“This is an organization that has an apocalyptic end-of-days strategic vision that will eventually have to be defeated,” the chairman, Gen. Martin Dempsey, said in his most expansive public remarks on the crisis since American airstrikes began in Iraq. “Can they be defeated without addressing that part of the organization that resides in Syria? The answer is no.”…

“You can hit ISIS on one side of a border that essentially no longer exists, and it will scurry across, as it may have already,” said Brian Katulis, a national security expert with the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank with close ties to the White House…

According to an American intelligence estimate, ISIS could not be easily defeated by killing its top leadership. Given its decentralized command and control, experienced militants could easily replenish its upper ranks, American officials said.

***

Let’s be honest. The United States has crossed the threshold on Iraq. We’re in it to salvage the country — again — using American military might.

But the mission has also, very quickly, grown much bigger in less than two weeks. U.S. warplanes are no longer simply helping create escape routes for the Yazidis or protecting American personnel in Irbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. The U.S. is now directly taking on the world’s most militant extremist group, bombing its positions at the Mosul dam and beyond.

And it’s probably only the beginning…

Given the human heartache and political headache from the last Iraq intervention, not to mention the mess left behind, Washington needs to be honest upfront in answering basic questions. I’ve spent decades on the ground and in the minutiae of the Middle East, including Iraq, and I can’t yet discern the specifics of Washington’s intentions.

At issue is a little-noticed aspect of this air campaign: None of the strikes against Islamic State targets inside Iraq have been carried out by U.S. aircraft based inside Iraq. Since the bombs began falling, U.S. aircraft have carried out more than 84 strikes. F-18s taking off from the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush, which is in the North Arabian Sea, conducted more than a third of those strikes. The remainder were carried out by U.S. aircraft assigned to bases inside Qatar and other nearby countries…

To be sure, setting up American air operations at an Iraqi base would be a difficult undertaking, and would require the Obama administration to make a much bigger commitment to the effort in Iraq. The massive Baghdad International Airport is likely too crowded to use. The sprawling Al Asad facility in western Iraq is seen as one of the likeliest homes for any U.S. aircraft. But the Pentagon would have to assign hundreds of maintenance personnel there, as well as security for the American pilots, support crews, and planes themselves. Even though such troops could technically operate inside the base and still not be considered “combat boots on the ground,” it’s likely that such a move would only come if the administration was willing to sign off on an expanded U.S. mission with no clear end date, the military official said.

***

Judeh offers a clear-eyed depiction of the situation on the ground. While explicitly opposing partition of these two countries he notes that in fact, they both have been divided up by circumstances and demographics in a similar way. “In Syria, from the north, down along the Mediterranean coast and all the way to the south you have what you might call Regime-istan. It is controlled by Assad and extends to the Golan Heights because he feels it is convenient to maintain the possibility of provoking or confronting Israel. In the northeast you have an area controlled by Kurds, a Kurdistan. And then in the south you have Sunni-stan, which itself is divided, partially controlled by militants in the east and southeast into what you might call Extremist-stan.”…

Further, in a remarkable, as yet undocumented, not fully understood development, the mission against is the Islamic State is being undertaken by what might be called the Alliance Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken. It brings together — with a level of coordination that must be greater than anyone will publicly admit — the very strangest of battlefield bedfellows: the United States, the Kurds, the Iraqi regime, Iran, Russia, some NATO assistance, and Bashar al-Assad’s regime. It has the tacit support of everyone from Israel to (most of) the Gulf Cooperation Council. The perceived level of threat from IS has the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia characterizing it as “enemy number one of Islam.” More broadly, worldwide, countries like China, India, and the countries of the European Union recognize this threat. Setting aside the bizarre reality that the Iraqi government, put in place by the United States, is flying Russian-made planes in consultation with Iranian leaders with the support of the United States, the Peshmerga, and the Syrian air force, there is an opportunity for progress against this threat here.

