It always amazes me how the "terrorists" do the exact thing that will advance the USraeli agenda at every turn. Someone mentioned the world domination plan "Securing The Realm" the other day, and everything happening in front of us now is from the playbook.
It appears that 2014 is the year the last phase of the plan is going forward. Israel is ready to go into Gaza and the West Bank, "allied"-created ISIS has conflated Syria and Iraq, and Iran and Russia are already being drawn in.
This is it, folks. Strap on the seat belts and watch the fireworks fly this summer from here on out!
"Sunni militants capture key Iraqi border posts; Army’s move to withdraw called ‘tactical decision’" by Alissa J. Rubin | New York Times June 23, 2014
BAGHDAD — Sunni militants gained control of two Iraqi posts on the Syrian and Jordanian borders, along with several nearby towns in Anbar province, the Iraqi government said Sunday.
The Baghdad government tried to cast a positive light on what it and Western officials described as a worrisome development by saying Iraqi troops had made a “tactical decision” to withdraw from the locations....
And the propaganda drones on.
The militants seem intent on methodically consolidating their hold on the large Sunni provinces to the west and north, as the Iraqi army focuses on securing Baghdad, the capital.
Yeah, that whole surge stalled. What happened?
The militants already have considerable strength in Anbar province, but it has been mainly in remote villages and towns, with the exception of Fallujah.
Now, with the taking of the border posts and nearby towns, they will be able to move on the road that leads to the city of Haditha, where there is a major dam.
On Sunday the government was reinforcing its troops there, anxious to secure the dam. Iraqi military officials said more than 2,000 troops were dispatched to the dam, the AP reported.
The quick advance by ISIS in the western desert moves the Al Qaeda-breakaway group closer to its goal of creating an Islamic state straddling Syria and Iraq.
See: Al-CIA-Duh Caliphate
Can't say they didn't telegraph the agenda.
In the meantime, controlling the borders with Syria will help it supply fellow fighters in that country with weapons taken from Iraq.
During the Qaim battle, it appeared that 70 volunteers who had left Baghdad to join the fighting on the side of the Iraqi army were killed in an ambush. They were traveling in food freezer trucks to camouflage their arrival, but a police source said the militants appeared to have discovered this.
It was not clear how many Iraqi army soldiers had been killed in the fight but there were many and they fought hard, according to the police.
On Sunday, twin blasts by a suicide bomber and a car bomb targeted a funeral for a senior army officer in Anbar province, killing eight and injuring 13, police and hospital officials said. The attack near Ramadi hit the funeral of Brigadier General Abdul-Majid al-Fahdawi, who was killed by a mortar shell in Qaim on Friday.
In Diyala province, the struggle for power between the Sunni militants from ISIS and local Sunnis, some of them former military officers under Saddam Hussein, continued on Sunday.
ISIS fighters killed three brothers of one of the leaders of the Islamic army and destroyed houses of fighters in that group as well as of the Men of Naqshbandia, former Hussein loyalists or Ba’athists.
This idea that these guys ever cooperated is offensive, and the fact that the propaganda pre$$ is rolling this already discredited log of stink out again is insulting.
The Shi’ite-dominated government of President Nouri al-Maliki has struggled to halt the advance of the Sunni militants. Iraq has requested US airstrikes to help halt the advance, but President Obama has instead called on Iraqi leaders to form a more representative government, in thinly-veiled criticism of Maliki.
Related: ISIS Insurgency All About Removing Maliki
You didn't know that was the reason for all this propaganda from my agenda-pushing war pre$$ to be wrapped around it?
Obama also is deploying up to 300 military advisers to join some 275 troops in and around Iraq to provide security and support for the US Embassy and other American interests.
After he said he ended that war.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say over Iranian state policy, said Sunday that he was opposed to any US intervention in Iraq. ‘‘The main dispute in Iraq is between those who want Iraq to join the US camp and those who seek an independent Iraq,’’ Khamenei was quoted as saying by the IRNA state news agency, in his first reaction to the crisis. ‘‘The US aims to bring its own blind followers to power.’’
Yeah, the whole world sees it, from Ukraine to Syria to parts beyond.
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"Sunni militants consolidate control of western region" by Tim Arango and Michael R. Gordon | New York Times June 24, 2014
IRBIL, Iraq — The Sunni militant extremists who have seized a broad area of Iraq extended their control Monday to the country’s entire western frontier, having secured nearly all official border crossings with Syria and the only one with Jordan, giving them the semblance of the new independent state that they say they intend to create in the region.
With the seizure of the Jordan crossing, which militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, first assaulted late Sunday, the Iraqi military defenses crumpled, as they have in other battlegrounds in the western and northern parts of the country over the past two weeks. ISIS control of the Jordan border raised the risks that its insurgency could menace not just Syria and Iraq but Jordan and Saudi Arabia, two important US allies.
I hope you forgive me for tuning out and getting bored with the endless beating of war drum propaganda. Knowing where it is all going has spoiled the fun. That, and the crap liars $erving up such $hit. Sorry.
The border seizure came as Secretary of State John Kerry made an emergency visit to Baghdad for consultations with Iraqi leaders on the need to bridge the country’s deepening sectarian splits and form a new unity government that can halt the ISIS insurgency.
That will be a separate post above today. Next in line, in fact.
That is an enormous challenge, given the polarizing effects of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite whose autocratic tendencies have increasingly been a worry for US officials.
Meaning he has stopped obeying orders and was acting independently and in his own nation's interest.
Even as Kerry was conferring with Iraqi political leaders, sectarian reprisal violence appeared to be worsening, with at least three instances of mass killings.
Shi’ite policemen were believed to have killed at least 69 Sunni insurgent prisoners on a highway, insurgents bombed the funerals of 15 Shi’ite civilians they had killed, and a Sunni family of six, including three children, was found shot to death in a Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad.
If true, horrifying. The problem is, I don't even know if I believe a word of anything I see in my agenda-pushing war-promoter these days. It's constant lies, distortions, obfuscations, and omissions, with a beeping helping of $elf-$erving $upremaci$m with in$ult.
Time to declare independence from the Bo$ton Globe!
The ISIS advance on the border posts highlights the quick and strategic gains the militants have made against the Iraqi government’s security forces, which have shown little resistance and little willingness to retake them by force.
Maybe true, but I keep thinking of the decade of "we are winning" the wars followed by "the terrorists are back." I'm sick of the $hit yo-yo of the propaganda pre$$, sorry.
But the advance also starkly symbolized the broader aim espoused by ISIS of erasing the border drawn by the colonial powers after World War I and establishing an Islamic state that stretches from the Mediterranean through the deserts of Iraq.
Beginning the next sentence with a but is a way of saying everything I just said was bull$hit. Learned that day one in the writing comp course 101.
“Taking the border crossing with Jordan would mean to me that ISIS is messaging to Jordan and Saudi Arabia that it is a state now,” said Jessica D. Lewis, research director at the Institute for the Study of War, who has scrutinized the militant group’s advances in Iraq and Syria.
Oh, they send 'em a text, did they?
I'm sorry, readers, but I've already got the message regarding this crap.
“I do not think that ISIS is necessarily going to move into Jordan or Saudi Arabia imminently,” she said, “but they are willing to force Jordan and Saudi Arabia to plan forward and treat ISIS as a state actor with military means.”
Pffft!
In recent days, the militants also seized two Iraqi posts on the Syrian border. There were unconfirmed reports late Monday that militants occupying one of the posts, Waleed, had scattered from Syrian government airstrikes.
Interesting how those swooped in low and then disappeared from the radar.
That means Syria an.... ally now?
But the other post, in Qaim, was under ISIS control and opened up an important supply line for the militants between the battlefields in both countries.
And supplies also pour in through Turkey, don't forget that supply route. Or the one over on the Saudi border.
In the north, Iraqi Kurds, who have taken steps during the crisis to secure their own borders and perhaps advance their aspirations of independence, have secured another outpost, leaving the Iraqi government with no control of any crossing into Syria or Jordan.
Netanyahu is all for that, and it fooled no one.
Anyone tell him the juggernaut has stalled?
On the frontier between Syria and Turkey, ISIS controls at least two border crossings.
Propaganda pre$$ won't stay long there.
As the Iraqi state, especially the military, seems to be weakening by the day, ISIS has been building the trappings of a new state, seizing assets that include armored vehicles, weapons, and money, fighting for control of Baiji, Iraq’s largest oil refinery, and now securing border outposts.
I was told they had the oil refinery, so WTF?
As the group has taken territory in the north, capturing control of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, one of the battle lines has been set at Samarra, home to an important Shi’ite shrine.
US officials say ISIS has its sights set on destroying the shrine, which would likely lead to an explosion of sectarian violence, just as an attack there did in early 2006.
