Obama Surrenders Iraq

[Ryan Ruck]

Iraq Lost 2,300 Humvees In Mosul: PM

May 31, 2015

Iraqi security forces lost 2,300 Humvee armored vehicles when ISIS overran the northern city of Mosul, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sunday.

"In the collapse of Mosul, we lost a lot of weapons," Abadi said in an interview with Iraqiya state TV. "We lost 2,300 Humvees in Mosul alone."

While the exact price of the vehicles varies depending on how they are armored and equipped, it is clearly a hugely expensive loss that has boosted ISIS's capabilities.

Last year, the State Department approved a possible sale to Iraq of 1,000 Humvees with increased armor, machineguns, grenade launchers, other gear and support that was estimated to cost $579 million.

Clashes began in Mosul, Iraq's second city, late on June 9, 2014, and Iraqi forces lost it the following day to ISIS, which spearheaded an offensive that overran much of the country's Sunni Arab heartland.

The militants gained ample arms, ammunition and other equipment when multiple Iraqi divisions fell apart in the country's north, abandoning gear and shedding uniforms in their haste to flee.

ISIS has used captured Humvees, which were provided to Iraq by the United States, in subsequent fighting, rigging some with explosives for suicide bombings.

Iraqi security forces backed by Shiite militias have regained significant ground from ISIS in Diyala and Salaheddin provinces north of Baghdad.

But that momentum was slashed in mid-May when ISIS overran Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, west of Baghdad, where Iraqi forces had held out against militants for more than a year.

[Ryan Ruck]

Sweet Jesus did Obama manage to fuck up Iraq...

The Iraqi Army we helped build up and supply is now going to move on one of the only friendly forces we should be aligning with in the area.

Iraqi Army Begins Advance On Kurdish-Held Kirkuk – State TV

Forces start moving at midnight on Sunday towards oil fields and an air base amid rising tensions after Kurds vote for independence

October 15, 2017

Iraqi forces have reportedly advanced on Kirkuk’s oil fields and air base after the prime minister of Iraq, Haidar al-Abadi, ordered his army to “impose security” on the Kurdish city in the wake of a recent vote for independence.

Kurdish and Iraqi officials said forces began moving at midnight on Sunday, with state TV reporting “vast areas” of the region had been seized, a claim disputed by the Kurds.

The governor of Kirkuk, Najmaldin Karim, urged the public to come out onto the streets and voiced his confidence that Peshmerga forces would be able to protect the city. “We saw some of the young people who expressed their readiness to help their Peshmerga brothers to defend the land,” he told Rudaw, a Kurdish media network.

The US Defense Department urged Iraqi and Kurdish forces “to avoid additional escalatory actions” that would detract from the battle against Islamic State militants. The US provided weapons to both the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga to fight Isis.

World oil prices jumped on Monday amid unconfirmed reports from Peshmerga commanders of clashes south of Kirkuk, around Taza Khurmatu, Rudaw reported, with both sides exchanging fire involving heavy weaponry. One Kurdish official claimed to have twice pushed back Iraqi forces.

Kurdish president Masoud Barzani, has ordered his forces not to initiate a conflict but to respond if attacked, Hemin Hawrami, a senior assistant to the president, was quoted as saying.

Al-Iraqiya TV said Iraqi military, anti-terrorist units and federal police had taken control of some areas around the city, advancing without firing a shot. The objective was to take control of the K1 airbase, west of Kirkuk, Lieutenant Colonel Salah el-Kinani of the Iraqi army’s 9th armoured division said.

A photographer with Agence France-Presse reported seeing columns of Iraqi troops heading north from the town of Taza Khurmatu, which lies south of Kirkuk.

Tensions in the area began rising several weeks ago, when the country’s Kurds voted for independence from Baghdad. The referendum was bitterly opposed by Iran, Baghdad and Turkey and has since led to a blockade of the region by all three powers.

On Friday, Kurdish and Iraqi government rushed troops and armour to the city. Peshmerga forces massed about 20 miles from Kirkuk’s southern limits after units loyal to the central government took positions on the city’s approaches, prompting fears of fresh violence in one of the most bitterly contested corners of Iraq.

At the time, the likelihood of an imminent battle for the ethnically diverse city had dissipated, with political leaders on both sides trying to calm nerves. Al-Abadi, who is commander-in-chief of the country’s military, insisted he had no plans to launch an attack.

Following Sunday’s reported advance, the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) security council said: “Iraqi forces and Popular Mobilisation [a paramilitary group] are now advancing from Taza, south of Kirkuk, in a major operation; their intention is to enter the city and take over K1 base and oil fields.”

A commander of the local Kurdish police force said Kurds remained in control of Kirkuk province’s oil wells.

Kurdish fighters seized Kirkuk in mid-2014, after Iraqi forces had fled from the Islamic State extremists advancing towards them after sacking Mosul.