Posted on 05/18/2015 5:34:40 PM PDT by mandaladon
After capturing the capital city of a major Iraqi region, ISIS is claiming one of its biggest victories.
According to local officials, Islamic State militants likely killed as many as 500 people in the city of Ramadi, and forced 8,000 to flee their homes.
Ramadi, a city of 192,000 people, is the capital of Anbar Province, a large desert region that the Iraqi government announced just last month it was hoping to save in a major military offensive.
“It’s a pretty significant setback,” Steve Bucci of the Heritage Foundation told Yahoo’s Bianna Golodryga on Monday.
Bucci says American aid to the Iraqi military in an attempt to save the city was “anemic,” and that more air strikes and special forces would have been needed.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., went one step further today, saying he would like to see more of an American ground presence in the fight against ISIS.
In fact, it was a rare U.S. ground attack in Syria last weekend that killed a major ISIS commando, Abu Sayyaf, and captured his wife.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Obammy should have not cut and run. No doubt. There is nothing there worth saving at this point. Suni, Kurd, Shiite? They're all the same to me. None would ever be a true ally.
McJuan and Linda will claim “mission accomplished”....
More islamist by the moment.
they have never known anything remotely resembling freedom, and barring a miracle. which i wont count out just yet..they cant know that there is a light at the end of the ugly tunnel that they’re stuck in.
I didn't say it would be easy....just that it can be done.
A better question is, what happens if Iraq is not saved?
"Iraq" couldn't be saved in 1921.
Now? Don't be ridiculous.
McCain just cannot help himself. He must dream of sending more men and weapons to the Middle East every night. One has to wonder how much money this creep gets from the MIC.
If one side is really losing, give it a little support—but only a little, to keep balance, bolster enthusiasm and the like.
Can Iraq be saved?
Not with these yahoos running the show.
The Kurds have the makings of a legit nation and they have been very good in taking in the Christians and Yazidis who have fled. Let them go indy.
Iraq as we know is pretty much is GONE. Let the Kurds have their nation, ISIS will control the areas they control. The shia area will go under Iran.
“Anglo-French Construct” indeed so. We are seeing the unraveling of the Sykes-Picot agreement post WWI. No consideration of religious tribal or historical boundaries
We need to let the contestants burn each other out and stay away from any further involvement except containment
For now. The Assyrians still remember the Kurds participation in the genocide under the Ottomans.
But also the Kurds have not forgotten what Saddam has done against the Kurds also.
Iraq could be saved, but not by Obama, just as he is not saving Afghanistan from the Taleban nor saving anyone from Syrian chemical weapons.
The muslims in Iraq are about 65% Shia & 35% Sunni. ISIS is a Sunni org. Iran is predominantly Shia, governed by Shia mullahs.
My guess is that Iraq will become the battleground between ISIS & Iran; a long & bloody war much like the Iran/Iraq war, with atrocities being the norm on both sides. Both will be determined to eradicate the heretics on the other side.
ISIS really has nothing to lose that it hasn’t stolen already. If things get bad for them they can just pack up & go back home to the EU.
Iran, however, risks bankruptcy, what with western sanctions in place, a country to maintain, & a limited supply of weaponry & ammo. A long war would impoverish the country.
Obama will increasingly look like a timid, weak fool caught in the middle. There is little chance he will actually make a difference in the war with his pinprick strikes on ISIS.
I really don’t care which side wins; both are the epitome of evil. I just hope our adversaries in the world do not take advantage of Obama’s cowardice.
Note to black US neighborhoods: This is what happens when police no longer police your area, pack up & go home. Lot’s of innocent people die violent deaths as the thugs dance on the graves.
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