The US Defense Dept notes:
The United States potentially will make recommendations to position U.S. troops with Iraqi security forces in northern Iraq to support the next phase of isolating the key city of Mosul, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., who met here with his French counterpart for talks focusing on the multinational effort against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, told reporters traveling with him that the U.S. troops would be placed where they can best support the Iraqi forces in the fight.
"We're about winning. ... We want to have the Iraqis win," he said.
The details are still being worked out, noted Dunford, who said he will make the recommendations to President Barack Obama based on what U.S. commanders and Iraqi security forces identify as the type of support the United States can provide in a plan to retake Mosul.
How many are still pretending the Iraq War is over?
Or that Barack Obama ended it?
Some are accusing Barack of pretending about Iran.
Last Sunday, Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) broke the news that 3 Americans were missing in Iraq. Monday, CBS NEWS and AP reported, "A group of Americans who went missing over the weekend in Iraq were kidnapped from their interpreter's home in Baghdad, according to an Iraqi government intelligence official." Susannah George (AP) reported Thursday morning that "two powerful Shiite militias are top suspects" in the kidnapping: Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Saraya al-Salam -- both linked to Iran.
Today, right wingers Max Boot and Michael Pregent take to THE WASHINGTON POST to accuse Barack of underplaying the kidnapping of the three Americans:
On Jan. 16, a group of militants driving SUVs and wearing military uniforms kidnapped three Americans in Baghdad. At least two of the men were apparently working as trainers for the Counter Terrorism Service, Iraq’s elite special operations unit, which is not only the most effective part of its military (it led the recent assault on Ramadi) but also virtually the only part of it not infiltrated by Shiite militias. Various media outlets are reporting that the Americans were taken to Sadr City, a Shiite stronghold, and that AAH is most likely responsible, possibly in coordination with another Iranian-backed militia, Saraya al-Salam.
AAH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Iran’s Quds Force. It is inconceivable that it could kidnap and hold Americans — a course of action with significant international repercussions — without at least the acquiescence, and probably the active support, of Tehran. Yet the Obama administration is doing all it can to obfuscate that reality. Reuters cited “U.S. government sources” in reporting that “Washington had no reason to believe Tehran was involved in the kidnapping and did not believe the trio were being held in Iran, which borders Iraq.”
In Iraq, Barack continued bombing the country.
Strikes in Iraq
Attack, ground-attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 16 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:
-- Near Baghdadi, one strike denied ISIL access to terrain.
-- Near Kisik, two strikes destroyed seven ISIL assembly areas.
-- Near Mosul, three strikes
struck two ISIL tactical units, destroying five ISIL fighting positions
and denying ISIL access to terrain.
-- Near Ramadi, six strikes struck
two separate ISIL tactical units, destroying four ISIL staging areas,
an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL fuel tank and denying ISIL access to
terrain.
-- Near Sinjar, one strike destroyed four ISIL fighting positions.
-- Near Sultan Abdallah, one strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL staging area.
-- Near Tal Afar, one strike suppressed an ISIL mortar position.
-- Near Beiji, one strike destroyed an ISIL petroleum, oil and lubricant cache.
Task force officials define a
strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same
geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect.
Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single
weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple
aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and
weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect
of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use.
Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of
aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each
strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a
target.
Barack's a fake, he's always been a fake.
At CINDY SHEEHAN'S SOAPBOX, Mickey Z addresses some of that:
Well, Howard Zinn did
write such an article (“Obama’s Historic Victory,” Nov. 12, 2008) but
few folks (besides me) ridiculed him for even suggesting such delusional
expectations.
The (at least)
tens of thousands of readers who looked to Zinn as a trusted voice of
wisdom and reason were dangerously misled by an article that omitted
this reality: Every single indication pointed to Barack Obama doing the
exact opposite of what Zinn wrote.
Zinn fully knew
that not an iota of evidence existed that Obama would do anything
approaching what is described above. For a man of Zinn’s stature on the
“Left” to even hint of such a possibility was a shockingly irresponsible
act and one that only contributed to the misguided perception that
Obama’s election was somehow a victory for the progressive (sic) Left.
