The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant Megathread

[Crazy_Ivan80]

The US Kills a Mid-to-High Level ISIS Figure Every 2 Days

I saw some interesting graphics showing the locations and frequency of US and Russian bombings, but can't find it at the moment. US bombing is still much more active than Russian IIRC.

From what officials have been saying, US bombing is very spotty, low frequency, sometimes it's due to rules of engagement. Quite a few sorties but most planes return with their ordinance, no bombs dropped. Just over the past two weeks they started bombing oil trucks, oil being a huge financier of ISIS. Why is this only started now? This was supposed to be a serious campaign. What else of import has been ignored in a similar fashion, in over the year plus that the US and a few allies have been bombing?

if we knew that the outrage would be so thick it could be bottled and sold.

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

It has been petty for...oh hell I cannot remember. Sometime in the Clinton Administration.

Anyway that situation is the very embodiment of SNAFU. But it seems Obama can already do whatever he wants based on the authorization from the freaking 2003 Iraq War which I guess stretches into perpetuity.

The Commerce Clause of military action.

[Admiral Yi]

Oh, and Congress won't authorize military force against ISIS because then the Republicans would have to admit that Obama is doing something useful.

That's a different rationale than the one given in your link.

[Admiral Yi]

Just heard on CNN that 53% of Americans want US ground troops fighting ISIS, 45% don't.  First time a poll has shown a majority in favor.

[jimmy olsen]

Russians helping Chechens get to ISIS controlled territory so they'll die fighting there instead of in Russia.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/07/russians-are-joining-isis-in-droves.html

[Tamas]

Russians helping Chechens get to ISIS controlled territory so they'll die fighting there instead of in Russia.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/07/russians-are-joining-isis-in-droves.html

That's a policy that is bound to change

[KRonn]

Russians helping Chechens get to ISIS controlled territory so they'll die fighting there instead of in Russia.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/07/russians-are-joining-isis-in-droves.html

Well now, that's an interesting concept!   

[viper37]

The US Kills a Mid-to-High Level ISIS Figure Every 2 Days

I saw some interesting graphics showing the locations and frequency of US and Russian bombings, but can't find it at the moment. US bombing is still much more active than Russian IIRC.

From what officials have been saying, US bombing is very spotty, low frequency, sometimes it's due to rules of engagement. Quite a few sorties but most planes return with their ordinance, no bombs dropped. Just over the past two weeks they started bombing oil trucks, oil being a huge financier of ISIS. Why is this only started now? This was supposed to be a serious campaign. What else of import has been ignored in a similar fashion, in over the year plus that the US and a few allies have been bombing?

it could be they had no eyes on the ground, but with the recent advance of the Kurds and the Irakis, they can now send scouts to better spot targets, to minimize civilian casualties.

If the goal is to reduce Syria and northern Irak to a pile of dust, the US could do it alone in a few months.  But that would not solve the problem.  Every civilian casualty would exacerbate tensions elsewhere.

[grumbler]

From what officials have been saying, US bombing is very spotty, low frequency, sometimes it's due to rules of engagement. Quite a few sorties but most planes return with their ordinance, no bombs dropped. Just over the past two weeks they started bombing oil trucks, oil being a huge financier of ISIS. Why is this only started now? This was supposed to be a serious campaign. What else of import has been ignored in a similar fashion, in over the year plus that the US and a few allies have been bombing?

The US has preferred to bomb the ISIS facilities rather than the non-ISIS trucks, because it wanted to minimize civilian casualties.  Since the Russians started bombing the trucks, that option disappeared, so the US started bombing them as well.  I guess outrage feels good, so knock yourself out, but your outrage changes nothing and informs no one.

[Syt]

Turkey intervening in Iraq.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-turkey-idUSKBN0TQ0SS20151207

Turkey defends ground troops in Iraq as war escalates

Turkey said on Monday it would not withdraw hundreds of soldiers who arrived last week at a base in northern Iraq, despite being ordered by Baghdad to pull them out within 48 hours.

The sudden arrival of such a large and heavily armed Turkish contingent in a camp near the frontline in northern Iraq has added yet another controversial deployment to a war against Islamic State fighters that has drawn in most of the world's major powers.

Ankara says the troops are there as part of an international mission to train and equip Iraqi forces to fight against Islamic State. The Iraqi government says it never invited such a force, and will take its case to the United Nations if they are not pulled out.

Washington, which is leading an international coalition against Islamic State that includes Turkey, Arab states and European powers like Britain and France, has told Ankara and Baghdad to resolve the standoff, and says it does not support deployments in Iraq without Baghdad's consent.

The Turkish troops' presence is an embarrassment for Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi, under strong pressure from powerful Iran-backed Shi'ite political groups to kick them out.

Shi'ite parties linked to militia groups armed and funded by Iran have also complained about U.S. plans to station special forces in Iraq to conduct raids and guide bombs against Islamic State. Political pressure on Abadi could make those plans more difficult to carry out.

Political analysts saw last week's deployment in northern Iraq by Turkey, which has the second biggest army in NATO, as a bid to assert its influence in the face of increased Russian and Iranian involvement in Syria and Iraq.

