ISIS is the New VC

The redoubtable Loveday Morris of the Washington Post describes a catastrophic defeat of the Iraqi Army by ISIS, in which as many as 500 Iraqi soldiers were lost. The incident reminds one of the war in Vietnam, where enemy cadres displayed diabolical cunning and intense devotion, but allies appeared dazed and confused. Nor would recollections of a certain Trojan Horse be inappropriate. 

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The lead-up to Sunday’s crisis began a week ago, when the last road to Camp Saqlawiyah, just north of insurgent-controlled Fallujah, was cut by Islamic State militants. One of two tanks that were among the vehicles guarding the road left to refuel, and the militants took the opportunity to attack those that remained, said a 9th Division soldier who was present and spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.

The fall of the units protecting the supply route meant that the five battalions inside the base were completely besieged.

“There were no reinforcements, no food supplies, no medicine, no water, and then our ammunition began to run out,” said 1st Lt. Haider Majid, 28. “We called our leaders so many times. We called our commanders, we called members of parliament, but they just left us there to die.” . . .

The major assault came Sunday. Soldiers interviewed said army commanders had sent word via walkie-talkie that a rescue mission was on its way and had taken control of a nearby bridge.

Shortly afterward, Iraqi army armored vehicles and military trucks arrived, and the men inside were dressed in the uniforms of Iraqi counterterrorism forces, the surviving soldiers said.

“We thought this was the support we were promised was on the way,” said Capt. Ahmed Hussein of the 8th Division. “The first three Humvees were ahead of the rest with some military trucks. We just let them in.”

One Humvee exploded in the middle of the camp. The two others drove to the perimeter and detonated. The rest of the Islamic State convoy was held back at the entrance, where the survivors said the militants carried out several more suicide bombings as they tried to break in.

“I gathered my soldiers and said: ‘We are going to die anyway. Let’s try to get out,’ ” Hussein said, adding that he and about 400 other soldiers escaped under heavy fire in a convoy. Others were left behind. . . .

The rescue mission that the soldiers had been told was coming “100 percent failed,” he said. On the bridge that they were told had been secured, they found the remnants of that mission: burned army vehicles. . . .

For some soldiers, the incident was the latest — and last — in a series of humiliations. Hussein, for his part, said he would leave the army to join a Shiite militia.

“We don’t have any leadership,” he said. But for the militias, “their leadership is with them in the field; they look after their soldiers.”

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Loveday Morris, “Islamic State attack on Iraqi bases leaves hundreds missing, shows army weaknesses,” The Washington Post, September 22, 2014. This excerpt is about a third of the original. Oddly, when I accessed this story via the Washington Post website, it was missing the best details (included above), but a version accessed via twitter included them. 

Iraqi Shia: ISIS a Creation of US & Israel

David D. Kirkpatrick, the New York Times bureau chief in Cairo, has ventured to Iraq of late to report on the thinking of our close allies, the Iraqi Shia. In their view, there’s a whole lot of double-dealing going on.

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The United States has conducted an escalating campaign of deadly airstrikes against the extremists of the Islamic State for more than a month. But that appears to have done little to tamp down the conspiracy theories still circulating from the streets of Baghdad to the highest levels of Iraqi government that the C.I.A. is secretly behind the same extremists that it is now attacking.

“We know about who made Daesh,” said Bahaa al-Araji, a deputy prime minister, using an Arabic shorthand for the Islamic State on Saturday at a demonstration called by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr to warn against the possible deployment of American ground troops. Mr. Sadr publicly blamed the C.I.A. for creating the Islamic State in a speech last week, and interviews suggested that most of the few thousand people at the demonstration, including dozens of members of Parliament, subscribed to the same theory. (Mr. Sadr is considered close to Iran, and the theory is popular there as well.)

When an American journalist asked Mr. Araji to clarify if he blamed the C.I.A. for the Islamic State, he retreated: “I don’t know. I am one of the poor people,” he said, speaking fluent English and quickly stepping back toward the open door of a chauffeur-driven SUV. “But we fear very much. Thank you!”

The prevalence of the theory in the streets underscored the deep suspicions of the American military’s return to Iraq more than a decade after its invasion, in 2003. The casual endorsement by a senior official, though, was also a pointed reminder that the new Iraqi government may be an awkward partner for the American-led campaign to drive out the extremists.

The Islamic State, also known by the acronym ISIS, has conquered many of the predominantly Sunni Muslim provinces in Iraq’s northeast, aided by the alienation of many residents to the Shiite-dominated government of the former prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. President Obama has insisted repeatedly that American military action against the Islamic State depended on the installation of a more inclusive government in Baghdad, but he moved ahead before it was complete.

The Parliament has not yet confirmed nominees for the crucial posts of interior or defense minister, in part because of discord between Sunni and Shiite factions, and the Iraqi news media has reported that it may be more than a month before the posts are filled.

