Archive for the ‘Iraq’ Category

Iranian-backed militia offensive raises tensions near Turkish border of Iraq – Jerusalem Post Israel News


Jerusalem Post Israel News
Iranian-backed militia offensive raises tensions near Turkish border of Iraq
Jerusalem Post Israel News
The offensive in Iraq is the most important yet launched by the Iranian-backed Shia militias, known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), since November, when they crossed 50 km. of desert to cut off Mosul and surround the Turkmen town of Tal Afar.
CentCom Breaks Safe Passage Deal in Syria and Iraq- Making Its Allies Bleed for ItCenter for Research on Globalization
Home Iraq ISIS on its last legs in Mosul as Iraqi Army liberates four...AMN Al-Masdar News (registration)

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Iranian-backed militia offensive raises tensions near Turkish border of Iraq - Jerusalem Post Israel News

Marine to receive Silver Star for saving linguist in Iraq – Marine Corps Times

Assistant Commandant Gen. Glenn Walters on May 18 will present the Silver Star to a Marine who initially received the Bronze Star for saving his linguist in Iraq.

Capt. Andrew Kims award was upgraded as part of a Defense Department-wide review of nearly 1,400 combat valor awards issued since 2001, a Marine Corps news release says. He will receive the Silver Star at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms in California.

A sergeant at the time, Kim was on a mission on Aug. 6, 2003, when an Iraqi man shot the linguist in the neck, the news release says. Kim killed the attacker, but small-arms fire erupted from the rear and Kim was hit several times.

Disregarding his own wounds, Kim grabbed the linguist and helped him into a vehicle, the news release says. They drove off but five Iraqis in a white pickup truck gave chase while firing at their vehicle.

After linking up with other Marines, Kim ordered a counter-attack that killed his pursuers, the news release says

Kims gallantry and effectiveness under fire saved the lives of all those conducting the mission, the news release says. By his bold initiative, undaunted courage and complete dedication to duty, Kim reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

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Marine to receive Silver Star for saving linguist in Iraq - Marine Corps Times

US trumpets Mosul gains, but Iraq says more aid needed – The Boston Globe

A boy carried belongings through rubble as he fled fighting between Iraqi special forces and Islamic State militants in western Mosul, Iraq, on Monday.

HAMAM AL-ALIL, Iraq During a visit south of Mosul on Monday, a senior US official praised territorial gains against the Islamic State group in Iraq, but local officials cautioned more aid is needed to rebuild following victories against the extremists.

The Mosul fight is approaching its final stages, Brett McGurk, special presidential envoy for the global coalition against the Islamic State, said during a meeting with Iraqi military and civilian officials at a water treatment plant near the town of Hamam al-Alil.

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The world is now seeing that (Iraqi) soldiers are completely destroying Daesh, McGurk said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group that is also referred to as ISIS and ISIL. He described the fight to retake Mosul, which was launched nearly seven months ago, as one of the most difficult urban battles since World War II.

But the men who had gathered to receive McGurk and US Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman were dressed in suits, not fatigues, and they had come asking for aid, not weapons and training.

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With the fight against ISIS in Iraq about to enter its fourth year, more than half of the territory the extremists once held is now under government control, but with those advances has come greater demand for reconstruction money.

The US military footprint in Iraq has steadily grown in the buildup to and throughout the Mosul operation, but US funds for humanitarian relief and stabilization remain a fraction of defense spending in this fight.

We are looking for more support as the west side of the city will be liberated soon, Major General Muhammed al-Shimary with Nineveh Operations Command told McGurk after thanking him for US assistance in the fight so far.

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McGurk said the water treatment plant that now provides water to more than 100,000 people in Nineveh is symbolic of this entire effort that weve embarked upon to defeat Daesh.

Here in Nineveh we have hundreds of projects like this funded by our coalition, he said, adding that a similar list of reconstruction projects was being drawn up for the rebel-held Syrian city of Raqqa as US-led coalition forces surround it ahead of a long-anticipated operation to retake it.

But overall, US contributions to Iraqi reconstruction are unlikely to meet the countrys needs. Iraq continues to struggle with an economic crisis and the central government has called on the international community to provide the bulk of the funds.

Last year under the Obama administration, McGurk emphasized the need for a balance between speed and sustainability in the fight against the Islamic State.

Before you launch a major operation you have to have in place who is going to hold the city, who is going to govern the city, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during testimony in June 2016.

However, President Trump has pledged to accelerate the military fight. While the White House has yet to release an official overhaul of the fight, since taking office Trump has handed greater decision-making power regarding troop levels in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan to the Pentagon.

Additionally, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has emphasized the limited role the United States will play in reconstruction in Iraq and Syria.

As a coalition we are not in the business of nation-building or reconstruction, Tillerson said during a meeting of foreign ministers in Washington in March. Instead, he said the United States would equip war torn communities to take the lead in rebuilding their institutions and returning to stability.

As of March 31, the Pentagon has spent $12.5 billion on the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria with daily costs averaging $13 million since the operation was launched in 2014.

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US trumpets Mosul gains, but Iraq says more aid needed - The Boston Globe

US Airstrike Kills at Least 30 Syrian Civilians Near Iraq Border – Antiwar.com

Adding to the growing civilian death toll caused by US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, the US overnight attacked the Syrian border town of Abu Kamal, along the key Iraqi border crossing, killing at least 30 civilians in the process.

The US carried out the strikes at 3:00 am, targeting a series of apartment buildings in the towns residential area. Unsurprisingly, the apartments were full of sleeping civilians, and also unsurprisingly, blowing up the apartments killed a lot of them.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, ISIS is believed to have been using some of the apartments in the targeted area. There is, however, no sign that the apartments the US bombed contained any of the ISIS fighters in question.

This is the latest in a growing number of US strikes around Syria which have killed civilians, with reports of at least 87 civilians killed in the last five days from US and coalition strikes.

Abu Kamal is a hugely important strategic holding of ISIS, though its value has dropped somewhat since they lost most of their territory in Iraqs Anbar Province. Still, it is along the main highway connecting Syrias Deir Ezzor and Iraq, and has been contested by US-backed rebels intermittently, albeit unsuccessfully.

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US Airstrike Kills at Least 30 Syrian Civilians Near Iraq Border - Antiwar.com

From Iraq to Leander: A flag to honor fallen peace officers – KXAN.com


KXAN.com
From Iraq to Leander: A flag to honor fallen peace officers
KXAN.com
In 2009, Carson returned to Iraq and visited Camp Wetherbee, named for Darrell Wetherbee, an international police officer killed by sniper fire there. Carson saw many commonalities between his family and Wetherbee, who was both a Marine and a Maine ...

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From Iraq to Leander: A flag to honor fallen peace officers - KXAN.com