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[RustyNails]

So apparently the battle to retake Mosul will begin in April as accidentally detailed by a pentagon official during a committee heating.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/02/operation-retake-mosul-isil-april-150220045728743.html

They are telegraphing this heavily which is quite unusual. Maybe a false flag operation?

 

[thefro]

They are telegraphing this heavily which is quite unusual. Maybe a false flag operation?

Iraq launched a big operation to take Tikrit back from ISIS today.

Iraq has launched a military operation to recapture former leader Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from Islamic State (IS).

Troops and militia were said to be attacking on different fronts, backed by airstrikes from Iraqi fighter jets.

The government says that its forces are advancing into the city but this has not been confirmed.

Tikrit lies 150km (95 miles) north of the capital Baghdad and was seized by IS militants in June 2014.

Al-Iraqiya TV said that IS militants had been dislodged from some areas of Salahuddin province, outside Tikrit.

It added that Iraqi troops and fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella group of Shia militia fighting IS, were moving into Tikrit as airstrikes hit militant strongholds.

Tikrit was seized by IS militants in June last year
Government forces say they are 5km away from the heart of the city, the BBC's Ahmed Maher reports in Baghdad, but this has not been confirmed by independent sources.

Our correspondent says that 4,500 militiamen are reported to be participating in the offensive.
The operation involving up to 20,000 government troops is being backed by an alliance of volunteers mainly from the Shia community but also Sunni tribal fighters.

The Popular Mobilisation Force was formed last summer following the collapse of army troops after IS militants swept through the Sunni heartlands in the north and west of Iraq.

 

[Kenshin001]

Iraq launched a big operation to take Tikrit back from ISIS today.

Hope this is successful but I wonder how the Sunnis will react to Shiite militias helping take over Saddam's hometown.

 

[Jburton]

Hope this is successful but I wonder how the Sunnis will react to Shiite militias helping take over Saddam's hometown.

Exactly!

Shia militias committed a lot of murderous acts within the Sunni community under Maliki, they are the last people the want to see.

 

[RustyNails]

According to one ex ISIS member from Saudi Arabia, ISIS is fractious, lacks cohesion, and many members are looking to get out.

The Islamic State terror group is beset with deep-rooted conflicts, said Manie Al-Manie, a former member of the organization who is back in the Kingdom. “Sectarian and racist conflicts prevail among its members,” he told reporters.
He said many of them ill-treated Saudis because they were the most knowledgeable on Shariah regulations. IS leaders sent Saudis on suicide missions to finish them off, he said while explaining his difficult days under the IS rule.
Al-Manie said he had seen some members rejecting the orders of leaders while some others were not ready to obey the leadership.
“I noticed they clearly targeted the Saudis by calling them backward and Bedouin,” he said. “IS has no system. It’s a bunch of groups who work to pursue their vested interests. There is no coordination among them,” he added.
Al-Manie said children were forced to carry out suicide operations against their will and that of their parents. “They exploit the situation of people and the extremist ideology to kill innocent people.”
He said many IS recruits were not happy with killings and other terrorist operations. “Many members are looking for a chance to leave the organization forever,” he pointed out.
He said there is confusion in the organization, especially in matters about Shariah. “Their conscience doesn’t prick when they kill the innocent. They murder men and women without making sure the charges against them.”
Al-Manie made these comments while participating in a talk show on Saudi Channel One. “Killing has become a kind of disease among the IS militants. They consider their opponents infidels and apostates who deserve capital punishment. Some of them have even killed their own colleagues,” he said.
Saudi bloggers have urged authorities not to show any leniency toward Al-Manie, adding that it would encourage other Saudis to join the group. Al-Manie had rejected his allegiance to the Saudi leadership and pledged allegiance to the IS leadership.

http://www.arabnews.com/featured/news/712486

 

[8BitsAtATime]

Are there any books about ISIS that are worth checking out?

 

[Mrmartel]

I don't know if Breitbart or the sun is allowed on Neogaf. But they have a extremely disturbing story about ISIS.

