By Brian Glyn Williams | (Informed Comment) | – – It was the sort of invitation that causes both excitement and trepidation, an invite to visit the autonomous mountain enclave in northern Iraq known as Kurdistan to carry out field research. It was exciting because we were being given an “inside track” to a moderate […]
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Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
The Surprising Reason we Keep Falling for ISIL/ Daesh Propaganda
Haroro J. Ingram | (The Conversation) | – – The rise of [the so-called] Islamic State [group] (IS) has reaffirmed what al-Qaeda and the Taliban proved last decade: strategic communications, particularly counter-propaganda efforts, remains one of the key weaknesses of Western counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency strategy. In November 2007, the then-US defence secretary, Robert Gates, said: […]
UNESCO: “Deepest Concerns” for Mideast Christianity after Daesh/ISIL Razes oldest Iraqi Monastery
UNESCO | (Media Services) | – – “I express my deepest concerns after the destruction of the Monastery of St Elijah. It was the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq and an invaluable testimony to the rich cultural and religious diversity of the country. For 1,400 years the monastery stood as a place of worship and […]
Arabs Caught between Trump and ISIL: Casino Capitalism driving backward Identity Politics Worldwide
Maged Mandour | ( OpenDemocracy) | – – Backwards looking politics is a malaise affecting both the west and east. It breeds violence as global elites clamber to maintain their grip on power. Flickr/Darron Birgenheier. Some rights reserved.Comments by leading republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, on banning Muslims from entering the United States garnered […]
Daesh/ ISIL carries off 400 Women & Children from Deir al-Zor to a fate worse than Death
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) on Sunday attacked an isolated outpost of the Syrian Arab Army in a few neighborhoods in the north of the city of Deir al-Zor, which are surrounded by Daesh from every side. The SAA also still controls a military airfield just north of […]
Istanbul explosion: overview of this year’s surge in terror attacks in Turkey
France 24 | (Video News Report) | – – “Istanbul explosion: overview of this year’s surge in violence and terror attacks in Turkey. As no claim of responsibility has been issued for the blast in Istanbul, three main suspects have been unveiled: the Islamic state group, eager to take revenge on Turkey for its harder […]
Thwarted Territorially in Ramadi, Daesh reverts to Terrorism in Baghdad
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – One of the problems Iraq and Syria will face as Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) is gradually rolled back from its territorial acquisitions is that it will demobilize its conventional forces and return to being a terrorist organization. It may be in some ways more dangerous under the […]
Politics, not just Bombs, will defeat ISIL/ Daesh
By Frank-Walter Steinmeier | (Project Syndicate) | – – BERLIN – The November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris – which struck at the heart of France and of Europe as a whole – have brought the terrorist threat posed by the [so-called] Islamic State [group] (ISIS) to the forefront of the foreign-policy agenda. For me, […]
ISIL/ Daesh Threatens to attack Saudi Arabia after Executions
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) has pledged to attack and destroy the two Saudi political prisons, al-Ha’ir (Riyadh) and al-Tarfiya (Qaseem region), where Muslim radicals are typically held, and release their inmates. These prisons hold several thousand Saudis accused of involvement in terrorism. It was the organization’s first […]