President Obama hasn’t gotten approval for his “intentionally vague” Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against ISIS, but the Pentagon is already scrambling to escalate its military presence in the region in preparation of the ground war it would start.
Over 4,000 ground combat troops from Fort Carson’s 3rd Brigade are being sent to Kuwait under this new deployment, where they will make up the region’s largest collection of US ground troops, which will include heavy armored vehicles.
Even as President Obama continues to deny plans for a ground war, it’s not a secret what the troops are being sent to Kuwait for, and officials say they’re prepared for “any contingency,” which in this context means a fight with ISIS.
The US has scattered its current ground contingent in Iraq across several different areas, with the 320 ground troops deployed as “trainers” in the Anbar Province now on the front lines of the Iraq-ISIS war. ISIS fires intermittently at their base, and it seems only a matter of time before they’re in direct combat.
Which is where the “over 4,000” troops from Fort Carson come in. Unlike the putative trainers being sent, these include not only infantry but a whole brigade with the large amount of armored units. There’s not even the pretense that these guys aren’t being sent for a very heavy ground war.
The White House has admitted as much this week as well, following up President Obama’s Tuesday pledge not to get involved in a ground war with talk of “flexibility,” and dismissing the AUMF pledge to avoid “enduring offensive ground combat operations” as literally meaningless, saying they had no definition at all of “enduring.”
Whatever enduring means, the troops from Fort Carson are about to find out, and officials are either waiting for the AUMF or some ready-made emergency with the Anbar troops to launch the ground war.
They are also bringing a large supply of body bags with their " freedom toys".
Does an "AUMF" replace the treaty obligation (and hence also Constitutional obligation)
to get UN authorization for military action ?
Obviously, the USA is not being attacked by "ISIS".
Fascist deadly force — To keep the rich in power
Empire USA, has it ever fought to save the people from the brutal imperialism and tyranny of High Society?
No, quite the reverse, for there is the Monroe Doctrine that gives our Empire the right to invade any American hemisphere nation that should defy the will of their rich ruling class, just look at High Society in Haiti and Honduras.
From the oil rich dictatorships of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, to the totally enslaved nations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, always is there a righ ruling class holding power or our Empire refuses to get involve.
WW3 is boiling to the point of no return. doesn't matter how many soldiers are sent won't do the trick, from what i see and how i interpret the picture, isis full scale war will spread to Europe and beyond.
Where are our Arab and Israeli "friends" when the fighting starts? This is a joke….Turkey has 500K men and over 3000 tanks on the border with Syria….if they don't think that ISIS is a threat, how can they be a threat to the US? Where are those pillars of democracy, the Saudis? And of course as usual the Israelis are nowhere to be seen but are screaming for someone to attack these terrorists…and Iran…and Assad….and France….and Germany….and Tahiti…'cause they are not defenseless women and children and therefore way, way too tough for the IDF.
Give your head a shake America….what is wrong with you?
We have the makings of another Gulf of Tonkin in Iraq. We have put a small number of our troops in harm's way by locating them within reach of ISIS. ISIS will attack a vulnerable target and kill some of our troops. The idiot Republicans will demand Obama put in more troops to "deal" with ISIS and our corporate propaganda machine, otherwise known as our news media, will feature pictures of the atrocity and support the drum roll, thereby ensuring increased ad revenues for their corporate owners. Obama will not be able to refuse and we will be back in Iraq providing endless opportunities for our young men and women to die for no good reason.