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Thursday, March 26, 2015

The US Role in Iraq



I think the New York Times has made a mistake: 3 Shiite Militias Quit Iraqi Siege of ISIS Over U.S. Air Role. 

Why would Shiite militias, fighting against ISIS alongside the Americans, quit because the Americans are helping in the fight?  Either The New York Times is wrong (typical) or the editors at The New York Times accidently let some truth get out (implausible, but has occasionally been known to happen).

Either way, it is a mistake.

Anyway, I have rambled enough; here is a sampling (emphasis added):

We don’t trust the American-led coalition in combating ISIS,” said Naeem al-Uboudi, the spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq, one of the three groups which said they would withdraw from the front line around Tikrit. “In the past they have targeted our security forces and dropped aid to ISIS by mistake,” he said.

Hakim al-Zamily, one of the leaders of the Sadr group, said his group had warned it would pull out of the Tikrit fight if the Americans were brought in. “We don’t trust the Americans, they have targeted our forces many times in so-called mistakes,” he said.

Mr. Sadr, whose troops fought bitter battles against the Americans during much of the Iraq war, said his group was pulling out because, in his words, “the participation of the so-called international alliance is to protect ISIS, on the one hand, and to confiscate the achievements of the Iraqis, on the other hand.”

Like I said, either way The New York Times has made a mistake.

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