Islamic State Overwhelms Iraqi Forces at Tikrit in Major Defeat

[Comrade Grumpy]

Source: McClatchy News Service

IRBIL, IRAQ — Islamic State gunmen overran a former U.S. military base early Friday and killed or captured hundreds of Iraqi government troops who’d been trying to retake Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, the worst military reversal Iraqi troops have suffered since the Islamist forces captured nearly half the country last month.

The defeat brought to an end a three-week campaign by the government in Baghdad to recapture Tikrit, which fell to the Islamic State on June 11. Military spokesmen earlier this week had confidently announced a final push to recapture the city.

Instead, Islamic State forces turned back the army’s thrust up the main highway Wednesday. Beginning late Thursday, the Islamist forces stormed Camp Speicher, a former U.S. military base named for a pilot who disappeared during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and overwhelmed the troops there.

Witnesses reached by phone, who asked not be identified for security reasons, said that by Friday morning the final pocket of government troops had collapsed, an ignominious end for a counteroffensive that had begun with a helicopter assault into Tikrit University but ended with troops trapped at Camp Speicher.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/07/18/233786/islamic-state-overwhelms-iraqi.html#storylink=cpy

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/07/18/233786/islamic-state-overwhelms-iraqi.html

---

The article also says Iraqi prisoners were executed by ISIS, or I guess it's just IS now.

Meanwhile, IS is burning down Catholic churches in Mosul and threatening the Christians there to convert or die.

Maybe it's time for a tactical alliance with Syria and Iran to get rid of these guys.

[quadrature]

1. what side are we on?

in Syria, we are for IS.

in Iraq, we are against IS

or not.
................
I don't see any
'strategic thinking' coming from the White House.

keep in mind this all started in Libya.
or maybe Gulf 1 war.
or maybe the Sykes-Picot agreement
or maybe Tamerlane

[cstanleytech]

2. I thought our government was supporting the FSA

in Syria not the ISIS?

[JackRiddler]

13. It's complicated but the outcome is simple.

The Saudis and Gulf states have been backing and supplying ISIS, and guess where the arms come from? U.S. doesn't object to what its allies do but officially supports FSA, effectively a green light for Gulf states to do as they will. Meanwhile, there are different factions inside U.S. policy apparatus who see reasons for pretty much every side. The upshot is ISIS gets support.

[mazzarro]

4. Hmmmmm! good question.

So many sides to be on at the same time or is it at different times?

[former9thward]

31. Maybe the best solution is to stay out all together.

[bemildred]

8. We don't really know.

There is a level of fecklessness in our policies in the region that one rarely sees.

[Igel]

9. We've managed to help our allies and hurt our foes ...

Until finally we can have a single vantage point on all sides involved: They're all bad.

Maliki's good ... then he's bad.

Assad is a partner for reform ... then he's bad.

The anti-Assad forces are good, or at least mixed ... then those that are left are all bad.

Heck, a lot of people even sort-of defended some of the Iraqi rebels (the enemy of my arch-rival has to be good guys). They're just all horrible now.

The Iranians? Still bad.

Turkey? Who wants to support Erdogan?

The only decent folk in all of this so far are people we don't really want to win, and that would be the Kurds. I mean, it would be incredibly destabilizing. So for now the Kurds in Syria are under assault while the Iraqi Xians and Arabs that don't like IS-IS (if you can't reduce it to IS, may as well reduce it to the "Islamic state Islamic State&quot seek shelter with the Iraqi Kurds. That can't be good.

After all, if the Kurds get power it might destabilize Iraq and Syria and we can't allow that to happen.

In all honesty, I compare now to 2001 and 2001 was far more stable. Then again, I compare now to 2008 and 2008 was even far more stable. Perhaps not as stable as 2001--strongmen tend to produce stability while they're alive--but heck, that bar is set awfully low right now.

[Chan790]

25. To quote Richard III...

"A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!"

We've reached a single vantage point, for sure, it overlooks a field of imps and devils of our own making. Hence, the Richard III...we're left with a US foreign policy for want of a faction supportable in a field of enemies.

Not withstanding the Kurds...frankly it may be unavoidable now that there will be a Kurdistan for the Kurds, as destabilizing as that would be and how much it would piss off NATO ally Turkey.

[aquart]

26. I'm pro-Kurd.

[Uncle Joe]

43. The U.S. is for stability, but that can come in one of two ways.

1. Iraq's government introduces major reforms becoming more inclusive to the Sunni and Kurd Side, while granting more autonomy for the regions, should that happen the U.S. will more aggressively help the Iraqi government win against the most committed holdouts with Iraq remaining as one stable nation.

2. Maliki balks at political reforms and Iraq goes through a long, bitter civil war with much bloodletting, ending in a rough stalemate after enough killing has been done and suffering experienced, Iraq will divide into three more stable nations as borders are redrawn and the sharing of oil resources are negotiated between the parties.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. Just think, the reason Republicans said we stayed there for so long was to train these losers....

They couldn't even defend their own fortified BASE from being overrun.

