Archive for the ‘Iraq’ Category

A not-so-historic settlement: Iraq’s post-IS vision runs into trouble – Middle East Eye


Middle East Eye
A not-so-historic settlement: Iraq's post-IS vision runs into trouble
Middle East Eye
A political reconciliation plan, spearheaded by the leader of Iraq's Islamic Supreme Council Ammar al-Hakim, promises to heal Iraq and unite its warring factions. Named the 'historic settlement,' the initiative is built on the areas around which Shia ...

See original here:
A not-so-historic settlement: Iraq's post-IS vision runs into trouble - Middle East Eye

Iraq Announces Liberation of Eastern Mosul – Department of Defense

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 24, 2017 After more than 100 days of hard urban combat, Iraqi officials announced the liberation of eastern Mosul today.

While clearance operations are ongoing, the Iraqi security forces control all areas inside the city east of the Tigris River, the east bank of the river around all five bridges crossing the Tigris River, Mosul University and the Ninevah Ruins.

During their offensive to liberate the city of more than one million residents, which was held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant for more than two years, the Iraqi and peshmerga security forces fought through an elaborate defense formed over the past two years to not only keep the Iraqi security forces out, but the residents of Mosul captive. Through it all, the Iraqi security forces displayed their professionalism by placing the lives of citizens before their own and taking precautions to protect the citizens of Mosul while battling a brutal and fanatic enemy, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials said.

Meanwhile, they added, ISIL resorted to using children and other civilians as shields against coalition and Iraqi air and artillery strikes and used protected facilities such as hospitals, mosques and schools as weapons storage facilities and bases for its terrorist operations.

Air Strikes

Since Oct. 17, the coalition has conducted 558 air strikes in assistance of the Iraqi forces, using 10,115 munitions against ISIL targets. These munitions have destroyed at least 151 vehicle bombs, 361 buildings/facilities, 140 tunnels, 408 vehicles, 392 bunkers, 24 anti-air artillery systems, and 315 artillery/mortar systems.

During the offensive, the Iraqis fended off an average of five vehicle bombs a day, and endured daily mortar and sniper attacks, as well as surveillance and frequent attacks by ISIL unmanned aerial systems dropping grenades on friendly forces.

This is a monumental achievement for not only the Iraqi security forces and sovereign government of Iraq, but all Iraqi people, said Army Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, the commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, the multi-national counter-ISIL coalition tasked with the military defeat of ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

This would have been a difficult task for any army in the world, Townsend said. And to see how far the Iraqis have come since 2014, not only militarily, but in their ability to put their differences aside and focus on a common enemy, gives real hope to the people of Iraq that after years of fighting and instability, peace and security are attainable.

There is still a long way to go before ISIL is completely eliminated from Iraq, and the fight for western Mosul is likely to be even tougher than the eastern side, he said. But the [Iraqis] have proven they are both a professional and formidable fighting force and I have every confidence that ISILs days are numbered in Iraq.

The warriors of the coalition join me in congratulating our comrades in the Iraqi security forces on this achievement and wish them good luck and Allah's blessings for the fight on the west side that lies ahead, the general said.

The coalition trains, equips and enables the Iraqi and peshmerga security forces with advise and assist teams, intelligence, artillery and air strikes. Since the start of operations in October 2014, the coalition has trained more than 50,000 Iraqi fighters and launched more than 17,000 strikes on ISIL targets in support of its partners on the ground.

Over the past two years, with coalition training and equipment, the Iraqis rebuilt their military and liberated more than two million people and major population centers such as Ramadi, Fallujah, Tikrit, Kirkuk, Qayyarah and Sharqat. Now they are well on their way to the complete liberation of Iraqs second largest city, Mosul, officials said.

Continue reading here:
Iraq Announces Liberation of Eastern Mosul - Department of Defense

Iraq is worried that Donald Trump says he may re-invade to take their oil – Salon

When President Donald Trump gave a speech before the CIA Memorial Wall inLangley, Virginia, the American intelligence community was not the only group listening. Trumps off-the-cuff remarks about oiland Iraq reportedly reachedIraqi soldiers and militiamen who are currently fighting ISIS.

If we kept the oil, you probably wouldnt have ISIS because thats where they made their money in the first place, Trump saidin a televised speechat CIA headquarters. So we should have kept the oil, but, OK, maybe well have another chance.

These words reportedly shook Iraqis, some of whomspoke with BuzzFeed News about the prospect of another American invasion.

