Mosul falls to al-Qaeda as US-trained security forces flee

Hotair ^ | 06/10/2014 | Ed Morrissey

[SeekAndFind]

And not just Mosul, according to some reports, but the entire northern province of Nineveh has now fallen into al-Qaeda’s control. Parliamentarians from the region want a declaration of emergency and immediate government intervention, but the forces that had been in Mosul have fled — some of which abandoned their uniforms as well as their posts as the ISIS forces swarmed into the city:

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Insurgents seized control early Tuesday of most of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, including the provincial government headquarters, offering a powerful demonstration of the mounting threat posed by extremists to Iraq’s teetering stability.

Fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an al-Qaeda offshoot, overran the entire western bank of the city overnight after Iraqi soldiers and police apparently fled their posts, in some instances discarding their uniforms as they sought to escape the advance of the militants.

Iraq’s speaker of parliament, Osama Nujaifi, said the city that ranks as the capital of northern Iraq is now entirely in insurgent hands.

“When the battle got tough in the city of Mosul, the troops dropped their weapons and abandoned their posts, making it an easy prey for the terrorists,” he told a televised news conference in Baghdad.

CBS reports from Iraqi and Arab media that the first goal of the attack may have been to free more than 2,000 prisoners held by Iraq in Mosul. Their next goal may bring ISIS a lot closer to Baghdad:

Iraqi Parliament speaker Usama al-Nujaifi said the terrorists are now setting their sight on Salahuddin, a province just north of Baghdad.

“They have already seized the Shergat air base in Salahuddin”, Nujaifi said, adding that terrorists laid their hands on weapon depots, heavy equipment and army helicopters from abandoned army bases in Mosul.

Nujaifi appealed to the US ambassador for an American military intervention:

Nujaifi said he spoke to US Ambassador Lukman Faily, requesting U.S. support to repel the terrorists’ attack by virtue of the Joint Cooperation agreement between the two countries. Ambassador Faily promised to promptly convey our request to the U.S. administration, Nujaifi said.

This will be almost impossible to do, and entirely impossible to do quickly. We pulled out all of our forces three years ago when the Obama administration failed to negotiate for a residual force for this exact scenario. In order to land an effective fighting force to defend Baghdad and retake Mosul, we would need to commit tens of thousands of troops and a large amount of materiel in a big hurry. Logistically speaking, that would be a feat worthy of George S. Patton and the Battle of the Bulge in order for us to get to Baghdad before ISIS does, especially with Iraqi security forces collapsing.

Politically speaking, it’s a dead letter. Obama just coughed up five prizes to the Taliban in his haste to get the US out of Afghanistan. Does Iraq really expect Obama to restart the Iraq War all over again after spending his entire national political career speaking out against it? Agreement or no, Obama almost certainly won’t send combat troops into Iraq, even if it’s to fight al-Qaeda, and very certainly not before the midterm elections.

This puts Iraq in a very dangerous position, though, and the entire region. The ISIS threat now stretches from Baghdad to the Mediterranean, engulfing both Syria and Iraq. The Kurds are in danger of being cut off (which is why they’re offering Peshmerga forces to relieve Mosul if possible), and the Iranians will eventually have to intervene if no one else does, on behalf of the Shi’ites in the eastern part of Iraq. This is the reason why it made sense to keep American forces in Iraq as a back-up to Iraqi security forces, but that option is all but dead now. Unless Iraq finds some deep well of nationalistic strength and repels ISIS on its own, the only democratic Arab republic may be very short-lived indeed.

[DuncanWaring]

We do seem to be on the wrong side in a lot of this.

It is the goal of The Won to ALWAYS be on what the rest of the civilized world would consider to be "the wrong side".

[MikeSteelBe]

It’s a shame they waited until after their country was destroyed to do the right thing.

I wonder when the people in this country will do that - before or after its destruction?

[Bigg Red]

Okay, thank you.

But how can a Shiite distinguish between a Sunni and other Shiites just by seeing them?

[Bigg Red]

But how does a Shiite look at another mohammedan and determine that he is a Sunni, and vice versa? What do the members of the two different groups actually do in their daily lives that is different from the behavior of the adherents in the other group?

[Corporate Democrat]

Religious Shia wear turbans in a very distinctive style, one they say is how Mo and his Companions wore them. Sunnis do not. Shia also like wearing black cloaks when wearing their turban. That's pretty much the most visible way to tell a crowd in Jeddah apart from a crowd in Tehran.

Shia really like calling their kids Hussein and Ali. If you ever see a Abu-Bakr, Omar, Muwaiyah or Yazid, he's almost certainly a Sunni.

Shia also believe in respecting the graves of Mo's Companions, and pray at their graves out of respect and often requests for their spiritual intercession. Sunnis view this as grave-worshiping and therefore shirk (polytheism) and equivalent to apostasy. Sunnis would actually prefer to destroy all the graves, bodies and monuments that encourage shirk.

This is a BIG deal for Muslims, because apostasy carries a death sentence. Therefore this practice marks all Shia for death in the eyes of some Sunnis. It's roughly comparable to Catholic veneration of saints and beliefs in Intercession, as opposed to Protestant minimalism.

Although obviously it's not as big of a deal, as Christianity doesn't demand death for Christians who may or may not have deviated.

Some Shia also engage in self-flagellation. Shia have also historically used mutah (temporary marriages) to justify Islamically what is basically prostitution.

[Bigg Red]

Thank you so much for taking so much time to answer my questions. God bless.

[ArmstedFragg]

Let’s see... what’d it take... about a week (after that spiffy speech at West Point about our new foreign policy)?

[ArmstedFragg]

It's roughly comparable to Catholic veneration of saints and beliefs in Intercession, as opposed to Protestant minimalism.

If you gave the Protestants automatic weapons and a thirst for blood....

[mylife]

It is stunning to watch this kaleidoscope of scandals.
If Barry is shaking your hand with his right hand, keep an eye on the left hand because he is picking your pocket.

[mylife]

He’s been giving the enemy the green light for 6 years.

[Future Snake Eater]

All this is on Obama’s head.

According to the article's title, it's on my head since I helped train those morons. Thankfully the Peshmerga were far better students.

[SADMILLIE]

The answer is distinctive head dress. But the Sunni also attack Shia market places and take their chances ( no Sunni would ever go to a Shia market). Even the women wear color differences. Let me assure you that religious distraction is averted gaze in the leftist press. Educate yourself and you will see a different picture. It is important to your family.

[mylife]

Hat tip to your service

[Rusty0604]

I listened to an interview with a Doctor that has fled Syria, and he said that he wished America would understand that their form of democracy doesn’t work in other places. He said that under Assad the Christians were safe and all the people got along fairly well. Then a Christian bishop was interviewed and he begged Americans to stop supplying weapons to the people that are killing Christians.

[Bigg Red]

Thank you so much for taking the time to educate me. Much appreciated.