Iraq seems to be going well....

[KBScobravert]

I don't believe the word of an Iraqi telling how they fought till they ran out of ammunition.

[ceyko]

2 trillion, with another 4 trillion in benefits and care to be spent. ISIS didn't give a shit about being politically correct, they handled business. God help us if they ever hit our shores.

Yeah when the dust settles, folks like you and I will be put in prison for defending ourselves. Either by them or by our own government.

[Sean88gt]

You know, it took this small little army a week to pretty much take the country. Probably at a cost of a million dollars.

How much did it cost us to take over that country?

2 trillion, with another 4 trillion in benefits and care to be spent. ISIS didn't give a shit about being politically correct, they handled business. God help us if they ever hit our shores.

[mstng86]

You know, it took this small little army a week to pretty much take the country. Probably at a cost of a million dollars.

How much did it cost us to take over that country?

[Baron Von Crowder]

I guess the Shiite has hit the fan.

[jw33]

Humiliation at rout hits Iraqi military hard

BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi soldiers tell of how they can hardly live with the shame of their rout under the onslaught of the Islamic militants. Their commanders disappeared. Pleas for more ammunition went unanswered. Troops ran from post to post only to find them already taken by gunmen, forcing them to flee.

"I see it in the eyes of my family, relatives and neighbors," one lieutenant-colonel who escaped the militants' sweep over the northern city of Mosul told The Associated Press. "I am as broken and ashamed as a bride who is not a virgin on her wedding night."

Iraq's military has been deeply shaken by their collapse in the face of fighters led by the al-Qaida breakaway group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, who in the course of just over a week overran Mosul then stormed toward Baghdad, seizing town after town, several cities and army base after army base over a large swath of territory.

The impact is hurting efforts to rally the armed forces to fight back. Shiite militiamen and volunteers have had to fill the void as the regular army struggles to regroup.

Top commanders have been put under investigation. Conspiracy theories are running rampant to explain the meltdown. Some Shiite allies of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have accused Kurds in the north of encouraging the military collapse so they could grab territory and weapons for themselves — an accusation that they've provided no proof for but that is straining already tense ties with the Kurdish autonomous zone, where officials deny the claim.

On Tuesday, al-Maliki retired three generals who had been deployed in Mosul and ordered legal proceedings against them. He also dismissed a brigadier general and ordered his court martial in absentia. He said he planned to retire off or court martial more senior officers, but gave no details.

Already he had ordered the questioning of the military's Chief of Joint Operations Gen. Abboud Gambar and the ground forces commander Gen. Ali Gheidan, according to security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. The two face no charges and no legal action has been taken against them.

Al-Maliki has also vowed to bring the full weight of military law, including the execution of deserters, on anyone who is found out to have fled the battle.

Al-Maliki is trying to turn the armed forces around. He told army commanders and volunteers in a rally south of Baghdad this week that the rout served as a much needed wake-up call. He said it would lead to the exposure and punishment of military commanders and politicians he accuses of betraying their country. He has also cryptically blamed conspiracies, acts of treachery and meddling Arab nations.

The blow was particularly harsh in a country that has traditionally prided itself on the prowess of its soldiers, with the faith of its Shiite majority immersed in a narrative of martyrdom that is rooted in the fabled bravery of its saints.

In an attempt to restore faith in the armed forces, state-run Iraqiya television has been airing little over the past week besides clips of troops and police marching or in action, helicopters strafing what is purportedly militants' positions and soldiers and policemen performing traditional dancing with civilians.


Members of the political coalition led by al-Maliki openly accused the Kurdish self-rule government of collusion with the Islamic militants in the capture of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, by doing nothing to prevent its fall. They said Kurdish fighters illegally seized large quantities of weapons and equipment left behind by fleeing Iraqi troops.

After the seizure of Mosul, Kurdish fighters deployed in the vital oil city of Kirkuk in the north and parts of Diyala province northeast of Baghdad that the Kurds have long claimed as their own.

