asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
Pla wolf must admit that was hell of a post ? Are you doing PhD in political science lol
ISIS/ISIL conflict in Syria/Iraq (No OpEd, No Politics)
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
Tunisia would have been much less vulnerable without the destruction of the Libyan state.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Islamic State propaganda: what the West doesn't understand
July 9, 2015 - 9:41AM
Beirut: Behind the ultra-violent execution videos that have become the Islamic State's disturbing trademark is a carefully calibrated set of messages aimed not at terrorising but at recruiting people to "an alternative way of living".
In the last two months the terrorist group has begun publishing photographs depicting shops on the street and corner ice cream parlours along with descriptions of economic prosperity in areas under its control, Charlie Winter, a senior researcher at the UK-based counter-extremism think-tank Quilliam told Fairfax Media.
It is a narrative the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group has not come close to countering, Winter argues in a new report examining the group's first year of propaganda.
"There is a very strong strain of Islamic State propaganda that depicts the caliphate as a stable place … that is not even being remotely contested right now," Winter says.
This line of propaganda says while justice may be ruthless "if you operate within Islamic State boundaries and its interpretation of what is right and wrong you will be fine – and not only be fine but you will be eating ice cream as well," Winter says.
It is a message that is getting through – not just to new foreign recruits and their families but also to some living in areas under Islamic State control.
In a country that is in its fifth year of civil war, and all the carnage and chaos that comes with it, some say they welcome the security the militants appear to bring.
Electricity is restored, law and order improves and the streets feel safer, some who lived under Islamic State rule in the Syrian border town of Tel Abyad told Fairfax Media.
Their accounts of life under IS provide a small window into both the deep divisions over the extremist group and also the violence and neglect that has laid the groundwork for the group to take, and maintain, so much territory.
Hattam, 20, lives with his extended family in Akcakale, the Turkish town that borders Tel Abyad to which about 30,000 Syrian refugees fled ahead of last month's fighting.
He spent 1.5 years fighting against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with Ahrar al-Sham, one of the largest militia groups operating in Syria. In January 2014, his unit was confronted by IS fighters and he was given an ultimatum: either hand over his weapons and go home or join the militant group.
"I gave them my weapons and I went home," he says, but acknowledges if last month's battle for Tel Abyad had continued any longer, he would have joined the Islamic State group.
And if their Syrian power base of Raqqa is challenged: "I will go to Raqqa to help ISIS defend it."
With IS in charge of his town, "life was much safer, there was no more stealing, everything was more secure," Hatem says.
Before they were driven out by Kurdish forces, the IS soldiers in Tel Abyad were mostly made up of foreign fighters – Chechens, Azerbaijanis and Saudis – who had moved to Syria with their families.
"They were the best to deal with … if you follow Sharia you are OK, they will have nothing to do with you. If you go the wrong way they would take you and you would appear before a judge," Hatem says.
"I know the limits that would make them angry," Hatem says. "For me, it was my lifestyle already: I pray, I go to the mosque and I do not smoke, but those who smoked were not happy."
There is no doubt, Winter says, that some want to live under the Islamic State but "for the majority of people living under them it was the least worst option … not because they believe in their aims and ideals."
The full body of Islamic State propaganda is vast and unprecedented, he says, with an average of three videos and four photographic reports circulated each day.
There are daily radio news bulletins in multiple languages, including Arabic,
Turkish, Kurdish, English, French and Russian, as well as fully produced nashīds (Islamic recitals sung a cappella), while feature-length films depicting its most cruel acts emerge on a monthly basis, the report found.
"Like any mass movement, it captures the imaginations of its potential recruits by offering both immediate change and the ability to transform their future and … an alternate way of living."
For the international audience, the use of brutality by Islamic State is a red herring, Winter's paper argues, that has "fatally derailed mainstream understanding of the organisation and its appeal to its many thousands of foreign recruits."
"While brutality is easily the most prominent of these narratives in the West, utopianism is by far the most important narrative for Islamic State's propagandists; it is the organisation's utopian offer that is most alluring to new recruits."
Unless this utopia is challenged, he says, any attempts to interrupt the flow of propaganda are doomed to fail.
Western Governments' reluctance to tackle the Assad regime was also working against efforts to counter the extremists' message, especially with Syria's Sunni community who have experienced relentless bombardment from the regime air strikes over the last four years of war, Winter says.
And laws that criminalise foreign fighters who turn their backs on the Islamic State and return home, such as those enacted this year by the Abbott Government in Australia, also hamper efforts to push back against the propaganda machine.
"These people are very important resources for counter messaging efforts and putting them in jail can be very harmful to that cause," Winter says.
Acknowledging the need to improve its outreach in support of the international coalition against the Islamic State – of which Australia is a member – the United States and the United Arab Emirates launched a "multinational online messaging and engagement program" on Wednesday.
