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US
airstrikes to support Iranian Revolutionary Guard's offensive in
Iraq?
Iran deployed its Revolutionary Guard to help Iraq battle insurgents from a group inspired by Al-Qaeda, according to a recent report. In the meantime, the US is mulling airstrikes to support the Iraqi government.
RT,
12
June, 2014
On
Wednesday, Al-Qaeda affiliate insurgents from the armed group Islamic
State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) conquered former dictator
Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, marking the second major loss
for the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Earlier
this week, insurgents
captured Mosul,
the second-largest city in the country. With jihadists threatening
Baghdad and security forces unable resist the Sunni Islamists'
assault, Maliki turned to foreign powers for help, getting responses
from two unlikely allies, Iran and the US.
Two
battalions of the Quds Forces, which is the overseas branch of the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard, moved to Iraq on Wednesday, the Wall
Street Journal reported.
There they worked jointly with Iraqi troops to retake control of 85
percent of Tikrit, security forces from both countries told the
Journal. Iranian forces are also helping guard the Iraqi capital of
Bagdhad, as well as two Shiite holy cities that the Sunni jihadists
are threatening.
Meanwhile,
on Thursday morning, US President Barack Obama declared that
he doesn't rule out any options with regards to the ISIS takeover of
cities in the northern region of Iraq. The administration and its
national security team are discussing military options.
“We
do have a stake in ensuring these jihadists don't get foothold in
either Iraq or Syria,” Obama
said.
Later
in the day, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney clarified that US
will not send ground troops to Iraq, but is seriously considering
airstrikes that would help to drive jihadist militants out of their
strongholds.
Iraq
has privately indicated to the Obama administration that it would
welcome airstrikes with
either drones or manned aircraft that target ISIS militants in Iraqi
territory, US officials said Wednesday.
If
so, US may find itself assisting its archnemesis in the Middle East
to fight against Sunni militias that enjoy support from one of
America's closest allies in the region, Saudi Arabia. The ruling
family of the kingdom has long been accused of supplying jihadists
all over the region with arms and financial support, the New
York Times reported.
The
US and Iran severed diplomatic relations in 1979, after Islamic
militants following Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized the government
and deposed the American-backed shah. Iranian students stormed the
American embassy in Tehran, leading to the 444-day Iran hostage
crisis. Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran was in a state of
heavy international isolation. The US has led the world in
debilitating sanctions against the Islamic Republic that have
increased as the Middle Eastern country has developed its nuclear
program.
Under
Hussein’s dictarorship, Sunnis dominated the Iraqi political
landscape, even though over 60 percent of Iraqis are Shia. In Iran,
over 95 percent of the population is Shia. The two countries are the
only majority-Shiite nations in the Middle East. (Over 1.1 billion
Muslims around the world are Sunni, while less than 200 million
Muslims are Shia.)
From
1980 to 1988, the two nations battled in a deadly war in which both
sides deployed
chemical weapons.
The US sided with Hussein during that war, but turned against the
dictator when he invaded American ally Kuwait in 1990, leading to the
first Gulf War. Hussein stayed in power until the second Gulf War
began in March 2003.
Once
Hussein was captured by American forces in December 2003, the Shia
majority regained political power. Al-Maliki is a Shiite Muslim and
has become unpopular with Iraq Sunni minority, which has accused the
government of discrimination. Since 2005, Iran and Iraq have had a
flourishing relationship, and are now considered to be each other’s
strongest allies.
Quds
Forces have been active in Iraq for years, creating, training and
funding Shiite militias that battled the US military after the 2003
invasion. Iran sees the battle for Iraq as “an
existential sectarian battle between the two rival sects of
Islam-Sunni and Shiite—and by default a proxy battle between their
patrons Saudi Arabia and Iran,” according
to the Wall Street Journal.
The
US still sees Iraq as vital to its national interests, despite having
pulled its troops out of the country at the end of 2011.
“What
we've seen over last couple of days indicates degree to which Iraq is
going to need more help,”Obama
said, calling recent events a “wake-up
call for the Iraqi government.”
"The
next 9/11 is in the making," Sen.
Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said of the danger of the Iraqi
insurgency.
Note
the headline. Qatar is bankrolling ISIS (with Saudi Arabia) and the
Emir of Qatar wons al-Jazeera
ISIL
vows to march on Iraq's capital
Iraq's
parliament fails to reach agreement on state of emergency despite
threat of attack on Baghdad.
