Pan-Islamic merged mega thread

[Tuan]

IS in Afghanistan

News reports suggest that the Islamic State (IS) is struggling to achieve its ambitious expansion into Afghanistan. Earlier reports revealed that IS was well on its way to consolidating its foothold in the country, with disgruntled Taliban fighters in some provinces rebranding themselves under the IS flag. However, according to NATO officials, IS has been hampered due to the Taliban fighting back under its new leadership, the Afghan government’s resistance, and US drone strikes on its forces. In addition to the pushback against IS, it is also theorised that since Afghanistan, unlike Syria and Iraq, has a majority of Sunni Muslims, the IS cannot feed off pre-existing sectarian tensions (the marginalised and persecuted status of the Hazara Shias notwithstanding). The barbarity of their acts, where they are seen to murder droves without reason has also been a factor that has horrified and repelled the Afghan people. It is indeed shocking to imagine what kind of brutality the IS practices, that the Taliban under Mullah Akhtar Mansour are seeking to appear as the bulwark to hold it back and trying to assert themselves as a ‘legitimate’ Islamist group.


The spectre of IS expanding its reach to other territories and spreading its brand of relentless savagery to other corners of the world is a fearful one. In a strange way, the Taliban’s success in containing them is welcome, especially when it is not just the Taliban who are resisting but also a quasi-coalition of the Afghan government, NATO and ordinary Afghan citizens. The IS has ambitions of world domination, and the appeal they currently have for disaffected people from all over the globe has to be countered. The IS and its hateful ideology are unquestionably the worst threat facing humanity today, and it will be to the betterment of concerned regimes to place the need to fend off IS on the top of their priority list. Already we have evidence of how the IS has a tendency to focus the minds of its enemies against it, with Turkey letting go of its regional plans and ambitions to join the coalition airstrikes against IS in Syria. No alliance can be seen as too inconceivable to consider in the fight against IS and the threat of it encroaching on more territories. In the case of Afghanistan, it is a difficult decision but it is preferable to have only one major network of fighters rather than multiple, since if only the Taliban are being dealt with, they can be nudged to the negotiating table. Needless to say, the IS has never shown any proclivity for peace talks. All possible options and efforts must be utilised to stop it in its tracks. *

 

[Tuan]

Biography of ISIS leader by William McCants

The Believer

 

[a_majoor]

Now the Russians are arriving in greater force"

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-08-31/russian-military-forces-arrive-syria-set-forward-operating-base-near-damascus

Russian Military Forces Arrive In Syria, Set Forward Operating Base Near Damascus
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/01/2015 09:59 -0400

While military direct intervention by US, Turkish, and Gulf forces over Syrian soil escalates with every passing day, even as Islamic State forces capture increasingly more sovereign territory, in the central part of the country, the Nusra Front dominant in the northwestern region province of Idlib and the official "rebel" forces in close proximity to Damascus, the biggest question on everyone's lips has been one: would Putin abandon his protege, Syria's president Assad, to western "liberators" in the process ceding control over Syrian territory which for years had been a Russian national interest as it prevented the passage of regional pipelines from Qatar and Saudi Arabia into Europe, in the process eliminating Gazprom's - and Russia's - influence over the continent.

As recently as a month ago, the surprising answer appeared to be an unexpected "yes", as we described in detail in "The End Draws Near For Syria's Assad As Putin's Patience "Wears Thin." Which would make no sense: why would Putin abdicate a carefully cultivated relationship, one which served both sides (Russia exported weapons, provides military support, and in exchange got a right of first and only refusal on any traversing pipelines through Syria) for years, just to take a gamble on an unknown future when the only aggressor was a jihadist spinoff which had been created as byproduct of US intervention in the region with the specific intention of achieving precisely this outcome: overthrowing Assad (see "Secret Pentagon Report Reveals US "Created" ISIS As A "Tool" To Overthrow Syria's President Assad").

As it turns out, it may all have been just a ruse. Because as Ynet reports, not only has Putin not turned his back on Assad, or Syria, but the Russian reinforcements are well on their way. Reinforcements for what? Why to fight the evil Islamic jihadists from ISIS of course, the same artificially created group of bogeyman that the US, Turkey, and Saudis are all all fighting. In fact, this may be the first world war in which everyone is "fighting" an opponent that everyone knows is a proxy for something else.

According to Ynet, Russian fighter pilots are expected to begin arriving in Syria in the coming days, and will fly their Russian air force fighter jets and attack helicopters against ISIS and rebel-aligned targets within the failing state.

And just like the US and Turkish air forces are supposedly in the region to "eradicate the ISIS threat", there can't be any possible complaints that Russia has also decided to take its fight to the jihadists - even if it is doing so from the territory of what the real goal of US and Turkish intervention is - Syria. After all, it is a free for all against ISIS, right?

From Ynet:

According to Western diplomats, a Russian expeditionary force has already arrived in Syria and set up camp in an Assad-controlled airbase. The base is said to be in area surrounding Damascus, and will serve, for all intents and purposes, as a Russian forward operating base.

In the coming weeks thousands of Russian military personnel are set to touch down in Syria, including advisors, instructors, logistics personnel, technical personnel, members of the aerial protection division, and the pilots who will operate the aircraft.
The Israeli outlet needless adds that while the current makeup of the Russian expeditionary force is still unknown, "there is no doubt that Russian pilots flying combat missions in Syrian skies will definitely change the existing dynamics in the Middle East."

Why certainly: because in one move Putin, who until this moment had been curiously non-commital over Syria's various internal and exteranl wars, just made the one move the puts everyone else in check: with Russian forces in Damascus implicitly supporting and guarding Assad, the western plan instantly falls apart.

It gets better: if what Ynet reports is accurate, Iran's brief tenure as Obama's BFF in the middle east is about to expire:

Western diplomatic sources recently reported that a series of negotiations had been held between the Russians and the Iranians, mainly focusing on ISIS and the threat it poses to the Assad regime. The infamous Iranian Quds Force commander Major General Qasem Soleimani recently visited Moscow in the framework of these talks. As a result the Russians and the Iranians reached a strategic decision: Make any effort necessary to preserve Assad's seat of power, so that Syria may act as a barrier, and prevent the spread of ISIS and Islamist backed militias into the former Soviet Islamic republics.

See: the red herring that is ISIS can be used just as effectively for defensive purposes as for offensive ones. And since the US can't possibly admit the whole situation is one made up farce, it is quite possible that the world will witness its first regional war when everyone is fighting a dummy, proxy enemy which doesn't really exist, when in reality everyone is fighting everyone else!

That said, we look forward to Obama explaining the American people how the US is collaborating with the one mid-east entity that is supporting not only Syria, but now is explicitly backing Putin as well.

It gets better: Ynet adds that "Western diplomatic sources have emphasized that the Obama administration is fully aware of the Russian intent to intervene directly in Syria, but has yet to issue any reaction... The Iranians and the Russians- with the US well aware- have begun the struggle to reequip the Syrian army, which has been left in tatters by the civil war. They intend not only to train Assad's army, but to also equip it. During the entire duration of the civil war, the Russians have consistently sent a weapons supply ship to the Russian held port of Tartus in Syria on a weekly basis. The ships would bring missiles, replacement parts, and different types of ammunition for the Syrian army."

Finally, it appears not only the US military-industrial complex is set to profit from the upcoming war: Russian dockbuilders will also be rewarded:

Arab media outlets have recently published reports that Syria and Russia were looking for an additional port on the Syrian coast, which will serve the Russians in their mission to hasten the pace of the Syrian rearmament.

If all of the above is correct, the situation in the middle-east is set to escalate very rapidly over the next few months, and is likely set to return to the face-off last seen in the summer of 2013 when the US and Russian navies were within earshot of each other, just off the coast of Syria, and only a last minute bungled intervention by Kerry avoided the escalation into all out war. Let's hope Kerry has it in him to make the same mistake twice.