Al-Maliki's allies have not produced evidence to back up their claims, which the Kurds categorically denied. The Kurds say they moved into the areas to protect them after Iraqi government forces left. Otherwise, Islamic State fighters would have taken them, they argue.

And in what seemed an implicit dig at the military's rout, the prime minister of the Kurdish region, Nechirvan Barzani, dismissed Baghdad's charges as "running away from the truth."

The breakdown is rooted in multiple factors. Even after the United States spent billions of dollars training the armed forces during its 2003-2011 military presence in Iraq, the 1 million-member army and police remain riven by sectarian discontents, corruption and a lack of professionalism.

The territory that the Islamic State has captured has an overwhelmingly Sunni population, where resentment is high against al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government because of what they see as discrimination against their communities. Sunnis in the armed forces are hesitant to be seen fighting for al-Maliki, and Shiite troops deployed in Sunni areas feel isolated and vulnerable amid hostile territory. Morale in the military is already low in a battle against a Sunni insurgency that has grown the past two years, with desertions rife, particularly by Sunnis.

At the time Islamic State fighters overran Mosul a week ago, there were about 50,000 federal and regular local police in the city and two army divisions totaling about 24,000 troops. The federal police were largely Shiites, the locals mainly Sunnis from Mosul. One of the army divisions was mixed Sunni-Shiite and the other was mainly composed of Kurds.

Among the troops who escaped Mosul, the humiliation hits deep.

The lieutenant colonel, a Shiite who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of fears of reprisals, had been stationed in an air base in Mosul. They received orders to pull out and fall back to their division headquarters, but when they got there they found it had already been captured by militants who were looting its arsenals. So he and his comrades fled to the city of Kirkuk, to the southeast, then proceeded to Baghdad.

He said they were detained briefly at a checkpoint near Baghdad and questioned by other soldiers why they fled — a further shame.

"I have been fighting in Mosul for five years, we never ran away. Some of us were killed and injured, but we never ran away," he said. "Now, people tell me we are cowards, can you imagine? I cannot sleep. Death is more merciful."

Montazar al-Rubiae, a member of the paramilitary federal police force in Mosul, said his unit battled for 18 hours against militant fighters in Mosul until they ran out of ammunitions. Their calls for reinforcements and ammunition went unanswered. They pulled back to their headquarters, where they heard other federal police had fled, putting on civilian clothes and abandoning their weapons. His unit redeployed and fought more, but then pulled back to a checkpoint on Mosul's southern outskirts — which they too found already taken by militants.

They received orders to withdraw — and the commander of his brigade and his top aides quickly left in three pickup trucks. "When we tried to get a lift with them, they just drove on in the direction of Irbil," he said, referring to the nearby capital of the Kurdish autonomous zone.

Then the remains of his unit came under attack, prompting them to change into civilian clothes and flee for Kurdish areas.

"They came out from everywhere and started hunting us one after the other, like birds," he said.

[BP]

Well at least Assad's guys will know who to shoot at first.

[Forever_frost]

http://foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=22995&external=2706112.proteus.fma

Syrian and Iraqi terrorist forces obtained significant numbers of tanks, trucks, and U.S.-origin Humvees in recent military operations in Iraq and those arms are being shipped to al Qaeda rebels in Syria, according to U.S. officials.

U.S. intelligence agencies reported this week that photos of the equipment transfers were posted online by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS, the ultra-violent terror group that broke away from al Qaeda but shares its goals and philosophy.

Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Bill Speaks confirmed the weapons transfers and expressed concerns about the captured arms.

"We're aware of reports of some equipmentnamely Humveesand the pictures that have been posted online," Speaks said in an email. "We are certainly concerned about these reports and are consulting with the Iraqi government to obtain solid confirmation on what assets may have fallen into ISIL's hands."

