Iraqis think the U.S. is in cahoots with the Islamic State, and it is hurting the war

[CJCRANE]

EXCERPT:

BAIJI, Iraq — On the front lines of the battle against the Islamic State, suspicion of the United States runs deep. Iraqi fighters say they have all seen the videos purportedly showing U.S. helicopters airdropping weapons to the militants, and many claim they have friends and relatives who have witnessed similar instances of collusion.

Ordinary people also have seen the videos, heard the stories and reached the same conclusion — one that might seem absurd to Americans but is widely believed among Iraqis — that the United States is supporting the Islamic State for a variety of pernicious reasons that have to do with asserting U.S. control over Iraq, the wider Middle East and, perhaps, its oil.

“It is not in doubt,” said Mustafa Saadi, who says his friend saw U.S. helicopters delivering bottled water to Islamic State positions. He is a commander in one of the Shiite militias that last month helped push the militants out of the oil refinery near Baiji in northern Iraq alongside the Iraqi army.

The Islamic State is “almost finished,” he said. “They are weak. If only America would stop supporting them, we could defeat them in days.”

LINK Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraqis-think-the-us-is-in-cahoots-with-isis-and-it-is-hurting-the-war/2015/12/01/d00968ec-9243-11e5-befa-99ceebcbb272_story.html

[plus5mace]

1. Misunderstandings happen.

People think that we support ISIS just because we keep providing them material support and they receive all their funding from US allies. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the US govt is just hilariously inept at determining who is a freedom fighter and who is a terrorist, so sometimes we airdrop weapons to ISIS by mistake. And it's not that we want to be allies with ISIS supporting countries, but we need them to contain the Russian Bear. A few terrorist attacks is a small price to pay to keep the Ruskies out of Poland.

[Maedhros]

2. From this CBS news report, it appears that we were:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251870862

[CJCRANE]

3. Thanks for the link. It looks like a few people are finally opening their eyes.

Time is running short. This issue is bigger than party and personality.

[Midnight Writer]

4. Reminds me of the Reagan policy in the Iran-Iraq war

We publicly supported Iraq, but we sold weapons on the down low to Iran. We also sent our military advisers to Iraq, giving them strategic and deployment advise, and then told Iran what the Iraqis were planning.

To me, the proof of our non-commitment to stop ISIS is the fact that they are making millions selling black market oil. Surely we have the ability to track shipments of millions of barrels of oil. The oil is being transported via truck and tankers, hardly an operation that is hard to detect and deter. And then there is the money factor. Unless these oil transactions are being paid for by massive suitcases full of untraceable cash, surely we can "follow the money" through bank transactions, and consequently disrupt those transactions.

My fear is that there are folks making a fortune from this endless war, and that these folks have enough influence around the world that they can keep these dirty little wars going, despite the absolute evil of doing so.