On Friday, October 3, 2014 12:22 AM, "ANS@Assist-Ministries.com" <ANS@Assist-Ministries.com> wrote:
| ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com Thursday, October 2, 2014 IS only 6 mi. from Baghdad - may attack anytime, church leader says  By Mark Ellis Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- The terror army that calls itself Islamic State is within six miles of the capital of Iraq and may attack at any moment, according to the Rev. Canon Andrew White, sometimes called the vicar of Baghdad.
"People are very fearful. The nation looks as if it has collapsed," White reported on his Facebook page September 30th. He said 1,000 Iraqi troops were killed by IS over the weekend. Baghdad, the bustling city along the Tigris with 7 million people, is unusually quiet, anticipating the worst. "The usual hectic and crazy streets were this morning almost empty," he observed. Baghdad is the second largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. White's friends and contacts surrounding Baghdad are apprehensive, while a veil of confusion seems to hang in the air. "Islamic State, ISIS, or DAASH as they are known locally, are very close to Baghdad. We do not really know what is happening. All we know is that people are very afraid." As the U.S. works on a long-range plan to degrade and defeat IS that may take from one to three years, what is known about current conditions does not build confidence. "We know that civilians have been killed in air strikes; we know that there are huge battles with IS, and we know that our army is not very efficient." Rev. White discovered firsthand that the morale of Iraqi troops is poor. "This morning I was with one of my soldiers who is assigned by the government to protect me," White said. "I asked him what he would do if he saw ISIS coming. He told me he would take off his uniform and run."  See all ASSIST News articles at www.assistnews.net
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