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[rooster59]

Iraq declares final victory over Islamic State

By Maher Chmaytelli and Ahmed Aboulenein

 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over Islamic State on Saturday after Iraqi forces drove its last remnants from the country, three years after the militant group captured about a third of Iraq's territory.

 

The announcement comes two days after the Russian military announced the defeat of the militants in neighbouring Syria, where Moscow is backing Syrian government forces.

 

Iraqi forces recaptured the last areas still under Islamic State control along the border with Syria, the military said.

 

"Honourable Iraqis: your land has been completely liberated. The dream of liberation is now a reality," Abadi said in a televised address. He was speaking with five Iraqi flags and dozens of servicemen from different branches behind him.

 

"We have accomplished a very difficult mission. Our heroes have reached the final strongholds of Daesh and purified it. The Iraqi flag flies high today over all Iraqi lands."

 

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

 

Several squadrons of Iraqi helicopters flew over Baghdad carrying Iraqi flags at noon, in an apparent rehearsal for a victory parade that Iraq is planning to hold in coming days.

 

The government said the declaration meant Iraqi forces had secured the western desert and the entire Iraq-Syria border, and marked the end of the war against Islamic State.

 

Abadi declared Dec. 10 a national holiday to be celebrated every year. State television aired celebratory songs praising government forces and militias, and showed scenes of celebration on the streets of Baghdad and other provinces.

 

The U.S.-led coalition that has been supporting the Iraqi forces against Islamic State welcomed the news, as did Brett McGurk, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy to the coalition.

 

"We congratulate the Prime Minister and all the Iraqi people on this significant achievement, which many thought impossible," he said in a series of tweets.

 

"We honor the sacrifices of the Iraqi people, its security forces, and the Kurdish Peshmerga, and admire the unity in their ranks that had made this day possible."

 

The U.S. State Department also issued a statement of congratulation.

 

'ETERNAL ENEMY'

 

Mosul, the group's de facto capital in Iraq, fell in July after a gruelling nine-month campaign backed by a U.S.-led coalition that saw much of the northern Iraqi city destroyed.

 

Islamic State's Syrian capital Raqqa also fell to a U.S.-backed Kurdish-led coalition in September.

 

The forces fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria now expect a new phase of guerrilla warfare, a tactic the militants have already shown themselves capable of.

 

Abadi said Iraq had entered "the post-victory over Daesh phase" and must be prepared for future threats.

 

"Daesh's dream is over and we must erase all its effect and not allow terrorism to return. Despite announcing final victory, we must remain vigilant and prepared against any terrorist attempt on our country, for terrorism is an eternal enemy."

 

The war has had a devastating impact on the areas previously controlled by the militants. About 3.2 million people remain displaced, a U.N. statement said on Saturday.

 

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who in 2014 declared in Mosul the founding of a new Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, released an audio recording on Sept. 28 indicating he was alive following several reports of his death. He urged his followers to keep up the fight despite setbacks.

 

Baghdadi is believed to be hiding in the stretch of desert in the border area.

 

His followers imposed a reign of terror on the populations they controlled, alienating even many of those Sunni Muslims who had supported the group as allies against the heavy-handed rule of the Shi'ite majority-led government of the time.

 

The militants took thousands of women from the Yazidi minority, which lives in a mountain west of Mosul, as sex slaves and killed the men.

 

FUTURE CHALLENGES

 

Driven from Mosul and Raqqa, Islamic State was progressively squeezed this year into an ever-shrinking pocket of desert, straddling the frontier between the two countries, by enemies that include regional states and global powers.

 

In Iraq, the group faced mainly U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and Iranian-trained Shi'ite paramilitaries known as Popular Mobilisation.

 

Abadi praised the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) and Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, whose fatwa calling volunteers to fight Islamic State led to PMF's creation.

 

Still, the prime minister said the state should have a monopoly on the use of arms. Disarming the PMF is seen as Abadi's most difficult test after Islamic State's defeat.

 

"Weapons should only be in the state's hands. The rule of law and respect for it are the way to build the state and achieve justice, equality, and stability," he said.

 

Abadi called for unity, which he said was the main reason for the victory, a reference to the contribution of different communities, including Sunni tribal fighters.

 

However, Iraq faces a fresh internal conflict after it retaliated economically and militarily against the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government for holding a referendum on independence despite Baghdad's opposition.

 

"The joy of victory is complete with Iraq's unity after it was on the verge of division. The unity of Iraq and its people is the most important and greatest accomplishment," he said.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-10

[FreddieRoyle]

Does this prove that drone strikes and army aggression can defeat strict islamic ideology? In the west we try smothering them with kindness, while cracking down severely on any opinions doubting the wisdom of this smothering with kindness strategy, although as can be seen with all the vehicular jihads we get it doesn't work so well.

 

 Well done to the Iraqi's for ridding their nation of strict islam, if true, this is great news.

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, FreddieRoyle said:

Does this prove that drone strikes and army aggression can defeat strict islamic ideology? In the west we try smothering them with kindness, while cracking down severely on any opinions doubting the wisdom of this smothering with kindness strategy, although as can be seen with all the vehicular jihads we get it doesn't work so well.

