U.S. joins big Iran-backed offensive in Iraq

[mentalfloss]

The US just joined a big Iran-backed offensive in Iraq

Iraq March, 2015REUTERS/StringerA military vehicle, belonging to Shi'ite fighters known as Hashid Shaabi, burns after being hit by Islamic State militants, during clashes in northern Tikrit, March 11, 2015.

(Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition warplanes launched their first airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Tikrit on Wednesday, officials said, coming off the sidelines to aid Iraqi forces fighting alongside Iran-backed Shi'ite militia on the ground.

The decision to give air support to the Tikrit campaign pulls the United States into a messy battle that puts the U.S.-led coalition, however reluctantly, on the same side of a fight as Iranian-backed militia in a bid to support Iraqi forces and opens a new chapter in the war.

It also appeared to represent at least a tacit acknowledgment by Baghdad that such air power was necessary to wrest control of the hometown of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from Islamic State fighters, after its attempts to go it alone stalled.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Iraqi forces would prevail with the support of "friendly" countries and the international coalition, including arms, training and aerial support.

"We have opened the last page of the operations," Abadi said on state television.

shi'ites tikritThaier Al-Sudani/ReutersShi'ite fighters and Sunni fighters, who have joined Shi'ite militia groups known collectively as Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization), allied with Iraqi forces against the Islamic State, gesture next to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's palaces in the Iraqi town of Ouja, near Tikrit March 17, 2015.

Reuters first reported the U.S.-led coalition's expected entry into the Tikrit campaign, disclosed by Iraq's president in an interview and later confirmed by a U.S. official. It has been carrying out strikes elsewhere in Iraq since August.

A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said American warplanes and aircraft from allied nations were striking up to a dozen targets in Tikrit, selected after coalition surveillance flights.

A second U.S. official stressed that Washington in no way would coordinate with the Iranian-backed militia or seek to empower them in Iraq, even if those fighters might share the same narrow tactical objective as Iraqi forces in Tikrit.

Army Lieutenant General James Terry JSOC Pentagon Inherent ResolveWikimedia CommonsArmy Lieutenant General James L. Terry briefs reporters at the Pentagon on December 18, 2014.

In language that appeared to intentionally omit the Iranian-backed militia, Lieutenant General James Terry, the senior U.S. commander of the U.S.-led coalition, said the strikes were aimed at enabling "Iraqi forces under Iraqi command."

"These strikes are intended to destroy ISIL strongholds with precision, thereby saving innocent Iraqi lives while minimizing collateral damage to infrastructure," Terry said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

As coalition aircraft entered the fray, Iraqi forces pounded Islamic State positions in Tikrit, resuming an offensive that had stalled for almost two weeks. Two military officers in the city confirmed Iraqi forces were shelling the militants. Iraq tank Tikrit assaultThaier Al-Sudani/ReutersA tank of Iraqi security forces in the town of al-Alam on March 10, 2015. Iraqi troops and militias drove Islamic State insurgents out of al-Alam that day, clearing a final hurdle before a planned assault on Saddam Hussein's home city of Tikrit in their biggest offensive yet against the ultra-radical group.

"Military operations in Tikrit started at around 9 pm local time by pounding Islamic State positions with artillery, mortars and Katyusha rockets," said provincial council member Hadi al-Khazraji.

More than 20,000 troops and allied Shi'ite paramilitary groups have been taking part in the offensive and have suffered heavy casualties on the edge of the city, 100 miles (160 km) north of Baghdad.

The Iraqi military had lobbied for U.S.-led coalition air strikes while Shi'ite paramilitary forces opposed such a move. One militia leader, Hadi al-Amiri, boasted three weeks ago that his men had been making advances for months without relying on U.S. air power.

The mainly Sunni city of Tikrit was seized by Islamic State in the first days of their lightning strike across northern Iraq last June.

iraqREUTERS/Thaier Al-SudaniShi'ite fighters known as Hashid Shaabi walk as smoke rises from an explosives-laden military vehicle driven by an Islamic State suicide bomber which exploded during an attack on the southern edge of Tikrit March 12, 2015.

If Iraq's Shi'ite led-government retakes Tikrit, it would be the first city wrested from the Sunni insurgents and would give Baghdad momentum for a pivotal stage of the campaign: recapturing Mosul, the largest city in the north.

Still, the offensive raised thorny questions for American war planners, who have long sought to distance themselves from the acknowledged risks that heavy involvement of the Shi'ite militia on the ground could heighten sectarian tensions in the Sunni city of Tikrit.

It also raises questions about whether the U.S.-led coalition can maintain the extent of operational control of the battlefield that it needs with so many Shi'ite militia on the ground.

(Additional reporting by Richard Mably, Samia Nakhoul, Ned Parker in Baghdad; Editing by Dominic Evans and Ken Wills)

This article originally appeared at Reuters. Copyright 2015. Follow Reuters on Twitter.

US bombs ISIS in Saddam Hussein's hometown after Iran-backed offensive stalled - Business Insider

 

[EagleSmack]

Iran and their Shiia Militias were getting their azzes handed to them and we are going to bail them out... and they'll take all the credit.

Smart move.

 

[mentalfloss]

Netanyahoo will certainly be pissed.

Since he's no longer open to a peace deal, this is Obamers way of making him look foolish as retribution.

 

[EagleSmack]

20,000 Iranian Rev Guard backed militias vs a few thousand ISIS and they still couldn't dislodge them. No mystery why the Sunnis ruled Iraq.

This is an example of what ISIS is up against.

 

[gore0bsessed]

Maybe Daesh has a stronger military than most believe?

 

[mentalfloss]

Forget about the operation itself.

The optics of this makes Iran look more cooperative with a democratic state than Israel.

 

[EagleSmack]

Forget about the operation itself.

The optics of this makes Iran look more cooperative with a democratic state than Israel.

How do you get that? Do you think Iran is going to appear weak here? Hardly. They will now take the city and say they did it on their own.

I am very doubtful the Ayatollah is going to be praising the US and Iranian air/ground cooperation when they take Tikrit.

And now that US airstrikes will deny freedom of movement and consolidation for ISIS fighters, Tikrit will fall.

 

[damngrumpy]

The sides change there like the drifting of the sand. Iran is not the best friend of America
however the prospect of ISIS being the main power broker is worse. The west will soon be
hooked at the hip to Assad and that is happening already. ISIS is the main target we just
need to be rid of them

 

[WLDB]

Iran and their Shiia Militias were getting their azzes handed to them and we are going to bail them out... and they'll take all the credit.

Wouldnt be the first time. The Soviets did the same thing after WW2.

 

[EagleSmack]

Just the other day they were chanting death to America in the streets as was their leader. Now we are going to bail out their troops who are getting whipped in Tikrit.


Obama downplays Iran 'death to America' remarks, toes hard line on Benjamin Netanyahu - Washington Times

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Wouldnt be the first time. The Soviets did the same thing after WW2.

And the Briddish still do.

Just the other day they were chanting death to America in the streets as was their leader. Now we are going to bail out their troops who are getting whipped in Tikrit.


Obama downplays Iran 'death to America' remarks, toes hard line on Benjamin Netanyahu - Washington Times

Beginning to get a feel for why I said we should stay out of it and let them slaughter each other?

 

[BaalsTears]

So Obama is flying ground support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Perhaps he doesn't realize an Iranian victory is not in America's national interest just as an ISIS victory is not in America's national interest. Let ISIS and Iran bleed each other.

 

[mentalfloss]

The plausible normalization of U.S.-Iran Diplomatic Relations: Who are the losers and winners?

As the nuclear negotiations between the P+5 countries and Iran approach the deadline of March 31st, two divergent groups have emerged worldwide which envision the possible outcome as contrary or affirmatory to their special interests. Whereas the ones opposing such a breakthrough are highly organized, well financed and combatively vocal, those gaining from the plausible affirmative outcome are agnostically ambivalent or low keyed in ensuring their voices are clearly and loudly heard. The losers and winners are categorized as follows:

THE LOSERS:

Israel: The current political incumbents headed by Bibi Netanyahu are most apprehensive of a possible breakthrough between the U.S. and Iran. Their trepidation is anchored on their long- standing expectation to posit Israel as the only reliable ally of the U.S. in the region; Israelis hope to continue receiving billions of dollars of economic and military aids subsidized by the ordinary American tax payers. Israel cannot any longer dodge resolving the Palestinian plight as it either has to commit to two equal side by side secured sovereign states, or to simply acquiesce to one secular state of nearly fifteen million where every citizen has one equal vote and equal opportunity.

