Islamic State Watch

[Duncan Gardner]

Islamic State Watch

Shukran, Nocto

[linus]

Islamic State Watch

This being the catch-all thread on Syria, there is a very good three-part series of short graphic novels that has been running in the Guardian:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2015/nov/12/a-perilous-journey-haskos-story-syrian-refugee

http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2015/nov/11/a-perilous-journey-khalids-story-syrian-refugee

[Antepli Ejderha]

Islamic State Watch

IS bombed the Shia South Beruit yesterday killing 40 plus.

The Iraqi Kurds say that they have retaken Sinjar.

Turkey has reportedly captured a British accomplice of Mohammed Emwazi.

[jason voorhees]

Islamic State Watch

Abu Shuja.

Brave dude.

[Satchmo Distel]

Islamic State Watch

Can someone briefly summarize why the organization is known by so many acronyms? There's a useful article here but is it complete?

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/paris-attacks-what-does-daesh-mean-why-does-isis-hate-n463551

[Antepli Ejderha]

Islamic State Watch

Turkey provides air support to allow anti IS forces that they support to recapture villages along the border.

There are so many battles going on along the Turkey Syria border now as at least four rival groups try to gain control of this border.

With IS losing ground in northern Iraq there appears to be infighting between Kurds and Turkmens as the latter accuse the former of a land grab. This is allowing IS to make a comeback in areas they had previously lost.

Any bombing and military defeat of IS is going to create a power vacuum that others are going to try to take advantage of with the Kurds best placed to do this as they are seen as being good by many in the west.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Islamic State Watch

A belated response to Glenn Greenwald

To cite Patrick Cockburn as an ‘expert’ on Syria that anybody, let alone a leftist, could utilise to base their own opinion on is like saying you’d cite Benny Morris as an ‘expert’ on Palestine.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Islamic State Watch

Anonymous are reporting that IS are about to launch a wide range of attacks across the globe.

[ad hoc]

Islamic State Watch

Turkey have just* shot down a Russian jet. This could all explode very fast

(*It's just been reported- not sure when it happened)

[GCostanza]

Islamic State Watch

Seems potentially pretty stupid.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/24/us-mideast-crisis-syria-turkey-idUSKBN0TD0IR20151124

[anton pulisov]

Islamic State Watch

That's erdogan done with now. The Americans will be having none of this.

[Jesus]

Islamic State Watch

Erdogan must be the biggest and most dangerous swine in Europe past few decades.
I've wondered where the IS oil ends up. Seems he's one of the biggest buyers.

[ursus arctos]

Islamic State Watch

The FT recently did an interesting long article on the ISIS oil trade, but it is unfortunately paywalled.

Emergency meeting at NATO in a few hours.

[Magik]

Islamic State Watch

Jesus wrote: Erdogan must be the biggest and most dangerous swine in Europe past few decades.

Yes, he's 10 times worse than Stalin, Hitler and Putin combined.

[ad hoc]

Islamic State Watch

Past few decades would omit Stalin and Hitler, I'm sure. And I'd put him up there with Putin, to be honest. (I'd also put Orban up there, but Orban, thank fuck, has no real power outside Hungary - whereas Erodgan and Putin do)

[DCI Harry Batt]

Islamic State Watch

It would be much better if the Syrian revolutionaries had the weapons to shoot the bastards down themselves. But the US won't allow it.

[N est à?]

Islamic State Watch

Khrushchev invaded Hungary, not Czechoslovakia.

[ad hoc]

Islamic State Watch

I dunno it's pretty clear to me that PPV meant post 89. Never mind

[anton pulisov]

Islamic State Watch

ad hoc wrote: I dunno it's pretty clear to me that PPV meant post 89. Never mind

That's what I thought too. And he's more familiar with the Balkan nutters than anyone else on here.

Turkish ambassador to the US:

"Understand this: Turkey is a country whose warnings should be taken seriously and listened to. Don't test Turkey's patience. Try to win its friendship."

Some diplomat...

[linus]

Islamic State Watch

The US and its allies have armed ISIS, whose main military mission to date has been to destroy and coopt organic Syrian rebellion movements. There has been an ongoing tacit collaboration between ISIS and the Assad regime towards this goal. Last year in Damascus, IS tanks and heavy equipment were let through Syrian army lines unnmolested in order to bomb Palestinian refugee camps.

Erdogan has hosted 2 million Syrian refugees, many times over the number of Syrian refugees in all of Europe combined, so I would hold off the Joe Stalin comparisons. By and large those refugees have been treated better than in places like Jordan.

[Jesus]

Islamic State Watch

ad hoc wrote: I dunno it's pretty clear to me that PPV meant post 89. Never mind

Yes.

I'll give you Milosevic and Tudjman but that was still rather isolated without any risk of it escalating outside the former Yugoslavian borders.

What Erdogan is up to is bringng me back to those history lessons where I learned how the great wars started. Not that I think we will have a wold war but he seems that kind of nutter.

[anton pulisov]

Islamic State Watch

Sky News reporting that the two Russian pilots were shot and killed as they descended in parachutes.

The whole "violating our airspace" thing kind of goes out the window when you decide to piss all over the Geneva convention.

edit: Am now reading that the pilots came down in Syrian airspace and were shot at by one of the rebel groups.

[dalliance]

Islamic State Watch

Violating other countrys' airspace is a very common form of Russian brinksmanship and another tiresome relic dug up from the Cold War era. It's hard for them to complain when it backfires for once.

[linus]

Islamic State Watch

As far as Geneva Conventions go, Russia had no problem providing the hardware for Assad's regime to, among other things, pulverize a city the size of Marseille or Birmingham.

[linus]

Islamic State Watch

Antonio Pulisao wrote: Sky News reporting that the two Russian pilots were shot and killed as they descended in parachutes.

The whole "violating our airspace" thing kind of goes out the window when you decide to piss all over the Geneva convention.

edit: Am now reading that the pilots came down in Syrian airspace and were shot at by one of the rebel groups.

One Russian pilot was shot by Syrian Turkmen brigades, whom the planes have been bombing. It's The plane was shot down by Turkish missiles from across the border. The second pilot might have parachuted on an area held by Kurds, according to AJ.