Fighters patrol in Fallujah, Iraq, on Sunday.
Posted on 01/05/2014 8:46:38 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
BEIRUT—Spiraling violence and advances by al Qaeda-linked fighters in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon are underscoring the cost of Syria's civil war as it increasingly spills over the country's borders.
The rise of the Islamist forces in Iraq is particularly worrisome to the Obama administration. In response, U.S. officials said Sunday they were seeking to boost military support—though they emphasized no troops—for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to help in his campaign to push back al Qaeda. U.S. officials are also considering new military aid for Lebanon, which is plagued by rising sectarian violence.
Resurgent al Qaeda-allied forces battled Sunday in both Iraq and in neighboring Syria. Fighters in Iraq's Anbar Province pillaged American weapons from armories after taking control of the town of Fallujah and skirmished with Iraqi government troops on the road to Baghdad, said residents and officials there.
In Syria, al Qaeda-linked militants battled as well—but this time on the defensive. Syrian rebels said they fought al Qaeda militants on Sunday in at least five northern zones the rebels held. Many Syrian rebels have turned on the main al Qaeda group—the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, which is increasingly reviled for its extremism and violence.
This broadening instability, according to Middle East diplomats and experts, is placing the White House in a growing diplomatic quandary as its regional allies fall into competing camps amid a intensifying proxy battle between regional powerhouses Iran and Saudi Arabia.
While the U.S. is trying to shore up the Shiite-led government in Iraq, it simultaneously is strongly supporting Lebanon's government and Sunni militias in Syria that are attempting to weaken Iran's political allies in Beirut and Damascus.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Fighters patrol in Fallujah, Iraq, on Sunday.
I don’t know if it was this group, but I heard one Sunni group delair they are going the force Hesbollah out of Lebanon and fight Assad as well as Al Qaeda forces trying to take over the Syrian battle.
Thank God for the invention of the Gatling Gun.
al Qaeda is primarily a radical fundamentalist Sunni fighting force that is active throughout the Mideast.There is little doubt that they are being motivated and funded by the Wahhabi who are in turn sanctioned and financed by the Saudis. Unless Saudi Arabia is confronted with this inconvenient reality, the carnage will continue. The Russians understand this dynamic and have made it clear to the Saudis that they will not tolerate any further mayhem at the Olympics by the jihadists. The Saudis have openly bragged that they finance and control the jihadists .No doubt there are four or five Russian submarines fully armed with cruise missiles on station off the coasts of Saudi Arabia.
World War III. Sunni vs Shiites. Need to end this guerrilla warfare nonsense. Need conventional warfare with organized armies.....
I call BS on that one. "The Great ObamaNation" has been supporting Al Qaida in Libya and Syria by aiding and abetting the transfer of arms. And the conflict spilling over into Iraq allows him to use the "Blame Bush" meme while supporting it at the same time. It's a "Chicago Way" sort of thing.
The US has become Eastern Roman Empire after Rome fell. Like the ERE we have the most advance military, but small in numbers and a weak Treasury. ERE pursue a military strategy that emphasizes dirty tricks, good intel (spy on everyone) and causing chaos amongst your enemies. Your objective is never completely destroy your enemies but keep them around and constantly fighting. Our ME policy is to keep the jihadist and Iran off balance and fighting. No US forces are needed to do this except small Spec Ops and occasional intervention of very short duration. Due to the rise of America First sentiment in US, financial debt and unwillingness to draft people for a large low cost military the US will pursue a ERE strategy to the end even after Obama leaves office and a conservative GOP takes his place. Finances determine our ability to intervene otherwise we go the way of the Western Roman Empire (WRE) bankruptcy and collapse.
Actually this is more like the 100 Years War when Catholics and Protestants fought it out, and then various sub groups of protestants. Religious wars in England were nasty too, which led many dissenting sects to flee to America to live their own creed. For that matter a lot came from Germany, to the point that there was some question as to whether English or German would be our national language. Wisely our founding fathers voted to keep religion out of the Constitution and government. Thus it appears that Islam is 3 or 4 centuries behind us in religious development and settlement.
And if Russia took out part of Saudi oil production, think what that would do to the value of Russian oil, and the damage to our oil economy. A definite “two fer” for Putin.
Even with a conservative GOP president it will not get better if the conservative mantra of government cost cutting is followed. I recently read historical novels about Attila the Hun. He initially attacked Constantinople. There was a great earthquake which damaged the towering city walls. The citizens were inspired to help repair the walls and then fought with their picks, shovels, etc. This fight and disease in camp drove the Huns away. They then headed west.
The general who saved Constantinople headed west too. The weak, silly Roman emperor did not want to finance defense, so the general went to the Visigoth king in the area of France. He told them that their Vandal enemies (then in North Africa) had fought with the Huns at Constantinople. At first he was not believed, but when the Vandal ruler murdered the Visigoth king’s daughter who was supposed to be his bride, he fought the Huns to a standstill and they headed home. A few years later the Vandals sacked Rome, and that was the end of the Western Roman Empire. The unwillingness/inability of the weak Roman emperor to finance the military brought doom.
“World War III. Sunni vs Shiites. “
What’s the difference between these two? Doesn’t one break their egg on the small end, and the other on the large end of the shell?/S
That's obamas solution and I say, hey give it a try....
What could go wrong?
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