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[Helgoland]

And possibly according to the US government because theres apparently no moderates left, or at least no moderates that haven't sided with one of the non-moderates.

Can anyone blame them, when the moderates were only supported with comforting words while their radical counterparts were being supplied weapons, ammunition, and cash?

[Sheb]

Well, there was one side sending large amount of munitions specifically to moderate, but they were second-hand by the time they got there.

[Helgoland]

but they were second-hand by the time they got there.

Whaddya mean? That they were stolen/bought by Islamists? Sure, sure... But that's a relatively recent thing, and happened after the surge in radicalism. Back in 2012, when Assad was having fun gassing civilians, the FSA didn't get shit.

[Sheb]

Nah, I meant that Assad also focused on the moderate at first, with a strategy to be the less-evil option left.

[Helgoland]

Wit



My head


Damn, usually I'm better than that

[Loud Whispers]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35595446
ISIS popped up in Afghanistan, accidentally got killed by everyone

Accidentially? They seem to try to make enemies out of everybody, even those not typically thought of as 'The West' and targeted by the likes of Al Quaeda.

Update: After one year, the graveyard of Empires has killed them

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday that the Islamic State group has been defeated in the eastern parts of the country, where it had taken over some remote districts.
Speaking at the opening of parliament, Ghani said Afghan forces had dislodged IS loyalists from regions of Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan.

Scrubs got dunked

"Afghanistan will be their graveyard," he said in an address broadcast live on national television.

That is satisfying on so many levels

[Vilanat]

I would still wait before booking a flight and hotel there.

Everytime someone says they defeated ISIS it's 50% propaganda and 25% underestimation.

[Loud Whispers]

I would still wait before booking a flight and hotel there.
Everytime someone says they defeated ISIS it's 50% propaganda and 25% underestimation.

Skepticism is warranted, but he's specified that it's the Eastern Afghanistan, not the whole country. With that said 200 militants dead in three weeks with local support and the Taliban also killing them - they're surrounded on all sides in hostile territory without support from Al-Raqqah

The Taliban'll still be there but at least they only cut peoples hands off and rape little boys and all

[Sheb]

I would also wait before booking an hotel, but that's because there a bunch of other guerilla fighters in the region. It's not really surprising ISIS got booted out, those kind of groups (AQ too) tends to be unpopular as they displace the traditional power structure, and they are even by the local standard terrible people. The only time when they thrive is when they manage to position themselves as defender of the local Sunni against another invader (Syria), or when they effectively destroy the local structure to replace it (Parts of North Pakistan, Syria again probably).

But any proper counter-insurgency army will separate them from their population base as happened during the Sunni Awakening of Iraq, when local tribes effectively booted AQ out.

[miljan]

China’s proxy war in Syria: Revealing the role of Uighur fighters
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2016/03/02/China-s-proxy-war-in-Syria-Revealing-the-role-of-Uighur-fighters-.html

[smjjames]

China’s proxy war in Syria: Revealing the role of Uighur fighters
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2016/03/02/China-s-proxy-war-in-Syria-Revealing-the-role-of-Uighur-fighters-.html

Got any links from sources known to be reputable? Not sure how reputable that source is and what with that thing about a chinese aircraft carrier being there (their only one in fact), I'm giving this a healthy dose of skepticsm.

edit: Despite the news being carried by brietbart, there is a grain of truth to this, minus the conspiracy of china.

I give you, Occams Razor:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/07/12/china-says-uighurs-sent-back-from-thailand-were-on-way-to-join-jihad-in-syria.html#

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-xinjiang-idUKKCN0PM00Y20150712

So, yeah, it'll get a heck of a lot more complicated and crowded if China jumps in.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

One more terror attack in Turkey

I was always sympathetic to Kurds but any organization that uses intentionally killing random civilians as method of achieving their goals must cease to exist no matter how it named Kurdistan Workers' Party, ISIS or Russian Federation.

[Loud Whispers]

Yeah asymmetrical warfare on civilian targets isn't even a wise strategy since it involves the enemy's civilians, boosting civilian support for total war against them

[smjjames]

Didn't the IRA (Irish Republican Army) use similar tactics?

Also, in the CNN article, the US embassy in Ankara warned about a possible plot to strike government buildings a week ago. But given that this was a transport hub, it may or may not be the same group that the embassy was warning about.

One more terror attack in Turkey

I was always sympathetic to Kurds but any organization that uses intentionally killing random civilians as method of achieving their goals must cease to exist no matter how it named Kurdistan Workers' Party, ISIS or Russian Federation.

I don't recall Russia ever using suicide bombers (though it doesn't seem clear that it was a suicide bombing neccesarily) or car bombs in Ukraine.

[HAMMERMILL]

Can we not go back to Iraq or Syria? The US has absolutely nothing to gain. If the US wanted to help world peace they'd support the Syrian government. Providing arms to religious extremists has never worked in our favor before, ever.

Can we just NOT try to overthrow a fragile government, just once, pretty please? It's okay to leave well enough alone?