Pan-Islamic merged mega thread

[Kirkhill]

The camel used to be called "the ship of the desert".  That could infer that the desert is a "sea".  Both are inherently inhospitable and are merely spaces that must be crossed.

From that it might be possible to suggest that the cities of the desert are more akin to the islands of the Pacific or the Caribbean or Britain.  Each is an entity unto itself with its own distinct character, protected by a barrier.

I once commented to an Arab friend from Iraq about the lack of interior borders on the old maps of the region.  The best that could be generated were dotted lines that started at the coast and stopped somewhere in the interior without ever connecting to each other. That was standard practice in my school atlases in Britain up until the 1960s (the end of the era of the Trucial States).  I suggested to him that that would mean that the desert, like the seas, belonged to nobody.  He didn't disagree.

The history of the Arab world is the history not of countries but of cities like Rabah, Saleh, Tripoli, Carthage and Byblos and of desert tribes.  The history of the Turks is of tribes of the Steppes and market centres like Samarkand, Atil and Xinjiang.  Neither group has the same sense of geographic permanence as the European in his lush, fertile and defensible valley.

Parts of Turkey do have that history - history that predates the Turkish and Scythian and Hittite invaders by at least 8000 years.  And Islamic history in Turkey is only 600 years old - since the fall of the Byzantines.

All of this is to say that culture in Turkey is complex and neither its Islamic character nor its Turkic character can be taken for granted.  The Kurds have got at least as great a claim to the lands of Turkey as any Turk or Mohammedan.

Erdogan may have taken advantage of the European idiocy in not bringing Turkey into association with the EU to gain power, or in his terms get on the train of democracy.  But that doesn't mean that everyone in Turkey is inclined to get off at the same station as him.

Given a choice between living in Ataturk's westernized Turkey or reverting to a strict puritanical Mohammedanism run by mentally unstable Bedu camel jockeys (or if you prefer - buccaneers)  I suspect that your average Turk, devout Mohammedan or not, would prefer to keep Ataturk's state.

 

[a_majoor]

Interesting redaction of a story byu the NYT. This is a modern version of the old Soviet "airbrushing" of portraits and group shots to eliminate the traces of "Old Bolsheviks" with Stalin, Lenin etc. More disturbing is the realization that now that Hagel is gone, there really seems to be no one in the driver's seat WRT IS**. We will live in interesting times....

http://www.redstate.com/2014/11/25/the-new-york-times-changes-its-story-deleting-the-most-remarkable-thing-about-chuck-hagels-firing/

The New York Times Changes Its Story Deleting The Most Remarkable Thing About Chuck Hagel’s Firing
By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  November 25th, 2014 at 04:30 AM  |  16

The Pentagon wants America to believe Secretary Hagel was not fired, but the New York Times hit job breaking the news of his retirement is proof he was. The White House did not just throw Secretary Hagel under the bus, it rolled over him multiple times to ensure he is finished.

After two Secretaries of Defense leaving, then writing critical pieces about President Obama, the White House decided the third SecDef needed to be destroyed on the way out so any criticisms can immediately be cast as sour grapes by a compliant press.

But that’s not the most remarkable thing about Chuck Hagel’s firing. The most remarkable thing is toward the end of the New York Times story. Look at how the story explains his firing.

First, there is this:


In his two years in the job, Mr. Hagel’s national security views closely followed Mr. Obama’s, which made his dismissal more noteworthy. Mr. Hagel largely carried out Mr. Obama’s orders on matters like bringing back American troops from Afghanistan and trimming the Pentagon budget, without the pushback that characterized the tenure of Mr. Gates.

Then, there is this:


In the past few months he has been overshadowed by General Dempsey, who officials said had won the confidence of Mr. Obama with his recommendation of military action against the Islamic State.

Then there is nothing. Or at least, if you check right now, that is how the story abruptly ends.

But that is not how the story ended originally. Originally, the New York Times story ended this way:


He raised the ire of the White House in August as the administration was ramping up its strategy to fight the Islamic State, directly contradicting the president, who months before had likened the Sunni militant group to a junior varsity basketball squad. Mr. Hagel, facing reporters in his now-familiar role next to General Dempsey, called the Islamic State an “imminent threat to every interest we have,” adding, “This is beyond anything that we’ve seen.” White House officials later said they viewed those comments as unhelpful, although the administration still appears to be struggling to define just how large is the threat posed by the Islamic State.