[Amonester]

5. Don't ask chimpy. He's busy painting himself naked in his bathroom.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. Is there a tower at his place?

Just thinking "Lady Macbeth".

[Kaleva]

7. Some of the fighting is being borne by ill trained teenage Shia's

A few units of the Peace Brigades are involved in the fighting. Made up mostly of eager teenagers, some as young as 13, who received very little training before being sent to the front.

A few days ago I read an article about a very large Shia cemetery that was receiving about 60 bodies a day. Mostly young men and boys killed in the fighting.

[7962]

11. Reminds me of the Iran Iraq war in the 80s. Same stuff

[Kaleva]

12. More info on the volunteer cannon fodder

"“The most casualties were among the volunteers who were deeply vulnerable and unable to protect themselves,” he said.....

...Volunteers are routinely asked to serve for days in temperatures above 110 degrees without enough water and are given little food. Often, they also must supply themselves with another vital item for a soldier: bullets and in some cases weapons. “We have old weapons and not enough ammunition,” said Abdullah Hassan, 17, on Wednesday in Hoar Hussain, a district in northern Babil Province, barely 90 minutes from the center of Baghdad. “Sometimes they give us ammunition, but mostly we buy our own, and it is getting more expensive as the war goes on.”"

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/world/middleeast/for-iraq-debacle-in-tikrit-as-forces-walk-into-trap-set-by-militants.html?_r=0

[Spitfire of ATJ]

18. On the bright side,...

....I'm sure there are some impressive balances in Swiss banks.

[bemildred]

14. Yep. nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

21. When we invaded Iraq was recovering from the loss of a generation of fighting age men....

Saddam was the leader of a sad, crumbling nation full of women and children and old people.

And that's what we bombed.

[7962]

23. Yes, he was such a threat to peace, right? Meanwhile, right next door in Syria.......

Assad really DID have WMDs and WAS active in helping terror groups. But good ol Dick Cheney never noticed him

[Spitfire of ATJ]

24. That map of Iraqi oil fields looked scrumptious.

[7962]

27. And they were too stupid to even get THAT right. We dont even get the oil!!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

30. Wanna know the truth?

[former9thward]

32. Which BTW is the same excuse we are staying in Afghanistan.

To "train". The minute, if ever, we leave Afghanistan the Taliban and tribal war lords will overrun the country.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

33. Naw, the reason Iraq is failing is because our puppet aligned with Iran....

He was supposed to love him some Saudi long time.

[Botany]

6. Mission accomplished!

[7962]

10. Thanks again, Dick Cheney!!

[Rhinodawg]

15. "a tactical alliance with Syria and Iran to get rid of these guys."

we should put our forces back in Iraq?

Give armaments to Syria and/or Iran?

So " IS is burning down Catholic churches in Mosul and threatening the Christians there to convert or die. "
That's unfortunate is that REALLY our business ?

[Comrade Grumpy]

20. No. But we could cooperate against a common foe.

Maybe you'd be more concerned about those Iraqi Christians if they were Israelis.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

34. Fuck Holy Wars....

I'm puttin' that on a t-shirt.

[geek tragedy]

16. When does Maliki go into exile? He needs to go, period. nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

19. That is not going to make ISIS go away

[geek tragedy]

22. No, it won't. Maliki leaving is necessary but not sufficient.

ISIS is thriving because of Maliki's failed political strategy of "fuck the Kurds and Sunnis" which in turn has hollowed out the Iraqi military's capability and given support to ISIS on the ground in Sunni areas.

Why should the peshmerga and secular Sunnis fight on behalf of a Shiite state?

[aquart]

28. Thanks. Hamas knocked Iraq out the headlines here.

Only cost a few hundred.men, women, and children. But what can you do when your major funding comes from states bordering on Iraq who might start thinking the new desperate refugees deserved it more.

[roamer65]

29. Jihadistan. That's the new name for this "country".

The Kurds really should light it up and take as much territory from them as possible. We should back an independent Kurdish state and give them the "green light".

[Spitfire of ATJ]

35. Yeah,...we need to pick a religious side and have them wipe out the others. That'll do it.

[roamer65]

36. We may have to back the sane ones, Spitfire.

Otherwise we just may have the start of World War III with those ISIS religious nutbags running loose over there. If they spread their genocidal jihadism into Jordan and Saudi Arabia it's "game over".
We tried to warn people in 2003 that this would happen, but not enough listened. Sykes-Picot is now dead and the maps are going to be redrawn through conflict.

If Jordan falls to them, what do you think the Israelis are going to do? I don't want to know the answer to that question.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

37. I must have missed the Hour Of Hate covering ISIS....

After we KILL all of them, who will be next for us to fear?

BTW: THIS used to be "Isis"

[Comrade Grumpy]

39. You should read up about these guys. They're barbaric and ambitious.

I'm not saying WE need to go to war against them, but I hope somebody does.

