Iraq's war against IS terrorism | Updates and Discussions

[Alshawi1234]

Well it's complicated. Terrorism started targeting shia indiscrimately. In exchange some Shias started viewing the entire sunni population as the same. I could go with the "they started it" excuse but I think we are way passed that. We have to look for solutions not justifications.

Poverty was the lowest in sunni areas, that's not a reason. Unemployment is higher in shia areas. Unemployment doesn't mean jointing terrorism. It's about the superior feeling. Many of those who supported and started the "revolution" has connections and influence, they had money, they didn't lck anything. It's similar to MB in Egypt, but in Iraq it's more secteriian based.

But again i say we Iraqis should start looking for solutions rather than justifications.

@Alshawi1234

Why is everything going so slow? Estimates that it will take 1-2 years to drive ISIL out of Iraq. In reality it could be done in a month or less. So what's the decision behind the delay?

IS members are dug up in towns and cities. The locals themselves joined IS so its a house to house war in every village and town. There's IED's filling the place. It's a slow process.

The ties with the gulf are left for the other countries. Iraqis have been offering their hands but it's the other side that refuses. Although that's changing with Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Jordan, Egypt and surprisingly even KSA now.

Qatar on the other hand is a different story.

 

[al-Hasani]

Well it's complicated. Terrorism started targeting shia indiscrimately. In exchange some Shias started viewing the entire sunni population as the same. I could go with the "they started it" excuse but I think we are way passed that. We have to look for solutions not justifications.

Poverty was the lowest in sunni areas, that's not a reason. Unemployment is higher in shia areas. Unemployment doesn't mean jointing terrorism. It's about the superior feeling. Many of those who supported and started the "revolution" has connections and influence, they had money, they didn't lck anything. It's similar to MB in Egypt, but in Iraq it's more secteriian based.

But again i say we Iraqis should start looking for solutions rather than justifications.



IS members are dug up in towns and cities. The locals themselves joined IS so its a house to house war in every village and town. There's IED's filling the place. It's a slow process.

@Alshawi1234

Well, I am not saying that this justifies terrorism at all, don't misunderstand me, what I am saying is that all those factors and the others that I have not mentioned can create a very dangerous cocktail. Yes, Southern Iraq is generally more impoverished but your average young man in Anbar, Diyala, Salah-ad-Din, Ninawa (Mosul included) is hardly prosperous. Unemployment rates are also very high in especially Anbar, Salah ad-Din, Diyala etc. In other words volatile regions. Logical really.

Anyway what do you mean with the "social fabric" being too mixed? Everything south of Baghdad is almost entirely Shia Arab nowadays and almost 100% Arab. Unlike the North. People living in Basra, Nasiriyah and Semawa for instance don't strike me as different people.

Don't you think that increased federalism could make Iraq an even more fractioned country than it already is and has been for most of its history?

Also how to improve Iraqi-GCC relations (I am thinking mostly about KSA here and to a smaller extent Qatar although they are not relevant much)? Ties with UAE have almost always been cordial as I wrote earlier today and UAE is hosting one of the biggest Iraqi diaspora communities in the world.

For instance I find it tragicomical that KSA has such poor ties with a neighboring country like Iraq when looking at the very close ties on all fields that extend millenniums back. All the way to the times of the ancient Sumerians who had very close ties to the ancient Dilmun civilization in nearby Eastern Arabia (modern day Eastern Province of KSA and Bahrain) and who considered Dilmun as "holy land" as they also wrote in the Epic of Gilgamesh and as their origin even. I am not even going to talk about the later Semitic dynasties or the common Arab history to prove my obvious point here.

Let alone the ancestral, tribal etc. ties between Southern Iraq especially (which is more close to KSA on this front than any other region of Iraq) and KSA. Not only that but also the connection which Najaf and Karbala is a manifestation of. Arguably the most revered sites in Iraq and for the common Iraqi Shia.

Maybe the Shia lot in KSA can serve as a bridge to help with the relations? Anyway I am sure that history would have been totally different had the House of Saud not been ruling KSA and I am also hopeful of better relations in the future. It's needed and about damn time.

Well excuse me for focusing on this angle but it's hard not to in my situation.

Also I have to say that the Arab media for long periods (especially Al-Jazeera and some of the religious channels) were giving a wrong impression of what was going on in Iraq and thus contributing to the unrest. The Western media too.

@Alshawi1234

KSA is not a so-called "Gulf county". There is not even such a thing. It should be called Eastern Arabia.

Eastern Arabia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KSA is simply a too huge and a too diverse a country to be classified alongside Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar who all differ from each other moreover. Let alone Oman. Look at all the dialects, sects, geographical distances etc. It's like saying that Iraq is a Kurdish country. Hell an Assyrian one. Totally ignoring all the other components.
It's really bad journalism that this expression has even appeared. Less than 200.000 people speak a Khaliji dialect in KSA. Virtually all in the Eastern Province. I think more people speak a heavily Khaliji influenced dialect in the Basra Province alone.

Simply had to mention it.

 

[Serpentine]

Reports that Daesh burned 3 Iraqis alive in Hit, west of Ramadi. As expected, media doesn't give a crap since they are Iraqis.

 

[Falcon29]

@Alshawi1234

Well I disagree with you. It seems Kurdish and Iraqi forces/militias are making fast gains in north and central Iraq. At this rate it should be shorter estimate. I actually see at as political decision. US/Iraq/Iran don't want to take political decision to speed up the process.

For Iraq, maybe is because the government is not prepared to deal with political aftermath. I too am unsure what will follow. Will you form governments for each province or something like that? And what about the Kurds? Will Iraq be one national state?

I also believe US doesn't want to defeat them quickly. They don't mind demonizing Sunni Arabs. Neither do Iraq and Iran. They also don't want spotlight to return on Syrian conflict. Which is something they don't want to deal with anymore.

Reports that popular resistance forces have started a massive operation to completely liberate Salahuddin province which includes taking back Baiji and Tikrit.

Unconfirmed reports that Iran's air force is providing air cover for the operation, no visual proof yet.

Only the mobilized forces or Iraqi forces as well? I just read report that Iraqi forces will be ready in about 4 months to do those operations.

 

[Serpentine]

Only the mobilized forces or Iraqi forces as well? I just read report that Iraqi forces will be ready in about 4 months to do those operations.

Shia groups are doing most of the fighting in this operation, Iraqi army will probably support them with heavy weapons, armored vehicles and helicopter attacks.

 

[Falcon29]

Shia groups are doing most of the fighting in this operation, Iraqi army will probably support them with heavy weapons, armored vehicles and helicopter attacks.

Do you have any reliable maps on current situation?

 

[Serpentine]

Do you have any reliable maps on current situation?

If you mean a map for whole Iraq, I think this will help you, it's mostly accurate.

Template:Iraqi insurgency detailed map - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As for Salahuddin province detailed map, I'll add one as soon a good map is out.

 

[1000]

Several days ago an Mi-17 was damaged by a MANPAD, it crashed but not a direct hit therefor no total destruction. Crashed in friendly territory.

 

[Alshawi1234]

@al-Hasani

I actually meant the society was too closely mixed from Baghdad and to the south. I personally have far relatives living in Baghdad, Kufa... So a shia state which excluded Baghdad is unlikely. Also the shia aren't giving up Samara or Diyala. Naturally the buffer zone includes Baghdad belt... There's not much left for the sunnis if the Kurds take Kirkuk. And the Nineveh plains. So it's better to leave Iraq as one.

Also the Najaf marji3ia has called to fight for all of iraq and refused any attempts to split the country. Various fighting forces including AAH have criticized the kurdish attempts of trying to permanently takeover contested areas.

The Arab sunnis in Kirkuk have been largely quite about the entry of 2000 PMF forces in Kirkuk, signifying a silent acceptance for the PMF over kurdish control.

As for ties with arab states, The Iraq Sunni politicians are actively putting pressure on arab countries to return the ties with Iraq, so far so good with most Arab countries except for Qatar. Even if the relationships aren't close then at least. accept to live with each other and start cooperating in some fields.

I understand that only eastern KSA would be "gulf" I guess "jazeerat Al Arab" would be a more appropriate term.

 

[1000]

Some new vids

many more vids at this channel

American MRAPs delivered to ISOF for offensives such as in the vid above. 100 refurbished T-72's to be delivered as well from Eastern Europe.

 

[Serpentine]

Qassem Soleimani visiting one of Iraqi forces injured in war and hospitalized in Iran.

 

[1000]

what's the name of this rocket, doesn't look like it's from a country's arms industry

kornet destroys escaping ISIL vechile

 

[1000]

new vid with good footage. camera zoomed in on ISIS guy shows him firing at army/militia , at the end he got hit.

 

[Alshawi1234]

Several days ago an Mi-17 was damaged by a MANPAD, it crashed but not a direct hit therefor no total destruction. Crashed in friendly territory.

It struck an electric pole forcing it to crash land. Luckily the crew survived.

^^

That rocket in the video is locally made missile. Basically a rocket propelled barrel bomb. Range is just a few KM and accuracy is probable 100-300M. It used to attack IS strongholds before sending in infantry. It create a Big Bang and lots of destruction, more importantly it makes IS shit their pants and breaks their morale. That mixed with MRLS and mortars is the perfect recipe for IS destruction.

Updates,

Ongoing battles near IS controlled "haweesh" and "sad shanshal"area near Samara.

-Iraqis forces launch an operation and manage to break through IS defenses in Baiji and kill over 70 IS members. The purpose of the Operation isn't to retake baiji, it is rather a "raid" to kill as many IS members as possible as well as send reinforcements to the refinery before conducting a large operation sometime in the coming weeks.

The Iraqi forces however did enter a the western neighborhoods of Baiji, I don't know if their planning to stay stationed their though.

 

[elszADaQ]

US targets IS compound in Mosul w 20 bombs. Fighters dropped guns and fled according to observer

Feb. 7th, 2015 - Mosul under heavy fire

At 1:00 PM, Feb. 7th, 2015, Mosul witnessed the second wave of the most aggressive airstrikes since the beginning of the coalition operation to liberate Mosul. This day’s airstrike was much larger than the previous strikes on the third of February , and the civilians named it “Moaz Al Kasasbeh Retaliation”.

I couldn't resist the idea of being away from the scene, so I visited the place in person. I arrived after dropping the 16th bomb, thinking that the bombardment had stopped already, but as soon as I arrived, I was startled by dropping four more bombs and I saw what I'm about to describe to you:

Mosul - The Western Bank of the city

Number of bombs - 20

Targeted Sites: General Land Transport Authority, The Industrial School, Former Northern intelligence office and former Feda’aiyeen Training Center.

Description of the sites: the above described sites form a single complex of facilities established on the grounds of Wadi Eqab; it is located directly at the opposite side from the road leading to Al Islah Al Zera’aie Road. ISIL have used the site as a workshop to produce massive car bombs (trucks and semi trucks) and a storage for the stolen ammo and equipment from the Iraqi army, police and security forces, In addition to retaining huge assets of the stolen funds by ISIL. At least 80 ISIL members work at those facilities, and their peak availability is at the early morning hours till 3:00 PM. All working staff at those sites were ISIL experts and engineers in producing car bombs.

How did the bombing start?

Eyewitnesses said: an aircraft dropped a bomb towards a black “Range Rover” SUV after it entered the General Land Transport Authority building, then the bombardment started to intensify after that, every three bombs are dropped at once. Columns of smoke started to elevate from the site turning into a black cloud over the place with strong odor of Sulfur and gunpowder and flying debris on the site. I was away from the site and the entire industrial district till this moment and I didn't want to just collect statements from eyewitnesses, so I rushed to the location. I was blocked from entering the site with my car and advised to leave my car at a distance as ISIL site guards informed me of the heavy bombing going on. I parked my car at a distance away from the site and I hurried with the rest of people who were running away. After a few moments, the aircraft dropped four more bombs and again, smoke and debris flew throughout the place and we ran hiding behind some concrete columns. And this is what I saw:

ISIL insurgents left their weapons behind and start to run for their lives. one of them was “too fat to run” and was carrying his Kalashnikov and a walki talki. He tried to run but he couldn't to catch up, so he dropped everything he carried and rushed towards a wall to hide behind it. then cars started to fill the streets rushing away from the bombing. ISIL insurgents start to ask people’s help to carry them away from the site but no one stopped to give them a ride to safety. And the most scene that showed the fake image of ISIL and revealed their weakness is one of them have literally “peed in his pants”!

I was looking them in their eyes. I didn't pay attention to the bombs, smoke or the bombing. I wanted to see their eyes; I wanted to see the horror reflecting in their eyes. I wanted them to live the same horrific moments that the civilians have lived every single moment of it because of their presence. The civilians were saying “this is God’s revenge for Moaz”. Another one was screaming “God never forgets” and another was shouting “More , More, give the more of their poison!”

That’s what I saw with my eyes ..

Conclusion and the results of the strike: Full destruction of the sites with all its equipment and staff.

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