User:RobSmith/Islamic State war

The Islamic State War was an important turning point in wold history. It marked not only the final destruction of the borders of the French and British Empires, the rise of a re-constituted the Iranian hegemon, but also the obsolescence of the institutional structures put in place to maintain the post-World War II order.

The broader strategic implications of the Islamic State War and the rise of the Iranian Superpower brought about a loose coalition of convenience with the Russian Federation, North Korea and China intent upon not allowing the United States and its European Union NATO allies to ever again hold the power and influence it obtained in the last half of the 20th century and the post-Cold War period.

Early phases of belligerency
Originally founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the Group for Monotheism and Jihad, Daesh became known as al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2004 and later the Islamic State after the U.S. troop withdrawal in late 2011. It holds a designation as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States Department of State. Its current leader Caliph Ibrahim al-Badri was broken out of Abu Ghraib prison in July 2013 by Daesh along with several hundred other experienced jihadists. His chief deputies were, , and , were all Ba'athists and former high level military intelligence officers who were dumped in the de-Baathification process after the fall of Saddam Hussein. On June 30, 2014 they declared themselves a Sunni caliphate with al-Badri as the “Commander of the Faithful,” a term essentially declaring him leader of all Muslims (which is not even true in Iraq as fellow Sunni Kurds and Arabs fight against them).

Expelled from al Qaeda
Daesh was disowned by al-Qaeda in April 2013 for excess brutality toward civilians and the murder of al Qaeda representatives and commanders (Yes, really). Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian al Qaeda branch began fighting them.

Daesh has not been known for building alliances, rather it demands subservience and allegiance. In late 2014 reports emerged of local al-Nusra militias making truces and agreements for joint operations,, however this has proven to be misinformation and propaganda by Daesh to promote itself in the wider jihadist movement. and test their ability to manipulate mainstream Western media and influence their public image worldwide.

The remnants of Saddam's disenfranchised Ba'athist militia (JRTN) who have not joined Daesh have been fighting the Iranian backed Shi'ite regime in Baghdad. They appear to be the leading Sunni alternative to Daesh. Early on, local militias representing JRTN and Daesh did cooperate in Kurdistan, but later clashed in Anbar province.

Invasion and occupation commences
In early June 2014 Daesh staged a blitzkrieg across the Sykes-Picot line and seized the cities of Tikrit and Mosul.

Iraq's senior Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, issued a fatwa on the obligation to defend the country from Daesh. Most volunteers flocked to various private militias, leaving behind the U.S. supported and defeated Iraqi National Army. In less than one day, Sistani organized enough militia men to equal division strength of a regular army. Most The Iraqi press dubbed it, al-hashad al-sha'abi (the popular mobilization). The Iranian backed Shiite militias based in Iraq call themselves al-muqawama al-islamiya (the Islamic resistance).

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, frustrated with the demoralized Iraqi military, met 15 June 2014 in Baghdad with the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Kurdish sources reported the general was drafting a coordination strategy for Iraq. The next day, Maliki dismissed four of Iraq’s military leaders for failing to perform their “national duty”.

In the war with Daesh, the Iranian Quds Force and Iranian backed Shiite militias fought on the territory of Iraq, all belligerents categorically rejected the notion of characteristic of American and Western military doctrines, regulated by the. Virtually all belligerents, even some of a secular nature, sanctioned the use of suicide bombers.

Obliterating the Sykes-Picot
During and immediately after the core Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) commanders and jihadis crossed  over the  into Syria, beyond the reach of American forces as authorized by law. Here they regrouped and prepared for an eventual assault upon the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and a resumption of hostilities with the Shiite-dominated Baghdad regime as a drawdown of American forces took place with the change of control in Washington of congress and the administration. When the time was right, Daesh advanced quickly across the Sykes-Picot and captured the city of Mosul - a city of 1,000,000 - with a a force reported to be between 800 and 2,000 jihadis. The eradication of the Sykes-Picot line was the death knell of both the French and British Empires, relegating both to the dustbin of history.

In Mosul Daesh seized 39.151 kg (about 88 pounds) of nuclear materials from the university's physics department. In December 2014 an alleged Daesh weapons maker claimed on social media a "radioactive device" had entered Europe.

