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Mosul Slips Out Of Control As The Bombers Move In
http://www.kurdistanobserver.com/ ^ | 3/31/06 | Patrick Cockburn

Posted on 03/31/2006 11:16:56 AM PST by BlueSky194

When the 3,000 men of the mainly Kurdish 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division of the Iraqi Army go on patrol it is at night, after the rigorously enforced curfew starts at 8pm. Their vehicles, bristling with heavy machine guns, race through the empty streets of the city, splashing through pools of sewage, always trying to take different routes to avoid roadside bombs. "The government cannot control the city," said Hamid Effendi, an experienced ex-soldier who is Minister for Peshmerga Affairs in the Kurdistan Regional Government.

He is influential in the military affairs of Mosul province with its large Kurdish minority, although it is outside the Kurdish region. He believes: "The Iraqi Army is only a small force in Mosul, the Americans do not leave their bases much and some of the police are connected to the terrorists." In the days since a suicide bomber killed 43 young men waiting to join the Iraqi army at a recruitment centre near Mosul last week soldiers in the city have been expecting a second attack.

"We are not leaving the base in daytime because we know other bombers are waiting for us," said a soldier at a base near Mosul's city centre.

Saadi Pire, until recently the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Mosul, says bluntly that the 12,000 police "are police by day and terrorists by night. They should all be dismissed and other police brought in from outside."

He thinks that Mosul, the northern capital of Iraq with a population of 1.7 million, could erupt at any moment. He points out that it is difficult to pacify because so much of Saddam Hussein's army - some 250,000 soldiers and 30,000 officers - was recruited from there.

General Muthafar Deirky, the ebullient commander of the 3rd Brigade, is more confident about the government's grip the city. He has been stationed there since 11 November 2004 when, in one of the least publicised disasters of the US occupation of Iraq, insurgents captured the city as the police and army deserted en masse. Some 11,000 weapons and vehicles worth $40m (£23m) were lost.

The American media was almost entirely embedded with the US Marines who were engaged in the bloody battle for Fallujah, population 350,000, so the outside world did not notice that the anti-American resistance had captured a city five times as large.

General Deirky, a peshmerga veteran, was called in a panic by the army commander in Baghdad who told him that "Mosul was under the control of terrorists". He gathered 700 men and, having fought off two ambushes, advanced into the city just in time to prevent the capture of the television station. He was dismayed to discover that out of an 1,800-strong Iraqi Army unit all but 30 Kurds had deserted.

After a brisk counter-attack by the 3rd Brigade and American troops the guerrillas evaporated having chosen not, as in Fallujah, to stand and fight. General Deirky says most of the resistance cells were later eliminated.

He claims that the situation is very different today when the people of Mosul "welcome us, hate the terrorists and give us information about them". But the general's own account of recent events in the city show the depth of the divisions between Arabs and Kurds as well the Arab hostility to the occupation.

For instance at the end of last year the Arab chief of police Ahmed al-Jibouri, appointed after the uprising, was dismissed with 40 of his officers for aiding the insurgents. "He was telling people that every family should have one of its members in the resistance," recalled the general.

In reality, Mosul city, like so many places in Iraq, is an ethnic minefield which the US has sought to negotiate with varying success since the overthrow of Saddamin 2003. At first US commanders did not want Kurdish forces in the city fearing the reaction of the Arabs.

General David Petraeus of the 101st Airborne tried to bring on board the Sunni Arabs but when he left this policy languished. Since November 2004 Arabs in the province claim that the US has simply joined forces with the Kurds after the mass desertion of the Arab police and army.

"The Americans are now just one more of the tribes of Mosul," said one Arab source alleging that the CIA got all its information from Kurdish intelligence.

Most soldiers have an ethnic map of Mosul imprinted on their brain. "I feel safer now because there is nothing but Kurdish villages from now on," said a driver, with a sign of a relief, as we drove away from the city.

For the moment nobody is wholly in control and most expect more fighting.

When the 3,000 men of the mainly Kurdish 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division of the Iraqi Army go on patrol it is at night, after the rigorously enforced curfew starts at 8pm. Their vehicles, bristling with heavy machine guns, race through the empty streets of the city, splashing through pools of sewage, always trying to take different routes to avoid roadside bombs. "The government cannot control the city," said Hamid Effendi, an experienced ex-soldier who is Minister for Peshmerga Affairs in the Kurdistan Regional Government.

He is influential in the military affairs of Mosul province with its large Kurdish minority, although it is outside the Kurdish region. He believes: "The Iraqi Army is only a small force in Mosul, the Americans do not leave their bases much and some of the police are connected to the terrorists." In the days since a suicide bomber killed 43 young men waiting to join the Iraqi army at a recruitment centre near Mosul last week soldiers in the city have been expecting a second attack.

"We are not leaving the base in daytime because we know other bombers are waiting for us," said a soldier at a base near Mosul's city centre.

Saadi Pire, until recently the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Mosul, says bluntly that the 12,000 police "are police by day and terrorists by night. They should all be dismissed and other police brought in from outside."

He thinks that Mosul, the northern capital of Iraq with a population of 1.7 million, could erupt at any moment. He points out that it is difficult to pacify because so much of Saddam Hussein's army - some 250,000 soldiers and 30,000 officers - was recruited from there.

General Muthafar Deirky, the ebullient commander of the 3rd Brigade, is more confident about the government's grip the city. He has been stationed there since 11 November 2004 when, in one of the least publicised disasters of the US occupation of Iraq, insurgents captured the city as the police and army deserted en masse. Some 11,000 weapons and vehicles worth $40m (£23m) were lost.

The American media was almost entirely embedded with the US Marines who were engaged in the bloody battle for Fallujah, population 350,000, so the outside world did not notice that the anti-American resistance had captured a city five times as large. General Deirky, a peshmerga veteran, was called in a panic by the army commander in Baghdad who told him that "Mosul was under the control of terrorists". He gathered 700 men and, having fought off two ambushes, advanced into the city just in time to prevent the capture of the television station. He was dismayed to discover that out of an 1,800-strong Iraqi Army unit all but 30 Kurds had deserted.

After a brisk counter-attack by the 3rd Brigade and American troops the guerrillas evaporated having chosen not, as in Fallujah, to stand and fight. General Deirky says most of the resistance cells were later eliminated.

He claims that the situation is very different today when the people of Mosul "welcome us, hate the terrorists and give us information about them". But the general's own account of recent events in the city show the depth of the divisions between Arabs and Kurds as well the Arab hostility to the occupation.

For instance at the end of last year the Arab chief of police Ahmed al-Jibouri, appointed after the uprising, was dismissed with 40 of his officers for aiding the insurgents. "He was telling people that every family should have one of its members in the resistance," recalled the general.

In reality, Mosul city, like so many places in Iraq, is an ethnic minefield which the US has sought to negotiate with varying success since the overthrow of Saddamin 2003. At first US commanders did not want Kurdish forces in the city fearing the reaction of the Arabs.

General David Petraeus of the 101st Airborne tried to bring on board the Sunni Arabs but when he left this policy languished. Since November 2004 Arabs in the province claim that the US has simply joined forces with the Kurds after the mass desertion of the Arab police and army.

"The Americans are now just one more of the tribes of Mosul," said one Arab source alleging that the CIA got all its information from Kurdish intelligence.

Most soldiers have an ethnic map of Mosul imprinted on their brain. "I feel safer now because there is nothing but Kurdish villages from now on," said a driver, with a sign of a relief, as we drove away from the city.

For the moment nobody is wholly in control and most expect more fighting.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: enemypropoganda; kurds; mosul; terrorists
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1 posted on 03/31/2006 11:16:58 AM PST by BlueSky194
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To: BlueSky194

Kurds are our only allies there.

"The Americans are now just one more of the tribes of Mosul," said one Arab source alleging that the CIA got all its information from Kurdish intelligence.

Most soldiers have an ethnic map of Mosul imprinted on their brain. "I feel safer now because there is nothing but Kurdish villages from now on," said a driver, with a sign of a relief, as we drove away from the city.


2 posted on 03/31/2006 11:18:00 AM PST by BlueSky194
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To: BlueSky194

"Kurds are our only allies there."

? Really? I doubt that.


3 posted on 03/31/2006 11:22:07 AM PST by nuconvert ([there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
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To: Coop; Valin; Dog

pong


4 posted on 03/31/2006 11:22:34 AM PST by nuconvert ([there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
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To: BlueSky194

Mosul was lost to the mujadeen??? And our glorious MSM somehow missed reporting it?? Color me doubtful.


5 posted on 03/31/2006 11:23:49 AM PST by JeeperFreeper
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To: BlueSky194

Isn't the author of this piece a brother of the far left British journalist Alexander Cockburn and a son of the British Stalinist Claud Cockburn?

He writes for some very far left publications including Counterpunch and Commondreams.


6 posted on 03/31/2006 11:24:14 AM PST by Parmenio
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To: BlueSky194

Nice post...


Unfortunately, most that was said in that piece is true.


7 posted on 03/31/2006 11:24:49 AM PST by kajingawd (Humans share 50.6% of their DNA with bananas.... I can't wait for the next Evolution.)
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To: BlueSky194

He claims that the situation is very different today when the people of Mosul "welcome us, hate the terrorists and give us information about them".




This seems to contradict the headline. Anyway, the article is very confusing. It seems to end and then repeat itself. A cut and paste mistake? Anyway, the article seems to rely on long past events to support a claim of Mosul being out of control.


8 posted on 03/31/2006 11:26:01 AM PST by MikeA (Not voting in November because you're pouting is a vote for Democratic Congressional control)
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To: BlueSky194

Hmmm. Seems like we just need one excuse to wipe out the arabs there and the remnants of saddam husein's people


9 posted on 03/31/2006 11:29:59 AM PST by nikos1121
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Comment #10 Removed by Moderator

To: BlueSky194

Wow, troubling report... Why didnt I see this in the MSM?


11 posted on 03/31/2006 11:34:11 AM PST by CitadelArmyJag ("Tolerance is the virtue of the man with no convictions" G. K. Chesterton)
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To: BlueSky194

If all that is true.....sounds like we better get up there....serious like and Git R Done.......


12 posted on 03/31/2006 11:36:08 AM PST by blasater1960 ( Ishmaelites...Still a wild-ass of a people....)
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To: BlueSky194
Despite the negative spin and misrepresentation of the facts, the left-leaning journalist has to admit that the Kurds are doing a great job and gaining increased power in Iraq.

That's good news for the good guys, since the Kurds have been steadfast allies

13 posted on 03/31/2006 11:40:51 AM PST by george wythe
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To: blasater1960

We need more troops in country and increased patrols. It will cause more American deaths, but I do believe the next six months to a year is the insurgencies last stand.


14 posted on 03/31/2006 11:43:44 AM PST by jmc1969
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To: Parmenio

"Isn't the author of this piece a brother of the far left British journalist Alexander Cockburn and a son of the British Stalinist Claud Cockburn?"

Verrrry good catch! Consider the source.


15 posted on 03/31/2006 11:58:18 AM PST by rightazrain (Link me to some proof so I can put my rumor to rest.)
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To: Parmenio

Yup, thats the the same Cockburn.
But even he admits, the only allies that support America are the Kurds.
At the end of the day, in order for George Bush to come out of here with something.
He needs a Kurdish state with Kirkuk and half of Mosul under Kurdish Control.
If there is a war with Iran, it will take place from the Kurdish area's.


16 posted on 03/31/2006 12:10:30 PM PST by BlueSky194
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Comment #17 Removed by Moderator

To: JeeperFreeper

They were covering the Quagmire in Fallujah


18 posted on 03/31/2006 12:42:59 PM PST by When do we get liberated? ((God save us from the whining, useless, irrelevent left...))
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To: jmc1969
I do not agree.
Either the Iraqis and Afghanis start fighting harder against the terrorists they themselves empowered, who are gleefully killing other Iraqis/Afghanis, or they will all die.
No more USA boots on the ground are needed anywhere in the Islamic areas, at this point.
Plan A remains my first choice, and it seems increasingly obvious it would have been the best choice, but I understand the "humanitarian" reasons as to why we implemented Plan B, first.
It was worth a shot, as hundreds of millions human lives hang in the balance.
A few thousand,lost by the tens or even by the hundreds, here and there, seem minuscule, if one is judging by typical acceptable war attrition levels.
The USA did not "start" this war.
We, as is our normal and historical position, were dragged into this war, kicking and screaming against the insanity of despotic others, who declared war against us.
We will conduct war, and we will "win".
Myself, I am against any more USA blood spent in the process, when a few successfully delivered MOABs would decide the matter.
But I have never been known for my "compassion".
I can agree with withdrawing all of our forces from the middle east, and then destroying it completely.
Or
Give Plan B a year or two more.
19 posted on 03/31/2006 6:46:06 PM PST by sarasmom (Care meter pegged solidly on 0.)
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To: BlueSky194

No problem. The friendly travel agents will be there soon to give them a no expense trip to KYFAG


20 posted on 03/31/2006 6:50:21 PM PST by Modok
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