US Forces heading back to Iraq

[Ars Moriendi]

Iraq Escalation: US Troops Headed Back To Fallujah

Governor of Anbar, Iraq confirms deal for US presence 'very soon'.

http://www.mintpressnews.com/iraq-escalation-us-troops-headed-back-fallujah/195402/

http://news.antiwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/fallujah.png

Having ditched the Yazidi rescue pretext for the new US war in Iraq, after discovering there weren’t really many Yazidis to rescue in the first place, the US has reportedly set its sights on the Anbar Province, site of some of the bloodiest US battles during the previous occupation.

In an interview with Reuters, Anbar Governor Ahmed Khalaf al-Dulaimi confirmed meetings with US diplomats and senior military officials, and secured a promise of not only air strikes against ISIS holdings in the province, but a military presence on the ground.

“No date was decided but it will be very soon and there will be a presence for the Americans in the western area,” Dulaimi confirmed. ISIS controls materially all of the Anbar Province at this point.

Anbar was the first major territorial gain for ISIS in Iraq, way back in January when they seized Fallujah and Ramadi, the main cities in the province. Since then, they’ve expanded, and were believed to have recently taken the Haditha Dam, one of the last sites outside their control in the province.

The US launched several major invasions of Fallujah during the last war, in both 2003 and in 2004, During Operation Phantom Fury, the last of the sieges, the US Marines invaded the city in a battle that left an estimated 1,500 insurgents and 800 civilians dead, along with 95 US troops.

Anbar is also the site of the city of Haditha, where in 2005 US Marines carried out the notorious Haditha Massacre, where they killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians, including women and children, in response to an IED explosion that killed a solider near the city.

In addition to being the ISIS heartland in Iraq, the checkered history of US military operations in the major cities suggest troops will not be particularly welcomed in this new invasion. The Pentagon has yet to confirm the details of the plan, but Governor Dulaimi’s comments suggest it is already a done deal, and will begin with airstrikes before expanding to a ground war.

[Ars Moriendi]

Coinciding with Ghani's reported approval of the security agreement signed with NATO for a prolonged military presence in Afghanistan, an Iraqi official has revealed that about 13.000 troops could be returning to Iraq.

A video has been made available by PressTV, but since it cannot be embedded, you'll have to click the url address under the title to check it:

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13,000 US troops to be deployed to Iraq: Officials

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/09/25/379964/us-to-deploy-13k-troops-to-iraq/

Iraqi officials say that the United States is due to send 13,000 soldiers to Iraq, despite its claims of complete military withdrawal from the country.

The vice president of the local council of Iraq’s Saladin Province made the announcement on Thursday, adding that the troops, along with their vehicles, would be stationed at the Speicher airfield in the city of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad.

Washington has already sent 1,600 troops to Iraq, most recently on September 10, when an additional 475 soldiers were deployed to the country. The US claims most of them serve as advisers to Iraqi and Kurdish forces or provide security for the US embassy and the international airport in the Iraqi capital.

Washington has also been conducting airstrikes against the positions of the Takfiri ISIL militants in Iraq.

The Iraqi official, meanwhile, confirmed that there are dozens of military advisors on the ground in the province.

The deployment comes as US President Barack Obama said earlier this month that he would not pursue another ground war in Iraq after US troops’ pullout from the country in 2011.

“As your commander in chief, I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq,” said Obama in a speech to troops at US Central Command headquarters in Florida on September 17.

Senior religious and political figures in Iraq, including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, have in recent days called on the Baghdad government not to rely on foreign powers in the battle against the ISIL.

Political experts believe that the real objective of the so-called international coalition recently formed by Washington to fight ISIL is to expand the US military presence in the region.

MR/HJL/KA

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As I had state once before, it seems all factors are started to configure for a full out 3-way war in Iraq. If anything, it'll be the time to see if Asaib Ahl al-Haq's methods to kill American infantry have improved.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

I'm very glad I didn't join the military and become a professional soldier at the end of high school like I had planned when I was 5. My high school self had an inkling something was wrong with the big picture.

A complete mess and all for nothing. My rational self says enough with this absurdity. Time to end all military involvement in ME. My instinctual self says... you're going to cut off heads of our civilians? You're one dead mutha fucka. The rational side must prevail. It's a waste of life and money. It sucks for the Sunnis and Kurds there but if you don't look out for your own, no one will. The most I'd do is allow for arming them and training.

