Iraqi militia attack on UAE a ‘message from Iran’

Wednesday's attack underscored that the UAE was now being targeted from its north and south

Analysts say drone strikes intended to put the UAE on notice for its involvement in Yemen and normalisation of ties with Israel.

The drone attack by a little-known armed group in Iraq on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this week has raised questions about Baghdad’s involvement in regional tensions between Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and the Saudi-led coalition.

Alwiyat al-Haq (AWH), or the True Promise Brigades, claimed responsibility for the strike on Wednesday, saying in a statement it launched “four drones targeting vital facilities in Abu Dhabi” in retaliation for the Emirates’ policies in Iraq and Yemen.

Several analysts linked the strikes to a shadowy militia Kataib Hezbollah (KH), a powerful Iran-backed Shia armed group in Iraq that has been listed by the United States as a “terrorist organisation”.

The incident brought to light that the UAE was now being targeted from its north and south, after three recent attacks launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

An Iraqi springboard?

While the attack from Iraq was a significant development, analysts said it did not indicate that Baghdad was being pulled deeper into regional tensions between Iran – which is aligned with Yemen’s Houthis – and Saudi Arabia, which has fought with the UAE in Yemen since 2015 against the rebels.

“Iraq has already been involved in this conflict, with the Hashd [paramilitary factions] and associated Shia jihadist groups having close ties to the Houthis,” said Talha Abdulrazaq, an Iraq expert and researcher at the University of Exeter’s Strategy and Security Institute.

“Previous strikes against Saudi official complexes and oil facilities have been launched from Iraqi territory,” he added.

Before Wednesday’s incident, Alwiyat al-Waad al-Haq claimed a drone attack targetting the Yamana Palace in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in January 2021, saying it was retaliation for a suicide bombing claimed by the ISIL (ISIS) group in a Baghdad shopping district two days earlier.

Lahib Higel, a senior Iraq analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Iraq is “already part of Saudi-Iran tensions and will forever be a part of them as long as they exist”.

“The attack does not necessarily mean that Iraq will be dragged further, but it’s a strong indication that the divide in Iraq [between pro-Iran and pro-Saudi factions] … even within the so-called Shia house will continue,” said Higel.

The rivalry between US ally Saudi Arabia and Iran, which is on an opposing side to Riyadh and Washington in multiple Middle East conflicts, has long played out in Iraq.

While some Iraqi groups, including the current government, pivot towards Riyadh, many powerful Shia paramilitary groups and resistance factions, including Kataib Hezbollah, support Tehran. Also, as home to powerful Iranian-backed militias, Iraq has been used as a battleground between Iran and the US.

In January 2020, a US drone strike killed Iran’s revered general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, pushing Washington and Tehran to the brink of war. Iran and affiliated Iraqi militias have since targeted several US diplomatic sites and military bases where US troops were stationed.

‘Message from Iran’

Higel said if the attack was consented by Iran it was likely a two-pronged message that “it can strike from different places, and not just Yemen [and] it does not approve of the recent visit by the Israeli president to the UAE”, or more broadly normalistaion between Israel and several Arab states.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog made his first visit to the UAE last week, a month after Naftali Bennett became the first Israeli prime minister to visit the Gulf country.

The warming of diplomatic ties came after the Emirates normalised ties with Israel in September 2020. Three other Arab countries – Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco – also forged diplomatic relations with Israel under the so-called Abraham Accords brokered by the United States.

Tamer Badawi, an Iraq analyst and doctoral researcher at the University of Kent, referred to AWH as either a “façade or actual surrogate that operates on behalf of KH”, saying in addition to its rejection of normalisation with Israel, the attack had an additional “message from Iran” ahead of soon-to-be-held talks with Saudi Arabia in Baghdad.

“The recent attack from pro-resistance groups in Iraq on Abu Dhabi has its drivers in Iraq and it likely reflects Tehran’s approval.

“It is unclear if the attack would help Iran build leverage prior to talks or undermine its position, but increasing attacks on Abu Dhabi whether from Iraq or from Yemen certainly warn Saudi against developing ties with Israel,” said Badawi.

Internal divide

According to Badawi, the AWH’s attack on the Emirates also reflects domestic politics and internal tensions in Iraq, after Iran-backed paramilitary groups and their political wings lost a significant number of seats in Iraq’s parliamentary elections on October 10.

“KH and other groups are politically frustrated by the outcome of the elections and the continuous attempts made by Muqtada al-Sadr to minimise their political stakes in the upcoming government,” said Badawi.

“Such an attack on Abu Dhabi satisfies their [pro-Iran groups’] supporters and constituencies, but also sends a menacing message to political adversaries such as al-Sadr himself.”

Since his strong election showing in the October vote, al-Sadr has reiterated his commitment to form a “national majority government”, which would essentially sideline powerful pro-Iran groups and figures that suffered devastating losses in the elections. These include former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Fatah alliance, the political bloc that houses the Popular Mobilisation Forces.

Iraq has seen worsening violence since the vote with a number of attacks hitting Baghdad, including explosions that targeted banks associated with Kurdish politicians, grenades that landed on Sunni party headquarters and offices, and rockets that fell onto the US embassy in the Green Zone.

Furthermore, analysts say the attack could also be a message to Sunni parties and leaders that made significant gains in the vote, including re-elected parliamentary speaker and leader of the Sunni Taqaddum party, Mohammed Halbousi, and leader of the Sunni Al-Azim party’s Khamis al-Khanjar.

“The political gains of al-Halbusi and his ‘frenemy’ al-Khanjar are perceived to have been thanks to the political engineering of Abu Dhabi and Ankara,” said Badawi.

“Their [militias’] thinking could be that if their [Sunni factions] regional interlocutor can be bombarded, they can be coerced more easily to realign away from Sadr.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

By Arwa Ibrahim

Destruction and death in the country of two rivers
Reflections on the war in Iraq and the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS)
D. Anton

The situation in northern Iraq is extremely complex. 
The predominant population in the northeast of the country is of Kurdish origin. Iraqi Kurdistan consists of about 8 million inhabitants in 78,000 km2, with capital in the city of Erbil with 1.5 million inhabitants. 
Most of the population in this area is bilingual in Kurdish and Arabic languages. Also Aramaic (Assyrian neo-Aramaic), Turkic and Armenian are spoken by their respective communities.
Sunni-affiliated Islam is the main religion with little expression of Shiite Muslims (who are mostly in southern Iraq). There are other religious groups of varying importance. Assyrians of Aramaic speakers (about 80,000 people) are Christians, Yezidis, who are ethnically Kurdish but not Muslim (estimated at about 500,000) have their own religion that is related to ancient Persian Zoroastrianism.
To make the situation more complex, it is known that in Iraqi Kurdistan there are vast hydrocarbon deposits (at least 45 billion barrels) that make it the sixth oil reserve in the world. Several companies have signed agreements with the Kurdish government (usually with opposition from Baghdad) including Exxon, Total, Chevron, Talisman, GenEnergy, Hunt Oil, Gulf Keystone Petroleum and Marathon Oil. Effective extraction under Kurdish control began in 2007. Due to its economic power and geopolitical position, the Kurdish state (which is not internationally recognized) in fact is functioning as such.
The northwestern sector of Iraq (outside Kurdistan) is composed of mountainous and arid areas and is crossed by the Tigris River whose sediments generate the main agricultural lands. The population of this area is predominantly Sunni with small Shiite, Assyrian-Christian and Yazidis minorities. The main city of this area is Mosul with more than 1.5 million inhabitants.
The successive wars in Iraq, the US invasion, the overthrow and the death of Saddam Hussein, led to deep political instability triggering contradictions that were controlled during the dictatorship of Hussein.
The Kurds took advantage of the situation by creating a controlled area that has practically transformed itself into an independent state.
On the other hand, the continued military, political and cultural intervention of the Western powers in the Middle East led to an energetic reaction of the radical sectors of Islam, particularly the Iraqi and Syrian Sunnis, which led them to connect with the violent groups of Al Qaeda. From this alliance emerged an ultra-radical movement seeking to build an Islamic state (called the "caliphate") in northern Iraq and Syria. This group (ISIS) is extremely fundamentalist, trying to convert the non-Islamic groups by force and terror. The local communities (mainly Assyrian-Christian and Yasidis) who have managed to conserve their religions for many centuries do not wish to convert to Islam. 
The strategy of forcing the conversion led to measures of extreme cruelty with these populations. The details of these abuses are only partially known, and disturbing images have appeared in the media. It is clear that ISIS is systematically violating the human rights of Assyrian Christians, Yasidis and Kurdish communities in the territory they control. The only force capable of stopping this advance of ISIS seems to be the Kurdish army (peshmergas). With the support of the US and Western European countries the Kurds have recovered part of the areas previously under the power of the ISIS. The complexity of the situation makes it difficult to anticipate the political future 
However it seems that there are two ethnic-religious causes that deserve international support: the survival of the religious minorities, and the right of the Kurds to have their own state. For this to happen, the Kurdish communities have committed themselves fully to the autonomist struggle including the female peshmergas brigades. This fact, in violently patriarchal societies, shows a social, political and military aspect that calls attention and allows us to hope that in the future this discriminatory situation may begin to change. The Islamic State, on the other hand, represents the unbridled, discriminatory and fundamentalist reaction to the cultural and political changes that have taken place in the Iraqi.East Syria regions.
In fact, the extreme sectarianism of the Islamic State has managed to unite the political protagonists against it and it seems that it will not last long as a viable territorial force.  
However, after the disappearance of ISIS the conflicts for control of the area will continue. These territories are very important from a strategic point of view, particularly because they are the regiona thorugh which oleoducts and gasoducts are planned to transport the valuable Gulf hydrocarbons towards the Mediterranean coast and Europe.
From "Lands of Little Rain and Much Blood", Danilo Anton, Piriguazu Ediciones.

