The Longer It Takes To Take Tikrit, The More Embarrassing It Becomes

It has taken two weeks for more than 20,000 Shi’a, mainly members of assorted Shi’a militias, but  also Iran advisers, and regular Iraqi army units, and about 1,000 members of local Sunni tribes who have their own scores to settle  with the Islamic State, to take control of only part of Tikrit. And facing them are said to be, at most, about 1,000 Islamic State Uber-Sunni fanatics. And now it has been reported — are those reports accurate? — that there are only 60 to 70 Islamic State fighters left, holding off, from Saddam’s fortified palaces, those 20,000 Shi’a. It’s not hard to imagine that the Battle of Tikrit may enter Islamic State lore as a great display of heroism, a kind of Sunni Alamo, and help recruitment efforts. And of course, every day increases Sunni, and not just Islamic State Sunni, fury with the Shi’a Arabs, and with the Iranians. That’s good.