Tearful Flight of Iraq Deserter Shows Challenge for Routed Army
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Iraqi soldier Shaalan Abdel-Wahab says he was ready for a battle to the death to defend the northern city of Mosul from Islamist militants: “We either kill them or get killed.”
That changed on a day of fighting on an empty stomach, as food and reinforcements failed to arrive while attackers from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant struck with an explosive-laden truck, followed by heavy gunfire. For Abdel-Wahab, the last straw came with word that senior commanders had fled. He soon joined the soldiers shedding their uniforms and melting away, overrun by the al-Qaeda breakaway group.