There are about 40,000 Yazidis, members of a tiny religious sect, trapped on a mountain top in Iraq, surrounded by ISIS militants. Now, President Obama is reportedly considering ways to help them, including air strikes . Here we go again.

Who are the Yazidis?

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airforce

13 years ago I had many Iraqi students. Some were yazidi. They were very interesting. They spoke Kurdish, but were equally persecuted by Sunni Shia and Christians.

In their story, they are directly descendent of one of Noah's sons.... And you can not join their faith or marry into it.

The believe that Gods chief angel (lucifer) was never kicked out to be a fallen angel. He is depicted as an angel with peacock wings. They believe that God god died in battle and his head angel has taken the responsibility for gods creation in his absence.

These people will wear peacock necalace rather then a cross, Star of David or cresent.

The lettuce thing.... The story was that a large settlement was driven from home, and the women and children hid in a large lettuce field where they were slaughtered (by the Turks if I remember the story)... The blood flowed and the plants were tainted with the blood of the martyred. To eat it is tantamount to cannibalism of your own people.

I won't say it's the most bizarre religion I've ever heard of, but it's up there somewhere. I'm surprised the Kurds would have anything to do with them, either.

ABC News is reporting that the U.S. is already carrying out airdrops of humanitarian aid , and that President Obama has authorized airstrikes "if needed."

It looks like Iraq 3.0 is getting closer and closer.

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airforce

I just received a News Report that Airstrikes have already occurred.

Next up, probably Ground Troops and then, who knows, but we can guess.

Yeah, it looks like those airstrikes became "necessary" pretty quickly.

Peter Suderman has an ironic look back at Obama in 2007 .

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airforce

For his part, Speaker John Boehner supports the President on the airstrikes. But he still managed to criticize Obama, apparently for not doing more .

Yeah, that's what we need. :rolleyes:

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airforce

Eh, why not. By all appearances the ISIS militants are a collection of foreign fighters who could just as well end up facing our troops eventually, as they loudly promise to, so killing them to save the Yadzids sounds fine to me. I really don't think you are going to pacify the real hard core of ISIS with Ron Paul levels of intellectual engagement. Not when ISIS has started genocidal massacres.

Negotiating with them or eventually recognizing any legitimacy with them is like the Khmer Rouge, never a good idea. It might be beneficial to the US to do so at some point, but morally, no, gotta write those assholes off.

Yazids sound like they have their own issues though. Humanitarian aid and airstrikes, but no American blood on that situation.

U.S. airstrikes have "successfully destroyed arms and equipment" which could have been used by the ISIS.

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airforce

If you're wondering what those airstrikes are targeting, we now have the answer.

Two mortar positions, and a seven-vehicle convoy.

Incredibly, those devastating attack haven't stopped the ISIL advance.

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airforce

I'd like to see a sortie of B52s make a strike on a base that houses a barracks compound, munitions supply as well as a depot with much of their trucks, armor and fuel supply!

Show these 7th century throwbacks what just a hand full of 60 year old US planes can do!

Let the Kurdish militia come in to retake the region, collect any supplies of value.

Yet another warmonger is chiming in. Dianne Feinstein has joined folks like John Boehner, Bill Kristol, and Marco Ribio in calling for more than just a few airstrikes. Because if we don't, the ISIL will take over Washington or something.

Just for the heck of it, here's Country Joe and the Fish . Warning, graphic language.

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airforce

Boots on the ground? Think we tried this out before.

Bomb the evil bastards to oblivion, and arm the Kurds to defend the region... Might piss the Turks off, but they have been supporting Hamas, so I don't care.

No more American soldiers or marines should shed one drop of blood in that land.

I'm not convinced we should be doing anything, but if we absolutely have to do something, that would be it. Lord knows we've armed and trained everybody else over there - including Al Qaeda and the ISIL - so we might as well arm them, too. Iraq, Iran, and Turkey probably won't like it, but they'll get over it.

The ISIL definitely is a problem, but I just don't think they're our problem. Let Iraq, Iran, Syria, and everybody else over there handle them. I'm just not too concerned that the ISIL will raise their flag over the White House.

