The US is providing airstrikes to aid both the Iraqi Army and Iranian Shiite terrorists in the retaking of Fallujah from ISIS:
JUST IN: U.S. involved in Iraq's efforts to retake Falluja from ISIS https://t.co/LGUfxkMdCP
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) May 23, 2016
CBS NEWS – The Iraqi government said the long-awaited battle to recapture the city of Fallujah began in the early hours of Monday. Video published online overnight purportedly shows heavy bombardment of the city before the advance of ground troops.
Prime Minister Haider al Abadi made a televised announcement that the operation had begun, vowing that Iraqi forces would “tear up the black flags” of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Fallujah.
Backed up by U.S. and coalition airstrikes, a combination of Iraqi troops, police and Shiite militias made early progress, pushing ISIS militants back out of the farmland surrounding the city and toward Fallujah itself.
There are an estimated 800-1,000 ISIS fighters in Fallujah, which has been extensively fortified with trenches and minefields. Coming after them are upwards of 20,000 Iraqi forces, led by 1,500 members of the Counter Terrorism Services, 10,000 regular Army troops (many trained by the U.S.) and 8-10,000 Iraqi national police.
Nobody likes to mention that Iranian terrorists are apart of this operation. But they are because Iran is supporting these Shiite militia that are working with the Iraqi army and the US.
This from the Long War Journal:
The leadership of Harakat al Nujaba, or Movement of the Noble, an Iranian-supported Shiite militia which operates in both Iraq and Syria, said it is clearing a road in eastern Anbar province in preparation for an upcoming offensive to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State.
Akram Abbas al Kabi, the Secretary General of Harakat al Nujaba, and Hashem al Musawi, his spokesman both recently commented on the group’s role in operations in and around Fallujah.
Kabi said that “Harakat al Nujabas special forces and the Anbar Regiment – the majority of which is comprised of our brothers from the residents of Karma and Fallujah – have begun heading to Fallujah to take part in the large and decisive operation to cut off the head of the snake and to avenge all of the martyrs of Iraq,” according to a translation by Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He made the statement on Nujaba’s offical website.
“We promise the Iraqi people we will have vengeance for every drop of a martyr’s blood from this cradle of terrorism and that there will be no place for the DAISH [Islamic State] within it,” Kabi continued. “We shall purify it from their ritual uncleanness soon and we shall return its honorable residents who have fled from their houses [due to] injustice and aggression.”
Harakat al Nujaba and other Iranian-backed Shiite militias will likely engage in the fighting for Fallujah, despite US military commanders’ insistence that “extremist elements” have not participated in operations where the US military is providing support.
About this al Kabi dude:
Akram Abbas al Kabi, who previously served as a senior commander in both the Mahdi Army and Asaib Ahl al Haq. Kabi was listed by the US as a global terrorist in September 2008 for aiding the Iraqi insurgency. He was listed along with Abdul Reza Shahlai, a deputy commander in Iran’s Qods Force.
Kabi founded Harakat al Nujaba from elements of Hezbollah Brigades and Asaib al Haq, two dangerous Iranian-supported militias, to funnel fighters into Syria to back President Bashir al Assad against Syrian rebels and jihadists. He did this with the support of Iran and Hezbollah, both which have helped build Iraqi Shia militias to operate as states within the Iraqi state.
Kabi has close ties with Iran’s Qods Force. Last year, Kabi was photographed with Qods Force leader Qassem Soliemani during a battlefield tour in Aleppo, Syria. Photographs of the two commanders were published on Harakat Nujaba’s website.
So the man we had labeled as a terrorist back in 2008, who fought against the US in Iraq, is now leading a Shiite militia group that we are helping take back Fallujah from ISIS. Man, it just doesn’t get any better than this.
This is Obama’s fundamental transformation in foreign policy. It all started when Obama pulled the US out of Iraq and now look at what America is doing: Aiding the terrorists to kill other terrorists.
Stunning, really.