{"id":48617,"date":"2015-10-10T05:21:14","date_gmt":"2015-10-10T12:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=48617"},"modified":"2015-10-10T05:21:14","modified_gmt":"2015-10-10T12:21:14","slug":"iraqis-look-to-hajji-putin-to-save-them-from-isil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2015\/10\/10\/iraqis-look-to-hajji-putin-to-save-them-from-isil\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraqis Look to ‘Hajji Putin’ to Save Them From ISIL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy Sputnik News<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Following the success of the Russian airstrikes in Syria, and Washington\u2019s failure to do so thus far, Iraqis are looking for new ways to wipe out the self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist group. Many are calling for the assistance of “Hajji Putin.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0With Russian missile strikes dealing significant damage to\u00a0IS infrastructure in\u00a0Syria, many Iraqis are beginning to\u00a0question the effectiveness of\u00a0the US-led coalition.<\/div>\n
\n
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\"Russian<\/div>\n
\u00a9 RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY<\/a><\/div>\n
Russia Versus ISIL: Here’s What Happened So Far<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“I have been waiting for\u00a0Russia to\u00a0get involved in\u00a0the fight against\u00a0Daesh,” Mohammed Karim Nihaya, a painter living in\u00a0Baghdad, told Agence France-Presse, using the Arabic acronym for\u00a0ISIL.<\/p>\n

“They get results. The United States and its allies on\u00a0the other hand have been bombing for\u00a0a year and achieved nothing.”<\/p>\n

As he spoke, Nihaya applied the finishing touches to\u00a0a portrait of\u00a0Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the only one. Putinmania has swept across\u00a0the Iraqi population.<\/p>\n

“We should give Putin Iraqi and Syrian citizenship because he loves us more than\u00a0our own politicians,” Mohammed al-Bahadli, a student in\u00a0Najaf, told AFP.<\/p>\n

“Muslims bomb us because we are Rafidha,” said Saad Abdullah, an Iraqi store owner, using a term employed by\u00a0IS to\u00a0refer to\u00a0Shiites.<\/p>\n

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\"Footage<\/div>\n
\u00a9 RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY<\/a><\/div>\n
Taking Names, Kicking Ass: The Spy Planes & Ships Helping Russian Forces Smash ISIL in Syria<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“Meanwhile Putin, who is an Orthodox man, is defending us\u2026Maybe he really is a Shiite and we didn\u2019t know it.”<\/p>\n

The Russian president has also become a bit of\u00a0an Iraqi Internet celebrity, with\u00a0some circulating rumors that Putin may be able to\u00a0trace his roots back to\u00a0the Middle East.<\/p>\n

While in\u00a0no way accurate, the story suggests that Putin\u2019s father was an Iraqi grocer, who because of\u00a0specializing in\u00a0figs \u2013 tin\u201d in\u00a0Arabic \u2013 he became known as “Abu Tin.”\u00a0Moving to\u00a0the Soviet Union after\u00a0World War II, he married “a blonde Russian girl” and named their child Abdulamir.<\/p>\n

From there, Abdulamir Abu Tin was russified to\u00a0Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

The fiction proves the endearing support by\u00a0the Iraqi people for\u00a0the Russian airstrikes, and for “Putin the Shiite.”<\/p>\n

“I thank Putin because he convinced me to\u00a0stay in\u00a0Iraq,” said Ali al-Rammahi, an Iraqi cab driver. “Hajji Putin is better than\u00a0Hussein Obama.”<\/p>\n

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\"Russian<\/div>\n
\u00a9 SPUTNIK\/ DMITRIY VINOGRADOV<\/a><\/div>\n
Iraq May Ask Russia for Airstrikes Against Islamic State<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On Wednesday, Iraq\u2019s defense and security committee indicated that it may ask Russia for\u00a0air support in\u00a0combating IS, according to\u00a0committee head Haqim Zamli.<\/p>\n

“Iraq may turn to\u00a0Russia with\u00a0a request to\u00a0conduct airstrikes against\u00a0the positions of\u00a0Islamic State militants in\u00a0Iraq if Russia is successful in\u00a0Syria, that is if the airstrikes are effective and actual, and if we see that Russia [is operating] effectively in\u00a0Syria,” Zamli told Sputnik.<\/p>\n

The Russian Defense Ministry has not responded to\u00a0those claims, as\u00a0it has not yet received a formal request from\u00a0the Iraqi government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read more: http:\/\/sputniknews.com\/middleeast\/20151008\/1028235236\/Hajji-Putin.html#ixzz3oAPdpgJQ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy Sputnik News Following the success of the Russian airstrikes in Syria, and Washington\u2019s failure to do so thus far, Iraqis are looking for new ways to wipe out the self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist group. Many are calling for the assistance of “Hajji Putin.” \u00a0With Russian missile strikes dealing significant damage to\u00a0IS infrastructure in\u00a0Syria, many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48617\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}