22nd June: Umaya Naji Jbara, the advisor to the governor of Tikrit was killed by a Daash sniper. She was holding a RPG at the time of death and had killed three fighters of Daash before she was martyred.
25th June: The airstrikes carried out on rebel positions around the town of Qaim were by the Syrian air force. Nouri al Maliki in an interview to the BBC stated that even though the air strikes were not requested by his government, but they were welcome. The Iraqi had first claimed that US drones had carried out the strikes, which the latter had denied.
25th June: The Iranian foreign Ministry has denied that General Qassem Soleimani is in Iraq. The Iranians insist that Iraq has not asked for assistance, when it does, they will consider the request.
25th June: Daash, or if people prefer to call them a coalition of Sunni Muslim Iraqi tribes, have burnt 11 churches, and destroyed/desecrated the grave of Prophet Yunus(Jonah[as]) and the grave of prophet Shayth (Seth[as]) in Mosul. There is a twitter photograph of a Daash fighter taking a sledge hammer to the grave of Prophet Yunus (as). http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/en_GB/articles/iii/features/2014/06/25/feature-02, http://en.shiapost.com/2014/06/26/isis-terrorists-destroyed-the-grave-of-prophet-younus/
26th June: Kerry has warned other nations from meddling. (Pot calling the Kettle black)
26thJune: Iran is reportedly shelling the positions of an Iranian Kurdish opposition group, PJAK, inside Iraq.
26th June: A fresh offensive by Daash against Christian villages in the north has seen villagers fleeing to Kurdish areas for refuge.
26th June: Shia refuges from the village of Tuz Khurmato and Bashir outside of Kirkuk who had fled to Kurdish areas for protection are describing a massacre by Daash. The Kirkuk deputy police chief, Gen. Turhan Abdel-Rahman, has confirmation of 40 bodies shot at point blank range from three villages. More bodies remain in Bashir. Peshmerga snipers cover the village to check the advance of Daash. Those killed were Turkoman Shias.
A Shia man has narrated how his father, a septuagenarian, was gunned down by Daash. He now says, with tears in his eyes, that he will kill the militants with his bare hands.
26th June: The weapons that Iran is airlifting to Baghdad include rockets, heavy machine guns and multiple rocket launchers.
26th June: The former Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and Kurdish politician, Barham Salih, “We need to empower the moderate Sunnis to take on Isis”.
26th June: Moqtada Al Sadr from Najaf “We will shake the ground under the feet of ignorance and extremism.” Sadr had been critical of Maliki seeking a third term. He has asked for the formation of a unity government that includes Sunnis. Sadr has been critical of allowing American “advisors” back into Iraq.
26th June: The Iraqis are reorganizing the armed forces.
26th June: John Kerry is expected to visit Saudi Arabia.
26th June: William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, is in Baghdad for talks. He will be travelling to Iraqi Kurdistan to meet Kurdish leaders too.
26th June: Iyad Allawi, Former Prime Minister of Iraq and head of the United Coalition that is also a part of the ruling United Alliance, has been meeting, Kurdish, Arab Sunni, and Iraqi leaders to find a solution for Iraq’s future.
26th June: A Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up in a hotel in Beirut when Security Services were raiding it. They were acting on intelligence and were trying to apprehend a terrorist cell.
26th June: Members of the National Alliance, which includes Maliki’s coalition, have met in Baghdad to discuss future government formation. Maliki is insisting on being made Prime Minister for a third term.
26th June: The government has repelled another assault on Samarra. Six Daash militants were killed and weapons including a sniper rifle seized.
26th June: Daash just got richer. Daash militants have robbed a Government bank in Central Baghdad of 6 billion Iraqi Dinars equivalent to 6 million USD. For a militia with sublime aims, they sure know how to rob banks.
26th June: Violence reported from different parts of Iraq:
The government security forces are claiming to have killed a Daash commander north of Tikrit with the aid of air support.
Qassim Atta (spokesperson of the Iraqi Army) has announced the killing of 22 Daash fighters and the destruction of 8 vehicles by the Security Services in Anbar province.
A car bomb explodes in Kirkuk. Kurdish security personnel and local police tried to clear the crowd in anticipation of a follow up attack. A man being beaten by the locals is arrested and taken away.
Mortar attacks on the Shia suburb of Mahmoudiya in Baghdad have resulted in 58 fatalities.
A shop selling alcohol is attacked in Eastern Baghdad by unidentified gunmen. Five people are reported dead.
Tribal fighters have killed 7 Daash fighters north of Baqouba, Diyala.
Iraqi army helicopters bomb Saddam’s palace in Tikrit.
Further reading:
These are two articles by Bhadrakumar, in the first one he talks about Iran snubbing the Americans on cooperation in Iraq, and in the other, he talks of possible cooperation.
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/06/17/iran-wont-bite-american-bullet-in-iraq/
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/06/25/no-more-iranian-barbs-against-us-over-iraq/
Somebody had posted the first link when I had mentioned possible cooperation in an earlier SITREP. Nothing seems constant in Iraq’s shifting sands.
An old article by Seymour Hersh that touches on US and Israeli support of anti Iranian Kurdish groups:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/11/27/061127fa_fact
An anti Daash page
http://www.veooz.com/media/wHHgqhE/gallery
A Short Analysis:
If I were an Iraqi Shia: I would want to have Sunnis on board, Kurds on Board, but since the majority is Shia, Shias on top. I would want federalism as opposed to autonomy. Seeing that my shrines are in danger, I would arm against Daash.
If I were an Iraqi Sunni: I would want what the Kurds have, autonomy from any Shia government, share in the pie. A nationalist government at the centre. Seeing that none of this is possible, I would not fight against Daash.
If I were a Kurdish Iraqi: Autonomy to continue if not independence. The government in the centre to fight with Daash, it is a mess they created. A greater Kurdish region or at least borders where my people can move freely. I would be forced to arm myself against Daash.
If I were an Iraqi Christian: There is no region I can go to. An urban people spread out with Daash as crazy and the rest uninterested. Might as well leave for my children’s sake.
Now these are the only people who should actually matter. But the pressure from without will make Iraq look like the Lebanese civil war on a country scale. The Iraqi army is being reorganized. What this probably means that it is becoming a Shia army. The Shia leadership won’t trust Sunni officers after Mosul. Maybe what they can aim for is for Sunni cities to have a Sunni police force even if the army goes all Shia.
The cooperation between the United States and Iraq/Iran is bound to fail. The Iranians will gain, the US will realize later, but still play the game.
Thanks for the daily update, mindfriedo.
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich on the origin of terror in the Iraq:
Terrorism, directly or sponsored, has long been America’s weapon of mass destruction – its weapon of choice. [1] As a strategy, it outdates ‘human rights’ and ‘democracy promotion’ and has proven itself to be far more effective by creating mayhem and fear, removing resistance to intervention. The events of 9/11 justified this age-old tactic. Although the tentacles of America’s terror tactic reach back far and spread wide, this article seeks to address the presence of ISIL (or ISIS).
As of writing this essay, it has become public knowledge that the group referred to as ISIS was among the armed rebels armed and trained by the United States to topple Syria’s President Assad. The purpose of this article is to give a comprehensive, chronological overview of events leading to the present day crisis, which by necessity may repeat some of the points raised in various excellent articles on ISIS.
Terror in Iraq: Roots and Motivation – Foreign Policy Journal
B.
A must watch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1kjFJzngWyA
If I were a human being, I want to move to another planet.
Or in Morse code: dash daash daash dash dash daash.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06/26/iraq-buys-russian-jets-to-destroy-the-terrorists-dens-after-long-delays-waiting-for-u-s-f-16s/
Iraq buys planes from Russia was tired of waiting for US help.
Russia planes will arrive in 2-3days, Americans would ave arrive in the fall!
Re: Announcement that Iraq switches to Russian made jets from American jets.
Could that be a cover story for the 89 Iraqi jets iran repatriated to Iraq yesterday (announced);; most of those are Russian built Mig-29s. Or could it be a cover for using the help of the Syrian Airforce?
I find it hard to believe you can order and have operational modern fighter jets within 2 days of placing the order. All the logistics, spare parts, mechanics, technicians, fuel specifics need to be in place before you’re operational. Not to mention authorization codes in the Avionics, missiles, etc. And where is Iraq getting trained pilots from?
I suspect, this could be a cover story for Syrian Airforce (which is made up of Russia combat jets) providing Air- support while posing as Iraqi airforce (until Iraq has had a chance to implement their own Air offensive capability).
