More American War in Iraq?

You just can't give up the pretence, can ya?

Iraq's largest oil refinery, 130 miles north of Baghdad, was seized by ISIS rebels today. From the New York Times:

A refinery worker who gave only his first name, Mohammad, reached by telephone, said that the refinery had been attacked at 4 a.m. and that workers had taken refuge in underground bunkers. In the course of the fighting, 17 gas storage tanks were set ablaze, although it was not clear by which side. After taking heavy losses, the troops guarding the facility surrendered and at least 70 were taken prisoner, he said.
Refinery workers were sent home unharmed by the extremists, Mohammad said.
It's the first refinery to fall to rebels (most of the country's oil fields and export facilities are located further south), and its output reportedly all goes toward domestic consumption.

For what it's worth, the Iraqi military is claiming that it not only repelled the attack on the refinery but also took back the northern city of Tal Afar, though neither claim seems to be supported by media reports. (The Times, for example, creditably sources its assertion that the refinery has fallen to "refinery workers, eyewitnesses and an Iraqi army officer who fled the scene.")

What you think you know about the Kurds is what you impoerfectly absorbed running around the internet this afternoon. You're not folling anyone here.

The Iraqi army is at 330,000 active and 550,000 reserves.

Which has what to do with me? Trying to claim an extraordinary wisdom again?

The idea that the United States...shares a common interest with the Islamic Republic of Iran, a revolutionary theocracy that is the No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism in the world, is as fanciful as the notion that Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler could work together for the good of Europe.

Indeed, the non-jihadist Syrian opposition insists that ISIS is a creation of Iran. In typical Middle East fashion, the Syrians overstate the case, but there is much evidence that Iran and its Syrian allies have cooperated with ISIS. Don’t forget that ISIS (then known as al-Qaeda in Iraq) was launched by the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who, U.S. intelligence believes, received aid, shelter and financial support from Iran after he was chased out of Afghanistan by U.S. forces in 2001. Zarqawi received even more support from Iran’s close ally, Syria, which allowed its territory to be used to supply al-Qaeda in Iraq with a steady stream of foreign fighters.

As recently as 2012, the Treasury Department identified Iran as supportive of ISIS, which has reportedly grown fat in no small part due to deals with the Assad regime for oil from wells under its control. That’s right. According to Western intelligence sources, Assad, Iran’s top client in the region, has a business partnership with ISIS even though ISIS has been fighting his regime. (Assad’s motives are varied, but among them is thought to be a desire to boost jihadist fighters so as to discredit the opposition in Western eyes.)

The United States would be making a historic error if it were to assist such an Iranian-orchestrated ethnic-cleansing campaign with air power or even with diplomatic support. Not only would this be morally reprehensible, it would be strategically stupid because it would convince the region’s Sunni Muslims that the United States is siding against them with Iran and its regional allies. This could lead Sunni states such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to support extremists such as ISIS, further feeding the growing sectarian conflict across the region.

If current trends continue, the United States will be faced with a nuclear Iran standing off against a Sunni Arab world in which al-Qaeda is a more important player than ever and in which at least one state (probably Saudi Arabia) acquires nuclear weapons of its own. Faced with such a prospect, we should not be pursuing a chimerical alliance with Iran. We don’t have to, and should not, ally with one group of terrorists to fight another.

Quote:
The idea that the United States...shares a common interest with the Islamic Republic of Iran, a revolutionary theocracy that is the No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism in the world, is as fanciful as the notion that Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler could work together for the good of Europe.

http://www.military-history.org/articles/winston-churchill-quotes.htm

2. On Hitler’s invasion of Russia, and Britain’s tenuous alliance with Stalin:

“If Hitler invaded Hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons.”