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The Hidden Hand Behind the Islamic State
The Washington Post ^ | April 4, 2015 | Liz Sly

Posted on 05/18/2015 7:40:50 AM PDT by AnalogReigns

SANLIURFA, Turkey — When Abu Hamza, a former Syrian rebel, agreed to join the Islamic State, he did so assuming he would become a part of the group’s promised Islamist utopia, which has lured foreign jihadists from around the globe.

Instead, he found himself being supervised by an Iraqi emir and receiving orders from shadowy Iraqis...

All of the men, however, were former Iraqi officers who had served under Saddam Hussein...

His account, and those of others who have lived with or fought against the Islamic State over the past two years, underscore the pervasive role played by members of Iraq’s former Baathist army...

...almost all of the leaders of the Islamic State are former Iraqi officers, including the members of its shadowy military and security committees, and the majority of its emirs and princes, according to Iraqis, Syrians and analysts who study the group.

The raw cruelty of Hussein’s Baathist regime, the disbandment of the Iraqi army after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, the subsequent insurgency and the marginalization of Sunni Iraqis by the Shiite-dominated government all are intertwined with the Islamic State’s ascent, said Hassan Hassan, a Dubai-based analyst and co-author of the book “ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror.”

“A lot of people think of the Islamic State as a terrorist group, and it’s not useful,” Hassan said. “It is a terrorist group, but it is more than that. It is a homegrown Iraqi insurgency, and it is organic to Iraq.”

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


TOPICS: Breaking News; Canada; Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; Russia; Syria; US: South Carolina; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 2016election; abuhamza; aldhouri; aldouri; baathists; baathparty; benghazi; bokoharam; canada; clinton; clintoncash; clintonfoundation; election2016; eritrea; globaljihad; hillary; hillaryclinton; hitlery; iran; iraq; isis; islam; islamicstate; israel; izzataldhouri; izzataldouri; jordan; jrtn; kurdistan; lebanon; libya; muslimworld; nigeria; pages; peterschweizer; russia; sadam; saddamhussein; southcarolina; syria; treygowdy; uranium; waronterror; yemen
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To: Ethan Clive Osgoode
I get the impression that Kurds (mostly adherents to the Shafi tradition of Islam) are not imam-ridden as the Sunni and Shiite. They definitely do not display the same kind of anti-Christian behavior.

I do however, share your wariness. The Kurds have proven themselves much more staunch allies than the rest of the Iraqis, IMNVHO. While the Iraqi 'armed forces' flee, the Kurds stand and quite successfully fight ISIS.

God, if we only had an American leader right now! Instead of arming 'disidents' who routinely turn out to be the Christian-massacring Muslim terroristss of Obama's Muslim Spring, we might want to support the Kurds.

41 posted on 05/18/2015 9:56:59 AM PDT by Kenny Bunk (Hi! We're having a constitutional crisis. Come on over!)
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To: Kenny Bunk
Good afternoon.

In the add some info department, there are many Christian Kurds. I don't know the numbers, but it is significant.

5.56mm

42 posted on 05/18/2015 9:59:49 AM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: M Kehoe

223 thanks!


43 posted on 05/18/2015 10:01:10 AM PDT by Kenny Bunk (Hi! We're having a constitutional crisis. Come on over!)
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To: M Kehoe

I think the overwhelming majority are 7.62mm X 39mm.....


44 posted on 05/18/2015 10:05:56 AM PDT by AnalogReigns (Real life is ANALOG...)
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To: AnalogReigns; Kenny Bunk
Okay guys, enough of the ammo references.

Remember, if you didn't lose your weapons in a tragic boating accident, then...

5.56mm

45 posted on 05/18/2015 10:08:32 AM PDT by M Kehoe
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To: AnalogReigns

Make that start with Bush 41, just to be clear. Remember it was 41 who stopped the fight after we got the Saddams out of Kuwait. Most of us knew Saddam was the problem at the time. We had the opportunity at the time of Gulf War I to stabilize the neighborhood and 41 kicked that can so far I can still hear it rattling.


46 posted on 05/18/2015 10:14:02 AM PDT by cherokee1 (skip the names---just kick the buttz)
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To: AnalogReigns

I agree with my husband, who at the onset of the Iraq war said that we should have taken out Saudi Arabia and Iran, then Iraq would’ve bowed it’s knees. Instead, we have a ME that is in total chaos. Although, one cannot lose sight of the fact, that in God’s perspective and timeline, we are closing out the ‘age of grace’ rapidly and entering into the birth pangs that will bring the day of Jacob’s Trouble...Daniel’s 70th week onto the scene. With the rapidity of current events taking place today, it is impossible to set a time line, but anyone with a mediocre view of the Bible can see that things are quickly moving to those events foretold by many OT writers and a few NT writers, as well. It behooves believers to get back to the Bible and start preparing for that day. I know most believe we will be raptured out before, but I am not one of those, having been cured of that back in the 1980s. Nothing has happened that would make me go back to that belief. Anyway, it is time to prepare for the worst. And, if it happens like you want it to, then I would not object. however, I want to be prepared to go through the coming storm, and God will be faithful to those who prepare, as the parable of the 10 virgins says.

