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Sometimes you just have to shake your head:

U.S. and Iran hold “very brief discussions” about Iraq and ISIS threat, State Department spokeswoman tells CNN. http://t.co/vE9Sr9IDMn

— CNN International (@cnni) June 16, 2014

State Official emphatic that US won't engage in military coordination or strategic determinations with Iran about Iraq’s future.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) June 16, 2014

To round up the basic positioning taking place within the U.S. administration vis-a-vi Iraq, it’s useful to look at similarly minded influential ideologues in and out of the current administration.   Once you understand the mindset of the fellow travelers you can predict what the White House will do.

We start with Mike Morell, and his current position.

All Politics All The Time – Mike Morell was the CIA interim replacement for General Petraeus after Benghazi (and the affair that took Petraeus out of the picture with the help of FBI [Eric Holder]).   Morell is a like-minded fellow traveler to Clinton/Obama and currently under Clinton employ while working for CBS.  Morell was the sympathetic receipient of WH Communication Director Ben Rhodes evolutionary talking points around Benghazi and defender of all things Hillary during Senate Hearings.

Remember too – as you watch this – Morell’s Benghazi cohort, Ben Rhodes, is the brother to current CBS News President, David Rhodes.   In addition to his Clinton employment, David Rhodes (CBS) employs Morell as a Senior Security Analyst:

So there, we essentially have the framework outlined this morning for the current White House position.

So, is that indeed the message the day delivers? (more…)

There is a MASSIVE amount of speculation about the actual capability of ISIS to engage effectively in combat operations.

It is prudent to pause for a moment.

While we certainly don’t know the composition of the forces that might now be aligned with ISIS, it’s a bit of a stretch to say they would be capable of effectively using advanced technological military weaponry; the key word is “effectively”.

(more…)

Unconfirmed reports are surfacing that Baghdad International Airport is under attack from ISIS elements close to the city.

https://twitter.com/UmarAbuAbd/statuses/478342440076967936

If ISIS is indeed striking the Baghdad Airport, it would be yet another jaw dropping revelation.

It would be prudent to be skeptical and cautious without actual western media present to confirm such reports.

Between 50 and 100 U.S. Marines and U.S. Army personnel have arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, official says. http://t.co/rZhsP1J2p3

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) June 15, 2014

https://twitter.com/Nyghtewynd/statuses/478193646328881152

Thank God our independent media is there to grill Mitt Romney and hold him to account for Iraq.

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) June 15, 2014

Oh the Irony !!

Pres Obama playing a round of golf toay at Porcupine Creek in Rancho Mirage, a 249-acre private club owned by Oracle founder Larry Ellison.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) June 15, 2014

Funny, well sort of, “it takes a Bush to protect vital U.S. interests” ie. American Citizens…. (the headlines write themselves) ….

WASHINGTON DC […] Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush to move from the North Arabian Sea into the Persian Gulf, which CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reported Friday was expected to happen. The Bush is carrying fighter jets that could easily get to Iraq.

“The order will provide the commander in chief additional flexibility should military options be required to protect American lives, citizens and interests in Iraq,” Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement Saturday.

A guided-missile cruiser, the USS Philippine Sea, and a guided-missile destroyer, the USS Truxtun, would accompany the carrier, Kirby said.  [*NOTE* The ships carry Tomahawk missiles… /SD]  The ships were expected to arrive in the Gulf later Saturday.

Fighters from the al Qaeda splinter group, drawing support from former Saddam Hussein-era figures and other disaffected Sunnis, have made dramatic gains in the Sunni heartland north of Baghdad after overrunning Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul on Tuesday. Soldiers and policemen have melted away in the face of the lightning advance, and thousands have fled to the self-ruled Kurdish region in northern Iraq. (more…)

Nero fiddles…

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) — President Barack Obama is spending a long Father’s Day weekend in the California desert oasis of Rancho Mirage.

The president and first lady arrived at the Palm Springs airport Friday night after visiting an Indian reservation earlier in the day.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, are greeted on the tarmac by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., second from left, and her husband Stewart Boxer, left, as they arrive on Friday, June 13, 2014, in Palm Springs, Calif.

They are staying with White House decorator Michael Smith and his partner, U.S. Ambassador to Spain James Costos, at their vacation home. (more…)

Alarming to YOU, but not necessarily to the White House fundraising team headed to Palm Springs.

Against the videos of thousands of Iraqi troops being road-marched by ISIS islamists fighters, new reports outline 1,700 of them may have ended with a mass execution:

Screenshot official ISIS account that claims they executed 1700 Shiite soldiers. They surrendered in #Tikrit ystrdy pic.twitter.com/7QyMnEuAAo

— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) June 13, 2014

Additionally WND is reporting the U.S. security contractors in Baland Air Force Base are surrounded by thousands of the islamists and are fighting them amid the chaos. (more…)

It’s always the “also attending’s” that tell the story:

Click to SuperSize  😉

President Barack Obama convenes an Oval Office meeting with his national security team to discuss the situation in Iraq, June 13, 2014.

Seated with the President from left: Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Robert Cardillo, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration; Vice President Joe Biden; National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice, and Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns.

Also attending the meeting were Chief of Staff Denis McDonough; Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to the Vice President; Tony Blinken, Deputy National Security Advisor; and Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

(more…)