"The stunning march of a frightening new terror group taking control in the heart of the Middle East in a vacuum left by America's Commander in Chief."Arguments can be made for or against the Iraq war(s). Mistakes were made, politics were played. But it's apparent now that all those American lives lost to root out both Saddam and terrorist insurgents in an attempt to democratize the region, have all been for naught under the Obama regime.
First, here's what's happening before our very eyes:
TRS: Megyn Kelly did a fantastic report last night on what is happening in Iraq and then had on Gen. Jack Keane to explain why it’s happening.
She explains in more detail how the terrorist group ISIS has taken over two cities in Iraq, one of the being Mosul, the second largest city, and how they are planning to take Baghdad.
But the big takeaway for me was how they pointed out that Osama bin Laden’s dream of an Islamic Caliphate is forming in Iraq before our very eyes. It’s similar to what Ralph Peters told BillO, that the terrorists now have a jihadi state from Syria to Iraq.
And this morning, Rush calls it precisely as it seems...
"I think this administration wants both Iraq and Afghanistan to fail as stable democracies, and if you doubt that, would you give me...any evidence to the contrary. And don't cite Afghanistan, because everything we're doing in Afghanistan is designed to prop up the Taliban. We just gave them five of their apparently biggest and most important freedom fighters. Just released them. We're restocking the Taliban. Obama thinks they're a legitimate entity."
Why does it appear this way? Because not only did Obama release those five GITMO detainees last week, but now when Iraq seeks our help, Obama rebuffs...
Obama has essentially told Iraq, 'You're on your own.'NYT: As the threat from Sunni militants in western Iraq escalated last month, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki secretly asked the Obama administration to consider carrying out airstrikes against extremist staging areas, according to Iraqi and American officials.
But Iraq’s appeals for a military response have so far been rebuffed by the White House, which has been reluctant to open a new chapter in a conflict that President Obama has insisted was over when the United States withdrew the last of its forces from Iraq in 2011.
The swift capture of Mosul by militants aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has underscored how the conflicts in Syria and Iraq have converged into one widening regional insurgency with fighters coursing back and forth through the porous border between the two countries. But it has also called attention to the limits the White House has imposed on the use of American power in an increasingly violent and volatile region.
Pure Democratic politics, folks.
"It's not about human rights, it's not about saving the women and children, it's not about saving a war torn country. And sadly, it's not about standing up for U.S. policy. ... it's not about maintaining American consistency. It's not about showing allies we can be counted on. It's not about helping people in need. It's about advancing a Democrat agenda.Related links: Biden: “Iraq is going to be one of the great achievements of this administration”
...it's a political opportunity. Iraq falling. Afghanistan falling. That's a political goldmine. That is a grand slam home run. And if you want to doubt me, go right ahead, but just ask yourself, 'How often does Barack Obama blame George W. Bush for everything that is, has been or will go wrong in this country?' He does it still to this day."
Hillary Clinton on five free Taliban jihadis: “These five guys are not a threat to the United States”
Harry Reid: ‘What difference does it make?’ who was informed of Bergdahl’s release
UPDATES: As rapidly as these Islamist are being permitted to move, I've got a feeling these updates will only be the beginning...
Jenan Moussa reports on new video of thousands of Iraqi soldiers in Tikrit captured by ISIS, who according to them, the number of prisoners is 4500!
And the UK Telegraph reports that ISIS has released a list of rules that citizens must live by, including 'repent or die'...
Oh look, someone woke Obama up, and he says he's not ruling out anything, except of course no boots on the ground. Perhaps he should consider providing airstrikes as requested by Maliki...preferably without handcuffing our military! As Levin would say, take the tops off of those mountains! LeMay style...Telegraph: The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham has set out a list of rules for residents of Mosul as it seeks to impose its Islamist rules on Iraq's second city.
Referring to the area by its ancient name, Nineveh, the group says it has a clear set of instructions for the remaining occupants of the city and surrounding area.
Firstly it tells "anyone who is asking," who its members are and what it is about: "We are soldiers of Islam and we've taken on our responsibility to bring back glory of the Islamic Caliphate."
And if you're still not convinced that the Obama regime seems fine with the Middle East falling into Islamists hands, here ya go. Looks like the head honcho running the show in the jihadi takeover of Iraq...yeah, he was released by the US in 2009!
UKTelegraph: The fall of the Iraqi city of Mosul to the al-Qaeda offshoot ISIS has shown the power of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – a former US detainee.You know, when you announce your expiration date to the world, radicals included, plans tend to be more easily devised.
The FBI “most wanted” mugshot shows a tough, swarthy figure, his hair in a jailbird crew-cut. The $10 million price on his head, meanwhile, suggests that whoever released him from US custody four years ago may now be regretting it.
Taken during his years as a detainee at the US-run Camp Bucca in southern Iraq, this is the only known photograph of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria. But while he may lack the photogenic qualities of his hero, Osama bin Laden, he is fast becoming the new poster-boy for the global jihadist movement.
Well-organised and utterly ruthless, the ex-preacher is the driving force behind al-Qaeda’s resurgence throughout Syria and Iraq, putting it at the forefront of the war to topple President Bashar al-Assad and starting a fresh campaign of mayhem against the Western-backed government in Baghdad.
On Tuesday, his forces achieved their biggest coup in Iraq to date, seizing control of government buildings in Mosul, the country’s third biggest city. Coming on top of similar operations in January that planted the black jihadi flag in the towns of Fallujah and Ramadi, it gives al-Qaeda control of large swathes of the north and west of the country, and poses the biggest security crisis since the US pull-out two years ago.
