Who are the fronts and behinds of the ISI(P/S/?)

[vijaykarthik]

Forget for a min about who's behind:

This news is very interesting: Wife and kid of Al-Bag-daddy picked. Teeheehee.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/ ... me=topNews

Since the IS were raping other 'daughters' and 'wives', how will Bag-daddy feel if the tables turn now? Think before you act.

[krishnan]

as if he cares , and what will they get by arresting them ?

[ramana]

http://soodvikram.blogspot.com/2015/04/ ... menon.html

The ISIS Phenomenon

Vikram Sood

The rise of ISIS and related events reflect the turmoil within Islam. There is the Islam versus the rest where the extremist believes Islam is in danger from the rest and violent jihad is the answer. There is a tussle between the tolerant and intolerant in Islam and the latter seems to be winning because he has the gun.

“Creative destruction is our middle name, within our own society and abroad.We teardown the old order everyday, from business to scientists, literature, architecture and cinema to politics and the law …. They must attack us in order to survive, just as we must destroy them to advance our historic mission.”

Given the context of this article, a reader might presume that this is the kind of statement that might have emerged from the ISIS or some extremist terror outfit. He would be wrong for these are the comments of Michael A Ledeen, one of America’s influential ultraconservatives especially during the Iraq War. The quotation is from his The War Against the Terror Masters, 2002.

Shock and awe was made to happen in the 20th century and Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Pinochetand others were the main protagonists. We fail to talk enough about Dresden, Coventry, London, St Petersburg and Berlin or the British made Bengal famine during the Second World War to feed allied troops. Over 100,000 people were bombed to death in one night of US bombing of Tokyo on March 9, 1945. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were to follow. In all about 70 Japanese cities were reduced to rubble. The Japanese themselves were not innocent either of their atrocities in Shanghai, Nanjing and Chongqing.

There are newer players in this game. Some of the methods have changed, but the goals – global domination – have not changed. Violence and brutality are far more visible, much sooner and the news and its effects travel globally in real time. Only with passage of time it got privatised and was no longer the monopoly of the powerful state. The Afghan jihad of the 1980s signified this change where an officially sponsored private jihad was unleashed. This ultimately led to the rise of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The same cycle was repeated in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq on false pretexts where not only was the dictator pulled down but also all the institutions that ran Iraq.

As a result, Iraq actually got Al Qaeda and its surrogates after the US troops landed. What we see happening today in the region is quite a bit because of this misadventure. The ISIS is the next genie that has surfaced. This is not to justify the present day terror unleashed but to give some context to it. The 21st century is now more or less immune to such shocks and quickly finds terminology to ignore, underplay or exaggerate as the occasion demands.

The Arab Spring

It all started in 2011 with the Arab Spring when the Tunisians sowed the seeds with their Jasmine Revolution and Egypt promised a lot, but the Brotherhood was thrown out by the powerful Army. The West had cheered the Tahrir Revolution but suddenly found that the game was not being played according to their rules. The Brotherhood was not the part of their game so the rules had to be changed. Twitter heroes like Wael Ghonim (@ghonim) and scores of others suddenly disappeared. Attention was then on Syria where the Arab Spring was not happening and had to be engineered against an obdurate Bashar Assad but more importantly as a means to reduce the influence of a Shia and an ambitious Iran. The revolt against Assad led by generous assistance from external forces failed and the ISIS hijacked the movement. The Free Syrian Army had failed to deliver and Al Qaeda affiliates were fighting alongside these rebels.

(It all started in 2011 with the Arab Spring when the Tunisians sowed the seeds with their Jasmine Revolution)

Enter The ISIS

The sudden and spectacular rise of the ISIS as a rival to the Al Qaeda, their brutal efficiency and zeal have led to some analysts seeking more answers about their rise and generous financial and material support beyond that which has come from the Saudis, Qataris and Turks. Some observers have questions about the sudden and spectacular rise of the ISIS – seems to be a part of shock and awe, reaction to what the Americans have attempted in keeping with their policy of control of the region, where OPEC versus US commercial strategic interests, CENTCOM forces with 20 bases in six countries in the region and now Islamic versus Christian interests overlap. Today, the ISIS has its wilayats in Libya, Algeria, Sinai, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It has a presence in the Khorasan province of Afghanistan and support from the TTP in Pakistan. Its soldiers look more like Special Forces troops than guerrilla fighters; ISIS is financially well endowed with funds coming in from local powers as well.

The rise of ISIS and related events reflect the turmoil within Islam. There is the Islam versus the rest (Christians, Jews, Hindus and their political ideals) where the extremist believes Islam is in danger from the rest and violent jihad is the answer. There is a tussle between the tolerant and intolerant in Islam and the latter seems to be winning because he has the gun. There is violent sectarian strife primarily between the Sunnis and the Shias. Add to this the ethnic and geopolitical interests of the players in the region and those from outside and we have a truly messy situation.

The Age Of Intolerance

Tolerance is at dangerously low ebb in our societies all the way from Bangladesh through Pakistan, West Asia and on to Africa. Instead, intolerance and impatience is the signature tune of most. Something similar happened in Iraq and Syria with the actions of Iraq’s Shia leaders and the rise of the ISIS. In Bangladesh, mobs killed an atheist recently; in Malda, West Bengal, the local government acquiesced to a fatwa banning women’s football; in Pakistan the Blasphemy law reigns; Sunnis periodically kill Shias in what looks been killed while attending churches; Iran jails a woman for watching a soccer game; in Saudi Arabia a woman was gang-raped and has been punished with 200 lashes and a six month jail sentence and a blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam; the ISIS in Iraq and Syria have been killing Coptic Christians, immolating a Jordanian pilot, executing Japanese and other hostages. The destruction of ancient sites like Nimrud is reminiscent of what the Taliban did in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Hatra and the Mosul Library in Iraq are some of the other historical sites that have been destroyed by the ISIS.

Narrative Of Political Correctness

Political correctness has been carried to absurd limits and we are not able to describe what is happening in West Asia as acts of intolerance, brutality and violence perpetrated by some Muslims in the name of Islam. Barack Obama’s unwillingness to describe West Asian atrocities as what they are, only hurts the interests of the moderates who wish for support to be able to stand up to these brutal people.

When President Obama said at a White House summit on countering ‘religious extremism’ that violent jihad in the name of Islam was not the work of ‘religious leaders’ but rather ‘terrorists’ American Muslim leaders stood up and applauded. Liberal Muslim journalists Asra Nomani and Hala Arafa were horrified with this. They pointed out that while rejecting the vision of the Islamic State, the fact was that the Islamic State, Al Qaeda and the various Islamic groups like Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba drew on the scholarship of Ibn Taymiyyah in the 14th century to Sayyid Qutb in the 20th century whom many Muslims considered as ‘religious leaders.’

Graeme Wood in his recent essay in the Atlantic has argued that the ‘Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic’ and would be ‘a key agent of the coming Apocalypse.’ Nomani and Arafa state that these persons were hell-bent on chasing the Apocalypse ie according to Islamic ideology, the end of the world. {Qayamat}

So far we have not seen any radicalisation among the youth in India barring a few examples

Qanta Ahmed, a doctor and a British Muslim who has lived in Saudi Arabia, recently commented in the National Review on the lexicon of terrorism and jihad. In an article ‘Why Charlie Hebdo Islamists are ‘terrorists’, she criticised the BBC’s Arabic service announcement that the service would avoid using the term ‘terrorists’ to describe the Charlie Hebdo attackers. She argues, rightly, that by refusing to do this, the powerful BBC was signalling to Islamist sympathisers who may form a part of the BBC’s viewership. She found it even more offensive that by attempting to sanitise the lexicon, BBC Arabic was infantalising educated Muslims. Qanta Ahmed was equally perturbed that Al Jazeera English had also decided not to use words like jihadist, Islamist, militant or extremist. Her comment, with regards to terrorism in West Asia that “retreating from reality – failing to name terror when it occurs – represents a new nadir in media malfeasance” is pertinent.

Moderates Crucified

Accepting negotiations with destroyers of civilisational symbols or erasing history, slurring over definitions discourages moderates trying to battle the extremists and encourages extremists because you are shown up as weak and unable to take a stand. The Saudi Kingdom has an atrocious human rights record and is the largest buyer of weaponry from the West. It could soon acquire nukes or at least nuclear cover, courtesy Pakistan. Ego prevented USA from dealing with Iran for three decades and Americans picked on Pakistan as their ally in their war on terror against Al Qaeda and Taliban and look what the world got as a result.

