Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE FRONT PAGES of many international newspapers proclaimed the end of the ‘American dream’ in Iraq this morning after a relatively small group of militants created a crisis of unprecedented proportions in the war-torn country.
It’s been many years since the US invasion brought Iraq to the forefront of all news bulletins and in the intervening years since 2003, the conflict has faded out of our consciousness.
However, events of the past 96 hours will have set alarm bells off across the world.
The timeline has been so quick that it’s caught the US administration off guard, nevermind the ordinary citizen. So, here’s a play-by-play explainer of what’s been happening.
Why is Iraq back in the news?
In a startlingly effective offensive, a group of Sunni militants – part of a splinter group of al-Qaeda – are moving towards Baghdad and, crucially, the country’s largest oil refineries.
That, obviously, has both the Iraq government and Western powers worried.
When did this start?
This specific wave of violence began on Monday in the country’s second largest city, Mosul.
The group, called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), took the airport, the TV stations and the governor’s office. They also helped 1,000 prisoners escape during the overnight operation.
It was the unbelievable speed of the victory that shocked those within and onlookers from outside the area, ensuring that Iraq was catapulted back onto our television sets.
But how did that happen?
Although there are only a few thousand militants total involved in the Sunni group, it has been reported that members of the Iraq army fled their posts and abandoned their weapons as soon as they appeared.
There were also incidents witnessed of officers giving militants their arms and their uniforms, fueling suspicions of a conspiracy within Iraq’s forces.
Reports indicate that up to 30,000 soldiers ran away in the face of only 800 fighters.
What’s happened since?
Yesterday, the city of Tikrit was overran by ISIS. This is particularly important as it was the hometown of Saddam Hussein.
Who are ISIS?
They are a breakaway group of al-Qaeda. And are thought to be even more extreme than those origins suggest.
ISIS (or sometimes ISIL) came into being in the early wars of the Iraq War.
They want to establish an Islamic state, taking in the entire region and imposing Sharia law throughout. It has already achieved the latter in some towns in Syria where women now wear niqabs and music is banned.
Its membership is made up of fighters from all over, including Chechnya, Turkey, parts of Europe and other Arab countries.
Its targets? The Iraq and Syrian governments. But there have also been thousands of civilian casualties at their hands.
What next?
ISIS has warned that it will continue its offensive, moving towards Baghdad. Today, it took another town -Dhuluiyah – which is located just hours away from the capital.
Its spokesperson Abu Mohammed al-Adnani also said the group would destroy the Shiite shrine city of Karbala, which is visited by million of pilgrims from around the world each year.
There has been talk about Kirkuk as well?
Yes, with the militants closing in on Baghdad, forces from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region took control of Kirkuk, an ethnically divided northern city they have sought to rule for decades against the objections of successive governments in Baghdad.
The city is known for its oil.
What’s the death toll?
No official figures from the violence have been confirmed but there were reports today of 14 injuries in Kirkuk.
A news photographer, Kamran Najm Ibrahim, was also killed while covering the fighting between the jihadists and Kurdish forces.
Does this have anything to do with religion?
Sadly, yes. There is a significant sectarian element to the fighting, despite the fact that both factions share many common beliefs.
Currently, the government is a Shiite one but the militants are Sunnis. (Al-Qaeda members are Sunnis).
About 85 per cent of the Muslim world is Sunni. The divide – which dates back to the death of Islam’s found in 632 – is one of the driving factors for many conflicts across the Middle East.
What about the American troops?
America’s troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011. Many commentators have said this left a power and security vacuum in Iraq. One that has been filled by these extremists.
The US had spent billions of dollars training and equipping Iraq’s new security forces but this, in the words of the Foreign Minister Hosyhar Zebari, has simply melted away.
What does America have to say?
Not that much, yet. President Barack Obama says his security team are “looking at all the options” and “not ruling out anything” – except for sending in ground troops.
Iraq is going to need more help from us and it’s going to need more help from the international community.
However, he did warn the Shiite-led Iraq government that the jihadist offensive was a “wake-up call”.
The White House tonight confirmed the US is mulling the use of drones, rather than ground troops if military intervention is deemed appropriate.
Anybody else?
Russia has used the opportunity to kick the Bush-led administration and the Blair government in the UK their pointless invasion in 2003.
The events in Iraq illustrate the total failure of the adventure involving the United States and Britain.
In a very rare event, Iran are with the US and have pledged more money to Iraq as they voiced dismay at the advance of the Sunni extremists.
And the UN Security Council is holding a private meeting today to discuss developments, but there hasn’t been an official statement yet.
What’s happening to children in Iraq?
About 500,000 people have fled their homes in the city of Mosul, which was taken by the militants on Monday.
