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Iraq Wants America Back to Fight al Qaeda With Air Strikes
The Daily Beast ^ | Wednesday, June 11, 2014 | Eli Lake

Posted on 06/11/2014 4:44:37 PM PDT by kristinn

Two and a half years after the last U.S. soldier departed, an al Qaeda offshoot is in control of Mosul and headed for Baghdad—and Iraq’s prime minister is requesting U.S. air strikes.

It seems like only yesterday that Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, was celebrating as the last American soldiers left Iraq. Now, with an al Qaeda offshoot threatening to take Baghdad, Maliki’s government is quietly asking at least some troops—specifically airmen and drone pilots—to return.

While Iraq’s government is not requesting a surge in U.S. ground forces like the one President Bush ordered in 2007, Maliki’s government has been asking for the U.S. to conduct targeted air strikes and the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance work to find those targets.

And there are plenty of new targets. On Tuesday, the al Qaeda offshoot known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) overran Iraqi military positions in Mosul, the country’s second largest city. On Wednesday, reports from Iraq said the terrorist group was pushing toward Iraq’s capital, Baghdad.

If President Obama agrees to launch drone strikes in Iraq, it would not be unprecedented for the region. The United States is playing a similar role in Iraq’s neighbor, Yemen, with intense counterterrorism training and drone strikes. But Obama also has boasted that he ended the U.S. war in Iraq and thus far has been hesitant to reenter the conflict.

“What we really need right now are drone strikes and air strikes,” said a senior Iraqi official Wednesday. But the official stressed that so far the Obama administration has been reluctant.

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


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: airstrikes; alqaeda; alqaedainiraq; bhogwot; iraq; isis; obama; postwariraq
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1 posted on 06/11/2014 4:44:37 PM PDT by kristinn
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To: kristinn

No Thanks —


2 posted on 06/11/2014 4:46:32 PM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: kristinn

Time for Iraq to put on their Big Boy pants.


3 posted on 06/11/2014 4:47:57 PM PDT by Oliviaforever
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To: kristinn

Okay. Please wait for the next new Obama scandal conflagration to flare up in the news media. Then you might have your airstrikes as requested.


4 posted on 06/11/2014 4:49:51 PM PDT by Jagdgewehr (It will take blood.)
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Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: kristinn

PAY US.

How much..?

I think when we risk our lives we should GET SOMETHING.

It’s either NO, or let’s talk turkey.

WHY is that bad..?


6 posted on 06/11/2014 4:52:17 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: kristinn

American policy in the middle east is in almost as bad of a shape as things are totally FUBAR domestically.

obozo is wearing his “mission accomplished” banner T shirt.


7 posted on 06/11/2014 4:52:54 PM PDT by kingattax (a real American would rather die on his feet than live on his knees.)
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Comment #8 Removed by Moderator

To: Oliviaforever

“Time for Iraq to put on their Big Boy pants.”

I don’t have a problem with killing muzzys, so long as Iraq is footing the bill for the hardware...


9 posted on 06/11/2014 4:53:49 PM PDT by babygene ( .)
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To: kristinn
Maybe we can charge them, now that they've got some oil flowing.
$10 million for each F-16 sortie, or some such - two aircraft dropping a 500 pounder each - that's 20 Mil, thank you very much.
It's just business.
10 posted on 06/11/2014 4:53:54 PM PDT by Psalm 73 ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room".)
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To: kristinn

Iraq is an utter waste of time.


11 posted on 06/11/2014 4:56:22 PM PDT by Jack Hammer
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To: kristinn

12 posted on 06/11/2014 4:57:23 PM PDT by OwenKellogg (Fundamental transformation leads to ... you don't want to go there, buddy.)
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To: kristinn

Sorry Jack, or should I say Achmed. Maybe a seance with Charles DeGaulle will give you an insight as to how Americans handle the door slammed in our faces after we shed our precious best blood to give you a chance at freedom.

You freaks coddled the Mullahs in Iran, idolized and protected that butchering slob Al-Sadr and now that your usefulness has run out with your Sunni “brothers” you have the gall to call the cavalry back?

We have a bit of historically sayings we will bestow upon people like you;

Don’t piss on my boots and then try to tell me it is raining.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.


13 posted on 06/11/2014 5:00:27 PM PDT by mazda77
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To: kristinn

Good luck with that, Bro.....


14 posted on 06/11/2014 5:00:57 PM PDT by Victor (If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert." -David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister)
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To: kristinn
Al Qaeda and the Taliban are on a role. It is all unraveling for Obama.

Obamacare, Benghazi, the NSA, the IRS, the VA, Bergdahl, Iraq and Afghanistan are spinning out of control. The Democrats are facing a disaster which, of course, will cause them to double down on their stupidity. Somehow this is all caused by GW Bush and the Republicans and the Tea Party.

15 posted on 06/11/2014 5:03:08 PM PDT by Senator_Blutarski
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To: kristinn
We all know how a President with integrity and the best interests of the US would handle this. I guarantee Obama will select the route that does the most damage to the US in the ME.
16 posted on 06/11/2014 5:04:10 PM PDT by vetvetdoug
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To: kristinn

Putin, I assume he is somewhat behind this, has Obama in a pickle- as usual.


17 posted on 06/11/2014 5:04:34 PM PDT by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat Party!)
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To: kristinn

I wonder how they feel at the embassy about now...


18 posted on 06/11/2014 5:09:59 PM PDT by lacrew (Mr. Soetoro, we regret to inform you that your race card is over the credit limit.)
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To: kristinn

In my opinion, we should go in and destroy any American / Iraqi Military Assets that the Jihadist’s have seized.

Noting like a little Live Fire Sorties for our Pilots to keep them sharp.

The idea of Jihadists using our Black Hawk Helicopters is crazy. Same for the Humvees and anything else we supplied to Iraq for that matter.

Flame away...


19 posted on 06/11/2014 5:15:04 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (THEY LIVE, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses...)
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To: kristinn

That’s a good idea, and bomb Iranian military bases and nuclear facilities in the process.


20 posted on 06/11/2014 5:16:19 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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