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syed_z
02-14-2014, 07:06 PM
I helped destroy Falluja in 2004. I won't be complicit again
The media accepts the overly simple narrative that al-Qaida took over. The reality is Maliki is crushing dissent with US-made arms



Members of Albu Alwan tribe protest against the military operation in Fallujahcity, western Iraq. Photograph: Mohammed Jalil/EPA

I am having flashbacks to my time as a marine during the second siege of Falluja in 2004. Again, claims are being published that al-Qaida has taken over the city and that a heavy-handed military response is needed to take the city back from the control of terrorists.

The first time around, this claim proved to be false. The vast majority of the men we fought against in Falluja were locals, unaffiliated with al-Qaida, who were trying to expel the foreign occupiers from their country. There was a presence of al-Qaida in the city, but they played a minimal and marginal role in the fighting. The stories about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the alleged leader of al-Qaida in Iraq who was said to be recruiting an army in Falluja, were wildly exaggerated. There is no evidence that Zarqawi ever even set foot in Falluja.

This week, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior's assertion that al-Qaida's affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has taken over half of Falluja is being parroted in headlines by almost every major media network. But again, it appears that the role of al-Qaida in Falluja is being exaggerated and used as a justification for a military assault on the city.

The violence began just over a week ago, when Iraqi security forces disbursed a protest camp in Falluja and arrested a politician who had been friendly to the protestors' goals. This camp was part of a non-violent protest movement – which took place mostly in Sunni cities, but was also receiving some support from the Shia community – that began a year ago. Iraqi security forces have attacked protestors in Falluja and other Sunni cities on several occasions, the most egregious example taking place in Hawija, when over 50 protestors were killed.

One of the results of the US occupation was that Sunnis came out feeling like a targeted community, with Falluja being more marginalized than most Sunni cities because of its history as a center of resistance. These feelings have only been exacerbated over the past year of protests and government repression.

The Iraqi government's recent actions in Falluja turned the non-violent movement violent. When the protest camp in Falluja was cleared, many of the protestors picked up arms and began fighting to expel the state security forces from their city. It was local, tribal people – people not affiliated with transnational jihadist movements – who have taken the lead in this fight against the Iraqi government.

However, it is being reported that Falluja has "fallen", that it was "captured" by ISIS, who has now raised their flag over the city, declaring Falluja an Islamic emirate. The Iraqi Ministry of Interior's claim that half of Falluja is controlled by Isis (the Islamic State of Iraq in Syria) has been accepted as fact and has framed all discussion of these events.

Feurat Alani, a French-Iraqi journalist with family ties in Falluja, has reported that Isis is not playing a significant role in the fighting in Falluja. Much has been said and written about Isis raising their flag over a building in Falluja. This has been taken to be a sign of their power in the city. But Alani told me "They took the flag down five minutes later when ordered to by tribal leaders. This shows that the tribes control Falluja."

Already over 100 civilians have been killed in this violence, violence that has been facilitated by US weapons. The Independent reported that Iraqi security forces are bombing Falluja with Hellfire missiles sold to them by the US. But the US has supplied the Iraqi state with far more than this single weapon system. Recently, Congress has shown some reluctance to continue arms trade with the Maliki government, for fear that it would use the weapons for internal repression, a fear that appears to have some justification.

It is being reported that Falluja has fallen, but the voices from inside Falluja insist that their city is standing up, once again. Undoubtedly, Fallujans are being harmed because of how the outside world perceives their struggle. Too much of the world has been satisfied with the overly simple narrative of al-Qaida capturing Falluja (twice), and of government forces battling for freedom and security.

