Nothing to be concerned about. Obama says they’re losing. And he wouldn’t lie to us, now, would he?
“Islamic State expands its ‘state,'” by Samia Nakhoul, Reuters, May 22, 2015:
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Almost a year after Islamic State’s shock capture of Mosul, Iraq’s second city, the black flags of the jihadis have been raised over Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province to the west of Baghdad, seat of Iraq’s increasingly theoretical central government.
Nobody talks of Mosul or recapturing it from Islamic State. It is a forgotten city. Now it is all about the fall of Ramadi, the neighboring ancient Syrian city of Palmyra in central Syria and beyond – the Libyan city of Sirte, hometown of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.
To the eyes of many in the region, the real strategic loss behind the IS seizure of two Sunni cities in Iraq and Syria in a week is the evaporation of any Sunni alternative to the jihadis.
Although many leaders dismissed IS as vainglorious when it declared its cross-border caliphate in eastern Syria and western Iraq last summer, in its cohesion and purpose it is now seen by some – particularly Iraq’s minority Sunnis – as more of a state than the Iraqi government it is fighting.
“Simply put, the Islamic State is, or is on the verge of becoming, what it claims to be: a state,” wrote David Kilcullen who was a key player in the US 2007-08 Iraq troop ‘surge’ and a close observer of the rise of Islamic State.
He argues that unless Washington and its allies urgently change their counter-terrorism strategy the threat will only get worse. A coalition including the United States has been engaged in air strikes against Islamic State last summer, yet the group’s advance has continued.
“ISIS fights like a state… It fields more than 25,000 fighters, including a hard core of ex-Baathist professionals and Qaeda veterans. It has a hierarchical unit organization and rank structure, populated by former regular officers of Saddam Hussein’s military,” added Kilcullen in the Australian Quarterly Essay.
The Islamic State already has the foundations of a state.
It controls territory that includes major cities and covers a third each of Iraq and Syria; it has its own military and security force, a self-proclaimed administration that runs daily life – schools, government offices, utilities, hospitals, taxation and a judiciary system that follows sharia law.
Its resources are vast, including oilfields, refineries and agricultural land. It operates more like a regular army with a recruiting network, training camps and a propaganda machine.
In videos released by IS, its fighters and leader Abu Baqr al-Baghdadi confidently predict “the liberation of Anbar is the start of the liberation of Baghdad and Kerbala from the rawafed” – a derogatory term Sunni jihadis use to describe Shi’ites they condemn as infidels and idolaters….
Doc says
Also not mentioned in the Reuters article is that these successes will help encourage even more potential recruits to emigrate to the war zone or open new fronts wherever they may be. Obama’s mistakes will be the death of civilisations…
jihad3tracker says
And, of course, every success for ISIS “inspires” more American jihadis . . . Planning more small scale attacks around the U.S.
HERE IS MY WEEKLY HELLO TO DESPICABLE SILK-SUIT SEDITIONIST COWARDS KEITH ELLISON AND ANDRE CARSON.
WHAT WAS IN YOUR PRAYERS TO ALLAH ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND — HOPE THAT ISLAM WILL WIN HERE IN THE U.S ?
sahani says
How money greed is destroying a human race. Terrorist with no education just will to kill are used to destroy a nation and other will follow.
Loretta Pienaar says
jihad3tracker, yes, of course I, and millions agree. The people have to take a stand, it seems to me. There can be no defeatism at all. God bless all true Americans.
jewdog says
Once Bush knocked out Saddam and opened the way to elections, the majority Shiites came to prominence. The Islamic State is the Sunni response to reestablish their dominance in Iraq, and beyond. This is the real Islamic democracy: Just ordinary Moms and Dads crucifying and beheading heretics in a jihad for the supremacy of their version of Islam.
Clobber the Islamic State too hard, and we will see the Shiite Axis, led by Iran, sweep to power. But as time passes, the balance of anarchy may resolve itself, leading to a jihadist superpower of some flavor in the whole region. The only way to really ensure our safety is through conquest and the establishment of Sharia-free zones. Eventually, some outside power will seize the moment.
mortimer says
JD, you are right about this. The vindictive Shi’ites created ISIS through their atrocities.
