Al-Qaeda seizes Iraq's third-largest city as terrified residents flee

Looks like we did a bang up job spending all that cash fighting Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Al-Qaeda seized control of Iraq's third biggest city on Tuesday, freeing thousands of imprisoned fellow fighters in a series of jailbreaks and sparking a mass exodus of refugees. The assault on the city of Mosul, 225 miles north west of Baghdad, saw the Iraqi army retreat to the outskirts after a sustained assault by men armed with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Link to Story

Just like every other time we come to "help out" another Country we split out of Iraq leaving all of those that tried to help the USA to fend for themselves. Good job USA. We should have never gone there in the first place but once we did we made it worse. People in Iraq that tried to help the USA are dying right now.

Never should have gone there, now the next couple of generations will be blaming the USA for all it's problems.

The middle east has been exploited to the max, no need for us to send the troop back. We need to go to Africa now full force before the other powers do. I understand were there a little but we need more influence in Africa lot of resources there to help maintain our way of life.

Sorry had to

a reply to: Mamatus

I don't think they will blame us completely, in fact they may beg for our help eventually.... In Iraq it is always going to be one hell or the other.

Either a Sunni dominated hell, or a Shiite dominated hell... Take your pick.

In between those periods of domination will be bloody conflicts and barbaric attacks on both sides, and every Iraqi will suffer.... It isn't new. US involvement only ultimately added to the misery of that never ending cycle of violence.

Allahu Akbar

Why don't all the people fleeing fight back?
Kill the infidels right?

How bout putting those awesome bomb making skills to use and blow those damn prisons to high heaven before they're "liberated".

What a joke.

Good thing the US spent all that time and money equipping and training the Iraqi military:

The assault on the city of Mosul, 225 miles north west of Baghdad, saw the Iraqi army retreat to the outskirts after a sustained assault by men armed with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Several army officers told Reuters that the Iraqi forces were demoralized and outgunned by ISIL.

Good old guerrilla warfare

Another officer added: "They are well trained in street fighting and we're not. They're like ghosts: they appear to strike and disappear in seconds."

That Embassy in Baghdad better be every bit the fortress they claim it is as the largest Embassy in the world for us.

If it's not...Benghazi may look like a traffic accident by comparison to seeing that fall with the city someday.

I absolutely cannot see the US ever going back there to help the Iraqis. Not anymore. What a mess left in the aftermath of the war......and it's a war that never ended at all, really. The US just chose to exit the battle while the others kept right on going. (sigh)

I don't believe this for a second. Islam is a peaceful religion. If left alone, peace should be breaking out all over the middle east.

a reply to: ScientiaFortisDefendit

I know right, Praise Allah for keeping the peace all these centuries.

Wow this is insane! What is next? The nation state of AL Quaida?

originally posted by: TiedDestructor
Why don't all the people fleeing fight back?
Kill the infidels right?

According to gunpolicy.org those fleeing people probably are not gun owners

Civilian Gun Registration
In Iraq, the law requires10 that a record of the acquisition, possession and transfer of each privately held firearm be retained in an official register

State-Owned Firearm Records
In Iraq, State agencies are required11 to maintain records of the storage and movement of all firearms and ammunition under their control

link

The more I read about current gun laws in Iraq the more it sounds like the people who just want to live their lives don't bother at all while the people who want to run things simply don't bother with the law.

When a band of rampaging lunatics rides in to take over a town and all the residents are either unwilling or unprepared to counter they flee. They run and call the military who then retreats.

I'm surprised myself. I would have thought that living in a situation like that the townspeople would have taken their defense seriously.

Consider Mali. Full of artists and hipsters just gave up the moment a handful of nuts with guns rode into town.
The lesson here is that regardless of how peace-living and modern you think you are there will always be somebody who hates you so goddamn arm yourself and and your neighbors and be prepared to defend your way of life or you'll just keep running from bullies.

a reply to: 3n19m470

A real attempt to establish a global caliphate. Don't you have a mosque in your neighborhood yet?

originally posted by: thisguyrighthere
Good thing the US spent all that time and money equipping and training the Iraqi military:

The assault on the city of Mosul, 225 miles north west of Baghdad, saw the Iraqi army retreat to the outskirts after a sustained assault by men armed with heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Several army officers told Reuters that the Iraqi forces were demoralized and outgunned by ISIL.

Good old guerrilla warfare

Another officer added: "They are well trained in street fighting and we're not. They're like ghosts: they appear to strike and disappear in seconds."

