With an al-Qaeda seizing towns in Nineveh with ease, a siege of Baghdad is seemingly only a matter of time, and could amount to the last stand for Iraq’s Maliki government in trying to retain a meaningful amount of the fractured country.
Iran, a close ally of Maliki with a major interest in stalling al-Qaeda’s advance, is the first sending troops to the country, with estimates of about 500 special forces from Iran’s Quds Force on the ground already
Iran seems mostly centering its efforts on the immediate threat to Baghdad, and Iranian Gen. Qassem Suleimani, the head of the Quds Force, is said to be in Baghdad, leading the defense of the city personally.
Gen. Suleimani is currently under sanctions by the US as a “terrorist” for his role in aiding the Assad government of Syria against al-Qaeda, and ironically his relative success against the militants now puts him in a key position of defending US interests in keeping the Maliki government intact.
And while it seems like a long shot, Iranian officials are also saying they’re open to coordinating their aid with the US, who is expected to be providing weapons and air support for the feckless Iraqi Army in an attempt to stem al-Qaeda’s advance.
Obama was careful not to mention the possibility of his new bedfellow Iran in his speech today.
Wonder if Obama is still going to send weapons to his "moderate rebels" now that reality is looking him in the face?
"after Saddam’s regime is destroyed, it is of “vital importance” that the United States disarm Iran, Syria, and Libya." from "Whose war ?" in 2003
I’m not so sure the Neocons in charge of U.S. foreign policy regarding Iraq and region are really interested in preserving the Al-Maliki government.
Consider this from Tony Cartalucci dated yesterday:
NATO’s Terror Hordes in Iraq a Pretext for Syria Invasion
http://journal-neo.org/2014/06/13/nato-s-terror-h…
Oh what a tangled web we weave- now what happens when the US allies with Iran to fight the Sunni (and Saudi-funded) ISIS forces- will Israel line up with ISIS to take on Iran, it's 'existential' enemy du jour? And in doing so, will they once again pull the trigger on US forces fighting with Iranian troops?
I'm thinking this would be a really good time to get the ball rolling on those 'sustainable energy initiatives' Obama has touted so we can be at least doing something to provide for ourselves when Iran is in flames and unable to produce anything. And if Iran falls, guess who will most likely be paying double or triple for the same oil from the new owners?
If anyone ever wants a prime example of cause and effect, they need look no further than the US involvement in destabilizing the entire Middle East in a few short years.
"… those 'sustainable energy initiatives' Obama has touted…"
You mean the ones the neanderthal Congress continues to vote down because they're counting on the continued supply of (cheap) fossil fuels from our oil producing friends? And one should probably not expect BP's gulf oil to maintain the current price when the rest of the world starts jacking the price of a barrel because BP tells us they care about the US people.
A cynical person might think that oil companies, bankers, war industries, and power mad politicians wanted to create just such a situation in the Middle East. But we have been assured by US politicians that they are not interested in oil, money and power, only in bringing "democracy" to the Middle East. Who are you going to believe, US politicians, or your lying eyes?
The Iranian president says that there are no Iranian troops in Iraq. See Press TV
Heh. Al-Quds is not the Iranian military. Of course a distinction without a difference. Just like thousands of Blackwaters can be somewhere and "no US troops involved". The only difference is our paramilitary is mercenary, the Iranians is theological.
You need to stop hating people just because the main stream media — ie America's corporate propaganda machine, the USG, the MIC, and the Zionists/Neocons tell you to.
Iran is no problem for anyone, not even Israel. Israel's problems originate in it's own confused and wicked heart, it's psychotic Zionist culture, and its profoundly psychotic leadership elite, all set on a ghastly and clueless course to self-immolation. In the meantime, everyone on the planet — the Iranians in particular, but the feckless Americans as well — need to protect themselves from the coming storm. The five-thousand year pattern of Jewish history, of attempted suicide-by-goy, is instructive and predictive. As an American and a Jew I'd like to think that "this time it's different", but all evidence speaks to the contrary.