The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant Megathread

[Queequeg]

Can we give the Kurds the H-Bomb to keep the Arabs out of their land?

[alfred russel]

Anyway agreed I look forward to all those 'not anti-Semites but humanitarians' marching against ISIS across Europe.

i think it has to do with heightened standard. no one cares when two ghetto thugs kill each other. people care more when an attorney or doctor commits murder

Are you stereotyping jews as lawyers and doctors?

[LaCroix]

Are you stereotyping jews as lawyers and doctors?

absolutely!

[jimmy olsen]

ISIS overran another Syrian army base.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/08/islamic_state_overru_1.php

[jimmy olsen]

Also,  I've read reports that fighting is within 30 km of the Kurdiah capital of Erbil and the people are starting to panic and flee. I hope it's not true.

[derspiess]

Hmm ... gnosticism is really a taxonomic way of grouping together ancient sects and groups with certain beliefs and characteristics.  It's not really a standalone religion you would convert to (?)

It is, actually.  I don't really know what the formal name is of their sect or whatever, but they call themselves Gnostic.  The church (?) has locations all over Latin America.  My sister in law and her husband joined up in Argentina after they went through their hippie phase, then moved out to a center in Costa Rica.  I think they're now with one in Peru.

[Tonitrus]

I am not sure which foreign policy failure is worse (Not just on the part of the U.S., but the civilized world as a whole), not stopping Russia in the Ukraine, or letting ISIS run wild over Mesopotamia. 

Probably the latter, as that seems more likely to reach a Rwanda-level death toll of innocents.

[Admiral Yi]

I wonder what THE Islamic State's military secret is.  They only have around 15,000 armed men, but they're beating up modern armies that are vastly larger.

[CountDeMoney]

I wonder what THE Islamic State's military secret is.  They only have around 15,000 armed men, but they're beating up modern armies that are vastly larger.

I suppose, like all outnumbered albeit ideologically-driven insurgencies, it all comes down to motivation.   The burning desire to chop off heads will always trump the peanuts a conscript gets paid.

""An army of the people is invincible."
--Chairman Mao

"For who? For what?"
--RB Ricky Watters, Philadelphia Eagles

[DGuller]

Yeah, but still, one would think that when your skin is on the line, ideology wouldn't matter as much.  It's not like they're going to go "Fuck Assad, I'm going to get my head chopped off instead".

[Tonitrus]

Yeah, but still, one would think that when your skin is on the line, ideology wouldn't matter as much.  It's not like they're going to go "Fuck Assad, I'm going to get my head chopped off instead".

Well, I am sure it is more like "Fuck Assad, I am getting my ass out of here".  If they end up with their head cut off anyway, that is just bad luck.

[Eddie Teach]

i think it has to do with heightened standard. no one cares when two ghetto thugs kill each other. people care more when an attorney or doctor commits murder

Israel is standing its ground.

[Viking]

Can we give the Kurds the H-Bomb to keep the Arabs out of their land?

That might result in there no longer being any arabs.

[jimmy olsen]

Yeah, but still, one would think that when your skin is on the line, ideology wouldn't matter as much.  It's not like they're going to go "Fuck Assad, I'm going to get my head chopped off instead".

I think they have a lot more men now. I've read they have 20,000just in Iraq now.

[jimmy olsen]

Qouting the Guardian, they have 30-50,000 men now

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/06/40000-yazidi-iraqis-stranded-on-mountain-as-isis-jihadists-threaten-death/