ISIS is an acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and ash Sham. Ash
Sham roughly corresponds to the region occupied by modern Syria but was a governing
district in the days of the Caliphate (see below). ISIS also has a faction or
associated group called ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant,
which is based in Lebanon.
"Though the ISIS is mostly referred to as an al-Qaeda affiliate,
information seems to confirm the opposite, namely that the ISIS is not
representative of al-Qaeda in Iraq. On 03 February 2014, al-Qaeda
general command published a media statement on jihadi websites stating
that the ISIS is not "a branch of the al-Qaeda group"." Islamic
State of Iraq and ash Sham.
"The Soufan Group, a New York-based consultancy, estimates that 12,000 foreign fighters have travelled to Syria, including 3,000 from the West."Daily Telegraph. Possibly 500 have come from the UK (Daily Mail). ISIS main battle army has a strength of 6000 (Guardian) but is gaining troops daily from western trained Iraqi soldiers who are defecting.
ISIS controls Mosul, Tikrit and Fallujah and is poised to assault Baghdad.
ISIS seems to be an Islamic Nationalist organisation fighting for the Caliphate that has been given a huge boost by foreign intervention in Iraq - like the Viet Cong were vastly strengthened by intervention in Vietnam. "The Caliphate is an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader known as a caliph – i.e. "successor" – to Muhammad and the other prophets of Islam. The succession of Muslim empires that have existed in the Muslim world are usually described as "caliphates". Conceptually, a caliphate represents a theocratic sovereign polity (state) of the entire Muslim faithful (the Ummah, i.e. a sovereign nation state) ruled by a single caliph under the Constitution of Medina and Islamic law (sharia)." Wikipedia: Caliphate. Or to put it another way, they are just another bunch of insane globalizers like "goody two shoes" middle class ladies in the West... (see Internationalism).
ISIS is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a veteran of the Iraq war and insurgency.
It is quite possible that if ISIS is successful it will become bogged down in another Iran-Iraq war (Shi-ite-Sunni war). However, it may turn its attention to Jordan and Israel because it enjoys considerable support from Palestinians.
The outlook is bleak. After the Arab "Spring" fundamentalists have risen to power in Tunisia and Libya and the Saudis and Qataris are pushing a Salafist revolution across the entire Ummah. . The West has little will to oppose these developments and it is my belief that the West must not oppose them. Nation States must be allowed to work out their own destiny. Certainly the Ummah is in opposition to the postmodern West but postmodernism and Postmarxism cannot succeed against strong opposition.
The postmodern Western response to ISIS is summed up nicely in the Huffington Post: "How is it that a major Iraqi defense force collapsed and deserted in the face of a few hundred ISIS attackers?". Have all western observers really become "wet behind the ears"?
The growth of Salafism in the Middle East is a timely reminder that the world is a big place and governments that ignore the need for a population to have a National Way and Purpose will consign their populations to someone else's National Way and Purpose. It is only in the UK that a love of one's own people and culture are condemned, across the rest of the world these things are held to be sacred. If the British do not awake they will eventually become a region of a German, American, Russian, Chinese, Islamic or other State.
The maps below show the steady expansion of ISIS during the American air strikes (click on maps for higher definition). ISIS Seems to be winning:
Maps provided by Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection A site that is well worth visiting.
Update 7/12/2015
"The Soufan Group, a New York-based consultancy, estimates that 12,000 foreign fighters have travelled to Syria, including 3,000 from the West."Daily Telegraph. Possibly 500 have come from the UK (Daily Mail). ISIS main battle army has a strength of 6000 (Guardian) but is gaining troops daily from western trained Iraqi soldiers who are defecting.
ISIS controls Mosul, Tikrit and Fallujah and is poised to assault Baghdad.
ISIS seems to be an Islamic Nationalist organisation fighting for the Caliphate that has been given a huge boost by foreign intervention in Iraq - like the Viet Cong were vastly strengthened by intervention in Vietnam. "The Caliphate is an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader known as a caliph – i.e. "successor" – to Muhammad and the other prophets of Islam. The succession of Muslim empires that have existed in the Muslim world are usually described as "caliphates". Conceptually, a caliphate represents a theocratic sovereign polity (state) of the entire Muslim faithful (the Ummah, i.e. a sovereign nation state) ruled by a single caliph under the Constitution of Medina and Islamic law (sharia)." Wikipedia: Caliphate. Or to put it another way, they are just another bunch of insane globalizers like "goody two shoes" middle class ladies in the West... (see Internationalism).
ISIS is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a veteran of the Iraq war and insurgency.
It is quite possible that if ISIS is successful it will become bogged down in another Iran-Iraq war (Shi-ite-Sunni war). However, it may turn its attention to Jordan and Israel because it enjoys considerable support from Palestinians.
The outlook is bleak. After the Arab "Spring" fundamentalists have risen to power in Tunisia and Libya and the Saudis and Qataris are pushing a Salafist revolution across the entire Ummah. . The West has little will to oppose these developments and it is my belief that the West must not oppose them. Nation States must be allowed to work out their own destiny. Certainly the Ummah is in opposition to the postmodern West but postmodernism and Postmarxism cannot succeed against strong opposition.
The postmodern Western response to ISIS is summed up nicely in the Huffington Post: "How is it that a major Iraqi defense force collapsed and deserted in the face of a few hundred ISIS attackers?". Have all western observers really become "wet behind the ears"?
The growth of Salafism in the Middle East is a timely reminder that the world is a big place and governments that ignore the need for a population to have a National Way and Purpose will consign their populations to someone else's National Way and Purpose. It is only in the UK that a love of one's own people and culture are condemned, across the rest of the world these things are held to be sacred. If the British do not awake they will eventually become a region of a German, American, Russian, Chinese, Islamic or other State.
The maps below show the steady expansion of ISIS during the American air strikes (click on maps for higher definition). ISIS Seems to be winning:
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The expansion of ISIS in 2014 |
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June 2014 |
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October 2014 |
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December 2014 |
Maps provided by Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection A site that is well worth visiting.
Update 7/12/2015
ISIS has lost considerable ground in Northern Syria made moderate gains in the central, west of Syria.
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