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bigtree

(85,986 posts) Sat Jun 21, 2014, 02:56 PM Jun 2014

Will the 300 military advisers Obama sent to Iraq be helping these folks direct attacks?

Last edited Sat Jun 21, 2014, 05:20 PM - Edit history (1)

C.J. Chivers ?@cjchivers 8h
Suicide unit. Mahdi Army in Baghdad, part of an armed procession lasting hours, as Moqtada al-Sadr shows his forces.

Mike Giglio ?@mike_giglio 44m
AP put the Shiite militant march at 20,000 in Baghdad today. Most were armed:

C.J. Chivers ?@cjchivers 1h
Flag-burning @ Mahdi Army rollout today. These were set afire, along w black Islamic banner used by #ISIS. Baghdad.

from the NYT:

____ On one point the militias have been firm: In interviews throughout the past week, clerics and fighters for different groups said they did not want American ground forces in Iraq again, even to fight ISIS.

Some of the militias said they would, however, welcome other forms of military aid, and did not oppose President Obama’s commitment to send military advisers to Baghdad.

“We need material, and guns, and intelligence, or drones,” Sheikh al-Maliki said.

The sheikh said Iraq would also need Washington’s political and diplomatic help, in particular to try to sever ISIS’s foreign support, including, he said, from donors in Persian Gulf states and Turkey.

read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/world/middleeast/iraq-militia.html

related:

Washington Post ?@washingtonpost 11m
Overlap of Iraqi forces, Shiite militias poses dilemma for U.S. http://wapo.st/1nUn2Ec by @LovedayM

10 replies

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Highlight:

Will the 300 military advisers Obama sent to Iraq be helping these folks direct attacks? (Original Post) bigtree Jun 2014 OP

Ah, it's going to be such a fun and exciting new chapter in our Grand Middle East Adventure! scarletwoman Jun 2014 #1

it's either destabilize and run bigtree Jun 2014 #5

I doubt they will impact anything at all. maced666 Jun 2014 #2

that 'militia' does more than show support for Maliki government with parades bigtree Jun 2014 #3

sure. let's go back and jump in the middle of that fucking mess. KG Jun 2014 #4

it's just a hop, skip, and jump, away bigtree Jun 2014 #6

So, which side are we on? The Not as Bad Good Guys or the Not as Good Bad Guys? Tierra_y_Libertad Jun 2014 #7

we're either with them, or against them bigtree Jun 2014 #10

Obama at a Crossroad of War or Peace KoKo Jun 2014 #8

thanks, KoKo. I'll read it bigtree Jun 2014 #9

scarletwoman

(31,893 posts)

1. Ah, it's going to be such a fun and exciting new chapter in our Grand Middle East Adventure!

Reply to bigtree (Original post)

Sat Jun 21, 2014, 03:04 PM

Jun 2014

bigtree

(85,986 posts)

5. it's either destabilize and run

Reply to scarletwoman (Reply #1)

Sat Jun 21, 2014, 03:20 PM

Jun 2014

. . . or escalate.

Now that our military is invested in the outcome, their end game comes into question. No one knows right now just how much Pres. Obama is invested in the end result of the militarism he's encouraged with the deployment of military advisers to help Maliki's mostly partisan army attack Iraqi targets.

I think he's already in over his head by allowing the advisers back in. He's effectively tying American prestige and interest to the outcome of what promises to be an intensifying of sectarian violence; an inflating of Iraq's civil war by the U.S. military initiative. All of the talk of political reconciliation is firmly in back of the militarism, at least at this point.
.

maced666

(771 posts)

2. I doubt they will impact anything at all.

Reply to bigtree (Original post)

Sat Jun 21, 2014, 03:04 PM

Jun 2014

This feels like a pure political move, which would mean they have standing orders - don't do anything that will make the evening news.
Sensible - not our fight any longer.

bigtree

(85,986 posts)

3. that 'militia' does more than show support for Maliki government with parades

Reply to maced666 (Reply #2)

Sat Jun 21, 2014, 03:11 PM

Jun 2014

. . . they have their own agenda which may not mesh with our own country's interests.

Question is, to what extent will this group benefit from the U.S. military logistics, intelligence, drones . . . ? It's not clear whether their leadership is allowing them to openly align with the Maliki government right now, but we should wonder who U.S. military assistance in Iraq is going to ultimately benefit.

KG

(28,751 posts)

4. sure. let's go back and jump in the middle of that fucking mess.

Reply to bigtree (Original post)

Sat Jun 21, 2014, 03:12 PM

Jun 2014

bigtree

(85,986 posts)

6. it's just a hop, skip, and jump, away

Reply to KG (Reply #4)

Sat Jun 21, 2014, 03:36 PM

Jun 2014

. . . from Syria.

Tierra_y_Libertad

(50,414 posts)

7. So, which side are we on? The Not as Bad Good Guys or the Not as Good Bad Guys?

Reply to bigtree (Original post)

Sat Jun 21, 2014, 03:46 PM

Jun 2014

Or, is it the The Enemy of My Enemy is my Friend as long as he's not the Enemy of my Other Friend.

Or, is it just the oil companies again?

bigtree

(85,986 posts)

10. we're either with them, or against them

Reply to Tierra_y_Libertad (Reply #7)

Sat Jun 21, 2014, 04:10 PM

Jun 2014

. . . standing them up, so we can stand them down.

KoKo

(84,711 posts)

8. Obama at a Crossroad of War or Peace

Reply to bigtree (Original post)

Sat Jun 21, 2014, 03:55 PM

Jun 2014

I thought this was an interesting read about the situation and possible solutions.

----------

Published on Thursday, June 19, 2014 by Consortium News
Obama at a Crossroad of War or Peace
The dramatic spread of Sunni extremism into the heart of Iraq may force President Obama to finally make a choice between simply extending a slightly less violent Bush Doctrine and charting his own innovative course in the name of peace
by Robert Parry

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/06/19-1

bigtree

(85,986 posts)

9. thanks, KoKo. I'll read it

Reply to KoKo (Reply #8)

Sat Jun 21, 2014, 04:05 PM

Jun 2014

. . . take a look at this portrait of the conflicting interests and battles going on in Iraq right now . . .

As Fighting Spreads Through Iraq, Sunni Allies Turn on One Another
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/world/middleeast/iraq.html?smid=tw-share

btw, Barack Obama defined what he believed was the course to peace when he received his peace prize in Oslo. His actions are consistent with that. I wrote about it in 2009 . . .

Justifying War in Oslo
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Justifying-War-in-Oslo-by-Ron-Fullwood-091210-660.html

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