US airstrikes failed against the Viet Cong despite the US dropping more bombs in the 1963-75 war than had been used in the entire WWII. US and British airstrikes between 1991 and 2003 also failed to remove Saddam.


Quote:

Islamic State: US-led air strikes on militant group's makeshift oil refineries 'not a real target', monitoring group says ..."These so-called refineries are not a real target and they do not weaken the Islamic State as they do not have any financial value for them," Rami Abdelrahman of the Observatory told Reuters.... ....Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his senior Cabinet colleagues are expected to meet early this week to discuss the deployment of Australian forces in the conflict. The impact of the strikes on IS's capabilities remains unclear with the militant group gaining sympathy from many Islamists after the attacks, including from rival groups. Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said the American military has "no credible reporting from operations sources" of civilians killed. However, New York-based Human Rights Watch said residents in areas of Syria which have been targeted claimed civilians had been killed in the strikes and called for a probe into possible violations of the laws of war... http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-29/us-led-air-strikes-on-is-oil-refineries-not-a-real-target/5774992

Still trying to oust Assad and replace him with a puppet leader. That worked well in Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt and Libya (not).....same, same.


Coalition of the Clueless


The airwaves are still heaving with spin two days after US airstrikes against Syria.

Undoubtedly the attacks were timed to occur on the eve of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations, so ‘Coalition’ partners could cluster behind the decision to bomb a sovereign state, uninvited.

The irony, of course, is that they are doing so at the UN – the global political body that pledges to uphold international law, peace and stability, and the sanctity of the nation-state unit.

The goal this week will be to keep the ‘momentum’ on a ‘narrative’ until it sinks in.

.......the Syrians have spent three years unsuccessfully pushing their narrative that the terrorism threat they face internally is going to become a regional and global problem. The US campaign is a Godsend in this respect – Obama has managed to get the whole world singing from the same hymn sheet in just two months, including, and this is important, the three states - Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey - most instrumental in financing, weaponizing and assisting ISIL and other extremist militias inside Syria.

http://rt.com/op-edge/190684-syria-coalition-airstrikes-isis/

I don't believe ISIS can win when they don't have control of the air.

Air power will defeat them in the end.

Hitler did not want to invade England without control of the air.

The RAF was all that saved England.

Team Murdoch wrote on Sep 29^th, 2014 at 1:11am:

US airstrikes failed against the Viet Cong despite the US dropping more bombs in the 1963-75 war than had been used in the entire WWII. US and British airstrikes between 1991 and 2003 also failed to remove Saddam. Quote: Islamic State: US-led air strikes on militant group's makeshift oil refineries 'not a real target', monitoring group says ..."These so-called refineries are not a real target and they do not weaken the Islamic State as they do not have any financial value for them," Rami Abdelrahman of the Observatory told Reuters.... ....Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his senior Cabinet colleagues are expected to meet early this week to discuss the deployment of Australian forces in the conflict. The impact of the strikes on IS's capabilities remains unclear with the militant group gaining sympathy from many Islamists after the attacks, including from rival groups. Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said the American military has "no credible reporting from operations sources" of civilians killed. However, New York-based Human Rights Watch said residents in areas of Syria which have been targeted claimed civilians had been killed in the strikes and called for a probe into possible violations of the laws of war... http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-29/us-led-air-strikes-on-is-oil-refineries-not-a-real-target/5774992

Saddam was well controlled and caged up and no threat to anyone until the dirty Americans invaded.

why do you believe what you read in one media spin

who is RT.. and even more to the point who is Sharmine Narwani?..

why do you believe this person and no one from the West??...

I dont care who it is... they are not sitting in the UN or the desk in the Oval Office...they are probably not even in the bloody country...
according to the lying Australian  media bombing the
oil refineries.because this is where ISIL make their money from...they are not so called refineries they are ones the ISIL killed for...

but you guys believe what you want to believe all these NICE PEOPLE will turn on you one day.. then what will you be saying..

wally1 wrote on Sep 29^th, 2014 at 5:37pm:

Team Murdoch wrote on Sep 29th, 2014 at 1:11am: US airstrikes failed against the Viet Cong despite the US dropping more bombs in the 1963-75 war than had been used in the entire WWII. US and British airstrikes between 1991 and 2003 also failed to remove Saddam. Quote: Islamic State: US-led air strikes on militant group's makeshift oil refineries 'not a real target', monitoring group says ..."These so-called refineries are not a real target and they do not weaken the Islamic State as they do not have any financial value for them," Rami Abdelrahman of the Observatory told Reuters.... ....Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his senior Cabinet colleagues are expected to meet early this week to discuss the deployment of Australian forces in the conflict. The impact of the strikes on IS's capabilities remains unclear with the militant group gaining sympathy from many Islamists after the attacks, including from rival groups. Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said the American military has "no credible reporting from operations sources" of civilians killed. However, New York-based Human Rights Watch said residents in areas of Syria which have been targeted claimed civilians had been killed in the strikes and called for a probe into possible violations of the laws of war... http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-29/us-led-air-strikes-on-is-oil-refineries-not-a-real-target/5774992 Saddam was well controlled and caged up and no threat to anyone until the dirty Americans invaded.

same about the Kurds.. ooops.. forget about them..

http://history1900s.about.com/od/saddamhussein/a/husseincrimes.htm

Team Murdoch wrote on Sep 29^th, 2014 at 1:11am:

US airstrikes failed against the Viet Cong despite the US dropping more bombs in the 1963-75 war than had been used in the entire WWII.

