A family, part of a 500,000-strong sea of humanity that has fled
Mosul: The
misery of Iraqis, riven by
Sunni-Shiite animosity, governed by an inept pro-
Shiite government and the involvement of self-interested
surrounding states,
appears to know no end.
If Iraqis Don't Fight for Iraq, Neither will America (Rzeczpospolita, Poland)
"The argument against intervention is the same as that in
Crimea: since Iraqi soldiers obviously don't want to die for Mosul, why should
Americans do it? ... The government, weak and preoccupied with themselves and
their access to money, may not survive the impact. Iraq could disintegrate. ...
Such a division would lead to a bloody conflict on the scale of the Syrian war."
Crucifiction is back. Famously practiced by the Roman Empire against those regarded as serious criminals and threats to the state, ISIS has decided to bring back the practice. This man, according to Amnesty International, was executed and his body crucified for three days in ar-Raqqa, Syria.
The
title may be slightly exaggerated, but only slightly. Today’s events north of
Baghdad may mean the beginning of the end for Iraq, i.e.: it's disintegration.
There
were not Western TV cameras, so news channels haven't interrupted their usual
programming. There are just a few photos on Twitter, several reports in the
Arab media - and a dramatic tragedy in Iraq.
The
Islamists of ISIS, or Iraqi-Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, seized Mosul on Tuesday,
a major city in northern Iraq and capital of Nineveh Province, 250
miles north of Baghdad. The Iraqi army did not confront them - a couple of
battalions from Iraq's 12th Mechanized Division, trained and armed by the
Americans, fled either south toward Baghdad or north toward Kurdistan, which
has remained closed off to the Islamists.
Surreal scenes in #Mosul, #Iraq as US trained troops leave
behind their uniforms and flee from #ISIS to #Kurdistan.
ISIS
took the city of Mosul and several nearby towns. The Islamists seized Iraqi Army
aircraft and helicopters at the Mosul airport, as well as at least one military
base, that of the Iraqi Army's 12th Division, which was stocked with equipment:
armored personnel carriers, weapons and ammunition depots, and even food
provisions.
150,000 people escaped from Mosul yesterday and today #Irak
rsjFtz0VNX -- BartoszWęglarczyk (@bweglarczyk)
June 10, 2014
The
Iraqi National Assembly is debating what to do. Some representatives want the
Iraqi government to ask Americans for help and intervention. I doubt Barack
Obama will decide to send Marines to Mosul. The argument against intervention
is the same as that in Crimea: since Iraqi soldiers obviously don't want to die
for Mosul, why should Americans do it?
The
scale of the Iraqi Army’s cowardice notwithstanding, this is a tragedy for
Iraq. ISIS, whose members are Sunni Muslims, is being forced out of Syria by
its rivals from the al-Nusra Front and Shiite Hezbullah, as well as army of
the Syrian regime. For some time now, ISIS has been moving its activities into
Iraq, and attacking targets in the West and North of the country with
increasing boldness.
Their
conquest of Mosul is, as of now, the biggest success yet for Sunni Islamists in
Iraq. The government, weak and preoccupied with themselves and their access to
money, may not survive the impact. Iraq could disintegrate in the coming months
- Kurdistan, severed from Baghdad, may declare independence, and the rest of
the country could split into Shiite and Sunni parts.
Such
a division would lead to a bloody conflict on the scale of the Syrian war.
