These are, mind you, the same Sunni jihadists whose friends and allies the U.S. is arming in Syria. The incoherence of the Obama foreign policy is reaching comic proportions: it is now possible for a man to be a freedom fighter and receive American assistance in Syria, and then cross over the (bulldozed) border into Iraq and be regarding as an “extremist” and a “terrorist.” All of this proceeds from the Washington establishment’s unshakeable unwillingness to examine the ideology and belief system motivating the jihadists.
So now Obama and Kerry are contemplating aiding groups aligned with al-Qaeda, which murdered 3,000 Americans on 9/11, in Syria, and aligning with “Death to America” Iran against groups aligned with al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Absolute madness.
“Kerry: US open to working with Iran against extremists in Iraq,” by Olivier Knox, Yahoo News, June 16, 2014:
Secretary of State John Kerry cautiously signalled on Monday that the United States would be open to cooperating with Iran militarily in Iraq to beat back al Qaida-inspired fighters who pose an “existential” danger to that war-torn country and may look to target Europe and the United States.
“This is a challenge to the stability of the region. It is obviously an existential challenge to Iraq itself. This is a terrorist group,” Kerry told Yahoo News Global Anchor Katie Couric in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of a State Department conference on saving the world’s oceans.
Prodded on whether the United States would consider cooperating militarily with Iran, Kerry replied: “Let’s see what Iran might or might not be willing to do before we start making any pronouncements.”
But “I think we are open to any constructive process here that could minimize the violence, hold Iraq together, the integrity of the country and eliminate the presence of outside terrorist forces that are ripping it apart,” the top U.S. diplomat told Couric.
“I wouldn’t rule out anything that would be constructive to providing real stability, a respect for the (Iraqi) constitution, a respect for the election process, and a respect for the Iraqi people to form a government that represents all of the interests of Iraq — not one sectarian group over another,” he said.
Kerry’s comments came as President Obama looked at possible air strikes to stem the surge of extremists in Iraq known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). ISIS fighters have seized Mosul, which is the country’s second-largest city, and Tikrit, which is Saddam Hussein’s hometown. Overnight, they captured the city of Tal Afar, and American officials feared enough for Baghdad that they partially evacuated the US embassy there while beefing up security.
Kerry said Obama was giving “a very thorough vettting [sic] of every option that is available,” including drone strikes, and underlined that “we are deeply committed to the integrity of Iraq as a country.”
Kerry said that the United States and many of its key allies are “deeply concerned” about the possibility that some of their own citizens may number among the foreign fighters fighting alongside jihadists in Syria’s civil war — and may return home bent on carrying out attacks there. He said citizens from Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States number among the foreign fighters in Syria.
Asked whether the next 9-11 attacks could come from Iraq and Syria, Kerry replied that fighters like those in ISIS “clearly are focused not just there, but they’re focused on trying to do harm to Europe, to America and other people and that’s why we believe it is so important for us to be engaged.”
Asked whether ISIS could take the capital, Kerry replied “I don’t believe that they will in the near term” and expressed skepticism that they could at all. And he underlined that he was “absolutely convinced” that the United States had “the security it needs” for its embassy in Baghdad.
Kerry echoed sharp recent criticisms of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose iron-handed government is blamed for minority Sunni unrest fueling groups like ISIS, but stopped well short of saying he should resign.
“It’s up to the Iraqi people,” Kerry said. “I don’t think the United States should be issuing instructions or orders. I don’t think any country should.”
As the top U.S. diplomat, Kerry has played a central role in what may be the Obama administration’s biggest foreign policy gamble: negotiations with Iran over its suspect nuclear program. Those talks resume this week with time running short to reach a deal that would lift crippling economic sanctions in return for steps designed to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons….
mariam rove says
this whole administration is a joke and a disaster…m
harbidoll says
or diabolically lucky- we shall see! the proof will be irans behavior.