Apparently ISIS soldiers tricked a Mother into eating the flesh of her own son. They chopped him into pieces and served it to her with some rice. She thought they were being nice and giving her food while they fetched her lost boy for her.

A British man who went to fight with the Kurds against Islamic State has claimed the terror group fed a desperate mother a meal of meat and rice before revealing she had eaten her own son. Yasir Abdulla, 36, from Yorkshire said that the woman had appealed to IS to release her son when they tricked her.

Adbulla told The Sun the woman was offered a seat at IS headquarters, then given a drink along with cooked meat and rice. At first she thought they were being generous, but when she finished the meal they revealed the cooked meat was the flesh of her son, whom they had murdered earlier.

Mr Adbulla said: “I hate IS because of what happened to an old Kurdish woman from a nearby tribe. Her son was captured by IS fighters and taken as a prisoner to Mosul.

“She was determined to find her son and went to IS headquarters and asked to see him. The IS men told her to sit down because she had travelled a long way and said she should have some food before they took her to meet her son.

“They brought her cups of tea and fed her a meal of cooked meat, rice and soup. She thought they were kind.

“But they had killed him and chopped him up and after she finished the meal and asked to see her son they laughed and said, ‘You’ve just eaten him’.”

He added: “All the tribes are united against IS. They burn people alive, they chop off people’s heads, there is no limit to their depravity. They are not Muslims, they have hijacked Islam. All they do is hate.”

This is not the first report of horrific barbarism by the Islamic State, a group that have become famous for the gruesome treatment of their prisoners. In some cases they have beheaded them on camera, and in others they have burnt them alive.

The woman who ate her son has not been traced.

Let me know if those sources are okay. Again not sure if legit, although I can't imagine the BBC reporting that even if it was true.

I'll provide a link if it's doesn't throw my ass off into the Danger Zone

http://metro.co.uk/2015/03/02/isis-tells-mother-on-rescue-mission-youve-just-eaten-your-son-5084957/

http://nypost.com/2015/03/02/isis-militants-trick-woman-into-eating-her-kidnapped-son/

Metro and NY Post. Gaf seal of approval?

 

[ShdwDrake]

Thanks OT!

 

[Abinash117]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31699632

Iraq 'seizes districts from IS' in Tikrit advance

Iraqi government forces say they have retaken some districts around Tikrit in their fight to recapture the city from Islamic State (IS).

A force of about 30,000 troops and militia are said to be attacking on different fronts, backed by air strikes from Iraqi jets.

A commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards is taking part in the operation, a Shia militia commander told the BBC.

Tikrit, north of the capital Baghdad, fell to IS militants last June.

Security sources told the BBC that pro-government troops had seized control of the two districts of al-Tin, near Tikrit university north-east of the city, and the district of al-Abeid, in the west.

Earlier, fighting was also reported in al-Dour, south-east of Tikrit, as well as in al-Alam, north of the city, and nearby Qadisiya.

There were few details of the operation but army and medical sources were quoted as saying that five soldiers and 11 militia fighters had been killed.

Iraqi forces are being helped by Iran's Gen Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, Iranian and Iraqi media reported.

Since the IS advance across Iraq last summer, Gen Soleimani has personally overseen the defence of Baghdad and helped to organise pro-Iranian Shia militia.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/27/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-idUSKBN0LV2K620150227

U.S. begins vetting Syrian rebels for military training: Pentagon

The U.S. military has begun vetting a group of Syrian rebels eligible for training and assistance in the fight against Islamic State militants, a step that paves the way for training to begin in weeks, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said about 100 moderate Syrian rebels had been vetted to participate in the training and assistance effort, with no derogatory information uncovered to weigh against their involvement.

Kirby said 1,500 other potential candidates had been identified and were awaiting more rigorous screening before being admitted to the program.

Not really new. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31483631

Egypt bombs IS in Libya after beheadings video

Egypt says it has bombed Islamic State targets in Libya, hours after the militants released video of apparent beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians.

State TV said the dawn strikes had targeted camps, training sites and weapons storage areas. A second wave of strikes was reported hours later.

Libyan officials said Egypt hit targets in the militant-held city of Derna.

