Attacks in Paris Stadium, concert hall

By May, the insurgency began, slowly at first, most notably in Fallujah. Why Fallujah? Why May...

“Zarqawi favors butchering Shias, calling them "the most evil of mankind . . . the lurking snake, the crafty and malicious scorpion, the spying enemy, and the penetrating venom."

For years, terror experts had been warning about their fears of terrorist attacks in Europe and, in recent days, they appear to have become reality. The attacks on Charlie Hebdo in Paris and Copenhagen at the beginning of 2015 weren't isolated cases, Peter Neumann, a professor of security studies at King's College London, warned in his new book "The New Jihadists," published in September in German. He believes what we have just witnessed are the "first, very dramatic warnings of what will play out on the streets of Europe in the next decades." Europe, he cautions, is standing "at the precipice of a new wave of terror that will still occupy us for a generation to come."

French journalist and jihad expert David Thomson offers a similarly bleak assessment. "Attacks like this will no longer be something completely extraordinary," he warns. "I can't say whether something like this will happen every six months or every year."

Thomson says that, according to his research, an Islamic State unit led by a Frenchman is currently preparing attacks in Europe. After the terrorist attacks in Paris, Western intelligence agencies intercepted communications between Abaaoud and Islamic State leadership in Syria. There had been similar clues after the attack in Beirut the day before and also after IS brought down a Russian jet carrying vacationers over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. When IS issued a claim of responsibility for the plane crash a few hours later, it provided no information about the perpetrators. But German authorities say this is standard practice for IS: The order is issued by the leadership, but it is then carried out solely by the terrorist cell.

The "golden rule" isn't "He who has the gold makes the rules", it's "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". If everyone followed this simple moral precept, regardless of their religion, would the world be different? Better, or worse?

Might we be having a different conversation today? ISIS began as a branch of al Qaeda in Iraq. The group that eventually became al Qaeda in Iraq piggybacked on popular disaffection with the occupation of Iraq; it began bomb attacks in August 2003, five months after the invasion, and pledged allegiance to the al Qaeda network in October 2004.

"15 March 2013 – The United States' ongoing drone campaign in Pakistan is a violation of the South Asian nation's sovereignty, as it is being conducted without the consent of its elected representatives or that of the legitimate Government, a United Nations independent expert has warned."

I might add that neither Syria nor Iraq has declared war on the United States. An invasion of both against the wishes of their sovereign governments is certainly not supported by the United Nations charter, as "any person with a minimal understanding of international law" would acknowledge.

"Last week, with U.S. troops battling their way through the Sunni Muslim stronghold, several Fallujah residents said trusting the foreigners who turned the locals’ humble stand against foreign occupation into a sophisticated terror campaign had been a grave mistake."

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2004/11/zarqawis_falluj.php

The citizens of Fallujah have grown disenchanted with Zarqwai’s terror. Hannah Allam documents the buyer’s remorse of the residents of Fallujah and the indigenous Iraqi insurgents. Zarqawi attempted to instill Taliban-like atmosphere in Fallujah, much to the dismay of the residents. It seems their zeal in murdering innocents and their brand of Islam was too much for the locals to countenance.

Fallujah residents, most of them now displaced by the fighting, said hundreds of non-Iraqi Arabs had been in the city before the U.S. offensive began Monday. But, they added, the ties of brotherhood had mostly unraveled and the remaining foreign fighters had tried to intimidate residents into staying as human shields.

Other residents said foreign militants wore out their welcome months ago, when they imposed a Taliban-like interpretation of Islamic law that included public floggings for residents accused of drinking alcohol or refusing to grow beards. Women who failed to cover their hair or remove their makeup were subjected to public humiliation. Those accused of spying for Americans were executed on the spot, residents said.

It will be interesting to see if the citizens of other Iraqi towns and cities are eager to host his network after the tyranny and abject failure in Fallujah. Zarqawi’s al Qaeda in Iraq is looking like a weak horse at the moment, and as the residents of Fallujah have learned, cooperating with this loser comes at a great cost.

Sunni rebellion in Iraq As the Shia-Sunni disputes in Iraq remain under the spotlight, the country has been rocked by a Sunni rebellion, writes Salah Nasrawi

Sunni Arabs seem to have opened a new chapter in their struggle to regain prominence a decade after the 2003 US-led invasion of the country that toppled the minority Sunni regime of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and propelled Iraq’s majority Shias to power.

The Sunni protests came as sectarian violence spiraled across the country following the US troop withdrawal last year. A series of bombings across Iraq this week killed more than two dozen people, many of them Shias who were performing pilgrimages to the holy city of Karbala.

The Sunnis’ anger has been growing louder for several months over what they perceive as their mistreatment in Shia-run Iraq. The complaints have included the arbitrary use of anti-terrorism laws and the prolonged detention and mistreatment of prisoners, particularly women, in government jails.

Sunni dissatisfaction with the government has been building for years, stemming from claims of marginalisation, unequal distribution of wealth, repressive actions and the government’s failure to provide jobs.

Most Sunnis rejected Iraq’s new constitution drafted after the 2003 US-led invasion...Some protesters carried the Iraqi flag of the Saddam era and shouted anti-Shia slogans...the anti-Shia rhetoric has infuriated many Shias in Iraq, including those who are opposed to Al-Maliki.

Please stop wasting my time with foolish misreadings that require correction. Stop disagreeing simply to disagree. I have some previous replies to catch up on and your inanity is preventing that.

But the May 2003 insurgency began in response to abuses by the U.S. occupation force, as I have documented,...

...the US and the UK have a responsibility in the emergence of ISIS. If Saddam was still in power none of that would have happened...