Middle East Thread of Despair: More Broken Than Syria

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Middle East Thread of Despair: More Broken Than Syria

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Volkerball: Oct 15, 2009; by FactsAreUseless

So something interesting is happening, but I'm not entirely sure just what it is yet. Moaz al-Khatib has been hanging out in Russia quite a bit lately, doubtless trying to figure out what it would take to get Russia to drop Assad, and what the opposition has to do to make it happen. Now it seems he's speaking on behalf of a new political party called Syria al-Watan. I can't find any details to clarify exactly what it's all about, but if Khatib is trying to circumvent or influence the Syrian Coalition in talks with Russia at the proposed Russian negotiations later this month, something positive may be going on behind the scenes. His first statement involving Syria al-Watan seems to lend some credibility to this.

quote:

Moaz al-Khatib, a former opposition chief and former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, posted a statement on his Facebook page on Thursday which said there would not be a solution "without the departure of the head of the regime".

Assad has dismissed calls to step down by Khatib and other figures in the past. Opposition groups and their Western and Arab allies say the Syrian president has lost legitimacy and must go.

Khatib said the statement was on behalf of the "Syria al-Watan" (home) organization and was addressed to the Syrian people. It was not immediately clear whether he was the head of the group and which other members it included. He was not immediately available for comment.

The statement also said any talks would only be taken seriously if they ordered the government to stop the "brutal bombardment" of the Syrian people which it described as "one of the biggest crimes in the history of humanity".

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/01/us-mideast-crisis-syria-opposition-idUSKBN0KA1OA20150101

One of the largest criticisms of the talks in Russia is that if Russia and Assad don't intend to back down, then the talks would only be an attempt to reach an agreement that keeps Assad in power, which is a non-starter. Since Khatib has been spending a lot of time there, there's likely some chatter about him perhaps becoming too friendly with the enemy, which could lead to him pushing for a deal that represents Assad and Russia's interests over the Syrian peoples. This statement seems to be an attempt to show Syrians that there's no intention of seeking out a deal that would allow Assad to remain in power, and that they are still holding Assad responsible for all this, to sort of build faith. Whatever the case, it's nice to seem him involved in the diplomatic aspect of ending the fighting in Syria again. Will be something to keep an eye on as the details of these proposed negotiations start to come out.

Edit: To give you a sense of the attitude towards the talks that would have to be overcome.

Volkerball fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Jan 2, 2015

# ? Jan 2, 2015 23:43

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# ? May 16, 2024 03:42

JeffersonClay: Jun 17, 2003; by R. Guyovich

Cippalippus posted:

Indeed. The Italian public opinion is mixed on the matter, while everyone wishes that they come back safely, the majority also thinks that they had it coming for disregarding their personal safety in such a blatant way. A few are even openly discussing the opportunity of not paying anything at all.

Does anybody blame the Italian government for incentivizing the kidnappings in the first place? Why do our citizens keep getting kidnapped? We always pay the ransom!

# ? Jan 3, 2015 10:29

The Insect Court: Nov 22, 2012; by FactsAreUseless

FAUXTON posted:

Sometimes people believe they should help others.

The million+ dollar ransom ISIS/ANF extracts for those two is gonna be doing lots of helping, no doubt.

# ? Jan 3, 2015 10:56

mirepoix: Mar 22, 2009

I've been interested in learning conversational arabic for a while, and since I follow this thread I've noticed there are a fair number of arabic speakers in here. If I wanted to be able to communicate on the internet, what version of arabic should I (attempt) to learn? And as a point of interest, how do all of these various international fighters communicate with each other, when it comes to dialects of arabic? Can a speaker of iraqi arabic communicate with a speaker of egyptian arabic or levantine arabic? Are they close enough that they can muddle through? What dialect of arabic are da'esh's media releases in, or for that matter ANF, or AQAP's inspire magazine?

# ? Jan 3, 2015 14:09

pantslesswithwolves: Oct 28, 2008

Here's the thread about learning Arabic where there's lots of people who speak/read better than I who can tell you more: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3330075

Generally though, if you want to learn the language, it's a good idea to learn the dialect for whatever subregion you're interested in the most e.g. Egypt, the Levant, Maghrebi, etc. Fusha, or Modern Standard Arabic, is what's commonly used on Arab television and news media, but it's not spoken with great frequency anywhere outside of the Gulf. I suppose that the closest thing to an Arabic lingua Franca would be Egyptian Arabic considering how they put out a lot of movies and pop songs that are popular throughout the region.

