Wednesday - June 11, 2014

Like A Lead Balloon

Half a million run away from city of 1.6 million

Hundreds of ISIS fighters, “more deadly and brutal than even Al Qaeda” overran city against almost no resistance.

“US trained Iraqi soldiers just melted away, fleeing their posts when the fighting began”. Trained and equipped at the cost of BILLIONS of US taxpayer dollars.

Extremist militants have overrun the northern city of Mosul, the country’s second-largest. As many as half a million civilians have fled their homes to escape the violence, and the brazen incursion has highlighted all the weaknesses of the government’s ability to maintain security.
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Monday night into Tuesday, militants seized Mosul’s airport, its TV stations and the governor’s office. They freed up to 1,000 prisoners.

Police and soldiers ran from their posts rather than put up a fight, abandoning their weapons as they went. The militants took their place in the city’s boulevards and buildings.

“There was no presence of any government forces on the streets, the majority of their posts destroyed and manned by (Islamist militants),” resident Firas al-Maslawi told CNN.

Despite its size—the predominantly Sunni city has a population of about 1.6 million—Mosul’s collapse was swift. After weekend clashes, hundreds of radical Islamist fighters from an al Qaeda splinter group swarmed through the west of the city overnight Monday to Tuesday.

American-trained Iraqi government forces fled in the face of the onslaught by the fighters, believed to be from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, an al Qaeda splinter group also known as ISIS and ISIL. The militants now control most, if not all, of the city.

Iraq’s parliamentary speaker was scathing. “The (Iraqi) forces abandoned their weapons and the commanders fled, leaving behind weapons, armored vehicles. Their positions were easy prey for terrorists.”

On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered that all military leaders who fled be court-martialed.

The heavily armed radicals overran police stations, freed more than 1,000 prisoners from the city jail and captured the city’s international airport.

ISIS is now poised to conquer Baiji, an oil town 2 hours north of Baghdad on the only highway to Mosul. Lose Baiji, lose any chance of retaking Mosul. Oh, and lose a big chunk of the oil production as well.

The Baiji oil refinery—Iraq’s largest—is still under the control of Iraqi security forces, officials said.

The fact that ISIS forces are trying to take the town will worry the oil industry in Iraq but also suggests a wider strategic aim.

Baiji sits on the main highway north from Baghdad to Mosul—a road that passes through rural areas in which ISIS has a lot of influence.

For the government to reinforce its troops in Mosul, it needs to drive them through Baiji.

It’s going to be a tough row to hoe. Iraq isn’t really a nation. Nor is Syria, Iran, or many of the other “countries” over there in the sand lands. They are area drawn on a map by foreigners. Sectarian hatred and tribalism still reign supreme. One flavor of jizzlam can’t wait to get back to killing members of some other flavor of jizzlam for their heresy. And the tribes from this village have a never ending blood feud with the tribes from that village. And on and on forever. Because it isn’t the civilized world. These aren’t nation-states. They aren’t even city-states, in the classic Athenian model. They’re little bitty tribes of barbarians, lice who can only pretend to cooperate with each other until they see a chance to stick the knife in for their own advantage. Tribes and clans who hate everyone else. Me and my relatives and neighbors from this one crusty village at odds with the entire world. My immediate family against our village. My brother and me against our father. Me versus my brother. And I hate myself too, probably. And that’s all they’ve ever been. Since forever. Animals.

No wonder it was so easy for a few hundred desert rats to rout a city of 1.6 million. Straight out of the Koran, actually.

Posted by Drew458     on 06/11/2014 at 08:52 AM   
Filed Under: • Iraq •  
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