The magicians apprentice is outdoing Saddam
The capture of one of Saddam Hussein’s cousins during the recent ISIS attack on Kirkuk, and the role his intelligence chief in Rutbah played in the recent ISIS-attack there, reminds us again of the marriage between Saddam’s followers and ISIS.
Even though right after the occupation of Mosul, ISIS started killing officers of Saddam’s Baath-party who were in it for another Baath-regime instead of the Salafi one the group was planning, many of them went on playing a role inside the state that ISIS started to build.
Its intelligence was carefully set up by a former Baathi, who was not even religious. Its army depended heavily on officers of Saddam’s dissolved army, and even more of the elite battalions of Fedayeen Saddam and his own Revolutionary guard.
We’ve seen the influence in the battles before the group lost so many fighters and military equipment that it had to resort to other measures.
Looking at what it comes up with, ISIS is like the infamous magicians apprentice, striving to outdo his teacher.
Burning oil wells is nothing new; it’s been done in warfare over the ages, mostly to keep soldiers at bay.
When he had to leave Kuwait in 1991 after his failed campaign at its occupation, his troops set fire to the oil wells on the way out.
That was partly a military strategy to protect his retreating troops from air raids (which did not work), but also a revenge for the fact he had to leave the wells he felt were his; and to make sure the Kuwaitis did not have them.
Then look at the children of his heritage, and see what they have learned.
ISIS set oil wells on fire after losing the city and air base of Qayyara, and torched the nearby sulfur fields for a bigger effect. And it dug trenches around Mosul, filled them with oil and put that also on fire.
But the coalition says the dark clouds that are produced hardly have an effect on the military operations from the air, as those are based on GPS-coordinates that are communicated from the ground.
ISIS fighters set fire to most of the houses in the Christian town of Qaraqosh – not for the effect in the war, but to spite the inhabitants who had partied in the safety of the Kurdish capital Erbil when they heard the liberation of their town was near.
And look at the human shields Saddam used: the foreigners that he placed at important buildings and bridges to make sure they would not be bombed, while he himself hid between the civilians of Baghdad, just like ISIS-leaders are now in Mosul.
But the magician’s apprentice is eager to show that he has learned his teacher’s lessons well. Compared to ISIS, Saddam was an amateur.
ISIS uses thousands of civilians as human shields; when the fighters need to move they force people to walk with them, in order to prevent air strikes.
It was first noticed in Syria, when ISIS fighters hid between refugees fleeing from Manbij and other places the group lost, and the coalition had to let them go because it did not want to cause a bloodbath with many civilian casualties.
But now thousands have been brought to Hamam al-Alil to act as a shield and prevent the Iraqi army from taking the town.
Even digging tunnels ISIS learned from Saddam, but he had never been able to use them so extensively and as a military tool – both to escape air raids and as a way to surprise the enemy.
Saddam wanted to survive the wars, and he knew that he would still need the population for rebuilding the country and staying in power.
For ISIS, that no longer plays a role. If civilians do not join the group and its radical beliefs, they are considered worthless unbelievers.
So it’s not important that they become victims of the air pollution and the poisonous fumes of the sulfur, nor does it matter that they hate the group for abusing them and killing their beloved ones in order to create fear and keep them in check.
ISIS knows it cannot keep Mosul, and has already prepared its fighters for another retreat into the desert, and a consequent third revival (after 2007 and 2013).
The magician’s apprentice has nothing to lose. And that makes him very dangerous.
For his pot is cooking over, but he does not care at all.
Even though right after the occupation of Mosul, ISIS started killing officers of Saddam’s Baath-party who were in it for another Baath-regime instead of the Salafi one the group was planning, many of them went on playing a role inside the state that ISIS started to build.
Its intelligence was carefully set up by a former Baathi, who was not even religious. Its army depended heavily on officers of Saddam’s dissolved army, and even more of the elite battalions of Fedayeen Saddam and his own Revolutionary guard.
We’ve seen the influence in the battles before the group lost so many fighters and military equipment that it had to resort to other measures.
Looking at what it comes up with, ISIS is like the infamous magicians apprentice, striving to outdo his teacher.
Burning oil wells is nothing new; it’s been done in warfare over the ages, mostly to keep soldiers at bay.
But Saddam dug trenches around Baghdad and filled them with oil, in the months of waiting for the American invasion in 2003 to finally start. He set them on fire to prevent tanks from rolling into the city, but also to create a smokescreen against coalition air strikes.
When he had to leave Kuwait in 1991 after his failed campaign at its occupation, his troops set fire to the oil wells on the way out.
That was partly a military strategy to protect his retreating troops from air raids (which did not work), but also a revenge for the fact he had to leave the wells he felt were his; and to make sure the Kuwaitis did not have them.
Then look at the children of his heritage, and see what they have learned.
ISIS set oil wells on fire after losing the city and air base of Qayyara, and torched the nearby sulfur fields for a bigger effect. And it dug trenches around Mosul, filled them with oil and put that also on fire.
But the coalition says the dark clouds that are produced hardly have an effect on the military operations from the air, as those are based on GPS-coordinates that are communicated from the ground.
ISIS fighters set fire to most of the houses in the Christian town of Qaraqosh – not for the effect in the war, but to spite the inhabitants who had partied in the safety of the Kurdish capital Erbil when they heard the liberation of their town was near.
And look at the human shields Saddam used: the foreigners that he placed at important buildings and bridges to make sure they would not be bombed, while he himself hid between the civilians of Baghdad, just like ISIS-leaders are now in Mosul.
But the magician’s apprentice is eager to show that he has learned his teacher’s lessons well. Compared to ISIS, Saddam was an amateur.
ISIS uses thousands of civilians as human shields; when the fighters need to move they force people to walk with them, in order to prevent air strikes.
It was first noticed in Syria, when ISIS fighters hid between refugees fleeing from Manbij and other places the group lost, and the coalition had to let them go because it did not want to cause a bloodbath with many civilian casualties.
But now thousands have been brought to Hamam al-Alil to act as a shield and prevent the Iraqi army from taking the town.
Even digging tunnels ISIS learned from Saddam, but he had never been able to use them so extensively and as a military tool – both to escape air raids and as a way to surprise the enemy.
Saddam wanted to survive the wars, and he knew that he would still need the population for rebuilding the country and staying in power.
For ISIS, that no longer plays a role. If civilians do not join the group and its radical beliefs, they are considered worthless unbelievers.
So it’s not important that they become victims of the air pollution and the poisonous fumes of the sulfur, nor does it matter that they hate the group for abusing them and killing their beloved ones in order to create fear and keep them in check.
ISIS knows it cannot keep Mosul, and has already prepared its fighters for another retreat into the desert, and a consequent third revival (after 2007 and 2013).
The magician’s apprentice has nothing to lose. And that makes him very dangerous.
For his pot is cooking over, but he does not care at all.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.