These are the first numbers that emerge from Ramadi, conquered by ISIS a few hours ago after the defeat of the Iraqi army (and the despicable behavior of the "special units" who abandoned the regular troops they relied on).
The numerous passages of the coalition fighters carried out in the last seventy-two hours have also been of no use: Ramadi is now a city of the caliphate. The little information that leaked from the city at this time is terrible (but not unexpected). Mass shooting, violence of all kinds, deportations, torture. On the web there are already some videos available (which we will not show you to avoid that dirty fundamentalist propaganda) artfully mounted by the media arm of ISIS and showing the massacres of the past few hours. Iraqi soldiers with no more bullets, attacked on several fronts and finally killed on the spot. Dozens of Humvees, armored vehicles and captured equipment.
According to the UN, 120 thousand residents left their homes last Friday. Now the terrorists will be able to get rid of civilians considered close to the loyalist government. Those guilty immediately went into arms. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who now fears the fall of the entire desert region, ordered Shiite militias to take sides in the predominantly Sunni province, ignoring what could trigger such action.
Meanwhile, the mood among the terrorists is sky-high. The sites close to the Islamic State speak of a glorious victory and the conquest of the Eighth Brigade of the Iraqi army. The terrorists have acquired M1A1SA tanks (some never used), missile launchers, dozens of armored vehicles, at least forty Humvees (armored version), in addition to the entire equipment abandoned by the regular troops and by the "special units" who have fled.
In the Sunni province of Anbar, where anger against the Shiite-led government is much deeper, US forces have fought for years to quell the possible uprisings. From the withdrawal of US troops to the present, it is estimated that the 65% of the province of Anbar is in the hands of the Islamic State. American soldiers have fought some of their bloodiest battles since Vietnam in the streets of Ramadi and Falluja.
ISIS: a modern army
On the black market in Mosul, you can buy just about anything: AK-47, M4A1, Special Operations Peculiar Modification kits, H&G assault rifles, any kind of mine, pistol or knife. Certainly not an M1A1M Abrams tank, but terrorists now have at least two dozen of them, as well as other systems they usually wouldn't be able to get. This is because the withdrawal of the Iraqi regular army, equipped with the best of US production (but also Russian, Chinese, French, Italian and English) that petrodollars can buy, never happens in an organized way. Every defeat of the Iraqi army always occurs with the uncontrolled flight of soldiers who have only one thought "to save their skin". And to slow the enemy down (and attract his attention), they abandon everything: individual equipment, encrypted instrumentation, documents, armored and non-armored vehicles. And these episodes are no longer isolated, but they happen with some regularity.
What is worse, with every defeat, terrorists acquire skills and power. And to think that they don't know how to use the equipment would be pure folly, considering the mercenaries, who have come in thousands from all over the world to join the Daash cause. Until a few months ago, it was unthinkable that the ISIS had a barrage. Now it turns out that at least sixty M198 Howitzers, heavy artillery from 155 mm, are regularly in battle among the ranks of the Islamic State as well as dozens of BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers.
The terrorists would not yet have a real anti-aircraft force, but they captured a dozen ZSU-23-4 Shilka from the Syrian army. If these antiaircraft self-propelled vehicles were to operate against an allied aircraft that does not expect such a barrage, it could also be shot down. And the terrorists are waiting for nothing else.
It would be a serious mistake to consider the militia as "savages" with a gun and to consider Iraqi soldiers as professional soldiers. It would be a serious mistake because thousands of Chechens, experts in unconventional guerrilla warfare, fight among the terrorists. But the fundamentalists who have come to Iraq come from all over the world and almost all have received paramilitary training.
The Iraqis, despite the latest equipment, have demonstrated real basic incompetence and strategists have forgotten one of the basic rules for going to battle: training. The million-dollar allowances taken away to acquire skills that make the West shine, can do nothing without real military training. They will certainly not be modern, but at least sixty T-62M / K and about forty T-55 are on the list of ISIS.
The list of "spending" made by Iraqis and Syrians is impressive. Hundreds between BMP-1, M1117, BRDM-2. More than 300 MTVR Americans, one hundred M113 and more than 500 HUMVEE all equipped with additional armor and armed turret. At least thirty Cougar armored vehicles acquired. Millions of bullets of various caliber, thousands of light and heavy weapons, about 500 anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles.
Iraq and Syria, unintentionally, are equipping the enemy for free. And another massive offensive is being planned to free Ramadi from other brand new vehicles. The terror is that ISIS is able to acquire and implement even a large-scale and organized anti-air component. In that case, the entire role of the Coalition would be revised and the only fighter-bombers alone would not be enough. History teaches.
The feeling is that while the terrorists are gaining capacity, the Iraqis go into battle defeated, even before firing a single shot.
Franco Iacch
