Remember this guy?
I suspect his militia is at the forefront and the Iranian participation is with his fighters
Posted on 03/09/2015 7:05:04 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Iraqi forces are closing in on Tikrit and could be days away from retaking the city from ISIS fighters just over a week after launching a major offensive.
In the past three days, forces have progressed roughly 50 miles down one road toward the city and are now about a mile from its center.
The operation is part of a wide-scale offensive to retake Tikrit and Salahuddin province ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on March 1.
Hadi Al-Amiri, the leader of the predominantly Shiite paramilitary force Hashd Al-Shaabi, said Monday he is confident his men can crush ISIS in Iraq without the help of the U.S.-led coalition.
"We don't need it and we won't need it," said Al-Amiri. "Anyone who puts faith in the international coalition to liberate Iraq is putting their faith on a mirage. The people of Iraq will liberate this country and put an end to ISIS."
Al-Amiri's forces appear to be leading the fight for Tikrit, with support from the Iraqi army and Sunni tribesmen. Also assisting: Iran. Iran has provided advisers, weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi government. According to the Pentagon, there may be Iranians operating heavy artillery and rocket launchers as well.
"We thank them deeply for participating with us because Iran has more experience than anyone else in fighting terrorism," Al-Amiri said.
The joint effort appears to be paying off as those near the front lines point to signs that ISIS may be fracturing in some areas over the strain of attempting to function as a state.
Reports are emerging of low morale, and U.S. officials said they're seeing "anecdotal evidence of resentment and even resistance" in ISIS-controlled areas.
In addition to the push for Tikrit, Peshmerga forces south of Kirkuk retook three villages from ISIS in past 24 hours.
(Excerpt) Read more at wcvb.com ...
“...it’s still with mixed feelings seeing the Iranians as the good guys but, they kind of are.”
Nope. ISIS and Iran are two rabid dogs fighting over who’s going to control the next Ottoman Empire. Will it be ISIS (Sunni Islam) or will it be Iran (Shia Islam). There are no good guys in this fight. Both are evil and both want to spread Islam - by violence - throughout the entire world. And both want to destroy Israel and us.
The only think I’m rooting for is that all of these bastards kill enough of each other off so that sane people can go about their lives again.
Very interesting that the Shiite Iranians seem to be working cooperatively with the Sunni Iraqis. Need to watch that one like a hawk. Perhaps the Iranians wish to avoid a war with Iraq but are building up good will for access to the Shia holy places of Karbala and Najaf in Iraq. Perhaps Iranian General Sulemanei is a pragmatist rather than an ideologue. Don’t forget that Iran lost one million men in the war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. We lost 1/2 million in WWII with a larger population by way of comparison.
Read where one of the commanders in charge of the ground forces of Iraq is a Cuds militia commander from Iran. The Cuds supplied bombs and arms to the forces we were fighting in Iraq and Afganhistan.
Kill them all No prisoners please
Late one night I watched 3 Da’aesh fighters standing in the middle of a road, shooting-the-breeze. Seconds later NAVAIR put a 500lb Paveway in between them, well, that’s where the center of the blast appeared at least. Two minutes later a 500lb JDAMS hit the crater. Just in case I guess.
All good things to remember as this plays out in the theater of war there. Our Military leaders are very much aware how this could play out, for the very things you mentioned, and are concerned just how far Suliemani will take this and direction of. They’ve already stated they’re ready to change how they see this should their be a shift which appears as if Iran will “go for the gold”...other than that which they are there for in assisting Iraq.
Iraq's turning into a real quagmire after Obama got involved.....
“Iraq’s turning into a real quagmire after Obama got involved…..”
Exactly. U.S./OBAMA foreign policy is the biggest quagmire in the history of the republic.
R.I.P. America’s finest.
More perspective on Tikrit/Iraq…
http://www.aymennjawad.org/16158/the-us-anti-isis-strategy-true-cost
Remember this guy?
I suspect his militia is at the forefront and the Iranian participation is with his fighters
RE: Aren’t they doing this with IRANIAN help, I believe....??
Is says right there in the article:
“Al-Amiri’s forces appear to be leading the fight for Tikrit, with support from the Iraqi army and Sunni tribesmen. Also assisting: Iran. Iran has provided advisers, weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi government. According to the Pentagon, there may be Iranians operating heavy artillery and rocket launchers as well.
“We thank them deeply for participating with us because Iran has more experience than anyone else in fighting terrorism,” Al-Amiri said.”
Mookie Sadr’s militia (Mahdi Army) was reactivated last year, and re-named the Peace Brigades. Maybe they can play, but the Badr Brigades are the lead militia among the several going into Tikrit.
Unless ISIS gets a sudden swell of support from the population, all these casualties are going to make them start cracking. They are losing members left, right, sideways and from the air.
Apparently, the flow of new recruits from overseas has slowed, and the desertion rate has increased, while the rate of killed and wounded have both ramped up. The chain of command is getting attritted pretty strongly. As the roads get cut, they will run out of ammo for their heavy guns mounted on their “technicals” (pickup trucks). Their captured armored vehicles will start choking on the dust, and are very vulnerable to airpower.
They are actually a small minority spread over a wide area. They could well be a broken force by the heat of Summer.
I saw a video clip of a young Sunni teenager (under military age) getting executed in Tikrit while a prisoner, so perhaps atrocities will become a motivating issue. We’ll have to see what comes out when the smoke clears and some of the locals try to return home.
Well that is what they are there for, to die as a Jihad Warrior fighting for the Establishment of the Caliphate and their coming Mahdi. So loss of their life to most is gain not loss...and the chaos they believe they are called to incite..... So the entire theater of war 'to them' is a blood thirsty "celebration"
However ....to the leadership fighting 'to win' that loss of manpower means they aren't winning the ground they seek. Suleiman is a despicable leader and will go to any extreme to instill great fear in order to win...which is why he is feared so by all Moslem's.
What should alarm us is the "other" ME nations stepping up now preparing, and also have ready to go, 'thousands' more to come into this fight when Suli calls for them......and maybe even if he doesn't. It will depend on the moves he makes.....he does have a golden opportunity to bring the ME under Irian's submission IF they opted to do so...and one Iran might not be able to resist regardless of Obama's dabbling in diplomacy with these tyrants.
So the real fears are of course if this ends up a Shia vs Sunni battle...and possible to become just that ...in force.
Which could easily happen once they march to Mosul....they welcomed the ISIS troops. Remember this?
Executions and stonings are community entertainment for the citizens...and they do enjoy them as muslim barabarians would
It looks like the preliminaries are complete, and they will start going door to door, block by block, through the main city tomorrow or the next day.
There will be a lot more of that urban warfare in Mosul, than in Tikrit, so this will be an interesting indicator of how it might go.
ISIS might be able to inflict a lot more casualties at close range, and with a lot of bobby traps. The safest way for the Shia to avoid that is back off and blow the building up, rather than try to go room to room. Locals might want to save their homes and businesses by getting ISIS away from them, before they get blown up (insurance won’t cover the loss). But many locals may already be gone.
As you pointed out, many of these ISIS guys may head toward the sound of the guns, still full of fervor. There have been some reports of stalwart ISIS reinforcements heading in, while some of the weaker ones were bugging out (I saw one report of ISIS executing thirty attempted deserters in Tikrit recently).
So things could go different ways, but it is just about time to unleash the dogs of war, and send the main force into contact. First glimpse of the Summer of Death, coming up.
From you’re article link.....”Concern has been expressed that the U.S. ‘risks’ losing Iraq to Iran in the fight against IS, but it is probably more accurate to say the U.S. has already lost Iraq to Iran..... No good options seem to exist, and the expansion of Iran’s sphere of influence may well have to be accepted as an inevitable consequence of the original decision to invade Iraq and remove Saddam’s regime from power.”......
I don’t think I can agree with his conclusion....though understandable where he’s coming from. If anything Iraq will ultimately end up “Neutral”, or better said align with whatever groups or nations surrounding any conflict in the ME that stands to benefit them most.....which is why the US has tried so to get them to co-operate Sunni and Shia rather than verses one another.
One possible outcome is ethnic cleansing of Sunnis for the oil-rich parts of the country. The Shia might take advantage of this operation to level Sunni houses, so many don’t ever come back.
Tikrit will be a good indicator, Mosul will tell.
I understand neither side wants to "destroy" the city, via bombing etc.....at most maybe strategic bombs on occasion but they're going to fight this on the street.
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