With the U.S. bombing its forces in Iraq, there’s no benefit for ISIS in refraining from attacks against Americans. And if Iraqi and Kurdish forces, with U.S. help, succeed in rolling back the group’s territorial gains, it may start to act more like a traditional al-Qaida affiliate—operating underground, using tactics like suicide bombings rather than open military confrontations, and striking both local and international targets…

Up until now, despite the escalating rhetoric, there’s been an uneasy peace between the U.S. and ISIS. Yes, the U.S. has provided some support to Syrian rebel groups fighting against the Islamic State, and ISIS has attacked the Iraqi government, a U.S. ally, but there had been little direct confrontation between the two. That’s obviously changed now, and while ISIS would certainly incur greater risk by engaging in a direct confrontation with the U.S. military, the Foley execution shows it does have some means to strike back.

None of this is to say that the U.S. shouldn’t attack ISIS. It may be true that the U.S. could no longer tolerate the long-term security threat from ISIS’s rise. But at least in the short term, it certainly seems like that threat has now increased.

“Most Democrats and Republicans are extraordinarily wary of being sucked into a large occupation, both because it will kill a lot of Americans and because we saw in Iraq that it didn’t work,” he said.

Representative Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, said, “This horrendous event has got a lot of folks in Congress talking, but it doesn’t give us a license to ignore the lessons of George W. Bush in Iraq.”…

“I just don’t see it rising to a casus belli — or at least as a cause for a much larger military effort,” said Kenneth M. Pollack, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “It is awful and it should remind us of who we are dealing with, and not have any illusions about that. But the political and military realities of Iraq and Syria remain unchanged.”

***

At the end of the long dark day, the the best plan is not to get involved in yet another Iraq quagmire. One American who bravely, but deliberately, endangered himself by covering the war in Syria, is not enough of a reason to slide back into this endless, disastrous war…

People argue you sometimes need to ally with a Stalin to beat a Hitler, but the myriad unnecessary wars, coups, and secret arming of groups over the past few decades makes that seem iffy. The Mujahideen freedom fighters trying to oust the Soviets from Afghanistan turned into al Qaeda. Saddam was a villain, unless he was fighting Iran. Manuel Noriega was a friend, and then he wasn’t…

Blowback is real. The CIA knew it and feared it in 1953, after they overthrew the Iranian government. 9/11 confirmed that U.S. actions can have deadly consequences for innocent U.S. citizens. As frightening as they are, terrorist groups — even ISIS — have motivations beyond their disturbed religion and their hoped-for theocracy.

At a briefing Thursday, a reporter brought up anti-American comments from ISIL leaders: “I mean, even they are announcing, ISIL people in their message, whatever, the recorded message, other messages, that now we are in a war with America.”

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Jason Riley of the WSJ took apart Eric Holder and the state Senator from MO on the Kelly Show…called Eric Holder a joke since he’s been running around the country saying that anyone who disagrees with him or Dear Leader are racists.

That was disgusting. I could not believe HA would allow that kind of crap to stand. All was offensive but over line when attacking a commenter and spouse simply because the spouse is LEO. I never thought I would see that here.

This has been going on for 1,400 years and half of these politicians don’t even know it. If these battles had not been won we might be speaking Arabic and Christianity could be non-existent; Judaism certainly would be. And let us not forget that Hitler was an admirer of Islam and that the Mufti of Jerusalem was Hitler’s guest in Berlin and raised Bosnian Muslim SS Divisions: the 13th and 21st Waffen SS Divisions who killed Jews, Russians, Gypsies, and any other “subhumans”….

Schadenfreude on August 22, 2014 at 12:23 AM

Gates’ description of ISIS as something we’ve never seen before was particularly grating. We are led by ideologues totally ignorant of history who are repeatedly taken by surprise when it repeats itself.

