The DnD Sanctuary

What I read, and I agree, from all analysts outside governmental circles is that is not possible to finish with IS without an effective occupation of the terrain.

IS already controls entire cities, their operational moves beneath the populations and air attacks will not harm them significantly.
They did everything they could to force the US and allies to enter in war against them and are people naive to think they did no preparations for that?
They prepared exactly for the kind of attacks Obama wants to use.

Dubai (AFP) - A female pilot has led United Arab Emirates air strikes that targeted Islamic State jihadists in Syria as part of the US-led campaign against extremists.

Major Mariam al-Mansouri, 35, “led the squadron” of UAE fighter jets that participated in raids Tuesday against the extremists, an Emirati source familiar with the matter said.

The UAE did not confirm officially that a woman was among the pilots that conducted the raids.

Mansouri is reportedly the first female UAE pilot of a fighter jet. She graduated from Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa bin Zayed Air College in 2007 and is veteran pilot of F-16 warplanes.

Washington has said the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan, took part in the strikes on the Islamic State, which has seized swaths of Iraq and northern Syria........continued

Major Mariam al-Mansouri

Likewise, ISIL's desire to carve out a state in the form of a revived Caliphate is a decisively modern one, which has its origins as much in the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia as it does in the history of Islam. Such sovereignty is completely absent in medieval culture, with its fragmented world and multiple sources of power.

In fact, within the context of Islamic observance, these militants are not considered traditionalists, but radical reformers, because they reject the authority of the established clergy and religious scholars, and instead demand the right to interpret doctrine themselves. That view was recently condemned in a letter, signed by more than 120 Muslim scholars.

As the Huffington Post reports:

Quote from: Huffington Post

The Muslim leaders who endorsed the letter called it an unprecedented refutation of the Islamic State ideology from a collaboration of religious scholars. It is addressed to the group's self-anointed leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, and "the fighters and followers of the self-declared 'Islamic State.'"

But the words "Islamic State" are in quotes, and the Muslim leaders who released the letter asked people to stop using the term, arguing that it plays into the group's unfounded logic that it is protecting Muslim lands from non-Muslims and is resurrecting the caliphate — a state governed by a Muslim leader that once controlled vast swaths of the Middle East.

"Please stop calling them the 'Islamic State,'"said Ahmed Bedier, a Muslim and the president of United Voices of America, a nonprofit that encourages minority groups to engage in civic life. "They are not a state and they are not a religion."

Nor are they medieval peoples, trapped in a future world. They're the product of the same modern ideologies and tactics that we experienced in the west, and that made the 20th century the bloodiest in history. And that's what makes them the ultimate embodiment of 21st century warfare.

ISIS,'the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant', stunned the world last month by capturing Mosul, Iraq's second city.

For Our World, Yalda Hakim has returned to Northern Iraq, a region she reported from last year, to find 4 people she met on her last visit - all members of a local paragliding club. She discovers how the arrival of ISIS has changed their country - and their lives, and asks if the ISIS declaration of an Islamic State, or Caliphate, marks the beginning of the end of Iraq as a country.

......considering you are an irish terrorist supporter.

Proud Irish Americans? Not only a great example of hypocrisy but the same lot were deeply involved in crime and corruption right across American history.

Proud Irish Americans? Not only a great example of hypocrisy but the same lot were deeply involved in crime and corruption right across American history. Even during the Civil War thousands refused to fight in it and went on a destruction sweep through New York burning, looting and hanging blacks. The army had to be called in so their weakness is a long term thing.. However i will say this. Your lot of murdering scumbags would have been ideal recruits for IS. One major difference though in that IS fights in the face whereas your pals don't as they haven't got the balls. Same mentality and cruelty so your corner fits in quite neatly with this thread so thanks for the reminder.

........You are nothing but a bigotted fool in this world Howie--and that's all you ever can be.

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They're only having a war over there where they cut people's heads off--- much safer than the sea between Scotland and Ireland, eh?

As for that so-called Caliphate it does need feet on the ground and Turkey has an army of over 500,000 for a start. Time America got it's allies in the ME to do some marching. Well that is when the same allies are not supplying terror groups themselves.

Hhhm. Trouble is Smiley that your lot are as bad when one thinks bad to Bush senior produced a numpty dopehead as his Vice-President so it seems to be a standard. Poor you lot!

In the case of Syria, the master narrative is that the conflict pits Sunni Muslims ­– whether those desiring liberal governance like the Syrian National Council or those championing religious rule like the Islamic State – against a government controlled by one particular religious minority, the Alawites. If this master narrative was operating on the ground, we would expect to see all Sunni Muslim groups fighting together against the Alawite government (and, potentially, its allies in the country’s other minority groups).

The cracks in the master narrative are manifest. For one thing, the Islamic State has come into conflict with virtually all of the largely Sunni Muslim groups fighting the Syrian government, including the Free Syrian Army and the al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra. In addition, there can be little question of the endogenous character of events in Syria’s northeast. The Islamic State itself emerged from elements of rebel groups fighting the Syrian government and groups coming from abroad. Neither the identities of, nor the alliances between groups fighting the government, could have been imagined before the beginning of the uprising, as none of them existed in Syria until fighting commenced.

Also emergent in the conflict are several new actors formed in response to weakened state control over much of the northeast. First, the most powerful Kurdish party, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) has set up its own army, the People’s Protection Units (YPG). The Syrian government withdrew from most of the Kurdish areas of the country in July 2012, which allowed the PYD to control the territory. Members of the other principal non-Arab ethnic group in the northeast, Syriac Christians, have set up a security organization called Sutoro. Far smaller than the Kurdish forces ­– unsurprising given the relatively smaller size of the Syriac population and its lack of a political apparatus equivalent to the PYD ­– Sutoro coordinates its activity closely with the PYD.

Who's going to be the Calif in the place of the Calif...

  how can they be stopped??

Upon the request of Muslim students at Miami University, Walmart recently made the decision to provide halal-certified meat at the
Oxford location.

Store manager Elijah Woodard made a formal announcement on Oct. 21 that the store would be accomodating these requests.

“I appreciated the students bringing this interest to our attention,” Woodard said. “I am pleased to announce that we have set a halal meat section in the store.”

According to Woodard, the order for the halal meat was made immediately and would only take a few days for the first shipment to arrive.

In Arabic, the word “halal” means permissible. Halal meat is meat that has been slaughtered according to Islamic law, as laid out in the Qu’ran. This particular type of slaughter is called dhabiha and requires that an animal’s throat be slit swiftly with a sharp blade to ensure as little pain and suffering as possible. While this is being done, the person with the blade says a prayer to Allah, or at the very least invokes the name of Allah to bless the animal and give thanks for the food.

According to visiting assistant professor Tareq Hasan Khan, there has never been a location in Oxford that sold this type of meat.