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airforce

Here is Sen. Lindsey Graham, showing again why he is a disgrace.

Yeah, I can see them boarding their troop ships right now.

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airforce

I really don't see ISIS doing an airborne Assault ect on American Soil. But they don't have to physically land on our soil to case us a a lot of problems and even cost the lives of some Americans.

What if ISIS does take over Iraq and maybe even Syria.

And what if either ISIS then attacks Saudi Arabia or their Victory results in Anti House of Saud extremists attempting to overthrow the Saudi Royal Family.

And what if they succeed.

And what if Muslim Extremists take control of most of the Persian Gulf and Middle East except for Israel.

This most likely sounds extreme but stranger things have happened.

And even without all of this occurring, what would be the result of most if not all of Oil Producing Regions of the Middle East becoming Islamic Republics under control of Fundamentalist Muslims who HATE Israel and the United States.

Those all sound like very good reasons for Iraq, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and everybody else in the Middle East to fight the ISIS. We've done enough damage over there already.

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airforce

Yes they should fight but if they don't then what.

That is so very true, but do we cause the problems and then say well it is too bad you have to fix what we have screwed up on your own.

The United States should never have started the War with Iraq in the first place and then we really screwed things up by that Moronic Idea of Regime Change and getting rid of Saddam.

Even though Saddam was a walking pile of stinking dog crap he was their stinking pile of dog crap and if he was still in power I think Iraq would still have a functioning government and ISIS would be in a world of hurt.

Damn even Iran might not be as much of an enemy to the United States if our wonderful Government had not replaced Iran's Elected Leader with the Shah.

Why did the ISIS come into power? According to Hillary Clinton, it's because of President Obama's failure to help the Syrian rebels .

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airforce

Remember that bit about no ground troops in Iraq? Well, we can scratch that one off the list .

The catch is, of course, they won't be there to engage in combat. They'll be there to, um, not engage in combat, or something.

So, to clarify, the ground troops won't be there to engage in combat, unless they do. Got it.

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airforce

I am old enough to remember Hell No We Won't Go
And I also hearing and reading about a situation during America's escapade in Vietnam where a large number of Soldiers after having taken an objective, I believe it was one of those hills and then lost it several times, finally got ticked off enough to say no to their officers and refused to go up that hill any more.

What they did was mutiny and since I believe it was an entire Company the Officer in command didn't do anything to to punish them.

It would have been a major news story and very very very bad PR if an entire Company was Court Martialed, which is not something the Government would have wanted.

Maybe it is about time that our Military Personal in mass just said no to the Government and refused to risk their lives for what is not the concern of United States.

At this time anyone who wants to join the Military I consider TOTALLY NUTS bordering on being Mentally Retarded or Mental Illness.

At the very least it is now time for No ONE to join the Military and if the Government wants to send troops back to Iraq they will have to reinstate the Draft and this time lets have more then just the young people tell the Government to F-Off and start Chanting HELL NO WE WON'T GO

The Obama administration (led by a ...or allies for bombing missions in Syria.

Here we go again.