They're a traveling atrocity exhibition, too. Just off the top of my head:

--Mass execution of surrendered soldiers in Tikrit
--Mass killings in village outside Baghdad
--Public strangulation of young woman for dating guy of wrong sect
--Mass killings of surrendered Syrian oil field workers and soldiers
--Burning of churches and mosques in Mosul
--Forcing Mosul Christians to convert and pay tax, leave, or be killed

[Spitfire of ATJ]

41. Yeah, and if there's one thing we hate even more it's the Judean People's Front....

And so it goes.

Is it any WONDER people are rejecting religion GLOBALLY?

[Comrade Grumpy]

45. Okay, don't worry about it. It's all good.

[Rhinodawg]

46. Pul-eeze....

They are nothing more than Hamas ...maybe with a better long term strategic plan.

They both executed members of their own faith repeatedly.
They both have shown no mercy to innocents ( see collaborators)
They are both intolerant of other religions ( see Hamas views on Jews --the part about killing any Jew anywhere in the world).
They both want land to establish a sharia caliphate.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian Christians have left gaza and emigrated to avoid endless attacks and harassment ( see the No Christmas in gaza edict)

But I understand what you're saying...if and when they drop a nuke in NY or CA , then I'lll say you were absolutely right.

Edit for extra thought

[Comrade Grumpy]

47. I hear the IDF pays well for social media propaganda.

http://thehigherlearning.com/2014/07/11/israels-government-is-paying-college-students-to-spread-pro-israel-propaganda-on-social-media/

ISRAEL’S GOVERNMENT IS PAYING COLLEGE STUDENTS TO SPREAD PRO-ISRAEL PROPAGANDA ON SOCIAL MEDIA

A lot of the discussion and debate about the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been taking place on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sources.

In light of that, I think it’s important for people to know that social media is by no means immune to government propaganda. Far from it in fact.

Back in August of last year, a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Israeli government would be giving scholarships to college students who, “engage international audiences online” by posting pro-Israel tweets/statuses etc. online.

“This is a groundbreaking project aimed at strengthening Israeli national diplomacy and adapting it to changes in information consumption,” the statement said.

Students at each university are organized into units. At the top is the chief-coordinator, who gets a full scholarship. Under the chief-coordinator are three “desk coordinators” in charge of language, graphics and research who receive lesser scholarships. Then there are student “activists” who receive, “minimal scholarships”.

The program is run by Danny Seamen, an Israeli public diplomacy official who drew the ire of Muslims in the region when he posted the following status on his personal Facebook page:

“Does the commencement of the fast of the Ramadan mean that Muslims will stop eating each other during the daytime?”

[Rhinodawg]

48. Thank you for that nonsequtor.

I just want you to be intellectually honest...with yourself.

The similarities between ISIS and Hamas are obvious.

I want to hear your thoughts.

[roamer65]

38. We now have Erdogan of Turkey likening Israel to Hitler.

Last edited Sat Jul 19, 2014, 09:18 PM - Edit history (1)

...also calling El-Sisi of Egypt a dictator. Which is inflammatory but correct.

Qatar, Turkey backing Hamas (aka Muslim Brotherhood)
Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia siding against Hamas (aka Muslim Brotherhood)
Iran and Saudi Arabia in a proxy war in former Iraq.
Syrian govt, Hezbollah and Iran allied and in conflict with ISIS in former Syria.
Iraq now a former country, along with Syria.

Welcome to ME Regional War of 2014, all thanks to Bu$h.

The ME shitpot is beginning to blow.

[Kaleva]

40. Link to another article with more info on the state of Iraqi military

"The latest failed Tikrit offensive and the loss of Camp Speicher highlight the deteriorating condition of the Iraqi armed forces. The military has been forced to cobble together units since at least four of its 15 regular army divisions are no longer viable. The Long War Journal estimates that at least seven divisions have been rendered ineffective since the beginning of the year; see Threat Matrix report, US advisers give dark assessment of state of Iraqi military.

In Tikrit, the military is fighting alongside poorly trained militias who are ill-suited to conduct offensive operations. Additionally, SWAT forces, while highly trained and likely more motivated than regular forces, are being misused as infantry."

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/07/islamic_state_overru.php##ixzz37y6zNBLJ

[happyslug]

42. This is what you get with privatization of Military operations

The main problem with the Iraqi Army is it is corrupt. Do to corruption, the Iraqi army is so corrupt, you can have have battalion of 1000 men, but it only has 200, the rest are all false entries going into someone's pocket. That is the reason for Iraqi Army lost so much land and has failed to take anything back. More article on the Corruption

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/07/nation-brink-americas-policies-sealed-iraqs-fate.html


http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/04/16/privatization-ramp-corruption-insouciance-ramp-war-paul-craig-roberts/

https://www.erim.eur.nl/fileadmin/default/content/erim/research/centres/scope/research/issue_papers/state/war%20profits%20from%20the%20iraq%20war_%20the%20dirty%20games%20of%20contr1.pdf

http://www.propublica.org/article/iraqi-soldiers-number-still-unclear-1024

[DeSwiss]

44. Well, somebody's getting what they wanted.....

- Think the arms we'll have to buy to replace all this shit. Not to mention the ones we'll have to buy when we decide to take it all back......

K&R



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