I would like to thank the Saker for permitting me to post these updates. They are mostly open source. I just compile them. There were a few commentators (appreciate all your support) who had asked about Daash and the future of Iraq. I am no expert here. However, please refer to this link:
It shows how Daash is establishing control and earning revenue through oil. This oil and Kurdish oil is flowing through Turkey. The militants are attacking through Turkey; the injured are leaving through Turkey. Turkey is playing both sides. Turkey, unlike Saudi Arabia, is in it for the money. Turkey is the new Pakistan of the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. Whoring itself unscrupulously. Turkey should look at Pakistan now and shudder. For once the militants loose, and they will lose, they will turn in frustration on their masters. Blowback/karma is a bitch.
17th June: The US embassy has been supplemented with 275 marines. An additional force is being kept in reserve with Osprey V-22 aircraft on stand by.
17th June: Lakhtar Brahimi has very politely called Tony Blair a spent force. One that nobody is interested to listen to anymore.
17th June: America confirms that discussions were held with Iran regarding Iraq on the sidelines of the Vienna summit. Iran at first denies any talks concerning Iraq. They are then confirmed by Iran’s foreign minister Javed Zarif.
17th June: Six terrorist bombings in Baghdad have left 17 dead and 34 injured.
17th June: Police personnel have discovered the bodies of 18 men in the west of Samarra. They were members of the security forces and were shot through the head and chest.
17th: Maliki sacks four senior military commanders. He recommends the court martial of one of the four.
17th June: The brother of the slain Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi in Sallahuddin province along with 10 other Daash militants has been arrested by Security Forces.
17th June: Reuters reports that Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli minister of Strategic Affairs, has cautioned the US against working with Iran stating “Iran should not be helped to expand its influence in Iraq.”
18th June: Baiji refinery is now under heavy attack with militants using mortar and machine gun fire and attacking from two sides. It is not expected to hold on for long. The attack started at 4 am.
18th June: Maliki appears on Iraqi television along with Kurdish and Sunni leaders appealing to militants to lay down their arms.
18th June: Rouhani says that Iran will do whatever it takes to protect Shia shrines in Iraq.
18th June: Nasrallah speech made on Tuesday the 17th of June: “We are ready to sacrifice martyrs in Iraq five times more than what we sacrificed in Syria, in order to protect shrines, because they are much more important than [the holy sites in Syria],”
18th June: The Shia militias are holding back the rebels in Baqouba.
18th June: Baiji refinery is now mostly in rebel hands.
18th June: Dr. John Andrew Morrow, an Islamic scholar terms Daash as not belonging to the Sunni faith; Zaid Hamid a Sunni Pakistani defence analyst has gone further and called them Kharajis, an anarchist, heretic early Islamic sect.
18th June: Heavy fighting has resumed in Tal Afar. The army has airlifted troops and is attempting to wrest control of the city from Daash
18th June: Shia militias have started returning from Syria. Their aim is to join the fight in Iraq against Daash. This is expected to affect the balance of power in Iraq and in Syria.
18th June: German police have arrested an injured French national on his return from Syria. The man was fighting against the Assad are gone and was returning via, very interesting, Turkey. The man was arrested on Sunday. French authorities deported a Tunisian who was recruiting French nationals to fight for Daash. French authorities estimate that 800 of its nationals are currently in Syria.
18th June: Daash has reportedly asked all other groups in Mosul to refrain from claiming parts of Mosul in any other name. Daash has also confiscated weapons from fighters in Hawija and forced them to swear allegiance before being allowed to be armed.
18th June: The town of Qaratapa in Diyala province, 110 km north of Baquba is now completely under Peshmerga control
18th June: Clashes between Peshmergas and Daash in Jalawla, a town 70 km north of Baquba, has displaced 150 families from the outskirts of the town.
18th June: Saqlawiyah, a town north of Fallujah is in government hands. Security forces claim to have killed 250 “terrorists.” The town was earlier under opposition control.
18th June: The Iraqi airforce attacked a Daash military parade in Fallujah. An estimated 400 militants tried to hide on seeing the aircraft and hid an apartment building. The building was subsequently bombed. The air strike has reportedly killed 270 militants and destroyed seven vehicles.