The demonstration on Saturday was the latest in a series of signals from Shiite leaders or militias, especially those considered close to Iran, warning the United States not to put its soldiers back on the ground. Mr. Obama has pledged not to send combat troops, but he seems to have convinced few Iraqis. “We don’t trust him,” said Raad Hatem, 40.

Haidar al-Assadi, 40, agreed. “The Islamic State is a clear creation of the United States, and the United States is trying to intervene again using the excuse of the Islamic State,” he said.

Shiite militias and volunteers, he said, were already answering the call from religious leaders to defend Iraq from the Islamic State without American help. “This is how we do it,” he said, adding that the same forces would keep American troops out. “The main reason Obama is saying he will not invade again is because he knows the Islamic resistance” of the Shiite militias “and he does not want to lose a single soldier.”

The leader of the Islamic State, for his part, declared on Saturday that he defied the world to stop him.

“The conspiracies of Jews, Christians, Shiites and all the tyrannical regimes in the Muslim countries have been powerless to make the Islamic State deviate from its path,” the leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared in an audio recording released over the Internet, using derogatory terms from early Islamic history to refer to Christians and Shiites.

“The entire world saw the powerlessness of America and its allies before a group of believers,” he said. “People now realize that victory is from God, and it shall not be aborted by armies and their arsenals.”

Many at the rally in Baghdad said they welcomed airstrikes against Mr. Baghdadi’s Islamic State but not American ground forces, the position that Mr. Sadr has taken. Many of the 30 lawmakers backed by Mr. Sadr — out of a Parliament of 328 seats — attended the rally.

Mr. Sadr’s supporters opposed Mr. Maliki, the former prime minister, and many at the rally were quick to criticize the former government for mistakes like failing to build a more dependable army. “We had a good army, so where is this army now?” asked Waleed al-Hasnawi, 35. “Maliki gave them everything, but they just left the battlefield.”

But few if any blamed Mr. Maliki for alienating Sunnis, as American officials assert, by permitting sectarian abuses under the Shiite-dominated security forces.

Omar al-Jabouri, 31, a Sunni Muslim from a predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad who attended the rally and said he volunteers with a Shiite brigade, argued that Mr. Maliki had alienated most Iraqis, regardless of their sect.

“He did not just exclude and marginalize the Sunni people; he ignored the Shiite people, too,” Mr. Jabouri said. “He gave special help to his family, his friends, people close to him. He did not really help the Shiite people, as many people think.”

But the Islamic State was a different story, Mr. Jabouri said. “It is obvious to everyone that the Islamic State is a creation of the United States and Israel.”

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David D. Kirkpatrick, “Suspicions Run Deep in Iraq That C.I.A and the Islamic State Are United,” New York Times, September 20, 2014

Sistani: No Foreign Decisions for Iraq

From the New York Times, a report of a Friday sermon by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani: 

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Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential Shiite cleric, on Friday urged vigilance against Western political interference in Iraqi affairs but stopped short of opposing the American-led military campaign against the extremists of the Islamic State.

“All political leaders of the country must be aware and awake to prevent the external assistance against the Islamic State from becoming an entrance to breach Iraq’s independence,” Ayatollah Sistani said. “Cooperation with the international effort shall not be taken as a pretext to impose foreign decisions on events in Iraq, especially military events.”

His carefully balanced comments, in a statement read by his spokesman at Friday Prayer in the Iraqi city of Karbala, underscored the challenge facing the United States and its allies in their efforts to push back the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, without bolstering or antagonizing rival Shiite factions. . . .

In recent days, a handful of other Iraqi Shiite leaders or militias with closer ties to Iran have made statements expressing more wariness or opposition to the American-led military efforts, and American officials have said the Iranian proxies may be seeking to remind the Western states that Tehran, too, should be taken into account. On Friday, the Iraqi cleric Moktada al-Sadr, another influential voice with ties to Iran, called for a demonstration in Baghdad on Saturday to protest a potential incursion by American ground forces.

But Ayatollah Sistani, considered both independent and uniquely popular here, was more judicious. While he warned Iraqis to guard against foreign interference, he also appeared to endorse the idea that foreign help may be required to successfully engage the Sunni extremists.

“Iraq may be in need of assistance from its friends and brothers to combat black terrorism,” Ayatollah Sistani said. But he insisted that for Iraq, “preserving its sovereignty and independence must be the most important thing and must be taken into consideration.”

He also appealed for intersectarian solidarity in the fight against the extremists by specifically urging support for Dhuluiya, a Sunni town that has held out for months against a siege by the Sunni extremists. “Our brave Iraqi forces should help and defend Dhuluiya,” he said, “because its people are our brothers and they are the sons of our country.” . . .

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David D. Kirkpatrick and Dan Bilefsky, “Iraqi Cleric’s Speech Strikes a Balance,” New York Times, September 19, 2014

Iraqi TV Satire: Satan and Jewish Woman Give Birth to ISIS

From MEMRI:

Al-Iraqiyya TV recently aired a promo announcing a soon-to-come anti-ISIS satirical series. The series, called "The Superstitious State" - a play on the words "khilafa" ("caliphate") and "khirafa" ("superstition") – features an assortment of colorful characters, including a red-clad devil with a pitchfork, whose union with a Jewess - wearing a large Star of David - begets an "ISIS-ling" in the form of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, hatched from an egg. Other characters in the cast include Sheikha Mozah, wife of the former Emir of Qatar, a gun-toting, grog-swigging American cowboy, the Joker from Batman, Dracula, and a character presumably representing Stalin. The promo was broadcast on the Iraqi TV channel on September 9, and is being shown several times a day since.

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Satan and a Jewish Woman Give Birth to ISIS in an Iraqi TV Satire, MEMRI, September 9, 2014

Iraq PM-Designate Abadi: April 2013 Interview

The indispensable Al Monitor digs out an interview with the new Iraqi prime minister designate, Haider Al-Abadi. The interview was conducted on April 21, 2013 by the editor, Andrew Parasiliti.

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Haider Al-Abadi, chairman of the Iraqi parliament's treasury committee, warned that “if not handled properly” the dispute between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq over oil revenues “can lead to the disintegration of the country.” The impasse can affect other regions of Iraq, Al Abadi said, and “it looks very bad when it is perceived by other areas, by Basra, which is producing 85%” of the Iraqi budget.

Al-Abadi, a senior leader in Iraq’s Dawa Party and one of Iraq’s most influential parliamentarians, said Iraqi Kurdistan is illegally exporting oil to Iran and Turkey and selling it at 45% of market price.  While he blamed the Iraqi Kurdish leadership for “not seeing beyond their nose” and “not seeing the big picture,” Al Abadi emphasized “we are very keen to solve” the problem. Otherwise, he added: “The next step is not to give Kurdistan their share of the budget revenues because they are not giving their shares of the oil production.”

Al-Abadi, who spoke with Al-Monitor Editor/CEO Andrew Parasiliti in Washington, said the spike in bombings in Iraq is related to the war in Syria, including attempts by terrorists to scare away Iraqis from participating in the provincial elections, which took place on April 20. It is now well known, he said, that terrorist groups operating in Syria have made Iraq a target as well. Last month, Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria and al-Qaeda in Iraq announced their alliance.  Arms are regularly smuggled from Syria into Iraq.

Al-Abadi said that “we are very hard at work on a political solution” to the war in Syria and have reached out to the Syrian opposition, including “clandestine contacts” with both Islamist and nationalist factions. But Al-Abadi lamented: “The whole thing is dragging into sectarianism, there is no accommodation.”

Al-Abadi said Iraq opposes sanctions on Syria and takes the position that arms shipments to both the Syrian government and the opposition should stop.   He recalled that more than a decade of international sanctions did not dislodge Saddam Hussein and only weakened and demoralized Iraqi society.  

Al-Abadi made clear that, despite Iraq’s commitment to a political solution, “there is no love lost between us and the Syrian regime.” He said that even though Syria hosted members of the opposition to Saddam Hussein (including current Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki), Syria’s later support for suicide bombers and al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists in Iraq “helped to kill a lot of our people.” Al-Abadi added: “We have paid by our blood because of that regime ...  we have told the Iranians the Syrian regime is your ally, it is not our ally.”

Iraq maintains “friendly” relations with Iran, Al-Abadi observed, and that there is “a very, very harsh competition between Iran and Turkey” in Iraq and the region, especially as a result of Syria.

Al-Abadi predicted a strong showing for Maliki’s State of Law coalition in the provincial elections April 20, noting that “according to our own calculations and opinion polls ... no local government can be formed without us in these governorates.”  

The moves to try to unseat Maliki by Iraqiya (the primarily Sunni opposition bloc), the Iraqi Kurdish parties, and cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr are unlikely to succeed because all thet can agree on are there difficulties with Maliki.  Their consensus breaks down as soon as another issue is raised, including “who will replace him and what else do they want.”  Al-Abadi said that “some would say that Muqtda Al-Sadr is playing hard and trying to create problems for a simple reason that the only way he can preserve his status is by creating problems.”  Al-Abadi gave Maliki credit for amendment of the de-Baathification, despite criticism from all sides.

Al-Abadi, who was in Washington last week for meetings with US officials, business leaders, and experts, commented on the “good framework” for the US-Iraq relationship and the need for the United States to stay engaged on security. “It would be a shame that we should allow al-Qaeda to regroup,” he said.

Despite the spike in recent terrorist bombings, Al-Abadi said that Iraq is overall “very safe,” including no incidents of foreigners being kidnapped. He hoped that the US State Department would reconsider the travel advisory on Iraq, which hinders travel and business, and called for “credit guarantees and credit facilities” to facilitate US investment.   Iraq would like to see US companies claim a larger share of the opportunities in Iraq. “We don’t want to fall into the trap of relying on China only or Turkey,” Al-Abadi said.

He also hoped that there could soon be a direct flight between Iraq and the United States.

