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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 03:47 PM Jun 2014

US forces flow into Baghdad to assess Iraq troops

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says nearly half of the roughly 300 advisers and special operations forces expected to go to Iraq are now in Baghdad, and have begun to assess the Iraqi forces and the fight against Sunni militants. Another four teams of special forces will arrive in days, bringing the total to almost 200.

Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, also says the U.S. is conducting up to 35 surveillance missions over Iraq to provide intelligence on the situation on the ground as Iraqi troops battle the aggressive and fast-moving insurgency.

Kirby says about 90 of the U.S. troops are setting up a joint operations center in Baghdad. He says the insurgency is well organized and aided by foreign fighters and Sunni sympathizers in the country.

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/06/24/us_forces_flow_into_baghdad_to_assess_iraq_troops/

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US forces flow into Baghdad to assess Iraq troops (Original Post) DonViejo Jun 2014 OP
First task: Find them. n/t jtuck004 Jun 2014 #1
Simply follow the trails of piss and discarded uniforms. TwilightGardener Jun 2014 #2
First task is find their SUPPLY ROUTES happyslug Jun 2014 #3
 

happyslug

(14,779 posts)
3. First task is find their SUPPLY ROUTES
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 08:07 PM
Jun 2014

The problem is those supply routes lead back to Saudi Arabia. Canada is the main source of US Imports of oil, but Saudi Arabia is the #2 source of US Oil Imports.

Here are the numbers for March 2014:

Canada:.......... .......99,356,000 barrels of oil a month
Saudi Arabia:..........44.765,000 barrels of oil a month
Mexico.....................27,001,000 barrels of oil a month
Venezuela...............23,925,000 barrels of oil a month
Russia.....................13,143,000 barrels of oil a month
Kuwait.....................11,154,000 barrels of oil a month
Columbia.................11,841,000 barrels of oil a month

Please note the US imports from other countries but these are the big six, the rest are less then 10,000,000 barrels of oil a month. Here are the numbers for imports from OPEC (which include Venezuela but NOT Canada, Columbia, Mexico or Russia and imports from the the Persian Gulf (which includes Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia).

Total......................286.437,000 barrels of oil a month
Total from OPEC....104,769,000 barrels of oil a month
Persian Gulf.............65,622,000 barrels of oil a month

http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_m.htm

Canada's oil is high price, sour heavy oil. Most of the refineries that can handle such heavy sour oil are in Texas (Columbia's and Venezuela's also tend to be sour heavy oil). Venezuela's cost of oil production is much lower then Canada's. Recent increases in Saudi Arabian Oil has also been heavy sour oil. Canada's export to the US has tripled since 1993. Mexico's has returned to what Mexico was exporting to the US in 1993 (Peaked imports from Mexico was between 2002 and 2007 and entered into a steady drop in 2007). Peak imports from Russia was in 2009-2010, such imports are half what they were in 2009-2010. Saudi Arabia exports peaked in May 2003 and are now down a 1/3 since May 2003.

The main source of funds from the Rebels in Iraq is from Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Persian Gulf oil exporters. Thus no one in the US Military really wants to find the source of the supplies to these rebels. Which means the US effort is headed for defeat before we even start. Saudi Arabia wants Iraq to be ruled by Sunni Moslems, like themselves, for then it becomes part of Saudi Arabia in all but name. Right now, Iraq is ruled by Shiites and thus a loyal ally of Iran. While the two sides identify themselves in their religion, this is NOT a religious war but one of which country, Saudi Arabia or Iran will others in the Middle East looked upon as whose ally. Thus this is less about religion then who controls what part of the Middle East. What part is controlled by Iran and what part is controlled by Saudi Arabia.

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