Sunday, August 24, 2014

Is Iran sending tanks into fight in Iraq? -War is Boring

Purported Iranian tanks entering Iraq. -War is Boring

According to Kurdish social media activists, Iran has sent elements of the 81st armored division, along with their contingent of old American-made tanks, over the border with Iraq. -War is Boring. ISIS had struck at an Iranian border post in the area before and it would mark a huge change in policy for all countries involved. The tanks are generally old and out of date, but Kurdish Peshmerga forces have a distinct lack of heavy weapons. The tanks could be used to support the Kurdish infantry and counter ISIS's reliance on captured vehicles and lighting raids via technical (improvised fighting vehicles made from pickup trucks). 

My Comment:
This report seems dubious to me. I usually trust War is Boring but I have been unable to find any other source reporting this. I have also been unable to find the tweets the report is mentioning, though to be fair my expertise in twitter is greatly lacking. It's worth discussing though because it certainly is possible. I would just like a little more proof. At this point it's probably more wishful thinking on the part of the blogger and/or the social media activists. 

I do know that Iran is probably operating in some kind of military capacity in Iraq. Much like in Syria, Iran is very concerned with ISIS and is willing to fight them. ISIS, after all, hates everyone that isn't their specific brand of Sunni Muslim and if Iran (and the world for that matter) doesn't deal with them in Iraq they might have to deal with them at home. I'm sure the Kurdish Peshmerga would welcome Iranian tanks with open arms, despite their bad blood with Iran. They desperately need heavy weapons to fight ISIS. U.S. airstrikes aren't enough. If Iran wants to help they will probably be allowed to do so. ISIS is as much their concern as it is ours. They are a global problem... 

No comments:

Post a Comment