Obama Starves Iraq
- Again, if Russia and Iran are helping Iraq and Syria then who is supplying expensive weapons to ISIS? Spell it out: C-I-A.
- Iraq and the Kurds are being starved by Comrade Obama and our Congress. After all, why would you want to defeat ISIS when they are your creation in the first place?
(Bradenton Herald) - Militants from the Islamic State have taken control of half Iraq’s largest oil refinery and have cut supply lines to the 150 or so government troops who are holding out inside the facility, witnesses reported Saturday.
The surprise Islamic State advance came despite U.S.-led aerial bombardment of Islamic State positions in the central Iraqi city of Baiji, where the refinery is located, and is a reminder of the precarious security situation in central Iraq where elite government troops are stretched thin battling Islamic State forces.
Speaking from inside the facility, an Iraqi officer who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to talk to a reporter said government troops were running low on food, water and ammunition. He said the situation was chaotic after 11 months of nearly unbroken siege.
He said Islamic State fighters control “all the major buildings,” 80 percent of the watchtowers around the facility, and had flanked government positions with “snipers and suicide bombers driving heavily armored car bombs.”
Heavy Firefights Between Iraqi Army And IS In Baiji
He appealed for the government in Baghdad to send supplies, ammunition and air cover. “We have been under siege for four days without any major coalition air strike assistance inside the facility,” he said.
The Baiji refinery remains one of the most important economic assets in Iraq, even though it has been shut down since last summer, when Islamic State fighters first began trying to capture it. Before last June, it produced about half Iraq’s production of refined products, such as gasoline. In addition to lost revenue, the government’s inability to operate it has forced it to import hundreds of millions of dollars of gasoline.
The loss of the facility, either if captured or seriously damaged, would be a crippling blow to the government and a huge strategic success for the Islamic State. The facility would require billions of dollars and years to replace.
The Iraqi Defense ministry refused to comment on the situation at the refinery, but a member of the governing council for Salahuddin province, where Baiji is located, admitted Islamic State forces had breached the perimeter, but denied that much of the facility was under their control.
“There are conflicting reports about Daash’s control,” the council member, Adnan Ibrahim, said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. He said earlier reports had indicated that only 10 to 30 percent of the refinery had fallen to the Islamic State. “Then last night there was the news that Daash had expanded its control and is progressing slowly into the refinery to between 30 and 40 percent of the area,” he said.
He said the key production control sections of the plant remained in government hands. “The security forces control more than 60 percent of the refinery,” he said.
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| Iraq Air Force Flies Russian Jets ll
(Washington Times) - Iraq’s besieged military was supposed to be flying front-line American F-16 fighters by now, joining other Arab forces in a daily air war against the Islamic State terrorist army controlling western and northern Iraq.
Instead, prospective Iraqi pilots are anchored in the United States, still undergoing training. The Iraqi air force, such as it is, is confined to dated Russian attack jets — compliments of Iran — helicopters and missile-firing AC-208 Cessnas.
While the war rages, there is no firm F-16 arrival date.
“It is not possible to provide a definite timeline for transport of the F-16s at this time,” said Navy Cmdr. Elissa Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
Read more: Washington Times.com |
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