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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Nov-2014
8-Nov-14 World View -- Obama sharply escalates U.S. involvement in Iraq war

Web Log - November, 2014

8-Nov-14 World View -- Obama sharply escalates U.S. involvement in Iraq war

Chechnya refugees now fighting the Russians in Ukraine

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

U.S. is doubling number of troops in Iraq, but it's not 'mission creep'
The comeuppance election
U.S. cannot confirm claim that Russian tanks are entering Ukraine
Chechnya refugees now fighting the Russians in Ukraine

U.S. is doubling number of troops in Iraq, but it's not 'mission creep'

Iraqis fighting ISIS militants on October 25 (Reuters)

Iraqis fighting ISIS militants on October 25 (Reuters)

President Barack Obama announced late Friday afternoon, three days after the election, that he is authorizing 1500 new troops into Iraq, effectively doubling the number of authorized troops to 3,100.

What is more significant, however, is that while the previous troops were kept close to Baghdad for such tasks as protecting the embassy, the new troops will be out in the field in Anbar province, where they will be vulnerable to combat attacks and kidnapping. However, according to the White House, this new announcement is not "mission creep."

For reference, here's a selection of past statements by Obama:

"Jun 19: We're prepared to send a small number of additional American advisors, up to 300, to assess how we can best train, advise and support Iraqis security force forces going forward I think we always have to guard against mission creep, so let me repeat what I've said in the past -- American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again.
Sep 7: The notion that the U.S. should be putting boots on the ground is a profound mistake.
Sep 10: These American forces will not have a combat mission. We will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq.
Sep 12: My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak to you about what the United States will do with our friends and allies to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL.
Sep 12: But I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil. This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years. And it is consistent with the approach I outlined earlier this year: to use force against anyone who threatens America’s core interests, but to mobilize partners wherever possible to address broader challenges to international order.
Sep 18: The the American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission.
Sep 20: I won't commit our troops to fighting another ground war in Iraq or in Syria."

In Friday's announcement, the President insisted that this wasn't mission creep, and that they would be advising and assisting, but not fighting.

But these 1,500 new troops will be out in Anbar province, in the middle of the fighting. Are they really just going to sit there and watch as the fighting goes one?

It's worth pointing out that Obama has been consistently wrong about Iraq. In 2007, he opposed President George Bush's "surge," which turned out to be successful. In December 2011, he said Iraq was stable, and had no need for American troops at all. In June of this year, when he sent in 300 troops as advisors, he suggested that ISIS could be defeated with Iraqi troops and American air strikes.

At every step of the way, one analyst after another explained why Obama was wrong. And it now turns out that those analysts were right and Obama was wrong.

The comeuppance election

Today I heard one analyst say that at least 10,000 or so more troops would be needed for the operation in Anbar province to be effective, and he predicted that Obama would end up increasing the deployment to at least the level within a few months -- and that they would be combat troops.

I've told the following story many times, but it's worth repeating now. When I heard Obama campaigning in 2008, saying that with his election the earth would heal and the tides would recede, and making other ridiculous promises, I didn't think much of it, since politicians always say ridiculous things when they're campaigning, and then they pull them back after the election.

After the election, when I heard Obama continue saying the same things, I knew we were in trouble. And when I heard him say something to the effect that on January 21 the world will be a different place, I thought that if he really believed that, then he must be delusional.

Now, six years later, it's clear that he's delusional. His supporters make excuses for him, but the excuses don't explain the arrogance, the doubling down on every bad decision, the fact that every foreign policy decision has been a disaster, the attitude that he's the smartest guy in the room, in every room -- even though he's admitted he can't do his daughter's 7th grade math homework. It's gotten to the point where I almost dread it whenever he opens his mouth.

Everybody gets his comeuppance sooner or later, and on Tuesday Obama got his. It's a compliment to the American political system that we tolerate this kind of delusional arrogance only for so long, and then elections take over. This is in contrast to any number of countries where delusional leaders stay in office forever. Tuesday's election was a "comeuppance election" for Obama. He still hasn't learned anything, and he's still arrogantly doubling down on every bad decision, but at least the American political system has limited how much more damage he can do. We're really seeing the strength and brilliance of our Constitutional form of government.

In the meantime, there's little that we can do but watch as he stumbles, one step at a time, into a new American war in Iraq in the worst possible way. Reuters

U.S. cannot confirm claim that Russian tanks are entering Ukraine

According to Ukraine's military, Russia on Thursday sent a column of 32 tanks and truckloads of troops across Russia's border into Ukraine, to support the anti-government Russians in east Ukraine. This follows reports on Wednesday that Russian troops were approaching Ukraine's border.

However, the State Department said on Friday that it could not confirm the reports that the troops had crossed the border. State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said Russian battle tanks, armored vehicles and cargo trucks had been seen on Thursday at a rail yard about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the border. Reuters and AFP

Chechnya refugees now fighting the Russians in Ukraine

In a surprise development, two battalions of Chechen veterans of late 1990s war between Russia and Chechnya are now fighting the Russians in Ukraine, under the Ukrainian flag. These are people who fought at the beginning of the second Russian-Chechen war and ended up in European countries as refugees.

Some of these Chechens had been going to Syria to join the jihadists fighting the Syrian regime because that was the only outlet available. But the Ukraine conflict has given them a new outlet, with the advantage that they can strike the Russian army and Russian interests directly. Jamestown

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 8-Nov-14 World View -- Obama sharply escalates U.S. involvement in Iraq war thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (8-Nov-2014) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Nov-2014 8-Nov-14 World View -- Obama sharply escalates U.S. involvement in Iraq war

U.S. is doubling number of troops in Iraq, but it's not 'mission creep'

The comeuppance election

U.S. cannot confirm claim that Russian tanks are entering Ukraine

Chechnya refugees now fighting the Russians in Ukraine

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Nov-2014
8-Nov-14 World View -- Obama sharply escalates U.S. involvement in Iraq war