RE #2.
They were fighting...and then
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/03/26/26...hdraw.html
They were fighting...and then
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/03/26/26...hdraw.html
Quote:Iranian-led Shiite militias withdraw from Tikrit fighting as U.S. joins battle
Quote: Iraqi Shiite Muslim militias, angry that the government of Prime Minister Haider al Abadi has asked for American help in ejecting Islamic State fighters from the central Iraqi city of Tikrit, began Thursday withdrawing their forces from the battle, the first major break between the Iranian-trained militias and Iraq’s military establishment since the Islamic State advance last year.