‘We are like the living dead’: Citizens of Mosul in despair 1.5 years after liberation from ISIS

A Woman walks next to ruins in the Old City of Mosul 

Chaos and misery – that’s what life in Mosul is like more than 1.5 years after Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition staged one of the deadliest battles in decades to liberate the city from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).

What was once Iraq’s second-largest city and home to millions was reduced to ash in July 2017, when the US-led coalition dropped bombs and recaptured it from IS. More than 10,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in the battle.

Thousands of dead bodies are still buried under the rubble amid the lack of recovery crews and equipment. Locals say fraud and corruption are halting the process.

“You can’t even imagine how difficult it is – no hospitals, no schools, no teachers. We are like the living dead. We have a cemetery over there, but here it’s a cemetery for the living. Pot holes are everywhere, there are still corpses everywhere and if anyone brings humanitarian aid here, the local officials just steal it, they are all corrupt,” a Mosul resident told RT.

There’s no reconstruction here, all their reconstruction efforts are just ink on paper.

There are fears that IS could return to the city and use the corruption and chaos to re-emerge. The US-led coalition spent billions of dollars when it bombed Mosul, but when it was done, it didn’t cash out on rebuilding.

 “There are no basic services in the city, no jobs – it’s terrible,” one local resident said. “We’re here battling all the hardships. We now regret that we ever came back.”

Meanwhile, nearly 2 million Iraqis remain displaced, according to UN estimates. Nearly 700,000 of them are from Mosul.

 © Reuters / Khalid al-Mousily

Reference:

https://www.rt.com/news/451163-mosul-after-isil-reconstruction-chaos/

‘We are like the living dead’: Citizens of Mosul in despair 1.5 years after liberation from ISIS

A Woman walks next to ruins in the Old City of Mosul 

Chaos and misery – that’s what life in Mosul is like more than 1.5 years after Iraqi forces and the US-led coalition staged one of the deadliest battles in decades to liberate the city from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS).

What was once Iraq’s second-largest city and home to millions was reduced to ash in July 2017, when the US-led coalition dropped bombs and recaptured it from IS. More than 10,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in the battle.

Thousands of dead bodies are still buried under the rubble amid the lack of recovery crews and equipment. Locals say fraud and corruption are halting the process.

“You can’t even imagine how difficult it is – no hospitals, no schools, no teachers. We are like the living dead. We have a cemetery over there, but here it’s a cemetery for the living. Pot holes are everywhere, there are still corpses everywhere and if anyone brings humanitarian aid here, the local officials just steal it, they are all corrupt,” a Mosul resident told RT.

There’s no reconstruction here, all their reconstruction efforts are just ink on paper.

There are fears that IS could return to the city and use the corruption and chaos to re-emerge. The US-led coalition spent billions of dollars when it bombed Mosul, but when it was done, it didn’t cash out on rebuilding.

 “There are no basic services in the city, no jobs – it’s terrible,” one local resident said. “We’re here battling all the hardships. We now regret that we ever came back.”

Meanwhile, nearly 2 million Iraqis remain displaced, according to UN estimates. Nearly 700,000 of them are from Mosul.

 © Reuters / Khalid al-Mousily

Reference:

https://www.rt.com/news/451163-mosul-after-isil-reconstruction-chaos/

Iran wary of Trump’s plans in Iraqi Kurdistan

Fazel Hawramy

From Al-Monitor

October 12, 2017

More than two weeks after the Sept. 25 independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iran has yet to take any meaningful action against the Kurdish region despite its rhetoric, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s labeling of the plebiscite as treason and a threat to the region in his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Oct. 4. “The perspective of the American and European states is completely different from the Turkish and Iranian perspective,” Khamenei told his guest, emphasizing that Israel and the United States are the main beneficiaries of an independent Kurdistan. “America is interested in having a pressure card at its disposal against Iran and Turkey; therefore, there can be no trust in the Americans and Europeans and their positions.”

While Iranian officials, including Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, have not hidden their anger and frustration at the way the Iraqi Kurdish leadership handled the referendum, they appear to be wary of a possible US plan to change the borders of the region in favor of the Kurds. Indeed, the line that Washington has a secret plan for the Middle East has been echoed by various former and also the current head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). “We believe that the creation of … a new state in the region is the wish of the system of domination headed by the Americans and the Zionists,” said former IRGC commander Yabya Rahim Sahim on Oct. 4. Safavi, who now serves as a senior military adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei — the commander in chief of the Islamic Republic — believes that the United States wants constant tension around Iran’s borders with Iraq and Turkey, and also Syria, as an excuse to keep a foothold in the vicinity. “Changes in the region’s geopolitical borders mean constant tension and a drawn-out war between the four countries with the supposed future [Kurdish] state that is intended to be established, and this insecurity and tension is what the Zionist regime and Americans want in order to have a permanent presence in the region.”

Despite these claims by Iranian officials, Washington has been clear about its policy of preferring a united, federal and democratic Iraq. But the situation is rendered further complex by the Donald Trump administration’s expected designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Tehran is furious about this, with some IRGC officials going as far as calling for the targeting of the US military across the region and the world. “If the news about the foolishness of the American state in designating the Sepah [IRGC] as a terrorist group is true, Sepah will also consider the American aims across the world and in particular in the Middle East as equal to Daesh [Islamic State, or IS],” said IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, referring to the terrorist group that the IRGC is fighting both in Iraq and Syria.

Such a scenario would further complicate the situation for Iraqi Kurdistan given the large presence of US forces within the region, with some as close as 60 kilometers (37 miles) to the Iranian border. While the official task of these forces is to fight IS, some in Tehran are concerned that Washington is there for the long haul tol keep a close eye on Iran.

In this vein, it should be noted that a new American military base is being constructed 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest of Mosul, in an area controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) peshmerga forces. The base is also 50 kilometers from the Syrian border, which is controlled by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a strong US ally currently fighting IS in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria. The United States is additionally building a sprawling consulate in Erbil that will cost sp,e 3600 millio. Meanwhile, Washington appears to have taken charge of the Haru base, also known as Bashur Airfield, 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of the Haji Omran border crossing with Iran. The US government used the base for the first time in March 2003 as part of its invasion of Iraq.

But some top Iranian officials believe that Tehran should tread carefully and see Trump as a dangerous president who should not be provoked. “The fact that we should not provoke Trump is an accurate statement,” former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaei said April 27 in response to a question about whether Trump is after war with Iran, adding, “But we also cannot give him space to come and play in our court either.” Rezaei, who now serves as secretary of the powerful Expediency Council, believes that the solution lies in the art of successful diplomacy and that Iran should avoid confrontation with the United States.

The task of diplomacy falls on the shoulders of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who addressed Iranian parliament members in a closed door meeting Oct. 11 to discuss three main issues: Trump’s policy toward the IRGC and the nuclear deal, the Syrian conflict and the referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan. The message that came out of the meeting for the Kurds was that Iran is the “closest friend” of Iraqi Kurds and that they should work together.

As such, it appears that while Iran may not be happy with the way the Kurds decided to go ahead with the referendum, it has come around to living with the result so long as the Kurds do not take further steps toward independence. Iran wants to maintain its historical ties with Iraqi Kurds, and its current nonhostile approach — despite the bellicose rhetoric before the referendum — suggests that officials in Tehran have taken into account what are seen as Trump’s intentions in Iraqi Kurdistan be they real or imagined.

Thus, it is difficult to know how Iran might have reacted to the Kurdistan referendum had the Americans not returned to Iraq in the aftermath of the June 2014 IS blitzkrieg across northern Iraq. However, in the past — both in Iraq and Afghanistan — Iran has done everything possible to avoid a direct confrontation with the American forces. In the words Zarif, “No party or country need fear our missiles, or indeed any Iranian military capability, unless it intends to attack our territory or foment trouble through terrorist attacks on our soil.” 

Ref. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/10/iran-concern-trump-washington-plans-iraqi-kurdistan-region.html

Destruction and death in the country of two rivers

Reflections on the war in Iraq and the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS)

D. Anton

The situation in northern Iraq is extremely complex. 
The predominant population in the northeast of the country is of Kurdish origin. Iraqi Kurdistan consists of about 8 million inhabitants in 78,000 km2, with capital in the city of Erbil with 1.5 million inhabitants. 
Most of the population in this area is bilingual in Kurdish and Arabic languages. Also Aramaic (Assyrian neo-Aramaic), Turkic and Armenian are spoken by their respective communities.
Sunni-affiliated Islam is the main religion with little expression of Shiite Muslims (who are mostly in southern Iraq). There are other religious groups of varying importance. Assyrians of Aramaic speakers (about 80,000 people) are Christians, Yezidis, who are ethnically Kurdish but not Muslim (estimated at about 500,000) have their own religion that is related to ancient Persian Zoroastrianism.
To make the situation more complex, it is known that in Iraqi Kurdistan there are vast hydrocarbon deposits (at least 45 billion barrels) that make it the sixth oil reserve in the world. Several companies have signed agreements with the Kurdish government (usually with opposition from Baghdad) including Exxon, Total, Chevron, Talisman, GenEnergy, Hunt Oil, Gulf Keystone Petroleum and Marathon Oil. Effective extraction under Kurdish control began in 2007. Due to its economic power and geopolitical position, the Kurdish state (which is not internationally recognized) in fact is functioning as such.
The northwestern sector of Iraq (outside Kurdistan) is composed of mountainous and arid areas and is crossed by the Tigris River whose sediments generate the main agricultural lands. The population of this area is predominantly Sunni with small Shiite, Assyrian-Christian and Yazidis minorities. The main city of this area is Mosul with more than 1.5 million inhabitants.
The successive wars in Iraq, the US invasion, the overthrow and the death of Saddam Hussein, led to deep political instability triggering contradictions that were controlled during the dictatorship of Hussein.
The Kurds took advantage of the situation by creating a controlled area that has practically transformed itself into an independent state.
On the other hand, the continued military, political and cultural intervention of the Western powers in the Middle East led to an energetic reaction of the radical sectors of Islam, particularly the Iraqi and Syrian Sunnis, which led them to connect with the violent groups of Al Qaeda. From this alliance emerged an ultra-radical movement seeking to build an Islamic state (called the "caliphate") in northern Iraq and Syria. This group (ISIS) is extremely fundamentalist, trying to convert the non-Islamic groups by force and terror. The local communities (mainly Assyrian-Christian and Yasidis) who have managed to conserve their religions for many centuries do not wish to convert to Islam. 
The strategy of forcing the conversion led to measures of extreme cruelty with these populations. The details of these abuses are only partially known, and disturbing images have appeared in the media. It is clear that ISIS is systematically violating the human rights of Assyrian Christians, Yasidis and Kurdish communities in the territory they control. The only force capable of stopping this advance of ISIS seems to be the Kurdish army (peshmergas). With the support of the US and Western European countries the Kurds have recovered part of the areas previously under the power of the ISIS. The complexity of the situation makes it difficult to anticipate the political future 
However it seems that there are two ethnic-religious causes that deserve international support: the survival of the religious minorities, and the right of the Kurds to have their own state. For this to happen, the Kurdish communities have committed themselves fully to the autonomist struggle including the female peshmergas brigades. This fact, in violently patriarchal societies, shows a social, political and military aspect that calls attention and allows us to hope that in the future this discriminatory situation may begin to change. The Islamic State, on the other hand, represents the unbridled, discriminatory and fundamentalist reaction to the cultural and political changes that have taken place in the Iraqi.East Syria regions.
In fact, the extreme sectarianism of the Islamic State has managed to unite the political protagonists against it and it seems that it will not last long as a viable territorial force.  
However, after the disappearance of ISIS the conflicts for control of the area will continue. These territories are very important from a strategic point of view, particularly because they are the regiona thorugh which oleoducts and gasoducts are planned to transport the valuable Gulf hydrocarbons towards the Mediterranean coast and Europe.
From "Lands of Little Rain and Much Blood", Danilo Anton, Piriguazu Ediciones.

