Month

Archives: Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

As ISIL dwindles, Iraq fears extremists fleeing Syria

Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | - - Iraqi forces are upset about the safe passage granted to Islamic State fighters from Syria. They will enter Iraq, where, locals say, thousands…

Mosul Youth rescue Books and Music in wake of ISIL Defeat

Special Correspondent | Mosul | (Niqash.org) | - - Two projects in Mouls show a different side to the devastated northern Iraqi city, as younger people there celebrate the end of the…

Hezbollah and Syrian Army Liberate Large ISIL Enclave: Nasrallah

By TeleSur | - - Following the joint offensive, the Islamic State group only controls 40 square kilometers on the Syrian side, and 20 on the Lebanese side. A joint offensive between…

Can Iraq save Tal Afar from ISIL without Destroying the City?

By Mustafa Habib | (Niqash.org) | - - [N.B. The offensive against ISIL (Daesh) in Tal Afar began on Sunday. - JC] Intensive air raids, secret political talks and military forces gathering…

ISIL in Afghanistan Resilient despite Kabul Offensive

By Frud Bezhan. | ( RFE/RL) | - - A relentless air-and-ground campaign against the [so-called] Islamic State [group] (IS) affiliate in Afghanistan does not appear to have radically diminished that militant…

Trump Pledged to Carpet Bomb ISIL, but Little Lebanon is Taking them On

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The Lebanese Army has mobilized to clean out an ISIL enclave in a mountainous region on the border with Syria, Jurud al-Qaa and…

Are ISIL recruits more street gang members than zealots?

By James L. Gelvin | (The Conversation) | - - The recent terrorist attacks in Spain and Finland once again compel us to ask: Who joins the [so-called] Islamic State [group], and…

Who defeated ISIL? Obama’s Quiet Strategy, not Trump’s Bluster

Bryan G. Williams | (Informed Comment) | - - Book excerpt from the just-published Counter Jihad: America's Military Experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria [CLICK]: At the time of the writing of…

Losing Cities, can ISIL strike Iraq, West from Mountain Bases?

By Dashty Ali | Sulaymaniyah | (Niqash.org) | - - Having been driven out of Mosul, the extremist Islamic State group is doing what Al Qaeda did before them: setting up new…

Syria: The American War on Civilians

By Laura Gottesdiener | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | - - It was midday on Sunday, May 7th, when the U.S.-led coalition warplanes again began bombing the neighborhood of Wassim Abdo’s family. They…

After ISIL Defeat in Mosul, Camps or Rehabilitation for Families?

Nawzat Shamdeen | (Mosul) | (Niqash.org) | - - Locals in Mosul are divided on whether to rehabilitate, reconcile or punish the families of Islamic State members. Meanwhile rumour has it that…

Trump & Macron Consult on Syria Cease Fire in Shadow of Don Jr. Scandal

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - French President Emmanuel Macron and his American counterpart Donald J. Trump consulted on a number of bilateral issues on Wednesday, including cooperation in…

Rolex “Caliph” of ISIL Dead: Syrian Observatory

TeleSur | - - Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death has been widely speculated for months. Reports from the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, SOHR, claim that ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi…

Iraq united to defeat ISIL, but can it avoid Break-up Afterwards?

By Dylan O’Driscoll | ( OpenDemocracy.net ) | - - Multiple segments of the population, including at elite level, have come together in the fight against IS and now the time has…

Freeing Fayza: A Journey to War-Torn Iraq to Rescue a Yazidi ISIL Slave Girl

By: Brian Glyn Williams and Christopher Natola | (Informed Comment) | - - It began with an electrifying text message from a Yazidi member of a network dedicated to freeing Yazidis (an…

Was ISIL’s destruction of Mosul’s Grand Mosque Grand Strategy?

Was ISIL’s destruction of Mosul’s Nuri Mosque Grand Strategy?

By Benjamin Isakhan and Jose Antonio Gonzalez Zarandona | (The Conversation) | - - On June 29 2014 – nearly three years ago to the day – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi took the…

In Apocalyptic Vandalism, ISIL blows up 800-year-old Nuri Mosque in Mosul

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - al-Hayat (Life) reports that on Wednesday evening around 9:30 pm local time, Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) blew up the Nuri Mosque in Mosul. The…

Aerospace Campaign in Syria: Did Putin kill ISIL’s so-called ‘caliph’?

TeleSur | - - The statement came a day after Russia said it killed several senior leaders, 30 field commanders and up to 300 of their personal guards in an airstrike last…

Obama’s last Victory: Syrian Democratic Forces hold Parts of ISIL Capital

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with…

GOP Rep. urges US Terror alliance with ISIL against Iranian civilians

NIAC | (Video News Clip) | - - NIAC Action: "Shocking: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher Suggests Tehran ISIS Attack Was "Positive"