Breaking: Official: US military aircraft begin strikes on Islamic State militants near Haditha Dam

[Hissyspit]

Source: NBC News

@BreakingNews: Official: US military aircraft begin strikes on Islamic State militants near Haditha Dam in northern Iraq - @Reuters http://t.co/4g0XJ8NmNI/s/6JN8



Read more: Link to source

[alp227]

1. also reported by the BBC

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29098791

[still_one]

2. What!!! Does John McCain know about this? Interesting how the President slowly and methodically

seem to find solutions without the idiots in Congress

There was a report on BBC today that Iran is co-ordinating with US airstrikes against ISIS

There is a cease fire going on in Ukraine, and chemical weapons have been removed from Syria.

Most of the media along with idiots in Congress have been wrong, and they seem not to be embarrassed in the least

Reminds of so-called analysts on the stock market paraded before the business channels, and how 90% of them are wrong, yet their opinion is still solicited

Maybe we can have Cheney and Kissinger tell us again why the Iraq war was a good thing?

[heaven05]

5. can't wait for the sunday parade of idiots to start

I really can't stand them. I'll wait for the reactions here and the short links. Can't stomach watching them all the way through.

[grahamhgreen]

3. How are we paying for this?

[littlemissmartypants]

4. I suggest we pass the hat in congress. nt

[Hissyspit]

6. Not much discussion of that in media is there?

Even though the debt is crippling us!!1*!!!

Frankly, not much discussion of that here either.

[IronGate]

7. How much would we pay later

if we don't hit them now?

[grahamhgreen]

8. Not as much as if we continue this boondoggle. But seriously, who pays? I can't affford more war.

[IronGate]

9. So we just let ISIS run rampant?

Continue their killing spree? Allow them to become stronger and stronger? Possibly gain control over the oil fields in the ME?

Nope, now is the time to destroy them before all the above happens and I fully support President Obama's strategy for accomplishing this.

[grahamhgreen]

10. Who pays? If it's that important, can't we tax the wealthiest to pay for it?

Personally, I'd let Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Israel band together to fight them off. It'll be good for them.

[IronGate]

11. We should all bear the costs equally,

but regardless, ISIS needs to be destroyed and the President's plan is solid.

[grahamhgreen]

12. Then a tax on the wealthiest should pass quickly through Congress. Get the money, and I'd be

more willing to hear your arguments

Right now, I think it will bankrupt us, just a bin Laden said:

(CNN) -- The Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera released a full transcript Monday of the most recent videotape from Osama bin Laden in which the head of al Qaeda said his group's goal is to force America into bankruptcy.

Al-Jazeera aired portions of the videotape Friday but released the full transcript of the entire tape on its Web site Monday.

"We are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy. Allah willing, and nothing is too great for Allah," bin Laden said in the transcript.

He said the mujahedeen fighters did the same thing to the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s, "using guerrilla warfare and the war of attrition to fight tyrannical superpowers."

"We, alongside the mujahedeen, bled Russia for 10 years until it went bankrupt and was forced to withdraw in defeat," bin Laden said.

He also said al Qaeda has found it "easy for us to provoke and bait this administration."

"All that we have to do is to send two mujahedeen to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al Qaeda, in order to make generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic and political losses without their achieving anything of note other than some benefits for their private corporations," bin Laden said.

[AnalystInParadise]

13. How does ISIS get stronger and stronger

They are already near maximum strength given that the lands they currently control are near the periphery of the Sunni Arab lands in Iraq? The reason that ISIS hasn't gotten any closer to Baghdad is because they are entering Shia dominated areas, where the Bani Sa'id tribe (largest shia tribe in Iraq) live. And if you think ISIS can defeat the Shia tribes, I have a bridge to sell you. The problem is the Federal Iraqi Army is a mix of Shia and Sunni who will not fight for each other. If and when the Iraqi federation stops trying to force its citizens to fight together and the allows the Shia tribes to fight, ISIS will be pushed back with the new problem being Shia atrocities against Sunni in former ISIS controlled areas.

Second question, since the vast majority of the oil fields are in Kurd areas and Shia areas, and the troop numbers in both those areas DWARF the numbers of ISIS fighters, how does ISIS seize the oil fields. The initial ISIS push into Kurdish territory surprised the Kurds when much of the Peshmerga was not mobilized. Now that the Pesh are mobilized and supplied, ISIS is not able to effectively engage them. ISIS does not have trained Armored and Mechanized forces, the Kurds do. The Kurds, however, do not often mobilize these forces and only did so when ISIS threatened them.

In the south the Jabouri, the Bani Sa'id and other Shia tribes have nearly a million militia members and will mobilize them if and when ISIS threatens Shia areas. Currently ISIS is not threatening the Shia homeland so the Shia tribes only send token support to the Iraqi government.

So I am betting your next question is for me to source my material. My response to that is there is a ton of sources on the internet that back this up. You make a wild claim that ISIS will gain control of oil fields, I post a response. So yeah..............

[AnalystInParadise]

14. But since you are not willing to do your own research

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/24/iraq-frontline-shia-fighters-war-isis

http://www.aina.org/news/20140904204031.htm

And if you are curious:

Analyst in Paradise
20 year Army Intelligence Analyst
Middle Eastern Order of Battle Analyst
5 Deployments during the Iraq War
Specialized in Shia Analysis

I am not going to say I know everything, but I am far more informed on ISIS than the average DUer.

ISIS does not scare me, Boko Haram in Nigeria on the other hand freaks me out.

[Hissyspit]

16. Yeah, never heard that argument before...

[IronGate]

17. Maybe so,

but in this case it would be true.

[quadrature]

15. Obama is trying to run out the clock ...

in a real war, the IS homeland would be attacked.

with that said, these actions are better
than nothing