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paid for by the Saudi royal family, no doubt
ISIS
Inc.: Fanatical group attracts investors and members with glossy PR
campaign and annual reports
RT,
19
June, 2014
The
notorious ISIS, which has been slicing through Iraq moving closer to
Baghdad, behaves like a big corporation, issuing press releases to
create an image of a well-structured, disciplined and effective
organization to attract investors and new members.
The
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL), which has made lightning
advances against government forces seizing key cities, is determined
to sweep towards Baghdad, prompting the Iraqi government to request
US air support.
The
United States however is reportedly ill-prepared to wage such attacks
due to lack of intelligence on ISIL operations following its
lightning advance.
US military’s Joint Chief of Staff, Dempsey, says that although “it
is in our national security interest to counter ISIS” the
results of US involvement would be unknown “until
we can clarify this intelligence picture” in
Iraq.
In
just a few days ISIS fighters have almost reached the Iraqi capital,
killing scores of people along the way. During the US-led invasion of
the country it took the allied forces 22 days to reach Baghdad.
An image made available by the
jihadist Twitter account Al-Baraka news on June 13, 2014 allegedly
shows Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants
inspecting abandoned Iraqi army vehicles at an undisclosed location
close to the Iraqi-Syrian border, in the district of Sinjar,
northwest Iraq. (AFP Photo)
Today
ISIS claims to have over 15,000 fighters most of who are thought to
be from neighboring middle eastern countries, but around 2,000 are
believed to have come from Europe, including Britain.
In
the militant's own assessment,
found in an annual report called al-Naba, or “the news”, ISIS
boasts of its destructive force. A regurgitated version of the
report, covering the period of November 2012 to November 2013, is
offered by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Originally
in Arabic the 400 page long document was initially published by the
I’tisaam Media Foundation. It is also the second known ISIS release
advertising their bloody rampage in Iraq.
ISIS
claims to be responsible for 9,540 operations in Iraq, 1,083
assassinations and freeing hundreds of radicals from prisons in Iraq.
Having a force of at least 15,000 fighters under its command, ISIS
also planted 4,000 improvised explosion devices and freed hundreds of
radical prisoners. In comparison to the previous report, the figures
in each category have almost doubled. The category of “Apostates
repented” was also added, underlining ISIS's perceived religious
conquest.
The
US-NGO notes that the operating areas listed in 2012 and 2013 report
are consistent, suggesting that “from
its resurgence through to 2014, ISIS has possessed a reporting
structure for subordinate units in the full range of operating
areas.”
The
Institute for the Study of War summary also claims that “From
the period of April 2013 through to the present, ISIS has been
operating in Syria as well, though the distinctions between their
military operations in Iraq and Syria is the subject of ongoing study
at ISW.”
In
its conclusion, the institute believed the organization is making
several nation-wide changes to its tactics.
“This
is a strong indication of a unified, coherent leadership structure
that commands from the top down.”
The
report has been described as “almost
like a company with details of martyrdom operations and targets,” by
Nigel Inkster, former assistant chief of UK intelligence service MI6,
in an interview to the Financial Times.
“You have a clear overlay of structure, planning and strategy to
the organisation.”
The
US which officially left Iraq in December 2011, now has a strong
internal political force which views ISIS in Iraq and Syria as danger
not only to the stability of the Middle East, but also to US national
security.
Congressman
Michael McCaul, chair of the Homeland Security
Committee, said sources
familiar with the situation have described the success of ISIS as
the “greatest
national security threat since 9/11.”
“Al-Qaeda
owns more territory, more resources, and what's happening in Iraq now
is really chaotic,” he
told ABC news earlier this week.
As
the militant offensive towards Baghdad continues, extremists are
already in control of Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul, as well
as the city of Tikrit.
“Although
it is possible that ISIS will take an operational pause in Syria to
solidify its control and absorb its gains in Iraq, it is likely to
move swiftly in a renewed offensive... to establish the lines of
control and oil reserves within its state,” ISW
said in its Wednesday assessment.
ISIS
with reputation for brutality including beheadings, is continuing its
rampage across the war-torn state, targeting minorities.
“ISIS
is an extension of Al-Qaeda. With American funds, now ISIS is killing
Iraqis and planning to go for Baghdad and Iraqi Shiite shrines to
settle an old score," Elijah
Abraham, an Iraqi Christian evangelist told Baptist Press. “Since
2009 with President Obama's policies in the Middle East, there has
also been a systematic cleansing of Christians in the Middle East."
Earlier this week ISIS published photos on jihadist internet sites allegedly showing mass executions of captured Iraqi forces. A caption on several photos read “Apostates heading to their hole of doom.”
Washington
which spent $25 billion to train Iraq’s security forces over the
years, according to a report by the special inspector general on
Iraq, now finds itself at ground zero – Islamists are taking over
Iraq.
“This
is a nightmare that has come back to haunt it [USA]. Practically any
movement it makes, it will be wrong, in a sense that it angers
somebody. And US has more interests in the Sunni world than it does
in the Shia world. Behind the scenes, the Saudis, the major Sunni
power are very unhappy with the thought of US intervention,” award
winning journalist Eric Margolis told RT.
Iraqi
Christians flee homes amid ISIS threat
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