It's SHOWTIME!!!!!!!!!!!

kbot · Post by **kbot** » 06-13-2014 11:19 AM

OK, so the Middle East situation is going down the crapper fast. All those lives (on both sides - military and civilian) lost.

Now, things are heating up even more........

Snippet:

Iran sends forces to Iraq as ISIS militants press forward, official says

CNN) -- Emboldened Sunni militants, backed by local tribal leaders, pushed toward Baghdad on Friday as Iran sent troops to fight alongside government forces. In Washington, increasingly nervous U.S. officials mulled their limited options to help slow the militants' advance.

In recent days, Iran has sent about 500 Revolutionary Guard troops to fight alongside Iraqi government security forces in Diyala province, a senior security official in Baghdad told CNN.

Meanwhile, Sunni tribal leaders have lined up behind radical Islamists from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, making their push toward Baghdad easier, a Saudi intelligence official told CNN's Nic Robertson.

As Iraq further disintegrated, residents fled Mosul in droves. Militants captured the country's second-largest city this week after soldiers scattered, leaving their uniforms and weapons behind.

The spreading violence prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to say the beleaguered government required assistance.

"It's going to need more help from us, and it's going to need more help from the international community," Obama said. "I don't rule out anything, because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either Iraq or Syria."

A senior Obama administration official said Friday that the president has not yet made a decision on whether to act on any military options. But another senior administration official indicated that a decision could come as early as this weekend.

Airstrikes are among the options on the table, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Thursday. But there will be no repeat of a large U.S. troop presence on Iraqi soil.

"We are not contemplating ground troops," Carney said. "I want to be clear about that."

U.S. officials have also discussed bolstering ongoing efforts to send arms, equipment and intelligence information to help Iraq and its military.

Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that the ISIS militants are a threat not just to Iraq, but to the United States and the rest of the world -- and that is why Obama is urgently considering his next steps.

"Every country that understands the importance of stability in the Middle East needs to be concerned about what is happening," Kerry said, speaking at a summit in London.

"That is why I am confident the United States will move rapidly and confidently in order to join with its allies in dealing with this challenge."

Kerry said the latest events had been a "wake-up call" for Iraq's divided political leadership, which has been accused of failing to address growing sectarian divisions.

The United States has a "very direct relationship" with Iraq, he said. "I don't think anybody in the region or in this administration believes it is in the interests of the United States to turn our backs on that."

The militants from ISIS want to establish a caliphate, or Islamic state, in the region -- stretching from Iraq into northern Syria, where it has had significant success battling the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

Their lightning advance in Iraq has been aided by support from many Sunnis who feel that the Shia-dominated government has marginalized them.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/13/world/mea ... -violence/

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » 06-13-2014 04:03 PM

Doesn't this just make you ill?

More later as I am digesting:(

kbot · Post by **kbot** » 06-13-2014 04:17 PM

Diogenes wrote: Doesn't this just make you ill?

Yes it does.........

BenSlain · Post by **BenSlain** » 06-13-2014 11:28 PM

Cherry Kelly · Post by **Cherry Kelly** » 06-14-2014 10:06 AM

Very much so!! disgusting ISIS group in Iraq.

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and then this morning...http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/world ... iupol.html Russian tanks - and a downed plane with 49 aboard - dead.

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Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » 06-14-2014 12:07 PM

BenSlain wrote:

I am just curious - is this a visual of the counting down of minutes, hours, seconds going by as our President is contemplating options/decisions about anything?

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » 06-14-2014 12:08 PM

I keep going back to the fall of Saigon.

kbot · Post by **kbot** » 06-14-2014 06:20 PM

Diogenes wrote: I keep going back to the fall of Saigon.

Well, when you commit troops with little intention of actually winning...

Obama telegraphed the troop withdrawal, and now the void is bing filled - as a number of people predicted would happen.

Riddick · Post by **Riddick** » 06-15-2014 10:46 AM

Civil war with blood gore and more:
In Iraq, for those keeping score -
Hope's dropped a big notch
Under Obama's watch,
(Seems like we've been here before)

Yet as democracy there grinds to a halt
From this radical Islamist assault?
For this Mid-east crisis
AND the rise of ISIS
You can know it's all DUBYA's fault!

kbot · Post by **kbot** » 06-15-2014 05:01 PM

Watching the tv over the past few days and Dubya did come-up....

Riddick · Post by **Riddick** » 06-15-2014 05:18 PM

kbot wrote: Watching the tv over the past few days and Dubya did come-up....

Well, he IS such a great go-to scapegoat donchaknow...

If not him? Mebbe they can blame it on global warming.

kbot · Post by **kbot** » 06-16-2014 05:32 AM

I did see someone from the administration blame Turkey and call into question the country's commitment to NATO and peace in the Middle East.

A different spin if I ever heard one.....

Riddick · Post by **Riddick** » 06-16-2014 09:52 AM

So they're talking Turkey now? I guess there's a first time for everything. As if the White House has ever been skilled at anything but obfuscating? AND they're gonna negotiate this away? Imho there's fat chance of THAT -

Fact is, all the administration's BS has caught up with them - The heat is on, Iraq's goose is getting cooked - One way or another, either the situation turns around or there's some SERIOUS political climate change a'comin' in the Middle East (and mebbe here too?!)

kbot · Post by **kbot** » 06-16-2014 10:10 AM

One way or another, either the situation turns around or there's some SERIOUS political climate change a'comin' in the Middle East (and mebbe here too?!)

\

Have a feeling you're correct.........