ME Diary - 19 September 2014

"... on Friday IS had seized three more villages near Kobani, bringing to 24 the number it had taken.

Esmat al-Sheikh, head of the Kurdish forces defending Kobani, said fierce clashes continued to the east, west and south of the city, which is bordered by Turkey to the north. IS fighters armed with rockets, artillery, tanks and armored vehicles seized from the Iraqi army in Mosul had advanced to within 20 km (12 miles) of Kobani, he told Reuters by telephone.

"The whole world is silent," he said. "Every day we hear there is going to be an attack on ISIS. But where is it? ... Will it come after everyone is already dead?"

The attack prompted a Kurdish militant call to the youth of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast to join the fight against IS, whose offensive began on Tuesday after the U.S. military said Syrian moderates would probably need the Syrian Kurds’ help to defeat Islamic State, along with the help of Turkey and Jordan."  Reuters

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So much for those who have claimed recently that IS is a spent force that will disintegrate from internal contradictions,  They are now on the offensive again

 "Rockets, artillery, tanks, armored vehicles," I guess that answers the question of whether or not IS can use relatively modern weapons.  If they capture or buy on the international markets some fairly effective AAA weapons they will truly be a menace to a modern force.

BTW, I was informed yesterday that in the Mosul Dam operation the principal ground forces on the "friendly side were Al-Quds Iranian troops not Pesh Merga and they had the benefit of adjusted US CAS.  pl 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/19/us-syria-crisis-turkey-idUSKBN0HE0RR20140919

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"... an apparent call for attacks not only on the ruling family and Westerners in Saudi Arabia, but also on the kingdom's senior Muslim scholars who have denounced ISIS, Jazrawi said:

"It is time to say 'we will expel the disbelievers from the Arabian Peninsula'. The fire begins with a small spark. That spark will ignite an explosive fire directed at the Saud Family and to their rabbis and priests."

He called on self-declared Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to lead the advance on the birthplace of Islam.

Saudi Arabia's top religious council, the only body in the country authorized to issue fatwas or Islamic legal opinions, declared Wednesday that "terrorism is a heinous crime," in the most comprehensive attack the kingdom's conservative council have made so far on Islamic radicalism and ISIS.

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As I wrote here before, SA with its large potential 5th Column is the only logical primary objective for IS.  pl 

Read more: http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Sep-18/271099-isis-fighter-urges-jihad-in-saudi-arabia-site.ashx#ixzz3Dmjifffq  

 

Comments

[ex-PFC Chuck]

I stumbled onto this piece today from what I suspect is a Turkish publication, "Today's Zaman": "Nurse says she's tired of treating ISIL terrorists"
http://www.todayszaman.com/national_nurse-says-shes-tired-of-treating-isil-terrorists_358992.html

[Charles Dekle]

Col Lang,
Thank you. It would appear that the children have run amok and may burn down the house without adult supervision. One can only assume that they are naifs or hopelessly stupid. In either case the outcome is the same.

I read this article by Alistair Crooke and thought that I would share. He responds to Sec Kerry's statement "we are fighting an ideology, not a regime" with this opening paragraph:
"Let us be plain: President Obama's (and Kerry's) basic premise that America and its allies are fighting a deviant, un-Islamic ideology, which must, and can be delegitimized by gathering together the Sunni Arab world to pronounce it "un-Islamic," simply underlines how little they "know" about ISIS -- with which they are about to go to war."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alastair-crooke/obama-isis-not-islamic_b_5843830.html

I do not know anything about Crooke other than his by-line informs the reader that he is a former MI-6 agent.

Kind regards,

[Matthew]

Col: How ironic that the Saudi Monarchy which has exported violence and savagery to all its neighbors (and to us on 9/11) is finally the target of its own science experiment.

Karma.

[dilbert dogbert]

"Rockets, artillery, tanks, armored vehicles,"
Sounds like a target rich environment.

[jr786]

Col. Lang,

"As I wrote here before, SA with its large potential 5th Column is the only logical primary objective for IS."

