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The US Military: Back on the Battlefield in Iraq
by Patrick Cockburn
It was suddenly announced last week that the Iraqi army was
taking territory from Islamic State forces in what was presented as the
first steps in an offensive to recapture the city of Mosul. It sounded
as if the self-declared Caliphate was crumbling and was particularly
welcome news since it coincided with the Isis suicide bombings in
Brussels. The message was that Isis might be able to slaughter civilians
in Europe, but was being defeated on its home turf in Iraq and Syria.
I was particularly interested in the attack because two months ago I had been with the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga in Makhmour, the town in the front line between Mosul and the Kurdish capital Erbil, where the offensive by the 15th Division of the Iraqi Army was said to have taken place. At that time, local Kurdish commanders said that there was little fighting and they did not expect an offensive to recapture Mosul, which Isis had captured in June 2014, to happen any time soon.
Several weeks later in February, I was travelling on the main road between Baghdad and Kirkuk when I was held up by a large convoy of military vehicles moving north. I asked what was happening and was told that this was the 15th Division heading for Makhmour with the long term intention of joining an Iraqi army-Kurdish Peshmerga assault on Mosul. It did not appear that this was imminent since I did not see any tanks and most of the divisions vehicles were soft-skinned or lightly armoured Humvees. http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/28/the-us-military-back-on-the-battlefield-in-iraq/
I was particularly interested in the attack because two months ago I had been with the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga in Makhmour, the town in the front line between Mosul and the Kurdish capital Erbil, where the offensive by the 15th Division of the Iraqi Army was said to have taken place. At that time, local Kurdish commanders said that there was little fighting and they did not expect an offensive to recapture Mosul, which Isis had captured in June 2014, to happen any time soon.
Several weeks later in February, I was travelling on the main road between Baghdad and Kirkuk when I was held up by a large convoy of military vehicles moving north. I asked what was happening and was told that this was the 15th Division heading for Makhmour with the long term intention of joining an Iraqi army-Kurdish Peshmerga assault on Mosul. It did not appear that this was imminent since I did not see any tanks and most of the divisions vehicles were soft-skinned or lightly armoured Humvees. http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/28/the-us-military-back-on-the-battlefield-in-iraq/
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