But 40 of the next 50 years are not going to be pretty. If we're not Ebola'd first.
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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Kurds Battle for Heart of Kobane where U.N. Fears for Civilians |
| 2014-10-12 |
| [An Nahar] Kurdish fighters halted a thrust by Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group jihadists towards the heart of the battleground Syrian town of Kobane Saturday, after the U.N. warned thousands of civilians risked massacre. The pre-dawn attack came after the IS snuffies overran the Kurdish headquarters in the border town on Friday, sparking fears they would cut off the last escape route to neighboring Turkey. But U.S. officials warned that while world attention is focused on Kobane, the jihadists have been piling pressure on government troops in neighboring Iraq, leaving the army in a "fragile" position in Anbar province between Baghdad and the Syrian border. The renewed IS drive on central Kobane sparked 90 minutes of heavy fighting with the town's Kurdish defenders before the jihadists fell back, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. U.S.-led coalition warplanes also launched two air strikes against IS targets south and east of the town early Saturday, according to the Britannia-based monitoring group, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria. It said a sandstorm later Saturday prevented more coalition raids, and reported fighting in southern Kobane and near the headquarters IS captured on Friday. U.S.-led warplanes have intensified air strikes against IS, which has been attacking Kobane for three weeks, but the Pentagon has said that there are limits to what can be done without ground troops. Small groups of Kurdish fighters were trying to harry the encircling jihadists with operations across the front line, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence La Belle France-Presse. U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura warned Friday that 12,000 or so civilians still in or near Kobane, including about 700 mainly elderly people in the town center, "will most likely be massacred" if the town falls. Kobane was "literally surrounded" except for one narrow entry and exit point to the Turkish border, de Mistura said. "We would like to appeal to the Turkish authorities in order to allow the flow of volunteers at least, and their equipment to be able to enter the city to contribute to a self-defense operation," he said. The Observatory said at least 554 people have been killed in and around Kobane since the IS advance on the town began on September 16 -- 298 IS krazed killers, 236 Kurdish fighters and 20 civilians. Twenty-one jihadists and eight Kurdish fighters were killed on Friday, it said. Another 16 IS snuffies died in coalition air raids across the provinces of Aleppo -- which includes Kobane -- and Raqa, where IS has its main Syrian stronghold. Turkey has tightened security of its porous Syrian border after the escalating fighting in Kobane sparked the exodus of 200,000 refugees over the frontier. Watching the events unfold from across the border, Ahmed Abu-Ammar told AFP that his son was killed when IS attacked Kobane -- three years after he lost his wife in a regime air strike in Aleppo. "My eight-year-old son was martyred, God bless him. When the shelling became heavier we fled to Turkey and we suffered a lot to reach this place." Turkey has been deeply reluctant to allow weapons or Kurdish fighters to cross the border despite repeated nights of protests among its own large Kurdish minority that have left 31 people dead. The situation is complicated by the close ties between the town's Kurdish defenders and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency for self-rule in southeastern Turkey that Ankara is determined not to embolden. Washington has been frustrated over Ankara's reluctance to commit its well-equipped and well-trained forces to the coalition against IS, but reported "progress" after two days of talks in Ankara by the coalition's coordinator, retired U.S. general John Allen. Military chiefs from the 21 countries already committed to the U.S.-led coalition are to meet in Washington next week to discuss strategy, Pentagon officials said. U.S. defense officials insist the primary focus of the coalition's campaign remains Iraq, where there are capable local forces on the ground to work with, particularly Kurdish forces in the north. But officials voiced concern about the "tenuous" position of Iraqi troops in Anbar province, where the few remaining government-controlled areas have come under repeated attack. Some of Anbar province fell to IS at the start of the year and most of the rest was seized by the Sunni holy warriors in a lightning sweep through Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland in June. "I think it's fragile there now," one senior U.S. defense official told AFP. "They are being resupplied and they're holding their own, but it's tough and challenging." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #25 "it might even result in a postponement of one of Obama's golf outings" Naaaaahhhhhhhh. |
| Posted by: Barbara 2014-10-12 17:37 |
| #24 The voting in Iraq stood the Middle East on its' ear and led to the Arab Spring. In 50 years, it'll all turn out fine, and the purple-fingered lady will be identified as the turning point. But 40 of the next 50 years are not going to be pretty. If we're not Ebola'd first. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2014-10-12 16:19 |
| #23 our feckless political class, from both sides of the aisle, did nothing to stop it Those running for re-election have said virtually nothing about IS during this fall campaign season, nothing about protecting the USA from Ebola either. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2014-10-12 16:18 |
| #22 Re Chechens: the ghost of Koba smiles... |
| Posted by: borgboy 2014-10-12 16:06 |
| #21 Chechens. They've been there a while. Came in thru Turkey last year or two, if anyone other than us on the outside had paid attention. Chechens are nasty. If ever a group was worthy of decimation and then cultural extermination, that's them. Ask the Russians why. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2014-10-12 15:30 |
| #20 The ISIS guy at the end of the video was a top ISIS/Chechan commander. |
| Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 2014-10-12 14:31 |
| #19 Kobane Kurds UPG forces participate in ISIS flag raising ceremony. |
| Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 2014-10-12 14:29 |
| #18 Invading Iraq and replacing Saddam Hussein with another Sunni general was worth a shot for a lot of strategic reasons. What Bush Jr actually did was something else |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-10-12 14:22 |