Related: Islam's 9/11
It is how you divide and conquer.
Hmmmm! Who benefits?
“Clearly, everyone understands that Samarra is an important line,” Kerry said at a news conference Monday in Baghdad.
Another red line in the sand?
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Time to start erasing those lines:
"Iraq retrenches to save Baghdad, Shi’ite shrines" by Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra | Associated Press June 25, 2014
BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is ready to concede, at least temporarily, the loss of much of Iraq to Sunni insurgents and is instead deploying the military’s best-trained and equipped troops to defend Baghdad, Iraqi officials said Tuesday.
Shi’ite militias responding to a call to arms by Iraq’s top cleric are also focused on protecting the capital and Shi’ite shrines, while Kurdish fighters have grabbed a long-coveted oil-rich city outside their self-ruled territory, ostensibly to defend it from the Al Qaeda breakaway group.
And the break-up of Iraq begins. Saudi said they would never allow it to go Shi'ite, and it makes you wonder if Wolfowitz's doctrine put them in power deliberately. They create the "enemy" they "need" to destroy, seen it hundreds of times now!
With Iraq’s bitterly divided sects focused on self-interests, the situation on the ground is increasingly looking like the fractured state the Americans have hoped to avoid.
That's a LIE! Plenty of war-planners hoped for and created the conditions for just that!
Two weeks after a series of disastrous battlefield setbacks in the north and west, Maliki is struggling to devise an effective strategy to repel the relentless advances by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a well-trained and mobile force thought to have some 10,000 fighters inside Iraq.
That's ALL? That's IT? Controlling huge swathes of land and important installations? Really?
The response by government forces has so far been far short of a counteroffensive, restricted mostly to areas where Shi’ites are in danger of falling prey to the Sunni extremists.
These weaknesses were highlighted when the government tried but failed to retake Tal Afar, a mixed Shi’ite-Sunni city of some 200,000 near the Syrian border.
The contradictions drive you crazy.
The government claimed it had retaken parts of the city but the area remains under the control of the militants after a battle in which some 30 volunteers and troops were killed.
Government forces backed by helicopter gunships have also fought for a week to defend Iraq’s largest oil refinery in Beiji, north of Baghdad, where a top military official said Tuesday that Sunni militants were regrouping for another push to capture the sprawling facility.
I was told they had captured it, period, and that was weeks ago.
In the face of militant advances that have virtually erased Iraq’s western border with Syria and captured territory on the frontier with Jordan, Maliki’s focus has been the defense of Baghdad, a majority Shi’ite city of 7 million fraught with growing tension. The city’s Shi’ites fear they could be massacred and the revered al-Kazimiyah shrine destroyed if Islamic State fighters capture Baghdad. Sunni residents also fear the extremists, as well as Shi’ite militiamen in the city, who they worry could turn against them.
The militants have vowed to march to Baghdad and the holy Shi’ite cities of Najaf and Karbala, a threat that prompted the nation’s top Shi’ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to issue an urgent call to arms that has resonated with young Shi’ite men.
Still waiting as they stall and consolidate, which signals to me this is all propaganda.
The military’s best-trained and equipped forces have been deployed to bolster Baghdad’s defenses, aided by US intelligence on the militants’ movements, according to the Iraqi officials, who are close to Maliki’s inner circle and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss such sensitive issues.
Yeah, they are helping out the guy we hoped would lose the elections and the guy they want to get rid off, yup!
The number of troops normally deployed in Baghdad has doubled, they said, declining to give a figure. Significant numbers are defending the Green Zone, the sprawling area on the west bank of the Tigris River that is home to Maliki’s office, as well as the US Embassy.
‘‘Al-Maliki is tense. He is up working until 4 a.m. every day. He angrily ordered staff at his office to stop watching TV news channels hostile to his government,’’ one of the officials said.
I've stopped watching them all, even $unni-in$pired Al-Jewzeera.
The struggle has prompted the Obama administration to send hundreds of troops back into Iraq, nearly three years after the US military withdrew.
Related: US Staying Out of Iraq
Obama lied!
The Pentagon said Tuesday that nearly half of the roughly 300 US advisers and special operations forces are now on the ground in Baghdad, where they have begun to assess the Iraqi forces and the fight against Sunni militants. Another four teams of special forces will arrive in days, bringing the total to nearly 200.
Up to like 800 now, and they will be in combat!
Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, also said the United States is conducting up to 35 surveillance missions daily over Iraq to provide intelligence.
--more--"
Deeper and deeper is the incremental involvement...
"Maliki rejects call for unity government; Militants attack ex-US air base, advance on dam" by Loveday Morris and Liz Sly | Washington Post June 26, 2014
BAGHDAD — Embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rejected demands Wednesday from rival politicians for an emergency national unity government, as Al Qaeda-inspired insurgents gained more ground, assaulting a former US air base and pushing toward one of the country’s largest dams.
He's a dictator! Meaning ISIS is our.... friend?
Oh, I'm getting SO CONFUSED and is that NOT THE POINT of the propaganda pre$$?
In his weekly address to the nation, he described such efforts as a ‘‘rebellion’’ against the constitution.
A constitution created by the United States after it liberated the place.
Too bad my own government doesn't follow its Constitution, especially on this very day.
The United States is pressuring Iraq to create a more inclusive government, urging Maliki, a Shi’ite, to reach out to the country’s disaffected Sunni Muslim minority.
With the country’s conflict expanding, Baghdad is locked in a period of intense political maneuvering that could result in Maliki’s loss of the premiership. Given the violence, he is likely to struggle to form a government although his party won the largest share of the vote in April parliamentary elections, analysts said.
U.S. didn't like the result.
Despite his outright rejection of a ‘‘national salvation’’ government demanded by politicians, including the secular Shi’ite Ayad Allawi, he struck a somewhat conciliatory tone in his speech.
Allawi a U.S. asset, as is the unmentioned Ahmad Chalabi. That guy has an amazing ability to fade into the woodwork when it comes to my paper.
He urged political parties to lay aside their differences before the first session of Iraq’s newly elected Parliament, expected to take place next week.
‘‘We desperately need a united national stance to defy terrorism,’’ said Maliki.
His speech, delivered two days after he met with Secretary of State John F. Kerry, contrasted sharply with his public declarations earlier in the crisis, which have appealed to religious motivations and called for citizens to protect the country’s Shi’ite Muslim shrines.
Maliki issued the appeal as Sunni Muslim militants attacked one of Iraq’s largest air bases and seized several small oil fields north of the capital, news agencies reported.
In addition, insurgents were advancing on the Haditha Dam and hydroelectric power plant on the Euphrates River about 175 miles northwest of Baghdad.
There were also reports that Iran is stepping up its intervention on behalf of Maliki, secretly supplying military equipment and using drones to conduct aerial surveillance.
How dare the.... oh, right.
In Brussels, where he attended NATO meetings Wednesday, Kerry said the conflict in Iraq has ‘‘been widened obviously in the last days with reports of [Iranian Revolutionary Guard] personnel, some people from Iran being engaged in Iraq, perhaps even some Syrian activities therein.’’
Kerry told reporters, ‘‘That’s one of the reasons why government formation is so urgent, so that the leaders of Iraq can begin to make the decisions necessary to protect Iraq without outside forces moving to fill a vacuum.’’
He said that as the U.S. is sending troops back in for that very reason?
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
You know what is a perfect metaphor? John Kerry is like a guy who has dog shit stuck in the treads of his shoes and can't smell the stench!
Now, THAT is FUNNY! Or should it be that IS funny?
He said he briefed other NATO foreign ministers about his meetings with Iraqi leaders earlier this week in Baghdad and Irbil.
Striking a positive note, Kerry also said he was not sure what Maliki meant in rejecting a ‘‘salvation government’’ but that the rest of Maliki’s address was in line with what he pledged to do in their meeting.
Syrian government aircraft bombed Sunni militant targets inside Iraq on Tuesday, further broadening the crisis that is threatening to engulf the entire Middle East.
Some little shit stain of a country located there sure is hoping so!
Israeli warplanes and rockets struck targets inside Syria.
How did you know I meant them?
Iraqi news media reported that at least 20 people were killed and 93 injured in the strike by Syrian jets on an Iraqi border town controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Western officials who confirmed the attack said they had no casualty details on the strike, which targeted a market in the town of Qaim, according to the nongovernment National Iraqi News Agency.
CNN reported Wednesday that at least 57 Iraqi civilians were killed and more than 120 others injured in Syrian airstrikes on several border areas of Anbar province Tuesday, including Rutba, Walid, and Qaim.
Related:
"The Wall Street Journal reported that Syrian warplanes had struck targets in western Iraq, killing at least 50."
