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ISIS Set Iraqi Oil Fields On Fire, Stalls Military Advance
Thick black smoke billowing from oil wells northeast of the city of Tikrit is obstructing Shi'ite militiamen and Iraqi soldiers attempts to drive ISIS from the Sunni Muslim city after militants set them on fire. Reuters reports a witness and a military source said Islamic State fighters ignited the fire at the Ajil oil field to shield themselves from attack by Iraqi military helicopters. As we noted previously, the battle for Tikrit is key as it will determine whether and how fast the Iraqi forces can advance further north and attempt to win back Mosul, the biggest city under Islamic State rule.
Islamic State militants have set fire to oil wells northeast of the city of Tikrit to obstruct an assault by Shi'ite militiamen and Iraqi soldiers trying to drive them from the Sunni Muslim city and surrounding towns, a witness said.
The witness and a military source said Islamic State fighters ignited the fire at the Ajil oil field to shield themselves from attack by Iraqi military helicopters.
The offensive is the biggest Iraqi forces have yet mounted against IS, which has declared an Islamic caliphate on captured territory in Iraq and Syria and spread fear across the region by slaughtering Arab and Western hostages and killing or kidnapping members of religious minorities like Yazidis and Christians.
Black smoke could be seen rising from the oil field since Wednesday afternoon, said the witness, who accompanied Iraqi militia and soldiers as they advanced on Tikrit from the east.
Control of oil fields has played an important part in funding Islamic State, even if it lacks the technical expertise to run them at full capacity.
Before IS took over Ajil last June, the field produced 25,000 barrels per day of crude that were shipped to the Kirkuk refinery to the north-east, as well as 150 million cubic feet of gas per day piped to the government-controlled Kirkuk power station.
An engineer at the site, about 35 km (20 miles) northeast of Tikrit, told Reuters last July that Islamic State fighters were pumping lower volumes of oil from Ajil, fearing that their primitive extraction techniques could ignite the gas.
Bombing in August damaged the Ajil field's control room, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The outcome of the battle for Tikrit, best known as the home town of executed Sunni president Saddam Hussein, will determine whether and how fast the Iraqi forces can advance further north and attempt to win back Mosul, the biggest city under Islamic State rule.
The army, backed by Shi'ite militia and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, has yet to reconquer and secure any city held by Islamic State, despite seven months of air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition, as well as weapons supplies and strategic support from neighboring Iran.
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In the background of this clip (of Iraqi special forces attacking ISIS), one can see the start of the fires...
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As we noted previously, there is still much confusion all around since pretty much everyone in the middle east is now somehow involved in this war on Iraqi/ISIS soil, so to provide some clarity, here is a simple map showing who controls what in this latest diversionary war designed merely to get Syria's president committed so the US has a legitimate pretext to obliterate him.
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We sure fixed Iraq, hugh? And now Kerry wants to fix Syria. Too funny. Are we still fixing Ukraine?
OT -
my new t-shirt sez RRBMR
ronda rousey broke my ribs
that bitch
I'll get over it though
doctor! doctor! it hurts when I sneeze!
Scorched earth!
...Bytchez!!!
Who give's a fuck about Iraq it is so yesterday , Putin has a death star and invades countrys and eat's babies for breakfast in incubators with yellow cake and wll not give any money to Isreal so he's anti Jew as well , KILL KILL KILL KILL .
You must kill.
We must killl.
THis is not a drill.
Judgement, torment, execution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-QF3r3GCV8
It's a (Cavalera) conspiracy.
FUCK YEAH
My attempt to de-spin Reuters:
"...Islamic State militants have set fire to oil wells northeast of the city of Tikrit to obstruct an assault by Shi'ite militiamen and Iraqi soldiers..."
The prevailing wind in Tikrit has been NNW. Smoke from the burning oil fields 20 miles to the North East would (presumably) be well beyond the extreme East side of Tikrit. That area has ALREADY been taken by Iraqi troops, Whatever smokescreen ISIS attempted has already been rendered useless. They may have just torched the oil wells (their main sorce of income) so the Iraqis couldn't use them right away. Useless - it's not like the Iraqis don't have a billion other oil wells in the South.
"...The witness and a military source said Islamic State fighters ignited the fire at the Ajil oil field to shield themselves from attack by Iraqi military helicopters..."
Since the ISIS (not 'Islamic State') clowns East of Tikrit are DEAD, we'll never know for sure. Except that it didn't work out too well for them as a defensive strategy.
"...Black smoke could be seen rising from the oil field since Wednesday afternoon, said the witness, who accompanied Iraqi militia and soldiers as they advanced on Tikrit from the east..."
That 'witness' wasn't American because the Iraqi Army wisely kept the details of the attack FROM the Americans as much as possible. The U.S. didn't know when they were going to start the attack or how. Poor American advisors and CIA plants - left out of the party on purpose because nobody trusts them anymore! (Good call!) And Reuters doesn't know if they're 'stalled'. It doesn't sound like they are from non-Western press reports - they pretty much fought themselves right to the edge of the city and are preparing to go in in a very methodical manner. That hardly means 'stalled'.
"...An engineer at the site, about 35 km (20 miles) northeast of Tikrit, told Reuters last July that Islamic State fighters were pumping lower volumes of oil from Ajil, fearing that their primitive extraction techniques could ignite the gas..."
What does that even MEAN, Reuters? Oil wells are not gas wells. And what kind of 'technique'? These were wells in production for years. The 'technique' is to turn on the pump and open the valves. Reuters' engineer 'source' makes it sound like they were using some kind of hand pumps and rubber hoses (and poor 'technique').
"...Bombing in August damaged the Ajil field's control room, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration..."
Why the fuck didn't Reuters just ask the engineer 'source' above? Why the sudden quasi-authorative EIA tidbit? Oh yeah, they probably looked at the bomb damage assessment sat pics because it was the U.S. that bombed it in August. Yay!
"...The outcome of the battle for Tikrit, best known as the home town of executed Sunni president Saddam Hussein,..."
Utter bullshit! Tikrit to most Iraqis today is known as the place ISIS executed over a thousand Iraqi Army cadets when they overran the old U.S. base outside of Tikrit. Nobody gives a shit about Saddam's 'birthplace' except the U.S. government and MSM. Iraqis (particularly the Shia militia) are looking for some ISIS payback to deliver at Tikrit. And the Shia were never particularly big fans of Hussein or the Baathists. In fact, they pretty much hated them. I don't think Iraq is sending 20,000 troops to Tikrit to save the Saddam Museum and Truck Stop. They'll probably burn it to the ground while they're there. Why does the MSM keep repeating the 'Saddam's Hometown' crap? It's annoying as hell and irrelevant.
"...The outcome of the battle for Tikrit... ...will determine whether and how fast the Iraqi forces can advance further north and attempt to win back Mosul, the biggest city under Islamic State rule..."
The Iraqis are not in any big hurry to retake Mosul - the U.S. and Israel are. The Iraqis are concentrating on eradicating ISIS from their country, not in claiming a meaningless victory for the sake of PR. They'll get to Mosul when they get to Mosul, and FUCK THE US AND ISRAEL and what either of them want or think is important.
"...The army, backed by Shi'ite militia and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, has yet to reconquer and secure any city held by Islamic State, despite seven months of air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition, as well as weapons supplies and strategic support from neighboring Iran..."
Yeah, that's because the U.S.-trained Iraqi Army SUCKED and never had the backing of the Shi'ite militia OR the peshmerga. The current Iranian-trained and led Iraqi Army is only a fraction of the 20,000 force. The Badr militia (Shi'ite) is over half and there are hundreds of peshmerga. How about that - all those forces cooperating and operating under the guidance of experienced Iranian military advisors. U.S.-trained fake Iraqi Army: useless. Iranian-trained, anti-ISIS-motivated Iraqi combined forces: TBD, but I'm guessing 'better'.
I'm not knocking the U.S. Army troops or their training methods. I'm knocking the American political cluster-fuck of Mideast commanders who seem oblivious to the culture and figure you can just TRAIN the unmotivated and unwilling to be an effective fighting force. Iran had about three months (not two decades) - let's see how they do.
"...Tehran, not Washington, has been the key player in the current offensive, with Iranian Revolutionary Guard general Qassem Soleimani seen directing operations on the eastern flank, and Iranian-backed militia leading much of the operation.
Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia expressed alarm on Thursday. "The situation in Tikrit is a prime example of what we are worried about. Iran is taking over the country," Prince Saud al-Faisal, foreign minister of the Sunni Muslim kingdom, said after talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry..."
