Islamic State mass killing and enslaving Christians and Yezidis

[khad]

News of this latest round of atrocities percolated through alternative Kurdish media yesterday, with as many as 500 reportedly kidnapped for enslavement. I would normally hold off on reporting these things before more confirmation, but now it's being cited by the Red Crescent.

Understand that according to Salafis, the Yezidis are literal Satan-worshipers, so there would be no restraint whatsoever when dealing with them. This comes on the heels of the latest victories of Dawla forces over Barzani peshmerga in northern Iraq. The KDP is looking to court-martial the commanders who fled after only 20 minutes of fighting.

http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/urgent-red-crescent-claims-isil-detained-killed-100-christian-yahzidi-families-tal-afar-airport-killing-men-herding-women-unknown-place-sell-slaves/


(IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Red Crescent Society revealed, on Monday, that the organization of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant had transferred Christian and Yahzidi women to an unknown place after they detained them and their families at Tal Afar airport to sell them as “slaves.”

The Assistant Secretary-General of the association, Mohammed Alkhozai said, in an interview for IraqiNews.com, that “elements of ISIL detained more than 100 families at the Tal Afar airport; killing all the men, while they kept the women and children.”

Alkhozai indicated that “the elements of ISIL herded Yahzidi and Christian women to an unknown place with the aim of selling them as slaves of an enemy.”

He described that “it is a crime against humanity and human rights,” noting that “The Red Crescent condemns this crime against civilians and it must be stopped.”

He declared that “we are a humanitarian organization. We condemn such crimes against humanity and we call for the international community to intervene. Also, we call for humanitarian organizations to intervene forcefully to stop these crimes.”

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

The worst thing about this is that IS is largely unimpeded for the time being, and merely seems to be getting stronger. Now 50,000 people from the Yazidi sect might starve to death or be killed in the mountains. It really puts American claims of "victory" in Iraq in perspective.

[Deep Sea]

Yet these guys are gonna wait forever for the Mahdi to show up to destroy Israel for them, hence no need to do anything about that issue...

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

I can see how the Yazhidi faith from an Islamic perspective could be viewed as literal devil worship however this is only superficial and reflects a misunderstanding of te faith; which is actually incredibly interesting and this story is really fucked and sad. :(

[khad]

Slemani Times @SlemaniTimes (https://twitter.com/SlemaniTimes) · Aug 5 (https://twitter.com/SlemaniTimes/status/496700332747935744) #ISIS (https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIS?src=hash) member states "ISIS is burning #Yezidi (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Yezidi?src=hash) men in #Shingal (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Shingal?src=hash) because they worship fire & should return to hell." #TwitterKurds (https://twitter.com/hashtag/TwitterKurds?src=hash) #ISIL (https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIL?src=hash) #KDP (https://twitter.com/hashtag/KDP?src=hash)


Slemani Times @SlemaniTimes (https://twitter.com/SlemaniTimes) · 11h (https://twitter.com/SlemaniTimes/status/497096105444642816)
#ISIS (https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIS?src=hash) has taken Gwer after #KDP (https://twitter.com/hashtag/KDP?src=hash) Zrevani forces fled after 2 hours fighting, the town of Qaratan is also being evacuated. #TwitterKurds (https://twitter.com/hashtag/TwitterKurds?src=hash) #ISIL (https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIL?src=hash)



(https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIL?src=hash) Slemani Times @SlemaniTimes (https://twitter.com/SlemaniTimes) · 15h (https://twitter.com/SlemaniTimes/status/497035805039132672)
#Yezidi (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Yezidi?src=hash) refugees preparing dead children to be buried after hundreds died due to lack of food. #TwitterKurds (https://twitter.com/hashtag/TwitterKurds?src=hash) #ISIS (https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIS?src=hash) pic.twitter.com/0mLuzwTMtn (http://t.co/0mLuzwTMtn)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BuXTbbpCYAEj7Tq.jpg:large (https://twitter.com/SlemaniTimes/status/497035805039132672/photo/1)

[Blake's Baby]

The worst thing about this is that IS is largely unimpeded for the time being, and merely seems to be getting stronger. Now 50,000 people from the Yazidi sect might starve to death or be killed in the mountains. It really puts American claims of "victory" in Iraq in perspective.

Not really. The US tacitly (and maybe more than tacitly) supports ISIS - a useful counterbalance to the Iran-Assad-Hezbollah axis. They supported the Islamists in Libya against Gaddhafi, they supported the Islamists in Syria against Assad, they're at least not opposing the (Sunni) Islamists in Iraq who are fighting against the (Shi'ite) Iranian-backed forces... (not to mention the anti-Iran, anti-Soviet Union Mujahadeen back in the day in Afghanistan); this is what 'American victory' looks like, isn't it?

[Tim Cornelis]

I dont think thats true. The US may back islamic front amd fsa but i doubt they support al nusra and is since both are listed as terrorist orgs by the us making material support illegal. Makes no sense to do that otherwise.

[Sasha]

They support them in so far that they give military support to Saudi-Arabia, turkey and Qatar etc who in turn fund these groups, but the direct support goes to the FSA etc.

Most intesting will be what the PKK will do now, they have been threathing to cross the border and declare an autonomous greater Kurdish region for a while now, but because of their, let's say ,complicated relationship with the ruling clan in Kurdish Iraq mostly intervened in the syrian war. Now I already see female pershmergas training Iraqi Kurdish villagers, if the Barzanis loose influence in favour of the PKK they could become a serious regional power player.

Which in turn, because of the seemingly growing influence of bookchins thought and Zapatista practice within the PKK (leadership) could be an intresting development.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

So why would the commanders flee so quickly? Has there been any reports of Kurd collaboration with IS?

[The Jay]

They support them in so far that they give military support to Saudi-Arabia, turkey and Qatar etc who in turn fund these groups, but the direct support goes to the FSA etc.

Most intesting will be what the PKK will do now, they have been threathing to cross the border and declare an autonomous greater Kurdish region for a while now, but because of their, let's say ,complicated relationship with the ruling clan in Kurdish Iraq mostly intervened in the syrian war. Now I already see female pershmergas training Iraqi Kurdish villagers, if the Barzanis loose influence in favour of the PKK they could become a serious regional power player.

Which in turn, because of the seemingly growing influence of bookchins thought and Zapatista practice within the PKK (leadership) could be an intresting development.


Could you give me a link to where you get your information on the PKK? I'm very interested.

[Sasha]

a recent article on developments within the (former) PKK.
http://roarmag.org/2014/07/kurdistan-rojova-syria-autonomy/
note though that its not clear (to me at least) in how far this ideological development from Ocalan in prison is actually translated on the ground by the till recently marxist-leninst pkk cadre and supporters and whether such a shift really can be directed from above. but the little information coming from Rojova sounds interesting and slowly promising .

[Sasha]

information from Rojava: http://rojavareport.wordpress.com/
an old thread on libcom on the sincerity of the PKK's shift: http://libcom.org/forums/middle-east/pkk-political-evolution-17082012
very indepth, lenthy article on Bookchin, Ocalan, dialectism and social ecology: http://new-compass.net/articles/bookchin-%C3%B6calan-and-dialectics-democracy (http://new-compass.net/articles/bookchin-%C3%B6calan-and-dialectics-democracy)

[Sasha]

but maybe we should split this off if people want to discuss this beyond what IS(IS) is doing at the moment.

[Sasha]

and ideed it seems that the PKK is moving large amounts of fighters into the area to fight back ISIS and secure the safety of the refugees: http://rojavareport.wordpress.com/2014/08/06/blow-struck-against-isis-in-sinjar-city-center/


Muslim said that the people of Rojava could not remain silent in the face of such events, saying “hundreds of YPF fighters and Yezidi youth are fighting in Sinjar. They are fighting this danger shoulder to shoulder. There are some peşmerge as well. There are violent clashes.”
The PYD leader also touched on the withdrawal of KDP peşmerge from Sinjar, saying “the people said what they saw. The peşmerge left them alone. There were no clashes between the peşmerge and the ISIS in the region. They withdrew without a fight. Of course there must have been a mistake or it is possible the wrong order was given. If not I do not think the peşmerge would have fled from the fighting.”


http://rojavareport.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/salih-muslim-calls-for-unified-military-council-following-new-isis-attacks/

http://rojavareport.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/ygp-move-to-border-to-assist-pesmerge-across-border/

[Sasha]

small explanation;
PKK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Workers%27_Party)
YPG/YPF = peoples protection units (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Protection_Units), officially self defense millitia of the kurdish region in Syria but in reality the armed wing of the PYD
PYD = Syrian wing of the PKK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Union_Party_%28Syria%29)
pershmerga = the overal name for kurdish fighters but in this context is mostely used to refer to the military units of the KDP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Democratic_Party_of_Iraq) which in turn is the US backed Kurdish-Iraqi group who often stand in opposition against the PKK led groups but who have agreed to some level of coordination at least in Syria in the KNC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdish_National_Council) and now probably also in Iraq.
PEJAK = the name of the Iranian offshoot of the PKK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEJAK)

[khad]

So why would the commanders flee so quickly? Has there been any reports of Kurd collaboration with IS?
There are hundreds of Kurdish Islamists working for the Caliphate on both Syrian and Iraqi fronts. Halabja is a particular recruiting hotspot.


Muslim said that the people of Rojava could not remain silent in the face of such events, saying “hundreds of YPF fighters and Yezidi youth are fighting in Sinjar. They are fighting this danger shoulder to shoulder. There are some peşmerge as well. There are violent clashes.”
The PYD leader also touched on the withdrawal of KDP peşmerge from Sinjar, saying “the people said what they saw. The peşmerge left them alone. There were no clashes between the peşmerge and the ISIS in the region. They withdrew without a fight. Of course there must have been a mistake or it is possible the wrong order was given. If not I do not think the peşmerge would have fled from the fighting.” There are probably more Kurdish Islamists fighting for the Caliphate than Kurds from across the border fighting to support the peshmerga. Rudaw has been sensationalizing some bullshit about how the Islamic State is dressing up as Kurds to confuse the Peshmerga (not joking), but the fact of the matter is that there are Kurds leading on both sides of the front lines.

They support them in so far that they give military support to Saudi-Arabia, turkey and Qatar etc who in turn fund these groups, but the direct support goes to the FSA etc.

Most intesting will be what the PKK will do now, they have been threathing to cross the border and declare an autonomous greater Kurdish region for a while now, but because of their, let's say ,complicated relationship with the ruling clan in Kurdish Iraq mostly intervened in the syrian war. Now I already see female pershmergas training Iraqi Kurdish villagers, if the Barzanis loose influence in favour of the PKK they could become a serious regional power player.

Which in turn, because of the seemingly growing influence of bookchins thought and Zapatista practice within the PKK (leadership) could be an intresting development.
Iraq is a totally different battlespace. Not sure what use lightly armed mountain militias will be in a combined arms war. The PKK has no experience taking urban centers or fighting meeting engagements on the highway. In locations where the YPG/PKK fought without the support of Syrian government forces (Tal Hamis, Serrin, Tal Tamr countryside), they've proven utterly unable to consolidate their gains and were driven back with heavy losses. They're just barely holding on in Hasakah (just one stop before their capital Qamishli), behind a screen of SAA bases on the city's outskirts, so I doubt that they could contribute anything more substantive than a token force of "few hundred" fighters.

The idea of the PKK gaining a political foothold in Erbil is almost nearly as fanciful. The KDP's support is polling at record high levels following the partial disintegration of the PUK and the rise of the Change Movement.

No, what's happening is that Barzani is cashing in all of his chips with his Turkish backers. So far, they've responded by sending him vehicles and air support, and Iraqi Kurdistan will probably end up with strengthened client ties to Turkey. Just where do you think all the oil resources of Kurdistan will go? Where's the only country that any pipeline they build will have to go through? Both Barzani and Erdogan are in too deep to let this project fail.

[khad]

And speak of the devil...

Slemani Times ‏@SlemaniTimes (https://twitter.com/SlemaniTimes) 18h (https://twitter.com/SlemaniTimes/status/497108764084809728)
#KDP (https://twitter.com/hashtag/KDP?src=hash) leader Masoud #Barzani (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Barzani?src=hash) is in #Turkey (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Turkey?src=hash) according to KDP sources, though the trip has been kept hidden for unknown reasons.

Abdulla Hawez ‏@abdullahawez (https://twitter.com/abdullahawez) 1h (https://twitter.com/abdullahawez/status/497375213189730304)
Erdogan has told Barzani, #Turkey (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Turkey?src=hash) will protect #KRG (https://twitter.com/hashtag/KRG?src=hash) even if it required to move the whole Turkish army. Multiple source but cannot confirm.

Mr. Barzani ‏@Barzani_HN (https://twitter.com/Barzani_HN) 10m (https://twitter.com/Barzani_HN/status/497390925409419264)
@Shariiiiz (https://twitter.com/Shariiiiz) @nari_nareen (https://twitter.com/nari_nareen) @Hezannn (https://twitter.com/Hezannn) There are thousands of Turkish companies in Erbil. Turkey already begun striking ISIS positions.

[Krasnyymir]

So why would the commanders flee so quickly? Has there been any reports of Kurd collaboration with IS?

It doesn't have to be a case of neither official nor unofficial collaboration. But perhaps just a tacit understanding that if you don't bother them, they won't bother your people. That would be enough. And it's not like the Kurds do t have enough on their plate already.

Having said that, I'd take what the Iraqi Red Crescent says with a huge grain of salt. Especially after the report they published about ISIS sending out communiques about forced female genital mutilation (Circumsiscion), which might be common among African Muslims, but isn't really practiced in the Middle East. That report was later retracted as I recall?

[khad]

It doesn't have to be a case of neither official nor unofficial collaboration. But perhaps just a tacit understanding that if you don't bother them, they won't bother your people. That would be enough. And it's not like the Kurds do t have enough on their plate already.
It may come as a shock to you, but followers of the Yezidi faith are almost exclusively Kurdish.

Having said that, I'd take what the Iraqi Red Crescent says with a huge grain of salt. Especially after the report they published about ISIS sending out communiques about forced female genital mutilation (Circumsiscion), which might be common among African Muslims, but isn't really practiced in the Middle East. That report was later retracted as I recall?
Yeah ok, I called BS on that one for that reason, but by the same token if you are recognizing female circumcision as a distinctive cultural practice in certain parts of Africa, then recognize that this is a distinctive cultural practice of Islamists in Syria and Iraq:
http://www.aina.org/news/20130707141558.htm

Christian Girl Raped 15 Times By Syrian Rebels, Killed
http://www.fides.org
Posted 2013-07-07 19:15 GMT

Qusair, Syria -- Mariam was a 15-year-old Christian from Qusair, a city of the governorate in Homs, 35 km south of the capital. The city, which had become a stronghold of the Syrian rebels, was reconquered by the troops of the regular army at the beginning of June. Mariam's story - sent to Fides thanks to the report of two Catholic priests - is a sign of the brutality of the conflict and the extreme vulnerability of religious minorities. Mariam's family was in town when militants linked to the jihadist group "Jabhat al-Nusra" conquered and occupied it.

