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Page added on January 5, 2015
‘ISIL is losing’: Iraqis optimistic for 2015
Iraqi security forces backed by Shia militias, Kurdish forces and Sunni Muslim tribesmen will drive the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from all Iraqi lands before the end of 2015, Iraqi security officials and analysts say.
Iraq has been witnessing its worst security crisis since the 2003 US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. In June, ISIL fighters overran Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul without any real resistance from Iraqi troops. A few days later, ISIL seized the neighbouring province of Salahaddin and swaths of Kirkuk and Anbar provinces.
Thousands of civilians and troops have been killed since then in direct clashes or mass executions carried out by ISIL. About two million people have been displaced from the conflict zones.
The dramatic collapse of Iraqi troops in the northern and western provinces and the rapid advance of ISIL fighters towards the capital prompted Aytollah Ali al-Sistani, the most revered Shia cleric in the country, to call on Iraqis to volunteer to back up the Iraqi security forces in their battle against ISIL.
Iraqi security officials and analysts said the local and regional circumstances of the battle between Iraqi troops and ISIL fighters have changed in favour of Iraqi troops since June. Among the key players battling ISIL are Iran, the US-led international military coalition, anti-ISIL tribesmen and a regional intelligence coalition.
Iran, which has strong ties with the Shia-led government in Baghdad, was the first country in the region to respond to the Iraqi government’s calls for help – primarily ammunition and weapons, as the Iraqis lost thousands of weapons and equipment after withdrawing in Mosul, Salahaddin and Anbar.
Iran is unifying the armed Shia factions and bringing all of them together to fight side by side, and this has intensified the power of the Iraqi troops in the front lines and greatly helped them to gain multiple victories over the last few months.
Abdulwahid Tuama, independent political analyst
“Iran already has been playing a vital role in battling ISIL in Iraq as it has been delivering the required weapons, ammunition and intelligence information for both Baghdad and Erbil,” Abdulwahid Tuama, an independent political analyst, told Al Jazeera. “Iran is unifying the armed Shia factions and bringing all of them together to fight side by side, and this has intensified the power of the Iraqi troops in the front lines and greatly helped them to gain multiple victories over the last few months.”
Iraqi troops backed by Shia militias and Kurdish forces, following the direction of Iranian military advisers, recaptured the towns of Saadiyah and Jalawlaa over the last few months. These had been under the control of the extremist group since early August.
Some weeks earlier, ISIL fighters were driven out of Jurf al-Sakhar, a strategic town that was a key supplier for ISIL groups in southern Baghdad.
Both battles were commanded by the Iranian General Qasim Sulaimani, the head of al-Quds unit, and Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Shia Badr Organisation. They mainly relied on the Shia militias, according to several Kurdish officers and Shia militia leaders.
In early August, ISIL fighters turned back to attack the western areas of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, populated by Christian and Yezidi minorities. A week later, the United States authorised air strikes targeting ISIL fighters in Iraq. This was later expanded to become an international military coalition led by the US to deliver required assistance for Iraqi troops and Kurdish forces, including air strikes, consulting, training, equipping and arming.
“At the beginning, ISIL was attacking and the rest of the Iraqi troops and its local backers were defending, but now, we are attacking, regaining control over towns and villages. The initiative of the battle is in our hands and they [ISIL fighters] are defending and losing,” Yazin al-Joubori, a senior anti-ISIL leader who heads the tribal fighters battling alongside Iraqi troops in Salahaddin, told Al Jazeera. “The air cover that has been provided by the US-led International military coalition changed the formula. ISIL is losing and its fighters cannot grip the ground anymore.”
Iraqi Sunni Muslims have felt marginalised and excluded since 2003, after the electoral victory of Shia Muslims. They said they were unfairly targeted by the former Shia premier, Nouri al-Maliki, who was accused of misusing anti-terrorism laws against them. This sense of injustice, according to Sunni lawmakers, was one of the main factors driving Sunnis to embrace ISIL.
Haider al-Abadi, who took the helm in September, has pledged to review all decisions taken by his predecessor with respect to Sunni Arabs and to bring down the unjust ones. He will grant more power to the local governments, including the Sunni provinces, to ensure the management of their affairs are tended to away from the central government.
