Iraq: Failed Mission? The city of Mosul fell to Al Qaeda-affiliated militants

My boss had to meet with the Kurds when we were housing Iraqi detainees up north at Ft Suse. They agreed to bring any escapees back to the camp but would not commit to bringing them back alive.

Couldn't have said it betere sir

Ironic that one of the Muslim worlds most famous generals, Saladin, was a Kurd not an Arab....

The Kurds treated us like brothers. They were the only ones I would turn my backs on if armed. I have a lot of love for them. One of my buddies who I helped get a green card told me the Mayor of Mosul would recognize Kurdistan claims to Mosul if they clear the city. There is a lot of motivation in the KRG to do this.

I agree CPL Kunza.

I think our enemy understands that they do not have to win, they just have to not lose. They can wait us out. They have the interior lines in the IO campaign and we are 17 trillion in debt and not particularly interested in Afghanistan.

Sir, I agree with you 100%. We gave the Taliban and AQ a blueprint for how to outlast us. They no longer have to defeat us to restore Afghanistan to it's pre-2001 status. All they have to do is wait for us to withdraw, and since the timelines are announced in very public media outlets, they even know how long they have to wait. The fact is that next year, when we are under 10K troops in country, if they attack heavily, they could claim to defeat us since we will be whoafully understrength to counter a major offensive. The politics of the situation are violating every precept of OPSEC so that someone can make a public, political splash.

Doesn't help when the powers that be tell the enemy exactly what our intentions are on CNN...

LTC don't start me on that rant . cnn reporter's on the beach when The Marine's hit the beach in Somalia ...they should have been dispatched..sorry I said it " Blackhawk Down"