Saturday, January 31, 2015

THE DA'ISH/DAESH/ISLAMIC STATE DEFEAT AT KOBANI

In the past week, Da'ish/IS suffered a major setback in Kobani at the hands of Kurdish men and women who refused to submit and fought  hard since last September to save their homeland. 

Thinking they were "blessed" by Allah and were just like the pious predecessors and early Ansar, Da'ish forces slaughtered, raped, and pillaged their way across northern Iraq and north eastern Syria. But their hubris and delusions of grandeur were confronted on the plains of Kobani. Their worst nightmare was facing female Kurdish warriors in battle. Being killed in battle by a female wouldn't guarantee a place in paradise with the 72 virgins.

Their leadership had convinced them that their noble and just "jihad" would ensure victory against the near enemies (fellow Muslims) who were not as "pious" or "noble" as these Soldiers of God, who resorted to beheadings as sport, crucifixions, torture, rape, and slavery as primary weapons of their "jihad." 

The Islamic State of Iraq, under the leadership of Ibrahim Awad aka Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, jumped the gun probably to the chagrin/disgust of Al Qaeda Central when, convinced of their invincibility after their conquest of Mosul, they declared the re-establishment of the abolished (Turkish) Caliphate, with Baghdadi as Khalifa/Caliph on June 29th, 2014. This brazen (understatement) act elicited both chuckles and disgust across the Muslim world. Desperate to bestow legitimacy to their actions and, more importantly, to expand their global recruitment efforts, Al-Baghdadi was falsely presented as belonging to the Quraish tribe, which was one of the original stipulations of being the Khalifa/Caliph.

The conquest of Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, after four days of fighting on June 10th, 2014, wouldn't have been possible if not for sleeper cells and many Arab Sunni neighborhoods assisting them in the process; coupled with the cowardice, or possible collusion, of the Iraqi military and police forces who fled or surrendered, only to be slaughtered. 

Da'ish's reliance on propaganda to instill fear and terrorize their prey backfired on them at Kobani.

By September, the widely circulated videos of Da'ish's genocide against the Yazidi, the ancient Assyrian and Chaldean Christian communities, the Shia and others, convinced the Kurds of Kobani that fighting was the only option. 

The seige of Kobani Canton began on September 13th by Da'ish. With superior weaponry (captured from Iraqi military and police forces), including tanks, Da'ish appeared destined to quickly seize all Kurdish lands in northern Syria. By October, Da'ish had captured hundreds of Kurdish villages and towns near Kobani. Over 300,000 Kurds fled their homes across the border to Turkey. 

In Kobani, the People's Protection Units (YPG), reinforced by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the better armed Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Regional Government fought Da'ish in tense urban combat. American and Arab airstrikes were crucial in Da'ish's first major defeat as Kobani is now "Da'ish free". On January 26th, the YPG, along with Peshmerga and FSA reinforcements, were able to retake the city and force Da'ish's retreat.

Given the degree of publicity the Seige of Kobani received in the media, with some comparing it to the Seige of Stalingrad, Da'ish's withdrawal from Kobani was a symbolic catastrophe for this entity that relies on "propaganda of the deed" whose primary visual tools are violent abominable acts meant to terrorize the viewers/victims.

The Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) militias statement encapsulates what transpired at great human cost:

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