$ee where I found it?
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Who is your money on in the Battle for Iraq?
"Shi’ite leaders in Iraq press for prime minister’s ouster; Many lose hope he can unite nation in fight" by Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra | Associated Press June 27, 2014
BAGHDAD — Prominent Shi’ite leaders pushed Thursday for the removal of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as Parliament prepared to start work next week on putting together a new government, under intense US pressure to rapidly form a united front against a Sunni insurgent onslaught.
Increasingly, former allies of Maliki, a Shi’ite, believe he cannot lead an inclusive government that can draw minority Sunnis away from support for the fighters who have swept over a large swath of Iraq as they head toward the capital, Baghdad. In a further sign of Iraq’s unraveling along sectarian lines, a bombing on Thursday killed 12 people in a Shi’ite neighborhood of Baghdad that houses a revered shrine, and police found the bullet-riddled bodies of eight Sunnis south of the capital.
Sectarianism is Zionist cover for western and Israeli intelligence agencies raising hell.
Most crucially, though, backing for Maliki is weakening with his most important ally, neighboring Iran.
A senior Iranian general who met with Shi’ite politicians in Iraq during a 10-day visit this month returned home with a list of potential prime minister candidates for Iran’s leadership to consider, several senior Iraqi Shi’ite politicians who have knowledge of the general’s meetings told the Associated Press.
As if Iran will be, is, or should be allowed to pick the next guy.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wants Maliki to remain in his post, at least for now, the politicians said, but Iran’s moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, believes Maliki must go or else Iraq will fragment.
We know who wins that argument.
Khamenei holds final say in all state matters in Iran, but the politicians expressed doubt he would insist on Maliki against overwhelming rejection of him by Iraq’s Shi’ite parties.
I'm so sick of stink buts, stills, nonetheless, howevers, and all the other colorful shovels used to buck shit. Sorry.
The general, Ghasem Soleimani, is expected to return within days to inform Iraqi politicians of Tehran’s favorite, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal deliberations.
Iran’s Shi’ite cleric-led government succeeded in herding reluctant Shi’ite parties into backing Maliki for a second term four years ago, and its leverage over Iraq’s Shi’ite political establishment has grown significantly since the 2011 withdrawal of US troops after an eight-year presence.
That's another reason the U.S. wants Maliki out. He didn't sign on for an extended U.S. troop presence like they wanted.
Non-Arab and mostly Shi’ite, Iran has found in majority Shi’ite Iraq a convenient vehicle to extend its sphere of regional influence to the heart of the Middle East.
And JWHO BENEFITS by that being BROKEN UP?
Iran’s leverage in Iraq also gives it a trump card against its Sunni rivals in the Gulf region, where powerhouse Saudi Arabia, for example, has traditionally viewed Tehran with suspicion.
Related: US shouldn’t let Iraq be bargaining chip with Iran
Can any of this be any clearer?
The United States and its allies are pushing for the creation of a government that can draw support among Iraq’s Sunni minority, which has been alienated by Maliki, seen as a fiercely partisan Shi’ite.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague, meeting with Maliki in Baghdad on Thursday, told a news conference that ‘‘we believe the urgent priority must be to form an inclusive government . . . that can command the support of all Iraqis and work to stop terrorists and their terrible crimes.’’
It would help if your intelligence agencies would quit abetting them.
Hague’s trip follows a visit by Secretary of State John Kerry, who earlier this week delivered a similar message.
Think Maliki got it?
Kerry met in Paris on Thursday with foreign ministers from America’s top Sunni Arab allies to consider how to confront the Al Qaeda breakaway group leading the Sunni insurgent offensive, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Do I have to continuing typing anything?
The Arab diplomats did not commit to sending any military assistance to Baghdad, as the United States is doing. The Pentagon said Thursday that four teams of Army special forces have arrived in Baghdad, bringing the number of American troops there to 90 out of the 300 promised by President Obama. The Americans will advise and assist Iraqi counterterrorism forces.
And fly combat missions, but it is not combat because Obummer says so.
So far, Maliki has defied calls to step aside. In April elections, his State of the Law bloc won the largest proportion in Parliament — 92 seats in the 328-member chamber — but that is not enough for the simple majority needed to name him prime minister.
He no longer has the support of his former Shi’ite, Kurdish, and Sunni allies in his previous coalition.
Compounding the pressure on Maliki, a prominent Shi’ite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, called in a televised statement late Wednesday for a national unity government of ‘‘new faces’’ representing all groups.
Sadr also vowed to ‘‘shake the ground’’ under the feet of the Sunni insurgents, who have threatened to advance toward Baghdad and holy Shi’ite cities in the south.
Then he went back in his hole.
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"Top Iraqi cleric pushes for new leader" by Ryan Lucas and Sameer N. Yacoub | Associated Press June 28, 2014
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric ratcheted up the pressure Friday on lawmakers to agree on a prime minister before the newly elected Parliament meets next week, trying to avert months of wrangling in the face of a Sunni insurgent blitz over huge tracts in the country’s north and west.
The United States, meanwhile, started flying armed drones over Baghdad to protect American civilians and newly deployed US military forces in the capital.
Do I have to continuing typing anything?
Less than three years after the last US troops left Iraq, Washington is being pulled back in by the stunning offensive spearheaded by the Qaeda breakaway group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The U.S. is like some sort of Godfather III, huh?
"Insurgency" puts the pressure on Maliki, too!
The onslaught, which began less than three weeks ago, has triggered the worst crisis in Iraq since the US withdrawal and sapped public — and international — confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite.
Many of Maliki’s former allies, and even key patron Iran, have begun exploring alternatives to replace him. But Maliki, who has governed Iraq since 2006, has proven over the years to be a savvy and hard-nosed politician, and has shown no willingness to step aside.
Maliki can claim to have a mandate. He won the most votes in April elections, and his State of Law bloc won the most seats by far. But he failed to gain the majority needed to govern alone, leaving him in need of allies to retain his post.
That has set the stage for what could be months of arduous coalition negotiations. After 2010’s elections, it took politicians nine months to agree on a prime minister. Now, unlike four years ago, the territorial cohesion of Iraq is at stake.
Time to make a Clean Break, right?
Seizing on the sense of urgency, Iraq’s most powerful Shi’ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called on the country’s politicians to agree on the next prime minister, Parliament speaker, and president by the time the new Legislature meets on Tuesday, a cleric who represents him told worshipers in a sermon Friday in the holy city of Karbala.
So Maliki is out, huh?
--more--"
Maybe not? The tide has turned:
"Iraq forces launch push to regain lost territory" by Ryan Lucas and Qassim Abdul-Zahra | Associated Press June 29, 2014
BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government launched its biggest push yet to wrest back ground lost to Sunni militants, as soldiers backed by tanks and helicopter gunships began an offensive Saturday to retake the northern city of Tikrit.
There were conflicting reports as to how far the military advanced in its initial thrust toward Tikrit, the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein. Residents said militants were still in control of the city by nightfall, while Iraqi officials said troops had reached the outskirts and even pressed deep into the heart of Tikrit itself.
What was clear, however, was the government’s desire to portray the campaign as a significant step forward after two weeks of demoralizing defeats at the hands of insurgents led by the Al Qaeda breakaway Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The militants’ surge across much of northern and western Iraq has thrown the country into its deepest crisis since US troops withdrew in December 2011, and threatens to cleave the nation in three along sectarian and ethnic lines.
Someone wrote up a plan to do just that.
Iraq’s large, US-trained and equipped military melted away in the face of the militant onslaught, sapping morale and public confidence in its ability to stem the tide, let alone regain lost turf.
Not only can that not be good if true, but it signals a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars in a bankrupt nation.
If successful, the Tikrit operation could help restore a degree of faith in the security forces — as well as embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is fighting to keep his job.
Saturday’s fighting began before dawn with helicopter gunships carrying out airstrikes on insurgents who were attacking troops at a university campus on Tikrit’s northern outskirts, Iraqi military spokesman Lieutenant General Qassim al-Moussawi said.
The government forces had established a bridgehead on the university’s sprawling grounds after being airlifted in the previous day.
Sporadic clashes continued throughout the day at the university. At the same time, several columns of troops pushed north toward Tikrit from Samarra, a city along the banks of the Tigris River and home to an important Shi’ite shrine, a senior security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
By sundown, Lieutenant General Ahmed Abu Ragheef, a commander in the Salahuddin Operational Command, said a column of troops had reached the edge of Tikrit, while another had secured an air base that previously served as a US military facility known as Camp Speicher.
The governor of Salahuddin province, Ahmed Abdullah al-Jabouri, said troops pushed into Tikrit itself, reaching as far the provincial council building.
