Al-Qaeda Takes Tikrit?

Posted on | June 11, 2014 | 100 Comments

When Donald Douglas told me this news, I was stunned. Iraq is falling apart and the terrorists are taking over:

BAGHDAD (AP) — Al-Qaida-inspired militants pushed deeper into Iraq’s Sunni heartland Wednesday, swiftly conquering Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit as soldiers and security forces abandoned their posts and yielded ground once controlled by U.S. forces.
The advance into former insurgent strongholds that had largely been calm before the Americans withdrew less than three years ago is spreading fear that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, struggling to hold onto power after indecisive elections, will be unable to stop the Islamic militants as they press closer to Baghdad.
Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militant group took control Tuesday of much of Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, sending an estimated half a million people fleeing from their homes.

Again — “militants,” “insurgents,” the media won’t call them terrorists:

The insurgents are from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
ISIS, which is also known as ISIL, is an offshoot of al-Qaeda.
It controls considerable territory in eastern Syria and western and central Iraq, in a campaign to set up a Sunni militant enclave straddling the border.
There were also reports on Wednesday of fighting further south, in Samarra, 110km north of Baghdad.
Separately, at least 21 people were killed and 45 hurt by a suicide bomber at a Shia meeting in Baghdad, police said. . . .
The US has condemned the militants, but BBC world affairs correspondent Paul Adams says the West’s response is not going to be military, as there is no appetite to return to a battleground that claimed thousands of British and American lives.

The terrorists control “considerable territory in eastern Syria,” so this is just a bonus dividend of the “Arab Spring.”

Way to go, Barack Obama.

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PREVIOUSLY:

June 10: Al-Qaeda on the Offensive in Iraq
June 7: Terrorism and Euphemism

Category: Iraq, Terrorism

Comments

100 Responses to “Al-Qaeda Takes Tikrit?”

BobBelvedere
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:27 pm

RT @smitty_one_each: TOM Al-Qaeda Takes Tikrit? http://t.co/gd38JWXXqv #TCOT
Bob Belvedere
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:31 pm

History Repeats?…

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/95/Saigon-hubert-van-es.jpg
southsalem
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:34 pm

RT @smitty_one_each: TOM Al-Qaeda Takes Tikrit? http://t.co/gd38JWXXqv #TCOT
rsmccain
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:41 pm

Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
DocWashburn
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:42 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
ProudoftheUSA
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:43 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
AmPowerBlog
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:43 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
AmPowerBlog
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:44 pm

Al-Qaeda Takes Tikrit? http://t.co/h7luUm24Oz Stunning news! Via @RSMcCain
RS
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:45 pm

Bob, I had every intention of posting the following as my comment:

Saigon Redux.

You beat me to it.
granitestater
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:50 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
JCCentCom
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:52 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
BobBelvedere
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:52 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
mjselker
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:55 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
HarrietBaldwin
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:55 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
SimonTemplarPV
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:55 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
concern00
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:56 pm

“History repeats?”

It always does, doesn’t it? The vehemence with which the regressives deny it as they take the very same steps taken by their ancestors into oblivion is astonishing.
nogoinegypt
June 11th, 2014 @ 9:56 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
incognito912
June 11th, 2014 @ 10:00 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
joesbooks
June 11th, 2014 @ 10:01 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
LiesDestroy
June 11th, 2014 @ 10:03 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
Tabitha Bliss
June 11th, 2014 @ 10:18 pm

Obama’s Iraq:

WATCH, GRAPHIC: Horror In Iraqi Roads – Al Qaeda Killing Without Mercy http://bit.ly/1u9L4M7
M. Thompson
June 11th, 2014 @ 10:19 pm

If there was any sanity in the nation left, there would be calls for Mr. Obama’s impeachment or resignation. His REFUSAL to let the details get hammered out on a SOFA means a government we installed will fall.

