The Common Ills: The failures of the Islamic State (and why they don't mean a 'win' for the inept White House)

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The failures of the Islamic State (and why they don't mean a 'win' for the inept White House)

BBC News reports 45 people have been "burned to death" in al-Baghdadi which is south of Haditha and to the northwest of Baghdad.

If al-Baghdadi sounds familiar you may be thinking of the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. With that sur name, is it really surprising that the Islamic State would attempt to seize the town?

Saif Hameed, David Alexander, Stephen Kaplin and Gareth Jones (Reuters) reported last week that the city was seized by the Islamic State last Thursday. Laura Smith-Spark and Jim Sciutto (CNN) reported that the next day Iraqi ground troops attempted to take back the town on Friday and US helicopters and pilots were deployed to help in the failed operation.

The US involvement in the failed operation was sort of pushed under the rug. Not just because it revealed what a lie Barack's claim that US troops would not see combat but also because it demonstrated that the combined might of the Iraqi forces and the US military had failed against the Islamic State in something as simple as taking back a small town.

Alessandria Masi (IBT) noted that al-Baghdadi was "just 3 miles (5 km) from the Ain al-Asad U.S. Marine Corps base, where roughly 320 Americans are stationed to train Iraqi soldiers."

45 people are dead today.

Actually more than that in Iraq alone.

But 45 are dead from a single act.

It's news.

It's sad.

But while it should absolutely be reported, maybe people should consider tamping down on the 'horror' factor.

There's reporting and then there's selling fear.

The Islamic State only increases power by selling fear.

The horror factor is what gives them power.

While the US government has no idea how to handle the situation -- what a bunch of idiots -- the Islamic State is growing ever more desperate.

They're resorting to one shock tactic after another.

You have to wonder if they're just desperate for publicity and that's what's driving these mass attacks across the region?

It's not helping recruitment, it's helping revulsion.

They're like a violent CodePink in that they've gone so extreme that they are sidelining themselves when their real goal was to increase their ranks. Like CodePink they appear addicted to the media spotlight and it's tripping them up.

Had the White House done their job, right now this would be the end of the Islamic State.

But the White House was smart enough to put the words in Barack's mouth, they just weren't smart enough to execute those orders.

Which is why there's no leverage in Iraq, there's no movement in Iraq. Sunnis are more horrified by the Islamic State than ever. But there was nothing done to reach out to them in all this time.

Instead Barack and the White House have willfully and actively looked the other way as their latest puppet (Haider al-Abadi) has continued the targeting of the Sunnis.

As much as last Friday's US military effort to take back al-Baghdadi failed, an even bigger failure has been the White House's non-work towards a political solution.

The following community sites -- plus the Guardian and Antiwar.com -- updated: