The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Iraq Disaster

Posted on | June 14, 2014 | 26 Comments

Four years ago, Vice President Joe Biden claimed that Obama’s Iraq policy would be “one of the greatest achievements” of his administration. If by “greatest achievements,” you mean anarchy as Iraq is overrun by al-Qaeda terrorists, I guess Biden was right:

The likely breakup of Iraq into feuding ethnic and sectarian bastions accelerated Friday as Iraq’s senior Shiite Muslim cleric broke years of support for the central government and decreed that every able-bodied Shiite man had a religious obligation to defend the sect’s holy sites from rebellious Sunni Muslims led by fighters from the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
In answer to the call, thousands of Shiites — many with militia experience from the sectarian war that pitted Sunnis against Shiites and killed thousands from 2006 to 2008– flooded the cities of Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala to receive weapons, enlist in organized units and receive their orders.

“Greatest achievements”:

The Shiite-led government of Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki remained in paralysis Friday, unable to form a coherent response after al-Qaida-inspired militants blitzed and captured entire chunks of the nation’s Sunni heartland this week, including major cities, towns, military and police bases as Iraqi forces melted away or fled.
The new reality is the biggest threat to Iraq’s stability since the U.S. withdrawal at the end of 2011, and it has pushed the nation closer to a precipice that would partition it into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish zones.
Fighters from the militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on Thursday vowed to march on Baghdad, joined by Saddam Hussein-era loyalists and other disaffected Sunnis.
Trumpeting their victory, the militants also declared they would impose Shariah law in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city they captured on Tuesday, and other areas they seized.

“Greatest achievements”:

[A]ny reduction in the flow of Iraqi crude due to the ongoing Islamic insurgency in the northern Iraq cities of Mosul and Tikrit could have worldwide economic consequences, according to oil industry analyst Phill Flynn, who said speculators are watching for the worst-case scenario.
“They think that Baghdad will not fall and that will be a more spirited defense of that city,” Flynn said. “But if it does fall and if the terrorists move further south, the price you’re paying at the pump today is gonna look like a bargain in a couple weeks.”

Can the U.S. embassy in Iraq withstand attack? Gosh, why does this all seem so familiar? It’s like the 1970s or something.

 

Category: Iraq, Joe Biden

Comments

26 Responses to “The Iraq Disaster”

  1. commonpatriot
    June 14th, 2014 @ 12:56 pm

    via @rsmccain: The Iraq Disaster http://t.co/BRG9mqSDCz #tcot

  2. CHideout
    June 14th, 2014 @ 12:56 pm

    The Iraq Disaster: Four years ago, Vice President Joe Biden claimed that Obama’s Iraq policy would be “one of … http://t.co/xrWGwk166t

  3. MrEvilMatt
    June 14th, 2014 @ 12:56 pm

    The Iraq Disaster: Four years ago, Vice President Joe Biden claimed that Obama’s Iraq policy would be “one of … http://t.co/IZTmca4Kt3

  4. WeRResistance
    June 14th, 2014 @ 12:56 pm

    The Iraq Disaster: Four years ago, Vice President Joe Biden claimed that Obama’s Iraq policy would be “one of … http://t.co/jpXGWWlTU9

  5. Citzcom
    June 14th, 2014 @ 12:56 pm

    The Iraq Disaster: Four years ago, Vice President Joe Biden claimed that Obama’s Iraq policy would be “one of … http://t.co/4cUQRD2YMy

  6. Lockestep1776
    June 14th, 2014 @ 12:56 pm

    The Iraq Disaster: Four years ago, Vice President Joe Biden claimed that Obama’s Iraq policy would be “one of … http://t.co/pbPuK29ZFr

  7. rsmccain
    June 14th, 2014 @ 12:59 pm

    The #Iraq Disaster http://t.co/Q2XSKLEa1t “Greatest acheivements” @mangan_mike @AmPowerBlog @instapundit

  8. AmPowerBlog
    June 14th, 2014 @ 1:10 pm

    The #Iraq Disaster http://t.co/HKB0pkRDuk via @RSMcCain #ISIS

  9. AmPowerBlog
    June 14th, 2014 @ 1:15 pm

    RT @rsmccain: The #Iraq Disaster http://t.co/Q2XSKLEa1t “Greatest acheivements” @mangan_mike @AmPowerBlog @instapundit

