June 20th IRAQ SITREP by Mindfriedo
20
June, 2014
19th
June: Obama dithers and delays in his decision to bomb anti regime
forces in Iraq. The BBCs John Simpson: “President Obama's statement
wasn't the lifeline the Iraqi government hoped for. They wanted
immediate airstrikes to stop ISIS in its tracks.”
19th June: The Iraqi Army claims to have taken back full control of towns in the province of Diyala and claims to be gaining ground in the neighboring Salahuddin province.
19th June: The UAE recalls its ambassador to Iraq citing marginalization of certain sections of society on sectarian lines.
19th June: The US Vice President called up Maliki, Barzani, and Osama Al-Nujaifi and urged all parties to work together towards government formation and security.
19th June: Daash has captured a disused Saddam era Chemical Weapons factory in Muthana. It is located 70 km north of Baghdad.
19th June: Shia militias of volunteer fighters were deployed to Diyalah and the city of Samarra.
19th June: A firefight between Daash fighters and Kurdish Peshmergas broke out in Kirkuk. Peshmergas fired rockets at Daash positions.
19th June: Abu Khabib al-Jazaeeri a Sudi national who was a senior commander of Daash has been killed in Tikrit while battling security forces.
19th June: Australia estimates that nearly 150 of its citizens are fighting on the side of Daash:
20th June: Sistani’s representative Abdul Mehdi al-Karbalai speaking on behalf of Sistani stated that if Daash was not “fought and expelled from Iraq, everyone will regret it tomorrow, when regret has no meaning.” Sistani has also pressed for government formation based on election results within its timeframe “It is very important to be committed to these timings and not to violate them.”
20th June: Kurdish forces are battling Daash militants on the outskirts of Kirkuk. The confrontation had taken place earlier in the week for the village of Malla Abdallah and the Shia majority town of Basheer. The fighting for Basheer had been fierce with Peshmerga forces fighting Daash at close quarters. The Peshmergas reported 10 fatalities and left after government airstrikes left two Peshmergas dead. Most residents of Basheer have fled to Iraqi Kurdistan.
20th June: The Telegraph reports: Mohammed al-Khaldi, a top aide to outgoing Sunni speaker of parliament, Osama al-Nujaifi, added: "We have asked the Americans, Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran to work toward denying al-Maliki a new term. The Shiite bloc must find a replacement for him."
20th June: Baiji Refinery is currently in Government hands. The last assault by Daash was made late on Thursday. Militants are believed to be regrouping and are believed to still hold parts of the refinery complex. Militants were forced to retreat after meeting fierce resistance.
20th June: Head of Saddams tribe, Sheikh Hassan al-Nasseri , “The people taking part in this fight are not true to the beliefs of Saddam or his Ba'ath party, which was a movement with principles and ideology, We have nothing to do with al-Qaeda”
20th June: A helicopter gunship has mistakenly fired on government troops in Dhuluyiyah resulting in a civilian casualty.
20th June: The Government is amassing troops and equipment in Samarra for a counter offensive north.
20th June: Areas where Government forces are facing rebels spear headed by Daash include: Tal Afar, Baiji, Tikrit, Samarra, Fallujah, Kirkuk, Baqouba, and West of Baghdad.
20th June: Some Details on groups allied with Daash and where active:
Naqshabandi army is active in Kirkuk and south east of Mosul
1920 Revolution Brigades, made up of ex officers, are fighting in Diyala
Fallujah has seen a gradual shift to Salafism, with Islamists holding sway over tribal elders.
Ninevah province had seen 14 armed factions working together, Daash being one of them.
Tribal Revolutionary Council of Anbar was formed in 2013 to fight Iraqi Security Forces. It is not clear if they have participated in this conflict.
20th June: Most, if not all, border crossings between Kurdish parts of Syria and Iraq are under Kurdish control. While the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in the Syrian Kurdish enclave has been a rival of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and its Peshmergas, the threat of Daash has seen them come closer to defend Kurdish interests.
