Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have reported a new battle with ISIS forces in the area around Makhmur, just 25 miles southwest of Kurdish capital Irbil, and northwest of the important Kurdish city of Kirkuk.
The rural territory is one of ISIS’ easternmost possessions this far north, and Kurdish officials say they attacked first, trying to get back on the offensive after losing territory to ISIS in the northwest of the country this weekend. It did not go well, however, and by evening ISIS had reportedly repelled the Kurdish invasion.
The area is outside of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) territory, but its close proximity to Irbil makes it potentially extremely valuable, and is the closest to Irbil that the fighting has yet gotten. With the ISIS victory, the risk grows that they will advance into Kurdistan again.
The Peshmerga has been pushing to establish military cooperation with Iraq’s Army after the recent defeats in and around Sinjar, and are also pressing the US for arms and support for the ongoing fight against ISIS. Kurdish politicians are also preparing for a secession referendum at some point in the future, though no date has yet been set.
” the important Kurdish city
of Kirkuk.”
Since when was Kirkuk a *Kurdish* city? Oh, wait, since the Kurds used the fall of Mosul as a pretext to seize it…from the Iraqi government.
The Kurds acted so far as objective allies of the ISIS. Both were interested in weakening the Shia government in Baghdad. Doesn’t seem to have occurred to the Kurds that ISIS might have other plans than it does.
I’m a bit amused in retrospect at the so-called experts who claimed the Peshmerga would roll over ISIS in battle. Evidently, wishful thinking still prevails over facts for some people.
I do not think anyone was saying that the Peshmerga would roll over anyone. After Paul Bremmer fired the Iraqi Army, and Maliki radicalized the Sunni's, plus the Saudi war against Syria, the cards are stacked against the Kurds. All the weapons the Iraqi Army left behind??
And yes they used the incompetence of the Iraqi government to take Kirkuk. Why wouldn't they?? It was the correct move to protect there interests.
THE POINT BEING, as the Sunni Arabs have been radicalized, and the Arab Shia can not govern, all Northern Iraq should be governed by the Kurds. The Iraqi overnment has proven it can not govern. Billions have been spent on them. The Kurds: They have proven the ability to govern, and to Protect Christian and Muslim Minorities. Even Armenians would rather be under the protection of the Kurds, which should tell you something if you know about the history between the two groups. The Kurds have something to prove, and as far as I am concerned they have governed better, then those who you would support. The facts are already in on this regard.
Your notion of the Kurds being allies of the ISIS, has already been ridiculed, and is not worth a rebuttal. Except it is an example of how the current Iraqi government creates its own enemies.
"Since when was Kirkuk a *Kurdish* city?"
Since Sultan Mustafa II made it part of the district of Baban circa 1700.
Not that there aren't competing claims, of course. But the Kurdish claim certainly precedes the claim of the dog's-breakfast state that Winston Churchill dreamed up in 1920.
@John
“… the cards are stacked against the
Kurds.”
Really? The West has been backing them since 1991. They’ve been selling oil to the west bypassing the Iraqi government, they’ve got aid from everyone including the Zionists, and unlike the Turkish or Syrian Kurds they haven’t been militarily threatened by anyone. They’re pretty much been given special status all this time, on a par with the Zionists as far as the West has been concerned. Only someone who isn’t aware of the facts can claim the decks are stacked against them.
“They have proven the ability to
govern, and to Protect Christian and
Muslim Minorities. Even Armenians
would rather be under the protection of
the Kurds, which should tell you
something if you know about the history
between the two groups.”
A companion piece on antiwar – on the same *day* even – has made the point that the Kurds were blocking the Arab Christians fleeing ISIS from entering their occupied territory near Kirkuk. I’d also suggest you check the comment section of Kurdish sites like rudaw to see what Kurds think of other people.
“The Kurds have
something to prove, and as far as I am
concerned they have governed better,
then those who you would support.”
Whom do you imagine “I support”?
“Your notion of the Kurds being allies of
the ISIS, has already been ridiculed, and
is not worth a rebuttal.”
If you don’t know the difference between an ally and an *objective ally* you really shouldn’t be commenting on these topics.