And now Vietnam is a friendly, peaceful tourist destination with a growing economy.
Cambodia is re-settling ME refugees.
Who says the bombing didn’t do them a world of good?

Team Murdoch wrote on Sep 29^th, 2014 at 1:11am:

US airstrikes failed against the Viet Cong despite the US dropping more bombs in the 1963-75 war than had been used in the entire WWII. US and British airstrikes between 1991 and 2003 also failed to remove Saddam. Quote: Islamic State: US-led air strikes on militant group's makeshift oil refineries 'not a real target', monitoring group says ..."These so-called refineries are not a real target and they do not weaken the Islamic State as they do not have any financial value for them," Rami Abdelrahman of the Observatory told Reuters.... ....Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his senior Cabinet colleagues are expected to meet early this week to discuss the deployment of Australian forces in the conflict. The impact of the strikes on IS's capabilities remains unclear with the militant group gaining sympathy from many Islamists after the attacks, including from rival groups. Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said the American military has "no credible reporting from operations sources" of civilians killed. However, New York-based Human Rights Watch said residents in areas of Syria which have been targeted claimed civilians had been killed in the strikes and called for a probe into possible violations of the laws of war... http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-29/us-led-air-strikes-on-is-oil-refineries-not-a-real-target/5774992

Only in your 'wet dreams'.

Who the hell is the 'Observatory' when they are at home?
They should stick to doing what it is they do well whatever that is, and not bother to give military advice to nation states unless of course they themselves are going to place a battalion of pink tutu wearing troops on the battle field.
Quite obviously this "Observer' doesn't regard economic targets as worthwhile or legitimate targets of war, and think ISIL can just fund their war effort by plucking money off the money tree.
More left wing crap.

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Sep 29^th, 2014 at 6:49am:

Coalition of the Clueless

We should be greatly alarmed at Obama declaring another military engagement in the middle east - and then quite literally admitting that he had no smacking clue what he was doing or what it would achieve.

polite_gandalf wrote on Sep 30^th, 2014 at 9:58am:

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Sep 29th, 2014 at 6:49am: Coalition of the Clueless We should be greatly alarmed at Obama declaring another military engagement in the middle east - and then quite literally admitting that he had no smacking clue what he was doing or what it would achieve.

so leave them alone and they will come home.. dragging their dead behind them...

I agree let the bastards kill each other who bloody cares anymore... whats for dinner????much more important.

Team Murdoch wrote on Sep 29^th, 2014 at 1:11am:

US and British airstrikes between 1991 and 2003 also failed to remove Saddam.

The purpose of these airstrikes was not to remove Saddam.

wally1 wrote on Sep 29^th, 2014 at 5:37pm:

Team Murdoch wrote on Sep 29th, 2014 at 1:11am: US airstrikes failed against the Viet Cong despite the US dropping more bombs in the 1963-75 war than had been used in the entire WWII. US and British airstrikes between 1991 and 2003 also failed to remove Saddam. Quote: Islamic State: US-led air strikes on militant group's makeshift oil refineries 'not a real target', monitoring group says ..."These so-called refineries are not a real target and they do not weaken the Islamic State as they do not have any financial value for them," Rami Abdelrahman of the Observatory told Reuters.... ....Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his senior Cabinet colleagues are expected to meet early this week to discuss the deployment of Australian forces in the conflict. The impact of the strikes on IS's capabilities remains unclear with the militant group gaining sympathy from many Islamists after the attacks, including from rival groups. Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said the American military has "no credible reporting from operations sources" of civilians killed. However, New York-based Human Rights Watch said residents in areas of Syria which have been targeted claimed civilians had been killed in the strikes and called for a probe into possible violations of the laws of war... http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-29/us-led-air-strikes-on-is-oil-refineries-not-a-real-target/5774992 Saddam was well controlled and caged up and no threat to anyone until the dirty Americans invaded.

The Halabja poison gas attack, also known as Halabja massacre or Bloody Friday, was a genocidal massacre against the Kurdish people that took place on March 16, 1988, during the closing days of the Iran–Iraq War, when chemical weapons were used by the Iraqi government forces in the Kurdish town of Halabja in Southern Kurdistan.
The attack killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people, and injured around 7,000 to 10,000 more, most of them civilians; thousands more died of complications, diseases, and birth defects in the years after the attack. The incident, which has been officially defined as an act of genocide against the Kurdish people in Iraq, was and still remains the largest chemical weapons attack directed against a civilian-populated area in history.

Ignorance gives one a large range of probabilities.
George Eliot (1819 - 1880)

::)

cods wrote on Sep 30^th, 2014 at 10:13am:

so leave them alone and they will come home.. dragging their dead behind them...