Per your question about how IS communicates with its fighters- the bulk of their recruits are locally sourced from Syria or Iraq, so that's a non-issue. There's a fair degree of mutual intelligibility between the various dialects, so with some effort, a foreigner like an Egyptian or a Tunisian can understand a Syrian or an Iraqi. I'd also speculate that English and French is understood enough to provide some bridge words if necessary.

Edit: IS's last release was in English with Arabic subtitles, can't really recall what dialect they've used otherwise. JN has released theirs in Levantine, AQAP uses Yemeni Arabic which is pretty close to Fusha. Inspire magazine is an English and has headlines like "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom." Rubber dinghy rapids, brother!

pantslesswithwolves fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Jan 3, 2015

# ? Jan 3, 2015 16:51

mirepoix: Mar 22, 2009

Ah, thanks for the tips. I should've thought of venturing outside of d&d.
I procrastinated too much to learn any pashto before my trip(s) to afghanistan, which I regret. Though I don't necessarily anticipate trips to iraq / syria, I'm still fascinated by the spread of languages across that area, having briefly visited a couple GCC countries relatively recently. Also I like languages in general.

# ? Jan 3, 2015 17:54

pantslesswithwolves: Oct 28, 2008

And in other news from Umm al-Dunya, Egypt threatened to arrest Amal Clooney (the new defense advisory council for at least one of the AJE 3) because she helped write a report pointing to deep and systemic flaws in the judiciary:

quote:

Egyptian officials warned human rights barrister Amal Clooney that she risked arrest after identifying the same serious flaws in its judicial system that subsequently contributed to the conviction of three al-Jazeera journalists now jailed in Cairo.

In an interview with the Guardian after their appeal hearing this week, Clooney, a lawyer for one of the trio, said they were victims of the same flaws that she earmarked in a February 2014 report about Egyptian courts.

Written before Clooney became involved in the al-Jazeera case, officials deemed the report so controversial that they threatened her team with arrest should they have tried to present its findings inside Egypt.

�When I went to launch the report, first of all they stopped us from doing it in Cairo,� Clooney told the Guardian. �They said: �Does the report criticise the army, the judiciary, or the government?� We said: �Well, yes.� They said: �Well then, you�re risking arrest.��

The report, compiled on behalf of the International Bar Association, said Egypt�s judicial system was not as independent as it could be. It pointed out that officials in the ministry of justice have wide powers over nominally independent judges, and highlighted the control the government can exert over state prosecutors.

Among other recommendations, Clooney and her co-authors suggested ending the practice that allows Egyptian officials to handpick judges for certain politicised cases. �That recommendation wasn�t followed, and we�ve seen the results of that in this particular case where you had a handpicked panel led by a judge who is known for dispensing brutal verdicts,� Clooney. said �And this one was no different.�

The three journalists � Peter Greste, Baher Mohamed, and Mohamed Fahmy, whom Clooney represents � were initially sentenced to between seven and 10 years in jail last June by the controversial Egyptian judge Mohamed Nagy Shehata.

Shehata became notorious during the trial for rarely taking off his aviator sunglasses, mocking Fahmy�s fiancee, and for cracking a joke about World Press Freedom day. A few months later, he also sentenced to death 188 people, Clooney said, �in one mass trial which didn�t distinguish between each defendant�s criminal responsibility�. Shehata failed to respond to several requests for interview.

At the trio�s appeal on New Year�s Day, a new judge refused to throw out the case, but agreed to a retrial, after recognising problems with the initial process. But Clooney fears those flaws � which included the presentation of a Gotye song, footage of a trotting horse, and pictures of Greste�s parents as evidence of the trio�s guilt � are so serious that they will compromise the integrity of any second hearing.

�If the idea is: well, there were errors and now there�s going to be a retrial, but then the retrial operates on the same basis as the original one, that doesn�t really mean much,� Clooney said. She has waived most of her usual fees, and is paid directly by Fahmy without the support of al-Jazeera. �I don�t see how the prosecution can proceed again in a trial process even if the judges were to be constituted properly this time around. I don�t see how they could fix the lack of evidence.�

As a result, Clooney has concluded �that we have to continue and double our efforts to achieve his release in other ways. Unfortunately we have to conclude that we can�t rely on these Egyptian court processes to achieve a fair or swift result.�

For Baher Mohamed, the third detainee who holds only an Egyptian passport, his fate largely depends on those court processes, with the prospect of a presidential pardon dwindling. But Clooney�s client, Fahmy, a Canadian citizen, and his Australian colleague Greste, have another option: deportation to their home countries.

Fahmy and Greste have applied to Egypt�s chief prosecutor to demand they be sent to Canada and Australia respectively under the terms of a new presidential decree that provides foreign detainees with such a route, and which seems to have been tailored for their case.

The vague and unprecedented nature of the decree has led to doubts about how it would be used in practice. But based on her communication with relevant officials in Egypt and Canada, and on her experience of international law, Clooney is hopeful that deportation is a real option. �There are many different ways in which the transfer from Egypt to Canada can occur, and as long as there is a genuine commitment on both sides, I see no reason why a transfer can�t happen in fairly quick terms.�

Inside Egypt, Fahmy�s appeals team was led by an Egyptian lawyer, Negad Boraie, with contributions from Clooney that related to international law. But outside Egypt, it is Clooney who is spearheading attempts to secure Fahmy�s deportation, and hopes next week to meet the Canadian foreign minister, John Baird, to try to convince him to expedite the process.

�We are very much hoping that the Canadian and Egyptian officials we have contacted will engage with us fully to ensure that Mohamed is involved � through his counsel � in the discussions and that a fair outcome can be achieved as soon as possible.�

Egypt's judiciary, and its government in general, are such a loving laughingstock. Morsi was bumbling, incompetent and amateurish so the government didn't really seem to do much but fight among itself, but under Sisi, they're basically saying "Yes, we're corrupt as gently caress and accountable to no one, so :dealwithit:

# ? Jan 3, 2015 19:14

Pimpmust: Oct 1, 2008

That and the "Might makes Right" lesson they've been handing out sure isn't bound to come and bite them in the rear end (like it already has in the Sinai), nuh-uh.

"Iceberg on the horizon, sir!"
"Full steam ahead! :snoop:

"
- Egypts Junta

This is gonna end in some (even darker) poo poo that makes Syria look like a friendly vacation spot, I fear :negative:

# ? Jan 3, 2015 20:25

Radio Prune: Feb 19, 2010

New John Cantlie video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUST-Wdqn80

# ? Jan 3, 2015 22:12

Xandu: Feb 19, 2006; It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.

Bold move bringing him into Mosul.

# ? Jan 3, 2015 23:00

Rent-A-Cop: Oct 15, 2004; I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!

Radio Prune posted:

New John Cantlie video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUST-Wdqn80

I can't believe this guy managed to get himself kidnapped by ISIS twice.

Rent-A-Cop fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Jan 3, 2015

# ? Jan 3, 2015 23:18

Chokes McGee: Aug 7, 2008; This is Urotsuki.

My Imaginary GF posted:

Issue: Syria is not a tropical jungle with seasonal monsoons. Much easier to spot and bomb ISIS than it would be the Vietkong. If Assad had more firepower, ISIS would be a non-issue.

Aw man. MGIF's gimmick now makes me want to see Rahm as Secretary of State, just for the black humor of it.

# ? Jan 4, 2015 05:25

Volkerball: Oct 15, 2009; by FactsAreUseless

Sounds like ISIS is going to be pushed out of Kobane within days or weeks. Still making progress on other fronts.

# ? Jan 4, 2015 19:13

Muffiner: Sep 16, 2009

In the south, Daesh has just moved a lot of fighters into the Kalamoon area the last few weeks, and been given allegiance from others. They are pushing into the Lebanon border region, and are fighting with all the non-regime groups in the area except JAN with whom they have a very local but very shaky cease-fire/alliance of sorts that frequently gets broken. The mountain terrain in the western Kalamoon is significant due to the access it has to Lebanon, with Hezbullah still occupying some villages in the area from last year's battles there. Notable is the fact that Daesh evacuated and abandoned it's positions there at the end of 2013 just before the regime onslaught started, and a few weeks before the rebels turned against them. This is their first major deployment there since that time, and they have already sent out messages to all the FSA groups there ordering them to give allegiance.

