Posted on 06/25/2014 6:34:25 PM PDT by dynachrome
BAGHDAD — Iraqi security officials said Wednesday that fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria were advancing on the Haditha Dam, the second-largest in Iraq, raising the possibility of catastrophic damage and flooding.
Worries about the dam came as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki criticized his political rivals but did not reject entreaties by Western leaders, including a personal visit by Secretary of State John Kerry, to help defuse the crisis by forming a new government with more equitable power sharing among competing groups.
The ISIS militants advancing on the Euphrates River dam, about 120 miles northwest of Baghdad, were coming from the north, the northeast and the northwest. The fighters had already reached Burwana, on the eastern side of Haditha, and government forces were fighting to halt their advance, security officials said.
Alarmed army officers told employees to stay inside and to be prepared to open the dam’s floodgates if ordered to do so, one employee said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
damn
"Two Iraqi advisers to Mr. Maliki said there would be more than 1,000 American private security guards coming to Iraq to protect the 300 military and intelligence advisers that will be here to help the Iraqi government fight ISIS, far more Americans than previously acknowledged. One adviser said the number of private guards would reach 1,700."
Private security to protect the military?
The actual term is “al Qaeda linked terrorists,” not the misleading “Sunni militants” the press keeps promoting.
True, but change the title and risk the wrath of the mods.
On one side, they’re at the dam, on the other side, they’re at the Balad air base. Baghdadi has proved a more formidable terror leader than anything we’ve seen before
Our military is being transformed into one big camp for gay, lesbian and transvestite freaks... so they're not real good at military stuff. We now need to outsource stuff like fighting.
I have been thinking that this would come down to the Euphrates or something. Water.
And oil.
Reportedly, Turkey has shut down a dam on the Euphrates upstream from this one. So, at present, the reservoir is not being re-charged -- or is receiving only minor inflow from the tributaries in Syria.
Well hey, the Saudis are probably footing the bill.
Drawing lines in the sand (desert) is totally lame.
How do you mean? I don’t intend to draw lines.
Bammy does.
Ah
Yes.
He makes lines in the sand. Near high tides.
Someone should tell him that doesn’t work. After all, he lived near beaches. You’d think he’d know, but no! He thinks about _________. (Fill in the blank)
My brother was tasked with protecting that dam in 2006. United State Marine Corp. 3/3.
Remember — the British lost the American Colonies after they had to resort to hiring Hessian mercenaries to fight for them.
Damn them to Hell, I say!
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