 

[Tuan]

‘Steps required to counter threat from Afghanistan-based Islamic State’

National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence Chairman Rohail Asghar on Thursday said necessary steps are required to counter threat emanating from the Islamic State as the terrorists are joining the militant outfit.

After chairing meeting at the Parliament House, he told reporters that the terrorists have returned to Afghanistan where they were joining the Islamic State. “Necessary steps are required to counter threat emanating from this group,” he said.

The lawmaker said that several Taliban ‘commanders’ have pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State so their eradication was vital too. “Facilitators of terrorists are being rounded up in the second phase of Zarb-e-Azb,” he added.

To a question, the committee chairman said that there was no exact timeframe regarding conclusion of the Zarb-e-Azb military operation. Defence Secretary Aalam Khattak and top army officials also attended meeting of the committee.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Now the Russians are arriving in greater force"

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-08-31/russian-military-forces-arrive-syria-set-forward-operating-base-near-damascus

Russia's Foreign Ministry response?

Media reports about Russian military planes in Syria have already been disavowed by Russia’s Defense Ministry and presidential administration, Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"I saw reports about Russian planes on the Syrian territory. I also saw comments on this matter by Russia’s Defense Ministry and presidential administration that disavowed this information. There is nothing to add here," Zakharova said.

"Sensational statements are often made about military-technical cooperation between Russia and Syria - that it grows or decreases," she said. "We see them in different parts of the world. And it is always made to sound sensational. We say that we never tried to make a secret out of this. This is our consistent position connected with assisting official Damascus in its fight against the terrorism threat," the diplomat stressed ....

 

[Tuan]

US takes Pakistan into confidence over anti-IS alliance

The United States has taken Pakistan into confidence over a new US military alliance to fight the growing global presence of the self-styled Islamic State (IS).

The new alliance, called “Sahel to South Asia” is expected to be announced soon by the White House. “Pakistan has been consulted by the US at the highest level,” according to a top government official. Pakistan will take a formal decision after conducting consultations with all domestic stakeholders over joining the alliance, added the official. “IS has presence in Afghanistan, and they maintain close collaboration with militant organisations, and if not tackled they can pose a threat to Pakistan’s security,” the government official further said.

More details are expected to be worked out through a high-level meeting between the military leadership of both countries, once the alliance is officially announced and made public by the US. The development comes after US National Security Adviser (NSA) Susan Rice called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif at the General Headquarters (GHQ) last week, where she “appreciated and acknowledged Pakistan Army’s sincere efforts and sacrifices in the war against terrorism.” During the meeting, matters of mutual interest – including the security situation in the region – were discussed.

Rice’s visit was preceded by the visit of US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander General Lloyd J Austin in which he called on General Raheel Sharif at the GHQ in Rawalpindi. General Lloyd Austin acknowledged the role played by the armed forces of Pakistan in fighting the menace of terrorism. In February this year, Foreign Office had broken its silence regarding the IS activities inside Pakistan, admitting that the radical group posed a “serious threat” to the country. Earlier this year, leaflets calling for support for IS were seen in parts of northwest Pakistan, while pro-IS slogans had also appeared on walls in several cities.

Security forces had also arrested a man in January, whom they believed was the commander of IS in the country involved in recruiting and sending fighters to Syria. Intelligence sources, said the man, Yousaf al-Salafi, was arrested in Lahore and confessed during interrogation that he represented IS. Rifts among the Taliban and disputes about the future of the insurgency have contributed to the rise of IS’s popularity but security sources believe there are no operational links yet between IS and South Asia. Disgruntled former Taliban commanders have formed the so-called Khorasan chapter — an umbrella IS group covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and other South Asian countries — in recent months but have not been involved in any fighting. Their leader, Hafiz Saeed Khan Orakzai, a former Pakistani Taliban commander, appeared in a video address in February urging people in the region to join the group.

