"Some 4,000 Iraqi army troops and some 25,000 Shia militia have surrounded Tikrit in Iraq. There are few civilians left in the city but some 1,000 Islamic State fighters have barricaded themselves inside and digging them out would be a very bloody and costly affair. Up to recent days the U.S. was not involved in the Tikrit campaign.The Sunni-Shiite civil war narrative doesn't explain the facts on the ground in Syria, Iraq, Libya, or Yemen. The majority of ISIS's victims are Sunni.
The Iranian advisers who accompany the militia had therefore decided not to storm the city but to revert to siege tactics cutting off electricity, water and all other supplies to weaken their opponents. They are using artillery against the Islamic State positions and plan to eventually storm the city but they see no urgent need to do it now.
But somehow that situation was disliked in Washington and the U.S. has muscled itself into a position tocommand the campaign. But doing so endangers the whole anti-Islamic State campaign. There is suspicion that this is the indented purpose of the scheme." - 'b' Moon of Alabama, "U.S. Role In Iraq Endangers Anti-Islamic State Fight," March 27, 2015.
The statements by an Iraqi government minister in the video below add further complexity to conflicts in the region and the battle for Tikrit specifically.
Key quote from the video:
"The Sunni tribes that lost families to other Sunni tribes burned down the towns of Albu Ajeel. This was blamed on the Popular Mobilization Forces/Shia. As a local of this province I am telling you, we have asked them (the Sunni Tribes) to refrain from revenge attacks. And we know which exact tribes did it but will not name names so that we will not cause further issues."Iraqi Sunni Minister 'Tikrit is a Sunni vs Sunni War.' Source: IraqEnglish. Date Published: March 21, 2015.
