Quote of the Day

[Wolf DeVoon]

"Let Iraq deal with their own country. We had 200 people shot in Chicago last week, and tens of thousands of illegal immigrants flooding into the US. We have our own problems to deal with." [ Zero Hedge member asking4it2K ]

1st Runner-Up from the Past

As Iraq falls apart, it's worth remembering Vice President Joe Biden hailing that country as one of Obama's "great achievements" in a 2010 interview: "I am very optimistic about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government," said Biden. "I know every one of the major players... I've been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences." [CNN clip via Weekly Standard]

[Wolf DeVoon]

Barack Obama on crisis in Iraq, evacuation of U.S. contractors from Balad, Iran sending troops to defend Baghdad:

"There has to be a political component to this so that Sunni and Shia who care about building a functioning state that can bring about security and prosperity to all people inside of Iraq come together and work diligently against these extremists. And that is going to require concessions on the part of both Shia and Sunni that we haven’t seen so far... Where the issues have to deal with the broader international order, humanitarian concerns, concerns around the rights to navigation, concerns around, you know, our ability to deal with instability or fragile states or failed states and the consequences for populations there and refugee flows, those sorts of international issues, wherever we can, our preference should be to partner with other countries. We’re going to be more effective if we can work with other nations... Aussies know how to fight, and I like having them in a foxhole if we’re in trouble... Part of our task now, in a world where it’s less likely that any particular nation attacks us or our treaty allies directly, but rather, more typically, that you have disorder, asymmetric threats, terrorist organizations -- all of which can be extraordinarily disruptive and damaging, but aren’t the traditional types of war that so often we’ve been equipped to fight -- it becomes that much more important for us to start building new partners who aren’t going to be as capable as the Australians right away." [Washington Post transcript]

What ??? - building 'new partners' with who?

probability of Sunni and Shia creating a functioning state: zero

looks like a damn doe caught in the headlights

What’s happening in Iraq is a disaster and it is astonishing that the Iraqis and the Americans, who have been sharing intelligence, seem to have been caught flat-footed by the speed of the insurgent victories and the army defections... After disbanding Saddam Hussein’s army in 2003 after the invasion by coalition forces and dismantling the government, the United States spent years and many billions of dollars building a new Iraqi Army, apparently for naught. The militants have captured untold quantities of American-supplied weaponry, including helicopters... Military action seems like a bad idea right now. The United States simply cannot be sucked into another round of war in Iraq. In any case, airstrikes and new weapons would be pointless if the Iraqi Army is incapable of defending the country. [New York Times]

Everybody's surprised, astonished, no clue what to do about it.

Iran sprang into action to aid its besieged Arab ally. It deployed Revolutionary Guards units to Iraq, Iranian security officials said. At least three battalions of the Quds Forces, the overseas branch of the Guards, were dispatched... Gen. Qasem Sulaimani, commander of the Quds Forces and one of the region's most powerful military figures, traveled to Baghdad this week... U.S.-armed and trained Iraqi security forces put up almost no fight throughout the militants' rout as they captured major cities. In Washington, Sen. Roy Blunt (R., Mo.) said senators were briefed Thursday on the situation and were told that four of 17 Iraqi military divisions instantly collapsed in the face of the militants' offensive. [Wall Street Journal]

On June 10, President Obama said that the greatest frustration of his presidency was the failure to pass gun control legislation. It was the same day that Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, fell to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). [Washington Post]

Veterans of the Iraq War and their families are watching with dismay and alarm as Sunni insurgents overrun large swaths of Iraq,

including cities like Mosul where hundreds of U.S. troops died. [uSA Today]

Barry's 'apple pie' priorities?

President Obama told Democratic donors that “our future rests” on the success of people brought to the United States illegally as children, who would qualify for citizenship if Congress had passed the DREAM Act. “About 30 to 40 percent of the kids in this school [Worcester Tech] are DREAM kids,” Obama said Wednesday evening. “You wouldn’t know it looking at them, because they are as American as apple pie. But every single one of these kids, you might not be able to tell the difference, but a whole bunch of them — they’re worried about whether or not they’re going to be able to finance their college education of their immigrant status. They’re worried about whether, in fact, this country that they love so deeply loves them back and understands that our future rests on their success. Why wouldn’t we want to give them that certainty that you are part of the fabric of this nation, we’re counting on you, and we’re going to make sure you succeed? Why wouldn’t we want to do that?” [National Review]

[syrakusos]

The Sunni-Shi'ite rift is as deep as it is old... Deep because it is old. Look at Northern Ireland. India may see a Hindu insurgence. Yet, in the universities and industries we have engineers, accountants, scientists and philosophers who disagree all the time, but none of whom have guns. Only a culture of reality and reason can lead to freedom.

[Wolf DeVoon]

The Sunni-Shi'ite rift is as deep as it is old... Deep because it is old. Look at Northern Ireland. India may see a Hindu insurgence. Yet, in the universities and industries we have engineers, accountants, scientists and philosophers who disagree all the time, but none of whom have guns. Only a culture of reality and reason can lead to freedom.

Well said, Michael. We share a magnificent legacy and an opportunity to pass it along, joyfully, proudly.

[Wolf DeVoon]

No, it's not a Photoshopped cartoon, it's a real news photo from London.

There is "no question" of British troops being sent back to Iraq to help the country deal with Islamist extremists who have seized control of key cities, William Hague has said. The Foreign Secretary said the situation was of great concern but that the Government was "not countenancing at this stage any British military involvement." [belfast Telegraph]

"Prime Minister Maliki and all of Iraqi leaders need to do more to put sectarian differences aside," Kerry said at a news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. [Reuters]

Hillary Clinton on Thursday said the U.S. shouldn’t provide military assistance to Iraq despite the threat from an Islamist militant group that has captured key cities. [The Hill.com]

[Wolf DeVoon]

Now it's official. "Obama warns Iraq: No reforms, no aid from U.S." [LA Times]

I had a dreadful intuition from the official photo that he was reading from a teleprompter.

 

Yep. Reading "prepared remarks" from paper and prompters. Notice the video edits to cover up reading flubs.

Nicely lit, too. 2K daylight HMIs with spun diffusers.
Don't believe me about Rose Garden teleprompters?

[Jules Troy]

Hell has definitely frozen over..

Never in a million years would I have thought I would see the day where Iran offered to help Iraq for any reasonnnn. Maybe they will kill one another for the next 20 years!

Let them.

[Richard Wiig]

It might be old, but it is only as deep as each new generation.