Interestingly, the New York Times does not note that it altered its story. But if you put that last paragraph in the search bar at the New York Times, the revised story comes up without that paragraph.

And the paragraph is very telling in juxtaposition to the rest. Here is how it all flowed together:


Mr. Hagel, for his part, spent his time on the job largely carrying out Mr. Obama’s stated wishes on matters like bringing back American troops from Afghanistan and trimming the Pentagon budget, with little pushback. He did manage to inspire loyalty among enlisted soldiers and often seemed at his most confident when talking to troops or sharing wartime experiences as a Vietnam veteran.

But Mr. Hagel has often had problems articulating his thoughts — or administration policy — in an effective manner, and has sometimes left reporters struggling to describe what he has said in news conferences. In his side-by-side appearances with both General Dempsey and Secretary of State Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)0%, Mr. Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran and the first former enlisted combat soldier to be defense secretary, has often been upstaged.

He raised the ire of the White House in August as the administration was ramping up its strategy to fight the Islamic State, directly contradicting the president, who months before had likened the Sunni militant group to a junior varsity basketball squad. Mr. Hagel, facing reporters in his now-familiar role next to General Dempsey, called the Islamic State an “imminent threat to every interest we have,” adding, “This is beyond anything that we’ve seen.” White House officials later said they viewed those comments as unhelpful, although the administration still appears to be struggling to define just how large is the threat posed by the Islamic State.

Also gone is this sentence:


Mr. Hagel, they said, in many ways was exactly the kind of defense secretary whom the president, after battling the military during his first term, wanted.

Taken as a whole, the original New York Times story paints a pretty damning picture of the White House’s national security policy setting. Mr. Hagel, so long as he was a loyal foot soldier for the President, was okay even if he was on the outside of the White House cool kidz team.

But the moment Hagel spoke up on ISIS, contradicting the White House, it was game over.

In other words, Chuck Hagel was not fired for incompetence. He was fired for telling the truth on ISIS — calling it an “imminent threat to every interest we have,” thereby forcing Barack Obama to deal with a threat he very much would like to ignore.

It’s only made more interesting by the New York Times’s decision to complete delete that bit explaining the motivation for his firing.

 

[CougarKing]

The plot thickens in the siege of Kobani. Please note this post and this post which hint at Turkey's possibly assisting ISIS.

Military.com

Islamic State Group Attacks Kobani from Turkey

Associated Press | Nov 29, 2014 | by Bassem Mroue
BEIRUT — The Islamic State group launched an attack Saturday on the Syrian border town of Kobani from Turkey — a first in the ongoing siege, a Kurdish official and activists said.
The assault began with a suicide attack by a bomber in an armored vehicle on the border crossing between Kobani and Turkey, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria's powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party.

The Islamic State group "used to attack the town from three sides," Khalil said. "Today, they are attacking from four sides."

Turkey, while previously backing the Syrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad in that country's civil war, has been hesitant to aid the Kobani fight over its own fears about stoking Kurdish ambitions for an independent state. Ankara had no immediate comment Saturday about Islamic State group fighters launching the assault from Turkish soil.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[OldSolduer]

"5. Why in hell are we helping enemies to fight other enemies? A plague (biological and chemical warfare, anyone?) on both their houses, as my grandfather used to say about politicians. "

I'd replace plague with pox, but only because I have been reading "A Game of Thrones"
         

 

[The Bread Guy]

Awwwww, no jammie jobs for jihadi converts headed overseas  :'(

It ain’t half cold here mum. My iPod has packed up. All I do is the washing-up.

Some of the messages sent home to France by disgruntled Isis volunteers sound like letters from homesick school-children. A number of young French men and women fighting or working for Isis in Iraq and Syria have appealed to relatives and lawyers to help them to come home.

A selection of their messages, leaked to the newspaper Le Figaro, contrast bizarrely with the image of implacable and hard-hearted jihad peddled by terror websites. “I’m fed up to the back teeth. My iPod no longer works out here. I have got to come home,” said a message from a French fighter in Syria.

Another disillusioned volunteer said: “I’m sick of it. They make me do the washing-up.” A third appealed for clemency from the French authorities, who have a policy of arresting returning jihadis. “I’ve done hardly anything but hand out clothes and food,” he said. “I’ve also cleaned weapons and moved the bodies of killed fighters . Winter is beginning. It’s starting to get tough.”

