Terrorism

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 […]

Terrorism

ISIL and the New Sex Slavery

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – (Beirut) – The extremist armed group Islamic State should urgently release Yezidi women and girls they abducted in 2014, Human Rights Watch said today, following new research with recent escapees who were raped and traded between members before they fled. [The so-called] Islamic State (also known as ISIS) also […]

Terrorism

Activism v. Stereotypes: Women fighting Extremism aren’t just Victims or Amazon Soldiers

contributors

By Sanam Naraghi Anderlini | (Inter Press Service) | – – WASHINGTON DC, Apr 6 2016 (IPS) – Violent extremism is the topic du jour, as government officials are busy developing plans of action on “preventing or countering violent extremism” (P/CVE). In these plans there is dutiful reference to engaging “women”. The more progressive mention […]

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” […]

Featured

Syrian Ceasefire in Tatters as al-Qaeda & allies attack in South Aleppo

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The London pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reports that the rebel opposition allied with al-Qaeda broke the ceasefire Saturday morning, taking several villages and towns in the southern hinterlands of Aleppo. The attack was launched with suicide car-bombers who detonated their payload, targeting Syrian Arab Army troops and […]

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 […]