Onward and upward,
airforce

ON THE MIDDLE EAST ITS NOT JUST US PUSHING BUTTONS FOR AN MIC PROFIT VENTURE>>>

I wasn't going to put this up but oh well here is the truth,,,,,,,,

TOPSECRET//SI//NOFORN

VISIT PRÉCIS
Sir Iain Lobban, KCMG, CB
Director, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)
30 April 2013 - 1 May 2013
GEN A Hosted Dinner: 30 April 2013//1830Hrs - Quarters
GEN A Hosted Discussions: 1 May 2013//0800-08300800-0830
Accompanying Senior: Mr. James M. Cusick, Director Foreign Affairs (DIRFA)
BACKGROUND: (U//FOUO) As General Alexander’s UK counterpart, Sir Iain has visited
NSA on several occasions as one would expect, both in his current position and previous ones.
Sir Iain most recently visited NSA on 27 March 2012, when he accompanied Air Chief Marshal
Sir Stuart Peach. That visit had a more defined purpose of introducing Sir Stuart to
USCYBERCOM and NSA leadership as the Commander of the UK’s newly-established Joint
Forces Command. This will be the first visit in some time that will allow the visitor to reconnect
with NSA Leadership on NSA/GCHQ matters.
PURPOSE OF THE VISIT: (U//FOUO) As the Director of GCHQ, Sir Iain wants to reconnect
with NSA Leadership on matters of mutual concern, and to ensure each partner is aware of the
other’s activities and future plans.
CDR/DCDR/DDIR GUIDANCE: (U) N/A
PREP SESSION GUIDANCE: (U//FOUO) NONE
NSA/CSS REQUESTED: (U//FOUO) NONE
CYBERCOM REQUESTED: (U//FOUO) NONE
KEY TOPIC AREAS:
(TS//SI//NF) FAD and SUSLOL are not aware of any particular issues that Sir Iain will want to
address. NSA leadership should still be aware of the following topics that may pertain to their
organizations or areas of responsibility, as the potential exists for them to be brought up by the
visitor:
-

(TS//SI//NF) FAA 702 Data: Unsupervised access to FAA 702 data, in a manner similar
to Olympics Option, remains on GCHQ’s wish list and is something its leadership still
desires. NSA and SID leadership are well aware of GCHQ’s request for this data, and the
steps necessary for approval. NSA leadership could be asked whether we’re still
supportive of this initiative. On a related topic, progress continues on “Triage 2.0,”
GCHQ access to FAA 702 data under supervised conditions. The MOA is now back in
Derived From: NSA/CSSM 1-52
Dated: 20070108
Declassify On: 20380401
TOPSECRET//SI //NOFORN




TOPSECRET//SI//NOFORN

GCHQ’s court awaiting signature. With that said, GCHQ seems less enthused about
Triage, perhaps in part because of the long steps necessary to gain approval. For
additional background about these topics, see the attached paper that Mr.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXX, SID Associate Deputy Director, Counterterrorism
(ADD/CT) SIGINT Authorities Lead, NSA/CSS Counterterrorism Mission Management
Center (CTMMC) prepared for D/DIR’s April 2013 UK visit.
-

(TS//SI//NF) UK Intelligence Community Oversight: GCHQ and its sister intelligence
agencies are challenged with their activities and operations being subject to increased
scrutiny and oversight from their government (and public). As a result, closer attention is
being paid to how UK-produced intelligence data is being used by NSA, and other
partners. It is possible that Sir Iain may ask about what safeguards NSA may be putting
in place to prevent UK data from being provided to others, the Israelis for instance, who
might use that intelligence to conduct lethal operations. For additional information about
this subject, and other UK Intelligence Community legal issues and legislation, see the
attached paper prepared by Mr. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Office of the General Council, London.

-

(TS//SI//NF) Syria: Prime Minister Cameron continues to look to the UK security and
intelligence agencies for recommended courses of action to influence the outcome in
Syria, but to this point GCHQ has not offered much beyond messaging and limited online
effects operations. GCHQ’s ability to contribute significantly to the overall Syria SIGINT
effort is hampered by GCHQ’s limited resources. It should be noted that the UK
Intelligence Community is just as concerned about the end state of Syria’s chemical and
biological weapons as the U.S. Intelligence Community. Sir Iain may want to discuss
Syria’s use of chemical weapons and how the U.S. Government intends to react. For
more information about NSA’s posture against Syria, see attached Near East Divisionproduced paper on Syria.
o (TS//SI//OC/REL TO USA, FVEY) Director Talking Points: Syria remains
locked in a protracted struggle, with both the opposition and the regime firmly
entrenched in their positions. Attempts to coalesce the opposition have moved
extremely slowly, while the regime has not in any way indicated that it would
willingly stand aside. Given this lack of movement in negotiations and the
stalemate on the ground, we anticipate the conflict will not be resolved in an
expedient manner.
o (TS//SI//OC/REL TO USA, FVEY) NSA continues to monitor the situation in
Syria from all angles, including from the viewpoint of the regional, international,
and radical actors. NSA remains concerned about chemical weapons security and
continues to monitor the situation closely, to the best of our ability.

-

(TS//SI//NF) Iran: GCHQ and the UK Government remain concerned about events in
Iran and the possibility that tensions with the West or Israel could escalate. The visitor
may ask NSA and SID leadership to share their views on what is going to happen with
Derived From: NSA/CSSM 1-52
Dated: 20070108
Declassify On: 20380401
TOPSECRET//SI //NOFORN
TOPSECRET//SI//NOFORN

Iran, to include potential Israeli response. For information about NSA’s posture against
Iran, see attached Iran Division produced paper on Iran.
o (TS//SI//REL TO USA, FVEY) Director Talking Point: Emphasize that we have
successfully worked multiple high-priority surges with GCHQ that have allowed
us to refine maintaining mission continuity and seamless transition, and maximize
our target coverage. These jointly-worked events include the storming of the
British Embassy in Tehran, Iran’s discovery of FLAME, and support to
policymakers during the multiple rounds of P5 plus 1 negotiations.
-

(S//SI//REL TO USA, GBR) Global Collaboration Environment (GCE): On 2 April
2013, SID Foreign Partner Strategist (FPS) Mr. XXXXXXXX, held a discussion with
Mr. XXXXXX (Head of Bilateral and Multilateral Relations, GCHQ International
Relations) to discuss the future of GCE in a post-Afghanistan era. GCE is the next
generation of PARTNERMALL (PMP) and should be the future partner collaboration
solution of choice. GCE expands the current single collaboration environment PMP
capability into a bilateral and multilateral model. The two discussed the benefits of NSA
and GCHQ having a united front in its dealings with the other foreign partners on this
issue. They also discussed the possibility of the UK hosting a permanent facility where
analysts from partner nations could be co-located, along with ways to better integrate
GCE into each partner’s analytic workflow. For information about this discussion, see
the attached paper prepared by SID’s Foreign Partner Strategist Office.
o (S//REL TO USA, GBR) Director Talking Points: Thank GCHQ for giving full
support to GCE, and for partnering with NSA to engage in synchronized
messaging to other organizations.
o (S//REL TO USA, GBR) Encourage GCHQ to host the permanent facility for the
joint SIGINT Seniors Europe (SSEUR) collaboration center, in order to maximize
the benefit for the Five Eyes partnership.
o (S//REL TO USA, GBR) Offer NSA’s assistance in finding good solutions for
incorporating GCE access into GCHQ’s analytic workflow. Encourage GCHQ to
engage with NSA’s TD on this subject.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: (U//FOUO) See above.
VISIT FORMAT: (U//FOUO) General Alexander will host a dinner in honor of Sir Iain at his
residence on 30 April 2013. The two directors will also have a one-on-one discussion on 1 May
2013. The remainder of Sir Iain’s agenda will involve NTOC and TAO tours/demos, along with
discussions with NSA Leadership, including Ms. Teresa H. Shea, SIGINT Director, Mrs. Debora
A. Plunkett, IAD DIR, Mr. Rajesh De, General Council, Mr. Wayne M. Murphy, D/DIR
Analysis and Production, Mr. XXXXXXXXXXXXXX, D/DIR Data Acquisition Mrs. XXXX
XXXXXX, D/DIR NSA/CSS Threat Operations Center (NTOC), Mr. Robert E. Joyce, CH
Derived From: NSA/CSSM 1-52
Dated: 20070108
Declassify On: 20380401
TOPSECRET//SI //NOFORN

TOPSECRET//SI//NOFORN

Tailored Access Office, Mr. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Incoming SUSLOL, and Mr. XXXXXXXXXX,
Cryptanalysis and Exploitation Services (CES).
PREVIOUS VISITS AND RESPECTIVE TOPICS: (U//FOUO) As General Alexander’s UK
counterpart, Sir Iain has visited NSA on several occasions, in both his current position and
previous ones. Sir Iain most recently visited NSA on 27 March 2012, when he accompanied Air
Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach. During that visit, Sir Iain met with General Alexander,
Mr. Inglis, and other NSA and USCYBERCOM leaders.
POTENTIAL LANDMINES: (TS//SI//NF) GCHQ has long advocated that it work with NSA
and the Israeli SIGINT Service (ISNU) in a trilateral arrangement in prosecuting the Iranian
target. SID policy has been opposed to such a blanket arrangement, and the specific trilateral
explained in the attached paper on Iran should not be interpreted as a broad change of approach.
In other areas, NSA and GCHQ have agreed to continue to share information gleaned from the
respective bilateral relationships with ISNU.
OTHER INFORMATION (GOOGLE SEARCH, SITUATIONAL AWARENESS,
INTERESTING FACTS, NCR/LNO ADVICE…) (U) NONE
RECENT PRESS INDICATIONS: (U) N/A

Derived From: NSA/CSSM 1-52
Dated: 20070108
Declassify On: 20380401
TOPSECRET//SI //NOFORN

President Obama is worried that asking Congress for support in fighting ISIS might blemish his anti-war record . Um, I think it might be a little late for that, Barry.

It sure as heck hasn't bothered him up to now.

Onward and upward,
airforce

The President doesn\'t need congressional approval to launch strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. At least that's what he'll tell us in a prime-time speech tonight.

I'm pretty sure the Constitution says something different.

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airforce

Thi has nothing to do with the speech tonight, but does anyone else remember this? She was hot.



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airforce

Is She zapping Oblamea with a common sense ray ?

I don't think they make those rays that powerful.

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airforce

President Obama will arm and train "moderate" Syrian rebels to fight ISIS. What a novel idea! We've never tried anything like that before! We'll just use Islamic extremist to fight terrorists! What could possible go wrong?

Oh, wait...

Onward and upward,
airforce

Sounds like Afganistan and the Soviets

Sounds like deja poo all over again

"I'm pretty sure the Constitution says something different." Constitution? What Constitution? He makes it up as he goes and Congress plays along as long as they're all pulling down 7 figures a year. They know they're not the ones who have to go to the sandbox.

Here is Rep. Justin Amash\'s response to Obama\'s declaration of war , or whatever the heck it is he plans to do:

Onward and upward,
airforce

Had to get the Barf bag and make sure I could find the Mute Button, what a Traitor!!! He had a Very hard time calling them Terrorist ..Almost choked him, talking about his Brothers,,this POS POTUS has cause more trouble by his Do nothing Stupid Policy, than he could have by Just Playing Golf!!!

He needs to Resign!!!


Semper Fi

The MIC needs the money.And with us getting kicked out of Afghanisatn soon the POSUS needs to find another job for his corporate sponsors. He may be able to order people but lets see him do it with no money. This is what the first bush meant when he said the middle east was bad because there was no exit strategy. He wasnt just referring to Iraq. But his brain fried lil boy had to screw the pooch any way. And then his boyfriend Oblamea steps in and says I can do better. Let me show you how a Lawyer deals with rights and war and In order to Create a More Perfect Police State we the Oblamea Peeps will eat rights and shit nazis.

As you saw in the document I posted The US and her allies have been pushing political and Corporate buttons for war in Sysria since 2006. The last doc is the sealing of the deal.

Peter Suderman has made his point pretty simply, by assembling clips of Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Barack Obama, all announcing that they were bombing Iraq . All that bombing sure hasn't done much good, has it?

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airforce

Well if your Du'Pont it has.

And this is what ISIS wants. A validation of their point that the US wants to eliminate the Middle East. Iraq/Ashcanistan/Libya/Syria Whos next Iran? Sooner or later the ISIS PR strategy will shift into the US just wants to smoke all durka durkas. and Oblamea is falling for it.

Well, President Obama has another ally in Congress, Speaker of the House John Boehner . I know, that's a real surprise, right?

Between Obama, Boehner, and McCain, I honestly don't know which is worse.

Onward and upward,
airforce

President Bashar al-Assad of Syria thinks President Obama\'s war is a great idea, too. It's great that Syria is allied with us and... Oh, wait a minute.

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airforce

John Kerry says this isn\'t a war, and there\'s no need for "war fever." Well, that makes me feel better.

Does this remind anyone else of that doublespeak from Orwell's 1984? Right is wrong. Bad is good. And war is, well, something else, but definitely not war.

Onward and upward,
airforce