The light green area in northern Iraq represents the area under Iraqi Kurdish control. The group has also destroyed dozens of historically significant sites, Bokova told NBC News.
Advertisement
Kurdish fighters have faced terrifying attacks like that before – though not on this scale.
He was responding to Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, who asked, midway through the hearing, “Why are we defending the lines drawn by the British 100 years ago?”
It was a mad, desperate – and yes – suicidal tactic. And no country has yet mustered the political will or strategic understanding to defeat the group. And when you are not winning in war, you are losing.’. But to win hearts and minds and effectively counter this extremist group, the US should not send more weapons and soldiers, but instead prioritize working with the global community to cut financing and build a stronger civil society. “Antiquities is very ripe for that”, he added, using the Obama administration’s preferred name for the Islamic State.
Rather, the authors compare Islamic State to Nazi Germany in 1944 and 1945.
In the age of digital communications and media, it has managed to secure effective recruiters to disseminate its propaganda widely to those vulnerable to its messages.
“Commonwealth forces learned the “bite and hold” tactic”, Mello and Knights wrote. The Islamic State is just the latest – if not, most successful – incarnation of this phenomenon.
The jihadists have replicated that tactic in Iraqi towns such as Jalawla and Tikrit.
Still, the simple reality is that the situation in Iraq has grown dire for many civilians, and the Islamic State has continually been able to exploit the sectarian cracks that have crept across the country. But he said that couldn’t be done with guns, and as he consistently ignores and denies the ideology behind the Islamic State, he won’t do it with words. “People go to the Islamic State looking to die, and the Islamic State is happy to help them”, said Patrick Skinner, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer now with The Soufan Group, a private geopolitical risk assessment company.
Even so, the Islamic State has proven itself uniquely adept at recruiting. In the north of Iraq we’re gaining ground practically daily. But his efforts have been tentative and even the president now admits the group has spread its tentacles. And if he doesn’t believe it, then he must be lying to the American people – again.
This isn’t exactly a bad tactic. Sunni leaders don’t trust the United States to defend them against the Iranian-backed Shiite militias that operate in concert with the Iraqi government.
President Barack Obama touted the Kurdish gains at a press conference Monday as evidence that his broader strategy for beating back the Islamic State can bear fruit. He seemed to be saying more than that.
Ideological reasons aside, these tactics have more practical values. The Peshmerga repelled the attack.
Mr Seyit suggests a new term might be needed. The Islamic State’s ability to acquire and control territory – an accomplishment that has to do with active or tacit support from local populations – helped fuel this recruitment.
The IS calls them “Inghemasiyoun”, Arabic for “those who immerse themselves”. Shortly thereafter, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a “caliphate” spanning its territory in Iraq and Syria. So there were difficulties in fighting them.
Advertisement
It’s easy to get into trouble comparing wars to each other.
