The situation is complex and riddled with politics. Turkey bombed PKK positions. PKK has been noted as a terrorist organization.
Here, PKK wishes to send its own fighters to Kobani, to fight ISIS there. (ISIS controlled half of Kobani as of yesterday; the city will probably fall completely to ISIS within the next day or two.)
This is contrary to Obama's confused (and confusing) plan; Obama wants to attack IS and either also attack Assad, or at least not do anything that supports him. Obama basically wants to fight against both sides in a civil war, and contrive some "Third Way" of "moderate fighters" whom he will support.
It is Obama's dubious "plan" that he will recruit "moderate" fighters fighting against Assad to carry the fight against IS; obviously, they won't do this if the US is actually backing their primary enemy (Assad, not IS).
In fact they won't do it at all -- they're not going to abandon their own fight to fight Obama's or America's or Iraq's. And in fact IS is allied with other allegedly "moderate" factions fighting Assad.
Getting back to Turkey: PKK began revolting against Turkey, and so Turkey bombed them.
This is a confusing situation, obviously. But Obama's "plan" simply adds further convolutions to the confusing situation.
Due to the politics of the situation, and Obama wanting to keep his very much nominal "ally" Erdogan in the fold, the city of Kobani is being destroyed by IS. This isn't really Obama's fault -- but it is his responsibility, given that his machinations and failure to persuade Erdogan is resulting in the slaughter and mayhem in Kobani.
This makes it incumbent on him to pound IS forces. Not just a few strikes here and there. But to destroy the army, the trucks, the artillery, and the tanks outside the city.
I do not believe this is possible anymore. IS is now inside the city and fighting block-to-block. We cannot bomb IS inside the city.
Why did we not "degrade and destroy" this threat when it was outside the city, sitting in the middle of the desert?
And I am not being rhetorical here: The tanks were literally lined up in a pretty little row in the middle of a desert wasteland. See the news report replayed by Jon Stewart, beginning at about 2:00, here.
Also note the bizarre reactions from administration supporters explaining that this city just isn't all that important. Sure, one man allows, many many people will be massacred, but Kobani isn't a major crossroads or anything...
This IS army was literally in the middle of the desert, with their tanks, artillery, heavy gun positions, and troop emplacements "freely roaming the countryside" in "fairly open places" (that is, in the middle of the desert).
Why were they permitted to do so? We had a large part of the IS army in the exact position we wanted, and we did nothing, except a few strikes here and there, one which destroyed (or damaged) a tank, one which destroyed a gun position, and some that damaged trucks and such.
There are some opponents air power cannot really destroy -- infantry roaming around cities, for example.
There are some opponents, however, that air power can absolutely decimate -- trucks, gun positions, tanks, artillery, troops in positions away from civilian centers.
An IS army gathered in just that way -- permitting itself to be destroyed, absolutely, from the air -- and instead we dithered and sent along some "message" type strikes.
And now another city falls, and more innocent people will be ruthlessly massacred. I don't have time to comment on this now. Posting...
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
10/14/2014 14:52 ||
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#1
Yup.
If Turkey has a price, it just went up.
I do not understand the US backing Assad clause. Currently, I am taking it as a purposefully impossible demand. Remember, Obama at the UN shook the sword at Assad (and the red line drumline) so...you think Obama is going to any way shape or form turn on that? He would likely have to capitulate on Crimea/Ukraine in short order afterwards. Also, would give Obama cover to let the current status work out, to also use the cover of an impossible clause.
Couple that with Kerry's dismissal of Kobani's importance, not only transportation wise but to moral.
[DAWN] Pakistani military leaders say they have been taken aback by the level of aggression of Indian forces over the last week.
At a time when the Pakistan army is combating militants in the tribal areas they do not want the distraction of battling India on its eastern flank, they said.
India is deliberately putting pressure on Pakistani security forces by opening this new front, said a senior Pakistani military official posted on the border. The message from India is clear: We will teach you a lesson.
Indians in the border areas of held Kashmir said they themselves had noticed a change in tactics by the Indian forces.
Pakistan fires one, our boys fire six back, said Atma Ram, 71, who was standing about 300 metres from the electrified fence that separates the two countries in the Suchetgarh area near Jammu.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] HOWEVER the state may want to spin it, in reality it is its neglect and ineptitude in taking long-term flood control measures that is responsible for the enormous loss of life and property in Punjab this monsoon.
When the floodwater submerged hundreds of villages, the prime minister contended that a sudden and unexpected flood was responsible for the damage. The Chenab River's overflow may have been abrupt in Sialkot, but the floodwater took four to six days to travel from the north to the southern regions where it caused real havoc. What stopped the authorities from taking proactive measures in the high-risk southern districts?
Unlike earthquakes, floods can be forecast and managed. The problem is that even if our authorities become aware of a flooding river, they lack the capacity to meet the challenge. This is despite the fact that 17 floods have struck the country since 1950.
