World War Three Thread....

[American Patriot]

ISIS has 'bigger plans' for India in its aim for global jihad, warn experts

by Himanshu Kapoor Last Updated: Thursday, June 19, 2014, 23:14


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Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The Iraqi militants known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) long had a goal to establish an Islamic state, or caliphate, stretching across the Middle East. Taking over parts of Iraq was always at the top of ISIS agenda and security experts now warn that the terror group has 'bigger plan' for India in its aim for global expansion.

A recently released world dominian map by the al Qaeda-aligned terror outfit shows parts of north-west India, including Gujarat, as part of the Islamic state of Khorasan which the terror group aims to achieve.

According to sources, there were inputs that jihadists from India are fighting in Iraq and some of which are said to return to act as a link between the outfit in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.

The ISIS offensive in the Middle East which appears as a distant problem with 40 Indians caught in the fighting is a danger that India needs to prepare for.

Meanwhile, the Indian government is working on various ways to free the 40 Indian hostages who were kidnapped by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria from a construction site.

The Ministry of External Affairs today said that Iraqi Foreign Ministry has told India that they have found the location where militants have kept the abducted workers.

However, no contact has been established with any of the abducted Indians. There is also no ransom demand for the release of the kidnapped Indians as of yet.

[American Patriot]

And then this.... 3rd world war is already being fought from inside.

Nato boss claims Russia has secretly infiltrated green groups fighting fracking












Jonathan Brown


Thursday 19 June 2014 ing Secretary General of Nato has sparked ridicule from environmentalists after claiming that Russia is secretly orchestrating green groups opposed to fracking.







Former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told journalists that Moscow was coordinating opposition to the controversial technology in order to promote dependence on Russian oil and gas.


“I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organisations - environmental organisations working against shale gas - to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas.


“That is my interpretation,” he told a briefing at the Chatham House foreign affairs think tank in London.


However Mr Ramussen, who is due to leave the alliance’s top military post later this year after serving a five-year term, did not specify how the Russians were working with environmentalists of whether they were doing so with the knowledge of activists.


Public concern over the potential environmental impact of fracking, in which gas is blasted from shale rock using water and sand, has spawned scores of local opposition groups across the country concerned about pollution and the continued reliance on fossil fuels.


There have been two major protest camps staged at Balcombe in West Sussex and Barton Moss in Greater Manchester, which resulted in dozens of arrests.


Tony Cottee of the environmental group Rising Tide, whose supporters occupied a Cuadrilla drilling rig in Lancashire, described the suggestion as “ridiculous”.


“It shows how ludicrously out of touch these people are. He clearly doesn’t know the type of person that has been turning up to demonstrate. There are 60 groups in Frackfree Somerset for example and this includes the Women’s Institute, church groups – we’ve even got a knitting circle. These protests are involving everyone,” he said.


The suggestion also drew an angry response from Greenpeace. Thirty of its activists and journalists were threatened with long jail terms last year after their ship was stormed by Russian security forces during a campaign to highlight drilling in the Arctic.


“The idea we’re puppets of Putin is so preposterous that you have to wonder what they’re smoking over at Nato HQ. Mr Rasmussen should spend less time dreaming up conspiracy theories and more time on the facts,” a Greenpeace spokesman said.


Friends of the Earth’s head of campaigns, Andrew Pendleton, was equally dismissive. “Perhaps the Russians are worried about our huge wind and solar potential, and have infiltrated the UK Government,” he said.


As well as grass roots opposition, mainstream wildlife groups including the National Trust, RSPB, the Salmon & Trout Association, the Wildlife Trusts and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, have warned of a lack of regulation and raised concerns over the impact on species posed by fracking.

[American Patriot]

Ok, 300 advisers.

No "boots", no "troops".

Planning to send Kerry to Mid East and Europe.

So pretty much nothing coming out of that meeting today it appears. At least nothing significant.

[American Patriot]

Oh, status of forces agreement? None probably.

[American Patriot]

well... here we go.

There were no WMD in Iraq... REMEMBER?

Bullshit.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...o-go-live.html

Iraq crisis: Isis jihadists 'seize Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons stockpile' - live

Latest developments and news from the Iraq crisis, as Saudi Arabia warns that Britain and US must not meddle in Iraq

Isis fighters raise their weapons as they stand on a vehicle mounted with the trademark Jihadists flag in Anbar province. Photo: AFP/GETTY








By Raf Sanchez, Andrew Marszal

5:25PM BST 19 Jun 2014




This page will automatically update every 90 secondsOn Off

• Awaiting Obama statement on Iraq
• Isis jihadists 'seize Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons facility'
• Britain & US must not meddle in Iraq, says Saudi ambassador'
• Jihadists raise black banners over Iraq's biggest oil refinery
• Obama 'does not need Congress to launch air strikes'
• Tweet your thoughts to @rafsanchez


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18.59 The President is pointedly refusing to say Maliki needs to go but says time is running out for Iraq's politicians to come together for the good of the country.

<noframe>Twitter: MichaelMathes - More Obama: "The fate of Iraq hangs in the balance."</noframe>


18.52 Obama left the door open to targeted strikes against Isis in the future but it sounds like nothing is happening imminently:


We're developing more information about potential targets associated with ISIL, and going forward, we will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it. If we do, I will consult closely with Congress and leaders in Iraq and in the region. I want to emphasize, though, that the best and most effective response to a threat like ISIL will ultimately involve partnerships where local forces like Iraqis take the lead.

-


18.49 Here's the passage on what the US is prepared to do to support the Iraqi military. "Military advisors" is a loaded term in the US - conjuring up memories of the "advisors" who trickled into Vietnman as a harbinger of a larger war" - and Obama promises to be vigilant against "mission creep".


We're prepared to create joint operation centers in Baghdad and northern Iraq, to share intelligence and coordinate planning to confront the terrorist threat of ISIL. And through our new Counterterrorism Partnership Fund, we're prepared to work with Congress to provide additional equipment. We have had advisors in Iraq through our embassy, and we're prepared to send a small number of additional American military advisers -- up to 300 -- to assess how we can best train, advise and support Iraqi security forces going forward.
18.41 As well as the military advisors, Obama says he is dispatching John Kerry to Europe and the Middle East to coordinate with allies and is increasing US surveillance over Iraq: "This will give us a better understanding of what ISIL is doing".


He also had a coded message for Iran: what happens in Iraq is your problem too. As he put it, other countries in the region "have a vital interest in ensuring that Iraq doesn't descend into civil war".


18.39 Obama isn't explicit that Maliki needs to step down to make way for a unity government but he makes clear that the US has little confidence in him:
It's not the place for the US to choose Iraq's leaders but it's clear that only leaders who can govern with an inclusive agenda will truly bring the Iraqi people together.



18.36 Obama says he is sending up to 300 military advisors to support the Iraqi military as they battle against the waves of jihadists but, for now, there will be no airstrikes.


18.30 After his statement on Friday, Obama took a couple of questions from the press. Not clear if he will do the same today:



18.16 A reminder that while the world's focus is on Iraq, the situation in Syria remains extremely grim:


A car bomb in Homs in central Syria on Thursday killed three people and wounded nine in a majority Alawite neighbourhood of the city, state television said.



"Three people were killed and nine wounded, including women and children, in a terrorist car bomb attack in the Akrameh district of Homs," the broadcaster said.



The attack is the second of its kind in a week, and comes just over a month after rebels lost their bastion in the heart of Homs city to regime control.




18.15 Obama is now running behind on his already-rescheduled statement.


18.12 Today's debate about Iraq has many in Washington re-opening old wounds about the run-up to the war in 2002/03. Dick Cheney has made a re-appearance to attack Obama and defend the Bush administration's record. Here he is writing in the Wall Street Journal.
Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many. Too many times to count, Mr. Obama has told us he is "ending" the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—as though wishing made it so. His rhetoric has now come crashing into reality. Watching the black-clad ISIS jihadists take territory once secured by American blood is final proof, if any were needed, that America's enemies are not "decimated." They are emboldened and on the march.
His comments have riled many, who blame him for many of Iraq's current problems.
Here he is being confronted on his record by Fox News.

17.56 So who is Obama meeting with? The White House has released a list of 15 participants, some attending by video conference. They include figures from the military, intelligence and diplomatic branches of the US government:
-Joe Biden, the vice president
-John Kerry, the secretary of state, and Chuck Hagel, the secretary of defence
-John Brennan, the head of the CIA, and James Clapper, the director of national intelligence
-Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations
-General Martin Dempsey, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff
-Assorted national security and legal aides
The meeting is taking place in the White House situation room. Here's a 2010 picture:

17.46 Obama's statement is now coming at 18.15 UK time.
<noframe>Twitter: Zeke Miller - Obama statement moved to 1:15</noframe>
17.40 Obama's meeting with his national security team is running over and so we're still waiting for his statement on Iraq from the White House.
The expectation is that he's going to announce 100 US commandos are heading to Baghdad to train and advise the Iraqi military but is not going to order airstrikes.
Here's the AP:
President Barack Obama is also expected to announce Thursday that he is deploying about 100 Green Berets to Iraq to help train and advise Iraqi forces, according to a U.S. official. However, Obama does not plan to announce immediate U.S. airstrikes on Iraq, which have increasingly become less of a focus of deliberations in recent days.
The real question is how much public pressure will he apply to Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's divisive Shia prime minister, to step down and make way for a unity government?
17.25 David Cameron is being asked about the Iraq crisis, and British Isis fighters in his press conference with the Nato Secretary-General in London:
What matters is the approach taken by Iraq's leaders whoever they are, and that they govern for the whole of the country. They must govern in a non-sectarian way...
There is no doubt the government of Iraq has not given enough attention to healing sectarian divides. A combination of poor governance, ungoverned space, encouragement of extremism...
I don't pick Iraq's leaders... what matters is that whoever they are now or in the future runs it in a non-sectarian way...
We are taking this [British Isis fighters] extremely seriously - there have already been 65 Syria-related arrests. Fourteen people had their passports taken away.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato Secretary-General, adds:
What we need in Iraq is a mmuch more inclusive government... which includes both Sunni and Shia
17.18 Ahead of Obama's statement on Iraq, due in just over 10 minutes, catch up with today's events on the ground with our latest Iraq crisis map. Click on the map to enlarge.



You can catch up on previous days' maps and plot how the conflict has shifted by visiting our map archive: Iraq crisis map: how the Isis front line has shifted
17.15 In separate Iraq news, John Kerry has said the Obama administration continues to rely on diplomacy to halt hostilities in Iraw because "enough American troops have already fought and died there".
“The test is in really these next few days and weeks, and we are going to do everything in our power to follow through and try to get the job done through diplomacy, if we can, in order to honor their sacrifice,” he said in an interview with NBC's Today programme.

^{John Kerry, US Secretary of State (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)}
17.09 Chemical weapons produced at the Al Muthanna facility, which Isis today seized, are believed to have included mustard gas, Sarin, Tabun, and VX.
Here is the CIA's file on the complex.
Stockpiles of chemical munitions are still stored there. The most dangerous ones have been declared to the UN and are sealed in bunkers.
Although declared, the bunkers contents have yet to be confirmed.
These areas of the compound pose a hazard to civilians and potential blackmarketers.
Numerous bunkers, including eleven cruciform shaped bunkers were exploited. Some of the bunkers were empty. Some of the bunkers contained large quantitiesof unfilled chemical munitions, conventional munitions, one-ton shipping containers, old disabled production equipment (presumed disabled under UNSCOM supervision), and other hazardous industrial chemicals.
17.05 The Chemical Weapons Convention, which Iraq joined in 2009, requires it to dispose of the material at Al Muthanna, even though it was declared unusable and "does not pose a significant security risk"
However, the UK goverment has acknowledgeded that the nature of the material contained in the two bunkers would make the destruction process difficult and technically challenging.
Under an agreement signed in Baghdad in July 2012, experts from the MOD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) were due to provide training to Iraqi personnel in order to help them to dispose of the chemical munitions and agents.
^{The Al Mutannah chemical weapons complex (CIA)}
16.52 The remaining chemical weapons from Saddam Hussein's regime are stored in two sealed bunkers, both located at the Al Muthanna Chemicals Weapons Complex, a large site in the western desert some 80km north west of Baghdad.
This was the principal manufacturing plant for both chemical agents and munitions during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Thousands of tonnes of chemical weapons were produced, stored and deployed by the Saddam Hussein regime. Iraq used these weapons during the Iran - Iraq War (1980 to 1988) and against the Kurds in Halabja in 1988.
16.32 Isis jihadists have seized a chemical weapons facility built by Saddam Hussein which contains a stockpile of old weapons, State Department officials have told the Wall Street Journal:
U.S. officials don't believe the Sunni militants will be able to create a functional chemical weapon from the material. The weapons stockpiled at the Al Muthanna complex are old, contaminated and hard to move, officials said.
Nonetheless, the capture of the chemical-weapon stockpile by the forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, known as ISIS or ISIL, the militant group that is seizing territory in the country, has grabbed the attention of the U.S.
"We remain concerned about the seizure of any military site by the ISIL," Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said in a written statement. "We do not believe that the complex contains CW materials of military value and it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to safely move the materials."
^{Saddam Hussein (EPA)}
16.21 Amid speculation Obama may be preparing to apply more pressure on Iraqi PM Maliki to either step down or form a unity government, Colin Freeman reports from the streets of Baghdad, where anti-Maliki sentiment is tangible across the city:
The calls for Mr Maliki to go are echoed on the streets of the capital, Baghdad, where the period of relative stability that he was credited with between 2008 and 2010 is now just a distant memory. While Iraqis habitually lay the blame for their woes at the political class in general, Mr Maliki in particular has been accused of sliding the country back towards sectarianism.
Omar Ali, 32, a shopkeeper in the Sunni neighbourhood of al Adel, said: "Maliki should have gone a long time ago, before he took us into this mess with Isis - it is his fault that the Sunni have turned to Isis."
But there were also calls for him to go from politicians in other Shia blocs in his governing State of Law coalition.
Ameer al-Kenani, deputy head of the legal committee of the Ahrar (Freedom) bloc, formed by the Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, told The Telegraph: "We expected such an incident as this one with Isis, as a result of the ongoing political crisis that Iraq has suffered over the last three years.
"We don't think Mr Maliki should continue in office, as we believe he is part of the crisis, not the solution."
16.09 A US official says Obama is expected to announce the deployment of about 100 special operations forces to Iraq to help train and advise the Iraqi forces.
The official insisted on anonymity because this person was not authorized to publicly discuss the plan ahead of Obama's announcement.
^{Al-Qaeda inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery (AP)}
15.55 President Obama is due to make a statement on Iraq at 5.30pm UK time.
The usual daily White House briefing has been cancelled.
15.50 More strong words from the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the UK, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud, writing exclusively in tomorrow's Telegraph:
The call by the Iraqi Foreign Minister, to President Obama and the US government to launch airstrikes against the ISIS rebels in Iraq is beyond our comprehension.
An air strike will not just eliminate extremists – who we do not support – but will effectively sign the death warrant of many innocent Iraqi citizens, innocent families trapped and terrified by this crisis.
This request to President Obama is a madness, it reveals a government who no longer sees clearly and no longer cares about the people it has been appointed to care for.
The people of Iraq, of all and any faith and denomination, like all people in all countries of the world, look to their government to provide them with the peace and security they need and deserve.
The current Iraqi government is dramatically failing in meeting that objective.
^{Kurdish Peshmerga forces drive thorough the town of Sinjar, Iraq, near the border with Syria (SAM TARLING)}
15.30 The United States is flying F-18 attack aircraft launched from the carrier USS George H.W. Bush on missions over Iraq to conduct surveillance of insurgents who have seized part of the country, a U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the F-18s were being flown from the carrier, which was ordered into the Gulf several days ago, because it is sovereign U.S. territory and can deploy tanker refueling planes if needed.
General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers on Wednesday the United States has been carrying out manned and unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over Iraq and was devoting a number of planes and Navy ships to the effort.
15.15 Isis has widely been reported as the world's richest terrorist organisation following its seizure of money and gold from Mosul banks.
The jihadists are now reported to have stolen $429m from banks in Mosul.
14.53 Iran's Supreme Leader warns on Twitter that Isis is serving the interests of US in the Middle East, writes Damien McElroy.
Iran's Supreme Leader has signalled his intense distrust of any proposed cooperation with US to resolve the Iraq situation by accusing Washington of sowing the seeds of division between the country's sects.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei used a Twitter account associated with his office to accuse Isis and other Sunni extremists of wanting to bring about a war in the Muslim world.
The divisions created by Isis were serving the purposes of the "arrogant powers" - Iranian language that refers to the US.
14.49 Isis appears to have a new weapon in its armoury - taxi drivers. Colin Freeman reports:
According to a Baghdad military spokesman who has just popped up on Iraqi television, the Isis militants are using taxi drivers to spread false rumours about the success of their campaign.
Having spent a fair amount of time in the company of Iraqi taxi drivers, I can testify that that they share their British counterparts' status as being the fount of all knowledge, so there might bo some substance to this story. After all, Isis's Twitter account has been suspended, so perhaps this is them reverting to much older forms of communication.
14.37 The breakdown of order in northern Iraq has given US Congress cause for concern over the planned withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"There's no guarantee [Afghanistan would not deteriorate]," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told a Senate panel on Wednesday.
"It is up to the people of Afghanistan to make these decisions, their military, their new leadership that will be coming in as a result of their new government."
This comes despite Afghan president Hamid Karzai dismissing idea of Iraq-style al-Qaeda comeback in Afghanistan in an interview yesterday, citing his good relationship with the Taliban.
^{Hamid Karzai (REX)}
14.20 The European Union on has pledged an extra five million euros to help the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis displaced by a jihadist offensive.
"This fresh wave of violence has terrible consequences for vulnerable children, women and men", said the EU's Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Kristalina Georgieva, announcing funding that will bring total EU humanitarian assistance for 2014 to 12 million euros.
13.55 A British extremist fighting in Iraq has urged Muslims in the UK to avenge the brutal murder of a Saudi Arabian student in Essex, reports Oliver Duggan.
Nahid Almanea, 31, was stabbed to death on Tuesday in a "frenzied" attack that is being considered as a "targeted" assault on her religious identity.
A British member of Isis, the fanatical Islamic force leading an insurgency in Iraq, has subsequently said Muslims in the UK should "take up a knife and kill as they did in Colchester".
Abu Rashash Britani, who has previously said he would bring Isis' brand of bloody attacks to Britian, tweeted: "These kuffar [non-Muslims] getting out of hand, dare they touch a #Muslimah.
"I call upon any brother to take up a knife and kill as they did #colchester."
He added: "#colchester attack is cowardly act. At least when our noble brothers, killers of #leerigby did so they killed a soldier not a civilian.
"I pray a revenge attack takes place in #uk against those enemies of #Islam n #Muslims."

13.35 Qassim Atta, a spokesman for Iraqi military, says 70 'terrorists' have been killed in the government forces' operation to reclaim Beiji oil refinery.
Earlier today there were witness reports that black al-Qaeda-style banners had been unfurled over the refinery, but fighting has been ongoing in a sporadic manner since Tuesday, with both sides claiming victory at different times.
13.20 Iraqi prime minister Maliki has said that 59 officers will now face court martial for failing to defend northern Iraq against Isis.
This follows the arrest yesterday of four top generals over the fall of Mosul last week.
13.05 The full Saudi Arabia ambassador's piece warning Britain and the US not to meddle in Iraq is now live here:
Saudi Arabia: 'This is Iraq’s problem and they must sort it out themselves'
Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud also said his country has been "alarmed" by suggestions made by Iraqi PM Malaki and some Western commentators that in some ways we in Saudi Arabia support the Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham (Isis):
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wishes to see the defeat and destruction of all al-Qaeda networks and of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham operating in Iraq. Saudi Arabia does not provide either moral or financial support to Isis or any terrorist networks. Any suggestion to the contrary, is a malicious falsehood.
We do not and we will not support violence or extremism in any form, anywhere by anyone. At all times we seek and strive for a peaceful coexistence between all people both within our country and with our region and in the wider world community.
12.50 Two interesting developments in Iraq reported by my colleague in Baghdad Colin Freeman, who has reports of a truce at the Baiji oil refinery and growing sectarian unrest over weapons seizures in the Sunni areas of the capital:
Iraq's al-Sharqiya TV is reporting that ceasefire has been organised between Isis forces and government troops fighting around the oil refinery at Beiji, so that some 250 foreign workers can leave. The truce was organised by local tribal chiefs.
The government has been accused of taking weapons away from residents of Sunni neighbourhoods in Baghdad.
Ever since the fall of Saddam, Iraq has been awash with weapons, and to this day, every Iraqi household is permitted to keep one Kalashnikov at home for self-defence. However, a Sunni friend of mine claims that secturity forces have been confiscating them during raids or operations in Sunni neighbourhoods. As a result, he says, his neighbourhood is now defenceless against both Isis and the government.
12.25 Saudi Arabia is increasingly concerned that a US intervention against Isis will end up boosting Iran's influence in Iraq, according to Jonathan Eyal, the director of the Royal United Services Institute.
The worst scenario for Saudi Arabia in Iraq is that the West undertakes airstrikes against Isis and ends up making common cause with Iran in Iraq.
12.10 Britain and the US must not meddle in Iraq, Saudi Arabia has warned.
Writing exclusively in the Telegraph, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf al-Saud - Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UK - said the crisis in SaudiArabia's northern neighbour should be sorted out between Iraqis alone as it was a product of the sectarian divisions in Iraq.
We oppose all foreign intervention and interference. There must be no meddling in Iraq’s internal affairs, not by us or by the US, the UK or by any other government. This is Iraq’s problem and they must sort it out themselves
Any government that meddles in Iraq’s affairs runs the risk of escalating the situation, creating greater mistrust between the people of Iraq – both Sunni and Shia.
12.00 As both side continue to claim victory in the battle for Baiji's enormous oil refinery, one fact that is clear is that the fighting has done serious damage to the facility.
This satellite photograph shows part of the refinery on fire, with black smoke billowing out:

^{Satellite image of Baiji oil refinery after Isis attack (LANDSAT/NASA/ORBITAL HORIZON)}
11.29 Photographs have emerged on social media which appear to show Isis jihadists burning a huge pile of cigarettes, which are fordbidden under the strict Sharia law being imposed by militants on captured territory:

^{Isis fighter burning cigarettes, forbidden by Sharia law}
11.03 Kurdish intelligence chief Lahor Talabani has added his voice to growing fears that British Isis fighters will attack the UK on their return:


10.53 Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has warned that US air strikes on militants in Iraq could cause a high number of civilian deaths.
He said today that Washington did not view such a strategy favourably
However, Iraqi government spokesman Zuhair al-Nahar said:
Targeted airstrikes against centres of these terrorists is very effective. Targeted airstrikes against their convoys, their supply lines, are absolutely vital.
There is always collateral damage in war, but that can be minimised by specific targeting.
This will allow the Iraqi army and the Iraqi volunteers and the tribes to take the initiative to defeat these terrorists, rather than [allowing them to get] a permanent grip on Iraq which will be used as a base for this cancerous growth of terrorism to spread throughout the whole area.
^{American helicopter on aircraft carrier in Arabian Gulf (US NAVY/AFP/GETTY)}
10.40 The Iraqi government has likened Isis's rule over vast swathes of the north of Iraq to the Nazi occupation of Europe.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Iraqi PM spokesman Zuhair al-Nahar said:
This is a catastrophe of unprecedented scale.
We are having a similar situation to Rwanda, where there are going to be genocide and we are having mass killings already. This is similar to the Nazi occupation of Europe.
We'd just had an election where Mr Maliki had three times more votes than his nearest rival - that [whether Maliki should stand down] is something for the Iraqi people and the Iraqi politicians to decide
Our focus needs to be on urgent action, air support, logistic support, counter-intelligence support, to defeat these terrorists who are posing a real danger to the stability of Iraq and to the whole region.
As the prime minister of the UK said yesterday that is something that will affect the UK
<noframe>Twitter: BBC Radio 4 Today - &ldquo;Every day makes a difference&rdquo;. Targeted air strikes will allow Iraqi forces to take initiative, says Zuhair al-Nahar <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23r4today" target="_blank">#r4today</a></noframe>
<noframe>Twitter: BBC Radio 4 Today - Iraqi leaders &ldquo;feel abandoned&rdquo; and want the US, UK and EU to help stabilise military situation - Zuhair al-Nahar <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23r4today" target="_blank">#r4today</a></noframe>
10.25 As the security situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, global risk consultancy Drum Cussac is exploring options for evacuating staff on behalf of its clients from Kurdistan.
"We have the option of evacuating people across the border to Turkey," said Chris Job MBE, Drum Cussac's Vice President of Operations.
"If a road movement is not possible then we could land a chartered jet at one of the airports in Kurdistan. We are looking at all the options available to us to safeguard our clients in this rapidly-evolving situation."
According to its website, Drum Cussac has a number of clients working in Northern Iraq with multiple staff in various locations close to the worst of the fighting between government forces and the Islamist ISIS rebels.
09.50 Militants have hung their black banners at Iraq's largest oil refinery, according to witness reports.
However, security officials are claiming that the government still holds it.
The Iraqi witness who drove past the Beiji refinery, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, said militants also manned checkpoints around it. He said a huge fire in one of its tankers was raging at the time.
The witness spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals.
Contrarily, a security official in Baghdad said the government force protecting the refinery was still inside on Thursday and that they were in regular contact with officials in Baghdad.
He said helicopter gunships were flying over the facility to stop any advance by the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant inside the refinery.
09.28 In further - albeit slightly more veiled - criticism of Iraq's PM Nouri al-Maliki, top-ranking military officer General Martin Dempsey said:
There is very little that could have been done to overcome the degree to which the government of Iraq had failed its people
^{An F-18 fighter jet launches off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Arabian Gulf}
09.20 The Wall Street Journal has spoken to several top US officials who believe Iraq's embattled prime minister Nouri al-Maliki should be compelled to step down by the Obama administration in return for air strikes on Isis.
Here are a few of the statements the newspaper has reported:
Sen. John McCain: My concern is whether we're going to do anything besides send a few extra Marines, which won't do anything... [the US should send emissaries to Baghdad to] work with Maliki and tell him he's got to step down and have a coalition government."
Senate Intelligence Chairman Dianne Feinstein: The Maliki government, candidly, has got to go if you want any reconciliation
White House spokesman Jay Carney: Whether it's the current prime minister or another leader, we will aggressively attempt to impress upon that leader the absolute necessity of rejecting sectarian governance.
09.05 On the ground in Iraq, the battle for control of the country's biggest refinery rages on between Iraqi government forces and Sunni jihadists.
The sprawling Baiji refinery, 200 km (130 miles) north of the capital near Tikrit, was a battlefield as troops loyal to the Shia-led government held off Isis insurgents who stormed the perimeter yesterday, threatening national energy supplies.
250-300 remaining staff were evacuated early this morning after military helicopters attacked militant positions overnight, one worker told Reuters.

09.00 US vice president Joe Biden last night called on Iraq’s leaders to govern in an inclusive manner, promote stability and unity among Iraq’s population as they seek to combat Isis militants.
The call specifically urged Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to seek national unity, coming amid reported calls from the US Right for Maliki's resignation to be a stipulation for the US launching air strikes on Isis.
Read our full report.
08.30 Here's our leader in response to David Cameron's comments yesterday that battle-hardened Isis fighters are a major threat to attack Britain:
The police and the security services are fully aware of the threat. Indeed, dozens of Syria-related arrests have been made, passports confiscated, citizenship rights removed and legislation is now being prepared to make the planning of terrorist attacks overseas illegal here in the UK.
This needs to be put on to the Statute Book as speedily as possible.
There is also an important role for the Muslim community in Britain to play. The police have already sought the co-operation of Muslim women, to try to dissuade or inform on men who intend to fight. But religious leaders also need to be involved, by urging would-be jihadis to stay at home and counter the call to arms they may hear on the internet.
As Mr Cameron told MPs, we cannot be indifferent to what is happening in Syria and Iraq, imagining it to be a self-contained, faraway war between Muslims. Without the utmost vigilance, it has the potential to harm us as well.
08.00 Colin Freeman is in Baghdad for the Telegraph and has this update on the US air strike request:
The Iraqi government formally asked America on Wednesday to conduct airstrikes against ISIS. But even if America agrees - which isn't a given - there's no certainty as to how effective they will be.
For a start, they require a detailed intelligence picture to be built up first, which could take some time. As General Martin Dempsey, the chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the US Senate on Wednesday: “It’s not as easy as looking at an iPhone video of a convoy (of Isis fighters) and then immediately striking”.
As he points out, Isis will not always be obligingly driving down some empty desert highway in a huge convoy waving their flags. Instead, they will be blending in among Iraq's civilian population, which makes the risks of innocent casualties in any airstrike much higher.
Remember, also, that the US had all manner of warplanes and drones at its disposal when it was actually occupying Iraq, not to mention more than 100,000 troops, and it still didn't stop the insurgents holding ground.
Read more: Iraq calls publicly for America to bomb Isis 'terrorists'
^{Peshmerga fighters 500m from the Isis fighters at the Tal Afar frontline (CAROL MALOUF)}
07.30 Good morning and welcome to today's coverage of the crisis in Iraq.
Interesting developments overnight in the United States, where Obama has met with top officials from both parties in the Oval Office to discuss options for responding to Iraq's request for air strikes.
Among those was Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who told reporters Obama has "indicated he didn't feel he had any need for authority from us for steps that he might take".
The prospect of Obama launching attacks on Isis without going through Congress - which he insisted on doing prior to aborted action on Syria - could lead to clashes in Washington.

[American Patriot]

More here:

Sunni Extremists in Iraq Occupy Hussein's Chemical Weapons Facility

Officials Don't Believe the Militants Will Be Able to Create a Functional Weapon From the Material

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By Julian E. Barnes
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June 19, 2014 11:10 a.m. ET

In 2002, an Iraqi official stood next to destroyed aluminum aerial bombs at what was once Saddam Hussein's premier chemical-weapons production facility. Getty Images




Washington—Sunni extremists in Iraq have occupied what was once Saddam Hussein's premier chemical-weapons production facility, a complex that still contains a stockpile of old weapons, State Department and other U.S. government officials said.
U.S. officials don't believe the Sunni militants will be able to create a functional chemical weapon from the material. The weapons stockpiled at the Al Muthanna complex are old, contaminated and hard to move, officials said.
Nonetheless, the capture of the chemical-weapon stockpile by the forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, known as ISIS or ISIL, the militant group that is seizing territory in the country, has grabbed the attention of the U.S.
"We remain concerned about the seizure of any military site by the ISIL," Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said in a written statement. "We do not believe that the complex contains CW materials of military value and it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to safely move the materials."
The takeover underscores the chaos gripping Iraq and the possibility that the growing Sunni rebellion could further destabilize the Middle East. Not lost on U.S. government and military officials is the irony that the latest chapter in a war designed to strip Iraq of chemical weapons could see radical Sunni extremists take control of that same stockpile.
The rise of ISIS has reignited the debate about the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the Bush administration and the 2011 decision by the Obama administration to withdraw remaining military forces from the country. The takeover of a chemical weapons stockpile—even if the weapons are useless—seems likely to further intensify those debates.
During the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, Hussein used the Muthanna complex to make chemical weapons, including sarin, mustard gas, and VX (a nerve agent), according the Iraq Study Group, which conducted the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in the aftermath of the war.
The Iraq Study group did find chemical munitions at Muthanna but determined that inspections by United Nations Special Commission, or Unscom, had ensured the facility was dismantled and remaining chemical stocks militarily useless and sealed in bunkers.
"Two wars, sanctions and Unscom oversight reduced Iraqi's premier production facility to a stockpile of old damaged and contaminated chemical munitions (sealed in bunkers), a wasteland full of destroyed chemical munitions, razed structures, and unusable war-ravaged facilities," the Iraq Study Group's 2004 report concluded.
The Muthanna complex is near Lake Tharthar, roughly 45 miles northwest of Baghdad, an area now firmly in control of the Sunni rebels. ISIS has taken control of most of Anbar province as well as Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.
Military officials said the U.S. was well aware of the Muthanna stockpile and wouldn't have left it there if it posed a military threat. Still, when the U.S. pulled out of Iraq, it didn't anticipate a large swath of the country, including numerous military bases, would be overrun by radical Sunni militants. One defense official said that if the U.S. had known the Iraqi government would lose control so soon, it might not have left the old chemical weapons in place.
U.S. officials repeatedly emphasized the takeover of the chemical weapons stocks didn't constitute a significant military gain by ISIS. The group, multiple officials said, would find the weapons militarily useless even if they were to get access to the sealed bunkers where they are stored. Officials said the group hasn't yet gained access to those bunkers.
"The only people who would likely be harmed by these chemical materials would be the people who tried to use or move them," said a military official.
ISIS military gains have been aided by other Sunni groups including Baathists and other former loyalists to Hussein. Officers in Hussein's army have also taken leadership roles in the rebellion. Some of those men may have some working knowledge of the use of chemical weapons from the Iran-Iraq war.

[American Patriot]

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iraq-isis-s...cility-1453416

Iraq: Isis Seizes Saddam Hussein's Chemical Weapons Storage Facility

• 
  By Umberto Bacchi
  June 19, 2014 17:32 BST
  
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Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) have taken over large swathes of Iraq.Reuters

Islamist militants in Iraq have taken over a military complex containing a stockpile of old chemical weapons from Saddam Hussein's era.
The US State Department said that they believe jihadist fighters with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) will not be able to make any use of the material seized at the Al Muthanna complex as it is too old, contaminated and difficult to move.
"We do not believe that the complex contains CW materials of military value and it would be very difficult, if not impossible to safely move the materials," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told the Wall Street Journal.
A bunker at Al Muthanna.CIA/MoD

Psaki however added that the US remained "concerned about the seizure of any military site by the Isis."
According to the UK Ministry of Defence, the Al Muthanna chemical complex "was the principal manufacturing plant for both chemical agents and munitions during Saddam Hussein's rule."
The facility, located in the desert some 80km northwest of the Iraqi capital, was used in the 1980s to produce and store chemical weapons, reportedly including Sarin and Mustard Gas.
"Iraq used these weapons during the Iran - Iraq War (1980 to 1988) and against the Kurds in Halabja in 1988," the British MoD said in 2012, announcing it was to provide training to Iraqi personnel to dispose partially destroyed chemical munitions and agents stored there.
Stockpiles of weapons and the complex's ability to produce new material were severely hampered by the two Iraqi wars.
Related

• Not Only Isis: Meet Saddam Hussein's Former Generals Helping the Sunni Insurgency
• Iraq Crisis: Staff Evacuated from Country's Biggest Oil Refinery During Lull in Battle for Baiji
• Iraq Formally Calls for US Airstrikes on Isis Militants
• Isis Kidnaps 145 Kurdish Children To 'Brainwash them into Suicide Bombing'

"The majority of the Al Muthanna complex was bombed during Desert Storm, completely incapacitating Iraq's chemical weapon production capabilities, however, large stockpiles of chemical weapons and bulk agent survived," a 2004 CIA report read.
Most of Iraq's chemical munitions were then destroyed and disposed under the supervision of the UN. Some partially destroyed contents were left over and sealed in two bunkers at Al Muthanna.
The complex has now fallen into the hands of Isis, which has conquered large swathes of Iraq in a lightning campaign backed by Baathists and other former loyalists to Hussein.
US Military officials said that they would have not left chemical material there after the 2011 pull out, if it represented a security threat.
"The only people who would likely be harmed by these chemical materials would be the people who tried to use or move them," a military official said.
Isis steams form Al-Qaeda in Iraq (Aqi) that was formed in 2003 shortly after the start of the second invasion of Iraq, which was originally launched to strip the regime of Hussein of its alleged stockpiles of chemical weapons.

[American Patriot]

No military value... right....

I believe that like I believe Lois Learner's email is completely gone.

Or I can keep my doctor.

Or the IRS isn't keeping conservatives down...

Or that the NSA doesn't have copies of all MY emails....

OR that Obama doesn't lie every time he opens his mouth.

ISIS Seizes Saddam-Era Chemical Weapons Facility, But U.S. Says Site Has No 'Materials of Military Value'

By Howard Koplowitz@howardkoplowitz
on June 19 2014 11:49 AM






Fighters of al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and Syria carry their weapons during a parade at the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the border with Turkey January 2, 2014. Reuters

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has seized a facility that produced chemical weapons under Saddam Hussein, but the site includes old and contaminated chemical weapons that U.S. officials said would be ineffective and hard to move.

Officials told the Wall Street Journal the weapons at the Al Muthanna complex are also hard to relocate, further complicating any effort by ISIS to use them in its offensive against Iraqi security forces.

Despite confidence that ISIS won’t be able to make the chemical weapons operational, the U.S. remains “concerned about the seizure of any military site" by ISIS, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told the paper. "We do not believe that the complex contains materials of military value, and it would be very difficult, if not impossible to safely move the materials."

While the Al Muthanna complex was bombed during the first Iraq war in 1991 and most of the facility was destroyed under the watch of the United Nations in the early 1990s, some chemical weapons and chemicals used to make the weapons remained, according to a CIA report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Shortly after Saddam took power, he made chemical weapons a top priority as Iraq was soon to engage in a war with Iran. Mustard gas and the nerve agents tabun and sarin were made there, along with other chemicals.

[American Patriot]

Obama Weighs Sending Special Forces to Iraq as Advisers

By Margaret Talev, Kathleen Hunter and Helene Fouquet Jun 19, 2014 10:47 AM MT

June 19 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is distancing itself from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, pressing for a political change that could help blunt a Sunni insurgency as President Barack Obama weighs possible air strikes against the extremists. Phil Mattingly reports on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg Surveillance.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Related

• U.S. Open to More Talks With Iran on Iraq
• Major Israeli Military Operation Seen as Unlikely

The Obama administration weighed options said to include sending as many as 100 troops to Iraq as advisers, as the U.S. urged a wider sharing of power there.


The Pentagon has given President Barack Obama a plan to send the special operations forces to Baghdad to help the country’s military gather and analyze intelligence on Sunni militants, a U.S. defense official said. Obama hasn’t yet signed off on the proposal, said the official, who asked for anonymity to discuss the deliberation.


Related:

• Obama Sending 300 Advisers to Help Iraq Battle Insurgency
• Exxon, BP Evacuate Iraq Workers as Drilling Continues

The president, who has said he won’t send ground combat forces, was meeting with his national security team this afternoon. A statement by the president, originally set for 12:30 p.m. Washington time, was delayed by at least 45 minutes as the meeting went on longer than scheduled, according to the White House.


The crisis in Iraq can’t be resolved without political change, U.S. officials said, a sentiment endorsed by a French official who warned at a briefing in Paris today that the Middle East could find itself engulfed in a religious war. While France supports immediate military action, the use of force must go hand in hand with steps to ease political divides in the nation, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the French position.

In this Tuesday, June 17, 2014, image taken from video uploaded to a militant social... Read More

The U.S. yesterday urged the Shiite-dominated government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to be more inclusive of minority groups to help roll back gains by the rebel Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaeda breakaway. Today, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. isn’t coming to Maliki’s rescue.
“This isn’t about Maliki. What the United States is doing is about Iraq,” Kerry said in an interview with NBC news. “It’s going to be focused on the people of Iraq -- Shiite, Sunni, Kurd.”
Airstrikes Sought

Iraq has asked the U.S. to use airstrikes to help defeat the Sunni fighters, whose rapid military success has raised the specter of sectarian civil war in OPEC’s second-largest oil producer. The conflict threatens to draw in the U.S. as well as regional powers including Shiite-ruled Iran and Sunni Gulf Arab states.
Iraq has asked the U.S. to use airstrikes to help defeat the Sunni fighters, whose rapid military success has raised the specter of sectarian civil war in OPEC’s second-largest oil producer. The conflict threatens to draw in the U.S. as well as regional powers including Shiite-ruled Iran and Sunni Gulf Arab states.
Meet al-Qaeda's Heirs Fighting to Reshape the Arab World
The United Arab Emirates yesterday summoned its envoy in Iraq for consultations and expressed “its deep concern at the continuation of the policy of exclusion, sectarianism and marginalization,” according to the state-run WAM news agency. Saudi Arabia, the region’s biggest Sunni power, also blamed “sectarian policies” for the crisis.
Maliki yesterday said all Iraqis, minority Sunnis and majority Shiites, stand united against terrorism. He warned that fighting could spill into neighboring states and blamed regional countries he didn’t name for providing ISIL with moral and logistical support.
Oil Prices

Brent crude for August settlement traded at a nine-month high, rising as much as 54 cents to $114.80 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, the highest intraday level since Sept. 9. It traded for $114.56 a barrel at 11:56 London time.
Control of a major refinery at Baiji north of Baghdad has swung several times. The Salahuddin provincial police command said in a statement today that Iraqi security forces regained full control after overnight fighting. Military spokesman Qassim Ata said more than 70 terrorists who tried to storm Baiji were killed.
“Baiji refinery is totally under the control of the Iraqi armed forces,” Ata said.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and BP Plc have begun removing employees in Iraq, and Obama notified Congress this week he would deploy as many as 275 troops to protect the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and other diplomatic installations.
Balancing Questions

Obama is balancing questions about the long-term viability of the Maliki government against calls from some Republicans to intervene more aggressively -- and from some Democrats to refrain from deepening engagement three years after the U.S. ended its combat mission in Iraq.
The president briefed Democratic and Republican congressional leaders at the White House yesterday on what the administration termed “options for increased security assistance” for Iraq.
“The president said he is not currently considering actions that would require congressional approval but was very clear that he would consult with Congress if that changed,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said in a statement after meeting with Obama.
Underscoring the U.S. stance, Vice President Joe Biden yesterday spoke by telephone with Maliki, top Iraqi legislator Osama al-Nujaifi and Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani to express U.S. solidarity with Iraq against the militants. Kurdish armed forces have also clashed with ISIL insurgents.
Biden “emphasized the need for the prime minister -- and all Iraqi leaders -- to govern in an inclusive manner, promote stability and unity among Iraq’s population, and address the legitimate needs of Iraq’s diverse communities,” according to a White House statement.
The Sunni Muslims are a majority in Anbar Province to the west and in areas north of Baghdad. These regions lack the oil wealth concentrated in the Shiite-dominated south and the semi-autonomous Kurdish regions in the north.

[American Patriot]

Putin is moving troops into place at the border of Ukraine.

Jump off tonight our time is likely. The Pro-Russian forces are getting their assess handed to them by the Ukraine military. At least that is the rumor running around here.

[American Patriot]

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/vi...lence.cnn.html

[American Patriot]

400,000 Ukrainians are in Russian regions bordering on Ukraine — senior official

Russia
June 19, 18:49 UTC+4
Кegional authorities will try to create opportunities for Ukrainians’ permanent stay if all required documents are formalized


© AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka


Russia simplifies citizenship granting procedures for Ukrainian refugees


TAGANROG, June 19. /ITAR-TASS/. A total of 400,000 Ukrainian nationals are currently in Russian regions bordering on Ukraine, the head of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service, Konstantin Romodanovsky, said Thursday. “We are a bit concerned about the situation that the number of refugees grows each day. Over four days, it grew from 330,000 to 400,000,” Romodanovsky said.
Southern Russian Rostov Region governor Vasily Golubev said the local administration will assess the situation in the region’s 55 municipalities within 10 days to see what capabilities they have to accommodate Ukrainian nationals in cold seasons.
The governor said the key task of the regional authorities now will be to create opportunities for Ukrainians’ permanent stay if all required documents are formalized.
Earlier, Russian presidential administration head Sergei Ivanov called on Ukrainian nationals arriving in Russia from the military operations zone in eastern Ukraine to more actively apply for the temporary resident status.

Moscow may allow Ukrainian refugees to stay in Russia for one year


The status “makes it possible to both receive an allowance and insurance as well as gain a job opportunity,” Ivanov said at a meeting with volunteers and representatives of charity organizations providing assistance to Ukrainian refugees. Romodanovsky said he will instruct the heads of local migration service departments in Russian regions bordering on Ukraine to work out the issue of increasing temporary resident status quotas.
He said the quota in the Rostov Region defined by the Russian government totals about 700 permits, and added that it has been currently taken up by 30% In the future, the official said, “the amount may prove insufficient”.
“I will give heads of departments, in particular in the Rostov Region, the command to launch the quota allocation mechanism in full,” Romodanovsky said.
He emphasized that temporary residence permits allow people to stay in Russia for periods of up to one year that may be prolonged to three years and offer the opportunity of obtaining jobs.
Fierce clashes have been underway between the Ukrainian military and militias in the eastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which refused to recognize the authorities who had been propelled to power amid riots during a coup in Ukraine in February 2014. The regions' residents demanded the country's federalization.
Kiev is conducting a punitive operation against federalization supporters in Ukraine's East that involves armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation. It has already claimed hundreds of lives, including civilian, and left some buildings destroyed and damaged.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which border on Russia, held referendums on May 11, in which most voters supported independence from Ukraine. Their independence has not been officially recognized.