This comes at a time when there is a push for unified operations rooms across Syria, this time with most if not all major and active rebel groups in each area participating. Some like the First Army do not have local JAN franchises in them, while others such as the Council of the Mujahideen of Kalamoon appear to be more sympathetic. Other operation rooms include the Unified Command in Ghouta which just ordered members of Jaysh al Ummah (Army of the Nation) to hand in their arms in what appears to be a coordinated move with the Shield of the Capital who arrested the leaders of Jaysh al Ummah (who are suing them in response) a few days before, and the Levantine Front in Aleppo.

# ? Jan 4, 2015 19:55

MothraAttack: Apr 28, 2008

Yeah, Qalamoun is a weird and dynamic front. I suspect ISIS' role there may be a bit oversstated at the moment but it remains to be seen. Or maybe that's wishful thinking on my part.

Lots of political entropy otherwise as Jaish as Islam has asserted itself over Jaish al Ummah, and now there are rumors that the Southern Front has declared some sort of solidarity with Jaish al Ummah. From my understanding, locals have qualms with both JaI and JaU -- alleging that they monopolize resources and such and such, which are normal complaints you'd expect from a besieged and starved populace. Alloush claims that JaU is involved in drug smuggling and racketeering, which could be true, but this power grab seems to be undermining his relationship with the Southern Front. For the sake of the locals I hope that, in the off chance the Southern Front ever makes it to JaI territory, this feud is ironed out.

# ? Jan 4, 2015 20:14

My Rhythmic Crotch: Jan 13, 2011

Has anyone heard anything further on the plan to arm Syrian rebels to fight against Assad and Daesh? I can't find any articles later than last September. It just seems like another Afghanistan-esque proxy war boondoggle. And it slipped through Congress so easily with Obama all about it apparently. I'm sort of flabberghasted it was forgotten so quickly.

edit: I've listened to this like 20 times today. Beautiful provided you don't understand or read the lyrics

My Rhythmic Crotch fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Jan 5, 2015

# ? Jan 5, 2015 07:00

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

My Rhythmic Crotch posted:

Has anyone heard anything further on the plan to arm Syrian rebels to fight against Assad and Daesh? I can't find any articles later than last September. It just seems like another Afghanistan-esque proxy war boondoggle. And it slipped through Congress so easily with Obama all about it apparently. I'm sort of flabberghasted it was forgotten so quickly.

edit: I've listened to this like 20 times today. Beautiful provided you don't understand or read the lyrics

Its hard to arm and train moderates when there are no moderates to arm and train.

# ? Jan 5, 2015 07:09

My Rhythmic Crotch: Jan 13, 2011

Change the definition of moderate, problem solved

# ? Jan 5, 2015 07:15

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

My Rhythmic Crotch posted:

Change the definition of moderate, problem solved

Yes, well, that leaves you with arming Assad, which only some consider as "problem solved," while others are aghast and revolted by the thought.

# ? Jan 5, 2015 07:22

Volkerball: Oct 15, 2009; by FactsAreUseless

My Rhythmic Crotch posted:

Has anyone heard anything further on the plan to arm Syrian rebels to fight against Assad and Daesh? I can't find any articles later than last September. It just seems like another Afghanistan-esque proxy war boondoggle. And it slipped through Congress so easily with Obama all about it apparently. I'm sort of flabberghasted it was forgotten so quickly.

edit: I've listened to this like 20 times today. Beautiful provided you don't understand or read the lyrics

Would this be the 2012 plan, the 2013 plan, or the 2014 plan? It was forgotten because it was never meant to go into effect in any meaningful way. They still don't even know where they would put the proposed training camp, fighters wouldn't begin integrating for like 2 years, and they're only supposed to be "civil defense" units that only protect their cities. It was just talk to keep the opposition from shutting the door. They use the same strategy when it comes to refugees. "We've begun implementing procedures to vastly expand our acceptance of Syrian refugees this year!" *takes in double digits*

# ? Jan 5, 2015 07:25

Rigged Death Trap: Feb 13, 2012; BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

mirepoix posted:

I've been interested in learning conversational arabic for a while, and since I follow this thread I've noticed there are a fair number of arabic speakers in here. If I wanted to be able to communicate on the internet, what version of arabic should I (attempt) to learn? And as a point of interest, how do all of these various international fighters communicate with each other, when it comes to dialects of arabic? Can a speaker of iraqi arabic communicate with a speaker of egyptian arabic or levantine arabic? Are they close enough that they can muddle through? What dialect of arabic are da'esh's media releases in, or for that matter ANF, or AQAP's inspire magazine?

Well to answer that, I'm Algerian, though it might be easier for me living in Qatar all these years I don't have much trouble understanding other dialects even though I can't speak them (as in fully correct, with all the inflections and turns of phrase) to save my life, outside of Algerian my Arabic is downright broken.

It's a matter of being so familiar with Arabic that you can easily jump dialects.
And also theres a tendency to cut down on region-specific words when talking to people from other regions.

Rigged Death Trap fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Jan 5, 2015

# ? Jan 5, 2015 16:04

Fizzil: Aug 24, 2005; There are five fucks at the edge of a cliff...

mirepoix posted:

I've been interested in learning conversational arabic for a while, and since I follow this thread I've noticed there are a fair number of arabic speakers in here. If I wanted to be able to communicate on the internet, what version of arabic should I (attempt) to learn? And as a point of interest, how do all of these various international fighters communicate with each other, when it comes to dialects of arabic? Can a speaker of iraqi arabic communicate with a speaker of egyptian arabic or levantine arabic? Are they close enough that they can muddle through? What dialect of arabic are da'esh's media releases in, or for that matter ANF, or AQAP's inspire magazine?

Most written arabic is fus-ha, daesh seems to have a wide range of arab recruits from abroad, i read in one article the tunisian members of daesh had their own base. Personally i have no problem communicating with arabs all the way to Tunisia, except:

Rigged Death Trap posted:

Well to answer that, I'm Algerian, though it might be easier for me living in Qatar all these years I don't have much trouble understanding other dialects even though I can't speak them (as in fully correct, with all the inflections and turns of phrase) to save my life, outside of Algerian my Arabic is downright broken.

It's a matter of being so familiar with Arabic that you can easily jump dialects.
And also theres a tendency to cut down on region-specific words when talking to people from other regions.

Algerians, and Moroccans. :v:

Yes you guys, it isn't true vice versa though, while i could muddle through it, i know many from there who can understand my dialect fine (Gulf Arabic).

# ? Jan 5, 2015 17:39

Pimpmust: Oct 1, 2008

Did the whole TOW-scheme sputter out or something? BrownMoses(?) posted something about the number of TOW-videos dropping off sharply towards November, so maybe the US have cut off that thing too?

# ? Jan 5, 2015 18:57

Libluini: May 18, 2012; I gravitated towards the Greens, eventually even joining the party itself.

The Linke is a party I grudgingly accept exists, but I've learned enough about DDR-history I can't bring myself to trust a party that was once the SED, a party leading the corrupt state apparatus ...; Grimey Drawer

Some more news I haven't seen yet in the thread!

The German Bundeswehr sends up to 100 soldiers into Iraq to help fight ISIS. (Video, German)

ISIS apparently killed hundreds of their own fighters because they feared their desertion. (Article, German)

Amnesty International has some hard words to say about ISIS use of rape as a weapon. (Article, German)

Assad uses the fight against ISIS as an excuse to indulge in his favourite hobby: Killing civilians. (Article, German)

Iraqi troops liberate territory west of Baghdad. Around a hundred more dead ISIS-fighters and the ISIS-held city of Falluja is now completely cut off from its supply lines. The video is in German.

# ? Jan 5, 2015 19:09

Mightypeon: Oct 10, 2013; Putin apologist- assume all uncited claims are from Russia Today or directly from FSB.

key phrases: Poor plucky little Russia, Spheres of influence, The West is Worse, they was asking for it.

Libluini posted:

Some more news I haven't seen yet in the thread!