“For halal meat, we needed to drive from Oxford to Cincinnati, around 40 miles one way, almost every week,” Khan said. “This long drive is very tiresome and takes about two hours only to go to Cincinnati and return back.”

Between Khan and members of the Muslim Student Association (MSA), efforts were made to convince Walmart to provide the Halal meat. Many students reached out directly to the management at Walmart. In addition, a petition was passed around on the Internet. The petition acquired nearly 50 signatures and was directed at all Oxford grocers including MOON co-op and Kroger. Thus far, Walmart is the only provider who has responded to the requests of the Muslim students.

“It is already hard to live in the United States as a Muslim, sophomore Rami Abu-Attiyeh said. “I would like to see halal food offered to students making it more convenient for them to have more options when it comes to eating at Miami University.”

According to Khan, the number of Muslim students and staff who come to Oxford to attend Miami University increases every year. Many of these people also have families with children to provide for, which is hard to do when meat is so unavailable. For Muslim students living on campus, many have found it to be increasingly difficult to find halal options.

Senior Saara Khalid said that as a Muslim, it is hard to find halal options on campus, especially for those students who do not wish to be vegetarians.

In addition, students requested specific brands of halal meat to be provided in Oxford grocery stores.

“Since the Halal chicken and meat has to be certified, we strongly recommend the local stores to sell chicken products from Crescent Foods and beef products from Midamar,” Khan said.

Both of these brands are popular choices among the Muslim community.

Sophomore Trevor Snyder was more than happy to sign the petition that would make life easier for Muslim students on Miami’s campus.

“I signed because buying food should be convenient for everyone,” Snyder said.

Halal Options

Man Dehydrates After Discovering Water Is Halal Certified (http://www.sbs.com.au/comedy/article/2014/11/11/man-dehydrates-after-discovering-water-halal-certified)

Quote from: jax on 2014-11-12, 22:21:35

Man Dehydrates After Discovering Water Is Halal Certified (http://www.sbs.com.au/comedy/article/2014/11/11/man-dehydrates-after-discovering-water-halal-certified)

Water is always Halal, that's why I only drink alcohol.
Not to confuse with alcalal.

China has offered to help Iraq defeat Sunni extremists with support for air strikes, according to Ibrahim Jafari, Iraq’s foreign minister. Wang Yi, Mr Jafari’s Chinese counterpart, made the offer to help defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis, when the two men met in New York at September’s UN antiterrorism meeting, Mr Jafari said.

Any Chinese assistance would be outside the US-led coalition. “[Mr Wang] said, our policy does not allow us to get involved in the international coalition,” Mr Jafari told the Financial Times in Tehran, where he was attending an anti-extremism conference this week. “I welcomed this initiative. I told him . . . we are ready to deal with the coalition and also co-operate with countries outside this coalition.”

China’s official policy is of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs. Although it does sell weapons to many other countries since abandoning the Maoist goal of “exporting revolution” decades ago China has avoided direct military involvement beyond its borders.
Growing economic and strategic interests have tested that policy. China’s navy began escorting ship convoys around the Horn of Africa after Somali piracy threatened oil and ore cargoes. Last year for the first time it contributed troops to a UN peacekeeping operation in Mali. A battalion of 700 Chinese troops is now joining UN Peacekeepers in South Sudan, with a mandate to guard Chinese-invested oilfields there.

???

Hacktivist group Anonymous has released a video condemning the Charlie Hebdo attack and has promised to avenge the death of 12 people in Paris who were killed by gunmen thought to have been affiliated to extremist groups.

The video which says, "Message for al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and other terrorists", was uploaded on YouTube from the group's Belgian account.

The clip features a man wearing the group's signature Guy Fawkes mask seated in front of a desk and the hashtag #OpCharlieHebdo is seen running throughout the video. The expression stands for 'Operation Charlie Hebdo', in which the hacktivists are planning to avenge the 'terrorist' attack.

(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fdata1.ibtimes.co.in%2Fen%2Ffull%2F555403%2Fanonymous-video-which-says-message-al-qaeda-islamic-state-other-terrorists-threatens-kill.jpg%3Fw%3D660%26amp%3Bh%3D357%26amp%3Bl%3D50%26amp%3Bt%3D40&hash=067d14a006118bc669a586226ce2c653" rel="cached" data-hash="067d14a006118bc669a586226ce2c653" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://data1.ibtimes.co.in/en/full/555403/anonymous-video-which-says-message-al-qaeda-islamic-state-other-terrorists-threatens-kill.jpg?w=660&h=357&l=50&t=40)

'Operation Charlie Hebdo': Anonymous Threatens to Kill Terrorists, Hack Websites in Response to Paris Attack (http://www.ibtimes.co.in/operation-charlie-hebdo-anonymous-threatens-kill-terrorists-hacks-websites-response-paris-619946)

Quote from: IBTimes

Hacktivist group Anonymous has released a video condemning the Charlie Hebdo attack and has promised to avenge the death of 12 people in Paris who were killed by gunmen thought to have been affiliated to extremist groups.

The video which says, "Message for al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and other terrorists", was uploaded on YouTube from the group's Belgian account.

The clip features a man wearing the group's signature Guy Fawkes mask seated in front of a desk and the hashtag #OpCharlieHebdo is seen running throughout the video. The expression stands for 'Operation Charlie Hebdo', in which the hacktivists are planning to avenge the 'terrorist' attack.

(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fdata1.ibtimes.co.in%2Fen%2Ffull%2F555403%2Fanonymous-video-which-says-message-al-qaeda-islamic-state-other-terrorists-threatens-kill.jpg%3Fw%3D660%26amp%3Bh%3D357%26amp%3Bl%3D50%26amp%3Bt%3D40&hash=067d14a006118bc669a586226ce2c653" rel="cached" data-hash="067d14a006118bc669a586226ce2c653" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://data1.ibtimes.co.in/en/full/555403/anonymous-video-which-says-message-al-qaeda-islamic-state-other-terrorists-threatens-kill.jpg?w=660&h=357&l=50&t=40)

Hacker group Anonymous have released a video condemning the Paris attacks, saying "freedom of expression has suffered an inhuman assault"
Hacker group Anonymous have released a video and a statement via Twitter condemning the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 people, including eight journalists, were murdered.
The video description says that it is "a message for al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and other terrorists", and was uploaded to the group's Belgian account.
In the clip, a figure wearing the group's symbolic Guy Fawkes mask is seated in front of a desk with the hashtag #OpCharlieHebdo - which stands for Operation Charlie Hebdo - featured on screen.
The figure, whose voice is obscured says: "We are declaring war against you, the terrorists."
They add that the group will track down and close all accounts on social networks related to terrorists in order to avenge those who have been killed.

10 gets you 1 that the 10-year-old girl wasn't exactly a volunteer, if you get my meaning. These terrorists don't exactly play nice, and they're not above kidnapping children and using them as human bombs.