Kepha says
Alright. The Syrian rebels are supposedly a force for democracy, as were the Libyan rebels against Qaddafi. Hence, we help them, oblivious to how many of them had Muslim Brotherhood, Qaida, Salafist, and whatnot connections to the wonderful folks who brought us 9/11. Now, we wish to cooperate with Iran, who sees us as the Great Shaitan and whose national motto is Marg Bar Amrika. Where is our dog in this fight?
Diplomad 2.0 promises upcoming analyses of our foreign policy crackup. I look forward to reading them.
We need to stop believing the myth that the world is moving towards more and more freedom, and hence we need to be part of it. I do not think we need to spend a penny more of taxpayer money to save Muslims from their sectarian hatreds, especially since the extremists of both sides have made it plain that they hate us more than they hate their rivals.
Are we worried about oil? Buiuld the Keystone Pipeline, for Pete’s sake, and frack! Explore the Gulf of Mexico! After all, China is trying to explore for oil in Cuban waters, and with their concern for human and ecological safety, you can bet the farm that their BP disaster will come along and foul Florida’s coasts anyway. If it’s bad for Yurrup, will ain’t that too d–n bad. Western Europe’s best minds will never forgive us for having made it impossible for their fathers and grandfathers to live and work under the aegis of their idol Stalin. So, let them figure a way to secure their own oil supplies without fighting to the last American.
John C. Barile says
Whose side on you on, anyway? Certainly not with Our Glorious Leader and his All Star team of whackos and Clintonites.
Uri says
Sure. Let them have a caliphate. They won’t bother us. No sireee! Let’s just ignore it. It will never have any repercussions in the USA
harbidoll says
arnt they “grooming” Obama to be the caliphate in chief? he thinks he is.
Kepha says
@Uri: My guess is that you’re probably a decent person who thinks that the West should have the high moral ground.
What’s so horrible about a new Islamic Caliphate? The last one was the Sick Man of Europe; the first one had claimants murdering each other before their supposed “prophet’s” corpse had decayed.
Islam is predatory at this point because it senses the West’s self-imposed weakness and its combination of both moral and practical disarmament. My guess is that a West that’s willing to fight back and an Israel that turns the Glorious Army of Martyrs for the Liberation of Al-Quds into, well, no more than so many martyrs lying in the sand dozens of miles from Al-Quds will pobably lead the new Caliphate to figure out that it needs to come to some kind of truce with the Kufr–including Israel.
Further, what will the new Caliphate really have? the whole Arabic-speaking part of it publishes fewer books in a year than the single country of Spain. Has it been productive of anything other than frustration and thievery? What happens to it if sources of oil diversify?
Once we were so horrified that the Communist Party took the reigns of power over the enormously greater part of China. True, Mao was a horror fro both the world and his own people. Yet to stay in power, the Chinese Communist Party has had to (in its own frame of reference) sell its soul to the devil (capitalism) in order to maintain power. My guess is that a revived Caliphate will probably end up no more effective at reviving Islam as a truly creative force than the Ottomans after 1700 were; and given what these various Jihadi groups are bequeathing, it will probably be unstable, plagued with internal discord and numerous “Shadows of God” dying at the hands of supposed “friends”.
Then again, I suspect that if we end up with a new Sunni-Shi’ite war (Safavids v. Ottomans all over again?) raging up and down Mesopotamia and Khuzistan, none of the powers in the region will be in very good shape afterwards.
John C. Barile says
It makes perfect sense to me–Obama & Co. hands Syria over to our enemies the Sunni jihadists, and hands Iraq over to our enemies, the Iranian Mullahs, and Israel over to our enemies the HAMAS, and . . ..
mariam rove says
Hi John! On Syria and Israel you are correct, but not on Iraq. Bush handed the Iraqis and Iraq to the Iranians. Bush literally took the biggest enemy of the Iranian out. M
John C. Barile says
Even so, Mariam, Barack helped ensure Maliki came out on top over Allawi–and the Iranians detested Allawi.
mariam rove says
look: muslims have been killing each other the day their pedophile prophet died. No sect of Islam recognizes the other as legit, thus killing the other sect. The best thing to do here is step back while the kill each other off and then every thing is happily ever after…m
Peter Buckley says
The West must resist the temptation to get involved. There are no “good guys” here. Nobody is “invading” anybody. So what would any intervention be based on?