18th June: the Iraqi armed forces are claiming to have killed 56 terrorists in the past 24 hours in and around Baghdad.
18th June: Maj Gen Qassim Atta, the spokesperson of the Iraqi Armed forces, claims that the army has killed 279 militants in Salahuddin, Diyala, and Nineveh. This claim was made on Sunday.
18th June: Iraqi state television is reporting the deaths of 70 militants in government airstrikes in Samarra and another 17 in Baqouba.
18th June: The Iraqi national news agecncy is claiming the success of the armed forces in Tal Afar. It has also claimed that the attack on Baiji refinery has been repelled. Forty militants are reported killed and vehicles destroyed.
18th June: Al Manar is reporting the deaths of 21 Daash militants by the army in Anbar.
18th June: al Manar is also reporting the deaths of 19 Daash militants in Edhaym. And government gains in Bala, Dhuluiya and Ishaqi.
18th June: Atta’s press conference, points put forward:
Rumours of the fall of the Iraqi government, pro Daash tweet, are untrue
The government is not running out of food; the BBC was reporting yesterday of food shortages and hoarding
Confirms that Attack on Baiji refinery was repulsed and resulted in 40 terrorists being killed
Most of Tal Afar in government hands
Twenty terrorist killed in Tikrit and vehicles destroyed
Twenty one terrorist killed in Anbar province
Fifteen terrorist killed in Baqouba
Most of his assertions confirm earlier reported figures and are not in addition.
18th June: Sixty foreign workers have been kidnapped by Daash from Kirkuk. They were from Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, and Nepal. The Turkish nationals were working on a hospital in the town of Dor. It is situated between Kirkuk and Sallahuddin. A worker who managed to evade capture has informed authorities of the abduction.
Forty Indian workers have been kidnapped by Daash in Mosul on Tuesday.
Eighty Turkish nationals were abducted by Daash when Mosul was captured. Thirty one of these were truck drivers.
Abductions, kidnappings and ransom are a lucrative means for Daash to fund its activities.
18th June: the United States has defended it’s ally Saudi Arabia and termed Maliki’s comments as “inaccurate and unprofessional.”
18th June: the BBC is carrying a story on Gassem Soleimani and the power he wields. It talks about how the US needed his help in the past and how it might have to work with him again, of his helping Assad survive, and his organising the fight against Daash.
18th June: The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has warned in parliament that Daash plans attacks on the UK next.
18th June: Sir Peter Tapsell, referred to as the father of the house in the UK, has suggested that Tony Blair be impeached for misleading the world prior to Iraq’s invasion.
18th June: the telegraph reports that Major General Mohammed Koraishi, allegedly captured and to be executed by Daash, is alive and well and is leading the assault against the militants in Tal Afar.
18th June: Rouhani’s advisor has stated that Iran would be willing to work with America once the nuclear talks are successful
There is a touchy subject that I would like to mention. This is because everywhere I read in the western press it’s always referred to as sectarian violence and sectarian killings. I would request readers to always read the detail in every report and not the headlines; the devil is in the detail.
Nine times out of ten in Iraq it’s the Sunni takfiris that are targeting Shias. Their modus operandi is suicide bombings, market bombings, mosque and shrine bombings, hospital bombings and targeted killings; mostly it is indiscriminate terror. This is true from Beirut to Karachi and in the case of other communities being targeted, all the way till Bali. The Shia response is ALWAYS a retaliation, and it has always occurred after a tipping point has been reached. Killings by Shias are equally bad (during the height of tit for tat killings, some Shia militias used ambulances to drive to Sunni areas in Baghdad, asked for blood for the resistance fighting against the Americans in Fallujah, kidnapped Sunni young men volunteering to donate blood, executed them, and dumped their bodies outside Sadr City-No good deed goes unpunished), no doubt, but the targets are never women, children, and civilians. Most targets were initially ex-Baathist. Then it was almost always young men. The Shia clergy, be they apolitical Sistani or the political mullahs of Iran, have always condemned them and called for restraint.