David says
Exactly. Saddam’s nukes was the song they sung all the way to Baghdad now it’s the ISIS victory song they’re forced to listen to.
Now we’ve got WW3 on our doorstep thanks to regime change in Iraq which was done using a false dossier.
The Sunnis want the country the Coalition of the Willing took from them returned with interest.
Angemon says
A politician lying? I would be shocked and appalled if such a thing ever happened!!! sarc. /off
mortimer says
“ISIS fights like a state… It fields more than 25,000 fighters.”
Disagree.
ISIS fights like war criminals. They will all be killed or go to jail.
Special forces from 20 countries can take out the leadership of ISIS in a series of targeted raids. The rest will be cleaned up Iraqi army captures and assassinations. The Iraq army will not behave professionally or ethically and will execute most or all ISIS troops if left unsupervised by civilized armies.
Infidel from Down Under says
One would have to wonder did not the US or one its allies not use their jets based in the region to blow the crap out of this ISIS victory parade which thy would have known was happening , it was miles long apparently.
Did Obama not want to spoil their party or something . Weak as!!
Demsci says
I wondered the same thing myself, infidel.
As far as I know there is a lot of desert to cross when a “state” is on the warpath. And when armies are moving across deserts, they MUST BE easy prey for predatory airforces, those of America, it’s ME allies AND of Assad. So how CAN IT BE that ISIS is seizing cities in the desert like Tadmur/ Palmyra? Or Ramadi, in Anbar “desert” province???
And I don’t know of course; but ….
this can’t be good for Iran and allies. So this will cost them! And I see this as, how to put it, “strategically beneficial” for the West, with it’s vaues. But only on the thought that otherwise other humans would have suffered and the Western interests would be attacked and detrimentally affected. I never rejoice at suffering for the suffering itself!
So perhaps clever Western strategists are “allowing this rise of ISIS”???
Judi says
Obviously Israel doesn’t want to get involved in this combat as they’ve got enough to deal with at the moment on their own borders, but if it had been down to them, these 7th century barbarians would be toast by now.
Champ says
Nothing to be concerned about. Obama says they’re losing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh my lying eyes!
David says
The Middle East is basically a carve up of Sunni and Shiah. The USA broke Iraq up by handing power over to the Shiahs now they cry that it’s divided by sectarianism. Taking power away from the Sunnis who had ruled for what 40/60 years was always going to have repercussions. Only the Americans were blind to that unfortunately now we all pay the consequences. For God sake leave the Middle East to fend for the Middle East. Do we want Muslims coming to our countries telling us how to run them? No of course not then it’s the same with them. They want to run their own countries without the west sending in troops to change regimes.
Regime change based on Saddam’s non nukes ended up creating ISIS today. Was it really worth it all?
Demsci says
David, you have an interesting view of the situation. But, first of all, in 1991 Bush’ father in essence already followed “your strategy”. Because general Norman Schwarzkopf of course then could have wiped out Saddam’s regime, giving power to the then already rebelling Shiites, very easily. And he asked as much but “old Bush” refused. Perhaps even then “your reasoning” was followed.
And perhaps that reasoning had been shown to have it’s drawbacks in 2003 and another strategy was chosen. Any way, nowadays the ISIS-cruelty is often compared to Saddam’s regime’s cruelty and how very very evil that was and how it shaped the mind of Iraqi’s. So don’t idealize the situation before 2003 please.
And very many criticize that year’s American invasion. But both Shiite Iraqi’s and Iranians DID prophit hugely and ongoing from it. Shiites now do have the power and the oil and isn’t it better that the majority rules than that the minority rules? THAT ALONE should be reason to celebrate Saddam’s end. And Iran now has almost Iraq as a satellite state, instead of neighbouring their biggest enemy Saddam.
But being ungrateful and hateful towards America to the bone, these Shiites don’t recognize it and keep hating and fighting and foulmouthing America wherever they can.
All in all, it might well be that future historians will argue that the EVENTUAL LONG-TERM outcome of the 2003 Iraq invasion was beneficial and useful, more so than keeping Saddam’s regime in power would have been.
Jim says
Demsci>>>>>>> Thumbs up !