Yeah, FUCK YOU Saudi Arabia. If you can't fund ISIS properly, then don't bitch when the Iraqis start cleaning house. Didn't horseface tell you that?
"...A spokesman for the local Salahuddin tribal council said 4,000 Sunnis were also taking part in the Tikrit campaign, part of an overall force of more than 20,000 troops and militiamen..."
And most of those Sunnis are FROM the area. See, unlike the U.S. that is good at leveling cities but bad at 'winning hearts and minds' after that, the Iraqis figured that they don't want to just kick ISIS out and leave a total power vacuum. They recruited Sunnis from the area and will leave them in their own city - Tikrit - to maintain order and ensure the city is rebuilt and functioning properly AFTER the Iraqi army moves on. Nowhere do I see any reservations about the Shi'ia militia fighting with these Sunnis or leaving a heavily-armed contingent of Sunnis in Tikrit to defend their own city. See? Shi'ia and Sunni do not automatically distrust each other or slaughter each other on sight - except when the U.S. is involved. Get the U.S. the fuck out of the picture, and the Shi'ia and Sunni and Kurds get along like they have for a thousand years.
The other thing Reuters will not report is that the Iranian General running things as well as Shi'ia religious and militia leaders have demanded that Shi'ia respect the rights of Sunni civilians and protect them. They want to ensure there are no Sunni civilian reprisal killings for the actions of ISIS. They are making clear that this is not a sectarian action, this is an action on behalf of all Iraqis. The Americans said as much to 'their' Iraqi troops, but were mostly ignored.
The rest of the Reuters article (as welll as most other MSM coverage) paints a mixed picture of the fighting. All point out that previous (U.S.-trained) Iraqi Army attempts to retake Tikrit have been a disaster. The MSM spin so far is: 1) Incompetent Iraqi Army has little chance of success, 2) Evil Iranians are involved, 3) It will be another sectarian bloodbath (HRW hypocrites already 'warned' about this on Wednesday), and the whole exercise is nothing but a warm-up for Mosul because that's the most important city on earth to the Iraqis.
Bravo! If I could I would give you +1000, well said...great analysis.
100 points for questioning "the Truth" in the global media war. Judging the argumentation you yourself may have served the media earlier.
Totally agree, been pissing me off too, they keep claiming it's "still very important to the Iraqis as a symbol of Saddam Husein's birth place"! I bet they couldn't give a crap about anything but getting their city back and killing ISIS. They'll probably piss on Saddam's family home, if they even care to do that.
What is worse is how western media peddles the idea that this is mostly rabid shia militias who will destroy tikrit as a matter of course when in reality it involves sunni militias, shia militias, iran, and the iraqi security forces..
The point to iran's meddling in yemen, syria and iraq as nasty, without mentioning that it is in response to the failed policies of the west.
The entire Netenyahu snub was Kabuki on high. The Saudi's have already given Israel fly over rights. The US is faux distancing themselves from Israel on Iran. The Wolfowicz playbook hasn't changed one word.
Totally agree, entirely on-script. Just a tweak of the dog's tail, but the dog has no clue that the tail determines its next, and every move. Full-spectrum dominance over the Iran negotiation narrative, to make it seem Obama is an honest broker, when Kerry is openly talking of doing the very thing that assures war with Iran. More tail wagging, then more tail wagging, then more tail wagging, then more ... War with Assad and Iran is the objective here they just need to pretend it isn't, because video and documentary writes all history now. Only crazy people read books, and those things will be banned soon, the telescreen rules, but best of all you can infinitely edit the output.
Hystery perfected!
Very nice comment.
ronda rousey broke my ribs
that bitch
I'll get over it though
So how was the sex?
Yeah. Klingon Mating rituals can be rough on the uninitiated.
Ribs hurting now that you are laughing?
As an alberta oil guy as well as a tinfoil hat guy i have said the following at work the last few weeks:
Yo watch for u.s. shale outifts to start to go tits up. Watch for libya, which has seen significant production increases, to see attacks from within or from the west to reverse that trend. Also watch for the irregular army of nato, isis, either cause interruption of iraqi production directly or be the cause of it in the form of a western attack.
We are 3 for 3. The last prognostication is that if oil doesnt behave how they want it to, then expect an attack on iran.
P.S. the fable of isis making bank on oil has recently been debunked with ( obvious ) reports of oilfields in their control being effectively shut down.
