Andrew J. Bacevich: ‘Graveyard of American ambition’

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From a moral perspective, President Barack Obama’s response to the plight of Iraqi minorities targeted for extinction by vicious hardliners is justifiable and even commendable. Yet the resumption of American military action in Iraq — bombs for the wicked, bundles for the innocent — cannot disguise the overall disarray of US policy in the region.

The moral sensibilities that have apparently moved the Obama administration to renew the Iraq war are, to put it mildly, selective. Elsewhere in the immediate region, Washington has hesitated to confront wickedness and has stood by while innocents have been subjected to the cruelest treatment. Whatever the factors that have shaped the US response to Syria’s civil war, the military coup that terminated Egypt’s experiment with democracy and Israel’s assault on Gaza, moral concerns have figured, at best, as an afterthought.

If recent US actions in the Middle East contain a common theme, it’s this: a vague hope that suppressing rampant radicalism will restore order to a region that previous US military efforts have done so much to destabilise. Yet translating that hope into reality poses daunting challenges, nowhere more so than in Iraq.

Peter Baker of the New York Times has referred to Iraq as the “graveyard of American ambition.” The characterisation is an apt one. Each of the last five presidents has seen Iraq as an instrument to serve US interests or has expected Baghdad to comply with specific American requirements. Each in turn has failed, bequeathing the consequences of that failure to his successor.

http://gulftoday.ae/portal/f7ac3971-5fbc-4a78-8b17-4e98d1004046.aspx

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1. Gordon Campbell on the US somersaults over Syria and Iran

Amidst the day-to-day reports about the military advances of the Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, one remarkable aspect of this war has barely been mentioned. Namely, the complete 180 degree turn of US foreign policy whereby its former enemies – the Assad regime in Syria, the Sh’ite regime in Iran – are now US allies and their main bulwarks in stemming the tide of Sunni fundamentalism in the region.

Only a year ago, in the wake of reports about the use of chemical weapons in Syria, the US was on the brink of a bombing campaign against the Assad regime. It was only the last minute intervention of Russian President Vladimir Putin that talked the Americans down off the ledge and enabled a deal to be brokered that now seems to have successfully eliminated Assad’s stockpile of chemical weapons.

This week, the Americans are again talking about a bombing campaign in Syria – but this time it would be to prop up the Assad regime, and to inhibit the advance of the Islamic State rebels. In testimony late last week, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Martin Dempsey made it clear that to be effective, the current US bombing missions in Iraq would have to be extended to Syria:

On Thursday, Dempsey said that to deter the group, it will require addressing "the part of the organization that resides in Syria."

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1408/S00177/gordon-campbell-on-the-us-somersaults-over-syria-and-iran.htm

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2. Senate Dem calls for ISIS vote

President Obama needs to seek explicit congressional approval for his airstrike campaign against Islamist militants operating in Iraq and Syria, a prominent Senate Democrat said Monday.

"I am calling for the mission and objectives for this current significant military action against [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] to be made clear to Congress, the American people, and our men and women in uniform," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said in a statement. "And Congress should vote up or down on it.”

The Virginia Democrat said he did not believe the airstrikes against the militants, who have captured large swaths of northern Iraq, were covered under existing authorizations from Congress. And he said the White House needed to better clarify what its plan for confronting the militants was.

"I urge the administration to use the next two weeks to clearly define the strategy and objectives of its mission against [ISIS], then bring it to Congress for a debate and authorization vote," Kaine said.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/215929-senate-dem-calls-for-isis-vote

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5. Congress, Obama must find common ground against the Islamic State

Will journalist James Foley’s beheading be enough to bring President Obama and Congress together on a bipartisan program to deal with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria?

Although the Constitution allows the commander in chief to order the use of force to meet immediate national security threats, both history and political common sense argue that the president needs public backing and thus congressional support to deal with dangers posed by the rapid growth of the Islamic State.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/congress-obama-must-find-common-ground-against-the-islamic-state/2014/08/25/c447c6f0-2a18-11e4-86ca-6f03cbd15c1a_story.html

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3. US prepares military options in Syria against Islamic State

WASHINGTON - The United States is preparing military options to pressure the Islamic State in Syria, the US military said on Monday, but officials cautioned that no decision had been made to expand US action beyond the limited air strikes under way in Iraq.

