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Iran General Said to Mastermind Iraq Ground War
(AP-Washington Post) After Islamic State militants retreated from the Iraqi town of Jurf al-Sakher last week, photos soon emerged on independent Iraqi news websites of the powerful Iranian general Ghasem Soleimani, whose name has become synonymous with the handful of victories attributed to Iraqi ground forces. Militia commanders said dozens of advisers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Lebanese Hizbullah were on the front lines in Jurf al-Sakher, 50 km. south of Baghdad. While U.S. military advisers have been coordinating coalition airstrikes from within heavily fortified bases, Soleimani and his commanders are on the front lines and would assume a key role in the retaking of major Iraqi cities. Soleimani's Quds Force, the special operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, has been involved for years in training and financing Iraq's Shiite militias.