Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

By Charles Davis | ( TeleSur | – – The U.S. is at war with the same extremist group it claimed to have defeated five years ago, and it’s relying on sectarian extremists to "win" again. The United States is winning the war on terror, just as it always has. The Islamic State group is […]

Iraq

Daesh and Territorial Control Reconsidered

contributors

By Michael Degerald | ( History X ISIS ) | – – It might seem strange to open this essay by speaking about circulation and vitality in regard to Daesh [ISIS, ISIL]. Yet when we think of a nation-state, circulation is rarely the first thing that comes to our minds. Imagine a room where air […]

Iraq

Visualization: How ISIL vastly exaggerated its Influence and Everyone Bought it (The Atlantic)

contributors

By Kathy Gilsinan, Caitlin Cadieux, Daniel Lombroso | (The Atlantic Video Report) | – – “Americans are constantly being told that ISIS is a massive threat—but what does that mean? Are there ways to quantify how big the Islamic State actually is? Atlantic senior editor Kathy Gilsinan breaks down ISIS by the numbers, including the […]

Featured

Syria: Is al-Qaeda rising as ISIL is rolled Back? Is the US de facto Allied with it?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The cessation of hostilities in Syria never included Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) or al-Qaeda (the Nusra Front or Support Front), but it did include some of the de facto allies of al-Qaeda. The Syrian Arab Army and its Shiite militia allies, with Russian air support, have taken […]

Democratic Party

If ISIL falls before November, how will it affect the US Election?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – GOP frontrunner Donald Trump openly attributes his success at the polls to the terrorist attacks on Paris last fall, in which Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) was involved. Ever since Mosul fell to the organization (originally al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia) in June of 2014, it has provoked great concern […]

Iraq

Occupied by ISIL, Besieged by Iraq & US: People of Fallujah lack Food, Firewood

contributors

By Kamal al-Ayash | (Niqash.org) | – – In Islamic State-run Fallujah, locals say they’re running out of everything, including food and medicine. They’re running out furniture too now, as most households are using it to fuel cooking fires. In the courtyard of her house, local woman Um Ahmad is preparing a fire pit. She’s […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Why ISIL/ Daesh attracts Convicts and Felons, not the Pious

contributors

By Anne Aly | (The Conversation) | – – Media outlets were quick to note the criminal backgrounds of the perpetrators of last week’s Brussels terror attacks. Drawing comparisons with those who undertook the November 2015 Paris attacks, this analysis suggested the rise of a new generation of terrorist recruits who are not “radical Islamists” […]

Iraq

Iraq: Shiite Militias issue threats against US Troops going to Iraq to fight Salafi ISIL

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Recently US troops started fighting the [so-called] Islamic State in Iraq [ISIL], with ‘boots on the ground’. But is keeping a distance between the US and some old Shiite enemies hampering the fight? Or is it just good tactics? Iraqis found out that just about […]

Featured

Syria Endgame: Are Russia and US Planning overthrow of ISIL in al-Raqqa?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Russian press had been complaining that the West was ignoring its defeat of terrorism in Syria. But now the Russian press is saying that the US and the Russian Federation are jointly planning to liberate the Syrian city of al-Raqqa, the capital of the phony […]