Islam, Submission With No Peace Pt. 9...ISIS

ISIS Executing Iraqi Soldiers

ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) a force of nearly 7,000 to 8,000 Sunni militants, has quickly placed itself in the lead of the many woes facing the Middle East. Many of us have heard the threat of ISIS repeated over and over on the news and seen how this group (also called a mobile army) has kicked both Christians and other Muslims out of their homes. 

ISIS, with 800 men, captured the second most populous city in Iraq, Mosul, which was defended by 30,000 soldiers. This group has successfully waged war in both Syria and Iraq and is quickly gaining strength in the whole region in effort to establish a completely new state with a completely new Muslim ethic. 

For many Christians, the only thing we know of this group is that their name sounds like a Greek goddess and that they must be evil because they desecrated and blew up the grave of Jonah the prophet. This group is a Sunni Muslim group and as such has a distinct method of operation and leadership than their Shiite brothers. For a look at the split between Sunnis and Shiites, see the NPR WEBSITE

No matter what we believe about their mode of operation, be sure to know that ISIS and their threat is real. Funded by selling electricity and oil to help further their cause, ISIS is an organized group of Sunni Muslims that have swallowed Al-Qaeda as the regions number 1 terrorist group, looking to regain control of the region and reestablish the Caliphate putting down the more numerous Shia controlled government that arose in Iraq after the removal of Saddam Husein. In fact, as of this writing, they are directing their own government in the region in which they have captured cities and their efforts includes issuing license plates and directing the courts and court processes. 

First, you need to know...this is NOT a battle about religion as much as it is about POLITICAL POWER. The Sunnis that control ISIS feel left out by the Shia government of Nuri al-Maliki, as we will discuss below, and certainly have no sympathy for the US Government in any way. 

How Did This Happen?

Remember the Republican Guard? The army that deserted their posts because they saw the handwriting on the wall of a Saddam Hussein government and rule?  Many of the ISIS soldiers are the best of those soldiers that left. Also, do you remember Al-Qaeda? The terrorist group that the US dismantled? ISIS causes them to fear and has no respect for them and has also managed to attract some of their most fierce fighters. 

Then, you see, Syria is busy fighting a civil war and cannot do anything but buy electricity from this group...yes you read it right...as I stated earlier, there are not your ordinary terrorists. ISIS controls and sells electricity and oil as a means of funding its operations. 

It is all a tragedy and was encouraged because we didn't know any better. When leaders in most of the Muslim dominated Middle eastern countries started to be replaced and came under attack, our lead officials called it an "Arab-spring", claiming that these acts were acts of a desire for democracy and freedom...NOTHING was further from the truth. What it was, and what it always was, was an Arab takeover led by radical Muslims and those who otherwise want nothing but a form of sharia law to embrace the world. The West vastly underestimated the actual ethnic conflicts that have existed for years and the ethnic oppression of certain groups against others groups some of whom share the same religion. 

The Problems

Pt. 1: Nuri al-Maliki Is The Culpret

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki & President Barack Obama

What has given ISIS strength,  are the policies of Prime Minister Maliki who has used the law to undermine Sunni protests and to squash Sunni voices. It has been reported that the Maliki government has persecuted Sunnis who were otherwise performing peaceful protests and demonstrations by killing them or ordering them killed. It has also been reported that there have been mass incarcerations of individuals who are Sunni and who are sympathetic to the inclusion of Sunni rule or a Sunni voice in government. In other words the Nuri al-Maliki government has been a smiling, US backed, terror to the Sunnis all together. 

Pt. 2: The US, Iraq Exit Strategy Has Further Facilitated The Problem

The other part, along with a bad Maliki govt. that has allowed ISIS to expand and grow is the exist strategy of the United States. Not only did the Obama Presidency promise a withdrawal from the Mid-East, they also let a high level of known terrorist sympathizers and sworn haters of the West go free! Both of those things have given ISIS more personnel and more boldness to act and to push their agenda forward. 

The announced strategy of ":no boots on the ground" is doing nothing more than giving the ISIS, former Al-Qaeda oriented type of tactic, more strength. If there ever was a glaring deficiency with US foreign policy...this is it! This promise of "no boots" simply allows this group to become more embolden in their defiance against the west and they feel that they can overpower the forces that exist because they are split between Shiia and Sunni and have shown a small will to fight and defend themselves. 

For ISIS this is not about shared power or a formulation of a diverse or sectarian state...it is about Mid Eastern domination in order to gain control of political power and ultimately form the desired Caliphate state order.

UPDATE 8/9/14: 

In a Presidential address made on Saturday Aug. 9th, President Obama explained the exit strategy and why the American troops had to leave Iraq as they did. Although it was his commitment to bring troops home, there was a greater issue and problem that arose even under the Bush Presidency. It seemed to stem around Iraq's unwillingness to provide legal protections and exemptions to American soldiers and various individuals insulating them from prosecution if they were to engage in conflict with radical Iraqi citizens.

