Have you heard about...? (Politics edition)

[VDB]

7 Things to Consider Before Choosing Sides in the Middle East Conflict

I think I like #2 best.

[sls.stormyrider]

^^
thanks
that was probably the single best piece I've seen on the topic

[Hicks]

7 Things to Consider Before Choosing Sides in the Middle East Conflict

I think I like #2 best.

[ytowndan]

That was a good read. Thanks!

[runawayjimbo]

WHOO HOO!! Back in Iraq!!

Also, LOL at "military advisers." What a fucking joke.

I'll grant you that this phrase could be a disingenuous euphemism as it was used to describe 10s of thousands of US servicemen during the early years of our involvement in Vietnam.

However, 575 total troops (the 275 extra to defend the embassy, the 300 Green Berets  just announced) don't make an invasion force. These 300 are certainly going to do a lot of intelligence-gathering, and most of it will be above-board and as described in the news: assessing the Iraqi forces in place. There'll most likely be some clandestine shit going on too. How else would this go down?

POTUS and Congress all know the public doesn't have the stomach for another full scale war.

Taken with a Kurdish size grain of salt, but...

http://nyti.ms/1sCi3uT

American Forces Said to Bomb ISIS Targets in Iraq

DOHUK, Iraq — American military forces bombed at least two targets in northern Iraq on Thursday night to rout Islamist insurgents who have trapped tens of thousands of religious minorities in Kurdish areas, Kurdish officials said.

Word of the bombings, reported on Kurdish television from the city of Erbil, came as President Obama was preparing to make a statement in Washington.

Kurdish officials said the bombings targeted fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria who had seized two towns, Gwer and Mahmour. Residents who had fled those areas by car were heard honking their horns in approval.

Obama administration officials had said earlier in the day that Mr. Obama was considering airstrikes or airdrops of food and medicine to address a humanitarian crisis among as many as 40,000 members of religious minorities in Iraq, who have been dying of heat and thirst on a mountaintop where they took shelter after death threats from ISIS.

US Officials deny reports

@PentagonPresSec
Press reports that US has conducted airstrikes in Iraq completely false. No such action taken.

[Superfreakie]

It's official.

[runawayjimbo]

@PentagonPresSec
Press reports that US has conducted airstrikes in Iraq completely false. No such action taken.

Well, this is awkward.

[sls.stormyrider]

Of course the Pentagon denies it

[runawayjimbo]

"Military advisers only"

"No troops"

"Well, some troops"

"We'll see what happens"

And hats off to the Times carrying that water. It must be getting pretty heavy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/world/middleeast/us-may-weigh-using-ground-troops-to-aid-rescue-of-iraq-refugees.html?_r=0

U.S. Could Use Ground Troops to Aid Rescue of Iraq Refugees

EDGARTOWN, Mass. — A senior White House official said on Wednesday that the United States would consider using American ground troops to assist Iraqis in rescuing Yazidi refugees if recommended by military advisers assessing the situation.

Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, told reporters on Martha's Vineyard that President Obama would probably receive recommendations in the next several days about how to mount a rescue operation to help the refugees, who are stranded on a mountaintop surrounded by Sunni militants. He said those recommendations could include the use of American ground troops.

But he drew a distinction between the use of American forces to help a humanitarian mission and the use of troops in the battle against militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, something he said the president had rejected before and continued to oppose.

"What he's ruled out is reintroducing U.S. forces into combat on the ground in Iraq," Mr. Rhodes said. He added, using an alternative name for the militant group, that the deployment of ground troops to assist a rescue was "different than reintroducing U.S. forces in a combat role to take the fight to ISIL."

He acknowledged that any ground troops in Iraq would face dangers, even if they were there to help the refugees find a safe way off the mountain. He said that like American forces anywhere, the troops would have the ability to defend themselves if they came under fire.

But Mr. Rhodes said the White House would not make a decision on how to carry out a rescue until the president heard back from an assessment team that the Pentagon sent into Iraq on Tuesday. That team, which includes about 130 personnel, will report back within several days, Mr. Rhodes said.

But he added that something would have to be done to help get the refugees off the mountain because "we don't believe it's sustainable to have permanent airdrops" of humanitarian aid.

No matter how it is done, getting tens of thousands of Yazidis off Mount Sinjar would be a complicated and dangerous endeavor, Pentagon officials said.