However, residents reached by telephone Saturday evening said militants were still in control of Tikrit, a predominantly Sunni city of more than 200,000, and patrolling the city’s streets.
I don't know whom to believe considering the source and prism I'm getting it through.
They confirmed the clashes around the university, and reported fighting between the Islamic State and Iraqi forces to the southeast of the city as well. Some residents described black smoke rising from a presidential palace complex along the edge of the Tigris River after army helicopters opened fire on the compound.
They spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for their safety.
Many locals had already fled the city in anticipation of a government assault, said another Tikrit resident, Muhanad Saif al-Din.
Great, more refugees.
‘‘Tikrit has become a ghost town because a lot of people left over the past 72 hours, fearing random aerial bombardment and possible clashes as the army advances toward the city,’’ Saif al-Din said.
‘‘The few people who remain are afraid of possible revenge acts by Shi’ite militiamen who are accompanying the army,’’ he said. “We are peaceful civilians and we do not want to be victims of this struggle.’’
He said the city has been without power or water since Friday night.
Now it is becoming humanitarian and any day the U.N. will be screaming to get involved.
The military also carried out three airstrikes on the insurgent-held city of Mosul early Saturday. Mosul is Iraq’s second-largest city, and was the initial target of the Islamic State’s offensive in the country.
South of Baghdad, heavy clashes between security forces and Sunni insurgents in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar killed at least 21 troops and dozens of militants, police and hospital officials said on condition of anonymity.
Jurf al-Sakhar, about 30 miles outside the capital, is part of a predominantly Sunni ribbon that runs just south of Baghdad.
The Islamic State, which already has seized control of vast swaths in northern and eastern Syria, aims to create a state straddling Syria and Iraq governed by Islamic law. In Iraq, the group has formed an alliance of sorts with fellow Islamic militants as well as former members of Saddam’s Ba’ath party to fight Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government.
The militants have tapped into deep-seated discontent among Iraq’s Sunni community with Maliki, who has been widely accused of monopolizing power and alienating Sunnis. The prime minister’s failure to promote national reconciliation has been blamed for fueling Sunni anger.
The United States and other world powers have pressed Maliki to reach out to the country’s Sunni and Kurdish minorities and have called for a more inclusive government that can address longstanding grievances.
Blah, blah, blah.
--more--"
"Sunni forces declare birth of Islamic state; Russian advisers, warplanes arrive to help Baghdad" by Rod Nordland | New York Times June 30, 2014
BAGHDAD — Sunni extremists who have seized large sections of northern Syria and Iraq formally announced the creation of a new Islamic state Sunday and declared their leader the caliph, or absolute ruler, of all jihadi organizations worldwide.
Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, made the announcement in an audio statement posted online.
Also Sunday, government officials in Baghdad said Russian military experts had arrived in Iraq to help the army get 12 Russian warplanes into the fight against the extremists. The planes began arriving Saturday.
Wow! And deeper down the road of prophecy we go!
The Russian move was an implicit rebuke to the United States, which the Iraqis believe has been too slow to supply US F-16s and attack helicopters.
Yeah, the U.S. has not done air strikes or anything Maliki has asked.
In his 34-minute audio recording, Adnani said the insurgency’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was now the world’s caliph and had declared all other jihadi organizations void and under his direct control, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremists’ online presence.
Now I know this is 100% BS.
Related: SITE Institute
IS ISRAEL CONTROLLING PHONY TERROR NEWS?
ISIS’s announcement of its hegemony over the world’s Islamic extremists is being viewed as little more than a propaganda ploy, but it is indicative of its growing ambition to recreate the Islamic state that once ruled over much of the Middle East.
And that is winning people over, huh?
In Washington, the Obama administration called on the international community to unite in the face of the threat posed by the Sunni extremists, calling it “a critical moment.’’
Yeah, this thing gets STINKIER and STINKIER by the paragraph!
ISIS split with Al Qaeda last year when that group’s leaders ordered it to leave Syria. Since then, it has battled with Al Qaeda-linked jihadis in Syria, as well as with nonextremist rebel forces there, for control of the uprising against President Bashar Assad of Syria.
It was unclear what immediate effect the move would have on the fighting in Syria and Iraq, but it could provoke dissent among the Sunni militant groups that have formed an alliance with the Islamic State and had hoped to share power with it. The declaration, because it is an attempt to centralize control of the entire Islamic jihadist movement, also poses a threat to Al Qaeda.
The announcement said Baghdadi’s real name is Ibrahim Ibn Awwad Ibn Ibrahim Ali Ibn Muhammad al-Badri al-Hashimi al-Husayni al-Qurashi. It said he would be known as Caliph Ibrahim for short.
Ibn all things to all propagandists, 'eh? This as bad as Ibn a shaky al-libi.
A caliphate is a Muslim empire that in theory encompasses all Muslims worldwide. It is a term used to describe empires like that of the Ottomans in Turkey in the 15th to 20th centuries, as well as those that ruled much of the civilized world in the early days of Islam.
Five Russian SU-25 aircraft were flown into Iraq aboard cargo planes Saturday night, and two more arrived Sunday. Another five Russian aircraft were due to arrive by Monday.
General Anwar Hama Ameen, the commander of the Iraqi air force, said Russian military experts had arrived to help set up the new planes, and they would stay only a short time.
Last week President Obama ordered 300 US military advisers into the country, and the Iranians have reportedly sent advisers from their Republican Guards’ Quds Force.
At least three US Special Forces teams are said to have deployed north of Baghdad in recent days, to survey Iraqi forces and determine their state and needs.
Right back into combat!
US officials have said that Iran has been sending surveillance drones over Iraq as well as supplying military equipment and support.
So?
On Thursday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the Iraqis, in an arrangement with the Russian Ministry of Defense, had ordered a dozen SU-25s, a ground-attack fighter jet useful for close air support operations. The Iraqi military used SU-25 jets during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
Sunni jihadi fighters were reported Sunday to have stalled a government offensive to retake the central Iraqi city of Tikrit. Insurgents had apparently regained control of key government buildings in the center of Tikrit, according to witnesses who reported seeing the black flag of ISIS flying over many important buildings.
Of course, I believe whatever bullshit is cited by my lying war rag.
The day before, Iraqi troops carried out a ground assault after a three-day operation intended to take the city and roll back the insurgents’ advance toward Baghdad. Iraqi forces carried out repeated air strikes, mostly using helicopters, on insurgent targets throughout the city on Sunday for the fourth day in a row.
The Iraqi army remained in control of roads leading into Tikrit — Saddam Hussein’s birthplace and a longtime Sunni stronghold about 100 miles north of Baghdad — as well as the campus of Salahuddin University in the Qadissiyah district of Tikrit and a military base, Camp Speicher, on the outskirts of the city.
Think Iraqis now view Saddam as the good old days?
The military’s advance, supported by tanks and helicopter gunships, was hampered by a large number of bombs planted along the roads, a common tactic of the insurgents.
The Iraqis have sought to buy American F-16s and Apache helicopter gunships. The United States has now agreed to provide them.
But we haven't lifted a finger before now?
It's only after they made a deal with the Russians that Obummer sphincter rushed in with a deal?
HA-HA-HA-HA!
Not only are these delusional, power-mad psychopaths completely out-of-touch, they are also IDIOTS!!
The Iraqi air force currently has only two propeller-driven Cessna aircraft equipped to fire guided Hellfire missiles, which the Iraqis ran out of last week. During the past three days, 75 new Hellfires were delivered to Iraq by the US government.
"Top Iraqi cleric pushes for new leader" by Ryan Lucas and Sameer N. Yacoub | Associated Press June 28, 2014
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric ratcheted up the pressure Friday on lawmakers to agree on a prime minister before the newly elected Parliament meets next week, trying to avert months of wrangling in the face of a Sunni insurgent blitz over huge tracts in the country’s north and west.
The United States, meanwhile, started flying armed drones over Baghdad to protect American civilians and newly deployed US military forces in the capital.
Do I have to continuing typing anything?
Less than three years after the last US troops left Iraq, Washington is being pulled back in by the stunning offensive spearheaded by the Qaeda breakaway group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The U.S. is like some sort of Godfather III, huh?
"Insurgency" puts the pressure on Maliki, too!
The onslaught, which began less than three weeks ago, has triggered the worst crisis in Iraq since the US withdrawal and sapped public — and international — confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite.
Many of Maliki’s former allies, and even key patron Iran, have begun exploring alternatives to replace him. But Maliki, who has governed Iraq since 2006, has proven over the years to be a savvy and hard-nosed politician, and has shown no willingness to step aside.