"Turkey seems to be angling to prove to the Russians and Iranians that they will not be allowed to have either the Syrian or Iraqi war theaters only to themselves," said Aydin Selcen, former consul general of Turkey in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

OUR DUTY

The troops arrived on Thursday with tanks and armored personnel carriers at a camp in territory held by Iraqi Kurds near the Islamic State-held northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Ankara said they were there to help protect a training mission close to the front line.

RELATED COVERAGE
› Turkey has not withdrawn troops from Iraq, in talks with Baghdad: senior official

"It is our duty to provide security for our soldiers providing training there," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview on Turkey's Kanal 24 television.

"Everybody is present in Iraq ... The goal of all of them is clear. Train-and-equip advisory support is being provided. Our presence there is not a secret," he added.

Abadi has called the Turkish deployment a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. Government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said Iraq was still waiting for Turkey to respond officially.

"In case we have not received any positive signs before the deadline we set for the Turkish side, then we maintain our legal right to file a complaint to the Security Council to stop this serious violation to Iraqi sovereignty," he said.

A senior Turkish official said Baghdad's objections had come as a surprise: "There was no single development ... that happened without informing the central government."

"The military personnel for training will stay. Not because we want them (there) particularly but because there is a demand from the Iraqi side. The discussion with the central government still continues," the official told reporters.

He said the total number of Turkish troops across Iraq was much less than 1,000 soldiers, with some having arrived from Turkey and others sent to the base from other parts of Iraq.

Islamic State militants overran Mosul, Iraq's main northern city and home to around 2 million people, in June 2014. An expected counter-offensive by Iraqi forces has been repeatedly postponed because they are involved in fighting elsewhere.

The U.S.-led coalition has been staging air strikes on Islamic State bases in both Iraq and Syria for more than a year.

Russia joined the regional conflict with air strikes of its own on Syria two months ago, and like Iran is allied to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, who is opposed by Turkey, the United States and their allies. Turkey shot down a Russian warplane last month, causing a breakdown in relations with Moscow.

RELATED COVERAGE
› Turkish jets have not hit Islamic State targets in Syria since November 24: senior official

IRAQI ULTIMATUM

Brett McGurk, U.S. President Barack Obama's envoy to the global coalition to counter Islamic State, said on Twitter that Washington did not support missions in Iraq without permission of Baghdad, which he said also applied to U.S. missions there.

The camp occupied by the Turkish troops is being used by a force called Hashid Watani, or national mobilization, made up of mainly Sunni Arab former Iraqi police and volunteers from Mosul.

It is seen as a counterweight to Shi'ite militias that have grown in clout elsewhere in Iraq with Iranian backing, and was formed by former Nineveh governor Atheel al-Nujaifi, who has close relations with Turkey. A small number of Turkish trainers were already there before the latest deployment.

The government of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, whose security forces control the area where the Turks are deployed, backed up Ankara's explanation: Thursday's deployment was intended to expand the capacity of the training base, said Safeen Dizayee, Kurdish government spokesman.

"The increase of personnel requires some protection."

Although Turkey is strongly suspicious of Kurds in Syria, it has good relations with Iraq's Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani.

"Turkey, working through the Nujaifis and the Barzanis, is trying to establish its own sphere of influence in northern Iraq," said Aaron Stein, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-turkey-minister-idUSKBN0TR16R20151208

Turkey halts troop deployment to Iraq but will not withdraw: foreign ministry

Turkey has halted the deployment of troops to northern Iraq for now but will not withdraw those already there, Turkey's foreign ministry said on Tuesday, after Baghdad demanded the withdrawal of soldiers sent to near the Islamic State-held city of Mosul.

In a phone conversation with his Iraqi counterpart late on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reiterated Ankara's respect for Iraq's territorial integrity, Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic told reporters.

Cavusoglu also told Ibrahim al-Jaafari that Turkey's presence in Mosul aimed to contribute to Iraq's fight against Islamic State. Bilgic said such training would continue in coordination with Iraq.

[mongers]

I think the acid test is will they stay more than 17 seconds after Iraq asks them to leave. 

[jimmy olsen]

ISIS has captured a city in Libya

http://www.stardailystandard.com/uk/isis-to-raze-ancient-roman-site-as-they-storm-sabratha-libya/66325/

[Josquius]

Shit. That's a site I've always fancied visiting (assuming more peaceful times).
Hope they get pushed back quickly.

[grumbler]

ISIS has captured a city in Libya

http://www.stardailystandard.com/uk/isis-to-raze-ancient-roman-site-as-they-storm-sabratha-libya/66325/

ISIS 'to raze historic Roman website' as they storm Sabratha, Libya

  The Romans had web sites?

[Syt]

ISIS has captured a city in Libya

http://www.stardailystandard.com/uk/isis-to-raze-ancient-roman-site-as-they-storm-sabratha-libya/66325/

ISIS 'to raze historic Roman website' as they storm Sabratha, Libya

  The Romans had web sites?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix_and_the_Missing_Scroll