Iraq declares Ramadi liberated from Islamic State

The Iraqi city of Ramadi has been "liberated" from so-called Islamic State, the Iraqi military has declared.

Military spokesman Brig Yahya Rasul said forces had achieved an "epic" victory, adding the Iraqi flag had been raised over the government complex.

Iraqi government forces, backed by US-led coalition air strikes, had been battling to retake the mainly Sunni Arab city for weeks.
Ramadi fell to IS in May, in an embarrassing defeat for the army.

Iaq Declares Ramadi Liberated from IS

Good news, at last. It was an embarrassment to the Iraqi's when they lost Ramadi earlier in the year.

Hopefully this will be a good springboard to retake Anbar province and finish IS off.

originally posted by: stumason
Hopefully this will be a good springboard to retake Anbar province and finish IS off.

Hate to bare bad news but retaking Anbar will hardly make a dent in ISIS, and will most certainly not finish them off.

a reply to: stumason


the real reason the city was retaken by run-of-the-mill Iraqi forces...

is because ISIS has only a skeleton crew of Jihadi Fighters there... the majority of the ISIS Army were redeployed to Europe by hiding among the swarms of Syrian & Middle Eastern males of soldier age (17-40)


It is Amazing the leftover ISIS forces were able to fight the coalition for so long & make it appear that 30 thousand ISIS fighters were ensconced in the City (the west will not awaken from their delusion anytime soon as 3,000 ISIS Jihadists commandeer a city that would normally take 15,000 men to achieve the same result.... dedicated fighters indeed !)

originally posted by: theySeeme

originally posted by: stumason
Hopefully this will be a good springboard to retake Anbar province and finish IS off.

Hate to bare bad news but retaking Anbar will hardly make a dent in ISIS, and will most certainly not finish them off.

I am well aware of that, but you have to start somewhere and pushing IS out of Anbar will help cut off Mosul from Raqaa.

originally posted by: St Udio
a reply to: stumason


the real reason the city was retaken by run-of-the-mill Iraqi forces...

is because ISIS has only a skeleton crew of Jihadi Fighters there... the majority of the ISIS Army were redeployed to Europe by hiding among the swarms of Syrian & Middle Eastern males of soldier age (17-40)

Well, we've all heard the stories but so far, that "army" has done diddly squat and I suspect that most of them have sod all to do with IS.

However, if they are, then bring it. When it comes to slaughtering "swarms" of people, us Europeans have it sewn up.

originally posted by: St Udio
It is Amazing the leftover ISIS forces were able to fight the coalition for so long & make it appear that 30 thousand ISIS fighters were ensconced in the City (the west will not awaken from their delusion anytime soon as 3,000 ISIS Jihadists commandeer a city that would normally take 15,000 men to achieve the same result.... dedicated fighters indeed !)

The real reason is the Iraqi Army was poorly led, leading to low morale and an unwillingness to fight, so when they heard IS was attacking the city they fled. It had nothing to do with "dedicated" or superior fighters, but the simple fact the Iraqi Army lacked the balls.

That has changed quite a bit now, hence the recent success, although I have to admit it still took them far too long to retake Ramadi with an almost 10-1 advantage over IS - largely, I suspect, down to the typical poor quality soldiers that have plagued Arab armies for years.

I've been watching some video's from Syria/Iraq this morning and no-one appears to be able to hold or aim a weapon and units are ill-disciplined, no matter who they profess to be fighting for, be it IS, the FSA or Iraq. The only caveat is the Syrian Army, who do appear to be the most disciplined and trained force going - at least, they know how to hold a gun, which way to point it and to NOT stand up and stare at the enemy when they have snipers shooting at you.....

originally posted by: St Udio
a reply to: stumason


the real reason the city was retaken by run-of-the-mill Iraqi forces...

is because ISIS has only a skeleton crew of Jihadi Fighters there... the majority of the ISIS Army were redeployed to Europe by hiding among the swarms of Syrian & Middle Eastern males of soldier age (17-40)


It is Amazing the leftover ISIS forces were able to fight the coalition for so long & make it appear that 30 thousand ISIS fighters were ensconced in the City (the west will not awaken from their delusion anytime soon as 3,000 ISIS Jihadists commandeer a city that would normally take 15,000 men to achieve the same result.... dedicated fighters indeed !)

That is complete nonsense. European land does that have the same religious value that Ramadi has for them, so they will NEVER use a military strategy that involves placing most of their fighters outside of the holy land they are fighting for control over.


Stop repeating this Trump rhetoric, it's just weird, and if Donald Trump never decided to run for president, you'd never be making such a strange claim. Let's be honest now, it's time to start dealing with cold hard facts and truth, and stop spewing out theories as if they are facts. Very deceiving.

a reply to: stumason

Its good news and it does show that ISIS may need to regroup ,rethink ,and maybe call it a day .I think that the power players may have been out played .Cutting off the oil supply via bombing is not helping their cause .New UN resolutions and working groups with a new plan and a way forward takes on a big political victory of sorts . If the ideology of ISIS fails or is failing because of the push backs then the backers need to come up with a different plan ....