Maliki can claim to have a mandate. He won the most votes in April elections, and his State of Law bloc won the most seats by far. But he failed to gain the majority needed to govern alone, leaving him in need of allies to retain his post.
That has set the stage for what could be months of arduous coalition negotiations. After 2010’s elections, it took politicians nine months to agree on a prime minister. Now, unlike four years ago, the territorial cohesion of Iraq is at stake.
Time to make a Clean Break, right?
Seizing on the sense of urgency, Iraq’s most powerful Shi’ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called on the country’s politicians to agree on the next prime minister, Parliament speaker, and president by the time the new Legislature meets on Tuesday, a cleric who represents him told worshipers in a sermon Friday in the holy city of Karbala.
So Maliki is out, huh?
--more--"
Maybe not? The tide has turned:
"Iraq forces launch push to regain lost territory" by Ryan Lucas and Qassim Abdul-Zahra | Associated Press June 29, 2014
BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government launched its biggest push yet to wrest back ground lost to Sunni militants, as soldiers backed by tanks and helicopter gunships began an offensive Saturday to retake the northern city of Tikrit.
There were conflicting reports as to how far the military advanced in its initial thrust toward Tikrit, the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein. Residents said militants were still in control of the city by nightfall, while Iraqi officials said troops had reached the outskirts and even pressed deep into the heart of Tikrit itself.
What was clear, however, was the government’s desire to portray the campaign as a significant step forward after two weeks of demoralizing defeats at the hands of insurgents led by the Al Qaeda breakaway Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The militants’ surge across much of northern and western Iraq has thrown the country into its deepest crisis since US troops withdrew in December 2011, and threatens to cleave the nation in three along sectarian and ethnic lines.
Someone wrote up a plan to do just that.
Iraq’s large, US-trained and equipped military melted away in the face of the militant onslaught, sapping morale and public confidence in its ability to stem the tide, let alone regain lost turf.
Not only can that not be good if true, but it signals a colossal waste of taxpayer dollars in a bankrupt nation.
If successful, the Tikrit operation could help restore a degree of faith in the security forces — as well as embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is fighting to keep his job.
Saturday’s fighting began before dawn with helicopter gunships carrying out airstrikes on insurgents who were attacking troops at a university campus on Tikrit’s northern outskirts, Iraqi military spokesman Lieutenant General Qassim al-Moussawi said.
The government forces had established a bridgehead on the university’s sprawling grounds after being airlifted in the previous day.
Sporadic clashes continued throughout the day at the university. At the same time, several columns of troops pushed north toward Tikrit from Samarra, a city along the banks of the Tigris River and home to an important Shi’ite shrine, a senior security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
By sundown, Lieutenant General Ahmed Abu Ragheef, a commander in the Salahuddin Operational Command, said a column of troops had reached the edge of Tikrit, while another had secured an air base that previously served as a US military facility known as Camp Speicher.
The governor of Salahuddin province, Ahmed Abdullah al-Jabouri, said troops pushed into Tikrit itself, reaching as far the provincial council building.
However, residents reached by telephone Saturday evening said militants were still in control of Tikrit, a predominantly Sunni city of more than 200,000, and patrolling the city’s streets.
I don't know whom to believe considering the source and prism I'm getting it through.
They confirmed the clashes around the university, and reported fighting between the Islamic State and Iraqi forces to the southeast of the city as well. Some residents described black smoke rising from a presidential palace complex along the edge of the Tigris River after army helicopters opened fire on the compound.
They spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for their safety.
Many locals had already fled the city in anticipation of a government assault, said another Tikrit resident, Muhanad Saif al-Din.
Great, more refugees.
‘‘Tikrit has become a ghost town because a lot of people left over the past 72 hours, fearing random aerial bombardment and possible clashes as the army advances toward the city,’’ Saif al-Din said.
‘‘The few people who remain are afraid of possible revenge acts by Shi’ite militiamen who are accompanying the army,’’ he said. “We are peaceful civilians and we do not want to be victims of this struggle.’’
He said the city has been without power or water since Friday night.
Now it is becoming humanitarian and any day the U.N. will be screaming to get involved.
The military also carried out three airstrikes on the insurgent-held city of Mosul early Saturday. Mosul is Iraq’s second-largest city, and was the initial target of the Islamic State’s offensive in the country.
South of Baghdad, heavy clashes between security forces and Sunni insurgents in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar killed at least 21 troops and dozens of militants, police and hospital officials said on condition of anonymity.
Jurf al-Sakhar, about 30 miles outside the capital, is part of a predominantly Sunni ribbon that runs just south of Baghdad.
The Islamic State, which already has seized control of vast swaths in northern and eastern Syria, aims to create a state straddling Syria and Iraq governed by Islamic law. In Iraq, the group has formed an alliance of sorts with fellow Islamic militants as well as former members of Saddam’s Ba’ath party to fight Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government.
The militants have tapped into deep-seated discontent among Iraq’s Sunni community with Maliki, who has been widely accused of monopolizing power and alienating Sunnis. The prime minister’s failure to promote national reconciliation has been blamed for fueling Sunni anger.
The United States and other world powers have pressed Maliki to reach out to the country’s Sunni and Kurdish minorities and have called for a more inclusive government that can address longstanding grievances.
Blah, blah, blah.
--more--"
"Sunni forces declare birth of Islamic state; Russian advisers, warplanes arrive to help Baghdad" by Rod Nordland | New York Times June 30, 2014
BAGHDAD — Sunni extremists who have seized large sections of northern Syria and Iraq formally announced the creation of a new Islamic state Sunday and declared their leader the caliph, or absolute ruler, of all jihadi organizations worldwide.
Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, made the announcement in an audio statement posted online.
Also Sunday, government officials in Baghdad said Russian military experts had arrived in Iraq to help the army get 12 Russian warplanes into the fight against the extremists. The planes began arriving Saturday.
Wow! And deeper down the road of prophecy we go!
The Russian move was an implicit rebuke to the United States, which the Iraqis believe has been too slow to supply US F-16s and attack helicopters.
Yeah, the U.S. has not done air strikes or anything Maliki has asked.
In his 34-minute audio recording, Adnani said the insurgency’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was now the world’s caliph and had declared all other jihadi organizations void and under his direct control, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremists’ online presence.
Now I know this is 100% BS.
Related: SITE Institute
IS ISRAEL CONTROLLING PHONY TERROR NEWS?
It is found in my newspaper, yeah.
ISIS’s announcement of its hegemony over the world’s Islamic extremists is being viewed as little more than a propaganda ploy, but it is indicative of its growing ambition to recreate the Islamic state that once ruled over much of the Middle East.
And that is winning people over, huh?
In Washington, the Obama administration called on the international community to unite in the face of the threat posed by the Sunni extremists, calling it “a critical moment.’’
Yeah, this thing gets STINKIER and STINKIER by the paragraph!
ISIS split with Al Qaeda last year when that group’s leaders ordered it to leave Syria. Since then, it has battled with Al Qaeda-linked jihadis in Syria, as well as with nonextremist rebel forces there, for control of the uprising against President Bashar Assad of Syria.
It was unclear what immediate effect the move would have on the fighting in Syria and Iraq, but it could provoke dissent among the Sunni militant groups that have formed an alliance with the Islamic State and had hoped to share power with it. The declaration, because it is an attempt to centralize control of the entire Islamic jihadist movement, also poses a threat to Al Qaeda.
The announcement said Baghdadi’s real name is Ibrahim Ibn Awwad Ibn Ibrahim Ali Ibn Muhammad al-Badri al-Hashimi al-Husayni al-Qurashi. It said he would be known as Caliph Ibrahim for short.
Ibn all things to all propagandists, 'eh? This as bad as Ibn a shaky al-libi.
A caliphate is a Muslim empire that in theory encompasses all Muslims worldwide. It is a term used to describe empires like that of the Ottomans in Turkey in the 15th to 20th centuries, as well as those that ruled much of the civilized world in the early days of Islam.
Five Russian SU-25 aircraft were flown into Iraq aboard cargo planes Saturday night, and two more arrived Sunday. Another five Russian aircraft were due to arrive by Monday.
General Anwar Hama Ameen, the commander of the Iraqi air force, said Russian military experts had arrived to help set up the new planes, and they would stay only a short time.
Last week President Obama ordered 300 US military advisers into the country, and the Iranians have reportedly sent advisers from their Republican Guards’ Quds Force.
At least three US Special Forces teams are said to have deployed north of Baghdad in recent days, to survey Iraqi forces and determine their state and needs.
Right back into combat!
US officials have said that Iran has been sending surveillance drones over Iraq as well as supplying military equipment and support.
So?
