Kilometers Davis posted:

This is absolutely hilarious and the people against it are ridiculous. If you, as someone who can't really do something about a terrible situation, can't laugh about the absurdity of the chaos in the world then you're setting yourself up for failure. The idea that you can't joke about something while also having complete understanding of the reality of it is bizarre.

Nintendo Kid posted:

They still offer it but they've transitioned into more doing plain old private security. They also sell their own brand of APC and train other people.

Zeroisanumber posted:

A father is dropping his daughter off at the airport. They have a typical emotional talk that leads you to believe that the daughter is going off on a long trip. The daughter's ride shows up and it's a bunch of ISIS fighters on a technical, the girl cheerfully jumps on the truck. The father tells the fighters, "Take care of her" to which they respond, "Death to America" and drive off while firing rifles madly into the air.

The synopsis doesn't do it justice, it's funny as hell.

edit:


Brown Moses contacted the authorities about it months ago.

Zuhzuhzombie!! posted:

I thought it was a spoof on feel good patriotic superbowl ads.

Ciprian Maricon posted:

So I asked before in this thread why the Iraqi Army was in such shambles and got some informative posts, I hope you guys wouldn't mind explaining something to me again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myvTomQvII4

It's hard not to watch videos like these and have a very low opinion of the individual Iraqi soldier. There are lots of similar videos of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers being trained and they seem completely incapable of performing even the most simple tasks. The first hand accounts I hear from friends who served over-seas are even worse.

What's missing from the picture? What don't I know that results in this situation. Why can't these loving dudes do something as simple as a goddamn jumping jack for Christ's sake.

Muffiner posted:

Harakat Hazm, one of the few groups in Syria receiving TOWs from the US just announced that they are [/url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Mar-01/289183-fsa-group-hazm-dissolves-itself.ashx]disbanding[/url]. After US airstrikes killed numerous Nusra commanders in and around Aleppo and Idleb the group declared an all out war against Hazm, taking over their first HQ in Idleb then their second HQ in Aleppo. Members of Hazm have been directed to join AlShamiya front, an Islamist rebel grouping in Aleppo.

WorldsStrongestNerd posted:

It's no wonder that no Iraqi wants to join up, and those that do are only there for a paycheck. They have no loyalty to the state of Iraq because
A. Their family/tribe never wanted to be part of Iraq in the first place (the country was cobbled together by the British).

B. Iraq was destroyed a decade ago. The thing that's left and being called Iraq is only held together be the will of America.

WorldsStrongestNerd posted:

It's no wonder that no Iraqi wants to join up, and those that do are only there for a paycheck. They have no loyalty to the state of Iraq because
A. Their family/tribe never wanted to be part of Iraq in the first place (the country was cobbled together by the British).

Azran posted:

Also, how did Iran end up with such an influence on the Iraqi government? My geopolitical class had mentioned (granted, in passing) that it was still an American puppet country.

Azran posted:

Also, how did Iran end up with such an influence on the Iraqi government? My geopolitical class had mentioned (granted, in passing) that it was still an American puppet country.

karl fungus posted:

How (and I mean the method) were Shiite Iraqis being oppressed in a country where they formed their own majority? Like, who was carrying out the oppression?

karl fungus posted:

How (and I mean the method) were Shiite Iraqis being oppressed in a country where they formed their own majority? Like, who was carrying out the oppression?

karl fungus posted:

How about in Iran, do Sunnis get oppressed there?

Volkerball posted:

Shageletic posted:

Well that was quick. Wondering how long it would take for American weaponry sent to Syrian rebel forces would end up in their hands.

Azran posted:

Out of curiosity, since I know next to nothing about Middle Eastern history, did the ME countries suffer like the African ones when it came to drawing up borders?

radical meme posted:

Shortest answer is that the majority of Iraq's population is Shiite muslim, same as Iran. Under Saddam Hussein, the Shiite population was oppressed. When the U.S. blew Iraq to hell, the Shiite population was freed to assume their natural majority status in the new government. Iran then became a natural ally of the Iraq Shiite majority.

Duckbag posted:

Yes

Volkerball posted:

On this point, this documentary is absolutely fantastic.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/rise-of-isis/

radical meme posted:

Shortest answer is that the majority of Iraq's population is Shiite muslim, same as Iran. Under Saddam Hussein, the Shiite population was oppressed. When the U.S. blew Iraq to hell, the Shiite population was freed to assume their natural majority status in the new government. Iran then became a natural ally of the Iraq Shiite majority.

Weltlich posted:

It's hard to overstate how how much Iran and Iraq hated each other's guts back in the 70's and 80's. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take photos, but at a border crossing near Soran, there were still big billboards of Ayatollah Khomeini that just stared perpetually into Iraq, and though they'd been defaced, there were billboards of Sadaam Hussein that stared right back into Iran. It was one of the most uncomfortable places I visited.

Azran posted:

Oh yes, that makes sense. I just realized I've been reading Shiite as "Suní" and not "Chiita", as it is in Spanish. Man, I feel dumb - thanks for the clarification

Volkerball posted:

And now today, there's billboards of Maliki right next to billboards of Khameinei in the middle of Baghdad.

Weltlich posted:

It's hard to overstate how how much Iran and Iraq hated each other's guts back in the 70's and 80's. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take photos, but at a border crossing near Soran, there were still big billboards of Ayatollah Khomeini that just stared perpetually into Iraq, and though they'd been defaced, there were billboards of Sadaam Hussein that stared right back into Iran. It was one of the most uncomfortable places I visited.

Volkerball posted:

Grouchio posted:

I wonder if Yesh Atid's ascendency is now assured after Bibi's disastrous speech at the US congress yesterday...