No mjsmsprt40 the safest place is to be as far away from the Pentagon controllers who create wars, disable countries and get a pat on the back from the corporates who smile going to the bank. You need to get out the place more. And remember the terrorist supporter on this Forum is from your country!

What do you think?

While hitting sites and social accounts for small media outfits might not give the Islamic militants or their supporters much credibility, defacing Centcom is a different story. After all, this is the military command post from which the US oversees operations in the Middle East, where American forces have been battling IS militants.

"At the same time it has suffered a series of setbacks on the physical battlefields of Iraq, the ISIS flag got waved in a medium that more people in the West both notice and care about – the social media environment," Peter Singer, a strategist for the New America Foundation, wrote in Wired. "It further stakes ISIS’s claim to prominence among the next generation of jihadis."

Poor try Colonel. You lot were so independent minded although founded by money people and the local Freeemasons (groan). That your country is in a mess, overdone by all your security agencies, skipping that constitution when suited is all your own work. No-one else would want to take the credit for a country going bananas and political nut jobs. And as you were determined to take over from the BE you have done a worse job globally.  :knight:

Quote from: rjhowie on 2015-01-19, 00:41:38

Poor try Colonel. You lot were so independent minded although founded by money people and the local Freeemasons (groan). That your country is in a mess, overdone by all your security agencies, skipping that constitution when suited is all your own work. No-one else would want to take the credit for a country going bananas and political nut jobs. And as you were determined to take over from the BE you have done a worse job globally.  :knight:

I do believe several world wars happened on british watch. Just a stern stare down for 50 years and now a few religious tiffs on the usa end. More murder by britt command of world economy by far.

Quote from: Djcrenshaw on 2015-01-19, 20:02:58

Quote from: rjhowie on 2015-01-19, 00:41:38

Poor try Colonel. You lot were so independent minded although founded by money people and the local Freeemasons (groan). That your country is in a mess, overdone by all your security agencies, skipping that constitution when suited is all your own work. No-one else would want to take the credit for a country going bananas and political nut jobs. And as you were determined to take over from the BE you have done a worse job globally.  :knight:

I do believe several world wars happened on british watch. Just a stern stare down for 50 years and now a few religious tiffs on the usa end. More murder by britt command of world economy by far.

Ah, welcome aboard DJ!  :cheers:
Good to see ya on here!

Some have gone so far as to say that WWI was an Imperial War.  :left:


/Inb4 Mr. Howie's ramblings about....whatever     :rolleyes:

............

If you are depending on him Colonel you are hard stuck and in need of a head shrinker (plenty in ASmerica as there is a glut of head-bangers everywhere). Call me whatever waffle comes into the mind as that is easier for you lot than being able to answer. Keep ot up and prove my points. You big-heads have been involved in destrcution of countries since WW2 and made a mess of most in the end. Supported dictatorships all over the place as long as rightist, portrayed the lad of the free as a light for the world. Mind you ar=t the same time with 40 million in poverty, increasingly a police state and spy mad case says something else. You would think the word 'hypocrisy' had been created by an ex-colonist.  Having been founded by the sons of the rich in Boston in-between their secret dealings in the Freemasons one is not surprised at all the secrecy agencies spying on all your citizens and the world.

The main differeenc fro the old days is you do not have to roll up a trouser leg but be brained into believeing all the spy agencies are part of the mind training. The other night I watched an interview with the former head of theNSA an organisdation which is massive and spends billions. He was rather saddened that it had become quite a separate thing and not telling the White House what it was up to. An ex-FBI agnent in addition claimed the FBI was being compromised but you have a longer list of spy wasters than anywhere else so only belies the infantile minds. Trouble is you poor brained cannot see it having been brought up with your patriotism corrupted by a seething nationalist mind organising lot. Very rarely do I ever see an explanation of the things that contradict that bit of paper called a Constitution or a proper answer for an item. Instead we get waffle and attempts at deviating from an actual answer. With billions on all the spy clubs and millions starving and homeless that says much more than names swung at me!   :hat:

ps. America is slowly morphing into a caliphate of it's own.

Quote from: rjhowie on 2015-01-20, 20:08:57

If you are depending on him Colonel you are hard stuck and in need of a head shrinker (plenty in ASmerica as there is a glut of head-bangers everywhere). Call me whatever waffle comes into the mind as that is easier for you lot than being able to answer. Keep ot up and prove my points. You big-heads have been involved in destrcution of countries since WW2 and made a mess of most in the end. Supported dictatorships all over the place as long as rightist, portrayed the lad of the free as a light for the world. Mind you ar=t the same time with 40 million in poverty, increasingly a police state and spy mad case says something else. You would think the word 'hypocrisy' had been created by an ex-colonist.  Having been founded by the sons of the rich in Boston in-between their secret dealings in the Freemasons one is not surprised at all the secrecy agencies spying on all your citizens and the world.

The main differeenc fro the old days is you do not have to roll up a trouser leg but be brained into believeing all the spy agencies are part of the mind training. The other night I watched an interview with the former head of theNSA an organisdation which is massive and spends billions. He was rather saddened that it had become quite a separate thing and not telling the White House what it was up to. An ex-FBI agnent in addition claimed the FBI was being compromised but you have a longer list of spy wasters than anywhere else so only belies the infantile minds. Trouble is you poor brained cannot see it having been brought up with your patriotism corrupted by a seething nationalist mind organising lot. Very rarely do I ever see an explanation of the things that contradict that bit of paper called a Constitution or a proper answer for an item. Instead we get waffle and attempts at deviating from an actual answer. With billions on all the spy clubs and millions starving and homeless that says much more than names swung at me!   :hat:

ps. America is slowly morphing into a caliphate of it's own.

Remind me of the (western) country that has a ban on making porn?

Nanny/Police State UK, anyone?    :sherlock:

Rubbish. Again lumping all state police in to a national corrections force.

Kinf of laughable that comment aout a police nanny Statewhen you think of the gung-ho form of police in the ex-colonies. They don't just try to arrest unarmed people they solve the legal problem by shooting them (not to wound) but kill and using just one bullet is not enough. Now the US police have access to a system that can see through walls based on radar so not satisified with spying on everyone now they have extnded things!  Thank heavens our police do not carry guns except for airports. Give an Amer5ican cop a gun and he is above the law and shoot whom he likes and get away with it. Sounds to me that the way things are going there the Police State gradualist direction is quickening.

Anyway thinking back to the thread and Caliphate stuff now the USA is going to help train and pay helping the Syrian Free Army as a "moderate group." If i was a US taxpayer I would groan at that as some sections of the SFA have had contact with some other groups that are something else. Just think of the times that "rebel" groups have been funded then later the same guns used to shoot and kill US soloders. It is a damnable crying shame that so many young American soldiers are losing their lives especially when arms supplied never always go where intended.

