Yes, the 2nd there, Part 11, is linked at the bottom of the first one, which is Part 1. This one i don't think LOL is linked in either of them, and complements them, i hope .. grabbed it while watching the interview with Crooke in the first one above, which was a very informative video .. this one is a bit dated now ..
The ISIS' 'Management of Savagery' in Iraq
Alastair Crooke Fmr. MI-6 agent; Author, 'Resistance: The Essence of Islamic Revolution'
Posted: 06/30/2014 12:32 pm EDT Updated: 08/30/2014 5:59 am EDT
BEIRUT -- These are extraordinary times. Extraordinary events are taking place in Iraq (and in the Muslim World). There is the lightening seizure of "Sunni territory" spanning Syria and Iraq (but imagined as the realization of a Sunni "belt" extending across the region). The symbolism is potent in the context of the early history of Islam. The cold ruthlessness of the ISIS military strategy has dazzled and stimulated the ardor of young Sunni Muslims everywhere.
And it has forced the admiration of many in Iraq and the Gulf States. Yet it frightens, too: the flesh creeps with the "march of the beheaders .. http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/focus/article1422818.ece."; It is this heady, adrenaline-laden mix of fear, mingling with the euphoric sense that events somehow are mirroring the very laying down of the Islamic Empire, which is seeding fertile ground.
Across the Middle East and Africa, agrarian distress and the Salafist firing up of a Sunni self-perception of victimhood, usurpation and grievance are making for a wide vulnerability to this new collective fervor for Da'ish (ISIS).
Da'ish (ISIS) is not al-Qaeda; it is not an al-Qaeda franchise, nor is it its affiliate. After brief flirtation, it stands severed and in direct opposition to al-Qaeda, which it views as acting in error. (Though it still follows the writings of Abdallah Azzam who was a key intellectual influence on al-Qaeda).
Al-Qaeda emerged from the "myth" that the USSR was "imploded" by the mujahideen of Afghanistan succeeding in forcing its political and economic overextension. It was Abdullah Azzam's analysis of the USSR's vulnerability to such a process which prompted the notion that the U.S. could be similarly imploded -- by "shocking" it into a global overreach. The outcome would ultimately expose the superpower's frailties and hypocrisy to ordinary Muslims -- and therefore cause them to lose their fear of it.
For this objective to be achieved, however, Bin Laden saw a need for Muslims to be united (i.e. sectarianism was discouraged). At this point, the war of "vexing and exhausting" was directed at the "far enemy" through global acts of "shock and awe," but al-Qaeda's was more a virtual war than a hot war fought on the ground.
Zarqawism (used here, loosely to identify the ISIS ideology) grew from different roots: It was not a grandiose scheme to implode the USA but was all about grievance (heavily grounded in the feelings of a displaced and impoverished rural class). It was about a sense of Sunni loss of privilege, power, possession of the state and claimed rights. It was driven by a deep desire for revenge against "usurpers." It had, too, its overtones of a class war (countryside versus a cosmopolitan, affluent elite), but above all, it was deeply rooted in bigotry: a hatred of the "other," and for the Shi'i and Iran in particular.
Zarqawism took root in Iraq in a hot war (local "blood politics" as it were, and not in Bin Laden-esque global paradigms). It was grounded in the context of bitter sectarian struggle (Baghdad was being ethically cleansed) and in the humiliation of the Sunnah (ousted from power and summarily dismissed from the army). Subsequently, Sunnis from Syria fighting the occupation of Iraq (most of the Syrian and Palestinian fighters had gravitated to Zarqawi's groups) carried the Zarqawi "idea" back to the already resentful and aggrieved hinterland of Homs and Hama.
What most characterized the Zarqawi doctrine was the absorption of an intolerant Wahhabism that demanded the purging -- by the blade of a sword -- of a "defiled" Islam. It was to be "purified" down to a single voice, a unique authority, and a single leadership for Islam. Through such purification, and in pursuing a course of deliberate ruthlessness, Shariah and the Islamic State would be re-constructed.
What sets Zarqawi apart from al-Qaeda are two elements: Firstly, a radical refusal to accept conventional historical readings about how the Islamic state was formed. In this historical revisionism, it was the "fighting-scholars" and their armed followers, fighting on behalf of Islam, who founded the State (this is NOT the conventional reading).
Thus, whilst Zarqawism adopts Wahhabi "puritanism," it breaks with it in a truly revolutionary way by denying the Saudi Kingdom any legitimacy as founders of a State, as the head of the Mosque, or as interpreter of the Qur'an. All these attributes ISIS takes for itself. In its view ISIS itself is the State. This constitutes a complete refutation of all aspects of Sunni temporal and religious authority.
Although Zarqawism follows Azzam in regarding the implosion of the U.S. as a major aim, in practice, ISIS filters its understanding of contemporary politics through the prism of the Prophet's migration from Mecca, his struggle with the Meccans and through ISIS' reading of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr's, mode of violent warfare.
Symbolically this is very important. Thus, when the Prophet's "Muslim project" was nearly collapsed at the battle of Uhud by the forces of Mecca, today's reversals to the "divine mission" of ISIS in Syria are seen as having symbolic equivalence -- as today's 'Uhud" -- that is, ISIS' setback in Syria is interpreted by many as an existential setback to the Sunni project as a whole.
IRAN IS THE NEW 'FAR ENEMY'
But who then, stands for the Meccans in this allegory? It is not America; it is Iran. Lip service is paid to the "far enemy," but the symbolism points unmistakably to the near enemy: Iran.
In Iraq today, it is clear that ISIS sees the path toward consolidating the Islamic State to have already passed through the first stage (vexation operations, dispersing the enemy's strength and over-extending its resources).
Here again, the question arises, to which "enemy" does ISIS refer? Well, ISIS does not say; but Gulf leaders make this abundantly clear when they tell Westerners that if only Bashar al-Assad and Nouri al-Maliki were to be removed, all would be resolved, and peace would return to the Middle East (both, of course, bring perceived as obstacles to regional Sunni hegemony).
So today, ISIS regards Iraq (and eastern Syria) to be in the second stage (the "Management of Savagery") in the progress toward the consolidation of the Caliphate (the third stage). What does this mean; and what does it imply for the conduct of next period?
The term "management or administration of savagery," a term detailed in Abu Bakr Naji's treatise .. http://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/abu-bakr-naji-the-management-of-savagery-the-most-critical-stage-through-which-the-umma-will-pass.pdf, in fact refers to that hiatus which occurs between the waning of one power and the consolidation of power of another. What is being assumed here is that a certain chaos will pertain, and that the disputed territory will be ravaged by violence as power oscillates back and forth between the "old" power and its incoming successor (the Islamic State).
