Iraq militants seize Mosul

[BaneTheBrawler]

yeah we were still holding to the whole "avoid foreign entanglements" thing george washington said.

[Andalusian girls]

i blame the Ottomans

[Andalusian girls]

ISIS has taken Tikrit and is assaulting the Baiji oil fields (the largest in Iraq) as Iraqi security forces continue to collapse, they are now within 60 miles of Baghdad

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...2d4_story.html

500,000 refugees are fleeing the advance and foreign companies are evacuating their personnel from the capital.

[Krazy]

Way to stand your ground, Iraqis.

[Waraji]

They should have never given ya niggas democracy!
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/3fvfsT3LNNM/hqdefault.jpg

Seriously, stupidest premise for starting a war.

[Callisto]

wtf the group from Archer is real? I thought that show was a joke

[Andalusian girls]

video purportedly showing the aftermath of the assault on Tikrit, thousands of Iraqi soldiers taken prisoner, uniforms from deserters litter the ground, and Isis just became the wealthiest terrorist organization in history with, of all things, a bank heist.



https://twitter.com/LovedayM/status/...452160/photo/1

Of the many stunning revelations to emerge out of the wreckage of Mosul on Wednesday — 500,000 fleeing residents, thousands of freed prisoners, unconfirmed reports of “mass beheadings” — the one that may have the most lasting impact as Iraq descends into a possible civil war is that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria just got extremely rich.

As insurgents rolled past the largest city in northern Iraq, an oil hub at the vital intersection of Syria, Iraq and Turkey, and into Tikrit, several gunmen stopped at Mosul’s central bank. An incredible amount of cash was reportedly on hand, and the group made off with 500 billion Iraqi dinars — $425 million.

The provincial governor of Nineveh, Atheel al-Nujaifi, said that the radical Islamists had lifted additional millions from numerous banks across Mosul, as well as a “large quantity of gold bullion,” according to the International Business Times, which called ISIS the “World’s Richest Terror Force.”

also
the autonomous Kurdish militia has advanced into formerly held Iraqi areas and has claimed the territory for the Kurds effectively ending all pretense that the government in Baghdad rules the north, while the Shia majority of the south has formed militia tens of thousands strong and Iran has deployed Revolutionary Guards brigades into Iraq to combat Isis.

it looks like an independent Kurdistan will be a reality in fact if not in name, and the sectarian civil war is about to reignite between Sunni and Shia.

[Correction]

Can the Kurds even hold territory they claim? I didn't realize they had much in terms of standing forces after Desert Storm left them to die.
Also, Iran defending Baghdad would really be something.

[Andalusian girls]

the Kurdish forces call themselves the Peshmerga and they are considered one of the most effective fighting forces in the region. they don't have much heavy weaponry but are well-trained, blooded, and number around 200,000.

at the moment it is only marginally relevant as the central government's forces have been thrown out of the area and Isis has left only skeleton forces garrisoning their captured cities as they continue their blitzkrieg southward.

Kurds be all alone up north, Maliki is begging them to attack Isis's flank but they seem to have no intention of doing so.

[Correction]

They're desperately outgunned with all the weapons, artillery and vehicles ISIS has captured.

[Abandon]

man, if i get to the middle east in time to deal with this shit, i'm gonna be pissed

[Mellema]

I wouldn't be surprised if al-Maliki pulled his forces back in hopes of a bigger clash between the Kurds and the ISIS. Weakening either force would be in his best interest.

[shepardG]

ISIS won't attack the Kurds... not yet. Kurd's are boss mode.

[Meresgi]

ISIS won't attack the Kurds... not yet. Kurd's are boss mode.

Need to level up on trash mobs first.

This shit is crazy, just started really paying attention to it but i'm not surprised and I think we all saw this coming with the way Iraq went after our "WMD" spectacular.

[Waraji]

We all suspected this would happen. As soon as we left, they(or someone new) would steamroll back in.

[shepardG]

[shepardG]

slightly related to this topic, but a good idea of some of the goings-on in the middle east in the last yearish.

[wipers]

Muslims going to Mus.

[Correction]

Obama says no boots on the ground, airstrikes likely. Assuming Congress doesn't require him to repeal Obamacare or submit to another #Benghazi panel before approving them.

[kuronosan]

Politicians gon politick.