Quote from: rjhowie on 2015-01-21, 14:58:20

It is a damnable crying shame that so many young American soldiers are losing their lives especially when arms supplied never always go where intended.

What, never always?
Well, hardly ever always.

Quote from: tt92 on 2015-01-22, 08:03:13

Quote from: rjhowie on 2015-01-21, 14:58:20

It is a damnable crying shame that so many young American soldiers are losing their lives especially when arms supplied never always go where intended.

What, never always?
Well, hardly ever always.

Pay attention, tt92. It should be "hardly never always!"

Quote from: jax on 2015-02-18, 07:08:51

mass murder, war crimes, sexual slavery, torture, ethnic cleansing, genocide,

Banal, many do it. Using youtube to turn it into Terror, that's their specialty.

If people are not afraid, governments can't keep on doing more freedom restrictive measures. That's ISIS raison d'etre.
I'm afraid Oakdale that your governments is not interested at all in finishing with them, your government, europeans and many others.

As I said, 2030 is being prepared.

Quote from: Belfrager on 2015-02-18, 06:57:29

That means they studied you (the U.S. and the rest). Terror is like everything else, it can be well done or poorly done, they do it well and your fear proofs it.

A civilization afraid of videos is no civilization. Truth is embarrassing.

ISIS didn't study of their own initiative. U.S. govt taught them, and they turned out to be too good students. Just like with the Taliban and Al-Qaida previously, ISIS is yet another creation of the U.S. that became a costly worldwide problem.

Oakdale, have you forgotten the phase in the media when Syrian rebels were supposedly the good guys and everybody had to support them as much as possible? All focus was on bringing down Assad the tyrant. The U.S. brought down Saddam the tyrant and what came of that? Looks like the U.S is specifically calculating for more war, wanton destruction, and everlasting instability.

It's very easy to get rid of ISIS - just let Kurds create their own independent state. With independent Kurdistan at an early stage, say in the 80's, both Saddam and Assad could have been moderated without any need of killing (I'm not so sure they even needed moderation). But independent Kurdistan would obviously moderate Turkey too, so now we have to live with the Caliphate instead.

Nouns are not usually coming in superlative form, but those were nonsenseest statements.

The US neither created, nor inspired ISIL/Da'ish. They have older and better sources of inspiration. At most they have taken advantages of voids, some of which have come as a result of US action. The Assad regime is still responsible for most of the killings in Syria. The US has never supported ISIL nor al-Nusra, but have spent more resources on al-Nusra/AQ for own reasons. AQ is much more likely to make an attack on US soil or against US targets than ISIL is, and considered them the greater threat. They may still do so. Even so the US invested considerable military force and diplomacy to get Sunnis to beat ISIL up, and quite successful they were too.

ISIL is a menace to its surroundings and the territory they've conquered, not to Europe, not to the US. Sure they can be a pest here too, as shown partly in Paris and in Copenhagen when misfits claimed allegiance to ISIL in their police-assisted suicides. But the Kurds, the Yazidi, the Shia, the Assyrians, the differently-minded Sunni, they don't need YouTube to realise what they have on the doorstep. Speaking of which the Kurds, with their newly received airforce and somewhat improved weaponry, can put up a good fight in their home turf, which is a small part of ISIL territory. Outside there they are more hated than ISIL. Saddam Hussein and the Assads have killed Kurds in a quantity  far beyond what ISIL can aspire to, they would if they could, but they can't.

All of which should be in the thread: What's going on in the Caliphate, and the affected neighbourhood? (https://dndsanctuary.eu/index.php?topic=511.0) and not in this, it doesn't have any relevance for 2030.

There are two alternatives. Either ISIL is right, the Islamic doomsday is at hand, this world is over, and Allah will spend the rest of eternity showering us all with boiling water and dressing us in flaming clothes. Or, what I would consider a slightly more likely scenario, as a Caliphate they will be defeated militarily, politically, and religiously long before 2030. You might enjoy this: What Women ISIS Really Wants (http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/)

The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to stop it.

Maqdisi taught Zarqawi, who went to war in Iraq with the older man’s advice in mind. In time, though, Zarqawi surpassed his mentor in fanaticism, and eventually earned his rebuke. At issue was Zarqawi’s penchant for bloody spectacle—and, as a matter of doctrine, his hatred of other Muslims, to the point of excommunicating and killing them. In Islam, the practice of takfir, or excommunication, is theologically perilous. “If a man says to his brother, ‘You are an infidel,’ ” the Prophet said, “then one of them is right.” If the accuser is wrong, he himself has committed apostasy by making a false accusation. The punishment for apostasy is death. And yet Zarqawi heedlessly expanded the range of behavior that could make Muslims infidels.

Maqdisi wrote to his former pupil that he needed to exercise caution and “not issue sweeping proclamations of takfir” or “proclaim people to be apostates because of their sins.” The distinction between apostate and sinner may appear subtle, but it is a key point of contention between al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is starting to show some wear and tear. True, it pulled off the gruesome execution of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh; true, it has attracted jihadists from across the world; and true, it still holds swaths of Iraq and Syria. But cracks are appearing in the self-styled Caliphate.

One reason is that, starting in the late summer, the U.S. intervention in Iraq helped stall the ISIS advance. Since then, troops have been able to go on the offensive and start expelling the terrorist group from the territory it holds; it has already lost Kobani, the north Syrian border town where much of the violence is centered, and has also suffered significant defeats in Bajyi, Jurf al-Sakhar, Diyala, and the Mosul Dam. In the grand scheme of things, this does not translate into much: Of the 55,000 square kilometres of territory ISIS controls, it has lost only 700—around one percent. But at least the momentum has been checked.

Now, a planned spring offensive, a joint U.S.-Iraqi effort to retake the Sunni capital of Mosul, could be a watershed moment. Iraqi Security Forces, Kurdish Peshmerga troops, and Sunni tribes—backed by U.S. air support and military advisers—will look to end ISIS’ reign in the north and west Iraq, restoring government leadership in local towns and cities.

There are risks in this strategy. ISIS finds it easiest to take over Sunni areas where there is a looming threat of Shia or Pershmerga involvement. To retake Mosul, then, the coalition will have to avoid sending Peshmerga and Shia militias into the fray. The further these forces penetrate the Sunni enclave of Mosul, the likelier they are to push Sunnis into armed resistance.  [...]

These are not the only setbacks that ISIS has suffered recently. According to group spokespeople and media reports, there have been at least two different coup attempts against the ISIS leadership. Back in November, ISIS announced that it had thwarted a plot by a cell of Azerbaijanis who were plotting to kill ISIS members and encourage others to join an anti-ISIS faction. In recent days, details of a coup attempt against ISIS leadership in eastern Syria, led by Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, ISIS’ governor in Raqqa, have emerged. Ansari and dozens of others were killed in response, and some of Ansari’s fellow conspirators are thought to have fled Raqqa.

Furthermore, there seems to be a sense of growing disillusionment among recruits. The level of violence is extraordinarily high, even for a jihadist group. Outside the beheadings and burnings, prisoners are pushed off buildings, crucified, buried alive, and impaled. Female recruits are being coerced into ISIS sex camps and raped. According to one United Nations committee, the group is also torturing, crucifying, and burying children alive.

Meanwhile, foreign fighters, many of whom signed on to fight the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, have been pushed into conflict against other armed factions in Syria. Others are given menial tasks such as cleaning weapons and transporting dead bodies from the front line. Those who refuse their duties risk being labelled apostates and killed; and those who try to escape are equally likely to die. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, over 100 people who wished to leave the ISIS were executed between October and December 2014. This suggests that ISIS is increasingly turning on itself.

Something else that is slowing ISIS down: the group has been forced to govern the land that it currently holds. And it isn’t going well. Wheat production has collapsed and electricity is sporadic. Hospital staff has fled and pharmaceutical supplies are in short supply. Water service was better under Assad and Iraq’s former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. ISIS may hold territory and enforce law and order, but it is clearly not governing.

ISIS will never be defeated by European nations or the United States because they will never do what is necessary, that is, beat them with ground forces. Unless countries in the area use foot soldiers, ISIS will continue on for a long time.

Foot soldiers might speed up some victories, but would also flag AMERICAN (or whatever) SOLDIERS ON OUR SOIL.

From all I've read, the U.S. has the wherewithal to decimate this incipient Caliphate — to defeat it, on its own terms. (If it can't hold its territory, it is not a Caliphate!) We do not, however, have an administration willing to do so.
And -it seems to me- the local powers are ambivalent. (They may also be incompetent, or ill-prepared. The only exception -that the U.S. would consider: Iran- is also an enemy of the West. Israel is no longer seen as an ally, being committed to its own survival…so, their "help" is necessarily eschewed.) They know they can't fight…

I realize that most Europeans reject the "conflict of civilizations" trope. But does ISIS? Do Europe's increasing Muslim immigrant populations?
The U.S. may be shielded from these considerations beyond 2030… We can wait, without undue trepidation. That is, if we're willing to see chaos once again subsume the Continent…

Needless to say, I don't believe the ideology of the Caliphate will wither and die on its own. If it is not defeated soon, and decisively, it will become a dominant force in the world.

The US is doing reasonably well,

I appreciate your perspective, jax… But the Caliphate is not a new concept: It began with Mohammad and has returned frequently. Since nuclear weapons have been added to the mix, the apocalyptic versions of this ideology/theology have become more worrisome, no? :)

I appreciate your perspective, jax…

@abu_britani
oh so it's you lot that's got the contract to empty the bins? Get to it then!
#We_Are_Coming_O_Rome (https://twitter.com/hashtag/We_Are_Coming_O_Rome?src=hash)

NZ troops to Iraq for Isis fight (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11407112)

Europe will be saved from yet another threat by someone who should be unconcerned. Amazing how the world works.

NZ troops to Iraq for Isis fight (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11407112)

Europe will be saved from yet another threat by someone who should be unconcerned. Amazing how the world works.

• Muhammed's death


• the conquest of Jerusalem


• a plague that will afflict you (and kill you in great numbers) as the plague that afflicts sheep


• the increase of wealth to such an extent that even if one is given one hundred Dinars, he will not be satisfied


• an affliction which no Arab house will escape


• a truce between you and Bani Al-Asfar (i.e. the Byzantines) who will betray you and attack you under eighty objectives. Under each objective will be twelve thousand soldiers

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The Last Hour would not come until the Romans would land at al-A'maq or in Dabiq. An army consisting of the best (soldiers) of the people of the earth at that time will come from Medina (to counteract them). When they will arrange themselves in ranks, the Romans would say: Do not stand between us and those (Muslims) who took prisoners from amongst us. Let us fight with them; and the Muslims would say: Nay, by Allah, we would never get aside from you and from our brethren that you may fight them. They will then fight and a third (part) of the army would run away, whom Allah will never forgive. A third (part of the army). which would be constituted of excellent martyrs in Allah's eye, would be killed and the third who would never be put to trial would win and they would be conquerors of Constantinople. And as they would be busy in distributing the spoils of war (amongst themselves) after hanging their swords by the olive trees, the Satan would cry: The Dajjal has taken your place among your family. They would then come out, but it would be of no avail. And when they would come to Syria, he would come out while they would be still preparing themselves for battle drawing up the ranks. Certainly, the time of prayer shall come and then Jesus (peace be upon him) son of Mary would descend and would lead them in prayer. When the enemy of Allah would see him, it would (disappear) just as the salt dissolves itself in water and if he (Jesus) were not to confront them at all, even then it would dissolve completely, but Allah would kill them by his hand and he would show them their blood on his lance (the lance of Jesus Christ).  [...]

 
• the increase of wealth to such an extent that even if one is given one hundred Dinars, he will not be satisfied

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B_JzV8WU8AEHKLJ.jpg)

Above?

You don't mean to the left, do you?

I celebrate him every month!

Waited for a translated version of this episode of Swedish Uppdrag granskning, doesn't seem about to happen, but we at least got this excerpt

We need a map.

(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-apps%2Fimrs.php%3Fsrc%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fimg.washingtonpost.com%2Fblogs%2Fworldviews%2Ffiles%2F2015%2F01%2FforeignFighters-Jan14-10001.jpg%26amp%3Bw%3D1484&hash=368fed853bfa750f229d49b3ab996706" rel="cached" data-hash="368fed853bfa750f229d49b3ab996706" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2015/01/foreignFighters-Jan14-10001.jpg&w=1484) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/27/map-how-the-flow-of-foreign-fighters-to-iraq-and-syria-has-surged-since-october/)

I wanted to attach a YouTube video showing how watching YouTube videos will turn you into a homicidal maniac,

But that enmity for the United States circulates beyond the militias that once fought U.S. soldiers, surfacing also in parliamentary debates and Iraqi media reports and even at the highest ranks of the national armed forces that the United States is aiding.

“Everybody knows that the Americans are dropping supplies to Daesh,” said Brig. Gen. Abed al-Maliki, a senior Iraqi army commander based in the city of Samarra, about 80 miles north of Baghdad, using another term for the Islamic State.

What’s more, he said, during some of the fiercest fighting around Samarra last year, U.S. Special Operations forces dropped behind enemy lines to assist Islamic State militants.

“They came in with parachutes, and they were helping to bomb the city,” he said.

U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State, he contended, are probably just a cover for efforts to support the group.

“It’s just a show,” he said, sitting in the city’s army command headquarters. “If the Americans want to finish something, they will finish it. If they wanted to liberate Iraq, they could.”

A wildly popular trailer for an Iraqi TV program launched last year that mocked the Islamic State played off that speculation. It showed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi hatching out of an egg after a marriage between characters representing Israel and America.

I made my voice as tiny, sweet and bright as I could, considering I’d smoked like a chimney for 15 years. And I smiled. “It’s crazy to be talking to a mujahid in Syria,” Mélodie said, impressed. “It’s like you have easier access to the internet than I do in Toulouse! I share the computer with my sister, and my mum takes it away from us a lot. Even your phone is newer than mine.” I was giving Mélodie a plausible excuse for future unavailability. She lived with her family, she couldn’t always honour her engagements.

“Syria is amazing,” Bilel said. “We have everything here. Masha’Allah, you have to believe me: it’s paradise! A lot of women fantasise about us; we’re Allah’s warriors,” he said.

“But every day people die in your paradise…”

“That’s true, and every day I fight to stop the killing. Here the enemy is the devil. You have no idea. The enemy steals from and kills poor Syrians. He rapes women, too. He’s attacking us, and we’re defending peace.”

“Is the enemy the president of Syria?”

“Among others. We have many adversaries.”

In addition to Bashar al-Assad’s regime, he mentioned the al-Nusra Front (an armed branch of al-Qaida), Syrians and all those he considered infidels. “Tell me,” Bilel said, “do you wear your hijab every day?”

Mélodie recited what I’d heard from the girls I’d met during my research who had secretly converted to Islam. “I dress normally in the morning. I say goodbye to my mum, and when I’m outside the house, I put on my djellaba and my veil.”

“Good. I’m proud of you. What you’re doing is really brave. You have a beautiful soul. And you’re very pretty on the outside, too.”

Bilel peered lecherously at Mélodie. She asked him to show her his surroundings. He claimed to be near Aleppo. In reality, he was probably several miles from the Isis stronghold of Raqqa.

He got out of his car and his smartphone showed images of a devastated Syria. Not a person in sight. It was about 9pm there, and it was absolutely silent. Suddenly, men’s thick voices broke the silence.

Daily Mail: ISIS fanatics summon crowd to ancient Roman amphitheatre of Palmyra to execute 20 men (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3099466/Islamic-State-shoots-dead-20-Palmyra-amphitheatre-monitor.html)

If you had let the Muslims get on with bashing each other we would probably not have had a damn world plagues by their terror minds now.

Nice way of diverging attentions from those responsible for the creation of the "Islamic State".

The ones responsible for the creation of ISIL are the ones that actually created ISIL, several of whom are still alive. While I am as willing to argue for cause and effect as much as the next posters, saying that the US (because I don't think you mean Germany or the Glaswegians) is responsible for Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIL is just lazy.

I'd split Belfrager in half.

While I am as willing to argue for cause and effect as much as the next posters, saying that the US (because I don't think you mean Germany or the Glaswegians) is responsible for Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIL is just lazy.

We are assisting to another US "victory".

Quote from: jax on 2015-05-29, 11:41:33

I'd split Belfrager in half.

Even so, it doesn't makes things easier for you... :)
The men behind the Islamic State success are no more no less than the Sunite elite loyal to Saddam Hussein. We are assisting to another US "victory".
Isn't revenge a dish better served cold?

The Taliban Tuesday warned the leader of the Islamic State group against waging a parallel insurgency in Afghanistan, after a string of defections and reported clashes with militants loyal to IS.

The Middle Eastern group, also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh, has never formally acknowledged having a presence in Afghanistan but fears are growing that the group is making inroads in the country.
In a letter addressed to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Taliban insisted that "jihad (holy war) against the Americans and their allies must be conducted under one flag and one leadership".
"The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) does not consider the multiplicity of jihadi ranks beneficial either for jihad or for Muslims," said the letter signed by the Taliban deputy leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor.

the toppling of Saddam Hussein didn't end up very swell.

BEIJING — By declaring Tuesday that it would soon complete its contentious program of building artificial islands in the South China Sea, Beijing hopes to diminish tensions with the United States while reassuring its home audience that it has delivered on its pledge to resist American military pressure, experts said.

Leaders from the United States and China are set to meet next week in Washington at a major annual conference, the Strategic and Economic Dialogue. A topic of the talks there is expected to be the Obama administration’s opposition to China’s building in the disputed waters, including the construction of a runway capable of handling military aircraft.

Leaders from the United States and China are set to meet next week in Washington at a major annual conference, the Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

Quote from: Jimbro3738 on 2015-06-17, 00:23:46

Leaders from the United States and China are set to meet next week in Washington at a major annual conference, the Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

The United States has leaders…? Who would you name?
I might want to talk to them…

Well, we're moving out of Middle East meddling ...

Really? Where did you got this from?   :left:

WASHINGTON—The nation’s top defense officials left open the possibility on Wednesday that the U.S. military may play a more active role in the fight against Islamic State extremists, by joining Iraqi forces on the front lines to help direct airstrikes.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that they might support the higher-risk role for U.S. troops in Iraq, a move that has been under discussion but that President Barack Obama has so far resisted.

Gen. Dempsey told lawmakers that he sees value in helping Iraqi forces when they go on the offensive to retake key targets, including oil refineries and major cities, including Mosul, which Islamic State forces have controlled for more than a year.
............................
“Putting U.S. forces on the ground as a substitute for local forces will not produce enduring results,” Mr. Carter told the House Armed Services Committee. “I would not recommend that we put U.S. forces in harm’s way simply to stiffen the spine of local forces.”

From here. See, I told you so.

This should be the proof for moving out of Middle East meddling?

NATO Turkey is now an ISIL ally. Then again, so is the US.

At the end they will get blast too but for now they are still useful idiots for the geostrategic plans of the hegemon, namely for reshaping the Middle East (and Africa). Wonder how the new map of the reshaped Middle East will look like.

So… the "hegemon" has been reshaping the Middle East for over a century. Methinks the grand evil plan is a bit lacking in execution, or perhaps simply absent. :P

Useful review: The Mystery of ISIS (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/aug/13/mystery-isis/)

Oh-oh! Belfrager's potty-mouth has migrated…  :)

BTW, Sweden tells refugees "Stay in Germany" as Ikea runs out of beds...

Beijing has vowed to bring ISIS to justice after the group said it had executed two hostages, a Chinese and a Norwegian.

ISIS said it had killed the two men, identified as Chinese national Fan Jinghui and Norwegian citizen Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad in its English-language online magazine Dabiq.

President Xi Jinping "strongly condemned" ISIS for the killing of Fan, the first known Chinese national to be killed by the group, and the country's foreign ministry said the Chinese government would "definitely hold the perpetrators accountable."

President Xi Jinping "strongly condemned" ISIS for the killing of Fan, the first known Chinese national to be killed by the group, and the country's foreign ministry said the Chinese government would "definitely hold the perpetrators accountable."

Why strongly condemned is between comas?

Quotation marks. That's actually textbook how to use them, for quoting... There are other ways -  to distinguish terms, titles and such
(I usually try to use the 'singles' for those tho.) ;)

scare quotes.

Why f*cking idiot journalists relativizes what they are paid to inform? they aren't paid to state their personal opinions on the issue.

Don't be even more naive than a vampire sleeping "upside down".

Journalists are paid to state the opinions of their employer!
Money talks.

Perhaps that was because of how much of Eça de Queirós' employment was as a journalist…

Journalists are the scoundrels of the newspapers? Not the editors? Not the publishers?

Of course -you, being a socialist or fascist, ...

The sadly truth is that no one knows how to fight a post modernist war.

A post modernist war you say?
The war for world domination and resources under the 'new world order', disguised as the neverending war against self-created monsters?

I would say there is an outstanding difference between a socialist and fascist.

Are any of the "great powers" going to destroy this incipient Caliphate?

Assad is part of the solution, not of the problem. As Hussein and Kadafi were.

It is strange why nobody questions such insistence by the American government in creating such a mess. In the bottom line they are shooting their own feet, while destroying everything else.
Is it that what they call collateral damages?

I believe one must look for the answers at a radical different kind of explanations.

You are I think, spot on with that.

They're not great thinkers.

What -I wonder- does the OP think?
Are any of the "great powers" going to destroy this incipient Caliphate?

Incidentally I am  now  neighbouring the Caliphate myself, I am in Qatar.

It's very strange that no one has ever asked for the real solution, to send the Legion Etrangére with an heavy back up and international support. That's why they exist for, they are the only ones able to deal with the situation.

This in case, obviously, for States that still bothers with international laws.

It's very strange that no one has ever asked for the real solution, to send the Legion Etrangére with an heavy back up and international support. That's why they exist for, they are the only ones able to deal with the situation.

The real reasons we object to the Russian "help" in Syria is that we don't want competition.

It's part of a dirty game called: "reshaping the Middle East". It started with Iraq and wonder who will get hit next after Syria.

What I say is that Europeans have the perfect tool for that while the US has none. Legion Etrangére.

It's important, ultimately important, to respect International Law to Europeans, it makes all the difference from the new world barbarians.

From a March 28, 1786, letter written by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who were American diplomats at the time, to U.S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs John Jay reporting on their conversation in London with the ambassador from Tripoli regarding piracy by the Barbary States:

We took the liberty to make some enquiries concerning the ground of their pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury, and observed that we considered all mankind as our friends who had done us no wrong, nor had given us any provocation.

The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the laws of their Prophet; that it was written in their Koran; that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners; that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners; and that every Mussulman [Muslim] who was slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise. (Wall Street Journal)

The Caliphate would make the same reply today. You can buy a truce – never peace – by paying tribute; but they are always at war with the infidels, and have no choice in the matter, for it is commanded.

The Caliphate – ISIL as the President seems fond of calling it – accepts the command. It gives as a sign of legitimacy that it rules lands and in those lands applies the Law of the Koran; this demonstrates its legitimacy in the eyes of God. All Muslims must give it allegiance, for it rules by the will of Allah. And so long as it can make this claim of legitimacy, it grows, as more and more Muslims, including middle class citizens of the United States find they have no choice but to render it obedience. This not “radicalizing”; this is obedience to the fundamental marching orders that have prevailed since the Prophet returned to Mecca. To those who have accepted the Caliphate – ISIL – they have seen the sign, and they accept its commands.

The Caliphate grows daily. It must someday be defeated. It grows stronger daily. It is far more difficult and costly to defeat today than it was a year ago when the President of the United States pronounced it contained and called it the junior varsity. And it will never be easier to defeat than now.

However, the Caliphate is not our only enemy in the region. Iran has repeatedly declared a “state of hatred” with the United States. That does not have the legal implications of a state of war—indeed we negotiate with them and relieve sanctions so that they will become richer—but it is a declaration of intent, and we would be foolish not to believe the current regime, which is even now testing missiles capable of carrying nuclear war heads, does not mean it. So long as Iraq was held by Sunni or Baathist elements we could count on Iraq to be the enemy of our enemy, but we eliminated the Baathists and turned the Iraqi Sunni over to the tender mercies of the long persecuted Shiite majority. We then proceeded to withdraw. It should hardly have been a surprise when the Shiites turned to Shiite Iran, the ill trained “unity” army ran from the Caliphate, and the Sunni in the region did not fight the invading Sunni forces, even though they would have preferred to be liberated from invading Caliphate forces by Sunni Jordan (with which they were briefly federated in the United Arab Kingdom in the times of Egyptian Nasser). That not being possible, they saw the incoming Caliphate as preferable to the Shiite Iraqi government Obama left in place. For Obama, Clinton, and Both Bushes there is plenty of blame to go around.

If we destroy the Caliphate, we destroy an enemy of Iran. If we are not prepared to exert the power of the Republic in stabilizing the area, is this wise?

I suppose a State can only declare war against another State, something the ISIS is not despite the name.
This in case, obviously, for States that still bothers with international laws.

It's very strange that no one has ever asked for the real solution, to send the Legion Etrangére with an heavy back up and international support. That's why they exist for, they are the only ones able to deal with the situation.

It's part of a dirty game called: "reshaping the Middle East". It started with Iraq and wonder who will get hit next after Syria.

The real solution, this century, was to NOT invade Iraq and Afghanistan.

Quote from: ersi on 2015-12-09, 22:52:29

The real solution, this century, was to NOT invade Iraq and Afghanistan.

And -I suppose- the USSR shouldn't have invaded Afghanistan, either… (BTW: Why did they do that? :)

Your "view" of "this century" seems limited to 20 or 30 years — which is to say, you remain math challenged.

And how is Légion Etrangère different from other Western colonial military tools of intervention?

Colonial? Colonial?? If the west doesn't colonize it will be colonized. As we can see today.

By west I obviously exclude the USA. Such place is not part of the European culture.

Fact is - Merkel, Hollande, Cameron and the rest of Europe get directives from Washington - whether you consider the White House part of European culture or not .

How right things can justify wrong actions...

How in goodness name can a man be in solitary for 43 years? Uh?

The “no contest” plea is not an admission of guilt […]

Do you realise how silly yo make Americans look??

Every party here for example supports the Welfare State and the National Health Service […]

sei le vie

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2016-02-23, 08:35:49

sei le vie

*twitch*

Come on let's twitch again!

Eh eh, that's not from your time...  :)

Holy crap I agree with a Howie rant. What the hell happened?!

