Iran sends troops into Iraq to aid fight against Isis militants

Iran has sent 2,000 advance troops to Iraq in the past 48 hours to help tackle a jihadist insurgency, a senior Iraqi official has told the Guardian.

The confirmation comes as the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, said Iran was ready to support Iraq from the mortal threat fast spreading through the country, while the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, called on citizens to take up arms in their country's defence.

The Iraqi official said 1,500 basiji forces had crossed the border into the town of Khanaqin, in Diyala province, in central Iraq on Friday, while another 500 had entered the Badra Jassan area in Wasat province overnight. The Guardian confirmed on Friday that Major General Qassem Suleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, had arrived in Baghdad to oversee the defence of the capital.

Iran sends troops into Iraq to aid fight against Isis militants

I know, this has already been reported and then Iran deny's sending troops, but here we go again!

Is this real life?

Iran's president did say if Iraq asked for help then they would help them.
Iran President: We’ll Help Battle Militants in Iraq if Asked

Speaking at a press conference Saturday, President Hassan Rouhani said he would study any request for help from Iraq, but added that Iran has “no option but to confront terrorism.” “When the U.S. takes action against (the militants), then one can think about cooperation,” President Hassan Rouhani said, the Associated Press reports. “Until today, no specific request for help has been demanded. But we are ready to help within international law.”

The Iraqi army did one bloody good impersonation of the Italian and French ww2 army with the way they vanished when the fighting started to go down

Hmm, same people helping Assad in Syria....

If true things could go from bad to worse quickly.

IMO

Iran has a big interest in Iraq (and Syria).

It's the Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline

The continuing "civil wars" in Iraq and Syria are costing big money in lost "future" sales of natural gas.

They only want "Shi'ite" Muslim governments involved.

And of course Russia wants no pipelines at all that would compete with Gazprom sales to Europe.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia want their gas to go to Europe but Syria must become Sunni.

Now who's backing who?

I think Iran helping Iraq is a good thing....

Muslim helping muslim to sort out a muslim problem....seems sensible to me....

the western powers turned the region into a bigger hell hole than what Iraq was under Saddam...

so butt out western ladies and for once let the locals sort out their own problems....

a strong muslim nation should be able to help a weaker muslim nation against....muslim extremists.....

a reply to: tri-lobe-1

Which side contains the most dangerous extremists ultimately, not just for Iraq, but for the world?

Sunnis or Shiites?

Which is actually the lesser evil in the long term?

Careful what you wish for.

I wish for problem solving and peace for all concerned.....
their not our counties...
their not our faiths and lifestyles....
they walk a different walk....we can not change them...

I personally think that they should be able to sort out their own internal issues...

Sunni or Shiite doesn't concern me.....that's like arguing Catholic verses non-Catholic...pointless.
all religious groups have their zealot crazies....

a reply to: tri-lobe-1

It's precisely that kind of thinking that will make what will possibly happen no longer a possibility, but an absolute certainty.

It's easy to look the other way and say it's not our problem.

Until it actually is.

Good luck America, the countdown has started....

a reply to: ausername

I don't know. Why don't you enlighten? What is the lesser of the two. I have no idea what the difference really is.

The international development secretary, Justine Greening, said the initial tranche of emergency funding would allow agencies to supply water, sanitation, medicine, hygiene kits and basic household items.

That's great and all but then what? Rebuilding again? Is this a continuous regional war for the sake of money?

a reply to: tri-lobe-1

Hypothetically, say there's a big problem in the neighborhood right next to you, and it's getting worse every day. Sexual predators are preying on all the young girls. You have a daughter, and the means to intervene to end the problem.

Would you sit back and "pray for a peaceful ending," and risk your daughter? Or would you use every resource you have to stop the sexual predators and prevent them spreading into your neighborhood?

originally posted by: f4rwest
a reply to: tri-lobe-1

Hypothetically, say there's a big problem in the neighborhood right next to you, and it's getting worse every day. Sexual predators are preying on all the young girls. You have a daughter, and the means to intervene to end the problem.

Would you sit back and "pray for a peaceful ending," and risk your daughter? Or would you use every resource you have to stop the sexual predators and prevent them spreading into your neighborhood?

That's BS. They're not right next door, as your hypothetical is. You would have been better off trying "If Hawaii went to poop, and we live in Maine..." It would have been more accurate taking distance into account at least.

Either way, we don't have to power to do anything. We're just another country, and unlike what our inflated ego says, we're not in charge of anyone but ourselves. The more we meddle in drastically different affairs abroad compared to our own, the more blind rage is going to be cultured in response. You've heard the bully comparisons, they're apt. I'd rather we stop poking the bear before we get mauled and really pay for it. Let them sort out their own crap. Nobody died & made us Supreme Ruler of Earth.

Can somebody please explain to me why the Sunni and Shia are different and why they hate each other so much??

Don't they just like - believe in a separate prophet from one another or whatever?

Excuse my ignorance.

You know, it's really a shame that the US doesn't have an ally in the Middle East who could help out. An ally that we could count on. An ally that we have been supporting for decades with financial and military aid. An ally that doesn't mind firing a few rockets at terrorists. Oh well, what can you do? I guess the US should start looking for a real ally in the Mideast region.

why is Iraq an American issue????
the world has witnessed how America handled Iraq when they had the opportunity....what a shinning light that was....
that is exactly why things have turned to crap in Iraq today......

good luck America, the countdown has started.....shouldn't that sentiment apply to your own backyard...it's your country that's a floundering,sinking ship at sea...

at the end of the day America is only concerned with their own selfish needs....their not concerned about the Iraqi people... they are just mere collateral damage....oil is more important.....the spice must flow.....

America....let the Muslims sort out their own issues.....

a reply to: VictorVonDoom

That is what happens when, one way or another, overtly and/or covertly you try to appease all sides of a region full of conflicts and divisions.

You eventually piss them all off.

If Iran gets its army into Iraq, they will settle the matter. They will not retreat. Once finished with the ISIS in Iraq, they will simply push on and come at the ISIS in Syria right in their back door. I think this is a very big step for Iran and one that they have wanted to take for a long time.

They now have the ability to be the regional power that they always wanted to be. Imagine, Iran, Iraq and Syria, all friends, all with a mutual defense pack.

A new beginning for the Middle East or is it just setting up for the ultimate Sunni . Shia war of extermination.

P

a reply to: VictorVonDoom

Just to add... If Israel were to intervene in any way, that would literally unite the region, Sunnis and Shiites against them.

So if your thinking is that Israel is that ally, well... It would not end well.

Saudi Arabia has been hoarding all their wealth at the expense of USA. It's time for them to put up or shut up.

originally posted by: FlyingFox
Saudi Arabia has been hoarding all their wealth at the expense of USA. It's time for them to put up or shut up.

They are and have been.

They support the ISIL.