20th June: Daash atrocities recorded by the UN for Wednesday:
- 17 civilians working for the police forces in Mosul executed
- 12 civilians working for the police forces in Mosul suburb executed
- 4 women commit suicide after being raped and/or forcefully married by Daash
20th June: The Ba’ath Factions fighting against the
regime consist of two factions that were sponsored by the regime in
SYRIA during the American occupation: One led by Ibrahim Izzat Al
Dourri, another led by Brig. Gen. Mohammad Younes al-Ahmad
20th June: Clashes are ongoing between rebels and government forces near Tal Afar airport
20th June: A tweet purported to Qassem Suleimani and addressed to Daash rebels states that if Daash/the takfiris harm any Shia shrine then the Shia Mujahiddeen will pray afternoon prayers in Janat-ul-Baqi, Saudi Arabia.
Further Reading:
George Galloway on PM Cameron: What he(Cameron) didn’t answer was the question I asked him 12 months ago: would he explain to the [House of Commons] the differences between the al-Qaeda we are supporting in some countries(Syria) and the al-Qaeda we’re considering a threat to life as we know it in other places (Iraq)
Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article38856.htm
Iraq tearing apart: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-implosion-of-iraq-at-the-hands-of-the-isis-islamists-a-975541.html
The Emir of Kuwait, apparently drunk in Iran http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=68b_1402122162
A Country Implodes:
ISIS Pushes Iraq to the Brink
20
June, 2014
The
terror group ISIS has occupied vast portions of Syria and Iraq in the
hopes of establishing a caliphate. The jihadists' success lays bare
Iraq's disintegration and could ignite yet another civil war between
Shiites and Sunnis in the country.
Masoud
Ali, a tall, friendly man with a beard and green eyes, was a taxi
driver in Mosul until a few days ago. He likes the desert, and he
loves his wife and his yellow Nissan. He never paid much attention to
politics until now. "Inshallah," he says. Whatever happens
is God's will. But then fighters with the "Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria," or ISIS, overran the city of two million.
An
evening curfew has been in force in Mosul since last Monday, says
Ali. He and his family heard gunshots near their apartment on
Tuesday, and when Ali looked outside, he saw a dead body lying on the
street. Then the rumors began. "They've occupied all government
buildings and the airport," said a friend. "The power
station and the water works, too," a neighbor added. There were
television reports of banks being robbed, the release of thousands of
prisoners and the confiscation of oil wells. A day later, Masoud Ali
loaded his family into his car and stepped on the gas. As they drove
away, they could see police uniforms and abandoned military vehicles
in the ditch. Government troops, most of them Sunnis, had surrendered
to the Sunni ISIS fighters.
Ali,
like most residents of Mosul, is also a Sunni. He had heard the mayor
calling for the citizens of Mosul to defend themselves against ISIS.
"But why should I have defended myself?" he asks. "For
the Shiite government? For Prime Minister Maliki, who oppresses the
Sunnis?" He shakes his head. "The conflict has escalated
because people in Iraq don't like the government anymore."
Now
Ali is standing in a tent outside the city of Erbil in the country's
Kurdish north, Iraq's newest refugee camp. It's time for Friday
prayer, but instead of resting his forehead on the ground to pray, he
presses it against the forehead of a child. His four-month-old son
Mohammed is lying on a tarp, surrounded by cans of powdered milk,
fresh cucumbers and plastic water bottles. He is crying because he
has a fever.
There
wasn't even enough time to pack a suitcase, says Ali. "We left
in a panic. We just wanted to get out." He fans his son's head
with a scarf and blows air across his nose, hoping to provide some
relief from the unrelenting desert heat. He keeps rocking his child
back and forth, as if to shake off the experiences of the last few
days.
New
refugees arrive everyday, with some coming on foot. On their way in,
they pass only a short distance from Ali's tent. Cars are lined up
for miles at the Chasar checkpoint, a one-hour drive from Mosul on
the road to Erbil. Dust rises between the wheels and thousands of
plastic bottles and bags litter the ground. Up to 800,000 people have
already left Mosul, with about half coming to Erbil Province. They
feel safe there, in territory controlled by the Kurdish regional
government.
A
New Civil War
These
days Erbil is one of the few cities north of Baghdad where calm
prevails. The Kurdish regional government has an estimated 200,000
men, known as Peshmerga, and they are the best-trained combat force
in Iraq. They are also the only force in the country that has been
able to slow down the jihadists. The Peshmerga also secure borders,
cities and oil wells around Kirkuk against the advancing Islamists,
as well as defending the Kurdish population and its interests.