Read also

Russia urges OSCE to pay attention to refugee situation in Ukraine
No humanitarian corridors provided for Ukrainian refugees — Kremlin administration chief
Belarus reports inflow of Ukrainian refugees increases by third
Refugees from Donetsk and Luhansk regions seek refuge at Odessa resorts
Russian government to compensate Rostov region’s expenses on accommodation of refugees
Number of reported refugees from Ukraine in Russia reaches 19,000



Russia has repeatedly called on Kiev to end the military operation and engage in dialogue with Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking Southeast. The operation, however, continues under newly elected President Petro Poroshenko, who won the May 25 early presidential elections and took office on June 7. A Russian law enforcement source said Wednesday that more than 13,500 registered refugees from Ukraine’s embattled southeastern regions are currently in Russia, including some 6,200 children.
The refugees are in the border regions of Russia’s Central and Southern federal districts, as well as in Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol - two entities that reunified with Russia in mid-March 2014 after some 60 years as part of Ukraine.
The overall number of refugees from Ukraine in Russia stands at tens of thousands of people, but only some of them officially apply for the refugee status.

[Ryan Ruck]

I think at this point, it's best to dissolve the idea of Iraq and break it into 3 regions. Kurdish North, Sunni middle, Shiite south.

You know what's pathetic?

If we had a serious leader with any eye toward global strategy, Iraq could have been our perfect puppet country in the Middle East and over the very long term effectively used to bring stability to the region.

Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq has a lot to offer: sea ports, major metropolitan areas, existing military bases, an international air port, oil production, and the West friendly Kurds to the north (we could have let them break off their own section in exchange for support in keeping Iraq pacified).

On top of that, before our troops had been withdrawn, Iraq was on the upswing with it quickly becoming more peaceful.

Had we pushed and left more troops there, in a couple decades, it may well have ended up like Germany or Japan.

All that opportunity flushed by the Community-Organizer-In-Chief...

[American Patriot]

More fighting in east Ukraine, as Kiev says Moscow giving military aid to rebels

A peace plan announced by Ukraine's president earlier this week may not get off the ground, as fighting continued with pro-Russian separatists in parts of the country's east.


By Dan Murphy, Staff writer June 20, 2014

A daily roundup of terrorism and security issues.



Fighting intensified in eastern Ukraine today, two days after Kiev promised a unilateral cease-fire plan and with both the Ukrainian government and NATO officials complaining of a Russian military buildup along the border.


The New York Times says there are reports of "significant casualties" in southeastern Ukraine over the past day.
Recommended: How much do you know about Ukraine? Take our quiz!

Skirmishes for control of Krasny Liman, a railroad hub north of Donetsk, stretched into a second day. The Ukrainian military deployed both air and artillery strikes in attempting to oust the separatist fighters, said Vladislav Seleznyov, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry’s campaign against the rebels.


... The rising casualty toll in Krasny Liman provided a stark counterpoint to the peace plan, underscoring the likelihood of dire consequences should it fail to take hold. [Ukrainian Defense Ministry Spokesman Vladislav] Seleznyov said that seven government troops had died and that 30 others had been injured since fighting over a conduit road into the town began Thursday morning.


He also said that 300 rebel fighters had died in the fighting since Thursday, a figure that could not be independently verified. Mr. Seleznyov said the toll was “not propaganda, that’s a hard number.”

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a possible peace plan in a phone call late on Thursday, CNN reports.

In his conversation with Putin, Poroshenko stressed the need for the release of Ukrainian hostages and to establish effective security controls on the border with Russia. Putin spoke about Ukraine in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.


They called for "an early halt to the fighting in eastern Ukraine, in order to stabilize the security situation and to create the conditions for a real de-escalation," Hollande's office said.

Whether peace is actually at hand, however, is another matter. The Washington Post writes: "...As heavy fighting continued for a second day Friday, there was no indication that a cessation of war was imminent. The rebels have rejected every offer to stop fighting, and militants launched an attack at dawn Friday on government troops around the Luhansk airport, where they shot down a military transport plane last weekend."


The Kyiv Post reports that Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov posted a series of photos on his Facebook account that he says affirm direct Russian military support for pro-Moscow separatists.

Proof that Russia is helping to foment unrest in Ukraine is mounting, with Kyiv this week saying it has irrefutable, smoking-gun evidence, so to speak, of Russian military vehicles and weapons being used against its forces in the country’s embattled east.


... Ukrainian forces confiscated a BTR-80 armored personnel carrier, inside of which was a document that showed it had been checked out from a Russian military base on May 31, 2014, Avakov wrote. He said the BTR-80 was captured by National Guardsmen near Marinovki after they clashed with separatist fighters there.

Mr. Avakov also alleged that portable anti-aircraft missiles (MANPADS), rocket-propelled grenades, and light weapons have all been recovered and that they are all of "Russian origin."


The Associated Press also reports indications of growing Russian support for the rebels.

Rebels were operating tanks in the region, a particular sore spot for Ukraine, which accuses Russia of letting the vehicles cross the border.


... An Associated Press reporter saw pro-Russian fighters moving in a column with two tanks and three armored personnel carriers near the town of Yanakiyeve in the direction of the town of Horlivka in the Donetsk region. The tanks flew small flags of a pro-Russian militia but otherwise had no markings. The fighters declined to say what they were doing, other than that it was a “secret operation.”

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen yesterday that "I can confirm that we now see a new Russian military buildup — at least a few thousand more Russian troops deployed to the Ukrainian border, and we see troop maneuvers in the neighborhood of Ukraine... If they're deployed to seal the border and stop the flow of weapons and fighters that would be a positive step. But that's not what we're seeing."


Russia, for its part, says it is merely taking steps to control its border.

[American Patriot]

Updated: June 20, 2014 17:05 IST
7 Ukrainian troops killed, rebels operate tanks

AP Share · Comment · print · T+



AP Pro-russian troops in tanks, several armoured vehicles, and tracks drive on a road in the direction of Donetsk not far from Debaltseve, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine on Friday.
TOPICS
World

Russia

Ukraine

unrest, conflicts and war


Seven Ukrainian troops were killed in overnight fighting in the restive east, Ukrainian officials said on Friday, as clashes between government forces and pro-Russian rebels flared two days after the President said he would soon call a unilateral cease-fire.
Rebels were operating tanks in the region, a particular sore spot for Ukraine, which accuses Russia of letting the vehicles cross the border.
Vladislav Seleznev, spokesman for Ukrainian forces in the east, said the seven soldiers had been killed since Thursday and 30 injured in fighting against pro-Russian separatists outside the village of Yampil in the Donetsk region. He said 300 rebels were killed, but that could not be immediately verified.
An Associated Press reporter saw pro-Russian fighters moving in a column with two tanks and three armoured personnel carriers near the town of Yanakiyeve in the direction of the town of Horlivka in the Donetsk region. The tanks flew small flags of a pro-Russian militia but otherwise had no markings. The fighters declined to say what they were doing, other than that it was a “secret operation”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has voiced concern about the Ukrainian military onslaught, while NATO on Thursday reported that Russia was resuming a military build-up at the Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko discussed details of his peace plan in a telephone call to Mr. Putin on Thursday. Mr. Poroshenko’s office said he emphasized the need for introducing effective border controls and quickly releasing hostages.
Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Russian officials were surprised at Western expressions of concern over the renewed troop buildup, saying it was merely a previously announced measure to tighten border controls.
“This is not a matter of some sort of concentration of forces, but of the strengthening of border controls of the Russian Federation,” Mr. Peskov was quoted as saying by the Itar-TASS news agency.
Separately, Mr. Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said the Russian president is committed to dialogue on Ukraine and is planning to have a phone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama in the coming days.
Mr. Ushakov also mentioned that Mr. Putin, on a visit to Austria next week, would be meeting with the chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to discuss Mr. Poroshenko’s peace plan for Ukraine.
The U.N. says at least 356 people, including 257 civilians, have been killed since May 7 in eastern Ukraine.

