Month

Archives: Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

After Brussels, the Strategy of ISIL/ Daesh

By Paul Rogers | (OpenDemocracy) | - - Tunisia, Paris, and now Brussels: escalating attacks on western targets reflect a shift of focus by ISIL. The security consultancy IHS Jane’s has just…

Fall of Palmyra: Syrian regime races to take ISIL’s ‘Berlin’ and forestall ‘Partition’

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - That massive Russian air strikes and a determined infantry and armor assault by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) on the ancient city of…

What would effective Counter-Terrorism look like after Brussels?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The various nostrums proposed to counter Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) terrorism in Europe and North America by Donald Trump and Ted Cruz (armed patrols…

Mosul: Are Civilian Deaths in Coalition Airstrikes Reinforcing ISIL’s Hold?

Special Correspondent | Niqash.org | - - An increase in air strikes on Mosul is causing more civilian casualties. Ordinary people live in fear, the Islamic State uses deaths for propaganda and…

Trump’s and ISIL’s Gray Zones: Radicals’ Terrorism sign of Syria, Iraq Defeat

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - It is no accident that Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) is using Donald Trump in its new recruitment video. Although Trump hasn't killed anyone to…

Remember: Refugees are fleeing ISIL; they aren’t ISIL

Kamal al-Ayash | (Niqash.org) | - - Getting from Turkey to Europe was a cakewalk compared to escaping the [so-called] Islamic State-run city of Fallujah, says one Iraqi. Fleeing families must cross…

Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam Captured in Brussels Firefight

Euractiv.com | - - The most-wanted fugitive from November’s Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, was wounded and caught in a shootout in Brussels on Friday (18 March), according to the Belgian minister for…

Machiavelli: To combat Muslim Extremism, see Prophet Muhammad as bringer of a Constitution

Miguel Vatter | (The Conversation) | - - Everyone wants to die for Allah. We all want to live the best life in the hereafter and we want to make it to…

How to Empower the Women and Girls rescued from ISIL

Leanne K Simpson | (The Conversation) | - - Violence against women, especially in war, is so pervasive around the world it’s often not considered news. But the barbaric treatment of women…

As ISIL goes Global, Will the ‘War on Terror’ extend for Decades?

By Paul Rogers | ( OpenDemocracy.net) | - - The war against ISIL has seen 18 months of of airstrikes by United States-led coalition forces in both Iraq and Syria. An even…

Do Drug Profits actually drive Terrorism in the Muslim World?

Robert Rotberg | (The Conversation) | - - Terrorists are in it as much for the loot as for the ideology. . . . ISIS, could hardly exist, whatever its Islamist fervor,…

Confirmed: ISIL used Mustard Gas Against Kurds in Iraq

TeleSur | - - A chemical weapons investigator confirmed earlier reports that the extremist group used the banned chemical weapon. [ISIL] used chemical weapons against Kurdish militants last year, Reuters reported Monday.…

Why is ISIL still trying to Slaughter and Enslave the ancient Yazidi Minority?

By Brian Glyn Williams | (Informed Comment) | - - On February 3, the New York Times quoted the desperate plea of a Yazidi, a member of an ethnic-religious group facing communal…

VICE Special Report: Fighting Isis (Ben Anderson Debrief)

Journalist Ben Anderson gives a debrief on the current affairs occurring in Iraq and Syria and the events that led to the quagmire we currently see there today.

The ISIL Challenge: Neither WW III nor a Minor Threat

By Julie Poucher Harbin, editor/ Alberto Fernandez | ISLAMiCommentary | - - Dozens of Middle East studies scholars, students and the general public packed a public talk — “Beyond Hysteria and Apologia:…

Daesh/ ISIL making Play for Moderate Muslims, as GOP Candidates deny they Exist

By John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) | - - While ISIS makes war on the world's vast majority of "moderate Muslims," hardliners in the West pretend they don't exist.…

The Kurdish Women fighters taking on Daesh/ ISIL: An Eyewitness Account

By Brian Glyn Williams | (Informed Comment) | - - It was the sort of invitation that causes both excitement and trepidation, an invite to visit the autonomous mountain enclave in northern…

The Surprising Reason we Keep Falling for ISIL/ Daesh Propaganda

Haroro J. Ingram | (The Conversation) | - - The rise of [the so-called] Islamic State [group] (IS) has reaffirmed what al-Qaeda and the Taliban proved last decade: strategic communications, particularly counter-propaganda…

UNESCO: “Deepest Concerns” for Mideast Christianity after Daesh/ISIL Razes oldest Iraqi Monastery

UNESCO | (Media Services) | - - “I express my deepest concerns after the destruction of the Monastery of St Elijah. It was the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq and an invaluable…