Key Baiji Oil Refinery 'Seized By ISIS Rebels'
Source: BBC News
Sunni rebels in Iraq say they have fully captured the country's main oil refinery at Baiji, north of Baghdad.
The refinery had been under siege for 10 days with the militant offensive being repulsed several times.
Complex supplies a third of Iraq's refined fuel and the battle has already led to petrol rationing.
Insurgents, led by the group Isis, have overrun a swathe of territory north and west of Baghdad including Iraq's second-biggest city, Mosul.
They are bearing down on a vital dam near Haditha and have captured all border crossings to Syria and Jordan.
A rebel spokesman said the Baiji refinery, in Salahuddin province, would now be handed over to local tribes to administer.
The spokesman said that the advance towards Baghdad would continue.
The BBC's Jim Muir in Irbil, northern Iraq, says the capture of the refinery is essential if the rebels are to keep control of the areas they have conquered and to supply Mosul with energy.
Earlier, US Secretary of State John Kerry vowed "intense and sustained support" for Iraq after meeting key politicians in the capital, Baghdad. US Secretary of State John Kerry: "The support will be intense, sustained"
He said attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) were a threat to Iraq's existence, and the next days and weeks would be critical.
Speaking at the US embassy, he said US support would "allow Iraqi security forces to confront [Isis] more effectively and in a way that respects Iraq's sovereignty".
"The support will be intense, sustained, and if Iraq's leaders take the steps needed to bring the country together it will be effective," he said.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27990478
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)amandabeech
(9,893 posts)Baji. The Shia are vowing to protect Samarra from the heathen Sunni. If the Sunni get anywhere near Samarra, the fight will undoubtedly become incredibly bloody. Undoubtedly, many Shia militia will be willing to become martyrs in defending on of their holy sites. I hope that doesn't happen, because IIRC, an attack on one of the Shia holy places by Sunni insurgents was the spark that lit the fire of the big battles in Iraq in 2006-07. The surge seemed to stop some of that battle, and I would not like to see us do that again.
big_dog
(4,144 posts)then the crappo really hits the fan-o
amandabeech
(9,893 posts)the Saudi government does not want these crazies anywhere near Riyadh or , most importantly, near the Saudi oilfields on the Gulf. Many of the folks living on and near the oilfields are actually Shia, and a radical Sunni--Shia conflict in that area is not what the Saudi government wants.
The Saudi army is all for show, but the Saudi Air Force might attack with some success. And then the Saudis might start looking at our Army and Marines to fight, because the Saudi Army is a joke and they know it.
The organic fertilizer precursor could hit the air circulator in many ways on the Saudi border.
big_dog
(4,144 posts)and my guess is the Saudi planes will do the same if messed with
amandabeech
(9,893 posts)It is difficult to see how there could be a peaceful end to this outburst of violence.
We can choose to stay out, though I doubt that we will. But the people living there really can't escape this.
big_dog
(4,144 posts)biting the hands that feed them perhaps?
amandabeech
(9,893 posts)It's not the Saudi government, but it is individuals.
I wouldn't want to see a civil war break out around the Gulf between Sunnis who support ISIS and those who don't.
It's bad enough that the Shia and some of the Sunnis are going at it.
CNN is now reporting that Baji is under control of ISIS.
I don't think that Iran has the refineries to supply Shia Iraq with the products that it needs. So who does? The Russkies?
big_dog
(4,144 posts)same for some French perhaps
amandabeech
(9,893 posts)The Russkies require too much in return--as in fealty to their leader. The Russians are a little insecure under all that bluster.
The French are satisfied with the cash. They know that they are the superior beings already. Don't get me wrong, France is a nice place and I've met some very nice people who were not from Paris originally.
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)This is not the work of a mob!
Take over the water and power and you pretty much control the area.
Shut down the sewage and they are in deep ....
This is not an out of control rampage but a well planned takeover of Iraq.
I see many cluster bombs and a continued life for the A-10.
Psephos
(8,032 posts)And yet another catastrophic failure of American intelligence services.
White House, Pentagon, CIA, DIA all caught with their pants down.
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)Or sometimes you just let the forest burn to cleanse itself.
quadrature
(2,049 posts)if they don't already know how
upriver dams could fail at any time.
Submariner
(12,485 posts)this is a Bush regime total failure with a Bush tool (Milaki) screwing up the joint. Time to clear out and let the Iraqis decide their own fate.
Hubert Flottz
(37,726 posts)"Mission Accomplished," your ass! The PNAC's elective quagmire is STILL a festering cluster-fuck.