Ilya Muromsky
The American special forces suffer huge losses during the "liberation" of the oil capital of the "Islamic State" (the organization's activities are prohibited on the territory of the Russian Federation) of the city of Mosul. Correspondent Federal News Agency discussed with a military expert the reasons for the failure of the military operation of the so-called anti-terrorist coalition led by the United States.
Washington intends to complete the "liberation" of Mosul as soon as possible. As the New York Times previously reported, 560 elite American special forces soldiers were sent to Iraq.
According to Western experts, US special forces actively joined the operation to storm Mosul, primarily due to the fact that the Iraqi government troops and paramilitary forces of the Kurdish militia cannot independently take control of the city. However, the American special forces are not omnipotent and suffer significant losses.
According to the Inside Syria media center, the casualties among the US military are constantly growing. The death toll has already exceeded 20, and the number of injured has reached 32 people. The agency draws attention to the fact that American troops suffer losses not only during mortar and artillery strikes, but also from "friendly" fire. So, two fighters were killed when an American B-52H bomber hit the outskirts of Mosul. This indicates serious problems in the coordination of actions between the military of the United States.
The losses of the American military are also confirmed by military-diplomatic sources of the TASS publication. It is reported that US special forces in the first two weeks of the military operation in Mosul lost 16 people killed and 27 wounded.
“The very heavy losses of the American-led coalition caused an operational pause near Mosul, from the direct assault of which, obviously, the allies have already refused. ISIS has proven to be an adversary that has proved resistant to US warfare and war propaganda. In addition to the Americans, special forces of other Western countries were involved near Mosul, as well as fighters from various PMCs. They also suffered significant losses, and this became an additional factor in reducing the activity of the coalition. The capabilities of the Peshmerga and the Iraqi army were not enough for an effective attack on the positions of the "Islamic state" without foreign support," a military and political expert of the People's Diplomacy Foundation and a representative of the Future Today expert and analytical club explained to FAN. Sergey Prostakov.
According to the analyst, one can expect a change in the tactics of both the coalition and the terrorist groups. The stake in the fight against ISIS will obviously be placed on the blockade of its oil capital, which will cause an inevitable humanitarian catastrophe for the civilian population of the city and its environs. The militants, on the other hand, can respond with unexpected strikes on the rear of the advancing group and unleash an even larger terrorist and guerrilla war in the territories controlled by the Iraqi government and the Kurdish autonomy. In the worst case for ISIS (the loss of Mosul), the militants can shift the direction of their aggression to another direction, which can be very unexpected - from Libya or Kenya to Somalia to the Arabian Peninsula and Southeast Asia.
“The high losses of US special forces operating near Mosul mean that no lessons have been learned from the events that followed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 in Washington. Guerrilla war started by Sunni radicals and supporters Saddam Hussein, caused great tension among the American military contingent, and the battles for Fallujah can be seen as a prologue to today's battle for Mosul and a warning to the Pentagon. The combat effectiveness of the American special forces and their coalition colleagues has once again turned out to be dubious in the Middle East, which cannot but affect the image of the entire West in the region. This plays into the hands of the radicals, who, against the backdrop of the failures of the Americans and their allies, are able to attract new volunteers to their side to continue the expansion of terrorism, which Washington is not yet able to stop on its own,” Sergei Prostakov summed up.
Washington's plan to put the Iraqi city of Mosul on a silver platter just in time for the US presidential election began with serious slippage and heavy losses.
The largest military operation in recent years under the auspices of the Western coalition in Iraq began clearly not according to plan. It is already becoming clear with the help of which Washington planned to free the largest city of Iraq from the oppression of ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in Russia).
Firstly, military component. An unprecedented number of troops have been drawn to the city, for the most part these are the Iraqi military and Kurdish militias, who should bear the burden of the expected losses. But the American military has also been deployed to the city, which created the largest grouping of NATO troops in Iraq after the official US exodus from the country. The number of "white special forces", various special operations and intelligence forces, according to unconfirmed reports, is in the thousands, and this is not counting complete dominance in the sky.
Ankara does not lag behind, which simply goes ahead to participate in a victorious operation against ISIS.
The total number of formally Western coalition military participating in the liberation of Mosul, even according to the most conservative estimates, reaches 80 thousand bayonets, and according to immodest up to 130 thousand. And all this mass, including the American aircraft carrier group and the local air force, according to various estimates, fell on the ISIS group of 6-12 thousand, holding the city.
Secondly, immediately after the start of air strikes on the city, a rebellion began in Mosul. The Islamic police, led by Abu Usman, unexpectedly took the side of the stormers and for the first time the watch even achieved some success. What it was, Washington's financial injections or its generous promises, the desire to curry favor with the new owner, is not completely clear, but ISIS was stabbed in the back.
Third, according to media reports, a significant part of the most combat-ready terrorist units left the city, including the top of the organization. It is worth guessing about the direction of their withdrawal from the city, but the most promising is Syria, where all of them will still be needed to confront Russia and Damascus. Such an outcome can be considered the result of “undercover” flirtation by American “partners” with their own offspring.
Having piled on a weakened city with a mass of troops, in which only suicide bombers remained, who were shot in the back by former comrades-in-arms, Washington plans to conduct a “brilliant” (as opposed to Aleppo) military operation and give an extra bonus to Clinton before the elections.
However, from the first days, the American strategy near Mosul began to slip, the site reports. The uprising of Abu Usman failed, and combat-ready detachments of militants remained in the city, who were able to quickly suppress the rebels and regain control over the areas lost for several hours.
From the very first days, the grouping put together by the United States began to suffer heavy losses. Near the village of Bilavet alone, as a result of a suicide attack on an Iraqi military convoy, up to 70 servicemen were killed.
According to the testimony of local residents who left the city and intelligence data, there are quite a lot of motivated militants and suicide bombers left in Morsul who are ready to defend themselves to the end. Entire fortified areas and many long-term firing points have been created in the city, and one can only guess about the rest of the "surprises".
The first day of the assault can hardly be called successful, and these are far from the last major losses of the Western coalition, only the Iraqis and Kurds will traditionally bear them, and Washington will count the dividends.
Mosul, December 8th. The advance of the Western coalition forces in Mosul has stalled, moreover, ISIS terrorists managed to recapture several areas in the eastern part of the city that were previously captured by coalition forces, a correspondent of the Federal News Agency (FAN) reports from the scene.
A FAN source managed to take photos and videos of US regular army units fighting near Mosul, while earlier the Pentagon denied the participation of US military personnel in the hostilities.
The photo of the FAN correspondent caught employees of the 101st Air Assault Division "Screaming Eagles", as well as equipment: US-made Oshkoch M 1070 tractors carrying Abrams M1 tanks.
Soldiers and officers of the American units were armed with M4 A1 automatic assault rifles, as well as M240V machine guns.
Americans do not communicate with journalists, they live apart, they do not allow themselves to be filmed, threatening journalists with reprisals. Therefore, the FAN correspondent had to take these photos and videos covertly.
“Even at their own base, the Americans move in full combat gear, in helmets and with weapons, because they are afraid of being stabbed in the back. The Iraqis, by the way, dislike their allies because they behave in a businesslike manner in the Middle East, allegedly doing a favor to this godforsaken land. On the land, which, by the way, no one called them to, ”says a FAN source.
The losses of the Americans are carefully concealed, however, the Iraqi servicemen, with whom the source of the FAN managed to talk, report that in the first two weeks of the ground operation alone, more than two dozen "American eagles" were killed, more than fifty were injured.
“The Americans died during the explosion on land mines, during artillery and mortar attacks, as well as from friendly fire. In similar situations, our soldiers, Iraqis, also died, but we do not hide our losses,” the soldier said.
