This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/6577
October 13, 2014
October 13, 2014 – San Francisco, CA – PipeLineNews.org – President Obama spent the last few days in California, cramming as many fundraisers into a compressed trip as possible. A few hours ago he was schmoozing in San Francisco, collecting greenbacks by the bucket-load while luxuriating in the adoration which the moneyed left bestows on him.
But what is going on inside his head?
Can he fail to comprehend that as ISIS continues its assault on the Kurds last stand, Kobani, adjacent the Turkish border, and Baghdad, once Iraq's secure capitol, his entire administration is collapsing around him?
As of this writing the Kurdish hold on Kobani, Syria is quickly slipping away, now controlling, according to inside sources, about 30% of the city. Turkey, showing total contempt for the plight of the Kurds, not to mention its supposed commitments to NATO, is heavily engaged in preventing Kurdish fighters from leaving Turkey to defend Kobani.
The only sound coming from DC…crickets chirping.
Obama doesn't give a shit about the Kurds and continues to hide behind the ruse that the U.S. needs a ground partner in order to make its extremely limited air campaign "effective."
In light of the fact that O has sent 4,000 American troops to Africa to "fight" Ebola, it becomes clear that the President isn't afraid to commit ground forces; he's just unwilling to have American military power engaged at its core level of competence, killing genuinely bad people and breaking their things.
The administration isn't even attempting to hide Team Obama's disdain for dealing with the complexities of the various Middle East conflicts, most of which can be traced to the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
"John Kirby [Pentagon spokesman] told Fox News on September 8 that Kobani was not a priority for air strikes. "ISIS wants this town, they want territory, you need willing partners on the ground," he said. "We are in discussions the Turks about what they can or may do, we can't make the decision for them." Kirby added: "There is a limit to air power.... IS wants to hold ground.... Everyone is focused on Kobani and we understand, but we are taking away revenue [from Islamic State] and removing command and control nodes." [source The Kobani Slaughter, Jerusalem Post] http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-Kobani-slaughter-378603
The WH cannot so easily dismiss the strategic importance of Baghdad, though it has utterly failed to come to the aid of Iraq which now appears to be on life-support.
ISIS is within artillery range of Baghdad airport as it closes in on the city. Knowing that the airport must be kept open if the U.S. is going to have a chance of fleeing the capitol when it all comes crashing down, General Martin Dempsey, Chair of the JCS, ordered American Apache attack helicopters into action to try to blunt the ISIS advance.
The best we can hope for this, is that it will give the President a few more days to vacillate about what he should do in Iraq.
While almost totally ignored by American media, the death throes of this presidency are being intensively [and critically] covered in Europe, using the collapse of whatever passed for stability in the ME as its metaphor.
"With Isis fighters also making advances into western Baghdad, which may allow them to close the city's airport with artillery fire, President Obama's strategy of containing the Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria is in ruins. Kurdish militiamen are battling to stop Isis capturing Kobani, but a Kurdish spokesman in the city was quoted as saying that the town "will certainly fall soon". Fighting has reached the eastern outskirts of Kobani where Isis fighters raised their black flag over one building at the entrance to the town." [source, Patrick Cockburn, Isis on the verge of victory in Kobani as US strategy lies in ruins: Jihadists close to taking city near Turkish border in Syria , UK Independent]
In our view the Kurds have already lost, Iraq is a lost cause and we will shortly see the remainder of U.S. personnel in that country airlifted out as ISIS raises its black flag over Baghdad.
The leaders of ISIS know that Mr. Obama is feckless and has no stomach to attempt to restore order in this part of the world. The ISIS kingpins know that O would rather lose the entire Middle East [which he is very close to doing right now] than anger his collectivist funding base by committing U.S. combat troops.
Is the American electorate is paying enough attention for this to matter that it will affect the outcome of the upcoming November elections is debatable. Yes, the majority of voters are dissatisfied with Obama's lack of vigor in foreign matters but whether they understand the existential threat [created by this administration] looming in the form of ISIS until it is entirely too late assumes facts not in evidence.
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http://www.pipelinenews.org/2014/oct/12/Vietnam-Redux-An-Administration-In-Ruins-Baghdad.html
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/6577