[American Patriot]

News is FINALLY confirming ISIS has captured Saddam's old chemical weapons factory.

[MinutemanCO]

You know what's pathetic?

If we had a serious leader with any eye toward global strategy, Iraq could have been our perfect puppet country in the Middle East and over the very long term effectively used to bring stability to the region.

Given that it's very possible we trained ISIS, I'd say what's happeneing in Iraq is exactly what Obama, Jordan, Reid, et al have designed to happen in Iraq and the Middle East. Chaos on multiple fronts will foment world war, yes?

[Avvakum]

Given that it's very possible we trained ISIS, I'd say what's happeneing in Iraq is exactly what Obama, Jordan, Reid, et al have designed to happen in Iraq and the Middle East. Chaos on multiple fronts will foment world war, yes?

I agree, it's going exactly as they planned.

[American Patriot]

Britain’s Armed Forces ‘not good enough’ to deal with Jihadi threat, warns ex-defence chief

Lord Richards of Hertsmonceux criticises a lack of spending on the Army, warning that standards will ‘inevitably deteriorate’ as forces are slimmed down
The comments from Lord Richards will sound alarm bells in Whitehall Photo: CROWN COPYRIGHT







By Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent




Britain’s Armed Forces are “not good enough” to deal with the global threat of Jihadis, according to a former head of the military.



Lord Richards of Hertsmonceux also called for defence spending to increase as the economy starts to grow again and said that if plans to replace regular troops with part-time reserves must work soon or junked altogether.



The comments from Lord Richards – who as General Sir David Richards was chief of the defence staff from October 2010 to July last year – will sound alarm bells in Whitehall.



In his maiden speech in the House of Lords on Monday evening the peer questioned whether Britain’s Armed Forces would be in a “fit state” to deal with threats from terrorists.



He said: “Are our Armed Forces in a fit state to play their role in dealing with these and other risks to our way of life?



“Well, my Lords, the answer must be that it is not good enough but it is some consolation that it is better than any other allied nation except the United States.”
Lord Richards said that the “biggest threat confronting the free world today is that posed in my judgement by militant jihadism”.


He continued: “All states are equally vulnerable, including many great Muslim nations. Rather than bickering, states should cohere to confront this threat through the adoption of a multi-dimensional strategy in which all can play a constructive part.


“This struggle will be generational and our leaders must stop seeking short term tactical solutions.”


He said that defence spending – which is forecast to fall from two per cent of gross domestic product to 1.9 per cent by 2017 – had to rise as the UK economy improved.


He said: “As the economy grows, routine defence spending post 2015 must increase, as a minimum, to 2 per cent of GDP.


“If not, given the mathematics that seems stubbornly to govern defence expenditure, the size and effectiveness of the armed forces will inevitably deteriorate.”


Lord Richards also sounded the alarm about plans to replace thousands of regular soliders with part-time reservists.


He said that “the brave experiment over the Army Reserve must either soon be proved to work or a new solution found.


“Any additional money spent on this must not be taken from other programmes, merely robbing Peter to pay Paul.”


Lord Richards warned the quality of recruits to the Armed Forces would deteriorate if ministers failed to take better care of servicemen and women, and their families.


He said that the “societal consensus” that “joining the Armed Forces is a good thing” was increasingly under threats unless armed forces “feel properly looked after”.


He said: “There is a societal consensus in the United Kingdom that joining the armed forces is a good thing, whether you are the child of a humble artisan or the heir to the throne.


“This will only continue if those in the Armed Forces feel properly looked after, and in this I very much include their families.


“The impact of getting this wrong is not properly understood in government circles.”


- Defence Secretary Philip Hammond is to embark on a tour of Gulf states in a show of British support in the face of Isis’s advances in Iraq. Mr Hammond will meet ministers from of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar on his two-day visit, starting on Tuesday.


A MoD Spokesperson said: “Our Armed Forces are recognised as some of the best and most capable in the world and the UK has the biggest Defence budget in Europe and the second largest in NATO, spending above the NATO target of 2% of GDP on defence.


“Few countries can match the broad spectrum of capabilities that the UK retains.


“We are radically reforming and revitalising our Reserve Forces, investing £1.8 billion in better training and equipment and fully integrating them with the rest of the Armed Forces.


“While increasing the Army Reserve from around 19,000 to 30,000 won’t happen overnight, we are confident of delivering a reinvigorated Reserves by 2018.”

[American Patriot]

Jordan bolsters defense on Iraq border

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A member of the Iraqi security forces takes position during a patrol looking for militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) at the border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, June 23, 2014.

Reuters – Tuesday, 24 June 2014
Jordan beefed up its border defenses with Iraq on Sunday after Sunni gunmen seized territory close to its border in Anbar province and appeared to have also taken control of the only land crossing with its large eastern neighbor, officials and witnesses said.
Two officials said the border crossing almost 575 km (357 miles) from the Iraqi capital and nearly 320 km (199 miles) from Amman was effectively closed after Sunni gunmen took control of the crossing.

A Jordanian minister earlier told Reuters traffic had halted and there were signs of chaos at the crossing that serves as a major artery for passenger and trade flows between the two countries.
“The last traffic was around 7:30 pm (1630 GMT) and border officials are saying the situation is not normal on the other side of the border,” Minister of State for Media and Communication Mohammad al-Momani said.
Earlier, Iraqi Sunni gunmen had seized control of the town of Rutba, just 90 miles (145 km) east of the border with Jordan.
An army source confirmed that army units had been put in a state of alert in recent days along the 181-km (112-mile) border with Iraq, redeploying in some areas as part of steps to ward off “any potential or perceived security threats”.
Truck drivers who arrived in Jordan before traffic halted after crossing the border said Sunni tribal militants were now running and manning checkpoints along large stretches of the Baghad-Amman highway that runs through the crossing.
A security source who requested anonymity said the border crossing on the Iraqi side had fallen earlier in the day to local Sunni tribal gunmen who permitted customs officials to continue to run it administratively until later on Sunday.
U.S. ally Jordan was expected to formally close the border to traffic as soon as the Iraqi government formally announces its loss of control over the crucial trade and passenger crossing, he added.
On Sunday, militants overran a second frontier post on the Syrian border, extending two weeks of swift territorial gains as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) pursues the goal of its own caliphate straddling both countries.
ISIL thrust east from a newly captured Iraqi-Syrian border post on Sunday, taking three towns in Iraq’s western Anbar province after seizing the frontier crossing near the town of Qaim on Saturday, witnesses and security sources said. They seized a second, al-Waleed, on Sunday. The gains have helped ISIL secure supply lines to Syria, where it has exploited the chaos of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad to seize territory.
The loss of the Iraqi border crossing with Jordan was not seen as an immediate security threat to the kingdom although some were unnerved by the prospect of al Qaeda-affiliated groups along the border with Iraq, another official said.
It was difficult to see security-conscious Jordan, which has almost cut off any flow of militants across its heavily sealed northern border with Syria, allowing itself to become a launching pad or supply route for Islamist jihadists into Iraq, he added.
Jordan, grappling with the mounting impact of the grinding conflict in neighboring Syria, is one of the closest U.S. allies in the Middle