I see the point, especially as ultimate possession of the holy places would count for a great deal. In terms of building up legitimacy amongst the Muslim population at large, however, wouldn't it make sense to at least start rattling sabers against Israel? This would surely lead to American troops, something they seem actively to provoke.

Do you think that we would intervene with troops if the Saudis were directly threatened?

[FB Ali]

"Asked if he thinks Obama ought to reach an accommodation with Syrian President Bashar Assad, (Iranian Foreign Minister) Zarif replied: 'President Obama needs to reach an accommodation with reality'."

http://tinyurl.com/nswvqdy

[Thomas]

"As I wrote here before, SA with its large potential 5th Column is the only logical primary objective for IS. pl "

Yes, though they have to wait and see if Syria will be handed to them on a golden platter because of the West's intoxicating infatuation with regime change. Plus they could be detaching a force to join in, Muawiya's Most Moderate Militia of Mujahideen.

Once the move for the Peninsular is made, they probably figure that after mauling the SA National Guard in battle, a collapse in confidence will ensue and allow their agents to make the next internal move.

Those Saudi Air Force arsenals must have some nice shiny new AA missiles that could be put to use.

[Haralambos]

All,
I do not have any real sense of how reliable Robert Parry's post are. I followed his reporting on the Contragate issues in the 1980s in Newsweek and continue to follow him, since the MSM seem to deliver mainly stenography from various spokes-persons both named and anonymous. This piece claims there is a current agreement between the US and Russia brokering a deal with Assad: http://consortiumnews.com/2014/09/17/reported-us-syrian-accord-on-air-strikes/

Here is the lede: "The Obama administration, working through the Russian government, has secured an agreement from the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad to permit U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State targets in parts of Syria, according to a source briefed on the secret arrangements." Is this plausible?

[turcopolier]

dilbert dogbert

So, why isn't someone bombing those targets? The Turks have merely opened their border to refugees and still deny the US the US of their airbases. pl

[turcopolier]

jr786

It seems to me that an IS victory in SA would be dependent on a demonstration of capability against SA forces followed by a mass uprising spurred by IO work. Places like Tabuk and KKMC are death traps for them until SA is well ablaze. I expect to hear a lot of noise about Israel but not much action for a long time. IS knows that Israel will take massive action against them if they feel threatened. pl

[Aka]

dear cOL & any Australians in SST,
what do you think about the latest news from Australia?
The plot sounds insane but if the ISIS want a "crusade", then this kind of thing is a good way to provoke the west.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/australian-leader-warns-planned-random-attack-25585654

[confusedponderer]

Is it plausible?

The US gvt has a way of its many tentacles pursuing numerous and often mutually exclusive and conflicting goals at the same time.

I wouldn't be astounded in the slightest if NED and IRI types in concert with the State Department merrilly busied themselves with trying to to undo Russia and trying to run away with Ukraine while Russia was guarding Sochi while the NSC at the same time negotiated a deal with Iran and Syria with Russian help.

The limit for that is Russia or Iran putting up with it (Syria doesn't have much of a choice). Both Russia and the US need the US more (if only to have them cease and desist their hostility) than vice versa.

Be that as it may, the neo-cons and their liberal brethren would oppose such a deal and would try to kill it, but that was the case also with the negotiations with Iran or the Syria chemical deal.

The point is whether Obama sees such interference as an actual problem. If so, he would probably do something about it.

I mean, if Nuland had acted out and beyond her mandate, well, she serves at the pleasure of the president, which means something can be done about her. Notthing has happened so far, which suggests that she acted within her mandate.

To me the entire picture suggests that Obama isn't in full control of his foreign policy team in State and at the NSC which have conflicting ideas and doesn't assert control, but hedges and decides only at the last minute.

In a sense, the various neocons and state department types are America's rabid attack dogs. The idea in the Obama administration about them seems to be that the relentless hostility towards Russia, Iran and Syria amounts to 'leverage' in negotiations.

