Special to WorldTribune.com

BAGHDAD — Iraq has acknowledged that its Army collapsed amid the Al Qaida offensive.

Officials said the Iraqi military, with one million members, failed to
stop Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and Levant advance toward Baghdad.
They said tens of thousands of Iraqi troops fled ISIL fighters around such
cities as Mosul and Tikrit.

“I know the reasons why the Army collapsed,” Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
Al Maliki said. “But now is not the time to point the blame to whoever
ordered the Army to fall back.”

In an address on June 12, Al Maliki did not identify the military commanders who ordered the withdrawal from such provinces as Nineveh and Salah Eddin. Officials said two U.S.-trained Iraq Army divisions, or 30,000 troops, fled the ISIL offensive since June 10. They said commanders ordered their troops to leave weapons and equipment behind.

“Even if it’s a ploy, the generals who are responsible must be held
accountable,” Al Maliki said. “A conspiracy has led ISIL to occupy Mosul.
Whoever is responsible will not get away with that they did.”

Officials said ISIL, which vowed to invade Baghdad, has captured billions of dollars worth of combat platforms and weapons, much of it from the United States, from Iraq Army bases in northern provinces. They said the Al Qaida militia, with an estimated 2,000 fighters, seized up to $480 million from banks in Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq. Later, ISIL held a parade that included helicopters and Humvee combat vehicles.

“Army forces are no longer present, as that which took place in Mosul
and Salah Eddin,” Kirkuk Gov. Najm Eddin Karim said.

The government has sent the Air Force to stop ISIL from reaching
Baghdad. On June 12, Iraqi fixed-and rotary-wing aircraft fired missiles
toward targets in Mosul and Tikrit.

At the same time, Al Maliki has overseen the recruitment of thousands of
Shi’ite militia fighters financed by Iran. Officials said the uniformed
militia members, including Asa’ib Ahl Al Haqq and Hizbullah Brigades, were
being deployed around Baghdad some 90 kilometers from forward ISIL positions
in the Diyala province.

“It is a setback definitely for the Iraqi security forces, which
collapsed in the largest city and abandoned their weapons and equipment,”
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hosyhar Zebari said.

  Invading jihadists capture U.S. equipment worth billions as Iraq Army collapses, Iraqi Army collapses, ISIL, Mosul, Nineveh, Nouri Al Maliki, Salah Eddin