To my thinking, it will not be long before we see a “strong man” take charge of things in the ME, as things are falling into chaos more every day. The antichrist is waiting in the wings, as they say. He is already on the scene, I’m certain, but he has not made a move to come to power yet. He is biding his time.


47 posted on 05/18/2015 10:21:45 AM PDT by Shery (Pray for righteousness to be restored and for the peace of Jerusalem.)
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To: AnalogReigns

And certainly helps explain why the new Iraqi army guys are so quick to cut and run when the ‘hood lights up. But It’s still muzzie-on-muzzie violins so I’m not seeing the downside. No matter who winds up on top when they are down to six or seven muzzies it will still fall to us to clean up the mess. With any luck at all the Fertile Crescent will still be habitable after they get thru.


48 posted on 05/18/2015 10:22:18 AM PDT by cherokee1 (skip the names---just kick the buttz)
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To: CMB_polarization

You can shorten that. I just call Islam Tribal Governance. The leadership uses it to control all aspects of group living. As long as the tribe was no more than a few thousand people it worked OK a thousand years or so ago. But the Muzzies have proved repeatedly that it doesn’t work for long in a world economy.


49 posted on 05/18/2015 10:28:04 AM PDT by cherokee1 (skip the names---just kick the buttz)
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To: AnalogReigns
There are some significant problems with this premise, which plays directly into the "blame Bush for the daesh" narrative, rather than the abandon ship policy of this administration since 2009.

One would have to believe, for example, that Assad's Ba'athists (which is to say "Nazis," because all the Ba'athists are immediate and direct descendants of Adolf Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) are probably in league with IS, which, arguably, makes the ground war between the Assad regime and the "IS," in the latter's homebase are (at Al Raqqah, in Syria) what the Russians call "спектакль," (mere spectacle) a mere theatrical performance.

The wicked fire-fight between the Assad regime and IS, over the Taqba AFB, strategic to IS control over its nominal capital at Al Raqqah, is theater?

Not beyond belief, not beyond practical for fascists to cynically use the True Believing among their foreign followers to confuse the West, but would Assad risk his fixed assets, his troops, that way?

Like I say... there are significant problems with this, not least among them is the source and timing of the story. The

Post is a long-running sounding board for the Agency, and for Foggy Bottom. This story appears to back our own Ba'athists "runnin' things" here, in the US, those who want to distract attention from the smoking gun with regard to Benghazi, just now, and to back the narrative that pretends the "hot mess" in Iraq today is the fault of Bush and not the policy of abandonment pushed since 2009.

50 posted on 05/18/2015 10:39:24 AM PDT by Prospero (Omnis caro fenum)
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To: Lorianne

Bush invaded a muslim country with his allies and toppled the regime and Saddam Hussein. He kicked their ass


51 posted on 05/18/2015 10:40:02 AM PDT by plain talk
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To: plain talk

So? And?

Who was “they”? He kicked Sunni ass in favor of Shia ass.

Now the Sunnis are fighting their way back.

Which team are you on, team Sunni or team Shia


52 posted on 05/18/2015 10:42:12 AM PDT by Lorianne (fed pork, bailouts, gone taxmoney)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
Praise the Lord, and pass them the ammunition (all factions).

53 posted on 05/18/2015 10:43:24 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
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To: Lil Flower

Your post reminds me of two of my favorite quotes:

We have the best government that global finance and corporate can buy.

Globalism (internationalism / ‘Free Trade’) is communism dressed up in a three piece business suit.

You can substitute statism, collectivism,crony capitalism, fascism, collectivism for commmunism.


54 posted on 05/18/2015 10:57:24 AM PDT by khelus
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To: Lorianne

Why ?

petrodollars


55 posted on 05/18/2015 11:24:53 AM PDT by khelus
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To: khelus

Well I didn’t get any. Did you?


56 posted on 05/18/2015 11:29:10 AM PDT by Lorianne (fed pork, bailouts, gone taxmoney)
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To: Lorianne

Isn’t there one side of Sunnis or Shias that WON”T annihilate Israel?


57 posted on 05/18/2015 11:35:51 AM PDT by patriotsoul
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To: patriotsoul

Not that I’m aware of.
Israel has been lucky that we’ve been the Great Satan for a while now.


58 posted on 05/18/2015 11:42:17 AM PDT by Lorianne (fed pork, bailouts, gone taxmoney)
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To: M Kehoe; AnalogReigns

Since the gubmint has failed to act upon my suggestion to resettle cleared Muslim lands with illegal Mexicans, ammo references are about all I have left. I have sent them the plan 300 times and now I’m turning savage about it.


59 posted on 05/18/2015 12:11:46 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (Hi! We're having a constitutional crisis. Come on over!)
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To: khelus

Exactly right. And we’re their slaves. By choice. Disturbing isn’t it?


60 posted on 05/18/2015 12:28:59 PM PDT by Lil Flower (American by birth. Southern by the Grace of God! ROLL TIDE!!)
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