It will not be so easy for the ISIS types to form a large coherent plan as the intelligence agencies have a good handle on how their system has been functioning up until now . I think its not going to be a quick end but their seems to be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel . They seem to be making more and more enemies and sooner or later these enemies will be forced to join hands or risk a end to themselves ....

The Islamic State Caliph Baghdadi published an audio speech in which he acknowledged loss of territory but promised victory after more hardship. He announced an attack on Israel or probably soft Jewish targets elsewhere. Baghdadi mentioned "Jews" eight times and "Palestine" five times in the 24 minutes tape. An attack on Israel would probably be a valuable recruiting tool for the Islamic State.

The Syrian Arab Army freed several Islamic State held villages north east of Aleppo.

The Syrian-Kurdish YPG, under its U.S. label Syrian Democratic Forces, took the Tishreen dam away from the Islamic State fighters. The move was supported by Russia and the U.S. There are plans to reroute electricity from Tishreen to the predominate Kurdish Kobane, a prospect that other parts of Syria will not like and a potential reason for future conflicts. From Tishreen the Kurds can cross to the west bank of the Euphrates and proceed towards Jarablus. This would cut the corridor the Islamic State has to Turkey. The Turkish government had announced that such a move by the Kurds would be a grave transgression of its red lines and against Turkish interests.

Iraqi government forces stormed the Islamic State held central government complex in Ramadi, Anbar province. Some IS fighters died there but more fled. The city of Ramadi was announced free of IS by the Iraqi government but I would expect that IS sleeper cells have staid in the city.

The Islamic State is definitely shrinking. It seemingly lacks manpower and is still wasting personal by ruling over far flung but useless areas and in pointless suicide attacks for minor tactical gains.

www.moonofalabama.org...

a reply to: stumason

I wonder if the city have any people left to come back and start their lives again, I know that after the Iraqi invasion and subsequent battlers most of the cities were left empty, by the citizens running away from the violence.

a reply to: marg6043

I heard it mentioned that China is waiting in the wings with a 30 or 40 billion dollar rebuilding fund .Not sure if its for Iraq / Syria or both . I am sure many of the refugees would love to go back and rebuild if given the means and stability to do so . The EU would be more then willing to remove the alternative to taking them in ...

a reply to: marg6043

By all accounts, many had fled but many did remain. Some have reported they were prevented from leaving by IS, who sought to use them as human shields. Whether true or not, who knows, but certainly there are people in the city.

originally posted by: St Udio
a reply to: stumason


the real reason the city was retaken by run-of-the-mill Iraqi forces...

is because ISIS has only a skeleton crew of Jihadi Fighters there... the majority of the ISIS Army were redeployed to Europe by hiding among the swarms of Syrian & Middle Eastern males of soldier age (17-40)


It is Amazing the leftover ISIS forces were able to fight the coalition for so long & make it appear that 30 thousand ISIS fighters were ensconced in the City (the west will not awaken from their delusion anytime soon as 3,000 ISIS Jihadists commandeer a city that would normally take 15,000 men to achieve the same result.... dedicated fighters indeed !)

lol now that is some well done satire. Of course well all know the real truth is for the first time ISIS being pushed on multiple fronts and no longer can take advantage of its internal lines of control and concentrate troops where ever the enemy offensive was coming or where they appeared weak. Now with the Iraqi Army able to operate without being carried by Kurdish and Shia militias and with the forming of anti ISIS Sunni militias has ISIS trying hold multiple fronts at one time.

Ad to that two other major components. 1. A year long bombing campaign has begun to take its toll. Anyone who understands military operations knows bombing campaigns take a long time to start showing tangible results. And 2. the new replacement for the FSA in Syria the Syrian Democratic Forces . The SDF made up of Kurdish, Turkmen, Syrian Arab and Christian militias backed by the US and Turkey has gone on the offensives moving towards the ISIS capital in Syria.

All this is simply to much pressure from to many directions for ISIS to stop. They either can try an lose everything slowly or retreat to a much smaller area and try and hold out longer. Of course they really have nowhere else to go. While other groups have take the name ISIS they really have nothing to with each other and ISIS as an organization does not know how on how to really operate outside of Iraq and Syria. Just as the ISIS branch in Egypt only operates in a small area, While neither really have anything to do with each other.

I have to say the ISIS hiding among refugees is a pretty funny idea since it would be the best thing that could happen, they would be disarmed, spread out, have no idea where they were much less what to do, they would have no command and control, no weapons, and be able to trust nobody. It would be like taking the Kentucky National Guard, taking away their weapons and sending them off to random South American nations where they did not speak the language, everybody was suspicious of them, no way to contact each other or a higher command with no idea where they might end up of see each other again. It is the sort of thing that would work in a bad movie but, in reality is just silly.

a reply to: stumason

I just knew this had to be a finish Iraq off one more time thread. Mission not accomplished yet> "Good news"?

