Kurdish forces 'retake Mosul dam'

[Dems to Win]

Source: BBC

Kurdish forces in northern Iraq have taken control of Iraq's largest dam after its capture by Islamic State (IS) militants, Kurdish officials say.

Kurdish ground forces supported by US air strikes launched the operation to take Mosul dam on Sunday morning.

The strategically important dam, which supplies water and electricity to northern Iraq, was seized by IS militants on 7 August.

IS has seized a swathe of territory in recent months in Iraq and Syria.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28826349#?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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No more info at link. More info will come soon, I'm sure

This is excellent news. The dam was an enormous potential weapon in the hands of ISIS.

[Viva_Daddy]

1. We should have armed and trained the Kurds instead of wasting $ on Iraq.

[daleo]

6. The U.S. has been doing just that for years

And since this region was, and still is part of Iraq, it couldn't be done without destroying Iraq's territorial and political unity first. Thus, it was necessary to spend a lot of money on Iraq any way you look at it.

[kjones]

2. I want to know more about the Kurds

After all this news about them beating back IS after IS swarmed
the region with apparent ease, the Kurds sound kind of badass.
Sounds like all they needed was a little advanced support.

[daleo]

7. It always sounds that way

Giving air support to one side of a conflict, against a side that has no air power will make your chosen side look badass, at least for a while. But, often that is only a temporary thing.

[Zipgun]

20. The Peshmerga are fighters, but ISIS had an advantage in equipment taken from the

fleeing Iraq army. Cenk Uygur had a good breakdown on Iraq a short time ago. In general the three main ethnic/tribal groups will not defend area's they don't consider theirs- other ethnic/tribal areas. So the Shite troops from southern Iraq had low morale and little interest in defending areas of "Sunni" Iraq. Of course this was terribly short sighted of them, as now ISIS has all their equipment. The areas of northern Iraq that the Kurds are fighting for are areas the Kurds consider theirs. If ISIS keeps going south they are likely to face much stiffer resistance from Shite troops who will now be defending their "home" territory. Victory has swollen ISIS's ranks with local Sunni tribes siding with them, but this is likely mostly a temporary thing. Between the harsh punishments and numbers of foreign fighters in ISIS, there is not a lot to keep them allied long term. The local Sunnis really want autonomy or independence, ISIS's fanatical goals have to be sustained with continued victories. I think it is very likely if concessions are made to the Sunni tribes that ISIS will end up with a small portion of Iraq near Syria and a portion of Syria.

[DCBob]

3. and of course. . this is Obama's fault.

Good news for sure.

[amandabeech]

4. CNN (live) is reporting that the fighting continues.

The Kurds are a tough bunch, but even with air strikes, securing the area may take some time.

[TwilightGardener]

5. The Guardian is reporting that some of the buildings near the dam have

been rigged with explosives, but at least some of those were planted by the Iraqi army as a measure against the terrorists. Which doesn't strike me as a smart thing to do near a dam, but whatever.

[Turbineguy]

8. It seems these ISIS guys

Are pretty good at murdering unarmed people (they certainly seem to enjoy it!), but not so good when they come up against a real, motivated force.

[totodeinhere]

9. I suspect that ISIS will strategically fall back and wait for our air strikes to stop.

Then they will move again. After all, we can't bomb them forever. This bombing campaign can win some temporary gains, but that's about it. In the long run the Iraqis and Kurds and other groups in the area will have to work this out for themselves.

[Igel]

10. They may also bone up on air defense.

Not so important when it comes to the Syrian or Iraqi air force.

You know they're rummaging around in inventories and trying to find training manuals. And in the interest of international stability Russia's licensed the SA-400 rocket battery for export. Can't be cheap.

Maybe they can get some pre-trained Chechens to help. Kadyrov says that they are all "warriors" and so "naturally go where there's a war."

[cosmicone]

15. Not if we bomb them into virtual non-existence

which is what is needed.

We need to strike them in both Iraq and Syria to burn down their dream of an Islamic caliphate to ashes.

[totodeinhere]

16. You mean like Israel is trying to do to Hamas in Gaza?

Bombing can only go so far. Sometimes all it does is piss people off and make them all the more determined.

[Sunlei]

11. Kurdish fighters are tough as nails.

[IronLionZion]

12. The Kurds are key to defeating the IS

infighting among the Iraqi factions and lack of support from the Iraqi government is the main reason they have held back before now.

IS is not that strong. Their early successes were entirely due to a lack of opposition in Iraq and the instability of the Syrian civil war. Is is beatable.

[flamingdem]

13. I wonder what the tradeoff is

and what is going to be owed to the Kurds. Their own state perhaps.

[elfin]

14. Yes, it is named "Kurdistan"

They were totally screwed after WWI, and have been preparing, maneuvering, and spreading the word all these years that they have their own history and culture and deserve the recognition.

I attended an Aspen Conference over 40 years ago and met a couple of diplomatic type Americans who were deeply invested in Kurdish interests via their work.

This movement may have been out of the sight of our general public, but is very real and strong They got their hopes up during Bush I, but were betrayed. Now is their time IMO. We owe them, and I for one hope they succeed. Not angels themselves, but seem to be able to run a successful state.

[daschess1987]

17. K&R

[DonCoquixote]

18. I hate to say it

but this might have been a bit of good news.

[Uncle Joe]

19. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Dems to Win.