Iraq conflict: US sends warship to the Gulf

[Lite Beer]

Iraq conflict: US sends warship to the Gulf

The USS George HW Bush is being moved from the North Arabian Sea to the Gulf with two other vessels

The US says it is sending a warship into the Gulf to provide President Obama with military options should the situation in Iraq deteriorate further.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the USS George HW Bush, which carries dozens of fighter jets, to be moved from the North Arabian Sea.

Meanwhile, Iran says it could be prepared to work with the US to fight Sunni insurgents in Iraq.

The insurgents have seized several cities and are closing in on Baghdad.

Fighting under the banner of The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), they regard Iraq's Shia majority as "infidels".

Read More: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27853125

-- BBC 2014-06-15

[Ulysses G.]

"Meanwhile, Iran says it could be prepared to work with the US to fight Sunni insurgents in Iraq."

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

[rijb]

With friends like these who needs enemies.

[coma]

Arhh ! The US is about to bed with Iran. Textbook US foreign policy.

[NeverSure]

Iran. They've been fighting the US by proxy by supplying terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan for years.

Whatcha gonna do? Obama promised, and US citizens want, to get out of wars and especially the ME. Crap.

There will never be peace there. It's a lost cause. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

[Ulysses G.]

There will never be peace there. It's a lost cause.

Truer words have never been spoken and I've realized this all along. When we attacked Iraq, I thought they - the US government - must know something that I don't know, but they didn't.

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been removed. Let's stick to this situation. A re-hash of previous conflicts are not permitted unless they are in the context of what is currently happening.

I wrote to a friend who is currently living in the North of Iraq (he is Kurdish) and I have a cousin also in the North. Apparently, neither of them are in the zone of fighting. The Kurdish friend is quite concerned for the future of Iraq. He is now a US citizen, but is working back in Iraq.

The Kirkuk and Mosul regions were part of a program to Arabize the area and many of the Kurds were moved out. The Kurds are a formidable foe.

[impulse]

Arhh ! The US is about to bed with Iran. Textbook US foreign policy.

If you mean to acknowledge that they have a right to govern themselves and let them take action in a conflict that's right on their border, I call that good policy.

This is a Middle East problem. They're going to have to work it out themselves or it will morph and mutate and keep popping it's head up in different Whack-a-Mole holes forever.

In the meantime, I never seem to read about bombings and terror and towns attacked in Iran. Maybe they know something we don't?

[than]

With US intervention for restore "Democracy" in Iraq this country fall in civil/religious war with Al qaida fighter backed by Arabs Kingdoms and Shiite Iraqi government backed by Iran

Thanks you US for your "work". Yours dreams to control Iraqi oil is the nightmare of all innocent civilians of this country

[coma]

Arhh ! The US is about to bed with Iran. Textbook US foreign policy.

If you mean to acknowledge that they have a right to govern themselves and let them take action in a conflict that's right on their border, I call that good policy.

This is a Middle East problem. They're going to have to work it out themselves or it will morph and mutate and keep popping it's head up in different Whack-a-Mole holes forever.

In the meantime, I never seem to read about bombings and terror and towns attacked in Iran. Maybe they know something we don't?

I agree. I am a staunch believer in localization of any conflict. And I am totally against external intervention. What is happening in the middle East right now is simply shaping tomorrow. The West should not get involved by trying to 'genetically modify' the outcome. If the end result is the birth of an ' Islamic Super State' then that is Middle Eastern Diplomacy's wish. Allow them that wish. We don't need to like it.

And I know all the do gooders will say that such a State is extremely hazardous for global security. And I say that we should leave them to it.Give them NO excuses to be used as a catalyst for aggression towards the West. If after that ,they step onto our patch and strike us via said State, then we reserve the right to use ' stand off ' tactical weapons [nuclear] to totally destroy them.

[rabas]

Arhh ! The US is about to bed with Iran. Textbook US foreign policy.

If you mean to acknowledge that they have a right to govern themselves and let them take action in a conflict that's right on their border, I call that good policy.

