Thread: Islamic State crisis: Obama says US underestimated threat

BBC News - Islamic State crisis: Obama says US underestimated threat

Islamic State crisis: Obama says US underestimated threat

President Barack Obama has acknowledged that US agencies underestimated the threat posed by the Islamist insurgency in Syria.

In a frank TV interview, he said that al-Qaeda had been beaten in Iraq by US forces working with Sunni tribes.

But they took advantage of the power vacuum in neighbouring Syria to emerge as Isis, later called Islamic State.

Meanwhile, there has been fierce fighting to the west of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

The BBC's Lyse Doucet in the city says Islamist militants were held off by government troops with the help of air strikes by the US-led coalition.

However, the insurgents have not retreated and some are less than 10km (six miles) from the city, she adds.

In an interview with the CBS TV programme 60 Minutes, Mr Obama said Syria had become a "ground zero" for militants who had been able to take advantage of the chaos there.

He reiterated that only part of the solution to defeating them would be military and that a political solution was also necessary.

Islamic State flag on front line with Kurdish fighters at Mullah Abdullah Bridge between Irbil and Kirkuk. 27 Sept 2014
This front line between IS fighters and Kurdish troops in northern Iraq is marked by an Islamist flag
"During the chaos of the Syrian civil war, where essentially you have huge swathes of the country completely ungoverned, they were able to reconstitute themselves and take advantage of that chaos and attract foreign fighters... who believed in their jihadist nonsense," he said.

President Obama said the jihadists had gained a military capacity by absorbing remnants of Saddam Hussein's old army in Iraq.

Mr Obama noted that his director of national intelligence, James Clapper, had acknowledged that the US had "underestimated what had been taking place in Syria".

Asked whether the US had also overestimated the ability or will of Iraq's US-trained military to fight the jihadists, Mr Obama said: "That's true. That's absolutely true."

He said a political solution was key, one that would arise out of an accommodation between Sunni and Shia populations.

A US-led coalition of Arab and Western states has begun an air campaign to help counter Islamic State (IS), striking targets in Iraq and Syria.

Iraq has remained unstable since the departure of US troops, with the Sunni population largely alienated by the former Shia-led government. Syria has been engulfed in a civil war since 2011.

RAF Tornado GR4 flies alongside Voyager tanker during first combat mission out of Akrotiri, Cyprus. 27 Sept 2014
UK fighter jets have recently joined the coalition air campaign against IS
Over the weekend, US-led coalition aircraft targeted four makeshift oil refineries under IS control in Syria, as well as a command centre.

US Central Command said that early indications were that the attacks by US, Saudi and UAE planes were successful.

Blasts at the Tel Abyad refinery sent flames soaring 60m (200ft) into the sky, Turkish businessman Mehmet Ozer, who lives in the nearby Turkish town of Akcakale, told AP news agency.

They continued for two hours, rocking the building from which he was watching, Mr Ozer said.

Both the refinery and the local IS headquarters were bombed, Turkey's Dogan news agency said.

Meanwhile further fighting was reported in the besieged town of Kobane near Syria's border with Turkey.

Syrian Kurd fighters in Kobane have been holding out against militants but the fighting has sent about 140,000 civilians fleeing towards Turkey.

What does Islamic State want?
Formed out of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in 2013, IS first captured Raqqa in eastern Syria
It captured broad swathes of Iraq in June, including Mosul, and declared a "caliphate" in areas it controls in Syria and Iraq
Pursuing an extreme form of Sunni Islam, IS has persecuted non-Muslims such as Yazidis and Christians, as well as Shia Muslims, whom it regards as heretics
Known for its brutal tactics, including beheadings of soldiers, Western journalists and aid workers
The CIA says the group could have as many as 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria

Gaddafi warned them years ago.

Gaddafi warns of 'out-of-control' Christian-Muslim war

Gaddafi warns of 'out-of-control' Christian-Muslim war


Libyan leader claims powers launching airstrikes against him have been "made crazy with power"; US army chief: Gaddafi far from broken.


TRIPOLI - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi warned the Western powers mounting air strikes on his country they had unleashed a war between Christians and Muslims that could spiral out of control.

Western states intervened in Libya after the United Nations authorized them to protect civilians it said were under attack by pro-Gaddafi forces, but Tripoli says the military intervention in an act of unwarranted aggression.

"If they continue, the world will enter into a real crusader war. They have started something dangerous that cannot be controlled and it will become out of their control," said a text from Gaddafi, read out on state television.


