President Obama is taking a lot of heat from the right and the left over what's going on in Iraq/Syria. He tells the American people and the world, many, many times that the United States, under no circumstances, will put American boots on the ground in Iraq. He said that the American people were tired of fighting and he would respect their wishes. No boots on the ground in Iraq! Could anything be plainer? to an enemy/terrorist?
Now, the right wing particularly, were complaining that America hadn't done enough in Syria to help the rebels. McCain(who I think is becoming senile), our most respected Viet Nam veteran was all for going in full blast . Even Mrs Clinton thought that we should be helping the rebels. The President asked everyone, who are the rebels, where are they and how do we know which ones to arm? There was quite a bit of discussion about all the different factions fighting, some representing Iran, some Al Quida, some Hezbollah and some actually fighting for their own freedom, but no facts. Typical Washington palaver. But fitting with the President's plan.
It was all a ploy by the President to assure the World, the American people and any terrorists that might be listening that the United States was not going to arm anyone in Syria. May the best man win.
Then to make sure that everything would continue moving in the right direction, the President started talking about getting rid of al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq. He felt that Maliki was hindering the building of a cohesive Iraqi state. The Prime Minister had to go, but how? Here's the plan. The stage is set. The ISIS group in Syria, made up of more than 50 % foreign fighters, is led to believe that the way is clear to go all the way to Baghdad with minimum resistance. Thus they come south from Syria, routing all force ahead of them. They are a bloody bunch, using death as their calling card. The Iraqi army are told by their generals to throw off their uniforms and run back to Baghdad. The ISIS are ex-static with their easy results and go pellmell for Baghdad, and off to the west and Mosel.
Here's the situation as it looks to the World and America. ISIS has declared the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The Iraqi army appears to be useless. There is no Iraqi Air Force. al-Maliki is refusing to step down as Prime Minister. And to give more credence to the hopelessness of the situation and give the ISIS more rope, the President, with much fanfare goes on vacation. Wow, what a setup.
The bag is fully open and now the President knows who he has to fight. But in order to attempt to unify the Iraqi people, he still has to get rid of al-Maliki. So he lets the ISIS continue their advances on Baghdad. Maliki arms the green area (around the palace) with tanks and loyalists. The President continues to tell him the there will be no American boots on the ground(to save him). In the meantime, the US Naval Air Force starts bombing, with the sole purpose of protecting American diplomats stationed in Erbil. The ISIS are said to be 30KM away and advancing.
Everything is set up. The ISIL (Their new name) are over extended every where. They are supposed to be excellently trained fighters, but it takes more than warriors to win a war. It takes brains and planning. Their plan was to scare everyone into submission and it seemed to be working, until out of nowhere came the US Naval Air Force, followed by Kurdish forces. The first few days they flew very few missions, allowing the Sunni (ISIL) fighters to feel safe back in Mosel and putting more pressure on al-Maliki to step down. Finally al-Maliki steps down and lo and behold the Iraqi Air Force makes an appearence along with Iraqi special forces and also the Ayatollah of the Iraqi Sunnis says that they will fight to rid the country of the ISIL.
What a grand plan. al-Maliki is gone, the Kurds and Iraqis are facing the enemy together. They are advancing towards Mosel and have retaken the strategic dam on the Tigris and the US Navy along with Iraqis is flying lots of sorties destroying ISIS men and materials. The noose is tightening on the terrorists. They fell into the trap set by what they thought was a dumb American. Thank you Mr. President for a job well done.