Societal or religious reform is successful only if it happens from within. Attempts to impose clones have always been unsuccessful. The Egyptian President was far more forthcoming in his comments than the very circumspect Obama. On New Year’s Day, President Al Sisi speaking to a gathering of religious scholars at Al-Azhar University he called for the rescue of Islam from ‘ideology’. Sisi said “We are in need of a religious revolution … the entire world is waiting for your next move because the Islamic world is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lost … by our own hands.” Sisi urged that “We need a modern, comprehensive understanding of the religion of Islam” rather than “relying on a discourse that has not changed for 800 years.” Commenting on this, Qanta Ahmed wrote that this was the moment to expose Islamism, the Muslim leadership had to be reformed and the failure to call Islamism by its name or name the jihadist – as Obama had failed – guaranteed defeat.“Failing to name Islamism, out of political correctness, fear or stupidity is the ultimate Islamophobic act.”(Qanta Ahmed’s “How to save Islam from the Islamists”The Spectator, January 17, 2015).

The well known columnist Fareed Zakaria pointed out that there was a cancer of extremism within Islam, a small minority celebrates the brutality, harbours extremely reactionary attitudes but those confronting these extremists are neither enough in numbers nor loud enough.

The ISIS use of media and social media for propaganda and image creation has been very successful. At one point they had 46,000 Twitter accounts and have used the Web effectively and rofessionally. Despite this, the ISIS will find it difficult to move beyond the Sunni belt of Syria and Iraq and parts of West Asia and Africa, unless it has the active support of the local powers. The concept of Caliphate of Baghdadi can be a bit of a non-starter as clerics of other countries are unlikely to support the idea as this would undercut their role. Political dispensations in Iran and Saudi Arabia will checkmate the Caliphate. Even the Hezbollah will not take kindly to the Caliphate.

Wheels Within Wheels

Egypt is surrounded by ISIS in Libya and Sinai. The West had encouraged the Arab Spring in Syria in 2011 and failed. Bashar Assad held on and today the US is at odds having to rely on Iran to handle ISIS which has been fostered by Saudi Arabia which is a friend of the US and Israel. The US can either let Assad succeed nor send its own ground troops to control territory. Yet, an ISIS success in Syria and Iraq would be a loss of face for America and a cause for concern for the Saudis whom the ISIS targets as well. Only Iran can help by becoming a front line state for the US, something they should have tried in Afghanistan. Instead they fell back on Pakistan, a dubious ally and essentially radicalised Sunni and supporter of the Taliban, Al Qaeda and others. Reliance on Iran could mean increase of Iranian power and concessions on the nuclear issue which would alarm both Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Kurds are nobody’s people and yet they are the ones who have helped beat back the ISIS onslaught despite inadequate support from the West but with greater support from Iran. This would make the picture clear in a region where enemies by day are often friends by stealth in the night.

The CIA Director John Brennan has recently warned that the ISIS has snowballed and was a direct threat to the US, contradicting US government claims that the ISIS had been degraded. What has happened is that neither Iraq nor Syria will ever be the same countries again and West Asia would end up divided on sectarian lines. For the present, US seems to be concentrating on striking some deal with Iran which would leave that country in a much stronger position than what it was two decades ago.

India Needs To Be Watchful

Not Fearful Rise of terrorism in West Asia can essentially impact on India in three ways – a raising of the temperature by Pakistan on the Kashmir issue; radicalisation of the Indian Muslim youth and attempts by ISIS and Al Qaeda acting separately and in competition to expand their influence in India and other parts. Simultaneously there is so much stress on the discovery of this man ShamiWitness from Bengaluru who was quite the boy next door. So far we have not seen any radicalisation among the youth in India barring a few examples and this needs to be watched even though the Indian Muslim is by far the most moderate as a category in the region and does not get swayed by events outside the country.

Indian authorities would remain more concerned with the activities of Pakistan-based terror groups some of whom have links with Saudi Arabia and have also associate offices / branches in the Gulf. By themselves West Asian groups may not make much headway in India – language and customs are a barrier which may be overcome with friendly assistance from Pakistan. Our perceived and recent closeness to the US and Israel is bound to attract notice among the Islamists but this is something the country has to be prepared for.

While there is no denying that Muslim radicals the world over are on overdrive to recruit, it is possible some Indians here or in the Gulf or elsewhere may fall under their spell, there is a difference between individual dalliance and groups that act together like a militia. There would be disgruntled people or those under peer pressure wanting to do the macho thing, which is to be expected in a large population like ours. Mercifully there is no such exodus but it is the intelligence and security agencies that need to worry. It is dangerous for the rest of us to discuss this as a major epidemic which could even make it happen. In India we tend to take anything emanating from Western capitals as gospel and more important than the real threats that we face.

Real Threat To India

The real threat we face is from all terror groups that have their bases in Pakistan. This means chiefly LeT, JeM or in Afghanistan from the Haqqanis. It is these groups fired by the rhetoric of the likes of Hafiz Saeed or Munawar Hasan, backed to the hilt by the Pakistan Army operating from safe havens in Pakistan that will remain the real threat. The ISIS and / or Al Qaeda will become a real threat to us if they have the same kind of back up from the Pakistan Army.


Source : Defence and Security Alert,, April 2015

[ramana]

Please keep this thread for background info on evolution of ISIS:

Playing to form as usual. We all know how the US/West created Islamic fundamentalism during the Zia regime to oust the Soviets from Afghanistan.That move spectacularly backfired with the rise of Osama and Al Q,leading to 9/11,etc. Learning nothing from that catastrophe,the US has yet again sponsored an even more diabolic version of Al Q,ISIS according to this report and admission by a former US intel chief. Here,the US and its MEast allies,the "oily" Sunni kingdoms and sheikhdoms,wanted ISIS to take care of Assad and the Syrian problem.Another monster creation,worse than Al Q.

US ex-intelligence chief on ISIS rise: It was 'a willful Washington decision'
Published time: 10 Aug, 2015

The US didn’t interfere with the rise of anti-government jihadist groups in Syria that finally degenerated into Islamic State, claims the former head of America’s Defense Intelligence Agency, backing a secret 2012 memo predicting their rise.

An interview with retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), given to Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan, confirms earlier suspicions that Washington was monitoring jihadist groups emerging as opposition in Syria.

General Flynn dismissed Al Jazeera’s supposition that the US administration “turned a blind eye” to the DIA’s analysis.
Flynn believes the US government didn’t listen to his agency on purpose.
“I think it was a decision. I think it was a willful decision,” the former DIA chief said.

READ MORE: Iraq Diary, Day 8: Does the DIA report talk about ISIS roots?

The classified DIA report presented in August 2012, stated that “the Salafist, the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQI [Al- Qaeda in Iraq] are the major forces driving the insurgency in Syria,” being supported by “the West, Gulf countries and Turkey.”

The document recently declassified through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), analyses the situation in Syria in the summer of 2012 and predicts: “If the situation unravels, there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist principality in eastern Syria… and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime.”

The report warns of “dire consequences” of this scenario, because it would allow Al-Qaeda to regain its positions in Iraq and unify the jihadist Sunni forces in Iraq, Syria and the rest of the Sunnis in the Arab world against all other Muslim minorities they consider dissenters.

READ MORE: ‘US created conditions for ISIS’: RT talks to Iraqi Shia militia as they leave to fight

“ISI (the Islamic State of Iraq) could also declare an Islamic State through its union with other terrorist organizations in Iraq and Syria, which will create grave danger in regards of unifying Iraq and the protection of its territory,” the DIA report correctly predicted at the time.
Those groups eventually emerged as Islamic State (IS formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al-Nusra Front, an Islamic group loyal to Al-Qaeda.

Unlike the US State Department, which rushed to label the declassified DIA memo as unimportant soon after its declassification, the DIA’s former head expressed full trust in the 2012 report, stressing he “paid very close attention” to this document, adding “the intelligence was very clear.”

Al Jazeera notes that Lieutenant General Michael Flynn became “the highest ranking intelligence official to go on record,” saying the US and other states, notably Turkey and the Gulf Arab states, were sponsoring Al-Qaeda-led rebels in Syria with political support and weapons in an attempt to overthrow President Bashar Assad.

When Al Jazeera’s Hasan asked Flynn why he didn’t attempt to stop the US coordinating arms transfers to Islamic extremists, the retired general said: “I hate to say it’s not my job, but my job was to ensure the accuracy of our intelligence,” said Flynn, who also served as director of intelligence for the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) during the US hunt for Bin Laden.

READ MORE: ‘US seems to be constantly one step behind ISIS’

With the Al-Qaeda’s notorious founder killed in Pakistan in 2011, the former DIA head admitting the US sponsored Al-Qaeda-associated groups a year later in Syria should come as a shock to American media outlets, such as the Daily Beast, which criticized the DIA memo as unworthy.

Author for the Levant Report, Brad Hoff says hours after he published a rebuttal to the Daily Beast article, he was contacted by a personal friend, a high level official with CIA Public Affairs, who urged Hoff to drop his comments regarding the IS issue, insisting the Daily Beast article had been “written insightfully.”

