Mosul falls to militants, Iraqi forces flee northern city
Source: Reuters
An al-Qaeda splinter group in Iraq seized control of the big northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, putting security forces to flight in a spectacular show of strength against the Shi'ite-led Baghdad government.
The capture of the city of some two million by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Sunni Muslims waging sectarian war on both sides of the nearby Iraqi-Syrian border, adds to its grip on key western cities and followed four days of heavy fighting in Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province.
The United States, which pulled out its troops two and a half years ago, pledged to help Iraq leaders "push back against this aggression" as the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki asked parliament to declare a state of emergency.
But the battle, for the time being, seemed to be over, with police discarding uniforms and weapons and fleeing a city where the black flag of ISIL was flying over government buildings.
Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/11/uk-iraq-security-idUKKBN0EL1HB20140611
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jtuck004
(15,882 posts)Democracy we brought them.
Mission Accomplished.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)Great little war you started.
cali
(114,904 posts)
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Libya and Syria are prime examples.
cali
(114,904 posts)
erpowers
(9,350 posts)I think a large number of Democrats that voted for the Iraq War did so because they were scared President Bush and the Republican Party would use a no vote against them in future elections. Some were hoping to run for President in 2004. At the time the war seemed popular. I doubt many of them thought the war would become so unpopular by 2004 and 2008.
nolabels
(13,133 posts)With the mayhem at the WTC. another plane crash just kind of seems modus-operandi at any rate.
Sen. Paul Wellstone: More Proof of Assassination
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/09/21/sen-paul-wellstone-more-proof-of-assassination/
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)Oh yeah, the Bush admin. Or maybe, they just didn't really care so long as they and/or their friends made money off of the invasion.
cali
(114,904 posts)
hatrack
(59,578 posts)It's all good!
Kingofalldems
(38,422 posts)Or is this about Hillary?
MADem
(135,425 posts)
Bosonic
(3,746 posts)(Reuters) - Sunni insurgents from an al Qaeda splinter group closed in on Iraq's biggest oil refinery on Wednesday after seizing the northern city of Mosul in a devastating show of strength against the Shi'ite-led government.
Security sources said militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - Sunni militants waging sectarian war on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian frontier - drove into the town of Baiji late on Tuesday in armed vehicles, torching the court house and police station after freeing prisoners.
The militants offered safe passage to some 250 men guarding the refinery on the outskirts of Baiji on condition they leave.
Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called on his country's leaders to come together to face "the serious, mortal" threat. "The response has to be soon. There has to be a quick response to what has happened," he said during a trip to Greece.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/11/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN0EM11U20140611
Bosonic
(3,746 posts)(Reuters) - Baghdad will cooperate with Kurdish forces to try to drive militant out of Mosul, Iraq's foreign minister said on Wednesday, a day after an al Qaeda splinter group seized the country's second biggest city.
"There will be closer cooperation between Baghdad and the regional Kurdistan government to work together and flush out these foreign fighters," Hoshyar Zebari said on the sidelines of a EU-Arab League meeting in Athens.
He did not give details about the cooperation between the two forces. The Kurdish Peshmerga have long been a force in the jockeying between Shi'ites, Kurds and Sunnis for influence and control of northern Iraqi oilfields.
Describing the fall of Mosul as "dramatic", Zebari called on all Iraqi leaders to come together to face the "serious, mortal" threat to the country.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/11/us-iraq-security-mosul-idUSKBN0EM0WH20140611
Bosonic
(3,746 posts)Islamist militants seized the Turkish consulate in the Iraqi city of Mosul on June 11 and kidnapped the head of the diplomatic mission and 24 staff members, a police colonel said.
"ISIL members managed to kidnap the Turkish consul and 24 of his guards and assistants," the officer said, referring to powerful jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), AFP reported.
The ISIL, which continued its offensive in northern Iraq on June 11, stormed the Turkish Consulate in Mosul at noon, according to media reports.
Al Jazeera Turkish reported that militants took diplomats hostage and brought them to the ISIL headquarters in the city.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Default.aspx?PageID=238&NID=67660
hack89
(39,171 posts)they consider Mosul theirs and they have the best military forces in Iraq.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)where only a brutal dictator can keep the peace. That's sad.
Shemp Howard
(889 posts)As you said, there are places where only a brutal dictator can keep the peace. And much of that is due to British colonialism.
Back in 1922, Britain drew the boundaries of modern Iraq. Three quarreling factions were forced into one artificial country. Good for Britain, bad for everybody else. The same thing occured in Africa.
Back in 2006, when he was still a senator, Biden suggested splitting Iraq into three separate, homogeneous regions. Biden was right.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)People who have differences of opinions could suck it up and realize they wont get 100% of what they want rather than resorting to murder.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)Buy our stuff but don't expect help in a fight.
Psephos
(8,032 posts)We should have kept some post-war presence there, if you think we should have been ready to "help in a fight."
It's painful to see what was secured with untold bloodshed being tossed over to AQ. The Iraqi security forces simply abandoned their posts, and left truckloads of sophisticated weapons behind, a free and immensely useful gift to AQ.
Expect to see a big bump in oil prices shortly, too.
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)The speed with which ISIS took control of Mosul was breathtaking. It began with what the Iraqi government initially dismissed as a hit-and-run operation, then turned into a frontal assault on key military bases and government centers by hundreds of fighters backed by heavy weapons.
After overrunning the government’s key symbols of authority late Monday night, the militants quickly moved to consolidate control over military bases filled with advanced American weaponry, including dozens of armored vehicles, artillery and, reportedly, attack helicopters.
Iraqi television showed footage of Iraqi military uniforms abandoned by the side of the road as well as huge traffic jams of residents attempting to flee the fighting _ and apparent jihadist occupation _ into nearby Kurdish-controlled areas thought to be safe for now.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/06/10/229877/police-army-flee-as-isis-seizes.html#storylink=cpy
countryjake
(8,554 posts)Our government should absorb the last line of that article.
Even I feel responsible for this calamity.
totodeinhere
(13,056 posts)I hope that doesn't mean boots on the ground. I don't think that the president would be that stupid but we need to make it clear to him that any military involvement is unacceptable.
http://www.voanews.com/content/report-500000-flee-islamist-seized-iraqi-city/1934226.html
