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The noose is tightening in Syria
THE ECONOMIST ^ | 23 Mar 17 | Unknown

Posted on 03/24/2017 2:08:36 AM PDT by elhombrelibre

THE last caliph to make the Syrian city of Raqqa his capital was a lover of fine wine, art and women. Although certainly brutal (he had his most loyal adviser cut into three pieces in 803), Harun al-Rashid is best remembered for his lasciviousness, which inspired some of the raunchiest tales in “The Arabian Nights”.

By contrast, Raqqa’s current overlord—the self-declared caliph of a self-declared caliphate—will be remembered for unleashing a spasm of grotesque violence that erupted in Iraq and spread as far as the shores of Libya and the mountains of Afghanistan. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi will have also presided over one of the shortest-lived “caliphates” in history.

(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...


TOPICS: Syria
KEYWORDS: albaghdaddi; albaghdadi; raqqa

1 posted on 03/24/2017 2:08:36 AM PDT by elhombrelibre
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To: elhombrelibre

This article’s historical details ae a couple of weeks old or better. The latest was the air-assault raid that split the IS forces to the west of Raqqa at the western of two dams along the river. This effectively cut them off for an escape route to the west and depleted any reinforcements from moving towards the city.

I find it refreshing that Mattis and Trump are just going about to git-r-dun without letting anyone know it is getting done. Rightfully, we are getting after action reports only by whatever press is brave enough to walk the same ground and smart enough to not give anything away.

Hopefully, the Rolex that Al-Bahgdadi wears will stop ticking really soon, much to the chagrin of his buddy, McCain.


2 posted on 03/24/2017 2:32:44 AM PDT by mazda77
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To: elhombrelibre

When did gore and violence become an acceptable substitute for sex and drunkenness? These freaking heathens. This world is one f*c|<€d up place


3 posted on 03/24/2017 2:38:27 AM PDT by atc23 (The Confederacy was the single greatest conservative resistance to federal authority ever)
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To: atc23

HA!


4 posted on 03/24/2017 2:56:58 AM PDT by elhombrelibre (Cogito ergo sum a conservative pro-American.)
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To: elhombrelibre

Bagging Baghdadi , a screen play for Hollywood is currently being written by former Obama speechwriters.

Obama will be prepared to stand up and take the credit for his defeat and preservation of his body for display in the Obama mausoleum presidential library for the illiterate..


5 posted on 03/24/2017 4:27:04 AM PDT by Candor7 ((Obama fascism article:(http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/barack_obama_the_quintessentia_1.html)
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To: elhombrelibre

Go Google the true story behind 1001 Arabian nights.

A Disney story it is not...


6 posted on 03/24/2017 4:35:16 AM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
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To: mazda77

Bump


7 posted on 03/24/2017 5:08:01 AM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: elhombrelibre

I think the writing is on the wall. ISIS in the middle east is coming to an end and most likely sometime this year. The only question is will people like Baghdadi escape to Libya or Yemen or somewhere else where ISIS still has a foothold. Yes, ISIS will live on in some form even after they are gone from the middle east but it will be dramatically diminished and possibly die a slow tortuous death in the years following. It may go out with a whimper and not a bang.

The bigger question is what comes next? What happens in Syria? What happens to the Kurds who were the best allies in this whole fight for us? I mean the Kurds in both Syria and Iraq. And what is our disposition with Turkey, Russia and Iran. These are all important questions that have to be answered going forward. I think the only easy answer is concerning Iraq. They should hopefully move more towards us and sign a new SOFA agreement whereby we station some troops in the country to keep the violence and craziness tamped down.


8 posted on 03/24/2017 5:55:54 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: Old Teufel Hunden

You can’t kill an idea. That’s the premise behind Eric Hoffa’s True Believer. Islam represents the pillar of Intoleralce, the assertion of the personal ego over all else. Several major religions, including Christianity, are pillars of Tolerance. One defines the other. One cannot exist without the other.

The best we can do is bottle Islam up in some unpleasant, unpopular place in the world, and leave it to fester among its followers. If you understand karma, there has to be situations for souls who need lessons of humility and tolerance to overcome their egos.


9 posted on 03/24/2017 7:29:09 AM PDT by RideForever
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To: RideForever
"You can’t kill an idea."

It's a long term problem/solution to be sure. ISIS is just the latest manifestation. We can wipe out ISIS but 'X' radical Islamo Fascist death cult will be along in a little while to take it's place. Getting rid of ISIS is a huge win for us though. Make no mistake the people at the top were not a bunch of yahoos. These were the last remnants of Saddam's Fedayeen. My suspicion is most of them will go down with the ship. They're not leaving the Levant area and there's no place left for them to go in that immediate area. Someone like Al Baghdadi may try to flee to fight on, but not the ones actually running the show. To be a world wide threat like ISIS you have to have good people at the top and we will have rid ourselves of many of them.

As for the long term problem, it is a generational thing. But I have hope. In 1945, the Germans didn't all of the sudden become de Nazified and the Italians and Japanese didn't become former Fascists. It took a long time to stamp out a lot of that ideology to get to the point we are at today in those countries.
10 posted on 03/24/2017 7:48:56 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: elhombrelibre

All this killing just so the Saudia’s can run a pipeline to europe.


11 posted on 03/24/2017 9:48:10 AM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: minnesota_bound

Yes, and so we end up with One World Government ruled by the Council of Foreign Relations to support fluoride in drinking water. Fortunately, the smart cats are on to them.


12 posted on 03/24/2017 10:52:46 AM PDT by elhombrelibre (Cogito ergo sum a conservative pro-American.)
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