Update: The War against America in Iraq, its political complications and its ties to the coming midterm elections:

<<<  ISIS has taken Aleppo in North Syria,  all of the shaded pink area including the border crossing into Jordan,  controls 80% of the Anwar Province,  is a serious to critical threat to the capture of Ramadi and Fallujah, and is fighting in the suburbs, 8 miles from Baghdad's green zone.

From the UK's Telegraph,  we have this report:  

Iraqi officials have issued a desperate plea for America to bring US ground troops back to the embattled country, as heavily armed Islamic State militants came within striking distance of Baghdad.

Amid reports that Isil forces have advanced as far as Abu Ghraib, a town that is effectively a suburb of Baghdad, a senior governor claimed up to 10,000 fighters from the movement were now poised to assault the capital.

The warning came from Sabah al-Karhout, president of the provisional council of Anbar Province, the vast desert province to the west of Baghdad that has now largely fallen under jihadist control.

The province’s two main cities, Fallujah and Ramadi, were once known as “the graveyard of the Americans”, and the idea of returning there will not be welcomed by the Pentagon.

But were the province to be controlled by Isil, it would give their forces a springboard from which to mount an all-out assault on Baghdad, where a team of around 1,500 US troops is already acting as mentors to the beleaguered Iraqi army   . . . . . .   

Editor's notes:  Actually,  there are closer to 1700 American troops stationed in or around the capital and,  between 2,000 and 3,000 embassy workers,  many of whom are Americans.  

Mentioned in the Telegraph's report is "Anwar."  That is the province immediately west of Baghdad and is Iraq's largest provisional region.  Fox News recently reported this province 80% taken-over by ISIS.  Some of the heaviest fighting during the Bush war against foreign based terror,  was in the Fallujah - Ramadi region of Anwar.  

Obama decided the loss of American lives in the successful war against terror,  in Iraq, was a poor investment despite its ultimate success,  and moved American forces out of Iraq in November of 2011,  leaving behind a residual embassy population of 3,000 with 300 American troops guarding the embassy.  It was the presence of this remaining American population that prevented Obama from simply walking away from the recent ISIS conflict.  He can justify his 2011 decision until forever,  but if the remaining American presence is assaulted,  captured, or worse,  the Democrat Party and B Hussein Obama would suffer untold political damage,  as a result.  

As a consequence,  Occupy Washington and its leader,  Barack Obama,  are stuck in Iraq.  Obama cannot lay down and sleep through the night,  as he did during the Benghazi attacks.  But,  if he does not answer the call to arms as reported in the Telegraph article,  it will appear as if he has done just that.  

Understand that the fighting is critical in two regions: Kubani in Northern Syria (not shown on our map) and the Anwar Province in Iraq  (Fallujah/Ramadi and the western suburbs of Baghdad).  Losses in these two theaters,  will destroy the Administration's claim that it's air war is anything other than a political and feckless show of force before a critical election in the United States,  four weeks from now.    

Baghdad has a population of 9 million.  Most of these people are Shia Muslims.  ISIS is a radicalized Sunni force.  And,  while a take-over of the capital does not seem possible,  we must not forget that ISIS has already done the impossible in taking Mosul (population 2 million), more than 50% of the land mass of Iraq, 30% of Syria, the border crossing between Jordan and Syria,  and is about to capture Fallujah/Ramadi.  

So goes the War Against America, in Iraq,  its political complications,  and the growing fear of utter defeat at the hands of an inferior fighting force.

This is our updated review of the Iraqi mess as of Monday, October 13.

Stay tuned,  it gets worse.