Longest-serving US commander in Iraq: 'We could have stopped ISIS'
Ray Odierno, the US Army Chief of Staff and the longest-serving US commander in Iraq, has told Fox News that the United States could have stopped Islamic State from destroying Iraq and Syria if the US had kept troops on the ground (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
“It's frustrating to watch it,” Odierno said. “I go back to the work
we did in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 and we got it to a place that was
really good. Violence was low, the economy was growing, politics looked
like it was heading in the right direction.”
Odierno said the fall of large parts of Iraq was not inevitable,
reiterating concerns about the pace of the U.S. troop withdrawal there.
“If we had stayed a little more engaged, I think maybe it might have
been prevented,” he said. “I've always believed the United States played
the role of honest broker between all the groups and when we pulled
ourselves out, we lost that role.”
In 2009, while still the top commander in Iraq, Odierno recommended
keeping 30,000-35,000 U.S. troops after the end of 2011, when the U.S.
was scheduled to pull out. The recommendation was not followed.
“I think it would have been good for us to stay,” Odierno said, when asked if it was a mistake to pull out.
Further, when ISIS took over large portions of Iraq last year
including its second-largest city, Mosul, the White House apparently
didn’t reach out to the Army officer who had spent more time commanding
U.S. forces than anyone else.
“All my work was given to [Joint Chiefs] Chairman [Martin] Dempsey,”
Odiernio said. “I never talked directly to the president about it at
that time, but I talked to the secretary of defense and I'm sure he
relayed all of my thoughts,” he added.
Odierno, though, is most worried about the deep cuts to the Army over
the past four years – from 570,000 troops in 2010 to near 490,000
today, a reduction of 14 percent. And the cuts are getting deeper.
“In my mind, we don't have the ability to deter. The reason we have a
military is to deter conflict and prevent wars. And if people believe
we are not big enough to respond, they miscalculate,” Odierno said.
Earlier this month, the Army announced an additional cut of 40,000
troops, which would take the Army down to 450,000 soldiers -- or
pre-9/11 levels -- the result of a decision taken two years ago.
"I believed at the time we could do that,” said Odierno. “But I said
we were on the razor’s edge that we could actually do our mission at
450.”
He added: “Two years ago, we didn’t think we had a problem in Europe.
… [Now] Russia is reasserting themselves. We didn’t think we’d have a
problem again in Iraq and ISIS has emerged.
“So, with Russia becoming more of a threat, with ISIS becoming more
of a threat, in my mind, we are on a dangerous balancing act right now
with capability.”
“When we go to 450, we are going to have to stop doing something," said Odierno.
What could go wrong?
Surprisingly, Odierno is in favor of the sellout to a nuclear Iran despite his admission that Iran is unlikely to change its behavior - maybe he figures it's something the US cannot stop anyway.
Morons: US troops deployed to 'fight' Ebola not being issued Hazmat suits
It sounds like the Obama administration really wants to bring Ebola to the United States. American troops being deployed to 'fight' Ebola are not being issued Hazmat (protective hazardous materials) suits. What might be even worse, in the event that the troops are infected with Ebola, they will be brought back to the United States for treatment, rather than treating them on a desert island off the African coast where they cannot infect anyone else.
Gen. David Rodriguez at a Pentagon briefing last week revealed the shocking news. According to Nashvillepublicradio.org,
Troops
from the 101st Airborne Division leading the military response to Ebola
in West Africa will only need gloves and masks to protect themselves
from the deadly virus, so said Gen. David Rodriguez at a Pentagon
briefing Wednesday.
“They
don’t need the whole suit – as such – because they’re not going to be
in contact with any of the people,” the commander of U.S. troops in
Africa said.
Soldiers
from the 101st Airborne will primarily be building hospitals,
ultimately leading what could be a contingent of 4,000 American service
members. They’ll be housed either in tent cities at military airfields
or in Liberian Ministry of Defense facilities, Rodriguez said.
Soldiers’
health will be monitored through surveys and taking their temperature
on their way in and out of camps. If a service member does get sick,
Rodriguez said they will be flown home immediately for treatment.
Obama's not up for reelection anyway, so what difference does it make? /sarc Maybe he has a death wish for the country because most of his program for 'change' has been rejected.
The United States took 18 years to destroy its chemical weapons - how long will Syria take?
In 1993, the United States agreed to destroy its stock of chemical weapons. In 2004, it actually started the process of destroying them, a process that was not completed until 2011. Is it realistic to expect Syria to destroy its stock anytime in the near future?
From 1962 to 2011, the US Army stored nearly four thousand tons of
VX, Sarin, and HD blister agent (commonly known as mustard gas) at the Umatilla Chemical Depot along the Columbia River two and a half hours east of Portland, Oregon.
In 1993 the US signed a treaty forbidding the production,
stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons, and eleven years later, in
2004, the Army was finally ready to begin destroying Oregon’s stockpile.
