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Questions about the Yazidis on that Iraq Mountain
No one wants to see anyone suffer, Yazidi or otherwise. What we do want is to know the truth about what is going on in Iraq even as Obama continues airstrikes, and prepares to send in 130 more American troops. The 130 additional advisers brings the number of American military personnel in Iraq to more than 1,000.U.S. officials said they believed that some type of ground force would be necessary to secure the passage of the stranded members of the Yazidi group. The military is drawing up plans for consideration by President Obama that could include American ground troops.
So a couple of questions here.
Long before U.S. airstrikes, the defenseless Yazidi people climbed up that mountain for refuge from ISIS, who supposedly wanted to slaughter them. Why didn’t ISIS just also climb up and then slaughter them? We know ISIS had mortars and actual artillery, because the U.S. later bombed those. Why didn’t ISIS use those weapons to slaughter the Yazidis from afar?
Also, after one or two airstrikes, ISIS became so easy to defeat that the Kurds made it possible for 24,000 Yazidis to walk off the mountain, walk into Syria and then U-turn walk back into Iraq and settle in safely. It begs the question about how surrounded by determined ISIS fighters that mountain really was. It takes a long time for 24,000 people to do anything, and they’d need to be walking a long way during which time they would be vulnerable to ISIS. How could ISIS go from being such a threat that U.S. airpower was essential, to be pushed aside by Kurds who otherwise were having their hats handed to them by ISIS everywhere else?
And after all that, plus more airstrikes, why are there still people up on that mountain without food or water? How was it that 24,000 people could walk away but not everyone? The air strikes are ongoing, and those same Kurds that cleared a path once are still there.
The Iraqi government claims ISIS killed at least 500 Yazidis, burying some alive and taking hundreds of women as slaves. The Iraqi government claimed “Some of the victims, including women and children, were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar.” This was reported by western media, at least one of whom was still ethical enough to add “no independent confirmation was available.” Recent mass graves in a desert area should stand out. This seems like something worth confirming instead of just repeating. What efforts are being made to confirm the information?
If every seat on every helicopter will save a Yazidi child’s life via evacuation, why are seats being allotted to CNN camera crews and other journalists? What is the priority?
What is the thinking about a group the U.S. has long-designated as a terrorist organization playing an active part in rescuing the Yazidis under American air cover? Shouldn’t the U.S. be bombing known terrorist organizations instead of working with them? Isn’t that sort of the actual point of a war on terror, to kill terrorists wherever they are?
Maybe there are good answers to these questions (please share below, with links) but is it at all possible that we’re being sold an emotionally compelling story to justify U.S. military intervention in Iraq? Perhaps that mountain the Yazidis are on has a slippery slope for the U.S.?
WMD? Again.
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pitchfork said...
1quote:”What efforts are being made to confirm the information?”unquote
ummm, I believe the answer lies in your next question”
If every seat on every helicopter will save a Yazidi child’s life via evacuation, why are seats being allotted to CNN camera crews and other journalists? What is the priority?”unquote
Notwithstanding this insidious, depraved terrorist assault on thousands of human beings,
where is Walter Cronkite when you need him?
Seriously though, I don’t watch TV anymore, let alone MSM TV news, but what I have seen on Google news has been pretty strange, if not plain weird.
At least when it comes to the US military “intervention” part. However…this is the latest I’ve found on Google..
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraq-130-us-military-advisers-yazidi-minorities-surrounded-by-isis/
CBS news no less. I haven’t heard of them in nigh on 20 years.
ummm..on that note..
bartender..one bottle of TRE please…er..and a shot of DFP too.
08/13/14 12:01 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
2Speaking of that article I linked to..I too have a question. The link heading says “130-us-military-advisers-yazidi-minorities-surrounded-by-isis”
ummm, can someone tell me exactly what “advisers” are going to do if ISIS decides to swarm the mountain??? Don’t tell me..let me guess. Run?
sheeezus..furthermore..
quote:”While the U.S. aerial fire power has enabled regional Kurdish forces to keep ISIS militants from storming into Erbil, it has failed to significantly reverse the group’s advance in the region”unquote
Holy mother of WW11 strafing..ummm, don’t these new aircraft have machine guns? Bombing some artillery may have stopped ISIS from blowing the mountain to smithereens..but it seems to me..a few of these planes could wreck havoc with a few passes over 1000’s of these motherfucking murderers. Especially around the mountain, no?
