IRAQ - Fight on Islamic State: News #1

You have to deal with S. Arabia to definately win against Sunni radicalism

12,000,000 pills (drugs) en route to Da'ish gunmen captured by Iraq's security forces in Ayn Tamr, near Karbala. 3 smugglers detained.

So taking drugs is not Haram ?

Kurds near Mosul captured homemade UAV used by ISIS.

Basically Shia Arabs which is majority in Iraq + Kurds against Sunni Arabs. I have a feeling there won't be many Sunni Arabs left in Iraq after the dust settles.

Walther von Oldenburg wrote:A cause of what? Are/were Iraqi Shias expelling Sunnis from Iraq? They weren't. Iraqi Shia government did everythigng it could in order to appase Sunnis and prevent them fron taking  up arms - they were overrepresented in the army, had favorable number of seats in the parliament and even money from oil was spent in Sunnis' favor.

Shaytanelkabir knows more about that

Sunnis started the bloody rampage by bombing Shias during Ashura in 2004 and heavily damaging the Kadhmiya Shrine, a Shia holy site.

Problem with Sunni Muslims in Iraq is that they simply can`t get over the fact that Shia Muslims are majority in Iraq and specially Baghdad , only 70-80 years ago there were few Shias in Baghdad, historic city with strong legacy of Sunni Abbasid Caliphate and today they are numerical minority.

With such feeling of "loss" it is easy to manipulate with them in order to fight "Safavids" in a war they can`t possibly win but serves purpose for others (Saudis, Qataris etc.).

zg18 wrote:Problem with Sunni Muslims in Iraq is that they simply can`t get over the fact that Shia Muslims are majority in Iraq and specially Baghdad , only 70-80 years ago there were few Shias in Baghdad, historic city with strong legacy of Sunni Abbasid Caliphate and today they are numerical minority.

With such feeling of "loss" it is easy to manipulate with them in order to fight "Safavids" in a war they can`t possibly win but serves purpose for others (Saudis, Qataris etc.).

Weren't Abbasids Shia? Shia are pro Hashimites and Abbasids were Hashimites.

ultron wrote:Wasn't Abbasids Shia? Shia are pro Hashimites and Abbasids were Hashimites.

Abbasids were Sunnis and based in Iraq , their Shia rivals were Ismaili Fatimids and based in Egypt.

zg18 wrote:

ultron wrote:Wasn't Abbasids Shia? Shia are pro Hashimites and Abbasids were Hashimites.

Abbasids were Sunnis and based in Iraq , their Shia rivals were Ismaili Fatimids and based in Egypt.

So Abbasids were okay with Abu Bakr being the first caliph? I don't think so. Abu Bakr was not from Muhammad and Ali's clan like Abbasids were. Ummayyads were toppled by Shia revolts. Shia were overwhelmingly pro Assasids.

ultron wrote:So Abbasids were okay with Abu Bakr being the first caliph? I don't think so. Abu Bakr was not from Muhammad and Ali's clan like Abbasids were. Ummayyads were toppled by Shia revolts. Shia were overwhelmingly pro Assasids.

Yes, Shias supported Abbasid revolt against Umayyads but they themselves were never Shia. Abbasid Caliphs for a long time were competitors to Cairo base Shia Ismaili Caliph.

zg18 wrote:

ultron wrote:So Abbasids were okay with Abu Bakr being the first caliph? I don't think so. Abu Bakr was not from Muhammad and Ali's clan like Abbasids were. Ummayyads were toppled by Shia revolts. Shia were overwhelmingly pro Assasids.

Yes, Shias supported Abbasid revolt against Umayyads but they themselves were never Shia. Abbasid Caliphs for a long time were competitors to Cairo base Shia Ismaili Caliph.

Whatever. Muslims are confusing. Sunni this. Shia that. They are not different religions. Shia are pro Hashimites especially Muhammad's family. You can think of Shia as Sunnis with a flavor topping.

Cyberspec wrote:You have to deal with S. Arabia to definately win against Sunni radicalism

But S. Arabia is a vassal state.

