syria'n territory http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/us-syria-intervention-201481645334741469.html …
#Turkish Energy Minister Taner #Yıldız: 7th oil shipment from #Kurdistan Region has been loaded and delivery has been completed.
#Turkish Energy Minister: #Kurdistan Region has exported the total of 7.8 million barrels of oil to (Ceyhan port) of #Turkey.
Retweeted by Memlik Pasha
Latest from CENTCOM: US has staged total of 68 airstrikes in #Iraq since Aug 8, 35 in support of ISF near Mosul Dam.
Retweeted by Liz Sly
Obama was careful to say "contain" ISIS and not "defeat". Confirms the limited nature of US operation in #Iraq & betting on political track
#Peshmerga forces managed to dismantle around 10 booby trapped cars by #ISIS inside #MosulDam if exploded would have caused serious damage
#Peshmerga forces at Al Mafraq point on #MosulDam confirm they have taken full control of the dam including the adjacent artificial pond
Retweeted by Brown Moses
Hala Jaber
.2/ The statement rants against #US intervention, #Obama's "stupidity" 4 intervening & alleges they are pushing #Peshmergas back.
Retweeted by Brown Moses
.3/ Statement actually sounds & reads like an attempt 2boost their own moral & tt they R actually taking a beating, trying 2put brave front
Retweeted by Wladimir
Joe Parkinson
#Iraq war shifting alliances as US fights in parallel with Kurdish guerrilla force listed as a terror organization. http://m.wsj.com/articles/kurds-with-u-s-aid-push-to-take-mosul-dam-1408322338?mobile=y …
Retweeted by Wladimir
US appears to be expanding arming program for the Kurds - details here from @DionNissenbaum. http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-military-shifts-to-helping-kurds-fight-back-1408063147 …
#Peshmerga Forces Completely Control #Mosul Dam - #BasNews - http://www.basnews.com/en/News/Details/Peshmerga-Forces-Completely-Control-Mosul-Dam/30821 …
Retweeted by Memlik Pasha
Obama Aug 8: US will not be "the Iraqi Air Force." Obama Aug 17: US launching "air strikes to support operations by Iraqi forces"
CTS Golden Division under the personal command of Gen. Fadhil Barwari and SWAT fighting w/ Zerevani special forces to retake Mosul dam.
#IslamicState account has a released a MAP of territory they claim to control across #Syria & #Iraq > pic.twitter.com/TTMdWi8H7c @Charles_Lister
#pt #Syria #PKK "#Iraq army collapsed & #Peshmerga failed. Were the only force who has repeatedly defeated jihadists" http://online.wsj.com/articles/kurds-with-u-s-aid-push-to-take-mosul-dam-1408322338 …
#Raqqa resident: "About 30% of the #Assad strikes hit the #IslamicState positions - rest hit civilian areas” http://eaworldview.com/2014/08/syria-daily-assad-regime-turns-bombs-islamic-state/ … #Syria
Kurd Commanders "winning back the dam a necessary objective for the Kurds before trying to attack #Mosul city itself" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11040162/Kurdish-forces-on-brink-of-recapturing-Iraqs-biggest-dam-from-Islamic-State.html …
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