Almost every year, Sialkot district is hit by localised flooding in the nullahs. Not a single major project has been launched to restrict overflowing rivers from entering human settlements.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2014 00:00 ||
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#1
Not a single major project has been launched to restrict overflowing rivers from entering human settlements.
Might be easier to build above the waterline.
[Ynet] ANALYSIS: Islamist organization insisted on separate negotiations over bodies of Oren Shaul and Hadar Goldin, and is now busy with psychological warfare that worked in Shalit deal.
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, plans to put the squeeze on Israel in grueling talks over the return of body parts of Israeli soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge ‐ in the very same manner that paid significant dividends for the organization in the Gilad Shalit affair.
Statements made by Hamas leaders in recent weeks, together with additional information, indicate that the organization has
failed to internalize its true status in the regional arena and is readying to turn the talks over the body parts into a campaign aimed at humiliating Israel and glorifying its own achievements in Protective Edge ‐ even if such action slows the pace of the Gazoo Strip's reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Even before the official end to the fighting, with the ceasefire negotiations still ongoing, the two sides had opened talks on a possible deal for the release of Paleostinian prisoners in return for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers kidnapped during the fighting in Gazoo. The basic assumption was that Hamas would try to secure the release of its members currently incarcerated in Israel, while Israel would limit the price to include only the release of Hamas members captured during Protective Edge.
Israel tried from the outset to channel these talks into the overall framework of the ceasefire negotiations with Hamas ‐ to create a situation, in other words, in which progress in the ceasefire talks would be tied to the return of the bodies. The price Israel was supposed to have paid should have constituted part of the price for the overall and long-standing ceasefire deal. Hamas, however, was adamantly opposed to the idea and demanded talks on a separate track, without any link to the ceasefire negotiations.
And that's how things turned out in the end. Talks over the return of the bodies were left out of the Egyptian framework for a ceasefire in which Hamas plays only a minor role. Hamas wanted to meet Israel alone on the playing field, through mediators who would dance a jig around them like in the past. As soon as Israel folded, it was forced to quickly appoint a new coordinator for POWs and MIAs to replace David Meidan, who requested to step down after three years in office. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Brigadier General (ret.) Lior Lotan to the post; and from that moment on, the talks entered their practical stage.
Over the past week, Hamas has been engaged in psychological warfare, and the organization isn't forgoing a single gimmick that worked on the Israeli public in the past. It started by releasing a series of declarations alluding to the possibility that the organization has more up its sleeve than we know of, and that Israel's claims that we are dealing only with body parts are false. Hamas in essence is ignoring the fact that Israel has declared Lieutenant Hadar Goldin and Staff Sergeant Oren Shaul killed in action.
"We have more surprises for Israel," a Hamas official claimed in a recently published interview in Al-Quds, going on to say: "If Israel remains recalcitrant and continues to rely on the misinformation in its hands, we're in for a tough and drawn out negotiation process."
The Shalit formula comes into play again with respect to the release of information too. Senior Hamas officials reiterate at every opportunity that Israel will be required to pay for any information concerning any Israel Defense Forces soldier the organization is holding. You want information about the state of the soldier's bodies? Pay up front. Like it did in the Shalit affair, Hamas is looking to break the spirit of the Israeli public by disseminating rumors that it is holding not only body parts. Internally, Hamas is painting a picture of a significantly large prisoner-exchange deal on the cards, thus raising expectations among the Paleostinian population for impressive gains and a wide-scale release of prisoners.
Another psychological ploy already in effect today in the streets of Gazoo are the huge posters of Oren Shaul, God rest his soul. Previously, huge pictures of Shalit were the ones to be posted throughout the Strip to remind the Paleostinian public of Hamas' achievements and Israel's humiliation, and they, too, raised expectations for a big deal. This time, it's a Golani fighter who was killed in the armored personnel carrier tragedy, with the whereabouts of his grave unknown.
The second stage of the ceasefire negotiations, in which the parties are expected to discuss issues such as the construction of a seaport and airport in Gazoo, in tandem with the demilitarization of the Strip, is scheduled to begin in Cairo on October 28. It's safe to assume that the talks on the return to Israel of the body parts Hamas is holding will resume formally at around the same time ‐ another test of nerves for Israeli society, and Israel's leadership in particular.
#1
Offer to trade remains for remains. If Israel doesn't have enough remains of Hamas gunnies to make a deal work, create some more...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/14/2014 9:00 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Shut off their power. Let the sewage back up and the water stop. Sit in the rubble and shit in the dark and tell each other how "victorious" you were
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/14/2014 9:11 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Thank God that Hamas didn't capture any live POW's.
I do like the ways that Dr Steve and Frank think.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/14/2014 11:37 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Frank, you remind me of my old Bill Cosby album.,,,
God: I'm gonna make it rain for 1000 days!
Noah: Listen to me and you'll save water. Make it rain for 40 days and 40 nights and wait for the sewers to back up.