This is a Middle East problem. They're going to have to work it out themselves or it will morph and mutate and keep popping it's head up in different Whack-a-Mole holes forever.

In the meantime, I never seem to read about bombings and terror and towns attacked in Iran. Maybe they know something we don't?

I never seem to read about bombings and terror and towns attacked in Iran. Maybe they know something we don't?

They probably know how to support terrorism, which they have been doing from day 1. The only terror in Iran is from the government. Many of the people are very nice.

[impulse]

Arhh ! The US is about to bed with Iran. Textbook US foreign policy.

If you mean to acknowledge that they have a right to govern themselves and let them take action in a conflict that's right on their border, I call that good policy.

This is a Middle East problem. They're going to have to work it out themselves or it will morph and mutate and keep popping it's head up in different Whack-a-Mole holes forever.

In the meantime, I never seem to read about bombings and terror and towns attacked in Iran. Maybe they know something we don't?

I never seem to read about bombings and terror and towns attacked in Iran. Maybe they know something we don't?

They probably know how to support terrorism, which they have been doing from day 1. The only terror in Iran is from the government. Many of the people are very nice.

Someday, maybe someone can explain to me how the crap they're sponsoring is terrorism, and the crap that we in the west have been sponsoring for the last 100+ years is anything but the same.

So far, I don't see it.

[NeverSure]

Arhh ! The US is about to bed with Iran. Textbook US foreign policy.

If you mean to acknowledge that they have a right to govern themselves and let them take action in a conflict that's right on their border, I call that good policy.

This is a Middle East problem. They're going to have to work it out themselves or it will morph and mutate and keep popping it's head up in different Whack-a-Mole holes forever.

In the meantime, I never seem to read about bombings and terror and towns attacked in Iran. Maybe they know something we don't?

I never seem to read about bombings and terror and towns attacked in Iran. Maybe they know something we don't?

They probably know how to support terrorism, which they have been doing from day 1. The only terror in Iran is from the government. Many of the people are very nice.

You're right. The Iranians are afraid of their government of religious zealotry. The Iranians aren't Arabs. They are Persians. The Persian people are enamored by Western people, clothes, styles, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if the Persians were pro-Western if they could get rid of their government.

[Chicog]

There will never be peace there. It's a lost cause.

Truer words have never been spoken and I've realized this all along. When we attacked Iraq, I thought they - the US government - must know something that I don't know, but they didn't.

Certain members of the US government knew that there were some gargantuan amounts of money to be made, and lots of us knew that as soon as they started talking up an Iraqi invasion.

[coma]

Arhh ! The US is about to bed with Iran. Textbook US foreign policy.

If you mean to acknowledge that they have a right to govern themselves and let them take action in a conflict that's right on their border, I call that good policy.

This is a Middle East problem. They're going to have to work it out themselves or it will morph and mutate and keep popping it's head up in different Whack-a-Mole holes forever.

In the meantime, I never seem to read about bombings and terror and towns attacked in Iran. Maybe they know something we don't?

I never seem to read about bombings and terror and towns attacked in Iran. Maybe they know something we don't?

They probably know how to support terrorism, which they have been doing from day 1. The only terror in Iran is from the government. Many of the people are very nice.

Someday, maybe someone can explain to me how the crap they're sponsoring is terrorism, and the crap that we in the west have been sponsoring for the last 100+ years is anything but the same.

So far, I don't see it.

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Only six months ago in Syria ASIS / ASIL were put in the freedom fighter category. As they had a common enemy with the West in the Assad 'regime'. Even when informed people knew otherwise.

Now here we are, the same organisations being named as terrorists as they aren't aligned with US interests in the region any longer. Quite hypocritical actually. But there is nothing new there.

[Steely Dan]

Military options should the situation in Iraq deteriorate further.

It's hard to believe there could be much more deteriorating to be done.

[coma]

Military options should the situation in Iraq deteriorate further.

It's hard to believe there could be much more deteriorating to be done.

Truly heart breaking for all the veterans that served there.

