Iraqi commandos and Shi’ite militia battle ISIS in Tikrit
McClatchy reports that Iraqi Commandos and Shi’ite militia (trained by the Iranians) are venturing back into Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikit to do battle with the al Qaeda-linked ISIS who took the town just last week;
The initial assault Thursday involved commandos from a unit that reports directly to al-Maliki. They were airlifted aboard three helicopters to Tikrit University’s stadium, where they were met with heavy fire from ISIL. At least one of the helicopters was shot down.
The commandos managed in all-night fighting to take control of tall buildings near the stadium, according to witnesses and local residents. On Friday, they were reinforced by militiamen thought to be members of the Shiite group Asiab al-Haq, an Iranian-trained militia with extensive experience fighting in Iraq against the U.S.-led occupation and in Syria in support of the regime of Bashar Assad, which faces its own Sunni rebel uprising. Reports indicated the commandos and militia members were battling to expand their perimeter late Friday, with uncertain results.
I guess they can’t wait for the US team who is just arriving in Baghdad to do their evaluation of the situation.
Meanwhile, in the north of Iraq, the Kurdish peshmerga is mobilizing for a fight, according to Agency France Press;
The onslaught by Sunni Arab militants in northern Iraq has prompted the country’s Kurds to deploy the famed peshmerga security forces in defence of their autonomous region.
The move affects both young and old, with regional President Massud Barzani even calling on retired fighters to volunteer to take up arms again.
At a peshmerga base outside Arbil, the capital of the three-province Kurdistan region, training has a new urgency.
Category: Terror War
Tikrit University’s stadium. IIRC there was some sort of stadium right there on Speicher, so does anyone know if that is the same one? Anyway, I know longer have any faith in the Shia coalition to govern Iraq wisely. Partition it and do what we can to encourage moderation in the Sunni areas and discourage Iranian influence in Shia areas, but only actively help the Kurds.
This is still not going to go well for the Iraqis. Special Forces reporting to Maliki are small and thin. They are not the Iraqi Army at large. If they do succeed in pushing ISIS out of Tikrit, leaving it to the regular Iraqi forces to maintain is a losing game…all over again. ISIS knows who they are fighting and who they can intimidate. They love catching one Iraqi regular, giving him a little video show of what they do to enemy combatants and then promise to do that to their families as well, then send them back as scared informants to their own troops. To tell the horrors to come to them. Thus the fear runs rampant instead of the heat of hatred at an enemy that would do such and instilling a commitment to fight and die to protect their land, cities and families. You can equip and train all day long and for years at a time as we did. You cannot teach courage and the will to fight and die to anyone.
Is “Iraqi Commando” the same as a French Victory Parade?
Club Manager…You know I haven’t thought of it until you mentioned it but yea…they are a lot like a French Victory Parade. The parade comes as the victorious Americans come marching through the streets. That’s what every nation with their hand out want from us. Hey America, give us you blood, your limbs, your young lives and we will give you a giant, wine filled parade after you save us. Because after all, we are too afraid to fight and die for our own country and freedom but we will sure help you doe for us. Yes we may have a few “partisans” who will help but they are few and far between. The rest of us will continue to sit at our cafes and sip coffee and bow and scrap to our oppressors until enough of YOU have died to free us. Afterwards, we will not be your friend in the UN and we will treat you like something we just wiped off our shoe. But c’est la vie.
I once had to sit through a semester-long college class with a French exchange student. True to form, guy was an effeminate, arrogant, anti-American pretty-boy asshole.
Most of the time, I ignored the little shit. But there was one time that he made a comment about America being a “colonialist oppressor.” I simply brought up Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, and how even the Catholics there weren’t exactly sad to see the frogs go, and the reasons why.
Yeah, he didn’t like that. He liked it even less when I stated that history has proven France to be the nicest, friendliest, most hospitable (and easy to get laid in) country on Earth…provided you happen to be a member of the German army!
Bravo, Whitey, bravo.
I don’t know how long this ‘twitterpic’ will last, but it’s from someone in norther Iraq named Lucy Kafanov, who seems to be reporting local events.
https://twitter.com/LucyKafanov/status/482890951460134912/photo/1
A group of locals are patrolling as militia after the massacre of a group of Shiite Turkmen by ISIS followers.
Outstanding diplomacy and military leadership from Obama has given rise to this bright future of peace and prosperity in Iraq. Oh wait, ummm nevermind.
To the extent that the ME is the incubator and training ground for terrorists who would strike America, I could always see and appreciate the rationale for our dealing with them on their own turf. Beyond that, I remain befuddled as to our purposes in the ME. Perhaps someone who is not a member of the tin-foil-capped “No War for Oil” crowd can speak to this.
I should have added, “or comments here under the tag Hussar,” to that last line.
Fuck the Alex Jones loon. We don’t need that idiot showing up on this page. That Hussar guy is on par with VWP in terms of annoyance. Well, maybe not quite as bad but he’s close.
Giving the devil his due, at least Hussar seems to speak and write the English language fluently, and appears to possess the wherewithal to wipe his own ass, unlike VWPussy. He’s still full of shit, of course, but give credit where it’s due.
The report on commodities this week says that the gas price at the pump went up because of concerns that Iraq’s oil flow would be interrupted.
We aren’t going in there to protect the wells or the refineries, are we? Nothing I’ve found so far says we are. If it were merely about oil, we could cut a deal with Russia or Iran. Vlad likes money, and the Ayatollah would probably agree to something reasonable since Iran is vulnerable to a threat from ISIL/ISIS.
On another note, Isis was the wife of Osiris, an Egyptian god killed by Seth. She gathered the pieces together and brought him back to life. She was also a goddess of magic and could counteract evil by casting spells. I don’t think she’d appreciate these women-hating thugs taking her name in vain.
She gathered the pieces together and brought him back to life.
I may have to give the jihadi vermin a little more credit than I previously have for being clever.
*popcorn*
Where the youtube vids at?
Throw in a box of knives, secure the borders, then bring up the chairs, popcorn, and brewskies.
The more of this I see in the news, the more I think ‘nuke the place from orbit’ almost makes sense… except we don’t have any of those orbiting MRV jobs. Do we?
It’s the only way to be sure…
This is so much like the fall of the RVN. I have all of the feeling running,Argny,sadness,regret and sarrow. Joe