Assad blame game ‘encourages more groups like ISIS’

RT’s Gayane Chichakyan asked US State Department spokesperson John Kirby to comment on the DIA memo and Flynn’s assessment of it. In response, Kirby ignored the claims, solely blaming Assad for the rise of Islamic State forces.

“I am certainly not going to talk about the intelligence report that I haven’t seen … The rise of ISIL inside Syria was, in fact, helped by Assad regime’s lack of legitimacy to govern effectively its own people and its own territory,” Kirby said.

Washington’s approach to Syria only helps to further destabilize the situation by exclusively presenting the Syrian president as a leader who has ‘lost’ legitimacy, Washington Bureau Chief for Al-Quds, Said Arikat, told RT.

“It is very difficult to contain the situation in Syria or Iraq. It is very difficult to put that genie back in the bottle. If the United States was really intent on defeating ISIS, it has to create or facilitate conditions by which or through which you can have a political resolution,” Arikat said.

“And you begin by saying we want all Syrian representatives, including those who look at Assad as a representative. That is the only way. To continue to adhere to the stubborn line that Assad has lost his legitimacy is basically agitating for more of these groups to emerge. Today we have ISIS, tomorrow we might have something else,” he added.

http://www.rt.com/usa/312050-dia-flynn-islamic-state/

[ramana]

UP.
With Putin attacking ISIS the fronts and behinds will get exposed.

[UlanBatori]

Wow! So it IS true that ISIS is an American creation. Impeach Hussein BO! In fact, hang whoever is responsible for this. Now it makes total 'sense' - the 'inability' to track down and stop the money flow and arms flow and petroleum flow to and from the ISIS, the inability of the famed USAF to hit enough targets as ISIS advanced to commit genocide. There's enough here to hang from every lamppost in Duplee City.

[ramana]

And high profile resignations from US cabinet of those who called ISIS a threat to US.

[ramana]

Policy Brief from Center for New American Security (CNAS

Combatting ISIS

[chetak]

Wow! So it IS true that ISIS is an American creation. Impeach Hussein BO! In fact, hang whoever is responsible for this. Now it makes total 'sense' - the 'inability' to track down and stop the money flow and arms flow and petroleum flow to and from the ISIS, the inability of the famed USAF to hit enough targets as ISIS advanced to commit genocide. There's enough here to hang from every lamppost in Duplee City.

BO may not be it.

It is the deep state looking out for the amreki interests after the BO departure. Exactly like they pushed bush into eyraq and afghanistan

It was always suspicious from the beginning. Remember how they took out the eyraqi forces within days of the start of the war?? and the same USAF couldn't "find" the ISIS a few feet down the road?? It is a saudi, europe gelf monarchies and US setup with "friendly" reporting from the ever obliging amreki press.

They only wanted paki boots on the ground and not the arab or white skin boots.

[UlanBatori]

Wife and kid of Al-Bag-daddy

Only one of each? Bin Laden's daddy had 52, right? This is another of those 'achievements' like "Al Qaeda #3 Arrested!" during GOAT Phase 2. They did that some 20 times.

[ramana]

USI Journal

Rise of ISIS in Syria E.N. Rammohan IPS

The Rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the 21st Century
Shri EN Rammohan, IPS (Retd)@

Introduction

The latest development of Islamic fundamentalism took place in mid 2014 in Iraq, when a group of Sunni soldiers of the Iraqi army revolted and disarmed all their Shia soldiers, took them to a remote spot on the banks of the Tigris river, dug a mass grave for them and after lining them beside the grave opened fire on them killing about 400 odd personnel. As the hapless disarmed Shia soldiers were shot, they fell into the readymade mass grave. Luckily, one of the disarmed Shia soldiers, Ali Hussain Khadim was hit by a bullet, which did not kill him. He however fell into the mass grave dug for the Shia soldiers. Sensibly he kept his wits about him and lay wounded among the dead and dying Shii soldiers, but acted as if he was dead. After the horrifying mass murder of more than 400 Shii soldiers by their brother Sunni soldiers, the merciless murderers of their brother soldiers left the mass grave. After the murderous Sunni soldiers had left the area, and the coast was clear, Ali Hussain Khadim managed to crawl out of the mass grave and through a nullah reached the bank of the Tigris River nearby. From there he managed to drag himself to a Shia house some distance away and with their help managed to escape to a Shia dominated area and narrate his horrifying tale. Khadim was in Camp Speicher when the United States trained officers fled. He left the camp with about 200 Shia soldiers in civil dress. They had not gone far, when they ran into an ISIS convoy that rounded them up and took them to a camp in Tikrit, which became a killing ground.

This was the bloody mark of the birth of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Earlier the Sunni soldiers of the Iraqi army had revolted and captured tanks and light, medium and heavy weapons and formed a group calling themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

At the top of the organisation was the self declared leader of the group, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, a radical Chief Executive of sorts, who handpicked many of his deputies from among the men he had met while a prisoner in the United States custody at the Camp Bucca detention centre a decade ago. He had a preference for military men and so his leadership team included many officers from Saddam Hussain’s disbanded army. They included former Iraqi officers like Fadl al Hayali, the top deputy for Iraq who once served Saddam Hussain as a Lieutenant Colonel, who now heads the ISIS Military Council. Its leaders augment traditional military skills with terrorist techniques refined through years of fighting United States’ troops, while also having local knowledge and contacts. ISIS is in effect a hybrid of terrorists and an army. ISIS burst into local consciousness in June 2014, when its fighters seized Mosul. The Iraqi army melted away and Baghdadi declared a Caliphate or Islamic State that erased borders and imposed Taliban like rule over large territory.

Roots of the Evolution of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

The ISIS with its small core of jihadists was able to seize so much non-jihadist Sunni territory in Syria and Iraq almost overnight, not because most Iraqi and Syrian Sunnis suddenly bought into the Islamist narrative of ISIS’s self appointed Caliph. Most Iraqi and Syrian Sunnis do not want to marry off their daughters to a bearded Chechen fanatic and more than a few of them pray five times a day and like to wash it down with a good scotch. They have embraced or resigned themselves to ISIS because they were systematically abused by the pro Shiite, pro Iranian regime of Bashar al Assad in Syria and Prime Minister Nuri Kamal-al Maliki in Iraq and because they see ISIS as a vehicle to revive Sunni nationalism and end Shiite oppression.1

The challenge the United States faces in Iraq is trying to defeat ISIS in tacit alliance with Syria and Iran, whose local Shiite allies are doing a lot of the fighting in Iraq and Syria. Iran is seen by many Syrian and Iraqi Sunnis as the colonial power dominating Iraq to keep it weak.

Obsessed With Jihadism and 9/11, Are We Now Doing the Bidding of Iran and Syria in Iraq?

What would have happened had ISIS not engaged in barbarism and declared – “We are the Islamic State. We represent the interests of the Iraqi and Syrian Sunnis, who have been brutalised by Persian directed regimes of Damascus and Baghdad. Our goal is to secure the interests of Sunnis in Iraq and Syria. We want an autonomous Sunnistan in Iraq, just like the Kurds have a Kurdistan with our own cut of Iraq oil wealth.” ISIS’s magazine, Dabiq recently published an article, “Reflections on the final Crusade”, which argued that the United States’ war against ISIS only serves the interests of the enemies of the United States – Iran and Russia. It quotes strategists of the United States as a warning that Iran has created a Shia belt from Tehran through Baghdad to Beirut, a threat much greater than ISIS. Why did the ISIS then behead five (so far) western hostages? They did this because they want to draw the United States into another crusade against the Muslims. ISIS needs to be contained before it destabilises islands of decency like Jordan, Kurdistan and Lebanon. But destroying it? That will be hard, because it is not just riding on some jihadist Caliphate fantasy, but on deep Sunni nationalist grievances. Separating the two is the best way to defeat the ISIS, but the only way to separate mainstream Sunnis from jihadists is for mainstream Sunnis and Shiites to share power, to build a healthy inter-dependency from what is now an unhealthy one. Are there any chances of that happening? Regrettably very low.2

In the background of all the cruel killing and maiming people in the name of religion, and the harsh treatment of men and women in the name of religion, here is a refreshing interlude from the heart of Islamic country. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a modern country in the heart of the Islamic Middle East. This rich country has a modern outlook. It also has, as a result of its progressive outlook, a modern Air Force with the latest fighter aircraft. And surprises of surprises its Air Force have lady pilots flying these combat jet fighter planes. Major Mariam al Mansouri flew in the first wave of the United States led attacks on targets of the ISIS in Syria! It is a striking image combining empowered Muslim Women, in an Arab fight back against jihadi extremism by the small but very modern Gulf State of the United Arab Emirates(UAE). Operating from the Al Dafrah air base in the desert south of Abu Dhabi, Major Mansur and other Emirate Air Force pilots have flown more combat sorties than any of the other Arab participants–Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar in the United States’ campaign to destroy the ISIS.3

The Emirates has woven itself into the fabric of the United States defence strategy. UAE forces serve in Afghanistan. In August, the United Arab Emirates aircraft based in Egypt bombed Islamist targets in Libya. Its F-AE/F Desert Falcon aircraft are even more advanced than those in service with the United States.4

The Plan in Iraq to Counter the ISIS

Iraqi security forces, led by the United States air power and hundreds of advisers are planning to mount a major spring offensive against the Islamic State fighters. The goal is to break the ISIS occupation in northern and western Iraq and re-establish the Iraqi Government’s control over Mosul and other population centres, as well as the country’s major roads and its border with Syria by the end of 2015.