ESTABLISHING A FIGHTING SOCIETY
In this period, according to its literature, the ISIS will have limited aims: achieving internal security and preserving it; fixing its frontiers; feeding the population; establishing Shariah and Islamic justice -- and most importantly fixing the establishment of a "fighting society," at all levels within the community.
According to The Management of Savagery, in this stage, security will require the elimination of spies and "deterring the hypocrites with proof and other means and forcing them to repress and conceal their hypocrisy, to hide their discouraged opinions, and to comply with those in authority, until their evil is put in check." In short, we might expect that this will comprise ISIS' aims for the coming period.
In other words, any move on Baghdad, which Da'ish insists will come, is unlikely to be imminent, but will have to wait until the area already seized is 'secured', and its frontiers controlled.
PLUNDERING OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES
This phase also marks the "plundering the financial resources" for the purposes of the "project." The implication here is that ISIS has as its aim eventually to become financially self-sufficient. Indeed, it clearly has been pursuing this objective in Syria (taking oil fields, seizing the arms warehouses of the SNC, and selling to Turks much of the industrial infrastructure of Aleppo and northern Syria).
This also suggests that, whilst ISIS is not presently contesting militarily the Peshmerga takeover in Kirkuk (with its substantial oil resources), it is only a matter of time before Da'ish seeks to acquire such an obvious source of funding - just as it has fought other jihadist groups in Syria for control of Raqa'a's oil revenue.
But this second phase (administering the violent hiatus until the State is consolidated) -- more ominously -- signals the start of "massacring the enemy and making him frightened." The literature underlines that anyone who has actually experienced conflict (in contrast to those who simply theorize about it) understands that slaughter and striking fear into the hearts of the enemy is in the nature of war.
The point is made by citing the Companions (of the Prophet) who "burned (people) with fire, even though it is odious, because they knew the effect of rough violence in times of need."
NO ROOM FOR MERCY
The author of The Management of Savagery treatise bluntly states that there is no room for "softness": "Softness" is the ingredient for failure: "our enemies will not be merciful to us, so it compels us to make them think one thousand times, before they dare attack us."
It is here that we see the second key Zarqawrist notion: the reading given by ISIS to the military campaigns conducted by first Caliph. This "reading" highlights (and seeks to legitimize) the need to use "rough violence" during this period of hiatus, when Islamic power was not yet fully consolidated. It was a moment, following the death of the Prophet that several Arab tribes refused to pay Zakat to Abu Bakr (as they had earlier to the Prophet when he was alive), and held (in accordance with the prevailing Arab tradition) that their tribal allegiance to the Prophet naturally expired with the leader's death. There followed the brutal Wars of the Ridda (or the Wars of Apostasy).
What is significant here, too, is the narrow construction placed on apostasy -- a definition to which Da'ish adheres closely.
In sum, the beheadings and other violence practiced by ISIS are not some whimsical, crazed fanaticism, but a very deliberate, considered strategy. The military strategy pursued by ISIS in Iraq, too, is neither spontaneous nor some populist adventure, but rather reflects very professional well-prepared military planning.
The seemingly random violence has a precise purpose: It's aim is to strike huge fear; to break the psychology of a people -- and, according to reports, this is exactly what Da'ish has already succeeded in doing for many of the residents of Baghdad. They are understandably very frightened.
A POLICY OF POLARIZATION
For now, ISIS is focused on adding to the pressures on the city's population by seeking to seize its sources of fuel (the Baiji refinery) and its water supply (the Haditha dam). Da'ish's explicit purpose -- here with Baghdad as it has been in Syria -- is to polarize the population, explains The Management of Savagery author:
--- "By polarization here, I mean dragging the masses into the battle such that polarization is created between all of the people. Thus, one group of them will go to the side of the people of truth, another group will go to the side of the people of falsehood, and a third group will remain neutral -- awaiting the outcome of the battle in order to join the victor. We must attract the sympathy of this latter group, and make it hope for the victory of the people of faith, especially since this group has a decisive role in the later stages of the present battle. Dragging the masses into the battle requires more actions which will inflame opposition and which will make the people enter into the battle, willing or unwilling, such that each individual will go to the side which he supports. We must make this battle very violent, such that death is a heartbeat away, so that the two groups will realize that entering this battle will frequently lead to death. That will be a powerful motive for the individual to choose to fight in the ranks of the people of truth in order to die well, which is better than dying for falsehood and losing both this world and the next." -- Abu Bakr Naji, The Management of Savagery ---
This is the likely strategy facing the government of Iraq. Nouri al-Malaki is busy assembling and preparing a vast Shi'a army. Most likely he initially will concentrate on halting ISIS' momentum, and, by delivering a sharp military defeat, will hope to break Da'ish's magic spell for the many Sunnis who have been dazzled by its bold advance across Iraq.
He has sought to re-take Takrit, leaving the much more difficult task of digging them out from Mosul to a later time. (Those who remember the siege of the Naher al-Barad Camp in northern Lebanon will recall that it took the Lebanese army three and a half months -- at the loss of more than 300 men -- to clear this Palestinian refugee camp from no more than a hundred odd ISIS-type jihadists. Naher al-Barad was utterly destroyed in the process).
The success (or failure) of al-Maliki's defense -- against Da'ish -- will pivot around the issue of polarization. Too much force, too many civilian casualties, too much heavy weaponry will polarize the Sunni population to Da'ish's advantage; but too little -- may risk adding to ISIS' inflated reputation.
There is also a real risk of this conflict metamorphosing into a polarized Sunni-Shi'a conflict -- an outcome that Iran will be urging al-Maliki to avoid. A first priority will be to protect the Shi'i shrines. Iran does not wish to get directly involved in the fighting (and does not see a need at this stage, so to do), but rather will seek to continue to provide Iraq with discreet support and advice.
The adoption of this narrative reflects both just how deeply the Sunni discourse of dispossession and victimhood have been uncritically absorbed by the West and come to be viewed as giving legitimacy to takfiri jihadism; and it reflects how little ..http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/06/isis-saudi-arabia-iraq-syria-bandar/373181/.. the dangers which ISIS represents are well understood.
ISIS has just declared war .. http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/isis-declares-war-lebanon .. in Lebanon. Its successes (unless quickly halted) will inspire youth .. http://www.channel4.com/news/the-normal-british-teens-who-became-jihadis .. across the Muslim world. The ground has been well prepared by the outpourings of 24 hour Salafist television and radio broadcasts and increasingly important social media PR campaigns, beamed throughout the Middle East and into an increasingly receptive Africa. Much hangs on the outcome of events in Iraq.
Al Qaeda opens branch in the 'Indian Subcontinent'
.. comments included because they are interesting, and informative ..
[ VIDEO: it doesn't load for me? .. uh, ok, refreshed, worked when refreshed ]
By Bill Roggio September 3, 2014
Al Qaeda has announced the establishment of a new branch, called "Qaedat al-Jihad in the Indian Subcontinent." The group reports to Mullah Omar, the head of the Afghan Taliban, and is led by a former commander in the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan who also served as a sharia official in al Qaeda's branch in Pakistan. The ultimate goal of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent is the same as al Qaeda's: to establish a global caliphate and impose sharia, or Islamic law.
As Sahab, al Qaeda's official media outlet, released a lengthy video promoting the creation of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent today. The video, which was published on various Internet video sites, including YouTube, features Ayman al Zawahiri as well as Asim Umar, the new emir of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, and Usama Mahmoud, the group's spokesman. The video was translated by the SITE Intelligence group.
"A new branch of al-Qaeda was established and is Qaedat al-Jihad in the Indian Subcontinent, seeking to raise the flag of jihad, return the Islamic rule, and empowering the Shariah of Allah across the Indian subcontinent," Zawahiri says in the opening of the video, according to the translation by SITE.
Zawahiri says the group was years in the making, contains "soldiers of the Islamic Emirate" (a reference to the Afghan Taliban), and ultimately reports to Mullah Omar.
"This entity was not established today, but it is the fruit of a blessed effort for more than two years to gather the mujahideen in the Indian subcontinent into a single entity to be with the main group, Qaedat al-Jihad, from the soldiers of the Islamic Emirate and its triumphant emir, Allah permitting, Emir of the Believers Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid," Zawahiri says. Zawahiri renewed his oath of allegiance to Mullah Omar in a statement that was released in July of this year. [See LWJ report, Al Qaeda renews its oath of allegiance to Taliban leader Mullah Omar .. http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/07/al_qaeda_renews_its.php.]
"It is an entity that was formed to promulgate the call of the reviving imam Sheikh Usama bin Laden, may Allah have mercy on him, to call the Ummah to unite round the word of Tawhid [monotheism], to wage jihad against its enemies, to liberate its land, to restore its sovereignty, and to revive its Caliphate," Zawahiri continues in the video.
Zawahiri says the group will defend the "vulnerable in the Indian subcontinent, in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujurat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir ..." and "your brothers in Qaedat al-Jihad did not forget you and that they are doing what they can to rescue you from injustice, oppression, persecution, and suffering."
Emir of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent served previously as Taliban commander
The creation of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent and the promotion of Asim mar highlights the close ties between al Qaeda and the Taliban groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Al Qaeda routinely fights alongside both Taliban groups against the Afghan and Pakistani governments.
Al Qaeda has promoted Asim Umar as the emir of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. Umar was featured in several propaganda releases by As Sahab in the past two years. He was previously identified by al Qaeda as a commander in the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, a jihadist group closely linked to al Qaeda, in a video released by As Sahab in July 2013.
In the video, Umar called on Indian Muslims to participate in the "global jihad to give a final push to the collapsing edifice of America."
Umar also identified the US as a prime enemy and said "lives are being sacrificed in this jihad to defeat America and its allies everywhere."
He focused on the growing jihad in Syria, and said that "[a]fter Iraq, the black flags of Khorasan are heading for Syria." The Khorasan is a region in Asia that includes Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is considered a key battleground by al Qaeda.
Umar also indicated in that speech that al Qaeda was integrating with other jihadist groups and traveling to Syria to fight.
Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent is the newest branch of the global jihadist group. The last group to officially join al Qaeda was the Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant in April 2013. In January 2013, Shabaab, al Qaeda's branch in Somalia and East Africa, merged with the global terror group. Both Shabaab and the Al Nusrah Front were secretly part of al Qaeda before formally announcing their allegiance. [See LWJ reports, Shabaab formally joins al Qaeda .. http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/02/shabaab_formally_joi.php, and Al Nusrah Front leader renews allegiance to al Qaeda, rejects new name .. http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/04/al_nusrah_front_lead.php.]
READER COMMENTS: "Al Qaeda opens branch in the 'Indian Subcontinent'"
Posted by Birbal Dhar at September 4, 2014 4:30 AM ET:
This is Al Qaeda's publicity stunt. As the world is focusing on IS, Al Qaeda is desperate for attention and are using this stunt to galvanise muslim support in south Asia. In reality Al Qaeda will find it difficult to do attacks in India, Bangladesh or Burma, unless they are given help by the Pakistani ISI, who have camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir for islamic terrorists to infiltrate into the Indian side and also agents in Indian cities to strike. Pakistan have got too many problems of their own to increase terrorist attacks on the Indian populace,especially because of pressure from America and also high rates of islamic terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Although Pakistan would still like to attack India, which they do regularly on the Line Of Control, they know that India will fight back and America would also add economic and political pressure on Pakistan to reduce tensions between the countries.
Posted by Arjuna at September 4, 2014 8:30 AM ET:
Birbal, I hope you're right when you say: "Pakistan have got too many problems of their own to increase terrorist attacks on the Indian populace". I am not sure that retired officers like Hamid Gul and his henchmen think about the economy, human rights or any other Pakistani "problems" when they plan and execute operations like Mumbai. Pakistan's biggest "problem" is its "deep state" some of whom are allied with Al Qaeda.
Besides announcing a new front (South Asia), I think Zawahiri will engage in what I call "operational outbidding" with Baghdadi. It was very smart to ignore IS. That gives him room for maneuver and allows them to concentrate on attacks. I bet Zawahiri and his PK allies will attack India soon (in a major city, not in Kashmir) in an attempt to cause war between Pakistan and India. It was only through maximum restraint that India avoided this messy state of affairs in late 2008. Will Modi show the same restraint?
