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Thread: Beyond the frontline: watching ISIS

  1. #241
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    A cascade of comments now. The NYT reports these documents have been around awhile inside Turkey and that the German press got them first, handing them onto their agencies:http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/wo...list.html?_r=0

    The Guardian's regional expert has a sensible overview:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ot-key-secrets
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  2. #242
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    2002 US Joint Chiefs drew up plan to attack Ansar al-Islam camp in Iraq's Kurdistan that was hosting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. White House decided to pass on attack because could've derailed Iraq invasion. Missed opportunity to kill Zarqawi before he led to Al Qaeda in Iraq and eventually the Islamic State. Here's the article.

  3. #243
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    More on the skepticism on the docs. http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...isis-documents

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    Default To Maintain Supply of Sex Slaves, ISIS Pushes Birth Control

    To Maintain Supply of Sex Slaves, ISIS Pushes Birth Control

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  5. #245
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    Default Could Iran and the US Overcome Their Mutual Animosity to Eradicate ISIS?

    Could Iran and the US Overcome Their Mutual Animosity to Eradicate Daesh?

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    Testimony to British parliament said IS still buying dollars at Central Bank of Iraq auctions and then re-selling them for a profit. Estimated that IS was making $20-$25 mil/month. Here's a link to the article.

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    Default Death of U.S. Marine in Iraq Highlights Use of Troops from Navy Ships in ISIS War

    Death of U.S. Marine in Iraq Highlights Use of Troops from Navy Ships in ISIS War

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    Default Defeats in Mideast Raise ISIS Threat to the West

    Defeats in Mideast Raise ISIS Threat to the West

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  9. #249
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    Default The ISIS Health System: An Open Source Intel Report

    The DAESH Health System: An Open Source Intel Report

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  10. #250
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    Default US Attack in Syria Kills ISIS Heir Apparent, Pentagon Says

    US Attack in Syria Kills ISIS Heir Apparent, Pentagon Says

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  11. #251
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    Default How religious are 'Islamic terrorists' like ISIL?

    Last month Medhi Hassan gave this spirited, very short explanation on 'How religious are 'Islamic terrorists' like ISIL? Mehdi Hasan challenges the common view that ISIL or al-Qaeda attackers are devout Muslims.'

    Simply brilliant (2m45secs):http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/...042236009.html
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 06-22-2016 at 10:49 AM. Reason: Was a stand-alone thread with 3.6k views.
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  12. #252
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    Another great piece by Charlie Winter on IS's propaganda work. Here's a link to the article.

  13. #253
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    Default Intel Analysts: We Were Forced Out for Telling the Truth About Obama’s ISIS War

    Intel Analysts: We Were Forced Out for Telling the Truth About Obama’s ISIS War

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  14. #254
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    Default What one SME found in 10% of the forms

    Yassin Musharbash, a German-Jordanian journalist, has published his analysis of 10% of the 30k forms, along with two comments:http://abususu.blogspot.co.uk/2016/0...te-entry.html?

    Some stats:
    Just under ten per cent offer to die as suicide bombers ("Istishhadi"). Even less want to be an Ighimasi. The vast majority opts to become a "fighter" ("muqatil").
    Roughly three quarters think of their own knowledge of Sharia as "weak".
    The large majority of recruits is aged between 20 and 30 and appears to have had no real jobs or jobs that require little training or have had no advanced schooling.
    The anecdotal observations give us an idea of the spectrum we can find within the IS: veterans of Jihad next to beginners, professionals next to scared people, educated and skilled people next to untrained and probably not very intelligent recruits. Not all of these will turn out to be master warriors, master terrorists or even master administration officials.
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  15. #255
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    Default On ISIS: The Reality of the 21st Century Battlefield

    On ISIS: The Reality of the 21st Century Battlefield

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  16. #256
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    Default U.S. Ratchets Up Cyber Attacks on ISIS

    From The Daily Beast:http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...s-on-isis.html

    As in the practice in DC after remarks by the President:
    Three U.S. officials told The Daily Beast that those operations have moved beyond mere disruption and are entering a new, more aggressive phase that is targeted at individuals and is gleaning intelligence that could help capture and kill more ISIS fighters.
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  17. #257
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    Default Now CTC says

    Via Twitter I learnt that CTC @ West Point has examined the files and published a report:
    The analysts believe the documents, which were also given to a British media outlet, are genuine and the details in them revelatory.
    Either this:http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isi...cruits-n557411

    Or:https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-c...er-paper-trail

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  18. #258
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    Default America Can’t Do Much About ISIS

    Stephen Biddle has a hard hitting article, which few will like, but alas he is probably right. Here is a taster:
    In fact, we have a lot of evidence on wars like this and how they typically end. But it’s not a very encouraging story. The Islamic State threat is likely to persist, in one form or another, for a long time. In the meantime, we’re going to be stuck with a policy that amounts to containment and damage limitation, whose shortcomings will frustrate many Americans. Civil wars of the kind in which the U.S. conflict with the Islamic State is embedded are notoriously hard to terminate and typically drag on for years.
    Link:http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2016...t-isis/127644/
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  19. #259
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    Default Islamic State: In Retreat or Transition?

    A short article by Professor Paul Rogers; his summary:
    Twenty months after the beginning of the US-led coalition air war against the self-styled Islamic State, the movement is definitively in retreat in Iraq and Syria and the US is increasingly, if secretively, pursuing a combined air and ground campaign. Yet IS is proving adaptive in holding core territory, not least around Mosul and Raqqa, in co-opting armed Islamist groups beyond the Levant, and in attacking Western and Russian interests beyond the battlefield. As per its “remaining and expanding” goals, the expansion of IS’s propaganda war to mobilise supporters globally is ever more crucial as its ability to remain is threatened.
    Link:http://oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/pu..._or_transition
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  20. #260
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    Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
    Stephen Biddle has a hard hitting article, which few will like, but alas he is probably right. Here is a taster:
    Link:http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2016...t-isis/127644/
    Definitely a very intersting read.

    Now, by side that it's 'right on the money', can't help but observe that the title (and some of content too), sound apologetic, or at least 'on the search for excuse' in style of, 'we can't do anything there, so better we do not meddle'. The last-before-last paragraph reads like a list of all the US (though not only US: EU's, Middle Eastern, Russian etc.) mistakes - especially in Syria, but in Iraq too.

    Anyway, the feature still contains loads of more in-depth thinking than usually provided in such articles.

    The only thing I'm really missing would be the question: what to do with the Daesh once it is defeated? Slaughter all of them - to the last wife and kid? Re-educate them? Convert them...?

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