More
than a decade after the American invasion, Iraq is facing the
prospect of a new civil war between Sunnis and Shiites. In contrast
to 2006 and 2007, when fighting between the two religious groups
claimed thousands of lives, the Americans are no longer there to
intervene though Washington has, in recent days, beefed up its
presence in the Persian Gulf and dozens of troops are now in Baghdad
to defend the US Embassy there.
The
advance of the ISIS forces is not the reason for the country's
collapse, but rather a consequence of it. With the capture of Mosul,
Iraq's second-largest city, the Sunni Islamist army, which fought and
gained strength inthe Syrian civil war, has achieved its greatest
success to date. From Mosul, it continued to advance southward and on
Tuesday, ISIS forces advanced to Baquba, only 60 kilometers (37
miles) from Baghdad, before retreating.
Within
a short period of time, ISIS has managed to unseat Al-Qaida as the
world's most vicious terrorist group. It hasn't launched any attacks
in the West yet. Instead, it aims to establish a 7th-century style
caliphate in the Middle East. The organization, comprised of up to
15,000 fighters, including many young Europeans, is still a long way
from being a state. Nevertheless, it now controls a cross-border
region the size of Jordan.
ISIS's
advance into Iraq didn't come as a surprise. The offensive has
apparently been in the works for more than a year and the extremists
captured the Iraqi city of Fallujah in January. In Mosul, they have
been exacting a "jihad tax" from the population for months
in addition to committing political murders and suicide bombings.
ISIS's
rapid success notwithstanding, the force which occupied Mosul was
likely no more than 1,000 soldiers strong. Potentially only a few
hundred continued southwards. There was no need for more. The Sunni
minority, which controlled the country under former dictator Saddam
Hussein, has increasingly been marginalized under the Shiite
leadership of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in recent years. Indeed,
most Sunnis are not standing in the way of the advancing ISIS
fighters, allowing the radicals to do as they please. And militias of
former Saddam supporters, such as the Naqshbandi group, are joining
them. Last week, Sunni militias occupied Tikrit, the birthplace of
Saddam Hussein, where they raised flags bearing a likeness of the
former dictator.
Disbanding
Military
The
country's lack of cohesion prompted the Iraqi army to largely
dissolve when faced with pressure, despite the roughly $25 billion
(€18 billion) the United States spent to arm Iraqi troops and the
years of training they received to fight Islamist extremists.
In
Mosul, two divisions -- a total of 30,000 soldiers -- fled from the
roughly 1,000 ISIS fighters, even though the army is vastly superior
in terms of arms and equipment. In recent years, the Iraqi government
has bought F-16 fighter jets, Apache helicopters and M-1 tanks.
Tikrit saw two divisions disband as well.
The
fact that Sunni soldiers and policemen are avoiding confrontation
with the advancing ISIS is reflective of a population that tends to
see the Islamists as the lesser evil when compared to the hated
Shiite central government. Only primarily Shiite divisions have
remained loyal to the Maliki government. But even they are
increasingly merging with Shiite self-defense groups forming in
Baghdad and southern Iraq.
On
Friday, the highest-ranking Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani,
called upon his fellow Shiites to take up arms against ISIS. More
than 30,000 volunteers reported for duty in Baghdad to help defend
the city.
There
has been much talk in recent days about two men who have long been
dead. In 1916 Mark Sykes of Britain and Frenchman François
Georges-Picot divided the Middle East into French and British zones
of influence. They drew the artificial borders between the countries
of Iraq, Syria and Jordan, borders that, for the most part, still
exist today. The dividing lines forced Kurds, Alawites, Sunnis and
Shiites into shared nations.
This
fragile order, which paid no attention to tribal history and
religion, has long fueled regional conflict and is now in the process
of crumbling. Indeed, the ISIS wishes to eliminate the borders as
currently drawn. The group posted images online of members tearing
down border fortifications between Syria and Iraq.
Ironically,
it was the 2003 American invasion that destroyed the region's fragile
balance. In Iraq, the Sunni minority of dictator Saddam Hussein,
which constituted only 20 percent of the population, ruled the Shiite
majority. When Saddam was overthrown, the Sunnis were deprived of
their power. Similarly, in Syria, the dictatorship of the Alawite
Assad clan suppressed tensions between the two religious groups for
decades. Today's bloody civil war is the result.