Posted by Arjuna at September 4, 2014 9:45 AM ET:
Let's not forget (if Yasin Bhaktal is to be believed) that there was a 2014 attempt by the Indian Mujiahideen to obtain a nuclear weapon from PK and use it on the Indian city of Surat. I'm afraid this announcement means that the non-jailed members of IM are falling under AQ directly and thus availing themselves of AQ's financial backers in the Gulf and attack expertise. If the ISI throw in too and help them obtain a nuclear weapon, then Syraq could look like a sideshow overnight and the "right group" (Al Qaeda Core, who swear fealty to ISI asset Mullah Omar) will have scored a bigger hit faster than even what's his name over in Syraq.
Posted by Alex at September 4, 2014 1:13 PM ET:
Seems to me this is basically Al Qaeda giving up the fight against the West. Or at least round about acknowledging defeat. They are no longer relevant either internationally or locally in the muslim world.
It's not that their ideology has been refuted, just the opposite. It's that they have been physically reduced to uselessness. IS has taken all their thunder and now controls actual territory. Al Qaeda is unable to strike the West in any serious way and now spends their days hiding from drones.
It seems to me they are basically giving up the international game and instead are going to immerse themself in the Central Asia game to try and carve out territory and make themselves locally relevant.
Doesn't mean they are not a threat or that we should stop hunting them, just a confirmation that AQ itself, the organization founded by Bin Laden is basically on the sidelines. Even if we face severe threats from other groups that share theology.
Posted by M. Muthuswamy at September 4, 2014 7:30 PM ET:
My impression is that al Qaeda's announcement is just a formality.
Thanks to Saudi Arabia's financial and ideological support and led by Pakistan, the jihad enterprise has been building up in India for the past 30 years (details in my book).
I do believe that the threshold to launch jihad all over India, while basing extremists in Muslim communities has been crossed.
As I have consistently said, Indian jihadists and Pakistan will not allow Modi to focus on development.
Jihad will visit India soon, whether Indians want it or not!
Posted by Birbal Dhar at September 4, 2014 7:33 PM ET:
Arjuna, terrorist attacks in Pakistan due to their creation of Frankenstein islamic monsters by the Pakistani ISI, plus the American drones, have forced the Pakistani army and it's ISI wing to divert money used to do terrorist attacks in India to trying to protect the Pakistani Army from being massacred by the islamic frankenstein terrorists. This has resulted in less terrorist attacks in India. India has to be thankful to America for bombing Pakistani targets with drones, otherwise there would have been major terrorist attacks in India every year. America has made islamic terrorists in Pakistan attack their own creators (the ISI). It's like seeing 2 horrible snakes (Pakistani Taliban and the ISI) fighting each other. And it's a great sight to see as well !! The Pakistani Taliban terrorists indirectly have done India a favour by forcing the Pakistani army to divert anti-Indian resources to protecting their own asses and bases, where they are attacked by this group. Thank God for America, they've really helped India to limit the islamic terrorist cancer from Pakistan.
Posted by Bill Roggio at September 4, 2014 10:43 PM ET:
Evan,
You do realize that al Qaeda's branches control territory in Yemen & Somalia today? They just haven't declared an Islamic State, because they believe it is premature & harmful to do so too quickly. From 2011-2012, AQAP controlled much of southern Yemen; it lost major cities and towns in Shabwa and Abyan, but still controls rural areas in those two provinces and in others. From 2012-2013, AQIM/Ansar Dine/MUJAO controlled much of northern Mali. From 2009 to present, Shabaab controls much of southern Somalia (it has been ejected from the major cities but controls much of the countryside.
So jihadist groups controlling turf is nothing new.
The Islamic State is the shiny object that has caught everyone in Short Attention Span Theater's attention. Except the islamic State used to be known as the Islamic State of Iraq, which used to be known as al Qaeda in Iraq, and it controlled large areas of Iraq from 2004-2007...
Posted by captainjohann at September 5, 2014 1:14 AM ET:
This is a direct result of 4 Mumbai youths travelling to Syria and one of them getting killed.today 4 more are caught in Bangladesh border trying to go to Syria and are from Hyderabad of India. It is now known that Al queada owning allegiance to Mullah Omar and this latest video shows that the wing in ISI which controls them are now gaining strength. As alex has said these guys have failed to target America and routinely loud mouth America and Israel but are impotent to attack them as shown in the recent Gaza conflict.These guys know it is easy to get some poor Muslim youth to do their bidding in India without much effort and may be they will target Bangalore or some other surrounding area which will please the ISI.
Posted by Arjuna at September 5, 2014 4:07 AM ET:
Birbal Dhar, thanks sir for the informative answer, with which I completely agree. We don't want to mow the lawn in someone else's yard, but we can't have tiger mosquitoes either. I do NOT think this is posturing or desperation or a last move, guys. They (AQIS) are going to try something audacious. Deeds not words applies hard when your rival is on a roll. Goodness, IM are in Nepal. TTP have killed climbers in PK. Bringing South Asia baddies under the mother adds cachet and professionalism. When are we going to stop underestimating this enemy? When they control an area the size of... Russia? Keep your guard up RAW. Coincidence Surat is in Modi's state? Just a short boat ride from Karachi.
Posted by akash kumar swain at September 5, 2014 9:23 AM ET:
we hate Isis and also Isis's member if you try to enter India , Indian army punished you so don't try
Posted by James at September 7, 2014 4:33 AM ET:
@Birbal Dhar,
Birbal, thank you for thanking US.
Now, if we here in the US can get together with a nation such as India and combine our intelligence gathering capabilities, I believe it would go a long way in minimizing the pAQ threat.
What I think is needed most is a combined intelligence gathering capability between US, India, Great Britian and numerous other free and democratic nations.
Posted by VR at September 7, 2014 3:52 PM ET:
James, Birbal
I agree 100% that USA, India, Israel and other major free democracies need to work together, sharing intelligence, providing logistics and cross training the special ops teams. This is imperative to control and roll back the advances of IS and AQ.
They need to carryout out covert actions against the motivators, organizers and resource providers (both men and money) and neutralize them wherever they are, even if they are in multiple countries.
VR
Posted by Fred at September 8, 2014 11:21 AM ET:
Well, they got what they wanted. They got us talking about them again.
Islamist Group Soldiers of the Caliphate Kidnaps Frenchman in Algeria
VIDEO (no killing, well I didn't watch it .. but still no killing)
ALGIERS, Algeria — A splinter group from al-Qaida's North African branch kidnapped a French citizen and said Monday that it would kill him unless France halts its airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq. In a video that appeared on social media, a masked member of a group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, addressed the threat to French President Francois Hollande and said the hostage would be killed unless the airstrikes were halted within 24 hours. The group said it was answering a call by Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani to attack Americans and Europeans.