Don't forget Libya we fixed that country too. lolololol
ISIS = Al Qaeda = CIA = Mossad. Give it up, assholes, you're transparent as hell.
CIA been working overtime.......
I kno right?
gotta defend that petro-dollar.........get the Iraqi oil OFF the market.........same playbook used in Gulf War 1 and 11
Their CIA handlers advised them to do so?
ISIS: The jihadist movement stamped “Made in America”The fact remains, however, that the US, the major European powers, and their regional allies all previously lent financial, military and political support to ISIS and similar groups, which have “Made in the USA” stamped all over them. They have, until now, played a significant part in Washington’s efforts to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, as part of a broader effort to gain control of the region’s vast energy resources and transit routes.
For three years, the US, along with the Gulf states and Turkey, poured billions into “opposition” groups, supposedly to unnamed “moderates,” but in reality to Al Qaeda-linked Sunni groups such as al-Nusra and ISIS to spearhead a sectarian war. The US, Turkey and Jordan have operated a base in Jordan where US instructors trained dozens of ISIS members. In an article last year, the New York Times confirmed that the CIA assisted Arab governments and Turkey by airlifting weaponry to these groups in Jordan and Turkey. The Guardian reported last March that British and French instructors were also involved.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/07/30/isis-j30.html
U.S. Helicopter Delivering Weapons to the Islamic State (ISIS), Shot Down by Iraqi “Popular Forces”March 01, 2015
http://www.globalresearch.ca/u-s-helicopter-delivering-weapons-to-the-is...
CIASIS acting up in Libya too simultaneously: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/114...
It took an Iranian general and Iranian "volunteer militas" to initiate a counter offensive against ISIS. No wonder Netanyahu was demanding Congress "deal with Iran".
All of the triumverate (Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Israel) of evil's plans to turn Iraq into an extremist buffer zone are in jeopardy right now.
Israel is quietly cultivating ties with moderate Syrian rebel groups operating along the country’s U.N.-monitored cease-fire line with Syria, providing medical care and other unidentified supplies to the insurgents while potentially extracting a valuable vein of intelligence on the activities of President Bashar al-Assad’s army as well as extremist opposition forces within Syria.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/06/11/exclusive-israel-is-tending-to-wound...
Yeah I'd seen that already.
Pretend it's dark. I'd like to go but my cat ate my swim trunks ...... so ..
Lets do this.....
So, DOW up 300 pts?
As a side note, I once painted the interior of a hunting cabin belonging to the "Jones" in Dow Jones. 290" long "cabin"
24ft2inches long.
big cabin.
The Obama doctrine....how to un-win a war!
The war is only won if it never ends.
<-- Harvard Law~ese
<-- Community Organ Grinder~ese
Fuck it!!! Cue up the NEXT O'Blame-O
Here you go... the next war brought to you by a willing... no, make that eager congress. That Putin sure does "provoke" a lot...
http://m.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31759560
how to un-win a non-war!
0'Bamabotzez don't go for war around here, law dawg.
Couldn't have seen that coming. /sarc
Iraqi special forces ..lol.....the ones that didn't shoot american kids in the back
Hey yur special!
Considering what those american "kids" were doing to their wives, daughters, sons, brothers, fathers, uncles and all other extended family it seems that being shot in the back is too good for them.
CIA is into job creation again. Halliburton is hiring.
Just letting that freedom and democracy flourish.
Gee I sure wish Saddam was still running the show over there....
which Rothschild Wealth Management Group bubble would this fall under, one wonders..
and, uh, I'm terrorized
that was kinda the end game of Sadam in Kuwait
burning oil fields
hopefully the same for ISIS or ISIL or what ever you call it
but I doublt it.
So oil went to $43 a barrel, demand didn't improve. All the in the knows sold off their positions long ago and bought up every contract they could at the end of January.
Now we get refinery outages, explosions, train derailments, and a renewed push on middle east oil interests by "terrorists".
We are supposed to believe this is all coincidence even though it didn't seem to be happening when oil was north of $90. If they can push WTI over $60 it can hit $80 within 24hrs. There is no demand narrative that can explain $80 oil, however the media can play the oil fields on fire, and train derailments all day long. When gasoline jumps $1 in days, the media will claim that is the cause and the sheeple will believe.
People will never wake up and storm the offices of Goldman Sachs or tear down the HFT towers. They don't recognize their true enemy.
Completely agree with your pov, "adr"...