 

 Well done to the Iraqi's for ridding their nation of strict islam, if true, this is great news.

They had a lot of help.  And it was hardly smothering them with kindness. LOL

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-led_intervention_in_Iraq_(2014–present)

Quote

Since then, nine countries, allied with the US in some coalition, have also executed airstrikes on ISIL in Iraq, more or less in concert with ground warfare of Kurdish and/or Iraqi government forces against ISIL. There have also been sporadic clashes between ISIL fighters, and US and Canadian troops, several thousand of whom are acting in advisory and combat roles with Iraqi and Kurdish forces.^[107][108] By April 2015, ISIL had lost 25–30% of the maximum territory they had gained in Iraq in December 2014, to Iraqi and American-led Coalition forces, leaving them in possession of around 15,000 square miles of Iraq.^[109]

 

[Enoon]

4 hours ago, FreddieRoyle said:

Does this prove that drone strikes and army aggression can defeat strict islamic ideology? In the west we try smothering them with kindness, while cracking down severely on any opinions doubting the wisdom of this smothering with kindness strategy, although as can be seen with all the vehicular jihads we get it doesn't work so well.

 

 Well done to the Iraqi's for ridding their nation of strict islam, if true, this is great news.

 

No, it proves that a larger, well equipped (with more advanced technology), well disciplined, well motivated, well supplied, well supported force, with complete control of the air (the opposition having no air force or ability to deliver long range aerial weaponry or contest the airspace) commanded by competent and reliable officers, gets to beat a bunch of lost, misguided, confused, bearded losers (with none of the aforesaid strengths) sucked into a dusty, miserable death by the promise of a handful of cash and free wife if they were to survive or, if they don't, a load of virgins (you tell me how many, I'm sure it's in your "Pocket Guide to Islam" free with "The Mail on Sunday") in .........."Paradise".

 

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2017 by Enoon

[craigt3365]

2 minutes ago, Enoon said:

 

No, it proves that a larger, well equipped (with more advanced technology), well disciplined, well motivated, well supplied, well supported force, with complete control of the air (the opposition having no air force or ability to deliver long range aerial weaponry or contest the airspace) commanded by competent and reliable officers, gets to beat a bunch of bearded losers (with none of the aforesaid strengths) sucked into a dusty, miserable death by the promise of a handful of cash and free wife if they were to survive or, if they don't, a load of virgins (you tell me how many, I'm sure it's in your "Pocket Guide to Islam" free with "The Mail on Sunday") in .........."Paradise".

And proves you don't have to use barrel bombs or chemical weapons on innocent civilians.

[Enoon]

 

5 hours ago, FreddieRoyle said:

Does this prove that drone strikes and army aggression can defeat strict islamic ideology? In the west we try smothering them with kindness, while cracking down severely on any opinions doubting the wisdom of this smothering with kindness strategy, although as can be seen with all the vehicular jihads we get it doesn't work so well.

 

 Well done to the Iraqi's for ridding their nation of strict islam, if true, this is great news.

 

Oops, nearly forgot.

 

No, military strength can defeat military strength, but it can never defeat Ideology.

 

That takes a lot more sophistication and intelligence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2017 by Enoon

[Srikcir]

8 hours ago, FreddieRoyle said:

Well done to the Iraqi's for ridding their nation of strict islam

Interesting you use the term "strict" instead of "radical."

The two terms are not synonymous. "Radical" has been associated with Islamic jihadists. "Strict" is the degree to which one practices a faith such as strict Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc.

• The country’s Muslim population is divided between the Shi’a (60-65%) and Sunni (32-37%).
• ISIS militants and their leaders are influenced by, and are an active part of, the Salafi movement in Islam.
• ISIS rebels come from a particular school (the Salafi movement), and sub-sect, of Sunni Islam ... and are not part of the Shi’a majority of Iraq’s Muslims. 

http://www.kenchitwood.com/blog/2014/8/11/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-iraq-isis-religious-persecution

My point is that you've not correctly identified ISIS. Iraq remains in the majority an Islamic faith.

 

[Stargeezr]

How about Yemen, and Somalia, and Libya, as well as Afghanistan, these are the countries where the Deash dogs will show up . I have no doubt that we have not heard the last of ISIL. There are fighters who have all gone back to their home countries like Canada USA, Russia and Europe, where they will rest up and create havoc elsewhere.

Geezer

[simple1]

3 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

How about Yemen, and Somalia, and Libya, as well as Afghanstan, these are the countries

where the Deash dogs wll show up . I have no doubt that we have not heard the last

of ISIL. There are fighters who have all gone back to their home counries like Canada

USA, Russa and Europe, where they will rest up and create havoc elsewhere.

Geezer

Western governments have highlighted it's probable there will be Salafi inspired terror attacks in our home countries in the coming weeks / months and into the future, possibly for decades. As mentioned above military defeat will not end Islamist attacks, but transformation of ideology will. There are Muslim leaders who are commencing the journey of ideological transformation for their populations; in the meantime  suffering will continue for Muslims at the hands of Islamists, more so than for non Muslims.

 

Personally I am of the opinion that addressing corruption in Muslim majority countries and the disenfranchisement of the poor is an essential component in the fight against Islamist ideology.

Edited December 10, 2017 by simple1