ramadi - Page 2

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden has reassured Iraq’s government of U.S. support in the fight against the Islamic State group in a telephone call to Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi.

Iranian elite paramilitary force leader Major General Qassem Soleimani accused the United States of having “no will” to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and blasted President Barack Obama as not having “done a damn thing” to quell the terrorist insurgency. The remarks follow news that Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah is planning to increase its presence in Iraq to combat ISIS.

On CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter expressed frustration about the poor performance of Iraqi military forces at Ramadi.

With the official Iraqi army defeated, Iraqi militias have gathered arms and advanced to Ramadi to counter the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), who recently captured the key town. The militias also hope to stop the terrorist group from entering Baghdad, which is only 70 miles to the west.

Contents: US administration’s strategy in Iraq continues to fail; Obama administration’s rhetoric changes dramatically on Sunday; Some reports suggest intentional loss of Ramadi by Iraq’s government

Another scene from the ongoing collapse of President Obama’s Iraq policy comes to us from the crucial Iraqi oil refinery of Beiji, where Iranian artillery and heavy weapons are backing Iraqi forces against ISIS, while the Obama Administration watches helplessly and hopes the media doesn’t notice.

Charting President Obama’s relationship with the media that passively-aggressively adores him is tricky. More than once, he’s seemingly angered or dismayed them enough to trigger a paradigm shift, only to have the paradigm slip right back to the usual worship of a titan striding across history.

Columnist Charles Krauthammer declared, “The administration is sounding like Baghdad Bob during the invasion of Iraq” regarding the gains made by ISIS on Thursday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel. “The administration is sounding like Baghdad Bob during the

More than half of Syria fell under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) after the jihadist group captured the ancient city of Palmyra, a monitor group said.

REUTERS– Islamic State militants overran Iraqi government defences east of the city of Ramadi on Thursday, police and pro-government tribal fighters said. The defensive line was breached at Husaiba, about 10 km (six miles) from the city, on Thursday afternoon

In its initial raid on Ramadi, the Islamic State terror group (ISIS/ISIL) set off a string of 30 suicide car bombs that took out “entire city blocks,” a senior State Department official revealed.

Washington (AFP) – The United States is sending Iraq 1,000 anti-tank missile systems to help fight suicide car bombings, which played a “devastating” role in the capture of Ramadi by Islamic militants, a top US official said Wednesday. Iraqi Prime

Contents: Iranian, American, Saudi military head for confrontation off Yemen; In repeat of Mosul disaster, Iraqi army abandoned US weapons in Ramadi; Report: Saudi Arabia seeking nuclear weapons from Pakistan

The European Union on Monday approved a multi-phase military operation to defeat human smugglers who are trafficking migrants from Libya to Europe. Smugglers have been charging migrants thousands of dollars each to make the trip, and there’s no guarantee of reaching Europe or even of surviving.

The New York Times offers a dismaying look at the Islamic State’s financial situation by Sarah Almukhtar: She looks at data from the RAND Corporation and judges that the modern-day Mordor “has revenue and assets that are more than enough to cover its current expenses despite expectations that airstrikes and falling oil prices would hurt the group’s finances.”

Tuesday at the White House press briefing, CBS White House correspondent Bill Plante asked if downplaying the fall of Ramadi as a temporary setback was “silly” because now that “Iraqi troops have cut and run,” and “there is no real

After American-armed troops from the American-supported Iraqi central government were routed from the city of Ramadi by an inferior ISIS force, the head-choppers embarked on what the Kurdish Rudaw news service describes as a “bloody purge.”

This victory will permit ISIS to threaten Baiji, Iraq’s largest oil refinery, as well as the villages in the suburbs around Baghdad, and Baghdad itself. Furthermore, weapons stores and other assets in Ramadi were not destroyed and are available to ISIS.

How’s the White House spinning the sack of Ramadi? You’ll be sorry you asked.

Jeremy Bash, who served as Chief of Staff for Leon Panetta during his time as CIA Director and Secretary of Defense said that “in an urban environment,” “ISIS is going to have the advantage” and that ISIS’ takeover of Ramadi

The contested city of Ramadi fell to the Islamic State group on Sunday, as Iraqi forces abandoned their weapons and armored vehicles to flee the provincial capital in a major loss despite intensified U.S.-led airstrikes.

The Islamic State has “launched a wide-scale attack on Iraqi security forces in Ramadi in an apparent attempt to take the rest of the key central Iraqi city,” according to Governor Suhaib al-Rawi.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote an apology letter on Monday to Debbie Lee, the mother of the first Navy SEAL killed in Ramadi, Iraq, for downplaying the city’s importance.

President Barack Obama’s decision to abandon Iraq remains the most significant strategic blunder in a generation. Putting politics ahead of strategy, Obama sought to win an argument with history rather than to win the struggle against terror and tyranny in the Middle East. His presidential ambitions depended on his opposition to the Iraq War–which, he decided, also meant opposing the “surge.” He could barely admit the surge worked–and, in office, reversed it as soon as possible.

I am shaking and tears are flowing down my cheeks as I watch the news and listen to the insensitive, pain inflicting comments made by you in regards to the fall of Ramadi.

Every recent news story about the battle against ISIS in Iraq has taken pains to quote the administration’s assessment that about 25 percent of the Islamic State’s territory has been recaptured. Pushing them out of Tikrit was a significant milestone, although it took considerably longer than planned.