President Obama said that the Iraqi political leaders were not willing to provide such exemptions and exceptions for American military personnel. He posed that it would have been an exercise of violating the sovereignty of Iraq to maintain a US force in the country against Iraqi wishes.

Under those circumstances the Americans would have to exit the country leaving only a small force their for embassy and other basic needs to protect essential American personnel.

USA Today reports:

"Responding to a reporter's question, Obama said the U.S. did not leave troops in Iraq after the end of combat operations because Iraq's government did not a sign an agreement to have them there. Most of Iraq's citizens "did not want U.S. troops there," he said, adding that it's "bogus" for critics to attack him for the lack of a post-combat agreement."

So the exit strategy has been explained and I believe President Obama is correct. How can we simply occupy a country against a country's will when our mission in that country has ended. At that point the only thing that we can do is help stabilize the country and help avoid humanitarian crisis such as what we are seeing arising in this conflict.

What Of The Kurds?

You have heard a lot of talk about Kurdistan, and the Kurdish people. This is North-Eastern Iraq. The Kurds who are also mostly Sunni, have been a go-between to a degree in this conflict so far and have not suffered quite as much at least at the present time. We will hear on the news that the Kurds have been in a lone battle against ISIS and that they are under great duress...Don't believe everything you hear to the degree that you hear it...According to the research that we have done on this site, the Kurdish army is not Baghdad controlled. Consisting of over 250,000 or so individuals, they have been courted by both sides and have primarily maintained their own ground and are not sympathetic to a Maliki government. The problem is that they are underfunded and don't have enough weapons and the right type of weapons to defend themselves. 

The Kurds have also been able to annex Kirkuk which is a oil producing province and one that has allowed the Kurds to fund themselves.  Currently, the United States is providing a level of support to the Kurds by helping to upgrade their weapons and providing ammunition for them to wage war and fight.  The aim is to help the Kurds defend themselves along with the American assets within the country. 

The Fight & Persecution Of Christians & Non-Muslims

While ISIS has told Christians to "convert to Islam or die" in areas such as Qaraqosh, they have also persecuted others such as the Yazids threatening them the same way. As of this writing there are hundreds of thousands who have left their homes and run to the mountains in effort to avoid being killed by these terrorists. 

President Obama, tonight, Aug. 7th, 2014 has authorized air strikes against ISIS militants that advance into areas such as Erbil, the Kurdish capitol, but has not promised to weaponize the Kurds.(as of this writing) As suggested, Maliki has no incentive to weaponize anyone who is not under his control. Although he and his government has received much aid, training and weaponry from the US to "defend" themselves and the new Iraq, Maliki, does nothing but what he wants to do. These are some very serious issues and ISIS is taking advantage of all the confusion.  

This month, the Kurds have lost several towns minutes away from Erbil, the Kurdish capital. Noone knows what ISIS next move will be, but the Kurds stand ready to defend their Capitol city with the help of US air strikes.  

Then There's The Control Of Oil:

Brad Plumer from the Vox site said this:

But the fighting has threatened some of Iraq's other oil infrastructure, including a pipeline that can deliver 600,000 barrels of oil per day from Kirkuk to the Turkish port city of Ceyhan. (That pipeline had been damaged by a 2013 attack and was offline receiving repairs - that work has now been halted.) 

There's also potential for things to get a lot worse. If the conflict spreads further into the Kurdish regions, that could disrupt operations in the large Kirkuk oil field near the city of Mosul, which now produces around 260,000 barrels of oil per day - and accounts for one-sixth of the country's proven reserves. Iraq had plans to invest heavily in that oil field in the years ahead, and that's a lot harder now.

I want it to be known from this web site that although we take a lot of time making the distinction between Islam and Christianity in my posts, we want to make it perfectly clear, that we do not wish the death killing and or destruction of ANY Muslim man, women or child, nor the displacement any Muslim from their home or country.

What this group known as ISIS is doing is atrocious and should be condemned by the world to the highest degree. Their leaders should be given trial and summarily executed because there is no excuse for their murderous tactic. If they had simply taken land and held prisoners, that would have been more honorable than the devil/infidel MESS that they are currently doing in the name of liberation.

I will encourage every Muslim in Iraq who may read this post to take care of themselves and their family and know that we are praying for your safety and peace. Only I am praying in the name of the Lord Most High...that is in Jesus Name!

Wa ‘alaykum al-salaam (وعليكم السلام) 

Update:

At 10:45 PM(cst), CNN reported that President Obama has also authorized the delivery of hellfire missiles to the Kurds so that they can protect Erbil. The Maliki govt. is not equipping the Kurds so America is.

USA Today Video:

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