Mosul's last stand and the Baathistas - Apocalypse real soon...maybe
Well informed Bernhard at Moon over Alabama says - "A new phase of the war over Iraq has started. "
It has been telegraphed for some time as Local news reports have been full of plans for Mosul and the numbers of troops heading there for battle for at least the last two / three weeks.
"The coming fight over Mosul will get bloody. As the Arab media will now be censored, it might take a while until we get a somewhat true picture of it.
Mosul is for some time now a hotbed of resistance activities in Iraq.
It is the capital of the Ninawa Governorate near to the Kurdish area in north Iraq. It lies on both sides of the Tigris with five bridges connection these parts. At least two of these bridges have earlier been under attack. Mosul has nearly 2,000,000 inhabitants.
Maliki has ordered a huge offensive against Mosul involving a three brigade size (10,000-15,000 troops) force of Iraqi government troops and U.S. support (likely one brigade - 3,500 troops).
The attack will start in the next few days."... More ..
The unlikely bulk of ex marine and child molester Scott Ritter looms - " Iraq's Tragic failure" at Truth dig .....
"If the president is free to pursue his policies, it could lead to direct military intervention in Iran by the United States prior to President Bush’s departure from office or, failing that, place his successor on the path toward military confrontation. " ... lay off it Scott you've been forecasting the Iranian invasion since June 2006.
However with his ear well close to CIA sources he does provide a timely reminder that the fag end of Saddam's Baathists have survived Bremer's brave boys and reports that in October 2007 the Iraqi Baath Party held its 13th conference, in which it formally certified one of Saddam’s vice presidents, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, as the supreme leader of the Sunni resistance in Iraq.... and then proceeds to punt this guy as the head honcho for Al Quaeda in Iraq (AQIQ).
He sees the coming strife in the North as a reflection of the Tet offensive.... watch this space.
"Saddam may be dead," says Scott, speaking for his paymasters, the CIA " but not so his plans for resistance. The massive security organizations which held sway over Iraq during his rule were never defeated, and never formally disbanded."
Are we to see the resurgence of the (rumoured dead) Nizar al Khazraji and his grisly pals (so popular with the CIA pre illegal invasion) ex Saddam's Information Minister Mohammed Sahaf, (not so Comical Ali) Health Minister Umid Mubarak and Foreign Minister Naji Sabri Al-Hadithi, 59 ... or even the arrival from retirement of Mr Aziz ?
PS : BBC World News briefing at 5.30 GMT says the Taliban have been re-branded for the Spring (Tet ?) offensive as the "Mujahadeen" and are gathering strength in Qetta on the Pak borders - they talk of 1.5 million madrassa studentswilling to fight for the legendary Muja.
USA Today 11/2/08 - Al-Qaeda tries to salvage image
ISN 10/2/08 - Questioning the Mosul offensive -"The military buildup in Mosul is part of a large-scale offensive involving 24,000 US soldiers and 130,000 Iraqi troops, designed to root out purported al-Qaida-linked militants in several provinces."
This Fucking War - No Local Allies in Wings for Mosul Fight - " Iraqi and American commanders are preparing for a prolonged - and possibly pivotal - fight against al-Qaida in Iraq in this vital northern hub. They are missing an essential tool used to uproot insurgents elsewhere: groups of local Sunni fighters - the so called Awakening Councils. "
"...creating ties with Sunni militia allies is a dangerous option. "It's just politically very delicate and the U.S. military would be in danger of breaking with its Kurdish allies if it went in that direction"
Captains Journal - Looming Battle for Mosul 10/2/08 see also Last Stand in Mosul 29/11/07
4 comments:
First off, glad to see you joining the ranks of hundreds of neocon anti-Ritter calumnists in asserting a man with a perfectly clean record is a child molestor.
The oppositionalist gossip however, has it that the girl in question was in the 15-6, and the worst of the charge was masturbating in her presence,again
never pressed, even though a very skilled anti-war opponent could have been written off with conviction.
Secondly, Ali Ballout, a Saddam confidante Lebanese (Daily Star)journalist confirmed in detail before the war Hussein had told him he had organized (delegating a good part of the details) a formidable insurgency. The quagmire resulting attests to the probability of this, but if you wish a conspiracy too far...
You display a remarkable ignorance of Lord Patel's world if you think he is a neo con. If you search the blog yo will discover that Lord Patel has met and had a chat with Mr Ritter and posts are illustrated with pictures of the portly ex marine framed by a Stars and Stripes inverted.
When tackled about his child molesting - details of which are widely available elsehwere he refused to talk further.
I regard Ritter as a front in some way for the CIA and if you read the posts you will see the arguments for that assumption.
You will also see that Lord Patel has personally discussed and had correspondence with Tony Blair about Khazraji (whom the BBC in September 2002 gave the airwaves to explain why he should return to repalce saddam) and his ex Saddamites who were well supported by the CIA before the illegal invasions - it was the CIA who got Khazraji out of Denmark.
Time will tell if the Baatistas re-appear... they are however getting old, but then so is Barzani.
. lay off it Scott you've been forecasting the Iranian invasion since June 2006.
Well, the black lady hasn't sung yet
and public forecasts/warnings like that may well have helped to inhibit the start of WWIII,
so far?
Ekk
Didn't say he was a neocon, said in calumnizing Ritter he was helping the neocons. Innocent until
proven guilty evidently doesn't apply when dramatizing idiosyncratic theories unechoed even by Iraqi Shias for example.
Ritter is not a pure ideological "Buchananite" non-interventionist; neither is eg Michael Scheuer.They both however are harsh critics of the Iraq War
and the Zionist Lobby. No labyrinthine conspiracy theory is needed-only an appreciation of the good they do. The same is the case with Ray McGovern.
As for "walking away" from politically tangential, seemingly impertinent questions about a dismissed charge, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson
"walked away" from oppositional
calumny of a "nothing-to-gain" nature as well in their time.
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