Iraq is a complete mess thanks to the idiotic actions of president Bush who wasted trillions of dollars removing Sadaam Hussein only to see the country disintegrate into a civil war crisis far worse than leaving Hussein in control.
For his part, Obama gave support to “moderate rebels” in the Syrian civil war, and of course those rebels turned out to be Al Qaeda forces, including the radical Isis group, now capturing huge chunks of Iraq.
Obama Considers Airstrikes
Isis has now taken over so much of Iraq that Obama Weighs Airstrikes or Aid to Help Trapped Iraqis.
President Obama is considering airstrikes or airdrops of food and medicine to address a humanitarian crisis among as many as 40,000 religious minorities in Iraq who have been dying of heat and thirst on a mountaintop after death threats from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, administration officials said on Thursday.
The president, in meetings with his national security team at the White House on Thursday morning, has been weighing a series of options ranging from dropping humanitarian supplies on Mount Sinjar to military strikes on the fighters from ISIS now at the base of the mountain, a senior administration official said.
The administration official said that “the president is weighing both passive and active options,” defining passive action as dropping humanitarian supplies. He added, using an alternative name for ISIS, “More active, we could target the ISIL elements that are besieging the base of the mountain.”
The administration had been delaying taking any military action against ISIS until there is a new Iraqi government. Both White House and Pentagon officials have said privately that the United States would not intervene militarily until Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki stepped down.
But administration officials said on Thursday that the crisis on Mount Sinjar may be forcing their hand. About 40 children have already died from the heat and dehydration, according to Unicef, while as many as 40,000 people have been sheltering in the bare mountains without food, water or access to supplies.
What Does ISIS Control?
In an infographic, the New York Times asks and answers What Does ISIS Control?
Isis Advances on Kurds
Yesterday the Times reported Sunni Extremists Repel Kurdish Forces in Iraq
Sunni extremists repelled efforts by Kurdish pesh merga forces on Wednesday to push them back in areas east of Mosul in northern Iraq, and shelled a predominantly Christian village there, in what appeared to be a renewed push along the Kurdish border to take ground, control oil fields and water resources and expel minority groups.
As artillery shells landed in the village of Qara Qosh, which is largely Christian, and plumes of smoke from the explosions drifted across the dry Nineveh plain just 25 miles from the Kurdish capital, Erbil, panicked residents fled in cars and pickups piled with their belongings, creating long lines at checkpoints guarded by the Kurdish pesh merga.
“We heard the sound of artillery,” said Ahmed, a father of three. “It was very close to us; the windows were shaking, and when I looked at my family’s faces, I had to leave.”
Rogue State
Inquiring minds may also wish to consider A Rogue State Along Two Rivers … How ISIS Came to Control Large Portions of Syria and Iraq.
Mission Accomplished
Please recall President Bush parachuting aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003, and giving a “Mission Accomplished Speech” on Iraq.
What Was the Mission?
Some of you may be asking “What the hell was the mission?”
It’s a good question too, and I have the answer: To destabilize Iraq thereby insuring perpetual war.
The mission was accomplished so well, that not only is Iraq in a state of civil war with extreme radical groups in control over many populated areas, Obama now considers US military action.
As missions in pure stupidity go, it would tough to find a better example.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com