Things got so bad
that even Ani DiFranco wrote a friggin’ love song to the very same man
whose top campaign donors included Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, JPMorgan
Chase & Co, Google, Citigroup, and Time Warner!
First off, I called Howard out. I called him out to his face and after. And I have the bitchy e-mails from Anthony Arnove to prove it. I also have Howard's correspondence (Elaine and I knew Howard for years -- decades -- check her site for thoughts on Howard -- real truths, not the fan boy musings of Anthony). And I have so many tales to tell at some point.
As for Ani DiFranco, Kat nailed her with "Kat's Korner: Ani DiFranco's embarrassing odor:"
The new album drops Tuesday and is entitled Which Side Are You On?
I'm on the side of music but listening to the album leaves me unclear about Ani's allegiance.
Especially when playing the title track.
If you ever wondered what Pete Seeger would sound like fronting Bachman-Turner Overdrive, wonder no more. And, yes, it's as ugly and embarrassing as you might have suspected.
Even worse, Ani and Pete have 'updated' (changed and destroyed) Florence Reece's 1931 song ("Which Side Are You On?") about miners fighting for their rights, for their very survival.
Ani and Pete want to lie about Barack, want to whore for Barack.
Listening, you're struck, yet again, by the fact that Pete Seeger's singing ability took a train to a destination unknown back in 1963. Still, he does bark with authority. Ani's vocals are nasal and unattractive. She's both lost her range and the brightness of notes that could cover up for it.
Still no amount of lip stick would pretty up the pig they present:
They stole a few elections
Still we the people won
We voted out corruption
Big corporations
We voted for an end to war
And new direction
And we ain't gonna stop now
Until the job is done
Come on, all workers
This here is our time
Now there folks in Washington
Who care what's on our minds
Come one, come all, come voters
Let's vote next time
Show 'em which side are you on
Which side are you on?
We vote out corruption and big corporations? I believe it was on CNN that Michael Moore noted the obvious (his strong suit), "Wall Street has their man and his name is Barack Obama."
What war got ended Ani? The drone war? The Libyan War? Surely not the Iraq War which, Ani, I remember your stance against before it started and then . . . . crickets . . . silence from you ever since. The occupation of Iraq continues with the CIA, the FBI, the contractors and so much more. Moqtada al-Sadr has repeatedly decried the continued occupation of his country by the United States but you, Ani DiFranco, know so much better?
If, after listening, you're not getting how bad Ani's version is, click here for a version by Natalie Merchant which is amazing and honors the message.
Ani serves up a bad version, a "send this back, I'm not paying for it" version. She destroys the song. And it's about nothing but Ani lying to you and proving what a liar she is. Vote!!! She wants you to vote for Barack!!!!
For those who have forgotten, Ani wanted you to vote for Ralph Nader in 2000. In 2004, she started with that position but, after Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder chewed out her ass on live radio (The Majority Report), Ani backed down and became a John Kerry booster. She's been the eternal coward ever since.
So she may sing of "your next bold move," but you quickly notice that Ani has none of her own.
I'm not attempting to take anything away from Mickey Z.
But I'm also not going to pretend -- of have it be pretended -- that we didn't spend the last eight years calling out Barack.
We did.
We stayed left.
We stayed pro-peace and anti-war.
We didn't whore.
I'm glad Mickey didn't as well and I will applaud him for that and recognize him for that.
But if honesty's finally coming to America -- after all the lies of Naomi Klein and so many other cheap whores -- I'm not going to stand on the sidelines applauding others.
We stood up in real time.
It cost us.
But if speaking truth were easy, even Hillary Clinton could do it.
I'm traveling in some vehicle
I'm sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
That shell shock love away
-- "Hejira," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her album of the same name
The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4497 (plus 10 in Operation Inherent Resolve which includes at least 1 Iraq War fatality).
The following community sites updated:
