ISIS/ISIL conflict in Syria/Iraq (No OpEd, No Politics)

Equation

Equation

Lieutenant General
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Islamic State group's takeover of the provincial capital of Ramadi is stark evidence that Iraqi forces lack the "will to fight," Defense Secretary Ash Carter acknowledged, a harsh assessment that raised new questions about the Obama administration's strategy to defeat the extremist group that has seized a strategically important swath of the Middle East.

Although Iraqi soldiers "vastly outnumbered" their opposition in the capital of Anbar province, they quickly withdrew from Ramadi last Sunday without putting up much resistance from the city in Iraq's Sunni heartland, Carter said on CNN's "State of the Union." The interview aired on Sunday.

The Iraqis left behind large numbers of U.S.-supplied vehicles, including several tanks, now presumed to be in Islamic State hands.

"What apparently happened is the Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight," Carter said. "They were not outnumbered; in fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force. That says to me, and I think to most of us, that we have an issue with the will of the Iraqis to fight ISIL and defend themselves."

The White House declined to comment on Sunday.

Iraqi lawmaker Hakim al-Zamili, the head of the parliamentary defense and security committee, called Carter's comments "unrealistic and baseless," in an interview with The Associated Press.

"The Iraqi army and police did have the will to fight IS group in Ramadi, but these forces lack good equipment, weapons and aerial support," he said. "The U.S. officials should provide Iraq with advanced weapons as soon as possible instead of making such statements."

American officials say they are sending anti-tank weapons to the Iraqi military. But they also noted that Iraqi forces were not routed from Ramadi— they left of their own accord, frightened in part by a powerful wave of Islamic State group suicide truck bombs.

"The ISF was not driven out of Ramadi," Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week. "They drove out of Ramadi."

The fall of Ramadi has sparked renewed questions about the effectiveness of the Obama administration's approach in Iraq, a blend of retraining and rebuilding the Iraqi army, prodding Baghdad to reconcile with the nation's Sunnis and bombing Islamic State group targets from the air without committing American ground combat troops.

Obama's approach is predicated on the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad granting political concessions to the country's alienated Sunnis, who are a source of personnel and money for the Islamic State group. But there has been little visible progress on that front. Baghdad has continued to work closely with Shiite militias backed by Iran, which have been accused of atrocities against Sunnis, a religious minority that once ruled Iraq.

The U.S. has sought to reach out on its own to Sunni tribes and is training some Sunni fighters, but those efforts have been limited by the small number of American troops on the ground.

Carter defended the use of U.S. airstrikes as an effective part of the fight against the Islamic State group, but he said they are not a replacement for Iraqi ground forces willing to defend their country.

"We can participate in the defeat of ISIL," he said. "But we can't make Iraq ... a decent place for people to live — we can't sustain the victory, only the Iraqis can do that and, in particular in this case, the Sunni tribes to the West."

American intelligence officials have assessed for some time that Iraq is unlikely ever again to function as the multi-ethnic nation-state it once was, and that any future political arrangement would have to grant significant local autonomy to the three main groups_Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. But the Obama administration has continued to pursue a "one Iraq" policy, routing all assistance through Baghdad.

Over the past year defeated Iraq security forces have repeatedly left U.S.-supplied military equipment on the battlefield, which the U.S. has targeted in subsequent airstrikes against Islamic State forces. The Pentagon this past week estimated that when Iraqi troops abandoned Ramadi, they left behind a half-dozen tanks, a similar number of artillery pieces, a larger number of armored personnel carriers and about 100 wheeled vehicles like Humvees.

Carter did not discuss any new U.S. tactics in the fight against Islamic State group.

U.S. lawmakers from both parties criticized the administration's strategy Sunday, urging a more aggressive posture.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat who is an Iraq war veteran, cast doubt on the U.S. preference to deal only with the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad, calling instead for directly arming both the Kurds in the north and Sunni tribes that have asked for help in beating back the Islamic State group.

"These Iraqi security forces have cut and run," Gabbard said. "They cut and ran and dropped their weapons when they were faced with their first real battle with ISIS."

She criticized Baghdad's close links with the Iran-backed Shiite militias that have declared themselves enemies of the United States.

Republican Sen. John McCain, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, called for thousands of U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq, including spotters who can better direct air strikes.

"We need to have a strategy," he said. "There is no strategy. And anybody who says there is, I'd like to hear what it is."
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S

ShahryarHedayat

Junior Member
Iraqi interior minister: Iran saved our country

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The Iraqi Army is fighting tooth and nail to stop the advance of Islamic State. Following a row of victories, which have brought many hopes of war ending soon, the Iraqi Army suffered a major defeat at Ramadi – letting a strategically important city, a doorstep to Baghdad, into the hands of radical Islamists. How’s that going to affect the war? Who’s on the winning side? And is the international community doing enough to prevent Islamic State from hegemony on the Middle East? We ask these questions to Iraqi Interior Minister. Mohammed Salem Al-Ghabban is on Sophie&Co today.

Sophie Shevardnadze: Mohammed Salem Al-Ghabban, the Iraqi interior minister, it’s really great to have you on our show today, welcome.

Mohammed Salem Al-Ghabban: It’s a pleasure.

SS: So let’s start from the latest. The Iraqi army and the Shia militias have almost defeated IS in Tikrit, but the Islamic State has recently claimed victory in Ramadi, an important strategic town, and it’s also still in control of Fallujah and Mosul. Now, with the coalition bombing campaign, with the advisors trying to train the Iraqi army, with the international arms help – how is ISIS still claiming territories? Why is ISIS still winning?

MSAG: Well, first of all I would like to correct the terms: we don’t have the Shia militia. We have popular mobilization, this sort of fighters and their force being formed by the government, with high authority, religious authorities calling the people to come and join the government forces to defend our territories, to defend our sovereignty.

SS: Just to make sure, are you talking about Iraqi government’s call for volunteers to join the fight against ISIS?

MSAG: Correct. We have now a draft legislation called “National Guard” which should be containing all these popular volunteers.

SS: Have a lot of people joined?

MSAG: Of course, we have over 60,000 people that joined, and we can say that the main force now defending Iraq and defending territories and liberating all these cities and areas was the popular mobilization, they fight next to and together with government forces, whether from the army or from Ministry of Interior or the security forces.

SS: Let me ask you something, minister: would you welcome international volunteers as well?

MSAG: Clearly, the Prime Minster, he is the High Commander of all forces, he announced it many times that we don’t need foreign soldiers on the ground, we have enough people to defend our territories, but we welcome any support from the international community and the air force coverage, because, as you know, we have shortage of this sort of defense, so we’re welcoming any support, especially in drying out the financing and recruitment of ISIS fighters. We welcome any help with this or the exchange of information so we can defeat ISIS from their resourcing and recruiting.

SS: So going back to my first question – what do you think is the main problem why you can’t defeat ISIS at this point?

MSAG: Clearly, our army and our forces were not prepared very well, were not constructed to fight such battle – you know, it’s guerilla fighting, city fighting, so, our army was not prepared, was not equipped with correct equipment to fight such wars. But now, with help of volunteers, and our forces have now regained the spirit of fight, we are now liberating many areas, since the fight started, after the collapse of Nineveh, Mosul… Still, it is a war. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. So, we accept that we have problems in Ramadi, in the last battle our forces couldn’t keep the territory and withdrew and now we are reinforcing our troops to liberate and regain the city, we hope.

SS: Have you been on frontlines yourself, minister?

MSAG: I was.

SS: Really? What is IS like to fight? How organized are they, how organized are their militants, how well-equipped are they, can you tell us?

MSAG: Well, the main tactic they are using, is, they use vehicles that are armored and full of explosives – so this is a tactic that they’re using, which was somehow effective on some fronts, but we assure that we can come over this, this is not the winning card, because we have very brave men, soldiers that can overcome such tactics. But as I said, sometimes, it happens that they use this tactics to destroy very big areas and create some chaos and I think, in addition, they try to manipulate things…you know, using locals as well…

SS: We’re going to talk about that in just a little bit, but before we get there, I remember in 2007, in Anbar province, Sunnis, actually, they – you know, Anbar, that’s on a doorstep to Baghdad, and is now under control of Islamic State – Sunnis there, they rose and they kicked out jihadists our of Iraq. Why isn’t that happening now? Do you think those Sunnis are on the side of Islamic State now?

MSAG: Definitely not. Definitely not, I can assure you. I want to say something: in Iraq, we don’t have sectarian conflict between the people. There are politicians that use this sort of… trying to gain power from using this sort of disputes or using this problems, sometimes, in some provinces or some areas. We have problems everywhere in Iraq. We have lack of services… They trying to use these things, put them in a way that there’s a main conflict between sects in Iraq, but I can assure you there is no such things.

SS: So why aren’t they rising up now, the Sunnis? And why aren’t they rising up against the militants of the IS and try to push them out of Iraq.

MSAG: We have many volunteer Sunnis that joined our forces in Al-Anbar and Salah-ad-Din provinces. And in Mosul now, in its liberated area, or the area that it is not under the control of ISIS, there are thousands of Sunni people that joined the popular mobilization as volunteers and other thousands of police forces and army forces which, after the collapse of Mosul, they came back, joined the forces, and they are prepared now to fight ISIS, and there are Sunnis, so I can assure you that ISIS, when they control an area or territory, many people escape that area – for example, even Mosul, after it collapse, half-a-million Sunnis escaped, they couldn’t stay. You know, ISIS even acts against tribes, and Sunni tribes, in many areas they killed hundreds of them. So, I don’t think ISIS is enjoying the support from Sunnis. But they are using sometimes circumstances or situation in their interests.

SS: Do you feel, as a government there’s something more you could do to actually have Sunni tribesmen, who are still not on your side, make them change their mind and join your side?

MSAG: We’re working on reconciliation…

SS: How are you doing that?

MSAG: The battle with ISIS is not only a military fight. We should work on political side to gain the local people, the Sunni tribes, on our side and we find the way to have a sort of cooperation with them…

SS: Are you finding it hard not so much to actually find common language with Sunni tribesmen for them to come fight with you, on your side?

MSAG: The problem is sometimes because of the way of ISIS targeting and fighting, because they’re using very brutal ways, they are spreading fear and scaring people, so sometimes, people are scared, so they cannot defend against ISIS.

SS: Do, you feel like you’re getting enough help from the international community? What is Iraq in most need of right now?

MSAG: As I said, and I repeat it now, we don’t ned any soldiers on the ground, we have enough people to defend our territories and to liberate our area, but the support that we definitely need is air force, air strikes, because we have shortage of air forces, and we need international community and all countries to help us with drying out the resources, the recruitment – because, you know, ISIS now is relying on recruiting from tens of countries from around the world, and the best thing is to come together, cooperation from all over the world, to stop this recruitment, to stop their financing, to stop also the political or media support, sometimes, because, as I said, the main thing in this battle is the psychological thing and the media, which was very effective at using this – they have many measures to do this, so we have to stop this, because the threat of ISIS is a threat not only to Iraq; we are now fighting on behalf of the world, so everyone should help Iraq, because it is fighting on behalf of the world and it is a threat not only to Iraq, but to the region and the whole world.
 
S

ShahryarHedayat

Junior Member
SS: Iran was actually among the first countries to come to the aid in your fight against the Islamic State: it helped you with weaponry, it helped you with military advisors – who would you say is helping Iraq more at this point? The U.S. or Iran? Who you’re getting more help from?

MSAG: The situation since the collapse of Mosul was very difficult, was very crucial – we were in situation where Baghdad was under threat, and it was a serious threat, actually. So we welcome anybody who help us and as you mentioned, Iran was the first one to give help to Iraq and give hand to Iraq. Even the Kurds, when the threat was very close to Erbil, the first supplies of ammunition that reached Kurds were from Iran, not from other people. So, we’re receiving many claims from other countries that they are supporting Iraq, but on the ground, I say, clearly Iran was the first in everything to support Iraq.

SS: And it probably helped you more than any other country?..

MSAG: Well, the international community, particularly the coalition forces was helpful, and air support and airstrikes – we cannot say that they were not helpful, they were helpful; but the determining point in victories and liberation of areas was the soldiers on the ground and the advisors from Iran, the ammunition, was very helpful.

SS: U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, he actually said that he’s very concerned about Iranian involvement in Iraq in the fight against the Islamic State. So, you’d think Islamic State is a common threat to everybody, like you’ve said, so shouldn’t you be getting any help that you could get? Why should America be so agitated about Iran helping you?

MSAG: As I said, it is: ISIS is a threat to everybody, of course, it’s a threat to Iran. We have border for more than 1200 km with Iran, Iran feels the threat is very close, and more than for any other country – so they share this threat and so they helped us. We welcome any help, so we don’t want to get involved in conflict between some countries. As a country we would like to see ourselves out of any polarization in the region, between Iran and other countries, we want to liberate our territory. We want to defend our sovereignty, so we’re welcoming any country to help us. We don’t care about the polarization in the area, we want to have a policy not to interfere into any country’s policy or the conflict between other countries in the region. We want to see ourselves as unified and our territory, sovereignty is kept away from this polarization.

SS: Now, the White House says its’ strategy in Iraq is a success. Is it?

MSAG: Our strategy is to have good relationship….

SS: No, what do you think? Is American strategy in Iraq a success? Because the White House says American strategy in Iraq is a success. What is your take on that?

MSAG: Americans share with us the same feeling about ISIS, the threat of ISIS, which is a threat to whole world, to the international community. They share many views about ISIS…

SS: No. Not the threat, but… it is a threat, we all agree, but it’s strategy to eliminate or help you eliminate ISIS in Iraq, do you think it is a success?

MSAG: I was trying to say this… we’re receiving this views, but on the ground we feel that there’s is not enough support from America to defeat ISIS.

SS: What would you need from Americans? Because you say you don’t want their boots on the ground, because you feel like Iraqis are the only ones who should lead the ISIS out of Iraq – so what else would you need from the Americans?

MSAG: We need the help to eliminate ISIS, not to contain ISIS.

SS: In what sense – could you be more precise? Do you need more air bombing campaigns?

MSAG: The air bombing and airstrikes, they do this, but in a limited way, I think – we need more of targeting the enemy, they have enough equipment to target ISIS, I think. We need more of this. In addition, the international community, the coalition forces and, particularly, the Americans, they can help us to put pressure on some countries that are still giving help to ISIS, you know, the recruitment, foreign fighters, financing and support of Daesh.

SS: Your Prime Minister has recently cruised the new defense spending bill proposed by U.S., that would actually allocate different funds separately to Iraqi Kurds, to Sunni militias, et cetera. I think, you’ve also said that if that happens, that would actually not be too helpful for your fight against ISIS. Why is that?

MSAG: The main reason that we can defeat ISIS is our unity. When we are unified in Iraq, we can win the war, we can defeat ISIS. This legislation, we think, will affect the unity of Iraq in negative way. This will give a wrong message to our enemy – that we are not united – because they consider that some components of Iraq, whether the Sunnis or the Kurds, are not in agreement, so they need the direct supply of ammunition and weapons. So, this is, as I said, a wrong message to our enemies, it will send message that we are not unified, and will break down the domestic and interior frontier in battle against ISIS.

SS: Minister, do you coordinate your assaults on Islamic State with the Kurdish Peshmerga? And would you welcome them in Iraq proper if they came to offer their help?

MSAG: Of course, we have coordination with the Kurds, we have many meetings, practical meetings. Many times our commanders, and myself, our PM, went to the Kurdistan regional government, we have meetings with them. Now, we’ve formed a command center to coordinate our planning to liberate Nineveh and Mosul in the future; the cooperation is on many sides and many aspects to coordinate our fight with ISIS in the region and on frontier, where there are joint forces from Kurds, the Peshmerga, and other forces from the Army of police forces.

SS: Former CIA deputy head Michael Morell said that the U.S. doesn’t understand much about Islam, doesn’t understand much about Middle East. I don’t know if you feel the same, but if that’s the case – because this is someone who knows the American mentality and the job that he was doing – if that’s the case, how can America help you come up with the strategy to fight ISIS? Do they coordinate their strategy to fight ISIS with you and your government?

MSAG: First of all, ISIS has nothing to do with Islam, really. Frankly speaking, of course they put Islam as an idea that they are related to Islam, they announced the caliphate of Islam, but their acts are against all Muslims. They killed everybody from Islam sects. So, I doubt that Americans don’t know how to analyze and understand the ISIS, which came from Al-Qaeda. Americans had very good understanding of Al-Qaeda and I think they know very well their ideology – how they act, how they gain support, so, I think they can understand very well Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

SS: What kind of help are you expecting from Russia?

MSAG: This help could be in cooperation and exchange of information to stop ISIS recruitment, because we know that there are many “tourists” coming from Caucasus and other areas. Russia can help us with targeting these people, exchange information; also, to support Iraq with weapons and ammunition, because we are looking for a variety of weapons, we don’t want to rely on specific weapon or weapons from specific country. Also, the training, the training of police, training of the army – I think we can have cooperation in many areas, and Russia can help very well. And of course, on the international arena, on political positions and relations, Russia can play very good role and very important role.

SS: Mr. Al-Ghabban, thank you very much for this interview. We wish you all the luck in all your future endeavors and fight against the Islamic State, we were glad to help you with anything we can. Thank you.

MSAG: Thank you very much. I assure you that we will defeat ISIS, we will come over this crisis, because ISIS don’t have the support of Iraqi people; Iraqi people are against ISIS, they reject ISIS, even though sometimes IS is controlling some areas, because they are using very brutal tactics to kill everybody, so they are creating this fear, this sort of the psychologival processes I’ve mentioned.

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ShahryarHedayat

Junior Member
Hezbollah captures hilltops from al Qaeda's Syria wing:
Al-Manar TV
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4 hours ago

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah fighters have captured two hilltops from al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front in areas close to the Lebanese border and have killed dozens of enemy combatants, Hezbollah-run al-Manar television reported on Monday.

It said in a newsflash that the Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group had captured the hilltops of Quba'a and Naqar in Syria's southwestern Quinetra province, which lies in sensitive territory close to Lebanon and Israel.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his country's civil war. The group's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has vowed to clear the border area of Sunni Muslim militant groups that have carried out attacks on Lebanese soil.

Nasrallah said on Sunday that Hezbollah was willing to increase its presence in Syria when needed and that the fight was part of a wider strategy to prevent groups like Nusra Front, and the ultra-hardline Islamic State, from taking over the region.

He added that an offensive his group is leading in the mountainous region of Qalamoun along the border between Syria and Lebanon would last "until the borders are secured".

Lebanon was torn apart by its own civil war from 1975 to 1990, and officials have voiced concerns about cross-border offensives that they warn could drag the smaller country further into the Syrian conflict.

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Ultra

Ultra

Junior Member
I must have been sleeping under a rock... only saw this news now.

Iraqi army conduct in Ramadi 'surprised all of us,' deputy prime minister says
By Mick Krever, CNN
Updated 2237 GMT (0537 HKT) May 25, 2015

(CNN)The Iraqi army's willingness to let Ramadi fall to
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"surprised all of us," Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq told CNN on Monday.

"It's not clear for us why such a unit, which was supposed to be trained by the Americans for years, and supposed to be one of the best units in the army, would withdraw from Ramadi in such a way."

"This is not the army that we are willing to see or we are expecting to see."

Al-Mutlaq, a Sunni who leads his own party and often criticizes Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, spoke with CNN's Frederik Pleitgen on "Amanpour," a day after scathing criticism of the Iraqi military by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

"They were not outnumbered,"
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in an exclusive interview. "In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force. And yet they failed to fight; they withdrew from the site."

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"And that says to me, and I think to most of us, that we have an issue with the will of the Iraqis."

Al-Abadi told the BBC on Monday that Carter was "fed with the wrong information."

Al-Mutlaq, however, seemed to echo the American defense secretary in arguing that Iraqis do not have hope for their country.

"If they don't see the future for them in
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, I don't think they will fight Daesh, ISIS, in the way we want them. There will be some fighting, but we want real determination, a real effort, as we saw in 2007, 2008, when they fought because they thought they can have a future."

Al-Mutlaq was referring to the Sunni Awakening, in which Sunni Iraqis, backed by the United States, rose up against al Qaeda. It was a movement that began in Anbar province, of which Ramadi is the capital.

"The Sunni people, they are not with ISIS, this is for sure."

But "they are not certain now if they could fight ISIS, and if they fight ISIS, what is after ISIS? Actually, there is a worry among people -- and among us -- about what is going to happen after ISIS.

"What is after that? Are they going to live in an area which is going to rebuild again? Is there going to be a reconciliation? Are they going to be included in the government? Is there going to be an inclusive government? Is there going to be a real reconciliation in the country? These are our question marks. Without answering them, it will be very difficult to see the end of ISIS in a short time."

There was hope among Iraq's Sunnis, al-Mutlaq said, that al-Abadi would be a more inclusive leader than his predecessor,
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, who has been widely blamed for creating a deeply sectarian atmosphere both within government and the country at large.

"The people, they are losing hope that a real government (can) run Iraq in a way that every Iraqi will see himself contributing.

"Although we feel that the intention of Mr. Abadi is good, is OK, but what we see on the ground until now is not enough to convince us that things are going to be working in a proper way."

For example, he said, though he is a member of al-Abadi's government, Sunnis are still being sidelined from the security apparatus.

"Without having a political solution to the problems in Iraq, without having a reconciliation in the country, the military side of the battle cannot work alone," he said.

That reconciliation, long sought, still appears to be elusive.

The United States, which has limited itself to airstrikes and military advisers in Iraq, in addition to its support of the Iraqi government, has come under renewed pressure since the fall of Ramadi to do more to help fight ISIS.

Like many analyzing how Iraq has gotten to this point, al-Mutlaq pointed at least in part to the American decision to disband the Iraqi military after its 2003 invasion, and send droves of suddenly disaffected -- and military-trained -- Sunnis into the streets.

"First you should not dissolve the Iraqi army, and the Americans did dissolve the Iraqi army.

"And then, we said since you have already decided to dissolve the Iraqi army, now you have to build a national army, which is not sectarian, which is a professional army.

"But unfortunately, the army was built in a way that the militias was entered in it, and also it was not built on a national basis, but on a sectarian one," he said.

"Unfortunately, the withdrawal was not in a responsible way. So the occupation was wrong, and the withdrawal was wrong also. Both of them are wrong steps, which led to what we are now. Now we have to act immediately."

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Khedery: 6,000 Iraqi forces fell to 150 ISIS fighters
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Wow, 6000 vs 150 with americans backing them with close air support from above and they still lost. This makes the ISIS fighters look like the modern day SPARTANS! :D

Maybe the ISIS has this guy as their commander. Who really knows at this point.

e28640dc535007d04508eff1e54aad02


At this rate I think all of middle east might fell to ISIS in 10 years time! Which will be quite ironic for the american since they invaded Iraq under the pretense that Saddam was supporting Al Quada. Now Iraq, Syria and maybe even all of middle east might fell to ISIS and morph into this terrorist super state!
 
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Ultra

Ultra

Junior Member
Skye_ZTZ_113 said:
OT, and on a lighter note. Has anyone noticed that these guys are somewhat reminiscent of the GLA from the game C&C Generals? Albeit without the chemical/biological weapons thankfully.
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I thought the same thing, they are beginning to be....
A force that's been honing their skills in fighting much largers force and win using asymmetrical warfare. And they continue to acquire real world combat experiences non-stop. They are going to be huge problem for any nation state besides Iraq and Syria unfortunate enough to be deal with.
 
solarz

solarz

Brigadier
Ultra said:
Wow, 6000 vs 150 with americans backing them with close air support from above and they still lost. This makes the ISIS fighters look like the modern day SPARTANS! :D

Maybe the ISIS has this guy as their commander. Who really knows at this point.

e28640dc535007d04508eff1e54aad02


At this rate I think all of middle east might fell to ISIS in 10 years time! Which will be quite ironic for the american since they invaded Iraq under the pretense that Saddam was supporting Al Quada. Now Iraq, Syria and maybe even all of middle east might fell to ISIS and morph into this terrorist super state!
Click to expand...

I agree with Thunderchief's comments on this. The Iraqi "Army" seems more like a welfare system than a fighting force. Sure, there were only 150 ISIS soldiers, but the Iraqi soldiers on the ground didn't know that. Or, if they were told that, they probably didn't believe their commanders. If they get caught, they're dead men. They probably figured they had a better chance if they cut and run.

