Archive for the ‘Iraq’ Category

US general: Iraq will retake Tikrit with Iran's help, but then what?

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT The one-two punch of Iranian-back militias and Iraqi government troops is likely to prevail in the unfolding battle for Tikrit, but it would not have been possible if U.S. airstrikes had not tied down Islamic State fighters elsewhere in northern Iraq, the top U.S. general said.

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked by reporters traveling with him from Washington to Iraq whether he believes the Islamic State group will be pushed out of Tikrit.

"Yeah, I do," he said. "The numbers are overwhelming."

Dempsey said about 23,000 Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen and Iraqi soldiers are involved in the offensive, compared to only "hundreds" of IS fighters.

The offensive is not what the Americans would consider textbook military tactics, he said, describing a hodge-podge of Iraqi Humvees, trucks and other vehicles surging toward Tikrit like rush hour on the Washington Beltway.

"I wouldn't describe it as a sophisticated military maneuver," he said.

Dempsey was flying overnight Friday to Iraq to meet with U.S. commanders and Iraqi government leaders.

His visit comes at an intriguing stage of the war to force the Islamic State group out of Iraq. Its fighters swept across much of northern and western Iraq last summer and now control numerous key cities, including Tikrit, which is the birthplace of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The U.S. and its allies have launched hundreds of airstrikes at IS targets since August and credits its attacks with halting the group's territorial advances. But in the Tikrit offensive, which began Monday, the U.S. is on the sidelines. It is watching as Iran asserts influence by providing training, weapons and leadership for Iraqi Shiite militias who are leading the charge on Tikrit.

Dempsey said he sees no evidence that the Iranian military is actually doing any of the fighting. They have improved the Iraqi militias' fighting capabilities, but their role also has raised worries among America's coalition allies, who include Gulf Arab nations who despise Iran.

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US general: Iraq will retake Tikrit with Iran's help, but then what?

Iraq says Islamic State militants 'bulldozed' ancient site (+video)

Baghdad Islamic State militants "bulldozed" the renowned archaeological site of the ancient city of Nimrud in northern Iraq on Thursday using heavy military vehicles, the government said.

A statement from Iraq's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities didn't elaborate on the extent of the damage, saying only that the group continues to "defy the will of the world and the feelings of humanity" with this latest act, which came after an attack on the Mosul museum just days earlier.

The destruction of the site of one of ancient Mesopotamia's greatest cities recalled the Taliban's annihilation of large Buddha statues in Afghanistan more than a dozen years ago, experts said.

Nimrud was the second capital of Assyria, an ancient kingdom that began in about 900 B.C., partially in present-day Iraq, and became a great regional power. The city, which was destroyed in 612 B.C., is located on the Tigris River just south of Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, which was captured by the Islamic State group in June.

The late 1980s discovery of treasures in Nimrud's royal tombs was one of the 20th century's most significant archaeological finds. After Iraq was invaded in 2003, archaeologists were relieved when they were found hidden in the country's central Bank in a secret vault-inside-a-vault submerged in sewage water.

The Islamic State extremists, who control a third of Iraq and Syria, have attacked other archaeological and religious sites, claiming that they promote apostasy. Earlier this week a video emerged on militant websites showing Islamic State militants with sledgehammers destroying ancient artifacts at the Mosul museum, sparking global outrage.

Last year, the militants destroyed the Mosque of the Prophet Younis or Jonah and the Mosque of the Prophet Jirjis, two revered ancient shrines in Mosul. They also threatened to destroy Mosul's 850-year old Crooked Minaret, but residents surrounded the structure, preventing the militants from approaching.

Iraq's national museum in Baghdad opened its doors to the public last week for the first time in 12 years in a move Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said was to defy efforts "to destroy the heritage of mankind and Iraq's civilization."

The Islamic State group has imposed a harsh and violent version of Islamic law in the territories it controls and has terrorized religious minorities. It has released gruesome videos online showing the beheading of captives, including captured Western journalists and aid workers.

A US-led coalition has been striking the group since August, and Iraqi forces launched an offensive this week to try to retake the militant-held city of Tikrit, on the main road linking Baghdad to Mosul.

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Iraq says Islamic State militants 'bulldozed' ancient site (+video)

Iraq officials cast doubt on prospects for an early offensive to retake Mosul

BAGHDAD Signs of strain have emerged recently between the United States and Iraq over the timetable and military components of a campaign to retake major population centers occupied by the Islamic State.

Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter told Congress this week that the U.S. Central Command was inaccurate when it told reporters recently that an offensive in Mosul could begin as early as April. But that timeline had already provoked a retort from Carters Iraqi counterpart, who said the United States was not familiar with Iraqs battle plan for the northwestern city.

Speaking at a news conference late last month, Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said that Baghdad would determine the timing for the Mosul offensive.

Other officials here cite a raft of challenges that could delay or complicate offensives in Mosul and elsewhere, including the capacity of Iraqi government forces to hold recaptured territory and ongoing problems coordinating with Kurdish forces, called the peshmerga.

Perhaps most worrying are growing sensitivities about the role played by Iranian-backed Shiite militias in government offensives being carried out in mainly Sunni areas. A key test is the campaign to retake the majority-Sunni city of Tikrit, 125miles south of Mosul, from the Islamic State.

There are concerns that that battle will turn into a bloody war of attrition. Just a fraction of at least 10,000 pro-government fighters massing around Tikrit are from the official armed forces, highlighting the militarys reliance on militias and volunteers as the United States and other coalition partners seek to rebuild and retrain Iraqs security forces.

[View: The military assault on Tikrit, Iraq, in pictures]

Secretary of State John F. Kerry acknowledged Wednesday that Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps elite Quds Force, was on the ground and playing a role in the Tikrit operation, although he insisted that the Iraqi government was in charge and that the need for the militias was only temporary.

As the Iraqi army stands up more and more, militias and external actors are going to be less and less imperative and needed, Kerry said, speaking at a news conference in Riyadh on Thursday with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. But thats not where they are, he said of the Iraqi army forces in Tikrit.

For now, Kerry said of Iranian and militia participation, we take it the way it is.

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Iraq officials cast doubt on prospects for an early offensive to retake Mosul

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Iraq: Yazidi Women Under Attack (Part 3/3) – Video


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