2410 replies to this topic

[Marcello]

When insurgents add controlled flooding to their arsenal you know things aren't going too well...

 

http://america.aljaz...m-fighters.html

 

 

Edited by Marcello, 30 April 2014 - 1452 PM.

[X-Files]

Kind of funny, if you know the history of the city of Babylon.

[BLAH]

Iraq seems to be a mess at the moment.

 

It seems like a Sunni and Shia conflict will probably start up in full force, being as most of Anbar is under Baathist and terrorist control (plus disgruntled Sunni tribals that are pretty much allied with those two, so the populations of Anbar are generally going to in the very least let ISIS and Baathist groups run the places).

 

Syria part 2 and all that.

[Colin]

Kind of funny, if you know the history of the city of Babylon.

Plus Saddam used the same tactic in reverse against the Marsh Arabs

[Noble713]

http://www.bloomberg...king-mosul.html
Al-Qaeda Offshoot Threatens Iraq Oil Site Near Mosul

ISIL is among the mostly Sunni groups fighting to topple Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. It established semi-permanent encampments in desert areas of western Iraq, especially in Anbar and Nineveh provinces, to provide secure bases for its fighters in Syria, the State Department said in an April report.

In Mosul and surrounding areas, more than 150,000 troops fled their posts as the guerrillas advanced, leaving behind thousands of weapons, including tanks and helicopters, that are now in ISIL possession, Yawer said. Peshmerga forces have fortified their defenses positions to prevent infiltration of extremists and to keep away “the flames of the fire,” Yawer said. Around 500,000 civilians fled the city, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the borders with Turkey and Syria, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The increase in sectarian violence recalls the mass killings in the years that followed the U.S. invasion of 2003. Civilian fatalities in Iraq, including police, reached 7,818 last year, exceeding the 6,787 killed in 2008, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq.

The group’s firepower will be strengthened by the equipment it has access to after seizing army bases in Mosul, cash from the city’s banks, and the release of 2,500 fighters from local jails, Eurasia Group, a New York-based political risk analyst, said in e-mailed comments.

http://www.zerohedge...addams-hometown
Al-Qaeda Jihadis Loot Over $400 Million From Mosul Central Bank, Seize Saddam's Hometown

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (Isis) has become the richest terror group ever after looting 500 billion Iraqi dinars - the equivalent of $429m (£256m) - from Mosul's central bank, according to the regional governor.
Nineveh governor Atheel al-Nujaifi confirmed Kurdish televison reports that Isis militants had stolen millions from numerous banks across Mosul. A large quantity of gold bullion is also believed to have been stolen.
Following the siege of the country's second city, the bounty collected by the group has left it richer than al-Qaeda itself and as wealthy as small nations such as Tonga, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Falkland Islands.
The financial assets that Isis now possess are likely to worsen the Iraqi governement's struggle to defeat the insurgency, which is aimed at creating an Islamic state across the Syrian-Iraqi border.

In other words, now that it is armed with US-made weapons, this particular al-Qaeda group also happens to be the world's richest terror force!

And so with all disposable cash it needs for a long time and armed to the teeth, what is Al Qaeda to do? Why continue expanding of course. Moments ago, via Reuters, we got confirmation that the "insurgents" have just captured yet another symbolic Iraqi town, Tikrit: the birthplace of none other than Saddam.

Edited by Noble713, 11 June 2014 - 1142 AM.

[Red Ant]

And so with all disposable cash it needs for a long time and armed to the teeth, what is Al Qaeda to do? Why continue expanding of course. Moments ago, via Reuters, we got confirmation that the "insurgents" have just captured yet another symbolic Iraqi town, Tikrit: the birthplace of none other than Saddam.

Last I heard, Al Qaeda has severed its ties to ISIS because they're too extremist even for Al Qaeda.

[ink]

Yes indeed. This certainly looks bad:

http://www.bbc.com/n...e-east-27797667

 

The Iraqi government looks pretty inept and reports of tens of thousands of troops fleeing are not heartening either.