We are ready to accept almost any explanation of the present crisis of our civilisation except one: that the present state of the world may be the result of genuine error on our own part, and that the pursuit of some of our most cherished ideals have apparently produced results utterly different from those which we expected.

I don't care, that no one recognizes the quote. I do care, greatly, that few understand its import.

I don't care, that no one recognizes the quote. I do care, greatly, that few understand its import.

@Jaybro: The comma in the first sentence is a cheap form of emphasis…  :)  Punctuation is more a function of style than of substance, I think. As long as one's choices don't mangle the meaning, where's the harm?

Certainly, the European powers had nothing to do with it! :)

The truth is they had. Name it Coalition of the Willing...

Wonder where that would be.....?   :idea:

If you ask emotional Caledonians what the national dress is they will gob out it is the kilt. Balderdash. On language you get Gaelic. Nonsense. Then throw in the dashed bagpipes. Groan.

I think I got it. Old parades in Spain are bad because they are RC. Old parades in Scotland are OK because they are Protestant.
Everything makes sense now.

Palmyra went to high skies. Nothing will bring it back. Foreign forces in the area have only added to bad blood.

Quote from: ersi on 2016-03-26, 16:31:14

Palmyra went to high skies. Nothing will bring it back. Foreign forces in the area have only added to bad blood.

What do you mean? that Palmyra should be left to the ones that destroiy it?

[…] Palmyra is worthless regardless who is in possession of it.

Do you mean Palmyra should be back in the hands of those who withdrew from there and permitted its destruction?

Foreign forces in the area have brought about the turmoil that caused the destruction of plenty of heritage of humanity. Such as entire Iraq. Not to mention human lives. American invasion brought about the first suicide attacks in Iraq after a pause of a millennium.

This propaganda shift has already been seen manifested in the release of a new shorter propaganda magazine Rumiyah, seemingly intended to replace Dabiq. The naming of Rumiyah ("Rome" in Arabic) appears to reveal something about the group’s shifting priorities. Not only does it emphasise the continuity between jihadi struggles today with ancient battles from Islamic history, but also an increased focus on directly attacking western countries, rather than encouraging recruits to migrate to Iraq and Syria.

The Battle for Mosul will affect ISIS fighters in key ways. First, after an aggressive and deadly defense of Mosul, ISIS supporters are likely to melt away into the background and await to see what happens next with Iraqi stabilization operations.

ISIS is likely to launch an assertive suicide campaign in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities and perhaps attacking infrastructure. Shiites will be targeted out of sectarian hatred. In Mosul’s future, it is likely that ISIS will strike constabulary forces and police training sites once the city is brought fully under control.

Second, ISIS fighters are going to migrate. ISIS fighters are now heading to Syria and eventually are going to protect Raqqa. An influx of fighters from Mosul in to Hasaka (http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/10/18/after-mosul-falls-isis-will-flee-to-syria-then-what/) is a signal of the ISIS flow westward. This migration into Syria is going to swell Raqqa with fighters that will make that urban battle long and deadly.

Quote

After an aggressive and deadly defense of Mosul, ISIS supporters are likely to melt away into the background and await to see what happens next with Iraqi stabilization operations

ISIS’s ability to provide for these fighters may be in question given the degrading capabilities of ISIS’s social services. ISIS fighters are going to end up returning to their homelands with the blessing of the so-called Caliphate leadership.

Third, ISIS authorities are distributing fighters to specific locations to boost ISIS breeding grounds. According to a GCC official, ISIS’s enabler networks are now focusing on building its nimble organization (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/isis-falls-will-fighters-flee/) by tapping into trans-regional and local criminal networks across a number of continents in order to spread out across a number of continents with Levantine-based, hardened fighters. ISIS, like seeds, is to scatter from Africa to East Asia to boost embryonic “states” even if only a cyber-presence.

Quote from: ersi on 2016-10-20, 00:53:37

What were W's priorities? To defeat Saddam in the particular way he did it meant creating ISIS.

The Obama administration's failure to negotiate a status of forces agreement and our subsequent withdrawal led to ISIS…

"Repubs adore social experiments"! ersi, you seem to know next to nothing about American politics.

But I'll remind you of something: Saddam attempted to assassinate GHW Bush during the Clinton administration… More than enough reason for taking out the guy, eh?

The Neocon nation-building stuff was botched, if it ever had a chance. But it was always a liberal (Democrat) notion.

If you want to know about our history of demagogues, you can go as far back as Andrew Jackson…

Is there really something left to know about American politics?

Mossul is under attack.
Thanks to Syria and Russia the Islamic State is going to be defeated.
Americans are out. Irrelevant Americans. The times they are a changing.... 

Quote from: ersi on 2016-10-20, 00:53:37

What were W's priorities? To defeat Saddam in the particular way he did it meant creating ISIS.

The Obama administration's failure to negotiate a status of forces agreement and our subsequent withdrawal led to ISIS…
"Repubs adore social experiments"! ersi, you seem to know next to nothing about American politics.

But I'll remind you of something: Saddam attempted to assassinate GHW Bush during the Clinton administration… More than enough reason for taking out the guy, eh? The Neocon nation-building stuff was botched, if it ever had a chance. But it was always a liberal (Democrat) notion.

We can put it down to massive US failures during the reign of Bush the Younger

ISIL could be considered the pied piper, the Donald Trump of terror organisations. After they had wrecked their havoc the winning players could collect the pot.

The operation to liberate Mosul has launched, and U.S., Iraqi government, Kurdish Peshmerga, Yezidi, Christian and local Sunni forces are on the move. Their effort faces many challenges. One of the most important is the dispute between Ankara and Baghdad over the presence of Turkish troops at Bashiqa northeast of Mosul. Unless addressed quickly, there is danger of a war within a war that could damage the prospects for retaking and stabilizing Mosul.

Betteridge's law of headlines is one name for an adage that states: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no."

There are enough fingers on the trigger to add even more, and besides many European arms dealers are making a killing.

as the blowback would affect Europe, and has affected Europe.

Hitler couldn't do it; The British Empire failed.
ISIS is doomed.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/isis-revolutionary-state (https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/isis-revolutionary-state)

An independence referendum for Iraqi Kurdistan was held on 25 September 2017, with preliminary results showing approximately 93 percent of votes cast in favour of independence.

DiDn't anybody notice the referendum for Kurdish independence in Iraq? There's a Wikipedia page about it now.

Mr Abadi [the Prime Minister of Iraq] insisted that the vote [Kurdish independence referendum] was unconstitutional and ordered pro-government forces to retake disputed areas held by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters since 2014, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, sparking clashes that left dozens dead.

The losses were a major blow to the Kurds' aspirations for their own state and prompted Mr Barzani to declare on Sunday that he wanted his presidential powers to be distributed among the region's prime minister, parliament and judiciary.

So that attempt at independence went down the drain also. Iraqis seem to prefer ISIS.