let s put away all illusions here. the pentagon is going to say we re working with isf, iraqi security forces and multisectarian multiethnic endeavor. this is nonsense. the main actor on the ground militarily and politically is the popular mobilization units. this is an iranian backed group. they leave in their path a trail of death and destruction. that does not sound like a very cuddly or friendly actor much less a viable partner for the united states. is iraq essentially gone as we know it? i have very very pessimistic views of the future of this country and the future of this strategy and this war. the american people are not being told the truth about what s at stake and what is entailed and degrading and ultimately destroying isis. what i see is this creeping march toward a u.s. intervention
repeal small attacks of the city east of ramadi and fallujah. this at the same time as they re amassing troops east of ramadi. this is a cliengs of the security forces and members of the possibly mobilization units. these are volunteers but primarily made up of iranian-backed shia militias and some sunni fighters. we don t know when this counteroffense to try to happen. but it is going to be a very tough battle. not like we ve seen in the past for example, with tikrit where iraqi sources managed to take that city within one month. anbar is a very complex place. the sectarian dynamics there. a lot of concern about the shia militias going into the sunni heartland. and if we look at the past and how anbar was gained back from al qaeda, it was with the presence of u.s. troops on the
and, for all of the fear that we have heard of iran increasing its influence it has helped push back isis. on behalf of the iraqi forces. what should we make of shia backed militias to retake ramadi. if we look at what has been going on, iranian backed shia militias have been serious fighting force on the ground. they heavily depended on them known as popular mobilization units. pmus. but the concern here is that they are not under one command. although iraqi officials would say the pmu s come under the command of the office of the prime minister. not necessarily on the, on the ground, is that the case. now this is not one group. these are different groups.
backed shia militias. yes they re mobilizing the shia militias and sunni tribal fighters that make of the popular mobilization units that will be involved in the fight. and iraqi officials continue to say that this is coming at the request of sunni officials in anbar province. they say that they want the help from these iranian backed shia militias. it is going to be very risky. not one organized fighting force. they do not come under one command per se. we have seen them in the past. being accused as some of the groups, i have to say, shia militias accused of carrying out crimes against sunni populations in areas that they quote, unquote, liberated. it is going to be risky. a test to see how this actually plays out. as you sd aid, very complicated and tough taking them into the sunni heartland. yes, of course, added to that. problems, criticisms, u.s.
of fallujah. we see this as they re amassing forces to try and gain control of ramadi. they re made up iraqi security forces some tribes but they re primarily made up by the pmus, the popular mobilization units, predominantly made up of shia militias. now, this is going to be a very tough battle. it s nothing like the iraqis have seen so far. for example, we saw in tikrit that success within one month, with the support of u.s. coalition air strikes. these pmus and the iraqi forces managed to liberate that city. but the dynamics the sectarian dynamics especially in anbar are very different. i s a whole different landscape in anbar province. if we look at the past in 2006 and 2007 the united states was able to regain control of anbar province from isis predecessor