Posted on 06/21/2014 4:00:14 PM PDT by kristinn
A strategic border crossing and three other towns in western Iraq fell Saturday to the control of ISIS militants, a senior Iraqi security official said.
In addition to their offensives in northern Iraq, the militants have now strengthened their hand in the western province of Anbar, the country's largest geographically, and were controlling Al-Qaim, Rawa, Ana and Huseiba, said the senior official, who's based in Anbar.
Most importantly, the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, or ISIS, controlled the strategic town of Al-Qaim on the border with Syria, where the enemy fighters enjoy a stronghold, Iraqi security officials said Saturday.
Together, the four towns are situated along a highway from Syria to Baghdad, heightening possibilities that the militants could now march from the west to lay siege to the Iraqi capital. One of the four towns, Huseiba, is just 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, outside Baghdad.
Iraqi government officials didn't have an immediate comment, other than security officials saying they were expecting troop reinforcements in Anbar.
Several Sunni tribes are aiding and supporting ISIS in Anbar, the senior official said.
Also, the first retinue of U.S. military advisers was expected to arrive soon in Iraq.
Since clashes erupted Friday in Al-Qaim, at least 11 Iraqi soldiers have been killed and 21 more have been wounded. Also, at least 20 militants were killed after Iraqi forces shelled areas from where the extremists launched attacks, two security officials in Ramadi, Iraq, told CNN.
Al-Qaim sits across from Syria's Deir Ezzor province, where ISIS controls at least three towns, including areas near the military airport of Deir Ezzor, which was the headquarters of the military council for rebel battalions, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group in London that monitors the Syrian conflict.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I guess we’ll have to back Assad, after all?
In order to be inclusive, we’ll back everyone on a pro-rated basis.
If Obama were serious about stopping this barbaric ISIL offensive, he would force the Saudis to stop their funding. The Saudis are attempting to establish an Arabic speaking Sunni confederation composed of large parts of Syria and Iraq to confront Iran. The Saudis have financed the recruitment, training, equipping and deployment of the international Sunni fighting force that is currently fighting in Syria and Iraq.However Obama has no real interest in stopping the Sunni offensive. It is almost criminal for him to send brave young Americans to die on a hopeless mission in Iraq.
ISIS was angry from watching the video Hillary was talking about.
The Saudis will be devoured by their creation sooner or later, I’m surprised they don’t realize that.
Why do you favor the Shia over the Sunni?
Iran is Shia and the most terror sponsoring country anywhere.
Let them fight each other. Never stop an enemy committing suicide. It won’t matter who owns the oil....they all need to sell the oil.
What would a middle east map look like if these muslims were left to their own devices for a time?
A couple of F-16’s ripping up their convoy should put a stop to that ...
They were expected to fall
Meanwhile the Shiite militias continue with their pow-wows in Sadr City
Doesn’t seem so crazy now, does it....
Putin: Syrian Rebels Are Cannibals; Don’t Arm Them
17th June 2013
“The Syrian rebels are “cannibals” and should not be given arms, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday.
“I think you will not deny that one does not really need to support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines, in front of the public and cameras,” Putin said at a joint press conference in London with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Putin was referring to video footage posted on the Internet last month of a rebel fighter eating the heart of a government soldier.
“Is it them who you want to supply with weapons?” he said, adding that this behavior does not correspond with international humanitarian norms.
Putin’s comments mark the first time that he has publicly responded to a decision by the United States last week to provide arms for the rebels fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.”
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/168997#.U6YWwn7D-M8
Somehow can never forget that fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 terrorists called Saudi Arabia home, that they were motivated and funded by the Saudi sanctioned and funded Wahabbi, that Saudi intelligence knew about the 9/11 plot and that some Saudi royals who love to party in the West personally financed it themselves. The Saudis have plated the US for chumps. If fifteen Saudi terrorists hijacked for Chinese airliners, crashed them in Shanghai, killed over three thousand Chinese and caused a $3 trillion dollar direct damage and economic loss to the Chinese economy, it is doubtful the Chinese would have invaded Iraq.Most terrorists that are killing innocents and trying to disrupt the West are Sunni. The Shi’ites are not our buddies and also can never be trusted. Time to realize that Islamic culture crumbles when confronted with modernity, that the oil sellers are so desperate for to maintain their income that they will sell to virtually anyone with hard currency.
In addition, the Saudis finance extremist mosques throughout the world.
We are thinking along the same lines.
Does anyone recall the days when Saddam had absolute control over the Jihadi fanatics? And Mubarak had Muslim Brotherhood under control? And Bashar Assad had no turmoil in Syria. And Libya was without turmoil under Gaddafi.
Taliban was defeated by Bush-43 and ran out of Kabul to caves in Pakistan, along with Osama! Bush should have stopped right there. But no...the neocons were itching for more war.
Everything changed when Bush/Cheney attacked Iraq.
Nouri al-Maliki was installed as PM who is a Shia and a proxy for Iran. Obummer encouraged Arab spring with the result Mubarak was toppled. Obummer attacked Libya and had Gaddafi killed. It was a green light to the Jihadi’s to topple regimes all over.
The reality is, the West can not force democracy in Muslim countries. They must do it themselves. Like the largest democracy in the world, India, did all by themselves.
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