The strikes came amid widespread condemnation of the killings. The US and UN described them as "cowardly".

A video emerged on Sunday showing militants forcing a group of men to the ground and decapitating them.

The kidnapped Egyptian workers, all Coptic Christians, were seized in separate incidents in December and January from the coastal town of Sirte in eastern Libya, under the control of Islamist groups.

 

[RustyNails]

I don't know if Breitbart or the sun is allowed on Neogaf. But they have a extremely disturbing story about ISIS.

Apparently ISIS soldiers tricked a Mother into eating the flesh of her own son. They chopped him into pieces and served it to her with some rice. She thought they were being nice and giving her food while they fetched her lost boy for her.




Let me know if those sources are okay. Again not sure if legit, although I can't imagine the BBC reporting that even if it was true.

I'll provide a link if it's doesn't throw my ass off into the Danger Zone

http://metro.co.uk/2015/03/02/isis-tells-mother-on-rescue-mission-youve-just-eaten-your-son-5084957/

http://nypost.com/2015/03/02/isis-militants-trick-woman-into-eating-her-kidnapped-son/

Metro and NY Post. Gaf seal of approval?

This is way too fucked up to be true

 

[exmachina64]

I don't know if Breitbart or the sun is allowed on Neogaf. But they have a extremely disturbing story about ISIS.

Apparently ISIS soldiers tricked a Mother into eating the flesh of her own son. They chopped him into pieces and served it to her with some rice. She thought they were being nice and giving her food while they fetched her lost boy for her.




Let me know if those sources are okay. Again not sure if legit, although I can't imagine the BBC reporting that even if it was true.

I'll provide a link if it's doesn't throw my ass off into the Danger Zone

http://metro.co.uk/2015/03/02/isis-tells-mother-on-rescue-mission-youve-just-eaten-your-son-5084957/

http://nypost.com/2015/03/02/isis-militants-trick-woman-into-eating-her-kidnapped-son/

Metro and NY Post. Gaf seal of approval?

I don't think any of those sites are considered reputable, especially Breitbart. Was Breitbart the originator of this story?

 

[Skyzard]

Bit odd huh:

For extremist muslims and all.

 

[Napoleonthechimp]

Bit odd huh:

For extremist muslims and all.

Even I know what direction you're supposed to pray in and I'm not Muslim.

 

[Kastrioti]

I respect the differing opinions I have on Islam with posters like RustyNails, maninthrmirror, Amjad, many others and have actually learned from them about Islam despite being raised Albanian.

But I disagree with an Official Thread regarding ISIL/ISIS/DaEsh etc. I'm also including Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, Jahbat Al Nusra and many other radical Islamic terror organizations. I've even noticed a propensity of ISIS related threads on OT that sometimes clog/depress the front but some stories need there own thread and I think putting it into some OT will take away from attention that needs to be focused on individual attacks/developments.

Does Boko Haram apply to this?

 

[Lynux]

I do not know if anyone heard this on BBC this morning but there is an interview with one of the founding members of Al-Qaeda turned British spy discussing ISIS and their goals/intentions. I thought the apocalyptic aspects of their movement was interesting considering people try to separate the religion from the organization.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02gd2wj

 

[Scuderia]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...riton-to-die-fighting-Isis-claim-reports.html

One of my best friends from school GAF. Don't really know what else to say :/

 

[Abinash117]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/w...ve-against-isis-reveals-tensions-with-us.html

BAGHDAD — Tensions between Iraq and the United States over how to battle the Islamic State broke into the open on Tuesday, as Iraqi officials declared that they would fight on their own timetable with or without American help, and as United States warplanes conspicuously sat out the biggest Iraqi counteroffensive yet amid concerns over Iran’s prominent role.

On Monday, Iraq launched a politically sensitive operation to oust Islamic State militants from Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, without seeking American approval, officials said. Even as Iraq was taking a first step into a bigger battle to oust the Islamic State from the northern city of Mosul, it was also signaling that its alliance with the United States might be more fraught than officials had let on.

