ISIS on the offensive in Iraq

[rvg]

I once again know nothing, with Assyrian I think of the Mesopotamian periods. Didn't know people still call themselves Assyrian nowadays.

We sure do. I even speak conversational Aramaic.

[Pannonian]

Washington, D.C.

What is your favourite colour?

[Sarmatian]

Assyrian. But yeah, this is personal.

You do know that makes you the coolest person on the .org?

[rvg]

You do know that makes you the coolest person on the .org?

We're not that rare, there's still a couple of million of us spread all over the globe :)

[lars573]

I once again know nothing, with Assyrian I think of the Mesopotamian periods. Didn't know people still call themselves Assyrian nowadays.

I've only ever seen it used as a blanket term for un-Arabized non-Islamic, IE Christian (I've never heard of a Zoroastrian group), populations in the levant area.

[Sarmatian]

We're not that rare, there's still a couple of million of us spread all over the globe :)

Yeah, I know, but unless a Hittite registers in the next few days, you're it, deal with it.. Hittites are cooler, sorry.

You guys even have a footie club in Sweden.

[rvg]

You guys even have a footie club in Sweden.

Yup, that's us!

[Seamus Fermanagh]

What is your favourite colour?

I have trouble with that, but the capital of ancient Assyria is easy and countering the airspeed question isn't too difficult....

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

So here's a thought - the Caliph's forces are killing and driving out the Chaldean Christians. Chaldeans are part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

So - where, in all this, is the freaking Pope?

Seriously Papa - you have some actual skin in the game for the first time in a couple of centuries and nothing?

I'm not asking for a Crusade, but still, can we have some strongly worded condemnation of the Caliphate, please?

Which is to say - it really shows how anaemic Christianity is vs Islam.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I don't think Pope Francis would make much of a warmonger.

[Kralizec]

Which is to say - it really shows how anaemic Christianity is vs Islam.

Dunno, I think the maronites in Lebanon would disagree with that...as would the other communities in that country.

PS: I had to look up "anaemic"

[Pannonian]

So here's a thought - the Caliph's forces are killing and driving out the Chaldean Christians. Chaldeans are part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

So - where, in all this, is the freaking Pope?

Seriously Papa - you have some actual skin in the game for the first time in a couple of centuries and nothing?

I'm not asking for a Crusade, but still, can we have some strongly worded condemnation of the Caliphate, please?

Which is to say - it really shows how anaemic Christianity is vs Islam.

If you want militant Christians, you can always look for them in central Africa. Like militant Muslims, you've got a religious veneer over older tribal practices. Be careful what you'll stir up though, as I doubt they'll be any more pleasant than the Muslim bunch (probably a lot worse actually).

[Fragony]

PS: I had to look up "anaemic"

I read aramaic at first so I had to look it up as well, when I looked up 'anaemic' I got a site about some sort of medical condition. It's a decrease of red blood cells. That certainly seems to be a condition in Syria and surroundings but not for medical reasons.

[Kadagar_AV]

Yeah, I know, but unless a Hittite registers in the next few days, you're it, deal with it.. Hittites are cooler, sorry.

You guys even have a footie club in Sweden.

Well, not in the major league. It's some backwater team from one of the ghetto suburbs. More known for fights on the field than any actual, say, sport.

Yup, that's us!

Yeah, The team is a disgrace over here. So save your ethnic pride for later, if ever.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

The Holy Father's response has been restrained so far.

This is hardly surprising. His namesake was hardly an advocate for the church militant.

[rvg]

The Holy Father's response has been restrained so far.

This is hardly surprising. His namesake was hardly an advocate for the church militant.

Yeah, he really can't say much here. Besides, words won't get things very far. I won't be surprised if he lends a hand financially, which will help far more than any words.

[Hooahguy]

I really hope you are right about there never being more boots on the ground from the US again, but I have a feeling that it won't take long before we are back in there. Or we go in the opposite direction and just completely abandon the region.

Link to said VICE documentary series. Part 2 is also up.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I think that Vice series kind of backs up what TuffStuffMcGruff said a while ago - that some guys are actually having the time of their lives in the Syrian (and now also Iraqi) conflict.

Have a swim with the kids at the beach, pop around doing speeches from your ice cream van, go fire a few shots on the frontline, then head home for a street party.

I think if war was half as horrible as we thought it was, it wouldn't be happening all the time. Don't get me wrong I've seen the pictures of ISIS' beheaded enemies and their throats being slit (not for the faint of heart), but for most people their day to day experience is probably more what we saw in that video.

[Fragony]

Like it's nothing, 500 killed, some buried alive, mostly women and children. Don't know when it took place but geez

[Fragony]

Looks like there is a coup going on in Baghdad

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

You mean this?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28736604

Looks like Judicial machinery moving - like it or not Maliki has the largest Bloc and should get first chance to form a government.

[Fragony]

No, apparently the Green zone and the presidential house have been surrounded, looks like a coup

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

This is not being reported by the BBC - which means it probably isn't true.

It's not something they could hide, after all.

[Fragony]

CNN has an active link

[Husar]

Apparently Maliki positioned forces throughout Baghdad due to the ongoing internal strife over whether he gets to form a new government.
It's quite funny how the IS can conquer the entire north while he apparently positions his best forces inside the capital to establish his power in an internal struggle. Shows that he cares about his people unless I misunderstood something about the situation.

[lars573]

If you think about it for a second. How can the Iraqi government form any sort of strategy for fighting the IS until the leadership issue is put to rest, at least temporarily. Plus the added bonus of the Kurdish government having to hold the IS off is it weakens both of them.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Aren't we simply devolving to the three-state solution so adamantly opposed by everybody....except some of the people who live there.

[rvg]

Aren't we simply devolving to the three-state solution so adamantly opposed by everybody....except some of the people who live there.

A 3-state solution will leave ISIS with a state of their own. That's not an option. Kurds are gonna go, that's pretty much a given, but ISIS must be wiped out both in Iraq and in Syria.

[Viking]

Aren't we simply devolving to the three-state solution so adamantly opposed by everybody....except some of the people who live there.

I think it goes like this:

The Kurds want ≥ 2 states; the exact number is not important as long as they get their own lawn.

The Shias and Sunnis both want a united Iraq where their own ideas are the ones that are put into life.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I think it goes like this:

The Kurds want ≥ 2 states; the exact number is not important as long as they get their own lawn.

The Shias and Sunnis both want a united Iraq where their own ideas are the ones that are put into life.

I understand that. Absent intervention by a larger power willing to bleed for it for a goodly while, neither the shia nor the sunni (yes that's a simplification, but I will run with it) will be able to impose their will on the other and certainly not on the other two.

I agree with RVG's sentiment about ISIS, but I see no one in the offing willing to pay the blood price to crush them. Perhaps, and I mean perhaps, they can be savaged enough that a less radical successor group takes charge...but even then I think it would be more like Fatah/Hamas situation than anything cohesive.

Functionally, I see a 3-state Iraq as the only potentiality for stability -- aside from a half century of occupation.