Middle East Conflict Megathread (Syria, Iraq, Yemen, etc)

[Pilarcraft]

If not the IDF itself, their proxies in Daesh and Al Qaeda might have destroyed those nations.

"Their proxies in DAESH", ah yes. The "Eternal Jew" nazi meme, truly never getting old.

It always makes me laugh when people say ISIS is a proxy of Israel. (I mean, not as much as those who believe that The Nazi Germany was a jew conspiracy to take down muslim land [believe me I have heard that one too] but still)

[Alsheb]

If not the IDF itself, their proxies in Daesh and Al Qaeda might have destroyed those nations.

"Their proxies in DAESH", ah yes. The "Eternal Jew" nazi meme, truly never getting old.

Generalising all Jews as zionists, that is antisemitic, yes. I never said anything about the adherents of the Jewish faith. You are the one making that analogy now.

[Alsheb]

"Their proxies in DAESH", ah yes. The "Eternal Jew" nazi meme, truly never getting old.

It always makes me laugh when people say ISIS is a proxy of Israel. (I mean, not as much as those who believe that The Nazi Germany was a jew conspiracy to take down muslim land [believe me I have heard that one too] but still)

They had no problems at all with Daesh at their borders in the Golan, and in fact made several sorties against the Syrian Army in order to support Daesh and HTS advances.

Draw your own conclusions.

[Insaeldor]

Update on the Iraq and Syria conflict map

[Bakery Hill]

I would doubt that, regardless of the IDF's effectiveness and America aide, the overreach would destroy the nation and bring down whatever government was in place. Israel had a hard time occupying Lebanon alone, Syria and then Iraq would be nigh impossible on top of that.

If not the IDF itself, their proxies in Daesh and Al Qaeda might have destroyed those nations.

They are not Israeli proxies. That's just being silly now. Israel has materially supported some jihadist groups, as is in their national interest, but it's a little excessive to imply that they have any control over those groups. Israel is a powerful and influential player in the region, but I don't buy theories of all powerful and overreaching Zionist conspiracies.

[Alsheb]

If not the IDF itself, their proxies in Daesh and Al Qaeda might have destroyed those nations.

They are not Israeli proxies. That's just being silly now. Israel has materially supported some jihadist groups, as is in their national interest, but it's a little excessive to imply that they have any control over those groups. Israel is a powerful and influential player in the region, but I don't buy theories of all powerful and overreaching Zionist conspiracies.

They don't have to be under their immediate control or military leadership. The SDF is widely considered a US proxy, but they also don't get their battle plans from the Pentagon either.

[United Islamic Commonwealth]

I understand this that they likely don't care but the root of our issues is in the divisions in faith because of Iran they are like the Nazis and their groups are like Nazi armies and battalions and the Ikhwan are also a bad organization that cause issues everywhere and Iran hijacks them constantly even in Egypt and here in Libya because Iran wants to dominate us so naturally they will have spies among the Arabs that will cause us to fight one another to ruin us as a people

I don't think the Iranians are the root of all evil.

Shurjah seems to believe that if you are Sunni and Arab, you are completely infallible and everything you do in war is justified. But every action taken by Shia Iranians is an act of Iblis himself.

[Pilarcraft]

They are not Israeli proxies. That's just being silly now. Israel has materially supported some jihadist groups, as is in their national interest, but it's a little excessive to imply that they have any control over those groups. Israel is a powerful and influential player in the region, but I don't buy theories of all powerful and overreaching Zionist conspiracies.

They don't have to be under their immediate control or military leadership. The SDF is widely considered a US proxy, but they also don't get their battle plans from the Pentagon either.

Technically, SDF is not exactly a US proxy, but supported by the US where military is concerned. their ideologies are just too incompatible, though it's just my opinion.

[Alsheb]

I don't think the Iranians are the root of all evil.

Shurjah seems to believe that if you are Sunni and Arab, you are completely infallible and everything you do in war is justified. But every action taken by Shia Iranians is an act of Iblis himself.