"The leaders who decided to launch a crusader war between Christians and Muslims across the Mediterranean and who ... killed... huge numbers of civilians in Libya, they have been made crazy by power and they want to impose the law of strength on the strength of the law," it said.

"They have also destroyed the shared interests of their people and the Libyan people and undermined peace and wiped out civilians and they want to return us to the Middle Ages," Gaddafi was quoted as saying.

Gaddafi gave regular televised speeches in the first days of the conflict but he has not been seen in public for several days. Officials say he has been forced to change his routine after an air strike hit the heavily-guarded compound in Tripoli where he has his main residence.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that the western coalition's mission is not to remove Gaddafi but that he will likely be removed from power by his own people over time.

US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen joined Gates in addressing the US Congress, saying that Gaddafi's military capabilities were diminished but he was not close to a military breaking point.

The UK government on Thursday reported that about 1,000 people are believed to have been killed in clashes between supporters and opponents of Gaddafi thus far.

Yep, even as they were arming and funding the likes of Al Nusra in Syria, to illegally oust a majority supported secular government, 'We' (scoff) "underestimated the threat". go fcuk yerselves.

Originally Posted by sabang

arming and funding the likes of Al Nusra in Syria

Got a link to back that up? I think not..

Theres load of links to it

Land Destroyer: CONFIRMED: US Shipping Weapons to Syria - Al Nusra's "Mystery" Sponsors Revealed

Originally Posted by Yasojack

Gaddafi warned them years ago.

Gaddafi warns of 'out-of-control' Christian-Muslim war

Gaddafi warns of 'out-of-control' Christian-Muslim war

Sometimes I wish it would get that far so we could finish the job properly.

There's only one muslim country with nukes, and I think they'd STFU if they were in the West's crosshairs.

Originally Posted by Yasojack

Theres load of links to it

Land Destroyer: CONFIRMED: US Shipping Weapons to Syria - Al Nusra's "Mystery" Sponsors Revealed

But do you have anything that isn't just semi-plausible innuendo?

This is the leader of ISIS. Abu Bakr Al Maniac Al Baghdadi lol!

Originally Posted by spliff

This is the leader of ISIS. Abu Bakr Al Maniac Al Baghdadi lol!

Think I saw him on beach road a couple of weeks ago.

Originally Posted by bsnub

Originally Posted by sabang

arming and funding the likes of Al Nusra in Syria

Got a link to back that up? I think not..

I would imagine that there is a shitload of material in reference - if you'd bother to take those blinders off and conduct some true research.

Originally Posted by beazalbob69

How is it possible that in this supposedly enlightened era we are still fighting essentially religious wars? I mean WTF is wrong with people?

People talk about Global warming, Overpopulation, Ebola, Food shortages and good things like Colonizing other planets, Racial harmony, elimination of disease, advanced tech to make life better etc, but none of that means diddly if we can't get past killing each other over some magical guy in the sky. It's ridiculous.

More worthy might be to inquire realistically as to who the true bad guys might be....

Originally Posted by thaimeme

Originally Posted by beazalbob69

How is it possible that in this supposedly enlightened era we are still fighting essentially religious wars? I mean WTF is wrong with people?

People talk about Global warming, Overpopulation, Ebola, Food shortages and good things like Colonizing other planets, Racial harmony, elimination of disease, advanced tech to make life better etc, but none of that means diddly if we can't get past killing each other over some magical guy in the sky. It's ridiculous.

More worthy might be to inquire realistically as to who the true bad guys might be....

Realistically it's all of us. Humanity, everything we are. Planet would be better off without us. Like a dog with fleas.

Originally Posted by beazalbob69

over some magical guy in the sky.

It’s not some magical guy in the sky. Religion is the most convenient excuse…

After all… everything done, every evil we commit is “A OK” provided it is done in the name of God, Yahweh, Allah, Jehovah, or any other tag you wish to attach to the spirit in the sky.

The inherent competitiveness of man ensures war, we are better than them so they deserve to die. Only by killing in the name of the lord can we justify to ourselves the evil we are so blatantly committed.

Originally Posted by spliff

This is the leader of ISIS. Abu Bakr Al Maniac Al Baghdadi lol!

ISIS Wants You!

Yes, all of this, this glorious, luxurious, pampered existence can be yours, too! Along with your luxury condo and the 50' yacht, surf and turf, caviar and champagne on a daily basis. All yours for the taking.

Come on down!

A risk free enlistment, you can quit anytime. What have you got to lose?

Obama said a political solution was key but he's going to bomb them instead.