Bull#. Many of those in the army were and still are insurgents. Those troops stay demoralized. I've watched documentaries of US troops "trying" to train these imbeciles.

They'd fire their weapons blindly while being warned to conserve ammunition. Even when not fired on.

They stayed doped up on opiates drooling like fools and nodding off.

They kept young boys as sex slaves and tried to hide it from brass.

They constantly abandon their post and some are even allowed to come back afterwards. Wuuut???

I mean having to beg the soldiers to fill up sandbags to defend their position just to see them use children to do the work.

They're a bunch of freaking childish animals. Cowards. Wusses. Not an Army.

a reply to: thisguyrighthere

I imagine that gun ownership in Iraq is a scary prospect. The US military used to routinely toss homes in the very cities Al-Qaeda are in control of. When the USA took the guns it usually resulted in the males of the home being arrested, interrogated and sometimes imprisoned.

Owning a gun while not being part of Al-Qaeda has to be at least as scary. Horrible to have to flee ones home.

Personally I would prefer to see Taliban having control. they are at least as violent but at least they do not tolerate poppy farming or Heroin production. Al-Qaeda on the other hand loves the money they make selling drugs to the West.......

Its a complete #storm.

And I don't think its a surprise to anyone at all really.

Sure, the US / UK screwed up big style....but its far from being all 'our' fault.

If they'd left Saddam in power 'the west' would have been accused of supporting a murderous scumbag dictator.
Go in and we are interfering, neo-colonialists motivated purely by greed.

Yes, we were lied to - and those responsible should be rotting in jail.
But what was the alternative?
I for one don't know.

We stayed too long, we ignored local advice and assumed to know better.
But what would have happened if we'd left straight away?
Again, I haven't got a clue.

But it seems to me some people are just intent on killing no matter who is there or who is in control.

Its a screw up of unimaginable proportions.
Just a never ending cycle of hatred and killing.

I know I can't offer any miracle solutions or answers - maybe those more learned can?
But I've yet to see any evidence of that.

originally posted by: Mamatus
a reply to: thisguyrighthere

I imagine that gun ownership in Iraq is a scary prospect. The US military used to routinely toss homes in the very cities Al-Qaeda are in control of. When the USA took the guns it usually resulted in the males of the home being arrested, interrogated and sometimes imprisoned.

Owning a gun while not being part of Al-Qaeda has to be at least as scary. Horrible to have to flee ones home.

Personally I would prefer to see Taliban having control. they are at least as violent but at least they do not tolerate poppy farming or Heroin production. Al-Qaeda on the other hand loves the money they make selling drugs to the West.......

They are allowed at least one rifle per household. Full auto is okay too.

Usually the raids you would see were houses hoarding weapons. Above the limit per se.

That's a lot of households therefore a lot of rifles.

a reply to: TiedDestructor

You know what could have and should have solved that? It would have been good for American economics too.

We have a VERY large state there with Nevada. Over 80% is Uncle Sam's land, too. Very hostile land to cross on foot. In fact, many parts of it are isolated enough to make doing that successfully, especially if not holding or seeing any maps of the area, a very unlikely thing to survive.

I.E... We COULD have made training camps to run those recruits through something to make a U.S. Marine ring out, and turned back some of the best trained in the world. We could have done that...and it would have taken total immersion and total isolation, broken away from the fighting and distractions back home for 24 weeks or more, minimum.

Just as it's horribly hateful and flat wrong to suggest races mean people can't achieve the same things..so to for nationality. We tried to simply improve on what already produced a bad outcome for Saddam (kinda obvious and self evident there) with the best trainers.....who would enter an active war zone to train them.

I mean..lol..what could ever have gone wrong with the approach we DID use? Oh..right...

a reply to: thisguyrighthere

Dammit I could only give you one star.

Now the marines will have to go in for two months and crush the revolt..

The result will be marine dead and the governemnt arms contracters laughing their f'king heads off on the way to the bank as the go to cash another cheque for the millions of bullets they just sold.

WAR - THE ONLY BUSINESS WHERE THE PROFITS ARE MEASURED IN DOLLARS AND THE LOSSES IN HUMAN LIVES.- MAJOR GENERAL SMEDLEY BUTLER.

originally posted by: Wrabbit2000
The US just chose to exit the battle while the others kept right on going. (sigh)

The Iranians and Saudis need to step back and stop supplying, training and supporting the opposing sides. If they did then groups such as this wouldn't be able to take advantage of the sectarian chaos as those two have helped foster.

wont be long before Al Qaeda have their own air force and navy...they just need to get their hands on all that filthy oil.