Islamist Wave 2015 - News & Discussion

10 posts

Angocachi

While this thread has been fixated on the rapid global expansion of the Caliphate there have been major gains by another Islamist Wave openly sponsored and directed by Iran.

Assad and Hezbollah are regaining territory in Syria. The regime's progress is extremely slow and the prospect of retaking the whole country seems over the horizon, but the Russo-Iranian aligned state clearly isn't losing. Also working to Assad's benefit, as long as IS and Al Nusra remain the dominant Sunni rebels and the US can't raise a loyal, secularist insurgency... there is very little chance of a significant Western intervention against Assad even if he were to make serious gains.

Yemen's Sunni government collapsed to a Houthi (Iranian aligned Shia) conquest of the capital and Western part of the country. The rest of the country is split between remnants of the military and Al Qaeda.

Iraq, however, is where the Shia are set for major actions.

In pictures: Shiite militias operating near Tikrit

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Qassem Soleimani with his bodyguards near the frontlines of Tikrit

The Iraqi Security Forces and Iranian-backed Shiite militias have taken control of several key towns on the outskirts of Tikrit. Al Dor and Al Awja, which are south of Tikrit, and Albu Ajil, east of the city, fell to the ISF and these militias over the weekend. Al Alam, another nearby town to the northeast, was reported to have been taken yesterday. However, Reuters noted that the town is still contested as of today.

These Shiite militias, which are supported by the Iran’ Qods Force, are leading the fight in Tikrit. The militias are said to make up roughly two-thirds of the fighting force, out of the 30,000 troops in the area. The militias operate under the moniker of Hashid Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilization Committee. This so-called committee was formed by former Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki after the collapse of the Iraqi Army last summer.

Several of the more well-known Shiite militias have published photos and videos of their forces in Tikrit. Kata’ib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades), Asiab al Haq (League of the Righteous), Saraya Khorasani (Khorasan Brigades), and Kata’ib Sayyed al Shuhada (Battalion of Sayyed’s Martyrs) have all published material to showcase their roles in the fighting. The Hezbollah Brigades and Saraya Khorasani have been conducting operations in Al Alam and Al Dor, while Asaib al Haq has been fighting in Albu Ajil. Kata’ib Sayyed al Shuhada has also been seen in Al Dor and Albu Ajil. (For more on the Shiite militias in Tikrit, see LWJ report, Shiite militias, Iraqi forces surround Tikrit )

The Iranian influence in this fight is noticeable by the presence of Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Qods Force. Soleimani has been spotted numerous times on the battlefield and various militias have publicized their meeting with him. Additionally, Fars News, the unofficial news agency of Iran, has confirmed Soleimani’s presence and have released images of him from Tikrit. (To see some of these pictures, see LWJ report, Iranian general at the forefront of the Tikrit offensive )

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/03/in-pictures-shiite-militias-operating-near-tikrit.php


The sight of the Iranian Qods commander leading a militia campaign against the Sunni in Iraq while Assad presses forward and the Houthis take the Yemeni capital while the US, France, Kurdish Marxists, the Turkish government and the Arab Monarchs war against the primary anti-Shia groups in the world; IS & AQ, is going to make millions of Arab and Turkish Sunnis seethe. That the Shia, head by Iran, are on the march to the North and in the South of the Arab Peninsula and the Arab monarchs' response is to bomb IS will cause more Sunni Arab rage than the Western-Arab alliance against Saddam Hussein which set Osama Bin Laden and Zawahiri off. That Erdogan and his Kemalist military have allowed and aided their NATO allies France (a traditional & contemporary foe of Turkey) and the US to create and expand a complete Kurdistan in Syria and Iraq will guarantee a serious rift in Turkey between state and people.

In this way the Shia Wave and the Salafi Wave feed each other. IS can lose Tikrit to an Iranian general and Mosul to Kurds with Americans & French overhead... it'll see a geyser of volunteers and money for them.