The really sad part is that if these guys were American-trained, and considered one of the best units in the Iraqi Army, then they probably had good equipment too. Equipment that is now most likely in ISIS' hands.
 
janjak desalin

janjak desalin

Junior Member
"Over the past year defeated Iraq security forces have repeatedly left U.S.-supplied military equipment on the battlefield, which the U.S. has targeted in subsequent airstrikes against Islamic State forces. The Pentagon this past week estimated that when Iraqi troops abandoned Ramadi, they left behind a half-dozen tanks, a similar number of artillery pieces, a larger number of armored personnel carriers and about 100 wheeled vehicles like Humvees."

the equipment, imho, is very much a part of, if not the fundamental, basis the problem. attempting to base the iraqi army's organizational structures and tactical operations on the model of the US, or any other contemporary, combined arms model effectively takes the fight out of the 'front-line' troops and encourages a psychological dependence upon the support of heavy weapons for a sense of psychological security and tactical efficacy.
ironically, ISIS/ISIL has provided the model upon which developing nations should organize their primary ground forces. it's time for these nations to re-introduce the concepts of light and medium infantry into contemporary tactical operations. i can't conceptualize why the iraqi units fighting ISIS/ISIL should require any weapons heavier than .50 cal/12.7mm (both static, for defense, and mounted for attack), 14.5 mm (such as the mounted KPVT for attack and the static ZPU-1 for defense), and RPG-29 with thermobaric rounds (the RPG-29, which, btw, the US has blocked the iraqi's from procuring).
how much more economical, financially, logistically (in mobility and ammunition supply), and in intesiveness of training , would be 3, or more, dozen 50 cal/12.7mm and 14.5 mm compared to 6 M-1s and m198s and "a larger number of armored personnel carriers"? and, how much more tactically relevant would be an in-depth defense with these weapons in support when confronting a force that comprises primarily light infantry using what i'm assuming are swarming tactics?
i question the actual commitment, and objectivity, of advanced nations whose weapons sales practices seem to serve more the interests of their weapons manufacturers than they do the security needs of the nations to whose security they claim commitments.
my 2 cents!
hey, what happened to the cent key on the keyboard?
 
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Ultra

Ultra

Junior Member
The Iraqi army had the american, british and coalition forces close air support all this time, with many insurgents killed by air strikes.



From wiki:

"On 9 April, Coalition airstrikes killed 13 ISIL militants in western Ramadi.


On 12 April, ISIL executed 35 Al-Bofarj clan members in Ramadi.
On 30 April, it was reported that the citizens in Ramadi were suffering a gas and oil shortage, after ISIL had captured the Ramadi Gas Plant to the east of Ramadi.


Fall of Ramadi

On 14 May, ISIL launched an assault on the city using armored bulldozers and the use of 10 suicide bombers to burst through the main gate, resulting in the capture of the police headquarters, government buildings and the Ramadi Great Mosque. On 16 May, Iraqi officials claimed that ISIS militants withdrew from the main government building in the Iraqi city of Ramadi after air strikes by the US-led coalition. Despite official claims, ISIS appeared to be still advancing, unhindered by US-led Coalition airstrikes, and ultimately consolidated full control over the last government-controlled neighborhood of "Mal'ab", south of Ramadi on 17 May.


On 17 May, it was reported that Ramadi fell to the complete control of ISIL insurgents, with the Iraqi Army and special forces employed as well as Iraqi Government officials filmed fleeing from the city escorted by tanks, with a total of 500 civilians and security personnel reported dead.


According to a report by current and former American officials, ISIL fighters used a sandstorm to help seize a critical military advantage in the early hours of the terrorist group’s attack on Ramadi. The sandstorm delayed American warplanes and kept them from launching airstrikes to help the Iraqi forces, helping to set in motion an assault that forced Iraqi security forces to flee. ISIL fighters used the time to carry out a series of car bombings followed by a wave of ground attacks in and around the city that eventually overwhelmed the Iraqi forces. Once the storm subsided, ISIL and Iraqi forces were intermingled in heavy combat in many areas, making it difficult for allied pilots to distinguish between ISIL and pro-government fighters, the officials said. By that point, the militants had gained an operational momentum that could not be reversed


Again, 6000 vs 150, Iraqi forces had CAS and they still lose. The insurgents had sandstorm and they won. LOL!
 
cn_habs

cn_habs

Junior Member
Still is it too much to ask those cowards to take a couple of extra seconds to blow up Humvees or other equipment with grenades before they run back to their mamas? These cowards have greatly outnumbered ISIS since day one with superior firepower and Western air support yet managed to lose every fight. What a disgrace of a nation.
 
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