ISIS/ISIL conflict in Syria/Iraq (No OpEd, No Politics)

PanAsian said:

Actually this is what happens when the Bush administration not only made a major mess out of invading Iraq and claimed "mission accomplished" when it was far from over but also never held accountable Saudi Arabia, the real source of the 9/11 attacks and continued supporter of terrorists the world over.

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

Mission Accomplished was bull, Yet Bush kept up the Pressure.
Bush kept US troops hunting the groups that would eventually become Isis. US forces had there foot on the Throat of the insurgency then the troops were pulled out by the Obama Administration. The intelligence and SF support was pulled and the locals were left to hold the bag.
This Conflict in Iraq is the same war as the one in Syria. The same groups that operated against the US in Iraq are the same ones in Syria. The equipment seized now in Mosul will be cycled into Syria. ISIS in iraq is the same organization as the one in Syria.

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delft said:

What then is the purpose of the US sending lethal and non-lethal material to moderate terrorists in Syria?

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11 June 2014 Last updated at 15:20 ET
Iraqi insurgents 'seize new city'
Islamist insurgents in Iraq have seized the city of Tikrit, their second major gain after capturing Mosul on Tuesday, security officials say.
Tikrit, the hometown of former leader Saddam Hussein, lies 150km (95 miles) north of the capital Baghdad.
Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki vowed to fight back against the jihadists and punish those in the security forces who fled offering little or no resistance.
The insurgents are from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
ISIS, which is also known as ISIL, is an offshoot of al-Qaeda.
It controls considerable territory in eastern Syria and western and central Iraq, in a campaign to set up a Sunni militant enclave straddling the border.
There were also reports on Wednesday of fighting further south, in Samarra, 110km north of Baghdad.
Separately, at least 21 people were killed and 45 hurt by a suicide bomber at a Shia meeting in Baghdad, police said.
'Do not give in'
As many as 500,000 people fled Mosul after the militants attacked the city. The head of the Turkish mission in Mosul and almost 50 consulate staff are being held by the militants, Turkish officials say.
Turkey's foreign minister warned there would be "harsh retaliation" if any of its citizens were harmed.
The insurgents moved quickly south, entering the town of Baiji late on Tuesday.
There were heavy clashes reported in Tikrit, with dozens of insurgents attacking security forces near the headquarters of the Salaheddin provincial government in the city centre.
One eyewitness told the BBC that gunmen had entered the city from four different directions and a police station had been set on fire.
AFP news agency quoted police and witnesses as saying there was fighting at the northern entrance to Samarra.
Earlier Mr Maliki vowed to fight back against the militants. He has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency.
ISIS in Iraq
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has 3,000 to 5,000 fighters, and grew out of an al-Qaeda-linked organisation in Iraq
ISIS has exploited the standoff between the Iraqi government and the minority Sunni Arab community, which complains that Shia PM Nouri Maliki is monopolising power
It has already taken over Ramadi and Falluja, but taking over Mosul is a far greater feat than anything the movement has achieved so far, and will send shockwaves throughout the region
The organisation is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - an obscure figure regarded as a battlefield commander and tactician. He was once the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, one of the groups that later became ISIS.
Critical test ahead for Iraq
Six things that went wrong for Iraq
How did Iraqi militants take over Mosul?
In pictures: Iraq cities attacked
In a live TV address, he said a "conspiracy" had taken place in Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province.
Mr Maliki said he did not want to apportion blame for who had ordered the security personnel "to retreat and cause chaos".
He added: "Those who deserted and did not carry out their jobs properly should be punished."
Mr Maliki told the people of Nineveh: "Do not give in. We are with you, the state is with you, the army is with you. Even if the battle is a long one, we will not let you down."
He pledged to "reorganise the armed forces to cleanse Nineveh of the terrorists".
The BBC's Jim Muir says people in Mosul are reporting that militants there have been travelling around the city telling them they are not in danger - even the Shia residents - and that people should go back to work.
ISIS has been informally controlling much of Nineveh for months, and in the past week has attacked other areas of western and northern Iraq, killing scores of people.
The US has condemned the militants, but BBC world affairs correspondent Paul Adams says the West's response is not going to be military, as there is no appetite to return to a battleground that claimed thousands of British and American lives.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said there was "no question" of British troops returning to Iraq, five years after they ended combat operations there.
He said that the Iraqi government had "considerable resources" and it was up to its armed forces to respond.
The Iraqi government is struggling with a surge in sectarian violence that killed almost 800 people, including 603 civilians, in May alone, according to the UN. Last year, more than 8,860 people died.

