The Middle East Problem

**uls** · August 11th, 2014 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by safeorigin

Al Nusra has been doing that long before they got rebranded to ISIS. But of course, western countries can't let that out in media because they're their friends - Well, they used to be friends.

al-Nusra is not rebranded ISIS

al-Nusra is a separate group

it's headed by a guy called Golani

ISIS is headed by a guy called Baghdadi

those 2 groups are offshoots of al-Qaeda

**uls** · August 11th, 2014 01:30 PM

Patrick Cockburn · Isis consolidates · LRB 21 August 2014

As the attention of the world focused on Ukraine and Gaza, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) captured a third of Syria in addition to the quarter of Iraq it had seized in June. The frontiers of the new Caliphate declared by Isis on 29 June are expanding by the day and now cover an area larger than Great Britain and inhabited by at least six million people, a population larger than that of Denmark, Finland or Ireland. In a few weeks of fighting in Syria Isis has established itself as the dominant force in the Syrian opposition, routing the official al-Qaida affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, in the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor and executing its local commander as he tried to flee. In northern Syria some five thousand Isis fighters are using tanks and artillery captured from the Iraqi army in Mosul to besiege half a million Kurds in their enclave at Kobani on the Turkish border. In central Syria, near Palmyra, Isis fought the Syrian army as it overran the al-Shaer gasfield, one of the largest in the country, in a surprise assault that left an estimated three hundred soldiers and civilians dead. Repeated government counter-attacks finally retook the gasfield but Isis still controls most of Syria’s oil and gas production. The Caliphate may be poor and isolated but its oil wells and control of crucial roads provide a steady income in addition to the plunder of war.

**baludoy** · August 11th, 2014 01:45 PM

pretty scary shlt i've been seeing in the net re isis propaganda movement lately. lots of decapitated heads of their captives being wantonly displayed all over. even the supposed kids of these fanatics are holding them up like grotesque trophies

the scary thing also is i was able to talk to a muslim government man a few weeks back and he told us that there are isis followers trying to actively recruit in quiapo. malaki daw ang inaalok na monthly allowance pero hindi ata nag-synch ang beliefs nila dito w/ the isis fanatics kaya wala masyado headway ang recruitment

**safeorigin** · August 11th, 2014 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by uls

al-Nusra is not rebranded ISIS

al-Nusra is a separate group

it's headed by a guy called Golani

ISIS is headed by a guy called Baghdadi

those 2 groups are offshoots of al-Qaeda

they are only "separate" because of in-fighting between leadership which is common during the Syrian civil war.

I mentioned "rebranding" because most of their fighters and assets were directly recruited/taken from al Nusra.

**Monseratto** · August 11th, 2014 02:14 PM

Maraming frustrated muslim youths sa mundo kasi, madali lagyan ng ideas of 72 virgins... Parang mga religious groups nag rerecruit ng mga uto-uto.

ISIS recruitment video Join the Ranks urges Indonesian Muslims to migrate to the Islamic State
By the National Reporting Team's Peter Lloyd and Suzanne Dredge
Updated 29 Jul 2014, 4:54am

A group of Indonesian men have appeared in a recruitment video released by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) urging Indonesian Muslims to join the group's fight.

The eight-minute video posted online by ISIS, titled Join the Ranks, says it is an obligation for Muslims to join the group and pledge allegiance.

The video features an emotional address from an Indonesian man named Abu Muhammad al-Indonesi.

"Put all your effort into using your physical and financial strength to migrate to the Islamic State," Abu Muhammad says in the video.

"It is an obligation decreed by Allah."

Abu Muhammad questions Muslim men living in the West, calling on them to find the motivation to wage jihad.

"Are your wives the reason that you're prevented from jihad?" he said.

"Are your homes, businesses and wealth more beloved to you than Allah, his messenger and jihad in his path?"

Professor Greg Barton, a security expert from Monash University, says the group sees potential for a strong following in Indonesia.

"ISIS is appealing directly to Indonesians in this video because it's fertile recruiting ground," Mr Barton said.

"There's a large number of Indonesians gone already and they can see the potential to get many, many more."

Two men identifying themselves as Australians have featured in a recruitment video released by insurgents waging war in Iraq and Syria urging others to join the fight.

Last week, Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah network who carried out the Bali bombings swore his allegiance to ISIS.

Many of the prisoners jailed over the Bali bombings are due to be released within the next year and terrorist experts are concerned they will find inspiration in the group.

Aimed at preventing the spread of jihad after the bombings, Indonesia implemented a de-radicalisation program in prisons.

But Mr Barton says the de-radicalisation program in Indonesian prisons is still in the pilot stage.

"There's enough evidence to suggest that they can work to disengage, but nothing on a large scale has been rolled out," he said.

"There's no systematic program and not even any clear thinking about what needs to be done.

"So if this call from ISIS really takes off, it'll come at a time when there's no counter response from Indonesia."

The extremist Sunni group declared an Islamic State at the beginning of the month after capturing territory in Iraq and Syria, declaring Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi its leader.

Social media is being used as a tool for ISIS fighters to spread their message and encourage Muslims living in the West to declare their support for the group.

Mr Barton says it is time for Australia to assist Indonesia.

"It's very timely for us to engage with Indonesian authorities and help them based on what we've learned about putting the brakes on and slowing down the flow of people going to the Middle East," Mr Barton said.

