Tikrit was Saddam Hussein’s hometown and its recapture will be a symbolic victory. The Islamic State( IS) held the city since last June. The Iraqi Shiite militias are trained by Iranians and the operation is being run by Iranian military advisers with Qassem Suleimani, an influential Iranian general, in charge of the operation. The Iraq government chose to run the operation this way even though the US is worried about the results. Tikrit is in the heartland of Sunni majority territory but there is little participation of Sunnis in the Iraqi forces. The Americans worry that the offensive may further alienate Sunnis from the Iraqi government that is dominated by the Shia majority,
To further add to US fears, there are reports that members of the Hezbollah movement from Lebanon are also taking part in the operation. Hezbollah fighters support Assad in Syria. A prominent leader of a Sunni tribe who had fled the Iraqi central government and the IS to the Kurdish capital of Irbil said:“It’s a Persian-led invasion of the Sunni triangle. We see Iranian troops and generals leading the fighting and the only Iraqi army units – which once represented all Iraqis – now only represent the Shiite parties and their Iranian leadership. Look around Baghdad now and what do you see? Posters dedicated to militia leaders, Iranian generals and even Khamenei, Daash is a poison to all Muslims, but the Persians have become a cancer to Iraq,” What they could not do in the 1980s they have done now with American help, which is enslave Iraq.”
“Persia” is another name for “Iran.” “Daash” is the Arabic name for the Islamic State. Khameni is the spiritual leader of Iran. The tribal leader noted that in spite of the fact that many Sunnis had offered to fight the Islamic State, the central government refused to arm them.
The degree of mistrust of the central government and the Tikrit operation is evident from the fact that the fiercely anti-American cleric and Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr refused to allow his own militia to join the operation. Al-Sadr has always been in favor of unity and solidarity among Sunni and Shia within Iraq. He complained that there has been a pattern of innocent Sunni civilians being murdered or abused by other Shiite militias and security forces as well. He has demanded that the Iraq government investigate these abuses. Given that al-Sadr himself has close ties with Iran, his criticism shows the degree of abuse that he must believe is happening.
Some Sunnis thought that revenge reactions against them were to be expected. Abu Barazan, a Sunni from Tikrit, who also fled to Irbil to avoid the offensive, said: “Blood for blood, Saddam crushed the Shiites in 1991, so when the Americans crushed Saddam it was the Shiites’ turn to take Baghdad. And of course they did it with Iran’s help then as they do with Iran’s help today. Any Sunni support for the Islamic State was revenge for the behavior of the Shiites towards the Sunnis after the Americans came, and now we see the Shiite taking their revenge. When the Americans came, not all of us, even in Tikrit, were unhappy Saddam was removed, but we didn’t know they’d hand us over to Iran when they did come.”
While not a single US plane has flown any combat mission in the offensive on Tikrit the Iraqi air force has flown over 1,300 helicopter gunship missions within the last two weeks. Iraq recently acquired Russian Mi-35 helicopters which have made a big difference in the offensive. However, US officials claim that it has been US and coalition airstrikes against the IS that has led to the success of the offensive against Tikrit. They also claim that the US strikes provide cover for the operation against Tikrit. The US strikes against any large movement of IS forces around the country and this has made it difficult for the group to send significant reinforcements to defend Tikrit. While the IS forces have had plenty of time to build up defenses around Tikrit, they are vastly outnumbered by the attacking forces.
The Pentagon is said to have warned Iraqi authorities constantly about Shiite abuses against Sunnis in areas that have been retaken from the Islamic State. While Iraq claims to make investigations there appear few if any results. Territory that is retaken will be difficult for the central government to control if the Shia majority continues to take revenge on the Sunnis. There are few Shia who see the Sunni support as necessary for a unified Iraq as does Al-Sadr. On this issue ironically he agrees with the Americans. US military and intelligence officials are reported to be pessimistic about prospects for a political reconciliation between Sunni and Shia in Iraq. The appended video from an Iranian TV outlet gives a much more optimistic picture on relations between Sunni and Shia.
