Kerry In Surprise Egypt Visit

The purpose: defuse the Iraq crisis diplomatically.

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Cairo on Sunday morning on the first leg of a trip that is intended to hasten the formation of a cross-sectarian government in Iraq.

In his swing through Middle East capitals, Mr. Kerry plans to send two messages on Iraq. One is that Arab states should use their influence with Iraqi politicians and prod them to quickly form an inclusive government.

Another is that they should crack down on funding to the Sunni militants in the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The group is largely self-sustaining because of success in extortion and its plundering of banks in Mosul, Iraq. But some funding “has flowed into Iraq from its neighbors,” said a senior official on Mr. Kerry’s plane.

“That does not mean that it’s the result of an official government policy in many, if not most, cases,” the official added. “But it does mean that some of these governments can do more to stop some of that facilitation.”

The visit comes as Islamist militias make more gains in the besieged nation:

The Sunni push that has brought havoc to western Iraq continued virtually unabated Sunday as militants secured the town of Rutba, the fourth to fall in two days in embattled Anbar Province.

News outlets including The Wall Street Journal reported the fighting Sunday morning came a day after militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant overran a crucial border post with Syria near the town of al Qaim and seized the cities of Rawa and Ana in western Anbar.

The Associated Press reported that residents were negotiating Sunday with the ISIL militants to leave after an army unit on the town’s outskirts threatened to start shelling.

As the battles intensify, Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came out against U.S. intervention, telling the Iran state news agency IRNA that “Iran believes that people and government as well as religious leaders of Iraq can end the adventurism.”

By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.