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The Rest of Iraq asks: where’s the U.S.?
McClatchy DC ^ | 08/18/2014 | BY ADAM ASHTON

Posted on 08/18/2014 1:44:53 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

BAGHDAD — As U.S. warplanes tilt the battlefield against Islamic militants in Kurdish-controlled territories, Iraqis in the rest of the country are growing resentful that the U.S. so far is not intervening more forcefully to protect Arabs who have been fighting extremists for months.

They see the U.S. wading in to protect a favored ally in Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government, but leaving the rest of Iraq to fend for itself since militants in the Islamic State displaced hundreds of thousands of Shiite Arabs when they seized the city of Mosul in June.

“From the beginning, the Iraqi government has asked America to step in to a dangerous situation for the Shiites,” said Farid al Ibrahimi, a Shiite lawmaker. “When (the Islamic State) tried to attack the Kurdistan region, the movement by the Americans was so, so, so fast.”

(Excerpt) Read more at mcclatchydc.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: iraq; isis; kurds
This whole question of "Where's the US?" reminds me of my time when I was working in the Philippines ...

We had two huge bases there -- a Navy is SUBIC BAY and an Airforce at Clark Air base.

At that time, there was a segment of the population who kept chanting -- YANKEE GO HOME !

Well, guess what? We left ( accelerated by the explosion of a volcano named Mount Pinatubo which covered the bases with dirty ashes ).

And then lo and behold, a few years after 9/11, the Pinoys (that's short for Filipinos ) "invited" (wink wink ) us back to help them fight the Abu Sayef (an offshoot of al-Qaeda) in their south/ Guess what? We still have soldiers there....

Obummer might tell us that he "ended" the war in Afghanistan and Iraq...

The reality is... HE ABANDONED the war.

We might not be interested in war, but war is interested in us.

1 posted on 08/18/2014 1:44:53 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

My mother used to say, “If you go to war, you better go to win.”


2 posted on 08/18/2014 1:47:21 PM PDT by bunkerhill7 ("The Second Amendment has no limits n firepower"-NY State Senator Kathleen A. Marchione.")
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To: SeekAndFind

If Obummer can screw it up, he will.


3 posted on 08/18/2014 1:47:45 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (The cure has become worse than the disease. Support an end to the WOD now.)
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To: SeekAndFind

On the golf course. Why do you ask?


4 posted on 08/18/2014 1:48:39 PM PDT by Obadiah (None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Wonder what the Shiites are bitching about ... why don’t they just ask their buds in Tehran to help out?


5 posted on 08/18/2014 1:51:48 PM PDT by bassmaner (Hey commies: I am a white male, and I am guilty of NOTHING! Sell your 'white guilt' elsewhere.)
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To: Obadiah
On the golf course. Why do you ask?

Fantastic...bwahahhaa..

6 posted on 08/18/2014 2:13:36 PM PDT by Ghost of SVR4 (So many are so hopelessly dependent on the government that they will fight to protect it.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Still paying off the war and tending to our wounded (or not).


7 posted on 08/18/2014 2:26:55 PM PDT by Wolfie
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To: SeekAndFind

Are we interested in war enough to pay for it up front and institute a draft? Don’t bother, I already know the answer.


8 posted on 08/18/2014 2:28:51 PM PDT by Wolfie
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To: Wolfie

RE: Are we interested in war enough to pay for it up front and institute a draft?

Not at this point in time, but that time might (God forbid) come.

The great goal of Islam is a world wide caliphate and the Great Satan (That’s us ) is its greatest obstacle.


9 posted on 08/18/2014 2:34:31 PM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

Yep. Our cities are about ready to explode and burn.


10 posted on 08/18/2014 2:39:39 PM PDT by DownInFlames
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To: SeekAndFind

Well said.

Ingrates. I am being harsh here because somewhere along the way, an American died for them. Actually, many.

In a way I hope that they learn the hard way that they were wrong. Then maybe they’ll appreciate what we have done for them. Then again, maybe they never will.


11 posted on 08/18/2014 2:45:17 PM PDT by dhs12345
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To: SeekAndFind
Iraq asks: where’s the U.S?

Show us the money.

12 posted on 08/18/2014 2:52:29 PM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate "Republicans Freed the Slaves" Month.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Well Shi’ite people of Iraq please take note.

The primary sectarian violence between different Iraqis - since the fall of Saddam - has been overwhelmingly between Shi-ites and Sunnis for the most part, with Kurds more often than not on the sidelines.

The U.S. supported Shia AND Sunni of Iraq who wanted to have a peaceful and inclusive government with each other against all groups seeking to impose solutions by violence and terrorism. On both sides of that issue again the groups, both peaceful and violent were predominately Shia and Sunni.

The Sunni-Shia violence did not spill over much into the Kurdish region until just recently.

And, if the Shia Iraqi majority is looking for blame they need to look in the mirror, for their continuing support for Maliki as he continued his over-reach for power and use of his time in power as “pay back” time for the Iraqi Shia at the expense of the Iraqi Sunnis, sowing sectarian divisions and providing cause for young disillusioned Sunni men to go along with the jihadist promises for a change.

The question for the Iraqi Shia is not what is the U.S. going to do, but what are YOU going to do. The American people are waiting to see if a Shia majority government in Iraq and the Shia majority itself, is going to be an all inclusive civil society or is again politicians time in office going to be all about how much can I get for those of my religious confession and to hell with anyone else.

Without the American people knowing if the Shia majority is only concerned about themselves, or all Iraqis, then the American people are not clear that the violent sectarian divisions between Iraqis will end merely by defeating ISIS - for the moment. Meanwhile, the Kurdish part of Iraq has continuously demonstrated that security within Kurdistan for everyone in Kurdistan is a top government priority and only after the Shia majority government in Baghdad fell down on that score in Sunni dominate areas under its control did the Sunni-Shia violence spread to Kurdistan.

The loss of the Christian community in Iraq did not begin with ISIS, it’s been going on since the fall of Saddam and the cause has been Shia and Sunni violence and intimidation against it. So where was the Shia majority all that time before ISIS, which is just the latest insult to Iraqi Christians?

When the Shi’ite of Iraq get their own house in order, then we can talk about how we can help them.


13 posted on 08/18/2014 3:03:50 PM PDT by Wuli
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To: SeekAndFind

Guys, Barry barely gives a crap about us, and we live here. You guys? To borrow Danny Elfman’s immortal lines, he can’t believe that anyone would want to do such terrible things, but why should he care?


14 posted on 08/18/2014 3:06:18 PM PDT by RichInOC (Obama: Not Me.)
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To: SeekAndFind; All

Let’s not forget that Obama helped cause this mess with his cavalier attitude toward Iraq and his Islamist sympathies!~


15 posted on 08/18/2014 3:14:32 PM PDT by JSDude1
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To: SeekAndFind

His Arrogance is a Sunni under orders from the Saudis to let ISIS slaughter the Shiites. Helping the Kurds protect the oil fields with the oil revenues going to the Kurds will further weaken the Iraq government. Once Iraq falls, they can turn their entire focus on Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, etc. If you are a Shiite, you’re gonna be a dead one soon.


16 posted on 08/18/2014 3:16:53 PM PDT by RetiredTexasVet (The IRS, HHS, EPA, etc. would have saved the E-mails if they thought the court orders were serious.)
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To: SeekAndFind

One word: SOFA. What commander in their right mind would send US troops into areas where they are subject to Iraqi legal prosecution and courts? Kurds give us free reign. Sunni and Shia don’t. AMF. They can bludgeon each other near death before they figure they have issues only the Americans can moderate and protect them from if we’re allowed to.


17 posted on 08/18/2014 3:20:26 PM PDT by Justa
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To: Wolfie

Why should we have a draft when the armed forces are letting people go left and right? There’s no jobs... The draft threat is aimed at middle class white kids who have futures... it’s a liberal position. Charlie Rangle throws it out when he want to play bully.


18 posted on 08/19/2014 5:40:36 AM PDT by GOPJ ( Looted store owners in Ferguson should to sue the city. They paid for police protection - got none)
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To: GOPJ

Shared sacrifice. It builds character.


19 posted on 08/19/2014 5:41:30 AM PDT by Wolfie
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