American forces bomb targets in northern Iraq

[TerryMiller]

The group has had a number of different names since its formation in early 2004 as Jamāʻat al-Tawḥīd wa-al-Jihād, "The Organization of Monotheism and Jihad" (JTJ). These names are underscored in the following list.

In October 2004, the group's leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi swore loyalty to Osama bin Laden and changed the name of the group to Tanẓīm Qāʻidat al-Jihād fī Bilād al-Rāfidayn, "The Organization of Jihad's Base in the Country of the Two Rivers", more commonly known as "Al-Qaeda in Iraq" (AQI).[71][72]

Although the group has never called itself "Al-Qaeda in Iraq", this name has frequently been used to describe it through its various incarnations.[9]

In January 2006, AQI merged with several smaller Iraqi insurgent groups under an umbrella organization called the "Mujahideen Shura Council". This was little more than a media exercise and an attempt to give the group a more Iraqi flavour and perhaps distance al-Qaeda from some of al-Zarqawi's tactical errors, notably the 2005 bombings by AQI of three hotels in Amman.[73] Al-Zarqawi was killed in June 2006, after which the group's direction shifted again.

On 12 October 2006, the Mujahideen Shura Council joined four more insurgent factions and the representatives of a number of Iraqi tribes, and together they swore the traditional Arab oath of allegiance known as Ḥilf al-Muṭayyabīn ("Oath of the Scented Ones").[74][75] During the ceremony, the participants swore to free Iraq's Sunnis of what they described as Shia and foreign oppression, and to further the name of Allah and restore Islam to glory.[c][74]

On 13 October 2006, the establishment of the Dawlat al-ʻIraq al-Islāmīyah, "Islamic State of Iraq" (ISI) was announced.[72][76] A cabinet was formed and Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi became ISI's figurehead emir, with the real power residing with the Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri.[77] The declaration was met with hostile criticism, not only from ISI's jihadist rivals in Iraq, but from leading jihadist ideologues outside the country.[78] Al-Baghdadi and al-Masri were both killed in a US–Iraqi operation in April 2010. The next leader of the ISI was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the current leader of ISIS.

On 9 April 2013, having expanded into Syria, the group adopted the name "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant", also known as "Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham".[79][80] The name is abbreviated as ISIS or alternately ISIL. The final "S" in the acronym ISIS stems from the Arabic word Shām (or Shaam), which in the context of global jihad refers to the Levant or Greater Syria.[81][82]

ISIS is also known as al-Dawlah ("the State"), or al-Dawlah al-Islāmīyah ("the Islamic State"). Its detractors refer to it using the Arabic acronym "DAESH", a term which the group considers derogatory.[83][84][85] ISIS reportedly uses flogging as a punishment for people who use the acronym.[86]


On 14 May 2014, the United States Department of State announced its decision to use "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) as the group's primary name.[85] The debate over which acronym should be used to designate the group, ISIL or ISIS, has been discussed by several commentators.[82][83] Ishaan Tharoor from The Washington Post concluded: "In the larger battlefield of copy style controversies, the distinction between ISIS or ISIL is not so great."[83]

On 29 June 2014, the establishment of a new caliphate was announced, with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi named as its caliph, and the group formally changed its name to the "Islamic State".[

Hot Dayumm!!!!!

Those folks change their names as much as liberals change the definition of words!!

 

[Spata]

Jihadists 'capture key base from Syrian army'

Beirut (AFP) - Islamic State jihadists captured the key Brigade 93 Syrian army base in Raqa province overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.

"The IS took Brigade 93 after fierce fighting and a triple suicide bomb attack," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said, adding that government forces now hold just one position in the province at Tabqa military airport.

He said IS fighters were now preparing to attack the airport, the last bastion in the province of President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

At the end of June, IS declared a caliphate in territory it controls in Syria and Iraq.

The Observatory estimates that more than 170,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011, the start of a peaceful uprising against Assad's regime that developed into an armed revolt.


http://news.yahoo.com/jihadists-capture-key-syrian-army-082942692.html

 

[SMS]

As I sit in my air conditioned house, sipping coffee and surfing the 'net, I'm taking a moment to pray for success, for all of the 3rd SFG and JSOC shot callers laying amongst the rocks and hilltops as I type this.

This. Those F/A-18s didn't drop without guidance from the ground.

Just like the very early days of Afghanistan...small, select groups of pipe hitters and rain makers helping the local folks. I wish they weren't there, but I wish them well.

 

[uncle money bags]

As I sit in my air conditioned house, sipping coffee and surfing the 'net, I'm taking a moment to pray for success, for all of the 3rd SFG and JSOC shot callers laying amongst the rocks and hilltops as I type this.

This. Those F/A-18s didn't drop without guidance from the ground.

Just like the very early days of Afghanistan...small, select groups of pipe hitters and rain makers helping the local folks. I wish they weren't there, but I wish them well.

Exactly.
If the strikes are as they appear right now; against IS forces moving toward Erbil and our embassy/military personnel, then I have no problem with that. I would give credit for at least one lesson from Benghazi being learned if that is the case. It seems the Kurds are the only group of any size in Iraq who have the morale and will to fight IS at the moment, however this is their fight and our direct involvement is probably best kept at an minimum and be directed toward protecting our people and facilities.

 

[Shadowrider]

OK, there is something unprecedented going on over there. A Caliphate is being established with a functioning government. And very, very rapidly. Heavily armed and financed. The Caliph has a capable chain of command who are running these cities and oil fields. This overshadows the golf and bicycles. This is an event that will be studied for generations. Putin has stepped up shipments of T-72s to Syria in an attempt to stave off the collapse of the Assad regime. Recently a dozen T-72s got mixed up in a slugging match with two captured M1 Abrams in one of the oil fields. The Assad forces were obliterated, and the oil field taken. At least 270 oil field workers and prisoners were executed.

Yep, we kicked them out of Iraq so they went to Syria. We left Iraq and now Assad's been kicking their ass. No cigar there so they decide to go back to Iraq and it's been all Cuban for them. Yesterday I saw a news clip that had video of an entire convoy of MRAPS pulling nice "new" looking artillery pieces all of them flying the ISIS/ISIL black flag. Would have made great bombing practice.

I do think we need to help the Kurds with as ferocious of an air campaign as is necessary. They were a great help while we were there. We could "help" get certain Iraqi citizens (like those 10,000 christians sent to die on a mountain) out of there and let the rest of them fight or die. We trained them, armed them and equipped them. If they want to hand it all over to crazies they can watch it be blown up by our aircraft and if any are left over they can build their own. Screw 'em.

 

[Grindstone]

This. Those F/A-18s didn't drop without guidance from the ground.

Just like the very early days of Afghanistan...small, select groups of pipe hitters and rain makers helping the local folks. I wish they weren't there, but I wish them well.

A lot of that is now done by drones.

 

[SMS]

A lot of that is now done by drones.

Not as much as the media would have people think...and certainly not fighter/bomber close air support for ground troops (green or blue).

There are U.S. troops on the ground right now, spotting targets and calling down the hate.

 

[Grindstone]

Not as much as the media would have people think...and certainly not fighter/bomber close air support for ground troops (green or blue).

There are U.S. troops on the ground right now, spotting targets and calling down the hate.

Actually, drones are used more than ground air control parties now. Including fighter-bomber CAS for TICs. I just watched a drone call in a 500lb JDAM today.

 

[Junior Bonner]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/08/world/iraq-options/index.html

Even as the airstrikes were under way, there was news that ISIS militants captured Iraq's largest hydroelectric dam, just north of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. According to a senior Kurdish official, the militant fighters have been using U.S.-made weapons seized during fighting from the Iraqi army, including M1 Abrams tanks.

 

[crrcboatz]

Guess I don't understand why we don't carpet bomb Isis with b52s. In Vietnam prisoners told us the "silent death" of B52 Ark lite bombings from 38000ft was the gooks worst nightmare. I read several sitrips of prisoner questionings at S-3 and they were absolutely terrified by it because there is no warning, no noise, their world just began exploding out of no where. It was the most demoralizing thing we did to the enemy there. Isis would crap in their pants if the same thing happened to them. If you have ever seen an ark lite it is impressive. It shakes the ground 5 miles away. I slides of one happening and the aftermath. These brutal bastards beheading children need this kind of **** happening to them.

Bombing from that altitude is safe for crews too.