 

[CougarKing]

Meanwhile, in Yemen, the Saudi-led air and ground campaign continues against the Houthis:

Reuters

Coalition attacks Yemen capital after UAE, Saudi soldiers killed
Sat Sep 5, 2015 10:53am EDT
By Mohammed Ghobari

SANAA (Reuters) - Warplanes from the United Arab Emirates struck Houthi targets across Yemen, state news agency WAM said on Saturday, a day after at least 60 soldiers from a Saudi-led coalition, mostly Emiratis, were killed in an attack in central Yemen.

Medical sources at hospitals in the capital Sanaa, which has been under effective control of the Iranian-allied Houthi militia for almost a year, said about 24 civilians were killed in the city as a result of the attacks.

WAM said the UAE air force struck a mine-making plant in the Houthi-dominated Saada province in northern Yemen, as well as military camps and weapon stores in the central Ibb province, causing "heavy damage".

(...SNIPPED)

 

[Kirkhill]

Syria and Iraq.  Two different countries. Two different political, diplomatic and legal scenarios.  Two different authorizations for military action.

Indeed.  Iraq claims it is handling a foreign incursion.  Syria claims it is handling an insurrection. 

 

[Infanteer]

Syria and Iraq.  Two different countries. Two different political, diplomatic and legal scenarios.  Two different authorizations for military action.

Perhaps that is why we are having such trouble in the area - we only see it through the lens of Sykes-Picot?

 

[Kirkhill]

Perhaps that is why we are having such trouble in the area - we only see it through the lens of Sykes-Picot?

The United Nations pretty much ensure that we have to manage it that way, don't they? And I am pretty sure that Vlad and the local players all prefer it that way.

Just like the Armstrongs.  Scots today.  English tomorrow.  Just as circumstances demand.  :nod:

 

[Edward Campbell]

Perhaps that is why we are having such trouble in the area - we only see it through the lens of Sykes-Picot?

Good point ... maybe the notion of a caliphate makes more, or better sense in the region.

There were several caliphates, the greatest (at least the most enduring) were the Abbasid and the Ottoman caliphates, but the Fatimid caliphate and the Caliphate of Cordoba were also geographically/militarily "great" and each lasted for a good while. Maybe the IS** folks are plowing fertile ground ~ it's certainly a more traditional structure than Iraq - Syria - Jordan - Saudi Arabia, etc ...

The Abbasid Caliphate circa 880CE

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

True enough, ERC. But those various Caliphates were all, in their own way, merely empires. Never countries. They incorporated various "nationalities", so to speak, who never considered that they had ceased to exist to be part of a new "country" that would correspond to the Caliphate's borders.

Sykes-Picot led to the creation of political countries with defined (well almost defined  ) borders that some times cut across the "borders" of what preceded them, which was mostly groups that belonged to their village/town or small area to which they claimed to belong. As part of the various caliphates, these village/towns/regions had never really developed into countries like Europe or Asia had, save perhaps for Egypt.

 

[CougarKing]

The Sunni/Gulf states seem more than willing to send their own ground troops to fight Iran's Houthi proxies in Yemen rather than fight ISIS:

Reuters

Qatar sends 1,000 ground troops to Yemen conflict: al Jazeera
Mon Sep 7, 2015 9:55am EDT
People salvage belongings from the rubble of a house destroyed by a Saudi-led air strike in Yemen's capital Sanaa September 7, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
1 of 1Full Size
SANAA (Reuters) - Qatar has sent 1,000 ground troops to Yemen, Doha-based Al Jazeera television said, escalating Gulf Arab intervention in Yemen's war ahead of a planned offensive against Iranian-backed Houthis holding the capital Sanaa.

Qatari pilots had already joined months of Saudi-led air strikes on the Houthi militia, which seized Sanaa a year ago and then advanced across much of the country, forcing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile in March.

Military sources told Reuters that Qatari troops were on their way to Yemen and preparing to join a new push on Houthi positions in Sanaa. They told Reuters the Qatari force had not yet entered the Arabian Peninsula country.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[a_majoor]

The Sunni/Gulf states seem more than willing to send their own ground troops to fight Iran's Houthi proxies in Yemen rather than fight ISIS:

Reuters

That is because the Sunni/Gulf states consider Iran to be the true enemy, and the Salafi extremists of ISIS and related radical groups can be considered shock troops to be expended against Iran and Iranian proxies such as Syria and Hezbollah fighters. From a longer perspective, the Saudi's have their own hegemonic designs on the region, so I would suggest they are also using ISIS to create a sort of "firebreak" to keep the Turks penned up in the north, so they don't have as much reason to consider their own imperialistic designs of reviving their influence over the former Ottoman Empire (and you thought the plot of Game of Thrones to be overly complex).

