ISIS: Remaining and Expanding

[Magda Hassan]

Point of information: Aren't they labeled ISIL not ISIS in English?

It is confusing. Their predecessor was IEI (Islamic Emirate in Iraq) and in Arabic it sounds like Daesh. I think it depends if using the Levant for the 'L' or Syria for the 'S'.

Yes, someone has trained them well and supplied them well, but there seems to be something beyond that - there seems to be either a fear by Iraqi Armed Forces to engage them - or a political reluctance to - or both....it seems, thus far.

I did see a video a few weeks ago which I decided not to post here. It was extremely graphic and was just in Arabic. According to the comments in English (from Iraqis) it was a jihadist group in Iraq (ISIS?) in a car driving along a highway pulling up alongside other cars driving along and shooting into them. Massacring them all. This happened to many cars. Seemed to be some sort of propaganda video. No subtitles though and I don't understand Arabic. It was mostly music and singing. If this has wide coverage in Iraq I couldn't blame the Iraqi military for being frightened. Plus there is the bloody history of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in other occupied cites in Iraq after the US invasion. Still there are many many more and better armed Iraqi military than ISIS and it seems they have deserted their posts with out a fight. Like 'The Mouse Who Roared' scenario. But not so cute and with out the happy ending. Maybe it says more about Iraq military than it does about ISIS. A ragtag bunch of fighters has managed to fight them off for the most part in Syria. Will be interesting with their new found wealth and weapons what happens there now too.