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Iraq regains ground from Islamic State; mass deaths reported in Palmyra

BAGHDAD/BEIRUT Iraqi forces recaptured territory from advancing Islamic State militants near the recently-fallen city of Ramadi on Sunday, while in Syria the government said the Islamists had killed hundreds of people since capturing the town of Palmyra. The fall of Ramadi and Palmyra, on opposite ends of the vast territory controlled by Islamic State fighters, were the militant group’s biggest successes since a U.S.-led coalition launched an air war to stop them last year. The near simultaneous victories against the Iraqi and Syrian armies have forced Washington to examine its strategy, which involves bombing from the air but leaving fighting on the ground to local forces in both countries. In a sharp criticism of Washington’s ally, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter accused Iraq’s army of abandoning Ramadi, a provincial capital west of Baghdad, to a much smaller enemy force. "The Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight," he […]

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Iran adviser says US has ‘no will’ to fight Islamic State

AP Photo/Undredited TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The chief of an elite unit in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has accused the U.S. of having "no will" to stop the Islamic State group after the fall of the Iraqi city of Ramadi, an Iranian newspaper reported Monday. The comments by Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Guard’s elite Quds unit, come just after U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter accused Iraqi forces of lacking the "will to fight" in an interview aired the day before. It wasn’t clear whether Soleimani’s remarks came as a direct response to Carter’s, though tensions remain high between the two countries amid negotiations over Iran’s contested nuclear program. The report in the daily newspaper Javan, which is seen as close to the Guard, quoted Soleimani as saying the U.S. didn’t do a "damn thing" to stop the extremists’ advance on Ramadi. "Does it mean anything else than […]

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Defense chief’s criticism of Iraqis raises policy questions

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta WASHINGTON (AP) — The Islamic State group’s takeover of the Iraqi provincial capital Ramadi has prompted criticism from Defense Secretary Ash Carter and raised new questions about the Obama administration’s strategy to defeat the extremist group. The Islamic State group, which had already seized a strategically important swath of the Middle East, seized Ramadi in central Iraq a week ago, which has revived concerns about U.S. efforts to fight the group. The Obama administration’s approach in Iraq is a blend of retraining and rebuilding the Iraqi army, prodding the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad to reconcile with the nation’s Sunnis and bombing Islamic State group targets from the air without committing American ground combat troops. President Barack Obama’s strategy is predicated on Baghdad granting political concessions to the country’s alienated Sunnis, who are a source of personnel and money for the Islamic State group. But there […]

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Islamic State crisis: Iraq will take back Ramadi ‘in days’ – PM Abadi

Islamic State The Iraqi city of Ramadi could be taken back from Islamic State (IS) militants "in days", Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has told the BBC. But he said more support was needed from international coalition partners. Iraqi forces have suffered a number of defeats at the hands of IS over the past year, and fled from a smaller militant force in Ramadi last week. On Sunday, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said that the rout showed Iraqi troops lacked the will to fight. Mr Carter told CNN that the Iraqis had chosen to withdraw despite the fact that they "vastly outnumbered" IS forces. Meanwhile, the leader of the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, said the world faced an unprecedented danger from IS and other Sunni militant groups fighting in Syria. Some observers say IS now controls 50% of Syria’s entire territory – as well as a third […]

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U.S. Defense Secretary Blames Iraqi Forces for ISIS Victory in Ramadi

Photo Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter at a news conference in Washington this month. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said Sunday that Iraqi forces had demonstrated “no will to fight” against the Islamic State, blaming them for a retreat that led to the terrorist group’s victory in capturing the Iraqi city of Ramadi. While that critical assessment of Iraqi security forces has been voiced in Congress and by policy research institutes, Mr. Carter’s remarks on CNN’s “State of the Union” were some of the administration’s strongest language to date about Iraq ’s repeated inability to hold and take back territory from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. “They were not outnumbered. In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force and yet they failed to fight and withdrew from the site,” he said. “That says to me and, I […]

