The Common Ills: Barack's broken Iraq promise on US combat troops

Wednesday, December 02, 2015

Barack's broken Iraq promise on US combat troops

Yesterday, Barack Obama's promise of no US troops on the ground in combat in Iraq was revealed to be yet another lie. At a US House Armed Services Committee hearing, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter declared:

Next, in full coordination with the government of Iraq, we're deploying a specialized, expeditionary targeting force to assist Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces and put even more pressure on ISIL. These special operators will, over time, be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIL leaders.

Were Eli Lake and Josh Rogin at the hearing?

Reading their opinion passed off as a report, I'm doubting it. They insist:

One consequence of Iraqi and Iranian jitters over expanding the U.S. troop presence in Iraq is that the Obama administration has had to play a numbers game. Currently, Obama has authorized no more than 3,500 U.S. soldiers to be in Iraq at any given time. Many of the special operators sent to Iraq today fly in and out of the country every few weeks, so they are not officially counted against the cap.

Sorry, BLOOMBERG NEWS, but I was at the hearing.

This was addressed during US House Rep John Kline's round of questioning. Dunford was very specific that there was no cap.

How do you attend the hearing and miss that?

Clearly, you do it by not attending the hearing.

And then you go on to misreport.

Now watch other useless outlets grab that 'fact' from BLOOMBERG NEWS and run with it since they never bothered to actually report on the hearing themselves.

I can just hear a certain yokel insisting on his radio show that there's a cap and praising every war criminal he can think of for the cap.

Arshad Mohammed and Sabine Siebold (REUTERS) report:

The Iraqi government is fully briefed on U.S. plans to deploy American special forces to Iraq and the two governments will consult closely on where they will go and what they will do, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday Washington would deploy a new force of special operations troops to Iraq to combat Islamic State militants who have seized swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria. The group is also known as ISIL and ISIS.

That's superfluous -- accurate, but superfluous.

I guess it qualifies as news that John Kerry spoke.

But what he said?

As Diana Ross told Mary Wilson at Motown 25, "It's taken care of."

Again, Ash Carter stated:

Next, in full coordination with the government of Iraq, we're deploying a specialized, expeditionary targeting force to assist Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces and put even more pressure on ISIL. These special operators will, over time, be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIL leaders. This force will als

"In full coordination with the government of Iraq" covers what Kerry spoke of today.

Doesn't really expand on it.

Already, Carter's announcements is getting reactions. For example, RUDAW reports:

Iraqi Shiite militants of Kataib Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Badr Organization and Asaib Ahl al-Haq on Tuesday pledged to fight US troops.

“We will fight any American force deployed in Iraq,” said Jafaar Hussaini, a spokesperson for Kataib Hezbollah, as quoted by Reuters. He added that the group’s primary target will become US troops if they are deployed in Iraq, warning that Kataib Hezbollah has fought Americans in the past and will fight them again.

For those who've forgotten, the Bard mob was recently treated to a glowing and lovely tribute on 60 MINUTES by Lara Logan.

Along with Stan's "Thanks for screwing up TV, Barack" and Betty's "Barack's a damn liar," the following community sites updated: