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| Iraq |
| A peshmerga commander says Iraq needs ground troops to fully defeat ISIS. |
| 2014-09-23 |
| [National Review] Black Tiger Military Base, Mala Qara Village, Iraq — Less than 60 miles from Islamic State–held Mosul, Commander Sirwan Barzani enters a room filled with troops and maps. His Kurdish peshmerga soldiers promptly leap to their feet in deference. Commander Barzani and his troops — peshmerga literally translates to “those who face death” — are on the front line of a perilous fight against the Islamic State. This summer, he tells me in excellent English, the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq “just woke up and saw [that we suddenly had] more than 1,000 kilometers of border with the most dangerous terrorist group in the world.” |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #2 actually Commander Barzani said that Iraq needs NATO or US ground troops. It is generally recognized that, although the Iraq army was in pretty good shape in, say 2009, Malaki basically ruined it by placing Dawa party Shia loyalists in division and brigade command positions and using the logistics and payroll commands as a cash cow for political friends. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2014-09-23 08:15 |
| #1 Yeah, well, Sirwan Barzani, Obama's got some news for you. Obama's a better peshmerga commander than you are, and - despite you having spent your entire lifetime fighting to defend your people - he knows WAY more than you do about what goes on in your neighborhood - and he thinks you are a sissy for claiming that you need more help against the "JV" outfit that you are confronting. Now, what Obama thinks you really need is some community organizing - and maybe a spiffy new (overpriced) website. And - if you sign your fighters up as "D" voters, and have them all apply for SNAP - well, maybe he can help work something out. Otherwise, well .... you can suck eggs. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2014-09-23 01:06 |