Following is a chronology of events that took place in mid to end September at the Iraqi Army base of Saqlawiyah (Saqlawiyah is located to the north of Fallujah)
-Daash and allied Sunni fighters take over a few villages to the north of Fallujah
-One of the towns taken over is Sijir, close to Saqlawiyah Military Base
-The Iraqi Army sends in 400 men from the 3rd Brigade, an elite SWAT unit, and members from the Ashaib Ahl Al Haq (League of the Righteous) to take back Sijir.
-Stiff resistance by Daash forces the fighters back to Saqlawiyah base; there are now 800 to a 1000 men at the base and they are running short of supplies, food and ammunition.
-Daash captures areas around the base and blocks the only road connecting Saqlawiyah and starts to encircle the base. They now state that the attack on the village was a trap prepared for the Iraqi army and the “Safavid filth.”
-Daash starts using loudspeakers telling the troops to surrender
-A tank unit from Ramadi advances north and tries to break the siege. The tanks advance on a stretch of road that is strewn with improvised explosives but make it to 500 yards of the base
-Entrapped troops try to break through to the tanks but are beaten back by Daash that carries out suicide attacks and heavy assaults. The troops are forced back to the base and the tank columns retreat over bodies of dead soldiers
-Entrapped soldiers make desperate calls to military commanders who promise relief and air support but nothing arrives. Senior commanders refer to repeated requests being made by soldiers as unnecessary “whining” in the face of attacks
-Daash fighters dressed in Iraqi Army Uniform send in Humvees in a suicide attack. The soldiers guarding the base are reported to have opened the gates assuming the Humvees to be relief supplies. Huge suicide attacks are followed on by a heavy ambush. Daash overruns the base and only a pocket of soldiers are reported to be holding out.
-Conflicting reports suggest that between 50 (unreliable government) to 600 casualties with 200 soldiers managing to escape. Escaped soldiers were starving after 4 days of hunger and were drinking salt water to survive, they were finding it hard to run
-Daash parades 30 men dressed in Iraqi Army Uniform in Fallujah and releases the following statement:
“After placing trust in Allah, and taking into consideration the means and available capabilities, and by the order of the Ministry of War, al-Fallujah Province mobilized all its military detachments, air defense, support, and raiding detachments, and after making the plan and setting its goals, the detachments launched towards their desired objective, which is liberating the area of al-Sijir from the filth of the Safavids [a derogatory term for Shiites], as a first step to besiege the headquarters of Brigade 30, which is located between the area of al-Sijir and the al-Saqlawiyah sub-district.”
-Daash claims to have killed 300 Iraqi Soldiers, captured two M1A1 Abrams tanks and a Russian tank in addition to other supplies that it looted from the base
-Abadi orders an enquiry and Iraqi Army and Air Force Commanders are reportedly suspended but MPs are demanding prosecution and calling Saqlawiyah Iraq’s second Spyker
-The government is claiming that Daash used chlorine gas and is using this as an excuse for the base having fallen
Here are some questions that the above events raise:
1) Why was Air Support not provided or supplies not air dropped?
Throughout the conflict Iraqi commanders are reported to have ignored calls for resupply and air support and, shockingly, to have given false hope by suggesting that the base was actually resupplied, when it was not. Sour relations between Maliki’s Commanders and Abadi’s desire to replace them is being suggested as another excuse for the fiasco.
2) Where are the US air strikes falling?
If Daash was sending such a large number of fighters north why did US airstrikes not target them? Or target the Daash fighters laying siege to the base?
Yazidi fighters have similarly complained of the US not attacking Daash heavy armour in Sinjar while the Yazidis were fighting them, even after the Yazidis pointed (painted) targets for the Americans. The Yazidis were forced to withdraw when they ran out of ammunition from a fight that would otherwise have been easily won.
The behaviour of Turkish troops, preventing Syrian Kurds from crossing the border and help their fellow Kurds fight Daash in Kobani, is also very telling. Also, US strikes outside Kobani were unable to halt Daash’s advance.
It all stinks of “Boots on the ground.”
3) Where are the Sunni tribes in all this?
So far, those Sunni tribes not on the side of Daash are still undecided in backing the government. The reasons they put forward are continuing indiscriminate artillery strikes on Sunni populated areas (Fallujah, Ramadi) and the detention of a large number of Sunni men. Another reason could be that they still have doubts of the government side winning or holding on to territory taken.