Iran: The more influential, radical and fundamentalist elements within the Islamic Republic regime in Iran will feel most vulnerable if and when a breakthrough is reached. These hardline elements have held onto the socio-economic and political grips of the country since the revolution of 1979, on the premise that they are battling the “Great Satan”, the U.S. In doing so, they have wasted the natural, financial and human resources of the nation in excess of several trillion dollars and repressed the human rights of many ordinary citizens. A million were killed in a futile war with Iraq, hundreds of thousands of political prisoners have been tortured and killed, millions are in involuntary exile, and democracy and freedoms have been quenched. The rhetorical slogans of the hardliners would lose their last fading shade of color if a breakthrough materializes. Last, this same group has arrived and collected the spoils and spread their net of influence on each instance when the American military forces have left Afghanistan and Iraq after heavy human and financial losses.

U.S.A: The more conservative and frankly most influential wing of the U.S. government along with their military-industrial complex, the staunch supporters of Israel and Saudi Arabia, and the nearly 100 million Americans who believe in the bible literally, will lose dominance on the economic and political stage, since they do not wish to witness regional political stability in Iran’s spheres of west Asia.

Russia: After the military takeover of Crimea and continued meddling in the Ukraine, and the strong reaction received from the west as a result, Russia has to finance its ever expanding sphere of influence and to be able to function despite new western economic sanctions. In doing so, Russia would make sure to sabotage any possible last minute resolution with Iran to continue raising the already slashed price of oil and gas exports, that is, its main source of income. Imagine what the ramification against Russia would be when Iran quadruples its oil and gas productions with a massive infusion of western/U.S. technologies within a short period after the nuclear breakthrough. It would be inconceivable for Iran to continue depending on Russia for its nuclear or other developments when it can procure the same from the much more advanced American technological providers.

Saudi Arabia: Many consider Saudi Arabia and its satellite sheikdoms (the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman) to be the major losers if there is indeed a breakthrough between the U.S. and Iran. Iran will regain its historical regional leadership role especially in OPEC, expand its oil and gas productions and exports; and further diminish the Saudi’s socio-economic and political role in the region. What will devastate the Saudis the most is the upper hand of the Shiites’ ideological, political and military forces backed up by Iran in the battle to neutralize the military and theological dominance which the Saudis had hoped to achieve through their exorbitant financing and training of the Sunni Safaii-Wahhabi terrorist guerillas such as ISIS and the Al-Qaeda.

THE WINNERS:



U.S.A.: With the normalization of relations with Iran, the U.S. and its allies will benefit from an organically grown regional stability where heavy military presence or financing of the so-called allies such as Israel or Saudi Arabia are no longer needed. Diplomatic rapprochement with Iran will also usher in a new era of magnanimous trades beneficial to both sides.

Iran: With the normalization, Iran must inevitably reexamine its constitution for a much anticipated revision and ratification through a referendum. It cannot any longer repress human rights, freedoms, social reforms, and cultural modernization under the xenophobic disguise of creating trepidations from the “great Satan.” The full sovereignty and dignity of the nearly 80 million Iranian citizens will be regained. Transparency, accountability, sustainability, checks and balances and the rule of law and civil society and justice will have to be once again be reinstated in Iran. Finally through a rationale legal system, the perpetrators who inflicted miseries and catastrophes to the nation during the past 35 years must be tried and justly convicted. Tourism alone will within a decade surpass all other national domestic products and exports in Iran combined.

European Union: With the economic stalemate currently in Europe, a new era of expanded economic trade exchange with Iran and west Asia will ensue.

China and East Asia: China, India, Korea and Japan will secure a stable long term commitment to meeting their energy needs from west Asia particularly from Iran. They will also broaden and secure their economic ties through opening up new markets in west Asia.