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Andrew Parasiliti, “Iraqi MP: Oil Dispute Could Lead to Iraq’s ‘Disintegration,’” Al Monitor, April 21, 2013

John McCain, War Skeptic

In an interview with The Daily Caller, John McCain gives some revisionist history on what he would have done had he been president after 2000:

Senator John McCain said Thursday that if he’d won the presidential election in 2000, the United States wouldn’t have gone to war in Iraq.

McCain, who voted for the invasion in 2003, explained during a CNN interview that “it’s obvious now, in retrospect, that Saddam Hussein–although he had used weapons of mass destruction–did not have the inventory that we seem to have evidence of. Which now looking back on it, with the benefit of hindsight, [the evidence] was very flimsy.”

He said that if he’d been president, he “would have challenged the evidence with greater scrutiny. I think that with my background with the military and knowledge of national security with these issues that I hope that I would have been able to see through the evidence that was presented at the time.”

When asked about American foreign policy during a 2000 GOP primary debate, McCain said ”I’d institute a policy that I call ‘rogue state rollback.’ I would arm, train, equip, both from without and from within, forces that would eventually overthrow the governments and install free and democratically- elected governments. As long as Saddam Hussein is in power, I am convinced that he will pose a threat to our security.

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Tristyn Bloom, “McCain: If I’d Won in 2000, We Wouldn’t  Have Gone to War in Iraq,”

The Daily Caller, July 18, 2014

Maliki: Iraq Deluded in Relying on US

Herewith a few excerpts from a BBC interview with Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki, his first with the international press since ISIS' seizure of Mosul and other parts of the Sunni heartland in Iraq. In the interview, on June 26, he announced the purchase of jets from Russia and Belarus. There have also been press reports of Iraq negotiating for the return of some 100 military jets moved to Iran during the 1991 Gulf War. Maliki insists that a proper air force would have prevented the victories of ISIS, and confesses that his government was deluded in signing a contract with the US for (yet to be delivered) F-16s.

"God willing within one week this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said.

He said that the process of buying US jets had been "long-winded" and that the militants' advance could have been avoided if air cover had been in place.

Isis and its Sunni Muslim allies seized large parts of Iraq this month.

Mr Maliki was speaking to the BBC's Arabic service in his first interview for an international broadcaster since Isis - the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - began its major offensive.

"I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract [with the US]," Mr Maliki said.

"We should have sought to buy other jet fighters like British, French and Russian to secure the air cover for our forces; if we had air cover we would have averted what had happened," he went on.

He said Iraq was acquiring second-hand jet fighters from Russia and Belarus "that should arrive in Iraq in two or three days". . . .

Mr Maliki also confirmed that Syrian forces had carried out air strikes against Islamist militants at a border crossing between Iraq and Syria.

He said Iraq had not requested the strikes but that it "welcomed" them.

"They carry out their strikes and we carry out ours and the final winners are our two countries," he said.

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Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki: Russian jets will turn tide, June 26, 2014, BBC. I think it's journalistic malpractice to get an important interview (such as this was trumpeted to be and in fact was) and then not publish the transcript. 

Iraqi Ambassador: Help Us or We'll Turn to Iran

The following interview with Iraq's ambassador to the United States, Lukman Fally, was conducted June 26 by Andrew Parasiliti, editor in chief of AI-Monitor. 

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Al-Monitor: The New York Times reports today that Iran is flying drones in Iraq and supplying military equipment to Iraq. Does the Iraqi government expect further military support from Iran? What is the nature of the Iraqi request for assistance to Iran?

Faily: As you know, we have a major challenge facing our military capabilities to deal with the ongoing offensive from ISIS, which does mean that we need to revamp our military capabilities, and in that aspect of it, Iraq is relying on the US to provide that capability. If that capability is unable to be fulfilled in dealing with the urgency we have on the ground, unfortunately that means that we will not be in a position to choose our partners and whoever is available to help us in our survival war then we will take that.

Al-Monitor: Do you expect Iran to provide more support? Would they provide troops at any point?

Faily: We know that the Iranians are anxious; they are worried themselves, because ISIS were for a while on their borders in the Diyala province, so to them that is an immediate threat to their national security. We also appreciate that the common fight against terrorism has to be a regional and a global one. The United States and Iraq can work together, we welcome that, we would like to work with all three in our combat against terrorism.

Al-Monitor: Nickolay Mladenov, the (UN) secretary-general’s special representative in Iraq, yesterday called for a military complement to a political solution in Iraq. Al-Monitor broke the news Wednesday that Iraq has submitted a letter to the UN secretary-general requesting military equipment and logistical assistance. Could you please explain in more detail the nature of your request, and your expectations for support from the international community?

Faily: The threat we face is a regional threat. It will destabilize the region if not the globe in relation to geopolitics and in relation to, for example, the supply of petrol for the world economy. That is because of the richness of Iraq and the geographical position of Iraq. In a way we feel like it has to be an international response; we have provided the letter, highlighting that we are under an aggression from ISIS and that we seek international support. The US and other have asked us to approach the UN as part of their better understanding of the scale and for Iraq to say that we are seeking international support. Not to make the support only bilateral, but to make it a multilateral situation. And this is more or less the core of it.