While her family was able to escape, Mariam was taken and forced into an Islamic marriage.

Fides sources point out that, through social networks, the fatwa was widespread in Syria produced by Yasir al-Ajlawni - A Salafi sheikh of Jordanian origin, resident in Damascus - who declared lawful, for opponents of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, rape committed against "any non-Sunni Syrian woman." According to the fatwa to capture and rape Alawi or Christian women is not contrary to the precepts of Islam.

The commander of the battalion "Jabhat al-Nusra" in Qusair took Mariam, married and raped her. Then he repudiated her. The next day the young woman was forced to marry another Islamic militant. He also raped her and then repudiated her. The same trend was repeated for 15 days, and Mariam was raped by 15 different men. This psychologically destabilized her and made her insane. Mariam, became mentally unstable and was eventually killed.

[khad]

ISIS propaganda reel on the demolition of the border

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypHF7fdfFAo

9:30 - "They are Yezidi people. They worship Lucifer."

[The Modern Prometheus]

ISIS is definitely one of the most reactionary, brutal, backwards and Totalitarian groups to come out of that region in a long time. They sort of remind me of the more radical Christian sects you get here in the west except one is designated as a terrorist group (whatever the fuck that means mind you) while the former has the backing of many western politicians. How the hell do they get the notion that the Yazidi worship Satan anyway? I guess by the same stupid reasoning that Christians think Pagans worship Satan which is of course pure ignorance.

I would personally like to see every ISIS fighter strung up as examples of what happens to such brutes who try and impose their willful ignorance upon everyone.

[Devrim]

How the hell do they get the notion that the Yazidi worship Satan anyway? I guess by the same stupid reasoning that Christians think Pagans worship Satan which is of course pure ignorance.

I don't know much about it, but as I understand it the peacock angel that the Yazidi revear has some of the same roots in myth as the abrahamic Satan, and is indeed sometimes refered to as Şeytan.

You used to occasionally meet Yezidi in Turkey, but I think there are very very few left these days.

Devrim

[Sasha]

Most Turkish yezide moved to Germany. And yes, they indeed worship the angelic figure Muslims and Christians would call Lucifer (even for his refusal to bow for Adam which in those other religions is the reason for his fall from grace) but this is no different than some Gnostics referring the Judas figure for being the most faithful.

[The Modern Prometheus]

Most Turkish yezide moved to Germany. And yes, they indeed worship the angelic figure Muslims and Christians would call Lucifer (even for his refusal to bow for Adam which in those other religions is the reason for his fall from grace) but this is no different than some Gnostics referring the Judas figure for being the most faithful.

Hmm that is rather interesting actually. As much as i dislike religion i do like studying it so i must read up more on the Yazidi.

[Tim Cornelis]

ISIS is definitely one of the most reactionary, brutal, backwards and Totalitarian groups to come out of that region in a long time. They sort of remind me of the more radical Christian sects you get here in the west except one is designated as a terrorist group (whatever the fuck that means mind you) while the former has the backing of many western politicians. How the hell do they get the notion that the Yazidi worship Satan anyway? I guess by the same stupid reasoning that Christians think Pagans worship Satan which is of course pure ignorance.

I would personally like to see every ISIS fighter strung up as examples of what happens to such brutes who try and impose their willful ignorance upon everyone.

What r u talking about?? This is fucking stupid. What christian sect in the western world is even remotely close to isis? None come close. Because none are theocratic state establishing mass murdering of other religious people behading them and setting them on fire and selling the women into (sexual) slavery batshit insane crazy!

Maybe the closest thing is the New Russia which has executed at least 14 protestants but they dont even come close to the level of brutality and sectarianism

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Not really. The US tacitly (and maybe more than tacitly) supports ISIS - a useful counterbalance to the Iran-Assad-Hezbollah axis. They supported the Islamists in Libya against Gaddhafi, they supported the Islamists in Syria against Assad, they're at least not opposing the (Sunni) Islamists in Iraq who are fighting against the (Shi'ite) Iranian-backed forces... (not to mention the anti-Iran, anti-Soviet Union Mujahadeen back in the day in Afghanistan); this is what 'American victory' looks like, isn't it?

I doubt the US supports ISIS - the US supports groups it thinks will conform to its interests, but ISIS clearly has its own program which has caused great destruction for America's little pet state building exercise in Iraq, and could destabilize America's allies in the region (particularly Jordan - and if Jordan goes, that would give ISIS quick access to attack Israel and destabilize the puppet Fatah government in the West Bank). Moreover, the ISIS takeover of Iraq has merely empowered Iran as Iraq's Shiite government is increasingly dependent on Iranian support, both through Shiite militias and the Revolutionary Guard's Quds force.

The US did support Islamists, but I think the kind they prefer are ones without global projects to impose a Caliphate, or are willing to commit acts of violence against US interests. Remember what happened in the Libyan consulate in Benghazi (which has become a huge rightwing talking point in this country)

I think, generally speaking, the US is far more arrogant than it is conniving. It throws its weight around without really considering the possibility of blowback.


ISIS is definitely one of the most reactionary, brutal, backwards and Totalitarian groups to come out of that region in a long time. They sort of remind me of the more radical Christian sects you get here in the west except one is designated as a terrorist group (whatever the fuck that means mind you) while the former has the backing of many western politicians.

I don't think so. While there are certainly parallels between religious reactionaries everywhere, the endorsement of violence for political ends and methods of organizing are distinct based on the historical and social context.

Of course, there are the odd violent Christians, but they usually aren't organized into sects with large militias that have global ambitions.

[khad]

I don't think so. While there are certainly parallels between religious reactionaries everywhere, the endorsement of violence for political ends and methods of organizing are distinct based on the historical and social context.

Of course, there are the odd violent Christians, but they usually aren't organized into sects with large militias that have global ambitions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_at_Ayyadieh

Saladin stalled for time in the hope that an approaching Muslim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim) army would allow him to retake control of the city. When Saladin refused a request from Richard to provide a list of names of important Christians held by the Saracens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saracens), Richard Coeur de Lion took this as the delaying tactic that it probably was, and insisted that the ransom payment and prisoner exchange should occur within one month. When the deadline was not met Richard became infuriated and decided on a savage punishment of Saladin for his perceived intransigence. Richard personally oversaw and planned the massacre which took place on a small hill called Ayyadieh, a few miles from Acre. The killings were carried out in full view of the Muslim army and Saladin's own field headquarters. Over 3,000 men, women and children, were beaten to death, axed or killed with swords and lances.

No religious war in the modern world comes close, but historical parallels are apt.

[Devrim]

Of course, there are the odd violent Christians, but they usually aren't organized into sects with large militias that have global ambitions.

There are of course many people in the Middle East who would view the US army like that.

Devrim

[khad]

Confirmed by US sources now, Turkish military is engaged on behalf of the Barzani administration in the KRG.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/world/middleeast/obama-weighs-military-strikes-to-aid-trapped-iraqis-officials-say.html

WASHINGTON — Airstrikes on towns in northern Iraq seized by Islamist militants began late Thursday in what Kurdish and Iraqi officials called the first stage of an American-led intervention to blunt the militants’ advance and provide emergency aid to tens of thousands of refugeeds.
The Pentagon firmly denied that American forces had begun a bombing campaign. But Pentagon officials said it was possible that allies of the United States, either the Iraqi or Turkish militaries, had conducted the bombing.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

No religious war in the modern world comes close, but historical parallels are apt.

