Islamic State: Challenges and Basic Policies (Part 2)

The key personnel of the Islamic State was trained and formed in the Camp Bucca under constant US supervision. Camp Bucca near the Iraq-Kuwait border was organized in the spring of 2003. At first, it was filled with the Iraqi soldiers captured during the American military operation against Saddam Hussein’s regime. In total, 17 of the 25 most important Islamic state leaders were at some point in Iraqi prisons organized by the USA between 2004 and 2011.

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Islamic State: Challenges and Basic Policies. Part I

ISIL is aggressively pursuing a policy of destruction of cultural, historical, religious and socio-political relations of Mosul with the outside world. Obviously, ISIL aims to turn Mosul into the experimental life arrangement area and to create a model for the “new Caliphate”. Large-scale experiments with similar objectives Boko Haram conducts in Nigeria in an effort to erase the memory of the past from the minds of hundreds of their captives. After liberation by the government forces, these prisoners don’t remember their names.

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Turkey and ISIL: Anti-Chinese cooperation

At the end of 2015, the head of national intelligence organization of Turkey, Hakan Fidan, said that it is necessary to open an office or a permanent embassy of ISIL (!) in Istanbul.

Hakan Fidan also said the following: “We must acknowledge that we can’t eradicate such a well-organized and popular organization such as the ‘Islamic State’ … I urge our Western partners to reconsider their former notions of the political branches of Islam and put aside their cynical mindset, and together frustrate the plans of Vladimir Putin to suppress the Islamic revolution in Syria.”

First this message appeared in online media on October 18, 2015, but didn’t get much attention back then. The statement of Hakan Fidan became famous after it got republished on the websites of news agencies on November 13 — on the eve of Paris terror attacks.

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The Caliphate and the Capitol: Choosing the strategy

Editor’s note: The United States contemplated the ground invasion in Syria “against ISIL” for a long time now – since 2014, but they never dared. Did they find a way around it? In the past few days several large Middle East powers have claimed that they are ready to invade Syria, including Turkey, a NATO member. Unlike the U.S., they don’t even pretend who they are fighting: on February 9, 2016 Turkish Prime-Minister claimed that Turkey will defend its “Aleppo brothers” against the Syrian army. On February 11 Turkish President Erdogan said that at some point Turkey will take measures due to fighting in Aleppo. Saudi Arabia, Saudi-occupied Bahrain, UAE and other countries of the region claim that they are prepared to launch a ground invasion in Syria. All of these claims appeared after it became clear that ISIL is steadily losing to the Syrian army back by Russian air force. Syria held on for five years, like a fortress, surrounded, but never giving up. The soldiers of the Syrian army shed their blood for all of us, for the whole world: it became obvious when ISIL released maps with Europe being marked as future ISIL territory. And now some of the largest armies in the region prepare to stab the Syrian army in the back. As we have seen in the previous article, multiple terrorist groups across the world swear allegiance to ISIL. It seems that some countries did this too — they just didn’t announce it yet.

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