The French Foreign Ministry confirmed the authenticity of the video and identified the hostage as 55-year-old Herve Gourdel. Hollande spoke with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal by phone, the French president's office said in a statement, emphasizing the "total cooperation" between France and Algeria to try to find and free the Frenchman. It said authorities in the two countries were in constant contact. French forces joined the U.S. on Sept. 19 in carrying out airstrikes against forces from the Islamic State group, which have overrun large swathes of Syria and Iraq.
In this still image from video published on the Internet on Monday, Sept. 22, 2014, by a group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, a captive Frenchman appeals to French President Francois Hollande to help free him. The Frenchman, whom the ministry described as a 55-year-old mountain guide, said he was taken hostage by the group on Sunday and reiterated its demands that the French military end its airstrikes in Iraq. The group said it was answering a call by Islamic State group spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani to attack Americans and Europeans.
Al Qaeda Groups, Islamic State Both Targeted in Syria by U.S. Strikes
Khorasan and the Nusra Front have both been targeted by U.S. airstrikes in Syria, along with Islamic State. This January 2013 image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows rebels from al Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the Nusra Front, waving their brigade flag as they step on the top of a Syrian air force helicopter. Associated Press
Al Qaeda Affiliates Khorasan and the Nusra Front Thought to Be More of a Threat to U.S. Than Islamic State
By Siobhan Gorman And Julian E. Barnes Sept. 23, 2014 2:19 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON—The first U.S. airstrikes inside Syria, announced by the Pentagon on Monday night, went beyond hitting the Islamic State militant group, also targeting a second extremist group that U.S. officials say represents a more direct threat to the U.S. homeland.
The U.S. targeted camps and other buildings in Syria used by the Khorasan group, whose members have plotted attacks against Western airliners, officials said.
The strikes appear to represent an expansion of the U.S. mission beyond the goals outlined by President Barack Obama earlier this month, when he said U.S. military action would be designed to roll back the territorial gains made by Islamic State militants.
U.S. officials have viewed Khorasan with growing alarm in recent weeks and some have said it would be irresponsible to strike in Syria and not take aim at an al Qaeda affiliate long considered to be dangerous to the U.S. and its allies.
Islamic State militants are seen as primarily focused on taking and holding territory in Iraq and Syria, with attacks on the U.S. representing a secondary goal. It severed its ties with al Qaeda's leadership in Pakistan.
Khorasan, on the other hand, has followed the direction of al Qaeda leadership and made strikes on U.S. targets its prime focus. Khorasan's plotting against airliners to target the U.S. prompted the U.S. to step up airline security over the summer, a U.S. official said.
In addition to attacks on airliners, U.S. officials have said that Khorasan has been setting up training camps in Syria for fighters who hold Western passports. Officials said the intent is to specifically to train militants who can avoid security checks, slip into the U.S. or Europe and mount attacks.
Khorasan's leader, Muhsin al Fadhli, is a longtime al Qaeda operative with long-running ties to the group's leadership in Pakistan. U.S. intelligence reports identify him as being involved with terrorist plotting out of Syria and Turkey that would target European countries, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Officials said that neither Mr. Fadhli nor other militants leaders were directly targeted on Tuesday in the first barrage of airstrikes.
Mr. Fadhli, believed to be in his 30s, is a senior al Qaeda facilitator and financier who has long been sought by the U.S., which in 2012 offered a $7 million reward for information leading to his capture.
According to the State Department, Mr. Fadhli spent years living in Iran, where officials said he helped moved money and operatives for al Qaeda. Mr. Fadhli also has an extensive network of Kuwaiti jihadist donors who have sent money to Syria through Turkey, the State Department says.
Khorasan works closely with al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, known as the Nusra Front, and many U.S. officials draw little distinction between the two, saying both pose a more near-term threat to the U.S. and Europe.
Intelligence officials have warned obliquely about the activities of al Qaeda's leaders in Syria for months. On Thursday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned specifically about that group, saying it may pose as much of a threat as Islamic State militants "in terms of threat to the homeland."
The step taken by the U.S. in expanding the bombing campaign so quickly to Khorasan and Nusra Front targets shows how quickly the U.S.-led campaign could expand. Some officials and counterterrorism experts doubted that the administration would be able to focus solely on Islamic State militants and believed the administration eventually would face pressure to expand the strikes.
The U.S. has been tracking Mr. Fadhli for some time, a person briefed on the matter said, adding, "He's very close to the Nusra Front."
Khorasan has become a way for al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan to wield influence in Syria, the person briefed on the matter said. "It is al Qaeda's effort to continue to influence what's going on with al Nusra and to keep general eyes on what's going on across the region," this person said.
US air strikes against Isis and Khorasan in Syria – live updates • US bombardment spreads from Iraq to Syria for the first time • Damascus was informed before the air raids began • Raids also aimed at stopping ‘imminent’ Khorasan attack • British hostage John Cantlie appears in another Isis video • Air strikes target Isis stronghold of Raqqa • Britain to consider joining campaign Live 23 September 2014 http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/live/2014/sep/23/us-air-strikes-against-isis-in-syria-live-updates [with embedded videos, and comments]
Robert Gates Says U.S. Will Need Some Boots On The Ground To Defeat Islamic State In Iraq
By Kate Sheppard Posted: 09/21/2014 11:36 am EDT Updated: 09/22/2014 10:59 am EDT
WASHINGTON -- Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Sunday that it is unlikely the United States can accomplish the goals President Barack Obama has laid out for defeating Islamic State militant groups in Iraq without putting some "boots on the ground."
"What I believe, and what I suspect most military people believe, is that given the mission the president has assigned, which is degrade and destroy, that to be able to do that, some small number of American advisers, trainers, Special Forces and forward spotters, forward air controllers, are going to have to be in harm's way," Gates said in an appearance on ABC's "This Week."
Gates said he thinks the number of troops needed, however, "will be very small."
Gates said he agrees with Obama's assessment that the U.S. should wait until a new government is in place in Iraq to determine how to proceed. "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos noted that Gates has warned against getting involved in ground combat in places such as Iraq. Gates suggested the U.S. should proceed with caution.
"This is a generational conflict. And we need to understand that. We also need to be very modest about how we can shape the outcomes here," said Gates. "And I think one of the things we need to do is step back, look at this kind of cauldron of violence and instability that's going to be with us a long time and what is our strategy overall for the region? What do we want as an outcome?"