The Sawab Centre will use direct online engagement to counter terrorist propaganda, including messages used to recruit foreign fighters, fundraise for illicit activities, and intimidate and terrorise local populations, the United States announced overnight.
The centre plans also engage and expand the network of people willing to speak out against the terrorist group's propaganda, recruitment and fundraising efforts, the US statement said.
ShahryarHedayat
Junior Member
Pentagon: We Found Only 60 ‘Moderate’ Syrian Rebels to Train
As US President Barack Obama pledges increased support for Syria’s moderate opposition in the fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State terror group, the Pentagon is saying that there may not be enough of such an opposition to support.
Speaking at the Pentagon on Monday, President Obama reiterated that a successful defeat of IS militants needed local cooperation with ground forces in Syria and Iraq.
"The strong consensus is in order for us to succeed…we have to develop local security forces that can sustain progress."
And so, as part of a broader effort to degrade and ultimately destroy the extremists, the Obama administration has been training and equipping ground forces in Syria and Iraq to combat the terror group, while it leads an airstrike campaign against its territory.
"It is going to be vital for us to make sure that we are preparing the kinds of local ground forces and security forces with our partners that can not only succeed ISIL, but then sustain in terms of security and in terms of grievance."
The only problem with this strategy, it seems, is that there simply aren’t enough people for the Pentagon to train. At least not the kind they are looking for.
Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter publicly admitted that the Pentagon’s training efforts are a far cry away from their stated goal. The initial goal of the program was to train 3,000-5,000 fighters each year. So far, they have only been able to train 60 Syrian rebels.
"I said the number 60, and I can look out at your faces and you have the same reaction I do, which is that that’s an awfully small number," Carter told the committee.
The reason for the low number, according to Carter, is the strict vetting process required to identify these so-called moderate rebels. Not only do the fighters have to pass a counter-intelligence screening, but the Pentagon must also ensure that they are opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and that they are committed to fighting IS.
While conceding that the numbers were indeed much lower than expected or needed, Carter continued to back the program, saying that it was "essential" and adding that he expects the numbers to improve.
The defense secretary said the Pentagon was currently vetting around 7,000 prospective recruits. However, given the complicated, and often contradictory requirements, it is difficult to imagine that the Department of Defense will be able to up their 60 recruits to a significant enough force.
Committee Chairman Senator John McCain was quick to slam the administration’s efforts, noting that IS was gaining territory in Syria and Iraq and expanding influence in the region, and in Africa and Central Asia.
"Our means and our current level of effort are not aligned with our ends," he said. "That suggests we are not winning, and when you are winning in war, you are losing."
"It’s not that we’re doing nothing," he added. "It’s that there is no compelling reason to believe that anything we are doing currently will be sufficient to achieve the president’s long-stated goal of degrading or ultimately destroying ISIL, either in the short term or the long term."
The training efforts have also slowed down in Iraq, largely due to rampant sectarianism in the country, and a lack of trainees. According to Carter, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi’s efforts to establish an inclusive government in Baghdad are being met with resistance, adding that "Abadi doesn’t have absolute control in Baghdad."
There are roughly 3,500 US troops in Iraq training around 11,000 Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, and 2,000 counter terrorism personnel. Iraq’s security forces are currently being trained to retake the strategic city of Ramadi, captured by IS fighters in May. The Iraqi army has however been struggling to recover from its collapse nearly a year ago in Mosul, when many of commanders and soldiers fled as IS fighters swept through swaths of territory in northern and western Iraq.
"This will be a test of the competence of the Iraqi security forces," Carter said about the campaign to retake Ramadi. "And it’s a test they must pass…we’re going to take the time and encourage them to take the time so that the operation, when they do conduct it, is successful."
other sources:
LOL...
As US President Barack Obama pledges increased support for Syria’s moderate opposition in the fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State terror group, the Pentagon is saying that there may not be enough of such an opposition to support.
Speaking at the Pentagon on Monday, President Obama reiterated that a successful defeat of IS militants needed local cooperation with ground forces in Syria and Iraq.
"The strong consensus is in order for us to succeed…we have to develop local security forces that can sustain progress."
And so, as part of a broader effort to degrade and ultimately destroy the extremists, the Obama administration has been training and equipping ground forces in Syria and Iraq to combat the terror group, while it leads an airstrike campaign against its territory.
"It is going to be vital for us to make sure that we are preparing the kinds of local ground forces and security forces with our partners that can not only succeed ISIL, but then sustain in terms of security and in terms of grievance."
The only problem with this strategy, it seems, is that there simply aren’t enough people for the Pentagon to train. At least not the kind they are looking for.
Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter publicly admitted that the Pentagon’s training efforts are a far cry away from their stated goal. The initial goal of the program was to train 3,000-5,000 fighters each year. So far, they have only been able to train 60 Syrian rebels.
"I said the number 60, and I can look out at your faces and you have the same reaction I do, which is that that’s an awfully small number," Carter told the committee.
The reason for the low number, according to Carter, is the strict vetting process required to identify these so-called moderate rebels. Not only do the fighters have to pass a counter-intelligence screening, but the Pentagon must also ensure that they are opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and that they are committed to fighting IS.
While conceding that the numbers were indeed much lower than expected or needed, Carter continued to back the program, saying that it was "essential" and adding that he expects the numbers to improve.
The defense secretary said the Pentagon was currently vetting around 7,000 prospective recruits. However, given the complicated, and often contradictory requirements, it is difficult to imagine that the Department of Defense will be able to up their 60 recruits to a significant enough force.
Committee Chairman Senator John McCain was quick to slam the administration’s efforts, noting that IS was gaining territory in Syria and Iraq and expanding influence in the region, and in Africa and Central Asia.
"Our means and our current level of effort are not aligned with our ends," he said. "That suggests we are not winning, and when you are winning in war, you are losing."
"It’s not that we’re doing nothing," he added. "It’s that there is no compelling reason to believe that anything we are doing currently will be sufficient to achieve the president’s long-stated goal of degrading or ultimately destroying ISIL, either in the short term or the long term."
The training efforts have also slowed down in Iraq, largely due to rampant sectarianism in the country, and a lack of trainees. According to Carter, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi’s efforts to establish an inclusive government in Baghdad are being met with resistance, adding that "Abadi doesn’t have absolute control in Baghdad."
There are roughly 3,500 US troops in Iraq training around 11,000 Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, and 2,000 counter terrorism personnel. Iraq’s security forces are currently being trained to retake the strategic city of Ramadi, captured by IS fighters in May. The Iraqi army has however been struggling to recover from its collapse nearly a year ago in Mosul, when many of commanders and soldiers fled as IS fighters swept through swaths of territory in northern and western Iraq.
"This will be a test of the competence of the Iraqi security forces," Carter said about the campaign to retake Ramadi. "And it’s a test they must pass…we’re going to take the time and encourage them to take the time so that the operation, when they do conduct it, is successful."
other sources:
LOL...
broadsword
Brigadier
The US should send their Marines and fight alongside the Iranians. The ISIS scourge is already a major CRISIS and needs another shock and awe.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
ISIS is bad no doubt, but who do you back? The rearing Cobra? The Rattling Rattle Snake? the Angry Pit Viper? The Black Mamba at your feet?
Whoever you back is just as likely to bite you in the long run.
Injecting more US forces into the Middle of this would be giving Everyone more American Targets Which they would all love to kill, AQ, ISIS, Hezbollah, IRGC
Iran has it's own wants from this and in terms of trying to work with them...at best it would be playing to them which in the long run is likely to cause the US more problems. Remember Iran is a nation that regularly has rousing chants of "Death to America" held in public Official Government Forums.
As ShahryarHedayat likes to remind us, at the heart of the leadership of the Militia the Iraqi Government is using these days are Iranian Advisers. So helping Iran is handing Iraq To Iran. Period. That's not going to Help US interests in the long run It might help fight ISIS but what then?
Okay moving on.
Whoever you back is just as likely to bite you in the long run.
Injecting more US forces into the Middle of this would be giving Everyone more American Targets Which they would all love to kill, AQ, ISIS, Hezbollah, IRGC
Iran has it's own wants from this and in terms of trying to work with them...at best it would be playing to them which in the long run is likely to cause the US more problems. Remember Iran is a nation that regularly has rousing chants of "Death to America" held in public Official Government Forums.
As ShahryarHedayat likes to remind us, at the heart of the leadership of the Militia the Iraqi Government is using these days are Iranian Advisers. So helping Iran is handing Iraq To Iran. Period. That's not going to Help US interests in the long run It might help fight ISIS but what then?
Okay moving on.
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TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
As if I needed more proof that the whole affair is going to end in disaster
green text highlights, underlines and bold by me to emphasis. The US Government is Arming the Iraqi state who in tern is .Arming Groups who are Under US Law Recognized Terrorist Organizations. Yes ISIS is evil, but is this (so called) Strategy the lesser of Evils? And If ISIS is defeated What happens to all the US Arms given to Groups like this? does any one Seriously think They will be returned? Or that Iran will not be upgrading there armory with all the Secrets they gained from The new US Tech this has given them?
green text highlights, underlines and bold by me to emphasis. The US Government is Arming the Iraqi state who in tern is .Arming Groups who are Under US Law Recognized Terrorist Organizations. Yes ISIS is evil, but is this (so called) Strategy the lesser of Evils? And If ISIS is defeated What happens to all the US Arms given to Groups like this? does any one Seriously think They will be returned? Or that Iran will not be upgrading there armory with all the Secrets they gained from The new US Tech this has given them?