Iraqi and Kurdish forces have made inroads in recent weeks in securing territory threatened or captured by the ISIS, including the Rabia border crossing with Syria, the oil refinery in Baiji, North of Baghdad, the northern town of Zumar and Jurf-al-Sakhar, southwest of Baghdad. The major push which is being devised with the help of the United States military planners will require training three new Iraqi divisions, more than 20,000 troops over the coming months. The basic strategy calls for attacking fighters from the ISIS with a goal of isolating them in major strongholds like Mosul. That could enable Iraqi troops, Kurdish Peshmerga units and fighters who have been recruited from Sunni tribes to take on a weakened foe that has been cut off from its supply lines and reinforcements from Syria, subject to the United States air strikes. A task force headed by a Lieutenent General will be based in Kuwait with a Major General in Baghdad that will supervise the hundreds of United States advisers and trainers working with the Iraqi forces. As the push to train Iraq’s military gathers momentum the United States footprint is likely to expand from Baghdad and Erbil to additional outposts including Al Assad Air base in Iraq’s embattled Anbar province in the West and possibly Taji, 20 miles North of Baghdad. The effort to rebuild Iraq’s fighting capabilities faces hurdles including the risk that the ISIS will use the intervening months to entrench in western Iraq and carry out more killings.5

The extremists of the ISIS appeared unstoppable after their sudden blitz through Iraq this summer. Today roughly a third of Iraq is dotted by active battle fronts with instances of fighting and occasional IS victories. However the groups’ momentum appears to be stalling. The international airstrike campaign against the IS has clearly played a role in slowing its advance. The air strikes have been helpful, but several other factors are important. ISIS thrives in poor Sunni Arab areas. Neglect of Sunni areas in Iraq during the tenure of the Shia Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al Maliki gave them an opportunity for the jihadists. ISIS can only expand in areas where it can enter into partnerships with the local Sunni population. It is in Iraq when the local coalition forces began bombing in August that the IS had lost most ground in recent weeks. Iraqi government units, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, Shiite militias have taken back the area of Zumar in the North and Jurf-al Sakhar South of Baghdad. For the first time since the jihadists seized Mosul and much of northwest Iraq in June, an Iraqi military vehicle can drive from Baghdad to Erbil in the North on the highway. Last month IS seized the town of Hit and has since been killing people of the Abu Nisar tribe, three hundred of whom were reportedly killed. The IS is still entrenched in Anbar province. Because of Iraq’s sectarian dynamics, the Government cannot send Shiite forces to fight in Anbar province. The result is that the IS is still entrenched there.6

Conclusion

From the time the IS broke into the headlines of international news, and stories of horrifying beheadings and mass killings were the daily headlines from the Middle East, the situation has steadily improved in Iraq. Though the United States refused to send troops on the ground, its aerial strikes has made an impact and limited deployment of troops by the Iraqi army has controlled the situation and reversed the advance of the IS. The situation in Iraq is likely to be controlled soon.

The situation in Syria is a little different and there are many complicating and competing narratives. The United States and its allies are not sure who are the enemies and which party needs to be supported and to what extent. The beheading of Western journalists and aid workers has generated additional domestic pressures on the leaders to act. A grand strategy to deal with the emerging situation is still missing. The situation in Syria will continue to stretch the military and diplomatic dilemmas of the United States and its allies in the foreseeable future.

Endnotes

1. ISIS and Viet Nam. Thomas L Friedman. International New York Times, 30 October 2014.

2. Ibid.

3. The United Arab Emirates bombing of ISIS. Ian Black from Abu Dhabi. The Guardian Weekly.7th November 2014.

4. Ibid.

5. With United States aid Iraq readies ISIS fight. Eric Schmitt, Michael Gordon. International New York Times, 4 November 2014.

6. Islamic State’s momentum stalls, particularly in Iraq. Ben Habbard. Baghdad. International New York Times, 7 Novemebr 2014.



@ Shri EN Rammohan, IPS (Retd) is a 1965 Batch Assam Cadre IPS Officer. He retired as Director General of Border Security Force in November 2000. Post retirement, he was Adviser to the Governor of Manipur.

Journal of the United Service Institution of India, Vol. CXLIV, No. 598, October-December 2014.

[deejay]

Ramana ji, this USI report is missing important facts in all aspects - looks poorly researched though it is by a retired IPS. IS has its evolution in Syria and has spread to Iraq.

There are many issues in the article which seem at variance with what is discussed here. An example :

"In the background of all the cruel killing and maiming people in the name of religion, and the harsh treatment of men and women in the name of religion, here is a refreshing interlude from the heart of Islamic country. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a modern country in the heart of the Islamic Middle East. This rich country has a modern outlook. It also has, as a result of its progressive outlook, a modern Air Force with the latest fighter aircraft. And surprises of surprises its Air Force have lady pilots flying these combat jet fighter planes. Major Mariam al Mansouri flew in the first wave of the United States led attacks on targets of the ISIS in Syria! It is a striking image combining empowered Muslim Women, in an Arab fight back against jihadi extremism by the small but very modern Gulf State of the United Arab Emirates(UAE). Operating from the Al Dafrah air base in the desert south of Abu Dhabi, Major Mansur and other Emirate Air Force pilots have flown more combat sorties than any of the other Arab participants–Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar in the United States’ campaign to destroy the ISIS.3

The Emirates has woven itself into the fabric of the United States defence strategy. UAE forces serve in Afghanistan. In August, the United Arab Emirates aircraft based in Egypt bombed Islamist targets in Libya. Its F-AE/F Desert Falcon aircraft are even more advanced than those in service with the United States."

[ramana]

Posted here so we can get all POV. He has wrong conclusions as his data is wrong.

Please continue to read critically.

thanks, ramana

[UlanBatori]

A related question to hu eej behind them.
What is ISIS' Exit Strategy?

If you think through this, the only conclusion that emerges is that they are confident of SuperPower level protection. Why is that?

[UlanBatori]

Next point: Look at the confidence of BOWHOTUS:

White House: ISIS has ambition for U.S. attack, but likely lacks capability

er.... look at the number of middle school, high school and college gun attacks. How tough is it for a gang of yahoos to buy a few explosives, get some assault rifles, and learn to say AoA? What measures do concert halls & movie theaters in the US have against such a swarm attack?

So what makes the BOWHOTUS so confident? Owners? Controllers? Handlers? Advisors? Clients?

Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters that one big difference between the situation in Europe and that in the U.S. is that "thousands" of fighters have traveled to Syria and then returned to Europe. That number being tracked in America is far smaller-- around 40, according to the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper earlier this year.

Clapper added that not all of those ISIS joiners were necessarily fighting -- some might have served other roles for the terrorist group, such as first aid -- and he knew of no terrorist plots that any of those returning have been involved in once back in the U.S.

Rhodes said that ISIS has found more utility in trying to recruit or motivate sympathizers in America online, from abroad.

A top FBI counterterrorism official told Congress this year that "hundreds, maybe thousands" of people in the U.S. follow ISIS online. And this year alone, at least 49 alleged ISIS "supporters" in America have been charged with related crimes. The largest number of those were in New York.

An ISIS-inspired plot in Garland, Texas, in May, in which two men with body armor and assault rifles opened fire outside an art contest in which participants drew pictures of the prophet Mohammed, was thwarted by a security officer who shot and killed both suspects.

The FBI had been watching one of the suspects' online activity referencing the contest, and had warned police in Garland hours before the attack, though officials didn't know he was planning an attack, and weren't closely monitoring his physical whereabouts.

Following that attack, intelligence officials have said they are now doing more monitoring of "hundreds" of suspected ISIS supporters.

Rhodes emphasized Sunday there is currently "no specific, credible threat" of an attack being planned in the U.S., but vigilance among law enforcement is high.

