Obama on IS - The War in Iraq

The White House: Reports on the weekly address by POTUS.  Here are the remarks, " Over the past week, the United States has continued to lead our friends and allies in the strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL.  As I’ve said before, our intelligence community has not yet detected specific plots from these terrorists against America.  Right now, they pose a threat to the people of Iraq, Syria, and the broader Middle East.  But its leaders have threatened America and our allies.  And if left unchecked, they could pose a growing threat to the United States.

So, last month, I gave the order for our military to begin taking targeted action against ISIL.  Since then, American pilots have flown more than 170 airstrikes against these terrorists in Iraq.  And France has now joined us in these airstrikes.

Going forward, we won’t hesitate to take action against these terrorists in Iraq or in Syria.  But this is not America’s fight alone.  I won’t commit our troops to fighting another ground war in Iraq, or in Syria.  It’s more effective to use our capabilities to help partners on the ground secure their own country’s futures. We will use our air power. We will train and equip our partners.  We will advise and we will assist.   And we’ll lead a broad coalition of nations who have a stake in this fight.  This isn’t America vs. ISIL.  This is the people of that region vs. ISIL.  It’s the world vs ISIL.

We’ve been working to secure bipartisan support for this strategy here at home, because I believe that we are strongest as a nation when the President and Congress work together.  We’ve been consulting closely with Congress.  And last week, Secretary of State Kerry, Secretary of Defense Hagel, and military leaders worked to gain their support for our strategy. 

A majority of Democrats and a majority of Republicans in both the House and the Senate have now approved a first, key part of our strategy by wide margins.  They’ve given our troops the authority they need to train Syrian opposition fighters so that they can fight ISIL in Syria.  Those votes sent a powerful signal to the world: Americans are united in confronting this danger.  And I hope Congress continues to make sure our troops get what they need to get the job done.

Meanwhile, because we’re leading the right way, more nations are joining our coalition.  Over 40 countries have offered to help the broad campaign against ISIL so far – from training and equipment, to humanitarian relief, to flying combat missions.  And this week, at the United Nations, I’ll continue to rally the world against this threat.

This is an effort that America has the unique ability to lead.  When the world is threatened; when the world needs help; it calls on America. And we call on our troops. Whether it’s to degrade and ultimately destroy a group of terrorists, or to contain and combat a threat like the Ebola epidemic in Africa; we ask a lot of our troops.  But while our politics may be divided at times, the American people stand united around supporting our troops and their families.  This is a moment of American leadership.  Thanks to them, it is a moment we will meet. "

Lets Get Real:

I wish President Obama would stop saying that there will be no ground troops in Iraq, the US has 1,600 troops on the ground already, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has stated that these Military Advisors could go out on missions with their Iraqi colleagues.   Thus the US does have boots on the ground, it also needs spotters for the air strikes, Vietnam started with military advisors.  In 1965 LBJ placed the Marines in South Vietnam to protect US planes, will Obama in 2015 send real ground troops back in to Iraq, there is more chance of that than the US leaving Iraq for good. 

Time Heist - Doctor Who Review

Doctor Who News: Reports " 4.93 million watched Doctor Who - Time Heist, according to unofficial overnight figures, a share of 23.8 % of the total TV audience. "

Lets Get Real:

This was a fun episode, the Doctor as a bank robber, but the reason for the robbery is a spoiler, the demise of two characters through the episode was shocking but seeing the result of action taken by spoiler you could see why they did it, then at the end manipulative side of the Doctor came through, the two deaths had a different outcome, again spoiler.   The wonderful Keeley Hawes was the Bank Manager was was the enemy of the Doctor, she was smart, and an equal to the Doctor, but of course she lost but also won at the end, there are to many spoilers to tell this part of the story, lets just say its open for Ms Hawes to come back, timelines are great for Time Lords.   One thing that was retro was than the Bank of Karabraxos was a real building, just the most secure building in banking, if your up to something the bank will know, and what the Doctor stole is a spoiler.   See episode again, do feel sorry for the bank and the Manager! Bankers are nice are they not, but then my memory is gone, did I ever visit the bank of Karabraxos!!  Spoiler alert there too!! 