Randall McMurphy
Angocachi
Al Nusra has had to deny rumors that they were offered a deal by Qatar to drop Al Qaeda in exchange for Qatari government sponsorship. They've also been hit with Syrian-Iranian accusations of receiving Israeli support on the Golan border.

Barak Mendelsohn is a Jew. His idea is that the US should abstain from attacking Al Qaeda (Al Nusra in particular) so that the Salafi Jihadist ranks remain divided and there remains a non-IS anti-Assad faction in Syria.

IS has surpassed Al Qaeda as a problem in the eyes of the pro-Israeli Jews who agitate for foreign policy shifts in DC.

-The IS presence in Syria has prevented NATO from ousting Assad on Israel's behalf.
-The IS presence in Iraq has created an alliance between Iran & the US.
-The IS-Jordan War threatens the popularity and longevity of the American sponsored Israeli vanguard state in Amman.
-The IS presence in the Sinai and in Libya threatens the popularity and longevity of the American sponsored Israeli vanguard state in Cairo.

By letting Al Qaeda alone, Mendelsohn and similar thinking Jews hope that IS will be denied the fighters, funds, arms, territory, etc that without Al Qaeda's existence, would mostly go to IS.
Angocachi

As Pieter Van Ostaeyen has noted, the lines have not shifted much in the Mashriq in the last month and a half. The really only significant swap of territory has been the Syrian Kurds reclaiming the Kobani Canton with French and American airstrikes... and the Iraqi Shia militia siege of Tikrit.

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I'm pretty well shocked that the Iraqi Shia militias haven't retaken Tikrit yet. Najaf alone has been receiving 60 dead a day from the Tikrit battle. By that indicator, the Shia casualties to take Tikrit must be staggeringly high. The Iraqi government has requested American airstrikes on IS in Tikrit, but the US has denied such a favor that it has given the Kurds in full, stating that it doesn't want to be party to an Iranian takeover. As a result, the Iraqi government has announced a halt to the operation to avoid further losses.

It's phenomenal.

Angocachi
Russia urges UN Security Council to Stop Islamic State Expansion in Afghanistan


"The top UN envoy in Afghanistan said Monday that recent reports indicate the Islamic State extremist group has established a foothold in Afghanistan, a view echoed by Russia which urged the Security Council to stop its expansion.

Nicholas Haysom told the council the assessment of the UN political mission in Afghanistan is that the Islamic State group hasn’t stuck “firm roots” in the country. But he said the mission is concerned because of its potential “to offer an alternative flagpole to which otherwise isolated insurgent splinter groups can rally.”

Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said Moscow is worried about the rise of the terrorist threat in Afghanistan and the broadening of the Islamic State group’s geographical activities which are “spreading a radical Islam.”

In urging council action against the expansion of the extremist group, Safronkov said Russia is worried about “increasingly frequent reports of the worsening situation in the north of Afghanistan,” in areas bordering countries which were once Soviet republics and remain “our friends and allies.”

He said extremists in the once quiet north are actively engaging in propaganda activities and recruiting, and are setting up camp.

“The states of the region have legitimate concerns about this turn of events,” Safronkov said. “Turning it into yet another safe haven for fighters and extremists is categorically unacceptable.”

Afghanistan’s U.N. Ambassador Zahir Tanin agreed that there are reports of the Islamic State group penetrating more areas including Afghanistan “but the main enemy we face is the Taliban that continue to fight against us.” He added that there may also be “some splinter groups with more extreme orientations.”

All three spoke at an open meeting where the Security Council voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan until March 17, 2016.

The resolution adopted by the council calls on the Afghan government, with help from the international community, to continue to tackle threats from the Taliban, al-Qaida, other extremist groups and drug traders. It does not mention the Islamic State group by name.

After the former Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Muslim insurgents helped oust the Soviet military. The insurgents, many turned warlords, then turned their guns on each other which led to the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan and offering a haven for al-Qaida. The Islamic State is an offshoot of al-Qaida.

Haysom, Safronkov and Tanin all stressed the importance of reconciliation to bring peace to Afghanistan.

