Obama sending 275 troops into the Iraqi Quagmire

News Updates from CLG
16 Jun 2014

http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

Previous edition: US, UK create joint team to prepare for air strikes in Iraq - report (Google subscribers: Google Filter Instructions for CLG Newsletter.)

Breaking: Obama tells Congress U.S. deploying up to 275 troops to Iraq --President notifying Congress under War Powers Resolution 16 Jun 2014 President Barack Obama told Congress on Monday the United States was deploying up to 275 military personnel to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the country's embassy in Baghdad after militants seized control of the north of the country. "This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat," Obama said in a letter to lawmakers. "This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed." 

Pentagon Sends Another Ship Into Arabian Gulf Amid Iraq Turmoil 16 Jun 2014 The Pentagon is sending another ship to the Arabian Gulf to give President Barack Obama "additional options to protect American citizens and interests [oil] in Iraq," an official said Monday. The amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde - which carries Osprey combat helicopters - will join other U.S. naval ships already in the gulf, including the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. According to one senior defense official, "If the President orders airstrikes, we have plenty of firepower in the Gulf."

Sunni militants capture northern Iraqi town 16 Jun 2014 The mayor and residents of a northern Iraqi town close to the Syrian border say Sunni militants have captured the town of Tal Afar. Mayor Abdulal Abdoul told The Associated Press that his town, located 420 kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, was taken just before dawn on Monday. The town has a population of some 200,000 people, mostly ethnic Shiite and Sunni Turkomen.

'Blair has finally gone mad': London mayor ridicules ex-PM over Iraq 16 Jun 2014 Tony Blair's essay on how the Middle East should blame its own religious dynamics for its troubles - instead of Western attempts at intervention - has seen London Mayor Boris Johnson launch a scathing attack on the "unhinged" former PM. Johnson's strong condemnation is a reaction to the arguments made in the former British Prime Minister's piece entitled 'Iraq, Syria and the Middle East,' where claims range from placing blame on the Shiite government in Iraq to the inherent religious dynamics within the Middle East region, even to Syria for allowing the recent attack on Mosul to take place from within its borders, as well as Shiite fighters from Iran - all to explain why militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS) are making such progress these days.

Important repost: Iraqi Sunni scholars: Iraqi rebels, not ISIS, who face the Iraqi army 14 Jun 2014 The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq (AMSI) said on Friday that describing the rebels who drove the Iraqi army from several cities as operatives of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) is incorrect. They decried the designations as an attempt to abort the uprising in the country. In the statement reported by the Jordanian Assabeel newspaper, AMSI said that the ISIS label is a clear distortion which does not change the reality that Iraqi rebels are the main component of this uprising...Despite claims that it was the ISIS which took over the cities and towns, several Iraqi sources have pointed out that tribal rebels as well as other Iraqi fighters constitute the main force currently fighting the Iraqi army, in addition to some affiliated to ISIS. 

Two detained with 'homemade explosive device' near Russian consulate in Odessa 16 Jun 2014 Ukrainian police have detained two men with a package presumably containing a homemade explosive device near Russia's consulate in the city of Odessa. The explosive has been sent for inspection, the local Ministry of Interior reports. "Today, on June 16, on the corner of Posmitnogo and Genuezskoi, two individuals were detained [who were] carrying a package in which there was a subject similar to an improvised explosive device. These persons were detained a few hundred meters from the General Consulate of the Russian Federation in Odessa, where at that time a rally was being held," police said in a statement.

Guantánamo Bay tribunal to hear arguments over suspected FBI probe --Defence for 9/11 accused: FBI tried to make expert informant 16 Jun 2014 A US war crimes tribunal [kangaroo court] will hear arguments on Monday over a suspected FBI investigation that may have created a conflict of interest for lawyers representing Guantánamo Bay inmates accused of orchestrating the 11 September 2001 attacks. The Guantánamo Bay military commission is weighing a defence motion whether to abate or modify proceedings against the five inmates charged for their alleged involvement in the 9/11 attacks, which killed almost 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. The tribunal was adjourned in April after defence lawyers said FBI agents tried to turn a defence team expert on classified materials into an informant.