interventionist warmongers rarely learn from their mistakes. On Friday, August 8, 2014 11:33:06 AM UTC-5, Travis wrote: > > > > > > > > > > http://www.armytimes.com/article/20140807/NEWS08/308070078/Top-U-S-officer-Iraq-We-must-neutralize-enemy- > > > > *Top U.S. officer in Iraq: 'We must neutralize this enemy'* > > Aug. 7, 2014 - 06:00AM > > [image: Lt. Gen. Mick Bednarek is the top U.S. officer serving in Iraq. He > stressed that the Islamic State is a global threat, not a local one.] > > Lt. Gen. Mick Bednarek is the top U.S. officer serving in Iraq. He > stressed that the Islamic State is a global threat, not a local one. > (Thomas Brown/Staff) > > > By Michelle Tan <javascript:> > > The violent advances of Islamic militants in Iraq is not an isolated > problem but rather a “growing global challenge” that needs to be dealt > with, the top American general in Iraq told Army Times. > > “We must neutralize this enemy,” said Army Lt. Gen. Mick Bednarek, chief > of the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq in a Wednesday phone interview. > “This is not just an Iraqi issue. This is not just a regional issue. This > is a common enemy issue that we’ve got to address.” > > Islamic State fighters have advanced across the northern and western parts > of Iraq, seizing control of cities such as Mosul and Fallujah. Estimated to > have about 10,000 fighters across Syria and Iraq, the militants have > consolidated control over large swaths of territory during the past several > weeks. > > The group “is not just a violent extremist organization,” Bednarek said. > “This is an army, and it takes an army to defeat an army.” > > The Islamic State is well organized, equipped and funded, Bednarek said, > and they caught the Iraqi forces off guard. > > “This is a very, very difficult, dire and dangerous situation here in > Iraq,” he said. “We’re very concerned about the deteriorating security > situation as well as the growing humanitarian crisis. It’s not good, and > it’s not improving fast enough.” > > More U.S. involvement appears imminent. The Washington Post reported > Thursday that President Obama could soon approve airdrops of humanitarian > supplies, citing unnamed White House officials. There have been media > reports of U.S. airstrikes but Defense Department officials have tried to > squash those rumors. > > There are about 750 U.S. troops in Iraq. About 400 troops provide security > for the U.S. Embassy compound and facilities at the Baghdad International > Airport, while more than 200 military advisers are working with Iraqi > forces. > > “We provided the assessments, and our senior leaders are reviewing those > in pretty good detail,” he said. “From [there] they’ll make some > appropriate recommendations to our senior leadership for the way forward as > we look to continue current efforts or potentially expand or modify those > efforts as we partner with the Iraqis.” > > After days of intense fighting, militants from the Islamic State group on > Thursday seized the Mosul dam, Iraq’s largest hydroelectric dam, giving > them control of enormous power and water resources and leverage over the > Tigris River that runs through the heart of Baghdad, the Associated Press > reported. > > The al-Qaida breakaway group posted a statement online Thursday, > confirming it had taken control of the dam and vowing to continue “the > march in all directions,” as it expands the Islamic state, or Caliphate, it > has imposed over broad swathes of territory straddling the Iraqi-Syrian > border. The group said it has seized a total of 17 Iraqi cities, towns and > targets — including the dam and a military base — over the past five days. > The statement could not be verified but it was posted on a site frequently > used by the group, according to the AP. > > Halgurd Hekmat, a spokesman for the Kurdish fighters, told the AP that > clashes around the dam were ongoing and he didn’t know who currently had > control over it. > > “The Kurds are fighting valiantly, as they always have, but forces are > spread very thin up there in the Mosul dam area,” Bednarek said Wednesday. > “If the dam falls into [Islamic State] hands and the dam is destroyed, the > flooding and humanitarian disaster that would cause, not only in Mosul > city, but south all the way down the Tigris, would be a monumental > catastrophe.” > > Current hydrology estimates show it would take about four days for water > from the Mosul dam to reach all the way down to Baghdad, flooding farms, > homes and cities in its wake, he said. > > The U.S. also is preparing, if called upon, to provide humanitarian > assistance to thousands from Iraq’s minority Yazidi community who fled > their homes after the Islamic State captured their towns in northern > Ninewah province. > > Faced with death threats, some 50,000 — half of them children, according > to U.N. figures — ran into the nearby Sinjar mountains where they are out > of reach of the militants, but are cut off from food and water, according > to the AP. > > The United Nations’ World Food Programme and the U.S. Agency for > International Development, among other agencies, are trying to get > much-needed food, water and supplies to the Yazidis who fled and are now > stranded up on the Sinjar mountain range, Bednarek said. > > “They’re surrounded because [Islamic State] has taken over the town of > Sinjar,” he said. “To escape the killings, the violence, beheadings, > extermination, they have gone up on the mountain top itself.” > > The U.S. is “certainly looking to assist where we can from a humanitarian > assistance perspective,” Bednarek said, adding that he’s been “asked to > prepare contingencies in case that guidance comes to fruition.” > > The western part of Iraq, including Anbar province, continue to be “very > dynamic, dire and difficult,” Bednarek said. > > The militants also have some of Iraq’s highways choked with checkpoints, > blocking Iraqi Security Forces from resupplying, rearming, refitting and > reinforcing its units in the field, Bednarek said. > > The south remains relatively stable, Bednarek said, but fighting has > intensified in the southern Baghdad belt, near Jurf Al Sakhar and Yusufiyah. > > One positive development is that the crisis has brought together the > Sunnis, Shias and Kurds to fight a common enemy, Bednarek said. > > The Islamic State is not fighting for a stronger Iraq, Bednarek said, > “They’re fighting to destroy Iraq.” > > Regardless of what comes next, the U.S. is “committed to a long-term > strategic partnership” with Iraq, Bednarek said. > > The U.S. stood up a joint operations center in Baghdad and another in > Erbil, and the U.S. also has a combined operations center with the Iraqis > that is headquartered at the Ministry of Defense. > > The incoming U.S. troops joined the 110 or so troops who were serving in > Iraq as part of the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq, led by Bednarek. > > The office falls under the State Department, and it is designed to > continue developing the relationship between the U.S. and Iraqi militaries > through activities such as military-to-military exchanges and education and > training program initiatives. > > In the coming days and weeks, “everybody’s focused on the fight tonight,” > Bednarek said. > > > > > __._,_.___ > ------------------------------ > Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected] <javascript:>> > ------------------------------ > > > Visit Your Group > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmMWw1YXM5BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0MDc1MDk0ODg-> > > > > [image: Yahoo! Groups] > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlOWduZWxvBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQwNzUwOTQ4OA--> > > • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • > Unsubscribe <javascript:> • Terms of Use > <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> > > __,_._,___ > > >
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