True, though I was speaking of contemporary society. You don't really have to go back so far into history to find Christians acting this way - in Mexico, Peru, India and other parts of the world they did too. Arguably, the Ustase in Croatia and both Serbs and Catholic Croatians in the Yugoslav war acted in the same manner, although I think they were nonetheless distinct from violent religious reactionaries. I think the emergence of a more secular capitalism in the past 2-3 centuries has given more efficient, economically productive means of obtaining power and oppressing others than wanton, (arguably "totalitarian") religious sectarianism.


There are of course many people in the Middle East who would view the US army like that.

True, but I think the US army intervened not as a reactionary religious movement but a military imperialist movement, regardless of the common perceptions. America would have paid hard cash for mosques if it thought that it would improve their ability to control the resources of Iraq. ISIS seems more intent on actually imposing cultural homogeneity as opposed to opening up a territory for investment, etc

[Creative Destruction]

I don't know much about it, but as I understand it the peacock angel that the Yazidi revear has some of the same roots in myth as the abrahamic Satan, and is indeed sometimes refered to as Şeytan.

You used to occasionally meet Yezidi in Turkey, but I think there are very very few left these days.

Devrim

frankly, the Yazidi religion -- reading over it on wikipedia -- has a far more interesting mythology than most Muslim or Christian religions.

[Sasha]

Turkish Foreign Minister Defends ISIS Against Accusations Of Terrorism

Posted on August 7, 2014 by ---

The Foreign Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davuto lu defended the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) from accusations of terrorism, blaming instead the governments of Iraq and Syria for the current violence in the region, according to a report from Özgür Gündem.

The comments came in the wake of an ISIS offensive in Iraqi Kurdistan over the past five days which has displaced hundreds of thousands and amid widespread reports that ISIS fighters were committing atrocities again Yezidi, Christian and Shia civilians in the region.

The Foreign Minister made the comments on a television program in which he seemingly defended ISIS from the “terrorist” or “radical” label. Davuto lu told viewers that “a structure such as ISIS can seem like a radical or terrorist structure but there are different groups involved. There are Sunni Arabs, there are a significant amount of Turkmens.” He went on to add that while many were quick to point the finger at ISIS the Syrian and Iraqi regimes were the real cause of the trouble, saying “If Sunni Arabs had not been excluded in Iraq, the provinces of Mosul and Anbar would not be in such a rage today. Like in Syria if there had not been a government of a group representing 12% of society then it would not have been like this and these things would not have happened. There is a community whose rage has built up to a considerable extent.”

Source: rojavereport

[khad]

Source: rojavereport
Yeah, that just about says it all. Rojavareport is pro-PYD/PKK media which hates Turkey and the KDP. Of course they'd spin anything into "Turkey is genociding more Kurds."

It's funny how media in Erbil read the same statement by the Turkish foreign minister and came up with this interpretation:

http://basnews.com/en/News/Details/Turkish-Aircrafts-to-Help-KRG-in-Shelling-IS-Militants/29579


Hawar Abdulrazaq
BasNews, Erbil

Eight F-16 Turkish military planes have flown out of Diyarbakir Airbase in Turkey in order to monitor the sky of Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as keep an eye on the movements of Islamic State (IS) militants.

According to Turkish media, after Ankara officials and Turkish army Generals met on Thursday morning, it was decided that a group of Turkish military planes would be sent to overlook the Kurdistan Region to get a better idea of IS’ travels.

Eyewitnesses near Makhmur, about 80 km south of Kurdish capital of Erbil, told BasNews that the planes have reached the area and are monitoring the clashes between Peshmerga forces and IS militants.

The decision from Ankara government comes after IS’ capture of Gwier village on Wednesday, though Peshmerga forces were successfully able to take the village back by late evening.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Wednesday that the Kurdistan Region’s security and stability are important for Turkey.

In fact, all he's saying is exactly the same theory you and other rebel supporters have been suggesting on this site and elswhere--that ISIS is a conspiracy of the Syrian and Iraqi governments to delegitimize the legitimate opposition. However, I guess I can't fault the majority of Syrian Kurds from branding that kind of thing as aiding and abetting terrorism.


He went on to add that while many were quick to point the finger at ISIS the Syrian and Iraqi regimes were the real cause of the trouble, saying “If Sunni Arabs had not been excluded in Iraq, the provinces of Mosul and Anbar would not be in such a rage today. Like in Syria if there had not been a government of a group representing 12% of society then it would not have been like this and these things would not have happened. There is a community whose rage has built up to a considerable extent.”

[Red Commissar]

The Yezidi's labeling as devil-worshipers come from a variety of locations, the first as other posters mentioned one of their figures is named close to what would sound as the devil conventionally among Muslims, as well as the Peacock Angel's story being similar to the fallen angel archetype- or at least in the Muslim versions, the fallen jinn. Muslims hold that Satan came from the jinn Iblis refusing to bow to Adam on the command of god- Yezidis hold that the peacock angel likewise refused to bow to Adam, so this opened the way to the devil comparison. The other is the way they were formed was an affront to local Islamic groups- while the Yezidi hold that they've been there since the beginning of time (as do most religions), the current form of Yezidi faith came about when a Sufi, Adi ibn Musafir, arrived in what is now Iraq from Lebanon and began to exert his influence there among local tribes who were practicing the predecessor to Yezidi faith (which as the Yezidis see it, was still Yezidi faith), and became the Sheikh of local tribes there. Sufis during the time of Islamic expansion often doubled as missionaries so it wasn't uncommon for them to engage with communities in this matter in an attempt to convert them.

Kurdistan, especially in its Iraq portions, was heavily influenced by Sufi orders. Even though the people are by and large Sunni (specifically of the Shafi school), most of the religious orders were dominated by various Naqshbandi Sufi orders since the 1700s and this permeated into some of their practices. It was not unheard of for the head of these orders to also become the head of their tribes as Sheikhs rather than Agha of some other tribes who held no religious influence, and in the process wield a lot of influence among their people and will take their edicts as the way they should practice a religion. Accordingly a lot of odd religious practices emerged or found refuge in Kurdish areas, which was helped by its relative isolation in the various empires that held control of it in the past.

The current form of the Yezidi likely came about in this way too, though he went beyond that and fused elements of the Sheikh's Sufi Islam beliefs with what the Yezidi were practicing then, which was said to be a patchwork of Zoroastrian-related local beliefs to form its current syncretic form (possibly similar to the way the Druze formed). The Sheikh I mentioned earlier is entombed in a place called Lalish in Iraq, which is a site of pilgrimage for Yezidis everywhere.

Unfortunately, this kind of religious formation puts the Yezidi in the same boat as various heretical groups in the eyes of Salafis. Even before that when the Yezidis existed a lot of the surrounding Muslims (and even Christians) viewed them with the same disdain and frequently referred to them as devil worshippers due to the nature of their formation as well as the nature of the Peacock Angel vis-a-vis Adam. Anyways, for the nutters in IS, the Yezidi are only confined to a specific part of the world so I guess it's bonus points for them in that regard since it makes them more unique than Shi'a Muslims, Sufi Muslims, or Christians. As far as I know outside of Iraq, Yezidi only occur in appreciable numbers in the Caucasus region currently, specifically in Georgia though a few remain in Armenia too.

In the last 50 years or so Kurdish nationalists have moved to appropriate Yezidi as a uniquely Kurdish religion and an echo of their pre-Islamic past in their propaganda and such. The most commonly used Kurdish flag among nationalists has a sun with 21 rays in the center, itself an important symbol in Yezidi circles.


So why would the commanders flee so quickly? Has there been any reports of Kurd collaboration with IS?

this goes off topic to a lot of areas so I'll spoil tag this to prevent page crawl

There is no collaboration, though the Iraqi government had accused the Kurdish authorities of collaborating and/or harboring IS due to Kurdish forces moving into Kirkuk and Diyala, which the Iraq government sees as illegal and've been conducted as a quid pro quo with the IS. Beyond that though there isn't a real one.

