U.S. Now Using Apache Helicopters to Attack ISIS in Iraq

[amandabeech]

67. It had occurred to me that the media had been asked to downplay whatever was going on in Baghdad.

Then after I wrote my earlier post, CNN came on live from Baghdad with Ben Wedeman doing the stand-up. He talked about the mortars landing in the green zone, and said that it was suspected that Shia radicals were behind it. I'm not so sure. He also said that he and a camera crew had gone out to the front line about a hour west of Baghdad, and that there wasn't that much going on. He said that there was some fire from the ISIS positions and that the Iraqi Army returned some fire.

My problem is the apparent mission creep. We know that there are "advisers" and mercs around. Last week the US 1st Army (The Big Red One) moved its headquarters to Baghdad. Now the Apache attack helicopters are there. Maybe the A-10s are coming. The next thing you know, there'll be 10,000 pair of boots on the ground. That's more like our descent into full fledged war in Viet Nam, rather than the "Shock and Awe" entry that shrub/darth/rummy had into Iraq. But the gradual slide of mission creep is just as real and can involve just as many people.

My Mom out in rural Michigan says that everyone she talks to is very worried about this whole thing, and she and many of her friends remember WWII and Korea as well as Vietnam.