According to Unicef, about half of those are children who are now in need of urgent need of safe water, shelter, food and protection.
“They cannot wait,” says Peter Power of Unicef Ireland.
Thousands of children are currently in schools, hospitals and mosques outside the city.
Is more money needed?
The US has pledged more aid but Unicef says that emergency appeals for Iraq were only 16 per cent funded before the violence erupted.
“This is an emergency on top of an emergency in Iraq – coming on the heels of other internal displacements of children and families in Anbar, as well as Syrian refugees in the north,” said Marzio Babille, the charity’s representative in Iraq.
So, is there a state of emergency?
No. And that really underlines the parallel political problems in Iraq. The Prime Minister tried to declare a state of emergency today but not enough MPs turned up for the session.
With reporting by AFP; First published 7.30pm
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Cyclist probably didn’t realise the Luas drivers were working today.
Sure cyclists don’t need excuses for breaking light as it is.
There have been dozens of instances of cars breaking lights and hitting the Luas tram, this is the first time I’ve heard of a cyclist doing it.
Big claim there for the luas driver!
cyclists probably broke the lights and was of the opinion that he/she had right of way due to his/her green mode of transport and an over inflated sense of entitlement. I’m surprised more aren’t killed on the roads the way they carry on out there
Good on the Luas. I am sick of cyclists who constantly run red lights, pedestrian lights, and generally think they own the road. If you get hit by a Luas, it is your own fault.
As a part time cyclist and part time pedestrian, I am so sick of having to cross the road on a green man while watching for an ignorant cyclist coming along and not stopping. I seen a cyclist almost take a woman with a pram and another kid out of it recently.
It is a rampant problem right across this city.
I think people hate luas drivers more than cyclists right now Richard. That might be saying something.
Considering how many cars have been hit by the Luas it would appear drivers are breaking lights pretty regularly.
Way,way more car drivers than cyclists have broken red lights and crashed into the Luas over the years. I see cars breaking red lights every single day of the week.
Jimmyjoe how many close encounters with cyclist have gone unreported……dont kid yourself that this is the first incident.
Does it also annoy you when you are cycling towards a green light, and all the pedestrians waiting to cross wait till no cars are there but walk out in front of you without even looking?
“That 5 foot speeding bicycle came out of nowhere!”
or
“That 30 metre crawling tram came out of nowhere!”
Luas drivers will be after another few thousand one4all vouchers to make up for the stress of the job….
hahaha very ture but at least the luas driver saga will come to an end cyclists will never learn
SOME CYCLISTS will.
Luas driver traumatized. He will be suffering PTSD for the rest of his life, and will have to take early retirement.
Hope the cyclist is ok. Tram driver will probably look for year off with full pay due to the experience
Simple way not to get hit by a tram
DON’T CYCLE ON THE LUAS TRACKS!
‘Only trams this way’ means not cyclists
Gway out of that
How do you know he wasn’t crossing the tracks?
You can’t cycle on the tracks because your wheels will go into the tracks and then you’ll go flying. I presume the cyclist was crossing the tracks.
Almost got flattened by a cyclist this morning at a pedestrian crossing (my right of way) on the way to work.. very hard to have sympathy for cyclists when they blatantly ignore traffic lights and signals!
I almost got flattened by a car that decided he shouldn’t wait for the car in front to turn down a side street. He decided her should go around the car by driving in the cycle lane without looking.
I don’t blame all drivers for that idiot but if I used your logic I should.
I don’t know if you’re familiar with Dublin but I pass through that junction at Earlsfort terrace beside St Stephen’s Green every morning on my way to work. It’s a very busy junction at rush hour and every single morning without fail several cyclists (not just one or two) speed through the pedestrian lights. Almost every morning I have to practically jump out of the way to avoid being hit by a cyclist. There are many cyclists who wait at the lights too but there almost as many who don’t. I know what I experience everyday and for the most part it’s not cars that I have to watch for breaking red lights, it’s cyclists!
I don’t know if you are familiar with Dublin but on Bolton street everyday there are over 10 cars parked in the cycle lane. Then there is a steady line of cars driving in the remainder of the cycle lane. Lots of people don’t care about the other road users.
The problem is unilaterally deciding that just due to mode of transport you can say anything one way or the other.
There are plenty of badly designed junctions that practically need a full time guard at them to stop dangerous and disruptive road users.
I wasn’t trying to be sarky by the way when I said I didn’t know if you were familiar with Dublin, just wasn’t sure if you were based in the city. My perception of cyclists is based on my experience with them and that experience has been that there are a considerable number of cyclists who break reds often. In relation to this incident, trams don’t just come out of no where in the way cars can, so my guess would be that the cyclist ignored or missed a traffic signal which resulted in the collision. I don’t wish injury on anybody and I hope the cyclist makes a full recovery but having observed a large number of cyclists knowingly break red lights, It doesn’t surprise me when incidents like this occurs and I hope it will encourage other cyclists to take more care that’s all!
