Good day and welcome to today’s briefing…..
Airstrikes are being productive but not in positive way……
Item 1–we can expect at least a 2 year war with ISIS…….
A new report prepared for the United Nations Security Council warns that the militant group known as the Islamic State (Isis) possesses sufficient reserves of small arms, ammunition and vehicles to wage its war for Syria and Iraq for up to two years.
The size and breadth of the Isis arsenal provides the group with durable mobility, range and a limited defense against low-flying aircraft. Even if the US-led bombing campaign continues to destroy the group’s vehicles and heavier weapons, the UN report states, it “cannot mitigate the effect of the significant volume of light weapons” Isis possesses.
Those weapons “are sufficient to allow [Isis] to continue fighting at current levels for six months to two years”, the UN report finds, making Isis not only the world’s best-funded terrorist group but among its best armed.
Item 2–Some good news from the Iraqi army…….
State TV broadcast footage of Iraqi troops entering the Baiji Refinery. The nearby town of Albu Jewari was also recaptured. With the siege of Baiji now apparently over, the government says it will regroup and plan out a strategy to retake Tikrit, which lies to the south and is the second largest city occupied by the militants. A separate operation was launched in Saidiya.
Next target for an Iraqi operation……
The Iraqi army’s next target is to isolate militants holding the city of Tikrit, after having broken the Islamic State group’s hold on Baiji and its refinery, a senior officer said Monday.
Item 3–Iraq has an army of “ghost soldiers”…….
The Iraqi army includes “ghost” soldiers, a purely Iraqi term used to describe members whose names are registered in the wages and salaries lists, but who are not actually present in the military ranks. Their wages go to leaders who cover for their absence.
Maybe the US should check to see how deep this thing goes….are we paying for troops that do not exist?
Item 4–ISIS is playing a game with Washington…….
The enticement game played between the US administration on the one hand, and the Islamic State (IS) on the other, lingers.
As Washington adopts a slow pace and attempts to create appropriate conditions for its real regional strategy without falling into the traps and swamps that it previously experienced, the other camp seems to be provoking and forcing the United States to deploy its troops on the ground by further slaughtering of US citizens.
In this context, the question is no longer whether IS is luring the United States, but rather why it is in a hurry to lure it and what for?
ISIS is in a hurry for a ground confrontation with the US because it is about to collapse under its own weight….
Item 5–John Kerry is building the case that I warned about right here on IST…..
The US has accused Syria’s president and the Islamic State group of enjoying a “symbiotic” relationship as it seeks to shore up support for its strategy of supporting moderate rebels ahead of key Congressional votes.
In a speech in Washington just hours after the death of the latest American hostage at the hands of the Islamist militants known as Isis or Isil, Secretary of State John Kerry argued the country’s two sworn enemies were propping each other up.
“I am aware that some believe the air strikes against Isil in Iraq and Syria will have the perverse affect of assisting the country’s long time dictator Bashar al-Assad, whose ruthless repression has generated the gravest humanitarian catastrophe certainly of this century,” he said.
“That assumption is actually based on a misreading of the political reality in Syria. In fact the Assad regime and Isil are dependent on one and other, that’s why Assad has relentlessly bombed areas held by the moderate opposition while doing almost nothing to hinder Isil’s march.”
That sounds more like wishful thinking to this analyst……..could be a move to include action against Assad…..
This concludes today’s briefing…..hopefully it was informative…..
Thanx for your time and attention…..
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