Did you know! Chlorine isn’t ‘Historically’ a Chemical Weapon
Related!
Operation Empty Chair
Syria: too little, too late.
ISIS, The Inside Story
Brought to you by the Guardian, who are apparently, also on the inside.
Abu Ahmed was an essential member of the earliest incarnation of the group. He had been galvanised into militancy as a young man by an American occupation that he and many like him believed was trying to impose a power shift in Iraq, favouring the country’s larger Shia population at the expense of the dominant Sunnis. His early role in what would become Isis led naturally to the senior position he now occupies within a revitalised insurgency that has spilled across the border into Syria. Most of his colleagues regard the crumbling order in the region as a fulfilment of their ambitions in Iraq – which had remained unfinished business, until the war in Syria gave them a new arena.
An interesting article, nonetheless. (h/t Frank)
Bin Laden Is Dead And Aid Worker Peter Kassig Is Dead
AP News: An Islamic State group video released Sunday purports to show extremists beheading a dozen Syrian soldiers and ends with a militant claiming to have killed U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig, the latest slaughter proudly broadcast by the group on the Internet.
Related.
When the Taliban lost control of Afghanistan between Oct. 7, 2001, and Dec. 23, 2001 — a period of 75 days — U.S. aircraft flew 6,500 strike sorties and dropped 17,500 munitions. By contrast, between Aug. 8, 2014, and Oct. 23, 2014 — 76 days — the United States conducted only 632 airstrikes and dropped only 1,700 munitions in Iraq and Syria…
Operation Empty Chair
Harakat Hazm and the Syrian Revolutionary Front just surrendered to Al Qaeda in Syria.
Most people have never heard of either organization, though they’ve been sort of quietly backed by the US since they oppose the Assad regime, the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, and the Islamic State. Now they may be effectively finished.
Operation Empty Chair
Obama’s ‘war’ on ISIS remains strangely nameless.
Right now, there is no specific budget request for Obama’s promised long-term effort to “degrade and destroy” ISIS. A tell-tale sign. Given Obama’s record on veracity, this would seem to indicate “long-term” in his mind means at least through Nov. 5.
Funds for this campaign are being borrowed from other Pentagon accounts. Can a president have a serious war with no budget and no name?
Sure he can. If he’s on the other side.
Say It Isn’t So, Joe!
Joe Biden in 2012: If Romney Wins, We’ll Go To War With Syria
Operation Empty Chair
The Times noted that our Arab allies seem a bit tentative. No kidding – Obama and Kerry were wrong about the surge in ’07, wrong about the Iraqi troop withdrawals in ’11, wrong to walk away from post-Qadaffi Libya in ’11, wrong not to arm the moderate Syrian rebels in ’11, wrong to draw a faux red line in 2013, and now no one will get behind him? The headless chickens have come home to roost.
More – Instapundit suggests that Kerry doesn’t want to call it a war because we might lose it.
Operation Empty Chair
Who could have known, after regime change in Libya had gone so swimmingly?
What a difference a year makes. Around this time last year, the West was gearing up for military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was accused of carrying out chemical weapons attacks on his own people. That intervention never came to pass, not least because domestic public opinion in countries such as Britain and the United States was opposed to further entanglements in the Middle East.
Now, the U.S. is contemplating extending airstrikes on Islamic State militants operating in Iraq in Syria — fighters belonging to a terrorist organization that is leading the war against Assad. The Islamic State’s territorial gains in Iraq and continued repression and slaughter of religious minorities there and in Syria have rightly triggered global condemnation. “I am no apologist for the Assad regime,” Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Syria, told NPR. “But in terms of our security, [the Islamic State] is by far the greatest threat.”
The irony of the moment is tragic. But to some, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Many cautioned against the earlier insistence of the Obama administration (as well as other governments) that Assad must go, fearing what would take hold in the vacuum.
One of those critics happened to be Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned against U.S. intervention in Syria in a New York Times op-ed last September.
Red Line related: The United States has made the strongest indication to date that Syria may have withheld some of its chemical weapons on 18 August, when it said there are still “serious questions” about its declaration to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Well, all things considered, they might want to give some back.
Operation Empty Chair
Iraq has bought used fighter jets from Russia and Belarus to battle Islamist militants after long delays in the delivery of F-16 planes from the U.S. left troops without air support, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said.
The jets “should arrive in Iraq in two or three days,” Al-Maliki said.
Meanwhile… Obama Proposes $500 Million to Aid Syrian Rebels
h/t Dan T.
Operation Empty Chair
It’s hard not to conclude that the administration’s Syria policy is a sub-set of its Iran policy. Many people were baffled for a long time, including me, that the president didn’t seem to see Syria strategically, as a way to weaken Iran. Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis said that toppling Bashar al-Assad would constitute the most severe blow against the Iranian regime in 25 years. A number of administration officials seemed to recognize the same thing–from former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and ex-CIA director David Petraeus. Only the president seemed to not recognize that or to see Syria in a strategic framework. What we now realize is that the president does see Syria in a strategic framework. He sees that the Syrian regime is an important ally of the Iranians and doesn’t want to be seen toppling the regime for fear of angering the Iranians.
He’s on the other side.
Operation Empty Chair
Way past the expiry date: Syria Is Going to Miss the Deadline for Destroying Its Chemical-Weapons Stockpile
What We Really Need Is Democracy
Syrian Spring: Al-Qaeda-linked rebels apologise after cutting off head of wrong person
“I can see Russia from my knees”
Quote of the Week.
Related: …the State Department indicates that Syria might miss its first deadline
Putin Checkmates America
Melanie Phillips: ‘A credible threat of force’? What’s he been smoking?
Now Is The Time At SDA When We Juxtapose!
Leftist logic on display:
2013-09-11: The American government is openly equipping Syrian rebels with weapons.
2013-09-16: The American government forbids most members of the U.S. military from protecting themselves & others while on a military base.
Chemical weapon-free zone
Syrian rebels “brandish beheaded children like bowling trophies” while shouting “Allahu Akbar!”
History Reverses Itself
We’re done with them now, you can have them back.
h/t, Maz2
And now, for something completely different
Putin playing Obama, Obama playing his base, Al Qaeda playing everyone.
In a chilling alliance that could turn conventional wisdom about the current Syria debate — and the revolution’s players — on its head, signs continue to mount that show al-Qaeda is working not against Bashar al-Assad but in concert with the dictator.
This includes assassinating key Assad opponents, coordinating attacks, not targeting each other’s positions and helping push a War on Terror narrative to keep Assad in power.
The timing seems suspect to me about this story, but it’s something to keep in mind. Palin had it right. Let Allah sort it out, and when it’s done, figure out what to do.
Gong Show
The administration that can’t walk the walk can’t even talk the talk.
Three more years to go.