As so often when it comes to the use of U.S. military power, Senator John McCain has clarified one side of the argument: "They're winning and we're not," he said over the weekend of Islamic State's effort to build a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
It certainly looks that way at the moment. In Iraq, Islamic State has taken over 80 percent of Anbar province and is closing on Baghdad. The situation is grave enough that Anbar's provincial council appealed for direct U.S. intervention on the ground. In Syria, Islamic State fighters have moved into the city of Kobani, where the vastly outgunned and outnumbered Kurdish defenders appear doomed.
Yet two months into a campaign that was always going to take one or more years, it is too soon to declare failure. Even if President Barack Obama's strategy is achieving less than anyone would hope, honest debate over its success needs to take into account what might have happened -- or might still happen -- without the coalition airstrikes: The answer is genocide, further sexual slavery, long-term regional instability, and a free zone for the training and organization of jihadi terrorists.
True, the Iraqi army has been even more disappointing as a fighting force than expected. And Turkey's reluctance to join the coalition against Islamic State has proved a significant obstacle. Even so, airstrikes have prevented the worst from happening, as efforts are made to improve the support on the ground.
Indeed, the true lesson of Kobani is that Islamic State is hardly a superhuman army, as it is sometimes portrayed. Outnumbered, using Kalashnikovs against tanks and cut off from resupply, the Kurdish defenders of the city have held on for weeks -- aided, of course, by belated airstrikes. If Turkey would open its border to supplies and reinforcement, the Kurds could push Islamic State back, as they did earlier this year when the attackers hadn't yet acquired U.S. armor from Iraq.
Similarly, in northern Iraq, the Kurdish Peshmerga have held their own and even taken some ground, here again without tanks or heavy artillery. Coalition pledges of arms have so far been only weakly followed through. Over the weekend, Turkey finally agreed to do more to help the coalition in Iraq, although just how much remains unclear.
The U.S. strategy could be better handled. The coalition should certainly be more flexible and responsive than it has been: The recent use of Apache helicopters to drive Islamic State away from Baghdad's airport is an example of the higher-risk deployments U.S. commanders have to be able to make. More should have been done by now, too, to arm and aid the Kurds in Iraq and Syria, who are by far the most effective and determined fighters on the ground. The U.S. will need to take a greater risk, as McCain suggests, in inserting special forces spotters and trainers into hot spots such as Kobani.
Even then, this will be a long fight, which Islamic State will no doubt at times seem to dominate. And in a situation this complex, it will always be easy to play armchair general. But the underlying U.S. strategy -- to help the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds of Iraq, Syria and the wider Middle East unite in their fight against Islamic State -- remains the best available option and should be given time to make progress.
#1
Lemme see if I have this straight:
* The Islamic State is not a state, is not Islamic and is not winning.
* Turkey is going to help although they have not actually agreed to do anything.
* The U.S. strategy is to help the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds of Iraq, Syria and the wider Middle East unite in their fight against Islamic State, all of whom basically hate each other and the aforementioned Turks.
#10
ISIS is certainly winning defectors from Al Q, Nusra and others.
ISIS is also winning defectors from civil society, or what passes for it, in the dozens from some countries, the hundreds from others and the thousands from others.
Posted by: lord garth ||
10/14/2014 14:08 Comments ||
Top||
#11
The Daily Mail reports that the group, known as 'White Shroud', is formed from the remnants of an anti-Assad group that was crushed by ISIS and claims to have killed more than 100 ISIS fighters. Its name refers to a death shroud it says awaits the ISIS fighters who have wrought havoc on the Syrian people.
Mr Aboud added that secrecy was paramount to White Shroud's operations, and that the group works in four-man 'cells' who operate independently of one another for safety reasons.
So far, the group has been operating in the area around the town of Al Bukamal, near the Iraqi border, picking off ISIS fighters when it has the opportunity.
#12
Protect the Kurds. Protect Israel. Play defense and let Isis grow. Let them act as a roach motel for all the crazy wanna-be psycho Islamists in the world. Embed forward air observers with Kurds and others, then whack them and whack them very, very, very hard.
"Secrecy is the most important element of White Shroud's work," said Abu Aboud. The group comprises four-man "cells" that work independently of each other, Abu Aboud said.
[PJ Media] Syrian rebels who overran the base have found evidence that the Syrian Army was not alone on the top of the hill. The rebels say that their evidence proves that Russian military intelligence officers were also operating on the base, and appear to have left some of the equipment — and pictures — behind. A video tour of the facility, posted on YouTube (below, click here for a copy) shows that inside the base there is evidence of the presence of Russian “Spetsnaz,” special forces units who were members of the radio electronic intelligence agency of Russia’s GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate, the Russian military’s chief foreign intelligence unit). Insert Claude Rains Casablanca foto here.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] HOWEVER the state may want to spin it, in reality it is its neglect and ineptitude in taking long-term flood control measures that is responsible for the enormous loss of life and property in Punjab this monsoon.
