Tag: Iraqi Army

ISIS leader al-Baghdadi makes headlines yet again…….

Guess what……He’s alive yet again?

I have written about this mystical person, the spiritual leader of ISIS, al-Baghdadi….it seem this guy has more lives than an alley cat……one of my recent posts explains this situation…..

https://lobotero.com/2017/11/30/hes-not-dead-hes-our-leader/

And then when the last word was that he was dead came out another report surfaced about this person…according to this report he is alive yet again but serious injured….

 The leader of the Islamic State group (ISIS), now in retreat across the Mideast, remains alive, albeit wounded, and hiding near the Iraq-Syria border, according to intelligence gathered by Iraq’s Ministry of Defense (MOD).

“We have a lot of information. He is alive, moving between the Iraq and Syria border in desert areas,” Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, the spokesperson for the MOD and for Joint Operations Command, in partnership with the U.S.-led coalition, told Fox News in Baghdad on Tuesday. “There are still ISIS sleeper cells scattered in these desert areas.”

More specifically, MOD intelligence indicates the self-styled caliph lurks between the border city of Al-Qaim in the Anbar governorate in Iraq and Abu Kamal in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor governorate, on the bank of the Euphrates River.

Do read on…….

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/11/28/isis-leader-baghdadi-hiding-near-iraq-syria-border-alive-but-injured-iraqi-military-says.html

Like I said….more lives than an alley cat.

Believe the hype when we see his body or him tap dancing across the desert sand.

This is getting boring.

Mosul Is Liberated!

Dancing in the streets………..Celebrate….Celebrate….Dance To The Music!

The news has hit the presses.

Mosul is liberated!

At least according to the Iraqi military………

After months of heavy bloody fighting the army of Iraq with US help has taken the Iraqi city of Mosul…….

Iraq’s state TV says the country’s prime minister has arrived in Mosul to declare victory over the Islamic State in the more than eight-month old operation to drive the militants from the city, reports the AP. “The commander in chief of the armed forces [Prime Minister] Haider al-Abadi arrived in the liberated city of Mosul and congratulated the heroic fighters and Iraqi people for the great victory,” the office of Haider al-Abadi said in a statement on Sunday, per Reuters. Dressed in a black uniform of a type worn by Iraqi special forces, al-Abadi was shown on Sunday descending from a military plane and was greeted by senior security forces commanders. Fighting Sunday was heavy, with the increasingly cornered militants sending female suicide bombers; some 30 ISIS fighters were killed attempting to flee by crossing the Tigris.

Lt. Gen. Jassim Nizal of the Iraq army’s 9th Division said Sunday his forces have achieved “victory” in the sector allotted to them, after a similar announcement by the militarized Federal Police. Nizal’s soldiers danced to patriotic music atop tanks even as airstrikes sent plumes of smoke into the air nearby. Backed by US-led coalition, Iraq launched the operation to retake Mosul in October. Iraqi state TV says government forces drove the militants from all areas and are “chasing” them in some areas in the city. The militants captured Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in a matter of days in the summer of 2014.

Great news in the battle against the barbaric ISIS….but does this mean the ISIS is at its proverbial end?

It’s a big loss for ISIS, one of the biggest they’ve ever sustained, but claims from Iraqi officials that it marks “the end of ISIS” are a major overstatement of the situation. Clearly, ISIS not only still hosts a lot of territory, but remains hugely powerful and influential besides.

Indeed, ISIS predates its “caliphate” by quite some time, with its origins as the al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgency. The group never totally abandoned those insurgency tactics when they became a land-holding state, and even if they ultimately lose all their territory, they’re just back to that.

And even that direct capability is just the tip of the iceberg, as ISIS retains massive influence in the international Islamist community, and will continue to inspire attacks worldwide, a problem that will likely endure irrespective of ISIS’ near-term prospects.

(antiwar.com)

 

  • A leader emerges: Iraq’s success in Mosul has turned the spotlight on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. In a profile, the Wall Street Journal reports that the 65-year-old former electrical engineer has emerged as a genuine leader after three years, to pretty much everyone’s surprise.
  • Premature? But at BuzzFeed, Nancy A. Youssef writes that Abadi and other Iraqi leaders may have made a mistake in declaring the end of the ISIS caliphate last week. Too much fighting remains, in Mosul and elsewhere.
  • Abuses in Iraq: Human Rights Watch says it has reports of Iraqi soldiers beating and executing unarmed men fleeing Mosul

 

This is a good day for Iraq and time to consider rebuilding….but never take their eyes off of ISIS….they will be just as dangerous now as they have been in the past.

Iraq: You Can Lead Them To Water

But they will not learn to dance.

In this case I am referring to the Iraqi Army…….

After the US-trained and armed Iraqi military collapsed in the face of ISIS offensives in 2014, the US embarked on a broad effort to retrain and reorganize the military. 17 months into this effort, US officials are increasingly admitting the effort is another failure.

Retired Lt. Gen. Mick Bednarek, who commanded the US training mission until last year, said the Iraqi Army has not improved much, saying the big problem is a lack of recruitment and retention in the Iraqi forces, saying the US officers are ready to train who shows up, but are never sure who that’s going to be.

Other US officials complained that the Iraqi military’s commanders are too cozy with the Shi’ite militias they so heavily depend on in the war, and that many of the US arms being transferred to the Iraqi military “either because of corrupt commanders or outright robbery,” end up in the hands of the militia.

Things are just not going as planned in Iraq……the US cannot break the unsuccessful program of training the Iraqi Army…..the whole situation has been a disaster for 13 years….and yet we just keep trying…..

A 17-month U.S. effort to retrain and reunify Iraq’s regular army has failed to create a large number of effective Iraqi combat units or limit the power of sectarian militias, according to current and former U.S. military and civilian officials.

Concern about the shortcomings of the American attempt to strengthen the Iraqi military comes as Iraqi government forces and Shi’ite militias have launched an offensive to retake the city of Falluja from Islamic State. Aid groups fear the campaign could spark a humanitarian catastrophe, as an estimated 50,000 Sunni civilians remain trapped in the besieged town.

Source: US Falters in 17-month Campaign to Revive Iraqi Army, Officials Say | World Affairs Journal

BTW, what was it that genius Einstein had to say about doing the same things over and over?

Smells Like Victory?

For over a year we have heard all the horror stories about the Iraqi military and the sneakiness of the militias…..and in all that time there has been very little that anyone could call a success…..so far violence and destruction and yet nothing that we could send a celebratory note about…..is it possible that all that is about to change?

Iraqi forces have reclaimed the central government compound in the city of Ramadi from ISIS, marking what a US commander says is the greatest achievement yet from a force that fled the city in May. The military says it’s now in complete control of the compound, which marks the defeat of ISIS in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, though there are still pockets of resistance, reports the BBC. “Yes, the city of Ramadi has been liberated,” says a military spokesman, per Reuters. The Iraqi flag is now flying over the compound, he adds. Fierce fighting had taken place around the city for days, though suicide bombers, snipers, and booby traps had slowed the Iraqi military’s advance, reports AP.

Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for the US anti-ISIS effort, tells USA Today that it has been a great day for the Iraqi military. “What this shows is that the Iraqis have moved from an army that folded on initial contact in the summer of ’14 to an army that has been able to conduct a complex operation in a large, built-up area,” he says. “This is the biggest thing the Iraqi army has done. Period.” He says ISIS is now “getting hit in multiple places simultaneously,” having also lost control of the Tishrin Dam in Syria to US-backed fighters over the weekend, who cut off a key supply line to the group’s Raqqa stronghold when they seized the Euphrates River dam.

Yes!  Strike up the band….celebratory gunfire…..and the peasants dance…..

With all that “good” news may be a bit premature…..why?

Iraqi officials are hyping the narrative that they’ve captured central Ramadi from ISIS and that the final expulsion of the group for the Anbar provincial capital is at hand. US officials, however, say they cannot confirm the claims of Iraqi gains in the city’s center.

Even Iraqi military officials sought to leave some wiggle room in this claim of a gain, however, saying they have “full control” of the compound but that this doesn’t necessarily mean any Iraqi troops have even attempted to enter the compound.

What’s the deal?  The media ran with the “good” news of an Iraqi victory……and yet there is nothing to back it up….at least for now…..maybe this is especially for the American public….this has a ring of propaganda about it……..just a thought…..

Iraq: If Only We Had The Money

It is well known that Iraq is fighting a horrible battle with ISIS for control of the country……there are many problems encountered like the cost of the war, money for rebuilding infrastructure, etc…..and so far their oil production even with the war raging is up for FY 2015 so far……

Iraq’s crude oil production climbed to an all-time high of 4.18 million barrels a day in July, according to statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

This was up from the 4.15 million bpd produced in June.

The southern oilfields accounted for exports of 3.06 million bpd, up about 40,000 barrels from June.

Then there is the cost of 36 American war planes scheduled to be delivered to Iraq in the very near future……

Lockheed Martin Corp this week will deliver the first of 36 F-16 fighter jets to Iraq, marking what Baghdad‘s envoy to the United States called a “new chapter” in his country’s ability to defend its vast borders with Iran and other neighbors.

Iraqi Ambassador Lukman Faily will travel to Lockheed’s Fort Worth, Texas, plant on Thursday for a ceremony at which Lockheed and the US government will formally deliver the first F-16 to Iraq.

Baghdad has also signed military contracts with Russia and the Czech Republic, among others, and has said it will not be able to fully defend its airspace until 2020.

Iraq also plans to buy Boeing Co Apache helicopters and other weapons from the US government as it assumes responsibility for its own defense and counterterrorism efforts.

Faily said the US government appreciated the urgency and scale of the challenge that Iraqi is facing given continued and mounting strife with insurgents.

(Who is flying these planes since the Iraqi Air Force is damn near non-existent?)

All that makes perfect sense….Iraq is trying to buy its way to success against ISIS….but then a recent development made me a bit apprehensive…..

It appears that Iraq may be near to bankrupt…….

Iraq’s ability to fight Islamic State extremists who control roughly a third of the country is hampered by a financial crisis that’s left the Baghdad government operating “hand to mouth,” Iraqi Ambassador Lukman Faily warned this week.

The inability to pay salaries on time to the soldiers and militiamen fighting the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has hurt morale and hindered progress in operations to retake key hubs that were captured by the jihadists, Faily said in an interview Thursday. And belt-tightening measures such as consolidating government ministries threaten to exacerbate ethnic and sectarian tensions by upsetting the delicate power-sharing quota system that’s been in place since the U.S.-led occupation authority took charge following the invasion of 2003.

If Iraq is running production at all time highs then why is it in so much financial trouble?  My guess…..the PSAs.  Production Sharing Agreements (PSA)…..a way for oil companies to screw the host country out of a share of the profits…..in other words oil companies among others are leading the way to Iraqi bankruptcy.

In case you would like more info on the PSAs….I covered it back in 2007….

Source: Who Gets Iraq’s Oil? | In Saner Thought

Ain’t capitalism grand?

Ask Bush Why The Iraqi Military Won’t Fight – The Unz Review

Oh there has been so much back and forth in the media about why the Iraqi army is having such a bitch of a time fighting the likes of ISIS……..so many blame Obama, usually the Right wing mental midgets and of course the Left blames the Bush admin…….but which of the two is right?

Or maybe there is a whole new paradigm that is hanging around that no one knows……I am sure a think tank somewhere can come up with a BS report or as they like to call their toilet paper, a white paper…….

To help answer the question just read the article pressed here……it may help or it may piss you off……

 

Ask Bush Why The Iraqi Military Won’t Fight – The Unz Review.

Ramadi: The Blame Game

By now anyone interested in the war in the Middle East knows of the loss of the Iraqi city of Ramadi to the forces of ISIS……and by now the fingers are pointing in every direction…..who is to blame for this loss?

The US SecState has an opinion………

There is little denying that the war against ISIS is going poorly, and everyone is looking for a scapegoat. Over the weekend, Defense Secretary Ash Carter placed the blame squarely on Iraq’s military, saying they simply aren’t willing to fight.

After that bomshell was dropped the Iraqis fired back…….

Baghdad has authorized the deployment of Shi’ite militiamen, but many believe the militiamen could further aggravate sectarian relations. The U.S. government says it is looking into more training and weapons for local tribes. Meanwhile, local security forces in Anbar complained they have not received any support from Baghdad.

Basically it is the US fault for not properly supplying the Iraqi army……at least according to Iran…..

Iranian officials are feeling the loss of Ramadi too, but instead of blaming the Iraqis are placing the fault on America’s doorstep, with Gen. Qassim Suleimani declaring the US “has no will to fight” against ISIS and was leaving everything up to them and the Iraqis.

Love it when accusations go flying around like snowflakes on a wintery morn…….

Enough with the who did what…….what is the proper response?

The Congressional War Hawks are thumping their chests as always…..especially my fave Hawk, McCain………

McCain on Sunday said the Obama administration needs a more defined strategy to defeat the terrorist group and suggested “a number of thousands” of Americans could do the job.

“We need to have a strategy,” he said told CBS News. “There is no strategy, and anybody that says that there is, I’d like to hear what it is, because it certainly isn’t apparent now, and right now.”

Nothing new there….that is people like McCain’s only plan….send in American troops to fight and die……if not that…..what?

How about the testimony before a Senate committee…….

Witnesses testifying before the Senate Armed Services panel May 21 all agreed that the current strategy is failing and that the United States must work closely with Sunni fighters battling the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS). They stopped short of endorsing a surge in combat troops — a nonstarter after the 2003 invasion — but argued for a boost in the number of US advisers and a substantial increase in their role.

“Without adequate force structure on the ground — and commitment — you cannot get out there and engage with the Sunni Arabs … They won’t believe you’re serious unless you put enough skin in the game,” said retired Col. Derek Harvey, the director of the Global Initiative on Civil Society and Conflict at the University of South Florida. “And to do that we’re going to need, in my judgment, about 15,000 or more” extra advisers on top of the 3,000 or so already there.

Really is there a real plan?

NOTHING!  Keep on keeping on…..there is not one Congressional person with enough balls to put anything down on paper that can be used against them in an election…..after all that is what is paramount….preserve the campaign cash.

Winning an election is far important than winning the war of terror……

Keep in mind…..the longer a war continues….the more money is made……

And there is the plan you have been looking for all this time!

 

Iraq: Same Game, Different Country

Iraq is proving to be a country that the US will be a part of for generations……..we have invaded twice and added to the woes of the population….time and time again.

The next door neighbor to Iraq, Syria, was the beginning of what is being hailed as the battle for the soul of the Middle East……ISIS starting grabbing territory after the uprisings against Syria’s strong man Assad and it spread from there to become the major war on terror site.

The US is conducting airstrikes because the American people will not accept a return to combat ground troops in the country……that is for now…..when needed the case will be made and the troops will be sent.

Syria the big plan is to train certain rebel factions to fight ISIS….the problem is most of them want to fight and remove Assad…..ISIS is just an after thought.  But that plan is being employed in Iraq also.

Is this the best way to fight the ISIS insurgency?

Propaganda would have us believe that it is…..like a recent piece in the WaPo……..

More than 1,000 recruits stood at attention in fatigues, their heads held high, during a ceremony Friday for what Iraqi officials hope marks the formation of a force to push out the Islamic State militants who control most of Anbar.

After routing al-Qaeda-linked militants nearly a decade ago, U.S.-backed Sunni tribesmen in Anbar and other provinces faced sectarian-driven discrimination from Baghdad. Many of them eventually sided with the Islamic State, a switch that facilitated the group’s sweeping advances throughout Iraq last June. Also, analysts and diplomats warn about the divisive role of powerful Shiite militias, which Sunnis in Anbar and elsewhere accuse of sectarian-driven attacks.

As usual the MSM is acting as the press agent for the government…….by putting a smiley face on anything that can be used to make it look as if all is going well on the ground against ISIS……

The problem is that the Sunni tribes do not see the central Iraqi government as their friend…….

Top Iraqi Sunni leaders are expressing growing disquiet today about their lack of role in the Abadi government, despite the Shi’ite-dominated leadership’s promises of inclusion.

The problem is all the promises of inclusion in the government have not been delivered……in 10 years the tribes have been marginalized……but they want to join in the fight….will it be successful?

As reported in McClatchy……….

“These programs tend to have about a 40 to 50 percent attrition rate,” he said, speaking only on the condition of anonymity because he didn’t want to risk his employment by being publicly pessimistic. “So even if they get 1,000 guys vetted from reasonably pro-government tribes – and let’s be honest, every Sunni tribe hates the government – these are paltry numbers that are likely to fall even further.”

“The numbers at present are still too small to break the overall stalemate,” said Aymenn Tamimi, an analyst on Iraq for the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, who also noted that the recruiting for the program was taking place in an area of Anbar that’s been a government stronghold. “Much more work needs to be done.”

In 2006 the surge was promoted as a huge success…..and the US is trying to use that limited success as the template for the fight…….and keeps telling the world of their mounting successes against ISIS……..
“We believe across Iraq and Syria that Daesh is losing and remains on the defensive,” said Marine Brig. Gen. Thomas D. Weidley, chief of staff for Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, the name of the international campaign fighting IS. “Daesh” is the Arabic acronym for the militant group that swept into Iraq from Syria last June and swiftly took control of much of Iraq’s north and west.
All sounds good in the interviews and the sound bites that are released to the public…….(there is always a but)……

The Islamic State on Friday took control of the provincial government center of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s largest province, and appeared to be in control of most of the city in a major defeat for the Iraqi government.

Islamic State forces also appeared to be closing in on government positions in two other key locations in Anbar province, the towns of Baghdadi and Karmah, in a broad offensive that if successful would end the government presence in all of the province’s major population centers. The capture of Baghdadi also would cut the supply lines to the Iraqi garrison protecting the strategic Haditha Dam.

Civilians were fleeing the fighting along the perilous highway towards Baghdad, much of which is also controlled by Isis. Iraqi officials in Ramadi said they had pleaded for help ahead of the attack and now feared that the rest of the city would soon fall: a result that would give the terror organisation its biggest victory in Iraq this year.

It would also mark a significant defeat for Iraqi forces, who had allied with several powerful Sunni tribes in a bid to defend Ramadi and stop Isis from taking control of the highways west to Syria and Jordan, as well as the water supply to southern Iraq which is regulated by a dam on the Euphrates river that runs through the city.

ISIS is fighting from a defensive position…..according to the military mouthpieces……but the truth seems to be a slight variation on their story.  It is a little difficult to sell the rosy scenario when ISIS is making gains……even with all the airstrikes that according to the Pentagon are putting the group on the run and fighting from a defensive position.

The Iraq theater is in NO better shape than the Syrian theater……..

 

ISIS: Oh Crap! Never Mind!

I wrote yesterday about the idea/plan for a Spring offensive by the Iraqi forces and its Coalition partners against ISIS….the plan being to retake Mosul from the clutches of ISIS.

The problem is that the US telegraphed this plan without really consulting it s allies……Iraq was pushing back saying that it was a premature announcement and that Iraqi forces could not be ready in that short of time…..

There was much back and forth about this announced plan……and in the end….guess what will happen?

After weeks of hyping their planned “spring offensive” against ISIS in Iraq, capped off with the capture of the major city of Mosul, the Pentagon is now said to have taken the plan entirely off the table on the grounds that Iraqi troops probably wouldn’t win.

“We don’t want to do anything until they are ready and can win decisively,” one Pentagon official explained, “they cannot now.” Apparently, Centcom announced the intention to carry out this attack before considering if it was winnable.

Pentagon officials are now saying that the invasion is being pushed back until at least autumn, though even that is tentative, and likely based on extremely optimistic timetables for getting the Iraqi military back into fighting form.

You would think that the US would coordinate with its coalition partners before a chest thumping announcement was made….

Joke Of The Day: Iraq Will Be Victorious!

As the world sees the Iraqi situation as a problem with no exit….the government of Iraq is thumping its chest like a sex crazed primate and predicting that they will defeat ISIS in Iraq by the end of next year…..

The US is working with Iraq on a plan for the government to push ISIS out of the Iraqi part of its self-declared Islamic State by the end of next year. As atrocities including the public execution of dozens of men, women, and children continue, a major offensive is being planned for next spring that will involve Iraqi troops assisted by American advisers and aircraft, officials tell the New York Times. Officials say the plan—which will require training tens of thousands of fresh troops—will be to isolate the group in its strongholds before retaking cities like Mosul. For now, airstrikes on ISIS targets by the US-led coalition continue, with Canadian warplanes launching their first strikes near Fallujah yesterday, the AP reports.

Does the Iraqi government see the reports coming out of their country?

Optimism can be a good thing….but too much is just….delusional!

There are few people that will admit publicly that the Iraqi government and its army will be victorious in its fight with ISIS without help….lots of help.

The Iraqi army’s defeat by Islamic State (IS) fighters in Mosul in June came as a surprise. Although the Iraqi military is superior in terms of numbers of soldiers and arms, its fighters quickly deserted their posts. The army is still unable to undertake serious operations to retake control of the cities that have fallen under IS control despite ongoing US-led air cover. The reality of the Iraqi army since its inception is that it has never won a battle against another armed force. In fact, it has exhibited power only when cracking down on popular protests.

The Iraqi army has suffered over the years from two major flaws: it was not designed to defend the country, but rather the governing authorities, and it has always been plagued by sectarianism.

Today’s Iraqi army is known for its lack of discipline. Its troops often demonstrate inappropriate behavior on the battlefield and in public places, showing little or no regard for military rules and regulations. It has had and continues to have adverse effects on the lives of Iraqis. Its reformation now necessitates addressing its flaws to build a true national army with the goal of defending the homeland, not only the authorities.

Sorry dudes but that statement is just bravado talking…….or maybe just wishful thinking….either way it is not grounded in reality.

The only optimism comes from a PM that has no foot om reality…..the US is their only hope….but will it happen?

Optimism is a good thing….that is until it becomes delusional.