Trouble in Mosul

[Centurion40]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/17/world/meast/iraq-crisis/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

ISIS is getting closer to Baghdad.  Apparently ISIS forces have attacked a prison near Baquba.  It is referenced here in the CNN story.

Heavy clashes between Iraqi security forces and ISIS militants ensued, leaving at least one Iraqi security force member, nine militants and 44 prisoners dead, according to the Baquba officials. Iraqi state television reported that 52 prisoners were killed after ISIS militants threw hand grenades into the local prison.

I have heard a report that they were hoping to free some of their comrades.  The CNN report states that 52 prisoners were killed by an ISIS hand grenade.  But I have been told that medical personnel on the ground are saying that all 52 were shot at close range; payback for Sunday's executions.

I don't think that too many Iraqi soldiers will be surrendering in the near future.

[Gusington]

Sounds very Soviet influenced.

[TheCommandTent]

Interesting article about the chance for a push for Kurdish independence in the midst of all of this fighting.

DIYALA PROVINCE, Iraq –  Rockets and mortars peppered the vast plain below as Kurdish generals surveyed the battlefield. Plumes of smoke rose around the landscape as shells streamed over our heads, and a helicopter circled above. The sound of gunfire was endless, and as a tank roared backward ambulances headed forward.

Embedded with the Kurdish Psehmerga fighters, the defenders of the oil-rich northern enclave in Iraq, we stood ready as the ISIS swept through northwestern Iraq. But aside from a few light skirmishes, the Al Qaeda-linked army of ruthless terrorists seemed bent on taking their march south toward Baghdad, and not into the autonomous zone of Kurdistan, where hardened fighters are prepared to defend their oil-rich turf.

This northern front is one of the few places where ISIS have encountered resistance -- for unlike the Iraqi Army, the cohesive Kurdish force has held them back.

For miles leading up to this front, remnants of an Iraqi Army could be seen in the dust. Helmets and body armor discarded, barrack doors still open, humvees left sitting by the side of the road -- a stark reminder of the army that had faded into the night.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/17/leery-and-battle-tested-kurds-watch-as-isis-routs-iraqi-army/

One quote in the article that I am curious about is this ...

Others believe this is a result of inaction in Syria, where ISIS has been allowed to grow rich, or it could also be seen as yet another front in the ever growing proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Can someone fill me in on what the journalist is talking about here?

[endfire79]

Saudis = sunnis
Iran = shiite

I think the Saudis don't want much shiite influence in the region.  The Iranians are of different opinion.

[Staggerwing]

I've heard that Turkey is warming to the idea of an independent Kurdistan (presumably as long as it's borders along Turkey stay the same as those of current Iraq). With the pipeline for Kurdish oil and the good quality of the Autonomous Kurdish military I'm betting that Turkey is thinking that having a local friend that is on the lower end of the fanatically religious spectrum might be a good thing.

As long as Turkey's own Kurds don't get any funny ideas, that is.

[Centurion40]

I've heard that Turkey is warming to the idea of an independent Kurdistan (presumably as long as it's borders along Turkey stay the same as those of current Iraq). With the pipeline for Kurdish oil and the good quality of the Autonomous Kurdish military I'm betting that Turkey is thinking that having a local friend that is on the lower end of the fanatically religious spectrum might be a good thing.

As long as Turkey's own Kurds don't get any funny ideas, that is.

An independent Iraqi Kurdistan will almost certainly encourage Turkish Kurds to agitate in favour of joining a Kurdish state.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurds#mediaviewer/File:Kurdish-inhabited_area_by_CIA_(1992).jpg

[endfire79]

Looks like ISIS is moving on with the ethnic cleansing and leaving no stone unturned.


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/world/middleeast/isis-forces-last-iraqi-christians-to-flee-mosul.html


BAGHDAD — By 1 p.m. on Friday almost every Christian in Mosul had heard the Sunni militants' message — they had until noon Saturday to leave the city.

Men, women and children piled into neighbors' cars, some begged for rides to the city limits and hoped to get taxis to the nearest Christian villages. They took nothing more than the clothes on their backs, according to several who were reached late Friday.

The order from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria came after Christians decided not to attend a meeting that ISIS had arranged for Thursday night to discuss their status.

"We were so afraid to go," said Duraid Hikmat, an expert on minorities who had done research for years in Mosul. He fled two weeks ago to Al Qosh, a largely Christian town barely an hour away, but his extended family left on Friday.

[Centurion40]

Oy vey.

[TheCommandTent]

With this conflict getting out hand and reports genocide coming in it looks like the US has decided it might intervene at least by air.

'America is coming to help'
Published August 08, 2014
FoxNews.com
774
Never autoplay videos

President Obama announced Thursday night in a televised address that he has authorized the U.S. military to conduct airstrikes "if necessary" against Islamist militants in Iraq, and the military has conducted a mission to drop humanitarian aid there to help religious minorities stranded amid the violence.

Obama said in the statement from the White House the U.S. military is authorized to launch targeted airstrikes if Islamist militants advance toward American personnel in northern Iraq. Declaring that "America is coming to help," he also said that the U.S. decided to conduct the drops to the 50,000 or so religious minorities stranded on a mountaintop in the country's north, who have been forced to flee their homes as the militants advanced.

Obama said the religious minorities are under the threat of genocide from militants from the Islamic State (IS), the group formerly known as ISIS, and are stranded on the mountain without food or water. He said airstrikes could also be used to help protect those civilians.

The Yazidis, who follow an ancient religion with ties to Zoroastrianism, fled their homes after the issued an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a religious fine, flee their homes or face death.

"Earlier this week, one Iraqi in the area cried to the world, `There is no one coming to help.' Well, today, America is coming to help," Obama said. "We're also consulting with other countries -- and the United Nations -- who have called for action to address this humanitarian crisis."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/08/08/obama-authorizes-air-strikes-against-militants-in-iraq/

[Gusington]

Happenng right now...US planes targeting ISIS artillery. Obama now the 4th US President in a row to take military action in Iraq. It's a big crusty rash that won't go away.

[endfire79]

I hope this helps the Iraqi's and Kurds in kicking ISIS out.  Iraq has a lot of internal divisions which I don't think have healed, not sure the current regime is helping that.

[Staggerwing]

A strong 'Kurdistan' is very much in our national interest. If we can draw the line at acting as the Kurdish Tactical Airforce as well as giving them logistical support I'm all for it. The Kurds have repeatedly indicated they would like to maintain strong ties to the US both militarily and economically and as an ethnic group they have enormous below-the-radar connections inside Turkish society as well as being a back-door influence on the moderate part of Iran's.

[panzerde]

Honestly, the Kurds seem like the only group in the area that isn't bat-shit crazy and likely to end up going all Karzai on us.

[LongBlade]

Happenng right now...US planes targeting ISIS artillery. Obama now the 4th US President in a row to take military action in Iraq. It's a big crusty rash that won't go away.

Half measures rarely work.

[Centurion40]

A strong 'Kurdistan' is very much in our national interest. If we can draw the line at acting as the Kurdish Tactical Airforce as well as giving them logistical support I'm all for it. The Kurds have repeatedly indicated they would like to maintain strong ties to the US both militarily and economically and as an ethnic group they have enormous below-the-radar connections inside Turkish society as well as being a back-door influence on the moderate part of Iran's.

I've read that the US is now funnelling arms to the Kurds.  Clearly everyone believes that Iraq is already 3 nations, so why pretend any more?

And now the Iraqi President has appointed a new Prime Minister, a former aide from his own Shia party.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/11/world/meast/iraq-crisis/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Looks like the Shia are consolidating as well.