The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant Megathread

[Tamas]

Well, isn't it?

NOBODY else in the sunni vs. shia business has tons of money.

[Tamas]

Plus what GF said: they have had phat loot so it must kind of their own thing now.

[Valmy]

Counter-reply: ISIS is supported by the Jews, that's why.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Counter-reply: ISIS is supported by the Jews, that's why.

I've heard it numerous times too. Usually by islamic scum that supports for Hamas and wants to eradicate every jew in existence. Standard reply is informing them that their fake prophet was also sponsored by zionists given his ISIS-like techniques.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Is the US doing anything to substantially help Iraq? Giving any weapons, intel, equipment? Still flying recon sorties but if so that's been going on for weeks but doesn't likely seem to be accomplishing anything much.

Any weapons and equipment we give will inevitably be used against us.

[jimmy olsen]

The history of the insurgency in Iraq in detail

http://www.hudson.org/research/10505-iraq-s-second-sunni-insurgency

[jimmy olsen]

Looks like tens of thousands of Yazidis will die in the next 48 hours.

Washington Post

By Loveday Morris August 5 at 6:33 PM

BAGHDAD — Stranded on a barren mountaintop, thousands of minority Iraqis are faced with a bleak choice: descend and risk slaughter at the hands of the encircled Sunni extremists or sit tight and risk dying of thirst.

Humanitarian agencies said Tuesday that between 10,000 and 40,000 civilians remain trapped on Mount Sinjar since being driven out of surrounding villages and the town of Sinjar two days earlier. But the mountain that had looked like a refuge is becoming a graveyard for their children.

Unable to dig deep into the rocky mountainside, displaced families said they have buried young and elderly victims of the harsh conditions in shallow graves, their bodies covered with stones. Iraqi government planes attempted to airdrop bottled water to the mountain on Monday night but reached few of those marooned.

"There are children dying on the mountain, on the roads," said Marzio Babille, the Iraq representative for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "There is no water, there is no vegetation, they are completely cut off and surrounded by Islamic State. It's a disaster, a total disaster."

Most of those who fled Sinjar are from the minority Yazidi sect, which melds parts of ancient Zoroastrianism with Christianity and Islam. They are considered by the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State to be devil worshippers and apostates.

The dramatic advance of the extremist Sunni fighters has torn the ethnic and religious fabric of the country, with Christians and Shiites also uprooted from cities and towns.

The Islamic State's takeover of Sinjar, the first major setback for Kurdish forces protecting the country's north, sent about 200,000 people fleeing, according to the United Nations. Some 147,000 have arrived in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, flooding refugee camps.

Most of those stranded on Mount Sinjar had run out of battery life on their cellphones by Tuesday, but the few that still could communicate gave grim updates.

On Tuesday, 10 children and one elderly woman died, while on Monday, seven children had perished, said 23-year-old Shihab Balki, who was trapped with his mother, sister and four brothers. "I saw their bodies with my own eyes."

He later texted the news of another casualty: a young man who had died of thirst, leaving his wife and five children behind. UNICEF said that 40 children had died after being displaced from their homes in the area in the 48 hours ending Monday night, including an unknown number on the mountain. The agency did not have figures for Tuesday.

In Baghdad, parliamentarians complained bitterly about the plight of the displaced, their discussions temporarily overshadowing wrangling over the nomination of a prime minister.

"Children have died because of dehydration and lack of food," Vian Dakheel, a Yazidi parliamentarian from Sinjar, said through tears. "My people are being slaughtered," she continued, referring to reports of mass killings of those who had stayed behind.

The ancient and secretive Yazidi sect, whose members number no more than 600,000 across Iraq, has suffered persecution for centuries.

[celedhring]

Can Israel be so kind as to fly a sortie to that mountain so people will be outraged about what's going on in Irak?

[Grey Fox]

Can Israel be so kind as to fly a sortie to that mountain so people will be outraged about what's going on in Irak?

We should ask them.

Iraq and the region sure does have a lot of weird little religion sects.

[Valmy]

Can Israel be so kind as to fly a sortie to that mountain so people will be outraged about what's going on in Irak?

We should ask them.

Iraq and the region sure does have a lot of weird little religion sects.

The Jihadists will solve that problem.

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

[Darth Wagtaros]

You will have a long wait Valms. Unless you can make the connection that ISIS is a Zionist front.

[The Minsky Moment]

Iraq and the region sure does have a lot of weird little religion sects.

They've been in the organized religion business for over 5000 years.  Sadly, most of the Assyrians have taken off - one of the last living remnants of Nestorians.  I would say more but CDM might get all freaky again.

[grumbler]

They've been in the organized religion business for over 5000 years.  Sadly, most of the Assyrians have taken off - one of the last living remnants of Nestorians.  I would say more but CDM might get all freaky again.

You say that like Seedy getting freaky was a bad thing...

[Valmy]

I thought the Assyrians were all moving the Sweden.

[grumbler]

I thought the Assyrians were all moving the Sweden.

They tried, but the Sweden didn't move.