As they say it, if you have a problem with a circus, you have to deal with the circus owner, not the circus clown.

ultron wrote:Whatever. Muslims are confusing. Sunni this. Shia that. They are not different religions. Shia are pro Hashimites especially Muhammad's family. You can think of Shia as Sunnis with a flavor topping.

Twelwer Shia and mainstream (Hanbali) Sunni Islam are theologically quite separate branches of Islam. Closest Shia Muslims to Sunni (Shafii) Muslims are Zaydis of Yemen.

Actual theological differences are not that big. Main differences between Sunnism and Shiism are political and they arose as a result of personal rivalry between Muhammad's wife and Muhammad's daughter.

Walther von Oldenburg wrote:Actual theological differences are not that big. Main differences between Sunnism and Shiism are political and they arose as a result of personal rivalry between Muhammad's wife and Muhammad's daughter.

Yes, but along the way, lot of differences were made, not only political. As said, Twelwer Shias are VERY different from Hanbali Sunnis , while Zaydi Shia are very close to Shaffi Sunnis. Some Shia branches are similar to some Sunni schools of thought but some are very different.

Some new type of IRAM launcher (Al Battar?) operated by Kataib Hezbollah...10 tubes

Kurdish Forces Kill 300 ISIL Terrorists, Free 28 Villages in Sinjar

Kurdish Pershmerga fighters liberated 28 villages and killed 300 terrorists during the fight to reclaim the strategic northern Iraqi city of Sinjar from by Islamic State, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said in a press release on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier on Friday, the Kurdistan Region Security Council announced that the Peshmerga reclaimed Sinjar, which was held by the Islamic State for more than a year.

"In the course of the two-day operation, 28 villages were retaken from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant; more than 300 terrorists were killed by Peshmerga forces and Coalition warplanes, and over 200 square kilometers were cleared and returned to the Kurdish region,’ the press release stated.

To limit terrorists’ freedom of movement, the Peshmerga forces have established defensive positions in four intersections connecting to Sinjar, according to the press release.

Up to 2,000 civilians, members of the Yazidi religious community in Nineveh Province, were killed by the Islamic State terrorists after they conquered Sinjar in August 2014.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20151114/1030072780/kurds-isil.html#ixzz3rT6uURMl

Iraq's Largest Oil Refinery Formally Handed Over to Government

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151113/1030063954/iraq-oil-refinery-isil.html#ixzz3rTCj8R18

The Sinjar op was awesome to look at - operation concluded in a single day, 300 ISIS killed, further 300 wounded. The IS forces stationed around Sinjar were literally wiped out, almost like Spartans at Thermopylae.

The war would end in 2 weeks if all ops went as swiftly.

Some trouble brewing between the Shia and Kurds (Peshmerga)

Kataib Hezbollah making their way towards Tuz Khormato as clashes between Shia Turkmen & Kurdish #Peshmerga continue
https://twitter.com/IraqiSuryani1/status/665578842237497344

Peshmerga and YBS figters discovered several mass graves in Sinjar with over 200 bodies - including a mass grave with bodies of 78 women. ISISmen had murdered them and taken their children as slaves.

Terrorists of the so-called ‘Islamic State’, or ISIL, keep on surrendering to Kurdish forces with several hundred more already having capitulated, according to local media.

ISIL militants have been surrendering to advancing Peshmerga troops on the regular basis since supply routes connecting Iraq and Syria have been cut off heavy pounding by the US-led coalition airstrikes, a frontline commander of Kurdish forces in Gwer, Qadr Qadr, told Kurdish media outlet Bas News on Sunday.

He further explained that some jihadists retreated to their stronghold Mosul, while others continue surrendering to his units.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20151123/1030560554/isil-jihadists-surrender.html#ixzz3sIUgaewT

Some reports that ISIL has recaptured Baji

I'd recommend this twitter to track activities in Iraq.
https://twitter.com/IraqiSecurity

right now civilians are fleeing hawija as the Iraqi army nears.

Daesh does continue mounting small scale suicide attacks from the desert to the Baiji and Makhoul areas (coming in from the desert)... but certainly they cannot "capture" anything, the best they can hope for is to kill some front line troops.