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| Iraq |
| U.S. Providing 'Eye in the Sky' for Iraq Tikrit Operation |
| 2015-03-25 |
| [AnNahar] Washington is providing reconnaissance support for Iraqi forces fighting to retake Tikrit from the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group, an official said Tuesday, the first confirmation of American involvement in the operation. Such assistance could help Iraqi forces move forward with their largest operation against IS jihadists to date, which enjoyed initial success but has since stalled into a siege, with the city surrounded but not retaken. A U.S.-led coalition has targeted IS with air strikes and provided training and equipment to Iraqi forces, but had not previously announced direct assistance for the Tikrit operation, in which Iran has played a major role. "The coalition began providing ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) support on March 21, 2015 at the request of the government of Iraq, and the U.S. is now providing that support," a senior coalition military official told Agence La Belle France-Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... The official said that this support is provided in the form of "an eye in the sky." IS led a sweeping offensive last June that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad, including Tikrit, the capital of Salaheddin province and executed dictator Saddam Hussein's home town. Iraqi security forces initially fared poorly against IS, with multiple divisions collapsing in the north, but have since made major gains against jihadists with the aid of tens of thousands of allied paramilitaries, the U.S.-led coalition and Iran. The operation to retake Tikrit, which involves thousands of Iraqi soldiers, police and forces known as Popular Mobilization units, which are dominated by Shiite militias, began on March 2. - Balancing act - It has succeeded in retaking towns leading to Tikrit, and also in surrounding several hundred jihadists in the city. But capturing Tikrit itself has proved more difficult because of the jihadists' extensive defensive works, including a huge number of bombs planted in streets and buildings. Iraq's interior minister announced last week that the operation had been halted temporarily to avoid casualties and to protect infrastructure in the city. Army Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, a top commander in Salaheddin province, told Agence La Belle France-Presse on March 15 that coalition air support was needed in Tikrit, and that he had requested that the Iraqi defense minister ask for it. But that was apparently not immediately done, with a Pentagon front man saying five days later that he was unaware of any official requests "to participate in operations around Tikrit". The issue of foreign air support, especially from the United States, is a point of contention between the Iraqi military and Death Eaters fighting alongside it. Hadi al-Ameri, the commander of the powerful Iran-backed Badr militia, told journalists on Sunday that: "Some of the weaklings in the army... say we need the Americans, while we say we do not need the Americans." The U.S. faces a delicate balancing act in anti-IS efforts in Iraq, where working against the jihadists sometimes means taking part in operations that are also assisted by rival Iran, and involving militias that fought against American forces in past years. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 Ditto also now as per YEMEN. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2015-03-25 20:45 |
| #3 aerial recon is no doubt useful in this battle but the salient thing is that the 20,000 or so fighting on the Iraqi gov side haven't, in the 2+ weeks of battle, been able to dislodge the 200 to 1000 or so on the ISIS side this does not bode well for a successful operation to retake Mosul |
| Posted by: lord garth 2015-03-25 09:35 |
| #2 If the platform(s) weren't already aloft, we were negligent and conducting air strikes somewhat randomly, which is not realistic. The only difference is, now we appear to be responding to host-nation Requests for Intelligence (RFI) and sharing the production. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-03-25 08:35 |
| #1 "...with the aid of tens of thousands of allied paramilitaries, the U.S.-led coalition and Iran." "The operation to retake Tikrit, which involves thousands of Iraqi soldiers, police and forces known as Popular Mobilization units, which are dominated by Shiite militias, began on March 2." The use of the term 'jihadists' in this article is misleading. This is mainly a fight between theocratic totalitarians of the Sunni Islamic persuasion and theocratic totalitarians of the Shia Islamic persuasion. Both sides see themselves as jihadists i.e. holy warriors making holy war in the name of true Islam. The US is giving assistance to Shiite jihadists. |
| Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 2015-03-25 07:01 |