Ramadi Falls

[icenine]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_7300746.html



Having been stationed very near Ramadi it is sad to see it fall to ISIS.
I think the US should have pushed for the Shiite militias to take a stronger hand in defending the provincial capital myself. I would rather see it still in the hands of the Iraqi government, however imperfect, than ISIS. Of course the ISIS savages are doing the usual, summarily executing everyone they can, according to a Sunni tribal leader who was fighting them:


"We welcome any group, including Shiite militias, to come and help us in liberating the city from the militants. What happened today is a big loss caused by lack of good planning by the military," a Sunni tribal leader, Naeem al-Gauoud, told the Associated Press.

He said many tribal fighters died trying to defend the city, and bodies, some charred, were strewn in the streets, while others had been thrown in the Euphrates River. Ramadi mayor Dalaf al-Kubaisi said that more than 250 civilians and security forces were killed over the past two days, including dozens of police and other government supporters shot dead in the streets or their homes, along with their wives, children and other family members.

Quoted from the Huffington Post article.

[Ike Bana]

Fifteen centuries of murder and mayhem perped on each other by one Islamic sect or another in Iraq and elsewhere in the region would seem to suggest to me that backing one of them against another to achieve some sort of short term goal is a fool's game.

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

Fifteen centuries of murder and mayhem perped on each other by one Islamic sect or another in Iraq and elsewhere in the region would seem to suggest to me that backing one of them against another to achieve some sort of short term goal is a fool's game.

A fool's game indeed.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

Fifteen centuries of murder and mayhem perped on each other by one Islamic sect or another in Iraq and elsewhere in the region would seem to suggest to me that backing one of them against another to achieve some sort of short term goal is a fool's game.

Quite true but that's not what's going on and not what's being asked for or recommended. We have a terrorist army, ISIS, invading and occupying the sovereign territory of Iraq and proclaiming itself to be a new "caliphate". In response we have the Iraqi army, such as it is, attempting to ally itself with both Shi'ite and Sunni militias, uniting against a common enemy.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by Boreas

Quite true but that's not what's going on and not what's being asked for or recommended. We have a terrorist army, ISIS, invading and occupying the sovereign territory of Iraq and proclaiming itself to be a new "caliphate". In response we have the Iraqi army, such as it is, attempting to ally itself with both Shi'ite and Sunni militias, uniting against a common enemy.

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Way...way...way too many of them are murderous Islamist maniacs waiting to happen. And the problem is...nobody knows when and where the next batch of them will show up. Right now its pissed off Sunni's who want back in power and will not be controlled by filthy Shia. Next month it will be pissed off Shia who want back in power and will not be controlled by filthy Sunni. The culture and religion is infested.



And we haven't taken into account any of the sub-sects who's believers believe that anyone who is not a member of their sect is a filthy infidel worthy only of being beheaded with a rusty butter knife. It's cultural insanity.

[CarlV]

The more we get involved in the middle east, the worse things get. You would think we would learn after 65 years of policy mistakes but no.


Carl

[merrylander]

I still think we should have left the Kurds some heavy weapons.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by merrylander

I still think we should have left the Kurds some heavy weapons.

We have. We armed the Peshmerga in the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region. It's the PKK, mostly in Turkey, that we're relctant to help,

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by Boreas

We have. We armed the Peshmerga in the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region. It's the PKK, mostly in Turkey, that we're relctant to help,

And we should be just as reluctant to help Iraqi PKK, but somehow they're freedom fighting PKK, and not the Kurdish version of the Taliban (which is what they actually are).

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

And we should be just as reluctant to help Iraqi PKK, but somehow they're freedom fighting PKK, and not the Kurdish version of the Taliban (which is what they actually are).

We've been here before. I know you have this Kurdish friend and, according you, he says the PKK is the "Taliban" but that's wrong. They're secular and pretty Marxist. Not only that, they have female fighters on the front lines who do the same work as the men. Would an Islamic extremist organization permit that? Comparing them to religious fanatics like the Taliban is silly.