American civilians evacuated from Iraqi air base as terrorists advance

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Fox News: Americans being evacuated from Iraqi air basehttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/12/americans-being-evacuated-from-iraqi-air-base/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/12/americans-being-evacuated-from-iraqi-air-base/

Americans are being evacuated from a major Iraqi air base as Al Qaeda-aligned militants toppled cities in the country's north and threatened to advance toward Baghdad.

A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that Americans were being evacuated from a base in Balad, which was one of the largest training missions in Iraq.

The three planeloads of Americans are mostly contractors and civilians. The State Department said Thursday that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is operating as usual.

But the evacuation means that the vital training mission at Balad, about an hour northwest of Baghdad, has been suspended indefinitely -- despite repeated administration statements that it would continue to support Iraq's military.

Yesterday I said the terrorists would control Iraq by the end of next year. Seems I was off by perhaps 18 months.

 

[InTheLight]

Yesterday I said the terrorists would control Iraq by the end of next year. Seems I was off by perhaps 18 months.

Do any of these news reports state how many terrorists are in this group advancing across the country? Seriously, is there more than 500? Where is the Iraqi defense forces? Did they learn tactics from the French?

 

[Bro. Curtis]

I think they did. They are abandoning posts and fleeing.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Do any of these news reports state how many terrorists are in this group advancing across the country? Seriously, is there more than 500? Where is the Iraqi defense forces? Did they learn tactics from the French?

Haven't you been watching/reading the news?

CNN:Iraqi soldiers, police drop weapons, flee posts in portions of Mosulhttp://www.cnn.com/2014/06/10/world/meast/iraq-violence/http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/10/world/meast/iraq-violence/

(CNN) -- As security forces ran out, militants overran Iraq's second-largest city on Tuesday -- a stunning collapse that heightened questions about Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ability to hold onto not only Mosul, but his entire country.

Turned out, it wasn't just portions of Mosul. It was pretty much the whole city. And they continue to do so as the terrorists advance. There aren't just 500. There are thousands, flooding across the border from Syria. This is a Sunni rebellion, those who were in power under Saddam attempting to drive out the Shi'a minority that now governs the country. But it is essentially al-Qaeda.

The Telegraph: Iraq crisis: al-Qaeda militants push towards Baghdadhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...da-militants-push-towards-Baghdad-live.html""http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...da-militants-push-towards-Baghdad-live.html""

Colin Freeman, The Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent and former Iraq correspondent on how al-Qaeda regained its strength in Iraq after they had been all but defeated as a result of the US troop "surge."

Terrorists gained access to a bank and stole what is estimated to be several hundred million dollars. They are now better funded than bin Laden ever was.

 

[kyredneck]

Makes ya kinda wish ol' Saddam was still around to keep law and order with an iron hand don't it? We shoulda never upset that balance.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

We in the west are never going to realise that not everyone thinks like us. We can't force our priorities on them. Over and over again the west has gone into these places and as soon as we leave they go back to their old ways.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

We in the west are never going to realise that not everyone thinks like us. We can't force our priorities on them. Over and over again the west has gone into these places and as soon as we leave they go back to their old ways.

What they have "gone back to" is the radicals, terrorists and fanatics forcing their Islamic jihad on a people that want no part of it. You liberals always manage to couch it in a perspective that makes it seem as though everyone in Iraq wants what is happening in Iraq.

That's a baseless opinion to voice.

The vast majority of the 25 million Iraqis do not want a terrorist government, do not want their country to become a base for worldwide terrorist operations, and were most concerned about the U.S. simply picking up and leaving, but our gutless Marxist dictator refused to protect what 3,500+ men bought for the Iraqi people with their very lives.

 

[Bro. Curtis]

Makes ya kinda wish ol' Saddam was still around to keep law and order with an iron hand don't it? We shoulda never upset that balance.

Yup. :thumbs:

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Makes ya kinda wish ol' Saddam was still around to keep law and order with an iron hand don't it? We shoulda never upset that balance.

Yup. :thumbs:

Let's see ...

Saddam killing a hundred thousand of his own people every year and providing a country-sized base camp for training terrorists?

... or ...

The terrorists killing a hundred thousand people every year and providing a country-sized base camp for training terrorists?

Some choice.

 

[Bro. Curtis]

I like and respect you, TNID, but I disagree with you on Neo-Con foreign policy. And it really doesn't matter to me what the Iraqi people want. I don't want the government I have. I'm sure most of us don't.

 

[InTheLight]

Haven't you been watching/reading the news?

