Posted on 03/22/2015 6:25:06 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top officer responsible for foreign operations, provides assistance in Iraq "whenever we need him," Hadi al-Ameri, the commander of the Badr militia, said on Sunday.
"He was giving very good advice. The battle ended now, and he returned to his operations headquarters," Ameri told journalists close to the Al-Alam area north of Baghdad.
He was apparently referring to the battle to retake the nearby city of Tikrit from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which began earlier this month and has since become a siege.
"Qassem Soleimani is here whenever we need him," said Ameri, whose Badr militia is a powerful Iranian-backed force in the fight against IS.
Ameri's remarks are a sign of the important role Soleimani plays in military operations against IS in Iraq and the influence Tehran wields here, both much to Washington's chagrin.
Soleimani has advised Iraqi forces in multiple operations against IS, which led a major offensive last June that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad.
In doing so, he and other Iranian advisers provide the kind of forward support during operations that US President Barack Obama has yet to authorise American forces to undertake.
Soleimani has played an increasingly public and open role in the fight against IS, a major change for a man who was once known as the elusive operative leading Iranian efforts against the US in Iraq.
Now, his face is widely known, pictures of him are shared on social media, and he has even been the topic of music videos.
I'm sure Kerry has told Iran the US is hands-off in Iraq as enticement for a nuclear deal.
So inotherwards Tikrit will no longer be in control of ISIS it will be in control of Teheren...yeah that’s progress. Espeially in regards to a world wide caliphate. Boy, I sure will sleep better tonight.
Freegards
LEX
Obama has basically given Iraq to Iran. What they couldn’t get in the 1980’s.
Now if things go according to plan, he’ll legitimize their nuclear weapons program.
Obama has not had a single foreign policy success. Not even a minor one. He and Kerry are desperate for a "legacy" deal. So they will agree to almost anything.
Their latest statements with this so-called month-end deadline, and considering the views of the French, I'd take issue with your "almost" qualifier.
The joy of watching Shiites and Sunnis slaughter each other leaves me absolutely giddy.
Lenin saw that soldiers in WWI were hampered by the Geneva convention. He reserved the most criminal and wrathful soldiers to his cause. Same thing between ISIS and Iran, there is a competition between the two to recruit the worst of the worst.
The latest is that the ISIS Sunni’s are telling the Iraqi Iranian led Shiites that they should remember how the “Persians” slaughtered them in the 80’s with relish.....and that NOW, the Shiites are being led by the nose by those same “Persians”.
....will the circle be unbroken.....
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