Islamic State Overwhelms Iraqi Forces at Tikrit in Major Defeat

[Kaleva]

12. More info on the volunteer cannon fodder

"“The most casualties were among the volunteers who were deeply vulnerable and unable to protect themselves,” he said.....

...Volunteers are routinely asked to serve for days in temperatures above 110 degrees without enough water and are given little food. Often, they also must supply themselves with another vital item for a soldier: bullets and in some cases weapons. “We have old weapons and not enough ammunition,” said Abdullah Hassan, 17, on Wednesday in Hoar Hussain, a district in northern Babil Province, barely 90 minutes from the center of Baghdad. “Sometimes they give us ammunition, but mostly we buy our own, and it is getting more expensive as the war goes on.”"

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/world/middleeast/for-iraq-debacle-in-tikrit-as-forces-walk-into-trap-set-by-militants.html?_r=0