IRAQ – The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is preparing contingency plans to evacuate its employees if necessary now that one of the deadliest Islamic militant groups in the region has taken control of large swaths of Iraq, a U.S. official told TheBlaze.
The State Department also warned U.S. citizens against traveling to Iraq, following several days of bloody clashes between insurgents with the Al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Iraqi military forces.
ISIL has taken control of Mosul, Tikrit and Fallujah and aims to create an Islamic state across the Iraq-Syria border. (read more)
“Hey I’d really like to stay and have lunch with you guys but, ..um, .. well, I’ve seen how this ends before.” – “But, hey, thanks anyway”….. “TTFN”
Swimming pool prepared for the arrival of flying Jihadi’s !!!
You can follow along with the ISIS march on Baghdad HERE
ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani promised that the battle would “rage” on Baghdad and Karbala, a city southwest of the capital that is considered one of the holiest sites for Shiite Muslims, the SITE Intelligence Group said.
Do not relent against your enemy… The battle is not yet raging, but it will rage in Baghdad and Karbala,” Adnani said, according to a SITE translation of an audio statement released on the militants’ Twitter feed.
“Put on your belts and get ready.”
The UN Security Council will meet today to discuss developments within the country. (live link)
WeaselZippers has a good summary: …”We are watching the caliphate forming before our eyes, and if we don’t even understand that, how can we possibly address it? With the capture of the Iraqi cities and a huge swathe of territory, ISIS not only got land, they got >$400 million in funds from banks they seized, U.S. military equipment like humvees, aircraft including planes and helicopters.
Meanwhile the Obama regime has validated the Taliban in Afghanistan, and just as with Iraq, given a timetable to the pullout, with the likely same consequence of the Taliban taking over when we leave. The Taliban, seeing this, has already thrown its talks with Pakistan under the bus, hence the two attacks on the airport in Karachi. They will now go all out to attack in Pakistan.
Oh, and guys? Pakistan has nukes”…..
In 2002, when the fateful decisions about Iraq were made, there was a President for whom ideology overrode pragmatism, and there were too many politicians in Washington who spent too little time reading the intelligence reports, and too much time reading public opinion. The lesson of Iraq is that when we are making decisions about matters as grave as war, we need a policy rooted in reason and facts, not ideology and politics.
[…] When I am Commander-in-Chief, I will set a new goal on Day One: I will end this war. Not because politics compels it. Not because our troops cannot bear the burden– as heavy as it is. But because it is the right thing to do for our national security, and it will ultimately make us safer.
In order to end this war responsibly, I will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. We can responsibly remove 1 to 2 combat brigades each month. If we start with the number of brigades we have in Iraq today, we can remove all of them 16 months.
After this redeployment, we will leave enough troops in Iraq to guard our embassy and diplomats, and a counter-terrorism force to strike al Qaeda if it forms a base that the Iraqis cannot destroy.
What I propose is not – and never has been – a precipitous drawdown. It is instead a detailed and prudent plan that will end a war nearly seven years after it started. (continue reading)
– Presidential Candidate, Senator Barack Obama, March 19th 2008