A new thread prepared for 2018. The existing thread, largely due to Joel Wing's regular postings has 365 posts and 194.7k views. See:Iraq in 2017
A new thread prepared for 2018. The existing thread, largely due to Joel Wing's regular postings has 365 posts and 194.7k views. See:Iraq in 2017
davidbfpo
Security report for Dec 2017 in Iraq. Attacks and casualties all down.
Complete review of security in Iraq in 2017. Defeat of IS on the battlefield and group's withdrawal led to the lowest violence since 2003.
The quotation is from Tacitus, a Roman Senator and appears in a short article by Professor Paul Rogers - who asks will ISIS reappear as Iraq struggles to rebuild cities like Mosul and have enough force to counter a guerilla campaign.
Link:https://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-r...isis-comeback?
davidbfpo
From The Daily Beast a short article of note:In part based on interviews with ISIS prisoners in Iraqi custody and concludes:Wanted Dead or Alive: The Frustrating, Failing Hunt for ISIS Leader Baghdadi; Americans and Russians have converged on the Euphrates valley where the ISIS "caliphate" is making a last stand. They "think" Baghdadi's alive there. But he could be long gone.Link:https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-fr...ptured-or-die?Clearly no government or intelligence service has enough information to kill al Baghdadi.
davidbfpo
Iraq security report 1st wk of Jan 2018.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/01...d-himself.htmlA white-bearded ISIS militant who presided over the killings of dozens of gay men and others who ran afoul of the so-called "caliphate" was captured in the Iraqi city of Mosul last week, according to reports.
Abu Omer was arrested after locals in Mosul tipped security forces off to his hideout in the city, the Iran-based AhlulBayt News Agency (ANBA) reported, citing Iraqi media outlets.
http://www.newsweek.com/who-abu-omer...ys-fall-769370
A scrimmage in a Border Station
A canter down some dark defile
Two thousand pounds of education
Drops to a ten-rupee jezail
http://i.imgur.com/IPT1uLH.jpg
Internal splits within IS could point to groups break up or demise. Here's a link.
The full title and sub-title is:The HVT hunt aside there are comments on the leadership and the future.'We will get him': the long hunt for Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdad; The world’s most wanted man remains at large, but as his ‘caliphate’ has crumbled so has the discipline of his leadership
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...kr-al-baghdadi
davidbfpo
Security report for 2nd wk of Jan in Iraq.
Iraq security report for 3rd week of January. 2nd wk in a row Baghdad hit by suicide bombers.
Still pulling bodies out of the rubble of west Mosul.
Security report for 4th week in Iraq.
Chatham House report IS's finances alive and well.
Violence was up in Iraq from Dec to Jan. Here's monthly security report.
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/d...7-3f3021db71e2ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Nine Abrams tanks the United States had provided to Iraqi forces for the battle against the Islamic State (IS) are now in the hands of the Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militias, a US military audit confirmed.
A quarterly inspector general report for the US mission in Iraq and Syria, released on Feb. 2, confirms that M1 Abrams battle tanks and other lethal equipment provided to the Iraqi government by Washington have ended up with the Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
Doesn't someone need a few flight hours honing their J-DAM delivery techniques?
Asking for a friend.
A scrimmage in a Border Station
A canter down some dark defile
Two thousand pounds of education
Drops to a ten-rupee jezail
http://i.imgur.com/IPT1uLH.jpg
Weekly security report for 1st wk of Feb in Iraq.
Pentagon finally realized that some of the Abrams tanks it sold to Ira ended up with Pro-Iran Hashd groups. Some even ended up in Syria. This was widely known within Iraq for several years. Here's a link.
Little history article on how Iran was playing both sides in the 2004 Battle of Najaf.
Security report for 2nd week of Feb in Iraq
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