Steady
Influx of Radicals
Starting
in 2013, ISIS developed a reputation in Syria for being the most
brutal and successful jihadist group around. It is also known to be
exceedingly secretive. In its "emirate," which stretches
from the cities of Bab and Manbij in eastern Aleppo Province, through
the provincial capital Al-Raqqa and into the eastern province of
Hasaka, the fanatics ruled with terror and increasingly grotesque
decrees. In Al-Raqqa, those who remain outdoors or who dare to keep
their shops open are at risk of losing their lives. Hairdressers have
been forced to blacken the images of women on packages of hair dye.
Music is no longer allowed at weddings, and at livestock markets in
the region, the genitals of goats and sheep must now be covered with
rags.
ISIS
has been spreading through northern Syria since last spring, drawing
on a steady influx of radicals from Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt,
Europe and even Indonesia. From the very beginning, the group
appeared to be pursuing a dual strategy. On the one hand, there were
the foreign jihadists, who came to the region lacking local knowledge
or military experience -- and were sent to the slaughter at the
front.
On
the other hand, the apparently Iraqi leadership of ISIS planned its
resistance in a professional way, forming small cells housed in
secret apartments and recruiting Syrian informants, often former
regime spies. Rebel commanders, local officials and other influential
people were kidnapped or murdered, enabling ISIS to take control of
entire towns and cities.
The
Iraqi leadership of ISIS, which is said to consist mainly of former
officers and officials from Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, is highly
secretive, such that ordinary fighters are only familiar with their
local "emir." In addition to the local units, a special
force consisting of about 100 Iraqis and Tunisians was formed early
on. The group is in charge of abductions, murders and attacks, and it
acts independently. It is likely responsible for many targeted
killings of rebel commanders outside the territory controlled by
ISIS, as well as for kidnappings.
ISIS
has no lack of weapons and munitions, partly the result of its recent
captures of modern arms from the Iraqi military. But the group would
also appear to have plenty of funding, even remains unclear where the
money comes from. It profited for a time from the sale of oil to the
Assad regime and it presumably received millions from Paris and
Madrid in ransom payments for kidnapped French and Spanish citizens
in April. It is also thought that the group might have secured as
much as $420 million from the Iraqi central bank during its recent
foray through Mosul.
ISIS
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi likewise remains in the shadows. He was
allegedly born Awad Ibrahim al-Badri in the Iraqi city of Samarra in
1971, and he claims to be a direct descendant of the Prophet
Mohammed. He was reportedly a preacher during the US invasion and,
for a brief period afterwards, participated in the Islamist uprising.
In 2005, US troops detained Baghdadi and incarcerated him in the
Bucca prison camp, where he reportedly came into contact with
Al-Qaida. After his release, he joined the terrorist group and became
the leader of its Iraqi offshoot in 2010. Three years later, he
assumed control of ISIS and had a falling out with Al-Qaida leader
Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Americans have since placed a bounty of $10
million on his head.
Reign
of Terror
It
is unlikely that ISIS will be able to permanently occupy a large
amount of territory in Iraq. The rules it imposes on the population
are too draconian and its reign of terror too violent. Last week, its
supporters boasted of having executed thousands of Shiite soldiers.
"But
ISIS is the catalyst for the next civil war in Iraq," says
Michael D. Weiss, a US expert on the Syrian terrorist group. Such a
conflict could ultimately result in the current territory of Syria
and Iraq being divided into a Kurdish, a Sunni and a Shiite state.
There
are, however, still Iraqis, like Abdul-Jabbar Ahmed Abdullah, who
believe in the continued existence of their country. Abdullah is a
political science professor in the Sunni stronghold of Baghdad and a
respected analyst. Last week's escalation was "completely
predictable," says Abdullah. Since the overthrow of Saddam 11
years ago, "all attempts to developed functioning institutions
in Iraq have failed."
Abdullah
holds Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responsible for the
problems. He sees the premier as a religious zealot who is only
interested in the dominance of his religious group and his own
political survival.
Maliki's
behavior, says Abdullah, is marked by a "deep mistrust of
everything and everyone," from the Kurds in the north to his
fellow Shiites in the south. He is deeply hostile to the Sunni bloc
in the middle of the country, says Abdullah. Under Saddam, Maliki was
ostracized as a member of the opposition, and he was forced to go
into exile to save his life. The fact that he found refuge in Syria
and Iran explains his close relationship with the mullahs in Tehran
and his support for Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus.
