Iraq crisis: Isis militants close in on Baghdad - live coverage

3m ago
• Jihadi militants, led by an Isis force, were reported to have advanced close to Baghdad. Residents in the capital stockpiled supplies as Isis were reported to have taken a town 56 miles north of the capital, along with Tikrit and Mosul, where they captured a huge amount of weapons and money.

14m ago
The "official spokesman" for the Iraqi People Revolution in Baghdad, Dr Ghazi Al-Faisal, has issued a statement, relayed to us by the Guardian's Mona Mahmood.

Iraqi rebels from Falluja, Tarmiyia, Abu Ghraib and Latifiyia towns are advancing towards Baghdad quickly. There is a significant morale collapse among the so-called Iraqi army which is merely made up of sectarian militias.

Iraq crisis: Isis militants close in on Baghdad - live coverage

I can't began to tell you all just how angry this makes me.

As a US Service man who fought and bled, lost brother Marines over there and all for what?

Anyway the Guardian is set up a live fed to keep everyone abreast of how fast it's all falling apart over there.
stories like this.

Half a million people are believed to be fleeing to the far north of Iraq as insurgent forces take Tikrit, a day after 35,000 Iraq soldiers reportedly fled an Isis force of 800 in Mosul

Any bets on the Marines being sent back in? Lets make that, sent in --- in time to make a difference?

This is a clusterduck of the highest order.

I find myself hoping Iran will do something.

Let their sons fight for what is theirs.

originally posted by: HardCorps


As a US Service man who fought and bled, lost brother Marines over there and all for what?

For billions in profits for the MIC. Same as always.

I've a feeling we should merge the Iraq threads or at least, as with Ukraine, have one 'catch all' thread for the situation as it develops.

a reply to: whyamIhere

What really pisses me off---
This makes everything we did over there---totally 'Meaningless'

Now I can point to the first of my two purple hearts and say
"I got this one, for no reason whatsoever!"

This just hit

President Obama has said "I don't rule anything out" for US responses to the crisis in Iraq, Reuters reports. He said he is " looking at all options in helping the Iraqi government face the growing insurgency".

The presdient was asked whether the US would consider drone strikes or any other direct or indirect action to counter Isis and jihadist groups. Reuters continues:


He said there will be short-term immediate actions that need to be done militarily in Iraq, and that his national security team is looking at all options. He said the United States is prepared to take military action when its national security interests are threatened.

or in other words...well golly Iraq sure is a long way a way...Joe Biden can you point it out on a map for me?

a reply to: HardCorps

I am with you here brother semper fi, did multiple tours in most of them cities as an 0311 starting at oif 2 and ending around the time we handed the IZ (green zone) back to Iraq. I have an attachment to place whether it is good or bad idk but there is something to it. OORAH!

This makes my blood absolutely boil. I know Saddam wasn't the best of leaders, and yes, he had some nasty things under his belt, but holy *snip*, we've messed that country up beyond repair. I can't help but wonder how the country would be faring had we not gone in guns a-blazing like we did. And if memory serves, we surpassed Saddam's numbers in civilians killed there several years ago. If our kill count surpasses that of the late "Bad Guy", then what does that say about us?

All the time, all the money, all the lives --civilian and military alike-- in Iraq. Wasted. Every bit of it, completely wasted.

The Kurdish Peshmerga are the people who actually live there and should not be confused with jihadists.

The people we should be concerned about are the US backed terrorists who were having problems trying to take over Syria and are probably looking for soft targets to loot.

Let's not forget our "embassy" in Baghdad.

It's huge. And though the number of people there is debated, and just how many are "independent security contractors" is unclear, we know there are a lot of people there. Probably at least 15K. Maybe 18K. And they still have arms and materiel.

What are they gonna do?

a reply to: Brotherman

OO--F'ing---RAH
You know I hated every minute I was stuck in that S-hole

but right now I just want to choke someone--- how could they just hand it all back?

like watching a NASCAR wreak--- you just know it's gonna be bad but you still have to watch.

originally posted by: HardCorps
a reply to: Brotherman

OO--F'ing---RAH
You know I hated every minute I was stuck in that S-hole

but right now I just want to choke someone--- how could they just hand it all back?

like watching a NASCAR wreak--- you just know it's gonna be bad but you still have to watch.

Thanks for your Service...You went when they called.

They can have that entire Country for all I care.