American officials, for their part, voiced unease with the prominent role of Iran and its allied Shiite militias in the Tikrit operation. Shiite militia leaders said that their fighters made up more than two-thirds of the pro-government force of 30,000, and that the Iranian spymaster Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani was helping to lead from near the front lines.

Alongside them were advisers and troops from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, operating artillery, rocket launchers and surveillance drones, according to American officials, who said that the Iranian forces’ participation in the assault in Iraq’s Sunni heartland could inflame the sectarian divide that the Islamic State has exploited.

Another source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31727470
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/03/us-isis-battle_n_6795926.html

 

[RustyNails]

Anyone have updates from Tikrit? Last I heard, the Daesh fighters are using snipers and left landmines around the city, and the Iraqi forces are being hindered a lot...not a good sign.

 

[Mr.Swag]

Bit odd huh:

For extremist muslims and all.

Maybe they didn't have a compass, at least half of them got it right

 

[Abinash117]

Anyone have updates from Tikrit? Last I heard, the Daesh fighters are using snipers and left landmines around the city, and the Iraqi forces are being hindered a lot...not a good sign.

Just did, some sources say that half are not Iraq soldiers and being lend by Iran. The US isn't giving airstrikes and the offensive is only reached the outskirts; they are not in the city yet.

 

[Veritigo_X]

Bit odd huh:

For extremist muslims and all.

Geez... they should at least all be facing the same way. It would be hard to tell which way they were actually facing, but if they're praying in random directions it's easy to tell at least someone is wrong there.

And doesn't ISIS want to destroy Mecca anyway? Maybe they are purposefully NOT facing Mecca to sort of stick it to them or something. Probably more likely they just don't care.

 

[Prine]

Thank you Rusty, especially the link to Sheik Hamza Yusuf "Challenges ISIS" article. He's one of the most prominent Sheiks in the western muslim world (i've grownup listening and attending his conferences), i've been meaning to catchup on his opinion on the matter.

 

[Heshinsi]

Geez... they should at least all be facing the same way. It would be hard to tell which way they were actually facing, but if they're praying in random directions it's easy to tell at least someone is wrong there.

And doesn't ISIS want to destroy Mecca anyway? Maybe they are purposefully NOT facing Mecca to sort of stick it to them or something. Probably more likely they just don't care.

What version of Islam do these guys even claim to have an interpretation of? I want to know where they're getting the notion of burning people, killing kids, destroying the Ka'aba, murdering civilians, etc. Even if you take the most controversial verses in the Quran, and then misinterpreted them, you still won't end up with the majority of shit these guys do.

So if you're making up your own things, could you still claim you're following the same religion? Pilgrimage to Mecca is like the 5th most important pillar in Islam, and these guys want to destroy the Ka'aba. That's like claiming you're a Catholic, and then saying you don't believe in the Trinity and you want to destroy the Vatican. Not sure how you're still a Catholic at that point, but ok.

 

[Veritigo_X]

What version of Islam do these guys even claim to have an interpretation of? I want to know where they're getting the notion of burning people, killing kids, destroying the Ka'aba, murdering civilians, etc. Even if you take the most controversial verses in the Quran, and then misinterpreted them, you still won't end up with the majority of shit these guys do.

So if you're making up your own things, could you still claim you're following the same religion? Pilgrimage to Mecca is like the 5th most important pillar in Islam, and these guys want to destroy the Ka'aba. That's like claiming you're a Catholic, and then saying you don't believe in the Trinity and you want to destroy the Vatican. Not sure how you're still a Catholic at that point, but ok.

Most ISIS threads end up turning into an argument about this. They follow a recently made up branch of Islam that suites their needs at the moment. I personally wouldn't call them Islamic, but that's what they fashioned themselves as so that's what people will call them.

 

[pgtl_10]

Here is a good article on the status of Da'esh:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/23/private-donors-from-gulf-oil-states-helping-to-bankroll-salaries-of-up-to-100000-isis-fighters/

Here is also a good article on Israel helping the Nusra front:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/friend-and-foe-syria_859648.html?page=1

 

[Stereogatari]

and Turkey still gives no fucks and still allows free transit to Syria

why are these assholes still accepted as a NATO member?

Can you stop with this same broken record.

