French aircraft carrier poised to strike ISIL; generals urge caution
The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is positioned in the eastern Mediterranean. British PM Cameron has offered France the use of an RAF field on Cyprus. French generals are urging caution about meeting with success in the near term. This is a wise move owing to the bold talk from French politicians since the Paris attacks. Omg, omg war.
Explosions have brought down pylons bringing electricity into the recently annexed Crimea. It isn’t clear who is responsible, possibly Ukrainian forces – far right ones. Meanwhile, as world attention is focused on Syria, pro-Russian and Russian troops have increase hostilities in the Eastern Ukraine.
Update: Tatars and Ukrainians are preventing engineering crews from reaching the down power lines.
Iraq gets more complicated every week. Kurdistan is trying to break free from Baghdad and its contributions into ISIL War have brought it world sympathy and acclaim. The Kurds are mainly Sunni but there is a sizable Shia minority. Shia militias aligned with Baghdad and Tehran are recruiting Shia Kurds into their armed forces, and they are skirmishing with peshmerga troops. This brings further disunity to the Kurds who are already divided over political and tribal lines.