An idiotic idea IMO, but not entirely without precedent. It somewhat resembles Nixon's and Kissinger's gambit to portray Nixon was an unstable drunk, with the noted and disquieting difference that the neocons aren't pretending.

[Fred]

Aka,

While I"m not an Australian it seems just too convenient. Did they really need 800 state and Federal agents to arrest these suspects? If nothing else it serves to justify the budget for allot of police departments.

[Babak Makkinejad]

Nixon was a statesman; in his first meeting after his election to US presidency with visiting heads of state and governments (among them Helmut Schmidt) he spoke in detail about the global strategic situation for an hour and without notes.

Obama is no Nixon.

[Haralambos]

confusedponderer, thank you for your comprehensive reply. I have always thought that much of our American policy, both foreign and domestic, has often been at cross-purposes in the last three administrations from the expansion of NATO and the campaign in the former Yugoslavia to the repeal of Glass-Steagall and the bank bailouts not to mention the wars of the past 13 years. Thank you as well for your threads on the site.

[Aka]

Fred,
overkill does not really means it's false flag.

On the issue of police departments, well I guess the Australian politicians may want to follow their buddies in states (with more powerful police forces).

[Fred]

Babak,

Nixon served as a member of Congress, then as Senator and was Vice President for both terms of the Eisenhower administration. Barrack didn't have anything near to that experience. It should serve as a warning against electing charismatic candidates with no real experience.

[confusedponderer]

"Places like Tabuk and KKMC are death traps for them until SA is well ablaze"

Why Tabuk and KKMC?

[turcopolier]

CP

the temptation would be to go to these major SA bases and capture their equipment. If you do not have adequate anti-air defense then concentration areas like that are death traps. The path to victory in SA would be a major revolt brought on by IO work among the waiting fanatics. IS mobile forces would have to keep moving around and cling to population centers until they reach Havana, er, the Haramein. pl

[alba etie]

Fred
Its always bothered me that the "Plumbers' who had done many black bag operations successfully - would leave a roll of duct tap stuck to the front door of the office they were burglarizing .By the way Nixon also went to China and he started the EPA, remember acid rain ? .( Wonder what President Nixon would make of Senator Cruz ? )

[alba etie]

Haralambos
I used to have a financial portfolio corporate client here in Austin ,Texas . This particular outfit advise all the hedge fund managers . They moved here from LA area. I used to do a good amount of work for them - carrying the fund managers and brokers to and from the classes this corporation held .It was good work , filled my van for about 2x the market . The day that the Blankfein et al got their bonuses I was upset - I let my guard down with one the Principals at this corporation . I spoke my mind about Glass Steagall and how "just because you put blood sausage , suet , and bone meal in a mixing bowl and leave in the icebox over the weekend does not mean you get to take it to bank Monday morning & say it Prime Rib and then get a loan against that concoction and then tell me the taxpayer I got to pay off the bad debt . " Needless to say I lost that account , but kept my peace of mind. My CongressCritter Senator Phil Gramm got the repeal of Glass Steagall passed and President " I did not inhale " signed it . Wish we had a Teddy Roosevelt we could draft in our own Bull Moose Party ,

[alba etie]

Col Lang
Doesn't KSA 's air force have a bunch of F-15 's and Rafales ? Maybe if al Baghdadi turns toward Mecca we might see some KSA sorties ?

[turcopolier]

AE

SA has a lot of equipment that they bought from the US. They were given nothing. They bought everything with real money, not credits or grants. They were trained to use the equipment and have been given staff level training to match. In spite of that they are minimally functional in doing anything other than fly sorties for which someone else has planned the targets, done the BDA and sustained the effort. pl

[alba etie]

Col Lang
Glad that the equipment to SA was cash carry - perhaps if Baghdadi crosses their border the Royal Family might hire some help to plan the sorties and do the bomb damage assesments to sustain that effort.
Is the UAE Air Force stand alone ? And will the UAE be part of the coalition even though they have supported al Nusra in Syria ? (Seems like the UAE was involved in the Libyan campaign to remove Qaddafi . )

[turcopolier]

AE

Much more than SA, but the force is small. pl