11
June, 2014
Fighters
from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have vowed to march on
Baghdad, as Iraq's parliament failed to agree the declaration of a
nationwide state of emergency.
"We
will march toward Baghdad because we have an account to settle
there," said the armed group's spokesman on Thursday in an audio
recording posted on the internet. The statement could not be
independently verified.
In
a sign of ISIL's confidence, he even boasted that its fighters would
take the southern Shia cities of Karbala and Najaf, which hold two of
the holiest shrines for Shia Muslims, following the fall of cities in
the Sunni north.
Its
boasts come as Iraq's parliament failed to reach a quorum on Thursday
to vote on a nationwide state of emergency.
Most
of those boycotting parliament were from the country's Sunni and
Kurdish factions, who oppose giving extraordinary powers to the Shia
prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
"It
was a political move. Those parliamentarians that didn't turn up made
sure that this state of emergency wasn't declared," said Al
Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad.
"It
was hugely criticised by Sunni politicians, saying that Maliki has
enough powers to be able to deal with this if only he reached out to
the Sunnis and to the Kurds and to the other minorities in Iraq."
The
schism came even after days of advances had left ISIL in control of
towns 50km from the capital.
On
Wednesday, the group seized Tikrit, 140km northwest of Baghdad, as
Iraqi soldiers fled.
The
day before, it captured Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. ISIL and
its allies among local tribesmen also hold the city of Fallujah and
other pockets of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province to the west of
Baghdad.
The
rise of ISIL in Iraq has caused shockwaves across the region, with
Syria saying on Wednesday it and Iraq faced a common enemy,
Hassan
Rouhani, the president of Iran, said on Thursday that the
predominantly Shia Muslim country would act to combat the "violence
and terrorism" of ISIL.
Not
every ISIL advance has been successful, however. On Thursday, Iraqi
Kurds took control of the disputed Iraqi oil hub of Kirkuk to protect
it from ISIL, officials said.
"We
tightened our control of Kirkuk city and are awaiting orders to move
toward the areas that are controlled by ISIL," said Shirko Rauf,
a brigadier general in the Kurdish peshmerga force.
ISIS
Tells Insurgents In Iraq: Put On Your Belts And Get Ready
Obama Responds To Iraq Request For "Kinetic Support", Says Ready To Take Military Action
As
we reported yesterday, Iraq, realizing it has neither the capacity
nor the willingness to engage Al Qaeda's ISIS "spin off"
did what every other oil-rich regime in such a situation does: asked
Obama for "kinetic support." Moments ago Obama gave his
response:
- OBAMA SAYS "I DON'T RULE OUT ANYTHING" WHEN IT COMES TO HELPING IRAQ DEAL WITH INSURGENTS
- OBAMA SAYS US HAS AN INTEREST IN MAKING SURE JIHADISTS DON'T GAIN A FOOTHOLD IN IRAQ
- OBAMA SAYS THERE WILL BE SHORT-TERM IMMEDIATE ACTIONS THAT NEED TO BE DONE MILITARILY IN IRAQ, US OFFICIALS LOOKING AT ALL OPTIONS
And
here is why, as
we predicted yesterday when
faced with not only but two brand new scandals, the VA farce and the
Berghdal "extraction" fiasco, the most likely outcome is
war:
- OBAMA SAYS IRAQ `CLEARLY IS AN EMERGENCY SITUATION'
- OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SAID NOT CONSIDERING GROUND TROOPS IN IRAQ
- OBAMA SAYS US IS PREPARED TO TAKE MILITARY ACTION WHEN ITS NATIONAL SECURITY INTERESTS ARE THREATENED
So
the US is about to unleash hell against the same Al Qaeda extremists
it was arming across the border in Syria? Score one more for US
foreign policy. Meanwhile, the one person who benefits the most from
rising crude prices, that would be Putin for those who still don't
get it, is laughing all the way to the bank.
Update: good
news - the US won't be fighting Iraq's war alone. Here comes....
France:
- 'FRANCE'S FABIUS SAYS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MUST DEAL WITH IRAQ SITUATION URGENTLY
- FRANCE'S FABIUS SAYS JIHADIST SURGE PUTS TERRITORIAL UNITY OF IRAQ IN DOUBT AND IS MAJOR RISK FOR REGIONAL STABILITY
- FRANCE'S FABIUS SAYS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MUST DEAL WITH IRAQ SITUATION URGENTLY
Funny
how France is so generous when pledging the aid of the international
community and not, for example, that of France.
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