The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant Megathread

[derspiess]

But are they Muslim planes? 

Once any muslim sits in the cockpit they become a muslim waqf that no muslim can even abandon.

Alhamdulillah.

[Valmy]

Let ISIS win?

That scenario would maximize Muslim deaths.

[Ed Anger]

Balad airbase is reportedly surrounded on three sides.

[The Brain]

Balad airbase is reportedly surrounded on three sides.

[Savonarola]

Iraq's Kurds rule out retreating from Kirkuk
Massoud Barzani says ambition of incorporating city "achieved", amid growing calls for inclusive government in Baghdad.
Last updated: 27 Jun 2014 18:06

The president of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq has issued a defiant statement to the Iraqi government that there was no going back on autonomous Kurdish rule in the oil city Kirkuk.

Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, made the comments at a joint news conference in Erbil with visiting William Hague, British foreign secretary, on Friday.

"We waited for 10 years for Baghdad to solve Article 140," he said, referring to the constitutional item which was meant to address the Kurds' decades-old ambition to incorporate the territory in their autonomous region in the north over the objections of successive governments in Baghdad.

"Now its accomplished because the Iraqi army pulled out and our Peshmerga forces had to step in. So now the problem is solved. There will be more no more conversation about it."

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Erbil, said Barzani's statement was expected to put more strain on the Baghdad government.

"The Kurds see themselves in a position of strength, and say the Iraqi government's pullout forced Peshmerga forces to fill the security vacuum," she said.

Kurdish forces stepped in when federal government forces withdrew in the face of a Sunni rebel offensive led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) earlier this month.

The Sunni rebels made the gains as Iraq's flagging security forces were swept aside by the initial insurgent push, pulling out of a swathe of ethnically divided areas.

The Iraqi army carried out airstrikes on Tikrit, and launched an assault on a strategic university campus on Friday to recapture the rebel-held city.

Exclusive video obtained by Al Jazeera showed damage inside the city after reports of Iraqi military helicopters flying commandos into the city on Thursday.

Several locals told Al Jazeera there were no rebels in the area and that the military hit targets indiscriminately.

Nouri al-Maliki, who has been Iraq's prime minister since 2006, has faced intense pressure to form an inclusive government and address the longstanding grievances of the Sunni and Kurdish communities.

Sistani urges unity

On Friday Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's leading Shia religious leader, became the latest prominent figure to distance himself from Maliki when he called on politicians to unite and choose a prime minister before parliament sits next week to begin forming a government.

Sistani, who commands unswerving loyalty from many Shia in the region, said the various political blocs should agree on the next prime minister, parliament speaker and president before the newly elected legislature meets on Tuesday.

Under Iraq's governing system put in place after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the prime minister has always been a Shia, the largely ceremonial president a Kurd and the speaker of parliament a Sunni.

Dividing up the three posts before parliament meets would require leaders from each of Iraq's three main ethnic and sectarian groups to commit to the political process and resolve their most pressing problems, including Maliki's fate.

"What is required of the political blocs is to agree on the three [posts] within the remaining days to this date," Abdul Mehdi Karbalai, Sistani's spokesman, said during a Friday prayer sermon in the Shia shrine city of Karbala.

Maliki, whose Shia-led State of Law coalition won the most seats in the April election, had been positioning himself for a third term before the onslaught began.

Despite the turmoil and calls both domestically and internationally for him to step down, Maliki has said any attempt to undermine him would be tantamount to a "coup".

It's nice how problems sometimes just work themselves out.   

[grumbler]

But are they Muslim planes? 

Once any muslim sits in the cockpit they become a muslim waqf that no muslim can even abandon.

with Russian ejection seats, even an Orthodox Christian couldn't abandon it.

[Berkut]

I think I've come to the conclusion, rather begrudgingly, that this is probably simply inevitable.

There is not such real nation as "Iraq". Even before the latest mess, we knew that the country of Iraq was really just a fiction - it was Iraq plus Kurdistan in all but name.

Now it will be Kurdistan, Sunniland, and Shialand. Or whatever. ISIS will get as far as they get, and will stall once enough of the southern majority Shia militias start resisting them.

ISIS itself won't really last, as it is just a hodgepodge of Sunni groups allying for convenience.

[Siege]

Once again, Berkut got everything right, but will get flamed by the usual suspects all the same.

[Eddie Teach]

Once again, Berkut got everything right, but will get flamed by the usual suspects all the same.

That happens a lot in threads about the economy...

[Valmy]

I think I've come to the conclusion, rather begrudgingly, that this is probably simply inevitable.

There is not such real nation as "Iraq". Even before the latest mess, we knew that the country of Iraq was really just a fiction - it was Iraq plus Kurdistan in all but name.

Now it will be Kurdistan, Sunniland, and Shialand. Or whatever. ISIS will get as far as they get, and will stall once enough of the southern majority Shia militias start resisting them.

ISIS itself won't really last, as it is just a hodgepodge of Sunni groups allying for convenience.

I think you are probably right Berkut.  Basically what all those Iraq experts were saying before the war back in 2003.  If Sunnis are supporting ISIS for different reasons that would both explain their success and give reasons to not worry too much about it.  At the end of the day this might make Iraq more stable of a place.

[jimmy olsen]

It's feels like a CK2 event. 

Will 100k rebels flock to the cause now?

https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-News/isis-spokesman-declares-caliphate-rebrands-group-as-islamic-state.html

Abu Muhammad al-'Adnani, the official spokesman of the Islamic State in Iraq and Sham (ISIS), announced the group's rebranding as the "Islamic State," declaring itself a Caliphate and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Caliph Ibrahim.

His announcement came in a 34 minute speech entitled, "This is the Promise of Allah," and was posted on the Twitter account of the group's al-I'tisaam Media Foundation. Concurrently, the Islamic State's al-Hayat Media Center provided English, French, German, and Russian translations. In the speech, 'Adnani demanded that all jihadi factions, not only those in Iraq and Syria, but everywhere, pledge allegiance to the Islamic State, for the "legality" of their organizations is now void. He stated: "Indeed, it is the State. Indeed, it is the khilāfah. It is time for you to end this abhorrent partisanship, dispersion, and division, for this condition is not from the religion of Allah at all. And if you forsake the State or wage war against it, you will not harm it. You will only harm yourselves."

'Adnani also acknowledged Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by his real name and lineage, Ibrāhīm Ibn 'Awwād Ibn Ibrāhīm Ibn 'Alī Ibn Muhammad al-Badrī al-Hāshimī al-Husaynī al-Qurashī, and declared him the Caliph for Muslims everywhere.

Following is a copy of the English translation:

...

[Darth Wagtaros]

Looks like Jaron will be making his move to crown himself Emperor of Trebizond.


Berkut is right.  This was coming since we invaded. Hell, if Saddam had died in office we might be seeing it anyway, except you know, for the massive amounts of lives and treasure we expended exporting democracy ther.e

[jimmy olsen]

Vienna will fall at last! 

[jimmy olsen]

How are not able to trace these guys if they're posting videos on Youtube?

Isis has produced a slick video, mostly in English, explaining the new caliphate in Iraq and Syria. It is entitled "End of Sykes Picot", a reference to the agreement between France and Britain on divvying up Iraq and Syria after the first world war.

"This is not the first border we will break, we will break other borders," its spokesman warns. Standing on a border sign he threatens to "break the borders" of Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzYF1AyFHgk

[Queequeg]

Where's Tatarstan, Siciliy and Uighurstan on that map?