On Thursday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the Iraqis, in an arrangement with the Russian Ministry of Defense, had ordered a dozen SU-25s, a ground-attack fighter jet useful for close air support operations. The Iraqi military used SU-25 jets during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
Sunni jihadi fighters were reported Sunday to have stalled a government offensive to retake the central Iraqi city of Tikrit. Insurgents had apparently regained control of key government buildings in the center of Tikrit, according to witnesses who reported seeing the black flag of ISIS flying over many important buildings.
Of course, I believe whatever bullshit is cited by my lying war rag.
The day before, Iraqi troops carried out a ground assault after a three-day operation intended to take the city and roll back the insurgents’ advance toward Baghdad. Iraqi forces carried out repeated air strikes, mostly using helicopters, on insurgent targets throughout the city on Sunday for the fourth day in a row.
The Iraqi army remained in control of roads leading into Tikrit — Saddam Hussein’s birthplace and a longtime Sunni stronghold about 100 miles north of Baghdad — as well as the campus of Salahuddin University in the Qadissiyah district of Tikrit and a military base, Camp Speicher, on the outskirts of the city.
Think Iraqis now view Saddam as the good old days?
The military’s advance, supported by tanks and helicopter gunships, was hampered by a large number of bombs planted along the roads, a common tactic of the insurgents.
The Iraqis have sought to buy American F-16s and Apache helicopter gunships. The United States has now agreed to provide them.
But we haven't lifted a finger before now?
It's only after they made a deal with the Russians that Obummer sphincter rushed in with a deal?
HA-HA-HA-HA!
Not only are these delusional, power-mad psychopaths completely out-of-touch, they are also IDIOTS!!
The Iraqi air force currently has only two propeller-driven Cessna aircraft equipped to fire guided Hellfire missiles, which the Iraqis ran out of last week. During the past three days, 75 new Hellfires were delivered to Iraq by the US government.
--more--"
And look at this silly map:
They are trying to tell us ISIS is holding all those routes and territory with 10,000 men?
PFFFFFTT!!
And just as the insurgency was flowering....
"Islamic state declaration could lead to split in Sunni ranks" by Ryan Lucas | Associated Press July 01, 2014
PFFFFFTT!!
And just as the insurgency was flowering....
"Islamic state declaration could lead to split in Sunni ranks" by Ryan Lucas | Associated Press July 01, 2014
BAGHDAD — A militant extremist group’s unilateral declaration of an Islamic state is threatening to undermine its already tenuous alliance with other Sunnis who helped it overrun much of northern and western Iraq.
One uneasy ally has vowed to resist if the militants try to impose their strict interpretation of Shariah law.
Fighters from the Al Qaeda breakaway group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria have spearheaded the offensive in recent weeks that has plunged Iraq into its deepest crisis since the last US troops left in 2011. The group’s lightning advance has brought under its control territory stretching from northern Syria as far as the outskirts of Baghdad in central Iraq.
In a bold move Sunday, the group announced the establishment of its own state, or caliphate, governed by Islamic law. It proclaimed its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a highly ambitious Iraqi militant with a $10 million US bounty on his head, to be the caliph, and it demanded that Muslims around the world pledge allegiance to him.
When does he change his name again?
When does he change his name again?
Through brute force and meticulous planning, the Sunni extremist group — which said it was changing its name to simply the Islamic State — has managed to effectively erase the Syria-Iraq border and lay the foundations of its state. Along the way, it has battled Syrian rebels, Kurdish militias, and the Syrian and Iraqi militaries.
Yeah, the extreme brutality is somehow winning over people.
Yeah, the extreme brutality is somehow winning over people.
Now, the group’s declaration risks straining its loose alliances with other Sunnis who share the militants’ hopes of bringing down Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government but not necessarily its ambitions of carving out a transnational caliphate. Iraq’s minority Sunnis complain they have been treated as second-class citizens and unfairly targeted by security forces.
Than Baghdadi an IDIOT!
Than Baghdadi an IDIOT!
Topping the list of uneasy allies is the Army of the Men of the Naqshabandi Order, a Sunni militant organization with ties to Saddam Hussein’s now-outlawed Ba’ath Party. The group depicts itself as a nationalist force that defends Iraq’s Sunnis from Shi’ite rule.
Yeah, Saddam's guys were working with the fundamentalist Sunnis, sure. The insult of rolling out that particular log is incalculable.
Yeah, Saddam's guys were working with the fundamentalist Sunnis, sure. The insult of rolling out that particular log is incalculable.
A senior Naqshabandi commander in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad said his group has ‘‘no intention’’ of joining the Islamic State or working under it. He said that ‘‘would be a difficult thing to do because our ideology is different from the Islamic State’s extremist ideology.’’
Oh, yeah, HA-HA-HA-HA!
Readers, I'm wondering if this group even exists, especially with my propaganda pre$$ citing them!
Oh, yeah, HA-HA-HA-HA!
Readers, I'm wondering if this group even exists, especially with my propaganda pre$$ citing them!
‘‘Till now, the Islamic State fighters are avoiding any friction with us in the areas we control in Diyala, but if they are to change their approach toward our fighters and people living in our areas, we expect rounds of fighting with the Islamic State’s people,’’ said the commander, who goes by the nom de guerre of Abu Fatima.
Iraqi forces have stepped up efforts to reclaim lost territory from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a fight boosted by the deployment of US advisers, drone aircraft, and warplanes purchased from Russia.
With sectarian pressures running high, three mortar shells landed near the gate of a much-revered Shi’ite shrine in the city of Samarra late Monday, wounding at least nine people, said Mizhar Fleih, the deputy head of the Samarra municipal council.
The golden-domed al-Askari mosque in Samarra is one of the holiest shrines in Shi’ite Islam. Sunni militants blew up the dome in 2006, triggering sectarian bloodshed.
I already addressed that attack and who was behind it earlier.
I already addressed that attack and who was behind it earlier.
Iraq’s new Parliament is due to hold its inaugural session Tuesday. Lawmakers have not been able to agree on a prime minister who can narrow sectarian divisions. Pressure has building on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to step down amid criticism that his Shi’ite-dominated government has marginalized Sunnis. The National Alliance, which includes the main Shi’ite groups, said it hasn’t decided on a candidate for the top office.
"Iraqi deal to form a new government crumbles; Factional battles end Parliament meeting quickly"
by Rod Nordland | New York Times July 02, 2014
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s major parties initially thought they had a deal ready when they sat down Tuesday to form a new government, but the effort collapsed in factional acrimony in less than half an hour.
“We need our salaries!” shouted a Kurdish representative, Najiba Najib, complaining that the Shi’ite-dominated government in Baghdad had not been paying Kurdish officials since the Kurdistan region all but broke away last month. When extremists with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria drove the Iraqi army from northern Iraq, the Kurds took the opportunity to seize control of Kirkuk. The Kurds have long laid claim to the oil-rich city and insisted that they intend to keep it.
“You brought ISIS into our country and took the Iraqi flag down in Kirkuk and put your flag up!” shouted Mohammed Naji, a Shi’ite politician “Go and sell your oil to Israel.”
No wonder Netanyahu is for a carved-out Kurdistan!
No wonder Netanyahu is for a carved-out Kurdistan!
The meeting’s rocky start did not come about for lack of incentive. US diplomats have made it clear that any major new military assistance against extremists would come only if the Iraqis form an inclusive government acceptable to all sects. The powerful Shi’ite religious establishment had issued an edict telling legislators they had to conclude the entire deal by Tuesday. And up and down much of the country, Sunni militants pressed the government on numerous fronts.
The seriousness of the violence was reflected in a UN report issued Tuesday confirming June had been the deadliest month in Iraq since at least 2008, with 2,417 people killed, 1,531 civilians and 886 members of the security forces — four times as many as in May.
Yet only 255 of the 328 newly elected lawmakers even showed up for the first session of Parliament, with some boycotting and others afraid to travel to Baghdad because of the violence. That was enough, however, for the two-thirds quorum needed to elect a speaker and begin forming a government.
As the Parliament members arrived amid heavy security, there were reports from police and Interior Ministry officials of violence from many quarters. A roadside bomb exploded in the Sunni neighborhood of Ghazaliya, in west Baghdad, killing four civilians. A government employee was assassinated in the Jihad neighborhood nearby. Four other civilians were killed in a bombing in Ramadi and six soldiers were wounded in a mortar barrage near Fallujah, both in Anbar province, west of Baghdad. A policeman was killed during a fight with insurgents in Diyala province and three soldiers were killed in an explosion in Iskandiriya, south of Baghdad.
Six civilians were killed Monday night when the extremists fired mortars at the Askariya Shrine in Samarra, revered by Shi’ites, but the damage to the shrine was slight and the attack did not cause any immediate public reaction, as a similar attack did in 2006, which set off a sectarian blood bath.