The UN understands the urgency of the situation they have their representative on the ground, so he has a good understanding of that and we are more or less providing an opportunity for the international community to support Iraq.

Al-Monitor: Syrian planes attacked ISIS positions in or around the Iraqi border town of Al Qaim this week. Does Iraq welcome this action as assistance from Syria against ISIS? Does Iraq consider itself allies with Syria against ISIS?

Faily: The situation as you know is crucial and any air supremacy support provided to Iraq will surely have a significant effect. That to us is a key game changer. That is why we have been asking the US for over a year now for Apache helicopters to provide us with air supremacy. Unfortunately, at that time, if we had that capability, ISIS would not have provided a threat. They had camps, they were in deserts, they were outside residential areas and there would not have been any collateral damage and so on. Because that was not provided, unfortunately now we are in the position where we are saying that anybody’s support would be welcome here with the immediate threat to our survival.

We have had offers from the Syrians before and we declined them. But it seems that the support that we sought from the US is not coming in a timely manner to deal with our urgency, which is more or less putting us in an uncomfortable position in seeking support from whoever is available on the ground.

Al-Monitor: In these strikes, did Syria offer or did you request its assistance?

Faily: Whatever offer we get in dealing with ISIS we will certainly look at it in a favorable way.

Al-Monitor: You mentioned that this war is a regional security challenge. Would Iraq support a regional security arrangement, among neighbors of Syria and Iraq? How would that fit with President Obama’s call for ramping up counterterrorism cooperation?

Faily: Terrorism is a theme in the region now. Sectarianism is becoming a theme in the region and they are complementing each other. ISIS are not Sunnis but they are wearing the clothes of the Sunnis, projecting to the world that they represent Sunnis but we know for a fact that they don't. In addition to that, the geopolitical importance of the Middle East in Syria and Iraq and elsewhere is too important to be dealt with internally in itself and it is too crucial, for example, (that) the Europeans, who are just on the other side of the shore, for them to be a standby for NATO or for the US and even the UN, so this is why we see that it is a regional problem, as much as Syria has been a regional problem for the last three years which hasn’t been addressed. Iraq is becoming that problem as well, unfortunately.

To the Americans, every day they are looking at both as one theater because of that urgency. We have an immediate challenge ourselves and we think that regional powers have to discuss the threat because of more or less the zero-sum theme in the region that is not helping anybody. We expect to have more cooperation in this. Regional powers could provide a win-win approach to the situation. So we don’t see why shouldn’t the Iranians and the Turks and the Saudis and the Iraqis and the Jordanians and others, and the Lebanese and others have a serious discussion as to how we can carve off this tumor in our body. That is what we are talking about. It can engulf the whole region, nobody is immune — all countries in the region are fragile to this situation. I would say even European countries are fragile from jihadists going back to their homeland or going back to the United States. That’s why we are saying this is a regional issue.

Al-Monitor: You were in Baghdad this week when Secretary of State John Kerry met with Prime Minister Maliki and other Iraqi leaders. Are you pleased with the extent of US political and military support for Iraq at this stage? What messages are you carrying in your meetings with US policy makers?

Faily: Iraq is a democratic country. We recently had a democratic, fair election. The US is our strategic partner of choice. We have a strategic framework agreement with the US. Our current situation is an important acid test to the strength of that relationship between the two countries. Serious questions are being asked back home as to how much support will the US provide to a democratic government who is under an aggression from an international terrorist organization. That question is still pending. Sec. Kerry and other officials have highlighted and have specifically said that they will provide help and support. However the serious questions are related to the sense of urgency in providing us support. We understand that there are processes in the US that have to be followed. We welcome that but we also know that the situation on the ground may not allow for a long protracted methodological process of decision making in the US because of the urgency on the ground.

That is the key question. A lot of people in different positions in government in addition to the people of Iraq are asking us, would the US support a democratically elected government in this war of aggression by an international terrorist organization? That is a serious question for the US to answer.

Al-Monitor: What is Iraq’s position on Turkey’s role in the current crisis? Has it done enough to close its borders to ISIS infiltration?

Faily: We think that as I said before, no one is immune from the tumor of terrorism in that region. We have suffered from it before, Turkey has suffered from it. We hope that they feel the need for strong collaboration in addressing that common threat. At this moment, we think that there is an opportunity for Turkey to work closely with us, as much as there is an opportunity for Saudi Arabia to work closely with us. To repel, to put an end to this sense of injustice in Iraq that we feel that our neighbors do not appreciate that situation. We are not under normal circumstances. We certainly need to be supported in an unusual way, rather than in just a normal way of saying well this is an internal Iraqi situation, this is not an internal Iraqi situation, this is a regional threat.

Al-Monitor: You mentioned Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Maliki last week lashed out at Saudi Arabia saying the kingdom was “responsible for supporting these groups financially and morally, and for the outcome of that which includes crimes that may qualify as genocide.” This was a very strong statement. Based on what you said, is this being modified a bit to encourage cooperation?