Israel: Israel in the long run will regain the trust of its historical ally, Iran, and after it resolves its own lingering impasse with its Palestinian brethren. This will allow Israel to solely focus on its economic development and scientific and technological marvels. In the long run, especially when U.S. and western support wanes for Israel, Iran will be the only ally for Israel to counter-balance the exponentially increasing influence of Arab regimes.

In summary, the gains earned by all sides from the nuclear resolution and the strategically inevitable normalization of relations between the U.S. and the West with Iran will far outweigh the collective perceived losses. The alternative status quo, or even worse, any preemptive military standoff is far more costly and devastating to all sides concerned.

The plausible normalization of U.S.-Iran Diplomatic Relations: Who are the losers and winners?

 

[petros]

Bibi has his hands full. Maybe he should keep bucking the two State solution to keep the heat on? Oh wait...

 

[BaalsTears]

The plausible normalization of U.S.-Iran Diplomatic Relations: Who are the losers and winners?

As the nuclear negotiations between the P+5 countries and Iran approach the deadline of March 31st, two divergent groups have emerged worldwide which envision the possible outcome as contrary or affirmatory to their special interests. Whereas the ones opposing such a breakthrough are highly organized, well financed and combatively vocal, those gaining from the plausible affirmative outcome are agnostically ambivalent or low keyed in ensuring their voices are clearly and loudly heard. The losers and winners are categorized as follows:

THE LOSERS:

Israel: The current political incumbents headed by Bibi Netanyahu are most apprehensive of a possible breakthrough between the U.S. and Iran. Their trepidation is anchored on their long- standing expectation to posit Israel as the only reliable ally of the U.S. in the region; Israelis hope to continue receiving billions of dollars of economic and military aids subsidized by the ordinary American tax payers. Israel cannot any longer dodge resolving the Palestinian plight as it either has to commit to two equal side by side secured sovereign states, or to simply acquiesce to one secular state of nearly fifteen million where every citizen has one equal vote and equal opportunity.

Iran: The more influential, radical and fundamentalist elements within the Islamic Republic regime in Iran will feel most vulnerable if and when a breakthrough is reached. These hardline elements have held onto the socio-economic and political grips of the country since the revolution of 1979, on the premise that they are battling the “Great Satan”, the U.S. In doing so, they have wasted the natural, financial and human resources of the nation in excess of several trillion dollars and repressed the human rights of many ordinary citizens. A million were killed in a futile war with Iraq, hundreds of thousands of political prisoners have been tortured and killed, millions are in involuntary exile, and democracy and freedoms have been quenched. The rhetorical slogans of the hardliners would lose their last fading shade of color if a breakthrough materializes. Last, this same group has arrived and collected the spoils and spread their net of influence on each instance when the American military forces have left Afghanistan and Iraq after heavy human and financial losses.

U.S.A: The more conservative and frankly most influential wing of the U.S. government along with their military-industrial complex, the staunch supporters of Israel and Saudi Arabia, and the nearly 100 million Americans who believe in the bible literally, will lose dominance on the economic and political stage, since they do not wish to witness regional political stability in Iran’s spheres of west Asia.

Russia: After the military takeover of Crimea and continued meddling in the Ukraine, and the strong reaction received from the west as a result, Russia has to finance its ever expanding sphere of influence and to be able to function despite new western economic sanctions. In doing so, Russia would make sure to sabotage any possible last minute resolution with Iran to continue raising the already slashed price of oil and gas exports, that is, its main source of income. Imagine what the ramification against Russia would be when Iran quadruples its oil and gas productions with a massive infusion of western/U.S. technologies within a short period after the nuclear breakthrough. It would be inconceivable for Iran to continue depending on Russia for its nuclear or other developments when it can procure the same from the much more advanced American technological providers.