“Our major problem was the incubators of ISIL, which were most of the Sunni tribes in the Sunni areas, but now the situation has changed since the new premier took control over this file,” a senior military officer, who is familiar with the talks between the government and Sunni tribal leaders looking to fight ISIL in Anbar, told Al Jazeera.
Iraq wants Sunni armed factions to fight ISIL
“If we are talking about the situation in Anbar, many big Sunni tribes that were watching the situation have turned against ISIL since the group started carrying out mass executions that targeted their sons, and now they are asking to get weapons to fight alongside our troops [in Anbar],” the officer said.
Abadi has promised to adopt an open foreign affairs policy towards the regional countries that boycotted Iraq for years because of the policies of the previous Iraqi administration.
Abadi has visited Iran, Jordan, Kuwait and the UAE over the last few months, and was planning to visit Turkey in the coming days. His foreign affairs minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, has visited Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Bahrain and several other Arabic countries, seeking the required support to fight ISIL.
“Iraq last month signed a security agreement with the Arabic Golf countries, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Turkey, England and the US, to form an intelligence circle to exchange all kinds of information related to ISIL, its leaders, its funders and its fighters who moved to Iraq from these countries,” a senior intelligence officer who serves in the counter-terrorism squad told Al Jazeera.
“This circle should have taken place a long time ago, but for many reasons it did not. Its aim is to follow the movements of ISIL leaders and their recruiting lines. It’s an intelligence cooperation set up to dismantle this organisation.”
The officer said that the Iraq-Saudi rapprochement, the Egypt-Qatar rapprochement and the initial rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia will all be developed and ultimately go in favour of the Iraqi government in its war against ISIL.
“Dismantling ISIL will be the biggest achievement of 2015,” the officer said. “[ISIL] will be defeated in Iraq but will not disappear from the region.”
14 Comments on "‘ISIL is losing’: Iraqis optimistic for 2015"
Speculawyer on Mon, 5th Jan 2015 3:39 pm
I think it is the US & coalition air forces and the Kurds that are doing most of the work. The Iraqi security forces . . . meh. A bunch of political appointees and forces made up of grunts that don’t care and ghost forces (who’s salaries go into the pockets of corrupt officials.)
ghung on Mon, 5th Jan 2015 4:11 pm
The money line: “[ISIL] will be defeated in Iraq but will not disappear from the region.”
Industrial on Mon, 5th Jan 2015 4:18 pm
HOW TO SURVIVE PEAK OIL…MY STORY
Im CrAzY…you are living in a scifi movie because the only hope you have is by listening to the freak or mutant or whatever you want to call me….the government which i “roll” with:) just living in the shadows of power…have shown me a persons head turned into a christmas tree ornament by an alien weapon,they downloaded the images into my head from satellites..this is that serious….just read and listen….the government has done such a good job of just dominating you people that you need help to survive….like a study was released that if power was lost in america for one year that 9 out of 10 people would die.The government is not your “friend” they are your over-lord…they protect you from the scary plant like monsters that want to use you as a host for there green alien seed…you are just a worker..(you are a minion of the state to oppress your fellow man)…just with me every time you threw a wrench into my machine i just ground it up and turned it into a gear that i use against you “Sane” people…aliens saw my future and the rest is history or more accurately my history was (redirected)
I “can” (key word) build a nuclear reactor at home…that will acually produce plutonium but i am not going to even try to do it..(just because)..im not even close to stupid enough to even try something like that…{cobalt drill bits will serve as your control rods} do not test this epic:) and just for the record that’s just to you “Sane” average people…i am the pet swamp thing of the new world order..i do not bite the hand that feeds me…and if i do by accident i say im sorry and hopefully they won’t put me down…”Sane” people just tried to kill me and we went to war,im all tore up as a person,i have bad heart disease (i can feel it) and i need to heal..but time is short in this world for you…
I can soak wood in methanol and get a delorean up to 88 miles per hour..(im telling you just don’t test this epic:)
You need to buy solar panels,if you cannot buy solar panels you can buy solar cells and you can build solar panels for pennies…they can even last longer than factory made panels.
