Iraq

LOL! They are insane! They bow to special interests esp. businesses for $$$$

I am finding this a fascinating subject.  I am not in the least worried about the extra personel going to Bagdad.  All I foresee them doing is organizing a convoy south in retreat to Saudi Arabia if Bagdad falls.  If the new Islamic State draws their border at the outskirts of Bagdad and fills in behind then they are the problem of Iran, Turkey, Jordan, and ultimately Isreal.  In the meantime it's the Russians to the rescue.  The rewards for them are obvious.  Their army is already pre-positioned in the Ukraine and the trip south would only take a week or weeks. In the meantime 5 old school TU-25s have been delivered.  Looking for a forum to post pics and the maps and have a well informed discussion.  If anyone knows one please post a link.


CNN couldn't independently confirm the different claims.

Russian jets arrive

Five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets have arrived in Iraq, the first of 25 warplanes expected to be delivered under a contract between Moscow and Baghdad, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

A video the ministry released Monday showed the jets, with wings unattached, being pulled toward hangars.

"These jet fighters will contribute to increase the combat capability of the air force and the rest of the armed forces in eliminating terrorism," the ministry said.

The Su-25 has been in service for more than three decades and was part of the Iraqi air force under Saddam Hussein's regime.

The announcement follows a comment by al-Maliki that recent militant advances might have been avoided if Iraq had proper air power in the form of fighter jets that Iraq has been trying to get from the United States.

"I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract" with the United States, al-Maliki told the BBC in the interview last week, which was released Friday.

Iraq has now turned to Russia and Belarus to buy fighter jets, he said. "God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said.

U.S. officials were quick to reject al-Maliki's complaints.

U.S. fighter jets have not been slow in coming, Kirby said. The first two promised F-16s "weren't expected to be delivered until the fall, which is still months away," Kirby said. "And we were in the process of working towards that delivery."

We certainly have old jets lying around to deliver right now. We certainly need the money.


I really prey Bagdad falling is not an option for our government. Yeah, pride is quite a bit of it. I mean what was the purpose in getting rid of Saddam if you are going to let worse people move in and take over. I have heard talking heads on TV saying getting rid of Saddam was stupid. Just glad while they are not in charge, some people seem to have common sense. Yes yes yes, he was evil. I bet we killed 10x the people he did in the name of overcoming "evil". He at least had a handle on the situation. We did to until we pulled out EVERYONE. What the hell. It was anew government and we totaled their military. The boys scouts probably could have taken over Iraq if sent there.

We are aware Iranian politicians have learned to "play" to American sensibilities. It even worked. Not sure if still since it was exposed but we have a short term memory.
I think I have a problem with them getting involved just because from what I understand about their religion and the history of their wars it would be a slap in the face to many Iraqis. Who knows.

We won't drill our oil fields and Obama just placed a huge portion of the ocean into a natural reserve making it unexplorable for natural resource. We won't build a silly pipeline to get more Canadian oil and the Canadians said last week or so they would build a pipeline to their western shore and sell it to the orient. Maybe its just a threat but it seems we like to bite our nose off to spite our face. So we need the oil from the middle east and we have removed people in power there so its our duty to make sure it all stays something close to sane in the area.

Let Russia help. If we don't act proper I guess the government of Iraq will do business with Iran most likely pissing off the huge sections of Iraqis that will have an issue with it.

Its a few pilots operating the planes in the article. I guess thats better than 10's of 1000's of troops marching into Iraq. We still have issues with Iran. It has certainly been 6 months since we were to hash out Irans nuke program. They haven't said anything of it that I know.