It should be noted that earlier it was reported that two American servicemen were killed as a result of air strikes on the suburbs of Mosul by American B-52H bombers.
The operation to take Mosul has been going on for two months now, while under the control of the security forces at the moment there is no more than 30% of Mosul - this is the east and northeast of the city.
The Iraqi Federal Police, advancing on Mosul from the south, barely approached the outskirts of the city. From the west, the Shiite units of the people's militia "Hashd Ash-Shaabi" are not allowed to enter the allies - because of political and confessional contradictions. While the Shiite detachments blocked the town of Tel Afar, blocked the road to the Syrian Raqqa and stopped at a decent distance from Mosul.
The only unit that entered the city is the so-called "Golden Division" or "Division of the Dead". The FAN reporter was able to drive with these fighters in one of the Hummers through the coalition-occupied suburbs of Mosul and talk to the soldiers.
These elite Iraqi counter-terror units, trained by US military experts, were supposed to terrify the terrorists. In fact, progress is very slow, and on the road to Mosul you can see entire cemeteries of wrecked Hummers.
The Americans work in isolation from all coalition forces, performing special tasks, but also cannot boast of visible results. A FAN source says that American losses over the past two months have already exceeded one hundred out of 600 fighting in and around the city. In total, 12.5 thousand Americans are allegedly fighting in the region. It is not yet possible to confirm this information.
In general, during the war in Iraq, the military losses of the coalition forces amounted to more than 4.8 thousand people. 4,486 thousand US military personnel, 179 British military personnel, 139 military personnel from 21 countries of the world were killed.
Reports of casualties among Iraqis vary. The American media give different numbers of Iraq's total losses in the war: from 100,000 to 300,000 people, including civilians. At the same time, according to WHO data, from 150,000 to 223,000 Iraqis fell victim to the war between 2003 and 2006 alone.
According to the Iraqis, American losses over the past two months have already exceeded 100 out of 600 fighting in the city. In total, 12.5 thousand Americans are allegedly fighting in the region...
The battle for Mosul has turned into a meat grinder for the American army...
For the Americans, the defeat near Iraqi Mosul is unacceptable, and therefore they will torture this bloody epic to its logical conclusion, regardless of the losses. Especially if it will be Iraqi losses, about which. The Americans advertised this operation so well in the international information space that for them a defeat there does not mean a minor failure, but threatens with a real geopolitical collapse. After all, no one will seriously think about the power of the American army. After all, what is it like to be defeated by irregular gangs? Yes, this is a shame, a universal scale!
The operation has been going on for more than two months, but there is no end in sight. As of December 8, 2016, the advance of the Western (American) coalition forces in Mosul has stalled. Moreover, according to sources from Mosul, jihadists managed to recapture several areas in the eastern part of the city that were previously captured by coalition forces.
A RIA FAN source managed to capture on video one of the units of the regular US army fighting near Mosul - while Washington categorically denies the participation of American troops in the hostilities in Mosul and its environs.
Before you are the military personnel of the 101st Air Assault Division "Screaming Eagles", and various equipment: for example, tractors made by the United States Oshkoch M 1070 carrying Abrams M1 tanks. Armed with M4 A1 automatic assault rifles and M240V machine guns. The Americans refuse any contact with journalists and threaten to use weapons.
“Even at their own base, the Americans move in full combat gear, in helmets and with weapons, because they are afraid of being stabbed in the back. The Iraqis, by the way, dislike their allies because they behave in a businesslike manner in the Middle East, allegedly doing a favor to this godforsaken land. On the land, which, by the way, no one called them to, ”said a source in Mosul.
The Americans carefully hide their losses, but Iraqi soldiers report that in the first two weeks of the ground operation alone, more than two dozen American soldiers were killed and more than fifty were injured. According to the Iraqis, American losses over the past two months have already exceeded 100 out of 600 fighting in the city. In total, 12.5 thousand Americans are allegedly fighting in the region.
