"What Would The Battle For Baghdad Actually Look Like" Topic

"There's been a lot of hand-wringing and armchair quarterbacking lately over whether Baghdad is in imminent danger from the forces of the so-called Islamic State. The short answer? The city appears mostly safe for now. But that doesn't mean circumstances won't change. And if they do, the tactical situation could evolve with lightning speed.

As it stands, Baghdad is far from a safe place. On Thursday IS fighters carried out at least four car-bombings and a mortar attack across the city that claimed at least 36 lives.

The car-bombings of Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad obviously have value to IS in instilling fear and fueling the impression that the central government can't keep civilians safe. But they also serve to enrage Shiite soldiers and the Shiite militias along with them, something that has frequently led to atrocities targeting Sunni Arabs during Iraq's 11-year-old war. And that can lead to more sympathy and recruits for the IS army of Sunni jihadists…"

Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Stalingrad fought by amatuers on both sides … …

…. And where the two sides REALLY hate each other.

Simple

There will be thousands of piles of discarded Iraqi Army Uniforms and Equipment, and next to each a pile of severed heads. The women will be spared this having been sold into slavery.

Probably pretty messy when it gets to the Sadr city district of Baghdad

If IS is ill-advised enough to make a move on Baghdad, it will be drawn into a 'set piece' battle and be destroyed.

The tide in Kobane has already turned with Kurdish coordinated US airstrikes having a much greater effect. That battle was thought to be 'lost' last week but all accounts now point to a victory by the Kurds and the 'coalition.'

IS is turning out to be more bark than bite after all.

In reality Daesh probably realize they can't capture Baghdad. But with suicide bombers, artillery fire, etc., they could make things somewhat tense there … 28mm … I hope they are more bark than bite … but I'm going to withhold any jugdement at this point.