Iraq "Drama" Catches US Off-Guard -- WSJ; Obama's Katrina

Déjà vu all over again, from a comment sent in to the New York Times:

In 1975 as the North Vietnamese Army was storming towards Saigon, US air support was withheld. And what the NVA thought would be a 1-2 year fight was over. The South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) mostly laid down their weapons and walked away. This was after 10 years, thousands of US lives, and billions of US dollars. I spent 1967 and 1968 in Vietnam with the US Army, believing that we were doing something important.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -- Santayana

"Only the dead have seen the end of war." -- Santayana

"Chuck, you've got it. I'm going golfing. Call me when it's over." -- President Obama

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Look at the war video at the link. Wow, when you look at those vehicles driving down the road -- those are high-tech vehicles -- this is not simply some rag-tag army. This is a professional army. There is no question that Iran/Syria is behind this, but the real question is this: how much are the Russians/Putin doing? This army is moving faster than the US Army did in 2003. 
 
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the US was caught off-guard with regard to the "drama" in Iraq:

The quickly unfolding drama prompted a White House meeting Wednesday of top policy makers and military leaders who were caught off guard by the swift collapse of Iraqi security forces, officials acknowledged.

State Department and Pentagon officials have long warned about ISIS's desire to create an Islamic state based in the Sunni-dominated parts of Iraq and Syria. Now, current and former officials say Washington's options for helping the Iraqi army fight back are limited—both because the threat in Iraq is so entrenched and because the U.S. hasn't invested in building up moderate allies on the Syrian side of the border.

U.S. military leaders said they had thought that Iraqi security forces' efforts would be enough to slow ISIS's advance. But those assumptions were proven wrong when Iraqi troops largely abandoned their posts. 

I spent several years in the Mideast. Troops "largely" abandoning their posts does not surprise me. It's hard to believe it surprised Chuck Hagel. LOL. Shoot, even top leaders in Washington (DC) abandoned their posts on the night Beghazi fell. It's in their nature.

I can't decide.



Or,



The only question is whether Russia/Syria/Iran/ISIS stop short of Baghdad (ala George I) or move on to take Baghdad (ala George II).

I think Mr Obama sees his legacy being written this weekend. It will be on his mind, I'm sure, when he takes a selfie at SRIR. My hunch: he cancels his trip to North Dakota.