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Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria now controls nation-size tract of territory from Aleppo to Fallujah

Jun 11, 2014 2:31 pm By Robert Spencer

Militia fighters in Aleppo SyriaObama will probably continue to insist that al Qaeda is on the ropes until they storm the White House and take him hostage, but in the real world, Islamic jihadists are stronger than ever, and control virtually a nation of their own stretching from eastern Syria to western Iraq. In response, the U.S. is denying that the ideology that motivates and drives these fighters is really what motivates and drives them, and refusing to study it. A sure recipe for success.

“ISIS: The al-Qaeda-linked Islamists powerful enough to capture a key Iraqi city,” by Liz Sly, Washington Post, June 10, 2014:

BEIRUT — Since U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq in December 2011, the al-Qaeda affiliate they spent years battling to vanquish has expanded its reach to the extent that it now controls what amounts to a state of its own across vast areas of Syria and Iraq.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) effectively governs a nation-size tract of territory that stretches from the eastern edge of the Syrian city of Aleppo to Fallujah in western Iraq – and now also includes the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

The fall of Mosul to the extremists on Tuesday, after the apparent collapse of Iraqi security forces there, offers only the latest example of the extraordinary resurgence of the militant organization in the past 2½ years, aided to a large extent by the vacuum of authority in neighboring Syria.

The al-Qaeda in Iraq organization that confronted U.S. troops has since renamed itself to reflect its expanded activities in Syria, and it has fallen out with the al-Qaeda leadership. It has also become a far more lethal, effective and powerful force than it was when U.S. forces were present in Iraq.

“This is a force that is ideologically motivated, battle hardened and incredibly well equipped,” said Douglas Ollivant of the New America Foundation, who advised the Obama and George W. Bush administrations on Iraq, served two tours of duty in that country and has business interests there. “It also runs the equivalent of a state. It has all the trappings of a state, just not an internationally recognized one.”

ISIS owes its resurrection in no small part to the chaos in Syria, where large swaths of territory in areas bordering Iraq were falling out of government control just as U.S. troops were leaving, Ollivant said.

Most of ISIS’s expansion has come in the past year, however, after the group’s Iraqi leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced its new mission in Syria and began recruiting across the northern and eastern parts of the country that were under rebel control. ISIS lured into its ranks the bulk of the thousands of foreign volunteers, some from Europe and the United States, who have streamed into Syria to wage jihad, further bolstering its numbers….

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Filed Under: Iraq, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), Syria Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. Charli Main says

    Jun 11, 2014 at 2:45 pm

    Al Qaeda won´t be storming the White House to take Obama hostage. It would be to carry him shoulder high and wreath him in garlands for helping them succeed in all their objectives. Of course, his little lap dogs David Cameron and Tony Blair will be rolling around, excitedly at his feet, while Obama laps up the adoration of his Muslim compatriots.

    • gerard says

      Jun 11, 2014 at 3:05 pm

      My thoughts exactly Charli Main! Obama’s words on seeing Al at his door will be: Welcome my brothers! What took you so long?!

  2. mariam rove says

    Jun 11, 2014 at 3:01 pm

    Let’s all of us call Obama to congratulate him! Have him send more weapons and money to the jihadists. M

  3. pongadae rex says

    Jun 11, 2014 at 3:20 pm

    Look closely at the photo. The assault rifle is brand new. These people were well funded.

  4. WTD says

    Jun 11, 2014 at 4:09 pm

    Recidivism concerns about the recently released GITMO-5 confirmed with:

    UKTelegraph: Meet alQaeda’s new poster boy for the ME
    Curious tidbit about ISIS as relates to the recently released GITMO-5.. (Excerpt)

    “Some describe him as a farmer who was arrested by US forces during a mass sweep in 2005, who then became radicalised at Camp Bucca, where many al-Qaeda commanders were held. Others, though, believe he was a radical even during the largely secular era of Saddam Hussein, and became a prominent al-Qaeda player very shortly after the US invasion.

    “This guy was a Salafi (a follower of a fundamentalist brand of Islam), and Saddam’s regime would have kept a close eye on him,” said Dr Michael Knights, an Iraq expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

    “He was also in Camp Bucca for several years, which suggests he was already considered a serious threat when he went in there.” That theory seems backed by US intelligence reports from 2005, which describe him as al-Qaeda’s point man in Qaim, a fly-blown town in Iraq’s western desert.

    “Abu Duaa was connected to the intimidation, torture and murder of local civilians in Qaim”, says a Pentagon document. “He would kidnap individuals or entire families, accuse them, pronounce sentence and then publicly execute them.”

    Why such a ferocious individual was deemed fit for release in 2009 is not known. One possible explanation is that he was one of thousands of suspected insurgents granted amnesty as the US began its draw down in Iraq.

  5. Burt says

    Jun 11, 2014 at 4:18 pm

    It looks like the start of eventual WWIII to me. The rest of the world surely has to stem this Caliphate that seems to be on the verge of being established.

    What a mess. We were better off with Saddam keeping a lid on things by his own malignant methods.