Well once you base it on experience then it doesn’t mean you aren’t bunching a varied group together as bad. But your experience being very limited might just be an issue.
Try a cycle around Dublin and you would be amazed at attitudes towards cyclists. Pedestrians just walk out in front of you all the time along with walking in cycle lanes. Cars buzz cyclist by approaching fast and close. That isn’t once a day or journey but repeatedly. I drive, walk and cycle and cyclists are far from the danger being said and road deaths and accidents prove this.
My personal favorite of dangerous driver thing that doesn’t even register with drivers is peek a boo onto roads. Driver joining a road peeks their car out onto the road they are joining blocking the road or cycle lane for the cyclist. Now the cyclist has to judge if the driver has seen them and if the driver behind can see the car also. Now does the cyclist stop to let the car out hoping the driver behind will let the driver out? Does the cyclist indicate and pull around the car while looking behind them to see if the cars behind are too close or too fast?
This puts a cyclist at extreme risk for the convenience of a driver and there is not even a though about this by most drivers
I acknowledge that Dublin is not a well designed city for cyclists and also that many motorists do not take due care with cyclists but that doesn’t give cyclists a free pass to break reds.
And I didn’t say it did but it is also not true that cyclists are all the same and can be bunched together as a menace.
The bad road users is more of a problem than design.
I’m a cyclist and a driver in Sydney. I’ll admit cyclists are crazy at times. But so too are motorists. For us law abiding cyclists, motorists can be complete nuts. This morning I had a motorist trying to run me off as I legally tried to cross to the cycle lane.
Cyclists think they can cycle anywhe and always have a right of way.
True!, get away with murder, going through red lights etc!..
Drivers think they own the road because they are protected by over a ton of metal and doors, very brave.
All of a sudden he came out of nowhere and crashed into me and after all the tears and crying and emotional stress we went our separate ways said the cyclist!
Cyclists get away with murder on our roads in my opinion..
Yet drivers kill people on the road each year and don’t go to prison. Not so many cyclists kill people on the road. Who is exactly getting away with murder? Doesn’t need to be opinion
David how many people have been killed on the roads by cyclists and how many by motorists?
And its not always the motorist who is at fault.
Cause cyclists cause so many deaths on the road?
The Luas driver was probably lane jumping.
Everyone relax !! The seven weeks training for the 47k a year job probably included a bit of first aid training so I’m sure the Luas driver had the expertise to call someone who has a clue wat to do in such a situation
Did the overpaid Luas driver think he was a government representative???
Cyclists arent Jamie vardy. They can’t do what they want.
No sympathy probably has total disregards for the rules of the road they totally piss me off the way they behave.
Well if you are so rational about it your opinion earns extra points. Not like drivers speed, block yellow boxes, park on cycle lanes and double yellow lines, drive in cycle and bus lanes etc…
None of that should annoy anyone
Cyclists get away with murder on our roads!.
So you keep saying. But it is motorised vehilcles that keep killing people,not bikes. Or should I say, idiots driving motorised vehicles.
That escalated quickly.
I hope the cyclist sue the arse out of that Luas Driver so he gets fired for gross misconduct and start recruiting people who wants to work.
So it was the tram driver’s fault was it? Why, because you’ve been inconvenienced by their industrial action recently? Do you think he took it off the tracks and onto a cycle lane or something? If you’re dumb enough to play chicken with a tram you deserve whatever happens to you
Something seriously needs to be done about cyclists ignoring rules of the road. They are pretty much out of control at the moment. Hard to understand the mentality of them when it is them that will end up worst in an accident.
More consideration from both cyclists and motorists would help greatly
They certainly ignore the rules of the road when they’re flying along on the footpaths!
Ban all cyclists from the city! Force them to use the Lua…. Oh wait… Nah that won’t work.
Wow theyre taking this strike thing a bit far now arent they
Surprised the Luas is actually running, …. maybe the drivers will put this error down to being “underpaid” for the “experience” they possess..!!!!!
Hope it one of the clowns on this site calling for luas drivers to be sacked because of strike. Karma is a bitch
Cyclists vs Luas drivers…..GO!
Luas drivers getting revenge over pay deal!
Some pedestrian crossings have a bike symbol with the green/red man, so can a cyclist not use it too? Honest question guys.
I would wait for pedestrians to cross then go myself but only if there is a bike symbol on the lights. I can go with the cars but people can’t,
Took out a cyclist?! definitely an argument there for a pay rise!!!!
Luas drivers always breaking lights at connolly stn
have your say