West Asia News and Discussions

[Shanmukh]

Hamas fired rockets from Gazan churches, says archbishop of Gaza.

Here is the original article in Hebrew.

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/605/ ... =675&loc=2

Here is the English version.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael ... -Rockets-/

[Singha]

ISIS is scoring strong victories against the kurds and have reached a point 30 min drive from Irbil their capital.

the holy black flag has also been raised over the mosul dam.

the cozy situation with the western oil cos continuing to operate in the places like kirkuk under kurds control and pumping oil through turkey is about to change.

probably thats why obama is now ready to commit to airstrikes and christians have been outed from their ancient towns and sent packing, bringing the pope and other religious pressure groups into action.

[Singha]

Obama has authorized airstrikes now per NYtimes, with drones and SAR assets already in the air for quite some time , the first target sets might get hit with cruise missiles by tonight and next set in another 24 hrs by manned aircraft from bases along the gulf like thumrait and al-udeid.

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BAGHDAD — The crisis gripping Iraq escalated rapidly on Thursday with a re-energized Islamic State in Iraq and Syria storming new towns in the north and seizing a strategic dam as Iraq’s most formidable military force, the Kurdish pesh merga, was routed in the face of the onslaught.

The loss of the Mosul Dam, the largest in Iraq, to the insurgents was the most dramatic consequence of a militant offensive in the north, which has sent tens of thousands of refugees, many from the Yazidi minority, fleeing into a vast mountainous landscape.

In one captured town, Sinjar, ISIS executed dozens of Yazidi men, and kept the dead men’s wives for unmarried jihadi fighters. Panic on Thursday spread even to the Kurdish capital of Erbil, long considered a safe haven, with civilians flooding the airport in a futile attempt to buy tickets to Baghdad.

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[Singha]

NYT comment:

Jay Amberg Neptune, N.J,. 7 hours ago
The possibility that ISIS could take control of the Kurdish oil hub at Kirkuk, the key pumping point for the pipeline that runs from those oil fields to the transshipment point at Ceyen, Turkey, would be an international disaster for global energy markets. The need to protect Kurdish interests in Iraq now should be a priority as the collapse of the Kurdish state HQ in Irbril would be a global disaster and give ISIS another major source of income for its spread of radical Islamic order throughout the Middle East as a springboard to the West, the ultimate goal.

[Singha]

NYT

The aircraft assigned to dropping food and water over the mountainside were a single C-17 and two C-130 aircraft. They were escorted by a pair of F-18 jet fighters, the administration official said. The planes were over the drop zone for about 15 minutes, and flew at a relatively low altitude. They flew over the Mount Sinjar area for less than 15 minutes, Pentagon officials said, and dropped a total of 5,300 gallons of fresh drinking water and 8,000 meals ready to eat. Mr. Obama, officials said, delayed announcing the steps he intended to take in Iraq until the planes had safely cleared the area.

[vijaykarthik]

FT coming up with articles such as these?

Saudis have lost the right to take Sunni leadership

[A_Gupta]

Report from Kurdistan
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/0 ... le-in-Iraq

IS's genocidal targeting of religious minorities is considered an outrage by the Kurdish population, and Sunni mosques have opened their doors to house displaced Yezidis - an event that would have been unimaginable just six months ago. However, the ethnic and religious minorities, including the Christians and the Yezidis, are desperate and angry at the lack of effective military support from the Kurdistan government. Barzani did make specific mention of genocide against religious minorities as one of the reasons for deciding to attack IS

.

[vijaykarthik]

^^ Barzani for all his talk on the Kurdistan independence / referendum etc will not go ahead with it. He will give in to an united Iraq. Too much of trouble for Kurds in general to go it alone with this new development. Besides, there is a fair bit of difference of opinion amongst Barzani and Talabani factions currently. But curious about how Iran wants to move here.

But one thing is for sure... if there is no governance there and a big void, IS is going to make a few moves ,which will take a fair bit of time to disentangle. Time for Maliki to move and get some guy in. Iraq cant get ahead with this current status quo. This is a quagmire.

[Philip]

ISIS is the greatest abomination to have plagued the globe in the last hundred+ years,even worse than anything that the Nazis might have done. Pol Pot perhaps comes closest to ISIS in terms of butchery. This Middle East Sunni savagery fully supported by the Saudis,Qataris and other Sunni patrons,shows that the responsibility for these war crimes must be shared by these nations,who should be "blackballed" by the international community.Instead,the US and its gang of impotent westerners,rant and rave at Russia and Putin ,imposing sanctions,after failing to accomplish a fully successful coup in the Ukraine and are struggling to support a puppet junta of neo-Nazis. In truth,sanctions must be imposed upon the Saudis and Qataris.The massacres,forced conversions and mutiple gang rape of non-Sunni victims .Christians,Yazidis (similar to Zoroastrians),Shiites,etc.,is the most abominable behaviour on the planet as of now.

