Posted on 06/11/2014 10:31:39 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Islamist insurgents in Iraq have seized the city of Tikrit, their second major gain after capturing Mosul on Tuesday, security officials say.
Tikrit, the hometown of former leader Saddam Hussein, lies just 150km (95 miles) north of the capital Baghdad.
Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki vowed to fight back against the jihadists and punish those in the security forces who fled, offering little or no resistance.
The insurgents are from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
ISIS, which is also known as ISIL, is an offshoot of al-Qaeda.
It controls considerable territory in eastern Syria and western and central Iraq, in a campaign to set up a Sunni militant enclave straddling the border.
There were also reports on Wednesday of fighting further south, in Samarra, 110km north of Baghdad.
Separately, at least 21 people were killed and 45 hurt by a suicide bomber at a Shia meeting in Baghdad, police said.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
The War on Terror is Won!!
Famous lies from the mouths of babes... and scoundrels.
They’re offering to behead anyone who doesn’t surrender. Many are choosing the surrender option.
Probably hot off the car lot, no doubt, free.
Where is the Iraqi Air Force? A 60 vehicle convoy to the largest refinery in Iraq? That’s a hell of a target for a determined government. Unless they are not determined.
IS in Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has 3,000 to 5,000 fighters, and grew out of an al-Qaeda-linked organisation in Iraq
ISIS has exploited the standoff between the Iraqi government and the minority Sunni Arab community, which complains that Shia PM Nouri Maliki is monopolising power
It has already taken over Ramadi and Falluja, but taking over Mosul is a far greater feat than anything the movement has achieved so far, and will send shockwaves throughout the region
The organisation is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - an obscure figure regarded as a battlefield commander and tactician. He was once the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, one of the groups that later became ISIS.
Tikrit = Saddam’s home town.
Supposedly the American equipped and trained Iraqi army has almost 300,000 men and that army is getting crushed by a force one hundredth the size.
Probably means they are ready to provide assistance to the ISIS.
Maybe they can unretire Weasley Clarke and send him back to war.. from 30K feet.
Oh, joy. They're halfway to Baghdad and we're going to do what, exactly?
And not a few FReepers.
4000+ gave all they had for Iraq, thousands more came very close to that. President Obowma squandered away their sacrifice for a perceived short term political gain. AQ and it’s affiliates now control more territory than they ever have.
Standing by for oil prices to spike.
Pray for guidance.
A map of currently Islamic State in Iraq and the Sham controlled areas detailed here:
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/06/isis_take_control_of_1.php#
I see this as a direct result of failed foreign policy. The Obama administration failed to secure a new Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq. Unforgiveable and unheard.
We would still have bases there had he not been such a novice and failure. I don’t think we would have ISIS become even close to what it is now had not this President failed.
Next: Afghanistan, Syria, Jordan. Their main goal, as with any good Muslim or liberal, is the destruction of Israel.
Obama makes even Jimmy Carter look like Winston Churchill.
Mosul's new name will be Obamabad in honor of the man who made their recent victories possible.
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