Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TideGlider who wrote (836609)	2/15/2015 7:48:02 AM
From: FJB	2 Recommendations Recommended By locogringo TideGlider Respond to of 1577901

Anbar province could 'collapse within hours'... ISIS prisoners paraded in cages 'to be burned alive'... 4,000 American troops headed to Kuwait for possible showdown... NYT: Islamic State Sprouting Limbs Beyond Mideast...

To: TideGlider who wrote (836609)	2/15/2015 9:03:44 AM
From: FJB	3 Recommendations Recommended By Brumar89 locogringo TideGlider Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577901

Nightmare scenario unfolding for Obama at Ayn al-Assad Air base By Thomas Lifson February 14, 2015 The massive air base at Ayn al-Assad in Iraq’s Anbar Province hosts 400 US Service members, who are training Iraq Air Force personnel. They now are in danger of serving as hostages to ISIS, which has conquered the nearby city of Al Baghdadi and already threatened the perimeter of the base. As a result, US helicopters have been brought in to provide close ground support for the Iraqi boots on the ground. CNN: Robert Baer, a former CIA officer, said the battles may indicate a deepening involvement of U.S. troops in the fight against ISIS. "I think what we're seeing here is mission creep," he said Friday night. "The Iraqi army is not up to the task. And without the United States Air Force and the military on the ground, a lot of these ... bases would be overrun." President Obama’s dream of US withdrawal from Iraq was realized, only to turn into a nightmare, as it became clear that without US support, the Iraqi military would crumble before the ISIS threat. Now, that support is in danger: Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby described the battle at the air base, saying, "It looks like they at least got to the outer base limits. We're still looking at this and it's hard to say whether they breached the perimeter or not. But they certainly got to the perimeter level at the very least." He said 20-25 people led by suicide bombers made the attack. Most, if not all, of the attackers were wearing Iraqi military uniforms, Kirby said. Obama’s ultimate nightmare is a US pilot being shot down and falling into the hands of ISIS. Helicopters, for all their armor, are vulnerable to ground fire. God forbid such a thing happen, for the pilot would undoubtedly be exploited on video and subjected to a hideously cruel death. In such an instance, public opinion in the United States would demand serious military engagement. Under the half-hearted leadership of Obama, such engagement could lead to a major disaster. It all seemed so simple under the illusion that if only the malign US presence were ended, peace, love and happiness would result. We are living in perilous times.

To: TideGlider who wrote (836609)	2/15/2015 10:46:36 AM
From: FJB	2 Recommendations Recommended By locogringo TideGlider Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1577901

AQAP just captured a Yemeni military base and all the instruments of death inside posted at 6:01 pm on February 13, 2015 by Noah Rothman The situation in a nation that President Barack Obama described as a success story in the war against terrorism as recently as September just keeps getting worse. As the Western world rushes to abandon Yemen while spiraling violence and instability consumes that country, the ensuing power vacuum is being filled by a variety of distasteful actors. While ISIS has reportedly gained a foothold in that nation recently, the Tehran-backed Houthis militia group and al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula appear poised to battle for control of territory and influence in Yemen. In effect, that coming feud is an extension of the regional sectarian conflicts which have inflamed Sunni/Shia tensions, and this dynamic has put the West in a difficult position. “If they say they want to be in charge of Yemen, they need to start,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday when asked about America’s decision to back the Houthis who have recently taken control of the government in Sanaa. America’s dubious new allies in Sanaa will have their hands full in the effort to contain AQAP and the other Sunni Islamist militant factions active within Yemen. According to a report via AFP, jihadists are actively making the most of the vacuum of power in Yemen. On Friday, a Yemeni air force colonel was assassinated by gunmen believe to be linked to al-Qaeda. That attack came just hours after jihadists executed a daring raid on a Yemeni military base, killing 12 soldiers and seizing a large cache of heavy weaponry. Twelve soldiers and 15 militants were killed as Al-Qaeda seized the brigade’s camp at Baihan in Shabwa province and captured armour and heavy weaponry, a military official said. Another official said the jihadists took “30 tanks, 90 military vehicles, 25 armoured vehicles and 28 artillery pieces”. The militants later handed over the camp to tribes but kept the heavy weapons, officials said. That’s a lot of gear, and the fact this group had no interest in holding this base is troubling. That indicates that this band of jihadists is not interested in capturing and holding territory, in the same way that ISIS is. It’s safe to assume that this newly acquired firepower is going to be directed exclusively at the Houthis in command of the levers of government in Sanaa, but that might only be true for the time being. The closure of the American embassy in Yemen has made counterterrorism operations frustratingly difficult. “The closure of the U.S. Embassy in Yemen has forced the CIA to significantly scale back its counterterrorism presence in the country, according to current and former U.S. officials, who said the evacuation represents a major setback in operations against al-Qaeda’s most dangerous affiliate,” The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. And now that dangerous al-Qaeda affiliate on which we no longer have eyes has acquired a small army’s worth of heavy weaponry and equipment. Swell.