Oil spikes, U.S. faces another war in Iraq as the country falls

If you're sensitive about prices at the pump to fill up your tank, do it now because the price of oil is surging as American is getting drawn into a third conflict in Iraq. The sudden success of an al-Qaeda affiliated terror network in carving out a country for itself is nearly complete and the world is scrambling to respond.

KUWAIT CITY, KUWAIT (Catholic Online) - The city of Baghdad is already falling to Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forces as military units abandon their weapons and posts and flee ahead of the apparently unstoppable columns of ISIS combatants.

The group, ISIS, is imposing strict sharia law in its wake, ordering women to stay indoors and wear burkas. Now, they have vowed to capture Baghdad and are already closing in.

Pray for peace in this troubled time.

The ISIS movement is a Sunni insurgency while the governments of Iraq and Iran are dominated by Shiites. The ethnic Kurds of the region, long feeling abandoned by the world, have taken up arms alongside ISIS. In response, Iran is sending two brigades of troops to fight the fast-moving insurgency. Iraq and Iran make strange bedfellows following their long history of mortal conflict with one another, but recently relations have warmed as Iran sees the power vacuum left by the U.S. as an opportunity to expand its hegemony.

Meanwhile, Islamic Imams in Baghdad encouraged the faithful to fight back against the Sunni rebellion, and to defend Baghdad. Thousands have volunteered to join the army and fight, but the army itself continues to run before ISIS militants, abandoning equipment and territory to the enemy.

For his part, Obama has declined to commit U.S. ground forces, likely aware that Americans are weary of conflict in the region. However, to send no support would be the same as supporting the insurgency. It is likely that Obama will order airstrikes, at least from drones, if not from Navy fighters in the region.

These orders could have already been given, or they could be given later today. Americans should expect to hear from Obama soon, although no address to the nation has been announced.

According to the UN, nearly a million people have fled from ISIS occupation and are now displaced in Iraq. With the UN already committed in Syria and South Sudan, where famines are taking a terrible toll, there does not seem to be the resources to help the Iraqi refugees.

Americans have been evacuated from Iraq, the national government is already predicting the fall of the "Green Zone" a supposedly secure military enclave in Baghdad, and the world is looking to the U.S. to show leadership and help. However, American help could strain relations with Saudi Arabia, which privately supports ISIS and is dominated by a Sunni regime.

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If ISIS succeeds in forming a state, it could become a key enemy of the United States, providing a key base of operations for terrorists in the region.

Brent crude oil has surged to over $112 per barrel, and looks to continue gains in the days ahead.

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