Top Headline Comments 10-8-14

Happy Wednesday.

The U.S. officials said the primary goals are not to save Syrian cities and towns, but to go after ISIS' senior leadership, oil refineries and other infrastructure that would curb the terror group's ability to operate -- particularly in Iraq.

[...]

The U.S. goal is to first beat back ISIS in Iraq, then eliminate some of its leadership and resources in Syria, the U.S. administration officials said.
"It's obviously horrific to watch what's going on the ground, but it's important for the United States, for us to also step back and remember our strategic objective as it relates to our efforts and our engagement in Syria," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

According to the U.S. administration officials, if all goes as planned, by the time they are ready to turn their attention to Syria, some of the Syrian opposition will be trained enough to tackle ISIS in earnest. The U.S. has been undertaking efforts to arm and train moderate Syrian opposition forces, who are locked in a fight against both ISIS, the al-Assad regime, and a variety of other armed groups.

It sounds like, having been informed that defeat is imminent, the administration wants us to know it wasn't really trying to win at all.

"He's a little out there. But he's responsible, and he's family." http://t.co/QK8wB3VCjY pic.twitter.com/NavFbagI4D

— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) October 7, 2014

posted by Gabriel Malor at 06:39 AM

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