KURDISH FIGHTERS HAVE TAKN A CRUCIAL SUPPLY ROAD ROUTE FROM ISIS IN RAQQA CUTTIN ISISI SUPPLY ROUTE FROM TURKEY

Mitchell Prothero ‏@mitchprothero · 23s24 seconds ago
Deploying the Shiite militias to Anbar is less a political statement than an admission the #Iraq government has nobody else left to send

Hasan Sari ‏@HasanSari7 · 24s24 seconds ago
💢 The #US trained, #Iran sponsored "new #Iraq|i army" has mastered the art of running away when terrorists advance. The Daesh movie needs so

You assume that Obama DOES NOT want these weapons to go to ISIS.
That's probably a mistake.

Beyond The Levant ‏@TheRealBTL 8m8 minutes ago
Confirmed: Massive force of Hash'd al Shaa'bi arrives at Habbaniyah air base, east of #Ramadi. Preparing to storm. #Iraq.

Iran to the rescue.

Beyond The Levant retweeted


Garmıyanı ‏כורדי ‏@Sarbarzi · 6m6 minutes ago
BREAKING - #ISIS releases first pictures of the prisoners they released after controlling #Ramadi prison facility.

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Rami ‏@RamiAlLolah · 47s47 seconds ago
#Pentagon has completed the evacuation of #USA military 'advisers' from #Habbaniyah air-base a while ago.. #Anbar #Ramadi #Iraq

Ravi ‏@Editor_Orbat · 4m4 minutes ago
2 Shia militia brigades (3000 men total) arrive outside Ramadi for counter offensive. IS also sent reinforcements

Haaretz.com ‏@haaretzcom · 7m7 minutes ago
White House vows to help Iraqis retake Ramadi from #ISIS [link to htz.li]

AJE News ‏@AJENews · 2m2 minutes ago
Iran says it is ready to help confront ISIL in Iraq and certain Ramadi would be "liberated". [link to aje.io]

Ravi ‏@Editor_Orbat · 6m6 minutes ago
Govt forces Ramadi outnumbered IS but still lost [link to www.foxnews.com] … Editor told some Army units were new ones trained by US

this will be interesting

Beyond The Levant ‏@TheRealBTL · 2m2 minutes ago
I thought the Pentagon said ISIS couldn't move in convoys anymore and to "stop sharing old images of it"..?

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Rami ‏@RamiAlLolah · 40s41 seconds ago
#Exclusive #photos for #Iraq|i army #USA M1 Abrams tanks captured in #Fallujah by #ISIS. 1 Humvee & 1 APC also seized

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I wonder how many of these capture Tank ISIS has sold to

Russia or China so they can tare them down and look at them

OT Syria.

Rami ‏@RamiAlLolah · 1m1 minute ago
Fierce clashes in the northern neighborhoods of #Palmyra.. #Syria #ISIS

OT. Syria.

Rami ‏@RamiAlLolah · 17s17 seconds ago
#BreakingNews Extreme fierce clashes in the surroundings of #Palmyra prison.. #Syria #ISIS

AJE News ‏@AJENews · 2m2 minutes ago
UN says 25,000 people fled the Iraqi city of Ramadi after it was attacked by ISIL. [link to aje.io]

Rami ‏@RamiAlLolah · 6m6 minutes ago
#ISIS has completed preparations for a very huge offensive in #Anbar.. Conflicting reports suggest two huge targets.. #Iraq

Rami ‏@RamiAlLolah · 4m4 minutes ago
Former adviser to @CENTCOM: 6,000 #Iraq|i forces fell to 150 #ISIS fighters via @ArabFreeeee [link to edition.cnn.com] …

and USA Trained to.

Beyond The Levant retweeted


Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister · 20m20 minutes ago
#IS pics from 8th Brigade Base shows very large quantity of #Iraq Armed Forces vehicles captured. #Iraq (list next)

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Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister · 20m20 minutes ago
View translation
PT: x7 T72 tanks, x7 M113 APCs, x3 BTR-94 APCs, x14 Humvees, x1 BM-21 Grad launcher, x1 Iranian Safir Jeep & x1 Dzik-3 IMV. #Iraq #Ramadi


Jack Wilshire ‏@Thermotank · 20m20 minutes ago
@Charles_Lister are this the so called losing group?they seem to be pretty winning..


Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister · 19m19 minutes ago
PTs: The same pics show #IS captured x2 M198 Howitzers, x1 M46 Field Gun, 10+ military transport vehicles & dozens of weapons/ammo crates.


HughSykes ‏@HughSykes · 16m16 minutes ago
@Charles_Lister
So
that are well on the way to
#Baghdad? #Kerbala? Both?