All very worrying... especially if it ends up involving a foreign intervention to quell the unrest.

[Der Zeitgeist]

The U.S. Air Force has deployed three B-52s and two B-2s to RAF Fairford. And Russia hasn't protested against this despite the Ukrainian crisis....

[BansheeOne]

Last I heard, Al Qaeda has severed its ties to ISIS because they're too extremist even for Al Qaeda.

 

ISIL was founded because those al-Qaeda pussies were much too lenient towards the real enemy, the bloody Shi'a kuffar.

[Yama]

Islamists are celebrating conquest of Mosul. Cake for everyone! No, really.

Edited by Yama, 11 June 2014 - 1422 PM.

[Colin]

Soon the West may be siding with Iran and Syria to contain these guys. I can't imagine Iran is going to allow a Shiite government to fall within Iraq. If Syria can contain the rebels, then that may free up Hezbollah to strike in from the West into traditional Sunni areas. Even Israeli might find it in their interest not to pressure Hezbollah in Lebanon so they can free up troops to kill the Sunni's

 

Methinks we better buy a year of popcorn supplies and more machines. Jordon might look to Israel for some wall building help.

 

meanwhile the MSM will happily paint Israel as the biggest threat to peace in the region.

[sunday]

What are the Kurds doing?

[urbanoid]

Soon the West may be siding with Iran and Syria to contain these guys.

 

Highly doubt that. those Sunni extremists may succumb to pressure from their sponsors, i.e. Gulf States, Syria and Iran are somehow aligned to the countries we don't like.

[Yama]

What are the Kurds doing?

Mobilising the peshmerga and securing their borders. Apparently they have also advanced and secured some sites (which were abandoned by IA) for 'humanitarian reasons'.

Iraqi government has demanded support from peshmerga against ISIS. However, I have a feeling that Iraq, as we know it, is at its end and Kurds probably realize that as well.

[Brian Kennedy]

Anybody have any current info on peshmerga fighting capabilities? You hear a lot of talk about them being badass (relatively speaking for the neighborhood) but not a lot of details. Of course, the fact that they actually seem to believe in what they're fighting for is a pretty big differentiator.

[ink]

Iraqi government has demanded support from peshmerga against ISIS. However, I have a feeling that Iraq, as we know it, is at its end and Kurds probably realize that as well.

 

 

I think they're the only one's who've known it for a while now and have very carefully hedged their bets.

[DKTanker]

 

Methinks we better buy a year of popcorn supplies and more machines. Jordon might look to Israel for some wall building help.

 

meanwhile the MSM will happily paint Israel as the biggest threat to peace in the region.

There may be more than popcorn in the offering with Turkey calling an emergency meeting of NATO.

[Brian Kennedy]

I wonder how many examples there are of a 30,000 strong military force -- with afvs and all the trappings -- running away from 800 lightly armed insurgents. Kinda historical, right?

[Colin]

 

Soon the West may be siding with Iran and Syria to contain these guys.

 

Highly doubt that. those Sunni extremists may succumb to pressure from their sponsors, i.e. Gulf States, Syria and Iran are somehow aligned to the countries we don't like.

 

Look at the Taliban and Pakistan, these guys are going feel self-important and turn on the hand that fed it. Serious Islamic nutbars are known for their excesses. soon their sponsors will have enough, but it will be to late and with 400 million in their pocket among others treasures they will strike out on their own. Likely they would be happy to slit the Saudi throats soon enough.  

[Colin]

As I was saying

http://www.thetimes....icle4116273.ece

 

Iran has sent special forces and a unit of elite troops to Iraq to bolster floundering efforts by the Iraqi government to halt the advance of militants from an al-Qaeda splinter group.

A 150-man unit of the Quds Force, the elite section of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, has deployed to Iraq, supported by a team of Saberin, Tehran’s equivalent of the SAS. The troops will assist Iraqi forces as they regroup after the catastrophic loss of Mosul