4th July: Iraqi and US security personnel are warning of rebel sleeper cells within Baghdad numbering 1500 in Western Baghdad and 1000 on the outskirts that are waiting for “zero hour.” Their plan would be to attack and hold sections within the city in anticipation of a rebel push from without. Sunni residents of Baghdad are complaining of atrocities being committed by Shia militias such as the Asahb Ahl al Haq under cover of rooting out collaborators.
4th July: Sistani’s representative in Karbala reads out Sistani’s sermon calling the failure to form government an “unfortunate failure.”
5th July: Osama Al Nujaifi withdraws his candidacy for the post of speaker and proposes that Maliki do the same.
5th July: Maliki “I will not never give up my nomination for the post of prime minister.” He argued further that his coalition had received, by far, the largest number of votes and had the right to decide on government formation.
5th July: Tunisia has withdrawn its diplomatic staff from Iraq. It has left one member back to manage its mission till things return to normal.
5th July: the Kurds are finding it financially and politically difficult to declare independence. They are finding it higher to sell the crude oil they have and lacking refining capacity, have to depend on Baghdad to supply petroleum products. One of their tankers is sitting off the coast of Morocco filled with crude but without buyers. Their border countries, Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq are against an independent Kurdistan and the US has asked the Kurdish leadership to remain within Iraq.
5th July: Iraqi tribesmen have killed a senior Daash fighter, Nasir Sabet, in clashes in Hawija. He was killed on Friday.
5th July: Iranian pilot, Colonel Shoja’at Alamdari Mourjani, is killed in Iraq. Iranian media reported him killed while defending the Shia shrine in Samarra but did not specify if he was killed in his role as a pilot or as an infantryman.
5th July: The UK treasury has frozen the assets of British jihadists who appeared in a recruitment video earlier in June.
5th July: The fatwa by Shia Marja Sistani is being seen as the primary reason for Baghdad surviving the rebel advance in Iraq. Sunni politicians have however called it Ill timed and divisive.
5th July: Daash posts multiple images on twitter of it destroying Shia shrines and mosques in Tal Afar, north Iraq
5th July: Daash militants destroy a Sunni shrine, the tomb of the grandson of the second Caliph Ummar ibn Khattab, in Mosul
5th July: Reinforcements have been sent to Baiji refinery
5th July: Skirmishes have taken place between security personnel aided by pro government militias and militants in Babil, south of Baghdad. The government side targeted rebel positions with mortar fire.
5th July: four civilians are injured in Sadr city when an IED was detonated
5th July: A Major with the Peshmeragas is killed by a rebel sniper in the north east of Baqouba, Diyala province
5th July: Two civilians are killed and four injured when an IED explodes near a shop in the village of Qara Tiba, north east of Baqouba, Diyala province. Mortar fire kills two civilians and injures four in Sa’adiya district district of Baqouba. The injured include an old woman and a child.
Related news:
4th July: Bahrain sees protests between security services and Shia youth on the death of Abdul Aziz al-Abbar, in the west of Manama.
5th July: Six men including two security personnel and a suicide bomber are killed in Saudi Arabia near the Yemenis border.
5th July: The Syrian army claims to be in complete control of the industrial zone outside Aleppo
An article in Al Monitor agrees that the Marja Sistani’s intervention saved Baghdad.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/07/iraqi-shiites-defend-baghdad-isis.html
It seems 400 oil tankers went “boom” outside Kabul.
Many sads for NATO forces there.
ISIS LEADER AL-BAGHDAADI REPORTED ON VERGE OF DEATH!
http://www.syrianperspective.com/2014/07/isis-leader-al-baghdaadi-reported-on-verge-of-death.html#dIXEkEJzhiD3AQo1.99
“Syrian Perspective has learned that the leader of ISIS was struck down in eastern Anbaar Province in Iraq yesterday after a Sukhoi hit the bulls’ eye and sent him away in a medical condition close to death. Al-Baghdaadi is reportedly in a coma and is being treated haphazardly on the Syrian side of the border-crossing at Al-Qaa`em. It has been confirmed that the SAAF is flying “priority” reconnaissance over this area to insure that this murdering sociopath does not reach Turkey where he expects to receive more advanced medical treatment from Erdoghan’s savages. We can also assure our readers that Jabhat Al-Nusra and its affiliates in Ratdom are also going to be active in blocking any medical treatment. We wish him a speedy death and flight into the arms of the Lord of the Flies, Beelzebub.”