[Crn Volk]

What a mess. Wait for the recall to Afghanistan soon too.

[Ars Moriendi]

What a mess. Wait for the recall to Afghanistan soon too.

Are you reading what is posted?...

Second article, first lines:


Coinciding with Ghani's reported approval of the security agreement signed with NATO for a prolonged military presence in Afghanistan, an Iraqi official has revealed that about 13.000 troops could be returning to Iraq.

I also have elaborated on the Afghan new development.
Click here (http://www.theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?140392-Why-Iran-Won%92t-Leave-Afghanistan&p=3010394&viewfull=1#post3010394)

[Ars Moriendi]

Eager to engage in battle once again, as evidenced by Cameron's latest speech in the UN, the British have also been gathering around Arbil.
It is now clear that the Anglo-American power structure is not willing to let the Iraqi Kurd government they've invested so much on, be wiped out accidentally by IS.
Might also give them a better footing for a potential future conflict with the Iraqi South and Iran.


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British special forces join fighters on Isil front line
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11131948/British-special-forces-join-fighters-on-Isil-front-line.html

Exclusive: SAS and American special forces working with Kurdish fighters on the Iraqi front lines as discussions under way to give them dedicated base near the Kurdish city of Dohuk

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03057/peshmerga_3057574b.jpg

SAS and American special forces are working with Kurdish fighters on the Iraqi front lines as part of a major offensive to push Isil jihadists back and relieve pressure on the besieged Syria town of Kobane, senior Kurdish military officers have disclosed.

The Kurdish forces launched attacks just before dawn on three fronts - Rabia, on the Syrian border, Zummar, a town near Mosul Dam, and a number of villages near Daquq, south of Kirkuk.

SAS and American special forces were working along these battle zones as observers on the front lines as well as training Kurdish troops. Brig. Gen. Hikmet also said that discussions were under way to give them a dedicated base near the Kurdish city of Dohuk.

"The special forces have been so effective for us," Brig-Gen Helgurd Hikmet told the Telegraph. "Their special forces don't take any part in the fighting. They are only taking a role in training and teaching, and also as observers. As observers they go to the front line, but don't do any fighting."

It is believed the British air strikes on Tuesday (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11131316/RAF-bombing-of-Iraq-begins.html) were part of the battle for Rabia, which is a key supply route for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) between its "headquarters" in Syria and its forces in Iraq.

Large amounts of modern American equipment seized from the Iraqi army during Isil's push across Iraq in June were taken over the border to Syria across this border.

The villages near Daquq are where the two front lines are closest, with the black flags of Isil flying less than 100 yards across a narrow canal from the Kurdish positions, and a couple of hundreds of yards from the main road to Kirkuk.

Troops there on Tuesday said a force of 3-400 men crossed the river at 4.30am and managed to encircle Isil troops in the forward village of Wahda, seizing the villages of Khalidiya and Saadiya to the north- and south-west. But the centre point of the attack became held up in Wahda, and the whole advance was forced to fall back.

"I was in Khalidiya and the response we met was very heavy," said Khadir Aziz, a Peshmerga soldier. "We never imagined they would hit us so strongly."
One of the commanding officers, Lt Col Safwat Mahmoud, said they had tried to call in air strikes in support but had had no response.

Last night as dusk fell the battle was continuing by the canal, with Isil Dushkas - Russian-made anti-aircraft guns - holding the Peshmerga at bay and also targeting a helicopter hovering overhead.

Brig-Gen Hikmet said the aim of the concerted Kurdish push had been to try to draw away Isil fighters and relieve pressure on Kobane, the Kurdish town in Syria near the Turkish border that is all but surrounded by Isil.

"When we were first at war with Isil, we saw our weapons were nothing - most were not working, even our ammunition was old," Brig. Gen. Hikmet said. "[U]This coalition with western countries is very powerful for us."

[LightHouse89]

They need to send in the Marines, 101st Airborne and Rangers.I might sign up if I can go Airborne :cool: those ISIL faggots are nothing.

[Ars Moriendi]

Harper has admitted that Canadian Special Forces have also been dispatched to Iraq:

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Stephen Harper confirms 26 Canadian soldiers now in Iraq
Prime minister hasn't yet made a case for air mission, Tom Mulcair chides

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stephen-harper-confirms-26-canadian-soldiers-now-in-iraq-1.2783846

http://i.cbc.ca/1.2784414.1412192013!/cpImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/prime-minister-stephen-harper-in-commons.jpg

Canada has only 26 soldiers in Iraq serving as military advisers, rather than the 69 troops the government had said it was sending, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Earlier Wednesday, New Democrats said that Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told them in an email that only 26 special forces troops were on the ground in northern Iraq to help fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, rather than the 69.

Harper's confirmation came in response to a query from NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, who posed another series of short, pointed questions about Canada's deployment during question period.

"It is 26 [Canadian soldiers in Iraq] today," Harper said. "The government has authorized 69, as is well-known. That's obviously a maximum. Those numbers will fluctuate depending on the decisions of operational commanders."

Harper told the House on Sept. 16 that Canada was "in the process of deploying" 69 soldiers (http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=2&DocId=6694957).

'Secrecy and evasiveness'

Employment Minister Jason Kenney told the House that same day (http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=2&DocId=6694957) that "69 brave men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces are providing tactical advice to the Kurdish militias​."

On Sept. 26, James Bezan, parliamentary secretary to Defence Minister Rob Nicholson, told MPs there were "69 members of the Canadian Armed Forces who are providing tactical advice in Iraq (http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=2&DocId=6704703)," although in a separate answer he'd said "up to 69" special forces were being deployed.

Nicholson himself told the House on Sept. 25 that Canada had "committed" 69 soldiers (http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=2&DocId=6703829) and that "69 members of the Canadian Armed Forces have the full permission and co-operation of the Iraq government​."

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau decried what he said was Harper's "secrecy and evasiveness."

"This is unbelievable, Mr. Speaker. We still don't have clear answers," he said.

Both opposition leaders had earlier questioned whether Harper was giving Canadians enough information about a possible combat mission in Iraq.

'Propel us full force into a war'

"This is not a UN mission, so we've got to be extremely careful before we start listening to the siren song of those who would propel us full force into a war," Mulcair said as he left the party's weekly caucus meeting on Parliament Hill.

http://i.cbc.ca/1.2784114.1412180323!/cpImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_300/ndp-leader-tom-mulcair-20141001.jpg
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair says Prime Minister Stephen Harper hasn't made his case for a Canadian contribution to the fight against ISIS, noting, 'We've got to be extremely careful before we start listening to the siren song of those who would propel us full force into a war.' (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Asked whether Mulcair would consider supporting an air combat mission with an end date, he said there's no proposal right now.

"We certainly haven't heard the Conservatives make the case for that. They haven't in any way, shape or form been able to show to the Canadian people why that [sending CF-18 fighter jets] is Canada's best contribution in the current crisis there. If he was able to make that case, he would have started doing it. He can't make that case," Mulcair said.

The NDP leader says he was briefed by Harper before Canadian special forces went into Mali, but hasn't yet been offered a briefing on a possible mission in Iraq to combat fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria..

Airstrikes 'heavily considered'

Trudeau echoed Mulcair's complaint that Harper has not convinced him of the need for a combat mission.

"The prime minister seems intent on taking us into a war in Iraq. It is his job to make the case for that and so far he has failed in any level of openness, transparency or frankness in his actual approach," Trudeau said after the Liberal caucus.

He said the revelation that there are 26 Canadian special forces in Iraq shows the "government is preferring to be secretive and play games."

Conservative MP Erin O'Toole, a former military pilot, said he hasn't heard any discussion of how many planes might go if cabinet decides on an air mission, or a timeline for any potential mission. But he suggested the government favours an air combat role.

"We've got to play a role commensurate with our size and ability and those decisions are being made on what type of role that should be. Airstrikes is one option that is being heavily considered," O'Toole said.

[hanona]

If the U.S. hadn't attacked in the first place, none of this would be happening right now. They're only interested in securing their oil interests there, nothing more. -_-

[LightHouse89]

Praise God I will join the Military. :rolleyes:

[Ballist]

The only thing that the US needs to do is give the Peshmerga and maybe even the Iraqi Army training and better equipment, heavy equipment. It's not the USA's buisness to get involved, their job is done. Leave it up to the people who are responsible to deal with it in their own soil.