Over 1,100 young French people – many of them converts to Islam of French rather than Arab origin – are believed to have thrown in their lot with Isis or other jihadist groups. Over 260 are believed to be in Syria or Iraq. More than 100 have already returned. Of these, 76 have been arrested.

(....)

Some messages reveal a fear of death or injury. “They want to send me to the front but I don’t know how to fight,” one young man said. The reluctant jihadis find themselves trapped between fear of their comrades and what might happen if they return to France ....

 

[CougarKing]

Chinese Uighurs and Huiren in ISIS?

Reuters

About 300 Chinese said fighting alongside Islamic State in Middle East

(Reuters) - About 300 Chinese people are fighting alongside the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a Chinese state-run newspaper said on Monday, a rare tally that is likely to fuel worry in China that militants pose a threat to security.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[Edward Campbell]

It isn't often that the Globe and Mail's Jeffrey Simpson gets it right on foreign and/or defence policy but he does here, after you get past his Laurentian Elite, ingrained hatred of Bush, Chaney, et al.

His last bit is important: "... the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said this struggle will continue until the “roots” of fanaticism are understood and dealt with. That means the fight will be very long and ultimately only “won” by Islamic countries themselves against their mortal enemy, and not, by the way, by military means alone."

So, how do we help the Islamic countries, the whole Islamic Crescent that stretches from Morocco on the Atlantic all the way to Malaysia and Indonesia?

First: we defend our friends and vital interests ... a geographic expression I will call Palestina that consists, today, of Lebanon, Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and Jordan. "Defend" means we do not let them fall into the hands of anyone else. They have issues with one another. That's fine and we, the liberal West, can help them resolve them. But: we promise to preserve their independence against all comers.

Second: we ignore those who are not our friends ~ that is to say everyone else, including the Gulf Stares where the USA has major military bases, Saudi Arabia, Iran and all the others. If they threaten our friends we counter them, if they war amongst themselves we leave 'em to it.

Third ... there is no third; The first and second points are sufficient.

 

[CougarKing]

Now America's Arab allies want Pentagon or White House press conferences to refer to ISIL/ISIS by a different name...

Military.com

Arab Allies Now Want U.S. to Call ISIS, ‘Daeshi’

The debate over what to call the terror group trying to set up a state in Iraq and Syria just got more complicated.

Army Lt. Gen. James Terry, commander of the newly-created task force to defeat the terror group, repeatedly used the Arabic acronym “DAESH” at a Pentagon news briefing Thursday.

“DAESH” stands for al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham, or “the Islamic State in Iraq and Sham,” with “Sham’ being an Arabic term for Syria.


“DAESH” is also similar to the verb “Das,” meaning to crush underfoot or to tread upon, Terry said. Arab opponents of the Islamic State have been using the derogatory term “Daeshi” to refer to the terrorists, meaning the bigots who try to impose their will on others. The terror group has threatened to cut out the tongues of those who call them “Daeshi,” according to the BBC.

At his news briefing, Terry said that Arab state partners in the coalition against the terrorists dislike the use by the U.S. of the acronym “ISIL,” for Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant. The Arab partners feel that by using the term ISIL, “you legitimize them,” Terry said.

“They feel strongly we should not be doing that.”

(...SNIPPED)

 

[jollyjacktar]

I think that there's a "t" missing at the end of the new word of the day.    :nod:

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Meanwhile, while Daesh are supposedly on the defensive 

Courtesy of the BBC:  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30492064

