The Islamic state

[butchersapron]

I must find that original percy article. Looks like an interesting view inside the mental world of a modern day savage.

 

[DaveCinzano]

“What is wrong with her?” will stay with me a long time

 

[Geri]

My Terrifying Night With Afghanistan's Only Female Warlord

 

[frogwoman]

Some Afghans believe cannibalistic females haunt the Hindu Kush. They are simian and boar-tusked and have long, floating hair. They eat corpses. Commander Pigeon lived on the other side of the Hindu Kush, over a pass called the Khotal-e Salang. According to the Afghan Analysts Network, Baghlan Province has between 2,500 and 3,000 Taliban, inhabiting an area about the size of Connecticut.

This paragraph manages to combine sexism and orientalist prurience in one para...

 

[coley]

British parliamentary committee breaks historic taboo on Kurdish independence

Better late than never.

 

[Patteran]

Some Afghans believe cannibalistic females haunt the Hindu Kush. They are simian and boar-tusked and have long, floating hair. They eat corpses. Commander Pigeon lived on the other side of the Hindu Kush, over a pass called the Khotal-e Salang. According to the Afghan Analysts Network, Baghlan Province has between 2,500 and 3,000 Taliban, inhabiting an area about the size of Connecticut.

This paragraph manages to combine sexism and orientalist prurience in one para...

There's a line from Thoreau (I think) about a writer's tendency, when confronted with unfamiliar nature, to start listing things recognised, like a second-rate botanist - 'ferns! spiders! mountains!' etc. Percy keeps doing it - naming things she can see & recognise, rather than attempt any sort of analysis. 'The policeman offered us a room in the compound, empty but for some blankets, pillows, a television, and a single propane-fueled heater.'

 

[butchersapron]

Two parter on Aspects of Islamic State (IS) Administration in Ninawa Province

1
2

Another one to come.

Here are the conclusions from the two pieces so far though:

Part 1:

The IS regulations in Ninawa province education are virtually identical to the system that has been implemented in Syria's Raqqa province, which has long served as the testing ground for new aspects of IS governance. For comparison, see this post of mine on IS' educational regulations for Raqqa province issued in the summer, similarly banning outlawing concepts of the Syrian republic, nationalism, fine arts and music etc. It should also not be surprising that IS should wish to have a Raqqa university identical to its Mosul counterpart, hence the recent opening of a college of medicine in Raqqa. Indeed, both Raqqa and Mosul constitute the jewels in the crowns of IS' conquests in Syria and Iraq respectively and are functioning as IS' de facto capitals.

Moreover, this extensive IS interference in Ninawa province education should lay to rest notions of an alliance of convenience with other Iraq insurgent actors like the Ba'athist Naqshbandi Army [JRTN], which has also been unable to stop the worst IS excesses like displacement of Christians from Mosul, destruction of Mosul shrines, and the attempt at genocide against the Yezidis that contravene JRTN's superficial cross-sectarianism(where has that Ibn Khaldoun character gone, the one who claimed all this was really baathist -Naqshbandi string pulling? - butchers) . IS is truly living up to its commitment to usher in the era of the Islamic State as it vowed in its city charter issued for Mosul in June following the fall of the city, equally dismissing the present 'Safavid' government of Baghdad and the Ba'athist era as failed political projects of the past. Ironically for the likes of JRTN, the only other actor that can compete for influence in Ninawa province is the 'Safavid' government, which continues to pay the salaries of public school-teachers and university faculty.

Part 2:

It can be seen in much greater detail through these various IS institutions surveyed how IS presents itself as a state rather than a mere group. However, quite predictably, IS' state model is largely proving a socio-economic failure for the inhabitants of Mosul and Ninawa province. By most standards of quality of life, such as provision of electricity, availability of medical supplies, petrol prices and the like, things are much worse now than during the era of central government control. Unlike the situation in Raqqa, IS has still not found a way to provide electricity en masse as a public service. In many ways, IS' rule is parasitic in nature, thriving off prior infrastructure to continue generating revenue and maintain notions of a functioning state. Despite these evident shortcomings, no sign of real opposition to undermine IS' rule in Mosul exists yet.

 

[phildwyer]

I must find that original percy article. Looks like an interesting view inside the mental world of a modern day savage.

In its blind imposition of Western stereotypes it differs little enough from your own fantasies of Kurdish Bookchinite utopia.

 

[butchersapron]

Quick look at poss future plans: The Islamic State Eyes Expansion in Damascus

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has begun to expand its presence in the Syrian central corridor which stretches from the Jordanian border through Damascus to the central cities of Homs and Hama. The “central corridor” is highly-contested key terrain for both the Syrian regime and its armed opposition, while ISIS presence has generally been limited in the area until recently. As one major exception, ISIS maintained a notable foothold in several opposition-held areas of Damascus in early 2014 before retreating due to pressure from local rebel groups. A small ISIS contingent, largely overlooked, endured quietly in the southern suburbs of Damascus throughout late 2014. Over the past two months, ISIS has once again escalated its military and public relations activities in this area, threatening to divert both regime and rebel resources away from active fronts in the Damascus area in order to contend with the ISIS threat. This development may provide an indicator of ISIS’s broader expansion plans in western Syria and the potential response of Syrian opposition fighters to this expansion.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Better late than never.

Indeed.

 

[butchersapron]

There's a line from Thoreau (I think) about a writer's tendency, when confronted with unfamiliar nature, to start listing things recognised, like a second-rate botanist - 'ferns! spiders! mountains!' etc. Percy keeps doing it - naming things she can see & recognise, rather than attempt any sort of analysis. 'The policeman offered us a room in the compound, empty but for some blankets, pillows, a television, and a single propane-fueled heater.'

Also, an escape plan - i could use this to do that to them...

 

[likesfish]

Is this because of some pre-political genetic disposition or due to being in the middle of very definite historical contexts - i.e the cold war and the regional expressions and local power moves playing out in various situations?

local power moves Kurdistan split between turkey,Iraq,Iran and Syria

 

[phildwyer]

local power moves Kurdistan split between turkey,Iraq,Iran and Syria

That wasn't the result of "local power moves," but of Western imperialism: the Sykes-Picot Agreement.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Some Afghans believe cannibalistic females haunt the Hindu Kush. They are simian and boar-tusked and have long, floating hair. They eat corpses. Commander Pigeon lived on the other side of the Hindu Kush, over a pass called the Khotal-e Salang. According to the Afghan Analysts Network, Baghlan Province has between 2,500 and 3,000 Taliban, inhabiting an area about the size of Connecticut.

This paragraph manages to combine sexism and orientalist prurience in one para...

Something for Laurie to aspire to

 

[DaveCinzano]

PS

How many Waleses and/or football pitches to a Connecticut?

 

[Crispy]

PS

How many Waleses and/or football pitches to a Connecticut?

Connecticut is about 0.7 of a Wales, or just under 2 million football pitches.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Connecticut is about 0.7 of a Wales, or just under 2 million football pitches.

Congratulations - with your research skills you've just earned yourself two Capote Fellowships (approximately 0.125 Pullitzers).

 

[J Ed]

 

[laptop]

Congratulations - with your research skills you've just earned yourself two Capote Fellowships (approximately 0.125 Pullitzers).

Marks should be deducted, however, for failing to note which football pitch is used.

I am currently working on a proposal for the Man United pitch to be relocated to a vacuum under three glass domes in Paris for safe keeping of the standard.

 

[elbows]

Boris obviously wants some of the glory of war to rub off on him. And do some deals.

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has gone to Kurdistan to examine firsthand the progress being made to push back the forces of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

City Hall, in London, declined to give details of the visit, for security reasons, but said the trip was also meant to strengthen economic ties between London and Kurdistan.

Johnson, who travelled in the kind of secrecy only possible if accompanied by the Sun newspaper, was holding high-level talks in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan, a city once regarded as an island of security, but which has more recently come under threat from Isis forces. At one point Isis took territory just 18 miles from the regional capital.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jan/22/boris-johnson-london-mayor-isis-kurdistan-trade

 

[brogdale]

Not forgetting flogging for blogging...nasty fuckers.

 

[ibilly99]

IS have brought out a report on the state of the State - all going swimmingly well apparently.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/252656114/The-Islamic-State-2015-FULL-eBook

 

[brogdale]

IS have brought out a report on the state of the State - all going swimmingly well apparently.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/252656114/The-Islamic-State-2015-FULL-eBook

Title page LOL..

Booyakasha! Check Dis!....and expanding by the will of Allah,

 

[quiquaquo]

IS have brought out a report on the state of the State - all going swimmingly well apparently.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/252656114/The-Islamic-State-2015-FULL-eBook

Fake.

 

[quiquaquo]

Adultery if not married?

 

[phildwyer]

Adultery if not married?

Fornication innit. Concupiscence.

 

[J Ed]

More on the KRG-PKK conflict:

http://ekurd.net/iraqi-kurdistan-go...l-administrative-council-in-sinjar-2015-01-17

ERBIL-Hewler, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— The Kurdistan Regional Government Council of Ministers issued a statement condemning the attempts to establish an illegal administrative council in Sinjar, stressing that, “The tragedies of Sinjar and the surrounding areas should not be dealt with in a partisan way, which, instead of healing the sufferings these areas have endured, would lead to political and administrative chaos.

 

[DotCommunist]

More on the KRG-PKK conflict:

http://ekurd.net/iraqi-kurdistan-go...l-administrative-council-in-sinjar-2015-01-17

if I've got this right, the peshmerga, KRG's forces, are the ones who ran when IS approached leaving the PKK to have to rescue the yazidi civilians

so It would't suprise me if the people in the sinjar region feel 0 loyalty to the KRG

 

[phildwyer]

More on the KRG-PKK conflict:

http://ekurd.net/iraqi-kurdistan-government-condemns-formation-of-illegal-administrative-council-in-sinjar-2015-01-17

Blimey: "The PKK should stay away from interfering in the affairs of the Kurdistan Region; such interference is unacceptable."

That's pretty bellicose stuff. Full-scale Kurdish civil war looming now?

 

[phildwyer]

so It would't suprise me if the people in the sinjar region feel 0 loyalty to the KRG

Well to judge by the report just posted, it seems that it's the PKK who are suffering from a dearth of "loyalty" in the Iraqi provinces.