Outside intervention
The Obama administration has since conducted air strikes on areas occupied by the Daesh, first in Iraq (starting at Mount Sinjar to help the Yazidis) before heading over to Syria. A sizable chunk of their income is from the oil being sold on the black market. Recent US airstrikes on Daesh facilities has managed to significantly decrease their output. However, it could be argued current war operation against the Islamic State is illegal, because it was done without Congressional authorization, let alone approval from the United Nations. Nevertheless, America has received assistance from Australia, Canada, and Britain (all three of which have authorized it through their parliaments), with the Gulf monarchies (which don't need no steenkin' parliaments) and other Mideast states offering help. Jordan, meanwhile, has reportedly closed its borders to Syrian refugees due in part to the risk of Daesh infiltrators, although the simple economic strain of being a small country that has taken on 618,000 refugees in three years was also probably a factor.

The U.S. has had difficulty activating Sunni resistance as ground forces after abandoning the Iraqi organized during the "troop surge" of 2007-2009. These Sunni tribes were asked to help support the Shi'a Baghdad regime against the insurgent Islamic State in Iraq. Many Sunni tribesman who cooperated with the U.S. and the Shi'a dominated regime have since either defected to Daesh or have been executed en masse, their property plundered, and their wives and children enslaved.

The US has assisted in helping to create a task force of Gulf states to battle Daesh. The organization has longterm objectives to secure regional stability based upon the Nato model. Morocco and Jordan, two non-Gulf states are also included with overtures being made to others to join.

Iran likewise has sent airstrikes in Iraq against Daesh but denies coordinating with the U.S. In Syria, the Assad regime for a time was following on the heels of U.S. and coalition airstrikes to garner the impression on the ground that the U.S. was aiding the Assad regime. Since al-Nusra acquired American TOW missiles this hasn't been a problem.

Battle of Amerli
Amerli, a Shiite Turkman town of 15,000 about 100 miles northeast of Baghdad fell to Daesh early during their advance. Gen. Suleimani was dispatched to organize an assault to retake the town. The siege lasted two months and was retaken about September 5, 2014.

The, founded and staffed by the (IRCG) were in the forefront, assisted by the , renamed Saraya al-Salam, a Shiite militia which fought against U.S.forces during the 2004-2011 insurgency, and Kurdish Peshmerga. The ground forces received air support and humanitarian assistance from the United States.

Battle of Kobani
There is some evidence that airstrikes, when used in coordination with Kurdish and PKK ground forces, have been tactically helpful in driving Daesh militants back from a few areas such as the Mosul Dam, Zumar, and Rabia (in the Nineveh plains in Iraq) and Kobane (a Kurdish city in Syria), which sits on the border. Syrian Kurdish paramilitary spokesman Polat Can called the airstrikes "numerous and effective," but added that reluctance of the Turks stalled the operation. Turks demanded a clear commitment in assisting the overthrow of the Assad regime to help drive Iranian influence out of the Mediterranean coastal region. The Siege of Kobane - the center of a wheat growing area necessary to the economy of Daesh to feed the population under occupation - lasted for 134 days and leveled the town. Because so many Kurdish males had been exterminated by Daesh, female Kurdish fighters are credited with the ground victory.

Battle of Tikrit
Only days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the U.S. Congress in person of the danger of growing Iranian influence in the region and its determination to secure nuclear weapons, Gen. Qasem Soleimani was appointed by the Ayatollah Khamenei as the battlefield commander of forces to retake the city of Tikrit from Daesh. The force under Solemeini's command consists of only about 4000 Iraqi Security Forces and nearly 30,000 Shi'ite militia men, some considered terrorists by the U.S. State Department. When Iraq's senior cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, issued a fatwa in June 2014 to defend the country, most volunteers joined the and not the U.S. backed Iraqi National Army which suffered major defeats early on. (Ayatollah Sistani in fact commands his own militia, Al-Marjaeyya Soldiers Militia). Many other Shia militias were organized and funded by Iran during the Iraqi insurgency of 2003-2011. Some Sunni militias from the American backed Iraqi Awakening Councils also are participating. Solemeini is on a sanctions list by the United Nations for.