Gates’ description of ISIS as something we’ve never seen before was particularly grating. We are led by ideologues totally ignorant of history who are repeatedly taken by surprise when it repeats itself.

novaculus on August 22, 2014 at 1:03 AM

You mean Hagel, the muzzie convert, along with Brennan…best friends of ISIS?

We are led by ideologues totally ignorant of history who are repeatedly taken by surprise when it repeats itself.
novaculus on August 22, 2014 at 1:03 AM

Socialists have kept their eyes averted from those who practice similar ideologies (practiced in theory, anyway) since the White and Red Revolutions in Russia c1917…

There were American journalists in Russia during the famines of the 1920s, yet they refused to write about what Stalin was deliberately doing to his own people. The SOBs were too busy waxing rhapsodic on the virtues of Communism to even consider their own Commie/Socialist ideology to it’s logical conclusions and consequences.

Gates’ description of ISIS as something we’ve never seen before was particularly grating. We are led by ideologues totally ignorant of history who are repeatedly taken by surprise when it repeats itself.

novaculus on August 22, 2014 at 1:03 AM

There are going to be a couple of van loads of these creeps pull up in front of a school one of these mornings and then the excrement is really going to impact the rotary aeration device for this administration.

I’m a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm
I’m a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb
I am a world’s forgotten boy
The one who searches and destroys
Honey gotta help me please
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby detonate for me
Look out honey, ’cause I’m using technology
Ain’t got time to make no apology
Soul radiation in the dead of night
Love in the middle of a fire fight
Honey gotta strike me blind
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby penerate my mind
And I’m the world’s forgotten boy
The one who’s searchin’, searchin’ to destroy
And honey I’m the world’s forgotten boy
The one who’s searchin’, searchin’ to destroy
Forgotten boy, forgotten boy
Forgotten boy said hey forgotten boy

Hey, did everybody leave, forgot to turn out the lights, or what?
Kitty looking around,seems kinda ghostly in here.
By The Way, thanks to whomever recommended movie on netflix ” The Day of the Siege” watching it right now seems good and a timely movie for all to watch. Sorry I can’t remember who posted .
Where’s Dire, g2m,Scumpy,and all……sort of echoey in here. :(

Hello back to you 31, and cat_owner, I just checked the CNN thread but I couldn’t get into the poster Lourdes.
It has been really quiet here lately, maybe peeps are getting burned out with the daily mayhem in the world. I know I do, but like watching an accident happening I can’t seem to turn away for long. I guess I’d rather know than be in the dark and surprised when the SHTF.

Hey Bakokitty,
Yep, it’s been difficult to stay in a positive frame of mind with all that’s going on. I had a nice break from it last week and trying to get past this week full of appointments so I can return to the woods.
I just don’t have the desire to comment on half the crap that’s going on. I feel the disgust that everyone else is feeling and frustrated that no matter is discussed, there’s nothing that’s curing the problem/s.

31, yep that’s how I feel too. I’ve been lurking mostly. I’ve been keeping busy doing other stuff. Hey nice you get to go camping.mim envious that have a teardrop. I’d like one, we’ve camped with boat, tent, big trailer,and even a bigger class A motor home and now back to a tent( didn’t like driving that MH) but I’ve been thinking about a teardrop. My hubby’s older and has some trouble getting up and down at times but I think a TD might be good with a tent enclosure thingy to change clothes in etc. You know,I’m not too far from you. You’re just north of me, anyway how nice you can take trip. I like fall for travel or spring, but sometimes like to go to Cambria and the coast to cool off.

WestVirginiaRebel on August 22, 2014 at 4:00 AM
Well that is both sad and tragic for him and his family.,we may find Americans in battles to defend many ancestral homelands. But as naturalized citizen I really think we all should fight to protect and preserve our republic first and foremost.

