Iraq PM says halting air strikes on IS-held civilian areas

Reuters ^ | 9-13-2014

[Citizen Zed]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Saturday that he had ordered his air force to halt strikes on civilian areas, addressing a condition set by Sunni Muslim tribal figures to support his campaign against Islamic State fighters.

Rights groups say Iraqi government attacks this year, many of them in areas held by the Islamic State which controls one third of the country, have indiscriminately targeted civilians.

"I have ordered the Iraqi Air Force to halt shelling of civilian areas even in those towns controlled by ISIS," Abadi said on his official Twitter account, using the former name for militant group Islamic State.

The United Nations representative in Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, welcomed the comments, which were repeated by Abadi at a conference about refugees on Saturday in Baghdad.

"Protection of civilians and ensuring their safety and security is a paramount priority for the United Nations," Mladenov said.

[Citizen Zed]

So as long as ISIS oppresses civilians where they live, they can expect no response from Iraq or the US? Unless they are approached by boots on the ground I guess.

[2ndDivisionVet]

We’re being snookered:

ISIS Strikes Deal With Moderate Syrian Rebels: Reports (Same people BHO is dealing with)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3203618/posts

[Bringbackthedraft]

Give the Kurds everything and screw the rest. They’ll turn all of Iraq into Kurdistan. They seem to be the lesser of all the evils.

[luvbach1]

Terrorists always embed themselves with “innocent” civilians.Undoubtedly the Bamster’s ROE will exclude those targets where collateral damage is likely, which means most of them. The only way any war has ever been won is through total war, not picking around the edges.

[maddog55]

If I were living in one of those civilian areas I’d rather be taken out by friendly fire then losing my head to some ISIS/ISIL scum with a pen knife but I’d also go down fighting.

[RitaOK]

Seems so. Embedded in villages and population centers with unarmed civilians means ISIS can be contained there, unable to run amok and advance.

Knowing this, naturally they want American boots on the ground to die going door to door in urban gorilla warfare, where it would be impossible to distinguish the enemy from the civilians.

Not gonna happen.

[Paine in the Neck]

So as long as ISIS oppresses civilians where they live, they can expect no response from Iraq or the US?

ISIS will march untouched into Baghdad surrounded by hordes of Sunni civilians.

[stboz]

Fighting ISIS is like surgery for cancer....you're going to lose some good tissue to get all the bad.

Bomb ISIS back to the Jurassic and let the dinosaurs eat them.

[arthurus]

When ISIS takes an area there shortly ceases to be any “innocent civilians.” The locals either get out successfully, or convert to become ISIS zealots or are killed.

[SunkenCiv]

Iraq’s Shiite regime has indiscriminately targeted Sunni civilians — after joining in the chorus of condemnation accusing Israel of doing that very thing (and Israel wasn’t). Now that Maliki is gone and the Shiite paramilitaries and Shiite soldiers of the Iraqi army have turned tail and run and it’s necessary to reassemble the Bush-era local alliances against the up-and-coming jihadist mob, the bombing stops. Amazing coincidence. Hudna — it’s not just for infidels anymore.

[SunkenCiv]

Iraq PM Orders Halt to Shelling of Civilian Areas (Obama definitely loses Iraq)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3203804/posts