Posted on 05/10/2020 7:59:14 PM PDT by BeauBo
Iraq’s new prime minister has promoted a general who played a major role in crushing ISIS and who is also widely seen as a counterweight to Iranian influence.
Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saadi has been named commander of Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service, which took heavy casualties during the fight for Mosul, according to the Associated Press. Al-Saadi previously served as deputy commander for the counterterrorism force, which was trained and equipped by the U.S. military.
The Counter-Terrorism Service is considered the best disciplined and least sectarian element of Iraq’s military and police force. As such, it is a bulwark against Iran, which has direct or indirect control over thousands of Shiite fighters in the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Despite his popularity among Iraqis, al-Saadi was demoted in September by former Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi. The move was interpreted inside Iraq as an attempt by Iran to bolster its proxies in Iraqi’s security forces...
Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus called al-Saadi’s promotion as commander of the Counter-Terrorism Service a “very heartening development” amid renewed attacks by ISIS in Iraq.
“Lt Gen Abdul Wahab al-Saadi demonstrated courageous and effective leadership of Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism forces in a number of key battles during the elimination of the ISIS caliphate in Iraq,” said Petraeus, who led U.S. troops in Iraq during the surge. “But, it is clear that ISIS remnants have been able to re-organize into insurgent and terrorist cells and have conducted a number of terrorist attacks against Iraqi forces in recent weeks, their first real Ramadan offensive in several years. And Lt Gen Wahab al-Saadi’s return to the CTS will reinvigorate the Iraqi effort to deal with the resurgence of ISIS activity.”
(Excerpt) Read more at taskandpurpose.com ...
Beyond the fight against ISIS, Al-Saadi’s promotion marks a win for the United States in its proxy war against Iran that is playing out in Iraq."
This man is a famous Iraqi war hero, who fought shoulder to shoulder with America to defeat ISIS.
He fought through the Battle of Mosul, which was the biggest urban battle since Stalingrad, in World War Two. Tested and Proven.
He is an Iraqi patriot, and no stooge of Iran. He is a quality pick.
General Joe Votel, who commanded CENTCOM during the war against ISIS, also praised the selection of General al Saadi.
"“The CTS was the backbone of the fight against ISIS (and AQI [Al Qaeda in Iraq] before that),” Votel told Task & Purpose on Sunday. “I would believe they are continuing to play an important role suppressing remnants of ISIS. This is the purpose for which the CTS was formed and for which they performed so well. Even when the IA [Iraqi army] collapsed in 2014 – the CTS kept it together”"
You could call him the Anti-Salami.
From 2015:
It took 30 days as his force made an agonizingly slow journey for 40 kilometers (25 miles) through roadside bombs and suicide car attacks, then successfully laid siege to the oil refinery city of Beiji. The campaign earned al-Saadi the biggest battlefield victory by Iraqi forces since Islamic State fighters swept over most of northern and western Iraq in a summer blitz, prompting the collapse of the military.]
“the Anti-Salami.”
Today’s Winner!
Worked with him for several months.
Could be a really good sign!
We shall see.
Contemporary regional dynamics have changed significantly, and RUS has been recently reclaiming some of its “formal cold war” influences and bases, so the region has bent a bit back toward RUS, within the “Shia Crescent”.
However, this guy could well be the genesis of unforeseen surprises.
Maybe quite positive.
He may wind up as leader of Iraq.
He has been careful, but friendly, and desirous of working with the U.S. for many years.
Iraq is seriously tore up, but as a leader, if he rally’s the population, he could really mess with people’s heads in Tehran.
Of course Moacow and Beijing will feel the need to weigh in if al-Saadi stays too friendly with the U.S.
As Iran has long strategically wanted to take over SA, this could be good for Jordan, SA, and Israel in a couple of ways as well.
Again, we shall see.
And the stupid Dims roundly condemned our taking out the military leader of Iran’s Quds force when he was on Iraqi soil. They - the Dims - are the “know nothing” party.
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