God ha’ pity on we!
BlissTabitha
June 11th, 2014 @ 10:19 pm

Al-Qaeda Takes Tikrit? http://t.co/KrZSDOjTvN
kjcopp
June 11th, 2014 @ 10:34 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
brucebancroft
June 11th, 2014 @ 10:36 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
Josh_Painter
June 11th, 2014 @ 10:50 pm

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
Ben Franklin
June 11th, 2014 @ 11:42 pm

None of this is a surprise. Obama made a point to make friends with all of our enemies and to punish our allies across the globe. But this was especially the case in the ME. He gave Egypt and Libya to the Islamists. Tried to do the same in Syria and ensured Iran will have a bomb if they want one.

I am at a loss to figure out what our enemies would wish to see happen that Obama did not already do for them.
Good Stuff
June 11th, 2014 @ 11:56 pm

where is the defence? – Al-Qaida-inspired militants pushed deeper into Iraq. Swiftly conquering Tikrit as soldiers and security forces abandoned their posts

Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militant group
Cajun504Girl
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:03 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
ThreatWatch1
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:10 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
erickbrockway
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:12 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
rbostick12
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:12 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
OrangeCoSurf
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:13 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
jrlachance
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:13 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
SearchlightNV
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:14 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
BrentRosenbaum
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:15 am

Thanks @BarackObama MT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes 2 Al-Qaida Faction Armed Obama in Syria: http://t.co/RSBNjob1b4
_RSPECT_
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:20 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
Rapete78Ruthie
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:22 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
Boston You
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:27 am

Obama is literally attempting to destroy the world as we’ve known it. Such are the fruits of democracy, I suppose.

As this point, I wouldn’t be surprised to see DC get nuked sometime in the next two years.
ToreyMichael
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:28 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
Neo2105
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:29 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
bgallagb
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:30 am

RT @rsmccain: Remember: They’re “militants” or “insurgents,” not TERRORISTS http://t.co/kREuSRckRW @AmPowerBlog @instapundit #IRAQ
Bo_Shot
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:31 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r
sugarcoated09
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:33 am

http://t.co/z8FQLjv59m Topple Obama.
MrPaulRevere
June 12th, 2014 @ 12:34 am

Thanks for posting that, it was horrific but necessary to watch. Look, I get it that the subject of Iraq generates a lot of mixed feelings among the readership here. Was the decision to invade in 2003 a flawed one? Perhaps so. Certainly the post invasion strategy was a profoundly flawed one. But we are where we are. We should have NEVER surrendered ground that the American soldiers died for. At least we had the good sense to maintain a military presence in Germany and South Korea back in the day. This is a mess of the highest (or is it the lowest) order.
Kirby McCain
June 12th, 2014 @ 2:09 am

It should be clear to anyone with an objective mind that Obama hates this country, hates it’s citizens, hates democracy and is an enemy of freedom anywhere.
Adjoran
June 12th, 2014 @ 2:15 am

Quite so – and I would note we are STILL in Germany, Japan, and South Korea to this day, nearly 70 years after the end of WWII and 60 after the Korean armistice. And all of them contribute to our security today, and have helped keep the peace since their establishment.
Adjoran
June 12th, 2014 @ 2:17 am

If the Democratic Party gave a tinker’s damn about America, they would join in that call. As it is, they wouldn’t let their Messianic Leader be impeached if he offered California to Mexico and ate a baby live on television.
Adjoran
June 12th, 2014 @ 2:20 am

Think it can’t get any worse?

Maliki now knows he can’t depend on Obama for anything. Shall he passively submit to beheading, or will he seek help for his Shi’ite government against the Sunni extremists from the only strong Shi’ite army on Earth, which happens to live next door?

Iraq may end up partitioned between the Sunni/Qaeda and the Iranian/Shi’ite areas, with the Kurds the odd men out as usual.
Luci_Rosenstein
June 12th, 2014 @ 2:24 am

RT @Assoc7: BREAKING – Iraq Cities Falling Like Dominoes to Al-Qaida Faction Armed by Obama in Syria: http://t.co/W5jo5URe3r