U.S. and British intelligence aware
of ISIS plans
Kurdish intelligence informed its U.S. and British
counterparts of the Islamic State
of
Iraq and the
Levant’s
(ISIS)
plans to attack Baghdad months before the
militarists started to gain territory in Iraq,
although Western powers did nothing to prevent it.
While northern Iraq remains out of the Iraqi
government’s control, an article in a British
newspaper, The Telegraph, stated that high level
Kurdish intelligence officials attempted to explain
to their allies in the CIA, MI6 and central Iraqi
government that members of the insurgent group ISIS
could pose a serious threat to the stability of
Iraq, however none of these warnings resulted in any
action being taken.
In
addition, Kurdish leaders warned that the ISIS was
attracting foreign born Muslims to fight for its
cause. Kurdish intelligence director Rooz Bahjat,
stated that almost 4,000 foreigners are fighting
with the ISIS radicals, 400-450 of whom are British
citizens recruited to join the insurgency.
Kurdish intelligence informed its Western
counterparts that a formal alliance between members
of the ISIS and former members of the Baath party –
which was in power during Saddam Hussein’s
government – had almost been finalized and that this
would result in an attack on the city of Mosul and
other cities in northern Iraq.
“We
had this information then, and we passed it on to
your (British) government and the US government,"
Bahjat stated to the newpaper, “We
knew exactly what strategy they were going to use,
we knew the military planners. It fell on deaf
eras," he concluded.
At
the same time, according to other opinions, the U.S.
contributed to the current crisis in Iraq by arming
Syrian rebels fighting against President Bashar al-Assad,
thus creating a “safe haven” for the jihadis, who
crossed the border to fight against the Iraqi
government.
A
WAVE OF VIOLENCE
More
than 1,000 people have lost their lives and more
than 1,200 have been injured during the most recent
wave of violence in Iraq, where the terrorist group
ISIS has intensified its offensive, especially in
the northern regions of the country.
In
the three northern provinces of Iraq, Níneve
(northwest), Diyala (east) and Salah al-Din
(center), more than 757 have been killed and another
599 injured during the period June 5 -22, announced
UN Human Rights High Commission (ACNUDH)
spokesperson, Rupert Colville.
According to Colville, these numbers, which are a
minimum estimate, include summary executions and
extrajudicial killings of civilians, police and
soldiers, outside the battle field.
Colville reported that, in Baghdad and areas in the
south, at least 318 people were killed and 590
injured during the same period, also stating that
the majority of fatalities resulted from six car
bomb attacks.
Colville also mentioned videos broadcast by ISIS,
which show mistreatment and assassinations of
soldiers and civilians, due to either their
ethnicity, religion or political beliefs. He called
on the Iraqi government to conduct investigations
into all of the deaths; especially those perpetrated
by ISIS terrorists, and bring all those responsible
to justice, in accordance with the country’s laws.
On
June 15 the ISIS group Takfirí, released a series
images, via Twitter, showing the execution of some
1,700 Iraqi soldiers in Tikrit, north of Baghdad.
This
massacre represents only a small portion of the
hostilities carried out by ISIS which is supported
by elements of the Baath party (Sunni) of Iraq.
(Excerpts from RT & Hispantv)
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