Oh well, what do I know. Maybe they plan to “advise” ISIS to fuck off..eh?
bartender,..another TWOROLLINGEYES please..
sheeezus.
08/13/14 12:18 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
3Peter,
I see you are already debating Hillary on the topics of the day:
http://www.vice.com/read/america-helped-make-the-islamic-state-812.
Peter Van Buren – 2016
08/13/14 12:19 PM | Comment Link
wemeantwell said...
4Rich, Rich, this is called a “false flag” operation. I have spent years building up my cover story as opposing Hillary, only someday to reveal how I’ve suckered you all in as I announce my pivot. Secretary of Bikini Waxing for madame president has been promised.
08/13/14 12:38 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
5Peter,
Like ISIS, Hillary should have kept you on the payroll. Now you are free to terrorize the bitch.
Peter Van Buren -2016
08/13/14 12:32 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
6The townspeople are getting out the pitchforks:
http://www.businessinsider.com/moveon-blasts-hillary-clinton-for-criticizing-obama-2014-8
08/13/14 12:36 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
7Hillary (I was for the war before I was against it) continues to straddle the de-fense:
http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/12/flashback-hillary-clinton-compared-arming-syrian-rebels-to-supporting-al-qaida-in-2012/
08/13/14 12:43 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
8This story encapsulates everything that has gone wrong with America:
http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/07/cops-kill-man-in-wal-mart-carrying-an-air-rifle-that-he-might-have-planned-to-buy/
08/13/14 12:49 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
9The good news is Walmart is opening clinics to treat shoppers who get shot. The bad news is it’s too expensive for their workers who don’t have health insurance.
08/13/14 1:20 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
10quote”Secretary of Bikini Waxing for madame president has been promised.”unquote
BAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! c’maan Peter. That’s gotta be an euphemism from the OOD(Office of Obfuscation and Doublespeak), right? I’ve got 5 bucks SBW really means ..er..wait. Can’t be too careful these days. Nevermind..
meanwhile..here we go…again…
“Mr. President, be honest with the threat we face,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina warned on Fox News. “They are coming.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2014/0812/Could-Islamic-militants-in-Iraq-bring-their-fight-to-America-video
They’re coming. right. Leave it to Graham. Next thing you know the NSA will be given total surveillance authorit…. ..wait..DOH!
bartender..got any of that DFP left?
08/13/14 1:20 PM | Comment Link
jo6pac said...
11Hell Amerika not there to protect Iraq citizens it there for only one thing.
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2024050272_usiraqbasexml.html
I know I’m shocked;)
08/13/14 2:14 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
12Wow. Thanks for the link Joe…
quote”The Kurdish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “It’s no secret that the American special forces and CIA have a close relationship with the peshmerga.” He added that the facility had operated even “after the Americans were forced out of Iraq by al-Maliki,” a reference to the 2011 U.S. troop withdrawal after the Obama administration and the Iraqi government couldn’t agree on a framework for U.S. forces to remain in the country.”unquote
ummm, ya mean that “framework” that would give “immunity” to US soldiers? What about those “special forces and CIA? Don’t answer. We know.
Which reminds me. Speaking of CIA “immunity” it simply amazes me at what one can find while researching obscure doc’s, like transcripts of Senate hearings from years past. Just yesterday, while reading the record of a Senate hearing on reauthorizing the Patriot Act, I came across this little testimony gem..
quote”The CIA acts overseas, in secret, and its mission includes violating the laws of the country in which it is operating when necessary. It is charged with collecting information overseas without regard to individual privacy, rights against self-incrimination, or requirements for admissibility of evidence. It is also tasked with carrying out covert actions to influence events by whatever means the President authorizes. The agency gives the highest priority to protection of its sources and methods.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-109hhrg20877/html/CHRG-109hhrg20877.htm
It is also tasked with carrying out covert actions to influence events by whatever means the President authorizes. Shades of every coup d’etat in the last 50 yrs.., whudda thunk
Hey, speaking of whatever means the Prez authorizes..I highly recommend a movie I watched last night, called “The Innocent”. Basic premise..CIA tunnels under East Berlin to tap Russian phone lines. Anthony Hopkins is perfect.
