how the Islamic State was founded --- The group originated as *Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama%27at_al-Tawhid_wal-Jihad>* in 1999, which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda> and participated in the Iraqi insurgency <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_insurgency_(2003%E2%80%9311)> following the March 2003 invasion of Iraq <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq> by Western forces. Joining other Sunni insurgent groups to form the Mujahideen Shura Council <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mujahideen_Shura_Council_(Iraq)>, this group proclaimed the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq> (ISI) in October 2006.
On Friday, August 12, 2016 at 2:04:57 PM UTC-5, Travis wrote: > > > > > > > > > > https://news.vice.com/article/this-is-how-the-islamic-state-was-founded?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Mil%20EBB%208.12.16&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief > > > This is how the Islamic State was founded > > · > > · > > · > > · > > · > > · > > · > > · > > By Benjamin Gilbert <https://news.vice.com/contributor/benjamin-gilbert> > > August 11, 2016 | 12:50 pm > > Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump repeated on Thursday his > claim that President Barack Obama founded ISIS, and that Hillary Clinton > co-founded the radical Islamist group best known for keeping sex slaves and > cutting off its prisoners' heads. > > "You know they honor President Obama. He is the founder of ISIS. And I > would say the co-founder is Crooked Hillary Clinton," Trump said at a > campaign event in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. > > He began his remarks talking about his opposition to the invasion of Iraq, > and then turned his scorn on the withdrawal from Iraq. > > "We should have never gotten out the way we got out. And then Obama came > in, and normally you want to clean up. He made such a mess of it. And then > you had Hillary with Libya," he said. > > And yet none of his statements about the founding of ISIS are backed up by > facts. It may be true that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the alienation > of Sunnis by both the US occupation in the initial years of the war, and > the Iraqi government in the wake of the US withdrawal, created the > conditions that gave rise to the Islamic State. But the Iraqi insurgency > and the rise of the Islamic State are far more complicated than Trump would > lead his supporters to believe. > > Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is the real founder of the Islamic State. The > Jordanian convict and violent Islamist extremist came to Iraq after the US > invasion, to wage holy war on the occupation forces, the United Nations, > and Shiite Muslims, whom he viewed as apostates. He had founded the group > Jama'at > al-Tawhid wal-Jihad > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama%27at_al-Tawhid_wal-Jihad> in Jordan > in 1999, which means "The group of Monotheism and Jihad." > > The group conducted a number of bombings and attacks, and in October 2004 > pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, and renamed the group > "al-Qaeda in the land of the two rivers." The US military referred to it by > a shorter acronym: AQI, or al-Qaeda in Iraq. > > AQI was responsible for kidnappings, executions, and suicide bomb attacks > in Baghdad, Anbar province, and other areas of Iraq. It was one of the main > targets of the US storming of Fallujah in November 2004. > > Zarqawi was killed in an American airstrike in June 2006, and later that > year the group changed its name to the Islamic State in Iraq, or ISI. > > During the US "surge" of troops into Iraq in 2007 and 2008, ISI lost much > of its power and by the end of the US occupation, many of its leaders and > operatives had been hunted down and killed. > > During this time, Nouri al-Maliki, a Shite, was elected prime minister and > alienated many of Iraq's Sunnis, who had been the backbone of the violent > insurgency and some of whom had joined ISI. Maliki targeted Sunni political > leaders, and the Sunni groups that had worked alongside US troops to evict > ISI from much of Iraq. (The Obama administration's backing of Maliki during > this time is one discussion that could be had about whether a different > policy approach would have put pressure on the Iraqi prime minister to stop > alienating the Sunnis and thus indirectly facilitating the rise of islamic > State). > > The current leader of the group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakr_al-Baghdadi>, took control of ISI > in 2010. His organization didn't receive much attention for a few years, > until the Syrian civil war erupted, and the group expanded its operations > into Syria, and put the country into its name, thus becoming ISIS. > > A feud in 2013 with al-Qaeda's wing in Syria, Nusra Front, led Baghdadi to > sever ties with al-Qaeda in 2014. The group renamed itself simply "The > Islamic State," and in 2014 swept back into Iraq, this time as a potent > ground force with battle-hardened troops. That force overran the corrupt > and weakened Iraqi security forces, capturing Fallujah in January, and one > of Iraq's largest city's, Mosul, in June. > > President Obama ordered airstrikes on June 15 against Islamic State, and > thus began Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led military operation that > targets IS in Syria and Iraq. > > On July 5 of 2014, Baghdadi proclaimed himself Caliph of the new "Islamic > State," and called on Muslims around the world to follow him. The group's > sophisticated media operation regularly targets Obama and other world > leaders whose countries are involved in the fight against the Islamic > State. > > As for Trump's crude equating of the US withdrawal of troops from Iraq to > Obama having "founded" the Islamic State: the US troop withdrawal from Iraq > in December 2011 was an agreement reached with the Iraqis by President > George W. Bush's administration in 2008. Under this "Status of Forces" > agreement with the Iraqi government, any US troops remaining in the country > and not given diplomatic immunity by their association with the US embassy > in Baghdad after December 31 of 2011 would have been subject to Iraqi law. > No US military commander would have tolerated that. > > It's interesting that, in addition to failing to mention Obama's backing > of Maliki as he pissed off Iraq's Sunnis, that Trump didn't mention another > Obama policy decision that Middle East and Islamic State experts say may > have helped give the Islamic State so much power: the administration's > position on the Syria war. Some argue that, had Obama intervened in the > conflict more forcefully, earlier in the conflict, the Islamic State would > not have had the opportunity to take territory, establish bases, attract > fighters, and mount operations in Iraq and further afield. > > > > > ------------------------------ > [image: Avast logo] <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> > > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> > > > > __._,_.___ > ------------------------------ > Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected] <javascript:>> > ------------------------------ > > > Visit Your Group > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmOGRxZnBxBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0NzEwMTE5Mzg-> > > > > [image: Yahoo! 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