http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/381187/flier-got-thad-cochran-elected-john-fund
Posted on 06/25/2014 10:34:15 AM PDT by thackney
Air strikes killed at least 38 people yesterday as security forces held off attacks on a strategic town and an oil refinery, officials and witnesses said.
In the town of Baiji, north of Baghdad, air strikes killed at least 19 people and wounded at least 17 in the morning, while further raids in the evening killed six more. Officials said the dead and wounded were civilians, and it was unclear if there were any casualties among the militants, who were the target of the strikes.
State television said 19 "terrorists" were killed in the earlier Baiji raids.
In the Husseibah area of Anbar province, west of Baghdad, another air strike killed seven militants and six civilians.
Elsewhere in Anbar, security forces and allied tribesmen held off an assault on the strategic town of Haditha, located on the road to provincial capital Ramadi.
Militants also launched a renewed push to seize Iraq's largest oil refinery, which is located near Baiji, but the overnight attack was repelled by security forces, officials said.
The refinery, which filled around 50 per cent of Iraq's demand for refined petroleum products in better days, has been the scene of heavy fighting since militants launched a major offensive on June 9, sending jitters through world oil markets.
The militants, led by jihadists from the ISIL, have overrun major areas of five provinces and driven to within 100km of Baghdad.
Security forces performed poorly during the initial onslaught, and are now struggling to hold their ground in the face of the relentless militant push.
Meanwhile, the US military began deploying assessment teams in Baghdad yesterday to evaluate the state of Iraqi security forces and decide how to help them counter the Islamist insurgency that has overrun part of the country, the Pentagon said.
Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said about 40 special operations personnel already in the country and assigned to the US Embassy's Office of Security Co-operation had been deployed as part of the first two assessment teams.
About 90 additional troops arrived in Iraq to begin helping establish a Joint Operations Centre in Baghdad with Iraqi forces. Another 50 US military personnel working in the region are expected to arrive within the next few days to create four additional assessment teams.
US military personnel also are flying regular manned and unmanned reconnaissance flights over Iraq to give better insight about the situation, Kirby said.
The deployments took place a day after US officials announced they had received assurances from Baghdad that American troops engaged in the assistance effort would not be prosecuted for any alleged wrongdoing in Iraqi courts.
“Officials said the dead and wounded were civilians”
What a clown show. Does Malaki think this will help him win people over? ISIS now has a propaganda tool, you dolts!
This can turn out very, very bad.
what are the Iraqis flying?
The US is probably feeding them incorrect coordinates in order to protect our ISIS pals.
Would not surprise me. Hagel loves anything that endangers the security of Israel.
Sorry, wrong thread.
sigh....
They have never cared about collateral damage, and never will. It was only imposed on the US and allies.
Hahaha, and now for a commercial break from our sponsors....
Too much multi-tasking. I’m just glad I didn’t insert it into one of my drawings I should be working on instead of Freeping....
Bush’s fault.
well well well
all of a sudden ... for the first time since 1992...
IRAQ HAS AN AIR FORCE- a BIG Air Force
130 of Saddam’s aircraft (mostly MiGs and a few Mirages, I presume) refurbished and returned by IRAN- with weapons
Now, who is flying them????? And who trained them?
Now, who is flying them????? And who trained them?
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Good questions, thanks for the link
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