Gates also said that a mission of destroying the militant group ISIS would be "very ambitious," and the goal instead should be to keep the group from getting a "foothold" in Iraq. "I think destroying probably is ambitious, at least in the foreseeable future," said Gates. "But it is a realistic objective to try and push them out of Iraq and deny them a permanent foothold some place."
ISIS Urges Followers To Attack U.S., French Citizens This undated image posted on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014 by the Raqqa Media Center of the Islamic State group, a Syrian opposition group, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters of the Islamic State waving the group's flag from a damaged display of a government fighter jet following the battle for the Tabqa air base, in Raqqa, Syria. 09/22/2014 Updated: 09/23/2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/22/isis-attack-france-us_n_5860498.html [with comments]
German Muslims Turn Out In Force For Nationwide Protest Against Islamic State
Muslims gather for Friday prayers on the street outside the Mevlana Moschee mosque on a nation-wide action day to protest against the Islamic State (IS) on September 19, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. Sean Gallup via Getty Images
By Carol Kuruvilla Posted: 09/20/2014 9:14 am EDT Updated: 09/20/2014 9:59 am EDT
German Muslims are fighting extremism with prayer.
Muslims from more than 2,000 mosques across Germany came out in force on Friday, using their traditional day of prayer to the counter Islamic State propaganda and draw attention to the rising tide of Islamophobia in their own country.
The show of solidarity was organized by Germany’s four main Muslim advocacy groups and attracted thousands of supporters in Berlin, Hamburg, Mölln, Bielefeld, Oldenburg, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart.
About 1,000 Muslims laid prayer mats down outside a Berlin mosque that had been damaged by an arsonist in August.
Muslims in the country are trying their best to separate themselves from the actions of the so-called Islamic State, an extremist group that has spread their bloody reign of terror across large swaths of Northern Iraq and Syria.
“We want to make clear terrorists and criminals do not speak in the name of Islam, they have trampled on the commandments of our religion, and that murderers and criminals have no place in our ranks, in our religion," Mazyek said during a news conference.
German politicians and faith leaders from different religions also came out to show their support. Nikolaus Schneider, head of the Council of Protestant Churches, thanked the organizers for taking a stand.
"You have unequivocally said that Islam and terror don't belong together," Schneider said during a peace rally.
"We believe you," he added, drawing cheers from the crowd.
But Azize Tank, a parliament member, was regretful about the fact that Muslims in her country felt compelled to explain the actions of a terrorist group thousands of miles away.
ISIS threat: Americans are passengers on Titanic with Obama at helm
Video [embedded] Will President Obama's ISIS strategy succeed?
Violence encountered by the West is but the tip of an Islamic iceberg. By failing to attack it, we become passengers onboard an ill-fated Titanic.
By Lt. Col. James G. Zumwalt (ret.) Published September 22, 2014
President Obama’s recent speech on how to defeat the terrorist group ISIS — as America faces the greatest threat in its history — represented “one small step for man” but no “giant leap for mankind” in attacking the source of the problem.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey were on the hot seat defending Obama’s ISIS game plan at a Sept. 16 hearing in the Senate. Their testimony suggested a disconnect between the White House and the Pentagon on the need for ground troops, the former having said no and the latter now saying maybe.
ISIS’ destruction may be Obama’s goal, but he still lacks a strategy. The Senate testimony did nothing to suggest otherwise.
Imagine if BP had focused only on the cleanup and not on the source of the leak after the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf. BP would still be cleaning up the environmental mess today.
Similarly, as ISIS takes a human toll in the Middle East, its destruction fails to focus on the source.
Listing ISIS’ barbaric acts — torture, rape, beheadings, etc. — Obama said the terrorist group is misguided and does not represent Islam.
But by seeking to detach ISIS from Islam, it is Obama who is misguided. Every barbaric act he mentioned is sanctioned by Islam and, in fact, has been committed by Muslims during their 1400-year history.
Ironically, while Muhammad’s violence targets Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims, Muslims have claimed most of their victims through “cannibalization.” They’ve been “eating their own,” with Muslim sects relegating other Muslim sects to non-Muslim status.
Obama fails to understand that a Muslim world united under a single global caliphate, whether it be ISIS, Al Qaeda, Iran, etc., will fully project its violence against the Koran’s intended targets — non-Muslims — doing so not as a detached religion, but as Islam itself dictates.
The violence encountered by the West so far is but the tip of an Islamic iceberg. By failing to recognize this, we become passengers on an ill-fated Titanic, with Obama at the helm, refusing to warn us. Politically correct, as always, he misrepresents Islam and leaves us apathetic and in the dark, blind to Muslims’ plan to destroy Western democracies.
Violence against non-Muslims, mandated by the Koran, is perpetual — or until the caliphate’s establishment. A newly independent America quickly discovered this when it fought an unprovoked war with Islam’s Barbary pirates, who justified their violence under the Koran.
In modern times, we open our doors to Islam, failing to understand that it is an ideology still dedicated to America’s destruction. We naively do so because Muslims, as well as Obama, claim Islam is a religion of peace.
If we open our doors to Islam and allow its influence to grow, its dark side will be revealed; but, meanwhile, those trying to sound the ship’s alarm are labeled as Islamophobes.
We have ignored many warning signs of Islam’s evil intent to destroy the West “from within,” which was the Muslim Brotherhood’s strategy over two decades ago:
• In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders repeatedly tries to educate us about Islam’s dark side — and his government calls him Islamophobic.
• In England, Brits watch Shariah evolve in parallel with their own legal system. They are only now awakening to the danger, and it may be too late to reverse it.
• In France, Muslims, using an undercurrent of anti-Semitism, encourage others to join them, successfully driving out Jews. Soon the Muslim focus will turn to the others, as well.
• In Germany, concerns arise about Shariah law encroachment, triggering a major confrontation yet to play out.
In a television interview last month, Anjem Choudary, a British-born convert to Islam who became an imam, gloated over the inroads Islam has made in England — and even supported ISIS’ brutality. Ironically, he spreads hate in Britain while he collects $43,000 in welfare — brazenly accepting it as England’s recognition of Islam’s superiority.
Choudary warns that Shariah is coming to America — a door now ajar.
Within Western democracies today, it is not ISIS that is the immediate threat. It is Islam’s dark side.
While naiveté opened doors for Islam’s Dr. Jekyll, the West now suffers the homicidal mania of Islam’s Mr. Hyde. Obama’s speech offers nothing to stop him.
Bennett again defended the statements in an interview with HuffPost Live on Monday and said he'd argue Islam "is not even a religion."
