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Recent attacks in Iraq

ISIS and Syrians have not fought each other really - ISIS have been concentrating on fighting the other rebels, and the Syrian army has been leaving ISIS alone whilst targeting the rebels in the key strategic areas ISIS want to take without the regime looking to then move into those areas. Loads of the ISIS linked militants in regime prisons mysteriously maned to turn up fighting for ISIS as well.

This appears to have changed in recent days, at least according to mainstream media articles like this one:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ign-against-militant-strongholds-9679480.html

While militants from Isis, which calls itself Islamic State, have so far concentrated their attacks against the Western-backed fighters seeking to topple Assad, they have in the past month carried out a major onslaught against Syrian army facilities in north-eastern Syria, capturing and slaughtering hundreds of Syrian soldiers and pro-government militiamen in the process.

On Monday, Isis fighters were closing in on the last government-held army base in the north-eastern Raqqa province, the Tabqa air base, prompting at least 16 Syrian government air strikes in the area in an attempt to halt their advance.

In the northern city of Aleppo, there is a sense of impending defeat among mainstream rebels who were systematically routed by Islamic militants last week in towns and villages only a few miles north of the city. An Isis takeover of rebel-held parts of Aleppo also would be disastrous for Syrian government troops who have been gaining ground in the city in past months.

Plenty of other quotable parts of that article but I will resist and just add this final short one.

“Assad would surely love to regain international acceptance via a ‘war on terror’ and maybe that is his long-term plan, in so far as he has one,” the Syria analyst Aron Lund said.
 
This appears to have changed in recent days, at least according to mainstream media articles like this one:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ign-against-militant-strongholds-9679480.html



Plenty of other quotable parts of that article but I will resist and just add this final short one.
Yes, there's been some rather hurried airstrikes (both within Syria and over the Iraqi border) and other things the last few days. Whether that's genuine fear at blowback, opportunism due to the wider military situation with ISIS being attacked in the north of iraq or the wider international situation with states lining up to crow their opposition to ISIS - or a pragmatic mix of all three (and other) factors i guess we'll just have to make informed guesses for now.
 
Yeah. Plus when the arab springs began an obvious option for most regimes was to dehumanise the opposition as terrorists and try to blend in with the the propaganda narrative the US & friends created over the preceding decade+ with the war on terror.

Gaddafi tried it, but way too early and few in the international community wanted to play along with that narrative, since they wanted him gone. Subsequent governments and would-be strongmen in Libya can and have made use of it since. Egypt played a longer game and waited till it was killing the MB in the streets and had successfully made the most of 'divide and conquer' before invoking war on terror rhetoric. Perhaps it is working for domestic propaganda purposes so far, but internationally I don't think its achieved much credibility so far. As best I can tell Bahrain made some use of anti-terror laws to crush members of the opposition legally, as well as propaganda to delegitimise the opposition (though also relying strongly in propaganda terms on Iran as bogeyman string puller of the opposition). Yemen had its existing military struggle against 'Al Qaeda'. But it was of note to me that this struggle took on a new urgent and threatening dimension, both in terms of actual attacks, territorial changes and western reporting, during the period when there was US etc pressure for an orderly transition away from the rule of Saleh, and then things soon quietened down (at least in terms of reporting and rhetoric, not sure about reality) once he was gone.
 
Analysis in the FT as to why other Arab countries arent fighting ISIS + more open ended talk about what hed like to see happen. THe first bit is more interesting i think

C&Pd as behind firewall

The Arab world has to take on Isis in its own backyard
By Shashank Joshi
The Middle East hosts a formidable array of air power. Between them, the six nations of the Gulf Co-operation Council possess more than 600 combat-capable aircraft. Add Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt, and you have 1,000 more.

Why, then, is only the US dropping bombs on the jihadis of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) as they expand their “caliphate” in the heart of the region? Why has Britain deployed half a dozen fighter jets to nearby Cyprus while a vast cache of firepower lies dormant nearby? And why are distant European powers rushing to arm the embattled Kurds?

The Arab world has failed to come to terms with the most grievous threat it has faced since Saddam Hussein led Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait two decades ago. It has preferred to ride on the coat-tails of outsiders while castigating western “inaction”. It is time for the Arab world, and neighbours such as Turkey, to act.

To help them do it, the west must first understand three Arab fears. First, the Sunni-led Arab states view Iraq through the lens of Iranian power and sectarian balance. They are loath to fight the brutal Sunni militants of Isis if doing so strengthens a Shia-led, pro-Iranian government in Baghdad at the expense of Iraqi Sunnis. Some Arab citizens even view Isis as a vehicle for legitimate Sunni ambitions; and Arab rulers are wary of overtly taking on a putative army of Islam.

Second, Arab states are concerned that weakening Isis, which has won significant territory in Syria, might boost the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. They have aggressively opposed the regime, which they view as an outpost of Iranian influence.

Third, Arab states fear what Isis might do if attacked. The borders of Syria and Iraq are long and porous, and Arab citizens have joined the group in droves. Why make oneself a target? Turkey, in particular, is worried about the fate of 49 hostages held by the jihadis.

Some of these arguments are complacent, some spurious and some legitimate. The threat from Isis far outstrips that of Iran. Prioritising the containment of Tehran over pushing back the militants is like cutting off the nose to spite the face. Isis has spent more time fighting other rebels in Syria than taking on the regime, which is why Damascus exempted the group from air strikes until recently. If Syria’s neighbours take on Isis, it will ease pressure on the genuine opposition to the Assads. On the other hand, Arab states are right to be concerned about retaliation. The west should help gird their borders and steel their resolve.

Last week’s political transition in Iraq opens up an opportunity. The resignation of Nouri al-Maliki, the discredited prime minister who alienated Iraq’s Sunnis, and the appointment of Haider al-Abadi, a more neutral figure welcomed by both Saudi Arabia and Iran, is the moment for Arab states to reassess their hostility to Baghdad. Mr Abadi has yet to put together a broad-based government, dismantle Mr Maliki’s imperial premiership and mend fences with minorities. This is a prerequisite for defeating Isis. But military action is an indispensable complement to reconciliation, and the Iraqi Air Force, even with new Russian jets, is not up to the task.

An Arab coalition, with Turkey, should now offer direct military support to target Isis in Iraq. The US, UK and allies must offer support: refuelling aircraft, providing intelligence and deploying special forces for a large, complex coalition. But there is no reason why the Arab states cannot take the lead in mounting air strikes in their own backyard. Saudi Arabia has done so in Yemen and Turkey against Kurdish insurgents, and the UAE has seen combat in Afghanistan. Western nations have faced criticism for selling arms to Arab autocrats but no one could object to defensive action against an adversary with avowedly expansionist aims.

Minimising the western role would deprive Isis of its most potent means of recruitment. US drone strikes in Yemen, for instance, may have swelled the numbers of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who were able to claim “defensive jihad”. An Arab spearhead in Iraq would cut through this flimsy claim.
It is vital to reassure vulnerable countries that their home front is secure. In Jordan, for instance, this would involve surveillance of border areas, perhaps by western aircraft, more intelligence resources devoted to Isis’ cross-border activities and possibly a beefing up of the US military presence. Nato could play a role in assuaging Turkish concerns, by promising deeper consultations on security in the south of the country.

The more Isis spreads, the stronger it grows. It seizes resources, builds local networks and nurtures its most effective weapons: momentum and repute. But if Iraq’s neighbours will not recognise and address the threat, outsiders can achieve little. Iran’s nakedly sectarian policies in Syria and Iraq have helped bring things to this point, but Arab states are not without blame. The priority must be to confront a revolutionary movement that has no precedent in the modern era. The region must step up and take responsibility.

The writer is senior research fellow at Royal United Services Institute
 
Muslims are pretty sickened by ISIS in general. My colleague, a middle-aged pakistani woman, said she'd like to see every one of them publicly hung from a bridge.

Source? Beyond your colleague?

They seem to be doing fairly well in their recruitment push amongst Muslims.
 
Analysis in the FT as to why other Arab countries arent fighting ISIS + more open ended talk about what hed like to see happen. THe first bit is more interesting i think

C&Pd as behind firewall

The Arab world has to take on Isis in its own backyard
By Shashank Joshi
The Middle East hosts a formidable array of air power. Between them, the six nations of the Gulf Co-operation Council possess more than 600 combat-capable aircraft. Add Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt, and you have 1,000 more.

Why, then, is only the US dropping bombs on the jihadis of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) as they expand their “caliphate” in the heart of the region? Why has Britain deployed half a dozen fighter jets to nearby Cyprus while a vast cache of firepower lies dormant nearby? And why are distant European powers rushing to arm the embattled Kurds?

The Arab world has failed to come to terms with the most grievous threat it has faced since Saddam Hussein led Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait two decades ago. It has preferred to ride on the coat-tails of outsiders while castigating western “inaction”. It is time for the Arab world, and neighbours such as Turkey, to act.

To help them do it, the west must first understand three Arab fears. First, the Sunni-led Arab states view Iraq through the lens of Iranian power and sectarian balance. They are loath to fight the brutal Sunni militants of Isis if doing so strengthens a Shia-led, pro-Iranian government in Baghdad at the expense of Iraqi Sunnis. Some Arab citizens even view Isis as a vehicle for legitimate Sunni ambitions; and Arab rulers are wary of overtly taking on a putative army of Islam.

Second, Arab states are concerned that weakening Isis, which has won significant territory in Syria, might boost the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. They have aggressively opposed the regime, which they view as an outpost of Iranian influence.

Third, Arab states fear what Isis might do if attacked. The borders of Syria and Iraq are long and porous, and Arab citizens have joined the group in droves. Why make oneself a target? Turkey, in particular, is worried about the fate of 49 hostages held by the jihadis.

Some of these arguments are complacent, some spurious and some legitimate. The threat from Isis far outstrips that of Iran. Prioritising the containment of Tehran over pushing back the militants is like cutting off the nose to spite the face. Isis has spent more time fighting other rebels in Syria than taking on the regime, which is why Damascus exempted the group from air strikes until recently. If Syria’s neighbours take on Isis, it will ease pressure on the genuine opposition to the Assads. On the other hand, Arab states are right to be concerned about retaliation. The west should help gird their borders and steel their resolve.

Last week’s political transition in Iraq opens up an opportunity. The resignation of Nouri al-Maliki, the discredited prime minister who alienated Iraq’s Sunnis, and the appointment of Haider al-Abadi, a more neutral figure welcomed by both Saudi Arabia and Iran, is the moment for Arab states to reassess their hostility to Baghdad. Mr Abadi has yet to put together a broad-based government, dismantle Mr Maliki’s imperial premiership and mend fences with minorities. This is a prerequisite for defeating Isis. But military action is an indispensable complement to reconciliation, and the Iraqi Air Force, even with new Russian jets, is not up to the task.

An Arab coalition, with Turkey, should now offer direct military support to target Isis in Iraq. The US, UK and allies must offer support: refuelling aircraft, providing intelligence and deploying special forces for a large, complex coalition. But there is no reason why the Arab states cannot take the lead in mounting air strikes in their own backyard. Saudi Arabia has done so in Yemen and Turkey against Kurdish insurgents, and the UAE has seen combat in Afghanistan. Western nations have faced criticism for selling arms to Arab autocrats but no one could object to defensive action against an adversary with avowedly expansionist aims.

Minimising the western role would deprive Isis of its most potent means of recruitment. US drone strikes in Yemen, for instance, may have swelled the numbers of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who were able to claim “defensive jihad”. An Arab spearhead in Iraq would cut through this flimsy claim.
It is vital to reassure vulnerable countries that their home front is secure. In Jordan, for instance, this would involve surveillance of border areas, perhaps by western aircraft, more intelligence resources devoted to Isis’ cross-border activities and possibly a beefing up of the US military presence. Nato could play a role in assuaging Turkish concerns, by promising deeper consultations on security in the south of the country.

The more Isis spreads, the stronger it grows. It seizes resources, builds local networks and nurtures its most effective weapons: momentum and repute. But if Iraq’s neighbours will not recognise and address the threat, outsiders can achieve little. Iran’s nakedly sectarian policies in Syria and Iraq have helped bring things to this point, but Arab states are not without blame. The priority must be to confront a revolutionary movement that has no precedent in the modern era. The region must step up and take responsibility.

The writer is senior research fellow at Royal United Services Institute

Best analysis and suggestions I have seen so far.
 
"the six nations of the Gulf Co-operation Council possess more than 600 combat-capable aircraft"
....its member states are the Islamic monarchies of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, and there are talks to bring in new members... Then theres the more EU equivalent Arab League... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_the_Arab_League

in terms of war Europe wasnt that different to the middle east in the first half of the last century (and before), and the EU has been a big part of the process that has brought peace to the area....i wonder what it would take for a similar thing to happen across the middle east...rhetorical question really.

I just had a look at the Arab League website http://www.lasportal.org/wps/portal...vKvqk_0GbFIfJg!!/dl3/d3/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/ , maybe its just the English version thats fucked, but it really doesnt work at all in English mode. However there is a poll about the new website in the left column:
"Polls
What is your opinion about the new website?
Excellent
Very Good
Good"
:D
classic
 
"the six nations of the Gulf Co-operation Council possess more than 600 combat-capable aircraft"
....its member states are the Islamic monarchies of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, and there are talks to bring in new members... Then theres the more EU equivalent Arab League... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_the_Arab_League

in terms of war Europe wasnt that different to the middle east in the first half of the last century (and before), and the EU has been a big part of the process that has brought peace to the area....i wonder what it would take for a similar thing to happen across the middle east...rhetorical question really.

I just had a look at the Arab League website http://www.lasportal.org/wps/portal/las_en/home_page/!ut/p/c5/hY_JDoIwGISfyPSnoOARLbIosrgAvRhUbCqlVTFGeXrxAdSZ45fJzCCKesvywVl550qWAuWIjnZknKRbI9XBWjlj8DHxo3COMURGz4vv3DL_pANEmVD7vicjh_pJlM2IQ9K2m4Dw9jiIfJc7wUrZTuiJQSPNVzyp4ZDoBVOkkWs-vOVdnAhTgO9KLeOVsTi70M6nuMildqQvC7u0e2pxy2ft9WhtyDQW6YidzFDpM5R9_v7e_-HwRTagpaeaCl2avKvqk_0GbFIfJg!!/dl3/d3/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/ , maybe its just the English version thats fucked, but it really doesnt work at all in English mode. However there is a poll about the new website in the left column:
"Polls
What is your opinion about the new website?
Excellent
Very Good
Good"
:D
classic

i liked this

Untitled.gif
 
Oil - Islamic State's bootleg petro-state may prove unsustainable

But, as is the nature of an illicit oil smuggling operation, the Islamic State's black market trade is hugely inefficient, hindered by its illegality at every leg of the production and distribution chain.

At the extraction stage, the insurgents will never be able to match maximum flow rates without the investment and expertise of private oil companies, who of course won’t want to do business with a feared extremist group. Then, once it’s out of the ground, Islamic State oil needs to be pawned off to middlemen at rates discounted by up to 75 percent, according to some estimates, because a fixed distribution network — pipelines and the like — would be easy pickings for U.S. and Iraqi missiles.
 
Plus Syria's oil reserves are negligible in the scheme of things (domestic self sufficient at best) and I don't think they've seized any major oil sites (drilling, exploration or refining) in Iraq as they are mostly further North (but I stand to be corrected).
 
Plus Syria's oil reserves are negligible in the scheme of things (domestic self sufficient at best) and I don't think they've seized any major oil sites (drilling, exploration or refining) in Iraq as they are mostly further North (but I stand to be corrected).
They are further south and in kurdish areas. Further north and you're in turkey.
 
They are further south and in kurdish areas. Further north and you're in turkey.

You're quite right, my geography is shit, but the point still stands. IS (as far as I know) don't (yet at least) have control of any major oil installations in Iraq.

They certainly do in Syria, which means they are a self sufficient force in that respect. Not to be underestimated in terms of warfare historically.
 
You're quite right, my geography is shit, but the point still stands. IS (as far as I know) don't (yet at least) have control of any major oil installations in Iraq.

They certainly do in Syria, which means they are a self sufficient force in that respect. Not to be underestimated in terms of warfare historically.
The article is suggesting that it's not a done deal in the small places they're pirating. And as i suggested last week, they are utterly dependent on a few specialists.
 
Search the headline in google and follow the link from there. Paywall newspapers often let you through if you came via google. Worked for me.
 
Full text:
WSJ said:
BAGHDAD—In Islamist-held Mosul this week, a local doctor watched insurgents berate and arrest a man in a public market, accusing him of adultery.

When Islamic State militants then stoned the man to death in public, the doctor chose not to watch. But many others did, and not by choice. The fighters repeatedly screened a video recording of the killing on several large digital monitors they erected in the city center.

More than two months after the Sunni extremist group took over on June 10, such displays of public brutality and humiliation have become part of a constant drumbeat of indignity endured by the population of Iraq's second-largest city, according to about half a dozen residents interviewed by phone.

A United Nations report published Wednesday said Islamic State militants, who have captured large swaths of territory across Syria and Iraq, hold executions, amputations and lashings in public squares regularly on Fridays in territory they control in northern Syria. They urge civilians, including children, to watch, according to the report.

Initially, many in the Sunni-majority city of Mosul were pleased to see Islamic State fighters send the mostly Shiite Iraqi army fleeing after sectarian tensions in the country worsened under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. But that enthusiasm faded fast.

"People aren't sympathizing with them anymore," said the doctor. "People wanted to get rid of the Iraqi army. But after the Islamic State turned against Mosul, the people of Mosul started turning against them."

Related
Residents say the rising resentment has come alongside rumors that homegrown militias are mustering troops in secret to overthrow the militants. Two such groups in particular, the Prophet of Jonah Brigades and the Free Mosul Brigades, have formed in the past few weeks, residents said.

But few people in Mosul expect the city's residents to succeed where the Iraqi army has failed, unless they have outside help. Unlike most Iraqis, the people of Mosul were left largely unarmed after the Iraqi army went house to house a few years ago and confiscated weapons in a bid to reduce violence in the city.

With pressure mounting, the insurgents appear to be bracing for the worst. They have been spotted placing improvised explosive devices around the center of the city so they can detonate them in case of a ground attack, said Atheel Al Nujaifi, the former governor of Nineveh province in northern Iraq, where Mosul is located.

On Tuesday, Mr. Nujaifi said the insurgents rigged bridges connecting the city's two opposing banks with plastic C4 explosives, though that couldn't be independently verified.

The planting of land mines and other explosives in an effort to stave off counteroffensives is part of the Islamic State's unfolding battlefield strategy. They used the tactic at the Mosul Dam, but failed to hold the strategic site in the face of Kurdish ground offensive backed by Iraqi special forces and U.S. airstrikes. They have employed it with more success in the city of Tikrit, where repeated Iraqi counteroffensives have failed so far.

A local civilian uprising against Islamic State wouldn't be unprecedented. In January, civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo who were disgusted by the group's cruelty helped more moderate fighters expel the group that was then known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS.

Many in Mosul are afraid to complain publicly. But those who do describe a blighted city that is now almost entirely void of the black-clad, masked militants—many of whom were clearly foreign. They once paraded through the streets, boasting about their victories over the Iraqi military while passing out religious literature.

"Before, they were proud and they were telling people about their victories. 'We're fighting here, we're fighting there,' " said another Mosul resident. "But now they don't talk about their victories and how proud they are that they're fighting. In terms of morale, they are not like before."



Dozens of Twitter accounts. Thousands of media-savvy followers. Slick propaganda videos. The Web-based branding efforts of the extremist group the Islamic State show that they're waging a war online as well as on the ground in Iraq and Syria.

Some estimate that there are fewer than 500 militants now policing the city of 1.7 million. Most of those who remain are local collaborators who are securing the streets while hard-bitten insurgents repel increasingly fierce attacks from the Kurdish regional forces known as Peshmerga and elite Iraqi units further east.

Still the paucity of policing hasn't kept the radical group from imposing its austere version of Islam.

Among the rules that have most infuriated the public have been limits on amusement. Public smoking, cards and dominoes have been outlawed. Music shops have been closed, except for those willing to sell CDs of the Islamic State's own religious chants and propaganda DVDs, restrictions reminiscent of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

Women are made to wear face-covering veils and those who expose their faces are publicly beaten on their legs with wooden rods, as are their husbands or male chaperones. Nurses who come to work without them have been turned away.

"People are horrified by this," said the doctor. "People mutter 'may God get rid of them,' or 'may God curse them' as they walk past."

Though the Iraqi government had imposed strict rules, the Islamic State's police and judicial system is more terrifying and capricious in comparison.

Those who are arrested, even for petty crimes, are never heard from again, residents said. They seem to disappear into the city's massive Badush Prison without facing trial.

Some unscrupulous residents have used the perfunctory legal system to settle old scores, accusing rivals and creditors of false crimes, residents said.

But the most pressing problems are economic. A city that used to get 12 or 13 hours of electricity a day now only gets two to three. Some 30% of businesses have closed for lack of customers, and those that remain open are struggling, one resident said.

Without reliable imports, commodities such as milk, rice and oil are dwindling.

Hospitals are running critically low on basic supplies such as medicine for high blood pressure, syringes and insulin. Of the city's 11,000 cancer patients, many have been told to stop coming for their regular chemotherapy sessions, said the doctor.

"Those patients who have money, they flee to Kurdistan," he said, referring to the semiautonomous Kurdish region nearby. "Those who don't have money, they're just staying in Mosul waiting for death."
 
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