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Raqqa has fallen
- Thread starter Charles Brandon
- Start date
Geno Breaker
Banned
Sound like good news.
D
Deleted member 20415
Unconfirmed Member
Yeah, this is great news... propose we change that title to "Isis-controlled Raqqa has fallen"
Mammoth Jones
Member
RIP to all the lives destroyed by these shitty wars.
That or "Raqqa finally liberated from ISIS" for some rare positive OT material.
Frustrated_me
Member
3,250 killed in Raqqa battle, including 1,130 civilians.
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/920253873088028672
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/920253873088028672
curi0usBystander
Member
If I understood that right, it's good news.
Not that we shouldn't expect it anyway, but expect an increase in terror attacks.
Frustrated_me
Member
Back to insurgency.
djplaeskool
Member
The internet.
MistakenMobius
Member
Yep, all foreign fighter will go back to their western country and probably try to attack there.
Charles Brandon
Member
Or just leave it as it is.
Frustrated_me
Member
The foreign ISIS fighters are not being allowed to leave Raqqa, they get no free pass. Only the local ISIS fighters are allowed to leave Raqqa.
So I doubt the foreigners will find a way back home to Europe, they're as dead as dead right now.
It's so sad to see. That "Everyone is bad now" quote by the UN War Crimes investigator wasn't lying. This twitter thread is a reminder that things will continue to get worse in the middle east even after ISIS:
RustyNails
Member
SDF hasn't lost a single battle against ISIS in the past two years, which is pretty fantastic.
Spiritual_Chaos
Banned
They'll always have Social media.
Which is all they need to draw in new recruits.
I hope the FBI / CIA and all other agencies stay vigilant and root out these individuals.
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!
Member
It was a tad over ambitious in hindsight
Crushing ISIS reaaly doesn't make much of a difference in the long term. The underlying issues that enabled their rise will be as prevalent as ever (probably worse). They will splinter into smaller militant factions, until eventually the cycle repeats itself and they are once again consolidated into a centralized leadership.
Charles Brandon
Member
This is a good thing, obviously. The pull of IS is about them being the Caliphate and fulfilling the prophecy. Without the land, they can't make that claim, they're just another AQ at this point, still dangerous but they can't claim it is the duty of all Muslims to fight with/for them any more.
The bad part of it is, Syria is still fucked. Assad is still there, the war started because people were rebelling against him and that cause hasn't been won, in fact it has nearly been lost/
And there is the growing issue of the emboldened Kurds who now want their own state, have started fighting with the Iraqis and will soon be fighting the Turks no doubt. Not that I'm saying they shouldn't have their own state, just that the war isn't over.
The bad part of it is, Syria is still fucked. Assad is still there, the war started because people were rebelling against him and that cause hasn't been won, in fact it has nearly been lost/
And there is the growing issue of the emboldened Kurds who now want their own state, have started fighting with the Iraqis and will soon be fighting the Turks no doubt. Not that I'm saying they shouldn't have their own state, just that the war isn't over.
Skellig Gra
Member
All the children of the men/women we've killed with cowardly drone strikes
This is Wikipedia's most recent map, 10 days ago.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Syrian,_Iraqi,_and_Lebanese_insurgencies.png
WhiskeyKnight
Member
Drone strikes are far more accurate than other types of air strikes.
Basically the least bad option we have at the moment for killing ISIS shitheads.
Because people really care whether it was a Drone Strike, Air Strike, or a bullet that killed a family member
NOT!
Charles Brandon
Member
Not really the point, is it?
Jzero
Member
That's fucked up
Those foreign fighters are currently being lined up against walls
Dubbedinenglish
Banned
Should be a stark reminder to all the Assad can stop ISIS BS out there. Just goes to show how much window dressing is the Russian/Assad narrative is about them fighting ISIS.
Skellig Gra
Member
You are right, they don't. All 3 of those things breed future terrorists.
BrassDragon
Member
This is an important strategic victory but a moral one as well - ISIS works under the doctrine that the west is too decadent and divided to hit them in the heartland, easily distracted by instability at their borders, refugee waves and terrorist strikes.
These things hurt us but we can still find ISIS where they live.
These things hurt us but we can still find ISIS where they live.
Pai Pai Master
Banned
It's impossible to avoid that much loss of life because ISIS uses the civilian population as human shields because they are sick cowards. Not justifying it or saying it's the cost of liberating the city or anything, it's horrible. But any time we see ISIS strongholds going down it's going to come with a significant civilian loss of life.
Angelus Errare
Banned
Yea, I imagine most people don't know what Raqqa is without context.
Dubbedinenglish
Banned
Like Mosul its bloody house to house fighting against an enemy who has dug in and prepared for the battle. Also ISIS only allowed their fighters and families to leave while civilians were held at gun point in the city to maximize their deaths.
Charles Brandon
Member
Let's not pander to those people. Everyone should know where Raqqa is by now.
It's so sad to see. That "Everyone is bad now" quote by the UN War Crimes investigator wasn't lying. This twitter thread is a reminder that things will continue to get worse in the middle east even after ISIS:
The Kurds and the Iraqis were already fighting around Kirkuk, which the Iraqis seized. Fun times ahead.
But yeah why not destabilise one of the largest countries in the Middle East, what could go wrong.
It's so sad to see. That "Everyone is bad now" quote by the UN War Crimes investigator wasn't lying. This twitter thread is a reminder that things will continue to get worse in the middle east even after ISIS:
If only we could've seen this coming.... shocking.
/s
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...offer-in-2012-to-have-syrias-assad-step-aside
it still hurts... but I guess "we" thought that escalating would surely work this time. 100ths time's the charm, right?
yes! because killing the shit heads has worked perfectly in the last 80 years. I'm sure if they're all dead, the problems will stop.
A tragedy for everyone involved.
Charles Brandon
Member
Goddamit. Haven't seen that before.
BlackGoku03
Member
Why are they letting the local fighters go then?
Charles Brandon
Member
Part of a deal to stop the fighting. I guess the local fighters didn't care enough about the foreign lads to include them.
Guerrillas in the Mist
Member
And like Iraq, the next shitshow will be pro-Assad forces rolling into SDF/YPG territory.
GTP_Daverytimes
Member
The conflict could have been over or certainly not as big as it got, but the west loves itself some bloodshed, Assad couldn't just step down you see, he had to be dragged through the streets like Gaddafi.
To be fair the Syrian army has also had a lot of success against ISIS this year, especially the Tiger Forces. Although they're not as instrumental as the SDF by a long shot.
The real problem with the "Assad and Russia are defeating ISIS" narrative is that Assad and Russia are extremely bad actors themselves who try to whitewash their actions by comparing themselves to ISIS, as though those are the only two possibilities.
This would be heartbreaking, especially if the US and Turkey condone it.
Charles Brandon
Member
Turkey are bound to condone it and with the Kurds clashing with US backed Iraqi gov't also it is not hard to see the US dropping the Kurds like a hot turd in order to maintain their other alliances. But maybe it doesn't matter. The US surely isn't going to bomb the Kurds and it was never going to fight with them (against the regime) so perhaps their support doesn't actually make much difference.