Charles Lister ‏@Charles_Lister · 16m16 minutes ago
PTs: More pics from #Ramadi’s 8th Brigade Base, captured by #IS. #Iraq pic.twitter.com/DkSsn92Oi7

Beyond The Levant retweeted


Dr Hisham al-Hashimi ‏@HishamHashemi · 4m4 minutes ago
2. Anbar Provincial Council members took strong stance against ISIS. There was a plan to fight ISIS. But pace of ISIS takeover shocked them.

Think of all those who lost their lives in the previous Iraqi wars just so we could give it all back to ISIS.

OT Syria

AJE News ‏@AJENews · 1m1 minute ago
Reports: ISIL seizes gas fields near Syria's ancient city of Palmyra. [link to aje.io]

Christiane AmanpourVerified account
‏@camanpour 6,000 Iraqi forces fell to 150 ISIS fighters in #Ramadi, former adviser to U.S. Central Command @akhedery tells me: [link to cnn.it]

Khedery: 6,000 Iraqi forces fell to 150 ISIS fighters

[link to www.cnn.com]

Iraq Monitor ‏@IraqMonitor · 31s31 seconds ago
Yahoo! News: Rout in Ramadi calls US Iraq strategy into question [link to yhoo.it] #Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fall of Ramadi calls into question the Obama administration's strategy in Iraq.







Related Stories


1. Contested Iraqi city of Ramadi falls to Islamic State group Associated Press
2. IS militants look for collaborators after taking Iraqi city Associated Press
3. Shi'ite forces move in on Iraqi city taken by Islamic State Reuters
4. Correction: Islamic State story Associated Press
5. U.S. signals no strategy shift in Iraq, despite Ramadi's fall Reuters

Is there a Plan B?

The current U.S. approach is a blend of retraining and rebuilding the Iraqi army, prodding Baghdad to reconcile with the nation's Sunnis, and bombing Islamic State targets from the air without committing American ground combat troops.

But the rout revealed a weak Iraqi army, slow reconciliation and a bombing campaign that, while effective, is not decisive.

On Monday, administration officials acknowledged the fall of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, as a "setback" in America's latest effort in Iraq. They still maintained the campaign would ultimately bring victory.

But anything close to a victory appeared far off. The Islamic State group captured Ramadi over the weekend, killing up to 500 Iraqi civilians and soldiers and causing 8,000 people to flee their homes. On Monday the militants did a door-to-door search looking for policemen and pro-government tribesmen.




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FILE - In this March 20, 2014 file photo, Al-Qaida fighters wave al-Qaida flags as they patrol in a …

One alternative would be a containment strategy — trying to fence in the conflict rather than push the Islamic State group out of Iraq. That might include a combination of airstrikes and U.S. special operations raids to limit the group's reach. In fact, a Delta Force raid in Syria on Friday killed an IS leader known as Abu Sayyaf who U.S. officials said oversaw the group's oil and gas operations, a major source of funding.

Officials have said containment might become an option but is not under active discussion now.

It seems highly unlikely that President Barack Obama would take the more dramatic route of sending ground combat forces into Iraq to rescue the situation in Ramadi or elsewhere. A White House spokesman, Eric Shultz, said Monday the U.S. will continue its support through airstrikes, advisers and trainers; he pointed to an intensified series of coalition air assaults in the Ramadi area, which included eight strikes overnight Sunday.

The administration has said repeatedly that it does not believe Iraq can be stabilized for the long term unless Iraqis do the ground fighting.

Pentagon officials insisted Monday the current U.S. plan is still viable and that the loss of the city was merely part of the ebb and flow of war, not a sign that the Islamic State had exposed a fatal weakness in the Iraqi security forces and the U.S. strategy.




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Map shows location of fighting across Iraq.; 2c x 5 …
Map shows location of fighting across Iraq.; 2c x 5 inches; 96.3 mm x 127 mm;

"We will retake Ramadi," said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. The timing, he added, will be up to the Iraqi government.

Analysts are skeptical. Stephen Biddle, a George Washington University professor of political science who periodically advised U.S. commanders in Iraq during the 2003-2011 war, said Obama has been trying to split the Sunni tribes away from the Islamic State while pressing the Iraqi government to foster and rely on non-sectarian military forces.

"That's clearly not working, or at least it's not making the progress we had hoped it would make," Biddle said.

BUMP for further info... Good aggregation by ZDIAB!

McClatchyDC ‏@McClatchyDC · 26m26 minutes ago
Experts: U.S. claims Ramadi a mere setback are ‘delusional’ [link to ift.tt]

It's not their fault... it's outsourcing. The transmissions in those Hummvees were made in France!!!

One speed forward, five in reverse...

All of your Ramadi are belong to ISIS!!! You have no chance to survive make your time!!!

John Schindler ‏@20committee · 14s15 seconds ago
We cannot save #Iraq from itself. I recently explained the "IRL" limits of the 21st century US military. RE-UP time. [link to 20committee.com] …