We kept our ammunition and weapons from the time the Americans left for fighting ISIS, one 27-year-old security official said. But once ISIS is gone we will save our weapons for the Americans.

BuzzFeeds Borzou Daragahi reported that Trumps remarkscould spoil relations with one of the key players in the war against ISIS.

He cannot do it. He cannot succeed, said a 30-year-old Baghdad resident and militia fighter. Of course I would fight the Americans if they came for the oil.

Theres no way Trump could take the oil unless he launched a new military front and it be a new world war, said another who works as aphotographer for a new branch of Iraqs armed forces consisting of former militiamen and volunteers.

Even a Fox News contributor was alarmed by the presidentsblas comments. Charles Krauthammer told Fox News Bret Baier Saturday night that Trumps statement about keeping the oil after the 2003 invasion of Iraq could be considered a war crime.

The point is that when you become president of the United States, your words, they are incredibly important. You can say one sentence and the dollar will lose its value. Krauthammer said. Pondering the oil is a war crime.

Original post:
Iraq is worried that Donald Trump says he may re-invade to take their oil - Salon

Firebrand Iraq cleric warns US on Israel embassy move – Yahoo News

Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's militia once fought US occupation forces (AFP Photo/Haidar HAMDANI)

Najaf (Iraq) (AFP) - Moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would be a declaration of war on Islam, influential Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said Tuesday.

"Transferring the US embassy to Jerusalem would be a public and more-explicit-than-ever declaration of war against Islam," he said in a statement.

In a break with previous administrations, new US President Donald Trump has pledged to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Sadr, a firebrand Shiite cleric whose militia once fought US occupation forces in Iraq, called for the "formation of a special division to liberate Jerusalem were the decision to be implemented."

Sadr said the Cairo-based Arab League as well as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the world's main pan-Islamic body, should take a decisive stand on the issue or dissolve themselves.

The Najaf-based cleric also called "for the immediate closure of the US embassy in Iraq" should Washington go ahead with its promised embassy transfer in Israel.

Sadr supporters protesting against the lack of services and widespread corruption in the Iraqi state stormed the so-called "Green Zone" in Baghdad twice last year.

The protesters entered the parliament buildings and the prime minister's office but did not attempt anything against the US embassy there, which is Washington's largest foreign mission.

The United States works with Iraq on a range of issues, notably with military backing for the Iraqi offensive to retake large parts of the country seized by the Islamic State group.

The final status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest issues in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel considers Jerusalem -- including the eastern Palestinian sector it annexed in 1980 -- as its indivisible capital. The Palestinians want to make east Jerusalem the capital of their future state.

The White House on Sunday appeared to play down suggestions that a move was imminent, with press secretary Sean Spicer saying: "We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject."

The rest is here:
Firebrand Iraq cleric warns US on Israel embassy move - Yahoo News

Who’s tracking casualties in Iraq? A California high school teacher – MyDaytonDailyNews

OAKLAND, Calif.

Joel Wing, a high school social studies teacher in Oakland, was at home working on his MacBook Air one recent afternoon when he saw troubling news out of Baghdad.

The United Nations had just released its estimate for the number of soldiers and other fighters killed in Iraq in November: 1,959 security forces dead, a number that looked like the highest monthly total in two years.

But that wasn't what was really troubling Wing. The U.N. also announced that it would be releasing no future combatant casualty estimates: Iraqi military commanders had been criticizing the reports, calling their numbers "inaccurate and much exaggerated," and the international agency was bowing out until "a sound methodology of verification can be found to better substantiate the figures."

"It was a sad moment for tracking the violence and security situation in Iraq," said Wing, who immediately fired back on his nine-year-old blog, "Musings on Iraq."

"The Iraqi Joint Operations Command said that those figures were exaggerated without giving any correction of its own," Wing wrote, noting that the U.N.'s decision "will create a huge gap in keeping up with the cost of the war."

Someone would have to fill it. For many who have followed the war in Iraq and the number of lives it has claimed, that would be Wing.

The 47-year-old teacher at Oakland Technical High School has never been to Iraq, but he has become one of the go-to sources for reliable data and trends on the violent toll of the 14-year-old conflict in the troubled country.

Wing, a native of Berkeley who earned a bachelor's and master's in international relations at San Francisco State University, then a teaching credential at nearby Mills College, has been teaching English and social studies at Oakland Technical High School since 1995.

