(EDITOR’S NOTE: As an Iraqi, it brings me joy beyond measure that the Iraqi Popular Mobilization has broken the barrier of fear created by ISIS and liberated the strategic town of Jaref al-Sakher. This victory has exposed the evil intentions and ineptitude of the Zionist-occupied American regime, prevented any potential Takfiri assault on Baghdad and stopped any Takfiri infiltration into Najaf, Karbala, Kufa and Basra. I also am humbled, in a way that words cannot describe, that the young heroes of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization had the privilege and honor of fighting alongside Iranian Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani — the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard —  who not only developed their battle plan but fought with them on the front line. Suleimani is one of the gems of the Ummah, masha’ALLAH wa ALLAH yehmi ya Rab; a man who has given his life, blood, heart and soul not only to his own nation, that of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but the Muslim nation as a whole, and freedom fighters in Lebanon, occupied Palestine and now my precious homeland of Iraq owe much to him. With all of this said however, we cannot in good conscience endorse the view of the piece below which suggests that the battle of Jaref al-Sakher, albeit important in its own right, somehow eclipses the momentousness of the battle for Al-Qusayr in the countryside of Syria’s Homs in May/June 2013. The liberation of Al-Qusayr, led by Hizbullah, changed the game in Syria; the liberation of Al-Qusayr ripped out the heart of the US-Zionist-NATO-GCC-fomented Takfiri rebellion, choked off its most vital supply line and started a chain reaction of Syrian-Arab-Army-Hizbullah-NDF victories — including the liberation of Homs in its entirety, Lattakia and the Qalamoun Mountains — that hasn’t stopped until this very moment. Whether the triumph in Jaref al-Sakher will have a similar domino effect remains to be seen but until then, overblowing it is not just insulting to Hizbullah and the Syrian Arab Army, but the Iraqi Popular Mobilization and the Iraqi army too, as they’re in for a long fight against the Empire-backed ISIS scourge and lowering their defenses along with developing a level of overconfidence would be detrimental to their struggle. The lesson to be learned here is that the Iraqis can be victorious, they can be ferocious, they can be Husseini, and they can be great, just as Commander Suleimani trained them to be. ~ Jonathan Azaziah) Continue reading Iraqis prove that ISIS is a paper tiger →