Not to mention Isabella Rossellini. Holy moly. Spitting image of Ingrid Bergman.
http://www.reelz.com/trailer-clips/60081/the-innocent-trailer/
ok, nuff bla bla bla
08/13/14 3:45 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
13I can’t help myself. Speaking of little gems while reading, just came across this quote
““What a mess,” said Peter Van Buren, a former State Department official who oversaw reconstruction efforts in Iraq (an experience that turned him into a whistle-blower). When I asked him if he agreed that the US government helped create ISIS, Van Buren was blunt: “Absolutely.” The 2003 invasion turned Iraq into a training ground for radical Islamic groups—and gave legions of young men a reason to fight for them, a recipe for disaster compounded by US support for a sectarian strongman. “Maliki has been our man in Iraq, or at least we have believed that, since the US installed him in 2006,” he told me. “From day one, Maliki has alienated and persecuted the Sunnis,” so it should come as no surprise that many would prefer a Sunni extremist group to a repressive Shia state.”unquote
http://www.vice.com/read/america-helped-make-the-islamic-state-812?utm_source=vicetwitterus
Peter Van Buren..whudda thunk.
08/13/14 3:56 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
14goddammit..I really can’t help myself.
Speaking of “special forces/CIA”, this guy is amazing..
quote”Prior to this, during my stint with Special Forces, I’d the best possible education in operations and intelligence because it was not school, but OJT (on-the-job-training) with veterans of operations coordinated with CIA in Indochina and Central America. This was the best (or worst, depending on one’s perspective) avenue to knowledge in the ‘game’ of international intrigue; it was unrestricted, first hand knowledge of the dirty aspect of the business on the ground, where the intrigues hatched by criminal minds at Langley, Virginia, are played out.”unquote
http://ronaldthomaswest.com/2014/06/07/above-top-secret-or-how-not-to-leak/
Where the intrigues hatched by criminal minds at Langley, Virginia, are played out.
From the horses mouth. whudda thunk…
sheeezus..
08/13/14 4:02 PM | Comment Link
meloveconsullongtime said...
15Well, my very incorrect contributions to this are:
1. I think “pitchfork” made it clear, a long time ago, that he’s employed by one or more agencies of the US Federal Government. “WHUDDA THUNK?”
2. The USA cannot, and therefore will not, defeat ISIS, because the present creed of the USA says that all religions are the same.
ISIS cannot be defeated by any American beliefs.
ISIS can only be defeated by fearlessly saying that Islam is a lie, and Muhammed never existed, and Islam cannot co-exist with any civilisation whatsover, therefore Islam must be obliterated from the world.
Islam is a lie. Muhammed never existed.
But you stupid f-cking Americans will never say that, and you’ll never have the balls to fight against the Muhammeden savages in the only way that they understand. Like dropping just one bomb on the Kaaba in Mecca. Destroy the Kaaba, and then that will kill the barbarian cult of Islam. But you Americans are too f-cking spineless to do that, because if you destroy the idol of Islam, then you’ll simultaneously destroy all of your other idols.
You Americans are just such f-cking cowards. Because you love all of your own idols – +(of “tolerance”, which to you mainly means “let me fuck whomever I want to fuck, with no consequences!”) – you love your idols more than you love reality.
08/13/14 8:20 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
16meloveconsullongtime said…
quote”1. I think “pitchfork” made it clear, a long time ago, that he’s employed by one or more agencies of the US Federal Government. “WHUDDA THUNK?”
wait..wait, let me get this straight melove. You think..”I” am employed..by one or more agencies of the US Federal Government”???????????
BWAHAHAHAHA…OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO..HEEEHEHEHEHEHE!
bartender..leave the bottle of DoubleFacePalm.
hohohohohoh..hahahahhahaha! whuddaa thunk. Thanks melove..I really needed a laugh tonight.