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Fate of Kurdish presidency divides Iraqi Kurds

Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani (R) addresses the media during a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Erbil, April 6, 2015. (photo by REUTERS/Azad Lashkari) ERBIL, Iraq — As the tenure of Iraqi Kurdistan’s President Massoud Barzani is coming to an end soon, the question of transfer of power has divided Kurdish political factions and threatens to destabilize the Kurdistan Region of Iraq amid an ongoing war against the Islamic State (IS). Barzani has been president for 10 years. When his term was about to end in June 2013, his Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and then-ally Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) — led by former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani — agreed to extend his term via a parliamentary motion for two years. The legal provisions introduced in June 2013 to extend Barzani’s term explicitly state that the president’s tenure will not be prolonged for more than […]

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Iraq exports hold close to record high in May

LONDON Iraq’s oil exports have held above 3 million barrels per day (bpd) so far in May, according to loading data and an industry source, keeping shipments from OPEC’s second-largest producer close to a record high. Another strong month from Iraq adds to signs of high output from major members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries focused on keeping market share, weighing on global oil prices. "There is little doubt that record crude exports out of Iraq are adding further length to an already extremely well-supplied market, thereby adding downside pressure," said Eugene Lindell, oil analyst at JBC Energy in Vienna. Exports from Iraq’s southern terminals have averaged 2.55 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first 21 days of May, according to shipping data seen by Reuters and an industry source, down from 2.63 million bpd in April. But exports from Iraq’s north via Ceyhan in […]

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Sunni Tribes in Iraq Divided Over Battle Against Islamic State

Islamic State claimed full control of the ancient Syrian city on Palmyra and a nearby military airport and prison. What is the strategic and cultural significance of this victory? WSJ’s Jason Bellini has #TheShortAnswer. BAGHDAD—While some of his Sunni kinsmen in Anbar province set about working with Shiite militias on a strategy to oust Islamic State, Emad al-Jumaili was making a very different kind of plan. The tribal elder was busy preparing to guard his home and family from those same militias. “I have always said I would much prefer to be killed by a Sunni terrorist organization than a Shiite terrorist organization,” said Mr. Jumaili. Islamic State now controls Palmyra, a Syrian city housing renowned archeological ruins. Amr Al Azm, Syrian antiquities expert at Shawnee State University, discusses what’s at risk. Photo: Getty That’s a big problem for the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government and its U.S. allies. They are […]

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Shi’ite militia deploy from base near Iraq’s Ramadi

BAGHDAD A convoy of Shi’ite militia fighters and Iraqi army forces set out from a base near the western provincial capital of Ramadi on Saturday, heading towards areas controlled by Islamic State militants, an eyewitness and a local official said. Anbar provincial council member Azzal Obaid said hundreds of fighters, who arrived at the Habbaniya air base last week after Ramadi was overrun by Islamic State, were in Khalidiya and were approaching Siddiqiya and Madiq, towns in contested areas near Ramadi. While pro-government forces are seeking to retake Ramadi, Islamic State insurgents have been pushing forward in the direction of Fallujah in a bid to take more territory in Anbar province that would bring them closer to the Iraqi capital Baghdad. (Reporting by Baghdad Bureau; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by David Holmes )

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After seizing Ramadi, IS presses Anbar campaign

Iraqi security forces battle militants from the Islamic State (IS) group in Ramadi, in Anbar province, on May 14, 2015. (STRINGER/Reuters) Recommend 271 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. The Islamic State (IS) group is battling swiftly toward a key Iraqi military base in Anbar – building on momentum from its recent takeover of Ramadi – in an apparent campaign to consolidate its control of the province.IS militants are pushing toward the al-Habbaniya air base, east of Ramadi, which is one of the Iraqi government’s few major staging areas in Anbar from which it can potentially launch counter-attacks.Iraqi Army forces began to retreat Thursday afternoon from the Juayb… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple