Islamic State grabs Iraqi dam, oilfield in victory over Kurds
Last edited Sun Aug 3, 2014, 12:06 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Reuters
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters seized control of Iraq's biggest dam, an oilfield and three more towns on Sunday after inflicting their first major defeat on Kurdish forces since sweeping through the region in June.
Capture of the Mosul Dam after an offensive of barely 24 hours could give the Sunni militants the ability to flood major Iraqi cities or withhold water from farms, sharply raising the stakes in their bid to topple Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government.
...The swift defeat of Kurdish "peshmerga" troops dealt a sharp blow to one of the only fighting forces in Iraq that until now had stood firm against the Sunni Islamist fighters who aim to redraw borders of the Middle East.
...Initially strong Kurdish resistance evaporated after the start of an offensive to take the town of Zumar. The Islamists then hoisted their black flags there, a ritual that often has preceded mass executions of their captured opponents and the imposition of an ideology even al-Qaeda finds excessive.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/islamic-state-captures-iraqi-town-oil-field-witnesses-075411716.html
Looking really chaotic.
candelista
(1,986 posts)They may very well succeed in creating a new nation, under sharia law, with stonings and amputations for all.
2banon
(7,321 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)They can call in fighters from over two borders with ease. And they have long memories.
amandabeech
(9,893 posts)The thought of ISIS controlling a large dam is more than a little unnerving.
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)Women fighters on the front lines.
Eugene
(61,938 posts)We are going to have a new nation that is loyal to al Qaeda, owning much of the world's
oil, and because of w & Cheney's war it will be filled w/people who can't wait to get a
shot at Americans or westerns.
progree
(10,911 posts)Sinjar (near the Syria border just north of the red line) is one of the town in the news that I.S. captured.
I don't know how old the map is (regarding which land is under whose control)
And another, apparently from June:
FrodosPet
(5,169 posts)Yes, the man was the least intelligent and intellectually curious U.S. President in history. Yes he created more messes than he fixed.
But the roots to this go back 14 centuries. Saddam was not going to live forever. Would either of his sons have been able to maintain the cruel stability of the 1980s forever?
I seriously doubt it. More likely there would have been a civil war between them, with the Islamists (ISIS or whatever they would have been called) swooping in and gaining power about 4 or 5 years ago.
With or without Bush and the Iraq war, the rise of Islamic extremism was inevitable. The only question is, what would the timing of it be?
freshwest
(53,661 posts)rickyhall
(4,889 posts)And I agree, MADem, the Kurds will be back.
BlueEye
(449 posts)My God, these people are like James Bond villains or something. Intentionally releasing a dam's reservoir amounts to having a weapon of mass destruction, especially if there are populated areas downstream.
BobbyBoring
(1,965 posts)I thought the Kurds were the one faction that could defend their turf. Guess not.
ballyhoo
(2,060 posts)been enough to make this liberal ready to grab a weapon. Not sorry about that at all. And you know: eventually they will be coming here...
defacto7
(13,485 posts)They take no prisoners. They support no prisoners. They follow no western war rituals.
This is the ugliest persona humanity can muster. They follow no human rule, just a corrupt version of Islam purposely void of reason by choice and practice with the intent of world ideological domination even if it means world destruction.
Humans with the minds and will of ants and the discrimination of a virus.
quadrature
(2,049 posts)so was helping the FSA /ISIS
Uncle Joe
(58,403 posts)lost the towns surrounding it.
Thanks for the thread, progree.