The entire ME is not worth one more drop of American blood to me.

originally posted by: HardCorps
This just hit

President Obama has said "I don't rule anything out" for US responses to the crisis in Iraq, Reuters reports. He said he is " looking at all options in helping the Iraqi government face the growing insurgency".

The presdient was asked whether the US would consider drone strikes or any other direct or indirect action to counter Isis and jihadist groups. Reuters continues:


He said there will be short-term immediate actions that need to be done militarily in Iraq, and that his national security team is looking at all options. He said the United States is prepared to take military action when its national security interests are threatened.

or in other words...well golly Iraq sure is a long way a way...Joe Biden can you point it out on a map for me?

He has been there before. On the ground.

This is Maliki's fault. He's a sectarian leader in a country that has massive fault lines. He's played to his Shia power base, ignored the Kurds to the North and has shut the Sunnis out of power. This allowed the fruitcakes in ISIS to rise up.

originally posted by: HardCorps
a reply to: whyamIhere

What really pisses me off---
This makes everything we did over there---totally 'Meaningless'

Now I can point to the first of my two purple hearts and say
"I got this one, for no reason whatsoever!"

I figured out in 2003 it was going to end like this.

USA could have stayed for 100 years and the same result would have happened.

The west is despised in the ME. You cant fix hatred that deep.

Id be calling for Bush and chennys heads as well as my own PM.

originally posted by: HardCorps
This just hit

President Obama has said "I don't rule anything out" for US responses to the crisis in Iraq, Reuters reports. He said he is " looking at all options in helping the Iraqi government face the growing insurgency".

The presdient was asked whether the US would consider drone strikes or any other direct or indirect action to counter Isis and jihadist groups. Reuters continues:


He said there will be short-term immediate actions that need to be done militarily in Iraq, and that his national security team is looking at all options. He said the United States is prepared to take military action when its national security interests are threatened.

or in other words...well golly Iraq sure is a long way a way...Joe Biden can you point it out on a map for me?

Well what else would you have them do?

Sending in the marines again wont help. You could send 500,000 men in and you will still have to withdraw them again at some point in time, and when you do the same crap will happen.

originally posted by: HardCorps
a reply to: whyamIhere

What really pisses me off---
This makes everything we did over there---totally 'Meaningless'

Now I can point to the first of my two purple hearts and say
"I got this one, for no reason whatsoever!"

My first thought was just how pissed off the veterans would be at this news. Second thought was how badly thought out political and military strategy has been since second Iraqi war began, 1. Not enough forces to close Iraq's borders and the total disbanding of Iraq's army. 2. Molly coddling of Islamist groups by the current administration coming home to roost - accident? or purposeful?

The end result? IMHO the next generation is now doomed to fight an emboldened enemy from a reformed caliphate with much higher levels of resource.

another new bit

The Guardian's Paul Lewis has a few more details on Speaker John Boehner's comments about Iraq.

"Obama's failure to reach a status-of-forces agreement continues to have serious consequences for Iraq and American influence in the region," he told reporters on Thursday.

He sad the administration's "failed policies" in the region, in particular in Syria, Libya and Egypt, "is having a direct impact on the situation in Iraq".

Can't just put all this on Obama--- fact is--- no one wants us over there so of course the status-of-forces agreement was bound to stall out

The Wife just showed up to take me to lunch...Right now I need a beer or ten!
anyway I'll leave you all with this one just in.

France has called for swift international action said on the crisis, with foreign minister Laurent Fabius saying Isis "poses a serious threat to the stability of the region", Reuters reports. Fabius' statement read:


"The advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant seriously puts into danger the unity and sovereignty of Iraq and … it poses a serious threat to the stability of the region … The international community must imperatively deal with the situation."

And the price of oil is skyrocketing as a result...

a reply to: HardCorps

I dont think it would of mattered who you president was. He/she could have been the best president there was, a cyborg Lincoln/ teddy Roosevelt hybrid and they still wouldn't have been able to stop the mess Bush created.

I think you and the other vets should just accept there was nothing you or anyone could have done to prevent this

And take that angers and try and bring the scum responsible for the mess in the first place to justice.

originally posted by: ausername
And the price of oil is skyrocketing as a result...

This isn't funny.

A lot of people are now coming to the realization they fought and saw friends injured and died in Iraq for nothing.

sure a lot of us saw this 11 years ago but its not funny.