Iraq wants US assistance now
The Associated Press reports that Iraq is asking the US for aid to help them tamp down on violence that has wracked the country with 1000 deaths in July, the highest number of casualties since 2008;
The violence has spurred Baghdad to seek new U.S. aid to curb the threat, said Iraqi Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. He said a U.S. assistance package could include a limited number of advisers, intelligence analysis and surveillance assets – including lethal drones.
“There is greater realization in the Iraq government that we should not shy away from coming and asking for some help and assistance,” Zebari told reporters Friday in Washington.
Yeah, well, the Iraqis forced us out of their country because they couldn’t come up with a reasonable Status of Forces Agreement to protect our soldiers and Marines from the Iraqi courts. I don’t see them coming up with one now either.
Zebari attributed the insurgency’s comeback to its partnerships with al-Qaida fighters in neighboring Syria and outlawed Baath Party extremists in Iraq’s south. Intelligence experts have described the terror group’s footing in Iraq and Syria as a new al-Qaida hub in the Mideast, one that has sought for years to underscore Baghdad’s inability to protect its people.
Yeah, well, tough. They had their chance and eight years with which to fix their country under our protective umbrella and they squandered their chance. We have our own problems at home.
Category: Terror War
The whole thing is gonna come apart at the seams because the Iraq government wouldn’t admit that the problems stem directly from Iran. As long as the damned Persians exist, they will be murderous, duplicitous thugs and a cancer upon the world, just as they have been for 2500 years.
Iran delenda est. Until that happens, until Iran is given the same treatment as Carthage, nothing will change.
I was there for OIF I…it was my battalion that pulled down the statue…and I was there for the elections in OIF II…
I understood then, and I definitely understand now….they are a weak people…traitors…never trusted them, still don’t.
Tim, it isnt just iran, its the whole middle east. the arab world as a whole requires violence, their religion requires violence. until the entire region that spawned that religion of hatred and murder is gone, there will never be peace there. ive said for a long time (not that long, im still only 28) the only way to have peace in the arab world is to kill all the arabs
Arm the Kurds and let them move south.
Easy fix.
At least the KRG works.
@3 You are absolutely right! It is the whole Muslim culture and belief system of violence to every as a means to ever end. The do not understand diplomacy and don’t want it. They would rather kill each other to get what they want. I say let ’em, to their hearts content. We gave thousands of lives and limbs over 8 years to help them have a democracy. Problem is they don’t want democracy. They want Sharia law to be the theocracy of their land. I say let them have it and make it clear in no uncertain terms that if they export their terrorism to Americans anywhere we will not put boots on the ground, we will answer with bombs and drones until they are back in the 7th century where they want to be politically.
@4 Good solution.
I just hope they leave the marsh Arabs to the far south alone.
I’m concerned that it’s only going to get worse from here, and by ‘worse’, I mean nastier than anything we’ve seen before. If the Tuareg hadn’t decided to become a peaceful people and settle down on Mali, this might be less worrisome. In their heyday, they were some of the meaner warriors in the middle east, but they were independent.
I think Smitty’s right — let them tear at each other and we stay out of it unless they come after us. And frankly, I think we should leave Afghanistan by Thanksgiving this year. Just pack up everything we can carry, bomb what we can’t and get the hell out. Let them do what they’re going to do until there is no one left.
Meh-I’d go back.
#- AW1 Tim
Please do not confuse the Persians with the Arabs. The (few) Persians that I have known hate the Arabs with a deep and abiding passion. I won’t go into the whole history between the Persians, the Arabs, Persia, and Iran. The Arabs worship their devil spawn Mohammed. The Persians worship something/someone else. I would rather have ten Persians living next door then one Arab.
B Woodman: Zoroastrianism is only a tiny minority in present-day Iran. The vast majority there are today followers of the Shia sect of Islam.
Well said. I’m still all for glassing the region and letting God sort it out.
As for the Iraqis wanting aid, in every case where American aid is being begged for, aid=$$, nothing else. Time to turn off the money spigot and Just Say No.
