Islamists taking over Iraq

Iran's "proxies" would probably be fighting for the Shiite-controlled government, not the Sunni-dominated rebels.

 

Exactly.

And it's not like Iran was a communist nation. They simply had a government that the United States perceived as "weak" and "ripe for a possible Communist takeover."

And that somehow gives us the right to go topple a democratically elected government? There is really no defense for so much of the shit this country pulls.

 

The top story on Google News right now:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/12/militant-gains-in-iraq-catch-obama-administration-by-surprise/

:

Bonus: It only takes eight grafs to get from there to Benghazi.

 

There is no more Iraq.

The Kurds have taken over the oil rich city of Kirkuk, which they've always considered a part of their homeland. They'll never give it, or its oil revenue, back to a centralized Iraqi government, if there ever is one again.

The wildcard here is the Turks. They do not want an independent Kurdistan on their border.

 

Weren't they caught off guard?

 

They admitted they were caught off guard by the collapse in security. Not the violence itself.

I listed only two of the many issues with that link.

 

Enjoyed both these takes. Wasn't the main reason for the 1953 intervention due to Iran nationalizing oil production?

 

One of the primary lessons the United States and the Soviet Union took from World War II was the control of oil producing states was a key factor in modern warfare.

So both wanted to gather up their own Middle Eastern proxy states, and deny the same to the other guy.

 

This will be a strong and enduring partnership. With our diplomats and civilian advisors in the lead, we’ll help Iraqis strengthen institutions that are just, representative and accountable. We’ll build new ties of trade and of commerce, culture and education, that unleash the potential of the Iraqi people. We’ll partner with an Iraq that contributes to regional security and peace, just as we insist that other nations respect Iraq’s sovereignty.

 

Now, Iraq is not a perfect place. It has many challenges ahead. But we're leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people.

We're building a new partnership between our nations. And we are ending a war not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home.

This is an extraordinary achievement, nearly nine years in the making. And today we remember everything that you did to make it possible.

 

Today:

Q: Mr. President, are you considering drone strikes or any sort of action to stop the insurgents in Iraq?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, this is an area that we’ve been watching with a lot of concern not just over the last couple of days but over the last several months. And we’ve been in close consultation with the Iraqi government. You know, over the last year we have been providing them additional assistance to try to address the problems that they have in Anbar, in the northwestern portions of the country, as well as the Iraqi and Syrian border.

That includes in some cases military equipment. It includes intelligence assistance. It includes a -- a -- a whole host of issues. But what we’ve seen over the last couple of days indicates the degree to which Iraq’s going to need more help. It’s going to need help from us and it’s going to need more help from the international community.

So my team is working around the clock to identify how we can provide the most effective assistance to them. 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, for that matter.

Part of the challenge -- and I’ve said this directly to Prime Minister Maliki, and Vice President Biden has said this in his very frequent interactions with the Iraqi government -- is that the politics of Shia and Sunni inside of Iraq, as well as the Kurds, is either going to be a help in dealing with this jihadist situation or it’s going to be a hindrance. And frankly, over the last several years, we have not seen the kind of trust and cooperation develop between moderate Sunni and Shia leaders inside of Iraq, and that accounts in part for some of the -- the -- the weakness of the state, and that then carries over into their military capacity.

So I think it’s fair to say that, in our consultations with the Iraqis, there will be some short-term, immediate things that need to be done militarily.

And you know, our national security team is looking at all the options. But this should be also a wake-up call for the Iraqi government. There has to be a political component to this so that Sunni and Shia who care about building a functioning state that can bring about security and prosperity to all people inside of Iraq come together and work diligently against these extremists. And that is going to require concessions on the part of both Shia and Sunni that we haven’t seen so far.

The last point I’ll make, this -- what’s happened over the last couple of days I think underscores the importance of the point that I made at my West Point speech, the need for us to have a more robust regional approach to partnering and training, partner countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. We’re not going to be able to be everywhere all the time. But what we can do is to make sure that we are consistently helping to finance, train, advise military forces with partner countries, including Iraq, that have the capacity to maintain their own security. And that is a long and laborious process, but it’s one that we need to get started.

That’s part of what the Counterterrorism Partnership Fund that I am going to be calling for Congress to help finance is all about, giving us the capacity to extend our reach without sending U.S. troops to play Whac-a-Mole wherever there ends up being a problem in a particular country.

That’s going to be more effective. It’s going to be more legitimate in the eyes of people in the region as well as the international community, but it’s going to take time for us to build it. In the short term, we have to deal with what clearly is an emergency situation in Iraq.

http://wapo.st/1oTkU0D

 

I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that.