They did it by incinerating the chemical agents in a 2,700 degree
furnace. And they did it in a thinly populated part of the peaceful
Pacific Northwest under the complete control of the United States Army.
It still took them eight years. Toxic munitions must be destroyed
very slowly and very carefully.
A single drop of this stuff will kill
you, and the facility is located right on the Columbia River which runs
through Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. And though Umatilla
County is fairly remote, the Los Angeles Times reported
that “disaster scenarios suggested that a major earthquake at the
facility, followed by fire, could send a plume of poisonous residue as
far as Portland, Seattle or Spokane.”
...
So people who live in that area felt a sense of relief when the Army finally finished destroying the stockpiles on October 25, 2011.
Countless rescue and humanitarian aid missions in disaster regions all over the world have made the IDF experts in emergency relief. On May 15th, 2012 Israeli and US forces held a joint emergency rescue drill. Together, they trained how to extract injured victims from a collapsed building, to clear paths through debris and to navigate in the chaos that is left by a natural disaster. The IDF plans to hold similar drills each year with teams of the US Armed Forces, in order to pass on their knowledge and prepare for future disasters.
Truth no defense against Islamophobia charges in US Armed Forces: All training material to be reviewed to ensure no 'anti-Islamic' content
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey has ordered a review of all military training materials after his subordinates discovered that material in an officer's training course states that 'Islam has already declared war on the West' (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
The extraordinary order by General Martin Dempsey, the highest-ranking military officer in the U.S. armed forces, was prompted by content in a course titled “Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism” that was presented as an elective at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia. The course instructed captains, commanders, lieutenant colonels and colonels from across all four armed services that “Islam had already declared war on the West,” said Lt. Gen. George Flynn, Dempsey’s deputy for training and education.
“It was inflammatory,” Flynn told Danger Room on Tuesday. “We said, ‘Wait a second, that’s really not what we’re talking about.’ That is not how we view this problem or the challenges we have in the world today.”
The strong response by the Pentagon brass illustrates growing sensitivity around the issue since Danger Room’s investigation of anti-Islam material in the FBI’s counterterrorism training last September. That story sparked strong condemnation of the training material from the U.S. Attorney General on down, and prompted the White House to order a review of U.S. counterterrorism training last October.
Despite that White House order, the “Perspectives” course, taught since 2004, not only evaded review, but had defenders in the Joint Forces Staff College that taught it.
Danger Room first learned about the course last month, and determined that one of its guest lecturers was Stephen Coughlin, who has taught FBI and U.S. Army audiences that Islamic law is a danger to U.S. national security. We sought comment from a representative for the Joint Forces Staff College, who defended the propriety of the course.
Feedback from students has been “mostly positive, usually around the 90% range,” Steven Williams, a spokesman for the college, e-mailed Danger Room on Mar. 14. “Students generally appreciate thought-provoking discussion and the freedom to consider critical perspectives.”
I'll bet if you ask the radical Islamists they will tell you that their goal is to replace democracy with Sharia law and to force everyone to convert to Islam or pay the jizya. Then again, the Obama administration has decided that Sharia law is no danger to Western democracy either - even if it's imposed on all of us.
The German daily Bild reports that Iran plans to attack US forces in Germany in the event that its nuclear program is attacked by the US or Israel.
According to the report, German authorities are investigating a German businessman suspected of espionage with intent to sabotage who they believe is in contact with the Iranian Embassy in Berlin.
Bild quoted German Attorney General Harald Range as saying "We have launched an investigation and taken operational measures."
The aim of the attack, the report noted, is to thwart American logistic activities needed in order to carry out a military operation against Iranian nuclear facilities.
In a confidential document leaked to the paper, the German chief prosecutor's office claimed that the businessman is suspected of involvement in "espionage and sabotage" activities. The paper estimated that the suspect engaged in intelligence gathering for possible attacks on dozens of American military bases in western Germany.
According to the report, potential targets included airstrips in military bases that serve the US army and NATO forces.
It's coming. The only question is when. I'm guessing the spring or summer.
This post should be going up right about halftime of the first game of the NFL tripleheader (it was only a doubleheader when I made aliya - so I had one less temptation to stay in the States).
Have I got a halftime show for you. This is from the Mountaineers of West Virginia in Morgantown (I think that's where it is), West Virginia, and it's especially made for Thanksgiving.
The United States and South Korea are reported to be interested in purchasing units of Iron Dome, Israel's defense system against short-range missiles.
The US Army has expressed interest in the system to be deployed outside forward bases in Iraq and Afghanistan that could potentially be targeted by Katyusha rockets. The US military has discovered 107 mm. Katyushas in Iraq in the past.
Another potential client is South Korea, which is interested in using the system to defend against rocket attacks from North Korea.
...
In August, Rafael announced it was partnering with Raytheon to market the Iron Dome in the US. The system is said to be capable of working together with the US Army’s Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar (C-RAM) system as part of a layered defense for military bases.
I wonder if they have solved the problem of rocket barrages.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