UNLESS that aid comes with heavy heavy consessions. Like, for every $10 of aid, oil at (way) below market prices, say, $10/barrel.
#10 Hondo
But would those who worship Shia Islam then consider themselves Persians or Arabs?
Ditto for those who worship Zoroastrianism – would they call themselves Persians or Arabs?
We could always sell weapons to all the warring factions, let them kill each other while we make a tidy profit. Capitalism in action!
They all love our assistance. But as the US taxpayers expense.
They all should of been handed a bill for the trillions on dollars spent defending them. For Democracy don’t wash it in my book. To many lives lost for an atta boy pat on the back ? They love our help but still charge us for the oil we get from them………*scratching my head.
Whether they’d consider themselves “Persians” or “Arabs” depends on their ethnicity. Some of Arabic descent also follow the Shia sect – if I recall correctly, mostly in (a) southern Iraq and SW Iran, (b) minorities in the Gulf States, (c) the Hazara
and Aimaq minoritiesin Afghanistan, and (d) selected smallish minorities in Pakistan. But there are Shia of most ethnic groups within the Islamic world.Similarly, followers of the Sunni brand of Islam are not exclusively Arab. The vast majority of Pakistanis, most Afghans of ethnic groups other than Hazara
and Aimaq(there are 8 or 9 major ethnic groups within Afghanistan, if I recall correctly), most of the various Turkic peoples of Central Asia, Uzbeks, Tajiks, and others, are Sunni – as are most in Turkey. Few if any of those consider themselves “Arabs”. Sunni Muslims, yes; Arabs, no.The conflict between Arab and Persian predates Islam. Today, it not only lies along ethnic lines, but also happens to lie generally on opposite sides of factional strife within Islam itself.
(Corrected to reflect the fact that the Aimaq ethnic group is overwhelmingly Sunni vice Shia.)
A few months ago, I counted about 16 helicopters on the pads at the air station in the southern end of Isfahan in Iran. A few months before that, I counted a total of 528 at all three air stations. In the interim, Iran released two press stories about their newest navy ship – a cruiser, I think – and their manufacturing of their own gunship helicopters.
So out of curiosity, I went back to Isfahan, and lo and behold, there were about 57 new helicopters, most of which were the gunship type as shown by the shadows they threw in the aerial photos. Also, there is a new airport or airbase or something under construction to the northwest of Esfahan – wasn’t there a few months ago.
Esfahan’s a big manufacturing center, but I didn’t see anything that looked like fighter jets. Might be some place else.
They also have garbage dumps all over the place
Yeah, well, tough.
This. A thousand times, this.
You cannot fix someone else’s country. It doesn’t work.
Oh, NOW you want our help? Tough shit. You had your chance. You want it fixed, do it yourself.
Mail order scape goats… There’s a million dollar idea here.
Guys,
Be real carefull as to how you address your remarks about the Arabs if your not sure what tribe your talking about.
I say this because during the Korean war we had a Regt. of Arabs from Turkey that did nothing but fought their ass of to help put an end to the Korean War, fact is I knew a few that I would place my life in their hands, all Arabs are not the same as some of you make them out to be, and just for many of you that might not be aware, MY MOTHER AND FATHER WERE BORN IN SYRIA, so I guess that make me somewhat of being a Kentucky born USA Arab, like it or not.
Sam Naomi (Where the tall corn grows)
Sam, I dare you to walk up to a Turk and call him an Arab and see what reaction you get. I was in Mosul(a very mixed city of Iraqis, Turks, Kurds, Christians, and even some Syrians) and had just gotten my hair cut on post by a local vendor and I thanked him in Arabic, he got pissed and loudly, and with a pointed finger, told me “I not Arabi! I Turkman!”
@22.
Kirkuk was very similar.