Turkey can't do anything ok. It's not our fucking war. We're not putting our troops and country in danger as a Western proxy.

Super Kurds that you guys all love so much are doing fantastic at it anyway.

Also free transit is an exaggeration. The real question is how these European born/based non-Turkish Muslims are leaving from European countries so freely...Those three British teenaged girls recently for example...Is that Turkey's faults?

Turkey should be slapped with sanctions IMO

HAHAHAHAHAH. I think the European countries some ISIS fighters are coming from should be looked at first for sanctions...letting extremists freely enter Turkish territory...

And besides. The bulk of ISIS fighters aren't coming through Turkey.

 

[starwarsfan541]

What version of Islam do these guys even claim to have an interpretation of? I want to know where they're getting the notion of burning people, killing kids, destroying the Ka'aba, murdering civilians, etc. Even if you take the most controversial verses in the Quran, and then misinterpreted them, you still won't end up with the majority of shit these guys do.

So if you're making up your own things, could you still claim you're following the same religion? Pilgrimage to Mecca is like the 5th most important pillar in Islam, and these guys want to destroy the Ka'aba. That's like claiming you're a Catholic, and then saying you don't believe in the Trinity and you want to destroy the Vatican. Not sure how you're still a Catholic at that point, but ok.

I've heard arguments their theologically similar to the Kharijites (on the mecca note, the Qarmatians sacked the city and desecrated the holy site)

 

[Heshinsi]

Can you stop with this same broken record.

Turkey can't do anything ok. It's not our fucking war. We're not putting our troops and country in danger as a Western proxy.

Super Kurds that you guys all love so much are doing fantastic at it anyway.

Also free transit is an exaggeration. The real question is how these European based non-Turkish Muslims are leaving from European countries so freely...Those three British teenaged girls recently for example...Is that Turkey's faults?

I'm sorry, but when your country watched as a town across the border was being seiged by ISIS, and not only refused to render aid, but actively blocked Turkish Kurds from crossing the border to help their brethren, it became crystal clear what Turkey's priorities were. It's no secret your country hates Kurds.

Plus, if it's a matter of not wanting to get involved, why block Turkish Kurds from crossing into Syria, and why prevent fleeing refugees from entering Turkey? It's not like these refugees were fleeing a battle zone hundreds of kilometers away; their town was right at the border. Turkey knows what's about to happen, and they refused to help, and blocked help from getting there. That's being a dick.

 

[RustyNails]

What version of Islam do these guys even claim to have an interpretation of? I want to know where they're getting the notion of burning people, killing kids, destroying the Ka'aba, murdering civilians, etc. Even if you take the most controversial verses in the Quran, and then misinterpreted them, you still won't end up with the majority of shit these guys do.

So if you're making up your own things, could you still claim you're following the same religion? Pilgrimage to Mecca is like the 5th most important pillar in Islam, and these guys want to destroy the Ka'aba. That's like claiming you're a Catholic, and then saying you don't believe in the Trinity and you want to destroy the Vatican. Not sure how you're still a Catholic at that point, but ok.

We should start seeing a new "sect" of ISIS very soon. I'd bet a good dollar amount that Baghdadi (or his next-in-line) will claim to be the Mahdi very soon.

 

[pgtl_10]

Can you stop with this same broken record.

Turkey can't do anything ok. It's not our fucking war. We're not putting our troops and country in danger as a Western proxy.

Super Kurds that you guys all love so much are doing fantastic at it anyway.

Also free transit is an exaggeration. The real question is how these European born/based non-Turkish Muslims are leaving from European countries so freely...Those three British teenaged girls recently for example...Is that Turkey's faults?



HAHAHAHAHAH. I think the European countries some ISIS fighters are coming from should be looked at first for sanctions...letting extremists freely enter Turkish territory...

And besides. The bulk of ISIS fighters aren't coming through Turkey.

That would require the West to be responsible for its own actions. Something the West has a harder time accepting. It's easier to blame Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries for failures of Western policies that created conditions for Isis to thrive. A good example is this:

Clearly, there are spiritual barriers to combating ISIS with religion. Their uniquely twisted theology draws on Islamic texts, but their revisionist approach ostracizes them from the broader Muslim community. But Haykel said the difficulty in shutting down ISIS, religiously speaking, isn’t limited to theological hurdles, but largely stems from something else he says Wood declined to quote him on: the current geopolitical situation facing the world’s Sunni Muslims.
ISIS is a bad group and [Sunnis] don’t agree with it, but there are also other bad groups that are just as bad if not worse — at least in terms of [number of people] killed.

“The Sunni Muslim community, under normal circumstances … [historically] had mechanisms for silencing or eliminating extremists who would emerge from among them,” Haykel said. “[But] Sunni Muslims feel really beleaguered today … It’s very hard for Sunnis to say, today, ‘Let’s go and fight ISIS militarily,’ when you also have, let’s say, the Assad regime killing hundreds of thousands of Sunni Muslims, or Iran and its forces in Iraq and Syria and Lebanon also attacking Sunnis at the same time. In a world where a lot of people are attacking Sunnis, it’s hard for Sunnis to say ‘ISIS is the only bad group.’”

“In other words, ISIS is a bad group and [Sunnis] don’t agree with it, but there are also other bad groups that are just as bad if not worse — at least in terms of [number of people] killed.”

Haykel said this sense of being under siege, when combined with several economic realities, is primarily why “a small sample of people” find ISIS’s ideology attractive. To the few who are able to get past ISIS’s obsessions with violence, their black-flag-waving conquests offer a sense of purpose — and, frankly, employment — amidst an otherwise frustrating existence.

http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/02/20/3625446/atlantic-left-isis-conversation-bernard-haykel/

Notice how the Princeton professor ignores the Western invasion which resulted in massive chaos in the first place.

 

[Stereogatari]

I'm sorry, but when your country watched as a town across the border was being seiged by ISIS, and not only refused to render aid, but actively blocked Turkish Kurds from crossing the border to help their brethren, it became crystal clear what Turkey's priorities were. It's no secret your country hates Kurds.

Plus, if it's a matter of not wanting to get involved, why block Turkish Kurds from crossing into Syria, and why prevent fleeing refugees from entering Turkey? It's not like these refugees were fleeing a battle zone hundreds of kilometers away; their town was right at the border. Turkey knows what's about to happen, and they refused to help, and blocked help from getting there. That's being a dick.

Refused aid? HAHAHAHAHA. We let all the Kurds fleeing into Turkey.

Also Turkey let Northern Iraqi Peshmerga go through to Kobane and trained them up as well.

My country doesn't hate Kurds, it's the same old tired false arguments that have no basis in reality. Don't speak shit about a country and culture you have no clue about.

That would require the West to be responsible for its own actions. Something the West has a harder time accepting. It's easier to blame Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries for failures of Western policies that created conditions for Isis to thrive. A good example is this:



http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/02/20/3625446/atlantic-left-isis-conversation-bernard-haykel/

Notice how the Princeton professor ignores the Western invasion which resulted in massive chaos in the first place.

Exactly, you understand what I'm trying to say. The Western rhetoric has tried to provoke Turkey into action but thankfully it hasn't worked.

 

[dapperbandit]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31699632

Iraqi forces are being helped by Iran's Gen Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, Iranian and Iraqi media reported.

Since the IS advance across Iraq last summer, Gen Soleimani has personally overseen the defence of Baghdad and helped to organise pro-Iranian Shia militia.

He has been pictured visiting the front lines north of the capital on several occasions.

This guy gets around.

 

[Heshinsi]

Refused aid? HAHAHAHAHA. We let all the Kurds fleeing into Turkey.

Also Turkey let Northern Iraqi Peshmerga go through to Kobane and trained them up as well.

My country doesn't hate Kurds, it's the same old tired false arguments that have no basis in reality. Don't speak shit about a country and culture you have no clue about.



Exactly, you understand what I'm trying to say. The Western rhetoric has tried to provoke Turkey into action but thankfully it hasn't worked.

