MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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Why ISIL has been so successful on the battlefield
By Michael Wolraich on Sat, 08/09/2014 - 3:36pm |Via a TPM reader, this description of ISIL's tactics provides the best explanation I've seen for their surprising battlefield successes in Iraq and Syria
URL:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/shock-and-awe
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Comments
Maliki is lacking the Jihad blood lust factor described in the article. ISIS has it. Boko haram has it. Al qaeda has it. Hamas has it. Assad has it. Saddam had it.
Put Maliki in an Iraqi Army uniform with a chest full of gold braid and medals. Get GW Bush to give him Saddam's gun from his Library.
From the highest balcony in Baghdad, Maliki harangues his troops to fight to the death, waves the pistol, and empties a clip in the air before cheering crowds. Hey......it worked for Saddam.
by NCD on Sat, 08/09/2014 - 8:39pm
To paraphrase, "I knew Saddam Husseiin,....and President Maliki, you are no Saddam Hussein"
By way of illustration, recall for how many months the 25 million dollar bounty failed to entice someone to snitch Saddam off...per contra, how long do you think Maliki would survive on the run with that kind of money hanging over him...or George W. Bush, for that matter?
by jollyroger on Sun, 08/10/2014 - 7:08pm
The article makes some good points. But it didn't complete the cycle of observing when outside resources give combatants the upper hand. What was true for the Peshmerga in the past is true for ISIL right now; Without a supply line and an intelligence resource, these guys are toast.
All the examples the article brought up mentioned or assumed the reader knew where that kind of support came from. It did not give a similar breakdown of who is supporting ISIL.
by moat on Sun, 08/10/2014 - 6:28pm
I love the illustration Josh chose, because it fits my own little recent comment narrative so well, even including the Toyota brand.
Forget the Peshmerga, sometimes there are striking similarities with jihadis and like, the Ku Klux Klan. Another picture posted by NCD of Hamas recently brought back ugly reminders along those lines.
I am hoping some day we can all laugh at comedic parodies of these guys because they have become pitiful.
by artappraiser on Sun, 08/10/2014 - 6:51pm
ISIS may have no supply lines as Moat notes, but they are opposed by a totally inept corrupt Maliki government, which Obama has the fantasy that he can encourage to form an inclusive gov't that preserves Iraq geographical integrity..The geo-politcal fact is Iraq is now split along the lines Biden suggested years ago, into 3 parts. With terrorists running the middle section.
It was a BIG DEAL when 2 days ago a Maliki sent a single load of small arms ammo to the Kurds. Wow. He could give a crap about the Kurds, Christians or Yadizis.
Maliki only arms Shiites militias, who are now arming women as the men are cowards, and have often dropped their weapons and run.
The US has been blocking Kurd sale of oil which they need to buy ammo/weapons to defend themselves because Obama imagines Kurd/Maliki 'cooperation'.
Meanwhile ISIS knows exactly what they want, to kill people and take over territory.
It seems fears of more Kurds independence would allow Maliki to do nothing to stop genocide of not only the Yadizis but the Kurds too.
by NCD on Sun, 08/10/2014 - 7:14pm
I will have to think about how it relates to the other elements you bring up but the point of my comment was to strongly suggest that ISIL does have a supply line and a source of wealth to keep it functional.
I am thinking something like: "follow the money."
by moat on Sun, 08/10/2014 - 7:59pm
BBC - President of Iraqi Kurds in appeal for ability to sell oil and buy arms to fight ISIS:
"We are not fighting a terrorist organisation, we are fighting a terrorist state," said Mr Barzani, the president of the Kurdish regional government"
Translation: Dear Obama, and World - Iraq as a geo-politcal entity does not exist anymore.
ISIS in fact controls territory as big as Belgium link.
Maliki sends tanks
into ISIS territory to stop genocide of Iraqis...into streets of Baghdad to keep his incompetent corrupt self and cronies in power.Translation: the hell with the Yadizis and Kurds, ISIS can wipe them out, I am in power here in the Green Zone, that is the only part of Iraq I care about.
Addendum: Turkey says it is 'not supporting' NATO ally US actions against ISIS because ISIS is holding 49 Turkish citizens taken hostage in Mosul.
by NCD on Sun, 08/10/2014 - 11:56pm
Baghdad is approaching chaos and the IS need do nothing but keep up the pressure of the siege to prepare for their inevitable conquest.
The Islamic State doesn't need or want to wipe out any large group in Iraq or anywhere else, they only need to destroy the corrupt Ruling Class which are already on the path of self destruction. The large number of refugees are an effective tactical tool used to weaken and disrupt the Iranian lackeys in Baghdad and the overextended Nationalists Kurds.
The Caliphate is no more of a Terrorist State than the US is, all major powers use terror as a tool against their enemies. In fact the IS is reducing casualties by using their PsyOps to induce their opponents to desert and run and not die fighting a losing battle.
by Peter (not verified) on Mon, 08/11/2014 - 9:46pm
A helpful, informative link. Thanks. Also, helpful this NYTimes interactive Not surprisingly, neither mentions controlling water supplies, hardly anyone ever does, but just a brief look at the map below shows ISIS moving down along the rivers. I think they may have learned to do that from Israel.
by EmmaZahn on Sun, 08/10/2014 - 9:22pm
An interesting little biography, with more than a few items reminding me of he long-gone al-Zarqawi:
by artappraiser on Mon, 08/11/2014 - 6:19pm