U.S. to 'fine tune' Iraq strategy in light of Ramadi debacle

Wonderful! So we will re supply ISIS with US supplied Iraqi abandoned, and not destroyed, weapons again.

President Obama is reorganizing his sham strategy to defeat ISIS. His goal is to make it appear that he is actually doing something right up until his time in office runs out in January 2017.

Everything that was predicted to occur when Obama cut off the Iraqi people in 2011 has come to pass. All it would have taken is 15 to 20 thousand troops to maintain the “sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government” that Obama inherited. Now there are a few thousand American troops in Iraq doing virtually nothing and guess what, there still isn't a status of forces agreement!

As always Obama has followed his ideology and not the facts on the ground. He makes his decisions with his eyes closed and his fingers in his ears out of fear that someone might talk common sense to him. The situation in Eastern Europe with Russia, the increasing assertiveness of China in the Western Pacific, and especially the utter chaos and failure of Obama's foreign policy in the Middle East will continue unopposed until a new American president assumes office. This is what 7 years of America 'leading from behind' looks like. Even Hillary isn't this incompetent in matters related to foreign affairs.

It's what happens when a government prioritizes very short-term geopolitical goals, with little to no consideration for the long-term consequences.

Idiot at the helm results in...

The US will be blamed any way you slice it, so I favor a policy that kills the fewest number of Americans. Preferably 0.

so I favor a policy that kills the fewest number of Americans

And what about people of other nations? Particularly those unfortunate enough to be objects of US policy?

Particularly those unfortunate enough to be objects of US policy?

Oh, you must mean Okinawa. . . Why hide? Just come out and say so. As if Japan did not prosper, as a whole, from American influence.

Oh, you must mean Okinawa

No, I mean people from countries like Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan. There were hundreds, may be thousands "collateral damage" casualties the US were not very concerned about.

The Iraqi Army is very good at marching in parades, but when time comes for battle to defend their own country, they flee. They also leave behind millions of dollars worth of equipment and ammunition paid for by the United States that the terrorist ISIS army then uses against them. Should we maybe send the equipment directly to ISIS and eliminate the middleman?

The U.S. has spent $25 billion to train and arm the Iraqi army in the last decade with literally nothing to show for it.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/05/why_the_iraqi_army_runs_away_in_battle.html#ixzz3bUJWCS2r

Carter was particularly critical of the terrorists’ taking of the Sunni town of Ramadi, which lies exactly on the road from Baghdad to Jordan, when huge numbers of Iraqi forces decided to flee from ISIL, leaving behind valuable American weaponry.

Now, we could end it right there, with nods and sighs and heads shaking, and leave the question of “Why don’t the Iraqi troops fight?” out there on the horizon like an eternally unanswerable question. But I don’t think it’s unanswerable, and I think so less today than 12 years ago.

In fact, I found one of the most revealing analyses of the Iraqi fighting capacities last week on the front page of The Washington Times. The analysis is so simple and so right, one can only wonder at how the White House and Pentagon leadership could have missed it for so long.

The story is mostly an interview with former Army Staff Sgt. Matt Pelak, who had helped train some of the first post-Saddam Hussein Iraqi forces in 2004. The officer told the paper “that the nation’s soldiers are likelier to lay down their weapons and flee in the face of a fight because the force is largely devoid of leadership and operating under a fractured government.”

Or: Iraqi forces believe they have nothing to fight for ......

No, I mean people from countries like Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan. There were hundreds, may be thousands "collateral damage" casualties the US were not very concerned about.

I see. But the US doesn't intentionally inflict those types of casualties. Lots of court martials for other negligent casualties by individual soldiers. Even some soldiers killed by friendly fire.

As long as places like Iraq, Libya and Afghan prefer to live in the stone age, they cannot be unfortunate objects of US policy.

As long as places like Iraq, Libya and Afghan prefer to live in the stone age, they cannot be unfortunate objects of US policy

Well, because their countries, their homes are bombed and destroyed by the US, these people ARE objects of US policy, since air strikes and artillery barrages are the immediate result of this policy. And if these people "prefer to live in the stone age", why bother to invade their countries?

