By Sam Heller | ( RFE/RL ) | – – When the self-proclaimed Islamic State declared the establishment of a global Muslim “caliphate” in 2014, the move accelerated a race for legitimacy within the international jihadist movement. IS’s rival Al-Qaeda — which had long held out a righteous Islamic state as a far-off ideal, not […]
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Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
Marketing & Terrorism: Is ISIL’s vaunted ‘brand’ actually weak and vulnerable?
By Brendan Canavan | (The Conversation) | – – [The so-called] Islamic State (IS) is the most notorious terror group in the world. Its name and values are known and feared globally, and it provokes, inspires and incenses to an extent most terrorist groups can only dream about. It owes a lot of that power […]
Americans may see ISIL as No. 1 Threat, but Turkey & the Kurds have other Priorities
By Abbas Djavadi | ( RFE/RL | – – For a long time the Turkish government was accused of assisting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) group. These accusations were heard especially since the battle Syrian Kurds fought with ISIS over the town of Kobani on the Syrian-Turkish border almost a year ago. […]
Baghdad gov’t paralysis made capital vulnerable to massive ISIL bombings
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) launched a series of suicide car and truck bombs in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing nearly 100 and wounding nearly 200 persons. Baghdad security had improved over the past couple of years, but the Coalition United for Reform blamed political wrangling on sectarian and […]
Al-Zawahiri Supports Syrian al-Qaeda, calls for more global Volunteers
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Al-Qaeda central leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, a mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, DC, has issued a new audio tape. In it, he said that the only successful revolution launched in 2011 in the Arab world was the Syrian, because it followed the […]
Al-Qaeda Everywhere: US support for Oppressive Gov’t’s made Bin Laden’s Killing Moot
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The US government has never understood insurgency for the most part. Smart USG officials with whom I’ve interacted have had a firm belief that leadership is a rare quality and that you can attrite an organization by killing its leaders. This theory is patently false. It […]
ISIL to Trapped people of Mosul: No TV or Internet for You!
Niqash.org | (Mosul) | – – The Islamic State has issued orders banning satellite TV because it spreads false news. They’re also demanding all Internet users’ names to find spies sending information for airstrikes. He began his conversation on Facebook in an unusually serious way. Abdul Hamid*, a man living in Mosul, the northern Iraqi […]
ISIL Digging in Against new US Troops in Syria
By By James Miller| ( RFE/RL ) | – – On June 29, 2014, when Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gave a speech from the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, Iraq, announcing the formation of an Islamic caliphate, the newly proclaimed [so-called] "Islamic State" did indeed have many of the hallmarks of an actual state. It […]
Inclusive Governing key to preventing 5th Wave of Violent Radicalism
By Carl Bildt | (Project Syndicate) | – – STOCKHOLM – Muscular language has become increasingly prevalent in the debate about how to counter the threat of jihadist terrorism. Television talk-show hosts speculate about when control of Raqqa in Syria or Mosul in Iraq might be wrested from the Islamic State (ISIS), implying that these […]