  10. CFLancop
    June 14th, 2014 @ 1:40 pm

    RT @rsmccain: The #Iraq Disaster http://t.co/Q2XSKLEa1t “Greatest acheivements” @mangan_mike @AmPowerBlog @instapundit

  11. ophidianpilot
    June 14th, 2014 @ 1:42 pm

    The Iraq Disaster
    #tcot #pjnet http://t.co/fOd1oD7UbB via @rsmccain

  12. BobBelvedere
    June 14th, 2014 @ 1:53 pm

    RT @rsmccain: The #Iraq Disaster http://t.co/rTCc37lN1G “Greatest acheivements”

  13. Henry Williams
    June 14th, 2014 @ 1:58 pm

    From awhile ago, but some additional insight into the larger dynamic:

    http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/03/05/070305fa_fact_hersh

  14. Josh_Painter
    June 14th, 2014 @ 3:28 pm

    RT @rsmccain: The #Iraq Disaster http://t.co/Q2XSKLEa1t “Greatest acheivements” @mangan_mike @AmPowerBlog @instapundit

  15. NeoConDisaster
    June 14th, 2014 @ 4:33 pm

    This will always be Bush’s war, and the neocons miscalculation, and arrogance that we could export democracy, and free market capitalism to the muslim world. Well, shoot, even they didn’t believe that, and really went just for the oil. Either way, sectarian violence was going to be the end result here no matter what happened.

  16. Henry Williams
    June 14th, 2014 @ 5:19 pm

    Could be wrong, but I don’t think that US companies have produced a single drop of oil from the ground in Iraq.

  17. SDN
    June 14th, 2014 @ 5:31 pm

    You’re not wrong. Just once I wish we would go ahead and actually do what Leftards claim we do.

  18. Phil_McG
    June 14th, 2014 @ 6:47 pm

    At least that would involve some sort of tangible benefit from this bloody mess.

  19. ZZZZZZZZ
    June 14th, 2014 @ 8:14 pm

    You’re pissy because Dubya was right. So, do the world a favor and piss off.

  20. M. Thompson
    June 14th, 2014 @ 10:31 pm

    At this point, the Roman Method of making peace is an increasingly attractive option.

    Or you know, building pipelines, drilling, and more power plants so we can ignore that part of the world again.

  21. K-Bob
    June 14th, 2014 @ 10:51 pm

    barack excels at throwing away lives for no gain. He’s responsible for the borderkinder fiasco, and all of the young girls raped and kids “gone missing” while being encouraged to cross the border before he leaves office.

    Jimmy Carter used to worry about being worst. Now Jimmy Carter is worrying about Neville Chamberlain joining him on the “at least we’re better than barack” list.

    Bloodiest President, ever.

  22. K-Bob
    June 14th, 2014 @ 10:58 pm

    That’s about the best excuse you have for the monstrously poor judgement exercised by your idol. Sadly, it’s the equivalent of, “The dog ate my homework.” And there’s no dog.

    Only death; on a scale that could well dwarf the losses of WWII. Do the world a favor and wear an “I voted for Obama” tee shirt when you go out in public.

  23. K-Bob
    June 14th, 2014 @ 11:01 pm

    “Big Oil” is multinational, with incorporation usually in non-US jurisdiction. But you’re correct, the US doesn’t import much oil from the mideast at all, and the oilfield services companies that made any money in Iraq are not US-based.

    It was never “blood for oil.” But now it’s “blood for good media coverup.”

  24. Good Stuff
    June 15th, 2014 @ 12:58 am

    following this story – a Facebook “running” type blog -http://tinyurl.com/Tracking-ISIS

  25. Mike G.
    June 15th, 2014 @ 9:09 am

    Here is correct foreign and military policy…Go in there to Mosul with a couple of cells of B-52’s or B-1’s and carpet bomb the place. Don’t worry about “collateral” damage. Then tell them to straighten up because if we have to come back, they aren’t going to like it..

  26. Bob Belvedere
    June 15th, 2014 @ 6:07 pm

    If we have to come back, I’m all in favor of creating few glass-covered parking lots there.