Antichrist Organizes Million Man March In Baghdad (Revelation 13)

Pro-government million march organized in Baghdad
 
By David Fisher on August 28, 2015

– Both in parliament and in the streets, political pressure is rising in Iraq

By Abdullah Saad

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Last week, the influential Shia religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr called on his supporters to take part in mass anti-corruption protests in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Friday.
For the past three weeks, Baghdad and other cities in central and southern Iraq have witnessed demonstrations demanding government reforms, the prosecution of those stealing public money and the provision of basic services to the public.

Amidst this popular movement, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi proposed a package of reforms that were quickly approved by parliament earlier this month.

The Liberal Bloc, a parliamentary group inside the Iraqi parliament, were called on by Sadr to organize a million-man march in Baghdad last Monday – the first call of its kind at a popular level.
The demonstration aims to ease the pressure being put on Abadi by political forces opposed to his reforms.

Abdul Azeez al-Dhalimi, a member of the bloc, told Anadolu Agency: “Al-Sadr previously expressed his support for the demonstrations across many governorates demanding services to the public.”
“The call to organize a million-man march in Baghdad is in compliance with the position of the religious authority in Najaf (referring to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s highest Shia authority), which supports the popular movement,” he said. “It supports al-Abadi and his government in removing the pressure that he is facing from certain political parties that are working to obstruct the reforms.”

Despite the federal Iraqi government announcing its support for the demonstrations, it has not hidden its fear of the protests spiraling out of control and turning into an armed conflict or attacks on public property, such as in Karbala and Babel.

The Supreme Islamic Council, led by Ammar al-Hakeem, is considered one of the most prominent parties participating in the government.

Through his spokesman Hameed Mali, al-Hakeem said there were indicators of external agendas aiming to derail the popular movement, which had started by demanding rights and reforms, but ended by targeting political and religious figures with hostile banners.

Ali al-Alaq is an MP with the State of Law Coalition, which is close to al-Abadi and his government.
He told Anadolu Agency that the “million-man march on Friday will be like all the other demonstrations that other governorates have witnessed, which the government dealt with positively and respected the demonstrators and provided them with protection.”

“Freedom of demonstration is a guaranteed right, and no one can stand in the face of the demonstrations – so long as they maintain their peaceful and civilized nature, express legal demands within the confines of the law and constitution, and preserve security and the public interest,” al-Alaq said.

Al-Abadi is now facing pressure from the other end of the political spectrum, with some political parties criticizing him for not committing to a deadline for the implementation of the reforms.

The most prominent criticism came from the State of Law Coalition’s Hanan al-Fatlawi last Sunday, when she demanded to know why al-Abadi had not yet issued an order to cancel the positions of Iraq’s three vice-presidents as his reforms had pledged.

Both in parliament and in the streets, political pressure is rising in Iraq.

Antichrist’s Men Fight For Ramadi (Rev 13)

 

Reinforcements Arrive In Ramadi, As Iraqi Official Warns City Could Fall To IS

April 17, 2015

Around 3,000 fighters from the Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) have reportedly arrived in the capital of Iraq’s Anbar Province, Ramadi, after the deputy head of the Anbar Provincial Council warned that the city could fall to Islamic State (IS) gunmen within hours.

IS gunmen launched a major assault on April 15 on areas to the northeast of Ramadi, overrunning several towns and villages. According to RFE/RL’s correspondent in Iraq, at least 13 security forces personnel were killed during the attack, as Iraqi troops withdrew. 

RFE/RL’s correspondent in Iraq reported on April 16 that most of Ramadi — around 80 percent — was under IS control, apart from four districts in the center of the city, which include the city’s main government buildings — the provincial governor’s office, the provincial council building, the police department, the intelligence department, and the department of education.

All civilian officials have left the area, but the chief of police and the commander of Anbar operations remained there with their officers, the correspondent said.

IS militants have attacked the government complex twice with car bombs. The first attack came at around midnight on April 15 and the second bombing came in the early morning on April 16. Four Iraqi police officers were killed in the blasts, RFE/RL’s correspondent said.

Four groups of emergency support from Baghdad arrived in Ramadi on April 16 to support Iraqi forces, while Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his Saraya al-Salam militia to join the fighting in Ramadi, the correspondent reported.

