Ramadi, Reclaimed by Iraq, Is in Ruins After ISIS Fight - The New York Times
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/world/middleeast/isis-ramadi-iraq-retaking.html?_r=1
RAMADI, Iraq — As his armored vehicle bounced along a dirt track carved through the ruins of this recently reconquered city on Wednesday, Gen. Ali Jameel, an Iraqi counterterrorism officer, narrated the passing sites.
Here were the carcasses of four tanks, charred by the jihadists of the Islamic State. Here, a police officer’s home that the jihadists had blown up. Here, a villa reduced to rubble by an airstrike. And another. And another.
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Downsizing the Popular Mobilization Units | Talisman Gate, Again
▻http://talisman-gate.com/2015/12/30/downsizing-the-popular-mobilization-units
The on-going battle of Ramadi has shifted the conversation in Iraq. Despite the specifics of the battle, the perception by Iraqi public opinion of the battle has is that the Iraqi Army is back in the swing of things. This opens up an opportunity for the governments of PM Abadi and the United States to apply leverage against the Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) in such a way as to mold them into a smaller, pro-government force.
On paper, the PMUs are supposed to receive about 1 billion USD in the 2016 budget. That is unlikely to pan out. The shortfall is not going to be compensated with Iranian money, given that Iran has assigned the bulk of its available resources to the Syrian front per its agreement with Russia.