The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant Megathread

[The Brain]

I'm more worried about a dirty bomb.

Don't be.

[crazy canuck]

Looks like they have big plans for Austria too.

Not to mention the plan to resolve problems in the Balkans by giving it back to the Ottomans.

[Caliga]

I'm more worried about a dirty bomb.

I'm more worried about a dirty Sanchez.

[Jacob]

I'm more worried about a dirty bomb.

I'm more worried about a dirty Sanchez.

Your sex life appears to be more colourful than you've previously indicated here.

[Caliga]

I don't remember ever really discussing my sex life here.

[derspiess]

A dirty bomb is more likely to kill people in the actual explosion than through radiation poisoning, and the blast damage would most likely be higher than long term radiation contamination.

Much more efficient to put these things into food or water supplies.

Hi, NSA. 

He's German and therefore already being tracked

[Ed Anger]

A dirty bomb is more likely to kill people in the actual explosion than through radiation poisoning, and the blast damage would most likely be higher than long term radiation contamination.

Much more efficient to put these things into food or water supplies.

Hi, NSA. 

He's German and therefore already being tracked

As they should be. HAMBURG CELL

[Fireblade]

I just mention of this on p'dox from a few weeks ago.

http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/06/isis-5-year-territorial-expansion-plan-map/

ISIS, the radical terrorist group that has seized massive portions of Iraq and also Syria, is apparently looking to expand its territory as far as the East coast of North Africa and all the way into South East Asia, with Malaysia and Indonesia in its sights (or perhaps dreams would be a more appropriate term). This is all according to a map that has been circulating Twitter. See Below:

At the moment, the veracity of this map has not been confirmed. Still, it does appear to fit with statements made by ISIS members elsewhere. The map shows an Islamic empire stretching the Muslim world that spans across Africa, the Middle East, and South and South East Asia. Even a few countries were Muslims are not a majority, such as India, appear to be the target of ISIS ambitions.

#ISIS releases it's 5 year territorial expansion plan. I'm surprised they don't want to reclaim southern Spain #Iraq pic.twitter.com/EBEl0NDXIN

— Ayman Mohyeldin (@AymanM) June 22, 2014

What a fun troll.

I'm not sure what's better: Whoever made the map either played a few decades before deciding to crudely MS Paint the future Calipate (Italy is unified) or they loaded that shitty 1861 scenario.

Either way I'm about to load up Vicky 2 and recreate that map

[Ed Anger]

Allahu ackbar

[jimmy olsen]

Ah, Iraq, incompetent as always.

Photos can be found here.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/07/islamic_state_routs.php#ixzz37R6dZasK

Islamic State routs Iraqi armored column in Anbar
By Bill RoggioJuly 13, 2014

Fighters from the newly established Islamic State ambushed and destroyed an Iraqi armored column in the western province of Anbar. Islamic State fighters also captured several American-made armored personnel carriers. The ambush highlights the deteriorating state of the Iraqi security forces.

The Islamic State's Anbar Wilayat (division or province) released a series of photographs on its Twitter account on July 10 that document the ambush of an Iraqi armored column and the aftermath of the attack [photographs below].

According to the statements from the Anbar Wilayat, the Iraqi Army convoy was attacked in the Khalidiyah area in Anbar province. Although the exact date of the ambush was not provided, the Anbar Wilayat typically publishes photographs of attacks within days of carrying them out.

Several photos show Islamic State fighters opening fire on the convoy as it drives on a dirt road in a rural area of Khalidiyah. The Islamic State fighters appear to detonate one or more IEDs, or roadside bombs, on the armored column that includes US made and donated M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks and M113 armored personnel carriers. At least three M1A1s and nine M113s can be identified in the photographs.

At least one tank and two M113s are shown while on fire. One of the Abrams tanks appears to be half buried in a ditch.

The Iraqi soldiers appear to have abandoned the convoy after it was ambushed. The Islamic State only displayed one body of an Iraqi soldier, who appears to have been burned.

Islamic State fighters are photographed on top of the vehicles after the battle. At least two of the M113 armored personnel carriers appear to be operational. An Islamic State fighter is shown driving one of them across a field and toward some homes in the area.

Islamic State consolidating its grip on Anbar

Khalidiyah is located outside of the city of Habbaniyah and near the Al Taqaddum military base. Khalidiyah, which was a bastion for al Qaeda in Iraq up until early 2007, is also halfway between the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah. Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, is currently contested as the Islamic State is reported to control some neighborhoods in the city. Fallujah, the nearby dam, and Karma and Abu Ghraib are currently under the control of the Islamic State and its tribal allies.

The Islamic State controls most of Anbar province. West of Haditha, the Islamic State runs the towns of Anah, Rawa, and the border town of Al Qaim. The jihadist group also controls the far-flung towns of Rutbah and Nukhaib. The status of the Tarbil border crossing to Jordan and the Al Walid crossing to Syria is undetermined. Although there are reports that local tribes assumed control of the crossings, the Islamic State has displayed photographs of its fighters at the crossings.

The Iraqi military previously had two divisions, the 1st and the 7th, deployed in Anbar, but most of these forces have withered since the Islamic State took control of Fallujah in January and extended its control throughout the province. Many Iraqi soldiers are thought to have deserted; the exact number is not known, however. One estimate puts the number of overall desertions for the Iraqi Army at over 90,000. The Iraqi military has not released information on the number of soldiers killed and wounded since the Islamic State launched its offensive in mid-June.

The leadership of the 7th Division crumbled in later December 2013 after an Islamic State suicide team killed the division commander and 17 members of his staff in an ambush in Rutbah.

The situation in Ramadi has become so dire that the Iraqi government is deploying 4,000 members of the newly raised militias, who are primarily Shias, to an area that is overwhelmingly Sunni. The militia members are being "ferried out to Ramadi from Baghdad by helicopter," ABC News reported, demonstrating how thoroughly the Islamic State controls the road from Baghdad to Ramadi.

Since launching the second phase of its operation to control territory in Iraq on June 10, the Islamic State took control of Ninewa province, to include Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, most of Salahaddin province, and areas in Diyala province. Additionally, the Islamic State has been waging an offensive in northern Babil province in the area known as the Triangle of Death, and is said to be in control of several areas, including Jufr al Sakhar. The Islamic State is seeking to take over the belt area around Baghdad, and squeeze the capital and make it ungovernable. [See LWJ report, Analysis: ISIS, allies reviving 'Baghdad belts' battle plan.]

The Iraqi government has largely halted the Islamic State's southward advance outside of Samarra, which is just north of Baghdad. Thousands of Iranian-supported Shia militiamen from Asaib al Haq, Hezbollah Brigades, and Muqtada al Sadr's Peace Brigade are currently deployed between the road from Baghdad to Samarra. Iraqi military and national police units are nowhere to be found on the road, according to The New York Times.

While the Shia militias have helped the Iraqi government slow the Islamic State's advance toward Baghdad, they has been ineffective so far in helping to retake ground lost to the group. The Iraqi military's attempt to retake the city of Tikrit, the provincial capital of Salahaddin which is just north of Samarra, has so far stalled since it was launched at the end of June.

The Islamic State's territory spans both Iraq and Syria. In Syria, the Islamic State controls Raqqah, much of Deir al Zour, and areas in Aleppo and Hasakah provinces.

[DGuller]

We gave Iraqis Abrams tanks?

[grumbler]

We gave Iraqis Abrams tanks?

With scrap prices the way they are, you'd have to pay someone to take them.  At least, by giving them to a non-profit, we got a nice tax writeoff.

[FunkMonk]

We gave Iraqis Abrams tanks?

Should have used T-72s.

[KRonn]

Things just get worse. Part of the article here, there's a lot more at the link and it shows for me even without a login.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/world/middleeast/us-sees-risks-in-assisting-a-compromised-iraqi-force.html?_r=1

WASHINGTON — A classified military assessment of Iraq's security forces concludes that many units are so deeply infiltrated by either Sunni extremist informants or Shiite personnel backed by Iran that any Americans assigned to advise Baghdad's forces could face risks to their safety, according to United States officials.

The report concludes that only about half of Iraq's operational units are capable enough for American commandos to advise them if the White House decides to help roll back the advances made by Sunni militants in northern and western Iraq over the past month.

Adding to the administration's dilemma is the assessment's conclusion that Iraqi forces loyal to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki are now heavily dependent on Shiite militias — many of which were trained in Iran — as well as on advisers from Iran's paramilitary Quds Force.

Shiite militias fought American troops after the United States invaded Iraq and might again present a danger to American advisers. But without an American-led effort to rebuild Iraq's security forces, there may be no hope of reducing the Iraqi government's dependence on those Iranian-backed militias, officials caution.

The findings underscore the challenges ahead for the Obama administration as it seeks to confront militants with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which has seized major cities in Iraq, all but erased the Syrian-Iraqi border and, on Sunday, staged a raid less than an hour's drive from Baghdad.

[Berkut]

Three state solution. Have fun.