July 21st Iraq SITREP: Bloody Monday

Quote of the day, Bhadrakumar on the Malaysian Plane Tragedy: The alacrity with which Obama scrambled to take early lead in the propaganda war over Moscow on Ukraine almost makes it appear he was expecting such a horrendous tragedy to happen
Thought of the day: Pity Sherlock Holmes did not have a case called the “dog that barked before the crime”

20th July: Government air strikes on Daash held Hawija have killed 10 civilians. Women and children are amongst the dead.
20th July: The Shia militia Asa’ib Ahl al Haq has seized 22 men (most likely Sunni) near Baqouba in Diyala on suspicion of being rebels. Their fate remains unknown.
21st July: Daash terrorist attack and seize the Mar Behman Monastery near the Christian town of Qaraqosh, south east of Mosul. The terrorist forced the monks to leave the monastery wearing only their robes. The monastery dates back to the 4th Century and is a pilgrimage site. The monks are now safe with the Kurds but the relics at the monastery might be destroyed by Daash terrorist who refused the monks to carry any of them.
21st July: Three mortar rounds fired by insurgents fall within 60 meters of the Imam Al Askari (as) Shrine in Samarra.
21st July: Australian authorities have identified the Australian national suicide bomber who targeted a mosque in Baghdad on Thursday the 17th, as 18 year old Abu Bakr. The Australians are concerned as over 150 Australians are fighting in Iraq and Syria
21st July: Turf war between Daash and Naqshabandi order heats up: Abu Hisham a Palestinian “Mufti” of Daash is killed by unidentified gunmen in Saadia, Diyala.
Fighting between Daash and Ansar al Sunnah break out in Saadia over who will pay allegiance to whom (so many Caliphs these days, dime/Rolex a dozen). Six men from Ansar al Sunnah are killed and five from Daash. Daash is believed to have instigated the clashes after executing a leader within Ansar al Sunnah.
21st July: Daash uses explosives to demolish six houses belonging to security personnel in Metaibij, Diyala.
21st July: Tribal fighters in Sinjar, Nineveh have fought and taken control of the town from Daash rebels
21st July: Some sort of understanding has been reached between Baghdad and the Kurdish authorities in control of the Kirkuk oil fields. It allows the Kurds to pump 25000 barrels/day that had been secretly agreed upon by the federal government and Kurdish ones over a year ago. The provincial government was not informed of this arrangement. The understanding also calls for the repatriation of Kudish, Arab, and Turkoman workers to the oil fields.
21st July: Khanaqin in Diyala is preparing make shift camps to accommodate more than 4000 families displaced by Daash’s advance. The local authorities are complaining of very little assistance coming from the government in Baghdad. Muqdadiyah has another 800 refugees to look after.
21st July: Daash continues to harass and attack government troops on the border of Kirkuk, Salah id Din and Diyala. Daash fighters attack troops in Muqdadiyah from the northern towns of Nofal and Twakul in order to relieve pressure being applied to militants in Al Atheem.
21st July: Fighting between Peshmerga forces and Daash/rebel fighters in Jalawla, Diyala is continuing. Peshmerga fighters engage rebels in the centre of the town and kill eight after a 5 hour long gun battle.
21st July: Daash has released photographs of its troops performing drills in Mosul All are wearing Khaki long shirts and are marching in step. Child soldiers are also seen armed and in training.
21st July: Kamel Ameen, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Human Rights urges the government in Baghdad to open channels with rebel groups affiliated with Daash in order to negotiate terms or develop a mutual front against Daash. He says that the conflict should not be seen purely in military terms.
21st July: Maysan in eastern Iraq sets up a camp for displaced Iraqis with 1000 tents with water and electricity. The refugees are from all over, even from Fallujah and not just minorities.
21st July: Hoshyar Abdullah, Kurdish MP of the Change Bloc calls the exodus of Christians a “Humanitarian Disaster” for Iraq.
21st July: Tragedy strikes a family in Dili Abbas village in Diyala. Mortar shells fired by insurgents kills three and injure four members of their family.
21st July: Daash rebels attack and kill Emad al-Ubaidi, a Sahawa (Awakening) leader in Diyala and injure his bodyguards
21st July: Five car bombs are defused in Baghdad, thank God.
21st July: An explosion in a shelter used by Daash/rebel fighters causes the building to collapse and kills 12 of them. The building located in Jurf al-Sakhar, Babel was filled with explosives and it is not yet clear what purpose it was serving.
21st July: Louis Raphael Sacco, the Patriarch of the Catholic calls the Daash rebels as worse than Genghis Khan and his grandson Hulagu Khan (Don’t agree on the Mongols being bad at all). The Patriarch also expressed surprise that in an age of atheist somebody (Daash) is persecuting Christians, Shiites or Sunnis, and Yezdis for having faith.
Pope Francis referred to the actions of Daash as “a persecution of Christians in the cradle of their faith.”
Ban Ki Moon refers to the exodus of Christians as a crime against humanity.
21st July: Never a bad idea to be high in Baghdad: Police in Baghdad bust a smugglers ring importing pills from Lebanon into Iraq. The arrests were made in Diwaniyah to the south of Baghdad, with 30000 pills being seized.
21st July: The Bani Sa’ad tribe in Thi-Qar province has formed a brigade to fight Daash led rebels in Diyala. The tribe has done so following the call made by Sistani.
21st July: Atta’s/Government claims for the day:
Government airstrikes in Anbar destroy 7 vehicles and kill 50 rebels, rebels have also been targeted in Salah id Din and Nineveh provinces.
59 Daash/rebel fighters are killed in government air strikes in Fallujah
The Iraqi air force has carried out air strikes in and around Mosul and Tal Afar killing 47 Daash/rebel fighters
12 vehicles belonging to Daash/rebels are destroyed and rebels killed in Mosul in government air strikes
Security forces kill 5 Daash/rebel fighters and destroy their vehicle in al Khasfa, Anbar. The fighters were carrying a large amount of weapons and ammunition.

Related News:
18th July: The Israeli Army crosses the border with Syria in Sheba Farms and detains goats belonging to a shepherd when it is unable to locate the shepherd
21st July: The spread of Takfir: Militants in Libya behead a Filipino worker for not being a “Takfiri” Muslim
21st July: Israel strikes at a hospital and uses phosphorus rounds on civilians in Gaza
21st July: Syria’s FM, Al Muallim, thanks the friends of Syria to help it fight “terrorists” with special thanks to Russia nad its people
21st July: Nasrallah tells Khalid Meshaal of Hamas “Hezbollah and the Lebanese resistance stand firmly on the side of the Intifada and the Palestinian people's resistance, and support Hamas’ strategy and the just conditions it has set to end the conflict.”
Nasrallah is to address a rally on Friday in support of Palestinians on Al Qods day
21st July: Protestors in Belfast refer to the BBC as the “British Bullshit Corporation” in frustration of the news agencies biased coverage of the atrocities being committed in Gaza
21st June: The UN reports that Iran has eliminated its stock of 20% plus Enriched Uranium in compliance with an agreement linked to the nuclear negotiations
21st July: President Assad of Syria has not yet appointed Farouq Sharaa to any post within his government. Seventy two year old Sharaa was a regime loyalist who was reported to be critical of the regime crackdown on armed rebels. He was a Sunni politician from Daraa.

Further reading:
Bhadrakumar criticizes the Indian government on its cowardly stance on Gaza. He has linked the massacre in Gaza to the Jallianwallah Bagh massacre in Punjab:
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/07/21/swaraj-should-visit-jallianwallah-bagh/
An excellent piece by Bhadrakumar:
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/07/20/putin-its-your-payback-time/
Bhadrakumar at his best “The US president Barack Obama has earned the dubious legacy of destroying three sovereign countries so far during his term in office”:
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/07/19/what-ails-ukraine/
Taking on the MSM:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/why-do-television-producers-think-a-grey-blob-over-a-dead-persons-face-shows-respect-9617402.htmla