Pimpmust posted:

If every box there got a TOW in it that's like 50 of the things

Guess we are in for an upswing of TOW-videos.

Volkerball posted:

And now today, there's billboards of Maliki right next to billboards of Khameinei in the middle of Baghdad.

quote:

(Reuters) - Leaders of Syria's Nusra Front are considering cutting their links with al Qaeda to form a new entity backed by some Gulf states trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad, sources said.

Sources within and close to Nusra said that Qatar, which enjoys good relations with the group, is encouraging the group to go ahead with the move, which would give Nusra a boost in funding.

The exercise could transform Nusra from a weakened militia group into a force capable of taking on Islamic State at a time when it is under pressure from bombing raids and advances by Kurdish and Iraqi military forces.

It could also boost the influence of Qatar and its allies in the campaign to oust Assad, in line with the Gulf state's growing diplomatic ambitions in the region. Qatari officials were not available for comment.

While it awaits the final word from its decision-making Shoura council, Nusra is not wasting time. It has turned on small non-jihadi groups, seizing their territory and forcing them to disarm so as to consolidate Nusra's power in northern Syria and pave the way for the new group.

Intelligence officials from Gulf states including Qatar have met the leader of Nusra, Abu Mohamad al-Golani, several times in the past few months to encourage him to abandon al Qaeda and to discuss what support they could provide, the sources said.

They promised funding once it happens.

"A new entity will see the light soon, which will include Nusra and Jaysh al Muhajereen wel Ansar and other small brigades," said Muzamjer al-Sham, a prominent jihadi figure who is close to Nusra and other Islamist groups in Syria.

"The name of Nusra will be abandoned. It will disengage from al Qaeda. But not all the Nusra emirs agree and that is why the announcement has been delayed," said Sham.

A source close to the foreign ministry confirmed that Qatar wanted Nusra to become a purely Syrian force not linked to al Qaeda.

"They are promising Nusra more support, i.e. money, supplies etc, once they let go of the Qaeda ties," the official said.

The Qatari-led bid to rebrand Nusra and to provide it with new support could further complicate the war in Syria as the United States prepares to arm and train non-jihadist rebels to fight Islamic State.

The Nusra Front is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and has been sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council. But for Qatar at least, rebranding Nusra would remove legal obstacles to supporting it.

FIGHTING ISLAMIC STATE

One of the goals of the new entity would be to fight Islamic State, Nusra's main competitor in Syria. IS is led by Iraqi jihadi Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who helped create Nusra before falling out with Golani.

Once the most powerful group fighting Assad, Nusra was weakened when most of its commanders and fighters left with Baghdadi to form Islamic State. IS then killed many of Nusra's remaining leaders, confiscated its weapons, forced its commanders to go underground and seized its territory.

But recently Islamic State has come under pressure from air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition. It has also lost ground to Kurdish fighters in Syria and to the Iraqi armed forces. But the group is far from collapse.

But if Nusra splits from al Qaeda, some hope that with proper funding, arming and training, fighters from the new group will be able to tackle Islamic State.

Jihadi sources said that Golani suggested to the group's Shoura Council that it should merge with Jaysh al-Muhajereen wel Ansar, a smaller jihadi group composed of local and foreign fighters and led by a Chechen commander.

The announcement has been delayed due to objections from some of Nusra's leaders who reject the idea of leaving al Qaeda. But this was seen as unlikely to stop Golani.

"He is going to do it, he does not have a choice. Those who are not happy can leave," said a Nusra source who backs the move.

It seems Golani is already establishing the ground.

Nusra wants to use northern Syria as base for the new group. It launched offensives against Western-backed groups who have been vetted by the U.S. to receive military support.

In the northern province of Idlib it seized territory from the Syria Revolutionaries' Front led by Jamal Maarouf, forcing him to flee. Last week it went after another mainstream group, Harakat Hazzm in Aleppo province, forcing it to dissolve itself.

The U.S. State Department said the end of Harakat Hazzm would have an impact on the moderate opposition's capabilities in the north.

But if Nusra is dissolved and it abandons al Qaeda, the ideology of the new entity is not expected to change. Golani fought with al Qaeda in Iraq. Some other leaders fought in Afghanistan and are close al Qaeda chief Ayman Zawahri.

"Nusra had to pledge loyalty to Sheikh Zawahri to avoid being forced to be loyal to Baghdadi but that was not a good idea, it is time that this is abandoned," said a Nusra source in Aleppo. "It did not help Nusra and now it is on the terrorist list," he said.

suboptimal posted:

Jabhat al-Nusra's newest plan:

1. Kill all the moderates and seize their territory
2. Leave Al-Qaeda
3. Become moderate
4. ???
5. Profit!

kustomkarkommando posted:

Unfortunately al-Sistani is getting on in years and when he dies it's unclear who can fill his position in Iraq, no one from Najaf apart from him has the credentials to challenge Khameinei.

Al-Saqr posted:

any news about whats been going on in tikrit? Aljazeera just reported that 'tens' of Iraqi shia militiamen and regular soldiers were taken prisoner by ISIS. so I cant imagine that its going well.

Jagchosis posted:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3703854

There's a GBS thread following it (trigger warning: gbs), it seems they've made inroads towards the city center but their advanced has been slowed by roadside bombs.

edit: Also the U.S. air support isn't involved in the battle at all, which is odd. I think Iran is providing it, and Qasem Soleimani is likely commanding the attack

Azran posted:

Out of curiosity, since I know next to nothing about Middle Eastern history, did the ME countries suffer like the African ones when it came to drawing up borders? I suppose at least some of them must have already existed by then, but like I said, my knowledge of the middle east is limited.