This article by Patrick Cockburn is a case in point (the New York Times has printed a similar misleading story “As Sunnis Die in Iraq, a Cycle is Restarting”)
He compares two events in Iraq. One the killing by Daash of 1700 Shia airforce recruits and the killing of 44 or 63 Sunni prisoners in Baquba. The Shias were recruits looking for a job, the prisoners were almost all arrested under Iraq’s anti terrorism laws, possibly arbitrarily, but militants none the less. The Shias were killed in cold blood, the Sunnis, most probably, either in panic or fear of having to face them in the future. People can draw their own conclusions. But if Shias were to come down to sectarian killings, I doubt many Sunnis would remain in Iraq.
I received a forwarded message today that was informing Shias that the fight in Iraq is not a Shia Sunni one, that Shias should reach out to Sunnis in their local communities, and that Daash are not Muslim. It was from a Shia.
“17th June: America confirms that discussions were held with Iran …”
Suggest reviewing this:
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/06/17/iran-wont-bite-american-bullet-in-iraq/
Putin, Merkel call Poroshenko, explain the facts of life to him. Poroshenko “voluntarily” offers a “unilateral” cease-fire.
http://news.yahoo.com/report-ukraine-president-offers-cease-082852840.html
Fact, spin, or disinformation? What happens next?
Thanks for these reports.
“17th June: Reuters reports that Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli minister of Strategic Affairs, has cautioned the US against working with Iran stating “Iran should not be helped to expand its influence in Iraq.”
That would be ironic. The Israelis help unleash the newest version of their “al ciada” terrorist proxies on Iraq to break it up and destroy current Iraqi connections with Syria and Iran. The Americans try to sucker Iran into Iraq in one of the typical zionazi “get 2 enemies bogged down fighting each other” strategies, and in the end, the Iranians end up more influential in a stronger, more stable Iraq free of zionazi control.
Mindfriedo and all,
That piece you recommended up top uses a map conveniently “discovered” in 2006 by a guy from WINEP (Washington Institute for Near East Policies). WINEP = AIPAC, who created them. Do. Not. Trust. These. Folks. Ever.
Thanks so much. Outstanding. Your points about Turkey are important. The Erdogan government is really a theft ring of the PM and his cronies. The rebels are a main source of income. There is a wealth of documented support showing rebel assistance at the Turkey-Syriai border, including a joint US-Israeli-Turkish training center at Adana.
The US and NATO nations provide money and material to the ephemeral “good” rebels knowingi full well that Al Qaeda, al-Nusra, and ISIL simply take what they want from the “good” and each other.
This Iraq event is spinning out of control but propelled by some very capable forces who won’t go lightly.
Thanks for the update Mindfriedo. Interesting link from Anonymous 15:47. BBC had an excerpt of an interview with Hamid Karzai by Lyse Doucet on yesterday where Karzai told Lyse that the GWOT was not about terror but had been used by the US for other purposes, that Afghanistan would be fine after the departure of the US as it had been for thousands of years, that he had no problem with the Taliban (the real Taliban as opposed to those making pronouncements in the media). This was in response to Lyse comparing the situation in Iraq to Afghanistan. The BBC commentator airing the clip called Karzai’s comments “surprising” – hilarious.
Interesting analys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-jDvMv5jV0
Isis is funded by the Saudis.The plan is to break Iraq up into regions and get Iran involved in a war as a bonus (if they are dumb enough to bite!)
US intelligence are also involved.The US will be returning to IraqThey own a lot of real estate there.
Since 2003, the US has been building long-term military bases in Iraq and a mammoth embassy complex in Baghdad. Although Washington refuses to acknowledge that the bases are permanent, the billions of dollars spent on these projects suggest that the US sees Iraq as a client state. While most Iraqis have no access to basic necessities, the bases are provided with their own water and electricity, restaurants, swimming pools and movie theaters. The huge US embassy covers an area larger than Vatican City and Iraqis see it as an “arrogant” enterprise that aims to show US “superiority.” But as much as US officials in Iraq seek to cocoon themselves from the violence, the “heavy fortified” Green Zone, which houses the embassy complex, has come under an increasing number of deadly attacks. The US Congress opposes the base project and has rejected the spending of funds for this purpose, even while construction continues.
@anonymous 15:47
Bhadrakumar as always brilliant. If he says something, I tend to believe it. The American confirmation could be a lie. It was reported in the MSM. But strangely Javed Zarif’s confirmation was first either on Press TV or Al Manar. I could not find it when they updated the front page.
Mindfriedo
Mindfriedo,
Thank you again and your cautions are well-taken. I was told years ago, and have no reason to doubt it, that various families and tribal groupings in Iraq had members who were on both sides of the Sunni-Shi’a divide and managed to co-exist quite nicely. That was, of course, before we blew the whole place wide open.
The concept that Daash is heretical makes sense to me, too — I’ve known a fair amount of Sunnis who are horrified by the various takfiri groups and simply disagree with Shi’a but don’t hate them or wish them ill in any way. I’ve also heard rumors not only that Daash/ISIS are our guys but that their leader, (who’s been captured and let go and killed and etc. by us so many times I lost count) really isn’t even one person — we just have another fake boogeyman and he’s got to have a name. In any case, in the one picture I saw of him, of all things he had an expression on his face I could only call Israeli (no, no, I really don’t believe that for a moment, but still, that is what he looks like).
“18th June: Sir Peter Tapsell, referred to as the father of the house in the UK, has suggested that Tony Blair be impeached for misleading the world prior to Iraq’s invasion.”
OH. MY. GOSH. Could we really be there? I didn’t think I’d live to see it. Holy. Smokes. Of course, here, the Cheneys, pere et fille, had a piece in the NYT yesterday titled “The Collapsing Obama Doctrine” and subtitled “Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many” — so the tipping point may occur a little later here.
But still… There is Hope, if not yet Change.
Dear Mindfriedo,
Thank you for the update. I think the USG is showing its hand today. First Hitlary says Maliki should resign; then Nutter McCain and then the UAE wades in about secterianism etc etc.
To me it all smells of regieme change despite him winning the election and of course – control of oil.
ISIS is not Sunni anyone with a bit of common sense can see that. USG and Co. desperately want a religious war. It is just a propoganda story by MSM to justify their own mercenary army. We will have a false flag soon in UK/EU to keep the story going….
Rgds,
Verits
“Mindfriedo said…
Zaid Hamid a Sunni Pakistani defence analyst has gone further and called them Kharajis, an anarchist, heretic early Islamic sect.“
Salam,
The Kharajis were there during Prophet Mohammad (saws) time. And, they will be since there during every time and space until the Judgement. As long as the itrat (family) of the Prophet is there, the Kharajis will be there too.
One of the definition for the Kharajis is that they will hate the Prophet and his itrat.
Best regards,
Mohamed.
The Fall of Iraq – What You Aren’t Being Told
“Nora said….,
But still… There is Hope, if not yet Change.”
Dearest Nora,
As someone recently said, “Hang on to the Hope and the Source of it”.
I believe, he also talked about Redwood and fungi.
BTW, Barak in Arabic means, “Blessings”. And, Hussein means, “Beautiful”. Beautiful Blessings!
One of the recent article said, Hussein called Hassan. The guy must know the Shia religion very good.
Best regards,
Mohamed.
Tony Cartalucci on the prospects of US troops reentering Iraq:
When a fire is raging, firefighters are called – not the arsonist who started it, especially if they return to the scene of the crime dragging a barrel of gasoline behind them. Yet, this is precisely what the US proposes – that they – the geopolitical arsonists – be allowed to return to Iraq to extinguish the threat of heavily armed sectarian militants streaming from NATO territory in Turkey and edging ever closer to Baghdad.
US in Iraq: Geopolitical Arsonists Seek to Burn Region – NEO
B.
Last week the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was taken over by Sunni Muslim extremists. The militias now controlling the city have set up a city council and asked everyone to go back to work. But they cannot provide electricity, fuel for vehicles, the Internet or medical supplies- and all of these are running out, say those inside the city.
inside mosul: no fuel, no power in a city under siege – niqash
B.
Veritas,
OMG. So we’re just doing something about Assad and Maliki both having won re-election.
A two-fer, if you will.
And then we’ll arrange for some of them to pull a false flag here and/or in the UK — after all, Five Eyes has already warned us it could happen, but of course they don’t know who, when, where or what. (And if you believe that… you’re probably not a regular reader of this blog!)
Mohamed,
Bless you, and, as usual, thank you! I think I really did need that reminder, and it was a beautiful one, wasn’t it. :~)
I always get so much from your comments, and am very much looking forward to hearing of your parents’ experience. Hopefully sometime soon?
But I have to admit I’m not seeing Obama as any kind of Beautiful Blessing right about now — at best I think he’s a brainwashed bot duly obeying his handlers, and at worst just another psychopath reeking of blood.
Mindfried thank you very much for your updates about Iraq situation.
Please let me tell you that I am a Iraqi woman living abroad and I suffered the terrible persecution of Shiia militias such us Asai’b Ahl al Haq, same militias that killed some of my relatives because they worked with international charities in Iraq. As a woman with degree and knowledge (yes and a follower of Grand Ayatollah A.Sistani) I blamed the sectarian killers of militias like Asai’b Ahl al Haq and Hezbollah brigades in Iraq.
Your updates are appreciated Mindfriedo.
If Obama can’t have Ukraine, he’ll give Syria another try. An Empire base in Sunni Iraq is a nice place to launch attacks against both Iran and Syria. Can they afford it? No.
I can’t believe Iran wants to see the Empire coming back to Iraq. The nightmare returns.
Mindfriedo many thanks for the sitreps on the Iraq situation.
Question to you and Saker (and everyone reading)
I just watched Jim Rickards on RT just now being interviewed on the Boom Bust program and it’s the second time he’s mentioned that Russia and Saudi are supporting ISIS?
I have some respect for his writing and I’m as cynical as anyone else but this doesn’t make any sense given the shit-storm Russia has taken for supporting Assad – the only thing that rings a bell was a recent press conference (last month?) where Putin said he was in full agreement with the King of Saudi Arabia (I can’t remember if it was in relation to Eqypt or another country) which surprised me given SA support for Wahabism, any thoughts?
I’m trying to figure out the motivation/purpose of putting out that line.
@Anonymous Lurker
I think Rickards accusations are based on the fact that ISIS’s actions destroyed the unity of the Anglo-French sponsored Anti-Assad Syrian insurgency (terrorists).
Everything ISIS did -strategically and tactically helped the Assad govt, including slaughtering the other Al-Quaida group, Jabhat-An-Nusrah. Also, ISIS terrorised the Sunni population, driving the population back into govt hands. The other part of Rikards conjecture has to do with the timing of this large ISIS offensive in Iraq that “appears” to have split American military focus away from Russia and Ukraine. The timing of the assault is beneficial to Russia and damaging to the demonic banshees trying create a miltary conflict for Russia in Ukraine.
However, unless Jim Rickards can substantiate his claims, then what he has stated is just his person conspiracy theory.
Have you ever wondered how the Anglo pirates resort to regime change plot immediately. After some one who they do not like gets elected espite their adverse propaganda? 20th
That’s because like most petty and jealous psychopaths, they are poor losers:
No matter how intelligent, disciplined, self-controlled and highly they they think of themselves, in the end they exhibit the typical babyish trait of a childish sore loser.
Have you ever wondered how the Anglo pirates resort to regime change plot immediately. After some one who they do not like gets elected despite their adverse propaganda? 20th
Mindfriedo,
Thanks for the detailed summary. Our hearts are with the innocent Shia in Iraq, the innocent people of all religions in Syria and the innocent people of Eastern Ukraine.
Regarding the Western-Media equating the actions of the aggressor with that of the victim, that is their standard operating procedure.
They do this everywhere, except when the victim is Israel or a high priority Ally like Saudi Arabia, etc.
I’ve written earlier, that the Shia has shown phenomenal restraint and discipline despite every kind atrocity that was thrown at them by Sunni forces during the occupation – that’s a sign of civilized people that know how to think strategically.
The intent of Anglo-Saxon media, especially the British media, is to be malicious and deceptive. During the Beslan massacre the British media refused to call the people that were slaughtering children, shooting young girls in the back, terrorists. Instead, they blamed Russian actions in Chechnya for the massacre. This is the level of demonic lies that emanate from the British propaganda machine. When Pakistan launched a sneak attack on India precipitating the 1998 Kargil War, the Western media blamed the victim, India, and equated the actions of the 2 countries despite the facts. It’s only after the Indian Army had crushed the Pakistani attack and slaughtered most of their offensive forces, that the swine Western media start singing a different tune (It should be noted that Indian Shia villagers in Kargil helped the Indian army enormously with intelligence on Pakistani positions). That and India’s cancellation of $5 Billion of contracts with the UK probably had some effect.
One final note, try to avoid quoting pakistani conspiracy theorist Zaid Hamid, he’s a lunatic that’s a laughing stock in his home country of Pakistan. He’s the Pakistani equivalent of Alex Jones on steroids. He’s so extreme in his views that even the Pakistani militarists ridicule him (there are lots of videos on youtube where you can see Pakistani news channels parodying him and setting him up with fake interviews with a laugh track in the background. As an example, this guy has gone on record saying that Pakistan can and will conquer India, China and Russia combined in a future Eurasian conflict (lunatic!).
Just thought that I’d let you know since that’s one of the languages I speak.
@Anonymous 20:47
I would like to apologise if anything I wrote earlier was insensitive or hurtful to you. Till we do not suffer the same sort of pain, we cannot fathom what others have gone through. There is no justification in this world for the killing of your loved ones. And to kill them for working for a charity is a dastardly act. They are Martyrs.
There is some sort of arrogance that is found in these cold blooded killers. Be they Shia or Sunni. They lose something of their humanity. Our faith makes us believe in the fairness of God and that He will be just when the victims ask for justice on the day of reckoning.
Mindfriedo
I will say it again wahabis are NOT SUNNI.In fact they belive real sunnis are grave/shrine worshippers.If we do not emphasize the difference we will never understand the real Islam and will fall for the zionist msm trap.Even western policy makers know the difference .they bank on our ignorance as well as the ignorace of muslims to fuel their agenda.
“Anonymous said…
I will say it again wahabis are NOT SUNNI.In fact they believe real sunnis are grave/shrine worshipers.If we do not emphasize the difference we will never understand the real Islam and will fall for the zionist msm trap.Even western policy makers know the difference .they bank on our ignorance as well as the ignorance of muslims to fuel their agenda.”
Very well said!
Best regards,
Mohamed.
===================
BrasscheckTV Report
===================
If US troops end up fighting
in Iraq again…
They will be facing US armed
and US trained fighters who
the US got into bed with as
recently as 2012.
The cycles of ‘blowback’ are
getting faster and faster.
Video:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/26817.html
– Brasscheck TV
P.S. Please share Brasscheck TV with your friends and colleagues.
Sir Peter Tapsell, the oldest member and “father” of the U.K. House of Commons who has been an MP since 1959, asked David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Question about using “the ancient, (last used in 1806) but still existing, power of backbenchers to commence the procedures of impeachment should now be activated to bring Mr Tony Blair to account for allegedly misleading the House on the necessity of the invasion of Iraq in 2003”
Eleven years after the invasion of Iraq we finally see where it was all headed. We see it now in Ukraine. We see it now in Japan’s Prime Minister Shinto Abe’s move to change the interpretation of the Japanese post war constitution so Japan can start a war with China. We see it in the U.S. Supreme court ruling against the Argentine government, making global derivative and other debt to the banks above the sovereignty of nations and legal for U.S. and other nations to seize Argentine assets for the international banks. We see that there was no objective in the Iraq invasion other than to start a permanent horrific war that will draw everyone in and lead to global warfare, global financial collapse, and global depopulation. No one has played a more prominent role in ushering in all of this than Tony Blair. He is the public architect of Her Majesty’s policy. Many of the British establishment who questioned the whole Iraq war then, are now in the wake of recent developments, moving to stop the war drive by going after the number one organizer of war..
The escalation toward global war is occurring in many places at once to ultimately draw the Russians and the Chinese in to get a nuclear war going. That is the intention of the British Empire. Whether it is Israel preparing now to invade Gaza, or exuberant Jihadis videos of mass executions, or the main pipeline to Europe from Russia being blown-up, these provocations of the empire will increase till Obama is removed, and the four point economic program of LaRouche implemented. See: http://larouchepac.com/node/31005
thank you for your response Sayer.