The German Bundeswehr sends up to 100 soldiers into Iraq to help fight ISIS. (Video, German)

ISIS apparently killed hundreds of their own fighters because they feared their desertion. (Article, German)

Amnesty International has some hard words to say about ISIS use of rape as a weapon. (Article, German)

Assad uses the fight against ISIS as an excuse to indulge in his favourite hobby: Killing civilians. (Article, German)

Iraqi troops liberate territory west of Baghdad. Around a hundred more dead ISIS-fighters and the ISIS-held city of Falluja is now completely cut off from its supply lines. The video is in German.

They arent actually fighting ISIS, just instructors.
Although you could even get left party approval for fighting IS.

Concerning the murdering of potential desters, from what I got, the problem for IS is that random Dschihadi wannabee arriving in Raqqa has not direct way to participate in a "DAEH initiation massacre" because they already murdered most of the potential murder targets under their control. Without having committed a massacre, wannabe Jihadi is now like:
1: The food sucks and I have Stomach problems
2: Noone actually understands me
3: I dont understand anyone
4: Scary people want to kill me
5: All I have been doing here so far is cleaning toilets and/or getting yelled at.
6: Some Chechen nearly killed me because I looked at his wife
7: MOMMMY!

The article concerning Assad is actually "Opposition accuses Assad that his Anti Daesh air strikes kill more civilians then militants" (most air strikes do that, especially if an organisation that utterly hates you does the civilian deaths counting). Assad has a lot to awnser for, but actual genuine collateral damage is pretty far down on that list.

# ? Jan 5, 2015 19:57

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Pimpmust posted:

Did the whole TOW-scheme sputter out or something? BrownMoses(?) posted something about the number of TOW-videos dropping off sharply towards November, so maybe the US have cut off that thing too?

Looks like it picked up again in the second half of December, still appears all the groups who had them before have been using them, but Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS got their hands on a few last month.

# ? Jan 5, 2015 20:16

Volkerball: Oct 15, 2009; by FactsAreUseless

Did you ever hear anything about where those came from? A lot of people were saying they could have been captured from Hezbollah, but that was mostly passed around by opposition supporters, so it might have been grasping at straws.

# ? Jan 5, 2015 20:26

Sergg: Sep 19, 2005; I was rejected by the:

Be very careful about what you hear in regards to progress against ISIS in Iraq. The Iraqi press is notoriously unreliable propaganda and reports from the Iraqi government are about as believable as Baghdad Bob from the 2003 invasion. I can't count the number of times they've liberated Tikrit.

# ? Jan 5, 2015 20:38

pantslesswithwolves: Oct 28, 2008

Volkerball posted:

Did you ever hear anything about where those came from? A lot of people were saying they could have been captured from Hezbollah, but that was mostly passed around by opposition supporters, so it might have been grasping at straws.

Didn't they get a few when they overran the Harakat Hazm base in Idlib some months ago?

Also, I don't think Hizballah has TOWs.

Edit: a little bit of research indicates that Hizballah does in fact have a TOW equivalent, which was reverse-engineered by the Iranians.

pantslesswithwolves fucked around with this message at 20:56 on Jan 5, 2015

# ? Jan 5, 2015 20:49

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

Volkerball posted:

Did you ever hear anything about where those came from? A lot of people were saying they could have been captured from Hezbollah, but that was mostly passed around by opposition supporters, so it might have been grasping at straws.

The Lebanese Army had TOWs, but the ones Jahbat al-Nusra and ISIS were using were a different model, the same type given to vetted groups.

# ? Jan 5, 2015 20:51

fade5: May 31, 2012; by exmarx

So a senior ISIL cleric, Othman Al Nazih, was killed in a recent coalition airstrike on Kobani.

quote:

According to reports, Othman Al Nazih was killed in an airstrike in the strategic city on Thursday. Social media pages belonging to the Takfiri group also verified the death of the Takfiri militant in the Syrian border city.

Al Nazih had reportedly been a professor at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia before joining the ISIL at the outset of the crisis in Syria in 2011.