That aid you speak of was rendered after sitting on their asses and doing nothing for days,and only after massive Kurdish protests in your country. Oh and Turkey doesn't hate Kurds? After everything that's happened to the Kurds in Turkey the past few decades? Sure thing bud. Let me guess, the Armenian genocide never happened either right?

 

[RustyNails]

More updates from Tikrit:

The Iraqi army has said its strategy for retaking the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group's stronghold of Tikrit is to surround the city before launching an assault.

A senior commander said on Wednesday that operations were currently focused on preventing ISIL from launching more attacks and cutting supply lines to stop reinforcements and weapons from reaching Tikrit.

The next step will be to "surround the towns completely, suffocate them and then pounce on them," Lieutenant General Abdel Amir al-Zaidi told the AFP news agency.

On Monday, the Iraqi security forces and a variety of allied fighting units launched the biggest ground operation yet against ISIL in Iraq.

Backed by jets and helicopters, the 30,000-strong force is moving in from three main directions, their progress slowed by suicide bombers, sniper fire and booby traps.

Iraqi forces have yet to retake Ad-Dawr and Al-Alam, towns south and north of Tikrit respectively which command access to the city.

Zaidi said the operation launched had already achieved results by securing areas further out in Salaheddin province and forcing ISIL fighters to regroup in urban areas.

"The first phase of the battle to liberate Salaheddin was successfully completed - and in record time - by clearing the areas in the east of the province," Zaidi said.

Baghdad has tried and failed several times to retake Tikrit since ISIL fighters seized it in June 2014, as they swept through the country's Sunni Arab heartland.

So the plan is to cut the supply lines from Mosul to Tikrit, and holding out until they run out of ammo. Dangerous game in my opinion.

 

[dapperbandit]

More updates from Tikrit:

So the plan is to cut the supply lines from Mosul to Tikrit, and holding out until they run out of ammo. Dangerous game in my opinion.

Wouldn't want to be a civilian in Tikrit, sounds like they're in for a rough ride.

 

[Stereogatari]

That aid you speak of was rendered after sitting on their asses and doing nothing for days,and only after massive Kurdish protests in your country. Oh and Turkey doesn't hate Kurds? After everything that's happened to the Kurds in Turkey the past few decades? Sure thing bud. Let me guess, the Armenian genocide never happened either right?

Same old tired arguments. "Turks hate Kurds" and "Armenian genocide" stock arguments might as well be a Godwin's Laws at this point. Shall we bring up Cyprus while we're at it?

 

[Eternal Gamer]

Turkey didn't want to allow kurds to go into Kobane to help, neither allow supplies to cross the border, they just sat on their tanks watching the city being ravaged, saying it wasn't their war, however they didn't have any problem in sending a column of 100 military vehicles into syria to retrieve a dead corpse.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/02/turkey-launches-military-operation-syria-150222045856413.html

 

[Stereogatari]

Turkey didn't want to allow kurds to go into Kobane to help, neither allow supplies to cross the border, they just sat on their tanks watching the city being ravaged, saying it wasn't their war, however they didn't have any problem in sending a column of 100 military vehicles into syria to retrieve a dead corpse.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/02/turkey-launches-military-operation-syria-150222045856413.html

Yes, because retrieving that corpse didn't involve provoking ISIS...

That tomb was/is Turkish territory.

Turkish troops stationed there were in danger from ISIS.

Where's America World Police? Why don't they solve their own mess (Iraq War) and go and help the Kurds?

 

[RustyNails]

Gay Sex and other stuff inside ISIS

Back home he saw the group inflict severe punishments on men who were caught smoking cigarettes, yet in the camp, he said, he saw fighters smoking. He said he saw men having sex with other men behind the tents in the desert night. And, he said, he was increasingly put off by “the way they are killing innocent people.”

 

[CHEEZMO™]

Where's America World Police? Why don't they solve their own mess (Iraq War) and go and help the Kurds?

Ask the YPG forces in Kobane canton this question.

 

[Darkangel]

Bit odd huh:

For extremist muslims and all.

Technically speaking wouldn't any direction on Earth be facing Mecca since it's spherical?

 

[Stereogatari]

Technically speaking wouldn't any direction on Earth be facing Mecca since it's spherical?

