Important Mideast Developments

There is so much happening in the Mideast at present that I am devoting this post to a number of important developments for readers’ consideration. The entire Mideast is spinning into a downward cycle that looks like it is heading for a conflagration. I make no predictions, but the forces of instability and warfare are getting worse.

The first link documents how terrible the performance of the Iraqi national army really is. They abandoned Ramadi even though they outnumbered the ISIL forces 10-1. The link reports the Iraqi soldiers fled in a panic as soon as they thought US air support was in doubt. As in Mosul, they fled without their weapons, abandoning them to ISIL. This is getting to be a pattern. ISIL is receiving regular infusions of US weaponry from Iraqi soldiers who abandon them without reason. The question needs to be asked if this is a deliberate strategy by some within the Iraqi army to arm ISIL. The second link is a YouTube with the US Defense Secretary about the lack of the Iraqi army’s will to fight. Which brings me to the next point.

If the USA or other nations really want to fight ISIL, they need to send all heavy weaponry, munitions, etc. to the Kurdish forces in the north of Iraq via direct air flights. The Peshmerga will use them well, and they are tough fighters who will not abandon their weapons in a panic. I respect and admire them. The third link is from last year, and it indicated that the USA would be sending heavy weapons to the Kurds. The fourth link, from this year, reports those heavy weapons (tanks, artillery, APCs, anti-tank weaponry, etc.) didn’t ever reach the Kurds. What happened to them? I recall articles that the US shipped weaponry intended for the Sunni Kurds via the Baghdad airport which is controlled by the Shiite Iraqi central government which is aligned with Shiite Iran. How stupid can one get? Obviously, the Shiites can seize all weaponry intended for the Kurds and the Kurds get nothing of consequence. The USA, rather than foolishly sending weapons to the Kurds via Baghdad, ought to send them directly to Kurdish airports. This is so obvious that only the diplomats in the US State Department and other high Obama officials are incapable of seeing this. Or is there skullduggery going on here? After all, Obama’s closest adviser, Valerie Jarrett, was born in Iran, as links in a previous post documented. The bottom line is Iraq is a mess. The Kurds are the only reliable boots on the ground, but the USA and other nations are not sending them needed weaponry. The USA and other nations send weaponry via Baghdad which means it almost certainly ends up in ISIL’s hands or with other of Iran’s proxies.

The fifth link is very worrisome. It reports that when ISIL seized Palmyra, it killed 300 Iraqi or Syrian soldiers and killed 217 other people “execution-style.” It also reports that “a bigger number of troops have disappeared…” Disappeared?? The likely explanations are that they are lying in a mass grave somewhere after being executed by ISIL, or that they switched sides and joined ISIL or that they deserted and went back to their tribe of origin. The link reports that Syrian and Iraqi forces have gone on the offensive vs. ISIL. I won’t believe that until I see ISIL being driven out of cities and regions.

The sixth link has an odd report. It states that the Turkish and US governments have agreed “in principle” to provide air support to rebels fighting ISIL. Hmm. Usually, the phrase “in principle” is diplomatic talk for masking a reality that nothing is going to be done anytime soon. Turkey has been sluggish and unwilling to do anything to fight ISIL, so I’ll believe this when I see it. Also, who are the unidentified “rebels” fighting ISIL? Will they be the Al Qaeda-aligned rebels fighting ISIL? I’m not aware of any pro-American rebel groups of radical Islamic extremists who are fighting ISIL in Syria. Will Obama order the USAF to provide air support for Al Qaeda-aligned boots on the ground?

Now let’s consider the on-going chaos in Yemen, another destroyed nation like Iraq, Libya and Syria. Obama’s “Arab Spring” policy has turned into an Arab Disaster Zone. The seventh link reports a French oil tanker was blown up near Yemen, either by accident or terrorist action. I’ll bet on the latter option. If Islamic terrorists are now targeting western oil tankers for destruction, think what this will do to the price of oil. It could be part of ISIL’s promised retaliation for the US raid which killed six ISIL commanders. Iran has also sent a merchant ship supposedly filled with humanitarian aid for the Shiite-Houthi rebels in Yemen. That merchant ship is escorted by Iranian warships. The USA also has warships in the area and directed that the Iranian merchant ship be diverted to Djibouti for inspection (eighth link). The Iranian ship complied (ninth link), and a military confrontation between the US and Iran was averted. An inspection may prove that Iranian ship does have humanitarian aid on board. However, the Iranian warships escorting the cargo ship will surely not be inspected and they may be loaded with military aid for the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthis.

The tenth link reveals that Egypt is massing military forces on its border with the former nation of Libya. Egypt is battling ISIL sympathizers who attack Egyptian territory from Libyan bases, and Egypt has the need to attack those ISIL bases inside Libya. Indeed, Egypt could use a buffer zone along the Egyptian-Libyan border which is controlled by Egyptian troops to protect Egypt’s own territory from further incursions. The Egyptian decision to invade, if implemented, makes a lot of sense. Therefore, the Obama administration naturally opposes any action wherein Egypt acts in its obvious national security interest. The link reports that Obama sent his CIA director to try and dissuade Egypt from attacking ISIL forces inside Libya. Huh?? I thought the Obama administration was waging a war against ISIL. If so, Obama ought to be applauding and supporting an Egyptian invasion vs. ISIL-backed forces. According to this Debka link, Obama is in the position of trying to protect ISIL-aligned forces inside what used to be Libya from an Egyptian attack. Are you getting as confused as me re: the actions and policies of the Obama administration?

The last link reports that 20 Afghan army soldiers were killed in an attack by Taliban forces on their position. The Afghanistan situation looks like it is deteriorating as well. Even as the sudden withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq due to an order from Obama led to a tragedy with ISIL taking over much of Iraq and killing people in horrible ways, and having an Iranian-backed government take over the Baghdad capital, the same disastrous outcome may be in Afghanistan’s future if the US suddenly abandons that nation too and withdraws all its troops.

Well, that is enough for this post. The Mideast is in a state of disintegration and all it needs is a significant spark to ignite a regional Sunni vs. Shiite war or a simultaneous set of regional wars. I expect things to get worse, not better, in the Mideast. Such is Obama’s legacy.

All these developments will eventually unfold in a way where all the various nations and tribes are aligned with either the Gog-Magog alliance or the US/NATO/Western alliance. The Shiites of Iran are already firmly in the Gog-Magog alliance prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39. It appears that most, but perhaps not all, of the Sunnis will not be in the Gog-Magog alliance. Further death, sorrow and dislocation appear to be in the Mideast’s future.

Important Mideast Developments

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