Your first two links, and the quote you added, referr to the Islamic Front, the Saudi-aligned group, taking weapons, and who are a far larger group. While there was passing mention of a raid ISIS did earlier, this was by no means "most" of the American-supplied weapons, which is just ridiculous. Your third link referred to neither, instead mentioning some of the more conservative groups in the FSA.
If you can't even distinguish between the different groups here, this is a pointless conversation. It always amazes me how many people like to claim they know more than the US state department on international conflict when they don't even know who the different players involved are.
Nadal loses his first match at the Halle grass court tournament to Dustin Brown of Germany 6:4 6:1
It won't be long before Rafa is playing for Scotland, Jack.
Didn't know you supported the restoration of the Jacobite branch, Avery (at least I think the current claimant is a Spanish noble). Of course, it would be correct Scotland would be senior in such a union.
No.
The current (non claiming) claimant is Franz, HRH The Duke of Bavaria :
"Recently a Tory aide described him to me as being like an unwelcome guest hanging around at the end of a party refusing to leave"
Ouch, LOL! :^O
Clearly Clegg is finished in the long-term, but I do think the Lib-Dems will carry on with him up until May 2015. I mean, who in their right mind would want to take over the Lib-Dems in their current state?
Far better to leave Clegg where he is and take the hit, then rebuild from the ruins of 2015 with whoever survives the slaughter...
Agreed. And if all that Iain Martin can muster in the way of tepid criticism is a nameless "Tory aide", really the revolution has some way to go.
Your first two links, and the quote you added, referr to the Islamic Front, the Saudi-aligned group, taking weapons, and who are a far larger group. While there was passing mention of a raid ISIS did earlier, this was by no means "most" of the American-supplied weapons, which is just ridiculous. Your third link referred to neither, instead mentioning some of the more conservative groups in the FSA.
If you can't even distinguish between the different groups here, this is a pointless conversation. It always amazes me how many people like to claim they know more than the US state department on international conflict when they don't even know who the different players involved are.
"As the White House appeared poised to send military aid to Syrian rebels, new concerns arose that the weapons will inevitably fall into the hands of terrorist groups who count themselves among hundreds of factions that form the rag-tag Free Syrian Army."
In Foreign Policy terms, Obama will surely go down as one of the worst ever US presidents. He is lucky he was preceded by Dubya Bush, who was even more calamitous.
You were one of the ones demanding that we leave Iraq as soon as possible. Now you're backing Romney's claim - the diametric opposite of what you wanted.
The Republicans are all sorts of hypocritical here. They were the ones that were rallying to vote down a congressional motion on supporting the FSA in Syria. That lack of intervention allowed ISIS and the Islamic Front to take over and is responsible for the present mess. Now they're insistent we go into Iraq again.
A psychotic caliphate is emerging in the Middle East (thanks Tony), which threatens global stability. American power is now so weak no one can fix it. This could engulf the world.
And pb talks about con-ld battlegrounds.
It's almost reassuring, and also ludicrous.
You don't really understand this internet thing do you?
Mmm. Dunno. I get paid to write opinions on the internet. Do you?
Your opinions are published on the internet but they are not about the internet.
Supposing I was paid to write about my knowledge of widget-manufacturing for a trade magazine - it would hardly make me an expert on the publishing business would it?
Your first two links, and the quote you added, referr to the Islamic Front, the Saudi-aligned group, taking weapons, and who are a far larger group. While there was passing mention of a raid ISIS did earlier, this was by no means "most" of the American-supplied weapons, which is just ridiculous. Your third link referred to neither, instead mentioning some of the more conservative groups in the FSA.
If you can't even distinguish between the different groups here, this is a pointless conversation. It always amazes me how many people like to claim they know more than the US state department on international conflict when they don't even know who the different players involved are.
"As the White House appeared poised to send military aid to Syrian rebels, new concerns arose that the weapons will inevitably fall into the hands of terrorist groups who count themselves among hundreds of factions that form the rag-tag Free Syrian Army."
You were warned.
ISIS were never part of the Free Syrian Army. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
Nadal loses his first match at the Halle grass court tournament to Dustin Brown of Germany 6:4 6:1
It won't be long before Rafa is playing for Scotland, Jack.
Didn't know you supported the restoration of the Jacobite branch, Avery (at least I think the current claimant is a Spanish noble). Of course, it would be correct Scotland would be senior in such a union.
No.
The current (non claiming) claimant is Franz, HRH The Duke of Bavaria :
Nadal loses his first match at the Halle grass court tournament to Dustin Brown of Germany 6:4 6:1
It won't be long before Rafa is playing for Scotland, Jack.
Didn't know you supported the restoration of the Jacobite branch, Avery (at least I think the current claimant is a Spanish noble). Of course, it would be correct Scotland would be senior in such a union.
No.
The current (non claiming) claimant is Franz, HRH The Duke of Bavaria :
In Foreign Policy terms, Obama will surely go down as one of the worst ever US presidents. He is lucky he was preceded by Dubya Bush, who was even more calamitous.
You were one of the ones demanding that we leave Iraq as soon as possible. Now you're backing Romney's claim - the diametric opposite of what you wanted.
The Republicans are all sorts of hypocritical here. They were the ones that were rallying to vote down a congressional motion on supporting the FSA in Syria. That lack of intervention allowed ISIS and the Islamic Front to take over and is responsible for the present mess. Now they're insistent we go into Iraq again.
They were against because not only for political reasons but also for fear of aiding islamic terrorists, they were right, now the west has to fight once more against the people it supported.
UKIP 6,104 Lab 4,716 Con 2,963 LD 2,418 Ind 619 Green 433 TUSC 213
As previously discussed on here, she has an interesting backstory. As does the UKIP candidate for Great Yarmouth. They don't seem very interested in dispelling the fringe image.
In Foreign Policy terms, Obama will surely go down as one of the worst ever US presidents. He is lucky he was preceded by Dubya Bush, who was even more calamitous.
You were one of the ones demanding that we leave Iraq as soon as possible. Now you're backing Romney's claim - the diametric opposite of what you wanted.
The Republicans are all sorts of hypocritical here. They were the ones that were rallying to vote down a congressional motion on supporting the FSA in Syria. That lack of intervention allowed ISIS and the Islamic Front to take over and is responsible for the present mess. Now they're insistent we go into Iraq again.
They were against because not only for political reasons but also for fear of aiding islamic terrorists, they were right, now the west has to fight once more against the people it supported.
For the nineteenth time, we never supported ISIS. I'm going to stop responding to you now, because you don't know the different players involved and you clearly aren't capable of hearing simple arguments. You just keep repeating the same thing over and over, like Orson Lannister with a rock.
Nadal loses his first match at the Halle grass court tournament to Dustin Brown of Germany 6:4 6:1
It won't be long before Rafa is playing for Scotland, Jack.
Didn't know you supported the restoration of the Jacobite branch, Avery (at least I think the current claimant is a Spanish noble). Of course, it would be correct Scotland would be senior in such a union.
No.
The current (non claiming) claimant is Franz, HRH The Duke of Bavaria :
Nadal loses his first match at the Halle grass court tournament to Dustin Brown of Germany 6:4 6:1
It won't be long before Rafa is playing for Scotland, Jack.
Didn't know you supported the restoration of the Jacobite branch, Avery (at least I think the current claimant is a Spanish noble). Of course, it would be correct Scotland would be senior in such a union.
No.
The current (non claiming) claimant is Franz, HRH The Duke of Bavaria :
Your first two links, and the quote you added, referr to the Islamic Front, the Saudi-aligned group, taking weapons, and who are a far larger group. While there was passing mention of a raid ISIS did earlier, this was by no means "most" of the American-supplied weapons, which is just ridiculous. Your third link referred to neither, instead mentioning some of the more conservative groups in the FSA.
If you can't even distinguish between the different groups here, this is a pointless conversation. It always amazes me how many people like to claim they know more than the US state department on international conflict when they don't even know who the different players involved are.
"As the White House appeared poised to send military aid to Syrian rebels, new concerns arose that the weapons will inevitably fall into the hands of terrorist groups who count themselves among hundreds of factions that form the rag-tag Free Syrian Army."
You were warned.
ISIS were never part of the Free Syrian Army. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
I think that many of those comprising the FSA in the past are now in ISIS, so the aid to the FSA went in the end to ISIS, they simply switched badges.
In Foreign Policy terms, Obama will surely go down as one of the worst ever US presidents. He is lucky he was preceded by Dubya Bush, who was even more calamitous.
You were one of the ones demanding that we leave Iraq as soon as possible. Now you're backing Romney's claim - the diametric opposite of what you wanted.
The Republicans are all sorts of hypocritical here. They were the ones that were rallying to vote down a congressional motion on supporting the FSA in Syria. That lack of intervention allowed ISIS and the Islamic Front to take over and is responsible for the present mess. Now they're insistent we go into Iraq again.
I have never made a single comment EVER about the wisdom, or otherwise, of America pulling ALL its troops out of Iraq.
I wanted the UK out cause we were useless, pointless, feeble, and just getting killed.
Romney was right, Obama was grossly wrong. Suck it up.
So when would have been the right time to pull out of Iraq? Or do you agree with Romney's position of a permanent military presence there? You're all over the place here. You were gung-ho about going into Afghanistan. Then you were gung-ho about going into Iraq. Then you thought Iraq was a massive mistake. Then you added Afghanistan as another mistake. Then you insisted we should stop caring about the rest of the world and retrench back to the UK. Now you're gung-ho about keeping troops in Iraq. You're like the living, walking embodiment of the general public's id, in all its inconsistent glory.
Nadal loses his first match at the Halle grass court tournament to Dustin Brown of Germany 6:4 6:1
It won't be long before Rafa is playing for Scotland, Jack.
Didn't know you supported the restoration of the Jacobite branch, Avery (at least I think the current claimant is a Spanish noble). Of course, it would be correct Scotland would be senior in such a union.
No.
The current (non claiming) claimant is Franz, HRH The Duke of Bavaria :
UKIP 6,104 Lab 4,716 Con 2,963 LD 2,418 Ind 619 Green 433 TUSC 213
As previously discussed on here, she has an interesting backstory. As does the UKIP candidate for Great Yarmouth. They don't seem very interested in dispelling the fringe image.
At the moment she's the only selected candidate for the constituency. I expect UKIP would like that to remain the case for as long as possible.
In Foreign Policy terms, Obama will surely go down as one of the worst ever US presidents. He is lucky he was preceded by Dubya Bush, who was even more calamitous.
You were one of the ones demanding that we leave Iraq as soon as possible. Now you're backing Romney's claim - the diametric opposite of what you wanted.
The Republicans are all sorts of hypocritical here. They were the ones that were rallying to vote down a congressional motion on supporting the FSA in Syria. That lack of intervention allowed ISIS and the Islamic Front to take over and is responsible for the present mess. Now they're insistent we go into Iraq again.
The Yanks wanted to leave a presence in Iraq but they could not accept that US soldiers would be answerable to Iraqi law - Iraq would not waive that condition.
The signals of war-weariness given out with the decisions not to help the Syrian rebels might have given Putin the idea that he could get away with annexing Crimea and ISIS to increase their activity in the Middle East. Large areas of the world are basically ungovernable with regular military forces just running away from the bad guys.
Nadal loses his first match at the Halle grass court tournament to Dustin Brown of Germany 6:4 6:1
It won't be long before Rafa is playing for Scotland, Jack.
Didn't know you supported the restoration of the Jacobite branch, Avery (at least I think the current claimant is a Spanish noble). Of course, it would be correct Scotland would be senior in such a union.
No.
The current (non claiming) claimant is Franz, HRH The Duke of Bavaria :
You're a f*cking idiot. That only needs to be said once.
We should have armed ASSAD.
Ah, the classic Thomas nuance, swinging from one emotional extreme to the other. You get angry at something in the world, so you announce your support for some ridiculous policy out of the need to show you feel so strongly about something you have to be provocative about it. Only, it fails to be provocative any more because we're all so used to it. Then you calm down about it a few weeks later, before the next event shoves you off on an extreme again. Whether that extreme is the same one as before or diametrically opposite is irrelevant.
Nadal loses his first match at the Halle grass court tournament to Dustin Brown of Germany 6:4 6:1
It won't be long before Rafa is playing for Scotland, Jack.
Didn't know you supported the restoration of the Jacobite branch, Avery (at least I think the current claimant is a Spanish noble). Of course, it would be correct Scotland would be senior in such a union.
No.
The current (non claiming) claimant is Franz, HRH The Duke of Bavaria :
In Foreign Policy terms, Obama will surely go down as one of the worst ever US presidents. He is lucky he was preceded by Dubya Bush, who was even more calamitous.
You were one of the ones demanding that we leave Iraq as soon as possible. Now you're backing Romney's claim - the diametric opposite of what you wanted.
The Republicans are all sorts of hypocritical here. They were the ones that were rallying to vote down a congressional motion on supporting the FSA in Syria. That lack of intervention allowed ISIS and the Islamic Front to take over and is responsible for the present mess. Now they're insistent we go into Iraq again.
They were against because not only for political reasons but also for fear of aiding islamic terrorists, they were right, now the west has to fight once more against the people it supported.
For the nineteenth time, we never supported ISIS. I'm going to stop responding to you now, because you don't know the different players involved and you clearly aren't capable of hearing simple arguments. You just keep repeating the same thing over and over, like Orson Lannister with a rock.
You're a f*cking idiot. That only needs to be said once.
We should have armed ASSAD.
We can still do it now, the USA has changed camps many times (example from supporting Mubarak to supporting the muslim brotherhood to supporting the coup against them all in 2 years time).
Politicians think that the people will think of them as weak if they change their position. I however think that a politician is an idiot if he doesn't change his position when new information arises.
Your first two links, and the quote you added, referr to the Islamic Front, the Saudi-aligned group, taking weapons, and who are a far larger group. While there was passing mention of a raid ISIS did earlier, this was by no means "most" of the American-supplied weapons, which is just ridiculous. Your third link referred to neither, instead mentioning some of the more conservative groups in the FSA.
If you can't even distinguish between the different groups here, this is a pointless conversation. It always amazes me how many people like to claim they know more than the US state department on international conflict when they don't even know who the different players involved are.
"As the White House appeared poised to send military aid to Syrian rebels, new concerns arose that the weapons will inevitably fall into the hands of terrorist groups who count themselves among hundreds of factions that form the rag-tag Free Syrian Army."
You were warned.
ISIS were never part of the Free Syrian Army. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
I think that many of those comprising the FSA in the past are now in ISIS, so the aid to the FSA went in the end to ISIS, they simply switched badges.
If you want to provide some evidence to back that up, I'm happy to hear it.
You're a f*cking idiot. That only needs to be said once.
We should have armed ASSAD.
Ah, the classic Thomas nuance, swinging from one emotional extreme to the other. You get angry at something in the world, so you announce your support for some ridiculous policy out of the need to show you feel so strongly about something you have to be provocative about it. Only, it fails to be provocative any more because we're all so used to it. Then you calm down about it a few weeks later, before the next event shoves you off on an extreme again. Whether that extreme is the same one as before or diametrically opposite is irrelevant.
Got bored by the absurd clumsiness of sentence two, sorry. Stopped reading then. Improve your prose.
Sorry. I tend to focus on getting the content right, rather than being one of these creative types that's all style and no substance.
Your first two links, and the quote you added, referr to the Islamic Front, the Saudi-aligned group, taking weapons, and who are a far larger group. While there was passing mention of a raid ISIS did earlier, this was by no means "most" of the American-supplied weapons, which is just ridiculous. Your third link referred to neither, instead mentioning some of the more conservative groups in the FSA.
If you can't even distinguish between the different groups here, this is a pointless conversation. It always amazes me how many people like to claim they know more than the US state department on international conflict when they don't even know who the different players involved are.
"As the White House appeared poised to send military aid to Syrian rebels, new concerns arose that the weapons will inevitably fall into the hands of terrorist groups who count themselves among hundreds of factions that form the rag-tag Free Syrian Army."
You were warned.
ISIS were never part of the Free Syrian Army. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
I think that many of those comprising the FSA in the past are now in ISIS, so the aid to the FSA went in the end to ISIS, they simply switched badges.
If you want to provide some evidence to back that up, I'm happy to hear it.
Nadal loses his first match at the Halle grass court tournament to Dustin Brown of Germany 6:4 6:1
It won't be long before Rafa is playing for Scotland, Jack.
Didn't know you supported the restoration of the Jacobite branch, Avery (at least I think the current claimant is a Spanish noble). Of course, it would be correct Scotland would be senior in such a union.
No.
The current (non claiming) claimant is Franz, HRH The Duke of Bavaria :
Anyway, back to the cricket where I should be able to cover Sri Lanka at very long odds after a great evening session by England. I'm red on the draw but it looks unlikely.
No. You said "many". That article mentions one commander. Suffice to say, that won't lead to your claim that "most" of the weapons provided to the FSA have ended up with ISIS.
18.29 Iran 'deploys two battalions of the Quds force with experience of fighting in Iraq to help their Iraq counterparts defend Samara and win back parts of Tikrit' - Wall Street Journal reports
Andrew Neil @afneil Reports that Iranian Revolutionary Guards -- two Quds battalions -- have helped Baghdad re-take Tikrit.
As I wrote before if the west says no to Iraq then Iraq will turn to Iran for military help. A formal alliance between Syria, Iraq and Iran might not be long now.
Iraq shock and awe was a stupid war I stupidly supported (did you? do you still?)
I crave the forgiveness of the universe for my idiocy, but then I was lied to by my government.
Otherwise I am (by my standards) fairly consistent, I thought and think and said we should have gone into Afghanistan, routed the Taliban (as Bush did) then got the hell out. After that we should have just bought off the tribes with money for their opium crops. Infinitely cheaper in blood and treasure.
I was always against intervening in Syria on the side of the rebels (unlike your ludicrous posturing) because I could see that western voters simply didn't want it, and that the jihadists would inevitably take over and get the weapons.
In the light of changing events my opinions evolve (as I am sentient being, are you?) and I now wonder if we should have actually supported Assad, unpalatable as that might seem.
Anyone who never changes their opinion, as the world changes around them, is the worst kind of fool. A dangerous fool.
I opposed Iraq, and still oppose it now. In Afghanistan, you thought and think we should have gone in and then got the hell out. Yet in Iraq, you now seem to think we should have stayed in, until at least now, and on until when? Until the country was completely stabilised in several decades time?
"Mrs Jenkin lives in Praze-an-Beeble and represents the parishes of Crowan and Wendron on Cornwall Council, as well as working tirelessly to promote the Cornish language."
Fantastic irony that America now NEEDS Iranian help to keep the Middle East from exploding.
It would be unacceptable in a movie or a novel.
Incredible.
This is the post-American world. As the global hegemon recedes and a multipolar world takes over. This is what it will be like, until China decides she might like to be world policeman (which I doubt).
I think you are being a touch hysterical. America isn't an irrelevance, it may have a crisis over to what extent it uses it's soft or it's hard power but I think to proclaim the end of US dominance in world affairs is exceptionally premature.
No. You said "many". That article mentions one commander. Suffice to say, that won't lead to your claim that "most" of the weapons provided to the FSA have ended up with ISIS.
So you came back for more ha? Take another hammering.
"Mrs Jenkin lives in Praze-an-Beeble and represents the parishes of Crowan and Wendron on Cornwall Council, as well as working tirelessly to promote the Cornish language."
I regret hugely not taking the 1/2 at Ladbrokes on them losing all their deposits last time...
No. You said "many". That article mentions one commander. Suffice to say, that won't lead to your claim that "most" of the weapons provided to the FSA have ended up with ISIS.
So you came back for more ha? Take another hammering.
No. You said "many". That article mentions one commander. Suffice to say, that won't lead to your claim that "most" of the weapons provided to the FSA have ended up with ISIS.
So you came back for more ha? Take another hammering.
I am happy to dish out insults, but I am also happy to dish out plaudits.
If you genuinely opposed the Iraq war (I can't remember your comments, were you even on the site then) - then I commend you for your foresight and your good sense.
Supporting that catastrophic war was the stupidest opinion I have ever held, and the one which most shames me to this day.
I was not on the site then. It was a reckless distraction from Afghanistan, and it was foolish to try to fight two wars at once, particularly against a dictator that we had completely contained, and when we didn't have any local allies.
I'm still genuinely surprised at your apparent support for Romney in keeping tens of thousands of troops in Iraq for many years to come. This seems out of keeping with your views on Afghanistan, and your view that we shouldn't be in Iraq in the first place.
I would also point out that Obama opposed the war in Iraq - one of the few interventionist Democrats to do so - and Romney supported it.
Fantastic irony that America now NEEDS Iranian help to keep the Middle East from exploding.
It would be unacceptable in a movie or a novel.
Incredible.
This is the post-American world. As the global hegemon recedes and a multipolar world takes over. This is what it will be like, until China decides she might like to be world policeman (which I doubt).
I think you are being a touch hysterical. America isn't an irrelevance, it may have a crisis over to what extent it uses it's soft or it's hard power but I think to proclaim the end of US dominance in world affairs is exceptionally premature.
lol. You're serious. You think the US still dominates in world affairs?
In 1945 America constituted 50% of global GDP, now it is down around 17% and falling VERY VERY fast. China has already, by some measures, surpassed it in GDP by PPP.
America spends more on guns than any other country but it matters not a jot as 1. it got chased away by kids with DIY suicide bombs in Iraq and now Afghanistan. Sure it can drone a few targets but as we see with ISIS this is irrelevant. Moreover, 2, the American public no longer WANT to be the world policeman. They want their sons to stay home and live. And why not?
It's over. America's dominance is over. This is a sad thing for westerners, but it is the case. Denying it is pointless, and dangerous, as we now have to deal with a multipolar, unpoliced world, and all that this means.
All that this means is probably a repeat of what happened in 1914. We now have war across Syria, Iraq and Ukraine with Russia in Syria, US in Iraq US in Ukraine and Russia in Ukraine too.
There was also a report on Sky earlier that they'd captured Baghdad's main power plant (located around 100 miles to the north).
They are now 15 miles from Baghdad. If america doesn't start bombing before Saturday it might be too late, the only ray of hope for Iraq is that Iran has sent military forces last night to aid them.
18.42 Germany has urged its citizens to immediately leave parts of Iraq, including Baghdad.
The Foreign Ministry says Germans should leave the governorates of Anbar, Ninevah and Salah al-Din and expressed concern about the situation in Diyala and Kirkuk governorates.
That's Ahrar ash-Sham, who are part of the Saudi-aligned Islamic Front. Again, not ISIS. How many more needed? Well, just one that actually says that many FSA have defected to ISIS. So far you have one commander (who, for the record, was captured by ISIS and then changed allegiance as a prisoner).
Fantastic irony that America now NEEDS Iranian help to keep the Middle East from exploding.
It would be unacceptable in a movie or a novel.
Incredible.
This is the post-American world. As the global hegemon recedes and a multipolar world takes over. This is what it will be like, until China decides she might like to be world policeman (which I doubt).
I think you are being a touch hysterical. America isn't an irrelevance, it may have a crisis over to what extent it uses it's soft or it's hard power but I think to proclaim the end of US dominance in world affairs is exceptionally premature.
lol. You're serious. You think the US still dominates in world affairs?
In 1945 America constituted 50% of global GDP, now it is down around 17% and falling VERY VERY fast. China has already, by some measures, surpassed it in GDP by PPP.
America spends more on guns than any other country but it matters not a jot as 1. it got chased away by kids with DIY suicide bombs in Iraq and now Afghanistan. Sure it can drone a few targets but as we see with ISIS this is irrelevant. Moreover, 2, the American public no longer WANT to be the world policeman. They want their sons to stay home and live. And why not?
It's over. America's dominance is over. This is a sad thing for westerners, but it is the case. Denying it is pointless, and dangerous, as we now have to deal with a multipolar, unpoliced world, and all that this means.
Of course the US is still dominant, they still in essence back stop the international community. Of course it's position will evolve but the idea that the US won't still be significant in international affairs for many years to come is just silly.
The American public alternate between isolationism and chanting U-S-A like demented morons. We shall see how American policy develops but I doubt they are going to shut themselves away on their continent and ignore the rest of the earth.
That's Ahrar ash-Sham, who are part of the Saudi-aligned Islamic Front. Again, not ISIS. How many more needed? Well, just one that actually says that many FSA have defected to ISIS. So far you have one commander (who, for the record, was captured by ISIS and then changed allegiance as a prisoner).
And "According to US intelligence officials, a few al-Qaeda members released from prisons by the Syrian government have been able to influence actions of the group and install operatives within senior ranks of Ahrar ash-Sham.[15][16][17] Such ties were not disclosed publicly until January 2014 when a senior leader of Ahrar ash-Sham, Abu Khalid al-Suri, acknowledged his long-time membership in al-Qaeda.[18][16]" from wikipedia.
I think ISIS will have a tough time taking Baghdad itself as it is Shia majority.
The north is Sunni.
Iraq may well split into 3 - Kurdistan; the Sunni Levant? (Which will also unofficially include Syria to the east of the Euphrates) and "Shia Iraq" which will contain Baghdad and everywhere south. The Sunni region will be a hell hole with ISIS running it.
Fantastic irony that America now NEEDS Iranian help to keep the Middle East from exploding.
It would be unacceptable in a movie or a novel.
Incredible.
This is the post-American world. As the global hegemon recedes and a multipolar world takes over. This is what it will be like, until China decides she might like to be world policeman (which I doubt).
I think you are being a touch hysterical. America isn't an irrelevance, it may have a crisis over to what extent it uses it's soft or it's hard power but I think to proclaim the end of US dominance in world affairs is exceptionally premature.
lol. You're serious. You think the US still dominates in world affairs?
In 1945 America constituted 50% of global GDP, now it is down around 17% and falling VERY VERY fast. China has already, by some measures, surpassed it in GDP by PPP.
America spends more on guns than any other country but it matters not a jot as 1. it got chased away by kids with DIY suicide bombs in Iraq and now Afghanistan. Sure it can drone a few targets but as we see with ISIS this is irrelevant. Moreover, 2, the American public no longer WANT to be the world policeman. They want their sons to stay home and live. And why not?
It's over. America's dominance is over. This is a sad thing for westerners, but it is the case. Denying it is pointless, and dangerous, as we now have to deal with a multipolar, unpoliced world, and all that this means.
Of course the US is still dominant, they still in essence back stop the international community. Of course it's position will evolve but the idea that the US won't still be significant in international affairs for many years to come is just silly.
The American public alternate between isolationism and chanting U-S-A like demented morons. We shall see how American policy develops but I doubt they are going to shut themselves away on their continent and ignore the rest of the earth.
WWIII already started. The sides are Russia and China openly, plus India, Germany and most of the rest of the world secretly vs America and its remaining client states. It's not going to be fought with nukes for obvious reasons, it's being fought economically and the US is losing.
Fantastic irony that America now NEEDS Iranian help to keep the Middle East from exploding.
It would be unacceptable in a movie or a novel.
Incredible.
This is the post-American world. As the global hegemon recedes and a multipolar world takes over. This is what it will be like, until China decides she might like to be world policeman (which I doubt).
I think you are being a touch hysterical. America isn't an irrelevance, it may have a crisis over to what extent it uses it's soft or it's hard power but I think to proclaim the end of US dominance in world affairs is exceptionally premature.
lol. You're serious. You think the US still dominates in world affairs?
In 1945 America constituted 50% of global GDP, now it is down around 17% and falling VERY VERY fast. China has already, by some measures, surpassed it in GDP by PPP.
America spends more on guns than any other country but it matters not a jot as 1. it got chased away by kids with DIY suicide bombs in Iraq and now Afghanistan. Sure it can drone a few targets but as we see with ISIS this is irrelevant. Moreover, 2, the American public no longer WANT to be the world policeman. They want their sons to stay home and live. And why not?
It's over. America's dominance is over. This is a sad thing for westerners, but it is the case. Denying it is pointless, and dangerous, as we now have to deal with a multipolar, unpoliced world, and all that this means.
Of course the US is still dominant, they still in essence back stop the international community. Of course it's position will evolve but the idea that the US won't still be significant in international affairs for many years to come is just silly.
The American public alternate between isolationism and chanting U-S-A like demented morons. We shall see how American policy develops but I doubt they are going to shut themselves away on their continent and ignore the rest of the earth.
WWIII already started. The sides are Russia and China openly, plus India, Germany and most of the rest of the world secretly vs America and its remaining client states. It's not going to be fought with nukes for obvious reasons, it's being fought economically and the US is losing.
Then its the WWIV since the cold war was not much different, but you are panicking too much, it's the normal state of affairs that existed before WWI.
That's Ahrar ash-Sham, who are part of the Saudi-aligned Islamic Front. Again, not ISIS. How many more needed? Well, just one that actually says that many FSA have defected to ISIS. So far you have one commander (who, for the record, was captured by ISIS and then changed allegiance as a prisoner).
And "According to US intelligence officials, a few al-Qaeda members released from prisons by the Syrian government have been able to influence actions of the group and install operatives within senior ranks of Ahrar ash-Sham.[15][16][17] Such ties were not disclosed publicly until January 2014 when a senior leader of Ahrar ash-Sham, Abu Khalid al-Suri, acknowledged his long-time membership in al-Qaeda.[18][16]" from wikipedia.
It doesn't mention that any of those joined ISIS, and all five of the named brigades listed joined the Islamic Front, not ISIS. You specifically said many had joined ISIS, the people that have taken over eastern Iraq, and that was the bit that I disputed.
I believe Iran has a 20-1 advantage over ISIS in numbers, but ISIS has american weapons. A war between ISIS on one hand and Syria, Iraq and Iran on the other might be swift if the Iranians put half a million troops on the eastern front.
(Gosh it's like a mini WW2!, ISIS is on the outskirts of Moscow sorry Baghdad, Assad is doing a Churchill in Syria and Iran is like the USA changing the tide)
Fantastic irony that America now NEEDS Iranian help to keep the Middle East from exploding.
It would be unacceptable in a movie or a novel.
Incredible.
This is the post-American world. As the global hegemon recedes and a multipolar world takes over. This is what it will be like, until China decides she might like to be world policeman (which I doubt).
I think you are being a touch hysterical. America isn't an irrelevance, it may have a crisis over to what extent it uses it's soft or it's hard power but I think to proclaim the end of US dominance in world affairs is exceptionally premature.
lol. You're serious. You think the US still dominates in world affairs?
In 1945 America constituted 50% of global GDP, now it is down around 17% and falling VERY VERY fast. China has already, by some measures, surpassed it in GDP by PPP.
America spends more on guns than any other country but it matters not a jot as 1. it got chased away by kids with DIY suicide bombs in Iraq and now Afghanistan. Sure it can drone a few targets but as we see with ISIS this is irrelevant. Moreover, 2, the American public no longer WANT to be the world policeman. They want their sons to stay home and live. And why not?
It's over. America's dominance is over. This is a sad thing for westerners, but it is the case. Denying it is pointless, and dangerous, as we now have to deal with a multipolar, unpoliced world, and all that this means.
Of course the US is still dominant, they still in essence back stop the international community. Of course it's position will evolve but the idea that the US won't still be significant in international affairs for many years to come is just silly.
The American public alternate between isolationism and chanting U-S-A like demented morons. We shall see how American policy develops but I doubt they are going to shut themselves away on their continent and ignore the rest of the earth.
WWIII already started. The sides are Russia and China openly, plus India, Germany and most of the rest of the world secretly vs America and its remaining client states. It's not going to be fought with nukes for obvious reasons, it's being fought economically and the US is losing.
Then its the WWIV since the cold war was not much different, but you are panicking too much, it's the normal state of affairs that existed before WWI.
I'm perfectly chilled. Very pleased it's going to be fought economically and not with nukes.
I believe Iran has a 20-1 advantage over ISIS in numbers, but ISIS has american weapons. A war between ISIS on one hand and Syria, Iraq and Iran on the other might be swift if the Iranians put half a million troops on the eastern front.
(Gosh it's like a mini WW2!, ISIS is on the outskirts of Moscow sorry Baghdad, Assad is doing a Churchill in Syria and Iran is like the USA changing the tide)
Assad and ISIS seem suspiciously NOT in conflict...
I believe Iran has a 20-1 advantage over ISIS in numbers, but ISIS has american weapons. A war between ISIS on one hand and Syria, Iraq and Iran on the other might be swift if the Iranians put half a million troops on the eastern front.
(Gosh it's like a mini WW2!, ISIS is on the outskirts of Moscow sorry Baghdad, Assad is doing a Churchill in Syria and Iran is like the USA changing the tide)
Assad and ISIS seem suspiciously NOT in conflict...
But Shias like Assad are still seen as 'Infidels' by ISIS.
What with that and the bacon butty, it's hard to resist the conclusion that Labour are doing it deliberately. I guess their thinking must be that if they keep issuing photos of Ed looking weird, people will get bored with it and that will neutralise the issue.
I believe Iran has a 20-1 advantage over ISIS in numbers, but ISIS has american weapons. A war between ISIS on one hand and Syria, Iraq and Iran on the other might be swift if the Iranians put half a million troops on the eastern front.
(Gosh it's like a mini WW2!, ISIS is on the outskirts of Moscow sorry Baghdad, Assad is doing a Churchill in Syria and Iran is like the USA changing the tide)
Assad and ISIS seem suspiciously NOT in conflict...
Like in WW2 the western front became quiet when Hitler invaded the USSR.
What with that and the bacon butty, it's hard to resist the conclusion that Labour are doing it deliberately. I guess their thinking must be that if they keep issuing photos of Ed looking weird, people will get bored with it and that will neutralise the issue.
Is Labour comms strategy that sophisticated or competent.
What with that and the bacon butty, it's hard to resist the conclusion that Labour are doing it deliberately. I guess their thinking must be that if they keep issuing photos of Ed looking weird, people will get bored with it and that will neutralise the issue.
It's scary to think that in less than 12 months this guy could actually be Prime Minister for five years...
I believe Iran has a 20-1 advantage over ISIS in numbers, but ISIS has american weapons. A war between ISIS on one hand and Syria, Iraq and Iran on the other might be swift if the Iranians put half a million troops on the eastern front.
(Gosh it's like a mini WW2!, ISIS is on the outskirts of Moscow sorry Baghdad, Assad is doing a Churchill in Syria and Iran is like the USA changing the tide)
Assad and ISIS seem suspiciously NOT in conflict...
Nor the Peshmerga the very large, well organised and effective Kurdish militia who are generally allied with the US as insurance against the Turks.
So if the US wants local boots on the ground they already have lots of them on the spot.
Is it to do with the colouring or have large swathes of people not bothered to turn up for this rubbish posturing as an opening ceremony? The upper tiers look quite empty. It would be a terrible shame if the officials in FIFA had not managed to sell all their free tickets.
Presumably the crowds will turn up when all this nonsense gets off the pitch and they start to play football?
Is it to do with the colouring or have large swathes of people not bothered to turn up for this rubbish posturing as an opening ceremony? The upper tiers look quite empty. It would be a terrible shame if the officials in FIFA had not managed to sell all their free tickets.
Presumably the crowds will turn up when all this nonsense gets off the pitch and they start to play football?
I believe Iran has a 20-1 advantage over ISIS in numbers, but ISIS has american weapons. A war between ISIS on one hand and Syria, Iraq and Iran on the other might be swift if the Iranians put half a million troops on the eastern front.
(Gosh it's like a mini WW2!, ISIS is on the outskirts of Moscow sorry Baghdad, Assad is doing a Churchill in Syria and Iran is like the USA changing the tide)
Assad and ISIS seem suspiciously NOT in conflict...
Nor the Peshmerga the very large, well organised and effective Kurdish militia who are generally allied with the US as insurance against the Turks.
So if the US wants local boots on the ground they already have lots of them on the spot.
And yet no Peshmerga.
The Peshmerga pushed ISIS out of Kirkuk 2 days ago, they are trying to stabilize the front so far because ISIS is very mobile thanks to those Humvees.
I believe Iran has a 20-1 advantage over ISIS in numbers, but ISIS has american weapons. A war between ISIS on one hand and Syria, Iraq and Iran on the other might be swift if the Iranians put half a million troops on the eastern front.
(Gosh it's like a mini WW2!, ISIS is on the outskirts of Moscow sorry Baghdad, Assad is doing a Churchill in Syria and Iran is like the USA changing the tide)
Assad and ISIS seem suspiciously NOT in conflict...
Nor the Peshmerga the very large, well organised and effective Kurdish militia who are generally allied with the US as insurance against the Turks.
So if the US wants local boots on the ground they already have lots of them on the spot.
And yet no Peshmerga.
The Peshmerga pushed ISIS out of Kirkuk 2 days ago, they are trying to stabilize the front so far because ISIS is very mobile thanks to those Humvees.
The US has a big proxy army sitting literally a few miles to the northeast of where the action is and they're not using it.
Instead they're trying to bounce Obama into a second Iraq by crying wolf over the imminent fall of Baghdad to some dudes in humvees.
Which comically is looking like it might not work because of **Iranian** army units in Baghdad.
"Eric Cantor’s defeat is a shaft of light in dark political times: The House majority leader’s defeat disproves the hypothesis that money is all there is"
Arming the rebels in Syria was both evil and stupid. The alarming thing is Cameron actually wanted to intervene, only a matter of years after the Iraq catastrophe.
U.S. Dept. of Fear @FearDept 24m It never occurred to us that equipping jihadists to wreck #Syria would have consequences for Iraq. Who would have thought?
These idiots don't even know who the different groups are in Syria. ISIS and al-Nusra were beheading FSA fighters. Anyone that thinks we were arming ISIS are about as thick as those idiots that thought Saddam was connected to al-Qaeda.
Comments
Telegraph
17.36 There are reports that fighting between Iraqi and al-Qaeda forces taking place near al-Taji - 15 miles from Baghdad.
Using a metaphore from WW2 operation Barbarossa, ISIS is looking at the spires of the Baghdad mosques.
Your first two links, and the quote you added, referr to the Islamic Front, the Saudi-aligned group, taking weapons, and who are a far larger group. While there was passing mention of a raid ISIS did earlier, this was by no means "most" of the American-supplied weapons, which is just ridiculous. Your third link referred to neither, instead mentioning some of the more conservative groups in the FSA.
If you can't even distinguish between the different groups here, this is a pointless conversation. It always amazes me how many people like to claim they know more than the US state department on international conflict when they don't even know who the different players involved are.
The current (non claiming) claimant is Franz, HRH The Duke of Bavaria :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz,_Duke_of_Bavaria
Only the start, they'll be burning books next as well as hanging bodies.
If they get near Karbala, the blue touch paper of history will be lit.
You were warned.
The Republicans are all sorts of hypocritical here. They were the ones that were rallying to vote down a congressional motion on supporting the FSA in Syria. That lack of intervention allowed ISIS and the Islamic Front to take over and is responsible for the present mess. Now they're insistent we go into Iraq again.
Supposing I was paid to write about my knowledge of widget-manufacturing for a trade magazine - it would hardly make me an expert on the publishing business would it?