The Kurdish forces were maintaining an absurdly long defensive line with the IS in the past month and they got overstretched and complacent.

This is a rough diagram of how the positions were at the beginning of July as an example.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Brf1sbSCIAA2e8s.jpg:large

The peshmerga are good at concentrated, specific areas, but they've never had to do something like this and it was bound to run into problems if it went too long. They were trained for security in their own regions and not large-scale independent military operations in areas that they were unfamiliar with.

There are Islamist groups in Iraqi Kurdistan. There was a religious backlash from two directions in the past 50 years- on one end, a lot of preachers were upset with the Sufi "contamination" of thought in the region as I mentioned earlier and demanded they be brought back inline with orthodox Sunni thought. The other is a familiar story in the Middle-East- there are some who've lost faith in the original secular nationalist (at least nominally) parties, the KDP and PUK, due to corruption as well as increasingly barebones social programs.

In the Iraqi Kurdistan region there are three major Islamist parties. The first is the Islamic Union, which is more or less the Kurdish version of the Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt- ideologically they try to portray themselves as modernists and campaign on anti-corruption slogans and market liberalization more than religion half the time but privately they're a much more conservative outfit than they let on. The Islamic Union has a presence in Erbil and Dohuk provinces, which are KDP strongholds, and they have a particularly nasty rivalry as a result. More recently, the Islamic Union blamed the KDP for attacking their followers in Zakho for no reason, which KDP supporters said was in retaliation for one of their Mullahs instigating a riot against largely Christian-owned alcohol stores after a Friday sermon. Some years before that their HQ was hit by KDP supporters and got burned to the ground after one of their local leaders said something offensive about KDP supporters.

The Islamic Movement has more clout in PUK areas. They'd formed originally as a group to restore orthodoxy to Islamic thought in the region and set up shop in areas east of Suleimaniyah, centered at a small city called Khormal, which also included Halabja. Some of their ranks drifted to a Wahabi/Salafi orientation as the 90s went on, causing a splinter that eventually made Ansar al-Islam, which took over two of the Islamic Movement villages, one of which was Halabja, and remained there until 2001. They briefly got affiliation with al-Qaeda as well- this fact was actually used by some PUK operatives to convince Americans for assistance in bombing them out of there in 2001, and was later twisted to imply the Iraqi government had been cooperating with al-Qaeda due to the way the government then was manipulating the Kurdish parties in their civil war and basically provided weapons and arms to every group at different points when it was prudent to do so to keep them fighting one another to keep one faction from becoming too dominant.

The last of the three is the Islamic Group, which draws most of its influence in Erbil province and a few in Suleiymaniyah. It is another split from the Islamic Movement and has interestingly eclipsed the Movement in influence, but the split appears to've had less to do with ideology as it did with a personality battle and cooperation with other parties. As another aside their leader was briefly imprisoned at the beginning of the Iraq War as a potential terror suspect before he was released, due to confusion over the nature of the splits from the Islamic Movement that led to the creation of Ansar al-Islam.

Those three political parties have influence and funding domestically and foreign, and many of them have mullahs sympathetic to their viewpoints and preach accordingly in sermons. Even taking into consideration that their rivals in the KDP and PUK might paint them all in the same brush and accuse them of terrorist activity, it is not at all unlikely that some of their ranks have encouraged youth to go and join the IS, especially from the Islamic Movement and Group, and this occurred with Syrian Kurds as well. It can not be denied though that a good chunk of IS ranks, locally at least, are also being swelled by appeals to a certain type of Sunni chauvinism if not Sunni Arab chauvinism in specific cases, in addition to the fighters coming in from other countries, much the same as they'd done in Syria. In Iraq among certain Sunni Arab circles Kurdish and Shi'a groups both are seen as traitors for their opposition to the Ba'ath (itself largely an extension of the Sunni Arab community in the end) government and collusion with the US in 2003 and blaming them in turn for wrecking the country as they see it.

The Peshmerga officer ranks are still tightly controlled by the major political parties, which does not include the islamist groups. The Islamist groups never had significant forces in the 80s or 90s and this meant that when the peshmerga was formally united in 2001, they had no presence in the officer ranks when the KDP and PUK began to divide up the hierarchy accordingly. To even become an officer in the Iraqi Kurdistan region pretty much requires that you've been vetted by either the KDP or PUK, and in most recent times the splinter of the PUK, Gorran. The KDP and PUK maintain their own internal party security apparatus and they're pretty nasty about ensuring there is no dissent in those ranks and to force out those who've strayed too far from the party line. This was in the process of being worked out if I'm reading things right, but obviously this means that you have several years worth of people holding ranks that were done under the old system between 2003 and 2010.

This means that there are no serious Islamists in the officer ranks, but this leads to another drawback- many people with officer commissions may've got them more because of political connections rather than experience or education. This is particularly a pronounced problem in mid-ranking officers, who by and large those would've been commanding individual posts in the area.

This also means that while the peshmerga are nominally controlled under a single ministry, that the PUK and KDP still hold a large amount of influence and at times seems like you have two different forces running around. In effect this led to two completely different camps towards the IS episode- the KDP-end held that they should keep out of the IS campaign as it was purely an Arab civil war and be on the defensive, while the PUK-end went on the offensive as it continued to maintain links to the Shi'a-led government in Baghdad (as PUK is significantly influenced by Iran, which is in turn also a major backer of the Iraqi government). That led to a disagreement in strategy and subsequently the way supply lines were being prioritized became highly politicized, and the PUK won out in that episode it seems with the way heavier equipment went towards Kirkuk and Diyala where they had more vested interests.

This combined with the fact that by and large most of the Kurdish Peshmerga are youth who've never seen fighting (those Kurds who have experience are either old and since've been retired or put into a desk job in the ministry, or died before then) means that there was bound to be a problem in areas where they'd been overstretched and lacked a coherent plan. When they fell back, the Yezidi residents who did not go with them went to the nearby mountain range that is north of the city to hide from IS who in turn blocked paths out of it, creating the current crisis.

They've had trouble even providing ammunition to many of their men, exacerbated by the budget dispute between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq (which has also affected their pay), and this was particularly pronounced in positions far away from supply lines which included Sinjar. A week after the ISIL took Mosul and the Kurdish forces moved into areas they claimed in June, they had reports that men positioned in the areas north and west of Mosul were complaining about irregular supplies and command problems, and it seems they've been proven right in light of recent events.

Initially the IS(IL) had cooperation from some other Sunni Arab insurgent groups but it seems this honeymoon period is ending (in one such infighting, Saddam's tomb near Tikrit got smashed apparently). What's not clear though is how much those other groups even have- the IS has likely absorbed a good bunch of their support and left them in a position where they aren't able to set the initiative in any campaign(s) against their enemies.

There's a lot of rifts between the KRG and Iraq government over reasons I mentioned above in addition to the announcement they'd hold an independence referendum, though there might be a thaw now since Iraqi airforce is supporting the Peshmerga operations in that area right now, but there is yet to be any form of unified strategy between the two.

I guess an interesting development has been that the KRG has begun collaborating with the YPG in areas the Rabia border crossing and down towards Sinjar, inspite of the KRG (in particular KDP) relations with the Turkish government and subsequent border closures. Some peshmerga commanders who'd been in the area before all this blew up had been collaborating with the YPG in some border operations and fighting, as well as informing one another of their positions so that they do not have any friendly fire incidents. It is actually because of this relationship that some Kurdish units when they withdrew actually went across to the Syrian border in areas the YPG controlled, and later were returned back once a joint operation between the YPG and Iraqi Kurds re-secured the Rabia border crossing. Some YPG fighters've gone further and have volunteered to fight alongside their counterparts elsewhere in the area though under local command (certain PKK outlets had claimed the YPG proper had actually liberated the sinjar area a few days back and/or evacuated civilians from the mountain, which evidently was not the case).


