Category: Iraq

As Iraqi Army forces try to rally on the outskirts of Baghdad after two weeks of retreat, it has become increasingly clear to Western officials that the army will continue to suffer losses in its fight with Sunni militants and will not soon retake the ground it has ceded. Recent assessments by Western officials and military experts indicate that about a quarter of Iraq ’s military forces are “combat ineffective,” its air force is minuscule, morale among troops is low and its leadership suffers from widespread corruption. As other nations consider whether to support military action in Iraq, their decision will hinge on the quality of Iraqi forces, which have proved far more ragged than expected given years of American training. Even now, fighters with the militant Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are consolidating their gains, extending their hold on Euphrates River valley towns, securing access […]

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Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad on Monday morning to urge the Iraqis to bridge their sectarian differences and form a new, inclusive government. At the start of a series of meetings with representatives of various Iraqi factions , Mr. Kerry met with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, along with his top advisers, including Saad al-Dulaimi, the acting minister of defense, and Faleh al-Fayed, the Iraqi national security adviser. Mr. Kerry was accompanied by Robert S. Beecroft, the American ambassador to Iraq, and Brett McGurk, the senior State Department adviser on Iraq. The United States’ formal position, which Mr. Kerry underscored at a joint news conference on Sunday with his Egyptian counterpart, is that it is not in the business of picking Iraq’s leaders. But American officials say that it is imperative that the Iraqis quickly form a new government so they can present a […]

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The Iraqi government said Sunday that Sunni militants had taken control of a major Iraqi post on the Syrian border, strengthening their ability to move men and supplies into Iraq’s heartland. As the government tried to cast the setback in a positive light, saying troops had made a “tactical” decision to withdraw, Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to increase the pressure on Iraq’s leadership by signaling that the United States was open to the selection of a new prime minister who could bridge the deep sectarian divides in the country. “The United States would like to see the Iraqi people find leadership that is prepared to represent all of the people of Iraq,” Mr. Kerry said Sunday in Cairo, at the start of a Middle East trip to rally Arab support on the Iraq crisis. The formal American position, which Mr. Kerry underscored at a news […]

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The 300 U.S. advisers authorized to assist the Iraqi security forces will find an army in crisis mode, so lacking in equipment and shaken by desertions that it may not be able to win back significant chunks of territory from al-Qaeda renegades for months or even years, analysts and officials say. After tens of thousands of desertions, the Iraqi military is reeling from what one U.S. official described as “psychological collapse” in the face of the offensive from militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The desperation has reached such a level that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is relying on volunteers, who are in some cases receiving as little as a week’s military training, to protect his ever-shrinking orbit of control. “Over time, what’s occurred is that the Iraqi army has no ability to defend itself,” said Rick Brennan, a Rand Corp. analyst and […]

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A single picture is sufficient to tell the story of the fate of the Baiji Refinery in Iraq. Recently reached by the ISIS forces, it has been the largest refinery in Iraq, with a capacity of 310 kbd, and has been used to provide products for domestic use. Since it would provide fuel for both sides in the conflict it had been left largely intact, but that “understanding” seems to have fallen apart. Figure 1. View from space of the fire at the Baiji Refinery in Iraq ( Slate ) The remaining significant refineries in Iraq are at Daura near Baghdad which can produce 210 kbd, although promised at 280 kbd and Basra in the south, which can produce 140 kbd . There are an additional 11 very small refineries located around the country. The conflict has already led to a drop in Iraqi exports of around 300 kbd […]

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Sunni fighters seized a border post on the Iraq-Syria frontier, security sources said on Saturday, smashing a line drawn by colonial powers almost a century ago and potentially creating an Islamic Caliphate from the Mediterranean Sea to Iran. The militants, led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), first moved into the nearby town of al-Qaim on Friday, pushing out security forces, the sources said. Once border guards heard that al-Qaim had fallen, they left their posts and militants moved in, the sources said. Sameer al-Shwiali, media adviser to the commander of Iraq’s anti-terrorist squad, told Reuters that the Iraqi army was still in control of al-Qaim. Al-Qaim and its neighbouring Syrian counterpart Albukamal are on a strategic supply route. A three-year civil war in Syria has left most of eastern Syria in the hands of Sunni militants, including the Albukamal-Qaim crossing. The […]

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Thousands of Shiite militiamen have paraded in Baghdad and several other cities in southern Iraq with heavy weaponry, signaling their readiness to take on Sunni militants who seized much of the country’s north. In Baghdad, about 20,000 men, many in combat gear, marched through the Sadr City district on Saturday with assault rifles, machine-guns, multiple rocket launchers and missiles. Similar parades were held in the southern cities of Amarah and Basra, with the militants in Basra displaying field artillery pieces hauled by heavy trucks. The parades were staged by followers of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and came after the al-Qaida breakaway Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and allied Sunni militants, captured a crossing on the Syria-Iraq border the day before. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below. Sunni militants have seized an Iraqi crossing on […]

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Thousands of Shiite militiamen have paraded in Baghdad and several other cities in southern Iraq with heavy weaponry, signaling their readiness to take on Sunni militants who seized much of the country’s north. In Baghdad, about 20,000 men, many in combat gear, marched through the Sadr City district on Saturday with assault rifles, machine-guns, multiple rocket launchers and missiles. Similar parades were held in the southern cities of Amarah and Basra, with the militants in Basra displaying field artillery pieces hauled by heavy trucks. The parades were staged by followers of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and came after the al-Qaida breakaway Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and allied Sunni militants, captured a crossing on the Syria-Iraq border the day before. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below. Sunni militants have seized an Iraqi crossing on […]

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The semiautonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq said it’s delivering oil to its customers under contracts that are commercially viable. Two vessels loaded with oil from the Kurdish north of Iraq have left the Turkish port of Ceyhan in recent weeks. The export is a source of contention between the federal government in Baghdad, which says unilateral Kurdish action is illegal, and the Kurdistan Regional Government, which says it’s operating according to the rule of law. The KRG issued a statement Thursday saying it’s selling its oil through a pipeline system to Ceyhan on an international commercial market basis. "The KRG has been able to deliver oil to its customers under commercially viable contracts, and all payments are being made into the KRG’s account in Turkey," the Kurdish Ministry of Natural Resources stated. "Export volumes are expected to double within the next weeks." The U.S. government, […]

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President Obama lays out a 4-step plan for U.S. action in Iraq, says American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq but will help train and support the Iraqi forces. Photo: Getty BAGHDAD—Iraq’s pro-government satellite television station on Friday played up Barack Obama ‘s support for Baghdad’s fight against Sunni Muslim militants but overlooked what the U.S. president suggested was the sectarian and authoritarian governing style of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. In a speech in Washington on Thursday, Mr. Obama said only an "inclusive agenda" will end the crisis facing Iraq —a reference to Mr. Maliki’s Shiite Muslim-dominated government that is embroiled in fighting with Sunni-led insurgents led by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. On Friday, however, Iraqiyya television cast the turmoil in Iraq as a religious conflict and focused its reports on the need to rise to the militant Sunni challenge to the Baghdad […]

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