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Iraq's war against IS terrorism | Updates and Discussions

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Remember?

Anyway, time to kick out Kurds out of Kirkuk.

Kirkuk has been under Kurdish admin since 2003, doesn't matter how much resources MIT r sending to the turks to try to oust the Kurds. Kirkuk is a Kurdish city, if your turkomanis don't like they can always go to turkmenistan or turkey or just join IS like most of them do(sunni) to end up killed and slaughtered.
 
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Remember?

Anyway, time to kick out Kurds out of Kirkuk.

Basnews and Rudaw are 2 sources of propaganda and bullshit but that doesn't mean all their news is fake, like press tv. They post real news as mainstream media but also fake news.
 
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Islamic State Attacks Peshmerga on Three Fronts in Sinjar
ERBIL

The Islamic State militant has attacked the Peshmerga forces from three different directions in Sinjar in northern Iraq.

The Kurdish Peshmerga Commander on the Sinjar frontline, Bahram Arif Yassin, has told BasNews that on Friday night, IS militants launched attacks against the Peshmerga in the three neighborhoods of Barbarozh, Hai al-Shuhada, and Hai la-Nasir in Sinjar.

The forces defeated each attack, inflicting heavy losses on the IS militants “After repelling them, we shelled IS bases and killed many insurgents in the area,” said Yassin.

“In the battles, two militants were killed and 16 wounded. As a result of shelling IS bases, seven more insurgents were killed,” he added.

BasNews has learned that currently there are clashes between peshmerga forces and IS militant inside Sinjar.

Sinjar has been under the control of the Islamic State since early last August, but last month, Kurdish Peshmerga forces with the support of US-led coalition jets attacked IS militants in Sinjar and were able to brake the siege on mount. Sinjar which had thousands of Yazidi refugees on it.

BasNews

KRG Rejects Formation of Sinjar “Canton”
ERBIL

The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has rejected efforts to form a local administrative council in Sinjar, known as a canton, by the Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK).

In a statement released on its official website, the KRG says that Sinjar and its people should work within the current political system and rejects any steps that create divisions among Kurds in the area.

“The struggle of Sinjar shouldn’t be co-opted by party politics, which in the end could cause more political tension in the region instead of healing their wounds,” said the statement, released on Saturday.

It goes on to say that KRG President Massoud Barzani personally commanded the Sinjar operation to free the town, and help local people return to their homes and restart their lives.

“The KRG thanks the fighters of the People’s Protection Unit (YPG) who helped the Peshmerga when Islamic State attacked Sinjar, but we reject the recent action of the PKK, forming a local administration assembly in Sinjar, which is contrary to Iraqi and Kurdistan Region laws and constitution. We won’t accept this intervention in the Kurdistan Region’s internal affairs,” added KRG statement.

The KRG warned the PKK to end all interventions in KRG affairs, which could increase political tension in the region.

The statement concludes by pointing out that Kurdish Yazidis have their own representatives in the KRG and Iraqi Parliaments and they have the right to make their own decisions.

Sinjar has been under the control of Islamic State militants since early August, although Peshmerga forces with the support of YPG fighters have retaken areas in and around the town.

BasNews
 
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Be Very Worried About Barzani Family Power Struggle
American officials tend to lionize Iraqi Kurdistan, and not without reason. Iraqi Kurdistan has, for more than two decades, been stable and relatively secure. And while its claims to be democratic are a bit exaggerated, its transformation in a relatively short period of time is astounding.

That said, the region was never democratic—the freest and fairest election it had was in 1992—and then the leaders simply massaged the process in order to maintain their hold. Regional President Masud Barzani, for example, is officially limited to two terms by the constitution, but got around the problem by extending his second term extra-legally. Simply put, today, Iraqi Kurdistan is a dictatorship.

The two ruling families dominate politics and society. Masud Barzani is president and lives in a palace complex in a resort inherited from Saddam Hussein. His nephew, Nechirvan Barzani, is prime minister. His uncle, Hoshyar Zebari, was Iraq’s foreign minister and is now finance minister. Masud’s eldest son, Masrour Barzani, leads the intelligence service; and his second son Mansour is a general, as is Masud’s brother Wajy. Barzani’s nephew Sirwan owns the regional cell phone company which, while purchased with public money, remains a private holding. Barzani’s sons are frequently in Washington D.C. They have their wives give birth in Sibley Hospital in order to ensure the next generation has American citizenship, and Masrour Barzani acquired an $11 million mansion in McLean, Virginia. Hanging out in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, some of Masoud Barzani’s daughters-in-law have, according to Kurdish circles, been known to introduce themselves as “Princesses of Kurdistan” as they visit high-end shops accompanied by their own rather unnecessary (while in the United States) security details.

(Barzani isn’t the only family dynasty, just the most important one. Former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s wife Hero Ibrahim Ahmad runs a number of media outlets, “non-governmental organizations,” and maintains a stranglehold over the finances of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the political party Talabani founded. She calls the shots for her son Qubad, whom she maneuvered into the deputy premiership. Lahur Talabani, the former president’s nephew, is head of his party’s counter-terrorism unit. President Talabani, when deciding who from his party should join him in Baghdad, appointed his brother-in-law Latif Rashid to be a minister.)

Family means everything in Kurdistan. When Masud Barzani met with President Obama several years ago at the White House, he brought with him Masrour and nephew Nechirvan even though the latter at the time was out of office and without any governmental role. Barham Salih, the serving prime minister, stayed home. Barham simply didn’t come from the right family. The Barzani Charity Foundation has “urged” other non-governmental organizations not to compete in certain sectors, or face the consequences. Meanwhile, its funds—Kurdish NGO workers and journalist say—go as much toward private jets and six-figure salaries as they do to assistance.

Masud Barzani is a dictator. As Islamist terrorists rage over the Charlie Hebdo cartoons, Barzani remains calm to that supposed provocation. But when Sardasht Osman, a young Kurdish journalist, penned a relatively innocent poem highlighting how his life and fortunes would change if he married Barzani’s daughter—a subtle and sophisticated poke at the region’s nepotism and corruption—Barzani’s security service led by son Masrour apparently kidnapped and executed him. Family trumps everything.

For policymakers and businessmen in the United States or Europe who seek only stability and do not prioritize democracy, that may be fine. After all, aside from Israel and perhaps now Tunisia, the Middle East isn’t known for democracy. That stability, however, is on the verge of breaking down and, ironically, the reason is family.

Masud Barzani is nearing 70 years old. Like many Middle Eastern potentates, he is carefully considering his succession. While many in the West assume that Nechirvan Barzani, on paper the second-most powerful Kurdish figure, would be next in line, Masud has apparently decided to cast his lot with son Masrour. There have been subtle personnel changes and alterations in portfolios in recent years as Masrour has consolidated power. Take the case of Karim Sinjari: In theory the interior minister answering to Nechirvan Barzani, Sinjari has seen Masrour encroach on his power and portfolio in recent years. Whereas Sinjari once was responsible for the region’s impressive security, today Sinjari’s title may be the same but he holds sway over little more than local and traffic police forces.

The result of the power struggle matters. Both Nechirvan and Masrour Barzani would be corrupt by any American standard. Certainly, that’s a more difficult call by Iraqi and Kurdish law which doesn’t define business and political conflicts of interest in the same way. Still, both the Barzanis (and Talabanis) confuse personal, party, and public funds. That said, while Nechirvan Barzani may be corrupt, it is in the Tammany Hall sense: his machine may be shady at times, but it delivers not only to his immediate inner circle but to the public at large. Nechirvan is skilled, works with both supporters and opposition, and is generally popular. He does not exaggerate his academic or military prowess; he is self-confident enough to know that he need not bother, and that the general public sees through and privately jokes about embellishments. Nechirvan also knows that it is far better to co-opt or ignore opponents than use force to imprison or kill them.

Masrour is not so nuanced. Most of the crises which soiled the Barzani name over the past decade—the imprisonment of political critics, the attacks on critics in Virginia and Vienna, and the murder of journalists seem to rest at Masrour’s feet.

The problem may be generational: The Barzanis are much like the Saudis. Both Masud Barzani’s father Mullah Mustafa Barzani and Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, were tribal leaders. Even at the height of their power, they remained close to the people. With every generation, however, the Saudis and Barzanis grew more isolated. Masud understands why his father was popular and may genuinely desire to be the same sort of leader, but he has allowed a huge distance—both literal and figurative—to develop between himself and the people he supposedly represents. He does not mix and mingle. The newest generation, however, has no real memory of their grandfather, and so has a very limited sense of the responsibility they inherit. They were born to power and see it as an entitlement. If Masoud Barzani’s grandsons enter the Erbil airport or any other government complex, scores of servants will bow and genuflect toward them. Grow up with endless servants and grown men singing your praises, little discipline and a sense that rules and the law are beneath you, and the same sort of perverse morality and mindset that afflicted Saddam Hussein’s sons and Muammar Gaddafi’s children can take root. Whereas Nechirvan uses power with nuance and still seeks to deliver, Masrour can simply be cruel. Human-rights monitors say that businessmen who do not pay him kickbacks are imprisoned, and journalists who write critically of him or his father disappear. He is quick to threaten, and seldom delivers. Nechirvan is smart; Masrour is not. Prior to the Islamic State’s seizure of Mosul, for example, Nechirvan understood the danger they posed; Masrour was too clever by half and apparently thought he could use them against political enemies.

Various people have tried to warn Masud about his sons’ behavior. In the past, Barzani supporters would say that Masud was simply unaware of their antics. Seldom does anyone hear such excuses anymore. Kurdish officials—and even Barzani family members—whisper that, like Saddam Hussein, Barzani is aware of the excesses and behavior of his sons but simply does not care. Family trumps Kurdistan, let alone democracy.

What does this mean for the United States? Privately, both diplomats and intelligence circles seem to understand the dynamics of the Masrour-Nechirvan split and, if it is not too strong a term, the psychopathic trends within Masrour’s behavior. They have expressed their displeasure by withdrawing diplomatic etiquette and searching Masrour and his delegation at Dulles airport, but there is a limit to what American officials are willing to do. That said, post-Masud Kurdistan—and potentially U.S.-Kurdish relations—will be far different with Masrour predominant than with Nechirvan in charge. The question for U.S. policymakers and perhaps the intelligence community as well is whether they are content to watch a slow-motion train wreck or whether leverage exists to prevent worst-case scenarios from developing. What they should under no circumstances take for granted is security in Kurdistan. Leadership matters.

Be Very Worried About Barzani Family Power Struggle - Commentary Magazine Commentary Magazine
 
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MoD met with Sadr to bring militia's under army command

Al-Sadr calls for control over militias | Arab News

BAGHDAD: Senior Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr says the country must rein in the powerful Shiite militias battling the Islamic State militant group and have them coordinate more directly with the country’s official armed forces.
Speaking at a press conference Monday with Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid Al-Obeidi, Al-Sadr said his followers are now “at the disposal of the army,” adding he will work “to supplement militias and other armed groups with the army.”
A number of militias, including Al-Sadr’s “Peace Brigades,” answered calls last summer to fight alongside Iraq’s beleaguered military, which virtually crumbled in the face of the militant onslaught. Many of those Shiite militias answer to different leaders, have been difficult to control and are accused of brutal tactics and discrimination against Sunnis.

@Mosamania told you this before
 
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MoD met with Sadr to bring militia's under army command

Al-Sadr calls for control over militias | Arab News

BAGHDAD: Senior Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr says the country must rein in the powerful Shiite militias battling the Islamic State militant group and have them coordinate more directly with the country’s official armed forces.
Speaking at a press conference Monday with Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid Al-Obeidi, Al-Sadr said his followers are now “at the disposal of the army,” adding he will work “to supplement militias and other armed groups with the army.”
A number of militias, including Al-Sadr’s “Peace Brigades,” answered calls last summer to fight alongside Iraq’s beleaguered military, which virtually crumbled in the face of the militant onslaught. Many of those Shiite militias answer to different leaders, have been difficult to control and are accused of brutal tactics and discrimination against Sunnis.

@Mosamania told you this before
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Why the useless government dont let this man out​
 
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MoD met with Sadr to bring militia's under army command

Al-Sadr calls for control over militias | Arab News

BAGHDAD: Senior Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr says the country must rein in the powerful Shiite militias battling the Islamic State militant group and have them coordinate more directly with the country’s official armed forces.
Speaking at a press conference Monday with Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid Al-Obeidi, Al-Sadr said his followers are now “at the disposal of the army,” adding he will work “to supplement militias and other armed groups with the army.”
A number of militias, including Al-Sadr’s “Peace Brigades,” answered calls last summer to fight alongside Iraq’s beleaguered military, which virtually crumbled in the face of the militant onslaught. Many of those Shiite militias answer to different leaders, have been difficult to control and are accused of brutal tactics and discrimination against Sunnis.

@Mosamania told you this before

What happens after the war? They became better coordinated, good for them, it doesn't mean now that they are government employees.
 
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GERMAN EMBED REPORTER: ISIS PLANS ON KILLING ‘HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS’ IN ‘RELIGIOUS CLEANSING’


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AFP Photo / HO / Al-Furqan Media

by JORDAN SCHACHTEL 18 Jan 2015

Jurgen Todenhofer, the first Western reporter to embed with Islamic State fighters and not be killed in the process, spoke to Al Jazeera about his time with the terror group.
Todenhofer lived side by side with the jihadist fighters for ten days in the Islamic State-stronghold city of Mosul, Iraq. He was accompanied only by his son, who served as his cameraman.

“I always asked them about the value of mercy in Islam,” but “I didn’t see any mercy in their behavior,” explained Todenhofer. He added, “Something that I don’t understand at all is the enthusiasm in their plan of religious cleansing, planning to kill the non-believers… They also will kill Muslim democrats because they believe that non-ISIL-Muslims put the laws of human beings above the commandments of God.”

The German reporter then elaborated on how shocked he was about how “willing to kill” the ISIS fighters are. He said that they were ready to commit genocide. “They were talking about [killing] hundreds of millions. They were enthusiastic about it, and I just cannot understand that,” said Todenhofer

He warned that the Islamic State “is much stronger than we think,” and that their recruiting has brought motivated jihadis from across the globe. “Each day, hundreds of new enthusiastic fighters are arriving,” explained Todenhofer. “There is an incredible enthusiasm that I have never seen in any other war zones I have been to.”

The journalist asserted that the U.S.-led bombing campaign was not going to stop the Islamic State and its continuing jihad. He told Al Jazeera that he believed the terror group would only be stopped if fellow Sunni Iraqis would rise up against them.

Follow Jordan on Twitter @JordanSchachtel
 
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