ISIS POPS BACK UP IN IRAQ AFTER “DEFEAT” IN WAR ON TERROR

 
Our translation of an editorial from riafan.ru.
 
Now this site has been condemned by a US group that frets that Russia is using propaganda. However, if riafan is “propaganda,” why does the report translated in the following match up so perfectly with a plethora of articles written by Western analysts.
 
Our article says that as soon as ISIS is “defeated” in one area of Iraq, it pops up again. Here is what a treatise published by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University of Dayton says:
 
“As soon as U.S. troops pulled out of these countries, the terrorists popped right back up once again. Major cities in Iraq that had been won over on the blood of coalition troops were taken back with ease by insurgents.”
 
Our translation goes farther, detailing the reason why this happens and suggesting sensible remedies.
 
What the American Russia haters can’t explain is why the Russians would publish serious articles in Russian and hence intended solely for domestic consumption – for example, by military experts – if the purpose is to propagandize Westerners. Even if that were the purpose (and assuming Westerners could read Russian), then a lot of Russian military experts would also swallow the “propaganda” and use the false information contained therein to solve military and foreign policy problems. The results would be potentially disastrous. Obviously, that is not happening. The fact is, Russia provides more serious and accurate deep analysis for their public than the US provides for its “experts,” whom it desperately tries to convince that Iran – the boots on the ground fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq -- is a terror sponsor while Saudi Arabia – the true sponsor or Al-Qaeda and ISIS -- is worthy of being a US ally.
 
BEGIN TRANSLATION
 
The clouds of ISIS gather again over Iraq: how the militants managed to return so quickly from the underground in the east of the country
 
5 May 2018
 
Official Baghdad and representatives of the Pentagon rushed to declare the complete defeat of the "Islamic state" (banned in Russia) in Iraq around the same time that Damascus together with representatives of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Syrian Arab Republic to liquidate this terrorist organization in Syria - at the end last year. However, the former, as the current situation in the country shows, was clearly a premature conclusion.
 
According to FAN sources, a serious threat of an ISIS comeback has hung over the province of Kirkuk. Thus, the terrorist gangs have regained control over almost the entire area of ​​the town of Havidzh and are now seizing parts of the key Baghdad-Kirkuk road. Meanwhile, there are about five thousand US military deployed In the region, but they do little to counter the ISIS revival in the country, always moving only as part of reinforced military convoys and only during the daytime. [NSS emphasis]
 
A difficult situation is developing in the suburbs of the city of Kirkuk itself. The Iraqi army is losing control over the situation in its vicinity: entire neighbourhoods are not actually subordinated to the authorities, and government checkpoints on the outskirts are constantly being attacked by militants. As a result of acts of sabotage and terrorist attacks in this region, people are dying almost daily, the police alone had 54 officers killed in the past month.
 
Another major source of instability is the neighbouring province of Diyala. The Iraqi forces and US armed forces have so far not been able to liquidate the "sleeper cells" of ISIS active in the region. To date, their total number is already about 1500 militants. They have even created several bases in the outskirts of the settlements of Mandali and Khanakin. Meanwhile, slightly to the north - in the province of Sulaymaniyah - members of ISIS have established contacts with militants operating in Iran from the terrorist group "Junod Al-Islam." Now, jihadists jointly conduct raids, including on Iranian territory. [NSS emphasis]
 
Thus, due to a significant deterioration of the situation in the east of the country, official Baghdad is forced to retain considerable forces there. Meanwhile, the remaining part of the troops is not sufficient for full-fledged security in the west of Iraq, especially near the Syrian territories. As a result, only about 20% of the Syrian-Iraqi border is now under government control.
 
"The Islamic State" has managed not only to preserve its remaining positions in Iraq, but also to regain control over part of the territories in various regions of the country. The reason for this survivability of this terrorist organization is that the American forces conducted only a decorative fight against ISIS and destroyed only the visible tip of the iceberg. [NSS emphasis] This opinion was expressed in a commentary for FAN by the associate professor of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of the Russian Academy of Economics in the name of GV Plekhanov, veteran of military service Alexander Perendzhiev.
 
"Iraq is actually the birthplace of ISIS, and here terrorists have managed to establish deep roots. Initially, the grouping was based on the secret organization that was preserved and remained after Saddam Hussein, but later American security services reoriented it to the frankly radical Islamist project that it has become. And it is important to understand at the same time that the "Islamic state" at the time when it was at the peak of power, consisted of two parts: visible structures - the very quasi-formation - and a network of secret cells. This explains its survivability. Losing the visible part, the organization quietly withdraws into the shadow structure, after which it gradually again partially comes out, looking for weaknesses in the defences. Often this happens with the help of external support," noted our interlocutor.
 
The Americans operating in Iraq fought only against the outer shell of ISIS, and that was not very successful, but most importantly, they did not focus on confronting terrorists at other levels, the expert also stressed. This is the reason why the "Islamic state" is now again rapidly gaining strength in this country.
 
"Money is being invested in ISIS and, therefore, it is impossible to destroy this organization only by military means. Here we must work on the real overlapping of financial flows, overlapping of the opportunity to feed on human resources. To do this, we must skilfully confront terrorists in the information and ideological field,” concluded Alexander Perendzhiev.
 
END TRANSLATION
 
Original Russian language source: https://riafan.ru/1053855-irak-vnov-nakryvayut-tuchi-ig-kak-boevikam-udalos-tak-bystro-vernutsya-iz-podpolya-na-vostoke-strany