Also on the Kobani front, the Kurds now control about 80% of Kobani, and they're continuing the rapid push against ISIL, and (hopefully) plan to retake the entire city fairly soon.

quote:

US Central Command said eight air strikes struck two large IS units and a fighting position in Kobani on Sunday. Mr Nassan and the Observatory said Syrian Kurdish fighters, known as People's Protection Units, or YPG, now control about 80% of the town. Mr Nassan said IS fighters still control Kobani's eastern neighbourhoods of Maqtala and Kani Kordan.

"Hopefully within days the units (YPG) will be in control of the whole city," he said. "The advance has become faster and the air strikes are more intense."

Here, have two maps of the last two days:

Can I just take a moment to say holy loving Christ at the sheer number of coalition airstrikes (17!) in the space of two days? Airstrikes may not be able to win a war, but they can sure as hell tip the scales in a terrifyingly effective way. :stare:

Basically, it's no longer a question of if ISIL is going to be forced out of Kobani, but when. As always, the Kurds remain loving awesome. :getin:

# ? Jan 6, 2015 01:04

Volkerball: Oct 15, 2009; by FactsAreUseless

You may have won the war, but we won the battle! :getin:

# ? Jan 6, 2015 01:08

J33uk: Oct 24, 2005

No you guys really this isn't like October, November or December, Kobani will be retaken any day now. I think it's undeniable the momentum has shifted but this any day now talk has been around for so long.

# ? Jan 6, 2015 01:11

Volkerball: Oct 15, 2009; by FactsAreUseless

J33uk posted:

No you guys really this isn't like October, November or December, Kobani will be retaken any day now. I think it's undeniable the momentum has shifted but this any day now talk has been around for so long.

Octoberchat was "ISIS is going to take over Kobane in 20 minutes." Then after the fight lasted an hour, :laffo:

ISIS are screwed. I tend to lean on the "long and bloody" side when it comes to these types of fights, but it really does seem like within the next 2-3 weeks, ISIS is going to have to pull out of the city.

# ? Jan 6, 2015 01:21

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

It doesn't matter when ISIS pulls out of Kobane, what matters is that they will pull out of Kobane and the Kurds have made Kobane a rallying symbol for their future bids at statehood.

# ? Jan 6, 2015 01:23

Al-Saqr: Nov 11, 2007; One Day I Will Return To Your Side.

fade5 posted:

Basically, it's no longer a question of if ISIL is going to be forced out of Kobani, but when. As always, the Kurds remain loving awesome.

You know, all this praise and mythologizing for the Kurds is really strange considering that it was shown quite clearly that they literally cant fight off ISIS without massive American air support.

# ? Jan 6, 2015 03:41

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

Al-Saqr posted:

You know, for all this praise and mythologizing for the Kurds is really strange considering that it was shown quite clearly that they literally cant fight off ISIS without massive American air support.

They're willing to fight ISIS with or without coalition air support. That's more than enough.

# ? Jan 6, 2015 03:43

Herstory Begins Now: Aug 5, 2003; SOME REALLY TEDIOUS DUMB SHIT THAT SUCKS ASS TO READ ->>

Al-Saqr posted:

You know, all this praise and mythologizing for the Kurds is really strange considering that it was shown quite clearly that they literally cant fight off ISIS without massive American air support.

Compared to the response of the Iraqi army in response to ISIS, the Kurds are positively heroic.

# ? Jan 6, 2015 03:56

Ciprian Maricon: Feb 27, 2006

Can anyone summarize the reasons why despite loads of training and equipment the Iraqi army is so terrible.

# ? Jan 6, 2015 05:21

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# ? May 16, 2024 03:42

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

Ciprian Maricon posted:

Can anyone summarize the reasons why despite loads of training and equipment the Iraqi army is so terrible.

-Purge competent officers as a political threat to Maliki's dictatorial rule

-Ended payments to anyone not within Maliki's clique

-Officers sold equipment on the open market

-Enlistment rolls inflated with relatives, over half of Iraqi army was composed of ghost soldiers

-Promotion of most corrupt individuals as greatest way for Maliki to solidify his powerbase

-Failure of adequate, timely, and kinetic US intervention against Maliki's junta by ignoring signs of Maliki's growing friendliness with Iran

# ? Jan 6, 2015 05:29

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Middle East Thread of Despair: More Broken Than Syria

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