Syrian Kurds see deeper coordination with U.S.-led alliance

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(Reuters) - Kurdish forces in Syria say deepening military coordination with the United States and its allies has helped them make rapid advances against Islamic State in an offensive under way in the northeast near the border with Iraq.

The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) have seized two towns and dozens of villages from Islamic State (IS) in an offensive that got under way on Feb. 21 in the strategically important Hasaka province that borders IS-held areas in Iraq.

The advance, which has cut at least one Islamic State supply route from Iraq, has moved much faster than the campaign for Kobani, where it took the YPG aided by Iraqi Kurdish fighters and U.S.-led air strikes some four months to defeat IS.

Explaining the rapid progress, YPG spokesman Redur Xelil credited direct coordination with the U.S.-led alliance, saying they were planning air strikes via an operations room based in Iraqi Kurdistan. "In Hasaka, the results came very quickly," Xelil said in an interview conducted via Skype.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/03/04/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-northeast-idUKKBN0M01D220150304?rpc=401

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1. Iraqi forces seek to encircle IS fighters in Tikrit

Iraqi army soldiers and Shia militiamen are seeking to encircle Islamic State fighters in Tikrit, on the third day of a major operation to retake the city.

State-run al-Iraqiya TV said government forces were "advancing" but progress has been slowed by roadside bombs.

Security sources said they had captured villages and oil fields east of the city, and blocked a key IS supply line to neighbouring Diyala province.

The offensive is being overseen at least in part by an Iranian general.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-31727470

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2. Iran squashes IS, US scrambles for cover

Fierce fighting has erupted around the Iraqi city of Tikrit to the north of Baghdad, best known the world over as the home town of Saddam Hussein and regarded to be the spiritual heartland of the Baathist regime. The Iraqi government forces launched an operation on Monday to recapture the city from the Islamic State [IS] militants. This hugely important development has three dimensions.

First, of course, if the operations succeed, it will constitute a big blow to the IS. Tikrit is not only a big trophy by itself but the Iraqi government will be carrying the war into the IS’ territory. Most likely, the next target will be Mosul, straddling Iraqi Kurdistan, where the IS’ dramatic surge first appeared last June. It is tempting to surmise that the IS faces a near-term prospect of extinction in military terms.

The second dimension is with regard to the crucial role that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards [IRGC] are reportedly playing in the Tikrit operation under the Iraqi flag. The BBC has reported, citing Shi’ite militia sources, that the charismatic and legendary commander of the IRGC Gen Qasem Soleimani has been seen in the frontline and is “personally taking part in leading the operation.” There is delightful irony that Soleimani is leading the liberation of the hometown of his old enemy Saddam. That apart, Shi’ite Iran is leading the fight today against a Sunni Islamist enemy who poses existential threat to the Sunni Arab regimes of the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, which has otherwise no love lost for Iran.

http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2015/03/03/iran-squashes-is-us-scrambles-for-cover/

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3. Iran’s role in Iraq could be positive, says US general Martin Dempsey

Iran’s role in an Iraqi military offensive to recapture Tikrit could be positive as long as it does not fuel sectarian divisions in the country, the US military’s top officer said Tuesday.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told senators that Iran’s military assistance for Shiite militia was nothing new but was carried out in a more open manner this week as Iraqi forces pushed to retake Tikrit from Islamic State jihadists.

“This is the most overt conduct of Iranian support,” Dempsey said, which came “in the form of artillery” and other aid.

“Frankly, it would only be a problem if it resulted in sectarianism,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/irans-role-in-iraq-could-be-positive-says-us-general-martin-dempsey/

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4. SYRIA'S KURDISH REVOLUTION

by Bill Weinberg, Fifth Estate

The north Syrian town of Kobani has been under siege since mid-September by forces of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, popularly known as ISIS. Early in the siege, world leaders spoke as if they expected it to fall. The US took its bombing campaign against ISIS to Syria, but targeted the jihadists' de facto capital, Raqqa—not the ISIS forces closing the ring on Kobani. But the vastly outgunned and outnumbered Kurdish militia defending Kobani began to turn the tide—while issuing desperate appeals for aid from the outside world.

The defenders and aggressors at Kobani are a study in extreme contrasts. ISIS is charged with committing massive war crimes and crimes against humanity in areas under its control—most notoriously, the massacres and enslavement of the Yazidi minority in northern Iraq. Rights for women have been utterly repealed, and a trade in sexual slavery (hideously called "marriage&quot established.

Kobani lies within the autonomous Kurdish zone in northern Syria (now partially overrun by ISIS), which has issued a constitution guaranteeing equal rights for women in all spheres of life—domestic, civic, labor. An experiment in direct democracy has been launched, with power devolving to neighborhood and village assemblies, where seats revolve and women have a 40% quota. These assemblies also send empowered representatives to canton assemblies. A parallel Women’s Assembly, on the same model, has veto power over the canton assemblies.

Neighborhoods and localities also have "peace and justice" committees which resolve conflicts through mediation, and are to eventually replace the formal judicial system (seemingly inherited from the Syrian state).

http://ww4report.com/node/13997