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Syria reported to have use Chemical Warfare

Started by Suu, April 23, 2013, 02:08:50 PM

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Junkenstein

Oh shit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28265064

QuoteIraqi Kurds have taken over two oil fields amid a growing dispute with the government in Baghdad, Iraqi and Kurdish sources say.

Kurdish peshmerga forces seized control of production facilities at the Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oil fields in the north of the country on Friday.

Kurdish MPs have also withdrawn from Iraq's central government.

They did so after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki accused the Kurds of harbouring extremists.

QuoteTensions came to a head when Prime Minister Maliki said on Wednesday that the Kurdish provincial capital Irbil was a haven for Isis fighters.

Soon after, a spokesman for Massoud Barzani said Mr Maliki "had become hysterical" and urged him to step down.

Obligatory map update:



Nine naked Men just walking down the road will cause a heap of trouble for all concerned.

Junkenstein

QuoteSuicide attackers have mounted a bomb and gun attack on a prison convoy in Iraq, killing 51 prisoners and nine police officers, security sources say.

Roadside bombs exploded as the convoy was taking the prisoners from the town of Taji to the capital, Baghdad, justice ministry and medical sources told Reuters.

Gunmen opened fire and a battle ensued with security forces, AFP reports.

There were no immediate figures for casualties among the militants.

The prisoners, who were suspected militants, had been evacuated in the convoy after mortar rounds hit military bases in Taji at dawn on Thursday, Iraqi officials told AP.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28459360

That's around 75+ in two attacks in a couple of days. I can't work out if the intention was to capture the militants for themselves or release them. I'd guess kill them due to the use of bombs but again it seems odd. Why not go after a target that's not a prisoner and almost assuredly more of a threat?
Nine naked Men just walking down the road will cause a heap of trouble for all concerned.

Cain

It's a convoy, so it's not unusual.  Blow the lead and the rear guard, shoot anyone still standing and release the prisoners.

Also, ISIS.  Or an affiliated group.  ISIS have done a number of jailbreaks over the last year, including launching a successful attack on Abu Ghraib.  It's their style, and within their means.

Junkenstein

Ah, yes. Being a fool, I'd forgotten about those.

Thinking about that, it's a great way to inspire loyalty to the cause. You'll probably hold up much better as a prisoner if you know there's a reasonable chance you might just get busted out. Also allows for excellent propaganda.
Nine naked Men just walking down the road will cause a heap of trouble for all concerned.

Cain

Damn.  ISIS steamrollered the Peshmerga like they did the Iraqi Army.  The Kurds lost bad, and are relying on Iraqi Air Force to support their pushback.

Junkenstein

Still early days, relatively speaking.

I suspect that the Kurds are unlikely to just shrug and leave it at that.
Nine naked Men just walking down the road will cause a heap of trouble for all concerned.

Cain

True, but not the point.  Peshmerga are the most powerful military force in Iraq at the moment (Iran is potentially more powerful, but constrained by political reasons).  ISIS beat them.

Will the Peshmerga hit back?  Call up their more veteran soldiers?  Have a better battleplan next time?  Sure.  But everyone was relying on the Kurds and they fucked it up.  Furthermore, if this losing streak continues, we will have to ask some hard questions about our current assessment of ISIS's military strength.

The Good Reverend Roger

I'm hearing hysterical shit about ISIS beheading Christian children.

I am at the moment assuming this is RWN propaganda.
" It's just that Depeche Mode were a bunch of optimistic loveburgers."
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"Billy, when I say that ethics is our number one priority and safety is also our number one priority, you should take that to mean exactly what I said. Also quality. That's our number one priority as well. Don't look at me that way, you're in the corporate world now and this is how it works."
- TGRR, raising the bar at work.

LMNO

Speaking of RWHN, I just saw some clickbait claiming that someone caught Ebola from smoking a joint.

Junkenstein

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on August 07, 2014, 08:36:23 PM
I'm hearing hysterical shit about ISIS beheading Christian children.

I am at the moment assuming this is RWN propaganda.

Everything is propaganda.

Cain, question: is it likely there is a solid estimation of Isis numbers/strength but they still hold a strong advantage from planning stage leaving various parties looking slow? Suspect planning has been far more detailed than previously thought.

Also angles of victories being positive feedback loop in these conflicts, much easier to steamroller successes/ harder to stem losses. Highly motivated fighters(jail breaks) also allows for extreme tactics(suicide bombs/missions with no hope of return etc)?

Possible benefits via leadership structure too? The various nation boundaries involved again help only Isis.
Nine naked Men just walking down the road will cause a heap of trouble for all concerned.

Pæs

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/middle-east/10362462/US-orders-airstrikes-in-Iraq

QuoteUS President Barack Obama says he's authorised the US military to carry out airstrikes in Iraq against Islamic militants if they advance toward the city of Erbil.

Cain

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on August 07, 2014, 08:36:23 PM
I'm hearing hysterical shit about ISIS beheading Christian children.

I am at the moment assuming this is RWN propaganda.

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me.

Iraq does have a small but significant Christian population. Christians were ethnically (religiously?) cleansed from Mosul, many were robbed and some were tortured and killed while trying to leave.

There's also a certain mountain in northern Iraq where lots of Christians have been fleeing to, which is currently surrounded by ISIS forces.

Plus there is the overall fundamentalism of ISIS...which sees even other Sunni Muslims as apostates and pagans and treats accordingly.  The stories out of Raqqa are like something out of Taliban Afghanistan, mixed with Nazi Germany.

I would be suspicious of anyone who focuses overly on Christians though.  ISIS hates everyone, and most of their victims are Sunni Muslim, then Shiite.

Cain

Quote from: Junkenstein on August 07, 2014, 11:41:19 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on August 07, 2014, 08:36:23 PM
I'm hearing hysterical shit about ISIS beheading Christian children.

I am at the moment assuming this is RWN propaganda.

Everything is propaganda.

Cain, question: is it likely there is a solid estimation of Isis numbers/strength but they still hold a strong advantage from planning stage leaving various parties looking slow? Suspect planning has been far more detailed than previously thought.

Also angles of victories being positive feedback loop in these conflicts, much easier to steamroller successes/ harder to stem losses. Highly motivated fighters(jail breaks) also allows for extreme tactics(suicide bombs/missions with no hope of return etc)?

Possible benefits via leadership structure too? The various nation boundaries involved again help only Isis.

ISIS have been planning this offensive for at least the past 6 months.  Plus Saddam-era Iraqi officers/intelligence and battle experience gained in Syria may all give them an edge.  Numbers vary, but I've seen credible estimates of ISIS having around 11,00 fighters in both countries

Cain

Quote from: Pæs on August 08, 2014, 01:48:37 AM
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/middle-east/10362462/US-orders-airstrikes-in-Iraq

QuoteUS President Barack Obama says he's authorised the US military to carry out airstrikes in Iraq against Islamic militants if they advance toward the city of Erbil.

I can see the reasoning, but as soon as America injects itself directly into the Iraqi conflict, it makes America a tempting and rational target for ISIS.  Given the losers that have been throwing themselves at the DHS for the past decade, I'm not sure American intelligence could handle a concerted ISIS effort at terrorism against them.

Pæs

I've been reading David Kilcullen's 'The Accidental Guerrilla' so find America injecting itself again especially eyebrow raising as he makes the argument there, mainly with regards to Al Qaeda, that a large part of the objective presently is not necessarily to defeat the West but to further gain the East by establishing fanatical cells within the territory of people who would just like to get on with their lives, then provoke the West into attacking and use this interference and military inconvenience to radicalise or at least partially mobilise the locals against the intruders, as the locals will side with the devil they know over American military interference, creating a much larger enemy than actually represents the movement.

Does ISIS employs a similar system? (I don't know, this may just be me stuck on what I'm reading at present, I'm yet to gain more than a shallow understanding of ISIS) It seems like moving in again with a very remote impersonal miltary presence seems likely to help such efforts, if they do.