As Falluja relives a nightmare, once inflicted by my own hand, I find myself in a very different position from before. Today, I hope I can say that I am somewhat wiser, more responsible, more morally engaged than I was when I helped destroy Falluja in 2004. This time around, I cannot sit back and do nothing as the unreliable and self-serving claims of the government are reported without question, and repeated until they become conventional wisdom. I cannot just watch as Fallujans are again forced to flee from their homes, and as their bodies are again shredded by weapons made in my homeland. I do not want to feel complicit in their suffering anymore.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...alqaida-maliki
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saifullah6
02-24-2014, 03:17 PM
but faluja is now under the islamists
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Jedi_Mindset
02-24-2014, 06:07 PM
Often exaggarated, fallujah and ramadi are under control of sunni tribes. 'Islamists' have no control, but yes they do free roam in these cities as they help the tribes against maliki's army.
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Abz2000
06-27-2014, 12:31 AM
Mosul Residents Enjoy Calmer Lives Under ISIS Control, For Now When the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) overran Iraq’s second city of Mosul, many feared sectarian massacres and brutal violence from the extremist Sunni militants. As many 500,000 people fled the city on the first day, according to the UN.Now, many citizens have returned. Instead of imposing its extreme interpretation of Islamic law and carrying out threats of killing Shiites wherever it found them, ISIS has remained more moderate. As a result, it has found support among local residents, some of whom told VICE News that they are happy with life under their new leaders.At the borders between Iraqi Kurdistan and the newly seized ISIS territory in Northern Iraq, Kurdish peshmerga fighters describe the militants as terrorists and are obviously uncomfortable with their new neighbors.Nevertheless, on the road from Erbil to Mosul, things have remained quiet between the forces. It’s only 500 yards from the last peshmerga position to the first ISIS checkpoint. While that’s as close to Mosul as it’s sensible to get for an obvious non-Iraqi with a healthy aversion to kidnapping, local residents travel easily between the two territories. Traffic flows both ways and those people going in and out say the militants manning the ISIS checkpoint aren’t ruthlessly hunting down non-Sunnis. A quick glance inside and each car is waved on.A peshmerga fighter points at the ISIS checkpoint on the Erbil to Mosul road.Elsewhere in Iraq, ISIS-led militants are involved in heavy fighting with government forces, and south of Kirkuk it has clashed with peshmerga as well. It has also bragged about mass atrocities, posting pictures on social media channels claiming to show some of the 1,700 Shiite troops it says it has executed.This appears to be part of an overall ISIS strategy to drag Iraq into an all-out sectarian conflict and further its goal of establishing a cross-border Sunni Islamist caliphate. But Mosul is a huge prize for ISIS, and it seems either to have been running a hearts-and-minds operation to get local residents on its side, or ceded some control to local Sunni nationalist militant groups.'The blocked roads are reopened, there is water and electricity, they are behaving well and people are starting to love them.'This process has been made far easier by the government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, which was largely resented in this majority Sunni town for its perceived corrupt and sectarian policies. Sahib, 60, described the fall of Mosul to VICE News as “an uprising against the tyranny of Maliki.”Check out The Battle for Iraq, VICE News's video dispatches from inside the country, here.There is more to it than that, however. ISIS fighters did distribute leaflets laying out their new, strict version of Islamic law: Women must wear the full veil and only leave home when necessary, smoking, drinking and drugs are banned, as is music. Everyone must pray regularly.Instead of enforcing these rules with the brutal violence, ISIS-led forces seem to have concentrated on getting public services running and installing a governance structure of their own. Mosul residents told VICE News that they have done so successfully, winning new fans. Again and again, they said that services were better than they ever had been, that most shops were open, and normal life was returning to the city.Colonel Mahmoud Ahmed Hussein, who heads the peshmerga forces on the Erbil-Mosul border told VICE News that this was very much a conscious decision: “Right now, they’ve changed strategy, they’re not killing for no reason because it isn’t in their benefit. They want to rule and they can’t in that way.”The strategy is working. “People are starting to love them for one reason; services are better than before,” Ahmed, who runs a clothes shop in Mosul’s bazar, told VICE News. “The blocked roads are reopened, there is water and electricity, they are behaving well and people are starting to love them.”'Being ruled by an unclear group is new to