Iraqi offensive to retake Tikrit underway

Arabian news ^ | 2015-03-1 | Staff

[dangus]

Some 30,000 Iraqi troops and militias have launched a full-scale offensive backed by airstrikes to retake the major city of Tikrit from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, Al Arabiya’s correspondent in Iraq said.

“Security forces are advancing on three main fronts towards Tikrit, Ad-Dawr (to the south) and Al-Alam (to the north),” an army lieutenant colonel on the ground told Agence France-Presse by telephone.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi had announced on Sunday the “zero hour” of an operation to liberate ISIS-held territories in the province of Saladin, with its capital Tikrit, according to Al Arabiya News Channel.

Iraqi forces are also “moving along side roads to prevent Daesh’s escape,” the colonel said, using an Arab acronym for the ISIS, which has controlled the hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein for nearly nine months.

Residents of Tikrit were reportedly told to evacuate the area ahead of the military operation.

Iraqi officials and militia commanders regard the recapture of Tikrit as an essential step toward the liberation of Mosul.

The specifics of the battle’s plan were not revealed. But military experts believe that joint Iraq forces will attack from multiple fronts.

The first location will be from the Aoja area, south of Tikrit, with the support of Iraqi Special Forces. The second front will be from an area close to Tikrit University in which the Iraqi army and police will attack from. The third attack will carried from the southwest of Tikrit.

Security sources told Al Arabiya News Channel that Iraqi forces are now in control of the northern areas of the Albu Obaid village and west of Tikrit.

The operation to retake Tikrit, the home town of Iraq’s former President Saddam Hussein, marks a major test for Iraqi forces

[BeauBo]

“Shia irregulars are leading the assault on Tikrit, under the supervision of Hadi al-Amiri, nominally Iraq’s transport minister, but better known as the leader of the Badr Organization, an Iran-backed militia notorious for brutal torture and murder of Sunnis.”

Badr Brigades are famous for tracking down Baathists for revenge after the fall of Sadaam, like Nazi hunters, but performing brutal executions instead of trials. I believe that they will ruthlessly purge ISIS, Baathists, potential future political rivals, foreigners, and any other Sunni that looks at them sideways.

Those that don’t escape are unlikely to have much luck surrendering.

[iowacornman]

Iraqi “forces”are non exisistent . This is the Sadr army and Iranian Republican Guard. The Saudis will soon bomb them. Im getting my pop corn and jammys on.

[BeauBo]

“This is the Iranian Republican Guard with Russian made weapons leading the onslaught.”

Iran is in the lead, but the great bulk of the troops are Iraqi, as Dangus said. Key specialty shortages have probably been liberally filled with regular Iranian military, who have dropped their Iranian uniforms though, to get units combat ready quickly, and probably many Iranian officers are sprinkled throughout command posts. Almost all the Iraqi fighter pilots were Sunni, so I’d bet that most all Iraqi planes are now flown by Iranian pilots.

Some militias in Iraq have a long relationship with Iran. The Badr Brigades and SCIRI were hosted in exile in Iran during the Sadaam administration. The Mahdi Army (Jaish Al Mahdi, or JAM) of Mookie Sadr was long trained, armed and directed by Iranian military under Gen Sulemani. They just called up their rosters, formed up and got armed.

Gen Sulemani commands that part of the Iranian military responsible for spreading the Iranian revolution outside of Iran. They raise or co-opt local militias (fifth columns) in the areas they seek to conquer, like Hizballah in Lebanon or Houthis in Yemen. The Mahdi Army sometimes even called themselves Hizballah in Iraq.

[caww]

It's going to be difficult when they get to Mosul....the people there welcomed ISIS if you recall....

Not to mention this General leading the charge has fought against USA and Israel....here's a bit of history on him

He is the commander of the Qods Force, a division of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ..., which conducts special operations outside Iran. Their name comes from the Arabic name for Jerusalem Al-Quds. Qods Force was created in the 1990s.

According to Western intelligence scources, General Sulaimani has played a major role in the arrangement of post-Saddam Iraq plus the Western imposed war on the Syrian people...... He had earlier helped the Afghans to resist to the American colonization there...... His efforts have also been very effective in strengthening the resistance structure of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Here's some quotes from Mossad about him..."He has the links to all sides regime (Iran). He is someone that I call politically genius” …Meir Dagan, the former Mossad Director.