[JesseFrank]

There will never be peace there. It's a lost cause.

Truer words have never been spoken and I've realized this all along. When we attacked Iraq, I thought they - the US government - must know something that I don't know, but they didn't.

But they told the world that they knew something, which actually they didn't know.

[Steely Dan]

With friends like these who needs enemies.

This mess is on Iran's doorstep and indeed their meddling in Syria and Iraq was bound to result in some blowback, the U.S should keep out of this for fear of getting involved in a religious civil war. Surely this is the dream scenario, Sunni and Shia fight each other to a standstill whilst the west sells arms to the losing side to keep it going.

[Asiantravel]

"Meanwhile, Iran says it could be prepared to work with the US to fight Sunni insurgents in Iraq."

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Surely that would have to be one of the biggest challenges of today's warfare? Recognising who is your friend and who is your enemy - and particularly when everyone is dressed the same way?

[Credo]

This is probably rather callous to say, but during the time of the Iran-Iraq War, there was peace in much of the rest of the world. The world was awash with oil as the countries pumped to capacity to get the cash for weapons. They were preoccupied with the fight and left most of the rest of the world alone.

As the fighting escalates, perhaps the bad boys will head in that direction and leave the rest of us alone.

Unfortunately, they don't always stay put.

[Chicog]

With friends like these who needs enemies.

This mess is on Iran's doorstep and indeed their meddling in Syria and Iraq was bound to result in some blowback, the U.S should keep out of this for fear of getting involved in a religious civil war. Surely this is the dream scenario, Sunni and Shia fight each other to a standstill whilst the west sells arms to the losing side to keep it going.

Which is precisely what the US did with their friend....... Saddam.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts deleted.

[coma]

Roadside bomb just detonated in Baghdad. Nine fatalities and large number of injured. Many are Iraqi soldiers.

[folium]

"Meanwhile, Iran says it could be prepared to work with the US to fight Sunni insurgents in Iraq."

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The Iranians could perhaps "nuke" ISIS....

[EyesWideOpen]

America is soon to be an energy exporter in a couple of years. For many years

Mideast policy was about maintaining peace in the area to ensure the flow of

oil. Now that is no longer true. So here is what I propose. Every last soldier in

the middle east should be pulled out. Every last dollar of aid should be stopped,

and diverted to repairing the infrastructure of crumbling America. Let them fight

among themselves until they reduce themselves to where they started, driving

camels around the desert. Not one more drop of American blood spilled there.

The world will cheer, and umpteen billion dollars will be saved. Win win.....

Regarding the export of terrorism, with America gone from the area, there should

be no need for that. And if a country wants to be vengeful and maintain the jihad,

simply inform them that if America is attacked again, in the future instead of

war planes in the sky, they will see tactical nukes headed their way.......

[Credo]

America is soon to be an energy exporter in a couple of years. For many years

Mideast policy was about maintaining peace in the area to ensure the flow of

oil. Now that is no longer true. So here is what I propose. Every last soldier in

the middle east should be pulled out. Every last dollar of aid should be stopped,

and diverted to repairing the infrastructure of crumbling America. Let them fight

among themselves until they reduce themselves to where they started, driving

camels around the desert. Not one more drop of American blood spilled there.

The world will cheer, and umpteen billion dollars will be saved. Win win.....

Regarding the export of terrorism, with America gone from the area, there should

be no need for that. And if a country wants to be vengeful and maintain the jihad,

simply inform them that if America is attacked again, in the future instead of

war planes in the sky, they will see tactical nukes headed their way.......

There are more places which need oil than just the US. Europe is dependent on ME oil as is much of Asia. The world economy runs on oil.

[folium]

With friends like these who needs enemies.

This mess is on Iran's doorstep and indeed their meddling in Syria and Iraq was bound to result in some blowback, the U.S should keep out of this for fear of getting involved in a religious civil war. Surely this is the dream scenario, Sunni and Shia fight each other to a standstill whilst the west sells arms to the losing side to keep it going.

