More US troops to Iraq

More US troops are headed to Iraq.   Yuliya Talmazan (NBC NEWS) notes, "Defense Secretary Mark Esper said late Saturday that all of the nearly 1,000 U.S. troops pulling out of northern Syria will now head to western Iraq to continue the campaign against Islamic State militants."  Lolita C. Baldor (AP) reports, "Esper’s comments to reporters traveling with him were the first to specifically lay out where American troops will go as they shift from Syria and what the counter-IS fight could look like. Esper said he has spoken to his Iraqi counterpart about the plan to shift about 1,000 troops from Syria into western Iraq."

US House Rep Justin Amash reacted to the news as follows.

1. Justin Amash‏Verified account @justinamash 17h17 hours ago

   Justin Amash Retweeted The Hill

   Trump’s words: Bring them home. Trump’s action: Send them to Iraq.

   Justin Amash added,

   

   The HillVerified account @thehill

   JUST IN: Trump Defense chief says US troops leaving Syria will go to western Iraq http://hill.cm/ox8rvaq 

   827 replies9,729 retweets26,515 likes

    

    

Amash was elected to the Congress as a Republican but has since become an independent.  He is also contemplating a run for president in 2020.

The violence in Iraq continues.   HURRIYET DAILY NEWS notes:

Turkish security forces “neutralized” two terrorists affiliated with the PKK in northern Iraq, according to the Defense Ministry.
“As part of Operation Claw going on successfully and conducted in [Iraq’s] Hakurk region, two more members of the separatist PKK terrorist group were neutralized,” said the ministry on Twitter on Oct. 18.

Turkish authorities often use the word “neutralized” in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

Turkey's been bombing Iraq for years now.  And always claiming it killed terrorists.  Many others have joined in the bombings.  The US bombs Iraq, many others do as well.  Civilians are being terrorized and killed.  But stay in your comfy chair and grab the remote to change channels because heaven forbid we ever take accountability for our actions.  One nation is being implicated in the deaths of civilians.  DUTCH NEWS reports:

Dutch F-16s were involved in an attack on an IS car bomb factory in Iraq in 2015 that killed at least 70 civilians, sources have told the NRC newspaper and broadcaster NOS. The attack, one of the bloodiest in the international effort to combat IS, destroyed a complete neighbourhood in the town of Hawija. Ministers have always refused to give details about the Dutch military attacks in Iraq on security grounds.
The attack, one of the bloodiest in the international effort to combat IS, destroyed a complete neighbourhood in the town of Hawija. Ministers have always refused to give details about the Dutch military attacks in Iraq on security grounds.

Janene Pieters (NL TIMES) adds:

Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld told NRC and NOS that she cannot yet comment on this matter. She hopes to be able to do so "in the not too long term" and promised to be transparent about the consequences of Dutch bombings in the fight against ISIS.
The Netherlands started carrying out airstrikes as part of the international coalition against ISIS in 2014. Since then Dutch fighter jets were involved in dropping bombs 2,100 times in total. 


This is not an isolated incident.

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Catty  Confessions of Saint Hillary Clinton" went up earlier today.