Faily: What we are saying is that we thought for a length of time that we should approach the UN. We have asked that [because of] the terrorist attacks on Iraq. This recent one and for the last few years should be considered as genocide, because of the viciousness of 30-60 car bombs a month in populated areas. So that is what we are talking about when we talk about genocide.

That is one area which we think regional players, both who have borders and can secure their side of the border, can significantly help us. So we know for a fact that there are jihadists from all walks of life from different countries in Iraq, so we know that there hasn’t been enough done from our neighbors to try to help us in our fight against terrorism. And let me repeat that no one is immune from it. If our neighbors think that this can be contained in Iraq, then unfortunately they need to relook at the history and relook at the core ideology of these terrorist organizations; they are transnational. And they will not be confined within Iraq.

Al-Monitor: In his meeting with Secretary Kerry this week, Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani referred to “new realities” in Iraq. Those new realities include the Kurdistan region exporting oil via Turkey, which is opposed by the Iraqi government, and seizing Kirkuk this month after ISIS moved into Iraq. What is the state of the negotiations and politics between Baghdad and Erbil at this point? How do you expect these issues to be resolved?

Faily: At this moment there is a pause in the negotiations because of the immediate threat on the ground. So we have a common enemy and we are trying to work together to address that common enemy. Other issues such as oil, or others, are put on the side for now. These issues will be addressed as part of the negotiation for the government formation and following that. So we will look at those issues at that time as to the oil and other issues.

The Kirkuk situation is part of the constitution, so that has to be addressed. What we say in central government is that the KRG and others are under an important juncture in their relationship with the central government. We, all Iraqis, have voted for a constitution which talks about Iraq as one. The constitution, we think, should be applied for all; until that constitution is changed, everybody, including the KRG, should play their part based on the constitution which they have signed. That is the current status.

Al-Monitor: When you say the current crisis now is focused on the terrorist threat and there topics are differed, is Baghdad pleased with the extent of Kurdish cooperation at this point?

Faily: We think that there are areas for further cooperation. There is certainly a sense of urgency; we highlight that no one is immune from it and we have also said that we need to work together to repel this tumor in our body. For example, areas where sensitive minorities live — such as in Ninevah valley — these are Christians and other type of minorities who are immediately, and to be honest, they are already being adversely impacted by this aggression such as by ethnic cleansing and other displacements; abuses to minorities are taking place by ISIS. And we think that the KRG government should work closely with our central government in trying to minimize the impact and to bring some normality to the lives of those minorities, because they do feel that they are under immediate threat of survival and not just to their identity.

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Andrew Parasiliti, Iraq's ambassador to US: War with ISIS 'acid test' of US-Iraq ties, AI -Monitor, June 26, 2014. 

The Iraq Mess: A Qatari View

From McClatchy news, a report on how the Qataris view the war in Iraq: 

A former Qatari ambassador to the United States offered up a warning to the Obama administration Monday that any military intervention on behalf of the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki would be seen as an act of “war” on the entire community of Sunni Arabs.

Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad al Khalifa also warned against the United States working with Iran to repulse the advance by the radical Sunni group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, something that Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday the United States would be willing to consider.

“For the West or Iran or the two working together to fight beside Maliki against Sunni Arabs will be seen as another conspiracy against Sunni,” Khalifa tweeted.

Khalifa’s comments via Twitter (@NasserIbnHamad) show the complicated calculations the Obama administration faces as it considers whether to come to Maliki’s aid while insurgents from ISIS consolidate their gains over much of northern and central Iraq and menace the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Maliki’s Shiite Muslim government has angered Sunnis across the Arab world for being close to Shiite-ruled Iran and for what Sunnis describe as widespread mistreatment of their co-religionists in Iraq.

Khalifa retired from Qatar’s diplomatic service in 2007, but he remains an influential voice in Qatari foreign-policy circles.

The sentiments behind his warning were reflected in remarks that Qatar’s foreign minister, Khalid bin Mohammed al Attiyah, made Sunday in Bolivia and that were distributed Monday by Qatar’s official news service.

Attiyah stopped far short of Khalifa’s suggestion that airstrikes would be seen as an act of war by Sunnis outside Iraq, and he didn’t mention Sunnis specifically in the comments released Monday. But he laid blame for the rapid advance of ISIS squarely on Maliki’s rule. He said Maliki had deliberately excluded “large groups of Iraqis” from sharing in power.

“While we strongly condemn terrorism and violence in all its forms and manifests,” Attiyah said, “we must, however, take into account the fact that injustice, exclusion, marginalization and use of security and military solutions exclusively to suppress popular demands can . . . fuel violence and contribute to its expansion.”

He added, “We swiftly urge those concerned to pay attention to the demands of large segments of the population who only seek equality and participation, away from all forms of sectarian or denominational discrimination.”

President Barack Obama made similar demands Friday, saying he’d asked the Pentagon to draw up a list of possible options to stop the ISIS advance but that the United States would consider taking those steps only if Iraq’s feuding politicians could resolve their differences _ something few observers believe is possible.