Nice idea (to some), but woefully simplistic if you actually want a long term resolution of the issues that plague this part of the world.

The idea that the Middle East is doomed to eternal conflict is also similarly self-serving (in terms of agendas/viewpoints), and is also terminally flawed as it overlooks the simple fact that ultimately most people just want to live a normal life, without dictators or conflict.

Europe had endless conflicts over centuries and the Balkans region (being a border zone between empires, ethnicities and religions) was especially prone to such conflict. Having had its (hopefully) last prolonged session of blood-letting and brutality in the 1990's it is becoming increasingly inconceivable that throats will be slit or women raped on an industrial scale as witnessed only 20+ odd years ago.

Outside powers can assist the process in terms of overwatch, encouragement, enabling and soft power projection.

Much as the antagonists in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) routinely shot all foreign captives in the latter stages as they saw that foreign intervention was prolonging the conflict, so in the ME the locals will have to sort out the situation themselves. Quite rightly (IMHO) this will involve addressing the colonial-era lines on a map drawn up almost a century ago. If that means the creation of a Sunni majority state out of eastern Syria and western Iraq so be it. As long as it is made clear in both word and deed that exporting violence will have terminal consequences.

The tragedy of the Middle East in recent history has been the simplistic application of half-baked, neo-con, Clash of Civilizations (to try and add an academic veneer to the shockingly naive, unfounded in history approach) mentality, to a scenario that needed a concept to be sold to a buyer rather than imposed on a reluctant buyer. The hard work has to be done first and it has to be done domestically and on its own domestic time scale. The Shah made this error in Iran, the Bush-Blair school has repeated this tragedy of hasty imposition of ideas in soil that is not yet receptive.

[boomerangutang]

I agree. I am a staunch believer in localization of any conflict. And I am totally against external intervention. What is happening in the middle East right now is simply shaping tomorrow. The West should not get involved by trying to 'genetically modify' the outcome. If the end result is the birth of an ' Islamic Super State' then that is Middle Eastern Diplomacy's wish. Allow them that wish. We don't need to like it.

And I know all the do gooders will say that such a State is extremely hazardous for global security. And I say that we should leave them to it. Give them NO excuses to be used as a catalyst for aggression towards the West. If after that ,they step onto our patch and strike us via said State, then we reserve the right to use ' stand off ' tactical weapons [nuclear] to totally destroy them.

I generally agree. There are no good options there - only less bad ones. Hot heads in the M.East will always harbor hate towards the 'Great Satan' US. Much of that hate stems from envy and privately wishing they could be so free, and get a job, a car, and maybe a hot American chick. If they could get a green card, they'd probably jump at the opportunity. Regardless of US policy there at those sand dunes, it will be a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' scenario.

Edited June 15, 2014 by boomerangutang

[EyesWideOpen]

America is soon to be an energy exporter in a couple of years. For many years

Mideast policy was about maintaining peace in the area to ensure the flow of

oil. Now that is no longer true. So here is what I propose. Every last soldier in

the middle east should be pulled out. Every last dollar of aid should be stopped,

and diverted to repairing the infrastructure of crumbling America. Let them fight

among themselves until they reduce themselves to where they started, driving

camels around the desert. Not one more drop of American blood spilled there.

The world will cheer, and umpteen billion dollars will be saved. Win win.....

Regarding the export of terrorism, with America gone from the area, there should

be no need for that. And if a country wants to be vengeful and maintain the jihad,

simply inform them that if America is attacked again, in the future instead of

war planes in the sky, they will see tactical nukes headed their way.......

There are more places which need oil than just the US. Europe is dependent on ME oil as is much of Asia. The world economy runs on oil.

Yes of course. So let the countries who need the oil, attempt to maintain

peace there. My personal belief is that the middle east countries need a strong man,

in essence a dictator, to keep them in line. Oh wait, that is what they pretty much

already have. Sort of like a tribe with a village chief but on a very large scale.

America coming in to give these people " democracy" is fundamentally absurd as a notion....