 

[CougarKing]

Egypt joining the Sunni cause against Iran:

Reuters

Egypt sends up to 800 ground troops to Yemen's war: Egyptian security sources
Wed Sep 9, 2015 12:21pm EDT
SANAA (Reuters) - As many as 800 Egyptian soldiers arrived in Yemen late on Tuesday, Egyptian security sources said, swelling the ranks of a Gulf Arab military contingent which aims to rout the Iran-allied Houthi group after a five-month civil war.

It was the first reported deployment of ground troops there by Egypt, which has one of the Arab world's strongest armies.

A coalition led by Saudi Arabia has scored major gains against the militia and its allies in Yemen's army, backing a push by Yemeni fighters to seize much of the country's south and now setting its sights on the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.

(...SNIPPED)
/quote]

 

[a_majoor]

Zerohedge on unfolding events in Syria. Frankly, it is time to pull out and allow the Russians, Syrians and Iranians spend their own blood and treasure against ISIS and their backers in the Gulf States. It will be interesting to see just who exactly has more resources to keep up the fight:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-10/major-humiliation-obama-iran-has-sent-soldiers-support-russian-troops-syria

In Major Humiliation For Obama, Iran Sends Soldiers To Support Russian Troops In Syria

When Zero Hedge first reported ten days ago that Russian troops, in their bid to support the Assad regime in its ongoing confrontation with various ISIS, Al Nusra, and other US-supported groups in what has become the proxy war of 2015 (one which even comes with thousands of refugees for dramatic media impact) had been quietly massing in Syria and have set up a forward operating base near Damascus, there were those who were openly skeptical.
Then, just a few hours ago, Bloomberg finally confirmed that "top officials were scheduled to meet at the National Security Council Deputies Committee level to discuss how to respond to the growing buildup of Russian military equipment and personnel in Latakia" and that Russia is "set to start flying combat missions from a new air base inside Syria."

So yes, for whatever reason (and the reason as we explained is clear: natural gas pipelines) Russia is making not only its increasing support for Assad known, but also that it is in Syria and that any further US-funded and supported incursions by ISIS or whatever is the media scapegoat terrorist organization du jour, will not be tolerated.

To be sure, none of this is in any way a surprise to the US - just as the US is using ISIS as a pretext to invade or pressure any mid-east nation it desires "in order to hold the jihadist terrorist scourge", so Russia is now using ISIS as a comparable excuse to intervene. After all, if ISIS is the friend of humanity, then surely Russian aid will be welcome. That it is not, had made it abundantly clear that not only is ISIS just a convenient diversion, but the reasons for a Syrian invasion and deposition of Assad, are purely political and entirely in the realm of real-politik. Also, Russia's return to Syria in greater numbers is no surprise to anyone in the Pentagon - this was merely the long-awaited escalation of the foreplay that started when ISIS mysteriously emerged on the scene just over a year ago.

But in the latest twist in what we have been warning for months has the makings of the biggest proxy shooting war in years, one that will come as a major humiliation to the Obama administration, today we find out that none other than America's most recent diplomatic sweetheart in the Gulf region, Iran, has deployed ground soldiers into Syria in the past few days in cooperation with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
This answers our question from earlier this week:

So as the coalition drives towards Sana'a - which the Saudi-owned al-Hayat newspaper says will be "liberated" after a "decisive battle" in Marib - and as Turkey, the US, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Qatar mull options for the final push to oust Assad in Syria, the only remaining question is whether Iran will remain on the sidelines and allow the Houthis to be routed and Assad deposed, or whether, like Moscow, Tehran finally decides that the time for rheotric has come to an end.

