Obama Has Touted Al Qaeda’s Demise 32 Times since Benghazi Attack

Hat Tip GulfDogs

This was only to November 2012, can you imagine how many times he’s said it since then? Now al qeada is in charge of Iraq and Obama is talking about going “back in”. How many U.S. “advisers” do we have in Iraq at the persent time? WHy did we send them the equipment like Blackhawks?

A child walks past a wall bearing graffiti about the al-Qaeda network in northern Nigeria’s Kano state, one of 12 where shari’a has been imposed for the last decade. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam, File)

(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama has described al Qaeda as having been “decimated,” “on the path to defeat” or some other variation at least 32 times since the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, according to White House transcripts.

This comes despite Libyan President Mohamed Yousef El-Magarief, members of Congress, an administration spokesperson, and several press reports suggesting that al Qaeda played a role in the attack.

Recently, on Nov. 1 in Green Bay, Wis., Obama said, “Thanks to sacrifice and service of our brave men and women in uniform, the war in Iraq is over, the war in Afghanistan is winding down, al Qaeda has been decimated, Osama bin Laden is dead.”

“A security agreement is “critically important” for the troops who will remain in Afghanistan after December 2014, Hagel said.”

MORE: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-touts-al-qaeda-s-demise-32-times-benghazi-attack-0

Steve Benen: Crisis grips Iraq, spurring a familiar U.S. debate

The security crisis gripping Iraq is real and intensifying. Closer to home, however, there’s a familiar domestic political debate starting anew.

In Iraq, militant insurgents, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – an al Qaeda offshoot considered too radical for some in the terrorist network – have seized control of two major cities and may yet launch an attack on Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki wants Parliament to declare a state of emergency, while also quietly reaching out to U.S. officials, inviting military intervention.

The White House is “deeply concerned” about the deteriorating conditions, but by all accounts, President Obama is not at all eager to recommit military forces to Iraq, choosing instead to focus on Iraq’s capacity to defend itself.

But elsewhere in Washington, a predictable dynamic is taking shape: the same conservatives who were wrong about the war in Iraq before are not only blaming the U.S. president for Iraq’s current crisis, they’re also suggesting Americans re-enter the fight.

More here http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/crisis-grips-iraq-spurring-familiar-us-debate

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BBC: Six things that went wrong for Iraq

The borders of the modern Middle East are in large part a legacy of World War One. They were established by the colonial powers after the defeat and dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.

Those borders could now be in peril for two main reasons – the continuing fighting and fragmentation of Syria and the ISIS assault in Iraq Unless the military gains of ISIS can be reversed, the Iraqi state is in peril as never before. The dual crises in Syria and Iraq combine to offer the possibility of a “state” encompassing eastern Syria and western Iraq where the jihadists of ISIS hold sway.

This would have huge implications for the region and beyond. Iraq has to a large extent staggered from crisis to crisis, so what went wrong?

More here http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27802746