The sense of urgency seemed to have little effect on Iraq’s new legislators, however. The major players arrived thinking they had a deal that would speed up formation of a government — a process that took nine months in 2010, but during a time of relative calm.
Sunnis and Kurds were to have agreed on Salim al-Jabouri, a Sunni, to become the new speaker, replacing Usama al-Nujaifi. In exchange, they expected the Kurds to announce their choice for president, who has to be a Kurd, and the Shi’ites’ National Alliance bloc to announce a Shi’ite prime minister to replace the incumbent, Nouri al-Maliki. Both Sunnis and Kurds, along with some Shi’ites, have insisted that Maliki has to go.
Sunnis at the last minute faced a challenge from Nujaifi, who wants to hold onto his seat, said the Shi’ite politician Haider al-Abadi, a supporter of Maliki’s State of Law party. And Kurds were nowhere near agreeing on a candidate for president. Kurds and Sunnis, however, said the Shi’ites reneged by not coming to the meeting with a nominee for the post of prime minister.
Iraq’s complex system of choosing a government makes such deal-making both difficult and essential. The speaker is necessary to preside over Parliament to elect a president, who then chooses the biggest bloc in Parliament, which picks the prime minister. But a two-thirds vote is required to choose the speaker, so politicians try to have the entire deal agreed on in advance.
U.S. wrote that piece of shit and it gave them their man Maliki!
“We cannot jump to the last stages without taking the first step,” said Abadi, adding that it would be foolish for the Shi’ites to announce their prime ministerial candidate now if the process ended up taking months.
--more--"
"Iraqi forces battle cleric’s followers" by Loveday Morris | Washington Post July 03, 2014
BAGHDAD — Security forces backed by helicopters battled supporters of a radical cleric in the Shi’ite holy city of Karbala on Wednesday as spreading violence threatened to pull more areas of the country into turmoil.
The clashes erupted when the security forces tried to seize the offices of Shi’ite cleric Mahmoud al-Sarkhi, who has sharply criticized the government. The fighting marked the first sign of a potential for violent rifts within the Shi’ite community as the government battles a Sunni insurgency inspired by Al Qaeda. Two members of the security forces were killed along with an unconfirmed number of the cleric’s gunmen, according to a local official.
Divide and conquer.
Divide and conquer.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is trying to prevent the breakup of Iraq in the face of an offensive by the heavily armed insurgents, who have already declared an Islamic state stretching across Iraqi and Syrian territory. But the threats to Iraq’s territorial integrity are many, as the Kurds prepare to vote on independence farther north and Shi’ite dissatisfaction bubbles in the south.
The Kurds get a vote for independence, but Ukrainians do not?
The Kurds get a vote for independence, but Ukrainians do not?
With violence engulfing the country, Maliki on Wednesday offered an amnesty to Sunni tribesmen who have joined the insurgency, his latest attempt to claw back control. In his weekly televised address, the embattled prime minister called on tribal leaders to stand behind the Iraqi state, although he said that in cases of ‘‘spilled blood’’ it would be up to victims’ families to decide whether the tribesmen should be forgiven.
After overrunning the northern city of Mosul on June 10, Sunni fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, now renamed Islamic State, have seized territory in the north and west and proclaimed a caliphate on captured lands.
And they called it Israel....
And they called it Israel....
‘‘They should return to their senses,’’ Maliki said of the tribesmen. ‘‘I welcome them. I welcome them back. I welcome their unity with their brothers from other tribes.’’
The United States successfully brought Sunni tribesmen on board to battle Al Qaeda as part of the Sunni Awakening movement starting in 2005. But Maliki, a Shi’ite, has not kept up payments or fulfilled promises to incorporate the Sunnis into the security forces, stirring resentment.
He has also faced opposition from Shi’ites themselves, including Sarkhi in Karbala, about 55 miles southwest of Baghdad.
His speech came just a day after the first session of Iraq’s newly elected Parliament broke up in disarray, with no progress on forming a new government. The legislative session ended in heated arguments and a walkout, an indication of the divisions besetting the country.
Maliki, who is trying to secure a third term in office despite dwindling support, said he hoped that next week’s parliamentary session would be more productive and that factions would be ‘‘realistic.’’ While the political process is important, he said, there must also be a focus on the ‘‘battle.’’
Iraqi forces attempted to enter Sarkhi’s compound just after midnight Tuesday, and his armed supporters battled them for nine hours, said the local official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to provide information. He said helicopters fired on the compound.
It was not immediately possible to confirm the death toll, which Iraqi news media put at between three and 14. Sarkhi, who split from the anti-American Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in 2004, posted pictures of slain supporters on his official website. Another photo showed what was described as a burning Iraqi military Humvee.
‘‘These militia-like actions are a result of the stand of [Sarkhi], who rejects division and sectarianism, which has killed the people of Iraq,’’ said a statement on the site.
--more--"
"Baghdad turns to US nemeses for arms in battle with insurgents" by Lara Jakes and Robert Burns | Associated Press July 02, 2014
WASHINGTON — Iraq is increasingly turning to other governments including Iran, Russia, and Syria to help beat back a rampant insurgency because it cannot wait for additional American military aid, Baghdad’s top envoy to the United States said Tuesday.
The fact that U.S. aid has been so slow and nonexistent tells you something.
They want Maliki gone, and are behind the insurgency!
The fact that U.S. aid has been so slow and nonexistent tells you something.
They want Maliki gone, and are behind the insurgency!
Such an alliance could test the Obama administration’s influence overseas and raise risks for the United States as some of its main global opponents consider joining forces.
We are in WWIII now.
Moreover, such a partnership could also solidify a Shi’ite-led crescent across much of the Mideast at a time when the Sunni-led insurgency in Iraq is trying to create an Islamic state through the region.
That is why ISIS was activated by the U.S.
We are in WWIII now.
Moreover, such a partnership could also solidify a Shi’ite-led crescent across much of the Mideast at a time when the Sunni-led insurgency in Iraq is trying to create an Islamic state through the region.
That is why ISIS was activated by the U.S.
Iraqi Ambassador Lukman Faily stopped short of describing enduring military relationships with any of the other nations that are offering to help Iraq fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. And he said Baghdad would prefer to work with the United States.
But Faily said delays in US aid have forced Iraq to seek help elsewhere. He also called on the United States to launch targeted airstrikes as a ‘‘crucial’’ step against the insurgency. So far, the Obama administration has resisted airstrikes in Iraq but has not ruled them out.
Not because we, the American people are against any action at all, but because they want Maliki to fall. That is why Obummer is withholding airstrikes.
Not because we, the American people are against any action at all, but because they want Maliki to fall. That is why Obummer is withholding airstrikes.
‘‘Time is not on our side,’’ Faily told an audience at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. ‘‘Further delay only benefits the terrorists.’’
As the number of fighters who have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State has grown
Despite the brutality?
Despite the brutality?
The Obama administration has been hesitant to send much military aid to Iraq for fear of dragging the United States back into another years-long Mideast war.
PFFFFFFFTTT!!
President Obama has ruled out sending combat troops back into Iraq after withdrawing US forces in 2011, but this week sent more soldiers to Baghdad to help bolster the US Embassy. All told, officials said, there are about 750 US troops in Iraq — about half of which are advising Iraqi counterterror forces fighting ISIS.
He isn't sending troops -- as he sends troops!
PFFFFFFFTTT!!
President Obama has ruled out sending combat troops back into Iraq after withdrawing US forces in 2011, but this week sent more soldiers to Baghdad to help bolster the US Embassy. All told, officials said, there are about 750 US troops in Iraq — about half of which are advising Iraqi counterterror forces fighting ISIS.
He isn't sending troops -- as he sends troops!
Since 2011, Washington has sold more than $10 billion in military equipment and weapons to Baghdad and recently stepped up its surveillance and intelligence support to its security forces.
Yeah, they did do those self-serving things!
Yeah, they did do those self-serving things!
The additional 300 US troops moving into Iraq this week are equipped with Army Apache attack helicopters as well as unarmed surveillance drones, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said.
Plus there are armed drones already there.
Plus there are armed drones already there.
Noting international bans on Iranian military sales, Faily said Iraq is mostly seeking Tehran’s advice on how to combat ISIS — a foe that Iran is familiar with from Syria’s civil war. ISIS is one of a number of Sunni-led groups that have been fighting for three years to force President Bashar Assad from power.
Why did the word FAILURE just enter my mind with this policy?
Why did the word FAILURE just enter my mind with this policy?
Assad is an Alawite, a religious sect that is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is Shi’ite. Faily said Baghdad would be willing to work with the Syrian government to control the border between the two nations and keep it from ISIS’s hands.
