Fascinating Maps Belie Claim ISIS Also Targets Muslims.

Dangus

[dangus]

Look at the map below. You'll see four regions of "Iraq and Syria" that the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" express no desire to conquer:

Why is that? All four of these areas are where non-Sunni Muslims predominate. They include Southern Iraq (Shiites), Northwestern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan), Syria just north of Lebanon (Alawites and Shiites) and the area surrounding the Golan Heights (Druze and Shiites).

So why would ISIS fight so bitterly for largely Kurdish Erbil and Mosul, yet make no claim to what is officially Kurdistan? Because Erbil and Mosul are Iraqi centers of Christendom, the real target of ISIS.

Notice that they have no interest in the Alawite, Shiite and Druze regions, but do want the Christian regions?


Now look at this map:

Notice that the provinces ISIS has no interest in are the provinces that comprise official Kurdistan (Arbil, Darhuk and As Sulaymaniyah), and the Shiite-dominated provinces. Not convinced? It may be hard to see because ISIS territory claims so much empty land. This map should bring into sharper focus that land claims aren't simply a matter of what can be controlled, but what is sought.

I shrunk the map so it would fit on your screen, but follow this link so you can see where the cities are. They are marked by dots proportional to their population: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Syria_and_Iraq_2014-onward_War_map.png

Of course, it'd be reasonable to expect that an army might want to only claim the areas that they can effectively control. Given that, you might suppose that ISIS is simply claiming the areas where they believe they can win over their fellow Sunni religionists. You might suppose that they simply are not claiming the non-Sunni regions. But, of course, if you've been paying attention to the news, you know that they have attacked Erbil and Mosul -- cities which are predominantly Kurdish but also have large Moslem populations -- and also the Yezidi regions (marked by red in the map above), and the Christian enclaves in otherwise Kurdish lands (marked by the crosses in the map above). They've even attacked and depopulated the Christian and Yezidi populations in cities that they don't make any claim to at all!

[knarf]

Dang, dangus .. that be good reportin’ ... thanx

[353FMG]

But will our politicians take note or will they ignore the facts because these areas are occupied by expendable Christians?

[dangus]

Please note that the Kurdish cities (yellow on yellow) are hard to see on the map above.

[cripplecreek]

No desire to conquer and haven’t conquered yet aren’t the same thing. Plus, huge sections of that area are truly empty of people and pointless to occupy.

[dangus]

Error: I referred to the red dots as Yezidi; it’s the green dots that are Yezidi.

[dangus]

I did not confuse the terms. If you look at the top map, you’ll see that the deep red areas refer to areas under their control, the merely red-shaded areas are where they claim to desire to conquer.

[dangus]

I meant “shaded” not “red-shaded.”

[KC Burke]

great study

[Ann Archy]

WOW!! FOX NEWS are you READING THIS????? Forget all the other “news” outlets.....they care NOTHING about truth!!

[hecht]

Kurds are Sunni

[dangus]

Your point? Mine is that they are leaving Muslims alone, even when their Islam is incompatible with ISIS. Many Kurds are Sunni, but their identity means that they are incompatible with ISIS. Incidentally, many Kurds are Christian, Yazidi, Shiite, Jewish and Zoroastrian, although the Jews are long since gone from Iraq and Syria, and the Zoroastrians are largely in Turkey and Iran. But ISIS is targeting only the non-Muslims.

[dangus]

Oh, I get it. I referred to Kurdistan as non-Sunni-dominated.

[Whenifhow]

FYI and for review

[Makana]

Our politicians look at maps drawn with political boundaries. They are blinded to the cultural realities on the ground.