Any ideas Mindfriedo and Readers?
Btw, great SITREP, and thanks for your Analysis.
note hardline Shia cleric and leader m-al-sadr openly stated today that Sunnis had been marginalized by Al-Maliki and that was wrong. I find it notable that Prominent Shias are willing to apologize and admit mistakes yet I never see the equivalent behavior from Sunni leaders and clerics. Instead I generally see Sunnis engaging in playing the victim, but never acknowledging wrong doing when they are the victimizers (always finding excuses or finding ways to blame the victim), why is that?
(have they absorbed that kind of behavior from the British or have they always been that way?)
Anonymous said…26 June, 2014 22:26
“A must watch!”
Why?
Usually when somebody labels an untitled link that way, I assume it’s false advertising, at best, and a trojan/virus honeypot, at worst.
A phenomenally good summary at the end. thank you for the clarity and balance in the way you expressed the goals of each group that makes up the population.
It is easy to see who is winning in a conflict when one side, the losers, announce body counts and the other side’s gains are measured in territory conquered. DAASH will not settle for a fragmented Iraq, they want it all including Kurdistan which may have to wait until the rest of the country is subdued. There is some irony in that the only army in the ME that can probably defeat DAASH is the Iranian Army but they will not be allowed to intervene.
DAASH is consolidating their control over subordinate groups in Syria preparing to remove Assad from power and attacks are increasing in Lebanon and Jordan and it may not be long before Palestine erupts because it is the prime target for DAASH to liberate. This will be a long and hot summer.
Mindfriedo,
Thank you for yet another great SITREP and let me second (well, really third) les and Observer’s comments on how helpful your analysis was and high praise for its quality. That was just such a wonderful way to present this latest Godawful mess we’ve made with people’s lives.
Observer,
I’m thinking that part of the Sunni’s attitude-adjustment-problem stems from their historic role under the Ottomans up to our intervention in their internal affairs — they were always a minority, but they ran things. Now they’re no longer on top and have had neither time nor inclination to adjust, for bloody well obvious reasons. I.e., again, US.
Wayoutwest,
The one area in which I’m actually DELIGHTED Daash exists (especially considering who helped midwife their birth) is Palestine! A rotten way to get one’s country back, but apparently the only one available. And, frankly, if there were any place on earth that richly deserved the Daash treatment — and I’m not sure there is, but if there were — it would be that shitty little country that’s done so much damage to so many people in so many places and should never have been allowed to steal other, totally innocent, people’s land in the first place.
President Obama announces that rebels in Syria need $500M in military aid.
But all of it will go to “moderate” rebels.
Trust US.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-26/obama-asks-500-million-equip-syrian-rebels-isis-juggernaut-iraq-spreads
Syria, Iran, Russia and Belarus are helping Iraq in fight against US backed terrorist. ISIS will be purged from Earth surface. I hope we will see soon same forces with China acting in the same manner in East Ukraine.
Andrew,
Hello Andrew
From following the Syrian war at the excellent
website – Syria perspective
here…Syrian Sunni chose nationalism
and fight against the kook salafists
Egypt has a revived pan arab nationalism
with its military
Iran Iraq Syria pipeline project already signed
has a security component
Syrias airforce is clobbering Saudi Isis airbases and
roadnet
Sadr and Shia know Saudi have committed to open war
so….its on!
Maliki is moving away from US extortions
House if Saud could gamble one triangle chip
to far as they say
Russia is moving the ME away from US extortion
to open party signatory….security…energy
Gulf zombies….kick chairs accross the room with Zionists
while Hashemite midgit in Jordan craps himself…as he is
last midgit standing : )
Russia benefits from Nato ramp up
they get to play their new gen ships…subs. .planes
and radars C4I sat inter theatre combat..
While Fag Rassmussen and company give away the house
in 2014….Tinker Taylor soldier…spy
Andrew,
“Trust US.”
As a woman, I know exactly what that term means.
Dear Mindfriedo,
I thought this was an interesting article:
http://disquietreservations.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/only-sunnis-can-defeat-isilisis-not.html
Only Sunnis can defeat ISIS/ISIL – I think this reflects the truth not the USG/NATO propaganda of Shiite vs Sunni.
Alos why is Maliki allowing US “advisers” and drones – does e not get that they are spies!
Rgds,
Veritas