Kitty, sometimes I wish we had something bigger but I know I wouldn’t enjoy driving it or the extra expense.
It really has been a joy using the drop. We’ve used it for day trips in the ’49er towns and camp trips. We use the boot tent when we take the mutts and a smaller tall/ smaller cabana for ourselves to change close in. So far we’ve only taken it to Vandenberg for coastal camping. Haven’t been to Cambria. Is it crowded there. Yep, fall and spring are my favorite times to go too. Now were looking for a spot to observe the bird migration. I enjoy taking wildlife pictures. Do you fish?

No I haven’t fished in years,but I’d sure enjoy it. We used to go twice a year to Camp Mather for the Strawberry Music Festival , lots of fun and great music. It was off the 120 about a mike from Hetch Hetchy. Once we went from there all the way to Monterey, so woke up in the mountains and went to bed at the beach. It was fun but that Class A MH was a scary ride down mountains. It took me 3years before I got the courage to drive it, haha then you should have seen my hubby white knuckling it telling me I was too close to the right. Like I always told him. But I realized how much work it was to drive. We loved it when it was parked, we really didn’t use like we should have so we sold it. I like shooting;), but I would like to fish too, fishing is relaxing.

Good morning. There was a storm last night and another one woke me up before 3.

crankyoldlady on August 22, 2014 at 4:32 AM

Mornin’ COL! Send some of that rain here…pretty please. Quick review of the latest Farmer’s Almanac shows California will still be hurting for rain/snow this coming year. Central Valley is our breadbasket. This is not a good thing, not at all.

Hi COL, hope your feeling better, glad to see your Doc found something, although to have nothing wrong would be better. So hope you will be on the mend soon. Gosh I sure wish you could send some rain to us here in Ca. We need it badly.

Dang 31, you just depressed me. I’ve been wishing fall/winter would come and bring us some rain, snow and even some fog. This drought is really hurting us. Say did you see in the news that San Francisco has been exempt from water restrictions that are imposed on the central and northern farmers. Isn’t that BS?

Dang 31, you just depressed me. I’ve been wishing fall/winter would come and bring us some rain, snow and even some fog. This drought is really hurting us. Say did you see in the news that San Francisco has been exempt from water restrictions that are imposed on the central and northern farmers. Isn’t that BS?

Bakokitty on August 22, 2014 at 4:44 AM

Yep, saw it. I wonder if Pelosi also has exemptions for her winery and the local wineries around it.
Did you see the Lake Oroville pics?

Hi, Bakokitty and 31. Oh goody, more rain on the way. There are some around here who said they needed rain. I haven’t had to hook up the hose yet this year. Terrible what the government has been doing to farmers everywhere. I wonder what they think we’re going to eat. People still don’t get it that they need to start raising their own food.

It makes me wonder if denying water is just one more way for the government to “thin the human herd”. They are telling us what to eat, cutting water flow to S. California (wanting the farmlands to go back to desert, for solar panel farms that will fry more birds in flight), and killing jobs. Then they bombard us with illegals. Where is the food going to come from to feed them, if it’s not being grown?

I often wonder what their thinking is. Or if they are thinking at all. Maybe it’s a good thing they are incompetent. Think how much trouble they could cause if they were smart. I wonder if stupidity is required for socialism.

I often wonder what their thinking is. Or if they are thinking at all. Maybe it’s a good thing they are incompetent. Think how much trouble they could cause if they were smart. I wonder if stupidity is required for socialism.

crankyoldlady on August 22, 2014 at 5:16 AM

They have a grand plan and it’s working… for them.
Thing is, their plan will not work for very long, and in the meantime the middle class dwindles.