Earlier on April 16, Arab news outlets reported that Iraqi forces had arrived in the Al-Sajaria area east of Ramadi to join tribal forces who are battling IS militants in the provincial capital. 

On April 15, CNN quoted Falih Essawi, the deputy head of Anbar’s Provincial Council, as saying that security in Ramadi was “collapsing rapidly” and that urgent support from the Iraqi military and security forces was needed to save the city. “This is what we warned Baghdad was going to happen,” Essawi told CNN. 

Civilians Flee Ramadi As IS Advances

Reports indicate that IS has overrun parts or all of three villages to the north of Ramadi: Albu Ghanim, Sjariyah, and Soufiya. IS already controls areas to the south of Ramadi.

The IS onslaught in Ramadi has driven local residents out of their homes, with thousands of families leaving the city and trying to make their way to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and to Habbaniya, according to RFE/RL’s correspondent.

Anbar Provincial Council deputy Essawi told CNN that at least 150,000 people had already fled since the morning of April 15. One local resident from Albu Ghanim who spoke to CNN as he and his family walked east to Baghdad said that four IS militants had entered his home and set up a sniper position on the roof.

There were unconfirmed reports on April 15 that IS had massacred a number of local residents, mostly in the Albu Ghanim area, where local tribal fighters had battled IS militants, RFE/RL’s correspondent reported. Arabic news reports quoted unnamed local and security sources as saying that IS militants had threatened to kill civilians particularly in Albu Ghanim and Albu Faraj.

According to Arabic news reports, security and local sources in Anbar said that IS gunmen had blown up the home of the Iraqi electricity minister, Qassim Fahdawi, in northeast Ramadi, in a symbolic message to the Iraqi government.

IS militants have also planted booby traps and explosives in the homes of civilians who fled the fighting, the reports said.

Humanitarian Aid, Not Weapons

The IS advance into Ramadi came a day after U.S. President Barack Obama pledged $205 million in humanitarian aid to Iraq on April 14, but did not mention providing the additional military aid sought by Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi. 

During a meeting at the White House, Obama said Iraqi forces were better equipped and trained since Abadi’s election last year, and that the United States was improving military coordination with Iraq to ensure the success of Iraqi troops against IS.

– Joanna Paraszczuk

Antichrist Stops ISIS Advances (Rev 13)

ISIS Battle: Islamic State No Longer ‘On The March’ In Iraq and Syria, CIA Director Says

By   Lora Moftahon March 22 2015 12:33 PM EDT

The Islamic State group is no longer “on the march,” said CIA Director John Brennan, who argued Sunday the militant organization’s momentum in Iraq and Syria had been blunted by U.S. and Iraqi efforts at fighting the jihadist advance.

“Clearly ISIS’s momentum inside of Iraq and Syria has been blunted, and it has been stopped. So they are not on the march as they were several months ago,” Brennan said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “Our working with the Iraqis, and now the Iraqis trying to push back against it, it is having some great progress.”

The U.S. is currently leading a coalition of more than 60 countries dedicated to stamping out the group, with multinational forces carrying out nearly 2,900 airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon has said. Since the start of the campaign Aug. 8, the U.S.  military alone has flown 2,320 airstrikes against the militants, at a cost of $1.83 million.

While Washington has dedicated significant resources to the fight against ISIS, which seized broad swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria last summer, a top former U.S. official has warned the biggest threat to the region is not the militant group but, rather, the anti-ISIS militias funded by Iran. “Longer term, Iranian-backed [Shiite] militia could emerge as the pre-eminent power in the country, one that is outside the control of the [Iraqi] government and instead answerable to Tehran,” said former CIA Director David Petraeus in an interview with the Washington Post last week.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard is currently on the ground in Iraq and a major force in the ongoing campaign by Iraqi forces and militias against the ISIS stronghold of Tikrit. The Islamic Republic deployed advanced rockets and missiles to the country last week to bolster its efforts in Tikrit, U.S. intelligence agencies said. While Iran and the U.S. are both engaged in the battle against ISIS in Iraq, they have avoided coordinating efforts, with Brennan saying he “wouldn’t consider Iran an ally” in the fight.