JOIN USTikrit: A strategic objective for Iraq, IS
The battle for Tikrit is a major test for the Iraqi army, the Shia militias and the Sunni tribesmen who dared to stand against the Islamic State (IS) cult which has held the city since June 2013.
The army has tried and failed to retake the city on several occasions and cannot afford another defeat. Aware of this, 25,000-30,000 troops and militiamen have been committed to this campaign. Their advance has been slowed by land mines, suicide bombers, and roadside bombs.
The army must show its mettle and perform effectively on the battlefield. When IS fighters attacked Mosul last June, the city’s defenders cast off their uniforms and fled. Dissolved and rebuilt by the US following its occupation of the country, the Iraqi army has been devastated by Shia sectarianism and rampant corruption.
By contrast, under the secular Baathist regime, overthrown by the US, the majority of soldiers were Shias while officers were professionals from all sects. Since the military was a national institution, it performed credibly against the much larger Shia, Iranian-armed forces during the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war.
Shia militiamen must be closely disciplined so they do not kill and cleanse local Sunnis. The Iranian-formed Badr Organisation, headed by Hadi al-Amiri, Iraq’s current transport minister,and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq are two large militias that require a tight grip as they have been accused of atrocities by Sunnis.
The Shia militias must behave humanely toward the population and not breach the rules of war when dealing with captured IS fighters and their allies. Some of the latter are Sunni tribesmen alienated by the Shia-fundamentalist dominated government and others are former officers and soldiers dismissed from the Iraqi army by US occupation authorities.
In January, Shia militiamen slaughtered 72 unarmed Sunnis while the Iraqi security forces stood by at the Diyala Province village of Barwanah, which was hosting refugees from IS held villages.
After Tikrit fell to IS last summer, 770 captives, including Iraqi soldiers, were executed, prompting concerns over revenge killings. The 2,000 Sunni tribesmen involved in the offensive must not be permitted to wreak revenge against members of rival tribes who have sided with IS.
The campaign will also test General Qassim Suleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds force – the elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards – who has helped plan the campaign. He is in charge of 120 front-line military advisers directing troops and Shia militiamen.
Tikrit, 130 kilometres north of Baghdad, straddles the highway connecting Baghdad to Mosul. It will provide the main supply route for government forces seeking to retake Mosul in a campaign provisionally scheduled for April or May. Therefore, Tikrit is a key strategic objective for both the government and IS. The cult is determined to keep Tikrit with the aim of using the city as a springboard for an offensive against Baghdad.
Spiritual objectiveTikrit is a moral or “spiritual” objective. Capital of Salahuddin Province, the city was the home base but not birth place of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein whose relatives – dubbed the Tikritis – secured key positions in his regime. Tikrit is iconic because it was the birth place of hero warrior Salaheddin (Saladin), the Kurdish general who defeated Western Christian Crusaders and reconquered Jerusalem in 1187.
The army and its allies must refrain from alienating Tikritis by offending their religious sensitivities. During their occupation of Tikrit, IS fighters incurred the wrath of residents by blowing up the 7th century Assyrian Green Church and the Forty Shrine mosque, the oldest shrine in Iraq, housing remains of companions of the Prophet Muhammad. IS has also destroyed Christian and Muslim places of worship in Mosul, angering its populace. The Shia government, the army and the allies can only win the war against IS by winning over the residents of cities and towns in provinces with Sunni majorities alienated from Baghdad by discrimination, detention and violence perpetrated by the previous Shia government led by Nuri al-Maliki.
IS managed to seize control of Ramadi and Falluja last January and Tikrit and Mosul in June because the cult was able to recruit or count on the support of local Sunnis who feared – and still fear – forces loyal to the government more than they fear IS. Current Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has called upon government forces not to harm the people of Tikrit and, so far, there have been no airstrikes or heavy artillery bombardments of the city centre. But Abadi is weak and cannot impose his will on the military or militias. The US, has kept its distance, and has not been asked to provide airpower as the government is seeking to minimise collateral damage. Iran is playing a major role in the Tikrit offensive, seen as preparation for the far more difficult task of liberating Mosul, because following its occupation of Iraq, the US installed a Shia fundamentalist regime which had close ties to Tehran. Therefore, Iraq is a key Iranian geopolitical asset which Iran is determined to preserve from the brutal grasp of radical Sunni IS.