08/13/14 11:51 PM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
17Listen melove..I mean..REALLY FUCKING LISTEN..
I GET, this is the preliminary shit to Revelations.
I GET, all the shit happening in the ME is a war of ideology.
I GET, the USG is clandestinely doing the same thing as the crusaders of the 11th century.
I GET IT!
What I DON’T get..is why you think I could possibly be an agent of the USG?
I mean..really..get a grip. Me??? Hahahahahaha!
My wife is rolling on the floor in gut splitting laughter. Please.. you really need a drink.
08/14/14 12:09 AM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
18wait..wait..I didn’t connect the dots..
quote”Well, my very incorrect contributions to this are:”unquote
INCORRECT? geeezus. ummmm, ..fuck.
note to self. ..
go to bed.
08/14/14 12:18 AM | Comment Link
pitchfork said...
19wait..
quote”Islam is a lie. Muhammed never existed.”unquote
And your proof is?
08/14/14 12:27 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
20“I have spent years building up my cover story as opposing Hillary, only someday to reveal how I’ve suckered you all in as I announce my pivot.”
Peter,
Don’t do something stupid with that STUPID bitch.
http://time.com/3103648/hillary-clinton-barack-obama-david-axelrod/
08/14/14 1:41 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
21That bitch is back-stabber:
“At every turn” the rise of ISIS’s self-styled caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had been shaped by the United States’ involvement in Iraq — putting the ball of blame back in Hillary’s court.
The neocon Weekly Standard gleefully printed her remarks with her byline under the headline: “Special Guest Editorial: Obama’s Foreign Policy Failures.”
David Axelrod tartly tweeted: “Just to clarify: ‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ means stuff like occupying Iraq in the first place, which was a tragically bad decision.”
08/14/14 1:46 AM | Comment Link
jim hruska said...
22WMW,
An interesting point is the definition of the word -advisers.
Who or what are they advising?
The US troops present do not fill the definition.
Why can’t we use correct words to describe our actions?
They are direct action , or so it could be argued.
The IS situation is like the Easter 1972 offensive in VN. Iraq will not survive, or the Iraq that we wanted will not survive.When we arm the Kurds, and place all our hope in them we are acknowledging this point. The Kurds and the government have different agendas.It will just need a few more years to develop.
I’d guess the final fall will come concurrent with the 2016 presidential election so that both parties can blow smoke over the voters eyes.A good circus spectacle is great diversion.
jim hruska aka rangeragainstwar
08/14/14 6:42 PM | Comment Link
ishtar said...
23Peter, this is a serious question which I hope you can answer it, being a former diplomat.
I agree with you that Sinjar mount op. is a false flag. But as an Iraqi. I do not understand, why should USA need a false flag Op. to return to Iraq? After all it has the biggest embassy in Iraq with thousands of employees, which can serve a great casus belli for any renewed military existence, and Iraq is still occupied by USA via its Big Oil, also, Iraq is still under article 7 of UNSC.
08/16/14 11:40 AM | Comment Link
wemeantwell said...
24I think Obama knows that the American people want to believe they are good, always on the side of humanity and freedom, and not war-mongering thugs bent on empire. So he needed an emotional story to soft-sell the return to Iraq. The Yazidis provided that story, and better yet, allowed for the appearance of a quick victory so that Americans felt good, but would not pay too much attention to what Obama really wants to do in Iraq. It is misdirection, a trick of the light. The embassy would have been too much, and would have required Obama to go in too big too soon, plus it would have looked too much like Benghazi.
08/16/14 3:50 PM | Comment Link
ishtar said...
25Thank you. I believe this opoeration has something to do with the Kurdish declaring “independent” state. I would like to remind you of this account of a previous 2007 massacre of Yezidis:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/world/middleeast/14yazidi.html?%20%20_r=1&pagewanted=print&_r=0
Pls. note these revealing lines:
“We could throw all the Arabs out of the city,” said Karim Sinjari, the Kurdish government’s minister for internal affairs, whose own family was forced out in 1976 after he took part in the Kurdish uprising. “But the Americans told us we have to wait.”
Wait for what?
08/16/14 6:47 PM | Comment Link