A strategy to promote terrorism in Syria and find an excuse to continue the war and sell weapons

Danilo Anton

The influential British magazine «The Economist» is suggesting that in Mosul, instead of corralling ISIL and completely defeating them, it would be a good idea to leave them an escape route. 
In fact an "escape route" is NOT possible to the East because the Kurds are well established there with a mighty army of Peshmerga.  However, for ISIL it would be possible to go westwards into Syria. Thus, the ISIL would continue the dream of the U.S. and United Kingdom to fight and perhaps defeat the Syrian government (with the unmentionable help of ISIL) which is their ultimate goal.
In that case, what could happen is that ISIL would take power in Syria generating a terrorist regime that would provide a nice excuse to continue the war against terrorism and sell weapons.
These British and US imperialists are just unbelievable.  
But do not worry as this will most likely not happen.  However, it is enough to know how they think and what they are capable of in order to defend their interests.

Who benefits from the battle of Mosul

Reflections on the ever-worsening violent battle of Mosul.
Danilo Anton

"Liberating"  Mosul control from the hands of the cruel and sadistic ISIL (Islamic Army of Iraq and Levant).
In this offensive, nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to miss the possible territorial and political rewards that can be obtained after the capture of the city.  In short, those who hope to benefit are:
1) The government of Iraq, predominantly Shiite, trying to regain control of Iraqi territory. This government is very weak because of what is left after the clumsy and bloody invasion of the US and its closest allies (UK, Aznar's Spain, and the oil kingdoms).

2) The Kurds, stateless people, who already have an oil-rich territory based in Erbil and they are looking to extend their enclave. With its powerful army of Peshmerga, including women, they have become a difficult power to challenge. They already control Kirkuk (where Kurds are not the majority) and aspire to extend their territory to the banks of the Tigris River (where the city of Mosul is located).
3) Iran, which has great influence on the Iraq government itself in shiite Iraq and controls various Shiite paramilitary groups involved in the battle.

4) US and its allies that bombard with little precision but want to maintain their influence. The US and its allies support the Kurds and Iraqi government and have a limited presence on the ground. Its main benefit is to sell weapons.

5) Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies who financed Al Qaeda and ISIL and are now funding the "rebel" jihadists in Syria. They are present trying to avoid the growing influence of Iran and the Shiites.
6) Turkey, which is between a rock and a hard place. It started participating in the battles but risks that the strengthening of the Kurds may affect their control of their own Kurdish provinces in the southeast of the country.

7) Russia, which is embarking on the war in Syria, defending the Assad government and its port facilities in Tartus. Russia has a strategic alliance with Iran, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" and considers this battle an opportunity to eliminate jihadism in Syria and in their own territory (p. Ej..en Chechnya). 

8) The interests of corporations producing weapons in the US who can sell their products.
9) Israel, which covertly tried to help promote jihadism in Syria (against the Assad government) observes with satisfaction as the Arab states weaken each other by fighting.
10) Al Qaeda and other Sunni jihadist organizations that will benefit from the defeat of their opponent within Islamic fundamentalism. Many fighters will end up moving to these groups already present in Syria, Iraq, Libya and other Arab and/or Muslim countries.
The main losers in this battle, as in other wars that develop in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Libya, are civilians who are the victims. Hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries, destruction, incalculable and irreparable economic losses. Despite the blood, the war continues.
More info on the book "Land of little rain and plenty of blood," D.Antón, Piriguazú Editions, claim indantonster@gmail.com

They don't care

Bombing is easy, whoever makes the decision to bomb doesn't know how many people were killed or who they were. The coalition (United States and allies) do not selectively bomb.  They just drop bombs. The decision makers are far from the dead and the blood.  Because they carry out hundreds of attacks they can make mistakes. 