[member_29247]

In the 1990 lots of mullahs and whole bunch of Egyptian Iraqi TS Pakis Somali Sudanese clerics and followers were allowed with open arms. one such blind cleric instigated the first World Trade Center attack and there are many more just biding for time. A few here ( Florida ) and there ( Texas ) have been taken care of. Some went North into Canada. but it would prudent to be vigilant against TSP origin leadership of some places of worship and organizations.

Many a scholars and think tank luminaries were tricked into the romance of US - TSP partnership some such luminaries used to frequent this fora. of course the most recent to understand the grave nature of this Islamic jihad is C Fair......

******
Added later our brilliantly led CCMB of Dr. bhargava fame could help,develop Peace gas for our security forces to lull any hostage takers into sleep and induce Jannat tender feelings while asleep and when security forces get to work , like in Mahabharata Virat purva(m) when Arjuna puts to sleep the entire Kaurava army except Bhishma and Uttar Kumar cuts the feathers in the caps of the opponents?

[KrishnaK]

Ramana ji, this USI report is missing important facts in all aspects - looks poorly researched though it is by a retired IPS. IS has its evolution in Syria and has spread to Iraq.

There are many issues in the article which seem at variance with what is discussed here. An example :

"In the background of all the cruel killing and maiming people in the name of religion, and the harsh treatment of men and women in the name of religion, here is a refreshing interlude from the heart of Islamic country. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a modern country in the heart of the Islamic Middle East. This rich country has a modern outlook. It also has, as a result of its progressive outlook, a modern Air Force with the latest fighter aircraft. And surprises of surprises its Air Force have lady pilots flying these combat jet fighter planes. Major Mariam al Mansouri flew in the first wave of the United States led attacks on targets of the ISIS in Syria! It is a striking image combining empowered Muslim Women, in an Arab fight back against jihadi extremism by the small but very modern Gulf State of the United Arab Emirates(UAE). Operating from the Al Dafrah air base in the desert south of Abu Dhabi, Major Mansur and other Emirate Air Force pilots have flown more combat sorties than any of the other Arab participants–Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar in the United States’ campaign to destroy the ISIS.3

The Emirates has woven itself into the fabric of the United States defence strategy. UAE forces serve in Afghanistan. In August, the United Arab Emirates aircraft based in Egypt bombed Islamist targets in Libya. Its F-AE/F Desert Falcon aircraft are even more advanced than those in service with the United States."

What if it's largely correct ?

[member_29247]

A related question to hu eej behind them.
What is ISIS' Exit Strategy?

If you think through this, the only conclusion that emerges is that they are confident of SuperPower level protection. Why is that?

Sublimate in adverse conditions

Percolate in dormant situation

Condensate And consolidate to stabilize

Solidified action upon conditions ripe

[UlanBatori]

Reading the rant after the Paris attack, you see that ISIS now controls much of the interior of Nigeria. Didn't they try to take over Mali? Chad? (until M. Hollande sent an expeditionary force and pest-e-sha'eeded them - whatever became of that?)
They have made vicious attacks now in Nairobi, Mumbai, Paris... not counting places where such attacks are more usual.
So it may be possible that they are in nominal control of much of Africa (Somalia, north Sudan, Libya, probably Morocco, Algeria, and several nations I can't even remember such as Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, Congo, Uganda, Nigeria).
Plus Turkey, Qatar, half of Iraq, much of non-urban Syria, maybe half of Lebanon, Pakistan (dog of KSA), plus Afghanistan.

IOW, a vast Caliphate is not so far away. If they were to 'come out' one day and declare all these nations to be a loose Caliphate, what would the West or anyone else do? Bomb Congo? Send troops into Somalia and Central African Republic?

But going and bombing Paris doesn't do much good for this. Having a "capital" in Raqqa is not conducive to this, before they can establish air power. If they REALLY push ppl like Hollande and Putin into a corner, they could face major destruction. Is their Business Plan such that more destruction == more recruits and hence more power on the ground? Possible...

[member_29247]

Batori ji
Kindly revisit the famous CC postulated by famous N guru.

CC stands for Coup Cycle

The current tactic of ISIS is

1) Make a viscous attack on western nation ( if attack happens on India it is not much of consequence because at most it will trigger and endless debate on intolerance by Durkha butt Arnob likes and the secondary will not trigger for mega explosion)

2) Western nations have high level of tolerance so they immediately attack a non descript entity ( aka called displaced anger like instead of attacking KSA or TSP for 9-11 attack Iraq)

3) this immediately triggers more polarization and ISIS will declare that they will avenge attacks on innocents by attacking more innocents.

4) Now the west will create even more strident terrorists to be little ISIS its called market economics,
The new strident terror groups will receive initially unemployment benefits and re tooling training.
( see now Alquida monster no longer a monster its tamed with ISIS creation)

5) time for merger and acquisition as per market driven economics so ISIS proposes a merger and the new entity and ISIS merge because ISIS has distribution channels and branch logistics in place.. The new entity has resources and products aka tools that fresh supply from impeccable western sources

6) so yet another attack on innocents happens, the west realizes that the new entity to take on ISIS mantle has actually subcontracted to ,,,

So the new creation cycle starts.....

Lot of data in uncle Google vault to fit CC postulate also called as Ryder in excluding geometry

Some say CC also has strong co relation with Mitosis Meiosis process

[Vayutuvan]

Pakistan (dog of KSA),

Are they running dogs or s*itting dogs?

[deejay]

Ramana ji, this USI report is missing important facts in all aspects - looks poorly researched though it is by a retired IPS. IS has its evolution in Syria and has spread to Iraq.

There are many issues in the article which seem at variance with what is discussed here. An example :

"In the background of all the cruel killing and maiming people in the name of religion, and the harsh treatment of men and women in the name of religion, here is a refreshing interlude from the heart of Islamic country. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a modern country in the heart of the Islamic Middle East. This rich country has a modern outlook. It also has, as a result of its progressive outlook, a modern Air Force with the latest fighter aircraft. And surprises of surprises its Air Force have lady pilots flying these combat jet fighter planes. Major Mariam al Mansouri flew in the first wave of the United States led attacks on targets of the ISIS in Syria! It is a striking image combining empowered Muslim Women, in an Arab fight back against jihadi extremism by the small but very modern Gulf State of the United Arab Emirates(UAE). Operating from the Al Dafrah air base in the desert south of Abu Dhabi, Major Mansur and other Emirate Air Force pilots have flown more combat sorties than any of the other Arab participants–Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar in the United States’ campaign to destroy the ISIS.3

The Emirates has woven itself into the fabric of the United States defence strategy. UAE forces serve in Afghanistan. In August, the United Arab Emirates aircraft based in Egypt bombed Islamist targets in Libya. Its F-AE/F Desert Falcon aircraft are even more advanced than those in service with the United States."

What if it's largely correct ?

I am not so thorough on the modernity quotient of middle east but the sentences " here is a refreshing interlude from the heart of Islamic country. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a modern country in the heart of the Islamic Middle East. This rich country has a modern outlook." doesn't sit well with me. Rich, yes and stinkingly so. Modern buildings yes but society and the rulers? I will need to be convinced by some other evidences than a women pilot. That puts them ahead of Saudi Arabia though where a women driver would be sign of modernity.

As for the UAE modern Air Force, one year bombing the medieval Houthi Kabila and hardly a dent for it except some shattered hospitals! The modern UAE army just withdrew from fighting the Houthis and has sent in the mercenaries to fight them. It could be a fairly new if not a modern approach to rotating the troops and keeping fresh legs. They have money to buy the best planes, bombs, tanks etc but as a country they are not really a beacon of hope in the Middle East (IMHO). A lot of Indians who work as labour will tell horror stories if you ask them:

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/c ... b-emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) continued in 2014 to arbitrarily detain individuals it perceives as posing a threat to national security, and its security forces continued to face allegations that they torture detainees in pretrial detention. UAE courts invoked repressive laws to prosecute government critics, and a new counterterrorism law poses a further threat to government critics and rights activists. Migrant construction workers on one of the country’s most high-profile projects continued to face serious exploitation, and female domestic workers were still excluded from regulations that apply to workers in other sectors.

Foreigners account for more than 88.5 percent of UAE residents, according to 2011 government statistics, but despite labour reforms, low-paid migrant workers continue to be subjected to abuses that amount to forced labor. Domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to abuse, since they do not enjoy even the minimal protection afforded by UAE labor law. The kafala sponsorship system, which operates in all Gulf Cooperation Council states, ties migrant workers to individual employers who act as their visa sponsors. In practice, the system severely restricts workers’ ability to change employers. The system gives employers inordinate power over workers by entitling them to revoke migrant workers’ sponsorship at will, thereby removing their right to remain in the UAE and making them liable to deportation.

Under new regulations from 2010, workers covered under the labor law can switch employers in certain cases. However, domestic workers—who are excluded from this reach—cannot transfer employers before their contract ends or they receive their employer’s consent.

For me the modernity in UAE is limited to the airports, island housing schemes and the tallest structures in the world competition. So, yes, I continue to doubt the assertion in the quoted article.

[A_Gupta]

Probably posted before, but worth reading again: What ISIS really wants:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... ts/384980/

[A_Gupta]

Who funds terrorism:
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/po ... igarchies/

[UlanBatori]

Who made the ISIS and is responsible for all the tortures, mass rapes, slavery, and deaths and mutilations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1oEoCRkLRI
Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn tells a piece of the truth - on Al Jazeera, confronted with documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Former DIA Director Michael Flynn: It was a decision to fund, arm ISIS

Wonder where our resident uber-patriot Guntherji is.

[UlanBatori]

Ya All*h! I was just too stupeed to use the right search term on Googal.

Who's Funding ISIS? Wealthy Gulf 'Angel...
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-t ... nding-isis...

Who's Funding ISIS? Wealthy Gulf 'Angel Investors ... “any outside funding represents a small fraction of ISIS’s total annual income ... About Us; Careers;
Obama Asks For $500 Million To Fund ISIS In Syria
conservativepost.com/obama-asks-for-500-million-to-fund...

Obama Asks For $500 Million To Fund ISIS In Syria. By. robsaunders. ... We’ve been funding ‘rebels ... Obama has been President because political parties blind us.
Why Obama Can’t Say His Spies Underestimated ISIS...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... bama-can-t...

Sep 27, 2014 · On 60 Minutes, the president faulted his spies for failing to predict the rise of ISIS. There’s one problem with that statement: The intelligence ...
Kerry Told ISIS Funded From US | Veterans Today
http://www.veteranstoday.com/.../29/ker ... ed-from-us

“The US has been condemning the IS activities but unfortunately has not been able to stop funding of these ... ISIS to Join Forces with US Backed Al ...
ISIS Receiving Funding From U.S. Allies -...
www.businessinsider.com/isis-funding-us-allies-2014-6

Jun 26, 2014 · ISIS is acquiring the vast majority of its funding through criminal activity, but there are wealthy donors in allied nations likely supplying cash to the...
Are U.S. allies secretly funding ISIS? - CNN Video
http://www.cnn.com/.../tsr-dnt-kosinski ... g-isis.cnn

Feb 23, 2015 · Reports indicate that Qatar and other U.S. allies are privately supporting ISIS. CNN's Michelle Kosinski investigates. By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN
ISIS Leader Admits: We Are Being Funded By The...
shoebat.com/2015/02/20/isis-leader-admits-funded-obama...

An ISIS leader named Yousef al-Salafi in Pakistan has admitted that ISIS is being funded by the USA, ... The Obama administration funding ISIS should not surprise us.
ISIS leader admits to being funded by the US »...
http://www.infowars.com/isis-leader-adm ... -funded-by...

ISIS leader admits to being funded by the US Groups they were funding in Syria were actually Islamic jihadists
Is Washington Financing Terrorism? Islamic State (...
http://www.globalresearch.ca/is-washing ... -terrorism...

The transaction could not be conducted via the United States, ... itself as the “Islamic State” complete with funding, ... the US propping up ISIS, ...
Can the U.S. cut off ISIS from its funding? - CBS...
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/...u-s-cut- ... ts-funding

Employing a hybrid of the typical funding tactics used by extremist groups, ISIS's financing presents a major challenge for the U.S.


Also try
isis funding isis
isis funding sources pie chart of isis funding
how is isis funding its war john mccain isis funding
isis funding saudi arabia combating isis funding
Next
2,620,000 results

[UlanBatori]

And now this..

RAND PAUL TELLS US THE TRUTH "CIA FUNDED ISIS UNDER OBAMA ADMIN TO PROMOTE MORE WAR IN MIDDLE EAST"

[ramana]

Should BO be impeached for funding ISIS?

[UlanBatori]

Amazing - or is it - that this is not on the headlines and no one asked BO about this in news conference?
The fact is that BO was wrong, but less wrong than he would have been if he had followed the advice of the Republicans. Their whole complaint is that he refused to do in Syria what Dubya did in Eyerak - full-scale American invasion!!! It must be the GM-beef in the US that causes such pervasive idiocy.

[deejay]

^^^ These need to be cross posted on the Levant thread too. And really sad that TSJ has been sent to sasuraal for a week. He should have seen this Anyho, another suggestion - does the ISIS / US tango make the genocide thread?

[UlanBatori]

No one is asking the other obvious question (in the US):

Bhy eej Saudi Arabia not taking in all these holy Syrian refugees? Why Oirope when KSA has so much wealth and such a need for pious workforce?

Come to think of it, why not Pakistan?

(never mind, thx!)

[Vayutuvan]

Indian missiles and munition http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 0#p1935230

[vishvak]

<SNIP>
Come to think of it, why not Pakistan?

(never mind, thx!)

The only people who ever go to Pakistan are jihadis. No one ever going to Pakistan otherwise, not for education/job/work/tour. It is not a normal country, has never been. If and when Syria stabilizes and educated Syrians want to go back to Syria and renew the daily life, who out of refugees will remain in Europe? The Syrians are the most educated lot apparently, and even then, some are killed off just to steal identity. This whole immigration crisis is an invasion, and like 2nd gen Pakistani caught while bombing some place, will lead to bigger crisis later.

[KrishnaK]

All the Lt. Gen.'s saying is that the US should have done MORE to prevent the ISIS from taking over and that the administration continued to muddle around knowing the main sources of the insurgency were salafist and trying to build a non-salafist coalition out of the syrian opposition was going nowhere. Nowhere does he say the US administration actively funded the ISIS. It's very funny how the very leftist sources of news that gets spit upon here regularly, get quoted when required to support your favorite conspiracy theories.

[KrishnaK]

I am not so thorough on the modernity quotient of middle east but the sentences " here is a refreshing interlude from the heart of Islamic country. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a modern country in the heart of the Islamic Middle East. This rich country has a modern outlook." doesn't sit well with me. Rich, yes and stinkingly so. Modern buildings yes but society and the rulers? I will need to be convinced by some other evidences than a women pilot. That puts them ahead of Saudi Arabia though where a women driver would be sign of modernity.

As for the UAE modern Air Force, one year bombing the medieval Houthi Kabila and hardly a dent for it except some shattered hospitals! The modern UAE army just withdrew from fighting the Houthis and has sent in the mercenaries to fight them. It could be a fairly new if not a modern approach to rotating the troops and keeping fresh legs. They have money to buy the best planes, bombs, tanks etc but as a country they are not really a beacon of hope in the Middle East (IMHO).

A beacon of hope depends on how bad the rest of them are. Is the UAE known to have the same reputation for funding extremist religious dogma as say the Saudis or Qataris ?

[deejay]

...

A beacon of hope depends on how bad the rest of them are. Is the UAE known to have the same reputation for funding extremist religious dogma as say the Saudis or Qataris ?

KrishnaK, if you are seriously asking for answer you could have searched google too.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-emb ... nts/223330

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 52327.html

Saudi Arabia is accused, along with Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, of failing to prevent some of its richest citizens financing the insurgency against Nato troops in Afghanistan. Fund-raisers from the Taliban regularly travel to UAE to take advantage of its weak borders and financial regulation to launder money.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/d ... st-funding

This one also connects the financial chain to LeT and 2008 Mumbai attack

"Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide," she said.

Three other Arab countries are listed as sources of militant money: Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

The other major headache for the US in the Gulf region is the United Arab Emirates. The Afghan Taliban and their militant partners the Haqqani network earn "significant funds" through UAE-based businesses, according to one report. The Taliban extort money from the large Pashtun community in the UAE, which is home to 1 million Pakistanis and 150,000 Afghans. They also fundraise by kidnapping Pashtun businessmen based in Dubai or their relatives.

"Some Afghan businessmen in the UAE have resorted to purchasing tickets on the day of travel to limit the chance of being kidnapped themselves upon arrival in either Afghanistan or Pakistan," the report says.

Last January US intelligence sources said two senior Taliban fundraisers had regularly travelled to the UAE, where the Taliban and Haqqani networks laundered money through local front companies.

Since, the support to Jihadists from these countries is strongly linked to Islamic Schools of particular thought like Salfism, Deobandism and Ahl-e-Hadith, the support or blind eye being turned to the activities of such centers in UAE is important:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-yousaf ... verride=in

Government and non-governmental sources claimed that financial support estimated at nearly 100 million USD annually was making its way to Deobandi and Ahl-e-Hadith clerics in the region from "missionary" and "Islamic charitable" organizations in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates ostensibly with the direct support of those governments.

If I have to grade the biggest three sources of Sunni (all sects militant within Sunni Islam), I would rank like so:
1) Saudi Arabia
2) Qatar
3) UAE

Just because UAE is no. 3 does not make it a beacon of hope!

