US ground troops are back in Iraq as Iraqi division hides in the mountains
Isis killed and injured US Marines whom the Pentagon said were not in Iraq as they defended a front line base abandoned by Iraqi troops
US Marines carry an injured colleague in Iraq Reuters
Patrick Cockburn
Saturday 26 March 2016
It was suddenly announced last week that the Iraqi army was taking territory from Islamic State forces in what was presented as the first steps in an offensive to recapture the city of Mosul. It sounded as if the self-declared Caliphate was crumbling and was particularly welcome news since it coincided with the Isis suicide bombings in Brussels. The message was that Isis might be able to slaughter civilians in Europe, but was being defeated on its home turf in Iraq and Syria.
I was particularly interested in the attack because two months ago I had been with the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga in Makhmour, the town in the front line between Mosul and the Kurdish capital Erbil, where the offensive by the 15th Division of the Iraqi Army was said to have taken place. At that time, local Kurdish commanders said that there was little fighting and they did not expect an offensive to recapture Mosul, which Isis had captured in June 2014, to happen any time soon.
Several weeks later in February, I was travelling on the main road between Baghdad and Kirkuk when I was held up by a large convoy of military vehicles moving north. I asked what was happening and was told that this was the 15th Division heading for Makhmour with the long term intention of joining an Iraqi army-Kurdish Peshmerga assault on Mosul. It did not appear that this was imminent since I did not see any tanks and most of the divisions vehicles were soft-skinned or lightly armoured Humvees.
Back in Baghdad, I asked several senior officials about recapturing Mosul and they all downplayed the idea that this would take place before the end of 2016. It may have been that they knew more than they were saying about what had happened to the 15th Division, said to be 4,500-strong and to be one of the better units in the Iraqi army, in the days immediately after I had seen it on the road.
What had really occurred at Makhmour is significant because it shows the continuing weakness of the Iraqi military as well as the extent to which US military troops are returning to the battlefield in Iraq in far greater numbers than the US administration has been willing to admit.
in full: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/us-ground-troops-are-back-in-iraq-as-iraqi-division-hides-in-the-mountains-a6954226.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)The commanders of the Syrian army announced on state television Sunday that their troops had completed the recapture of Palmyra, the resonant, ancient city in the Syrian heartland 130 miles north of Damascus.
According to the armys announcement, this military victory proved that the Syrian army is the only force capable of defeating Islamic State in the country and marked the beginning of ISs disintegration.
These claims, however, would appear to be some distance from the truth. The victory at Palmyra has some significance, of course, but it is important mostly at the symbolic level.
Islamic State conquered Palmyra ten months ago in a dramatic onslaught, with President Bashar Assads troops folding before it. Since then, Palmyra has served as a kind of western forward position for IS. Now, the terror group has been ejected almost as speedily as it arrived. The recapture was not particularly arduous or prolonged. Assads army took over large sections of the city even as IS fighters withdrew east, toward Deir a-Zur and Raqqa, its power centers.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/palmyra-victory-shows-assad-putin-finally-confronting-islamic-state/
bemildred
(90,061 posts)On March 27, the cessation of hostilities in Syria will have held for one month. Yes, there have been violations, but the agreement has held. Given where we were, and where we are, we might put the present state of affairs in the category of a small miracle, a breakthrough for US-Russian leadership and cooperation and, hopefully, a turning point for the Syrian people.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Moscow on March 24, There has been a fragile but nevertheless beneficial reduction in violence some say as much as 85-90% in Syria. Its also true that the cessation in hostilities has produced the first significant flow of humanitarian assistance to people, some whom havent seen that assistance in several years. But we both know that more needs to be done in terms of both a reduction of violence and the flow of humanitarian aid.
There is of course much more to be done, and if the cessation of hostilities continues to hold and expand, it will be the result of a deep and impactful partnership between Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Kerry said March 24 that the United States and Russia have agreed to press for expanded humanitarian assistance, the release of detainees and an acceleration of the political process leading to a transition government, a new constitution and elections. The same day, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said that both the Syrian government and the opposition delegations had taken the first round of negotiations very seriously. Talks are expected to resume in April.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/03/us-russia-syria-barzani-kerry-lavrov-isis-pkk-pyd-kurdistan.html
bemildred
(90,061 posts)MOSCOW, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday congratulated Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for retaking the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra.
"In a telephone conversation with Syrian president, Putin congratulated his counterpart on the liberation of the city of Palmyra from terrorists and noted the importance of preserving this unique historic site for the world culture," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Assad thanked Putin for the assistance of Russian air groups, noting that "such successes as liberation of Palmyra would be impossible without Russia's support."
Meanwhile, Putin reaffirmed that Russia would continue supporting Syrian authorities in the anti-terrorism fight, despite withdrawal of Russia's main air forces contingent, which started March 15 after Russia's anti-terror airstrike campaign of over five months in Syria at the request of Assad.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-03/27/c_135227729.htm
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Ancient artifacts in the city of Palmyra are in much better shape than expected, Syria's antiquities chief said Sunday after regime forces recaptured the desert oasis from the Islamic State group.
Antiquities director Maamoun Abdulkarim said much of Palmyra's old city was intact and his department would try to restore relics destroyed during the jihadists' nearly year-long rule over the city.
"We were expecting the worst. But the landscape, in general, is in good shape," he said.
"We could have completely lost Palmyra," said Abdulkarim.
http://www.globalpost.com/article/6751639/2016/03/27/palmyra-ruins-generally-good-shape-syria-antiquities-chief
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)So to speak.