US threatened bombings only in support of its "advisers" in the country are too little,too late and will be a mere pinprick on the hides of the jihadis who think and know that their onslaught is virtually unstoppable as of now.They have the money,the weapons,the oil and the support of the "keepers of the two holy places",the Saudi despots. ISIS contagion is being seen in many parts of India,open and unafraid.India cannot stand like a spectator on the sidelines.The contigency plans must be made right now,as if ISIS fever grips Pak,we will be soon in the firing line.

As for the poor Christians in Iraq,the West's attitude is "What we worry? They're not white Christians." Killing Orthodox Russians is far more fun!"

Flee, convert to Islam, or die: Stark choice facing Iraqi Christians as Isis closes in
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/

Tens of thousands of terrified people have been displaced as Christians flee Qaraqosh
Fernande van Tets
beirut Thursday 07 August 2014
Christians from the town of Qaraqosh were fleeing today after it was taken by fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) on Wednesday night.

The town had previously been a safe haven for those fleeing Mosul and for those hoping Christianity had a future in the country. “Before we thought we could stay. But now, there is no way Christians can go back to Iraq,” says Abu Maykel, a 29-year-old clerk who fled the village last week.

He hoped he could maybe remain in his ancestral homeland, but had to reconsider when Isis started to close in on Qaraqosh, a Christian village of 50,000 people. The town had been cut off from water and electricity ever since Isis took Mosul. Food had been hard to come by and distant shelling constant, but he remained.

However, 10 days ago, the shelling intensified. “It was less than a kilometre away. Just the sounds of it scared my wife and children,” Abu Maykel explains. The family decided to leave, joining an exodus which has further weakened Iraq’s Christian population.

Displaced families from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing the violence, walk on the outskirts of Sinjar, west of Mosul. Tens of thousands fled the weekend assault on Sinjar and are now surrounded, according to witnesses and the United Nations, after the Sunni militants inflicted a humiliating defeat on Kurdish forces who had held towns in the area for years Displaced families from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing the violence, walk on the outskirts of Sinjar, west of Mosul.

On Wednesday night, his fears were confirmed as overstretched Kurdish Peshmerga forces left their posts and the town, as well as a string of neighbouring Christian villages, fell to Isis.

Under Isis rule, Christians face a stark choice: convert or die. “I was given three days to decide whether to become Muslim, pay jizya – a special tax imposed on Christians under Islamic rule – or leave,” says Khalil Touma, a 43-year-old driver from Mosul. Adamant that Christians should have to pay no such tax in Iraq and afraid that they might come back later and demand more, Mr Touma chose to leave for Lebanon. In the last month, every other Iraqi Christian has also left Mosul, which was once home to a Christian population of 60,000.

In pictures: The rise of Isis

An Isis-issued ultimatum to Christians remaining in Mosul expired on 19 July. Houses belonging to Christians were daubed with the letter “N” – short for Nasare – a Muslim term for Christians which derives from Nazareth, the home town of Jesus. “It’s like being marked with an ‘X’,” said Haitham Hikmat Hermez, 46, a driver who fled.

Properties were confiscated and given to Muslims. Those leaving were not allowed to take much with them. Refugees tell stories of wedding rings being confiscated, some even being cut off with fingers attached to them. They share videos of churches, such as the tomb of Jonah – of Jonah and the Whale fame – being bombed. All are certain there is no future for them in Iraq.

Today it was reported that Washington was considering launching air strikes against Isis and providing direct humanitarian relief to Iraqi religious minorities.

There has been concern about the exodus of Iraqi Christians from the church in the UK. Andrew White, Anglican Vicar in Baghdad, said: “It looks as if the end could be very near,” for Christians in Iraq during a call with Radio 4’s Today on 26 July. On Wednesday, the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales urged for prayers and an end to “the violent persecution that threatens to extinguish the Christian community” in Iraq, while Pope Francis called on world governments to take measures to protect the Christians that have been driven from their villages in Northern Iraq, and to provide them with humanitarian aid.
Video: Iraqis on Sinjar Mountain terrified of Isis threat

Appealing to the international community, the Pope called on leaders to “put an end to the humanitarian drama underway, adopt measures to protect those who are threatened by violence and assure them necessary aid, especially urgent for those who are homeless and depend on the solidarity of others.”

But priests here feel that not enough is being done by the West. “All I hear is silence,” says Father George, an Assyrian priest struggling to take care of 40 families that have registered at his church so far. “Where are the States? Where is the UN? Until now, they have done nothing!”

France’s offer of asylum to Iraqi Christians horrifies him, as it does most of Lebanon’s clergy. The country, with its own flailing Christian minority, feels Christians belong in the Middle East. “They should stay here, this is their land” says Father George.

