Wednesday, June 11, 2014

The rise of the Sunni militias won't last long if Iran begins to realize this is an attack on Shi'ites.

Besides Iran there are forces in Saudi Arabia that won't tolerate militants killing and destroying lives and cities in Al Anbar. I just don't see the militant forces being successful. The refugees need to leave. Sunnis or no Sunni rebels if they are killing people in An Albar there will be problems for them. Saudi Arabia and Iran won't put up with that level of instability along their borders.


Iraqi families fleeing violence in the northern province of Nineveh arrived Wednesday at a checkpoint in Aski Kalak in Iraqi Kurdistan, an autonomous region.CrediSafin Hamed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Image JUNE 11, 2014




BAGHDAD — Sunni militants (click here) extended their control over parts of northern and western Iraq on Wednesday as Iraqi government forces crumbled in disarray. The militants overran the city of Tikrit, seized facilities in the strategic oil refining town of Baiji, and threatened an important Shiite shrine in Samarra as they moved south toward Baghdad.


The territory they influence is in red. They have been rather cowards to date. They are staying away from borders with nations far more powerful then they could ever hope to be.

There is something like 2500 members. When large groups take on check points there will be surrender simply because they are outnumbered.

This group used to be al Qaeda in Iraq. They have pulled off most of the horrific events in Iraq dating back to 2003. They have never been able to establish any consistent governing. Their specialty is violence. 

The map is slightly outdated. Their activities have been primarily along the rivers, but, lately they have moved into the Kurdish area in northern Iraq. It could be Turkey they are taking aim at. They already have a presence along the Turkish border with Syria. Turkey has been defeating elements in the mountains there. But, if they expand west in to Kurdish territory they could have a presence along a longer strip of that same border. Turkey has successfully dealt with them in bombing campaigns. It gets tricky, the militias do have anti-aircraft guns.
There were originally six Taliban detainees to be a part of the prisoner exchange and one died.

What did he die from?

Hunger strike?

CLOSE GITMO!

NOW!

There was no calculation to make about the recapture of the five Taliban prisoners exchanged for an American life. There is absolutely no calculation to make. The Qataris were to hold the five in Qatar for a year before allowing them to leave. They were released from Gitmo in June 2014 and we are ending combat operations on December 31, 2014. There is no calculation to their recapture because there will be no recapture.

Aren't the California civil courts the wrong jurisdiction for a union contract?

Did the NLRB send it to the civil courts? Most union contract issues are heard by the NLRB. I find it surprising the California courts actually accepted jurisdictional authority over a contract issue.


June 11, 2014
By  Maureen Dowd

Teacher evaluations (click here) have been a hot topic in education lately. While adults debate their value, students are largely left out of the discussion. But kids can provide a lot more than test scores to help their teachers improve. Even kindergarten students can communicate their teachers’ strengths and weaknesses, and by middle and high school, most kids have an idea of the qualities that make a good teacher.In a recent New York Times article, blogger Jessica Lahey went straight to the source, asking students across the country about the one thing they wished their teachers knew. The most popular answer? “Be fair.” Students noticed when teachers picked favorites or treated boys and girls differently....

I agree there should be limits on tenure when a teacher is unable to function effectively with students, but, tenure is a valauble asset to most teachers. Tenure insures they can teach their classes without oppressive influence from any administration. But, any abusive aspect to tenure should be removed to insure quality education.

Tenure doesn't have to be destroyed to deal with it's flaws.

Sisy is filling up the prisons in Egypt with those siding with democracy.

Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alla Abdel-Fattah was barred from the court session where he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for protesting a restrictive protest law, Cairo, June 11, 2014. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Elizabeth Arrott
June 11, 2014 8:48 AM
 — An Egyptian court sentenced prominent activist Alla Abdel-Fattah and 24 others to 15 years in prison Wednesday, in a continuing government crackdown on dissent.

Abdel-Fattah and his colleagues were convicted of protesting a restrictive protest law passed last November - legislation human rights group have called repressive.  They were also charged with attacking a police officer and disturbing the peace....

Dictatorships don't work in the Middle East.

Jailing the rebels only leads to more rebellion. Iraq has a military in name only.

#Iraq #ISIS freed 1440 prisoners from Badush prison in #Mosul pic.twitter.com/VYfzaIXmpy



...As well as police stations, (click here) army bases and the airport, the insurgents have captured two prisons and freed 1,200 prisoners, many of them Isis fighters. Roads out of Mosul are choked with refugees heading for what they hope is safety in Kurdish-held territory....

This really is a failure for the Kurds. But, the Kurds have also contributed to the instability in the region. To some extent they should have expected it. Mosul was part of Iraqi Kurdistan. 



...Iraq's Kurds need stability in Mosul, which is just one hour's drive from the KRG capital of Irbil.

Many Kurds live in or around eastern Mosul and ISIS control of the city could pose a grave security threat to the Iraqi Kurdish region, which prides itself on providing a safe environment for investors....

This is exactly what the 2006 National Security Estimate addressed. The war in Iraq spawned more and more jihadist groups than it ever defeated.

...ISIS is a jihadist group that is very active and holds a lot of influence in both Iraq and Syria. The group has been linked to other terrorist organizations, such as Al Quida. Indeed, the group is in fact an offshoot of Al Qaeda and its forces are now among the most active in both Syria and Iraq. Many of the fighters in the group are actually foreign born jihadist driven by ideology, not any sense of local patriotism or desire for freedom....

It really up to the PPK in what occurs now. Will they give Turkey relief from attacks and act to secure the state of Nineveh. The Kurds were in the process of declaring an independence from Iraq. This entire state has been considered an autonomous region. Now, it is up to the jihadists and the PPK as to what occurs.


...Kurdish controlled areas of Iraq (click here) have been a relative bastion of peace and stability. The Kurds have been able to largely keep Jihadists out of their territory and their well-developed police and military forces have provided tight security in the Kurdish regions. Kurdish troops have successfully conquered Mosul previously, though it is not clear is the Kurdish military will intervene now.

Either way, it’s unlikely that the extremist Jihadists and more secular Kurdish will make good neighbors. Kurds in Syria have already come into conflict with Jihadists. Kurdish people tend to be more closely aligned with other Kurds, rather than any particular nation-state. As such, the widening rift between Kurds in Syria and ISIS could play a major role in Iraq....

It is all about natural resources and whom controls them. The Iraqi forces simply left when they came under attack.

Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (click here) move on Baiji as reports emerge of fighting in Tikrit and Kirkuk.


...Some 250 guards at the refinery in Baiji withdrew to another town after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants sent a delegation of tribal chiefs to persuade them to pull out.
The militants, in around 60 vehicles, moved into the city overnight and released prisoners in the town....
The prisoners are as good as fresh recruits, if they are fighting condition.
...The militants also seized the Turkish consulate in the city and reportedly kidnapped the head of the diplomatic mission and 24 staff members, according to police.
Families have made their way into the Kurdistan region, which has its own military force the Peshmerga.
Bodies of soldiers and policemen have been left in the street, according to reports....
The militants will hit Kirkuk soon and at that point the Kurds will decide their outcome.

McCain will call for arm shipments into Iraq to side with whatever entity best serves the political interests of The West. Then the PKK along side newly armed Kurdish forces will attack the jihadists while the people flee to refugee camps. Who are we to say the militias don't have a right to kill each other?