You knew it would come to this. The Iraqi Shiite forces are so worthless that the slightly less inept ISIS forces have routed them. Irans puppets are being stomped so they decide to send in the A Team. http://news.yahoo.com/irans-elite-guards-fighting-iraq-push-back-islamic-220910330.html quote: the Shi'ite-led government could hardly defend itself. The Islamic State considers Shi'ites to be heretics deserving of death, and made a point of filming its fighters gunning down Shi'ite prisoners as it advanced. Iranian and Iraqi Shi'ites see it as an existential threat. Iran, with deep ties both to the Iraqi government and to a number of Iraqi Shiite militias, stepped in to stop it. prominent politicians and clerics in Iran have been rattled by the rapid gains of the Islamic State When the Islamic State reached Shi'ite areas in Iraq, the Revolutionary Guards had forces there who fought them The presence of the Iranian Guards in Iraq also comes after months of committed military support from the Quds Force in Syria. Taxcutter says: The proxies are wearing out. It is time for Iran to get involved to save their puppet. It is not yet clear whether the Iranian forces can handle ISIS. Remember these are the same clowns that could only fight Saddam Hussein to a stalemate. We shall see.
Your lack of military knowledge is showing. Comparing Irans military of 2014 to how they were over 30 years ago is laughable. If you put your faux news bias aside and did some independent research, you will find they have improved drastically.
Today Iran is capable of producing a full range of weaponry from fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, boats and submarines as well as radar systems and sophisticated air defense systems. However, the systems that the US provides its gulf allies are far more advanced than Iran’s military technology. Iran has focused on developing smart munitions, light attack craft, mines, and ballistic missiles to counteract other military powers. Iran has devoted a lot of effort to developing its own ballistic missiles. In recent years it has developed such weapons as the Fajr-3 and Kowsar medium range ballistic missiles, the Fateh-110 short-range surface-to-surface missile, and the Shahab-3 missile, which became the backbone of Iran’s strategic missile inventory. For its submarine force, Iran has developed the Hoot supercavitation torpedo, allegedly reverse engineered from the Russian VA-111 Shkval. Iran locally manufactures the Shahin and Mersad air defense missile system, which are improved versions of the 1960s US MIM-23 Hawk system. Iran is also known to produce and operate unmanned drones which are used for surveillance. Let's not forget taxcutter the u.s. and Europe actually armed saddam during the 1980's war with some decent military equipment including fighter jets.
Iran may be able to (badly) copy other people's obsolete weapon systems, but that doesn't mean they can competently use them. The vast majority of Saddam's weapons came from the Soviets. Can Iran beat ISIS? That is the question. To has to be demonstrated on the battle field.
In a conventional war of course, that goes without question. ISIS is just a terrorist guerilla force that mostly ride around in gun mounted pick up trucks killing innocent civilians. Iran has a large conventional army with fighter jets, tanks, special forces and a navy.
if Iran had a weak military they would have been attacked and invaded years Ago by the united states for their rich oil reserves to say the least.
BY the way taxcutter Iraqs army was destroyed a long time ago when the U.S. invaded in 2003. paving the way for groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS to thrive. Ironic that during saddams time there was no such thing as al Qaeda or Isis in Iraq. Something to ponder.
John stromer says: Iran will probably hold down the fort until they can retrain and rearm Iraqi Shiite militias. if Isis tried this on Iranian soil the patriotic Iranian people would massacre Isis, since this Is Iraq and not Iran I'm sure they would prefer to train and arm Iraqis for this issue. Common sense really.
It takes real fighting experience to acquire the type of skills that makes a military hardened and proven in combat. Training exercises don't provide what is needed. - - - Updated - - - Advance weaponry alone isn't enough. When was the last time Iran's military saw actual combat? - - - Updated - - - Iran has allies in China and Russia.
Nothing to ponder. After the US left in 2011, Maliki removed all of his top Sunni commanders and replaced them with incompetent Shiite commanders the troops didn't trust to lead them, for good reason. We left Iraq with plenty of our modern weapons to include tanks and aircraft. After we left in 2011 Maliki stopped many of the training programs the US started.
Iran created and trained Hezbollah considered by Israel to be the strongest militia in the world. Iran is also the reason Assad is still standing, iranians have fought in Syria. Even during the post saddam years insurgents were trained by Iran to resist their occupation. So you are dealing with a subject in which you have absolutely no knowledge or you are just straight up dishonest. Russia has even refused to sell Iran air defense systems because the u.s. told them not too. The Iranians don't fully trust the Russians let alone expect them to help militarily. Again you are showing lack of knowledge about the subject at hand. Not long ago Iran even sued Russia over this matter. And china only cares about its money, never heard china openly threaten to militarily defend Iran. Again you are dishonest.
Like I said after the 2003 invasion the Iraq army was destroyed. What was cobbled up later and called an Iraq army was crap with crap training and less loyalty.
Iraq and Libya were torn apart because they had weak militaries.Don't forget NATO/U.S. bombing in lybia including "advisors". Syria has more balls that's why they are holding up to this point against rebels who are supplied with American equipment and training.
Indeed. The Guards are good at gunning down unarmed demonstrators in the streets of Tehran but ISIS/ISIL consists of a bunch of battle-hardened fanatics who consider death a job promotion. I'm not convinced the Sepah can easily handle them, either. They can probably hold the territory they possess, but reclaiming the areas in the north that ISIS/ISIL has overrun is an entirely different matter.
Taxcutter says: ISIS is hardly the US Army/Marine Corps. Assad was whipping them so they went into Iraq and found easier pickings. The Shi'ite Iraqis are renowned for being the worst troops on the planet, so ISIS had some success. Iran's forces have not been at war since 1989. All their combat experience has long since retired. Will they be any better than Maliki's losers? Finding out is why you play the game.
Oh stop it. There is one thing and one thing only that gives the U.S. Military and the people who run it cause for restraint: The American Public. We are not nearly as cold and bloodthirsty as parts of the world believe. We don't necessarily want to see our youth die in a foreign land without good cause. Our elected leaders know this and understand that dead Americans don't play well on the 6 o'clock news over dinner and they all want to get re-elected. If the U.S.A. was culturally more like Ancient Rome, our military could turn the entire Middle East into a giant Wal-Mart Parking lot. They have capabilities and technology at their disposal that there is no real defense against. Iran...lol.
Good. It only means Iran proxies failed to do the job. Iran cannot hold those long logistics lines. Most of Iran 'weapons' are for killing protesters and shows. It is going to be more messy than it is now. Hizbulla is alreay at the defence for ASIS is attacking Lebanon
The Iranians are Shi'a and the Baghdad government under Maliki in Iraq is Shi'a. The ISIS, or IS, or ISA, or whatever the hell they're calling themselves this month, are Sunni. The Iranians will prove to be a very valuable ally and formidable fighting force in Iraq, especially as they will be equipped with jet fighter/bombers. So, make some popcorn and open a beer... the spectacle of one Islamo-Nazi faction fighting another to the death is about to begin. Much like a spectator in an ancient gladiator arena, I don't care much who wins so long as huge numbers of all of them die! There will be just that many fewer of these dangerous morons for us to have to deal with later....
Taxcutter says: I don't see that as much of an advantage. Iran lacks the spare parts needed for a heavy combat tempo and their pilots are low-hour wonders. You wonder how they manage to not kill themselves. Taxcutter says: Indeed. ISIS duking it out with Iran, especially in a situation where there are few civilians to hide behind, is a favorable situation.