President Barack Obama has so far sought a limited military campaign in Iraq focused on protecting American diplomats and civilians under direct threat. Still, officials have not ruled out escalating military action against the Islamic State, which has increased its overt threats against the United States.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week that the Islamic State would need to eventually be addressed on "both sides of what is essentially at this point a non-existent border" between Syria and Iraq.

Dempsey's spokesman confirmed on Monday that options against Islamic State were under review and stressed the need to form "a coalition of capable regional and European partners."

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/376386/news/world/us-prepares-military-options-in-syria-against-islamic-state

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4. ISIS an 'Incredible' Fighting Force, US Special Ops Sources Say

With the Obama White House left reeling from the "savage" slaughter of an American journalist held hostage by ISIS terrorists, military options are being considered against an adversary who officials say is growing in strength and is much more capable than the one faced when the group was called "al Qaeda-Iraq" during the U.S. war from 2003-2011.

ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has been making a "tactical withdrawal" in recent days in the face of withering U.S. airstrikes from areas around Erbil in northern Iraq and from the major dam just north of Mosul it controlled for two nail-biting weeks, according to military officials monitoring their movements.

"These guys aren't just bugging out, they're tactically withdrawing. Very professional, well trained, motivated and equipped. They operate like a state with a military," said one official who tracks ISIS closely. "These aren't the same guys we fought in OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) who would just scatter when you dropped a bomb near them."

ISIS appeared to have a sophisticated and well thought-out plan for establishing its "Islamic Caliphate" from northern Syria across the western and northern deserts of Iraq, many experts and officials have said, and support from hostage-taking, robbery and sympathetic donations to fund it. They use drones to gather overhead intel on targets and effectively commandeer captured military vehicles – including American Humvees -- and munitions.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/isis-incredible-fighting-force-us-special-ops-sources/story?id=25116463

[pscot]

5. If by ambition he means Dreams of Empire

I hope he's right. As the graveyards are filled with indispensable men, history is littered with the ruins of indispensable nations.

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9. Being indispensible has its drawbacks. nt

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7. Syria ready to cooperate with U.S. and others to stop Islamic State

Baghdad (AFP) – The UN on Monday accused jihadists in Iraq of “ethnic and religious cleansing” as the most senior U.S. military officer warned they will soon threaten America and Europe.

As condemnation of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group mounted, Syria — a pariah over its bloody crackdown on opponents of President Bashar al-Assad’s rule — said it was ready to work with the global community against “terrorism.”

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said abuses by IS and affiliated groups in Iraq against non-Arab ethnic groups and non-Sunni Muslims involved targeted killings, forced conversions, abductions, trafficking, and destruction of holy and cultural sites.

“They are systematically targeting men, women and children based on their ethnic, religious or sectarian affiliation and are ruthlessly carrying out widespread ethnic and religious cleansing in the areas under their control,” Pillay said.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/25/syria-ready-to-cooperate-with-u-s-and-others-to-stop-islamic-state/

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8. Report: Pentagon to conduct surveillance flights over Syria

The Pentagon is moving to send surveillance aircraft, including drones, into Syrian airspace to gather intelligence on the terrorist group, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"The Pentagon is preparing to conduct reconnaissance flights over Syria," a senior U.S. official told the Journal. "There is no decision yet to do strikes, but in order to help make that decision, you want to get as much situational awareness as possible."

Officials said they could start flying missions over eastern Syria shortly. Those missions could lay the groundwork for a possible expansion of U.S. strikes into Syria.

Earlier this month, President Obama authorized air strikes in Iraq to target ISIS which threatened to capture the Kurdish capital city of Erbil. Many lawmakers, though, have pressed the administration to expand those strikes to target the group in Syria, where ISIS has a stronger foothold.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/215935-report-us-to-conduct-surveillance-flights-over-syria

[KoKo]

10. Thanks for pulling these articles together on this thread....

It's very helpful...

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11. My pleasure. More context is better in my view. nt