Related: US Lost Iraq War
Related: US Lost Iraq War
More evidence of it:
And he said Russia’s fighter jets and pilots have been willing to fill Iraq’s air support needs.
And he said Russia’s fighter jets and pilots have been willing to fill Iraq’s air support needs.
Plans to send US fighter jets to Iraq have been stalled, although State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said some F-16s could be delivered this fall.
Delivered by FALL?
If Israel wanted them they would be on the boat or in the air tomorrow.
Delivered by FALL?
If Israel wanted them they would be on the boat or in the air tomorrow.
Harf said the Iraqi government needs to finish its plans for sheltering the fighter jets, training pilots to fly them, and completing financial and administrative details before the planes can be delivered.
‘‘The Iraqis have been slow in terms of moving that part of the process forward,’’ Harf said. ‘‘Now we’re in a place where some of those things are made more challenging by the security situation.’’
Isn't that odd?
Isn't that odd?
She said the United States does not object to other governments sending legal aid to Baghdad. But she said the United States has ‘‘been very clear’’ that the Syrian government isn’t a legitimate source of support to Iraq.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia gave the United Nations $500 million on Tuesday to help the humanitarian crisis in Iraq, where more than 1 million people have been displaced.
After they helped displace them!
The United Nations said more than 2,400 people were killed in Iraq in June, making it the deadliest month in the country in years.
After they helped displace them!
The United Nations said more than 2,400 people were killed in Iraq in June, making it the deadliest month in the country in years.
The Sunni-dominated Saudi kingdom and Maliki have had frosty relations.
Related: Maliki Finally Condemns Saudis and Qatar for Waging War On Iraq
The donation served as an appeal to the Iraqi people as its leaders build a new government — potentially one without Maliki at the helm, although Faily said there was no indication that the prime minister would leave his post.
The agenda is quite literally at the bottom of everything!
Related: Maliki Finally Condemns Saudis and Qatar for Waging War On Iraq
The donation served as an appeal to the Iraqi people as its leaders build a new government — potentially one without Maliki at the helm, although Faily said there was no indication that the prime minister would leave his post.
The agenda is quite literally at the bottom of everything!
--more--"
"Dozens of Iraqi militants killed in clashes with army; Group captures oil field in Syria; truck drivers freed" by Alissa J. Rubin | New York Times July 04, 2014
BAGHDAD — More than 100 Sunni militants were killed in battles with the Iraqi army Thursday and late Wednesday, but the militants’ group gained potentially significant economic ground in their struggle for leverage in the region, taking control of Syria’s largest oil field.
The militants also made good on an agreement with the government of Turkey to release 32 Turkish truck drivers, who were handed over at a United Nations camp in Kurdistan.
Now you KNOW THEY ARE WESTERN INTELLIGENCE ASSETS!
OMG!
The toughest fighting was in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, where residents who had fled their homes for the suburbs said Thursday that an intense bombing campaign by the Iraqi army was underway in a fight to retake the city center from militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The group’s fighters, who took Salahuddin province, of which Tikrit is the capital, in mid-June, resorted to planting a series of roadside bombs and booby-trapping cars and houses in their effort to slow the Iraqi army’s advance on the provincial capital. Iraqi forces dropped bombs anywhere they suspected the militants were present, whether those locations were government buildings or homes, according to eyewitnesses.
What happened to the jihadi juggernaut?
“It is a dead city now,” said Adil al-Jubori, a tribal sheik from Tikrit, who fled to the northern suburb of Al-Alam.
“There is no life inside,” he said. “When the army hits the militants, it damages everything in the area.”
American officials had advised the Iraqi military not to try to fight in the cities, but the Iraqi government has been confident that it can win such battles, taking back ground and signaling the army’s commitment.
Jubori was less confident. “It’s not about freeing the area of” Islamic State fighters, he said. “It’s about keeping it clear of them afterward.”
The assaults on the militants’ positions were mostly by helicopter, although some Iraqi soldiers were dropped into buildings where they took up positions. By late Thursday, there were also reports of some soldiers working their way on foot through areas of the city.
A Tikrit resident, who was unable to leave the city, and a member of the Iraqi security forces who was in one of the government buildings, said in phone interviews that 95 percent of the city’s residents had fled and that only the very poor and those who were working with the militants remained.
The two men, who did not want to be quoted by name because they feared becoming targets, said there was no diesel for cars, no gas for stoves, and no food. Stores are closed, and the people who were unable to flee are living on food stocks they gathered before the crisis began last month.
About 8 miles away in Auja, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, a counterterrorism brigade announced that it had killed 42 Sunni militants, according to an announcement on Iraqiya, the state-run television station.
Despite inflicting heavy casualties on the militants in Tikrit and nearby, the government was not ready to declare it had won the city, and it was unclear how many Islamic State militants might have fled to the surrounding countryside to fight another day.
Near the border between Iraq and the semiautonomous Kurdish region, Islamic State fighters handed over the truck drivers at the United Nations’ Mahmur camp before they were escorted to the Turkish Consulate in Erbil, Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said in a televised statement.
Davutoglu said all the freed hostages were in good health. They boarded a plane bound for Turkey on Thursday evening.
The drivers were delivering diesel fuel from a Turkish port to a power plant in Mosul when they were kidnapped by Islamic State militants.
"Dozens of Iraqi militants killed in clashes with army; Group captures oil field in Syria; truck drivers freed" by Alissa J. Rubin | New York Times July 04, 2014
BAGHDAD — More than 100 Sunni militants were killed in battles with the Iraqi army Thursday and late Wednesday, but the militants’ group gained potentially significant economic ground in their struggle for leverage in the region, taking control of Syria’s largest oil field.
The militants also made good on an agreement with the government of Turkey to release 32 Turkish truck drivers, who were handed over at a United Nations camp in Kurdistan.
Now you KNOW THEY ARE WESTERN INTELLIGENCE ASSETS!
OMG!
The toughest fighting was in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, where residents who had fled their homes for the suburbs said Thursday that an intense bombing campaign by the Iraqi army was underway in a fight to retake the city center from militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The group’s fighters, who took Salahuddin province, of which Tikrit is the capital, in mid-June, resorted to planting a series of roadside bombs and booby-trapping cars and houses in their effort to slow the Iraqi army’s advance on the provincial capital. Iraqi forces dropped bombs anywhere they suspected the militants were present, whether those locations were government buildings or homes, according to eyewitnesses.
What happened to the jihadi juggernaut?
“It is a dead city now,” said Adil al-Jubori, a tribal sheik from Tikrit, who fled to the northern suburb of Al-Alam.
“There is no life inside,” he said. “When the army hits the militants, it damages everything in the area.”
American officials had advised the Iraqi military not to try to fight in the cities, but the Iraqi government has been confident that it can win such battles, taking back ground and signaling the army’s commitment.
Jubori was less confident. “It’s not about freeing the area of” Islamic State fighters, he said. “It’s about keeping it clear of them afterward.”
The assaults on the militants’ positions were mostly by helicopter, although some Iraqi soldiers were dropped into buildings where they took up positions. By late Thursday, there were also reports of some soldiers working their way on foot through areas of the city.
A Tikrit resident, who was unable to leave the city, and a member of the Iraqi security forces who was in one of the government buildings, said in phone interviews that 95 percent of the city’s residents had fled and that only the very poor and those who were working with the militants remained.
The two men, who did not want to be quoted by name because they feared becoming targets, said there was no diesel for cars, no gas for stoves, and no food. Stores are closed, and the people who were unable to flee are living on food stocks they gathered before the crisis began last month.
About 8 miles away in Auja, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, a counterterrorism brigade announced that it had killed 42 Sunni militants, according to an announcement on Iraqiya, the state-run television station.
Despite inflicting heavy casualties on the militants in Tikrit and nearby, the government was not ready to declare it had won the city, and it was unclear how many Islamic State militants might have fled to the surrounding countryside to fight another day.
Near the border between Iraq and the semiautonomous Kurdish region, Islamic State fighters handed over the truck drivers at the United Nations’ Mahmur camp before they were escorted to the Turkish Consulate in Erbil, Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said in a televised statement.
Davutoglu said all the freed hostages were in good health. They boarded a plane bound for Turkey on Thursday evening.
The drivers were delivering diesel fuel from a Turkish port to a power plant in Mosul when they were kidnapped by Islamic State militants.
--more--"
Looks like ISIS is starting to MELT under the hot glare of the desert truth, huh?
Before it is too late, I would just like to say it has been an honor to serve you all these years, readers.
Looks like ISIS is starting to MELT under the hot glare of the desert truth, huh?
Before it is too late, I would just like to say it has been an honor to serve you all these years, readers.
