Islamic State grabs Iraqi dam, oilfield in victory over Kurds

[progree]

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. The IS has very clever leadership and absolutely committed fighters.

They may very well succeed in creating a new nation, under sharia law, with stonings and amputations for all.

[2banon]

2. uh oh. might this be a game changer wrt to U.S. intervention? n/t

[MADem]

3. Those Kurds play a long game--they'd best not sit on their laurels.

They can call in fighters from over two borders with ease. And they have long memories.

[amandabeech]

10. They better get going.

The thought of ISIS controlling a large dam is more than a little unnerving.

[joshcryer]

15. And they have women fighters, on equal footing with the men.

Women fighters on the front lines.

[Eugene]

4. Just beautiful! Thank you, George Bush.

[Botany]

6. yup!

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]

8. Thanks for the map. Here is another, showing Iraq's Kurdistan region

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]

12. It is easy to blame Bush for this

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]

13. True, religions have outlasted all governments, bringing them down or raising them up...

[rickyhall]

5. I'd favor helping the Kurds

And I agree, MADem, the Kurds will be back.

[BlueEye]

7. "Could give the Sunni militants the ability to flood major Iraqi cities"

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]

9. This is really bad!

I thought the Kurds were the one faction that could defend their turf. Guess not.

[ballyhoo]

11. This is devastating news. This and Gaza have

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]

14. One of the great ironies of ISIS success...

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]

16. tossing out Ghaddaffi was a mistake

so was helping the FSA /ISIS

[Uncle Joe]

17. According to the Kurds in this article they still control the dam but have

lost the towns surrounding it.

Thanks for the thread, progree.