“No doubt he is the strongest man in Iraq”… Dr. al-Rubaie Mowaffak, former National Security Advisor of Iraqi government

Even so he has a bad reputation for being a tyrant and can be brutal and unforgiving in a war....Muslims are afraid of him....

[21twelve]

Thanks for that info.

Imagine what the world would look like if we had ended WWII like we did Iraq.

Beat Germany, but then just leave. The Soviets would have moved right in. Same in Japan (although China may have beat the Soviets there).

I understand the push against spending lots of money on nation building, but it seems really unwise in the long run to fight these wars with no long-term solution in place.

Although with all of the various tribes and sects over there - that may have been impossible.

[caww]

Reguarding General.Suleimani...

During a series of battles between the US and Iraqi army on one side and Shia militias on the other, he sent an SMS message to the US commander, General David Petraeus. It read: “General Petraeus, you should know that I, Qassem Suleimani, control policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, and Afghanistan. The ambassador in Baghdad is a Quds force member. The individual who’s going to replace him is a Quds force member.”

According to Dodge, one of Suleimani’s most valued Iraqi assets is the Asaib Ahl al-Haq (the League of the Righteous), a Shia militia created by the Iranians to undermine the movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia nationalist who emerged at the forefront of opposition to the US. Its leader, Qais al-Khazali, was one of the Iraqis Suleimani reportedly saw in Baghdad. “Like other Iranian-created structures, Asaib al-Haq is deeply religious and ideological and runs in parallel to the state, undermining it when it needs to and working with it when it doesn’t,” said Dodge.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/16/qassim-suleimani-iraq-iran-syria

[caww]

....”it seems really unwise in the long run to fight these wars with no long-term solution in place.”....

It helps to understand if you look at the World Stage as a whole undertaking to transform nations to something else then what it has been...

The Middle EAst has to be part of the World Order....and they will instigate whatever is necessary to bring that about so that the ME nations are co-operating as much as possible with that agenda.

But meanwhile you have the tribal issues etc. and the Shite vs Sunni issues playing out in that arena.

BIBI is correct when he says these are two differeing Islamic pushes going on to see which one will rule the Caliphate.....bottom line it’s Saudi and Iran at war with one another.....everything else springs from that....so that in the end the ME will be brought into the New World Order as “One” block of nations.

[BeauBo]

Suleimani is a mastermind.

It would probably be helpful if he was killed.

The Qassim rockets that were fired so extensively into Israel were named after him. The explosively formed penetrators that killed so many Americans in Iraq were provided under his orders.

[caww]

I understand many times CIA and others have targeted Sulemanir many times for assassination...which is another reason he keeps a low profile. (hides out)

[gleeaikin]

This is a chance to eliminate a whole lot of psychopaths and sociopaths who have flocked to enjoy raping, beheading, and burning those with different opinions. ISIS/Daesh fighters have spit on Geneva Conventions and will pay the price if others succeed.

[caww]

FYI:......Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin told “Fox & Friends.”

The two calling the shots on ISIS AND Iran Deal...Susan Rice and Valerie Jarrett...

President Barack Obama is letting White House officials dictate decisions on how the U.S. will proceed in major foreign policy and military initiatives, Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin told “Fox & Friends.”

Specifically, Boykin said Obama is allowing National Security Adviser Susan Rice to call the shots in decisions on the battle against the Islamic State (ISIS), and letting presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett influence negotiations with Iran over the country’s nuclear weapons program.

Boykin, executive vice president of the Family Research Council, said Washington Post editor Bob Woodward was “correct” when he told “Fox News Sunday” that “people from the White House are micromanaging the tactical situation [against ISIS] on a daily and weekly basis.”

Rice had “no statutory authority to give the secretary of defense or any of the general officers or the leadership of the military advice or directives,” Boykin said, adding that it was believed Jarrett was influencing the Iran negotiations.

“There are many who are now saying that [Jarrett] is really the architect of this non-treaty with the Iranians, which ultimately will result in the Iranians having a nuclear program, and America having to accept a nuclear-armed Iran. Yeah, she’s a powerful influence on [Obama],” he said

http://blackchristiannews.com

[caww]

more....From Lt. Gen Jerry Boykin

Officials in the Pentagon should “push back on the president” against the involvement of White House officials in the specifics of military activities, Boykin said.

“They should complain. When the national security adviser is picking up the phone and calling field commanders, as this one is reported to be doing, then the professional leadership in our military should be balking and pushing back,” he said.

Boykin said if Pentagon officials saw that “their influence is meaningless to the president,” then they should “make a public statement” and resign and “tell the world why they have resigned.”

http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/Jerry-Boykin-ISIS-Iran-Susan-Rice/2015/02/10/id/623868/?Dkt_nbr=F492-1&nmx_source=Newsmax&nmx_medium=widget&nmx_content=3&nmx_campaign=widgetphase2

[caww]

General of Irans Army " Qassem Soleimani " near Tikrit where Iraqi forces & allies are fighting.

[BeauBo]

His day will come.

The Iranian regime relies on him a lot. His loss would hit them hard.

[caww]

ISIS position in Salahuddin abandoned after the Iraqi Army's 5th Division rocked up, guns blazing.

[BeauBo]

Jane Arraf, who has spent more time reporting from Baghdad than just about any westerner (now for al Jazeera, previously for CNN, Christian Science Monitor, and others), filed a report on Tikrit and Suleimani today. Here’s an extract: (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/03/iraqi-forces-ramp-offensive-recapture-tikrit-150303091829090.html)

“Citing state media and security sources, Al Jazeera’s Jane Arraf, reporting from Baghdad, said an ISIL leader for south Tikrit had been killed and that other ISIL officials had retreated through Huweijah and on into the Hamreen mountains.

“It’s a huge mountain range on the border between Iran and Iraq and traditionally where fighters have hidden,” she said, adding that these reports could not be independently verified.

Our correspondent said: “They [Iraqi forces] are saying that they’re making progress in those ... fronts in which they are fighting around the edges of Tikrit.

“They haven’t yet gone into Tikrit. That’s really because this is going to be a difficult fight, and that is because it is the biggest city they have tried to take back and it’s full of ISIL fighters and is laid with explosives and that is one of the major worries.”

Arraf said Iraqi troops had seized towns and villages along the way to Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin province.

“There is still fighting along the edges and there is a huge Iranian component [involved].

“Sources on the ground tell us General Qassem Soleimani is actually on the ground directing the fight along with the Iraq military and Iranian-backed militias.

“So it is a very complicated fight,” our correspondent said, referring to the senior Iranian army officer involved in the offensive.

Both Iraqi and Iranian media said Soleimani - the commander of the Quds Force covert operations unit of Tehran’s elite Revolutionary Guards - was in Salahuddin to help coordinate operations. “

I am interested to note that she says “there is a huge Iranian component”. That seems to indicate a bigger force of regular Iranian Army units than I had heard reported previously. I figured that they would not hesitate to send in their Army if needed. I wonder what uniform they are wearing?

If they are showing up in force now, I expect significantly more for Mosul. Especially if Tikrit is a hard fight.

[Jet Jaguar]

Reminder to donate $5 or $10 to end the Freepathon.

[caww]

There are “other” militia’s coming into the fight as well...but i understand they have to be “under orders” and not just flim flan anywhere they want.

[BeauBo]

Caww,

Those rockets are are a real Iranian specialty. Probably some or all the guys milling around in those photos speak Farsi.

I saw a report on CNN that said they (Iraqi Gov) expect the Tikrit op to run about 10 days or longer. In that case, the first few days will be bringing in troops, establishing a cordon, laying in and stocking the artillery, commencing preparatory bombardment and developing tactical intelligence.

They will probably try to keep ISIS awake for a couple of nights before a major assault with air and artillery, while running several probing attacks over the next couple of days and nights. If they aim to be done in ten days, they should be sweeping in through the city by the weekend. Maybe after nightfall on Friday or dawn on Saturday, so that the assault forces can make their peace with God before the main attack.

There is a lot of concern that the Shia militias might not be able to be restrained from committing atrocities on ISIS and Sunnis in general. I guess that this what ISIS had coming.

[RedHeeler]

“There is a lot of concern that Shia militias might not be able to be restrained from committing atrocities on ISIS and Sunnis in general. I guess this is what ISIS had coming.”.....You, BeauBo, have an interesting writing style. Good. Many blessings, upon you.