Debacle, what happen to the chosen one as alternate reality in-chief? To rebuilt the base of cooperation among Iraqi tribes that U.S. soldiers sacrificed their blood for, and destroyed by Obama's naivety sounds like a horror movie. Many Iraqis, Syrians are found themselves in the state of limbo, all thanks to Obama's debacle and failure of foreign policy.

Waste of money to send equipment to the Iraqi Army. After all they will just drop it and run! Might as well let nature take its course and allow Iraqi to break into 3 separate countries. Perhaps allow the eastern part to join with Iran. "Fine turning" is just buzz talk for more of the same.

' I favor a policy that kills the fewest number of Americans. Preferably 0.'

At last a bit of common sense amidst all the partisan ranting. Lives aren't cheap and throwing more lives and money at this region won't 'fix' anything.. When are people going to learn this?

Fine-tuning? What was it all up to now then?

"Fine tune"..... while continuing to send weapons to ISI aka the "vetted rebels" in Syria and now even provide aircover for them. Fools!

This stupidity at the highest level is so infuriating.

10 sorties and day compare to 250 during the Kosivo campaign. That is the problem. Why only ten a day ? because they have no forward obversers on the ground to identifying targets and directing sorties. Why won,t Obama listen to his advisors ? Because Obama does not want to harm Ms Clinton election campaign.

Mitigated by "Sugar Mountain" composed and sang by Neil Young...Audience are the world,script written from a thousand miles apart at the table of Ukriane,with actors listening to their cell phone what scenario must be played in the interest and profit of oligarch at the lime light of chaos locations which propagandize by politicians so as excite by organs bidders...Funks!

Odierno, who served in command three times in Iraq, said the failure of Iraqi security forces to hold their ground was “incredibly disappointing to me personally.” But he also said he sees no wisdom in sending substantial U.S. ground combat forces to do the fighting.

“I’m adamant about that,” he said. Expending American lives to defeat the extremists without fixing Iraq’s internal political divisions would be a waste and an unsustainable solution.

And that, boys and girls, was precisely what the Bush administration, through sheer incompetence, failed to do in the first place even after over almost 7 years. Good job...

And that, boys and girls, was precisely what the Bush administration, through sheer incompetence, failed to do in the first place even after over almost 7 years. Good job...

...Add to that, the incompetency of the Obama admin. Bungling and even more so destroying th ME by allowing ISIS to run rabid throughout the region over the last 6 years and counting with a failed and deeply flawed foreign policy is mind boggling to say the least.

This will not be the first time the US has armed these Sunni tribes. These are the same Sunni tribes who fought alongside US soldiers during The Awakening against Al-Qaeda of Iraq. The US has armed them back then too, and they're just going to re-arm them again now - but this time, more directly rather than going thru the government.

The weapons that the US has sent to the Shiite Baghdad government are not reaching these Sunni tribes, despite the Baghdad government promising to send them weapons. That's how Iraq lost Ramadi - the government isn't giving these Sunni tribes willing to fight ISIS enough support.

...Add to that,

Nice of you to admit the 7 years of incompetence. And thanks for keeping the nonsense to a scrollable minimum. Tah!

Nice of you to admit the 7 years of incompetence. And thanks for keeping the nonsense to a scrollable minimum. Tah!

I think you misunderstood, I didn't oppose the US going in to Iraq, nor the Bush admin. I opposed the excuse. I never believed in the whole WMD scam, I just wished they were honest and said, we're going in to remove Saddam, Hey, go right ahead! And the nation building after that, there was really no plan to to contain the growing insurgency UNTIL the surge happened and the tide was turned and the Obama admin. was handed a more pacifist, functioning and slightly stable Iraq in 2007. But after that, that is when the president dropped the ball and let things get out of control and even after being advised about the threat of ISIS, the president chose to ignore it as well as other recommendations for the past 6 years and look at where we are now.

Nice of you to admit the 7 years of incompetence.