Khalifa’s warning about how Sunnis elsewhere in the Arab world would view American military intervention draws attention to other concerns that might influence U.S. actions on Maliki’s behalf.

The split between the Sunni and Shiite interpretations of Islam date to the seventh century, but it drives modern rivalries between Shiite-led Iran and Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf monarchies. Qatar has been a close collaborator with the United States in Syria and elsewhere and it’s home to the U.S. Central Command’s forward Air Force detachment at al Udeid Air Base outside Doha.

In his comments, Khalifa noted that Maliki has ruled Iraq for more than eight years, longer than Obama has been the U.S. president, and that in that time Maliki had squandered “any chance” to build a nonsectarian, stable and all-inclusive country.

“Gulf states should inform the West any intervention in Iraq or military cooperation with Iran to prop up al Maliki will be considered unfriendly,” he tweeted.

“Any intervention in Iraq by the West to prop up criminal al Maliki in Iraq will be seen by the whole Sunni Arabs and Muslims as war against them.”

The Qatari diplomat accused Maliki of going on a “crusade against Iraqi Sunni Arabs, killing them and bombing their cities.”

He called the ISIS advance the “logical outcome” and said it was “no surprise to any observer of Iraq’s politics.”

“ISIS is a tiny element in the bigger revolt by Iraq’s Arab Sunni tribes who suffered so much under Maliki sectarian regime. . . . Maliki has been bombing&destroying Sunni Arabs cities and killing them for the past six month,” he said.

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Mohamed Salman, “Qatari: US Intervention in Iraq would be seen as war on Sunni Arabs,” Miami Herald (McClatchy), June 16, 2014

ISIS: Bring Terror to the Hearts of the Shia

Patrick Cockburn of Britain's Independent reports on the philosophy of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, flush from their successes in taking Mosul and other Sunni towns in Iraq. I was unable to locate the full text of Abu Mohammed al-Adnani's statement, parsed below by Cockburn, but the overall drift is apparent from Cockburn's summary.

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The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) is itself amazed by its spectacular victories this week, but vows to press on to Baghdad and the holy Shia cities of Karbala and Najaf. Its spokesman says that “enemies and supporters alike are flabbergasted” by its triumphs that he attributes to divine intervention.

He calls on Isis fighters, who have captured Mosul, Tikrit and a string of other towns not become arrogant but behave modestly. “Be warned and do not fall prey to your vanities and egos,” says Isis spokesman, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani. “Do not let your egos fall prey to your recent military gains such as the Humvees, helicopters, rifles and military equipment.”

The speech is interesting and significant because Adnani gives the first insight into how Isis views its spectacular territorial gains as well as its intentions in the immediate future. Ominously, he stresses hatred for the Shia, who make up 60 per cent of Iraq’s population, as apostates with whom no compromise is possible, saying it is “the Lord alone who overpowers the Shia. Praise be the Lord who brings terror to their hearts.”

The sectarian denunciations of the Shia are important because they imply that Iraq will be plunged into a renewed sectarian war between Sunni and Shia. There is a warning against any faltering in the present advance: “Do not concede territory gained to the Shia unless they walk over your dead bodies to retrieve it.

“March towards Baghdad. Do not let them [the Shia] breath.”

This is bound to create a counter-reaction among the Shia who are suddenly struggling to preserve the predominance they won in Iraq after the US-led invasion of 2003 overthrew Saddam Hussein and the centuries-old rule of the Sunni minority. The army having failed them, they will fall back on mobilising militias that will hold back the Isis advance. There could be a return to sectarian massacres that killed tens of thousands of Shia and Sunni, mostly in and around Baghdad, in 2006 and 2007.

Adnani is derisive about “the Fool of the Shia. Nouri [al-Maliki]: Look at what you have done with your people, fool! You were always an underwear merchant! … Your people could have reigned supreme over Iraq, but you made them lose that opportunity. Even the Shia will curse you now.”  This analysis, though rhetorical, is probably correct and many Shia today blame Mr Maliki’s leadership for the disasters that face them.

In contrast with Isis’s bloodthirsty threats against the Shia, Adnani recommends fighters to behave moderately against Sunni, even those who may previously have fought on the government side. He says: “Accept repentance and recantations from those who are sincere, and do not bother those who do not bother you, and forgive your Sunni folk, and be gentle with your tribes.”

Overall, there is a strong sense that Isis did not expect such a swift victory, recalling that only recently they had been subjected to “imprisonment, torture, military raids”. Their houses had been occupied and they had had to take refuge “in the mountains, in underground bunkers, in valleys, and in the expanse of the desert.” The flight of 30,000 Iraqi army troops and police from Mosul in the face of 1,300 or so of their fighters seems to have caught the Isis leadership by surprise much as it did the rest of the world.

 Again and again the speaker spits out sectarian hatred of the Shia and it is this which is most alarming for the future. “The Shia are a disgraced people,” he says, accusing them of being polytheists “who worship the dead and stone.” The new war in Iraq could be even more savage than the horrors that went before.

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Patrick Cockburn, "Iraq crisis: 'Do not fall prey to your vanities'--the philosophy of the country's new conquerors," The Independent, June 12, 2014

Iraqi Politician: US Behavior Very Perplexing

The fall of Mosul to ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) highlights the anomaly of US policy toward Iraq and Syria. In the former, it supports the Shia-dominated Maliki government of Iraq against ISIS; in the latter, it supports the overthrow of the Assad government, which can only strengthen ISIS. Mosul is the second largest city in Iraq; its fall to ISIS (alongside the widespread desertion of Iraqi government forces) portends evil days ahead for Baghdad. 

We learn from the The New York Times that these untoward events show the following: "Critics have long warned that America’s withdrawal of troops from Iraq, without leaving even a token force, invited an insurgent revival. The apparent role of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Tuesday’s attack helps vindicate those, among them the former ambassador to Syria, Robert S. Ford, who have called for arming more moderate groups in the Syrian conflict." Actually, it shows the utter incoherence of US policy, as is suggested in the following comments (translated by MEMRI) of Ayad Jamal Al-Din, a Shia cleric and former MP in Iraq's parliament. The June 10, 2014 interview was conducted in Washington, D.C. by the Al-Arabiya network.  

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Ayad Jamal Al-Din: "I was very surprised by the American statement, which pledged to support Iraq in keeping with the strategic agreement. On the same day, the U.S. declared that it would weaken... The war in Syria and the war in Iraq are one and the same – both in Syria and in Iraq, it is a war against ISIS. The U.S. strives to weaken the Syrian regime, and this benefits ISIS, but in Baghdad, it supports the regime against ISIS. This is suspicious and perplexing, to tell you the truth.

"As for the collapse of the Iraqi army in Mosul – the army is a reflection of its commander. It is Nouri Al-Maliki, the prime minister and general commander of the armed forces, who should be placed on trial for high treason. The military personnel are not responsible for the collapse in Mosul and elsewhere. It is the general commander who should be held accountable and stand trial.

"The ISIS problem is an old one. It was not born today. It is inappropriate to justify ISIS. In the past two hours, I've heard several commentators here on Al-Arabiya TV, saying that the Iraqi Sunnis are persecuted and are denied their rights, and that that is why ISIS has managed to gain a foothold in the country.

"ISIS is composed of the same terrorists who are fighting in Libya, in Somalia, in Syria, in Afghanistan, in Nigeria, and elsewhere. The names of the organizations may vary, but their terrorism is one and the same.

"Commentators should avoid justifying this terrorism. Terrorism is terrorism, and its confrontation should be the same everywhere. It is PM Nouri Al-Maliki himself who should be held accountable. I believe that if there was a parliament of decent human beings in Iraq, Al-Maliki would be voted out of office and would face trial for high treason for bringing about this military collapse – either because he failed or due to his collaboration with the terrorists." [...]

"Al-Maliki will not be affected if Mosul, Kirkuk, or all of north Iraq falls. As long as Baghdad is intact, everybody can go to hell." [...]

Interviewer: "How do you view the [American] support for the military operation and Washington's offer to help resolve this crisis?"

Ayad Jamal Al-Din: "I welcome it. We await this support, but it must extend to all the areas where ISIS may be found. The pressure on the Syrian regime, which is fighting ISIS, must be lifted. They should not try to strengthen the feeble Free Syrian Army [FSA]. There is no FSA. There is ISIS in Syria and Iraq. You cannot fight ISIS in Iraq, yet support it in Syria. There is one war and one enemy.

"The U.S. should give up its hypocrisy. People are not brainless. How can it be that a State Department spokesperson talks about Iraq, and then a White House spokesman says: 'We must pressure the [Syrian] regime so that it surrenders'? Surrenders to whom? To ISIS. Where is the FSA? There is no such thing. The war is one and the same. Support should be extended to both Iraq and Syria. The U.S. should pressure the countries that sponsor ISIS.

"An hour ago, when I entered this studio, Al-Jazeera TV was still calling ISIS 'the tribal rebels.' This is a deception, a lie. These are no tribal rebels. The tribal rebels have fled to Kurdistan. The Sunnis were vanquished by ISIS. These are criminals, murderers, and terrorists." [...]

Interviewer: "To what extend will ISIS encounter a supportive environment?"

Ayad Jamal Al-Din:"What supportive environment?! You yourselves reported that 150,000 Sunni Arabs fled Mosul to Kurdistan. They are not Shiites. The people of Mosul are not Shi'ites. Where is this supportive environment?! In Al-Raqqah? In Deir Al-Zour? In Ramadi? In Fallujah? The Sunnis are not guilty of the sins of ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Saying otherwise is libel against the Sunnis – just as the Shiites are not guilty of the sins of the militias that purport to defend them."

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Iraqi Politician Ayad Jamal Al-Din: Al-Maliki Should BeTried For High Treason Following ISIS Capture Of Mosul. MEMRI-TV.