Am with Green Thumb: Arm and empower the Kurds. Great bunch of dudes. Nothing makes a Iraqi man crap his pants faster than “give him to the Kurds”
i have a star of david tattooed on my back, i have no problem calling turks persians or anyone else that allied them selves with hitler and deny the holocaust what ever name will piss them off. i prefer haji, although towel head will work in a pinch (turns out it isnt a towel, but a little sheet, we now must call them little sheet heads)
i have studied arabic and islam, and the more i studied the more i saw the violence and hatred that is woven through the entire culture through their religion. they try to mask the inherent violence of islam with random lines in the koran calling for peace. “your religion to you and mine to me” for instance, yet in 5 other places is the comand to kill the unbeliever. instructions that if someone converts away from islam and you kill them, you secure your place in heaven and theirs. there is no room for arabs/persians/turks/islam and peace. you can have one or the otehr, not both.
i did like the kurds, pretty decent people for the most part, makes sense that arabs would hate them too
Amen to the last part Jonn.
We gave these people tons of money and the spilled blood of our countrymen, for almost a decade.
And for that they couldn’t pull their heads out of their rear end and do the most basics of military security and force protection, something even any other “third world” nation could become proficient at in a matter of a few years.
F**k ’em, as harsh as that sounds.
We’d love to help you Abdul, but we gotta go re-primer the jeep man.
I don’t think Cheech and Chong ever did a bit on Baghdad, Roger in Republic. (smile)
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Let’s place the blame for the premature pullout where it’s due: politicians. Our Troops won the war, in Viet Nam, in Afghanistan, and in Iraq. OUR politicians pulled a defeat out of the jaws of victory, again.
As to the people of the regions mentioned: 90% want nothing more than to earn enough to feed their families. They are killed and oppressed by our COMMON enemies: Islamist Terrorists (and to a lesser extent: our sadistic allies).
But let’s look at Iran, where the majority of the people absolutely despise their own government, even those who are Shi’a. Why don’t they do something about it? Only the government has weapons. NO ONE can run for President without the Ayatollah’s (dictator’s) blessing. No one can run for parliament without the Guardian Council’s blessing (12 members, appointed by the Ayatollah or his appointee, half of which are Ayatollah’s themselves).
The average Persian loves America, and Americans. They don’t necessarily like our politician in chief. He has empowered their enemy (Iranian Ayatollah’s and Hezbollah) too many times.
BTW: a Turkmen is different than a Turk. Two different countries. And the Turks are not Arabs. They are descendants of Greeks who converted.
Both Iran and Afghanistan were very modern, before the rise of Islamism.
Which brings us back to another politician in chief, previously ranked our worst, who ordered the Shah, our ally, to allow the Ayatollah to return, and then asked the Shah’s military to commit a coup d’état (they refused), which brought the rise of the first Islamist state: Iran, in 1978-79. The parallels to what the current politician in chief did in Egypt are astounding, except it appears that the Egyptian military put an end to it, for now.
Democracy is NOT the key to America. Individual Freedom and Sovereignty over the government is. The eroding Bill of Rights is what made America great. The supremacy of the Constitution over the whims of govt and politicians is. In NONE of these countries, has Freedom of Religion, and of Speech been guaranteed.
I agree with #31 TN.
However, as much as it grieves me, we’ve given enough blood and treasure. Ten years of effort, now it’s on them. Al Maliki wanted to play both ends against the middle games, now the people are paying the price.
IMO, A-Stan was a long shot, but Iraq had a real opportunity. All that death, pain and suffering. For nothing…
I guess they just didn’t want it enough.
[…] Iraq wants U.S. Troops back. Shoulda been nicer to us, […]
Let their Allah sort it out
Imposing Western values on a Muslim country is like dropping a rock in a pond. However large the rock, it disappears without trace — and the attempt is not worth the life of a single American soldier.
Use flocks of Predators to handle bilateral relations with troublesome Muslim countries.
Repeat as needed.
They wanted us to come in, clean house and then go away. So we did. Then they found out it wasn’t quite as easy as they thought to keep things quiet and go back to a peaceful state and get on with their lives.
As long as the AQs and the Taliban exist, this is how it will be. We went into Afghanistan to clear out the Taliban as the Afghans asked us to do, and when we left, the Taliban moved right back in.
Those people have no idea how to run anything but herds of goats. They’ll have to grow up and help themselves. They’ve had — what? 3000 years to do that and haven’t succeeded yet. So all those stories about ‘kicking Alexander’s butt’ are just that – stories. The Macedonian was just passing through on his way to India. He took a less bothersome route on his way back to Egypt.
We could help Iraq … for a price. But not Egyptian-style no-strings-attached foreign aid. Cash on the barrelhead. An oil barrelhead.
FUCK ‘EM, we tried, but they bit & spit on the hands that freed ’em and fed ’em…………
The all purpose retort for all requests and questions coming from the mid-East is phuck ’em. Same goes for Washington for that matter.
Let it burn.
Why not go back in small, if we get what we want? Strong Status of Forces Agreement, discounted oil, permanent air, land and naval bases from which we and our allies could mount attacks on Iran (or Turkey or the Saudis), etc. Shortened lines of communications, more rapid repeat sorties, more in-country intelligence opportunities, in-place shut-off valve for oil to China for our next war with them, etc.
obama squandered half of decade of american blood and treasure spent in iraq. could have had a persistent US force for middle east peace and stability akin to our troops in europe, japan and south korea.
Suck it, Iraqis.
The entire middle east (less Israel) is still occupied by a bunch of nomadic tribesmen who are mentally still in the dark ages, see Sharia law.
Like our own politicians they are not interested in democracy but only what they can get for themselves.
None of them are worth any one of the troops we have already lost, certainly no more.
This is a primary example of Obama’s naivety and inexperience in all aspects of the Presidency. Rather than working with the Iraqis to iron out an agreement for US involvement, he waited until is was politically impossible for the Iraqis to come to an agreement.
Bush would not have made that mistake. You can be sure Obama would like a presence in Iraq now to influence the Syrian mess. Instead. he is left to a mess of his own making.
These guys don’t need a government…they wouldn’t know one if it ran up and bit them on the leg. What they need is a parole officer.
@46.
I do not know.
The KRG functioned and “worked” during the conflict.
granted it was built upon different and less divisive principles, but it worked.
Might make for an interesting model.
Old Soldier (32): Our Troops should not be committed to any engagement that the politicians are not committed to win. While that is not the only criteria (National Interests, ability to win, etc.), if the goal is not Victory, then the endeavor is a waste of blood and treasure.
David (35): The Values of Liberty are at odds with all governments and politicians. The Persians were the first to bring some of Individual Liberties to the World (see Cyrus Cylinder, granting Freedom of Religion). While Persians today are some of the most oppressed in the world, we see Our Own Bill of Rights and Individual Liberties eroded, with no backlash: Freedom of Speech eroded by “Hate Speech” laws and political correctness. Freedom of Religion eroded by bans of symbols. Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure and to be secure in their persons, property, papers and effects, killed by the IRS and NSA and TSA.
While the Caliphate seized a large part of the world 1400 years ago, it was only 40 years ago that bikinis and nightclubs were the rage in Tehran, and 20,000 US Troops were stationed in a very friendly Iran. Even today, private parties with Western style music, clothing, and other activities, most often get a blind eye from the Iranian Police.
As we assess the world stage, we MUST differentiate between enemy governments and the people they rule. Those old enough to remember the Cold War, will remember that many then could similarly not differentiate between the Russian or Polish people and their Communist dictatorships.
Those old enough to have paid attention to the aftermath of the Fall of the Wall, will remember that the East Germans, dependent on government, complained that they had to find their own jobs and own apartments in a unified Germany, even while their communist roots led to “NAZI” like calls against minorities.
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, whether that is the Islamist Revolutions of Iran, and Egypt, or the rise of new brands of tyrannical empires of Communism, National Socialism, and Islamism.
look a kharzei in afghanistan, that’s the template for an ungrateful narcissistic crook lining his pockets with u s government money, all the while accusing us of atrocities and betrayal. iraq is no different…they’re all crooks. that’s why obama identifies with them.
we might as well seize they’re oil, we’ve been accused of doing that since the start of the war anyway.