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The IRS Scandal

June 23, 2014

What should we think about the fighting in Iraq?   Will Baghdad fall?  Who are the insurgents and which Muslim religious sect, if any, should The United States, support?  There is no shortage of questions but few answers.  Why?  The short answer is we Americans have been trained to be Politically Correct and we don’t have the will to project our national power.

According to the Associated Press, officials -- who could not be named because they were briefed by U.S. intelligence agencies in classified meetings -- do not believe Baghdad will fall.  These officials estimated there are less than 10,000 insurgents and the insurgents have faced little resistance because the areas where they have taken control are overwhelmingly supportive of the militants because they too are Sunni Muslims. 

Unbelievably the Obama Administration has been floating the idea of partnering with the Shiite leadership in Iran to solve the problem with the Sunnis in Iraq.  This is the same Iran that made many of the weapons that killed U.S. solders;   the same Iran that applauded the destruction of the World Trade Towers; and the Iran that is threatening to destroy Israel and attack the U.S. someday with a nuclear weapon.  

Why would Iran be interested in helping the Iraqis?  First, the Iranians and the people in charge in Baghdad are Shiite Muslims.  Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims are sworn enemies and they are only united in their hatred of the U.S. and Israel.  Second, the Iranians dream of control of the entire Arabian Peninsula and have promoted the overthrow of Islamic States there. Third, the Iranians want more delay on  the inspection of their nuclear capabilities including the nuclear production facilities.  

The Obama Administration has taken financial sanctions off Iran which they can use to continue to develop their nuclear program.  The next meeting with Iran over their capability to produce nuclear weapons is scheduled for July 20, 2014.  Coincidentally, some intelligence agencies think Iran may complete their production of a deliverable nuclear weapon by that same date.

So what are the Sunnis and Shiites fighting over?  Once again it's oil. The Shiites have been cheating the Sunnis out of money for the oil that is produced on Sunni lands in northern Iraq.  The dispute is over whether the Sunni-Kurds get 25% of the profit or the 17% offered by the Iraqi Shiite leadership in Baghdad.

The aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush has been ordered to the Persian Gulf by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the President announced he is sending up to 300 military advisors to Iraq.     The U.S. should stay out of this internal religious conflict -- which has been going on for centuries -- except to warn the participants not to cross borders with their violence.  The U.S. should also warn Iraq's neighbors not to spill over into Iraq or use this as a distraction to attack Israel or U.S. Interests in the region. 

Looking back, President Obama should have heeded the advice of his military commanders and Republican leaders who warned him not to announce when the U.S would withdraw our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.  The President should not have lifted the financial sanctions off of Iran and released the Taliban-Five Dream Team.  But once again our foreign policy is in shambles and, according to the Associated Press; the President has been on trips to North Dakota and California where he was fund-raising and playing golf!

John, Mark and Bill

Captain Buddy Wellborn, USN (Ret.)
of Dickinson provided technical advice
for this column.