US providing Takfiris with technical support in Iraq, Syria: Sources
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/07/05/369978/how-does-us-assist-terrorist-groups/
“The US government has been providing technical support for terrorist groups, such as Takfiri militants, to conduct terrorist acts in Iraq and Syria.
According to Press TV sources, the assistance is provided by the US Department’s Office of Syrian Opposition Support (OSOS).
The Takfiri groups have Facebook and Twitter accounts and conduct massive activities on these social networking sites.
The OSOS provides anti-tracking and anonymous surfing software to militants in order to facilitate their activities online.
In addition, the US State Department provides security trainings for the militants through two institutions known as The Institute for War and Peace Reporting and Freedom House.
According to the reports, the militants tend to use Twitter more frequently than other social networking sites. They usually post their news and videos on this website.
Radical muftis also use Twitter to publicize their verdicts issued in support of the militants.
A recent survey has revealed that posts by Takfiri groups have been mostly re-tweeted in Turkey and Iraq.
In an interview with Press TV, political commentator Randy Short said the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group was created by Western powers.
Short criticized President Barack Obama for adopting dual policies on tackling the ISIL as he asked for about a half billion dollars to go to the Takfiri allies of ISIL in Syria.
On June 10, the ISIL Takfiri militants gained control of Mosul, the capital of Iraq’s Nineveh Province. They later took control of Tikrit, but the city was recaptured by the Iraqi army.
Last week, the ISIL announced that it was establishing what it called a caliphate on the territories under its control in Syria and Iraq.
AT/AGB”
ISIL militants demolish shrines, mosques in Nineveh
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/07/05/370009/isil-militants-blow-up-shrines-mosques/
“Takfiri militants from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have demolished several holy shrines and mosques belonging to Shia and Sunni Muslims in the militancy-riddled regions of Nineveh Province.
A large number of civilians fleeing Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh say the ISIL terrorists destroyed a number of religious landmarks in the northern cities of Mosul and Tal Afar.
Several video footage and pictures released online by the ISIL also show the Takfiri militants bulldozing Sunni shrines while blowing up Shia mosques.
Latest reports say the militants have razed at least four shrines belonging to revered Sunni or Sufi figures. The extremists also leveled six Shia mosques to the ground.
Local residents and witnesses say the militants have occupied two Orthodox cathedrals and replaced crosses with their black flags. They had previously demolished several churches.
All destructions have taken place in and around the volatile region of Mosul.
The ISIL Takfiri militants also issued several statements in recent days calling for the destruction of all religious and historic sites in the country.
Witnesses said the militants destroyed symbols of Iraq’s heritage in the city of Mosul, including statues of cultural icons and the tomb of a medieval philosopher.
The ISIL and its associated militant groups are blamed for numerous sacrilegious acts. The terrorist groups have links with Saudi intelligence and it is believed that they are being indirectly supported by the Israeli regime.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has also blamed Saudi Arabia and Qatar for the security crisis and growing terrorism in his country, denouncing Riyadh as a major supporter of global terrorism.
JR/AB/SS”
Netanyahu says will cooperate with Saudi despite its support of ISIS – expert
http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_07_05/Netanyahu-says-will-cooperate-with-Saudi-despite-its-support-of-ISIS-expert-0457/
“Islamic insurgents in the Middle East declared a creation of an Islamic State, or caliphate, on the captured territories from Iraq and Syria and called on Muslims from around the world to rush to the region to build their own homeland. The leader of self proclaimed state called for an era of international jihad. Israel Shamir, an Israeli independent expert, pointed out that the group’s intentions are so far unclear.
“It is not very clear to which extent this force, which is called in Arabic DAISH the ISIS or the ISIL, but let’s call it DAISH or the new caliphate force,” he said. “They indeed say that they will liberate Palestine. And we know now of a huge draft that they began in the refugee camps of Palestinians and Lebanon, where they try to convince the Palestinians, which is a big population that is very dissatisfied with whatever happens, to join their forces. And they promise to liberate Palestine within a few years. And they also say that if Israel will use nuclear weapons, they will also retaliate with nuclear weapons, and eventually save Palestine. But meanwhile, it is not very clear to which extent this force is really able to do something similar.
What we see is that they plan an attack on the Shiite shrines in the south of Iraq. And that is something very-very different. If somebody is going to liberate Palestine, it is very unlikely that such a force would begin with the fratricide, with killing of brother Muslims in Iraq. So, all this thing is still very-very murky.”
He also pointed out that the recent delivery of Russian-built military aircraft to Iraq is a very interesting development as “Russia was the first country to offer real support the embattled Government of al-Maliki, of the present President of Iraq.”
“In Israel there is no feeling of fear about the plans of DAISH,” he added. “They do not consider it to be a real threat of any sort. And the Prime Minister Netanyahu said that they intend to support the moderate Arab states, they mean Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia is itself the supporter of DAISH. So, the situation is extremely obscure.
The only thing that has emerged, it is not that much the liberation of Palestine, but more the independence of the Iraqi Kurdistan, which began to sell the oil they pump. Until now they couldn’t easily sell oil, but Israel agreed to buy their oil. And that is a very-very big development, because until not the US was strongly against the sales of the Iraqi oil through anything but the Iraqi Government. Now, it seems to become different. Kurds are doing it their own way. And the Kurds are also very supportive of Israel and Israel is very supportive of the Kurds…”
@BOT TAK
Reg Shrines
The Sunni shrines were bulldozed while the Shia shrines were demolished by explosives
Reg Baghdadi
Daash has released videos of him climbing the pulpit, one step at a time, and giving a sermon in the grand mosque in Mosul to refute the rumour that he was killed. His climbing the stairs, his manner of speech, and his sermon itself shows careful stage managing. He looked a lot like a Shia ayatollah than a Wahabbi preacher. If I were a man in that mosque, I would be charmed. It was no less appealing than the Queeen’s pompous processions are.
Very interesting, Fox News reports that the time when a convoy of cars entered Mosul, presumably bearing Baghdadi, the cell phone network was down. This is something highly sophisticated for them to employ.
Mindfriedo
But for a world war worthy of that name you have to drag Russia and China in.
How? Bit by bit, at least at present. Provoke Russia. Putin doesn’t take the bait but he may at least be pinned down and therefore less able to team up with Iran and Syria big time to squelch ISIS and restore some kind of peace (which our friends don’t want since ISIS must consolidate its base).
Assad’s effective resistance and Russia’s defusing the chem attack hoax may have delayed things, Icke says, but the plan is intact. From this WWIII plot viewpoint, I think that the chem hoax may have actually been a feint, or half-hearted from the start. The US-EU cold feet in September – plus Russia’s apparent(?) diplomatic victory – may have provided the incentive to the ISIS fighters to move north and burst through a conveniently open door.
Anyway, according to the general Icke vision, when the time is ripe, our friends in high places will work on destabilising Crimea and will then make a move to seize it off Russia, which would most likely cause Russia to come out militarily against the West. Can China be far behind?
Icke and the interviewer, by the way, are no Putin groupies. They disparagingly stress Putin’s “ego” and “pride” as a factor in this scenario. Sufficiently bruised, Putin’s ego/pride will likely lead him to bring Russia into this generalised war.
Icke rounds off saying these people are “not like you or me” (or words to that effect). Since they’re “pure evil” (his words), our own way of thinking serves as a fairly poor guide in figuring out their moves.
Whatever the aetiology, background or core issues etc. (and here’s the rub) the two fronts ARE, I believe, highly interconnected, and the potential scale of the struggle is precisely as in the purported Pike letter.