"What is very clear is they need to understand the nature of what's occurring and not be caught blindsided by having large numbers of people go to Syria and Iraq and then come back."

**uls** · August 11th, 2014 02:27 PM

the scary thing also is i was able to talk to a muslim government man a few weeks back and he told us that there are isis followers trying to actively recruit in quiapo. malaki daw ang inaalok na monthly allowance pero hindi ata nag-synch ang beliefs nila dito w/ the isis fanatics kaya wala masyado headway ang recruitment

ISIS is too extreme for many Muslims

they are only "separate" because of in-fighting between leadership which is common during the Syrian civil war.

I mentioned "rebranding" because most of their fighters and assets were directly recruited/taken from al Nusra.

well yeah members of ISIS were from al Nusra

Baghdadi launched ISIS without permission from al Qaeda leader Zawahiri

the al Qaeda brand is basically dead

Zawahiri doesnt have the charisma of bin Laden

**safeorigin** · August 11th, 2014 05:01 PM

While different in many ways, the two most active Middle East conflicts, waged by the US in northern Iraq against the Islamic State, and by Israel against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, have strong common features:
1. Both stood idly by for years as Islamist fundamentalists, Al Qaeda’s IS in Iraq, and the Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip, systematically built up military force for bringing forward their aggressive designs.

The Obama administration shrugged when al Qaeda started forging ahead, first in Syria and then in Iraq.

But for occasional air strikes against “empty sands” in Gaza, Binyamin Netanyahu’s government neglected to step in when Hamas built up a vast stockpile of rockets and an underground terror empire, as former AMAN director Amos Yadlin admitted publicly last week.
When, in mid-2013, IS commander Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi executed a major tactical move by relocating his entire force from Syria to Iraq, Washington was unmoved - even when in Jan. 2014, the Islamists took over the unresisting western Iraqi province of Anbar and a row of important towns, including Falluja and Tikrit.

The Iraqi army’s armored divisions, rather than resist the ruthless Islamists sweeping across the county, turned tail, bequeathing the conquering force the rich spoils of heavy, up-to-date American weaponry in mountainous quantities.

And still President Barack Obama saw no pressing cause to step in - even though, by then, it was obvious that this booty was destined not only for subjugating Baghdad, but being injected into the Syrian war and the IS arsenal in preparation for leaping on its next prey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and at some point, Israel too.

The US president was finally jerked out of his unconcern when the soldiers of Allah started marching toward the gates of Irbil, capital of the semiautonomous Kurdish Republic of Iraq (KRG).

Friday, on Aug.8, a couple of US warplanes and drones went into belated action to curb their advance. According to the Pentagon statement, two FA-18 jets, launched from the USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier in the Gulf, dropped 500lb laser-guided bombs on a “mobile artillery piece” that was shelling Kurdish forces defending Irbil, “where US forces are based.”

A little more than one hour later, four F/A-18 aircraft hit a stationary convoy of seven vehicles and a mortar position near Irbil, wiping them out with eight bombs.
Gallons of water and tons of packaged meals were also air-dropped for the hundreds of refugees who had fled towns in northern Iraq that were mowed down by the Islamists, with nothing but the clothes they stood up in.
2. The US appears to be falling into the same error of judgment made by Israel’s war planners in the month-long Operation Defense Edge, i.e., that air strikes are capable of wiping out an Islamist terrorist peril. That lesson was there for Washington to learn in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and latterly Gaza.

3. President Obama refuses to put American boots back in Iraq, specifically, special operations forces, because this would reverse what he considers his crowning foreign achievement, the withdrawal of the US army from Iraq.
For very different reasons, Israeli leaders abstained from sending special forces deep inside the Gaza Strip to eliminate the Hamas high command and main rocket stocks.

Because of these common factors, the two campaigns are destined to share a common outcome: IS will forge ahead in Iraq, and Hamas will continue firing rockets at the Israeli population, to force Jerusalem into submission. Neither conflict looks like ending any time soon.

4. Another less obvious common thread is to be found in Irbil. Two powerful patrons, the US and Israel, were responsible for shaping, training and funding the Peshmerga as the national army of the semiautonomous Kurdish Republic.

Both maintain military and intelligence missions in the KRG capital and may be presumed to be advising Kurdish generals on strategy for rebuffing the advancing Islamists.

Yet this menacing advance continues relentlessly, and the Kurdish army is showing the first signs of fallilng apart in the same way as the Iraqi divisions in earlier rounds of the IS onslaught. The sense of doom in Irbil is such that the US and Israel are preparing to evacuate their personnel.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that US warplanes and drones are the wrong weapons for stopping Al Qaeda’s jihadis, just as Israeli air strikes were never much good against Hamas, and will not stop the war of attrition the Palestinian fundamentalists launched Friday, Aug. 8.
5. Islamist fundamentalists, fighting on separate battlefields 1,327 km apart, have gained the tactical advantage in both over the US and Israeli armies. President Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had better take a hard look at their tactics before it is too late.

Islamist fundamentalists gain tactical advantage over the US and Israel in Gaza and Irbil, 1,372 km apart

**safeorigin** · August 11th, 2014 09:27 PM

In any case, if you guys are wondering why it took long to supposedly kill bin Laden in Pakistan and why America is still camping Afghanistan:

Kunduz airlift - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia