Interesting Article about ISIS

[Hum Dinger]

The Islamic State is reshuffling balance of power in Middle East Al Jazeera America

 

[Penelope]

Strange indeed as Israel is buying oil from the Kurds, and we know how much Iran and Israel are in love.

 

[waltky]

Obama gonna whup up onna ISIS...

Obama to launch airstrikes in Syria for first time
10 Sept.`14 WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major reversal, President Barack Obama ordered the United States into a broad military campaign Wednesday night to "degrade and ultimately destroy" Islamic State militants in two volatile Middle East nations authorizing airstrikes inside Syria for the first time as well as an expansion of strikes in Iraq.

In an address to the nation, Obama also announced he was dispatching nearly 500 more U.S. troops to Iraq to assist that country's besieged security forces. And he called on Congress to authorize a program to train and arm rebels in Syria who are fighting both the Islamic State group and Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Saudi Arabia, a crucial U.S. ally in the Middle East, offered to host the training missions, part of Obama's effort to persuade other nations to join with the U.S. in confronting the militants. "This is not our fight alone," Obama declared. "American power can make a decisive difference, but we cannot do for Iraqis what they must do for themselves, nor can we take the place of Arab partners in securing their region." "Our objective is clear: We will degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy."

The president adamantly ruled out the prospect of putting American troops in combat roles on the ground in Iraq or Syria. Even so, Obama's plans amount to a striking shift for a president who rose to political prominence in part because of his early opposition to the Iraq war. While in office, he's steadfastly sought to wind down American military campaigns in the Middle East and avoid new wars — particularly in Syria, a country where the chaos of a lengthy civil war has given the Islamic State space to thrive and move freely across the border with Iraq.

Speaking on the eve of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Obama's plans also amounted to an admission that years of American-led war in the Middle East have not quelled the terror threat emanating from the region. While administration officials have said they are not aware of a credible threat of a potential attack by the militants in the U.S., they say the Islamic State group poses risks to Americans and interests in the region. Officials are also concerned about the prospect that Westerners, including Americans, who have joined the militant group could return to their home countries to launch attacks.

MORE

See also:

Obama shifts on Syrian rebels, but is it too late?
WASHINGTON Wed Sep 10, 2014 - Struggling Syrian rebels that President Barack Obama once derided as "former doctors, farmers, pharmacists and so forth" now form a key pillar of the U.S. leader's strategy to beat back the militant insurgency known as Islamic State.

For over three years, Obama has kept the so-called moderate rebels at arm's length. While giving verbal and limited material support, he and his spokesmen often said publicly that adding more weaponry to the civil war would only make things worse. Now Obama is taking a different tack as he sets out his strategy to defeat the Syrian-based Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate across a wide swath of Syria and Iraq.

He is offering enhanced support and training for the Syrian opposition as part of a plan that also involves U.S. air strikes on Islamic State positions in Syria. Obama himself was the chief mover behind the shift in U.S. policy, said Syria analysts and U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It seems to me that he has actually changed his mind. All the indications are that he was the main constraint on a more robust Syria policy all along," Andrew Tabler, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said of Obama.

Deciding to expand the American support underscores Obama's lack of good options in Syria, more than three years into a civil war that has killed nearly 200,000 people. The White House has to find a way to destroy Islamic State without allying itself with Syrian President Bashar al Assad, whom Obama called on to leave power more than three years ago. Assad's forces are also battling the group.

TOO LATE, OR STILL TIME?

 

[georgephillip]

The Islamic State is reshuffling balance of power in Middle East Al Jazeera America

From your link:

"At the same time, the battle of the two Islamic states does not preclude compromise.

"For example, the IS is landlocked and must depend on the consent of Tehran for supplies and access to the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean.

"Tehran and the IS, I am told, share the east-west roads through Iraq and Syria.

"This permits Tehran to resupply Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus: Tehran pays for its passage with weapons.

"The east-west arrangement also permits the IS to ship its oil trucks past the Assad regime defenses to market in the Damascus-to-Beirut corridor."

The Islamic State is reshuffling balance of power in Middle East Al Jazeera America

Am I missing something or is Iran paying IS to resupply Assad with weapons? Why isn't the US applying sanctions that would prevent IS from selling its oil?