Events unravelling quickly in Middle East

To give a sense of just how quickly things are falling apart - from the Washington Times

This is the imperial order that has ruled the Middle East for almost 100 years collapsing.  Nobody can tell me that the Americans are remotely in control of events, or, that this is only of regional significance.

Baghdad surrounded: ‘Nightmare scenario’ unfolds as ISIL takes supply routes

WashingtonTimes,

25 June, 2014

Baghdad is surrounded by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and at least two key supply routes are under the Sunni radical organization’s control.

Shafin Dizayee, a spokesman for autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in Irbil, told McClatchy news service that “the picture is no longer scary. It has become close to a nightmare scenario, where we see [ISIL] expanding and taking control of its borders.”

Another Kurdish official, Jabbar Yawar of the Peshmerga militia, told the news service that the towns of Iskandariya and Mahmoudiyah, just 6 miles south of Baghdad, had fallen.

Syrian warplanes strike inside Iraq in effort to derail ISIL advance

WashingtonTimes,

25 June, 2014

At least 50 people died in western Iraq on Tuesday due to Syrian airstrikes. For the past two days, Bashar Assad’s regime has assisted Iraq as it struggles to stem the tide of Sunni radicals advancing across the country.

The Syrian support comes in addition to special forces operations troops sent by Iran.

“We are now facing aggressive Iranian attacks at Arab hands,” said Abdullah al Shimmari, a member of the Anbar Tribal Military Council, which is aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). “Our response to that will be soon,” he added, as reported by The Wall Street Journal Tuesday

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard deploys to Iraq to stop Sunni terror group

WashingtonTimes,

25 June, 2014

With U.S. forces out of Iraq and the nation spinning out of control, the nation has turned to someone else to help quell the violence: the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Two battalions of the Quds Forces have been sent to the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an al Qaeda offshoot that took control of Iraq’s second-largest city Mosul and Tikrit in recent days.

The Iraqi government has indicated that it would be open to U.S. airstrikes against the Sunni terrorist organization, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Lucy Kafanov of RT has been reporting of a car bombing in Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk 

RT ‏@RT_com  5h

Aftermath of #Kirkuk, #Iraq suicide bomber that killed 4 & injured 16 (Via @LucyKafanov) http://RT.com  pic.twitter.com/aXlfIWwdLf