The House SPLIT on Syria - 2nd Term Blues

The New York Times: Reports on the mixed vote in the House to grant approval to POTUS  to train Syrian rebels, the motion was opposed by those who thought it was not tough enough, that being Republicans and those who thought it was the wrong policy, that being Democrats.  The article notes the following, " Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, actively and strongly backed the legislation, and both sought to portray it as a modest measure. "

Lets Get Real:

No one thinks that you can take hundreds of rebels out of Syria, then train them and send them back, the training will take time, in that period, Assad and IS will try to gain from the weakness of the rebels, thus when the moderate rebels do go back they will need US Special Forces or they will be wiped out by either enemies.   The US has tried troops on the ground in Iraq, and it worked before POTUS removed all the troops in 2011, this was a major strategic mistake, thus the growth of IS.   The liberals in the Obama Administration think air power alone will work in Syria and Iraq, good luck with that move, it will not work, you need to hold ground.  One can postulate that Obama wants to hand the problem over to his successor, he wants to keep IS and Assad from winning, but will only do enough to keep the problems from making him look weak.   The history of Iraq in the 21 Century looks lot like Vietnam, time for leaders to re - read the history of the period. 

Obama vs. The Generals - 2nd Term Blues

Telegraph: Reports on the reaction of the liberal base of the Democratic Party to the suggestion that  ground troops could be used in Iraq, the article notes the following, " The suggestion angered and alarmed Mr Obama's liberal supporters and prompted the White House to hastily rule out the possibility of Americans on the front line. "

Lets Get Real: 

As this blog tweeted the White House would have to row back the remarks by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the liberal base elected President Obama, they are not happy will recent developments in Iraq, they would rather not take on IS.   Either IS is a major threat or it is not, the Oval can not have it both ways, what if IS starts to cause problems in Jordan and Lebanon, at some point the Oval will have to either break with the liberal base or allow IS to become a State in the Middle East.  Neither is a great choice for President Obama, well Obama wanted the job, not a lot of Presidents leave the White House happy, the exception being Reagan and Clinton, and Reagan had the edge because his VP was his successor.   Thus what will the Oval do when it comes time to really decide about Iraq and Syria. 

Funding of the New War in Iraq and Syria

Guardian: Reports " House of Representatives approves Obama plan to arm Syrian rebels "

Lets Get Real:

This new Obama plan for Syria is NOT going to work, those in the House and the Senate know it will not work and even if it worked there is a great chance that the battlefield will look different by the time US had trained the Syrian rebels.    This move by the House is getting the US further in to the Wars in Syria, thus far the Oval has not attacked Syria, how many beheaded Americans does it take, for the Oval to understand that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs understands better than the Oval, in open remarks the Chairman stated that Military Advisors could be part of any attacks on IS.  Also if the Obama plan fails there will be the need for ground troops.   The Congress will come back to this issue, after the Mid Terms.   This smells like Vietnam all over again. 

Obama and Iraq - The New Iraq War

BBC News: Reports " President Barack Obama has told an audience of US troops their comrades fighting Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq will not have a combat mission. "

Lets Get Real:

Lets hope that the Oval understands the above is a holding statement. there is no way the Iraqi Army and the Kurds will be able to take large towns, that takes experts, thus US Special Forces, also there has to be a question will the Kurds go in to towns that are majority of a different ethnic group, the Iraqi army is going to take time to build and re -arm, thus again the need for Special Forces.   It can be postulated that no on with a brain cell believes that POTUS wont use ground troops, if not it will be Vietnam pre 1965 again, it will be a battle to keep gains, and prevent IS aka the Viet Cong from taking more ground.  Interesting times ahead in Iraq. 

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