Al Qaeda seizes northern Iraq cities - vows march on Baghdad - June 11, 2014

[Tamikosmom]

ISIS moving seized US tanks, Humvees to Syria
Published June 17, 2014

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 equipment—namely Humvees—and 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.”

Speaks added that the loss of the equipment to the terrorist group is “really a matter for the Iraqi government to speak to publicly” because “it is their equipment.”

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/17/isis-moving-seized-us-tanks-humvees-to-syria/

[Tamikosmom]

Fighting northeast of Baghdad kills at least 44 detainees
Published June 17, 2014

BAGHDAD –  Police said Tuesday that pro-government Shiite militiamen killed nearly four dozen Sunni detainees after insurgents tried to storm a jail and free them northeast of Baghdad. The Iraqi military, however, insisted the inmates were killed when the attackers shelled the facility.

Neither account could be independently confirmed, but the allegation of Shiite killings of Sunnis was the first hint of a possible return to past sectarian warfare that nearly tore the country apart. Sunni militants also have been accused of atrocities in areas they have captured over the past week.

The insurgents were repelled, but the fighting around the jail outside Baqouba was the closest to Baghdad since the Al Qaeda breakaway group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant began its lightning advance, seizing several key cities in the Sunni heartland in northern Iraq.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/17/iraq-44-detainees-die-as-sunni-militants-attack-jail-northeast-baghdad-fight/

[Tamikosmom]

Battle-tested Kurds watch as ISIS routs Iraqi Army
Published June 17, 2014

DIYALA PROVINCE, Iraq –  Rockets and mortars peppered the vast plain below as Kurdish generals surveyed the battlefield. Plumes of smoke rose around the landscape as shells streamed over our heads, and a helicopter circled above. The sound of gunfire was endless, and as a tank roared backward ambulances headed forward.

Embedded with the Kurdish Psehmerga fighters, the defenders of the oil-rich northern enclave in Iraq, we stood ready as the ISIS swept through northwestern Iraq. But aside from a few light skirmishes, the Al Qaeda-linked army of ruthless terrorists seemed bent on taking their march south toward Baghdad, and not into the autonomous zone of Kurdistan, where hardened fighters are prepared to defend their oil-rich turf.

This northern front is one of the few places where ISIS have encountered resistance -- for unlike the Iraqi Army, the cohesive Kurdish force has held them back.

For miles leading up to this front, remnants of an Iraqi Army could be seen in the dust. Helmets and body armor discarded, barrack doors still open, humvees left sitting by the side of the road -- a stark reminder of the army that had faded into the night. ...

This is the army that the U.S. has spent tens of billions of dollars training, and whose troops were supposed to stabilize the country.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/17/leery-and-battle-tested-kurds-watch-as-isis-routs-iraqi-army/

[Tamikosmom]

Former GITMO Detainee Lahcen Ikassrien Arrested in Spain Recruiting for ISIS
 
LOOKS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LET GITMO DETAINEES GO … YEAH, THEY POSE NO THREAT.

Posted June 17, 2014 by Scared Monkeys

http://scaredmonkeys.com/2014/06/17/former-gitmo-detainee-lahcen-ikassrien-arrested-in-spain-recruiting-for-isis/

[Tamikosmom]

Obama reportedly rules out Iraq airstrikes as US races to gather intelligence on militants
Published June 18, 2014

President Obama reportedly has ruled out, for now, using airstrikes against an Al Qaeda-inspired Sunni Muslim insurgency that has seized vast swaths of territory in the north and west of Iraq as the U.S. races to gather more intelligence on the militant group and its leaders.

The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday that Obama has for the time being ruled out using airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) because U.S. commanders lack sufficient intelligence to determine clear battlefield targets. U.S. officials told the paper Tuesday that airstrikes were still being actively discussed, but Obama was not expected to put military action back on the table quickly.

Obama planned to brief top congressional leaders on his administration's possible responses to the crumbling situation in Iraq during a White House meeting Wednesday. One option under consideration is the deployment of special operations troops to provide training and intelligence support to the Iraqi military.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/18/obama-reportedly-rules-out-iraq-airstrikes-as-prepares-to-meet-with-hill/

[Tamikosmom]

Militants, Iraq security forces clash at country's largest oil refinery
Published June 18, 2014

An official at Iraq’s largest domestic oil refinery says Sunni militants have taken over 75 percent of the facility following clashes with Iraqi security forces.

"The militants have managed to break in to the refinery. Now they are in control of the production units, administration building and four watch towers. This is 75 percent of the refinery," an official speaking from inside the refinery in Beiji told Reuters on Wednesday.

A state oil official told The Wall Street Journal that two fuel-storage tanks were in flames after hours of fighting before dawn Wednesday, some 155 miles north of the capital, Baghdad. The official said militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) targeted the oil refinery with mortars and machine guns.

In response, Iraqi security forces and helicopter gunships bombarded positions of the militants inside the refinery, another state oil official added.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/18/militants-lay-seige-to-iraq-largest-oil-refinery/

[Tamikosmom]

Witness claims ISIS flag flies over key Iraq refinery, Baghdad says soldiers still hold it
Published June 19, 2014

Iraq's government insisted Thursday that security forces were still in control of the country's largest oil refinery, despite claims that Al Qaeda-aligned Sunni Muslim insurgents had raised their flag over the facility.

A witness who drove past the Beiji refinery told the Associated Press that militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) had hung black banners on the refinery's watch towers and were manning checkpoints around the building. He said a huge fire in one of its tankers was raging at the time.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/19/witness-claims-isis-flag-flies-over-key-iraq-refinery-baghdad-says-soldiers/

[Tamikosmom]

Obama sending Kerry to Middle East, ready to dispatch military advisers to Iraq
Published June 19, 2014

President Obama responded to the growing sectarian violence in Iraq by announcing Thursday that he's dispatching Secretary of State John Kerry for talks in the Middle East and Europe -- and is preparing to send up to 300 military advisers to aid the Iraqi military.

The president, holding back on more aggressive measures such as airstrikes, addressed the crisis in Iraq and the U.S. response after meeting for hours with his national security team. Speaking in the White House briefing room, he also touched on the controversial topic of whether the U.S. should work with Iran to counter militants next door -- saying Iran can play a "constructive role" if they join the U.S. in calling for the Iraqi government to be inclusive, but would worsen the situation if the Shiite regime's only interest is in shoring up fellow Shiite fighters.

The president repeatedly stressed that U.S. combat troops would not engage in the Iraq conflict. "Ultimately, this is something that's going to have to be solved by the Iraqis," Obama said.

But, citing concerns about the situation spiraling into an "all-out civil war," Obama said he's prepared to send a "small number" -- up to 300 -- of additional military advisers to train and advise Iraqi security forces, and set up "joint operation centers" in Baghdad and elsewhere. The president said the U.S. already has "significantly increased" intelligence and surveillance to better understand what Sunni militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria are doing.

The president also stressed the diplomatic track, saying Kerry would leave this weekend for meetings with allies in the Middle East and Europe.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/19/senators-blast-obama-foreign-policy-as-political-war-over-iraq-heats-up/

[Tamikosmom]

'We did not know': 9 times the Obama administration was blindsided
Published June 19, 2014

1. Islamist militants gaining in Iraq

The New Yorker (1/27/2014): "In the 2012 campaign, Obama spoke not only of killing Osama bin Laden; he also said that Al Qaeda had been 'decimated.' I pointed out that the flag of Al Qaeda is now flying in Fallujah, in Iraq, and among various rebel factions in Syria; Al Qaeda has asserted a presence in parts of Africa, too.

'The analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a jayvee team puts on Lakers uniforms that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant,' Obama said, resorting to an uncharacteristically flip analogy. 'I think there is a distinction between the capacity and reach of a bin Laden and a network that is actively planning major terrorist plots against the homeland versus jihadists who are engaged in various local power struggles and disputes, often sectarian.'"

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/20/obama-administration-caught-by-surprise/

[Tamikosmom]

AL QAEDA ON THE RUN

BARACK OBAMA - CHICAGO - AUGUST, 2011

“In Afghanistan, we’ve got al Qaeda on the run and we are going to begin transitioning to give Afghans more responsibility, but also to start bringing our troops home, because we’ve got a lot of work to do here at home to rebuild America.”

"On the foreign policy front, you elected me in part based on a promise that we would end the war in Iraq, and we have ended combat operations there. And by the end of this year we will have our troops out of Iraq, as I promised and as I committed.”

[Tamikosmom]

Iraq's prime minister al-Maliki under pressure amid militant offensive
Published June 20, 2014

Iraq's Shiite prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, embattled by the militant offensive sweeping his country's north, faces growing calls for him to be forced out of office as Al-Qaeda inspired insurgents press closer to Baghdad.

Nouri al-Maliki, who rose from relative obscurity to the country's top political office in 2006, has seen his credibility challenged by the Sunni militants of the Al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The insurgents launched a stunning offensive last week that swallowed up a large chunk of northern Iraq, together with the nation's second-largest city, Mosul.

With the country now in turmoil, al-Maliki's rivals have mounted a campaign to force him out of office, with some angling for support from Western backers and regional heavyweights. On Thursday, their effort received a massive boost from President Barack Obama.

Obama stopped short of calling for Nouri al-Maliki to resign, saying "it's not our job to choose Iraq's leaders." But, his carefully worded comments did all but that.

"Only leaders that can govern with an inclusive agenda are going to be able to truly bring the Iraqi people together and help them through this crisis," Obama declared at the White House.

"We've said publicly, that whether (al-Maliki) is prime minister or any other leader aspires to lead the country, that there has to be an agenda in which Sunni, Shiite and Kurd all feel that they have the opportunity to advance their interest through the political process," the president said.

Though Obama did not directly call for al-Maliki to resign, the administration is reportedly weighing whether to press the Shiite prime minister in Baghdad to step down in a last-ditch effort to prevent disgruntled Sunnis from igniting a civil war.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/20/iraq-prime-minister-al-maliki-under-pressure-amid-militant-offensive/

[Tamikosmom]

Billions spent, thousands of lives lost: US investment in training Iraqi forces thrown into doubt
Published June 13, 2014

Billions of U.S. dollars invested in training and equipping Iraq's security forces are in danger of going to waste as Iraqi soldiers abandon their posts in the face of Al Qaeda-aligned militants on a deadly march through the country's north -- not to mention the thousands of American lives lost in the nine-year war.

Iraqi security forces reportedly fled in two more towns late Thursday, after army divisions abandoned the cities of Mosul and Tikrit earlier in the week. Lawmakers and Obama administration officials were alarmed at how quickly the Iraqi Army, which U.S. forces spent years building up, effectively disintegrated in northern strongholds.

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According to an inspector general report issued last year, the U.S. government spent nearly $25 billion on "training, equipping and sustaining" the Iraqi security forces as of late 2012.

The money was poured into Iraq as part of the arduous process of restoring order after the fall of Saddam. In 2004, the country had a feeble army and an incompetent police force -- only a tiny fraction of whom were properly trained.

In fits and starts, the U.S. and its allies invested huge sums in building up and training a new force, renovating and building military bases, and providing hardware -- the effort continues to this day, with Iraq set to receive dozens of U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets.

By the time U.S. forces withdrew at the end of 2011, Iraq's trained security forces numbered more than 930,000. That included a 200,000-strong army, in addition to Iraqi police and other wings.

In a relative instant, those who worked on that mission are watching those gains melt away.

"Given past U.S. sacrifices, it's devastating to see terrorist groups taking over large cities in Iraq and marching to Baghdad," Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/13/billions-spent-thousands-lives-lost-us-investment-in-training-iraqi-forces/

[Tamikosmom]

Shiite cleric issues threat to US military advisers as Iraq militants take border post
Published June 21, 2014

A high-level Shiite cleric in Iraq issued a warning to American military advisers bound for Iraq Friday, hours before Sunni militants captured a crossing on Iraq's border with Syria and Shiite militia members paraded in Baghdad and other cities.

Sky News reports that Nassir al-Saedi, a cleric loyal to the firebrand Muqtada al-Sadr, referred to America as "the occupier" in a sermon during Friday prayers and added "We will be ready for you if you are back."

On Thursday, President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. would send 300 military advisers to provide intelligence and training to the Iraqi army in its fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), a group that has already taken wide swathes of territory in Iraq's north and west.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/21/shiite-cleric-issues-threat-to-us-military-advisers-as-iraq-militants-take/

[Tamikosmom]

Sunni militants capture towns, border crossing as offensive expands in western Iraq
Published June 21, 2014

Sunni fighters led by an Al Qaeda-inspired militant group expanded their offensive in a volatile western province on Saturday, capturing two strategic towns and the first border crossing with Syria to fall on the Iraqi side.

It's the latest blow against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is fighting for his political life even as forces beyond his control are pushing the country toward a sectarian showdown.

In a reflection of the bitter divide, about 20,000 heavily armed Shiite militiamen -- eager to take on the Sunni insurgents -- marched through Baghdad's Sadr City district with assault rifles, machine-guns, multiple rocket launchers and missiles. Similar parades were held in the southern cities of Amarah and Basra, with the militants in Basra displaying field artillery pieces hauled by heavy trucks.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/21/sunni-militants-capture-towns-border-crossing-as-offensive-expands-in-western/

[Tamikosmom]

Somali-Americans leave homes, friends in Minnesota to fight alongside ISIS jihadis
Published June 22, 2014

As many as 15 Somali-American men have left their homes in Minnesota in recent months to travel to the Middle East and join up with ISIS, the jihadist army at war with Syria and Iraq, according to Minnesota Public Radio.

