Back in Iraq

Now that the U.S. Navy is carrying out airstrikes against ISIS military targets in Iraq (Fox News) they have yet another matter to worry about.

The White House is reportedly "Extremely concerned" about ISIS taking over the Mosul Dam in Northern Iraq.  The dam, a huge structure which isn't in good shape anyway, if breached could unleash a wall of water 65 feet high into one of the country's largest cities...and send flood waters all the way to the capitol.

It looks like American fighter-bombers may have a new target.

If the highly regarded Kurdish peshmerga troops can't hold the dam, or have already lost it, they may need more help.  Navy jets are a great asset to have at your disposal, but without US boots on the ground their effectiveness will be reduced.  Laser bombs work best when there's someone on the ground lasing the targets.

According to ABC News: After a day of conflicting reports about the status of the dam, which was guarded by well-respected Kurdish peshmerga troops, a State Department spokesperson told ABC News late Thursday night that the dam had indeed fallen into the hands of the extremist group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. The group is still believed to be in control as of this report."

All these new developments in Iraq, taken in conjuncture with increased stress from Russia along the Ukrainian border, and renewed fighting after a cease fire ends in Gaza, shows the world is a more dangerous place to be right now than it has in a very long time.  And lets not forget that U.S. ground troops are still fighting and dying in Afghanistan.  One more spark and the whole world may be at war.  My bet is on Putin.  If Russia moves in to save threatened Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine that may be the straw that brakes the camel's back.

The U.S. "Isolationists" administration may have no choice but to unleash its military to restore order and prevent any further mass killings on a scale not scene since WWII.   Then again, it might not.  Nero did fiddle while Rome burned, maybe President Obama will play golf while the world goes up in flames.

Isolationism and pacifism have their risks as well.  Anyone remember what happened in Munich before World War II?  The British and French caved to everything the Nazi's wanted to avert war.  It didn't work.  And I don't think its going to work this time either.

What's Putin up to Now?

Russian bombers reportedly penetrate U.S. Airspace sixteen times in the last ten days?  This comes after Putin announces a a food ban on imports from EU countries and the United States.  The new Russian Emporer is on a roll.

This from the Washington Times:   "Russian strategic nuclear bombers conducted at least 16 incursions into northwestern U.S. air defense identification zones over the past 10 days, an unusually sharp increase in aerial penetrations, according to U.S. defense officials. The numerous flight encounters by Tu-95 Russian Bear H bombers prompted the scrambling of U.S. jet fighters on several occasions, and come amid heightened U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine. Also, during one bomber incursion near Alaska, a Russian intelligence-gathering jet was detected along with the bombers."

Self Loving Russian Soldier

He sure is in love with his own pictures.  But a Russian army sergeant may have tipped Moscow's hand, by posting selfies from inside Ukraine.  And he's no tourist. 

Alexander Sotkin, 24, has been posting pictures of himself in various combat settings, such as an armored personnel carrier and military camps. And the photo from Sorkin's Instagram page shows he has taken photos in Moscow, and inside the Russian border town of Voloshino.

But what's worse - within his Instagram shots, Sotkin appears to have activated a locator map that showed how several images were shot and uploaded inside Eastern Ukraine earlier this month.

Oops.

Of course, Moscow denies any of its soldiers are inside the border of Eastern Ukraine, despite accusations from the United States, the E.U. and NATO. 

Sotkin and his friends may need a lesson in the pitfalls of social media.