In another, if not more significant development,

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/08/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN0G808J20140808


(Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he had authorized limited U.S. airstrikes to blunt the onslaught of Islamic militants in northern Iraq and began military airdrops of humanitarian supplies to besieged religious minorities to prevent a "potential act of genocide."

[Devrim]

True, but I think the US army intervened not as a reactionary religious movement but a military imperialist movement, regardless of the common perceptions.

Yes, but the US is perceived as being a Christian state, and it is a deeply religious country. I find it more religious than, say, Iran. Lots of people also talk about the EU being a Christian club. These are real perceptions.

I think it is probably fair to say that ISIS is a religious movement, but people in the West often talk about 'Islamic' things. Is something like Hezbollah any more religious than the US Republican Party? I don't think so, yet we never hear of US religious parties.

Devrim

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

"Christianity in Mosul is dead, and a Christian holocaust is in our midst," said Mark Arabo, a Californian businessman and Chaldean-American leader. In an interview with CNN's Jonathan Mann, he called what's happening in Iraq a "Christian genocide" and said "children are being beheaded, mothers are being raped and killed, and fathers are being hung."

"Right now, three thousand Christians are in Iraq fleeing to neighboring cities," he told Mann. Arabo is calling on the international community to follow France's lead and offer the Christians of Iraq asylum.

[Nakidana]

I'm surprised by this development. Not long ago the peshmerga were exalted as battle hardened and disciplined fighters who would push ISIS back in the north all while Maliki, propped up by Iranian and US special forces, would regain control and start pushing in the south. Is the reason for ISIS' push in the north that they were stopped in the south?

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Yes, but the US is perceived as being a Christian state, and it is a deeply religious country. I find it more religious than, say, Iran. Lots of people also talk about the EU being a Christian club. These are real perceptions.

I think it is probably fair to say that ISIS is a religious movement, but people in the West often talk about 'Islamic' things. Is something like Hezbollah any more religious than the US Republican Party? I don't think so, yet we never hear of US religious parties.

Devrim

I think that structurally, religion plays a very different role for IS, for Iran and for the US, even if they are all "Very religious". This isn't because of specific doctrinal differences between Sunni Islam, Shia Islam and Protestant Christianity (although those might have some minor impacts) but unique historical and material conditions facing each of the three areas - Sunni Arab Mesopotamia, Persia and the North American continent.

For one thing, I think the governments of Iran and the US are both substantially more secular than IS. Iran of course does have an explicitly religious government ruled by clerics, but ultimately the Iranian government is dependent on secular institutions to govern in a way which IS isn't. America's government is even more explicitly secular, and while parties like the GOP are heavily influenced by religious politics, ultimately it is the secular concerns which dominate (which is why the GOP never actually banned abortion when in power)


"Christianity in Mosul is dead, and a Christian holocaust is in our midst," said Mark Arabo, a Californian businessman and Chaldean-American leader. In an interview with CNN's Jonathan Mann, he called what's happening in Iraq a "Christian genocide" and said "children are being beheaded, mothers are being raped and killed, and fathers are being hung."

"Right now, three thousand Christians are in Iraq fleeing to neighboring cities," he told Mann. Arabo is calling on the international community to follow France's lead and offer the Christians of Iraq asylum.

It's certainly ethnic cleansing of Christians on a new, tragic scale.


I'm surprised by this development. Not long ago the peshmerga were exalted as battle hardened and disciplined fighters who would push ISIS back in the north all while Maliki, propped up by Iranian and US special forces, would regain control and start pushing in the south. Is the reason for ISIS' push in the north that they were stopped in the south?

IS is remarkable if just for its ability to surprise and overwhelm its opponents with its power. They are a millenarian movement with impressive military capabilities, which is something which almost always ends terribly for everyone (both for everyone around the movement, and ultimately for the movement itself)

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

IS is remarkable if just for its ability to surprise and overwhelm its opponents with its power. They are a millenarian movement with impressive military capabilities, which is something which almost always ends terribly for everyone (both for everyone around the movement, and ultimately for the movement itself)

What historical millenarian movements have there been which can be comparable in nature? The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? Obviously not on the same scale (yet), but...

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

Chaldean Christian leader: ISIS 'Systematically Beheading' Children in Iraq (http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/52128/20140806/chaldean-christian-leader-isis-systematically-beheading-children-in-iraq.htm)

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

What historical millenarian movements have there been which can be comparable in nature? The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? Obviously not on the same scale (yet), but...

The Taiping rebellion is a good point of comparison, but there were some similar ones in Islamic and Christian history, including some of the more violent and fanatic protestants during the reformation or some of the more "divinely inspired" crusaders. Islamic history has examples of such movements too, such as the Mahdists in Sudan, and animist Africa did too, such as one Xhosa anti-colonial movement which led to mass famine in their kingdoms during the 19th century. Even on a small scale, there are pathetic examples like the LRA who manage to impose significant costs on those around them despite their small numbers.

The National Socialist party in Germany was just a more secular version of these millenarian movements.

[khad]

I'm surprised by this development. Not long ago the peshmerga were exalted as battle hardened and disciplined fighters who would push ISIS back in the north all while Maliki, propped up by Iranian and US special forces, would regain control and start pushing in the south.
You only believe that Peshmerga are some super elite special force if you read nothing but Rudaw (and conversely for the YPG/PKK whatever comes out of that idiot chairman Salih Muslim's mouth). Last year, when the Peshmerga were threatening to invade Syria to support Hasakah/Qamishili, I was one of the few here who called total bullshit. Most here were practically orgasmic at the prospect of 200,000 Peshmerga superguerrillas crossing the border to squash Daesh like a bug with their elite AK marksmanship and checkered jemadanis.

I think leftists are so infatuated with the mythos of guerrillas and community militias that they have difficulty evaluating anything related to military operations on objective terms. Fact is that the only use guerrillas and the like have in a real war is stalling the enemy with their blood until the big boys (armor, artillery, air) can get to the fight. That's the kind of war that Iraq is experiencing right now.

Is the reason for ISIS' push in the north that they were stopped in the south?Operations are still ongoing in the south. Abu Waheeb, one of the Caliphate's most notable field commanders, is commanding a force to clear out the area south of Baghdad (watch northern Babil Governate). They're still laying the groundwork, as they want to isolate that city completely before activating their sleepers and going in for real. If you recall Mosul, the isolation and infiltration of that city was going on for a year before the final attack.

Chaldean Christian leader: ISIS 'Systematically Beheading' Children in Iraq (http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/52128/20140806/chaldean-christian-leader-isis-systematically-beheading-children-in-iraq.htm)
Training for the international beheading Olympics starts early.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bud6-YxIAAIeF4R.jpg

[The Modern Prometheus]

What r u talking about?? This is fucking stupid. What christian sect in the western world is even remotely close to isis? None come close. Because none are theocratic state establishing mass murdering of other religious people behading them and setting them on fire and selling the women into (sexual) slavery batshit insane crazy!

Maybe the closest thing is the New Russia which has executed at least 14 protestants but they dont even come close to the level of brutality and sectarianism

Well i think the Loyalists in Ireland would count as a recent example of a very violent militant group based upon blind sectarian hatred. They indiscriminately killed any civilians they even suspected of being Catholic, Irish or being a Protestant Irish republican all the while being backed by the British state and given weapons and training by the British army. They where/are certainly nowhere near as big as ISIS naturally but Ulster isn't exactly anywhere near as big as the region under the control of ISIS. But their sheer level of brutality and indiscriminate killing of civilians who had no ties to any paramilitaries is up there by any standards.

While they where not seeking to form a state (although a few Loyalists did want a Ulster that didn't rely on Britain and essentially wanted a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant state) they where basically given carte blanche by the British state to murder any enemies of the state in the occupied 6 counties thus doing much of the dirty work for the army and RUC. Though many members of the various Loyalist factions (UDA, UVF, etc) where also members of the British army as well as the Royal Ulster constabulary. Not only did they commit the worst and bloodiest sectarian murders of the troubles but their way of killing people which included everything from skinning their victims alive to decapitation set's them apart from most other paramilitaries even in that time and place. The Shankill butchers being a particularly notorious example who murdered atleast 23 civilians during their relatively short time which where driven by sectarianism or Protestants unfortunate enough to get on there revenge list.

So there's one fairly recent example.

[Marxist-Islamist]

isn't this cute... The same "Leftists" who supported the invasion of Iraq against Saddam are now crying for more intervention against ISIS.. smh..

[Hagalaz]

:cursing:Yesterday I saw pics of children that had been beheaded by muslims and pics of hundreds of dead children allegedly slaughtered by them.
It was very hard looking at those.
Remember when that idiot Bush said "Islam is a religion of peace"?
Yeah,right!

[John Lennin]

Remember when that idiot Bush said "Islam is a religion of peace"?
Yeah,right!
Are you trying to say what i think you're trying to say?

[The Modern Prometheus]

:cursing:Yesterday I saw pics of children that had been beheaded by muslims and pics of hundreds of dead children allegedly slaughtered by them.
It was very hard looking at those.
Remember when that idiot Bush said "Islam is a religion of peace"?
Yeah,right!

So all Muslims are bad are they? Jesus that's not being reactionary now is it :rolleyes: . Most of the people ISIS are killing are other Muslims so going by your "logic" then that should prevent future barbarians from growing up and slaughtering other people right? I am no fan of Islam or any religion but lumping all Muslims in with the ISIS bunch of Salafi extremists is like saying that every Jew in the world supports the occupation of Palestine.

In short you sound like your typical right wing bigot.

[Sasha]

The interference of the Syrian/Turkish Kurds Khad laughed away in this thread saved 10.000 Yezidi who broke out of encirclement....
Good enough for me.

[khad]

The interference of the Syrian/Turkish Kurds Khad laughed away in this thread saved 10.000 Yezidi who broke out of encirclement....
Good enough for me.
And I have more laughs for your naivite. Even now the attribution for the operation is murky due to petty political backbiting. I can tell you one thing, though. The presence of foreign reinforcements is nowhere as great as sites like Rojavareport like to claim.

Saladin ‏@AbsoIuteBanana (https://twitter.com/AbsoIuteBanana) 1h (https://twitter.com/AbsoIuteBanana/status/498419720933376000) Acc to Rudaw, Peshmarga have denounced that YPG forces demand that they wear YPG flags on their bodies/vehicles in Shingal.

As usual, there are two diametrically opposed narratives emerging--the Erbil based media (http://basnews.com/en/News/Details/Peshmerga-Transport-Large-Number-of-Sinjar-Mountain-Refugees-to-Duhok/29650) making little to no mention of YPG involvement and YPG sources claiming that there are now 30,000 peshmerga deserters milling around doing dick all in northern Iraq. Then there's the little matter of the official KRG government saying that American air strikes and military advisers to the Peshmerga have "completely changed" (http://www.krg.org/a/d.aspx?s=040000&l=12&a=51965) the battle environment. So....good job?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11023915/Iraq-crisis-150000-Yezidi-Kurds-refugees-surrounded-by-Islamic-extremists.html


Two American aid flights have also made it to the mountain, where they have dropped off more than 36,000 meals and 7,000 gallons of drinking water to help the refugees. However, Iraqi officials said that much of the US aid had been “useless” because it was dropped from 15,000ft without parachutes and exploded oin impact.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Sasha and Khad - regardless of the attribution, it's good that those Yazidis were able to flee. Ultimately the situation still looks pretty bleak though - who knows how many more are on the mountain? If IS can advance into Kurdistan, where would the great multitude of refugees who fled there, as well as countless secular Sunni kurds go? How did IS overpower the "vaunted" Peshmerga so quickly, and what does it mean for other non-secular non-state actors in the way of IS?


:cursing:Yesterday I saw pics of children that had been beheaded by muslims and pics of hundreds of dead children allegedly slaughtered by them.
It was very hard looking at those.
Remember when that idiot Bush said "Islam is a religion of peace"?
Yeah,right!

Every major civilization in the world has produced such mindless carnage.

[khad]

Photos from the partially successful rescue operation:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2720881/Escape-death-mountain-Kurdish-peshmerga-escort-stranded-Yazidis-barren-mountain-range-fled-Islamic-State-horde-threatening-kill-them.html

As you can see, the drivers are wearing the traditional uniforms and jemadani headgear (http://manrymission.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/peshmerga.jpg) of the local peshmerga

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/08/09/article-2720881-2063C43000000578-155_964x669.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/08/09/article-2720881-2063C59600000578-653_964x523.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/08/09/article-2720881-2063C4AD00000578-67_964x446.jpg

This guy, judging from non-standard rig and camo, might be YPG:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/08/09/article-2720881-2063C42300000578-184_964x444.jpg

Distance shot of the breakout column:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/08/09/article-2720881-2063C99800000578-38_964x514.jpg

An earlier attempt at relief and evacuation by helicopter:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/08/09/1407601906033_wps_16_Paul_Hennessy00010_jpg.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/08/09/1407601710146_wps_15_Paul_Hennessy00001_jpg.jpg

[khad]

A quick guide to visually identifying various Kurdish factions on the battlefield - using in-field photos as to reflect more typical outfits.


PESHMERGA
Traditional two-piece with headdress/scarf (for militia)
Modern military kit, American helmets/vests, woodland camo preferred (for regular military forces). Some red berets.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3584/3345507532_3480b3cc73.jpg
http://1eccffe29d23a0e95615-de65c282426c40a7ce4d698bb265ec43.r91.cf3.rackcdn.c om/5468794-Iraqi-Insurgents-Facing-Kurdish-Troops-in-North.jpg

YPG
Digital camo, olive-drab, or just western-style street clothes, no helmets
http://s30.postimg.org/anecko9rl/ypg.jpg
http://www.diyarbakirhaber.gen.tr/images/haberler/isid_bir_ypg_den_bir_darbe_daha_yedi_h2058.jpg

PKK
The ones that recently arrived in Iraq. Similar to traditional peshmerga outfit, but with a larger and baggier jacket. Belt rig carried inside jacket. Tan/gray bandanas or black-checkered headscarves.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BuqqiJrIcAEcGdL.jpg:large

[Five Year Plan]

KHAD, if you don't my asking, what is your position on the US intervention in Iraq?

[khad]

With tens of thousands still trapped on Mt. Shingal and slow progress by local forces, Obama is mulling a ground operation.


.
U.S. Weighs Military Rescue Mission for Yazidi Refugees (Boots on ground v. ISIS?) (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3192163/posts)
The Wall Street Journal ^ (http://www.freerepublic.com/%5Ehttp://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-weighs-international-rescue-mission-for-yazidi-refugees-1407881639) | Tuesday, August 12, 2014 Updated 8:40 p.m. ET | Dion Nissenbaum
Posted on 8/12/2014, 9:31:36 PM by kristinn (http://www.freerepublic.com/%7Ekristinn/)

The U.S. is weighing a military mission in Iraq to rescue thousands of Yazidi refugees, a move that risks putting American forces in direct confrontation with Sunni fighters for the Islamic State.