4) Effectiveness of the militias?
The militias have helped prevent the fall of Baghdad and have halted the advance of Daash. But they still have a long way to go and may be an ineffective tool in Sunni dominated areas.
The higher ups in the Ashab Ahl al Haq will be furious that their men at the base were stranded and will want answers if not blood from Iraq’s Political/Military leadership. The military leadership of Iraq, politically selected, has shown little or scant regard for its troops and men, and are perhaps more dangerous than Daash.
IS is a smart and cunning opponent. I would not be surprised that when the time for the attack on Bagdad comes, it will be full of surprises. I can envision huge numbers of fighters already inside Bagdad waiting to ooze up and take key structures.
What are the likely consequences of IS’s capturing Bagdad? Would that include capturing all the inhabitants of the US’s embassy (said to be the largest in the world). Would this provide IS with hundreds of American hostages (assuming they weren’t just killed right away). Is this something that the US could live with? What can they do to prevent it?
Addendum: Kurdish Peshmerga troops on the Iraqi side of the Iraqi Syrian border are reporting success in taking Rabia. The fighting was heavy and the Kurds suffered losses. The Kurds were facing West and expected US air cover to protect their backs. Three suicide car bombers attacked from the East and managed to kill a senior Kurdish commander. The Kurds have expressed anger at the US for letting the cars through.
Mindfriedo
Yeah, Saker it looks as in 1938 Munich Agreement to appease Adolf. History repeat itself. Rosya and China follow Chamberlain example appeasing Evil Empire and NAT(errorist)O but it end up with big boom. Good. That’s only solution. No way to count on masses which are asses, slaves. Just feed them, give them job even a blow job. As long it’s a job.
Congrats on a Saker column reprinted in Veterans News Now making the front page of Yahoo today.
AngloZionist Empire is at War with Russia
People who have been reading the column understand the background and the third-order nuances. Sleepwalkers who are tuning in late have only been fed the MSM narrative, and will be confused. A wide audience is different. Therefore, may I suggest writing one shorter, Cliff-notes column that brings newcomers to the soap opera up to speed on the major plot lines: “our story so far…”? I hope you can please briefly discuss the skinheads; Gladius; the Ukraine mafia lords, their infighting tactics for the past decade, their goon squads, hits, extortions, and assassinations; the amount of oil/gas under Eastern Ukraine; Kolomoyskyi; Joe Biden; the CIA director; Russia’s thwarting of the neo-con plans by nefariously engineering peaceful negotiations with Iran and Syria; the fair referendum in Crimea, attended by foreign reporters; the various false-flag attacks; and what the neo-cons / America hope to achieve through all of this. This would bring the American people up to speed, instead of leaving them scratching their heads at what the heck is going on with incomprehensible details. “The Neo-Con War on Russia for Dummies”.
One last thing: I would start with a brief statement on how much this is going to cost the average American, as the whole challenge is “Why Should *I* Care?”. Remind them the second Gulf war cost $6T, that’s $60,000 in extra taxes and inflation out of YOUR pocket. [I divide by roughly 100M households in America to make it personal, as the average person cannot comprehend how much a billion or a trillion dollars is, nor tell the difference.] This also blew the National Debt out from 40% to 70% of GDP, now it’s at 100% and the economy is tipping over. A full-blown war with Russia could easily end up costing America $12T, that’s over $100,000 from YOUR household, and sink America. And for what? So that the Nazis and Zionists can conduct genocide on whomever they feel like? Peace is cheaper than war–perhaps it’s time to wake up, understand that other people are different and count as real people, too, and start negotiating for real. This is why you should care. So here’s a brief summary of our story so far…
feel free to cut/paste/reuse any parts without attribution. I hope you can succeed…best of fortune to you. And congrats again for going mainstream.
Glenn Greenwald, guardian of Snowden docs fame @ his First Look Intercept website follows B of MoA.
The FAKE “IS/Khorasan” TERROR THREAT Used To Justify Bombing Syria
U.S. officials invented, funded and trained the terror group.
[.] As the Obama Administration prepared to bomb Syria without congressional or U.N. authorization, it faced two problems. The first was the difficulty of sustaining public support for a new years-long war against ISIS, a group that clearly posed no imminent threat to the “homeland.” A second was the lack of legal justification for launching a new bombing campaign with no viable claim of self-defense or U.N. approval.
The solution to both problems was found in the wholesale concoction of a brand new terror threat that was branded “The Khorasan Group.” After spending weeks depicting ISIS as an unprecedented threat — too radical even for Al Qaeda! — administration officials suddenly began spoon-feeding their favorite media organizations and national security journalists tales of a secret group that was even scarier and more threatening than ISIS, one that posed a direct and immediate threat to the American Homeland. Seemingly out of nowhere, a new terror group was created in media lore.[.]
= = = = = =
methinks Karzai’s refusal to sign the U. S. forces agreement opened the necessity for a the fake terror threat; a ruse to warn Afghans on failure to agree to American troops being stationed there forever — aka Korea: – “see what happens to Iraq! You do need to sign the status of forces agreement, and hop to it.”
Hmm. Yesterday the new Afghan prez was sworn in. Pronto, today the agreement is signed
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Comment: Better do over a Reset 2.0 with Mr. Putin. That supply/exit route to/from Afghanistan will be needed.
Do you believe in coincidences?
AM
,The military leadership of Iraq, politically selected, has shown little or scant regard for its troops and men, and are perhaps more dangerous than Daash.’.
.
These words remind me of a study/paper of some military guy.
His name is de Atkine. He wrote ,Why Arabs lose wars’.
All the misery born by tribalism, nepotism and corruption is described in de Atkine’s study.
Still a good read.
,The military leadership of Iraq, politically selected, has shown little or scant regard for its troops and men, and are perhaps more dangerous than Daash.’.
.
These words remind me of a study/paper of some military guy.
His name is de Atkine. He wrote ,Why Arabs lose wars’.
All the misery born by tribalism, nepotism and corruption is described in de Atkine’s study.
Still a good read.
(Penelope)
I think most people are unaware of the allegations of betrayal at Mosul. 35,000 fully equipped men don’t just run away from a few hundred lightly armed.
I smalled a rat when the reporter showed the discarded uniform in the sand. Extremely unlikely he ran off in this underwear– not in a Muslim country.
nsnbc international is in-the-know in the middle east.
http://nsnbc.me/2014/07/08/al-maliki-fires-iraqi-general-afer-troops-allege-treason/
@Anonymous said
,The military leadership of Iraq, politically selected, has shown little or scant regard for its troops and men, and are perhaps more dangerous than Daash.’.
.
These words remind me of a study/paper of some military guy.
His name is de Atkine. He wrote ,Why Arabs lose wars’.
All the misery born by tribalism, nepotism and corruption is described in de Atkine’s study.
Still a good read.
Please tell me which wars, the Arabs have lost against Israel?
Hasbarah!
@Anonymous said
(Penelope)
I think most people are unaware of the allegations of betrayal at Mosul. 35,000 fully equipped men don’t just run away from a few hundred lightly armed.
I smalled a rat when the reporter showed the discarded uniform in the sand. Extremely unlikely he ran off in this underwear– not in a Muslim country.
nsnbc international is in-the-know in the middle east.
http://nsnbc.me/2014/07/08/al-maliki-fires-iraqi-general-afer-troops-allege-treason/
Excellent Find and Post! ~:)
Best regards,
Mohamed.
As IS is a US creation and is primarily intended as a weapon against Iraq, Iran, Syria and Hezbollah (and after that, Russia and China)the US and its ‘coalition’ stooges will not attack them heavily. In any case the rhetoric in the gutter sewer of the Western MSM and politics is already, as expected, turning quickly and heavily to virulent anti-Syrian agit-prop. The real target is Syria and the air-campaign will turn to its intended ‘regime change’ mode, soon.
“ARABIC-SPEAKING ARMIES have been generally ineffective in the modern era.”
-Atkine
Not the Syrian Army.
MOHAMMED, if you are interested nsnbc also has the story of the decision to go ahead with the ISIS action.
http://nsnbc.me/2014/06/22/u-s-embassy-in-ankara-headquarter-for-isis-war-on-iraq-hariri-insider
Searching on that site will get you much middle east info not carried elsewhere.
Penelope
RE: A tank unit from Ramadi advances north and tries to break the siege. The tanks advance on a stretch of road that is strewn with improvised explosives but make it to 500 yards of the base.