How many times is that?

Title should read, Iraq's Puppet government backed by US advisors and close air support squashes rebellion again and again and again…

Isn't endle$$ war "Smashing", mate?

a reply to: intrptr

C'mon now, you're just making yourself seem more and more deranged with every post....

Iraq is a US puppet? If it's anyone's puppet, it is Iran's not the US, but it's not even that.

And IS is just a "rebellion"? But, hang on a minute, you're cheering Russia on for doing the exact same thing in Syria? But there, apparently according to you, IS is backed by the US and Assad/Russia are fighting terrorists!

So, by you're logic, if they're in Syria being attacked by Russia/Assad they are evil terrorists and Russia is doing the just thing, but as soon as they cross that line in the sand into Iraq, they become rebels against a "US puppet"?

Which makes no sense - in Syria they are US backed, but in Iraq they are rebels against a US backed Government? Hmm..me thinks your arguments are starting to become very unstuck.

You're a hypocrite as well as a lunatic.

Meh, and you're a warmonger, willing to liberate Iraqis from their rib cage forever, until theres none left.

The oil will still be there, though.

a reply to: intrptr

So, instead of trying to explain your position or quite how you've managed to have two entirely different viewpoints on the same topic (depending on which world power we're talking about), you dribble on some more with nonsensical gibberish?

Righto!

Glad to talk to you, I knew we would clear it up

The Iraqi's have made an accomplishment, no matter how small some think it is. It is a step forward for them, and might instill some confidence in their abilities to take matters into their own hands. If I defeated a group of five, I would be proud.
Give them credit.

originally posted by: theySeeme

originally posted by: stumason
Hopefully this will be a good springboard to retake Anbar province and finish IS off.

Hate to bare bad news but retaking Anbar will hardly make a dent in ISIS, and will most certainly not finish them off.

That's a simplistic perspective.

Every victory against ISIS makes a dent. When ISIS loses land, it suffers military, institutional and economic losses. Military defeats result in the deaths of fighters and loss of infrastructure. It also means that economic stability within ISIS-held territory is weakened, thereby affecting its ability to acquire currency and stave off economic troubles with civilians. Its ability to command power and continue acting as a state-like entity is weakened when it is unable to provide basic services to civilians. It's propaganda aimed at convincing others that it is a stable and growing state is also undermined.

ISIS is facing many internal and external problems. It is having to fight on multiple fronts while continuing to function as a state. It isn't working out for them. They have lost a significant portion of land and supply routes within the last year, and the ability for it to continue acting as a 'state' is also straining. Some ISIS-held towns have protested against its rule, and other areas have experienced armed resistance. Simply put, ISIS is fighting a war they can't win, and residents inside its territory are growing tired of its rule.

I would be surprised if ISIS hasn't been crippled by this time next year. I suspect they will cease to exist as a state-like entity by the end of 2017.

a reply to: stumason

Thats what I meant by spin on your part. Name calling is the redoubt of losers, for one. My other point is very simple…


Oil


You're the one wants to take that all down the street, around the corner and out into the parking lot. Denialists, waging propaganda war to fabricate enemies and manufacture crisis to justify waging aggressive war on nations and the world for that matter for no other reason than profit and greed for territory and resources.

Ho hum… pty dumpty, all in pieces.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: stumason

Thats what I meant by spin on your part. Name calling is the redoubt of losers, for one. My other point is very simple…

No spin, just calling it as I see it. You're the one caught in a lie because you're saying two very different things depending on what the topic is about. If it's Russia in Syria, you're on the side lines with your pom-poms as they smash the "US backed IS". But now we're on about Iraq, talking about the same group and all of a sudden they're rebels fighting a "US backed puppet Government"?

You can't keep your story straight and resort to tired old cliche's instead - hence, deranged.

originally posted by: intrptr
Oil

What, the stuff that the world is now awash with thanks to fracking - so much so the price has tumbled and the US is pretty much self sufficient in?

C'mon man, get with the times... The oil argument was done to death 10 years ago and didn't pan out then, why is it all of a sudden vogue now?

originally posted by: intrptr
You're the one wants to take that all down the street, around the corner and out into the parking lot. Denialists, waging propaganda war to fabricate enemies and manufacture crisis to justify waging aggressive war on nations and the world for that matter for no other reason than profit and greed for territory and resources.

Ho hum… pty dumpty, all in pieces.

Blah blah blah... None of that makes the remotest bit of sense, considering what I wrote above.

Oil..



That's so last decade...

You are of course aware that the US is the world leader in Oil production, aren't you?

a reply to: stumason

The worst part about losing Ramadi was all the military hardware that was seized by ISIS from the Iraqi troops. But still good news