The Security Council resolution stressed the importance of an “Afghan led and Afghan-owned” political process to support reconciliation for all those who renounce violence, have no link to terrorist groups and respect the constitution including the rights of women.

Tanin said the peace and reconciliation process is the government’s first priority, especially at this time “when violence affects increasing numbers of civilians and when the crippling triple threat of terrorism, extremism and criminality threatens to undermine the future of the Afghan people and the wider region.”

http://indianexpress.com/article/wo...d-on-islamic-state-foothold-in-afghanistan/2/
Marcus
Marcus
Angocachi

Tunisia is two countries; North and South. While the north is very secular and dreams of making itself in France's image.. the south is hardcore Salafi. The divide is sharp. Tunisia provided a surprising large number of Jihadists to the Syrian theater. They won't stay away from home for long.

Marcus

Restore the Carthaginian state as described by Aristotle, bring back Punic language and religion (including child sacrifice).

Welund
10.10.14

‘Archer’ Drops ISIS: The FX Series Dumps the Spy Org’s Name in Light of Recent Events
Archer creator Adam Reed and executive producer Matt Thompson explain why they decided to erase ‘ISIS’ from the show, whose sixth season returns in January.

It seems, on the surface, like a throwaway shot. During the premiere episode of the sixth season of Archer, FX’s outrageously funny animated spy series, spy matriarch Malory Archer (Jessica Walter) is seen speaking on the phone with her juvenile, coddled son. In the background, you can see two movers rolling out a large, circular blue ISIS sign.

You see, for the past five seasons , ISIS (International Secret Intelligence Service) has been the name for the underground, non-government approved, New York City-based spy organization at the heart of the show. In light of recent events, however, the creative team behind the Emmy nominated series—creator Adam Reed along with executive producers Matt Thompson and Casey Willis—made a decision to quietly eliminate the acronym from their show.

“We quietly did,” Reed told The Daily Beast. “We were waiting for it to go away—at least I was. Back in Season 5, FX said, ‘This might be a thing,’ and I thought, ‘Maybe it won’t be? Maybe it’ll be the mole that I’m gonna ignore and nothing will happen.’ We got sort of lucky and could organically make a merger with the CIA, so we went back and retroactively painted out the ISIS logos in parts of the show, and we just don’t talk about it in dialogue.”

“It’s just the most awful thing, and we didn’t want to have anything to do with it.”
A different version of the premiere episode aired in July at San Diego Comic-Con, but the Archer creative team went back and added the scene of the movers rolling out the sign, and re-recorded dialogue of Malory explaining to her agent-son, Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin), that the CIA are now their overlords.

“We won’t say ISIS anymore, and the only visual representation of it will be that sign rolling off the show,” said exec producer Thompson. “It’s just the most awful thing, and we didn’t want to have anything to do with it. There were people online saying that we should address it and say, ‘Oh, I can’t believe these guys have co-opted our name.’ That’s the way South Park would do it, coming after them and saying, ‘These assholes stole our name,’ but that’s not the way the Archer universe works, where it’s all our own creations. In our universe, they don’t exist.”

While the Archer team erased the ISIS name from the Season 6 premiere, they didn’t retroactively remove it from all other seasons of the show, so the signage and name will still appear in Seasons 1-5. Also, FX created a bunch of ISIS merchandise that they now need to figure out what to do with.

“I’m one of the few people that has the white ISIS cup and it’s mixed in with all my other cups,” Walter said. “The other day, I was looking at it and thought, ‘Should I throw it out? But it reminds me of Archer .’”

“I gave my Dad one of the ISIS hats and he said, ‘You know son, I’m not going to be able to wear the hat anymore,’” said Reed is his genial southern accent. “I’m gettin’ looks at the hardware store.’”

He adds, “I was at a meeting with the FX execs and I said, ‘You know, with all this extra ISIS merchandise, you should just make the bad guys buy it.’ Dead silence. And then they said, ‘We have a lot of ISIS merchandise.’ So I guess that’s all going to a landfill somewhere.”