Demsci says
David, we should always COMPARE I think.You say the Americans were blind for the consequences of their strategy, but you and many others may be equally blind for the consequences of keeping Saddam’s regime in power in 2003. That very probably would have been worse.
And compare; Who was “running” the lives of Muslims before the 2003 invasion? NOT THE Muslims themselves, it was overwhelmingly “run” for the majority by a very cruel elite. So the Americans really liberated the majority from that and announced that they were only chasing away oppressors. Americans wanted to enhance infrastructure, education, freedom of speech, progress, and they brought new technology, like cellphones.
If the situation had been the other way around, easterners intervening in the West, sensible people in the West would have appreciated it very much if “outsiders” came to liberate us from our tyrants, like the past Kings and nobles.
How essentially primitive and stupid and ungrateful is the response of the majority of Muslims, and especially Shiites!! We Westerners, as we are now, we would have reacted much more appreciative to a liberator like America. Like the Germans and Japanese and South Koreans do. Ask them about how the Americans made mistakes in beating them or the communists and then withdrawing. Look how prosperous those beaten and liberated peoples are now!
You got to compare more, IMO, David!
duh_swami says
States, and country’s have borders…ISIS has no borders, it expands and contracts, mostly expands, it is not stable. So while they may fancy themselves a State, they are not…
Karen says
This news article can’t be true. John Kerry said the other day that ISIS had been driven back, and that the Ramadi situation would be reversed in a few days. So, I think I’ll just relax. Things are going to be just fine……just fine…….
General says
I think it is pretty obvious by now that American policy in the middle east is to allow ISIS to in a sense re format the region and North Africa politically which is to say dissolve the existing states and at some stage in the process enable what it still mistakenly thinks is it’s NATO ally Turkey a sunny Moslem nation to step in and take over.
Prior to the end of World War 1 The Turkish Ottoman Empire held sway over these very territories which in the main remained quiet back waters.
The American strategy seems to be to be to put the Neo Ottoman Turks back in place and run the show from behind the scenes through Turkey. In this way Russia’s allies to wit Iran will be shut out and Syria eliminated.
This explains American policy right across North Africa from Libya across to Egypt and on in to the Middle East proper; first create chaos and a power vacuum fill that vacuum using a tool in this case ISIS and finally impose order using a Sunny Moslem nation nominally allied to the West in this case Turkey.
The miscalculation I believe is to think that Turkey will allow itself to be America’s puppet for long particularly since it is itself in the process of Islamic radicalization, Saudi money is available to prop up it’s economy in the short term and in the long term it’s possible control of Iraqi oil revenues will give it huge economic power and enable it to act independently of American foreign policy.
What we will be left with is a militarily and economically strong Islamic super state capable of mounting a credible military threat to both Europe and America. Recall the number one goal of all Islamic states is the spread of the Islam religion and we are enabling this by allowing the creation of a powerful Caliphate which in the fullness of time will possess nuclear capability and the religious motivation to use them against unbelievers.
wayne says
Sharia Law
Daniel 7:1-8 ( KJV )
Great Beasts
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.
Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
Daniel 7
The first was like a lion,(lion of Justice symbol of England) and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, (Uncle Sam and the eagle) and a man’s heart was given to it. (England and the USA)
Revelation 6
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. (Christian Nations)
Daniel 7
And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, (symbol of Russia red bear) and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. (Russia or communist)
Revelation 6
And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword (Red Communist)
Daniel 7
After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. (China or Asian descent )
Revelation 6
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. (Trade)
Daniel 7
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. (Middle East)
Revelation 6
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
(Muslims)
Dan 2
{And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, (5 on each foot not together as yet) part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
And as the toes of the feet (10 Nations no fully together yet) were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, (Muslims are all over the world) even as iron is not mixed with clay. (Now you know why the Muslims can’t get along with each other)
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, (Jesus) and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.}
Dan 7
I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
And the ten horns (10 toes(10 Nations no fully together yet) out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: (Sharia law) and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (3-1/2 years)
Revelation 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, (3-1/2 years) from the face of the serpent.
And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Dan 7
But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.
Luigi FERRARO says
It was that idiot Bush who started this whole mess. This is great legacy. ..
Luigi
Huck Folder says
Absolutely NOTHING to do with mo?