In the absence of consumer demand...TPTB are creating their own conditions to warrant an increase in the price of oil.
Apparently, ISIS wants to increase their income from oil as well.
AND as a special bonus, another body of water got polluted (mustn't forget the ever present Agenda 21)!
As always, it's we the consumers and pesky water drinkers, that will take it in the ass.
Got my KY ready, Mr. Buffet.
You are right.
I stated this some time ago the TPTB have figured out that if they can artificially suppress PMs they can artificially inflate energy and they are and will continue to do so until they cannot
Due to either to a total free fall collapse of the system or some other external event that makes the bottom drop out of the energy market. The Truth is cannot be concealed, the Truth will be made known either through catastrophe or through price discovery of market forces.
In any event; The End of this fetid system is at and make no mistake!
From the "We *still* price Oil in dollars yet are still pissed at Obama" department:
Saudi FM: Iran is taking over Iraq
Staff Writer, Al Arabiya NewsThursday, 5 March 2015
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Thursday of Iran’s ‘destabilizing’ policies in the region and stressed on ensuring Tehran doesn’t acquire nuclear weapons.
In a strongly worded statement, al-Faisal told reporters during a joint conference with Kerry in Riyadh that “Iran is taking over Iraq.”
Kerry said the United States was keeping an eye on Iran's 'destabilizing' acts even as the two nations try to reach a deal on Tehran's nuclear program.
...
[Here's the kicker:]
During his press conference with Kerry, the Saudi foreign minister called on the coalition to fight the militants on the ground.
The kingdom “stresses the need to provide the military means needed to face this challenge on the ground,” al-Faisal said, adding that the Syrian crisis is providing shelter for terrorism, “with Assad’s blessing.”
...
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/03/05/Kerry-arrive...
Funny how ya never hear about Saudi forces being involved in fighting these animals.
Saudis would screw up.
Sounds like another job for Red Adair.
Here in Kalifuckya gas is back to $3.30/gal. Because you got the refinery fires, strikes, etc. We have our own special blend of dinosaur tar you know. I think the $2.50/gal prices will evaporate as the sand niggers light up the fields fighting over their camel fucking Muslim religious bull shit and Putin decides to punish the west for being so very mean to him.
I said about detonate refineries when oil prices started to fall (and went as trained for it).
I did not think the guys attacked imbeciles pipelines to show other fools that there will be lack of oil.
The great advantage of being retired is this:
Tell what lived.
At that ISIS's play who will take it up the ass is the US.
Russia has oil, China has oil, the Gulf War only makes fuck supplies to US and West Europe.
Go after the Iranians (and the good oil of them exchanged for Chinese goods) and you will see China fuck up economically.
There are 376 nuclear warheads between US / Russia in soil and sea.
This end, each country has a number of priorities:
Russia sends three to Israel, 200 the US, two to Poland, one in France (half would be enough, the rest of the radiation would be provided by the 70 French nuclear plants), one on Ascension Island (in the Atlantic), another the Falklands (Malvinas or), the rest in Alaska / Pakistan / Guan, some in Antarctica.
Forget telephone or television, satellites are falling like flies in the sky.
You know how many nuclear warheads China have?
Australia, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Guan (again - I feel sorry for guys who are there), New Zealand.
Taiwan, have pity on Taiwan. It would be better to address global warming and sink dignity.
Guys, take a deep breath, hit in the chest and tell me:
NOW fucked!
Hehe!
This big game of "Risk" that the US likes to play is going to come back and bite them severely in the Ass, all under their bullshit guise of democracy.
ISIS is pretty mobile .... without gas .... for their Toyota gun ships .... their advance will stall !
The CIA will make sure that ISIS gets gas.
Some will be diverted from the "good" ISIS fighting that baaaaaaaaaaad Assad regime in Syria.
No worries.
The war will continue. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are counting on it.
with all the excitement going on in the ME, you may have missed this one:
34 yr old French Sub sinks the Roosevelt aircraft carrier
http://rt.com/usa/238257-french-submarine-us-carrier/
the amis don't want to win wars. they just want to fight them. lol
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And yet oil prices go… DOWN?!!? WTF?
A mouse farts in Libya and the price goes up.
ISIS will light up the oil fields to force a scare and increase prices.
What about when the Russians reach their end of the rope and bomb Saudia Arabian oil fields to raise prices?
Just thinking outloud.
•?•
V-V