    • mariam rove says

      Jun 11, 2014 at 4:33 pm

      I agree with you that it is the start of WWIII. But the WW is between muslims and it is all very good, They will be killing each other to oblivion and that is all good. M

    • Myxlplik says

      Jun 11, 2014 at 9:17 pm

      Burt,

      Every move in this chess game for the last decade has been to establish the Caliphate. Why else would MB operatives be operating and advising at the highest levels of our government if they didn’t want the caliphate?

      Personally I think it is going to start the best war our defense industry could ever wish for.

      1- an enemy so culturally reviled in the Caliphate nobody cares if you slaughter them.

      2- an enemy with the will to not go away, as long as you don’t hit them too hard, they are an enemy which will reap vast rewards over time, possibly even for hundreds of years.

      3- since we can’t go to war with the Russians and or the Chinese & just spinning our wheels against “terror, al Qaeda & radical Islam” has been a bit ideologically illusive a Caliphate is a real enemy we can define, for simple mass consumption. It’s perfect, why would they stop what they’ve put so much effort into creating?

      The perfect enemy.

  6. Bezelel says

    Jun 11, 2014 at 4:34 pm

    How about that arab spring? Don’t we all feel better knowing we a Prez that can keep a handle on the world? (sarc off) This really is your tax dollars at work.

  7. skeleton says

    Jun 11, 2014 at 5:05 pm

    An important oil town, black hawks, and over 400 million $:

    Al-Qaeda Jihadis Loot Over $400 Million From Mosul Central Bank

    http://tinyurl.com/mcw7pgx

  8. tpellow says

    Jun 11, 2014 at 6:01 pm

    Supplementary.

    “ISIS takes control of Bayji, Tikrit in lightning southward advance”

    By BILL ROGGIO.

    Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/06/isis_take_control_of_1.php##ixzz34N2DgDJ6

  9. sidney penny says

    Jun 11, 2014 at 8:37 pm

    “In response, the U.S. is denying that the ideology that motivates and drives these fighters is really what motivates and drives them, and refusing to study it. A sure recipe for success.”

    You mean:”A sure recipe for failure.”

  10. dumbledoresarmy says

    Jun 11, 2014 at 8:38 pm

    And a large chunk of Mesopotamia descends into the Void, the Bottomless Pit, that is the Sharia of Islam.

    This bloke Abu Bakr, though: he’s mere flesh and blood. He’s not some demon or evil demigod. He’s not Voldemort. What if he catches MERS in three weeks’ time, or a year, and simply perishes?

    In that regard, I disagree with “Michael” above (who seems rather to *admire* the amoral ruthlessness of the mohammedans, and seems to regard them as unstoppable and their victory as inevitable).

    *Nothing* human is invincible or omnipotent or omniscient; *nothing* done by humans is immune to SNAFU and the workings of Murphy’s Law. And Muslims may be very very cunning and clever and ‘patient’ and all the rest…but nevertheless, at the core of Islam, and all the way through it, is the Lie, the Lie that rots the soul and destroys the ability to see The Thing That Is. Not to mention the suspicion and aggression that Islam produces, such that the Ummah is riven with discord and flies apart practically as soon as it is forced together; even hatred of the Infidel is not a strong enough glue to hold it for long.

    Up like a rocket, down like the stick; there’s nothing to say this bloke won’t meet a sudden and messy end as so many, many Muslim warlords, caliphs, even emperors have done in the past. As James Parkes wrote, succinctly, of the Mamluke dynasty: “By intrigues and assassinations they ascended the throne and by intrigues and assassinations they perished”.

    Of course, if the inhabitants of the dar al harb were fully woken up to Global Jihad, then a combined effort of the Mossad, FSB, and any number of other agencies would have turned this guy (plus a lot of others of his ilk) into a pink smear in the desert sand, years ago.

  11. Rainman says

    Jun 12, 2014 at 12:19 am

    It sounds like they will be fighting over Baghdad soon and if it looks as if the Shia’s are losing, the Iranians may just come across the border and then all hell breaks loose. This may just happen for the Shia’s don’t look to be as good a fighters as the Sunni’s.
    But on the bright side, if the Muslims are too busy fighting themselves, they won’t have time to attack us.
    Rainman……

    • umbra says

      Jun 12, 2014 at 1:18 am

      This is possibly a political manoeuvre by al maliki. Losing mosul may not be a serious political loss since the kurds of northern iraq aren’t exactly excited being part of iraq. Furthermore, this semi-autonomous region gets a significant cut of the oil wealth from fields within the region. If al maliki could break the political grips of the locals (which seems to be happening), then he could assert federal control over the area, including the oil fields. In any case, the current situation has provided him with the reason to declare a state of emergency – to deploy additional forces, use deadly force, cordoned of areas as no-go zone (needed for little cleansing operations), settle any old scores like they do in places like this. In addition, obama is no doubt tripping over in the rush to send more aid (money and military hardware) over to iraq.

      Overall, it seems like a win-win situation.

      Al maliki to obama, check-mate …
      That’s after …
      1. Putin check-mated obama thrice over iran, syria, and ukraine.
      2. Egyptian people check-mated obama over morsi last year.

      … really, obama should not play statesman level chess games when he is clearly well below the league. It is an awful embarrassment and history will probably judge him as so.

    • Charli Mian says

      Jun 12, 2014 at 2:15 am

      ” they won´t have time to attack us ”
      Get your point, Rainman, but there are tens of millions of “peaceful” “moderate” and “tolerant” Muslims currently occupying Europe under the guise of ” immigrants” ready to carry on Islam´s prime directive—-kill Kaffirs and take their countries over.

  12. gravenimage says

    Jun 12, 2014 at 2:41 pm

    Islamic State of Iraq and Syria now controls nation-size tract of territory from Aleppo to Fallujah
    ……………………………………

    If these is to be a new Caliphate, this will probably be its dark heart.

    And Iraqi “security forces” folded up in the face of the Jihadists—not that we should be surprised. After all, any Muslim state finds it difficult to really oppose Jihadists—on what ideological basis would they do so?

    Yet this didn’t stop the same Washington Post from running this rosy story back in 2008:

    “In Mosul, a Hopeful Partnership”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/23/AR2008022302231.html

    At least the mainstream media is actually taking note of this burgeoning Islamic state—how many in the West besides those in the Counter-Jihad have even heard of ISIS?

    And how many are apt to recognize its potential significance?

  13. Mirren10 says

    Jun 13, 2014 at 7:22 am

    @ Michael:

    ”I’m perfectly comfortable as a Christian thank you very much. For me to say the second article of the shahada would be as blasphemous as it is for anyone else.”

    I rather get the feeling that, if you were in a position to do so, *you* would happily re-institute blasphemy laws in the West.

    And if someone like me, for instance, said I didn’t believe in Christianity publicly or privately, people like *you* would gleefully throw me into jail, flog me, or hang me.

    It doesn’t make you any different from vicious mohammedans , except that *you* don’t have the power to carry out your mind crushing designs.

    • eib says

      Jun 13, 2014 at 7:34 am

      Quote:
      I rather get the feeling that, if you were in a position to do so, *you* would happily re-institute blasphemy laws in the West.
      end

      Unnecessary.
      If you are an insider to the Christian community, and Trinitarian, you don’t need a law to tell you what is blasphemy and what is not.
      No Christian should need any secular authority to tell him what he believes and what he doesn’t.
      If he doesn’t know, then he isn’t a Christian.

    • eib says

      Jun 13, 2014 at 7:37 am

      Quote:
      And if someone like me, for instance, said I didn’t believe in Christianity publicly or privately, people like *you* would gleefully throw me into jail, flog me, or hang me.
      end

      If you say you are not a Christian, or if you are an Arian or Unitarian, then I would know that I have no friend against the Ummah.
      That does not mean I destroy you.
      It means that you destroy yourself in this confrontation.
      You destroy yourself by your neutrality, by taking the easy road.
      You will submit.
      Lose your individuality, and die a little every day.
      That is how you will destroy yourself.

      • Mirren10 says

        Jun 14, 2014 at 9:37 am

        What utter rubbish.

        I don’t need to be a Christian to see that islam is a vicious, evil, and violent ‘religion’, which will destroy or enslave *everyone*, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, atheist and agnostic alike.

        You know nothing whatsoever about me, and your arrogant assumption that because I don’t identify as a Christian, I am therefore “taking the easy road”, and will “submit” to islam, is just that; insufferable arrogance, and smugness.

        There are *many* atheists and agnostics who comment here, and who fight against islam every day, in a variety of ways.

        So get over yourself, you arrogant little twat.

        And I notice, unlike your equally arrogant mate ‘Michael’, you don’t actually have the guts and honesty to say that given the opportunity, you *would* re-instate blasphemy laws, only this time, for the crime of not believing in Christianity.

    • Mirren10 says

      Jun 14, 2014 at 9:48 am

      Your disengenuous caveats aside, what you actually mean is no different from what vicious mohammedans mean when they institute sharia.

      The only difference between them, and you, is that you have no power to force your mind crushing, freedom crushing desires on anyone.

      In fact, given the chance, you would behave exactly the same as a mohammedan jihadist, but in the name of *Christianity*.

      You are no anti-jihadist, just another totalitarian scumbag.

  14. Mirren10 says

    Jun 14, 2014 at 12:30 pm

    ”You’re slightly off track here. I’ve no interested in persecuting atheists, Hindus, Jehovah’s Witnesses or Elvis worshippers judt because they happen to have the wrong religion”

    What’s the matter, can’t you read your own post ?

    ”Blasphemy is affirming something to be true about God when it is false, or denying something about God which is true, or speaking against God with intent to revile Him. I would be reluctant to define blasphemy any further than this as a matter of law. That means, a defendant would be entitled to the benefit of an honest mistake of fact.

    I would recommend a further limitation, in that you would be punishable for a crime of blasphemy only if you committed it for a seditious purpose.”

    A blasphemy law by any other name still stinks of shit.

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