Ramadi

[Minimalist]

Any day now..... any day now....

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-says-iraq...r-support/

U.S. says Iraqis ready to force ISIS out of Ramadi

[Minimalist]

Obama takes another swig of the Kool Aid.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/15/politics/a...index.html

President Barack Obama announced Thursday that U.S. forces will remain in Afghanistan at their current levels throughout much of 2016, marking yet another delay in the administration's plans for completing its withdrawal from the 14-year conflict.

Speaking at the White House, Obama highlighted U.S. gains in Afghanistan and noted that the Afghan government and its security forces are now "fully responsible for securing their country." But he also said that the U.S. still needs to bolster those forces.

I don't care how much you train them.  They are still just tribal shits with no loyalty to any central government.

[Minimalist]

Speaking of which......

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/17/world/...=5043&_r=0

Afghan Plan to Expand Militia Raises Abuse Concerns

But the expansion also amounts to an open admission that the United States’ main legacy in Afghanistan — the creation of nationalized police and army forces numbering more than 350,000 members — is failing under pressure even before any final American military withdrawal. On Thursday, President Obama called off that pullout, originally due at year’s end, leaving 9,800 American troops in the country for at least another year.

Further, the plan would involve a sudden, and potentially poorly vetted, expansion of the Afghan Local Police, an American-created force that in many areas of the country has become synonymous with human rights abuses even when directly supervised by the American Special Forces.

[Minimalist]

Back to Ramadi....which remain in ISIS hands and we hear,

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/...amadi.html

Warren said Iraqi attempts to retake Ramadi have been hampered by ISIS counter-attacks using Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices.

Translation into plain English = "they see a car coming at them, shit their pants, and run like rabbits."

[Minimalist]

These fuckers always have an excuse.

http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-weather-halts...42825.html

Iraq weather halts Ramadi operation: officers

Apparently, it only rains on the government troops.

[Minimalist]

Nearly two weeks have passed and....

http://news.yahoo.com/ramadi-encircled-i...05572.html

With Ramadi encircled, Iraqi forces brace for urban warfare

Any day now.....any day now.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'll be surprised if they don't opt to starve the city into submission.

[Minimalist]

Their logistics seem so bad that it might end up being the first time in history that the besiegers starved before the besieged!

[Minimalist]

Still waiting.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-w...02019.html

IRBIL, Iraq
Iraqi forces’ hopes of recapturing the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State have stalled, largely because their efforts to cut resupply routes into the city of nearly 1 million have failed.
Iraqi planners had hoped a cordon around the city, the capital of Anbar province, Iraq’s largest, would prevent the Islamic State from being able to prepare for a long siege. But local military commanders, residents and analysts say the Iraqi forces were unable to maintain the cordon and that the Islamic State has been able to resupply.

[The Grand Nudger]

A month ago they were running away from every shortbed pickup they saw...today they're having trouble strangling the city.