Allah forgot gravity exists.

 

[RustyNails]

Allah forgot gravity exists.

Can we take the religious bashing elsewhere please? This is a mod sanctioned thread is to discuss ISIS news and updates. Lord knows we have plenty of OT threads to discuss Islam.

 

[Stereogatari]

Can we take the religious bashing elsewhere please? This is a mod sanctioned thread is to discuss ISIS news and updates. Lord knows we have plenty of OT threads to discuss Islam.

Apologies, I took the low hanging fruit and went with it...

On the subject of the mis-directed prayers, I would hazard a guess that they aren't even praying and are just performing the sajdah symbolically.

 

[TCRS]

Technically speaking wouldn't any direction on Earth be facing Mecca since it's spherical?

no? at any given point that would theoretically mean two directions and I'm guessing the shortest one is usually taken.

 

[RustyNails]

In depth report from the Tikrit Advance, guided by the feared Iranian General Qassem Solemani

The forces start their day with dawn prayers. Then, if there are Islamic State fighters on the road ahead, artillery opens up to drive them back, targeting in particular suspected suicide car bombers. Armored vehicles advance to clear snipers, trying to avoid bombs planted by retreating militants.

The militiamen and soldiers say they have information about the territory ahead from military intelligence and sources in Islamic State territory. Sometimes that takes them on detours to bypass suspected booby-traps on their way.

Even so, the first two days of operation brought losses. Three blackened, bombed-out vehicles belonging to the army and militia forces could be seen on the road.

On Monday, crossing the hilly Hamrin region before descending into the flat Tigris plain, the fighters advanced only 8 km (5 miles). The next day, as Islamic State fighters evaporated, their progress was closer to 50 km.

As they advanced, they left police units and militia fighters to hold territory behind the frontline.

By mid-afternoon on both days, they set up base for the night. A bullet-pocked excavator, with metal armour-plating to protect the driver, dug a defensive wall for their base.

Driving alongside them in a white pick-up truck with loudspeakers and a Shi'ite banner on its roof, men from the Ideological Guidance unit dispense battlefield advice and blast out military songs to raise the fighters' spirits.

"Mosul is calling you," one of the songs - a favorite among the Badr Organisation - rings out, referring to the northern city which is the ultimate goal in Baghdad's military campaign to eliminate Islamic State.

The eastern force, which is targeting the town of al-Alam north of Tikrit, is one of three main axes of the campaign, the other two advancing along the Tigris river from north and south.

The militia fighters have already contacted the mainly Sunni al-Alam residents to say they will be well-treated if they put up white flags. But the campaign is clearly presented to the Shi'ite fighters as a defense of their sect, from Sunni radicals who consider Shi'ites heretics.

"Without you, the women of Karbala and Najaf will be enslaved," Rubaei told the fighters assembled in Udhaim before the fight, referring to holy cities that house the two most important Shi'ite shrines.

"Today, thanks to you, we are all victorious. Today we are in their hotbeds."

 

[Abinash117]

Would be awhile before they surround ISIS and wait until they run out of ammo, if that happens. I guess they know they won't be able to advance fast with out the more superior US-led airstrikes and addition to other things.

Although it is only a matter of time before ISIL lose Iraq, they never had much chance of getting it, did way to many dumb things.

 

[RustyNails]

Would be awhile before they surround ISIS and wait until they run out of ammo, if that happens. I guess they know they won't be able to advance fast with out the more superior US-led airstrikes and addition to other things.

Although it is only a matter of time before ISIL lose Iraq, they never had much chance of getting it, did way to many dumb things.

Yup. They just captured the bases without any real government behind. True barbarians.

 

[davepoobond]

Has there been much news at all as to what's happening in Mosul? Are people fleeing the city, etc?

 

[andycapps]

Cool thread, bookmarking it. Thanks for including Da'esh in the title and explaining what it is. Maybe also worth adding in there that Da'esh have threatened to cut out the tongues of anyone using the term, that's how much they hate it. I know you mentioned in there that they dislike it, but it hits a nerve with them, which is why I think everyone should use the term.