The fighters appear to have made the decision to go fight with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/Levant while the terror group was fighting to overthrow Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, but some may now be in Iraq, where the marauding group is seeking to topple Baghdad.

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ISIS, an Iraq-based, Al Qaeda-linked terror group, poured into Syria as rebels known as the Free Syrian Army fought to overthrow Assad. But ISIS’s ferocious brutality, especially toward Christians, quickly caused a rift with the Syrian rebels. Now, the group appears bent on establishing an Islalamic caliphate, or nation under strict Islamic law, spanning the two nations.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/22/somali-americans-leave-homes-friends-in-minnesota-to-fight-alongside-isis/

[Tamikosmom]

Iraqi insurgents capture fourth town since Friday
Published June 22, 2014

Sunni Muslim insurgents in Iraq captured their fourth town in a little more than 24 hours late Saturday, hours before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the Middle East to try to shore up Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's faltering government.

Iraqi officials told the Associated Press that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) captured the town of Rutba in the western province of Anbar, about 90 miles east of Iraq's border with Jordan. However, AP reported that residents were trying to negotiate with the militants to leave due to the presence of an army unit that threatened to begin shelling.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/22/iraqi-insurgents-capture-fourth-town-since-friday/

[Tamikosmom]

Kerry: Iraqi lawmakers meeting to form new government next week
Published June 23, 2014

Secretary of State John Kerry, emerging from meetings in Baghdad with Iraqi leaders, said he's been assured by embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that Iraqi lawmakers will meet in the coming days to form a new government -- though there's no guarantee the next government would look dramatically different.

"This is a critical moment for Iraq's future," Kerry said Monday, calling for "unity" in the face of a militant force threatening to tear the country apart.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/23/kerry-iraqi-lawmakers-meeting-to-form-new-government-next-week/

[Tamikosmom]

ISIS joins forces with Saddam loyalists in bid to take Baghdad
Published June 23, 2014

For 10 years, members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist party -- including many of the dead dictator's top generals -- have hidden in the shadows of Iraq, persecuted by government in Baghdad and plotting, praying and preparing for the chance to reclaim their country.

Now they are back, paired in a bloodthirsty alliance with the brutal jihadis of the Islamic States of Iraq and Syria/Levant. These vicious Islamic radicals fighting alongside top officials from Hussein's dictatorship, are working to seize control of the battle-scarred nation. For now, their objectives converge.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/23/isis-joins-forces-with-saddam-loyalists-in-bid-to-take-baghdad/

[Tamikosmom]

Shiite villagers describe ISIS 'massacre' in northern Iraq
Published June 24, 2014

Shiite Turkmen villagers in northern Iraq have claimed that an Al Qaeda-inspired Sunni militant group carried out a "savage massacre" in four villages near the city of Kirkuk.

The Washington Post reported that more than a dozen residents of the villages of Brawchi, Karanaz, Chardaghli and Beshir described atrocities that took place last week. Kirkuk's deputy police chief, General Turhan Abdel-Rahman, said that he knew of at least 40 dead from the four villages, but noted that there were other bodies inside the village of Beshir.

"Tell the world. It was a savage massacre," one man present at the burial of 15 bodies in the village of Tafaz told the Post.

Many survivors of the attacks have fled to Kirkuk, where Iraqi Kurdish security forces are in control.

The United Nations said Tuesday that more than 1,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed so far in June violence in Iraq, according to Reuters.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/24/shiite-villagers-describe-isis-massacre-in-northern-iraq/

[Tamikosmom]

Official: Intelligence community warned about 'growing' ISIS threat in Iraq
Published June 24, 2014

The U.S. intelligence community warned about the "growing threat" from Sunni militants in Iraq since the beginning of the year, a senior intelligence official said Tuesday -- a claim that challenges assertions by top administration officials that they were caught off guard by the capture of key Iraqi cities.

Earlier Tuesday, in an interview with Fox News, Secretary of State John Kerry said "nobody expected" Iraqi security forces to be decisively driven out by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, as they were earlier this month in Mosul.










But in a separate briefing with reporters Tuesday afternoon, the senior intelligence official said the intelligence community had warned about the ISIS threat.

“During the past year, the intelligence community has provided strategic warning of Iraq’s deteriorating security situation," the official said. "We routinely highlighted (ISIS') growing threat in Iraq, the increasing difficulties Iraq’s security forced faced in combating (ISIS), and the political strains that were contributing to Iraq’s declining stability.”

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