It’s about friggin’ time ! President Obama says the action is to prevent “genocide” and provide relief to thousands of Iraqi religious minorities who have fled to the Northern mountains of Iraq. [Video ADDED 9:50pm EST More updates will follow soon]
The New York Times is reporting -based on ground sources in the region- that the U.S. is bombing ISIS positions in Northern Iraq.
However, I share with an abundance of caution -and I can most certainly be wrong- but my hunch is the ground reports, and as a consequence the New York Times, are crediting the wrong air force.
Additionally, the White House is strongly refuting the claims by the NYT. Here’s the report from the Times:
DOHUK, Iraq — American military forces bombed at least two targets in northern Iraq on Thursday night to rout Islamist insurgents who have trapped tens of thousands of religious minorities in Kurdish areas, Kurdish officials said.
Word of the bombings, reported on Kurdish television from the city of Erbil, came as President Obama was preparing to make a statement in Washington.
Kurdish officials said the bombings targeted fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria who had seized two towns, Gwer and Mahmour. Residents who had fled those areas by car were heard honking their horns in approval.
March 2011 approximately 100,000 al-Qaeda radical Islamists were fighting in Benghazi Libya – President Gaddaffi’s military was en route to eliminate them – when Samantha Power, Susan Rice, Hillary Clinton and President Obama announced the Responsibility To Protect (R2P) Doctrine:
…“To brush aside America’s responsibility as a leader and -more profoundly- our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are.
Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as President, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action.”…
The R2P goal was to “save the Libyan rebels”. The “rebels” -as you are aware- were al-Qaeda affiliates, Ansar al-Sharia, or essentially, the Muslim Brotherhood. (more…)
You might well remember in 2011 when Senior Foreign Policy Advisor, Samantha Power, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, Secretary Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama created the Obama Doctrine “Responsibility To Protect” (R2P) as they demanded intervention to defend al-Qaeda “rebels” in Benghazi Libya:
…“To brush aside America’s responsibility as a leader and -more profoundly- our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are. Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as President, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action.”…
– President Barack Obama, March 28th 2011
Yesterday Yazidi Member of Iraqi Parliament “Fiyan Dakheel” (of the Kurdistan Alliance) collapses in tears after calling upon Humanity to rescue the Yazidis from Genocide. Dakheel pleads with her fellow lawmakers: (more…)
(Via Daily Beast) In a major defeat for Kurdish forces the Iraqi town of Sinjar was captured Sunday by the group known as ISIS, now calling itself the Islamic State. This is the Kurds first major loss to ISIS and a catastrophe for the religious minorities who had taken refuge in the area and are now at imminent risk of being slaughtered.
Reports from the region describe an unfolding tragedy with young women being abducted, religious monuments destroyed, and the ISIS flag now hanging over government buildings. (more…)
ISRAEL – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t mince words in a phone call with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro on Friday.
Netanyahu reportedly warned Shapiro that President Barack Obama and his administration was “not to ever second-guess me again,” according to sources that spoke on condition of anonymity with The Associated Press.
The phone call came hours after a proposed cease-fire in Gaza quickly crumbled, with one Israeli soldier taken hostage and two more killed during an attack. While the Obama administration did not blame the abduction on Hamas, officials did say they hold the group responsible for events occurring in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu told Shapiro he “expected” the U.S., along with the U.N. and other international groups, to help him moving forward with a “strong and swift response,” because he knows best how to handle Hamas. (read more)
Netanyahu speaks to Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Saturday to use as much military power as need and fight “as long as it will take” against terror group Hamas to restore peace in his country.
In a TV speech in Jerusalem that appeared in part directed at Israelis beleaguered by the fighting’s destruction and death toll, Netanyahu gave no indication of moving toward a cease-fire with Hamas, the Islamic militant group. (more…)
White House Communications Director Ben Rhodes must really be annoyed with Secretary John Kerry this week.
Kerry and Wallace got into a heated exchange:
