“Thousands of young men from the south have flocked to Baghdad to bolster the flagging army, and many observers have assumed that the flow of southern militiamen would help stem an ISIS advance that’s captured much of northern and central Iraq in the weeks since the city of Mosul fell under ISIS control June 10.” However, that doesn’t seem to be happening. Nonetheless, it seems unlikely that Iran will sit idly by and allow its Shi’ite client government in Iraq to fall without a fight.
“Islamist fighters reportedly attempting to encircle Baghdad,” by Mitchell Prothero, McClatchy, June 25, 2014 (thanks to Jerk Chicken):
IRBIL, Iraq — Iraq’s dire situation has gone from bad dream to nightmare in two weeks of fighting that have seen Sunni Muslim gunmen assert control over a growing area, including, Kurdish officials said Tuesday, at least two towns that lie on a crucial supply route linking Baghdad, the capital, with the mostly Shiite Muslim south.
The fall of towns in an area that American troops knew as the “triangle of death” because of its propensity for violence provided an ominous signal, the Kurdish officials said, that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and its Sunni allies are working to encircle Baghdad.
“The picture is no longer scary,” said Shafin Dizayee, the spokesman for the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in Irbil. “It has become close to a nightmare scenario, where we see Daash expanding and taking control of its borders.” “Daash” is the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
Another Kurdish official, Jabbar Yawar, the spokesman for the Kurdish peshmerga militia, said ISIS fighters apparently had seized control of the towns of Iskandariya and Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, and were reported in some instances to be just six miles from Baghdad.
“This area controls access to southern Iraq, and it appears as if they might try to push into Baghdad or even south towards the city of Hilla,” he said.
Southern Iraq is mostly Shiite, and it supports the embattled government of Prime Minister Nouri al Malaki. Thousands of young men from the south have flocked to Baghdad to bolster the flagging army, and many observers have assumed that the flow of southern militiamen would help stem an ISIS advance that’s captured much of northern and central Iraq in the weeks since the city of Mosul fell under ISIS control June 10.
But the loss of the southern approaches to the capital would change that calculus and add to the sense that Baghdad was gradually being isolated. On Sunday, Iraqi soldiers lost control of the last major crossing point to Syria, while gunmen allied with ISIS took control Monday of Tirbil, Iraq’s only land crossing to Jordan. Anbar province, to Baghdad’s west, has been largely under ISIS’s sway since last year, and the group is now contesting government forces in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, to the capital’s north and east.
As one town after another has fallen, the Iraqi government has insisted that most of the lost territory remains in government hands. But officials of the Kurdistan Regional Government provide a decidedly different view, one lent credibility by Kurdish estrangement from the Maliki government and ISIS. Their assessment of what’s taking place in Iraq also matches that of a U.S. defense official, who said ISIS and its allies were consolidating control of the Euphrates River Valley in apparent preparation for attacks on Baghdad.
The official, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly, said Iraqi security forces were struggling to establish a defensive line centered on Samarra, a key city that controls the northern approaches to Baghdad. In a separate briefing, a senior U.S. intelligence official said ISIS was also menacing the Iraqi air base at Balad, the country’s largest military installation….
Peter Buckley says
Good.
This will cripple Iran’s economy. What the West should do now is tighten sanctions on Iran even more. This would be the final straw for them……
John C. Barile says
A bloodbath is imminent; another intra-Islamic murder spree. The Obama administrations self-serving talk of a “duty to protect” won’t be trotted out this time, not as it was in the run-up to Moammar Khadafi’s overthrow.
jihad3tracker says
Yes, John, bloodbath is a word that’s usually a bit of over-the-top-vivid — but this time I agree it is totally fitting.
And I heard that al-Maliki has rejected Kerry’s urging of a more inclusive government…. not that ISIS would have accepted anyway.
Wholesale slaughter of their “brothers and sisters” in a common faith is WAYYYY more adrenalin-charged than putting guns down….
jihad3tracker says
Taquiyyists like CAIR are chewing nails right now to distract themselves from a huge headache : Which is the unintended consequence of all this success for ISIS.
IT DOES NOT FOLLOW STINKIN’ RULES ABOUT PUSSY-ASS STEALTH JIHAD.
THEY PUT IT RIGHT IN OUR INFIDEL FACES ! ! ! ! !
Even bonehead deniers on the Left might perhaps grasp the reality of Allah’s Army.
John C. Barile says
Yeah.
Of course this all has nothing to do with Islam.
John C. Barile says
This is so ironic, that the Obama administration is, in so many ways, the author of this predicament–Mr. Obama interventions in Libya and Syria directly empowered Daash–ISIS–U.S. sponsored training, transshipment of arms, covert assistance. Now look at this unfolding world nightmare–Osama bin Laden’s bloody dream coming to fruition.
Alice says
Pretty sure it’s exactly what a certain shia in the WH wanted.
John C. Barile says
“–Mr. Obama‘s interventions . . . .”
John C. Barile says
“–Through U.S. sponsored training, transshipment of arms, and covert assistance.”
Uri says
Bush unleashed the sectarian forces of hell. Bush did it. And all so he could be re-elected.
Now repeat 5 times.
It’s George Bush’s fault and the dumbasses that voted for him.
Capisce?
Beagle says
The maleficent powers of GWB are so diabolical they transcend space and time. He is also responsible for the wars against the Kurds in the 1980s and the Shia rebellions against Saddam. Bush himself exhorted the brothers at the Battle of Karbala.
I hope you were joking, for your sake. Otherwise you must be an insufferable ass in social situations.
John C. Barile says
In Libya? in Syria? In 2011? 2012? 2013??
rena says
I’m sure the Bushes, to protect their good name and bolster their pride, feel that “shock and awe” was worth all the deaths in order to avenge themselves on Saddam Hussin, and to appease and satisfy the neo-conservatives, while enriching the war profiteer, Dick Cheny’s and his company, Halliburton.
Always On Watch says
And in January 2014, Obama said that ISIS was “JV.” Pffffft.
John C. Barile says
Junior Varsity with M1a1 Abrams tanks, with artillery, with armored vehicles, antitank missiles, helicopters, a billion $$ . . . .
Uri says
Thank your Saudi friends.
Eh, wot?
They’re not really your friends???
Oh, then it must be … Quick – name somebody
John C. Barile says
Jordan. And I doubt that, as long as King Abdallah has a loyal army (he does), that he would permit ISIS to keep any presence on his borders for long.
Alice says
Why, Bush, of course!
John C. Barile says
To clarify, I thought Uri challenged us to name a friend of the U.S., rather than the sponsor of this crisis–it seems ambiguous to me.
John C. Barile says
According to an independent Syrian paper, two billion $$.
Judi says
Although this situation is dire, on the upside, at the end of it, there’ll be a lot less muzscums in the world – can’t be a bad thing
umbra says
If isis wins, there will be a caliphate (of some form) which will continue to churn out terrorists for export. isis controlled territories shall be the new afghanistan – a terrorist production factory. This will likely lead to more terrorist attacks outside islamic countries (perhaps even within them too).
The best solution is to liquidate isis, foster the creation of a kurdistan that encompassees parts of iraq, iran, syria and (a large chunk of) turkey. In the short to medium, kurdistan will be a check against these four countries.
Charlie Griffith says
In all of these mentions of Muslims and their butchering factions, no one mentions why….oh, why?…is it America’s responsibility to be controlling all of these rabid dogs and cats?
As long as we keep them out of, and away from, our own borders, why do we care about the frustrating inability of these “moderate” Muslims to get organized?……they’re simply beyond coordinated action against their Muslim “breathers”.
We should be devoting most of our resources to monitoring our infiltrated and subverting Muslims inside our own borders. Each of these “moderate” mosques and their school-madrassas are a Trojan Horse incubating more terrorists right here.
Our public seems to be too self centered to see beyond their mail boxes containing their entitlement checks.
JohnyAngel Advocacy Group says
A false religion brings false,horrific outcomes.
Jay Boo says
“Islamist fighters reportedly attempting to encircle Baghdad,”
Not to worry NPR assures us that Bagdad will not fall to ISIS.
Then again, they also said to relax because Morsi would never get into office in Egypt and that the new and improved Muslim Brotherhood was a much kinder and gentler version than the old Muslim Brotherhood in case by some outside chance Morsi got elected.
Jay Boo says
And then they backed up Morsi ever since.
Just as they would do with ISIS after an NPR image makeover.