| #17 Bush decided that Iraq can be a democracy it was a fundamental and irreversible strategic error It was worth a shot for a lot of strategic reasons. A counter to Iran. A model for other ME Islamic countries. A possible ally in the ME somewhat like Egypt was for the past 30 years. Stability. It did not work. It especially did not work when Obama pulled out the troops. Might have prevented ISIS had we stayed. What Alaska Paul and badanov said. Adding to that, we have a feckless, empty suit in charge of the WH and he is incompetent. Those around him are incompetent. The mistake of 2008 may be again be repeated in 2016. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-10-12 14:01 |
| #16 Not to defend Obama, but Let us first admit that when |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-10-12 13:48 |
| #15 Let us first admit that when Obama abandoned the Iraqis to their own devices in 2011, it was a fundamental and irreversible strategic error on his own, his advisers' and his supporters' ports. Everyone who visited Rantburg.com between 2011 and last fall saw the burgeoning power of ISIS as they attacked their enemies and gathered their forces for their current campaign. And our feckless political class, from both sides of the aisle, did nothing to stop it. Let us also admit that even if Barky borrowed his cajones from the wife or Jarrett, it would take much more military effort to restore the situation, than is currently in use. The airstrike strategy, AKA War from 10,000 feet, while the optics are great, and the hosannas from the press are terrific, are essentially a waste of military resources. IOW, what Bush has done to to secure Iraq in 2009 was frittered away in favor of Barky's US electoral politics; all that blood and treasure gone, just so Barky can live Peace love and three Days of Music in the White House. The Kurds may be able to take a chunk out of ISIS, but they won't hold out for long, not without outside assistance in the form of American troops, and for better or worse, only the US has the capability to effectively intervene in the issue and change the course of history. The Euros don't, nor do the Rooshuns or the Chinese. At the moment the Kurds' only hope is that the ISIS offensive fizzles out when the Gawd of War meets the Gawd of Logistics. Just my two kopeks' worth. |
| Posted by: badanov 2014-10-12 13:33 |
| #14 It be in the public domain. Spread the word, and help make it a household word for the masses. Ridicule is a very powerful weapon, when it is carefully thought out, vetted for truth, and fired for effect. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2014-10-12 13:29 |
| #13 well, Ima stealerin' itn |
| Posted by: Frank G 2014-10-12 13:24 |
| #12 Commodore Frank: I like that term, too, heh heh. All in good fun. A source of innocent merriment in a world of fear and loathing, murder, and emotional mindlessness. :[ |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2014-10-12 13:23 |
| #11 heh, MoBro |
| Posted by: Frank G 2014-10-12 13:16 |
| #10 Turkey does not have to help ISIS actively. They are helping ISIS tacitly by standing by and watching ISIS destroy the Kurds at Kobane, like watching a crocodile attacking your perceived enemy. This is the ultimate in cynicism and heartlessness; it is anathema to everything the U.S. stands for. O & Co did the attacks on ISIS forces in a reaction to political pressure. He did not go in to win, but went in with an effort to look like we are doing something. The restrictions on our forces and the Byzantine procedures for targeting and attacking the enemy show that this effort is purely political. Not putting pressure on Turkey shows O is a MoBro or at least a MoBro sympathizer. Every time he faces a crisis he sides with the despot. And Congress, most of the time, just sits there. O is a symptom but Congress is the problem, or rather a symptom of a greater malaise in this country. Sorry for the rambling rant, but our actions as a government point to our problems as a country. The left can grandstand on how evil this country is, but when they get into the driver's seat, they show how bankrupt their own values are. This ISIS thing is just the beginning of the global metastasis of evil again. And civilization is not strong enough to effectively defend itself against the disease of Islam, at this time. I hope that this changes soon. We are rapidly burning up our safety factor. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2014-10-12 13:08 |
| #9 we're probably lucky Turkey isn't actively helping ISIS You're not lucky. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-10-12 10:51 |
| #8 JohnQC, since ISIS is destroying Turkey's enemies, the Kurds, we're probably lucky Turkey isn't actively helping ISIS. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2014-10-12 10:10 |
| #7 The Turks are about worthless in the "effort to debase and destroy ISIS". |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-10-12 09:27 |
| #6 Glad to see Obola's plan succeeding. Do I need the [/sarc] tag? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2014-10-12 09:24 |
| #5 U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura warned Friday that 12,000 or so civilians still in or near Kobane, including about 700 mainly elderly people in the town center, Some 90% of the civilians have fled across the border. The 10-12,000 that are nearby are north of Kobane next to the Turkish border. Cut a deal with the Turks to get them across the border, Have the Kurds exfil with the old folks across the border too and bomb the hell out of ISIS. Protect the border. Otherwise this is painful to watch at a lot of different levels. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2014-10-12 09:21 |
| #4 I'm sure we can count on the Lancet publishing an article arguing that the civilian casualties will be less than what the evil Americans had done in taking cities (probably throw in some comment about looting and raping as well). |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-10-12 08:32 |
| #3 If there's lightning on the course maybe. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-10-12 07:06 |
| #2 Lord Garth, meybe. But only for a few minutes. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2014-10-12 06:50 |
| #1 its possible ISIS will capture Kobane in Syria and Ramadi in Iraq within a day of each other the civilian death toll would be immense and it would shake up every capital city in the mideast it might even result in a postponement of one of Obama's golf outings |
| Posted by: lord garth 2014-10-12 00:37 |