No, because Feedly is still down. :tear:

Am I expected to actually visit news websites one-by-one? :smilewinkgrin:

 

[InTheLight]

The vast majority of the 25 million Iraqis do not want a terrorist government, do not want their country to become a base for worldwide terrorist operations, and were most concerned about the U.S. simply picking up and leaving, but our gutless Marxist dictator refused to protect what 3,500+ men bought for the Iraqi people with their very lives.

The most encouraging news about this whole thing is that thousands of Iraqi men are flooding the recruiting offices trying to join the Iraqi army.

 

[Rolfe]

"The war in Afghanistan is ending. Al Qaeda is on the run. Osama bin Laden is dead,…" - Barak Obama, Nov. 5, 2012.

 

[InTheLight]

"The war in Afghanistan is ending. Al Qaeda is on the run. Osama bin Laden is dead,…" - Barak Obama, Nov. 5, 2012.

One out of three...

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

I like and respect you, TNID, but I disagree with you on Neo-Con foreign policy. And it really doesn't matter to me what the Iraqi people want. I don't want the government I have. I'm sure most of us don't.

The American people have an attitude that, should a totalitarian government arise, we will overthrow it, no matter the cost, no matter the time it takes. It comes naturally to us through our heritage. Most of the rest of the world is used to either being the oppressor or the the oppressed. The oppressed rarely have it within them to rise up and overthrow a government they find distasteful. In that, there is a profound difference between us and the rest of the world.

This philosophy isn't a "neo-con" philosophy. It is a libertarian philosophy, and I do not mean that misbegotten political party that usurped the name without adopting its principles.

As the first democracy in over 1,800 years on the face of this planet, we inherited a responsibility to promote the freedoms we have for all peoples. It comes with the territory. Our founding fathers believed that, and until the last generation and a half, the vast majority of our people have believed that. When we begin abandoning that fierce attitude, we may as well mail in our freedom cards. We've already lost the right to hold them.

 

[InTheLight]

As the first democracy in over 1,800 years on the face of this planet, we inherited a responsibility to promote the freedoms we have for all peoples. It comes with the territory.

You've been arguing for a couple of days that those freedoms come from God. Now they come from the U.S.?

Our founding fathers believed that, and until the last generation and a half, the vast majority of our people have believed that. When we begin abandoning that fierce attitude, we may as well mail in our freedom cards. We've already lost the right to hold them.

George Washington, founding father, "avoid foreign entanglements".

The fact is that only in the last 100 years or so have we had the technology to know about and have the ability to insert ourselves in other people's political/military affairs in a timely manner. It doesn't mean that we should do it, however.

 

[Doubting Thomas]

George Washington, founding father, "avoid foreign entanglements".

The fact is that only in the last 100 years or so have we had the technology to know about and have the ability to insert ourselves in other people's political/military affairs in a timely manner. It doesn't mean that we should do it, however.

Agreed. :thumbsup:

It seems the Neo-cons can revise history just has much as the libs.

 

[NaasPreacher (C4K)]

Agreed. :thumbsup:

It seems the Neo-cons can revise history just has much as the libs.

And look how well it has worked since WW2!

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

You've been arguing for a couple of days that those freedoms come from God. Now they come from the U.S.?

From Whom did we inherit our nation and the responsibilities accompanying its transfer to us? our ability to govern, and our rights? There's no dichotomy here -- in fact, it's an extension of the same argument.

George Washington, founding father, "avoid foreign entanglements".

I believe Washington spoke not of wars and justice, but of alliances that would entrap the country into battles not its own. We saw an example of that in WWI, where alliances were called upon to enter a fight when what was needed was the kind of diplomacy Washington, Adam, Jefferson, et al insisted by used prior to conflict. That's been the hallmark of our foreign policy from the beginning.

The fact is that only in the last 100 years or so have we had the technology to know about and have the ability to insert ourselves in other people's political/military affairs in a timely manner. It doesn't mean that we should do it, however.

I suggest you research the Quasi-War, the First Barbary War, the conflicts with Spanish Mexico and the French and Spanish fleets in the Gulf, the West Florida Conflict, the Amelia Island dispute, the Marquesas Islands and the capture of Pensacola during our first 30 years before leaping to erroneous conclusions. These were all responses to interference with American intrusts, some direct, some indirect. We've never backed down from foreign challenges to our ability to trade and act freely throughout the world, particularly where those interferences were fomented by pirates, the ancestors of today's terrorists..

 

[Revmitchell]

Do any of these news reports state how many terrorists are in this group advancing across the country? Seriously, is there more than 500? Where is the Iraqi defense forces? Did they learn tactics from the French?

I can tell you where they are. They are weak and running away because Obama pulled out to fast after refusing to sign a new agreement. This is Obama's nightmare now. No one else to blame. Just like he will be to blame when those terrorists he released from Guantanamo kills more Americans.


However, now that we are out we need to stay out. We can't afford it anyway.