Only the start, they'll be burning books next as well as hanging bodies.
They've gone beyond that, they crucify them.
I wanted the UK out cause we were useless, pointless, feeble, and just getting killed.
And to think, last night we were brave, heroic, and almost superhuman.
How times change?
The signals of war-weariness given out with the decisions not to help the Syrian rebels might have given Putin the idea that he could get away with annexing Crimea and ISIS to increase their activity in the Middle East.
Large areas of the world are basically ungovernable with regular military forces just running away from the bad guys.
Cough ....
Politicians think that the people will think of them as weak if they change their position.
I however think that a politician is an idiot if he doesn't change his position when new information arises.
David Dimbleby will be in conversation with Martina Navratilova at Eastbourne's Congress Theatre next Thursday:
http://www.townereastbourne.org.uk/event/david-dimbleby-in-conversation-with-martina-navratilova/
Didn't know he was a tennis fan, but he must be in order to have an interesting conversation with Navratilova.
Andrew Neil
@afneil
Reports that Iranian Revolutionary Guards -- two Quds battalions -- have helped Baghdad re-take Tikrit.
http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Green-Party-announce-general-election-candidate/story-21225230-detail/story.html
And I just won the argument.
17.36 There are reports that fighting between Iraqi and al-Qaeda forces taking place near al-Taji - 15 miles from Baghdad.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10892299/Iraq-crisis-al-Qaeda-militants-push-towards-Baghdad-live.html
A formal alliance between Syria, Iraq and Iran might not be long now.
http://www.libdemvoice.org/in-the-next-month-8-seats-will-shortlist-their-wannabe-lib-dem-mps-40743.html
http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Mebyon-Kernow-announce-Loveday-Jenkin-contest/story-21133557-detail/story.html
"Mrs Jenkin lives in Praze-an-Beeble and represents the parishes of Crowan and Wendron on Cornwall Council, as well as working tirelessly to promote the Cornish language."
Take another hammering.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/08/free-syrian-army-rebels-defect-islamist-group
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/1216/As-foreign-funds-run-dry-Syrian-fighters-defect-to-anti-Western-militias-video
How many more needed?
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25722-extremists-in-iraq-now-control-the-countrys-rivers.html#.U5noIPldV8E
There was also a report on Sky earlier that they'd captured Baghdad's main power plant (located around 100 miles to the north).
I'm still genuinely surprised at your apparent support for Romney in keeping tens of thousands of troops in Iraq for many years to come. This seems out of keeping with your views on Afghanistan, and your view that we shouldn't be in Iraq in the first place.
I would also point out that Obama opposed the war in Iraq - one of the few interventionist Democrats to do so - and Romney supported it.
If america doesn't start bombing before Saturday it might be too late, the only ray of hope for Iraq is that Iran has sent military forces last night to aid them.
The Foreign Ministry says Germans should leave the governorates of Anbar, Ninevah and Salah al-Din and expressed concern about the situation in Diyala and Kirkuk governorates.
The American public alternate between isolationism and chanting U-S-A like demented morons. We shall see how American policy develops but I doubt they are going to shut themselves away on their continent and ignore the rest of the earth.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/25/syrian-rebel-groupsslamwesternbackedopposition.html
13 Battalions Socrates!!, 13 Battalions!!
And "According to US intelligence officials, a few al-Qaeda members released from prisons by the Syrian government have been able to influence actions of the group and install operatives within senior ranks of Ahrar ash-Sham.[15][16][17] Such ties were not disclosed publicly until January 2014 when a senior leader of Ahrar ash-Sham, Abu Khalid al-Suri, acknowledged his long-time membership in al-Qaeda.[18][16]" from wikipedia.
The north is Sunni.
Iraq may well split into 3 - Kurdistan; the Sunni Levant? (Which will also unofficially include Syria to the east of the Euphrates) and "Shia Iraq" which will contain Baghdad and everywhere south. The Sunni region will be a hell hole with ISIS running it.
For the World Cup we have decided to follow the two blogs (ie PB + Guido) at the same time.
Expect misspellings and idioacy for 4 weeks.
A war between ISIS on one hand and Syria, Iraq and Iran on the other might be swift if the Iranians put half a million troops on the eastern front.
(Gosh it's like a mini WW2!, ISIS is on the outskirts of Moscow sorry Baghdad, Assad is doing a Churchill in Syria and Iran is like the USA changing the tide)
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2014/06/coffee-shot-ed-miliband-endorses-the-sunand-looks-incredibly-weird/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/11/scott-esk-stoning-gays_n_5486678.html
So if the US wants local boots on the ground they already have lots of them on the spot.
And yet no Peshmerga.
Presumably the crowds will turn up when all this nonsense gets off the pitch and they start to play football?
singinglip-synching at the opening shindig is direhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f9uZxqDbck
LabourList @LabourList
Update: Liverpool Echo report that Steve Rotherham MP has called for a meeting with Miliband’s office over Sun photo http://labli.st/1q8ggxD
Brazil 1/3
Croatia 12/1
Draw 4/1
https://www.betfair.com/sport/event/in_en?id=27113539
Instead they're trying to bounce Obama into a second Iraq by crying wolf over the imminent fall of Baghdad to some dudes in humvees.
Which comically is looking like it might not work because of **Iranian** army units in Baghdad.
lolz
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10896156/George-Bush-senior-marks-90th-birthday-by-parachuting-out-of-a-helicopter.html
"Eric Cantor’s defeat is a shaft of light in dark political times: The House majority leader’s defeat disproves the hypothesis that money is all there is"
If you want another perspective.
How could you tell? #worseacousticsever
Blowback.
Just watched that World Cup opening ceremony thingy. I've heard better sound on long wave, in a tunnel..