TMPress SPECIAL INFObase SPECIAL Report ... All Set to Go: Counter-Offensive Against ISIL Is Imminent ... by Andrew Korybko of Sputnik News and via TMPress International Newswire Service ... (New York) ... The US has stockpiled various military vehicles in Kuwait for use in an anti-ISIL counter-offensive, reports claim. It’s nothing new that Kuwait has been the Pentagon’s Mideast ‘garage’ for some time now, but the information suggests that the oncoming operation may occur sooner than later. The Pentagon has over 3,000 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles in Kuwait for use in the forthcoming liberation of Mosul, according to a report by the US News website. The US will more than likely provide these units to either the Kurdish Peshmerga or the Iraqi Army and will not operate them in battle themselves. Prior to the counter-offensive, however, a lot of issues had to be worked out in Iraq and across the so-called ‘anti-ISIL coalition’. After everything is in working order, the US is predicted to ‘Lead From Behind’ and indirectly command the entire campaign. When it’s over, however, a new dilemma will present itself, since it must be decided whether to continue the momentum and chase the terrorists into Syria (and formally expand the operation into a regime-change one) or assist Baghdad with piecing the war-torn and domestically divided country together. ... Wheeling And Dealing ... Prior to the commencement of any counter-offensive, Iraq needed to strike as many strategic deals as possible in order to consolidate its position and enhance its chance of success. Here’s what they did: ... The Kurdish Compromise: ... Baghdad provided major concessions to the Kurds in mid-December in order to end the nearly year-long crisis between the two. Whether it was in the central government’s best long-term interests or not, it thought it wise to work out the kinks in the Kurdish relationship as soon as possible so that a short-term ‘unified’ military front against ISIL could occur in 2015. ... Sunni Support: ... Since they’re a demographic minority, the Sunnis wanted to safeguard (and supplement) their power as much as possible in exchange for supporting the counter-offensive, hence their hushed calls for autonomy after the ISIL war is over. Although no public decision has been made in this regard, it is telling that the US and Baghdad are now arming the militias, and that the tentative idea for a ‘National Guard’ essentially institutionalizes them into the national framework, which could easily fracture into a regional one after ISIL is expelled. ... Regional Reassurances: ... The final piece of the puzzle was for Iraqi PM Abadi to visit the neighboring countries of Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey all throughout December in order to receive reassurances of their support during the counter-offensive. It’s not known what was specifically discussed, but it’s very probable that multilateral coordination against ISIL (overseen by an American aegis) was the primary topic of conversation. (Contd) us.sputniknews/us/20141230/1013399986.html
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 14:53:34 +0000
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