Iraqi PM Maliki will get Russian attack aircraft to bomb ISIS.

[another_liberal]

Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq has claimed that he will get attack fighter jets from Iran's principal high-tech arms source, the Russian Federation. The wait for delivery of American planes, Maliki explained, is just too long; in fact, he suggested that it was the slow arrival of promised American planes which left his country's army in such sorry shape against the initial offensive by ISIS rebels:

Russian jets to aid the fight against Sunni rebels in Iraq – PM Maliki.

Jets from Russia and Belarus will hopefully make a key difference in the fight against ISIS in Iraq, the country’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said. He expressed regrets over Iraq's contract with the US, saying their jets are taking too long to arrive. "God willing within one week this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he told BBC Arabic.

Meanwhile, Maliki criticized the process of purchasing US jets as “long-winded,” adding that the radicals could have been repelled if Iraq had proper air defense. "I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract [with the US]," Maliki said. "We should have sought to buy other jet fighters like British, French and Russian to secure the air cover for our forces; if we had air cover we would have averted what had happened," he went on.

Maliki said Iraq bought second-hand jet fighters from Russia and Belarus "that should arrive in Iraq in two or three days.” The radical Sunni Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL) has taken large parts of the country's north from the Shia government.

During the interview, the prime minister also confirmed that Syria was behind Tuesday’s air strikes that targeted Iraqi rebels, adding that he welcomed the move. "They carry out their strikes and we carry out ours and the final winners are our two countries," he said.

(snip)

Read more at: http://rt.com/news/168744-russia-jets-iraq-maliki/

[2pooped2pop]

1. how long til ISIS takes those second hand jet fighters? n/t

[Are_grits_groceries]

2. After they arrive?

In 3...2...1....

[another_liberal]

3. Will we even allow Russia to export advanced weapons into Iraq?

We may try to block their entry. If we actually have the assets available to do so?

[pampango]

4. Smart man. If Russia supplied Egypt's military Hosni Mubarak might still be in power - perhaps

in the middle of a civil war but still in power. Mr. Assad is much smarter in that regard than Mr. Mubarak. Mr. Maliki seems to have noticed and understood. Smart man.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. So, will we counter the "Red Menace" by supplying ISIS?

Will we provide support to the Iranians and Syrians to ensure our...er, the glorious victory over terrorism?

Is this to be a game of choosing the "not as bad" side?

Or, we could stay the hell out of other peoples civil wars.

[kentuck]

6. Eyebrows raise...

Hmmmm...

Maybe Isis does work for us?

[amandabeech]

7. Russia is siding with the Shia, and Iraq is lead by Shia.

Assad in Syria is an Alawite, which is an offshoot of the Shia.

And of course, Russia supports Iran, which is the Shia "mother ship."

The US supports Sunnni more often. We are NATO allies of Sunni Turkey, and we have been close to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, too.

This is shaping up into another US/Russia proxy war, like the ones in Central and South America and Southeast Asia.

It's very disappointing, really. I had such hopes of this nuttiness ending when the Berlin Wall came down in '89. Obviously, Eastern Europe benefitted from that, but Russia seems to be reverting to its historical form, and I'm not just talking about the Soviet years. Of course, the Bush years in particular seem to have started the clock marching backwards.