Saudi Arabia: Many consider Saudi Arabia and its satellite sheikdoms (the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman) to be the major losers if there is indeed a breakthrough between the U.S. and Iran. Iran will regain its historical regional leadership role especially in OPEC, expand its oil and gas productions and exports; and further diminish the Saudi’s socio-economic and political role in the region. What will devastate the Saudis the most is the upper hand of the Shiites’ ideological, political and military forces backed up by Iran in the battle to neutralize the military and theological dominance which the Saudis had hoped to achieve through their exorbitant financing and training of the Sunni Safaii-Wahhabi terrorist guerillas such as ISIS and the Al-Qaeda.

THE WINNERS:



U.S.A.: With the normalization of relations with Iran, the U.S. and its allies will benefit from an organically grown regional stability where heavy military presence or financing of the so-called allies such as Israel or Saudi Arabia are no longer needed. Diplomatic rapprochement with Iran will also usher in a new era of magnanimous trades beneficial to both sides.

Iran: With the normalization, Iran must inevitably reexamine its constitution for a much anticipated revision and ratification through a referendum. It cannot any longer repress human rights, freedoms, social reforms, and cultural modernization under the xenophobic disguise of creating trepidations from the “great Satan.” The full sovereignty and dignity of the nearly 80 million Iranian citizens will be regained. Transparency, accountability, sustainability, checks and balances and the rule of law and civil society and justice will have to be once again be reinstated in Iran. Finally through a rationale legal system, the perpetrators who inflicted miseries and catastrophes to the nation during the past 35 years must be tried and justly convicted. Tourism alone will within a decade surpass all other national domestic products and exports in Iran combined.

European Union: With the economic stalemate currently in Europe, a new era of expanded economic trade exchange with Iran and west Asia will ensue.

China and East Asia: China, India, Korea and Japan will secure a stable long term commitment to meeting their energy needs from west Asia particularly from Iran. They will also broaden and secure their economic ties through opening up new markets in west Asia.

Israel: Israel in the long run will regain the trust of its historical ally, Iran, and after it resolves its own lingering impasse with its Palestinian brethren. This will allow Israel to solely focus on its economic development and scientific and technological marvels. In the long run, especially when U.S. and western support wanes for Israel, Iran will be the only ally for Israel to counter-balance the exponentially increasing influence of Arab regimes.

In summary, the gains earned by all sides from the nuclear resolution and the strategically inevitable normalization of relations between the U.S. and the West with Iran will far outweigh the collective perceived losses. The alternative status quo, or even worse, any preemptive military standoff is far more costly and devastating to all sides concerned.

The plausible normalization of U.S.-Iran Diplomatic Relations: Who are the losers and winners?

Neither America nor China win from the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the context of Shia/Sunni war.

 

[damngrumpy]

Such is the enigma of the Middle East. Everyone just changes sides and the
fight continues. Its not about winning and losing its about fighting

 

[BaalsTears]

“Operation Decisive Storm,” launched at midnight Saudi Arabia time, bombarded Yemen’s Houthi rebels with the power of 100 Saudi fighters jets, 150,000 soldiers and naval units in the operation. The United Arab Emirates pitched in 30 fighter jets, Bahrain contributed 15, Qatar sent 10, Kuwait deployed 15 and Jordan contributed six. Even North Africa got into the game, with Sudan sending three fighter jets, Egypt supplying four warships and air support, and Morocco sending six fighter jets. Pakistan also provided naval and aerial support in the attack on the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The White House said the U.S. provided “logistical and intelligence” support.

But it was revealed today that Pentagon officials were told about the coalition operation just a few hours before the Saudis struck. The Saudi ambassador to Washington announced the attack at their embassy in D.C. shortly after the military found out.

“The reality is that countries in the region no longer have confidence in or are willing to work with the United States of America,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) somberly noted at a press conference on the Hill moments ago.



Read more: GOP Senators: Obama's 'Obsession' with 'Placating' Iran Led to 'Mideast on Fire' | PJ Tatler

 

[mentalfloss]

John be mad.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

We need to launch Operation Who the Hell Comes Up with These Stupid Names for Operations.

 

[mentalfloss]

They probably use a random name generator.

Operation Prologue
Operation Sledgehammer
Operation Epiphany
Operation Sea Demon
Operation Custodian
Operation Shut Down
Operation Climax
Operation Yellow Thunder
Operation Brown Mammoth
Operation Purple Dragon

Military operation name generator