[Mr_Fiux]

http://rt.com/news/166128-isis-jihadists-threaten-britain/

Whooo ill be in the front lines

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

[Forever_frost]

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/06/foghorn/isis-declares-guns-illegal-iraq-except-used-isis-soldiers/

It’s the holy grail of gun control, as demanded by Michael Bloomberg and his minions as well as Dianne Feinstein and her associates in Congress: a total ban on firearms, other than those used by the government. And what government is embracing this “progressive” stance on ‘dangerous weapons, you might ask? The Al-Qaeda associated group known as ISIS has just made that declaration for all land under its control in Iraq . . .

From The Telegraph:

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham has set out a list of rules for residents of Mosul as it seeks to impose its Islamist rules on Iraq’s second city.

[...]

No public gathering other than those organised by ISIS will be allowed at any stage. No guns will be allowed outside of its ranks.

It has been said many times that power grows out of the barrel of a gun, and it looks like ISIS is embracing that idea.

The impetus behind this move is pretty clear: ISIS wants a monopoly on power so they can force those living in areas under their control to follow their rather extreme version of Islam and nothing else. If all guns are illegal, then there would be no way for citizens to resist the impending approach of death squads and morality police.

It’s about power and control, not “safety.”

ISIS has now become the latest gun control advocacy organization, joining not only the ranks of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Moms Demand Action, the Violence Policy Coalition, and Everytown for Gun Safety, but also the Ku Klux Klan and the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China.

[Forever_frost]

Operator as fuck
11 hours ago
I never thought I'd say this but I am happy to announce Marine FAST aka Fake Ass SEAL Team is on deck in Baghdad and ready to throw down. This is good news.

[Forever_frost]

Operator as fuck
Yesterday at 13:34 ·

Our brother Grifter is on the ground in Baghdad right now filling sand bags and getting ready for the fight of his life. He has written his death letter and I have instructions to release it to you all as his final blog in "Musings of a grey man" should he perish. There is much much more I want to say right now but I can't. The upside to this is ISIS has not had a legitimate fight yet. This will be a legitimate fight.

[KBScobravert]

I got an email returned from a buddy of mine in BIAP who is a Security Coordinator with PAE. He said that Balad is empty at this time of all US Expats and FNs according to the reports and indicators he has received. "They poured a lot of money and prep into getting that place ready for the F-16 training mission. Too bad. Back to square 1, eh?"......"The fog of war is in full swing.....real intel is uncovered after the fact....24 or 48 hours after the events went down. Hard to say what is going on real time. As I said though, it is no where near as bad as its made out to be"

"Taji is still in place with SOSI not going anywhere (US Expats, Indian and Napalis Subs, some Africans and other Balkan FNs there working). A lot of folks were rattled but a horde of Baghdad Iraqi's (MAM'S) hired on and have augmented the GOI Military (Militias) and they have begun wrestling control of some of the ISIL captured towns back as they move northward."

"A quick snapshot of the poorly supported, poorly led and left to fend for themselves Iraqi military who fled the fight from Mosul as there was NONE to rally, inspire or lead them in their conflict up north in Mosul shows us the GOI "big army" is corrupt as sin. Many of their leaders are on the take and completely unqualified as officers to be in the positions they are in.............a world class debacle for the Maliki gov't - there be NO DOUBT about that."

"I think ISIL was hoping to inspire an arab spring type uprising as they swept south but they didn't have the combat power, strength, and size of the force to make it to Baghdad."

[Forever_frost]

You know they did. Obama was determined to get out immediately

[turboford]

After the capture of Mosul by Islamist militants of ISIS rumors spread across social media for days that the Mosul airport contained a fleet of American loaned Blackhawk Helicopters given to security forces by the United States.

Today, the Islamist States of Iraq and Syria (“ISIS”) are confirming with the above image that they have indeed, seized control and have begun to operate at least one of these aircraft.

Iraqi officials are also confirming that at least one Blackhawk is now in the hands of ISIS militants and has already been used to attack military positions of the Maliki government.

http://conservativebyte.com/2014/06/...licopter-iraq/

Everyone of those aircraft needs to be destroyed immediately. Hopefully they didn't leave any Abrams or Bradleys