Meanwhile,its "back to the future" in Gaza.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/a ... efire-ends
Israel resumes air strikes after rockets fired from Gaza as ceasefire ends
Gazans rush back to UN-run shelters as Israel retaliates against rockets fired before and after 72-hour truce expired

[Singha]

kids below 10 taking part in ISIS executions



the iconic pic from their video

[JwalaMukhi]

In one captured town, Sinjar, ISIS executed dozens of Yazidi men, and kept the dead men’s wives for unmarried jihadi fighters. Panic on Thursday spread even to the Kurdish capital of Erbil, long considered a safe haven, with civilians flooding the airport in a futile attempt to buy tickets to Baghdad.
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What is the take of the Baroness Ms.who of UKstan? What about our Secular gang? Well, it is just another day in the dar-ul-islam. Bet these Yazidi's would actively have encouraged when the greens meted such treatment to other non-greens. Now the foot is on the other shoes. Well till Baroness Ms.who or for that matter any of the light greens (including yazidis), takes a principle stand on Kashmiri refugees and expresses outrage, or for that matter expresess outrage when the jihadis killed people in the Kenyan Mall when people didn't know who was the mother of PBUH, there is going to be very little sympathy from non-greens.

[Shanmukh]

In one captured town, Sinjar, ISIS executed dozens of Yazidi men, and kept the dead men’s wives for unmarried jihadi fighters. Panic on Thursday spread even to the Kurdish capital of Erbil, long considered a safe haven, with civilians flooding the airport in a futile attempt to buy tickets to Baghdad.
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What is the take of the Baroness Ms.who of UKstan? What about our Secular gang? Well, it is just another day in the dar-ul-islam. Bet these Yazidi's would actively have encouraged when the greens meted such treatment to other non-greens. Now the foot is on the other shoes. Well till Baroness Ms.who or for that matter any of the light greens (including yazidis), takes a principle stand on Kashmiri refugees and expresses outrage, or for that matter expresess outrage when the jihadis killed people in the Kenyan Mall when people didn't know who was the mother of PBUH, there is going to be very little sympathy from non-greens.

Just a small nit, JwalaMukhi-ji. Yezidis are not Muslims. They are their own religion, related to Zoroastrianism. I have never seen anyone (to my very limited knowledge) express support for Pakistan on Kashmir or anyone else against India.

[Prem]

US launches airstrikes on Iraq. Again.
http://boingboing.net/2014/08/08/us-lau ... -iraq.html

American warplanes struck Sunni militant positions in northern Iraq on Friday, the Pentagon and Kurdish officials said, confirming the first significant American military operation in the country since United States forces withdrew in 2011."Two F-18 fighters "dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery target near Erbil," the Pentagon announced today.Late last night in a televised late-night address from the White House, President Obama said U.S. military planes had began the current mission by airdropping aid to tens of thousands of Iraqi religious minorities surrounded by militants. The internally displaced were in grave need of food and water.
“Today America is coming to help,” he declared.And by help, what we really mean is we're going to bomb the ****** out of your country. Again.The airstrikes began without formal congressional approval. "

[brihaspati]

But ISIS is the natural evolutionary stage for any Sunni population left without non-Muslim supervision and control. By Islamic standards they have not done anything that Muslim armies or jihadis have not done before, except of course the technology might not have been there.

[JwalaMukhi]

Thanks Nageshgaru for the correction. Although noticed they have picked up some of Islamic traits, and were involved in 'honor killing' in european lands. Gosh once islamism touches, everything goes down the gutters.

The biggest joke is the secular English language media in India, which went ape-sh1t (because couldn't digest Namo can work towards end result) and started praising ISIS and its benevolence when the trapped Indian nurses were successfully retrieved.
So, the secular jokers looks like do not have any input from their handlers as to how to react now. Is ISIS good taliban or bad taliban or what? So these clueless presstitutes aren't sure what to do with their benevolent ISIS.

[vijaykarthik]

But ISIS is the natural evolutionary stage for any Sunni population left without non-Muslim supervision and control. By Islamic standards they have not done anything that Muslim armies or jihadis have not done before, except of course the technology might not have been there.

But will you not agree that this new brand of Islam and this tomfoolery that the new IS Bigdaddy Cauliff is trying to bring in is something that not a lot of the other factions were capable of?

The Islamic armies always believe in war and had about 52 wars in 30 years and all that is true. But what we are seeing here is something that is at least one order of magnitude larger... if not more. This is barbarianism. And putting a name to it and a religion to it is not just ridiculous... but insulting to the entire human race. And I am really shocked when I see pics of Kerala youth taking pics of them wearing ISIS t-shirts. That's not just silly... that's dangerous. The police let them off after a stern warning. I do hope they are being checked from time to time if it was just a "time pass" moment or there is more to the smoking gun.

[UlanBatori]

These half-hearted "airstrikes" using one or two F/A-18s and one drone appear to be just tokens. Will these keep the killers from moving forward? BO's policies seem totally without direction.

If they were serious, what was needed was fuel-air explosives to wipe out all the ISIS sh1ts, drone attacks to take out all their leaders in one sweep, etc. Or at least send a swarm of drones with missiles.

[Rahul M]

please start a new thread with a link to this page in its first post.