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11 June 2014 Last updated at 12:21 ET
Rwanda and DR Congo 'battle over kidnapped soldier'
Rwandan forces and troops from DR Congo are fighting each other on their shared border, the Congolese information minister says.
Lambert Mende told the BBC the battle began when a unit of Rwandan soldiers crossed over the border and attacked early on Wednesday.
After fighting for nearly two hours, the Rwandans kidnapped an army corporal and went home, he said.
Clashes resumed when the Congolese learnt the officer had been killed.
The Rwandan authorities have yet to comment on the violence.
The neighbours have had a fractious relationship since the 1994 genocide when those accused of involvement in the killings of an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus set up a militia in eastern DR Congo.
Mr Mende said the fighting was in Buhumba in North Kivu province.
The Rwandan soldiers came over the border at about 04:30 local time (03:30 GMT), he told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme.
He said the fighting had broken out again in the afternoon when Congolese soldiers heard the news about their captured colleague.
"There is now fighting. There are also talks - we need really to know what is happening with them," Mr Mende said.
Rwanda has been accused by the UN of playing a part in the unrest in DR Congo over the years, a charge it denies.
Most recently it was accused of backing a rebellion by the M23 - a mainly ethnic Tutsi movement, which was defeated by the Congolese military and a special UN brigade in November.
Troublesome neighbours
April-June 1994: Genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda
June 1994: Paul Kagame's Tutsi rebels take power in Rwanda, Hutu fighters flee into Zaire (DR Congo)
Rwanda's army enters eastern Zaire to pursue Hutu fighters
1997: Laurent Kabila's AFDL, backed by Rwanda, takes power in Kinshasa
1998: Rwanda accuses Kabila of not acting against Hutu rebels and tries to topple him, sparking five years of conflict
2003: War officially ends but Hutu and Tutsi militias continue to clash in eastern DR Congo
2008: Tutsi-led CNDP rebels march on North Kivu capital, Goma - 250,000 people flee
2009: Rwanda and DR Congo agree peace deal and CNDP integrated into Congolese army
2012: M23 mutiny led by former CNDP leader Bosco "Terminator" Ntaganda
2013: M23, which Rwanda denies backing, is defeated

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

You would have to ask Susan Rice or Obama.. This is a Administration is slapping it's friends kissing it's enemies and backing away to Isolationism well arming the people we don't want armed.
It makes no sense to me. The pull out set the two major powers in Iraq the Kurds and the State against each other so the Kurds pulled back well the Jihadist moved in against a poorly prepared force.

The recent "Trade" with the Taliban is case in point as it legitimized the Taliban.it sent a message across the reigion that The US would not lift a finger if the Taliban took Afganistan back.
The Arms reduction program in Syria legitimized Assad and played against the Administration's own stated wants.

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solarz said:

I wonder if this is the whole idea behind Obama's Pacific Pivot. He's trying to make peace with Al-Qaeda so he can concentrate on China...

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delft said:

ISIS has conquered a large part of Northern Iraq and the Dutch foreign minister said this morning on my favorite radio station among other things that the Iraqi's should solve their own problems and that Assad cooperates with ISIS.
It seems to me that the US and its satellites are punishing Iraq for not allowing US garrisons to remain. And perhaps the US doesn't want a quarrel with Saudi Arabia.
In the mean time Turkey has called for a meeting of the NATO council in Brussels.

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delft said:

ISIS has conquered a large part of Northern Iraq and the Dutch foreign minister said this morning on my favorite radio station among other things that the Iraqi's should solve their own problems and that Assad cooperates with ISIS.
It seems to me that the US and its satellites are punishing Iraq for not allowing US garrisons to remain. And perhaps the US doesn't want a quarrel with Saudi Arabia.
In the mean time Turkey has called for a meeting of the NATO council in Brussels.

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asif iqbal said:

Well ISIS already made big mistake they are holding Turkish nationals and that's never a good idea

Erdogan has said if Turkish citizens are harmed then they will be accountable

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