Iraq News & Discussions

[revolution]

Women, girls captured by ISIS faced sex slavery, suicide: Report

Women and girls of Iraq's Yazidi minority who were captured by Islamic State militants were forced into sexual slavery and left traumatized and sometimes suicidal, according to Amnesty International interviews with survivors.

The human rights group interviewed more than 40 Yazidi women and girls who were among the hundreds captured by ISIS fighters in Sinjar in August.

"Many of those held as sexual slaves are children -- girls aged 14, 15 or even younger. IS fighters are using rape as a weapon in attacks amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity," Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's senior crisis response advisor, said.

Rovera spoke to dozens of former ISIS captives, including one girl who described another's suicide.

"One day we were given clothes that looked like dance costumes and were told to bathe and wear those clothes. Jilan killed herself in the bathroom. She cut her wrists and hanged herself. She was very beautiful; I think she knew she was going to be taken away by a man and that is why she killed herself," she said.

Another woman, Wafa, 27, told Amnesty that she and her sister attempted to take their own lives after an ISIS militant threatened to wed them to their captors.

"We tied the scarves around our necks and pulled away from each other as hard as we could, until I fainted," she said. "I could not speak for several days after that."

Raida, 16, described being sold to a man twice her age and raped. Her pregnant mother and many other family members were abducted too, she said.

"It is so painful what they did to me and to my family. (ISIS) has ruined our lives," she said. "What will happen to my family? I don't know if I will ever see them again."

Rovera said the international community must step up to help ISIS's victims.

"The Kurdistan Regional Government, UN and other humanitarian organizations who are providing medical and other support services to survivors of sexual violence must step up their efforts," she said.

Women, girls captured by ISIS faced sex slavery, suicide: Report | WORLD | World

 

[revolution]

 

[revolution]

 

[revolution]

 

[revolution]

 

[Scorpion]

Anti-ISIS coalition unleash 39 strikes in two days

U.S. forces and their allies conducted 39 air strikes on Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) targets over the past two days, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Friday.

Fighters, bombers and remotely controlled aircraft hit 19 targets in Syria while 20 strikes were carried out in Iraq, a task force statement said, Reuters news agency reported.

In Syria, 17 strikes were concentrated on an area near the embattled city of Kobane and destroyed several buildings held by ISIS, vehicles and fighting positions.

Two air strikes near Hasakah and one near Raqqa also caused damage.

In Iraq, the strikes hit near Al Asad, Sinjar, Mosul, Al Qaim, Baiji, Kirkuk, Falluja.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Central Command posted a video on its YouTube channel of an airstrike conducted against an ISIS target on Dec. 21.

​

Separately, activists said Friday Syrian air raids on two northern towns held by the militant group killed more than 50 people in two days, the Associated Press reported.

Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday that several airstrikes on the towns of al-Bab and neighboring Qabasin killed at least 53 people, including seven children.

The strikes occurred Thursday. Another Syrian monitoring group also reported the raids, and activists uploaded video of the strikes' aftermaths to social networks.

The Associated Press reported that the videos appeared genuine.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...ISIS-targeted-in-39-strikes-in-two-days-.html

 

[Scorpion]

ISIS claims Iraq suicide bombing that killed 38

A woman looks at damages at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's Sadr City , December 5, 2014. (File Photo: Reuters)
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group on Friday claimed it carried out a suicide bombing south of Baghdad that targeted Sunni fighters who oppose the militants, in which 38 people were killed.​

The bomber attacked the fighters, known as Sahwa, while they were gathering near a military base in Madain on Wednesday to receive their pay, also wounding at least 56 people.

ISIS claimed the attack in a message posted online titled “Statement on the Martyrdom Operation in the Madain District”, and identified the bomber as Saifeddin al-Ansari.

ISIS spearheaded a sweeping militant offensive that has overrun much of Iraq’s Sunni Arab heartland since June -- areas that Shiite-led government forces have sought local Sunni help to recapture.

The Sahwa, or “Awakening” in Arabic, dates back to the height of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, when Sunni tribesmen joined forces with the Americans to battle insurgents including ISIS’ predecessor organization, the Islamic State of Iraq.

The Sahwa were key to greatly but temporarily reducing the violence, but when Iraq’s government took over responsibility for their salaries they were sometimes paid late or not at all.