Americans are dying in the course of explosions on land mines, during artillery and mortar attacks, as well as from "friendly" fire. In similar situations, Iraqi soldiers also die, although they often fall under missile and bomb attacks by the Americans, who do not really think in the direction of which of the "Papuans" a shell, rocket or bomb will fall. Due to the fact that the Americans, without hesitation, kill allies, they sometimes have to protect themselves from surprises. And recently, a US Air Force air strike also killed two American servicemen when B-52H bombers bombed out of the suburbs of Mosul.
The operation to liberate Mosul has a number of other characteristic features. So the Iraqi federal police, advancing on Mosul from the south, barely approached the outskirts of the city. And from the west, the allies in the coalition do not allow the Shiite units of the Hashd Ash-Shaabi militia to enter - because of political and confessional contradictions. While the Shiite detachments blocked the town of Tel Afar and blocked the road to the Syrian Raqqa, stopping at a decent distance from Mosul. The only unit that has entered the city is the so-called "Golden Division" or "Division of the Dead", of which there is little left.
The streets of Mosul are simply dotted with entire columns of armored vehicles, or cemeteries from it, into which they turned into in the process of clashes in urban areas. Thus, Iraqi units are used as the battering ram or "meat" of war. Americans work in isolation from everyone. However, they still cannot boast of visible results.
Please note that the following extremist and terrorist organizations are banned in the Russian Federation: Jehovah's Witnesses, National Bolshevik Party, Right Sector, Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), Islamic State (IS, ISIS, DAISH) , "Jabhat Fath ash-Sham", "Jabhat al-Nusra", "Al-Qaeda", "UNA-UNSO", "Taliban", "Majlis of the Crimean Tatar people", "Misanthropic Division", "Brotherhood" Korchinsky, "Trident them. Stepan Bandera", "Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists" (OUN).
A military source told Russkaya Vesna the details of the bloody operation to liberate the Iraqi capital of ISIS.
The operation to take Mosul has entered the stage of "slippage". Successive victorious reports about the liberation of another suburb of this city, which occupies the most important strategic position, were replaced by “operational pauses” from ISIS *.
While the Western media are giving stories about the happy deliverance of the inhabitants of Mosul, videos are appearing on YouTube showing the explosions of the vaunted American M1A1 Abrams tanks by suicide vehicles and ATGMs, footage of at least a hundred units (!) Of burning armored vehicles of government forces and other evidence of that Iraqi troops are bogged down in bloody street battles ...
Troops suffer horrendous losses
In the photo at once 4 destroyed "Hammers" in the Mosul region
Official data indirectly speak of huge losses. In order to influence public opinion in a positive way, on TV channels like CNN or BBC, invited experts estimate the losses of the attackers as one coalition soldier to two ISIS terrorists.
Such a ratio, not in favor of well-armed and trained militants defending in a fortified city, according to the canons of military science, can only be justified by the high efficiency of "pinpoint" strikes against them by aviation and artillery.
But judging by the fact that almost every air raid is accompanied by dozens of dead and wounded civilians (which the Iraqi media themselves conscientiously record), the coalition forces cannot boast of being particularly selective in their strikes. This is quite consistent with the tactics on the ground: cadres of Iraqi soldiers have already gone around the world pouring fire indiscriminately all around on the streets of Mosul.
However, if we accept the assessments of Western experts as adequate, then the question arises: according to the Iraqi Ministry of Internal Affairs, during the month of fighting near Mosul, about 2,800 ISIS fighters were destroyed, out of those 4-5 thousand that held the city and its environs initially.
Then, if you believe the "talking heads" from Western TV channels, the losses of the coalition per month (!) Should be at least 1,500 (!) Servicemen (at the rate of 1 military to 2 militants). Involuntarily, you will listen to the "ISIS" propaganda, which claims that in the battles for Mosul, a whole division of government troops has already been ground.
