Watching Ramadi fall to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria May 17, the beleaguered Iraq military hoped to use Sunni and Shiite militias to reclaim land lost to ISIS since the 2014 ISIS blitzkrieg that grabbed some 30% of Iraq’s land. Since President Barack Obama ended the Iraq War Dec. 15, 2011, Iraq’s been in a freefall, unable to stop the relentless advance of what’s left of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard. While ISIS and the world press claim ISIS is a new Islamic caliphate, it’s military wing is led by Saddam’s former Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council and current head of Iraq’s Baathist Party 72-year-old Issat Ibrahim al-Douri. International media and foreign state departments don’t get that ISIS ‘s military wing is composed of Saddam’s former Baathists and Republican Guards, hoping to return to Baghdad.
When Saddam’s statue came tumbling down April 10, 2003, his vaunted military tore off their uniforms and jumped in the Tigris River, reemerging as the ISIS under the mysterious Sunni cleric Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. It’s no accident that his name resembles the notorious Iraqi terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, massacring U.S. soldiers in the 2004 battles of Fallujah. Al-Baghdadi displays the same kind of barbarism as al-Zarqawi whose bloody reign of terror gave the U.S. and Iraqi military fits until a U.S. smart bomb took him out June 7, 2006. Before Western governments jump into Iraq’s latest sectarian war, it’s important to note Saddam was a Sunni Baathist that ruled Iraq with an iron fist. Under Saddam’s control July 16, 1979 to April 10, 2003, Iraq war virtually terrorist free, before ousted by U.S. forces April 10, 2003, opening up the floodgates of radical Islam and sectarian war.
Despite Iraq’s demographic of 60% Shiite, Saddam’s success in controlling Iraq stemmed from his Sunni backing by some of the Arab world’s most repressive regimes, including Saudi Arabia. Since Baghdad fell to U.S. forces April 10, 2003, Iraq was led by Shiite leaders, first U.S.-backed Nouri al-Maliki and now Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Both al-Maliki and al-Abadi couldn’t control widespread infiltration by Suuni insurgent groups, including Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda and now former members of Saddam’s Revolutionary Guards. Al-Abadi’s desperate plea to Shiite militias, including Muqtada al-Sadr’s old al-Mahdi militia, shows just how far gone is the U.S.-trained-and-equipped Iraqi military. Most of ISIS’s current weapons come from disbanded divisions of the Iraqi military after abandoning key positions in Iraq, especially large army bases and military installations.
Secretary of State John Kerry played down the loss of Ramadi, insisting the president’s bombing campaign was still working. Hitting Ramadi with 19 sorties, Kerry insisted the U.S. was going after a “target of opportunity,” trying to bomb ISIS positions. Most military analysts don’t believe the U.S. strategy can stop ISIS relentless advance on more Iraqi targets, including potentially toppling Baghdad. Debating U.S. strategy in Iraq, newly minted 2016 GOP presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) ripped the White House for pulling out of Iraq prematurely and now refusing to put boots-on-the-ground to battle ISIS. While Obama’s strategy gives ISIS a free pass, most Americans oppose putting more boots-on-the-ground in Iraq, believing it’s Iraq’s job to either defend itself or not. Talks of Shiite militias or even Iran-backed Shiite forces also can’t stop ISIS.
Refusing to re-litigate the Iraq War, Obama has decided any change in U.S. policy will be left to the next president. After nearly 5,000 deaths and over $1 trillion dollars spent, Obama sees no justification for doing anything in Iraq other than supplying arms and trainers. “The Americans said that they have carried out air-strikes against ISIS but then the group went in a defeated local forces,” said Hassan Hassan, author of a book on the ISIS. “So they really need to come up with a whole new strategy . . . and really take the fight to them,” not realizing that the White House has abandoned any such plans. After the bitter row with former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri-al-Maliki leading up to the U.S. pullout, the White House does not want to re-engage in Iraq. Iraqi government minister Qassim al-Fahdawi said the Iraqi military lacked the “professionalism, training and discipline” to defeat ISIS.
Iraq’s interest in Iranian-backed Shiite militias shows the utter desperation of al-Abadi to stop ISIS from marching on Baghdad. Whether admitted to or not, ISIS has the best chance of marching on Baghdad before Obama leaves office. White House officials talk a good game but have no real interest in preventing Baghdad from falling to ISIS, especially if it involves U.S. ground forces. When you have an Iraqi government minister admitting Iraq lacks the “professionalism, training and discipline,” to stop ISIS after the U.S. spent years beefing up the military, the White House isn’t inclined to intervene, no matter what the pressure from the GOP in Congress. Iraq’s military has been so infiltrated by Sunni militants, there’s no trust in collaborating with Shiite militias to stop ISIS. Looking to Shiite militias to save the day, al-Abadi practically concedes the eventual fall of Baghdad.
