90 troops arrive in Iraq
Stars & Stripes reports the arrival of 90 troops in Iraq to assess the situation and to decide where best to send the troops who will follow them;
The assessment teams will help the Obama administration and the Pentagon learn more about the state of the Iraqi security forces, the situation on the ground, and ISIL’s activities. They will also make recommendations about how to proceed with the advisory mission. Their initial assessments are expected to be completed in two or three weeks, [Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John] Kirby said.
Kirby was asked whether waiting two or three weeks for an initial assessment is too leisurely, given the speed with which ISIL is moving.
“Everybody shares the sense of urgency here about what is going on inside Iraq,” Kirby said. “[But] this isn’t about rushing to the rescue, OK? This is – it’s a measured, deliberate approach to help us and [the Iraqi security forces] get better eyes on the situation and what they’re facing.”
I’m sure that ISIS is working on a schedule that will accommodate that of the perfumed princes at the Puzzle Palace. They claim that they have been flying 30 to 35 manned and unmanned aircraft reconnaissance missions for the last few weeks, but I guess they can’t tell much from that, you know because ISIS is about 35 miles from Baghdad.
Category: Terror War
Idiots… the ones making the decisions that is.
Agreed. They aren’t gauging the situation on the ground in Iraq, they’re gauging the political situation on the ground in the United States. It’s always politics with this administration. Politics always trumps reality with these dipshits. They have all the intel they need they just don’t have the will to make a decision and I mean any decision good, bad, or indifferent.
I cannot imagine having to go back with the mission of putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. So much money, effort, and blood put into Iraq so that they might stand on their own. Now to return and witness all of the infrastructure and technology we left behind a very short time ago presumably broken, stolen, and/or shit on. Not to mention the ROE which I bet is a piece of work. It seems to me that it will be very difficult for the assessment teams to have anything resembling a positive attitude, particularly given that most (or all) of the troops there after 2010 knew that the current situation would be the logical outcome of our withdrawal. Those 90 drew a shitty hand out of a bad deck. I hope they come home soon, and whole.
If they are part of the SOF community they probably wanted to go. Afghanistan is winding down and the amount of work going around is drying up for the SOF community right now.
Someone smarter than me please help me out. What in the hell is there to “assess” in Iraq!? The whole world knows what is happening there. We have only been gone since 2011 and still have an Embassy there so what is there to know and “assess” that we don’t already know without having to send troops to help Obama “assess” what is going on? This is this most inane program I have heard of yet. Hell, Obama could call ME and I could give him an assessment of what is going on. Syrian backed ISIS terrorist extremists are sweeping the country taking one city at a time, murdering everyone in their wake who prays 4 times a day instead of 5 and they will not stop. They now have access to old chemical stores and are working as we speak to make any use of them they can. Their intent is to take Baghdad with the goal post being to capture our Embassy and kill all non essentials on video for the world to see and hold the rest hostage. Thus making Tehran 1979 look like a little girls tea party in comparison. What other info do you need Mr. president? What other assessment is there? Unless you are planning to send Brigades back to Iraq there’s not much to know. My assessment goals would be, assess how long it will take us and how many helicopters and how much air cover we will need to evacuate the Embassy now and remove all American citizens from Iraq post haste. Do not take Maliki, his perfumed inner circle or one single Iraqi with us unless they have been a covert operative for the U.S. After we are gone give the ultimatum to Iraq and all within its borders. Do as you choose within your borders. We trained you, we equipped you. YOU fight and die for the country YOU want to live in. That is all you deserve. If you export your terror to Americans or our allies anywhere, the bombs WILL come. PERIOD! This is the new U.S. foreign… Read more »
I am not smarter than you, but I think one of the assessment items will be “Why did Private Hadji forget how to do jumping jacks after showing such promise (finally)?”
You left out one step, Sparks. Officially close the Embassy and deny the fuckers access to any more American property. With a Trident.
The Other Whitey and GDContractor…you are both spot on. Leave those f@ckers to themselves. We left them trained and equipped. If they can’t fight and die for their own country, damned if America should go back and do it for them again. You can fix a lot of stuff but you can’t fix a bunch of cowards.
In a country of sheep……..why send our sheepdogs at this point? My suggestion is to send 300 attorneys and politicians, they made this fucking mess……let them face and fix it!
Pure comedy.
One U.S. troop is one too many.
What is there to assess. Tons of them ran like scared cockroaches when the ISIS came knocking on their doorstep.
Over a decade of training, blood spilled, lives lost, limbs lost, what the heck do we need to go back and ‘assess.’
Let them fight their own wars and battles.