July 7th Iraq SITREP by Mindfriedo

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

July 7th Iraq SITREP by Mindfriedo

The Saker

Iraq SITREP 7th July: Gloves are coming off!!!

A VERY IMPORTANT LINK: http://www.syrianews.cc/isis-the-bombshell-interview-to-impeach-obama/
It shows Daash/ISIS being a proxy of US interests. It's Rolex wearing Caliph America's man. A subversion similar to the government backed Islamists during the Algerian Civil War. I will be posting this again in tomorrow's SITREP for those that may miss it today.

6th July: Iranian Brigadier General Massoud Jazeyri refers to America as the intelligence head of terrorist groups in the region.

6th June: Messiah of Peace, Bringer of Justice, Ridder of Destructive Weapons, and Great Hope of the Arabs, Tony Blair asks Maliki to either change his form of governance or quit and let some one take his place.

7th July: Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has decided to visit Oman, Kuwait, and the UAE. The country he is not visiting is Saudi Arabia and Iran has also denied reports that Foreign Minister Zarif will be travelling to Saudi Arabia as baseless. Abdollahian had earlier stated that Iran and Russia are now united in helping Iraq fight terrorists.

7th July: The commander of the Basiji forces in Iran, Brigadier General Mohammad. Reza Naqdi has stated that a new resistance front against the West will form in Iraq if the United States continues to protect and harbour terrorists.

7th July: Shaikh Qais Al Khazali of the Asaib Ahalal Haq has apologises for the deaths of four British nationals in 2009-2010. the four men were bodyguards to "IT Experts" Peter Moore who was kidnapped and then exchanged for Iraqi prisoners including Shaikh Qais. The Shaikh stated that the primary fault for the deaths rests with the British government as it did not consider the bodyguards to be as important as the "IT Expert." Also, the Shaikh was a prisoner at the time of their killing and not directly responsible.

7th July: Iraqi MPs have postponed the forming of government and have adjourned the next session of parliament to the 12th of August or after Eid ul Fitr. The Iraqi constitution calls for the election of a speaker, followed by the President, and then the Prime Minister.

7th July: Ibrahim al Jaafari holds talks with the Shia National Coalition and the Sunni National Union of Forces but they fail to find common ground or replacements for Maliki(PM) or Nujaifi(Speaker).

7th July: Aaliya Nasif of the State of Law Coalition blames the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of being partial to Sunni and Kurdish suffering while being biased against Shia concerns and by depicting them internationally in a bad light.

7th July: After Al Arabiya repeatedly calls Sistani's fatwa to form government as being anti Maliki, the representative of Sistani in Karbala clarifies that it is neither for or against any individual. His representative also stressed that the Marja wanted an early resolution of the political deadlock and government formation.
7th July: Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank withdraw their offices from Iraq. HSBC had withdrawn its services before the current crisis started.

7th July: The Iraqi Government states that it will act against three entities: Daash, Ba'athist, and the Naqshabandi militant order.

7th July: Iraqi Kurdistan needs 6 million litres of gasoline per day to provide for over 600000 cars but produces only 3.2 million litres. The local government has resorted to rationing in view of this shortfall.

7th July: The protection of the immediate vicinity of the Imam Askari(as) shrine in Samara has been handed over to the Badr Brigades (headed by Hadi al Ameri) and the Asaib Ahlal Haq (headed by Qais al Khazali). The outskirts have been handed over to the Peace Brigades ( Moqtada As Sadr). While the federal police force has been moved away. Friction between the militias and the police force is believed to have led to a demarcation of territory.

7th July: A senior commander of the Iraqi forces, Maj Gen Najm Abdullah Sudan of the 6th Brigade, was hit by mortar fire and injured in the West of Baghdad. He later died of his wounds. He was involved in counter terrorism operations in Western Baghdad. A total of 60 rebels are believed to have been killed by security personnel.

7th July: Iraqi government forces are claiming to have repelled a rebel/Daash assault on Western Baghdad.

7th July: The Kurdistan Alliance has stated that it will not attend government formation talks till a Prime Minister is decided upon. This is counter to the constitutional process where the Speaker and President are to be decided earlier.

7th July: Al Sisi of Egypt stated that Dassh intends to attack Jordan and Saudi Arabia after Iraq.

7th July: Hamid Al Hayes of the Sahawa al Anbar or the Anbar awakening Council stated that a mass graves of Daash fighters (being used by Daash to bury its dead) has been located in Western Ramadi. He stated that the graves will be exhumed soon as Anbar will not be used to bury terrorists.

7th July: Abdul Raqib Amin (British student who joined Daash): "I’m going to stay and fight until the Khilafah [rule of Islam] is established, or I die. One of the happiest moments of my life was when the plane took off from [London’s] Gatwick Airport. I was so happy, because as a Muslim, you cannot live in the country of Kuffars [disbelievers.]”

7th July: Daash fighters attack a church in the east of Mosul and kidnap two priests and a nun.

7th July: Daash/rebels release a photo of having captured 50 voluntary fighters of the government in Tikrit

7th July: Daash fighters kidnap and kill a civilian in Ain al Fars, Tikrit and refuse to return the body to his family

7th July: Peshmeraga forces kill to Daash fighters and recover a list of names of fighters belonging to the Naqshabandi order in Diyala.

7th July: Peshmerga forces have carried out operations against Dassh in Jalawlaa, Diyala.

7th July: Atta's/Government claims for the day:
Sukhoi aircraft carry out raids in Kirkuk against rebel positions
Dhi Qar police personnel have arrested an Al Qaida fighter who had joined Al Qaida in 2008. He had been arrested earlier in 2012 but had escaped during the recent turmoil

The Iraqi Army Air Force destroys 15 vehicles of rebel fighters in Baiji, Salahuddin province

Government claims to have killed 125 terrorists in and around Baghdad

Further reading:
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/07/07/iran-corners-us-over-isil-project-in-iraq/

Short Analysis:
The delaying of parliament to after Ramzan does not portend just deep division but a digging in of heels and violent times ahead. The delay was in choosing a Sunni Speaker. The government in Baghdad, i.e., the Shias will now try to counter attack rebel held areas. While the rebels led by Daash are expected to try and attack Baghdad. Both will try to obtain a position of greater strength.

The decision to fight hard is not just an Iraqi one, but one that has a resolute Iran and Russia backing the government in Baghdad. This can be seen in steps that Iran is taking or its positioning itself across from the US. It is not going soft on account of the nuclear negotiations and clearly feels that the Americans, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia have crossed some "red line" of decency when it comes to blatantly supporting groups like Daash.

Something I had mentioned in an earlier SITREP, that the Turkish diplomatic staff had been taken without a fight is something Bhadrakumar mentions in his newest post as something highly suspicious (please refer to the link in the further reading section). Sisi stating that Dassh is a threat to Jordan and Saudi Arabi, Jordan's moving of troops to the border, and Saudi manoeuvring 30000 of its mercenary army are more theatrics than substance. The US has attacked, and continues to target, militants in Afghanistan and Yemen but is "afraid of civilian casualties in Iraq." The Gulf Arabs are pushing their luck. If Hafez were alive, I am sure Saudi would have seen a few militant attacks by now. Bahrain might start to boil.

Iran is going to answer in its way of doing things. It is going to add Iraq into its resistance arc. Militias are going to play an increasing role. The American advisors should be advised to watch their backs and not just the charred landscape of Iraq.