And on that note, we'll close with the following from AP: "Iran's foreign minister on Monday criticized demands for the resignation of Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying such calls have prolonged the Arab country's civil war. Mohammad Javad Zarif went so far as to say that those who have in the past years demanded Assad's ouster "are responsible for the bloodshed in Syria."

And so, Iran appears to have picked its side, and knowing that it has Obama wrapped around its finger as part of Obama's huge "diplomatic coup" of restoring relations with Iran as part of the Nuclear Deal (since any backtracking would further embarrass the US president) and can pivot in any direction in the Syrian conflict, it has decided to side with Russia and Syria.

According to Ynet, a further said that the increased military involvement in Syria was "due to Assad's crisis and under Russian-Iranian cooperation as a result of a meeting between Soleimani with Russian President Vladimir Putin."

Where things get even more complicated, is that while Israel would do everything it can to turn public opinion against Iran, especially if it is now involved in the Syrian debacle, Israel still has cordial relations with Russia: "We have dialogue with Russia and we aren't in the  middle of the Cold War," said the source. "We have open channels with the Russians."

So what does Iran joining the conflict really mean?  "It's hard to forecast whether Russia's presence will decide the fate of Syria, but it will lengthen the fighting and bloodletting for at least another year because ISIS won't give up," said the source.

In other words, unless even more foreign powers intervene, you know "to stop ISIS" by focusing all their firepower on attacking or defending Assad, the Syria conflict will drag on indefinitely with an unknown outcome. Which in turn begs the question: how long will Israel keep out of the war, and if it decides to join whether it be using one of the more traditional, false flag methods to enflame public opinion against Iran. Who will be collateral damage then.

One thing is certain: with the GOP unable to block the Iran nuclear deal in the Senate, should it emerge and be confirmed, that Iran is indeed present, then Obama will be faced with the biggest diplomatic headache in his administration's history, namely the explanation of why he is scrambling to restore diplomatic connections with a regime that couldn't even wait for the Iran deal to be formally passed before it turned its back on its newest "best friend" in the Oval Cabinet, and promptly side with the KGB agent who over the past two years has emerged as the biggest US enemy in three decades.

Furthermore, it also means that now Russia suddenly has the media leverage in its hands: a few "leaked" photos of Iran troops to the press and the phones in the US Department of State will explode.

But the most important news is that, as we warned previously, with every incremental party entering the Syria conflict, the probability of a non-violent outcome becomes increasingly negligible. And now that Iran is involved, it means that both Israel and Saudi Arabia will be dragged in, whether they like it or not.

Posted in the wrong thread, but realized that as Russia is now heavily engaged in two separate wars, this will affect how much resources Russia can put into Ukraine and Eastern Europe

 

[Tuan]

58 ISIS defectors -including 7 women- speak out against the outfit. These folks should be treated as an asset and turned against ISIS.

ISIS Defectors Reveal Disillusionment

 

[Tuan]

How to defeat ISIS: 10 ideas
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/28/opinions/bergen-how-to-defeat-isis/index.html

 

[PanaEng]

That sounds like a good start for overt measures.

 

[CougarKing]

The Saudi-led coalition of Sunni nations seem to be winning this campaign against Iran's Houthi proxies:

Reuters

Yemeni government, Saudi-led forces retake Red Sea strait
Thu Oct 1, 2015 1:43pm EDT
By Noah Browning

DUBAI (Reuters) - Loyalist Yemeni troops and Gulf Arab forces on Thursday seized control of the Arabian side of the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden from Houthi fighters, a spokesman for the Gulf-backed government said.

Six months of war in Yemen has raised fears for the security of oil supplies through Bab al-Mandab, a main thoroughfare for vessels heading for the United States or Europe from Asia or the Gulf. Its western shore is controlled by Djibouti and Eritrea.

Residents on the Yemeni side of Bab al-Mandab reported air strikes and shelling by warships in support of a ground thrust, but could not immediately confirm that the Iranian-allied Houthis had lost the eastern shore of the strait.

(...SNIPPED)