In any case, photos and videos from the battlefield testify to the horrendous losses of the Iraqi Armed Forces.
Against this background, it is worth considering what actually caused the non-participation in the storming of Mosul of all other coalition members, except for the federal Iraqi army and the special forces of the US armed forces (which, according to official data, have already lost at least 22 people killed).
To the west of the city is the so-called Shiite militia. From the north and east - the Kurdish peshmerga and the militias of the Sunni tribes. It was officially announced that the liberation of Mosul itself would be carried out exclusively by regular Iraqi forces. And now you might think that only they did not have the opportunity to refuse to participate in this operation.
Militants do not flee to Syria, but strengthen the defense
On the other hand, it should be noted that instead of the expected departure of the militants to Syria along the corridor provided by the Americans in the northwest, they not only put up stubborn resistance, but, according to a number of Middle Eastern publications, are also transferring reinforcements to Mosul.
Different observers explain this in different ways. But an analysis of the tone of publications on the topic of Mosul in the media of Turkey, Qatar, Iran and Iraq is quite capable of providing a hint.
Türkiye and Qatar are allies of ISIS
As you know, Turkey and Qatar are allies in organizing the so-called "Sunni corridor" for the supply of energy from the Persian (Arabian among the Arabs) Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. Because of this, these two countries entered into conflict in 2011 with the government of Bashar al-Assad, who chose to develop joint projects with Iran and Iraq (where the Shiites make up the majority of the population).
Syrian jihadist groups and ISIS, which took control of territories promising for the “Sunni corridor” in Iraq and Syria, became the “shadow” partners of these states.
Now the government of Recep Erdogan, with the support of Qatar, is busy creating a controlled buffer zone in northern Syria, relying on jihadists, renamed the Free Syrian Army. Few analysts have missed the fact that ISIS and the pro-Turkish FSA units are fighting each other with much less bitterness and tenacity than against the Kurds and the American-created Syrian Democratic Forces.
This suggests that the agreements between the "ISIS" and the Turks to continue to conduct a common business under new signs are quite real. Contradictions between the interests of Turkey and Qatar, on the one hand, and the interests of the United States, Great Britain and Iran, on the other, are also becoming apparent.
The Shiite power seeks to prevent the plans of geo-economic competitors from being realized, and Western allies seem to be interested in the chronic instability of the region as a whole. Therefore, the Pentagon is counting on the separatist Kurdish formations, and the British media, in reporting on the events around Mosul, are inciting confessional strife in every way.
Against this background, it is understandable why the Turkish media and the Qatari television channel Al-Jazeera pay so much attention to the troubles of Iraqi Sunnis, whom the pro-American coalition and Shiites are "expelled from their native lands." It is clear why Türkiye insists on the participation of its troops in the Mosul operation.
Kurds and Sunni militias avoid fighting
It was after Washington announced that it supported Baghdad's objections to the presence of Turkish troops near Mosul and relied on the Syrian Democratic Forces, which included the Kurds, to advance on Raqqa, the resistance of the coalition's "ISIS" units in both Syria and Iraq became significant. more stubborn. And the Sunni militias and formations of the army of Iraqi Kurdistan, allied to the Turks, refused to continue active operations in the Mosul direction.
But the Shiite militias have announced their intention to cut the road left for the ISIS to leave Mosul, while the Iranian media are covering the assault on this city as if it were an operation of the greatest importance.
As for the Iraqi TV channels and newspapers, among them the fruits of the overthrow of the dictatorship and the introduction of freedom of speech have surprisingly affected. Journalists of a number of popular publications yearn for the former “pan-Iraqi identity” and sympathize with the inhabitants of their country, who are dying in Mosul both from coalition bombs and shells, and at the hands of terrorists.
* A terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation.
The photo and video show only a small part of the footage of the destroyed equipment of the forces of the anti-ISIS coalition in Mosul, published in recent weeks. We are really talking about hundreds (!) of burned, captured and wrecked units of military equipment.