They dont have any mine sweepers? And what kind of tanks are these? If these were the same Tanks the US used it took like 2 tons of explosives to destroy one of them. None of the Soviet anti-Tank weapons can hurt it either. IS might be ale to stop a few of the tanks but to say the entire unit was stopped can only mean the Iraqi’s are incompetent or that the IS has far modern advanced weapons systems thats not available to most countries. Nato strictly prohibits such weapons and so does Russia, IE no one outside Nato or Russia has weapons that can easily destroy these tanks and even then require multiple hits.
Shell-Shocked Syrian Town Freed After Savage Massacre and 291 Days of ‘Islamic Justice’
The town—you could almost think of it more as a neighborhood—is located about 12 miles northeast of Damascus. Those who had been taken hostage, initially approximately 500 people in all, were in the main government employees, along with Shia, Christian, Kurdish, Ismaili, and Druze residents. As the Syrian Arab Army closed in last week, the overwhelmed jihadists marched their captives into trenches and underground tunnels, disappearing with them. No one—besides their abductors—knows exactly how many of the original 500 people are still alive, but military sources believe at least some of the kidnapped families were moved in the direction of the town of Douma, which has been the opposition’s strategic base since the start of the Syrian crisis in March, 2011. It is also where some of the most important rebel fortifications are situated.
At any rate, last week’s battle for Adra al-Omalia was a significant turning point. The town is now liberated (without help from the Americans, thank-you very much), but the story of what took place here over the past 291 days is presently emerging, and it is a horrifying one.
In taking Adra al-Omalia and expelling the armed militants from it, the Syrian Army has made a significant gain. The government now controls International Highway 5, which connects to Jordan in the south, runs north up through Damascus to Aleppo and Turkey.
Couple of graphic but edited pictures of Syrian Soldiers so turn off show pics.. After the town was taken by the terrorists, they did not bother to bury the Syrian Soldiers who were defending the town and left their bodies where they fell.
http://richardedmondson.net/2014/09/29/shell-shocked-syrian-town-freed-after-savage-massacre-and-291-days-of-islamic-justice/
Great piece! Those questions are right on target. Here’s another one.
If the Syrian Arab Army can defeat the rebels just about everywhere (including that incursion from Jordan that was totally smashed), why can’t the US and pals group impact the advance of ISIL?
With ISIL a sneeze away from Baghdad, you’d think the bombinb would be there and not Syria. Your questions answer mine – there’s no real effort to stop ISIL. Who benefits? Who profits is a better question.
Iraqi pilots ‘accidentally’ airdropped food, water and ammo to ISIS instead of their own guys. It’s under investigation.
No details, but story’s on globalresearch.
(Penelope)
Craig Paul Roberts offers this in his most recent article:
What is ISIS? There are a number of offered explanations. One from Washington and its puppet states is that it is a demonic threat to the West that cuts off people’s heads.
Another is that it is a CIA recruited and funded operation that is carrying out the neoconservatives plan to overthrow the governments in the Middle East.
My tentative explanation is that ISIS consists of Sunnis who are tired of existing in artificial states created by the British and French after World War I when the Western colonialists seized the territories of the Ottoman Empire. They are tired of being suppressed by Shia majorities or by secular dictators who use suppression to control conflict between Sunni and Shia. They are tired of being murdered, plundered, and raped by the Americans and Europeans. They are tired of being displaced and dispossessed. They are tired of the immoral Western culture imposed on them by modern technology. The Islamic State is redrawing the artificial boundaries that the Europeans created, and they are establishing an Islamic government free of the moral corruption of Western materialism and sexual promiscuity.
In short, they are tired of being dictated to and having their culture suppressed.
Here’s a thought on ISIS and its origin.
When they emerged, the other jihadists complained that ISIS was working for Assad because, aside from civilians, the group was primarily attacking the other jihadist rebel groups. The charge is ridiculous in terms of blaming Assad but the ISIS forus on other groups raised a question in my mind.
Just now, it occurred to me that a fragment I read some time ago may offer a clue. I read somewhere that Brennan was obsessed with the rebels not getting too powerful and something about balancing out the power, etc. It occurs to me that ISIS may be that vehicle – attacking the other extremists to keep them from too many victories (or recently, any victories). Just a thought.