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”.
Y’all already know the topic of this captured moment. However, in case anyone needs a reminder (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…)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has now left Germany on board a U.S. military aircraft and will arrive at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, early Friday morning.
Bergdahl, who has been recovering in Germany after five years as a Taliban captive, is returning to the United States, but he will not receive the promotion that would have been automatic had he still been held prisoner.
A U.S. official said Bergdahl would go directly to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, arriving Friday. (read more)
#Bergdahl Presser scheduled today for 4pm Eastern at Brooke Army Medical Center. #FNPolitics
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) June 13, 2014
Back in 2011, amid the discussions of withdrawal from Iraq, and the debate over how many troops would be needed to maintain a stable environment, two influential names rose to the surface, Tom Donilon and Denis McDonough. Both Donilon and McDonough overrode the Pentagon advice, and advised President Obama to dismiss the military and heed their counsel instead.
In August [2011], after debates between the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House, the Americans settled on the 3,000 to 5,000 number, which was reported in August. According to two people briefed on the matter, one inside the administration and one outside, the arguments of two White House officials, Thomas E. Donilon, the national security adviser, and his deputy, Denis McDonough, prevailed over those of the military.
Intelligence assessments that Iraq was not at great risk of slipping into chaos in the absence of American forces were a factor in the decision, an American official said. (link)
This video from yesterday shows the Iraqi Army being marched by ISIS out of Tikrit.
What fate awaits these Iraqi Troops?
(Via NRO) Did the Department of Defense just reveal that former President Clinton lied to America in 1993?
Could be.
At the Bergdahl/Hagel hearing going on in the House today, Democrat Rep. Adam Smith asked DoD General Counsel Stephen Preston for a specific example from the past where the United States “dealt with non-state actors who are holding a service member in order to achieve their recovery.” (more…)
IRAQ – The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is preparing contingency plans to evacuate its employees if necessary now that one of the deadliest Islamic militant groups in the region has taken control of large swaths of Iraq, a U.S. official told TheBlaze.
The State Department also warned U.S. citizens against traveling to Iraq, following several days of bloody clashes between insurgents with the Al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Iraqi military forces.
ISIL has taken control of Mosul, Tikrit and Fallujah and aims to create an Islamic state across the Iraq-Syria border. (read more)
“Hey I’d really like to stay and have lunch with you guys but, ..um, .. well, I’ve seen how this ends before.” – “But, hey, thanks anyway”….. “TTFN”