Back then, Wing's main passion was music. He played bass in several punk, ska and heavy metal bands: Dance Hall Crashers, Corrupted Morals, Bumblescrump and Desecration. Rasputin Records in Berkeley put his photo in the window on Telegraph Avenue, and as the bands toured, he got to know members of big-league groups such as Metallica and Green Day.

But when the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Wing found himself deeply troubled and was determined to understand the country. He launched his blog as a way to reflect and connect with experts.

Four years ago, as he sensed a battle looming to confront the militant group Islamic State's widening hold on territory, he began compiling and posting casualty figures. Soon, academics and experts around the world began following his work.

Wing is older now, with shorter, spiky black hair and glasses, but still has no particular political agenda and takes no outside funding for his blog. His twitter profile photo is of Raiden, the Japanese god of thunder and lightning recently popularized in the Mortal Kombat video game (and the 1986 cult classic "Big Trouble in Little China").

Wing reads 44 English and Arabic language newspapers daily, with the help of Google Translate, and has always posted regular analysis, civilian and combatant casualty totals.

Since the offensive began to retake Mosul, he expanded his blog to include daily analysis of the attacks.

He has shared interviews with Iraq experts, including Bruno Geddo, head of the U.N. refugee agency in Iraq; the governor of Anbar province; former military commanders; CIA analysts and diplomats.

Wing compiles figures from attacks reported in the media as well as from U.N. figures. He includes locations, allowing him to report that 63 percent of attacks last year occurred in the provinces surrounding Baghdad and Mosul.

The totals represent a disturbing trend: The number of Iraqi combatants killed in November was 1,988, the highest monthly death toll since Islamic State seized Mosul in June 2014 _ and more than all the Americans killed each year since the 2003 invasion.

(A total of 4,514 U.S. forces have been killed in Iraq, with the highest death toll occurring in 2007, when 904 Americans were killed, according to the icasualties website.)

Wing loves to network and talks to everyone, from contractors removing roadside bombs in Fallujah to Iraqi reporters in Baghdad, one of whom was killed in a bombing last year that was documented on his blog.

Michael Knights, an Iraq expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, called Wing a "committed Iraqi analyst very emblematic of how technology mixed with obsessive interest can nowadays create experts in unconventional ways."

"His work is a solid collation of open source data and decent trend spotting from the data. It is a legitimate source. He spotted a lot of stuff before traditional analysts and even intel agencies," Knights said.

Hamit Dardagan, who co-founded the London-based Iraq Body Count website in 2003, which tracks mainly civilian casualties, called Wing "amazing," his numbers credible.

Dardagan said Iraqi government criticism of the release of casualty statistics appears politically motivated.

Combatant casualty figures are closely guarded by Iraqi military commanders, who see them as damaging to morale and a propaganda boost for Islamic State.

"They're concerned about winning and anything that might weaken morale is something they're going to be very careful with," Dardagan said.

As Wing sees it, he's providing a public service. "Violence is part of everyday Iraqi life. It's important to keep track of what's going on and how much the violence has cost the country in terms of people's lives," he said.

There's a history of such laymen tracking Iraq casualties. After the 2003 invasion, a San Francisco Bay Area anti-war activist and Georgia software engineer built the icasualties.org site into the most reliable source for accurate figures on U.S. casualties there and, later, in Afghanistan. But that website, like others of its kind, doesn't track Iraqi combatants.

Wing has faced his share of scrutiny from Iraq experts.

"All of these people are in Washington, D.C., and they're like, 'Who is this Joel Wing guy? Why is he in California? A high school teacher?' " Wing said as he sat in his classroom after school one recent afternoon, the wall covered with whiteboards and photos from dozens of former pupils.

He's had a student serve in Afghanistan, but not in Iraq. His 12th grade American history students, whom he calls "my kids," seem to take only a passing interest in his blog and the Iraq books on his desk (he's reading Sir John Chilcot's 12-volume report on the war, published in July).

Wing tries to limit blogging to his lunch, conference period and after school, but that doesn't always work. His girlfriend has taken to calling his MacBook "your other girlfriend," he said, "because I'm always on the computer doing Iraq stuff."

The Pentagon has asked Wing to come work for them as an analyst, but he declined. He also declined two opportunities to travel to Iraq, once when the U.S. ambassador asked him to serve at the embassy for six months. He can't leave his 140 students behind, he says.

"I'm very committed to teaching at a public urban school," Wing said, "and wasn't going to step away from the kids for that much time."

See original here:
Who's tracking casualties in Iraq? A California high school teacher - MyDaytonDailyNews