Iv built an (ion chamber) radiation detector out of a coffee can,a multimeter,a single npn transistor,a resistor and a 9v battery….thanks to the new world order i just purchased a 158$ geiger counter (pure awesome)
Iv collected tons of rechargeable batteries you “will” buy NIMH AAs:) you cannot be trusted with NICD batteries…period
Im a collector of seeds from around the world…if you can grow (Quinoa) i will buy seeds from you if something happens to my collection…(i will find you)..insects just eat my plants up in VA.
Buy 12v appliances..buy water..buy a lake..buy a pond..buy food…grow food…grow (abortifacient plants to help control your birth rate-speaking of {queen anne’s lace–grows wild in my area}..buy motor oil you are actually protecting your engine slightly better (in my opinion) with conventional sulfur filled cheap stuff vs synthetic…(you are owned)…just like me…put down your arms and fall back you cannot win…for every gun that you raise to the government 1000 alien weapons are pointing in your direction…(the new world order and the alien agenda are one in the same) cease and assist..survive grow and be merry for as long as the aliens allow you to survive…i don’t have total clearance (Yet) they just talk to me and stuff…buy some (exit pills) if you can…because i don’t know whats coming down the line but it’s big and it’s ugly…like green lady gaga strange alien stuff…(one of her videos just freaked me out)..i could just see what looked like alien influence…learn 24/7..you can feed any gaseous fuel into a 4 stroke internal combustion engine using a regulator..through the carburetor.
The voices just said tell them how to survive…i was like yes (my master)…resistance is truly futile…(Earth was owned from day one by aliens—peak oils just part of the show)
Question everything…especially your “Sanity” it is unsustainable….lololololol:)….Im just so bad a– and just owned by the government..it’s so hot..but god loves me:) aww
P.S if you use this information to harm others or create problems in this world trust me..im mostly just some guy…the powers that be will mess you up…you are not indestructible…i found out the hard way.
Industrial on Mon, 5th Jan 2015 5:02 pm
I don’t mean to be offensive to people,like i just can’t stress this enough im just going to tell you what i know…and im telling you honestly because i was told to do so.
for the ladies….take a (pad) whatever shape that you like and put it on a towel and cut out the shape of the pad from the towel..then take that piece of the towel thats in the shape of the pad and put it in between 2 pieces of pillow case cut exactly the same size as the pad size piece that you cut…then sow them all together creating a composite material pad with the towel piece inside and the 2 pieces of pillow case on the outside…survival is not pretty but you can wash this…
dude seriously man up because like stuff is getting crazy,the government voices are telling me to save your life..like your going to do what your going to do…like build that radiation detector stuff that i was talking about above and just seriously like there is no shortage of work to do…miracle gro has a shelf life like nuclear waste…buy a generator i seriously no joke own 4…i have 3–4 strokes and 1— 2 stroke generator….if you can afford it buy a 4 stroke..and after the rings are worn out use 20w50 it will keep it from smoking,only 15w40 diesel motor oils can support me,i am just a semi truck of peak oil…iv cut pieces of cloth into toilet paper and i got the idea from reading about women using washable diapers for there kids online…that was like almost 10 year ago…if you truly want to rough it out if you crupple up phone book paper it will work (it’s not fun) but it works…im tired you get the idea of what you need to do now to survive peak oil…iv got to rest trust me if the government didn’t tell me to tell you people how to survive…i care right but not much..so that’s the truth im officially as of right now retired from this site and from prepping for peak oil at least for a few days im so tired and there’s still a 100W solar panel in the mail coming,i don’t know where to store it in my house???
P.S like if you can’t afford a generator take an old lawnmower 4 stroke engine and attach a belt from it to a permanent magnet alternator and then to a battery then to an inverter…basic solar panel system….Solar panel-charge controller-battery-inverter=120v household power..i used to love building solar panels by hand..i have designs that could last for hundreds of years but the factory panels are easier to deal with…i used to use silicon to seal the edges of the solar panel with the solar cells inside like a sandwich of glass…im out….peace
DiscoPants on Mon, 5th Jan 2015 5:31 pm
And now US and Iranian backed Shiite militias are cutting of people’s heads and committing atrocities. Yes I sure everything will be settled soon.
