Hoboy. Here we go.
Daesh
I'm gonna start this off by saying I don't like the term ISIS or ISIL. The terrorist organization has undergone several name changes since it's inception, so there are plenty to choose from. There are other places that cover it all in greater detail, but the story of Daesh goes that in 1999 a loose network of Jordanians under some guy who was so brutal he pissed off al-Qaeda started a group called Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad that became Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn in 2004 (also known then as al-Qaeda in Iraq, AQI [Not to be confused with AQIM] or al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia). They teamed up with 5 other Mujahideen organizations and in early 2006, formed an umbrella organization called the Mujahideen Shura Council, which disbanded later that year and reorganized under the name The Islamic State of Iraq, or Dalwat al-Iraq al-Islamiyyah. They went on like this until 2013, when they changed their name to al-Dawla al-Islamiyyah al-Iraq al-Sham, and it is from this we can pull the Arabic acronym Daesh (this meaning The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria; ISIS and ISIL respectively). Since 2014, they've gone by al-Dawla al-Islamiyyah, the Islamic State, or just al-Dawla for short.
Daesh is more than just an Arabic acronym, it has negative undertones as it sounds like both Daes, or "one who crushes something underfoot," and dahes, "One who sows discord." So, it's got negative connotations either way. If we were just picking names for the acronym I'd call them State Holding Islamic Terrorists, or some shit like that.
Daesh still controls a large amount of territory within Iraq and Syria. The Caliphate is continuing to grow at alarming speeds, although not necessarily within this region. They've had several radical Sunni groups pledge allegience to them, such as al-Shabaab in Somalia, militant Chechens in Russia, and Boko Haram in Nigeria to name a few, as well as a presence in many others, like the Philippines, Afghanistan and North Africa.
Recently fighters in Libya were able to retake a stronghold in Derna from Daesh control, though they claim this is only a minor setback and doesn't effect their operational abilities in the Islamic Maghreb. They clearly aren't fucking around as the last few weeks have had headlines detailing their recent gun attack on a Tunisian beach, Tunisian SF have only just foiled yet another Daesh plot.
This is what a terrorist attack looks like
In addition to these attacks, Daesh has also been busy elsewhere. The United States recently launched a drone strike that took out a bunch of their leadership in Afghanistan, fucking up Shahidullah Shahid and about 30 other insurgents in a compound near the Pakistani border. Shahid was part of the Pakistani Taliban faction who splintered off to join Daesh in Afghanistan.
Syria
Syria's having a whole lot of not fun right now. A much older post I wrote chronicles how Syria got to where it is, and it hasn't been much better since then.
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| Map of Syria, 8 Days before my previously linked post was originally published |
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| Map of Syria, as of last week |
Interestingly enough, around the time of the previously linked piece on Syria, there was a whole bunch of shit going around about the chemical attacks taking place in the country. The international conversation was "Was it al-Assad? Was it a rebel group?" and "Should we intervene? Does it really matter who it was, doesn't this need to stop, no matter who did it?" Most people in America, who were only then just tuning in, thought this was a fairly rational response, and their politicians were looking out for a people being slaughtered far away. A lot of the national conversation going on was "Should we get involved, even with all of this?" Most people did not want another war in the middle east, and Putin made Obama look like a bitch on the national stage.
I, however, was rather convinced we didn't give a shit about anyone in this country and we only wanted to position ourselves geopolitically to expand our sphere of influence and impede on Russia's, who has a port in Syria.
Given how big of a stink this was in the media, I was at first surprised, then full of contempt when I read about the recent attacks in Deir ez Zor. Here was Assad's forces, fighting Daesh and Jabhat al-Nusra in the highly contested city, actually openly using chemical agents that killed civilians. And the world has said nary a peep about it. Unless the climate is right for a nation to exploit a situation for their own benefit, nobody is going to give a shit. Always keep that in mind when reading "news".
Next time: Kurdistan and Turkey.