"I stand behind them wholeheartedly," Bennett told host Alyona Minkovski. "First off, I never said Muslims were a cancer, I said Islam ... I would even submit to you that Islam is not even a religion. It's a social political system that uses a deity to advance its agenda of global conquest. That's exactly what ISIS is doing now, and people that follow Islam are and will do the same thing."
"I received a phone call from an individual who asked if I was the director of CAIR and I said yes. He said he thinks I should be beheaded and so should every other Muslim in America," Soltani said. "What he said about the holy Quran, the holy scripture of 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide is absolutely false. It's just lies, it's hatred, it's bigotry."
The Beheading Coalition by Mark Fiore September 17, 2014 Now that the United States is forming another military coalition to combat evil in the Middle East, maybe we should pause to take a closer look at the members of this coalition. Sure, ISIS is terrible and does awful things like behead people, but they’ve got nothing on Saudi Arabia, which beheads people as a matter of policy. http://vimeo.com/106456166 [with comments] [embedded with additional introduction and transcript at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/19/1330558/-Cartoon-The-Beheading-Coalition (with comments)]
Kerry, Iran counterpart discuss nuclear talks, Islamic State U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gestures during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Iraq at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 19, 2014. Sep 22, 2014 http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/09/22/iran-nuclear-kerry-idINKCN0HH09P20140922 [no comments yet]
Netanyahu: Easing Iranian Sanctions for Help Against ISIS “Absurd” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that agreeing to ease sanctions against Iran in exchange for help fighting ISIS was “absurd.” “Like a madman who throws Firebrands, arrows and death, so is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says, ‘Was I not joking?’” (Proverbs 26:18-19) September 22, 2014 http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/21935/netanyahu-easing-iranian-sanctions-help-isis-absurd/ [with comments]
Iran-Saudi flirtation may change coalition against Islamic State Rapprochement may change U.S. objection to Iran's participation in campaign against militants in Iraq and Syria. Sep 23, 2014 http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.617300 [no comments yet]
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Cameron Ready To Work With Iran To Defeat IS Mr Cameron hopes to mobilise support against Islamic State with Mr Rouhani David Cameron is to become the first British Prime Minister to meet an Iranian President since 1979 in a historic encounter in New York. 23 September 2014 http://news.sky.com/story/1340454/cameron-ready-to-work-with-iran-to-defeat-is [with comments]
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Cameron to meet Iran's Rouhani for talks David Cameron and Hassan Rouhani spoke by phone last year but have never had a face-to-face meeting 23 September 2014 http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29319873
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U.S., Iran seek common ground against militants, but doubts persist Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (L) holds a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) on the second straight day of talks over Tehran's nuclear program in Vienna, July 14, 2014. Sep 23, 2014
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in addition to (linked in) the post to which this is a reply and preceding and (other) following, see also (linked in):
Islamic State fighters parade through Raqqa in Syria. Photograph: Reuters
[...]
In Arabic, the word lends itself to being snarled with aggression. As Simon Collis, the British ambassador to Iraq told the Guardian’s Ian Black: “Arabic speakers spit out the name Da’ish with different mixtures of contempt, ridicule and hostility. Da’ish is always negative.”
And if that wasn’t infuriating enough for the militants, Black reports that the acronym has already become an Arabic word in its own right, with a plural – daw’aish – meaning “bigots who impose their views on others”.
Ok, that was in January, i've been a bit slow to it, but now am happy to say it is something i can agree with Abbott on 100%. ISIL, ISIS and IS should be assigned to a black hole by everyone. To the same black hole all of those vicious murderers should be condemned to. The recent mosque bombings in Yemen and Tunisia
Hani Mohammed/AP
With Attacks in Yemen and Tunisia ISIS Launches a Global War of Terror
are about as sick as any wanton war violence could be. All know by now that defeating these terrorists will not be easy, and that Daesh leaders are not without support, and not incompetent.
1 September 2014 Last updated at 00:45 ET
Islamic State: Where does jihadist group get its support?
A militant islamist fighter takes part in an ISIS parade in Syria's eastern city of Raqqa June 30 2014 Islamic State outperformed all other militant rebel groups in Syria and continues to claim ground
[...]
In every activity - from fighting, to organisation and hierarchy, to media messaging - IS is light years ahead of the assorted motley crew of opposition factions operating in the region.
'War economy'
Islamic State has put in place what appear to be the beginnings of quasi-state structures - ministries, law courts and even a rudimentary taxation system, which incidentally asks for far less than what was paid by citizens of Mr Assad's Syria.
IS has displayed a consistent pattern since it first began to take territory in early 2013.
Upon taking control of a town it quickly secures the water, flour and hydrocarbon resources of the area, centralising distribution and thereby making the local population dependent on it for survival.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is accused of doing business with Islamic State in Syria
Dependency and support are not the same thing, and it is impossible to quantify how many of Islamic State's "citizens" are willing partners in its project or simply acquiescing to its rule out of a need for stability or fear of punishment.
To understand how the Islamic State economy functions is to delve into a murky world of middlemen and shady business dealings, in which "loyal ideologues" on differing sides spot business opportunities and pounce upon them.
IS exports about 9,000 barrels of oil per day at prices ranging from about $25-$45 (£15-£27).
Some of this goes to Kurdish middlemen up towards Turkey, some goes for domestic IS consumption and some goes to the Assad regime, which in turn sells weapons back to the group.
"It is a traditional war economy," notes Jamestown analyst Wladimir van Wilgenburg.
Indeed, the dodgy dealings and strange alliances are beginning to look very similar to events that occurred during the Lebanese civil war, when feuding war lords would similarly fight and do business with each other.
The point is that Islamic State is essentially self-financing; it cannot be isolated and cut off from the world because it is intimately tied into regional stability in a way that benefits not only itself, but also the people it fights.
The larger question of course is whether such an integral pillar of the region (albeit shockingly violent and extreme) can be defeated.
Without Western military intervention it is unlikely. Although Sunni tribes in Iraq ponder their allegiances to the group, they do not have the firepower or finances necessary to topple IS and neither does the Iraqi army nor its Syrian counterpart.
PS: Christianity learned (mostly) some time ago that fighting religious sectarian wars was not the best way to go.
The European wars of religion were a series of religious wars waged in Europe from ca. 1524 to 1648, following the onset of the Protestant Reformation in Western and Northern Europe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_wars_of_religion
When will these extremely vicious Daesh, all those Sunnis who sympathize with them, and all those who fuel Islamic sectarianism learn that these wars must one day end, too.
