How many fricking more airstrikes do we need in Iraq?

[bigtree]

Last edited Fri Aug 8, 2014, 06:07 PM - Edit history (1)

Peter Van Buren ‏@WeMeantWell 2m
More #Iraq news: The Turks, Syrians, Iranians and maybe even Russian pilots are also conducting airstrikes in Iraq. http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2014/08/08/who_else_besides_americans_are_flying_fighter_jets_in_iraq.html …


Who Else, Besides Americans, Are Flying Fighter Jets in Iraq?

____ The Iraqi Air Force is poorly equipped, consisting of several Cessna planes carrying American-supplied Hellfire missiles, some American- and Russian-supplied helicopters, and Russian-made Su-25 aircraft.

Garrett Khoury, the director of research at The Eastern Project, explained that the Iraqi Air Force "recently acquired around a dozen SU-25 ground attack aircraft from Russia (with more possibly coming from Belarus) ...which give them the ability to conduct serious ground-support operations.

"[The Su-25s] are Russian jets bearing Iraqi insignia, but possibly piloted by Russians," Khoury continued. "Iraq did use the SU-25 during the Saddam Hussein era, and there are probably former Iraqi pilots who flew them, but it has been at best 12 years since any Iraqi pilot got any significant flying time with the plane."

So who bombed ISIS on Thursday night?

The most probable answer is Iraqi Su-25s, manned by Russian or Iranians—or maybe Iraqis . . .

. . . Turkish F-16s were reportedly patrolling the skies over the area near Sinjar in northern Iraq, where about 50,000 Yezidis are starving after fleeing ISIS militants.

"Iran has used its own Air Force to attack ISIS since the beginning of the group's offensive, but mostly to keep them away from the Iranian border," Khoury said. "Syria has likewise conducted air strikes on ISIS targets on the Iraqi side of their shared border . . ."


read more: http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2014/08/08/who_else_besides_americans_are_flying_fighter_jets_in_iraq.html

BBC News (UK) ‏@BBCNews 1h
Telegraph: UK "considers air strikes to avert genocide in Iraq" pic.twitter.com/oJxyoaJeKS (via @suttonnick) #TomorrowsPapersToday #BBCPapers

[gateley]

1. I suppose that depends on what they really want to accomplish?

And why the interest from Russia and Iran? Is Iran threatened by ISIS? (Serious -- and embarrassing question -- I honestly don't know).

[Loudly]

2. ISIS is Sunni and Iran is Shia.

ISIS is destroying Shia holy sites and murdering the Shia population where they find them.

ISIS has also been fighting Assad in Syria, whom Iran is supporting.

[gateley]

3. Thanks so much --

I've divorced myself from politics for a couple of years -- totally, and just now, within the last couple of days, started tiptoeing back in. Thank you for helping me get back up to speed.

[Loudly]

6. Islam seems very much a complete overlap of religion and politics.

So as you tiptoe back into one, you get dragged into the other.

[DocwillCuNow]

4. Dunno, how many people are left in Iraq..... I know it is sickening beyond belief. n/t

[pennylane100]

7. There is supposedly over 40 thousand people trapped on mountain by ISIS

who has stated that they will try to kill them all. This particular sect has not been give the option of accepting Islam and thereby saving their lives. For some reason, ISIS only seems to want them dead. It is called Genocide. What do you suggest we do to stop this.

[DocwillCuNow]

8. Seems like ISIS is begging to go see Allah NOW, I say (after hearing that) take them to him. n/t

[pennylane100]

17. Thanks, that was a great reply.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

5. Enough to blow up all the American-made and American-supplied

heavy artillery we gave to Iraq and they abandoned to ISIL?

Has anybody noticed that weapons we give out to anybody almost invariably seem to wind up in the hands of people who are happy to use them for oppression and the killing of civilians?

[KG]

9. weapon mfgs give less than zero shits who ends up with the weapons

[Gman]

10. The more bombs the better

The cancerous evil that is ISIS needs to be cut out.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

11. My thoughts exactly n/t

[bigtree]

12. point is, knowing the history of our involvement in Iraq; the counterproductive nature

. . . of our military presence and activity; why are we stepping in front of these other countries and insisting that only American can do the job there?

The intelligence estimate, completed in April 2006, was the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by U.S. intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began, and it represents a consensus view of the 16 disparate spy services inside government. Titled "Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States," it asserts that Islamic radicalism, rather than being in retreat, has metastasized and spread across the globe.

An opening section of the report, "Indicators of the Spread of the Global Jihadist Movement," cites the Iraq war as a reason for the diffusion of jihad ideology.


Did our military and government's policy against the Syrian government, for example, prevent them from addressing the problem on their Northern border with ISIS/ISIL and actually put the Kurdish civilians at a disadvantage?

Did our political differences with Iran or Russia prevent them from playing a more dominant role there which could have avoided this showdown?

Certainly this insurgent force, which has been described as 'rag-tag' and proportionally smaller than these other forces combined, is more able and less a disruptive force than America proved to be in Iraq.

[Gman]

14. I guess it's the Pottery Barn rule

And we broke it. Not to mention the genicide as a result.

[bigtree]

16. I don't think that rule includes

. . . bringing our own bull into the 'clean-up'

[Throd]

13. 5005

[snooper2]

15. probably 1306 to kill all the ISIS fundie fucking assholes

give or take 7%