Now Sunni fighters, including the Sahwa and other armed tribesmen, again have an important role to play in the fight against ISIS.

The government has distributed arms and ammunition to tribesmen, and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi aims to establish a national guard made up of local fighters, although the necessary law has yet to pass parliament.

Iraqi security forces backed by U.S.-led air strikes, Kurdish forces, Shiite militias and Sunni tribesmen have clawed back some ground from ISIS.

But major areas, especially north and west of Baghdad, remain outside government control.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...ims-Iraq-suicide-bombing-that-killed-38-.html

 

[vegito12]

I think these people have knowledge of bombs and some may even have studied chemistry and physics for this purpose and, misusing the knowledge learnt and causing terror and fear. The war against the ISIS has been going on for a long time, and even one american guy joined them must have been brainwashed and will be used until they don't need him anymore and the guy's family are shocked he joined them. The ISIS, have been using leaked documents by Edward Snowden to evade being caught by the USA something Edward may not have thought of when leaking the documents last year that terrorists will use them.

I think these people have knowledge of bombs and some may even have studied chemistry and physics for this purpose and, misusing the knowledge learnt and causing terror and fear. The war against the ISIS has been going on for a long time, and even one american guy joined them must have been brainwashed and will be used until they don't need him anymore and the guy's family are shocked he joined them. The ISIS, have been using leaked documents by Edward Snowden to evade being caught by the USA something Edward may not have thought of when leaking the documents last year that terrorists will use them.

 

[Scorpion]

^^ Totally agree. ISIS have many expert in chemistry and physics among them. On top of that they have sized tons of materials that are used in making bombs from the Iraqi and Syrian weapons facilities. I have somewhere read that they have UAVs as well.

The only way to get rid of them is by establishing a NFZ over Syria and Iraq as well and then make it rains cats and dogs on them. Of course that should includes the child-murderer Assad.

 

[Aree Wongwanlee]

It's interesting to see how the US and its allies are throwing money and military equipment at the ISIS. Personally, I don't think this strategy will work. The ISIS is the product of a way of thinking. To combat this effectively, there must be a campaign to re-educate the people about what is Islam and what is not Islam.

True, there are announcements here and there from Muslim scholars about how ISIS is violating Islam by claiming to be fighting in the name of Islam. However, these announcements are not going to make any difference to the people on the ground. There are people who actually believe that ISIS is doing the right thing. We need a concerted education campaign starting at the grassroots, beginning with the children. It will take years before the effect is seen but then again ISIS did not crop up overnight like a mushroom after a shower of warm rain.

 

[UAE]

It's interesting to see how the US and its allies are throwing money and military equipment at the ISIS. Personally, I don't think this strategy will work. The ISIS is the product of a way of thinking. To combat this effectively, there must be a campaign to re-educate the people about what is Islam and what is not Islam.

True, there are announcements here and there from Muslim scholars about how ISIS is violating Islam by claiming to be fighting in the name of Islam. However, these announcements are not going to make any difference to the people on the ground. There are people who actually believe that ISIS is doing the right thing. We need a concerted education campaign starting at the grassroots, beginning with the children. It will take years before the effect is seen but then again ISIS did not crop up overnight like a mushroom after a shower of warm rain.

Great post, let me hand out to you this article. Its worth reading.

The intellectual battle against ISIS


The global financial crisis taught the world how profoundly interdependent our economies have become. In today’s crisis of extremism, we must recognize that we are just as interdependent for our security, as is clear in the current struggle to defeat the ISIS.

If we are to prevent ISIS from teaching us this lesson the hard way, we must acknowledge that we cannot extinguish the fires of fanaticism by force alone. The world must unite behind a holistic drive to discredit the ideology that gives the extremists their power, and to restore hope and dignity to those whom they would recruit.

ISIS is a barbaric and brutal organization. It represents neither Islam nor humanity’s most basic values.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum

ISIS certainly can — and will — be defeated militarily by the international coalition that is now assembling and which the UAE is actively supporting. But military containment is only a partial solution. Lasting peace requires three bigger ingredients: winning the intellectual battle; upgrading weak governance; and grassroots human development.

Such a solution must begin with concerted international political will. Not a single politician in North America, Europe, Africa, or Asia can afford to ignore events in the Middle East. A globalized threat requires a globalized response. Everyone will feel the heat, because such flames know no borders; indeed, ISIS has recruited members of at least 80 nationalities.