No, come up with at least something resembling a strategy for how to reduce and/or destroy ISIS.

polite_gandalf wrote on Sep 30^th, 2014 at 11:50am:

cods wrote on Sep 30th, 2014 at 10:13am: so leave them alone and they will come home.. dragging their dead behind them... No, come up with at least something resembling a strategy for how to reduce and/or destroy ISIS.

Do nothing, the west can save some dollars and miss out on the usual opprobrium and let the Arab league sort it out.  In 5 years negotiate with who is left.

Of course that would cause several or more genocide attempts of which Muslims will be victims but better than the west interfering. 

Datalife wrote on Sep 30^th, 2014 at 12:13pm:

polite_gandalf wrote on Sep 30th, 2014 at 11:50am: cods wrote on Sep 30th, 2014 at 10:13am: so leave them alone and they will come home.. dragging their dead behind them... No, come up with at least something resembling a strategy for how to reduce and/or destroy ISIS. Do nothing, the west can save some dollars and miss out on the usual opprobrium and let the Arab league sort it out.  In 5 years negotiate with who is left. Of course that would cause several or more genocide attempts of which Muslims will be victims but better than the west interfering.

Exactly. Ignore them and the entire ME.

Let them hack off as many heads as they want, let them keep killing each other flat out, who cares.

Apologise for ever setting foot in the place, tell them to enjoy their caliphate, and then leave them to it.

Bobby. wrote on Sep 29^th, 2014 at 7:29am:

I don't believe ISIS can win when they don't have control of the air. Air power will defeat them in the end. Hitler did not want to invade England without control of the air. The RAF was all that saved England.

People like you fail to learn all the lessons of the past.

Islamic State continues its advance despite US airstrikes:



Quote:

Anti-ISIS airstrikes hit Syria targets as militants advance on Kurdish town ...there is no sign yet that the tide is being turned against the group, which controls large areas of both countries. A U.S. Air Force general said ISIS militants are changing their tactics in the face of American air strikes in Iraq and Syria, abandoning large formations such as convoys that had been easier for the U.S. military to target. "They are a smart adversary, and they have seen that that's not effective for their survival, so they are now dispersing themselves," said Air Force Major General Jeffrey Harrigian at a Pentagon news conference... ...The U.S.-led strikes have so far failed to halt an advance by ISIS fighters in northern Syria on Kobani, a Kurdish town on the border with Turkey... http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/anti-isis-airstrikes-hit-syria-targets-as-militants-advance-on-kurdish-town-1.2780908

Soren wrote on Sep 29^th, 2014 at 6:20pm:

Team Murdoch wrote on Sep 29th, 2014 at 1:11am: US airstrikes failed against the Viet Cong despite the US dropping more bombs in the 1963-75 war than had been used in the entire WWII. And now Vietnam is a friendly, peaceful tourist destination with a growing economy. Cambodia is re-settling ME refugees. Who says the bombing didn’t do them a world of good?

That’s the spirit. FD says Iraq is the next South Korea thanks to us bringing them Freeedom and demokracy.

ISIL think a little differently, but that’s pluralism for you.

Rich tapestry, innit. It is a jolly world, no?

The thing that concerns me about all this Karnal is the apparent inability of the Iraqi Army to fight...yes fight and that is one big mother of a problem.

Just gone down memory lane with an SBS special on the Vietnam War.

It was fascinating to watch how that war escalated from 6,000 Advisers being in South Vietnam to 65,000 within 12 short months.

Then after JFK's assassination LBJ had vowed to stop the Communists in South Vietnam and stop the 'Domino Principle' of predicted Country after Country falling in South East Asia to Communism.

Of course that did not eventuate.

But the War in South Vietnam escalated and escalated. Eventually hundreds of thousands of U.S. Forces were involved.

I agree with you on one thing Karnal, the War in Iraq against ISIL cannot be won by Air Superiority alone.

The Middle East consortium of Countries against ISIL must band together to provide Armies strong enough to fight ISIL.

red baron wrote on Sep 30^th, 2014 at 8:11pm:

The thing that concerns me about all this Karnal is the apparent inability of the Iraqi Army to fight...yes fight and that is one big mother of a problem. Just gone down memory lane with an SBS special on the Vietnam War. It was fascinating to watch how that war escalated from 6,000 Advisers being in South Vietnam to 65,000 within 12 short months. Then after JFK's assassination LBJ had vowed to stop the Communists in South Vietnam and stop the 'Domino Principle' of predicted Country after Country falling in South East Asia to Communism. Of course that did not eventuate. But the War in South Vietnam escalated and escalated. Eventually hundreds of thousands of U.S. Forces were involved. I agree with you on one thing Karnal, the War in Iraq against ISIL cannot be won by Air Superiority alone. The Middle East consortium of Countries against ISIL must band together to provide Armies strong enough to fight ISIL.

Would you say that the war in Afghanistan is won?

I would say that the Taliban will be back as soon as they can -
if they aren't already.

The same could be said of ISIS.

There will always be Islamic lunatics in the Middle East.