I never believed in the whole WMD scam, I just wished they were honest

And good of you to now also admit the Bush administration lied to the American public and sent our troops into harm's way and sent hundreds of billions of dollars down the rat hole under false pretenses. Thank you!

And good of you to now also admit the Bush administration lied to the American public and sent our troops into harm's way and sent hundreds of billions of dollars down the rat hole under false pretenses. Thank you!

Bush didn't 'lie'. He got bad information from American intelligence agencies, the UN, and European allies. All thought Iraq had WMD. Even Hillary's people from her husbands administration had it wrong. You are welcome!

Bush didn't 'lie'.

Yes, he did. Even Bass says so.

He got bad information from American intelligence agencies, the UN, and European allies.

Really? That's been well debunked now. The Bush administration clearly cherry-picked from the intelligence it got, exaggerated what it was told... it's all been clearly explained and documented ... if you don't know that by now it's because you really don't want to know.

All thought Iraq had WMD. And that's patently not true as well. You do know that just saying it's so doesn't make it so, right?

Sorry for you, dude.

Sorry for you, dude.

It is a shame that your ideology and hatred for people causes you to willfully be blinded to facts and reality.

Hillary was right before she was wrong. And I am sorry for you too - dude.

It is a shame that your ideology and hatred for people causes you to willfully be blinded to facts and reality.

Heh, ideology? Hatred? tsk tsk poor dear, feelings hurt much? like most everything you post you be hard-pressed to prove either. Sorry to have to keep schooling you. But is a fact, the Bush administration misled and the American people. The low-info's feel for it. the cowardly went along with it.

Which are you?

And Hillary was wrong, like you before still being wrong.

But is a fact, the Bush administration misled and the American people.

Where's the proof? All you hear from the Left is hate and bile for Bush but now evidence that he lied about anything.

But back on topic - maybe if Obama had taken Hillary's advice to arm the Syrian resistance earlier ISIS might never have graduated from the JV team to the most lethal terrorist group on the planet. All under Obama's watch.

Obama has pledged to defeat ISIS and after every major city that they take he makes another delusional claim that he is winning. Barry needs to lay off the dope and start listening to the Pentagon or he might not even be able to run out the clock and loses before he can leave office.

Where's the proof?

Not hatred. Just plain old fashioned anger at folks who were just plain damned wrong about the invasion that cost so much money and lives, not owning up to it. You've been given the damned evidence. The evidence is overwhelming. You know about Curveball, you know about the yellow cake, you know about the aluminum tubes, you know that there was no evidence of a partnership with Al-Qaeda, you know that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 as was insinuated. You know that when an official says "there are no doubts" when he know there are doubts, he's lying.

Cheney said "It's been pretty well confirmed that (Atta) did go to Prague, and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in (the Czech Republic) last April, several months before the attack." when he knew both the CIA and FBI were skeptical. Just sticking to the narrative that Iraq was involved in 9/11.

the UN, and European allies. All thought Iraq had WMD.

British intel reports that there's only "sporadic and patchy" evidence of Iraqi WMD. "There is no intelligence on any [biological weapons] production facilities."

French debunk yellowcake theory: "We told the Americans, 'BS. It doesn't make any sense,'" says French official.

UN press release: "It would appear…Iraq had decided in principle to…bring the disarmament task to completion through the peaceful process of inspection." Weapons inspectors have examined 106 locations and found "no evidence that Iraq had revived its nuclear weapons programme."

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/leadup-iraq-war-timeline

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/international/middleeast/03tube.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&position=&

Comes a point when further denial is clearly just a self-serving tactic.

You can show someone the roots, the bark, the branches, leaves and sap and when he still calls it a rock, there's nothing left to do but shake one's head at the foolishness and move on.

Obama [...] Obama's watch. Obama [...] Barry

Yes, speaking of hatred and ideology. Obama, Obama you've kind of already spent all credibility on that topic.

more than 250K fighters in ISIS are from egypt was desiring to topple saddam and drag another countries with a man like ahmed al chalabi , no wonder they get angry when someone mention terrorism , bush was an idiot