Further, in a remarkable, as yet undocumented, not fully understood development, the mission against is the Islamic State is being undertaken by what might be called the Alliance Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken. It brings together — with a level of coordination that must be greater than anyone will publicly admit — the very strangest of battlefield bedfellows: the United States, the Kurds, the Iraqi regime, Iran, Russia, some NATO assistance, and Bashar al-Assad’s regime. It has the tacit support of everyone from Israel to (most of) the Gulf Cooperation Council. The perceived level of threat from IS has the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia characterizing it as “enemy number one of Islam.” More broadly, worldwide, countries like China, India, and the countries of the European Union recognize this threat. Setting aside the bizarre reality that the Iraqi government, put in place by the United States, is flying Russian-made planes in consultation with Iranian leaders with the support of the United States, the Peshmerga, and the Syrian air force, there is an opportunity for progress against this threat here.

Why it sounds like ISIS is fighting a war against all mankind.

A Private War.

We call these people: PIRATES.

We still have piracy codes on the books.

We used to know how to name such savages and inform our brother Nations about the threat they represented.

Slowly, painfully, awkwardly, without grace nor elegance, the PC speak is slowly having to grasp the reality of man who has turned his back on civilized ways and seeks to bring the destruction of the Law of Nature to all corners of the Earth.

They dare not speak the name of that alliance, the Brotherhood of Nations as that would then mean accepting that even the worst of Nations has a stake in the existing order of Nations and that it is a civilized way to behave. The Globalists and Transnational Progressivists are now meeting up with savage man with global aims and they don’t know how to deal with them. Because if they could name them then their Global and Transnational aspirations would be junked as unable to deal with the actual world as it is.

And yet that world exists.

It is not a kind nor gentle world.

The Transnationalists and Globalists wanted to put mankind’s rights to sleep in search of Universal Tyranny. Now Universal Tyranny is arising and it isn’t their sweet ‘put you to bed’ kind but the ‘chop off your head if you don’t agree with me’ kind. Mind you they both wind up at the latter in the end, but the Transnationalists and Globalists wanted to enslave you slowly… ISIS is a kick in the teeth as they do not want to wait for tomorrow what they can kill their way to TODAY.

The WH won’t waste a news dump on ISO (Islamic States of Obama). The rat-eared coward and Congress are away, the media focus is on Ferguson, and it’s the middle of August when many of us “folks” are not paying too much attention to the news.

Today’s dump will be something to do with the IRS or other administration scandals. Pictures of Lois Lerner stuffing e-mails in her bra or something. ;0

Speaking of which, I’ve got to wonder why there hasn’t been more media coverage of the fact that the GAO determined swapping five terrorist leaders for a filthy deserter was illegal. The WH speaks of the deal as a prisoner exchange but doesn’t that suggest that Obama recognizes ISO (Islamic States of Obama) as a legitimate government?

And BTW, the Bergdahl deal set a standard. How many terrorists and how much cash is ISO going to demand for the other hostages?

Good morning. There was a storm last night and another one woke me up before 3.

crankyoldlady on August 22, 2014 at 4:32 AM

Morning COL and we also had storms but in the afternoon yesterday. Another 2″ of rain. Will try to mow the grass this evening. High today 96F, which is the hottest of the year, with humidity in the 80s. Slow night last night on the QOTD I see.

Be an Angle Day
National Pecan Torte Day
National Tooth Fairy Day
Southern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day?

Noticed you here a fem times in the mornings lately and I seem to remember you are Pacific Time.

HonestLib on August 22, 2014 at 8:07 AM

Mountain Time. In the Mountains. Conifer, Colorado.

But since I work a lot from home, putting together my articles for the newspaper, I tend to work at odd hours. I was up in the middle of the night writing an unemployment report for our next issue, then laid down for a few hours, now up again.

Sometimes it’s easier to write in the middle of the night, when the girlfriend is asleep, the two grown kids are asleep, when the 2 dog, 2 cats and parrot are asleep.

I’m wondering if ISIS leaders read American history? If they did, they would have read about another overconfident warrior, who also thought surrounding himself with a pis**d enemy made up of different tribes was a good idea.

The ONLY fly in this ointment is Obama. He doesn’t care and may not want to make the commitment to fight ISIS until are ground into the dirt for a generation. And maybe ISIS knows it.