The most direct route off the mountain would be to head south into greater Iraq, but that would take the refugees and any troops protecting them through ISIS territory, increasing the potential for combat and casualties. Passing through the ISIS-held area, one senior military official warned, would also allow the militants to blend into the refugee population, making it more difficult to target them for American airstrikes.

The far more viable option, administration officials and humanitarian experts said, would be to establish a corridor northwest through Syria, following the paths established by the few refugees who have escaped. The refugees would then cross back over the border into Kurdistan.

The route through Syria would require Kurdish pesh merga fighters to make up the bulk of the troop escort, but a second military official said that American Special Operations forces and perhaps even Marines would have to reinforce that effort.

"We would have to thicken our advisory presence in a significant way," said Hardin Lang, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress and a former senior adviser to the United Nations special representative to Iraq. But American troops would be unlikely to go into Syria, making that route more complicated.

[emay]

http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2014/08/13/kkk-raising-money-for-police-officer-who-shot-african-american-teen/

[runawayjimbo]

Get you h3tty WWIII right here

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-15/ukraine-says-it-destroyed-part-of-armed-vehicles-from-russia.html

Ukraine Says It Destroyed Part of Armed Convoy From Russia

Ukraine said its troops attacked and partially destroyed a column of armed vehicles that had crossed the border from Russian territory, while Russia said it was concerned about an attack on another convoy carrying aid.

Ukrainian government troops engaged the vehicles that had arrived overnight through a rebel-held section of the border, Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the country's military, told reporters in Kiev today. Ukrainian soldiers continue to come under shelling, including rounds fired from Russia, he said.

The government in Kiev has for months said that separatist rebels in its easternmost regions are receiving support from Russia, which backs them with artillery fire. Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the Ukrainian unrest. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow said it was concerned about potential attempts to disrupt the humanitarian convoy and repeated a call for a cease-fire to allow for aid delivery.

The incursion last night isn't seen by Ukraine as a new development or a possible start of an invasion by Russia, Defense Ministry spokesman Leonid Matyukhin said by phone earlier. The vehicles were painted white to camouflage the operation as a peacekeeping mission, he said.

Putin Call

The standoff is adding to unease over plans by Russia, which has about 275 trucks parked near its western border loaded with what it says is humanitarian aid for rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine. European Union governments warned Russia against using humanitarian missions as cover to bring troops into Ukraine, expressing frustration at the Kremlin's refusal to heed calls to de-escalate the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, under increasing international pressure for allegedly supporting separatists in Ukraine, pledged during a visit to Crimea yesterday that he would work to halt the conflict.

The conflict is coming to a head as Ukrainian government forces push to dislodge pro-Russian insurgents from their strongholds of Luhansk and Donetsk. The authorities in Kiev have been saying for months that the separatist rebels are receiving reinforcements from Russian territory.

Russia has only deployed forces to patrol its side of the frontier and its troops didn't cross into Ukraine, the state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing the FSB security service's border guard division. Major General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, declined to comment.

[runawayjimbo]

In a surprise move, Eric Cantor, who has no previous experience in finance, gets a gig as vice-chairman of investment bank.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/eric-cantor-to-join-wall-street-investment-bank-1409630638

Eric Cantor to Join Wall Street Investment Bank
Deposed House Majority Leader To Open Washington Office for Moelis & Co.

Eric Cantor plans to join boutique investment bank Moelis & Co., as the recently defeated House majority leader embarks on a new career on Wall Street.

Mr. Cantor, 51 years old, will be a vice chairman and board member at the firm, effective this week, he and Moelis founder Ken Moelis said in a joint interview on Monday.

Mr. Cantor, a Virginia Republican, lost his seat in Congress when he was defeated in a June primary. Rather than continue as majority leader, he stepped down from the post last month.

At Moelis, Mr. Cantor will help the firm, which was formed in 2007 and has offices overseas, compete for business and advise corporate and investor clients on takeovers and other deals.

Mr. Moelis said he is hiring Mr. Cantor for his "judgment and experience" and ability to open doors—and not just for help navigating regulatory and political waters in Washington. Still, expertise in such matters is likely to be valuable given how heavily they can weigh on the minds of corporate executives contemplating deals.