The proposal is still under development and hasn't been approved by President Barack Obama. U.S. officials said the rescue mission is one of many options the U.S. military is weighing after dropping food and water to dying refugees over the past six days.

"People are looking at ways to do something more than just drop water and supplies," one senior U.S. official said. "You can only do that for so long."

Since last week, the U.S. has sought to halt the militants' advance on the Kurdish city of Erbil and to relieve Yazidis trapped by the fighters on a barren mountain range through a campaign of airstrikes and aid drops.

A rescue mission could expose U.S. forces to direct fire from the militant group Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and that is a risk Mr. Obama may not be willing to accept.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon continued to lay the groundwork for a rescue by sending another 130 military advisers to northern Iraq to develop options the Pentagon can present to the president. The team will be made up of U.S. Marines and members of American special operations forces who have expertise in difficult missions.http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-weighs-international-rescue-mission-for-yazidi-refugees-1407881639

[Karker]

There's a lot of misunderstanding in this thread. And Khad, please do not refer to Kurdistan as "Northern Iraq". I see you have very anti Kurdish tendencies. I see no point in posting sources from the Daily Telegraph or other media that get their information from ISIS claims.

You must first understand the current political crisis among Kurds. The 3 main parties are the KCK (Organization founded by the PKK leadership to practise Ocalan's ideology of Democratic Confederalism), KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party led by President Barzani) and the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan led by former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani).

All these groups have their own troops loyal to their party leadership.

The situation in Sinjar (It is called Shengal in Kurdish, Arab National Socialists like to change anything remotely Kurdish) is a very complex one. You had Peshmergas from the PUK and KDP but everyone seems to group these Peshmergas as one.

When ISIS started to attack the town, the KDP Peshmerga fled "due to little ammo after fighting for 4 hours". This is false. They left because the leadership of the KDP units in Sinjar/Shengal were very inexperienced and feared that they would lose the battle. The PUK Peshmerga decided to stay and fight.

Soon after the PYD (group associated with KCK) heard about the situation and so they decided to send YPG (People's Protection units) to assist the PUK Peshmerga against ISIS.

So ISIS never managed to fully take control of the town, but they like to twist things to scare everybody.

You must also understand the current crisis in Kurdistan and the media war occurring.

Hundreds of thousands of Arabs fled ISIS and went to take refuge in Kurdistan. At first the Kurds were very welcoming, offering their homes and free food. But people got fed up of seeing Arabs everywhere. They managed to do what Saddam wanted all along and that was to turn "Kurdistan into Arabistan". After finding out that many Arabs in Kurdistan had links to ISIS, Nationalist youth decided to form gangs to beat up or even try and kill these Arabs. Police arrested an Arab man trying to make a bomb.

So at one point, the Kurdistan leadership has to keep it's own people at bay while fighting a group that wants to destroy them.

And you must also know that there was no such thing as "an advance on the city of Erbil". They only managed to take Makhmour which wasn't even under Kurdish control until the Iraqi army fled in their thousands leaving valuable military American made equipment behind. And that's what is making these ISIS mercenaries so powerful. We all have to blame it on the corrupt leadership among the Iraqi army. Makhmour is now firmly under Peshmerga control.

[Hrafn]

I am rather pro-Kurdish, but to claim that South Kurdistan isn't Northern Iraq is bullshit.

[Karker]

I am rather pro-Kurdish, but to claim that South Kurdistan isn't Northern Iraq is bullshit.

I have no respect for these borders drawn up and created by imperialists.

[khad]

I have no respect for these borders drawn up and created by imperialists.

All borders are drawn up by imperialists, but so long as the political entity known as Iraq exists on a map, it is a useful point of reference for those unitiated in the politicization of geographic labels in the land situated between Anatolia and Mesopotamia. To give you an analogy, I'm not going to go around referring to California as northern Aztlán and expect everyone to know what I'm talking about. In fact, the fact that both the KDP and PUK, as well as Gorran seem to want to maintain some kind of federalist ties to the Baghdad government means that even the KRG recognizes some kind of political legitimacy to the entity known as Iraq.

The only political group that completely denies the existence of Iraq and its borders are these guys right here:

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[Five Year Plan]

KHAD, if you don't my asking, what is your position on the US intervention in Iraq?

So I take it this question will go unanswered.

[khad]

So I take it this question will go unanswered.
LOL. What do you think my position is, Lucretia?

[Five Year Plan]

LOL. What do you think my position is, Lucretia?

Excuse me? I was looking for an answer in there somewhere, but managed to find only an accusation.

[khad]

Latest reports indicate that Obama is shelving plans for a ground invasion for now, as fewer Yezidi than previously estimated remain on the mountain. Survivors are coming in with more horror stories

http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/140820142

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I'm not sure this bit is sectarian baiting, though.


A woman told Rudaw that three of her daughters committed suicide after they were raped by ISIS militants and were later allowed to join their family on Mount Shingal.

The mother said: My daughters were calling on people to kill them, but no one wanted to do that. So they jumped from the mountain and ended their bitter life.

The mother recounted her daughters’ story on camera, but YPG fighters on the mountain seized the Rudaw camera and erased the tape.

The Yezidi press is also reporting this story and others:
http://ezidipress.com/en/?p=181


+++14:00 pm+++ Our correspondent reports us that a Yezidi fighter who had joined the YPG committed suicide in the mountains after seeing the bodies of many young children.

[Rafiq]

What is the current strategy of the United States and it's allies in confronting IS? Are they carefully watching to see what could potentially play out in weakening the Syrian state?

I mean, the US spent almost ten years in Iraq. And only in a matter of months IS manages to take a great bulk of the country? There are estimates that the current landmass they occupy is almost as big as the country of Jordan. That's certainly enough land to be legitimized as a real existing state.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

What is the current strategy of the United States and it's allies in confronting IS? Are they carefully watching to see what could potentially play out in weakening the Syrian state?

I think the US is playing it by ear. I don't think American elites think sending in soldiers for another costly intervention is a useful investment of resources based on Bush's Iraq invasion, but their interests also clearly are not served by having IS run half of Iraq and Syria. They also are smart enough to know that IS threatens their allies in Jordan at least as much as it does Iranian interests or the Syrian regime. There is certainly a debate, it seems, within Washington about what to do, and whether or not the current administration's policies have been effective. Perhaps we will see a new approach emerging if Maliki finally goes (which it looks like he might - they already found his replacement it seems)

IS may well want Western intervention against their "government", as well as Iranian intervention - even if it loses them some of the tanks, APCs, humvees and artillery they captured from the Iraqi and Syrian armies (as well as the lives of the angry young men serving in their forces), it will gain them credibility as a group "under fire" from the "crusaders" and "apostates". It would be difficult for the US or Iran to really dismantle them without serious intervention anyhow.



I mean, the US spent almost ten years in Iraq. And only in a matter of months IS manages to take a great bulk of the country? There are estimates that the current landmass they occupy is almost as big as the country of Jordan. That's certainly enough land to be legitimized as a real existing state.They are, for all intensive purposes, a "state" at this point, albeit one which does not recognize the notion of a "state" pushed by the Treaty of Westphalia. It is certainly being treated as a kind of hostile state which cannot be dealt with diplomatically. It seems that they are seen as an unrecognized, rogue state by world powers.

[JahLemon]

Just saw the video where ISIL beheaded journalist James Foley. So fucked up.

[Sasha]

Vice-doc showing how it was mostly the syrian YPG rescuing the yezidis:
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