GregT on Mon, 5th Jan 2015 7:02 pm
The only thing that will hold Iraq together is a brutal dictator. Unfortunately we already killed him.
Industrial on Mon, 5th Jan 2015 8:49 pm
i don’t mean to burn this website up…like seriously…im tired and done..im just telling you people the truth and i just keep thinking someones going to read that part about the nuclear reactor and be like omg you know this needs to be investigated or something and truth is im talking about the nuclear boyscout…there was this 16 year old dude that literally built a nuclear reactor in his garden shed and it turned into an environmental catasrophe….i mean (wow) just imagine that for a second that is just pure superhero stuff…im fairly well rounded mentally and i know when something strange is going on with me and just all of a sudden it was like government 24/7 in my head…like im sure other agencies will read this online and be like ??? whatever is happening to me is deep like just the deepest darkest places in this world and i just love every second of it…it’s so scary the stuff they show me…one night i was just shown this plant like monster in a white glass cube just smashing the walls trying to get out…god i love it.
Makati1 on Mon, 5th Jan 2015 10:12 pm
Stay tuned for the next episode of “America’s Favorite Enemies” brought to you by the friendly guys at the Military Industrial Complex nearest you.
Meanwhile, go out and borrow some more money for that “have to have” item you cannot get thru the day without. The new I-Junk77 with the guarantee that expires as soon as you leave the store.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming…
Makati1 on Mon, 5th Jan 2015 10:17 pm
Industrial, you would be an interesting person to have as a friend. You may wander a bit in your presentation of facts, but I can still follow the trail. We seem to agree on most things. At least you see reality. Another poster on here posts long, never ending paragraphs that are not much more than the “company line”. I stopped reading them long ago, but I do read yours. If you are ever in the Manila, Philippines area, stop in and we can chat. ^_^
Davy on Tue, 6th Jan 2015 6:11 am
Mak, can you explain why your favorites are beefing up their military? I guess that is alright because they are your favorites. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Which was it the chicken or the egg? If your favorites hadn’t been such animals back in the post WWII era maybe the Americans might not have turned into the animals they are now. Your animal friends allowed the American MIC animals to take over the global agenda. This is a global snake eating its tail type competition but you frame it as a he’s bad we good. Smells like more of that cat piss agenda Mak.
Apneaman on Tue, 6th Jan 2015 10:17 am
How did America react when the Soviets put missiles 90 miles away in 1962? You expect the Russians to just sit there while one country after another joins NATO as missile bases. Once again Davy your looking at the situation as a one way street. The rich tend to do that, don’t they. It’s their privilege.
Davy on Tue, 6th Jan 2015 11:12 am
A one way street is what you just said AP through your use of a prejudice. Easy to criticizes but very hard to balance. Those here who glorify then vilify are on that one way street of agendas to justify ideologies. The truth is only useful when it supports the cause. This is what I see from you and Mak in a repetitive and continuous fashion. Your messages would have so much more effect if you were balanced.
Apneaman on Tue, 6th Jan 2015 3:47 pm
Davy, Why should I or anyone here listen to anymore of your bullshit? Your just slumming. You think anyone one is impressed with your little trust fund prepper hobby? The very second that TSHTF you and yours will be on Mommy and Daddy’s escape jet on your way to the family’s sunny bug out compound far far away from us dirty working class folks.
Davy on Tue, 6th Jan 2015 4:07 pm
APster, touched ya nerve. I love when idiots show their nerves!
I am what I am and I will live with who I am. I am not hiding anything and I am honest. If you don’t like it that is not my concern. If no one listens so be it no problem. For me it is mental exercise. I am giving what I can to my friends here on this board. I contribute allot of time and I am courteous with my fellow PO friends. Then there are the idiots like you.
APster you are a hypocrite in the first degree. Why should anyone listen to your phony cat piss? What makes your shit not stink? I will tell you this I bet I have walked a longer mile then your uptight prejudiced pussiness. Pussies like you bitch moan and complain like you are high and mighty but in reality you are the Douchebag. Maybe you are a dirt poor worker because you are stupid. Don’t blame your poor misfortune on me. Do you want me to feel sorry for your dirt poor ass? Go somewhere else looking for sympathy.