Do nothing, and the first thing to collapse will be the theocracy of Iran. Their worst nightmare is now happening in Iraq. Their economy is already on the brink, and having to prop up the Shias in Iraq will tip the economy over the brink. What the West should be doing is preparing for that NOW, by mobilising pro-democracy activists in Iran.
We can deal with the Sunnis, who will be slaughtering each other in the meantime, later.
mariam rove says
I agree with you. The Iranian government is s….. in their pants now. M
gravenimage says
Peter—with respect—I don’t believe there are enough “pro-democracy activists” in Iran to make much of a difference—just as even under our aegis there weren’t enough in Iraq to establish any sort of real democracy, or even to maintain the vague approximation they have now.
The core problem in both cases is that there is no real democracy in Islam, so even where Muslims don’t actively oppose it—as with ISIS in Mosul—any commitment to it save for a handful of unrepresentative individuals is skin deep at best.
Kevin says
…Interviewer: How do you view the [American] support for the military operation and Washington’s offer to help resolve this crisis?
Ayad Jamal Al-Din: I welcome it. We await this support, but it must extend to all the areas where ISIS may be found. The pressure on the Syrian regime, which is fighting ISIS, must be lifted.
Yes, (in his mind) the Shia must be able the slaughter Sunnis in great numbers in Syria. It’s only what allah wishes for after all. (LOL)
They should not try to strengthen the feeble Free Syrian Army [FSA]. There is no FSA. There is ISIS in Syria and Iraq. You cannot fight ISIS in Iraq, yet support it in Syria.
Who says? (LOL) Well with out a doubt……they are racist I’m sure!!!!
There is one war and one enemy.
The U.S. should give up its hypocrisy. People are not brainless
You would be surprised just how brainless some people are. Especially people in power.
Soon American Naval aircraft may be giving close air support to the Iranian Quds forces, and the revolutionary guards on the outskirts of Baghdad. It looks like they are reconstituting the Shia militias as well. Like the Mahdi army, Asa’ib al ahl haq, and Kata’ib hezbollah the Shia terror groups who fought American forces not that long ago in Baghdad.
Giving direct military support to Shia terror inc?
Iran itself is the largest state sponsor of terrorism.
It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world ..easy to get turned around, when you are considered the great Satan by all involved.
read more at http://kpr37.newsvine.com/_news/2014/06/15/24338330-ayad-jamal-al-din-said-there-is-one-war-and-one-enemy-the-us-should-give-up-its-hypocrisy
Daner says
That’s ridiculous, Iran is NOT the number one state sponser of Terrorism. Saudi Arabia is, that’s where the ideology comes from.
And guess what? America is best friends with Saudi Arabia. SO what the heck is going on here?
Tom says
Send in the drones.
gravenimage says
Kerry: US open to working with Iran against Sunni jihadists in Iraq
These are, mind you, the same Sunni jihadists whose friends and allies the U.S. is arming in Syria. The incoherence of the Obama foreign policy is reaching comic proportion…
………………………….
And, mind you, this is also the same Iran that regularly screams “Death to America!”.
Our foreign policy is now officially completely schizophrenic…
Dennis Trisket says
President Obama, don’t let the US get involved. Don’t support. Iran. This is not our fight. Let the Sunnis and Shias battle each other. This is their prerogative . Don’t get involved for the sake of the petroleum magnates! Enough!
Elisheva14 says
Peter Sellers would be great, if he was still alive, playing the role of our crazy President. He is a man with no principles at all. He became President based on promises of Hope and Change. People fell head over heels to vote for him. I never saw such idol worship for a man with no accomplishments. People were willing to avoid the obvious flaws in electing him twice. He supports and encourages Civil Wars , Rebellions, Terrorism, etc. It doesn’t matter to him if the Sunnis or Shias win, as long as there is fighting he is elated. He has no respect for our Constitution or our Health Care System. He just likes power and attention. He feels free to support any rebel group he desires.