US-led force flying over Islamic State-held Tikrit

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Iraq-Tikrit-mapThe U.S.-led coalition targeting the Islamic State group has begun surveillance flights over the extremist-held city of Tikrit and sending intelligence to Iraqi forces fighting to retake Saddam Hussein’s hometown, a senior official said Tuesday, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday

The flights and intelligence sharing, which began Saturday, mark the first time the coalition has been involved in the offensive, which up to now largely has been led by Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guard Quds Force.

The coalition official said the support began at the request of the Iraqi government. He reportedly declined to comment on whether they are providing airstrikes, saying he cannot discuss current or future operations.

He also declined to discuss whether U.S. forces were directly communicating with Iranians on the ground there. U.S. officials repeatedly have said they are not in contact with Iranians in Iraq

Iranian and Iraqi Shiite militias, backed by Iraqi security forces launched a large-scale offensive to recapture Tikrit earlier this month. The U.S. previously had said that the Iraqi government never asked them to participate in the campaign.

Qassem Suleimani , the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards elite the Quds Force, has been described by the intelligence community as the “most powerful operative in the Middle East today and the sole Iranian authority on Iraq.” He has been organizing Iraqi forces and have become the de facto leader of Iraqi Shiite militias that are the backbone of the fight. He was reportedly injured earlier this year  in Samara and was flown for treatment in Tehran but returned  earlier this month   to lead the battle for retaking Tikrit , Saddam Hussein's hometown, from Islamic State
Qassem Suleimani , the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards elite the Quds Force, has been described by the intelligence community as the “most powerful operative in the Middle East today and the sole Iranian authority on Iraq.” He has been organizing Iraqi forces and have become the de facto leader of Iraqi Shiite militias that are the backbone of the fight. He was reportedly injured earlier this year in Samara and was flown for treatment in Tehran but returned earlier this month to lead the battle for retaking Tikrit , Saddam Hussein’s hometown, from Islamic State
A senior Iraqi military official said that coalition is not providing airstrikes in support of the Tikrit operation at this time, but launched airstrikes in the nearby oil refinery town of Beiji on Tuesday. He added that Soleimani has just left Tikrit after providing front-line assistance and advising since the start of the operation.

“He will come back if we need him to,” said the Iraqi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to brief journalists.

Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin province, lies about 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad. It is one of the largest cities held by Islamic State militants and lies on the road connecting Baghdad to Mosul. Retaking it will help Iraqi forces have a major supply link for any future operation to retake Mosul, the country’s second-largest city.

U.S. military officials said a coordinated military mission to retake Mosul likely will begin in April or May and involve up to 25,000 Iraqi troops. But the Americans have cautioned that if the Iraqis are not ready, the offensive could be delayed. The U.S. and other coalition nations have been providing weapons and training to Iraqi and Kurdish forces in the north in an effort to make them ready for the battle ahead.

The U.S.-led airstrike campaign, first launched by the U.S. in August, nearly has halted the Islamic State rampage across Iraq. The Tikrit operation is the largest to date and requires careful air and ground coordination so not to risk civilian casualties or damage the city’s infrastructure.

The mission to retake Tikrit had progressed earlier this month, but the offensive has stalled in recent weeks, with Iraqi officials saying they will not rush a final assault.

Washington Post/YL

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9 responses to “US-led force flying over Islamic State-held Tikrit”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Suleimani/Soleimani (whatever the name) leaves the nervous ‘front’ … and everyone says: ‘Who’s got the Alliance phone number?? Quick .. call them fast … they said they would help if asked, and we don’t know who’s doing what where. Some of our idiots are still back there looting and burning houses.’

    1. arzatna1 Avatar

      I fail to understand the US logic in Iraq. The current and former CIA chiefs both said that Iran is a bigger danger than ISIS. The whole world knows that Iran is leading the Tikrit battle and that the Iraqi forces are just providing a support role nothing more.
      Suleimani, Soleimani can always play the game of now you see , now you don’t , but I thought the US should be smarter than that. The US should instead let them fight forever , since they are both self declared enemies of the US

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        Arzatna … I feel the answer this way … as a generality.
        We are stuck with the ‘dogma’ sometimes … do not really enjoy watching widespread death and destruction, especially falling onto children, and due to upbringing (generally) have an ingrained-from-birth desire to help people who appear to need it, and to help those who also say they don’t actually enjoy the killing fields either.
        This dogma, of course, is called ‘interfering’ by those who rather promote an ‘ideology’, which they feel is more important to them, because they too had it ingrained from birth as being ‘normal thought’.
        We are products of the ‘first environment’ most of the time. Adjusting one’s thoughts away from it can be difficult – although we surely note that ‘brainwashing’ can help.
        IF a Country is going to lay down CLEAR policy about what it will accept or will not accept about human behaviour, BY the will of ‘The People’, then it becomes the dogma – until it is altered by a ‘next generation’.
        I think there is very confused ‘dogma’ to be had from any religion, but when faced with a religion that has SO MANY ‘scripts’ written, more by ‘prophetic desires’ of ideologues than by the will of ‘The People’, there is a very slim chance of a dogma being settled in the minds, other than to make a common ‘resistance’ about how things should work in any ‘life’ respect, even for the sake of children who should be educated about ‘Humanity’ by means other than wars.
        Basic humanity … fight me, I fight you back.
        Nothing seems that simple, of course, and with more and more people on the planet it becomes harder to sort out all the little differences between ideology vs dogma.
        US may not be logical in what it does … maybe can’t understand all the intrigues either … but they said the would help IF asked. They may even realize how much they are being hoodwinked by the other players. But I think by this time we ‘the people’ are all beginnig to think it’s about time ASSad’s war got stopped one way or another …
        If helping the El Supremo, who only wants to change all our ‘lives’ after all, is preferred to having the one who simply wants to kill us all hanging around, then for now, we give the help.
        After that, Bob’s your Uncle. 😉

        1. arzatna1 Avatar

          I thought the day after is what concerns the US the most , because ISIS won’t be around for too long, but the Supremo will.
          And because of that we all know the day after doesn’t look good at all

          1. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            The way the world seems to be going lately, ‘future’ may not be a good bet for anyone.

          2. arzatna1 Avatar

            We missed ” the moment to act ” long time ago . It is ketchup time now unfortunately . The point I was trying to make is that we should not be forced to chose between 2 evils or help any of them , but we should instead let the 2 evils destroy each other .

          3. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Well, I have an option … and don’t intend to follow any of ‘them’ into their futures …
            I can live now with A fine History of a good Scottish Single Malt, and a dream of a warm beach …. even if sweeter dreams than those may be futile at this point. 😉
            As the Dolphins said: ‘So Long, and Thanks for all the fish.’ (I’ve eaten well. ;-)))

          4. arzatna1 Avatar

            I like you option
            Enjoy the Scottish Single Malt while you can

            Cheers

  2. The U.S. Is nothing more than soleimani’s Air Force. Ayatoilet Hussein Obama does what his superior, soleimani, tells him to.

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