Crisis in Iraq [Part III]

                           Crisis in Iraq [Part III]

As fanatical Jihadi insurgents force a reluctant President to again commit U.S. troops to Iraq I am looking in this article at the prospects of defeating the insurgents.

I have no doubt that the civilized world stands with President Obama in attempting to stop the bloody carnage these religious zealots are bringing both to Iraq and to Syria.

My take here would be that the President may be acting too late and he also fails to address the root cause of the problem - Saudi Arabia. For so long as the West believes that Saudi Arabia will bring ultimate peace and unity to what will emerge as Emirates and Caliphates, the wholesale butchering of thousands of captured prisoners of war and of innocent Shia civilians in Iraq, Syria or elsewhere these apostates of Islam arrive, contrary to every concept of modern  humanity and harking back to a medieval past where such were the order of the day, in the name of the Pope, of Christendom or in the name of Islam, will continue.
What their merciless actions will do will be to most certainly strengthen the resolve of the world to defeat them and bring them all to justice at some time in the future.

I said in a previous article that the media in West has not prepared itself psychologically for the fact that it will be impossible to operate under such conditions – in war zones where absolutely zero international rules govern the treatment of civilians, PoWs, women and children, apply. These insurgents are not frightened at the prospect of appearing before any Western War Crimes 'tribunal' ,or, as they might say, one created by 'Satan' [sic. America and it's Allies] Indeed they are only too pleased to pose beside the mutilated corpses of hundreds or thousands of unfortunate Prisoners of War or other men, women and children, they have butchered without a shred of mercy.

I could express my disgust, my outrage, my anger or indeed cry or grieve for those helpless civilians caught up in such tragedies and lament about the futility of war – but that will neither bring ultimate, infinite, justice to the dead, nor solve the current problem. 
When I look at such refugees (either dead on the ground) or fleeing in fear with what little they can carry, with their confused and scared children clutching a precious toy, I never stop to reflect on how fortunate we are that we live in a civilized and tolerant society and remember that such extremists causing this misery would, if they had their own way, create the same conditions of intolerance and division at home.  This is the only way that they, the extremists, can survive.  This is why they have to be confronted, regardless. 

The first thing that should happen, by Presidential decree, via the Attorney General's Office and The Department of Justice, is an immediate end to the 'show trials' against the (former) Blackwater contractors, that they be restituted in full, and reinstated into an immediate support or advisory service (should they still be willing to serve) on behalf of the nation. It is individuals like this that the country needs to diffuse such an offensive in Iraq  (or at least hold the line) as conventional troops are simply out of their depth confronting such butchers. You require a different type of 'army' to confront religious zealots, one which the West is woefully unprepared for warfare against.  Neither is NATO  configured for battle against such spirited individuals.  It's like having a giant colossus, writhing and lashing out blindly with it's muscular body, hands and feet while being felled by David with his humble stone - aimed precisely where that fatal blow will do the most grievous damage. No, you simply cannot put conventional forces into such a melee.  But the good news is that America does have patriots and professionals equally motivated to confront such evil (and if there is such a thing,Satanic) forces in a way they most certainly will understand and fear in terror, and, given carte blanche, will most certainly prevail, as day follows night.

At this point in time it is akin to suicidal to commit conventional combat forces to Iraq without additional specialized resources. Public opinion should be held in check because a very clear strategy – entry and exit - needs to be devised before committing forces in these conditions, into harms way.

Secondly, these evil individuals watch carefully and understand the impact of 'public opinion' in our Christian societies. They understand 'shock and awe' probably better than we ourselves do. They manipulate divisions between Republican and Democrat, Left and Right for their own advantage. In their eyes such divisions are simply Lucifer's children fighting over the spoils of existence, which, in their perfect Islamic society, shall never exist because all would be one under one version of Allah – with all heretics (Muslim and Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jew and the rest) erased from the face of the earth.

So then, we need to 'get ahead' of the game.

Thirdly, Saudi Arabia and Iran both continue to be at the root cause of all our problems in the Middle East. To weaken one is to strengthen the other - and both are equally pernicious.

Indeed letting Baghdad fall will put these Sunni zealots into direct confrontation with Shia Iran.   But Iran's defeat will hasten the creation of Emirates and Caliphates and could herald the end of Shiasm as a dominant force in the Islamic world – leaving the road ahead for Salafism and Wahhabism to dominate the Muslim globe at a more rapid pace than I could ever have imagined. I still contend that Saudi Arabia will be unable ultimately to control the [religious] forces it has unleashed – so we will still be on a confrontational path with a zealous Islamic world.  In this scenario, the ball will simply have been kicked further own the road before hard decisions, choices and actions have to be made and taken.

It's not an easy call for President Obama, conscious as he must also be of his place in history.  But there are few options on the table – these fanatical Sunni butchers have, by their merciless actions, ensured this is fact.  I have misgivings about rushing U.S. (or indeed any conventional ) troops back into Iraq in any large numbers, given hindsight and the existing circumstances.

America's armed forces will do their job effectively and will hold the line for the politicians but they need to be supported with unconventional U.S. units more accustomed to the operating conditions of the new environment.

U.S. ground forces must also be made aware that additional resources for 'shock and awe' are being deployed in the field to support their endeavors and guarantee outright and unequivocal victory on this occasion.

Republicans will simply see this issue as something to 'bash Obama' with, failing to appreciate that our very way of life could be drastically altered if there is not unity behind the President and U.S forces when confronting extremist Islam throughout the world and, more specifically, showing that there are issues around which America and it's Allies can unite with one voice and around one flag, just as our enemies can so do.

Patrick Emek