[UlanBatori]

What do u make of this?

Dronacharya operators become International Politics experts, claim PTSD

[UlanBatori]

Continuing: So Who ARE the ISIS?

Playing Dress-Up in Syria: How the West Tries to Save Its Terrorist Hordes

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160 ... z42c5Cobm2


The US-led coalition operating in Syria is playing a massive game of dress-up in the country, where “its immense but now stranded terrorist hordes” change their banners back and forth from Daesh to the so-called Free Syrian Army, seeking protection within the terms of the ceasefire, according to a Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher.

Free Syrian Army fighters clean their weapons and check ammunition at their base on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria.
© AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra
US-backed Proxies Use Ceasefire in Syria to 'Regroup, Rearm and Prepare'
The Syrian conflict portrayed by the US-led coalition as a civil war within the country is in fact a clear invasion from outside Tony Cartalucci writes in his article for the New Eastern Outlook website.

The world has realized that there has never been a so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) operating on Syrian soil. The fighters were actually western-backed “terrorist hordes,” flowing into the country as one would expect amid an invasion, not a “civil war,” he says.

“While the West’s military campaigns over and upon Syrian soil claimed to be taking on the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS) or Daesh, it was clear that nothing was being done about cutting off the obvious supply corridors sustaining Daesh's ability to fight.

“In other words, the US and its “coalition’s” war on ISIS was feigned. No genuine military campaign would ever be fought on the front lines while neglecting the enemy’s logistical lifelines – especially when those lifelines led from NATO territory,” he states.

People walk past the US State Department building July 6, 2011 in Washington, DC
© AFP 2016/ Karen BLEIER
US State Department Says Working ‘Constructively’ With Russia on Syria
It wasn’t until Russia’s intervention on behalf of the Syrian government, he adds, when these corridors were targeted and disrupted – thus fully exposing the gambit for all the world to see.

“Not surprisingly, as soon as this began, it had an immediate effect on the West’s proxy forces across the country. Since then, Russian-backed Syrian forces have incrementally begun sealing off Syria’s borders, isolating stranded terrorist factions within the interior of the country, and retaking territory as these forces atrophy and dissipate.”

As the global public becomes increasingly aware of this “glaring point of logic,” the researcher explains, “it appears that the West is now attempting to cynically leverage it, while simultaneously rescuing thousands of trapped terrorist mercenaries facing encirclement and destruction in the closing phases of the Syrian conflict.

The author provides as an example a sudden appearance of the “New Syrian Army,” a moniker for the discredited FSA, on the Iraqi-Syrian border, “cutting off” ISIS supply lines leading back and forth between the two countries.

Syria Democratic Forces and Free Syrian Army fighters gesture on the back of pick-up trucks in a village on the outskirts of al-Shadadi town, Hasaka countryside, Syria
© REUTERS/ Rodi Said
Syrian Kurds Urge US, Russia to Force Free Syrian Army to Peace
He further questions why such border interdiction operations haven’t been done before, and in fact, why these “rebels” who are admittedly harbored, trained, funded, and armed in Jordan and Turkey to begin with, didn’t first begin by securing Syria’s borders to prevent Daesh from entering the country in precisely the same areas “rebels” are supposedly operating?

His answer is very simple: the West had no intention of stopping Daesh.

“In fact, Daesh are the “rebels” and the “rebels” are Daesh. Their “taking” of the Syrian-Iraqi border is superficial at best. The weapons, cash, and fighters will still flow, just as they do past NATO forces along the Turkish-Syrian border. The only difference is that now these terrorists will be flying the “FSA” flag, lending them protection amid a ceasefire agreed to in good faith by the Syrian government and its allies.”

Taking full advantage of the ceasefire, the “FSA” is now suddenly appearing as if rising from the dead, everywhere Daesh and Al Qaeda have dominated for years, he says.

“It appears that – having exhausted all other options – the West has decided to change as many of those black banners back to the “rebel” green, white, and black (the colors of the Free Syrian Army) as possible, before the conflict draws to a close, giving the West the most favorable position achievable ahead of “peace talks.”

During early victories against the West’s proxy forces, Al Qaeda and Daesh militants would dress as women to flee the battlefield. Now, they are dressing up as the otherwise nonexistent “FSA,” the author concludes.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160 ... z42c4WgtdH

[UlanBatori]

More on the US silencing or trying to silence one of BO's Mercenaries

ISIS Leader Omar al-Shishani Fought Under U.S. Umbrella as Late as 2013
September 18, 2015 by Brad Hoff 1 Comment

ISIS Commander Abu Omar al-Shishani celebrates after his joint FSA/ISIS operation at Menagh Airbase in the summer of 2013. (Photo circulated in jihadi social media)

Abu Omar al-Shishani, the red-bearded face of ISIS terror lately described in such headlines as ‘Star pupil’: Pied piper of ISIS recruits was trained by U.S. for the fact that he received American military training as part of an elite Georgian army unit in 2006 and after, did not stop playing for “team America” once he left his home country in the Caucuses. He actually enjoyed U.S. backing and American taxpayer largesse as late as 2013, soon after entering Syria with his band of Chechen jihadists.

A new book about ISIS chronicles the terror group’s earliest successes when it first made a name for itself on the Syrian battlefield by tipping the scales in favor of rebels in Northern Aleppo who had spent nearly a total of two years attempting to conquer the Syrian government’s seemingly impenetrable Menagh Airbase.

Benjamin Hall, journalist and author of Inside ISIS: The Brutal Rise of a Terrorist Army, was embedded in Northern Syria during part of the 2012-2013 siege of Menagh, even staying in FSA camps outside the base as attacks were underway.

At that time the Revolutionary Military Council of Aleppo was the US/UK officially sanctioned command structure in the region headed by FSA Colonel Abdul Jabbar al-Okaidi, described in international press at the time as “a main recipient” of Western aid.

Hall, who throughout his book expresses sympathy and occasional outright support for the insurgent groups within which he was embedded, describes the pathetic state of a rebel movement in disarray and lacking morale. He identifies a singular turning point which renewed both the tide of rebel military momentum and morale in Northern Syria:

That day in Minnah [or alternately Menagh], I was reminded that nothing happens on time in the Middle East. It took ten months for the rebels to finally capture that base, but it only fell when the FSA were joined by the ISIS leader Abu Omar Shishani and his brutal gang of Chechens. When we had been there, it had been under the sole control of badly funded, badly armed rebels with little knowledge of tactical warfare–but when Shishani arrived, he took control of the operation, and the base fell soon after. [1]

Hall further relates that Omar Shishani’s (or Omar “the Chechen”) presence evoked a certain level of mystique and awe among his FSA associates as he “systematically obliterated Menagh defenses by sacrificing as many men as it took” and rightly concludes that, “it is no exaggeration to say that Shishani and other battle hardened members of ISIS are the ones who brought the early military success.” [2]

The final collapse of government forces at Menagh on August 6 due to Shishani’s sustained suicide bombing raids, sending his men in makeshift armored vehicles to crash the base’s heavy fortifications, resulted in an outpouring of battle wearied emotion and celebration among all rebel groups represented.

Regional media, including Al Jazeera, was there to record the victory and congratulatory speeches that followed, and the fighters weren’t shy about giving interviews. These interviews reveal America’s true battlefield alliances at this key point in the lengthy rebel advance in Aleppo Province at a time long prior to ISIS becoming the “household terror brand” that it is today. The New York Times reported the following:

After the battle, Col. Abdul Jabbar al-Okaidi, the head of the United States-backed opposition’s Aleppo military council, appeared in a video alongside Abu Jandal, a leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

In camouflage, Colonel Okaidi offered thanks to “our brothers al-Muhajireen wal Ansar and others,” adding: “We’re here to kiss every hand pressed on the trigger.” He then ceded the floor to Abu Jandal and a mix of jihadist and Free Syrian Army leaders, who stood together, each praising his men, like members of a victorious basketball team.

The group singled out for praise in the video, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal Ansar, was precisely Omar Shishani’s own brutal Chechen group (“Army of Emigrants and Helpers”) which turned the tide of the battle. Most significant about FSA Col. Okaidi himself, clearly the operational head of this jihadi “basketball team,” was that he had been paid a personal visit by his State Department patron, Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, just months prior to the final victory at Menagh.

A translated video montage of footage covering events at Menagh, authenticated by Middle East expert Joshua Landis, shows a clip of Robert Ford’s prior visit to Col. Okaidi inside Syria, with the two standing side by side in an image meant to seal official U.S. support for Okaidi as its top brass on the ground.

Okaidi’s subsequent victory speech at Menagh proves that Okaidi, while on the U.S. government’s Syria support payroll, fought alongside and publicly praised ISIS fighters (calling them “heroes”), and presumably exercised some degree of operational command over them. There is no mistaking the documented facts of the Menagh campaign: in the summer of 2013 the rising Islamic State of Iraq and Sham and the FSA fought as one, with a unified command structure, which happened to have direct U.S. backing.