A few hundred people may die. These errors can be merely defined as "collateral damage". 

This time it was the city of Daquq, south of Kirkuk, a funeral was hit and many people died or were hurt.  There wasn't any enemy target nearby.

But, the attacks continue. There are still many bombs to go.

Because they don't care.

D.A.

The news 

The Russian Ministry of Defense says that the US-led coalition is responsible for striking mourners in the Iraqi city of Daquq on Friday, killing dozens of civilians, including women and children.

The coalition jets apparently identified the mourning procession as Islamic State terrorists, said General Igor Konashenkov, spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry.

“Judging by the eyewitness accounts, the mourning procession was mistaken for terrorists by the coalition aviation. Dozens of Iraqi civilians died, including women and children,” Konashenkov said.

“Russian reconnaissance pinpointed two jets conducting airstrikes on Daquq, located 30 kilometers to the south of Kirkuk, where, according to our data, there are no ISIS fighters,” he added.

Konashenkov noted that such incidents bear the mark of war crimes.

“These deadly attacks on civilian areas, which have all the marks of war crimes, are becoming almost a daily routine for the international coalition.”

The spokesman also noted that civilians and civilian infrastructure are increasingly finding themselves in the crosshairs of the coalition bombardment. 

“Too often weddings, funerals, hospitals, police stations, and humanitarian convoys are being hit by the coalition warplanes,” Konashenkov said. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova also weighed in, slamming the coalition’s action.

“Yesterday the ‘human rights defenders’ again bombed a funeral ceremony, this time in the Iraqi Daquq where there are no terrorists.” Zakharova said in a Facebook post.

In a statement to RT, the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF), which is in charge of the international anti-ISIS operation in Iraq and Syria, said that it has no evidence that jets of the alliance carried out the Daquq strike.

“At this time, we cannot associate this incident with any Coalition strikes in the area,” the response says.

https://twitter.com/Khaqani_M/status/789514154923163648

Mosul, from diversity and tolerance to dogmatic fanaticism and ruthless war
Danilo Anton

Mosul is a city in Iraq capital of the province (Governorate) of Nineveh, on the west bank of the Tigris River in a semidesert area, where the river is being used for irrigated agricultural production, particularly through the damming of the fluvial water. The city is also near oil fields of high productivity.
Before the occupation by the ISIS there were about two and a half million people. From the population point of view is the second largest city in Iraq, the most important of the northern region (400 km from Baghdad). Is the heir to the ancient city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire in the first millennium B.C. whose ruins are on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, now covered by the metropolitan growth of Mosul.
Until recently, only a few decades, Mosul and the surrounding area had an ethnically and religiously diverse population. Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians, Kurds, Turkmen, Yazidis, Shabakis, Mandaeans, kawliyas, Circassians and other ethnic minorities who lived a peaceful coexistence in the city. There were also several religious orientations: Sunni, Salafi, Shi'a, Sufi, Christian Armenians and Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabakites,Yarsanites and Mandaeistes. The once large Jewish community had emigrated (mostly to Israel) from the 1950s due to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Once ISIS arrived, with its policies of persecution and intolerance, in 2014, more than half a million people fled the city, the rest was prisoner of a dogmatic regime, deeply intolerant and cruel.
Now, finally, after many hesitations and diplomatic discussions, a large army is advancing on the city. The invading forces include the Iraqi government, Kurdish peshmerga and other allies, with air support from the US and Western European countries. Surely thecity will finally conquered but not without fighting bloody battles for control of all its neighborhoods. Probably, like Homs and Aleppo in Syria, Mosul will be destroyed, reduced to ruins.
In a few decades, the city where a great diversity of ethnicities, religions and cultures, with varied customs lived in peace, has become a place of dogmatism, perverse intolerance, war and destruction.
More info at daniloanton@blogspot.com and in the book "Tierras de Pocas Lluvias y Mucha Sangre" (order in dantonster@gmail.com).