More often than not, takfiris like hin turn out to be simply Arab supremacists. Who seem to forgot that Shiism also came from the Arabs.

[Thermodolia]

Only Al-Masdar speaks the truth about the Lion of Syria.

Only because setting off a nuke in Damascus would be a bad idea

[Bakery Hill]

They are not Israeli proxies. That's just being silly now. Israel has materially supported some jihadist groups, as is in their national interest, but it's a little excessive to imply that they have any control over those groups. Israel is a powerful and influential player in the region, but I don't buy theories of all powerful and overreaching Zionist conspiracies.

They don't have to be under their immediate control or military leadership. The SDF is widely considered a US proxy, but they also don't get their battle plans from the Pentagon either.

How would you define a proxy?

[United Islamic Commonwealth]

Shurjah seems to believe that if you are Sunni and Arab, you are completely infallible and everything you do in war is justified. But every action taken by Shia Iranians is an act of Iblis himself.

More often than not, takfiris like hin turn out to be simply Arab supremacists. Who seem to forgot that Shiism also came from the Arabs.

He is most definitely an Arab supremacist. And I've pointed out to him that Shia came from Arabs, too, and he simply ignored it.

[Alsheb]

More often than not, takfiris like hin turn out to be simply Arab supremacists. Who seem to forgot that Shiism also came from the Arabs.

He is most definitely an Arab supremacist. And I've pointed out to him that Shia came from Arabs, too, and he simply ignored it.

People seem to forget that Iran only went Shia in the 16th century. Most history of the Shia takes place in Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and Syria. All of them Arab nations.

[United Islamic Commonwealth]

He is most definitely an Arab supremacist. And I've pointed out to him that Shia came from Arabs, too, and he simply ignored it.

People seem to forget that Iran only went Shia in the 16th century. Most history of the Shia takes place in Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and Syria. All of them Arab nations.

No, no, no. Ali and his sons were clearly Iranian spies. He also has repeatedly called Iraq "Iran's Bitch", so...

[Alsheb]

People seem to forget that Iran only went Shia in the 16th century. Most history of the Shia takes place in Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and Syria. All of them Arab nations.

No, no, no. Ali and his sons were clearly Iranian spies. He also has repeatedly called Iraq "Iran's Bitch", so...

It's funny, since even Saddam Hussein used to have a propaganda campaign calling Iraq "the nation of Ali" during the Iran-Iraq War as a way to pretend he was tooootally not anti-Shia

[Qandaristania]

https://www.vox.com/world/2017/11/17/16 ... syria-rawa
ISIS just lost its last town in Iraq

In 2014, ISIS controlled around 34,000 square miles of territory in Iraq and Syria. As of Friday, ISIS lost its last stronghold in Iraq.

That’s because on Friday morning Iraqi troops and US-led coalition forces retook Rawa — a small town in northwestern Iraq — after about five hours of fighting. ISIS has now effectively lost all of its territory in Iraq, even though some of the group’s militants still operate in the country’s western rural areas near the border with Syria.

Now that Iraq’s flag hangs over Rawa once more, Brett McGurk, President Donald Trump’s diplomatic envoy for the US-led coalition, congratulated the Iraqi fighters on Twitter and announced that the “days of [ISIS’s] phony ‘caliphate’ are coming to an end.” Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also praised his forces, noting how quickly they retook the town.

The Pentagon says the US has around 5,300 troops tasked with helping the Iraqi military fight ISIS, usually by training its troops, gathering intelligence, and conducting airstrikes.

It’s a big moment for Iraq, as retaking Rawa has essentially ended ISIS governance in its country after three long and brutal years of fighting. But that doesn’t mean that anyone can relax just yet. If anything, the ISIS threat is morphing.

ISIS isn’t defeated yet
It’s more than likely that ISIS will continue to plague Iraq, Syria, and much of the world, even as it loses land.

Just a day ago, when asked about ISIS, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said that “anyone who thinks they're down is premature.”

Hassan Hassan, a Middle East security expert at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, wrote in the National on November 15 that ISIS is already beginning to redefine itself. The group is shifting from governing territory to quickly striking Iraqi towns and cities. The strategy, Hassan notes, is to begin “a war of attrition to deplete its enemy through a ceaseless and incessant campaign of terror and hit-and-run attacks.”

ISIS may carry this strategy forward into Syria, too. The group lost the capital of its so-called caliphate, Raqqa, in October, but it still controls parts of urban areas in eastern Syria. As the US-led coalition tries to remove ISIS from that territory, it could use terror tactics to try to ward off the US-led coalition.

As my colleague Yochi Dreazen notes, ISIS may turn into more of an idea as it loses more territory. That idea may continue to inspire ISIS followers in various countries to stage attacks — especially in Europe and the United States. The attack in New York City this month, which killed eight people and injured 11, was believed to have been inspired by ISIS. It only underlined how hard it will be to prevent similar attacks by an individual encouraged by ISIS propaganda.

So while it’s worth celebrating the military defeat of ISIS in Iraq, it doesn’t mean the fight against the group is over.

To me, this is great news. The terror of Daesh is finally gone from any significant population centre within Iraq and Iraqis of all sects and religions should celebrate this fact. While I applaude the fighters who have fought this scum, it's also worth to mention why ISIS got so strongly entrenched anyway. Sunnis in 2014 were in a precarious situation where the Shiite government under Maliki was increasingly getting more sectarian and pushing around with the Sunnis. When ISIS arrived, many Sunnis now had to choose between a violent and bloodthirsty but nonetheless Sunni organization or a sectarian Shiite despotic regime targetting them for their sect.

With the rise of Abadi things changed for the better as Abadi was appealing more towards the Sunnis (he has higher approval ratings among Sunni regions than Shiite) and promised diversification in the government. That's also when ISIS' influence and might began to wane. Less Sunnis where now supporting the group.

Another problem is the sectarian nature of PMS/Hashd ash-Sha'abi. Marching into Sunni towns with Shiite banners and flags will not get you applause there and there have been reports of Sunnis being targeted and accused of being ISIS soldiers.

To me, while Abadi might be promoting a unified, un-sectarian Iraq, the existence of PMS kind of violates that. But we will see what the future has to offer. But one thing is for sure; ISIS will not end, it will only continue underground.

[Aillyria]

Yes this is great news, one step further towards end of these kafir. Death to Daesh, inshallah!!!

[Kubumba Tribe]

Yes this is great news, one step further towards end of these kafir. Death to Daesh, inshallah!!!

Insha-Allah, Aameen.
May Allah (SWT) bring wahidah ala al-muslimeen jami'ah.
UMMAH ZINDABAD!

[Community Values]

I can't get over how much I like this title.
I also like the fact that ISIS is falling apart faster and faster everyday. Aren't they losing most of their territory in Syria to?

[United Muscovite Nations]

This calls for a celebration!

[Insaeldor]

Already got a thread for this

[Naifon]

Pop the champagne! Only a few thousand square kilometers were decimated, and only a few Muslim artifacts and symbols destroyed.

[Saiwania]

I've seen conflicting news that ISIS' last town in Syria has fallen as well, that convoys of vehicles and people are stranded out in the desert, sitting ducks for any aircraft that passes by. Getting strafed or bombed with impunity. What is truly accurate at this point?

I'd think that all valuable real estate would be near the Euphrates or by major roads. If the entire stretch of it is captured, they can't hope to hold onto the less valuable patches of desert without a source of water.

[Kubumba Tribe]

Pop the champagne!

No, unless if it's unalcoholic

Only a few thousand square kilometers were decimated, and [u]only a few Muslim artifacts and symbols destroyed.

What does the underlined mean?

[Kubumba Tribe]

I can't get over how much I like this title.

Just realized a few seconds ago lol