His
government aligned itself with the Americans when it seemed
expedient. "Only Iraq's interests are important to us,"
Maliki said in a March interview with SPIEGEL in his sumptuous office
in Baghdad. Maliki swept aside the accusation that he marginalizes
the Sunnis with a wave of his hand. Conflict between religious groups
is part of "a perfectly normal political process," he said.
Besides, he added, each party had "received the share it earned
based on its election performance."
The
Symbolism of Mosul
When
asked about US President Barack Obama's admonition, during Maliki's
last visit to the White House in November 2013, that he seek
reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites, the premier scratched his
beard and made it clear that he was not taking instructions from the
United States. "I already advocated national reconciliation
before Obama even became president," Maliki said.
The
capture of Mosul also has great symbolic meaning, because it marks
the end of a 10-year development. In the years after the invasion,
the Americans sought to turn Mosul into a model city, achieving calm
there by virtue of free spending and a massive troop presence. The
first free local elections in Iraqi history took place in Mosul in
2003 and 2004, organized by a then unknown US general, David
Petraeus, who commanded 23,000 men in northern Iraq in early 2004.
But then, in 2007, the occupying force was suddenly reduced from
9,000 to 3,000 troops, leading to the complete erosion of an already
precarious security situation.
President
Barack Obama, who came to office in 2008, had always felt that the
invasion of Iraq was a mistake and wanted to withdraw US troops as
quickly as possible. Indeed, for the last two-and-a-half years, there
hasn't been a substantial US military presence in the country at all.
The withdrawal was widely as it was taking place, but now many
experts are criticizing the move for having come too soon. In
Washington, Republicans are accusing Obama of doing nothing to
prevent Islamist advances in Iraq.
In
fact, Obama could soon see himself forced to support the Iraqi
government militarily. He said last week that his administration is
considering all options but has ruled out the deployment of ground
troops. But air attacks or the use of drones do not seem out of the
question. On Friday evening, Obama announced that he could imagine
providing military support as long as Maliki is willing to make
political concessions to the Sunnis. "Ultimately it's up to Iraq
as a sovereign nation to solve its problems," Obama said.
'We
Will Die for Kurdistan'
Nevertheless,
a strange coalition could emerge. Last week, Iran sent out feelers
regarding a joint response with the US to the situation in Iraq and
the two countries held brief talks on the issue on Monday. Their
shared interest is clear: curbing Sunni extremism. Still, both sides
said after the talks that military coordination was not in the
offing. The US may also opt to support other Syrian rebel groups that
are fighting ISIS, despite their misgivings.
Masoud
Ali, the refugee in the camp outside Erbil, misses his city and wants
to return to Mosul as soon as possible. "I want peace," he
says, and yet he knows that peace will remain elusive for now. He
doesn't trust ISIS, but he also fears an attack by government troops.
He speculates that Maliki could use aircraft to bomb Mosul.
The
Kurdish Peshmerga have built a base a few hundred meters from Ali's
tent. They use the Kurdish flag as their symbol: red, white and green
with a sun in the middle. Aras Muhammad is wearing the flag on the
right sleeve of his camouflage uniform, along with sunglasses and a
purple beret. He is carrying a Kalashnikov.
"We will die for
Kurdistan," he says. "A Peshmerga never thinks of himself,
but only about protecting others. He doesn't run away. He is strong."
The Peshmerga are sending fighters to Mosul to safely remove families
from the city. They are also protecting the refugees outside Erbil.
During
the day, water from a fountain sprays onto wooden benches lined up on
the central square in Erbil, next to a bazaar where sticky sweets are
sold. An old man with a deeply wrinkled face is sitting on one of the
benches. He is furious. He doesn't want to tell us his profession or
his name. All he wants to say is that the United States is to blame
for his country's disintegration. He shouts his words and waves his
cane in the air. "The Americans shouldn't have simply left,"
he shouts. "They brought my country to the breaking point."
By
Dieter Bednarz, Ullrich Fichtner, Katrin Kuntz, Christoph Reuter and
Mathieu von Rohr
Translated
from the German by Christopher Sultan
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