19 December 2014 Last updated at 07:02 ET
Inside Iraqi air base as Islamic State closes in
Ain al-Asad air base, the largest in Iraq's western province of Anbar, has been encircled by militants from Islamic State (IS). The BBC's Quentin Sommerville, the first Western journalist to make it to the facility since IS launched a nationwide offensive in June, found soldiers on the defensive as the militants close in.
At Ain al-Asad, soldiers and their armoured vehicles had departed. The camp was quiet, almost peaceful. But we were in fact in the eye of a storm.
On multiple fronts, troops were out fighting - and losing - battles with Islamic State (IS) militants.
We had come to see an offensive. Instead, we found a retreat.
The army's planned assault on the IS stronghold of Hit was forgotten. IS had launched a surprise attack.
"From 07:00 until 11:00, we lost territory that had taken us two weeks to gain. In a few hours, it was gone," said a senior officer from the Iraqi Army's 7th Division, who did not want to be named.
As many as 15 villages surrounding the base fell to the militants: Mahboubiya, Juba, Jabha, Dulab... the list went on, the militants moving ever closer.
Qais, a pro-government fighter from the Al Bu Nimr tribe, made it to the relative safety of the camp. "I'd had early prayers in Juba, but by the afternoon, it had fallen. IS took trailers full of weapons," he said.
He was trying to get to Baghdad to meet his commanders. His family were still in Juba, which was now held by IS.
Air strikes plea
Ain al-Asad stretches for miles. It was the biggest US army base during the Iraq War.
Reminders of American occupation are everywhere - spent artillery shells and dusty accommodation quarters, with uneaten ration packs strewn across the floor.
By the camp's barber shop stands a duty-free store and the long-closed "Forever Cafe".
Even though the base is much diminished, it remains a linchpin in the country's biggest province.
If Anbar falls, Islamic State will stretch from Syria all the way to the edge of Baghdad.
From near the edges of the camp, outgoing mortars could be heard, launching and landing. The soft booms of distant artillery occasionally made those on the base stop and look to the horizon for a moment.
At night, two days into the IS offensive, soldiers from the 7th Division returned to the base, exhausted, and angry. They blamed the lack of aerial cover for the losses.
"We stood our ground. But IS advanced with tanks - we only have Humvees," Pt Karar Hadi said.
"What we need are helicopters and combat aircraft. I don't know why the planes didn't come. They're saying the conditions are wrong, but the weather is fine now. In two days, there wasn't a single air strike."
Eventually, there were air raids, but by then much territory had already been lost. It could take weeks, if not months to regain, if it is ever retaken.
Back in January, IS seized Falluja, one of Anbar's biggest cities. Since then, the militants have tightened their grip. With their supporters, they now control almost 80% of the province.
With the world's attention on Syria, it has been a largely unseen humanitarian crisis, with more than 500,000 people displaced.
Booby-traps
We are the first Western journalists to visit Ain al-Asad since IS established its self-declared caliphate in June.
In a convoy of armoured Humvees, we drove with the troops to their field command. In some of the villages we passed through, shops were open and children waved to the soldiers. But outside it was a different story.
In the driving seat was Sgt Abu Mahdi. "When you're in a convoy, the biggest risks are the roadside bombs, from IS or their supporters - and they booby-trap houses, as well as having snipers. These are the most deadly of their tactics, but, God willing, we can deal with them."
Anbar is mostly Sunni, and in many of its villages IS has been welcomed. Iraq's army is the enemy, and the soldiers remain on their guard.
In only three days, the frontline had crept forward, closer to Ain al-Asad. When we arrived, it was 30km (18 miles) away. When we left, it was less than 10km.
Sunni tribes who have taken up arms against the militants have suffered. They formed the backbone of the Awakening Councils, which helped the US defeat al-Qaeda militants during the Iraq War.
Sheikh Naim al-Gaood of the Al Bu Nimr tribe, explained: "From my tribe there are 762 martyrs, [including] 31 women and 26 children.
"Some of them were slaughtered with swords; some of them were executed by bullets to the head. Children as young as six months old were killed while sitting on their mothers' laps. Some of the children were thrown in the river, and others down wells."
It is thought that dozens of Iraqi soldiers have been killed or kidnapped in the current offensive.
Strong resolve
On the chain-link fences around Ain al-Asad, ragged black death notices flap in the soft breeze. Among those killed was a Brig Abbas Radad, the head of the division's special forces.
"It wasn't a tragedy - he is a martyr who sacrificed his life to defend his country," Col Abu Mahmoud told me.
"All of us here would do the same. We will not allow these people to take Iraq. He was killed by a sniper - a coward who shot from afar - they don't show their faces," he added.
The Americans are back in Ain al-Asad, and three of their army medics tried to save Brig Radad.
Their primary role is training tribal fighters. They are in a private corner of the camp - largely unseen. But their presence is viewed as essential.
Qais, the Al Bu Nimr fighter, said: "We know that Ain al-Asad will never fall while the Americans are here. They won't let it happen."

Yep. sure sounds like they are on the defensive  :

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Isis fighters 'shoot down US-led coalition war plane and capture pilot'

HEATHER SAUL Wednesday 24 December 2014

Isis fighters shot down a Jordanian warplane over Syria believed to be from the US-led coalition and captured one if its pilots, the Jordanian army has confirmed.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the aircraft was shot down yesterday near the northern city of Raqqa, Isis's biggest stronghold in Syria.

The Observatory said the warplane was part of the US-led coalition, adding that the captured pilot is an Arab.

The Jordanian army said on Wednesday one of its pilots was captured by Isis militants after his plane was downed during coalition air raids.

"Jordan holds the group and its supporters responsible for the safety of the pilot and his life," an army statement read on state television said.

The pro-Isis Raqqa Media Centre (RMC) posted pictures of the pilot shortly after he was captured by militants.

Relatives of the pilot say he was captured by fighters after his plane was downed. Two relatives told Reuters they were notified by the head of the Jordanian air force of his capture and verified the images of him.

Another photograph published by the RMC showed the man — wearing only a white shirt and soaking wet — being captured by three gunmen as he was taken out of what appeared to be a lake.

AL RAI Chief International Correspondent shared a picture of what he said was the captured pilot meeting the King of Jordan.

RMC later posted a photograph of the Jordanian military identity card of the pilot identifying him as Mu'ath Safi Yousef al-Kaseasbeh who was born on May 29, 1988.

The US-led coalition has carried out hundreds of air strikes against Isis positions in Syria since 23 September.

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have joined in air strikes against the extremist group, while Qatar is providing logistical support.

Courtesy:  The Indepedent http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-fighters-shoot-down-usled-coalition-war-plane-and-capture-pilot-9944068.html


Well I guess this proves Daesh does indeed possess the ability to shoot down aircraft.

 

[SupersonicMax]

Anybody with a bit of money can buy some capabilities to shoot aircraft down.  Now the real question is what kind of system shot it down?  If it is anything radar guided, that's a capability that is far more difficult to buy and operate than shoulder-mounted IR missiles...

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Anybody with a bit of money can buy some capabilities to shoot aircraft down.  Now the real question is what kind of system shot it down?  If it is anything radar guided, that's a capability that is far more difficult to buy and operate than shoulder-mounted IR missiles...

Well they have captured a number of Syrian bases containing a variety of air defence equipment (Buk, Strela, Osa, etc....).  The Jordanian's haven't confirmed it was actually shot down yet but independent sources are saying it was. 

I also don't know if just "anybody" can buy capabilities to shoot aircraft down.  If that were the case, the Taliban would of been picking birds out the sky long ago. 

 

[SupersonicMax]

Unfortunately, I can't go into specifics anymore than I did.  I recommend you speak to your Int O if you want to know more about the kind of systems available to ISIL and Talibans in Afghanistan...

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Another interesting post, this time from Jurgen Todenhofer, the first Western reporter allowed to visit the Islamic State:

‘ISLAMIC STATE’ – Seven Impressions Of A Difficult Journey

Dear friends, we are slowly recovering from the stress the journey into the “Islamic State” has induced on us. Frederic, my son, has lost several pounds. Of course, I have been aware that both, meeting with ISIS and American and Syrian bomb attacks, could put me into high risk.
In Mosul, low-flying US aircraft circled over us numerous times. And our “apartment” in the Syrian town Raqqa was largely destroyed by a Syrian bomb while we were staying in Mosul, Iraq. Hence, our last night in Raqqa had to be spent in a bombed-out and glass-splittered apartment.

It’s difficult to uncover the truth without taking a risk, and I had needed authentic footage for a planned book about the ISIS. That’s something you only get by going there. In fact, I have done so for each of my books and thus traveled to areas of conflict many times. Moreover, I had received a security guarantee from the “caliphate”. There just was no way to know if it was genuine! Hence, all of my friends and family smelled a rat and tried to discourage me from taking the journey. But I always follow my gut feeling.

The guarantee turned out to be genuine, and the ISIS stuck to their agreement during our visits to Mosul and Raqqa. Though, we were under surveillance by the secret service for most of the time and had to hand over our mobile phones and laptops. Also, all of our pictures and photos were inspected at the end of the journey. ISIS deleted 9 out of approximately 800 photos to protect relatives of foreign fighters. That’s what censorship is.

On several occasions, ISIS and I ran into heated disagreements about details of the journey. Let me tell you that arguing with heavily armed ISIS fighters isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do. I was close to abandoning the journey twice during that time. In view of the acute danger that all of the involved were dealing with daily, they often were short tempered. Yet, overall, I was treated correctly.

HERE IS A SUMMARY OF MY 7 STRONGEST IMPRESSIONS OF ISIS:

1.) THE WEST IS DRAMATICALLY UNDERESTIMATING THE THREAT EMANATING FROM ISIS, and ISIS’ fighters are much more intelligent and dangerous than our politicians realize. The Islamic State is drenched in almost infectious enthusiasm and confident of victory – something I have never before experienced in a warzone. More importantly, the ISIS fighters are convinced that their totalitarian faith and demonstrative brutality will help them move mountains. In Mosul, less than 400 ISIS fighters routed many as 25,000 Iraqi soldiers and militias despite their ultra-modern equipment. Within months, the ISIS has conquered a territory larger than Great Britain and dwarfed Al Qaeda.

Occasional losses or changes of terrain don’t seem to concern ISIS in any way. While some media outlets tend to exaggerate those events, ISIS considers them as normal in guerilla warfare.

2.) THE INFLUX OF NEW FIGHTERS JOINING ISIS IS GROWING DAILY. I spent two days in an ISIS reception camp close to the Turkish border. On both days, more than 50 fighters from all over the world arrived. In fact, not all of them were young men who had failed in their home countries. Contrary to common belief, there were many successful and enthusiastic young people from countries like the USA, England, Sweden, Russia, France and Germany. One of them had recently passed his state examination in law and been admitted to the court as a lawyer. Yet, he preferred to fight for the “Islamic State”.

3.) AS FAR AS I CAN TELL FROM 10 DAYS OF OBSERVATION, THE “ISLAMIC STATE” SEEMS TO FUNCTION AS WELL AS ANY OTHER TOTALITARIAN COUNTRY IN THIS REGION. This is particularly true in terms of internal security and social welfare; while many things differ greatly from our – or particularly my – ideas on how such institutions should be run, they do exist. The Sunni population living in the Iraqi part of the Islamic State seems to now have accepted the new state without further resistance, preferring it to the discrimination and oppression they had previously suffered from the Maliki regime in Bagdad. However, after all of the Christians, Shiites and Yazidis have fled the city, and after countless executions, they are now the only religious group inhabiting Mosul.

4.) ISIS ISN’T JUST AIMING AT CONQUERING THE MIDDLE EAST AND, EVENTUALLY, THE REST OF THE WORLD. RATHER, THEY WANT THE LARGEST “RELIGOUS CLEANSING” IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. With the exception of the so-called “religions of the book” – that is, ISIS’ version of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity – ISIS wants to kill non-believers and apostates and enslave their women and children. This means that all of the Shiites, Yazidis, Hindus, Atheists and Polytheists are supposed to die, and that hundreds of millions of people would be eliminated in the course of this “ethnic cleansing”.

Additionally, all of the moderate Muslims approving of democracy are supposed to be killed, as they – from ISIS’ point of view – put human laws above God’s laws. Upon successful conquest of the West, this would also apply to democratically-minded Muslims here.

A non-believer’s only chance to escape death are voluntary repentance and voluntary conversion to “true Islam” which, allegedly, is represented by ISIS only. He or she must do so before their country is conquered.

ISIS does tolerate Jews and Christians. Though, they have to pay a fixed protection tax of several hundred dollars per year. Muslims would have to pay the zakat (Islamic tax), which may be higher for wealthy Muslims and lower for poor Muslims.

It needs not be said that ISIS and I disagreed in all of these points, and that I clearly expressed my opposition numerous times.

5.) IN MY OPINION, ISIS IS A 1-PERCENT MOVEMENT WITH THE EFFECT OF A TSUNAMI. The movement preaches a type of Islam that is being rejected by 99 percent of the world’s 1.6 billion-strong Muslim population. Being a Christian who has read the Quran several times, I can’t wrap my head around how anyone could consider ISIS’ doctrine compatible with Islam. In fact, my lecture of the Quran has made me see Islam as a religion of compassion. 113 out of 114 suras start with the following words: “In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.” Yet, I haven’t perceived ISIS as particularly merciful.

6.) ISIS CANNOT BE DEFEATED WITH BOMBS OR MISSILES. The three-million-city Mosul, for instance, is being controlled by 5,000 ISIS fighters. Whoever wants to eliminate them with bombs would have to first turn all of Mosul into rubble and kill thousands of civilians. Bombarding the Middle East has always been and still is a way to breed terrorism. Take ISIS as an example! This organization is a direct result of George W. Bush’s illegal Iraq War.

THE MODERATE SUNNI ARABS ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN STOP ISIS, NOT THE WEST. That’s exactly what the Sunnis did 2007. Back then, they chased away the “Islamic State in Iraq” (ISI) – the predecessor of ISIS, which was much weaker than today’s ISIS.

However, the moderate Iraqi Sunni would only oppose ISIS if they were allowed to completely re-integrate into Iraqi society, from which the Americans and the Iraqi Shiites had excluded them after the US’ 2003 invasion of Iraq. It doesn’t currently look like things are going to change anytime soon. Yet, this is the only conceivable solution to stop ISIS.

There also exist solutions for Syria. Though, the West would need to correct its utterly unrealistic view of the situation. They have truly gotten on the wrong track in Syria.

7.) THERE IS A LOT OF GUESSING ABOUT THE TERRORIST THREAT EMANATING FROM RETURNING ISIS FIGHTERS. I cannot rule out that there may indeed exist a threat. But due to the Islamic State considering those returnees as losers that failed in their life in the Islamic State, they may, in fact, not present a major risk. Although Brussels did suffer an attack from a returnee, sympathizers of ISIS who have not yet left the country might present a larger threat.

Germany, as well as the rest of the world, must neither trivialize nor exaggerate the terrorist threat. In Germany, for instance, no German has ever been killed by an Islamist while, on the other hand, many Muslims were killed by German right wing extremists. Extremist movements like Germany’s PEGIDA are misrepresenting the facts. And in doing so, they are unwittingly playing into the hands of the ISIS. The Islamic movement has stated numerous times that escalations between Muslims and Non-Muslims in Germany and other countries of the West are in its interest.

I firmly believe that ISIS currently is the largest threat to world peace since the Cold War. We are now paying the price for George W. Bush’s act of near-unparalleled folly; the invasion of Iraq. To date, the West remains clueless as to how this threat is to be addressed

Taken from:  http://juergentodenhoefer.de/seven-impressions-of-a-difficult-journey/?lang=en

I took this from his website rather then some third party news site who only gave tidbits of info.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Unfortunately, I can't go into specifics anymore than I did.  I recommend you speak to your Int O if you want to know more about the kind of systems available to ISIL and Talibans in Afghanistan...

:SOF: :SOF: :SOF:

 

[The Bread Guy]

I also don't know if just "anybody" can buy capabilities to shoot aircraft down.  If that were the case, the Taliban would of been picking birds out the sky long ago.

They were not completely without their means, though.

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

They were not completely without their means, though.

No they were not but there's a big difference between bringing down a helicopter depositing soldiers into an LZ and shooting down fast-air.

 

[The Bread Guy]

No they were not but there's a big difference between bringing down a helicopter depositing soldiers into an LZ and shooting down fast-air.

True dat.

 

[GAP]

US military equipment being detoured for possible battle vs. ISIS
Published December 25, 2014 FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/12/25/us-military-equipment-being-detoured-for-possible-battle-vs-isis/

The U.S. military has been stockpiling huge quantities of gear in Kuwait in preparation for shipping it across the border into Iraq for possible use in a coordinated offensive against the terrorist group Islamic State, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The gear is being housed near a busy commercial port, which is now the place where roughly 3,100 vehicles -- mostly ambush-protected vehicles known as MRAPs – are parked, in addition to electronic equipment and other supplies, the magazine reported, citing defense officials.

The gear, which is primarily from the U.S. Army, will be repaired and assessed for use as planners decide what the United States and its allies will need to defeat Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

“From June to December, we’ve worked a lot on moving items into Kuwait,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Rowayne “Wayne” Schatz, the director of operations and plans for U.S. Transportation Command, told U.S. News. “The Army is holding the gear there, and it has room to hold it, as the mission fleshes out.”

The U.S. military reportedly is planning a massive spring offensive to help Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take back territory from Islamic State. But Lt. Gen. James Terry said, “I don’t want to disclose any timelines.”

The original plan, which included destroying, selling or giving away as much as $7 billion worth of equipment in Afghanistan to aid the war effort there, was scrapped as the rise of Islamic State -- also known as ISIL or by “Daesh,” its Arabic acronym -- prompted the military to stash some of that equipment back toward Iraq.