BlackFive

Iraq had suffered some major setbacks in its ongoing fight with the Islamist extremists ISIS, but they have also gained some stronger alliances. No, not with the United States which is still leading from so far behind as to be irrelevant, but with Iran, Syria and now Russia. 

The Iranians sent Revolutionary Guard combat forces quite a while ago and they have been actively battling to keep their good friend, Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, and his government afloat. The Syrians joined in and got a big thank you from Maliki when they hit ISIS both in Syria as well as Iraq. But the truly sad news is that since Obama withdrew all of our forces in his Quixotic pursuit to end wars, what he ended was our influence in this vital region. And a true strong horse, well a Russian bear, has stepped in to take our place.

The first delivery of Russian Sukhoi fighter jets arrived in Iraq on Saturday, the country’s Defense Ministry said. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is hoping the jets will make a key difference in the fight against ISIS.

Well, they will certainly make more of a difference than the complete lack of any combat support the United States is providing. No offense to my special ops compatriots who were sent there as advisers, but at this point they should probably advise the Iraqis to look for help elsewhere. We are not going to provide it.

At the same time, Maliki criticized the US for taking too long to deliver on its own contract after Iraq purchased F-16 jets from America.

Good people fought and died to free Iraq from the rule of a tyrant.  We persevered long enough to pacify the country and give them a shot at freedom then our naif of a President with his grad school, dope-smoking, bull session understanding of national security and power threw it all away. Their blood is on his hands and so is the blood of the innocents being slaughtered all across the region.