Thanks to Abu Omar’s willingness to speak to Al Jazeera, we also have video confirmation of his emerging star status within rebel ranks and relationship of direct cooperation with the U.S backed FSA commander. Omar Shishani’s interview was archived online by Al Jazeera Arabic. While offering a simple statement about conquering all of the Syria from “the kuffar,” Abu Omar is surrounded by some of the same men, including emir Abu Jandal (identified above by the New York Times)—the same Abu Jandal that is presented as second in rank under Robert Ford’s friend Col. Okaidi in the latter’s victory huddle.

In another video where he stands proudly amidst a mix of fighters, Omar addresses the camera in Russian and recognizes the FSA’s valiant efforts in its eight months long siege of the government airbase. In a later statement given to the Russian-language pro-jihad site Beladusham, Shishani explained his pragmatic view toward working with U.S. backed FSA forces even while pledging loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: “We aren’t in a position of conflict with the whole FSA right now, but just against those groups who oppose our aims of an Islamic State.”

Former ambassador to Syria Robert Ford has since admitted that the rebels funded by the State Department included ISIS and other Al-Qaeda fighters in their ranks. He recently told McClatchy reporter Hannah Allam that he had called Okaidi to tell him that his public cooperation with Abu Omar Shishani and associates was “extremely unhelpful, extra unhelpful”:

Ford was referring to Col. Abdel-Jabbar al Oqaidi [or alternately Okaidi], then-commander of the Aleppo branch of the Free Syrian Army. The problem was that the American-backed colonel had been filmed celebrating his men’s joint victory with al Qaida-affiliated fighters, creating a public relations nightmare for the Obama administration, which was trying to show Congress and the American public that it was boosting moderates and isolating extremists on the battlefield.

Amazingly, Okaidi’s courtship with the West didn’t end in 2013, even after such top U.S. officials confirmed that the rebel leader had been in a position of operational command over ISIS terrorists, some of which now fill out the top tiers of Islamic State’s ranks.

As recently as last July 2015, CNN gave Okaidi lengthy and virtually uninterrupted air time in a Christiane Amanpour interview to make a public appeal for a U.S. imposed no-fly “buffer zone” over Syria in support of “moderate” rebels—this on what the network bills as its “flagship global affairs program.”

In a recent and much talked about poll conducted inside Syria by ORB International, an affiliate of WIN/Gallup International, it was revealed that “82% of Syrians Blame U.S. for ISIS.” While the increased prominence of this view has perplexed many pundits who dare not admit anything counter to the official prevailing wisdom, it could simply be that Syrians pay closer attention and are able to process what U.S. clients like Okaidi utter in plain Arabic and without apology.

[1] Hall, Benjamin. Inside ISIS: The Brutal Rise of a Terrorist Army (New York: Center Street, 2015) p. 74.

[2] Hall 76.

[UlanBatori]

World | Thu May 21, 2015 2:43pm EDT
Related: World, Turkey, Syria
Exclusive: Turkish intelligence helped ship arms to Syrian Islamist rebel areas

ADANA, Turkey | By Humeyra Pamuk and Nick Tattersall
A locally made shell is launched by rebel fighters towards forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at the frontline in al-Breij district of Aleppo December 10, 2014. REUTERS/Sultan Kitaz
A locally made shell is launched by rebel fighters towards forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at the frontline in al-Breij district of Aleppo December 10, 2014.
Reuters/Sultan Kitaz
Turkey's state intelligence agency helped deliver arms to parts of Syria under Islamist rebel control during late 2013 and early 2014, according to a prosecutor and court testimony from gendarmerie officers seen by Reuters.
The witness testimony contradicts Turkey's denials that it sent arms to Syrian rebels and, by extension, contributed to the rise of Islamic State, now a major concern for the NATO member.
Syria and some of Turkey's Western allies say Turkey, in its haste to see President Bashar al-Assad toppled, let fighters and arms over the border, some of whom went on to join the Islamic State militant group which has carved a self-declared caliphate out of parts of Syria and Iraq.
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Ankara has denied arming Syria's rebels or assisting hardline Islamists. Diplomats and Turkish officials say it has in recent months imposed tighter controls on its borders.
Testimony from gendarmerie officers in court documents reviewed by Reuters allege that rocket parts, ammunition and semi-finished mortar shells were carried in trucks accompanied by state intelligence agency (MIT) officials more than a year ago to parts of Syria under Islamist control.
Four trucks were searched in the southern province of Adana in raids by police and gendarmerie, one in November 2013 and the three others in January 2014, on the orders of prosecutors acting on tip-offs that they were carrying weapons, according to testimony from the prosecutors, who now themselves face trial.
While the first truck was seized, the three others were allowed to continue their journey after MIT officials accompanying the cargo threatened police and physically resisted the search, according to the testimony and prosecutor's report.
President Tayyip Erdogan has said the three trucks stopped on Jan. 19 belonged to MIT and were carrying aid.
"Our investigation has shown that some state officials have helped these people deliver the shipments," prosecutor Ozcan Sisman, who ordered the search of the first truck on Nov. 7 2013 after a tip-off that it was carrying weapons illegally, told Reuters in a interview on May 4 in Adana.
Both Sisman and Aziz Takci, another Adana prosecutor who ordered three trucks to be searched on Jan. 19 2014, have since been detained on the orders of state prosecutors and face provisional charges, pending a full indictment, of carrying out an illegal search.
The request for Sisman's arrest, issued by the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) and also seen by Reuters, accuses him of revealing state secrets and tarnishing the government by portraying it as aiding terrorist groups.
Sisman and Takci deny the charges.
"It is not possible to explain this process, which has become a total massacre of the law," Alp Deger Tanriverdi, a lawyer representing both Takci and Sisman, told Reuters.
"Something that is a crime cannot possibly be a state secret."
More than 30 gendarmerie officers involved in the Jan. 1 attempted search and the events of Jan. 19 also face charges such as military espionage and attempting to overthrow the government, according to an April 2015 Istanbul court document.
An official in Erdogan's office said Erdogan had made his position clear on the issue. Several government officials contacted by Reuters declined to comment further. MIT officials could not immediately be reached.
"I want to reiterate our official line here, which has been stated over and over again ever since this crisis started by our prime minister, president and foreign minister, {Fleudian Srip } that Turkey has never sent weapons to any group in Syria," Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Wednesday at an event in Washington.
Erdogan has said prosecutors had no authority to search MIT vehicles and were part of what he calls a "parallel state" run by his political enemies and bent on discrediting the government.
"Who were those who tried to stop MIT trucks in Adana while we were trying to send humanitarian aid to Turkmens?," Erdogan said in a television interview last August.
"Parallel judiciary and parallel security ... The prosecutor hops onto the truck and carries out a search. You can't search an MIT truck, you have no authority."
'TARNISHING THE GOVERNMENT'
One of the truck drivers, Murat Kislakci, was quoted as saying the cargo he carried on Jan. 19 was loaded from a foreign plane at Ankara airport and that he had carried similar shipments before. Reuters was unable to contact Kislakci.
Witness testimony seen by Reuters from a gendarme involved in a Jan. 1, 2014 attempt to search another truck said MIT officials had talked about weapons shipments to Syrian rebels from depots on the border. Reuters was unable to confirm this.
At the time of the searches, the Syrian side of the border in Hatay province, which neighbors Adana, was controlled by hardline Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham.
The Salafist group included commanders such as Abu Khaled al-Soury, also known as Abu Omair al-Shamy, who fought alongside al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and was close to its current chief Ayman al-Zawahiri. Al-Soury was killed in by a suicide attack in Syrian city of Aleppo in February 2014.
A court ruling calling for the arrest of three people in connection with the truck stopped in November 2013 said it was loaded with metal pipes manufactured in the Turkish city of Konya which were identified as semi-finished parts of mortars.
The document also cites truck driver Lutfi Karakaya as saying he had twice carried the same shipment and delivered it to a field around 200 meters beyond a military outpost in Reyhanli, a stone's throw from Syria.
The court order for Karakaya's arrest, seen by Reuters, cited a police investigation which said that the weapons parts seized that day were destined for "a camp used by the al Qaeda terrorist organization on the Syrian border".
Reuters was unable to interview Karakaya or to independently confirm the final intended destination of the cargo.
Sisman said it was a tip-off from the police that prompted him to order the thwarted search on Jan. 1, 2014.
"I did not want to prevent its passage if it belonged to MIT and carried aid but we had a tip off saying this truck was carrying weapons. We were obliged to investigate," he said.
(Additional reporting by Ercan Gurses in Ankara; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Anna Willard)