

"Islamic State militants on Monday continued to hold parts of the city of Tikrit against a much larger pro-government force after two weeks of battle, as Iraqi officials said they were pausing their offensive to call for reinforcements and to preserve property and civilian lives.

The slowing of the operation came amid reports that the tomb ofSaddam Hussein in the nearby village of Awja, a politically and emotionally charged symbol for all sides, had been destroyed in the recent fighting. Its roof appeared to have collapsed, with rubble strewn around the area, footage from The Associated Press showed.

Iraqi officials and allied militia leaders have been saying since last week that they are in control of the battlefield. They said that they had surrounded the handful of Islamic State fighters remaining in Tikrit, and that full government control would be restored there in a matter of days." NY Times

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How long are we supposed to pretend that we believe the Iraqi and US governments' baloney about the "rising" Iraqi Army (Shia), and the prospect of a reintegrated multi-confessional Iraq?

Al-Obadi's much praised government of national unity is falling on its ass at Tikrit:

- The re-trained, re-formed, re-equipped New Model Iraqi Army launched its juggernaut of forces at Tikrit two weeks ago and has proven itself unable thus far to capture the city. The Iranian Pasdaran (Quds Force) are there helping and advising them , and holding their paws to keep them from withdrawing to the south. A mass of Shia militias who used to be Maliki's special police death squads are also at Tikrit to lend their weight to the effort. The Pesh Merga Kurds lurk to the NE threatening the IS line of communications and escape routes from the city.

- None of this seems to help. The IS has withdrawn the bulk of its forces from the city leaving behind sacrificial groups (50+ fighters) in the city center. These groups are apparently intended to demonstrate the lack of Shia seriousness in the task of defeating al-Baghdadi's forces.

- The hollowness of the Baghdad government's pretensions to represent all Iraqis is exposed by the reluctance of the Sunni Arab population of north central Iraq to entrust their lives and fortunes to their ancient Shia enemies. The Sunni Arabs have been voting with their feet to avoid living under Shia militia domination.

- The forces of the Sunni tribes who were the real victors in The Awakening that brought AQ under control before the US left the country are hanging back, unwilling to significantly commit to the support of yet another Shia run government in Baghdad. This government for all the hype among the Obamanite R2Pers and neocons in the US is a close analog to the Maliki government for which we betrayed the "Sons of Iraq. " That lesson in treachery was well absorbed by the Sunni tribes who now sense the continuing nonsense in Washington about national unity in Iraq is indicative of the potential for yet another betrayal.

Iraq as it was is no more. The future holds the prospect of; a de facto Kurdish state, a rump Shia Iraq in the center and south and a wild, wild maelstrom of tribes and competing interests in the rest of the "country."

The inability of US elites to accept sectarian and ethnic realities in the greater ME has led to this prospect of disintegration in Iraq.

Much the same thing is true with regard to Syria where there was immediate rejection of Kerry's reasonable statement that peace cannot be obtained there with out the cooperation of the Syrian Government. The Children's Crusade that is Obama foreign policy is still in charge everywhere.

Only in Egypt does the center hold but that is accepted with the greatest reluctance by the academic/bureaucratic/journalistic cabal that runs US foreign policy. pl

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/world/middleeast/islamic-state-tikrit-iraq-offensive.html?_r=0