Islamic State Jihadists Are ‘Worse Than Saddam,’ Iraqi Kurd Commander Says

[Purveyor]

By Agence France-Presse
Wednesday, August 20, 2014 8:44 EDT

Jihadists targeting minorities are “worse than Saddam”, a Kurdish commander says, standing near a sand barrier at a front line in north Iraq, the militants’ black flag fluttering in the distance.

The desert area was until recently under control of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which launched a renewed push in Iraq’s north earlier this month, taking ground from Kurdish forces, attacking minority groups and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee.

IS is “worse than Saddam. They use terror and chaos to force the population to flee. Then they take over,” says Major General Abdulrahman Kawiri, an officer in the Kurdish peshmerga forces, puffing on a cigarette as the sun slips below the horizon.

It is an emotive assertion for a member of Iraq’s Kurdish community, which was targeted in a genocidal campaign in the 1980s by executed dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime that killed tens of thousands of people.

Kawiri’s deputy, Major General Sardar Kamal, says the Kurds’ experience under Saddam is part of the reason they are so keen to join the fight against IS.

more...

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/20/islamic-state-jihadists-are-worse-than-saddam-iraqi-kurd-commander-says/

[still_one]

1. That is why in the first gulf war they did not over throw him. They pushed him out of Kuwait

but did not want to upset the balance of power

Then with the 2nd bush regime the PNACers took over and the fragile balance was destroyed

[samsingh]

2. monsters bigger then saddam - beyond disturbing

[FiveGoodMen]

4. The Americans that lied us into the Iraq war were always monsters bigger than Saddam.

But yes, it's disturbing.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

3. I don't know a lot about the finer points of middle eastern politics

but the Kurds sound like the most level-headed and mentally stable people in the area. They don't seem to want to compel others to believe in certain psychotic mythologies under penalty of death.