ISIS On Verge of Capturing Strategically Critical City of Ramadi, After Launching Attack that Surprised Obama

Boy these JV guys are pretty good. In a couple of years, once they've had some seasoning, they could make the States.

Fierce fighting has engulfed Ramadi, which lies only about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Baghdad and is the capital of Anbar province, Iraq's Sunni heartland.

Essawi, the deputy head of the Anbar Provincial Council, told CNN from inside the city Wednesday that it's unclear how much longer government troops can hold their front lines against the ISIS offensive.

The politician said he was on a front line himself, armed with a machine gun. Security was "collapsing rapidly in the city," and he begged the Iraqi government for reinforcements and the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS for air support.

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His plea for help comes the day after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington to seek more support for the fight against ISIS.

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The extremist group's offensive in Ramadi shows its resilience despite months of U.S.-led airstrikes and its recent defeat by Iraqi forces in the northern city of Tikrit.

The "No Drama Obama" policy of denigrating threats and blowing off major events continues infecting the rest of the government -- probably because Obama has filled the high ranks of government with ideological zealots and incompetents like himself.

The US military talks up this siege as if it's a minor skirmish with, yes, the JV.

A key Iraqi city is being threatened by the terror group. But reports that Ramadi is about to fall? Overblown, defense officials say. Pentagon officials stopped short of confirming reports that a key Iraqi city is close to falling to the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

If the city of Ramadi was truly in danger on being overrun by ISIS, it would be a devastating setback to those hoping that the terror group has been thrown back on its heels.

But some Pentagon officials were skeptical.

"As of yesterday, Ramadi was not about to fall," a defense official explained to The Daily Beast.

posted by Ace at 05:04 PM

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