"I have no need for a political figurehead," Mr. Moelis said. "What I want is a partner." [Lulz, line of the day]

Mr. Cantor was defeated in the primary by a little-known, underfunded college professor in one of the most surprising political upsets in recent memory. Mr. Cantor was widely viewed as the favorite to succeed John Boehner as House Speaker when the Ohio Republican steps aside.

Mr. Cantor has long been seen as a liaison of sorts between the GOP and Wall Street, which also has been a big campaign contributor.

Since 2012, he has raised nearly $1.4 million from financial firms and their employees, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the most of any industry. Big donors to the former congressman include investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and private-equity firm Blackstone Group LP.

During his congressional tenure, Mr. Cantor cultivated close ties with the heads of several large companies, including in the financial sector.

Moelis & Co. is coming of age as more mergers-and-acquisitions business is migrating away from larger firms such as UBS AG, where Mr. Moelis was an executive, and toward a newer crop of smaller investment banks that pitch themselves as independent of the conflicts of interest that can arise at larger institutions competing in multiple lines of business.

Mr. Moelis took his firm public in April, and in a sign of investors' enthusiasm for the boutique model, its shares have risen nearly 40% since then, giving it a market value of nearly $2 billion.

Messrs. Moelis and Cantor, who have known each other for more than three years, began discussing the possibility of working together shortly before July Fourth, Mr. Cantor said. They were having brunch with their wives in Los Angeles and Mr. Moelis, also a Republican, was giving Mr. Cantor career advice when it occurred to him that the two should work together.

The talks intensified in late July, said Mr. Cantor, who noted that he held discussions about joining several other organizations—on Wall Street and off—though none as serious as those with Moelis.

Mr. Cantor, who will continue to live in Virginia, will open a new office for the firm in Washington, in addition to having an office at the company's headquarters in New York City. His compensation wasn't immediately known.

Mr. Cantor was first elected to Congress in 2000 after a nine-year stint in the Virginia House of Delegates. In his second term, he landed a coveted seat at the Republican leadership table, propelling him into the highest ranks of the party. He earned a reputation as one of the hardest working members of Congress and often volunteered to cajole stubborn GOP colleagues into supporting controversial legislation.

As the No. 2 Republican in the House, Mr. Cantor was thrust into the national spotlight as one of President Barack Obama's most relentless critics on Capitol Hill.

He also had a delicate relationship with Mr. Boehner, stepping in to prevent the speaker from cutting a deficit-reduction deal with the president that rank-and-file Republicans might reject because of tax increases in the package. Since that fight, the two have worked more closely together.

The Richmond native's new career represents something of a return to his roots. Mr. Cantor worked for his family's real-estate development firm before going to Congress. His wife, Diana, meanwhile, worked at Goldman and serves on several corporate boards. She also chairs the board of trustees for the Virginia Retirement System.

Despite rumblings that he may run for governor of Virginia in 2017 or return to politics at some point, Mr. Cantor said he is focused on his new career learning the investment banking business and providing clients with quality counsel.

"I've got a lot to learn" he said. "I'm very focused on my next step."

[VDB]

Mr. Cantor, who will continue to live in Virginia, will open a new office for the firm in Washington.

In other words, he will continue to not live in Virginia. Funny how politicians love to complain about Washington and then when they retire or get voted out they just get new jobs there.

[rowjimmy]

Mr. Cantor, who will continue to live in Virginia, will open a new office for the firm in Washington.

In other words, he will continue to not live in Virginia. Funny how politicians love to complain about Washington and then when they retire or get voted out they just get new jobs there.

You do know that Washington DC is adjacent to Virginia and many of us who work in DC LIVE in VA, right?

[VDB]

Now I know you're not trying to impugn my knowledge of geography, RJ. I'm originally from Maryland, so yes I'm pretty aware of the commuting situation around there. Cantor is from the Richmond area so I'd bet bottom dollar he didn't commute to DC every day. And I expect he'll continue to spend most of his time in and around various power centers that are not named Glen Allen, Virginia.

Besides, I was talking just as much about Cantor as all the other guys -- Jim Demint, John Ashcroft, Larry Craig, Rick Santorum, Evan Bayh, holy crap the list goes on -- who get "sent to Washington" to "represent" their people at "home" and find that DC is really all that matters to them.