Malicious ideology

ISIS is a barbaric and brutal organization. It represents neither Islam nor humanity’s most basic values. Nonetheless, it has emerged, spread, and resisted those who oppose it. What we are fighting is not just a terrorist organization, but the embodiment of a malicious ideology that must be defeated intellectually.

I consider this ideology to be the greatest danger that the world will face in the next decade. Its seeds are growing in Europe, the United States, Asia, and elsewhere. With its twisted religious overtones, this pre-packaged franchise of hate is available for any terrorist group to adopt. It carries the power to mobilize thousands of desperate, vindictive, or angry young people and use them to strike at the foundations of civilization.

The ideology fuelling ISIS has much in common with that of al-Qaeda and its affiliates in Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, North Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. What most worries me is that a decade ago, such an ideology was all that al-Qaeda needed to destabilize the world, even from a primitive base in the caves of Afghanistan. Today, under ISIS, adherents have access to technology, finance, a huge land base, and an international jihadist network. Far from being defeated, their ideology of rage and hate has become stricter, more pernicious, and more widespread.

The destruction of terrorist groups is not enough to bring lasting peace. We must also strike at the root to deprive their dangerous ideology of the power to rise again among people left vulnerable by an environment of hopelessness and desperation. And, on this note, let us be positive.

The solution has three components. The first is to counter malignant ideas with enlightened thinking, open minds, and an attitude of tolerance and acceptance. This approach arises from our Islamic religion, which calls for peace, honors life, values dignity, promotes human development, and directs us to do good to others.

De-radicalizing youth

Only one thing can stop a suicidal youth who is ready to die for ISIS: a stronger ideology that guides him onto the right path and convinces him that God created us to improve our world, not to destroy it.

Credit is due to our neighbors in Saudi Arabia in this field for their successes in de-radicalizing many young people through counseling centers and programs. In this battle of minds, it is thinkers and scientists of spiritual and intellectual stature among Muslims who are best placed to lead the charge.

The second component is support for governments’ efforts to create stable institutions that can deliver real services to their people. It should be clear to everyone that the rapid growth of ISIS was fuelled by two governments’ failings: the first one made war on its own people, and the second one promoted sectarian division. When governments fail to address instability, legitimate grievances, and persistent serious challenges, they create an ideal environment for hateful ideologies to incubate — and for terrorist organizations to fill the vacuum of legitimacy.

The final component is to address urgently the black holes in human development that afflict many areas of the Middle East. This is not only an Arab responsibility, but also an international responsibility, because providing grassroots opportunity and a better quality of life for the people of this region is guaranteed to ameliorate our shared problems of instability and conflict.

We have a critical need for long-term projects and initiatives to eliminate poverty, improve education and health, build infrastructure, and create economic opportunities. Sustainable development is the most sustainable answer to terrorism.

Our region is home to more than 200 million young people. We have the opportunity to inspire them with hope and to direct their energies towards improving their lives and the lives of those around them. If we fail, we will abandon them to emptiness, unemployment, and the malicious ideologies of terrorism.

Every day that we take a step towards delivering economic development, creating jobs, and raising standards of living, we undermine the ideologies of fear and hate that feed on hopelessness. We starve terrorist organizations of their reason to exist.

I am optimistic, because I know that the people of the Middle East possess a power of hope and a desire for stability and prosperity that are stronger and more enduring than opportunistic and destructive ideas.

There is no power stronger than that of hope for a better life.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




However, its not only an idealogical battle since a lot of the ex Iraqi army and also some of Iraqi tribes who feel oppressed by the current government, neglected, excluded and marginalized have joined ISIS. The felt that ISIS is the only hope for them. Also you can see many factors are playing role in this mess.

I also agree with you on the current strategy of the US and its allies are adopting in dealing with the situation being ineffective. Someone pointed that out I think @Scorpion said that the coalition should establish a no fly zone over Iraq and Syria and then put some boots on the grounds.

After that the UN educational organizations in cooperation with the Islamic association can take the lead.

 

[KSA]

It's interesting to see how the US and its allies are throwing money and military equipment at the ISIS. Personally, I don't think this strategy will work. The ISIS is the product of a way of thinking. To combat this effectively, there must be a campaign to re-educate the people about what is Islam and what is not Islam.