The self-styled ‘Islamic State’ Group (ISIS or ISIL), the Arabic acronym for which is Daesh, is increasingly haunting the nightmares of Western journalists and security analysts. I keep seeing some assertions about it that strike me as exaggerated or as just incorrect.
1. It isn’t possible to determine whether Daesh a mainstream Muslim organization, since Muslim practice varies by time and place. I disagree. There is a center of gravity to any religion such that observers can tell when something is deviant. Aum Shinrikyo isn’t your run of the mill Buddhism, though it probably is on the fringes of the Buddhist tradition (it released sarin gas in the Tokyo subway in 1995). Like Aum Shinrikyo, Daesh is a fringe cult. There is nothing in formal Islam that would authorize summarily executing 21 Christians. The Qur’an says that Christians are closest in love to the Muslims, and that if they have faith and do good works, Christians need have no fear in the afterlife. Christians are people of the book and allowed religious freedom by Islamic law from the earliest times. Muslims haven’t always lived up to this ideal, but Christians were a big part of most Muslim states in the Middle East (in the early Abbasid Empire the Egyptian and Iraqi Christians were the majority). They obviously weren’t being taken out and beheaded on a regular basis. They did gradually largely convert to Islam, but we historians don’t find good evidence that they were coerced into it. Because they paid an extra poll tax, Christians had economic reasons to declare themselves Muslims.
2. Daesh fighters are pious. Some may be. But very large numbers are just criminals who mouth pious slogans. The volunteers from other countries often have a gang past. They engage in drug and other smuggling and in human trafficking and delight in mass murder. They are criminals and sociopaths. Lots of religious cults authorize criminality.
3. Massive numbers of fighters have gone to join Daesh since last summer. Actually, the numbers are quite small proportionally. British PM David Cameron ominously warned that 400 British Muslim youth had gone off to fight in Syria. But there are like 3.7 million Muslims in the UK now! So .01 percent .000027[crossed out in original] of the community volunteered. They are often teens, some are on the lam from petty criminal charges, and many come back disillusioned. You could get 400 people to believe almost anything. It isn’t a significant statistic. Most terrorism in Europe is committed by European separatist groups– only about 3% is by Muslims. Cameron is just trying to use such rhetoric to avoid being outflanked on his right by the nationalist UKIP. One of the most active Daesh Twitter feeds turns out to be run by an Indian worker in a grocery chain in Bangalore who lived in his parents’ basement and professed himself unable to volunteer for Syria because of his care giving chores. Daesh is smoke and mirrors.
4. Ibrahim Samarra’i’s ‘caliphate’ is widely taken seriously. No, it isn’t. It is a laughing matter in Egypt, the largest Arab country. There are a small band of smugglers and terrorists in Sinai who declared for Samarra’i, but that kind of person used to declare for Usama Bin Laden. It doesn’t mean anything. Egypt, with 83 million people, is in the throes of a reaction against political Islam, in favor of nationalism. It has become a little dangerous to wear a beard, the typical fashion of the Muslim fundamentalsit. Likewise, Tunisia voted in a secular government.
5. Daesh holds territory in increasing numbers of countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan. But outside of Syria and Iraq, Daesh is just a brand, not an organization. A handful of Taliban have switched allegiance to Daesh or have announced that they have. It has no more than symbolic significance in Pakistan and Afghanistan. These converts are tiny in number. They are not significant. And they were already radicals of some sort. Daesh has no command and control among them. Indeed, the self-styled ‘caliph’, Ibrahim Samarrai, was hit by a US air strike and is bed ridden in Raqqah, Syria. I doubt he is up to command and control. The Pakistani and Afghan governments have a new agreement to roll up the radicals, and Pakistan is aerially bombing them.
Even in Syria and Iraq, Daesh holds territory only because the states have collapsed. I remember people would do this with al-Qaeda, saying it had branches in 64 countries. But for the most part it was 4 guys in each of those countries. This kind of octopus imagery is taken advantage of by Daesh to make itself seem important, but we shouldn’t fall for it.
6. Only US ground troops can defeat Daesh and the USA must commit to a third Iraq War. The US had 150,000 troops or so in Iraq for 8 1/2 years! But they left the country a mess. Why in the world would anybody assume that another round of US military occupation of Iraq would work, given the disaster that was the last one? A whole civil war was fought between Sunnis and Shiites that displaced a million people and left 3000 civilians dead a month in 2006-2007, right under the noses of US commanders.
In fact, US air power can halt Daesh expansion into Kurdistan or Baghdad. US air power was crucial to the Kurdish defense of Kobane in northern Syria. It helped the Peshmerga paramilitary of Iraqi Kurdistan take back Mt. Sinjar. It helped an Iraqi army unit take back the refinery town of Beiji. The US ought not to have to be there at all. But if Washington has to intervene, it can contain the threat from the air. Politicians should just stop promising to extirpate the group. Brands can’t be destroyed, and Daesh is just a brand for the most part.
7. Daesh is said to have 9 million subjects. I don’t understand where this number comes from. They have Raqqah Province in Syria, which had 800,000 people before the civil war. But the north of Raqqah is heavily Kurdish and some 300,000 Kurds fled from there to Turkey. Some have now come back to Kobane. But likely at most Daesh has 500,000 subjects there. Their other holdings in Syria are sparsely populated. I figure Iraq’s population at about 32 million and Sunnis there at 17%, i.e. 5.5 million or so. You have to subtract the million or more Sunnis who live in Baghdad and Samarra, which Daesh does not control. Although most of the rest Sunni Iraq has fallen to Daesh, very large numbers of Sunnis have fled from them. Thus, of Mosul’s 2 million, 500,000 voted with their feet last summer when Daesh came in. Given the massive numbers of refugees from Daesh territory, and given that they don’t have Baghdad, I’d be surprised if over all they have more than about 3-4 million people living under them. And this is all likely temporary. Plans are being made to kick them right back out of Mosul.
F6, on reading yours this time i thought, Australia has given you Murdoch and Ken Ham, and wondered who you had given Australia in return .. lol .. minutes in thought, coupla searches .. nope, haven't yet found one in mind or on net .. anyone got any ideas on that?
Why Cruz and anyone else who believes Jesus has it all is dangerous ..
Matthew 10:34 Parallel Verses
New International Version "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
New Living Translation "Don't imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.
Context
The Sword of the Gospel 34"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35"For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;… http://biblehub.com/matthew/10-34.htm
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