The immediate responses to Barack's announcement
The Common Ills
In the wake of the announcement that more US troops will be sent into Iraq, CNN offers a breakdown of how the numbers have added up since Barack Obama began sending troops in last year.
The chart covers only those designated as trainers.
Of the latest 450 that the White House announced yesterday, Greg Jaffe and Missy Ryan (Washington Post) note:
Rather, the additional troops are being sent to aid Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s outreach to disaffected Sunnis and bolster the Iraqi army, whose feckless performance has left the Iraqi leader vulnerable to challenges from Shiite hard-liners more closely aligned with Iran. A weakened Abadi, U.S. officials fear, would strengthen the position of Shiite Iran, which has cast itself as Iraq’s only effective partner in a largely sectarian war with the Sunni-dominated Islamic State.
“The trend lines [for Abadi] are not good,” said Doug Ollivant, a former military planner in Baghdad and senior fellow at the New America Foundation. “He needs a win — and preferably a string of two or three of them.”
The announcement yesterday has many implications. CBS News notes one, "This new approach means the long-planned fight to retake the northern Iraq city of Mosul, which fell to ISIS one year ago, will likely be delayed until Iraqi forces, still divided by sectarian suspicions, attempt to regain Ramadi." Another implication? Davan Maharaj (Los Angeles Times) observers, "It's hard to overstate Islam's Shiite-Sunni rivalry in Iraq. President Obama's planned new training camp harks back to the 'Anbar Awakening,' when the U.S. paid Sunni tribal fighters to help defeat Sunni radicals in the key -- and largely Sunni -- Anbar province. Then, as now, government Shiite militias had no credibility in Anbar and stood no chance. Can it work again? "
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- Here's how we got to 3,550 troops in
#Iraq. Lt. Gen. Hertling says to remember they didn't all go for same mission.
New Day The chart covers only those designated as trainers.
Of the latest 450 that the White House announced yesterday, Greg Jaffe and Missy Ryan (Washington Post) note:
Rather, the additional troops are being sent to aid Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s outreach to disaffected Sunnis and bolster the Iraqi army, whose feckless performance has left the Iraqi leader vulnerable to challenges from Shiite hard-liners more closely aligned with Iran. A weakened Abadi, U.S. officials fear, would strengthen the position of Shiite Iran, which has cast itself as Iraq’s only effective partner in a largely sectarian war with the Sunni-dominated Islamic State.
“The trend lines [for Abadi] are not good,” said Doug Ollivant, a former military planner in Baghdad and senior fellow at the New America Foundation. “He needs a win — and preferably a string of two or three of them.”
The announcement yesterday has many implications. CBS News notes one, "This new approach means the long-planned fight to retake the northern Iraq city of Mosul, which fell to ISIS one year ago, will likely be delayed until Iraqi forces, still divided by sectarian suspicions, attempt to regain Ramadi." Another implication? Davan Maharaj (Los Angeles Times) observers, "It's hard to overstate Islam's Shiite-Sunni rivalry in Iraq. President Obama's planned new training camp harks back to the 'Anbar Awakening,' when the U.S. paid Sunni tribal fighters to help defeat Sunni radicals in the key -- and largely Sunni -- Anbar province. Then, as now, government Shiite militias had no credibility in Anbar and stood no chance. Can it work again? "
A Tweet worth noting
3 hours ago
Can I get an amen to that?
3 hours ago
Sense8
3 hours ago
Because he's a moron
3 hours ago
If Hillary's a fighter for women . . .
3 hours ago
Doing nothing and doing stupid
3 hours ago
Wolf Moon
3 hours ago
Iraq snapshot
4 hours ago
He's smoking
15 hours ago
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