UNDER the most hopeful case scenario, Pakistan is always on the brink. A cauldron of jihadi fire. Just take a peek at its beyond lengthy list of terror groups, most of which are very active in Pakistan, their regional sphere, the Mid East and the west too. Keep yourselves from shivering timbers.
YET even Indonesia, considered a “model” Muslim nation by the west, whether true or not – and the largest one at that – it too is succumbing to ISIS Caliphate fever. This is definitely reality in the making, despite those who feign otherwise. Get over it.
BUT back to Pakistan…
AS stated, Pakistan is regularly just a short step from implosion, even without ISIS in the mix. Yet it must be noted that ISIS is basically an offshoot of Al Qaeda, both of which are part of the Brotherhood Mafia. This is very significant to the overall jihadi picture.
ALONG this incendiary terrain it is also worth recognizing: those who have followed the handiwork of Al Qaeda’s monstrous barbarism should consider what it will mean when their “cousins”, ISIS butchers, get their paws on Pakistan’s nukes, and they will!
To ensure that no nuclear weapons falls into the hands of ISIS, there is only one option, that the US takes control of Pakistan’s nukes and disarms Pakistan. But is this scenario even feasible? Hardly.
The problem in the West is that its comparing the ISIS problem with its previous predecessor Al-Qaeda so the western news consumers are not paying as much attention to how fast the Islamic State is moving and it’s not wasting time like al-Qaida did before and its moving in lightning speed…..read the whole thing….
INDEED, ISIS’s catapult has been reiterated within this site and at various related interviews, ever since they jumped into the public sphere.
FURTHER evidence of ISIS’s rooting can be found at Breitbart’s “ISIS Developing ‘Colonies’ in Mid East as it Gains Credibility Among Jihadists”:
One report from the Washington Institute says ISIS has developed colonies in areas as far as Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Algeria, and in the Sinai Peninsula through jihadist groups declaring loyalty to the Islamic State.
ISIS has spread, they note, as far as Africa. One station is the result of fighters loyal to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gaining complete control of the Libyan seaport city of Derna. Derna is near the Egyptian border and about 200 miles from Greece.
Israel-based intelligence analyst Adina Kutnicki told Breitbart in an interview that ISIS’ expansion into Libya is definitely an offensive move.
“Wherever the Caliphate (ISIS) claims as its address and hoists its banner, rest assured, offensive jihad gains exponential traction,” Kutnicki said.
Jihad Watch publisher Robert Spencer told Breitbart that the number of declared Islamic State loyalists means the Caliphate is gaining credibility.
“This means the caliphate claim is gaining traction. In Sunni Islam, only the caliph is authorized to wage offensive jihad. Therefore this ultimately means that there will be even more violence against Westerners and non-Muslims. This is a new level that will make these days look like times of peace,” Spencer said.
Center for Security Policy Vice President for Research Clare Lopez agrees with both assessments. Lopez said in an interview that ISIS’ successful expansion is because they’re following a successful formula.
“It seems that the Islamic State is establishing franchises in the same way that al-Qaida did before them,” Lopez said.
The successful ISIS expansion of its brand is causing Middle East analysts to project ISIS next move militarily.
Adina Kutnicki says ISIS has further plans for expansion. She also told Breitbart that she believes ISIS’ will move on Saudi Arabia.
“I believe they will first target Saudi Arabia, for capturing the Kingdom brings them one step closer to controlling Sunni Islam. After which, the rest will be much easier to control, but in this order: Jordan, Lebanon and Israel. Rest assured, once they close in on Israel, Jerusalem’s nukes will be brought out, albeit the low yield ones,” Kutnicki said.
Even if ISIS doesn’t move to attack Saudi Arabia, Yan St-Pierre, CEO of the Intelligence firm MOSECON told Breitbart in an interview that there are three possibilities for ISIS expansion.
St-Pierre says there are three possibilities.
“First, it gives notoriety to certain groups that have been embroiled in civil wars like in Libya or conflict zones like Sudan, Mali or Tunisia. This prominence enables a stronger recruitment and the establishment of various partnerships that could alter the tendencies of some of the aforementioned conflicts.
“Second, while not necessarily opening new fronts, it does create more favorable conditions for a regional spill-over of the localized conflicts, something that is already a great concern in the Middle East, North Africa, and Sahel (the desert territory south of the Sahara).
“Third, and this remains iffy at this point, if ISIS does decide to financially, logistically, or strategically support these colonies, it would indeed create forward bases for ISIS, allowing it not only to open new fronts but also provide it with a greater access to resources and trafficking routes that could be used to (re)supply its existing fronts and territories,” St-Pierre said.
However, Kutnicki believes ISIS has the power to move forward. She adds that in the push to enlarge its influence and territory, no city will be spared and the Islamic State will ignore Western leaders.
“Baghdad will not be spared, it is an integral part of their Caliphate plans. As to the west, they have no fear of the leadership of the free world and will not take any of the leaders into consideration,” Kutnicki said.
Kutnicki also says she takes seriously the recent reports that ISIS’ army numbers 200,000.
“I believe it is entirely possible that the 200,000 number is a close estimate, though proving it would be nearly impossible. Nevertheless, it is a viable guesstimate,” Kutnicki said.
Intelligence Community analyst Peter Cohen said in an interview that whether ISIS moves militarily or organically through colonies or constituent alliances, two nations in the report have the organization to stop them.
“Libya has collapsed and is no longer a true nation. The residue of the former government has no influence and Tripoli is occupied by radical Islamists. The same thing in Yemen, except Libya has no Shias,” Cohen said.
St-Pierre, whose firm provides intelligence to governmental and non-governmental groups, adds that one of the burdens ISIS faces is maintaining control of its existing territories.
“ISIS still has issues consolidating its current territory, so diverting resources to other regions remains unlikely and at this point. Groups like the one controlling the Libyan city of Darna receive little more than a formal recognition of their allegiance to the Caliphate,” St-Pierre said.
However, because of a historical pattern, Cohen doubts the potential for ISIS longevity. “Everybody has sworn loyalty to al-Baghdadi, like mass hysteria, but that doesn’t mean they really mean it. Al-Baghdadi, when you look at his background, is a loser, a ‘Woody Allen with a sword’. He is really a nobody. That so many Muslims in the Middle-East and some in the West, drool like dogs, when you mention his name, says as much about their low self-esteem, as al-Baghdadi’s moral incontinence and brutal inhumanity,” Cohen said.
Cohen believes that Islamist government-like structures will always have difficulties in remaining organized:
Remember this too: Islam is inherently anarchic, nihilistic and entropic. No Islamic nation to date, including increasingly Islamic Turkey, Malaysia, and Indonesia, has passed the democracy test, and all eventually implode. Ataturk’s reforms in Turkey did not last; Sukarno could not keep Indonesia secular. Malaysia is even less so and poor old Kazakhstan remains the exception that proves the rule. If Kazakhstan did not have a neo-USSR dictator, it would have an Islamic government. If these nations all fail, al-Baghdadi’s ‘Caliphate’ is bogus; it won’t happen. Someone will ice him, whether a follower, a Kurd or a Western plan.
However, Lopez believes that the threat from the ISIS colonization and expansion is real. Since the threat is real, she says, a coordinated response from the West is needed. “What all of this means is that the problem is bigger than one posed by any one group. The West is under assault from an attack on the whole of civilization,” she explained. “This means that we have to respond with all of Western civilization. That means the governments, legal institutions, faith communities, intelligence organizations, diplomatic arms, the political structures, and the social and military establishment,” Lopez said.
She also says, “The response has to be more than just a military one, which is what we’ve been doing.”
She adds, “What I am saying is that we have to address the actual enemy threat which is the doctrine of Islamic Jihad and Shariah Law.”
BASICALLY, two components stand out above the rest: how they went from there to here, their “success”, plus where they are presently implanted.
CONSIDER component one as a gift from the leader of the heretofore free world:
LEST there be any misunderstandings, if not for the consequences generated from Benghazigate, Sunni Brotherhood jihadists – of which ISIS are part and parcel of, on whose behalf Barack HUSSEIN Obama ordered the largest weapons-running operation in Mid East history – would not be knocking on America’s door, nor Israel’s. Others as well. Nevertheless, as an American-Israeli, both nations are my top priorities. Hands down.
OMINOUSLY, a major outgrowth to Obama’s illegal war in Libya (the main goal of the weapons running was to destabilize Syria for the benefit of Syria’s Brotherhood Mafia) allowed countless man-pads to awash Syria and beyond. In this regard, isn’t it likely that this is how ISIS got their hands on said weapons and then some?
Islamic State militants stormed a Syrian airbase over the weekend, routing the remaining elements of the country’s army from northern Raqqah province and reportedly seizing a cache of shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.
The seizure of Tabqa air base, while not the first installation of its type to fall to militants, highlights the Islamic State’s gains in the region and the group’s continued pilfering of advanced military equipment, particularly the surface-to-air missile systems known as MANPADS, short for Man Portable Air Defense Systems.
AS to component two, here’s where they are currently rooted:
Fighters loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are now in complete control of the city of Derna, population of about 100,000, not far from the Egyptian border and just about 200 miles from the southern shores of the European Union.
The fighters are taking advantage of political chaos to rapidly expand their presence westwards along the coast, Libyan sources tell CNN.
The sources say the Derna branch of ISIS counts 800 fighters and operates half a dozen camps on the outskirts of the town, as well as larger facilities in the nearby Green Mountains, where fighters from across North Africa are being trained.
It has been bolstered by the return to Libya from Syria and Iraq of up to 300 Libyan jihadists who were part of ISIS’ al Battar Brigade — deployed at first in Deir Ezzor in Syria and then Mosul in Iraq. These fighters supported the Shura Council for the Youth of Islam in Derna, a pro-ISIS faction.
The council had been competing for superiority with another militant group, the Abu Salem Brigade, some of whose fighters’ loyalties lay with al Qaeda, according to Noman Benotman, a former Libyan jihadist now involved in counter-terrorism for the Quilliam Foundation.
Al Qaeda’s top envoy in Libya, Abdulbasit Azuz, left Derna after U.S. Special Forces captured Ahmed Abu Khatallah, an alleged ringleader of the Benghazi attacks in June. Azuz is now believed to be in Syria, Benotman told CNN.
Amateur video from the end of October showed a large crowd of militants affiliated with the Shura Council for the Youth of Islam chanting their allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. The new ISIS wing in Derna calls itself the “Barqa” provincial division of the Islamic State, the name given to the eastern region of Libya when Islamic rule replaced the Roman Empire.
The Libyan branch of ISIS now has a tight grip on the city, controlling the courts, all aspects of administration, education, and the local radio. “Derna today looks identical to Raqqa, the ISIS headquarters town in Syria,” Benotman told CNN.
“ISIS pose a serious threat in Libya. They are well on the way to creating an Islamic emirate in eastern Libya,” Benotman said.
Judges, journalists and army officers have been among dozens targeted for assassination in Derna this year.
Similarities to Syria
Derna has a long history of Islamist radicalism. Marginalized during the Gadhafi era, it contributed more foreign fighters per capita to al Qaeda in Iraq than any other town in the Middle East. It has also provided scores of fighters for ISIS in Syria.
In another disturbing similarity with Syria, the bodies of three anti-ISIS activists were found beheaded in the town last week. The group has beheaded many in Syria, including Western journalists and aid workers.
Two months ago ISIS leader Baghdadi helped orchestrate the take-over of Derna by dispatching one of his senior aides, Abu Nabil al Anbari, an Iraqi ISIS veteran who had spent time with Baghdadi, in a U.S. detention facility in Iraq, according to Benotman.
Helped by Abu al-Baraa el-Azdi, a Saudi preacher who has become Derna’s top religious judge, al Anbari’s efforts have borne fruit. Last week a new pan-Libyan group calling itself “Mujahideen of Libya” declared allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, claiming it was sub-divided into three provinces: Barqa, Tripoli, and Fezzan (southwest Libya). The ISIS leader responded by calling all supporters in Libya to join what he called the newest administrative region of the Islamic caliphate.
According to Aaron Zelin, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the Islamic State’s new province in Libya “could have some level of viability, at least in the short term” because fighters there are well-positioned to fund themselves through “trafficking, smuggling and other black market activities.”…..
TO wit, Paki’s nukes in the cross hairs!!
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