us, things cannot be guaranteed to remain good.'Mosul had seen a high number of attacks from Sunni militants in the past, so Iraqi security forces had set up large numbers of checkpoints and blocked some roads, making getting across the city a hassle and generating traffic problems. With no concern of attacks, ISIS has removed them.Residents also say that violence has dropped. Ali, from Mosul, who was buying a car in Erbil, said things were “quiet” now with no bombings or shootings. That perhaps isn’t surprising, given that Sunni militants committed most previous attacks.Read our live blog on the crisis in Iraq here.The main worry now, residents said, was of violence if the government attempted to retake the city. “The situation is getting more and more normal. The shops are mostly open now and most of the people who fled have come back to the city, but there are still fears that the Iraqi army may shell the city,” said 32-year-old Zyad, a Mosul teacher.Despite this concern, residents also reported that ISIS were locating their bases in densely populated areas of Mosul to avoid air strikes without attracting much local ire.Some former residents have no intention of returning while ISIS remains in control.Even some of those who would have most grounds to worry seem cautiously optimistic. Amin Ali, a musician in Mosul, told VICE News that despite the new ISIS rules, he had recently performed and hadn’t received any threats or warnings as a result.However, ISIS has implemented similar strategies in its Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. Initially, it offered aid and “advice” on strict Islamic practice, before moving on to floggings, burning shops, and public executions.Ali is still concerned that they might become stricter. “Being ruled by an unclear group is new to us, things cannot be guaranteed to remain good… Despite my positive impression on the new rulers of Mosul, I have fears that they may ban music or harm us for performing music. We have plan to have concerts and we won't give up, but the consequences for doing that remains unclear.”Some former residents have no intention of returning while ISIS remains in control. In an IDP camp on the Erbil to Mosul road, Leyla, 45, said she would never go back to Mosul unless it leaves. “I hate them,” she says, adding that the group’s violence means that it cannot be considered Muslim.Even if ISIS does avoid alienating Mosul’s inhabitants with strict sharia law, maintaining public satisfaction will rely on successfully keeping electricity, water, and transportation running. It may already be having difficulties. Speaking on Saturday, Zyad said that earlier in the day he had been to the bazar and bought everything he needed with no issues or shortages. Petrol, however, is hard to come by. “There is no almost no fuel, it is very, very expensive and ordinary people cannot handle buying it,” he said.ISIS fighters roll across Iraq — until they see the peshmerga. Read more here.ISIS leaders are seemingly aware of this. Peshmerga Brig. Gen. Mohammed Rostam, told VICE News that ISIS had attacked specific villages south of Kirkuk due to their strategic value. Its commanders, Rostam said, maintained that the offensives were to destroy Shiite shrines, but he suspects that the real reason was to secure water supplies.ISIS managed to seize Mosul from the Iraqi army in a lightning offensive despite being vastly outnumbered. If the militant group manages to win, and maintain, public backing in the city, however, then it will be far harder to dislodge, especially while resentment towards Maliki and his policies is still so widespread. “People are still satisfied with the Islamic state,” Zyad added. “For as far as the Iraqi army cannot come back to their city.” https://news.vice.com/article/mosul-...ontrol-for-now
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Abz2000
06-27-2014, 12:35 AM
Al-Maliki, who has no military background but gets the final say on major battlefield decisions, has looked to hundreds of thousands of Shiite volunteers who joined the security forces as the best hope to repel the Islamic State’s offensive.While giving the conflict a sectarian slant — the overwhelming majority are Shiites — the volunteers have also been a logistical headache as the army tries to clothe, feed and arm them. Furthermore, their inexperience means they will not be combat ready for weeks, even months.Still, some were sent straight to battle, with disastrous consequences.New details about the fight for Tal Afar — the first attempt to retake a major city from the insurgents — underscore the challenges facing the Iraqi security forces.Dozens of young volunteers disembarked last week at an airstrip near the isolated northern city and headed straight to battle, led by an army unit. The volunteers and the accompanying troops initially staved off advances by the militants, but were soon beaten back, according to military officials.They took refuge in the airstrip, but the militants shelled the facility so heavily the army unit pulled out, leaving 150 panicking volunteers to fend for themselves, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. http://m.thestar.com/#/article/news/...s_in_iraq.html
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