True, there are announcements here and there from Muslim scholars about how ISIS is violating Islam by claiming to be fighting in the name of Islam. However, these announcements are not going to make any difference to the people on the ground. There are people who actually believe that ISIS is doing the right thing. We need a concerted education campaign starting at the grassroots, beginning with the children. It will take years before the effect is seen but then again ISIS did not crop up overnight like a mushroom after a shower of warm rain.

Dear ISIS & Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi,

You are not “The Islamic State.”

From an Islamic perspective, when outlining the rules of engagement for wartime, the Prophet Muhammad said on numerous occasions:

“Do not kill any old person, any child or any woman”
“Do not kill the monks in monasteries”
“Do not kill the people who are sitting in places of worship”
“Do not attack a wounded person”
“No prisoner should be put to the sword [aka executed or beheaded]“


Prophet Muhammad also prohibited the killing of anyone who is in captivity (like journalists) and also outlawed the mutilating of the corpses of enemies. These clear and concise statements make any violation of these edicts during wartime a clear violation of core Islamic principles.

Most mainstream Islamic scholars also assert that war in Islam is purely defensive in nature (Quran 22:39-40). Also, the Quran prohibits of killing non-combatants (2:190-192) and it advocates kindness to people of other faiths who live in peace in Muslim lands (60:8).

Despite such clear injunctions, some so-called Muslims (like ISIS or Al-Qaeda) who claim to be killing in the name of Islam are, in fact, completely defiling its essence. The extremists and militants who attempt to hide behind the veneer of Islam are, in reality, openly violating many of its core teachings.

For these and many other reasons, the acronym ISIS should stand for “Idiotic Sacrilegious Imbecile Society” or we can just call them “The Un-Islamic State” for short.

 

[Scorpion]

^^^^ great post but who hears.

 

[allen]

I think if you wanted to stop ISIS then you should have been looking in Iraq near the Syrian border 5yrs ago. When the CIA was training and the Saudis funding the militias. The British were there also in helping create a more regimented force, but it was a CIA black project and still is, those who are unaware of how intelligence agencies work should search more online rather than listening to TV.

You do not suddenly get an large army with modern weapons and a logistic chain suddenly appearing from grass roots, it takes time and planning.
You have to stand back and see the larger picture and those who are pulling strings. ISIS was created to start a larger conflict that will suck in larger players, the main reason the war has stalled is that China has not got a modern aircraft carrier in the pacific. Although they have 2 due in 2015.

 

[UAE]

I think if you wanted to stop ISIS then you should have been looking in Iraq near the Syrian border 5yrs ago. When the CIA was training and the Saudis funding the militias. The British were there also in helping create a more regimented force, but it was a CIA black project and still is, those who are unaware of how intelligence agencies work should search more online rather than listening to TV.

You do not suddenly get an large army with modern weapons and a logistic chain suddenly appearing from grass roots, it takes time and planning.
You have to stand back and see the larger picture and those who are pulling strings. ISIS was created to start a larger conflict that will suck in larger players, the main reason the war has stalled is that China has not got a modern aircraft carrier in the pacific. Although they have 2 due in 2015.

Fair analysis. The plan was to train and equip the Free Syrian Army at the beginning however, the FSA was infiltrated by both the regime and the CIA as well as some countries like Qatar and Turkey. Qatar first supported the so called Al-Nusrah front whose later pledged allegiance to Al-qaeda. ISIS composed of ex Iraqi army and other tribal mens. They took advantage of the support the FSA were getting and somewhat managed to size some of the weapons were poured to the rebels. The Syrian regime along with the Russians and Iranian played it well. They allowed ISIS into Syria to further complicate the situation. On other hand, you have the incompetent army of Al-Malik (sectarian to the neck) who weren't able to make Iraq stable since the US invasion ended.

You might be aware of what truly has happened and how the issue slipped away off being under control. Qatar got slapped back to reality by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Turkey remained.

The coalition is now trying to destroy the monster they somewhat created but still incapable of doing it fast. The Russians and Iranian present in Syria is another major issue. The Chinese are running after their economy, they don't give a flying rat about what is going on in Syria. The position they took during the first two UN meeting in regard to Syria was only to oppose the US.

The US indeed has messed up the region when they invaded Afghanistan and Iraq.