APA yang ANDA perlu TAHU tentang ISIS dan APA yang SEBENAR BERLAKU di IRAQ . . .

Militan daripada Negara Islam Iraq dan Levant (ISIL) menaiki dalam kenderaan yang ditawan ditinggalkan oleh pasukan keselamatan Iraq di lokasi yang tidak diketahui di wilayah Salaheddin (Militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) riding in a captured vehicle left behind by Iraqi security forces at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province (AFP Photo)

Srikandi גבורה - Sebagaimana ISIS, sekumpulan dianggarkan terdiri daripada hanya beberapa ribu orang yang dipimpin oleh bayang-bayang boneka, kekalahan tentera banyak kali saiz utk menguasai sebahagian besar daripada Iraq, RT kelihatan menjadi apa yang ISIS, dan bagaimana ia telah mencapai kejayaan yang menakutkan itu.

Ikut TERKINI LIVE RT pada ISIS serangan di Iraq (Follow RT's LIVE UPDATES on ISIS offensive in Iraq)

JADI, apa itu ISIS ? Dan ADAkah ia juga ISIS, atau ADAkah ianya ISIL?

Satu lot paling komited dan fanatik di dunia hanya baru-baru ini telah berlalu nama sekarang, selepas Negara Islam yang tidak diiktiraf di Iraq dan al-Sham (ISIS) telah diisytiharkan pada April tahun lepas. Al-Sham telah yang biasa diterjemahkan daripada bahasa Arab sebagai Levant, oleh itu ISIL. Ia sebelum ini dikenali sebagai Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, Al-Qaeda di Negara Islam Iraq.

All you NEED to KNOW about ISIS and WHAT 

is happening in IRAQ . . .

As ISIS, a group thought to consist of only a few thousand people led by a shadowy figurehead, defeats forces many times its size to capture a large part of Iraq, RT looks into what is ISIS, and how has it achieved its terrifying triumphs.

Follow RT's LIVE UPDATES on ISIS offensive in Iraq

So, what is ISIS? And is it even ISIS, or is it ISIL?

The world’s most committed and fanatical radical organization has only recently gone by its current name, after the unrecognized Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) was proclaimed in April last year. Al-Sham has been most commonly translated from Arabic as the Levant, hence ISIL. It was previously known as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic State of Iraq.

Perubahan nama yang kerap tidak kosmetik - tetapi hasil langsung daripada keadaan merubah yg dibenarkan ISIS untuk berkembang pesat. Menumpukan kepada mencapai dominasi di Iraq, ia disimpan di bawah kawalan dalam tempoh yang agak tenang antara persengketaan awal mazhab yang tercetus berikutan pencerobohan yang diketuai pada tahun 2003, dan wabak permusuhan keluarkan tentera Amerika pada tahun 2011.

Sejak itu, ia tlh menjadi pemain utama, menerima satu lagi rangsangan kritikal apabila perang saudara di Syria bertukar menjadi konflik mazhab, membawa berjuta-juta dolar dalam pembiayaan dan beribu-ribu anggota baru dari seluruh DUNIA.

The frequent name changes are not cosmetic – but the direct result of the transforming circumstances which have allowed ISIS to rapidly flourish. Initially focused on achieving dominance in Iraq, it was kept under control in the relatively calm period between the initial sectarian strife that broke out following the US-led invasion in 2003, and the outbreak of hostilities following the American military withdrawal in 2011.

Since then, it has become a major player, receiving another critical boost when the civil war in Syria turned into a sectarian conflict, bringing in millions of dollars in funding and thousands of fresh recruits from around the WORLD.

Imej dimuat naik pada 14 Jun 2014 laman web jihad Welayat Salahuddin didakwa menunjukkan militan daripada Negara Islam Iraq dan Levant (ISIL) yang memandu di jalan di lokasi yang tidak diketahui di wilayah Salaheddin (An image uploaded on June 14, 2014 on the jihadist website Welayat Salahuddin allegedly shows militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) driving on a street at unknown location in the Salaheddin province (AFP Photo)

Pada masa ini, kubu kuat ISIS melanjutkan dari Raqqa di utara Syria semua jalan ke pinggir Baghdad - yang terbentang lebih daripada 500 km, walaupun kumpulan itu tidak mempunyai pengawasan yang komprehensif daripada jalan raya dan penempatan antara mereka.

Currently, ISIS strongholds extend from Raqqa in northern Syria all the way down to the outskirts of Baghdad – a stretch of more than 500 km, though the group doesn’t have comprehensive oversight of the roads and settlements between them.

Keajuan kumpulan Islam itu apabila tutup pada Baghdad boleh dibandingkan - jika tidak melebihi - kadar pencerobohan 2003. Tidak seperti Amerika Syarikat dan sekutu-sekutunya, walaupun, ISIS tidak mempunyai keupayaan melancarkan serangan udara yang merosakkan, bagaimanapun dalam perbalahan melalui terbarunya kumpulan itu dilaporkan berjaya dgn ketara meningkatkan kuasa ketenteraan menangkap berpuluh-puluh kereta perisai buatan Amerika Syarikat dan senjata berat lain dari berundur tentera Iraq.

The speed with which the Islamist group is closing in on Baghdad can be compared – if not exceeds – the pace of the 2003 invasion. Unlike the US and allies, though, ISIS does not have a capability of launching destructive air strikes, however in its latest offensives the group has reportedly managed to significantly boost its military power capturing dozens of US-made armored vehicles and other heavy weaponry from the retreating Iraqi military.

Wikimedia Commons/ADuran

ISIS adalah SEBAHAGIAN dan Daripada yang SAMA 

dengan Al-Qaeda, BETUL tak ?

Tidak, ia adalah lebih buruk lagi. Al-Qaeda telah uji langkah2 untuk memahami keganasan Barat sejak 9/11, tetapi berlainan dengan ISIS ia secara falsafah, organisasi, dan juga secara rasmi, kerana ia telah mengisytiharkan dirinya sebuah badan yang berasingan sepenuhnya. Jika apa-apa kedua-dua organisasi - walaupun kedua-dua mendukung Sunni Islam - kini lebih daripada pesaing sekutu.

Walaupun Al-Qaeda, dalam bentuk-bentuk yang terkenal, adalah sebuah pertubuhan pengganas, dengan sel-sel tidur, kem-kem latihan dan serangan pengganas, ISIS pada masa lebih merupakan militia dan sebuah wilayah penyangak dengan infrastruktur sendiri, lebih serupa dengan Boko Haram dan fiefdoms setempat lain yang telah melahirkan di negeri-negeri Afrika tanpa undang-undang atau gagal.

ISIS is part of and similar to Al-Qaeda, right ?

No, it is significantly worse. Al-Qaeda has been the touchstone for the Western understanding of terrorism ever since 9/11, but ISIS differs from it philosophically, organizationally, and even officially, as it has declared itself an entirely separate body. If anything the two organizations – though both espousing Sunni Islam – are currently more rivals than allies.

While Al-Qaeda, in its most well-known forms, is a terrorist organization, with sleeper cells, training camps and terrorist attacks, ISIS as of now is more a militia and a rogue territory with its own infrastructure, more similar to Boko Haram and other localized fiefdoms that have spawned in lawless or failed African states.

Imej dimuat naik pada 14 Jun 2014 laman web jihad Welayat Salahuddin didakwa menunjukkan militan daripada Negara Islam Iraq dan Levant (ISIL) melaksanakan berpuluh-puluh yang ditangkap Iraq pasukan keselamatan ahli-ahli di lokasi yang tidak diketahui di wilayah Salaheddin (An image uploaded on June 14, 2014 on the jihadist website Welayat Salahuddin allegedly shows militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province (AFP Photo)

Al-Qaeda telah menjadi lebih sedar mengelakkan tindakan kekejaman yang berleluasa atau tidak produktif sejak kematian Osama Bin Laden, tetapi ISIS pesta di dalamnya, mendukung falsafah agama jadi tanpa kompromi ternyata hampir nihilistik.

Kawasan-kawasan itu tlh mendapat telah disimpan di bawah kawalan oleh 1 aliran tiada penghujung hukuman sebat, pencacatan, pemancungan kepala dan penyaliban. Sasaran boleh yg dipilih atau sewenang-wenangnya, tetapi tiada siapa yang terkecuali - lawan Syiah, saingan Sunni, tentera yang ditangkap atau "tidak bermoral" wanita2.

ISIS 'melaksanakan' 1,700 tentera Iraq, gambar post yang mengerikan (GRAPHIC) ISIS 'execute' 1,700 Iraqi soldiers, post gruesome pictures (GRAPHIC)

Tidak mengejutkan, walaupun ketua pertama ISIS, Allahyarham Abu Musab, adakah pengakuan taat setia kepadamu Al-Qaeda kembali pada awal tahun 2000, kedua-dua organisasi telah jatuh.

Al-Qaeda has become more conscious of avoiding acts of indiscriminate or counter-productive brutality since the demise of Osama Bin Laden, but ISIS revels in it, espousing a religious philosophy so uncompromising it appears almost nihilistic.

The areas it has secured have been kept under control by an endless stream of floggings, mutilations, beheadings and crucifixions. The targets can be well-chosen or arbitrary, but no one is spared – Shia opponents, Sunni rivals, captured soldiers or “immoral” women.

ISIS 'execute' 1,700 Iraqi soldiers, post gruesome pictures (GRAPHIC)

Unsurprisingly, although the first leader of ISIS, the late Abu Musab, did swear fealty to Al-Qaeda back in the early 2000s, the two organizations have fallen out.

Titik berbuka adalah maut melawan antara ISIS dan Al-Qaeda yang disokong Nusra di Syria. Rayuan oleh Al-Qaeda untuk membahagikan sfera pengaruh telah bulat-bulat ditolak oleh Abu Bakr, pemimpin ISIS, yang menghabiskan masa selama 4 tahun dalam kurungan Amerika Syarikat, sebelum dibebaskan pada tahun 2009. Selepas komunikasi semakin mudah tersinggung antara 2 pihak, Al-Qaeda "berlepas diri" ISIS pada awal tahun ini, sebagai balasan memprovokasi ISIS utk memanggil organisasi "pengkhianat" dan "jenaka."

Dengan kebangkitan ISIS, ramai mengatakan bahawa ia kini Al-Qaeda Ayman al-Zawahiri yang perlu berikrar taat setia kepada Abu Bakr 43 tahun.

Bagaimana ISIS dibiayai?

ISIS beroperasi sebagai perusahaan komersial-mafia gaya setengah, kebajikan antara-bangsa separuh soleh, mencari penderma kaya di Teluk Amerika dan di seluruh DUNIA.

Ia sudah tentu tdk kekurangan kesempatan dlm mengkomersilkan aktiviti ketenteraan. Pada tahun 2012 ISIS - atau ISI kerana ia ketika itu - mengambil alih medan minyak di Syria, mengaut keuntungan daripada menjual minyak pada harga diskaun kepada sesiapa yang bersedia untuk membayar.

Ia telah didagangkan dalam bahan-bahan mentah di kawasan itu telah ditangkap, dan juga mula berjinak dlm menjual barangan antik dari monumen di bawah kawalannya.

The breaking point was the internecine fighting between ISIS and Al-Qaeda-backed Nusra in Syria. Pleas by Al-Qaeda to divide spheres of influence were flatly rejected by Abu Bakr, the ISIS leader, who spent four years in US captivity, before being released in 2009. After increasingly testy communication between the sides, Al-Qaeda “disowned” ISIS earlier this year, in return provoking ISIS to call the organization “traitors” and “a joke.”

With the rise of ISIS, many say that it is now Al-Qaeda’s Ayman al-Zawahiri who should be pledging allegiance to the 43-year old Abu Bakr.

How is ISIS funded?

ISIS operates as a half-mafia-style commercial enterprise, half pious international charity, looking for wealthy donors in the Gulf States and throughout the globe.

It is certainly not lacking in opportunism in commercializing its military activities. In 2012 ISIS – or ISI as it was then – took over oil fields in Syria, reaping profits from selling the oil at discounted prices to anyone willing to pay. It has traded in the raw materials in areas it has captured, and even dabbled in selling antiques from monuments under its control.

The Power Of One@france7776

# ISIS laporan tahunan "al-Naba" - Laporan - termasuk infographic tahun 2013 serangan 4 "pihak berkepentingan" (#ISIS annual report “al-Naba” – Report – includes infographic of 2013 attacks 4"stakeholders" #Iraq pic.twitter.com/VeHtsZQnMQ MT @WilliamsJon 9:45 PM - 18 Jun 2014

Kadang-kadang, ia tidak perlu menjadi begitu rumit. Kejayaannya terbesar telah merampas sebuah bilik kebal ‘vault’ kerajaan di Mosul - ditangkap minggu lalu - yang dilaporkan mengandungi lebih daripada $ 425,000,000. Dengan barang rampasan yang diambil semasa kemajuan terkini itu, yang dianggarkan dada ‘chest’ perang ISIL itu kini mencecah lebih $ 2 bilion.

Tetapi sama penting adalah pendapatan dari ISIS tidak diketahui itu - namun mudah diteka - penyokong dari Semenanjung Arab. Sebagai penyokong utama di dunia gaya-Arab fahaman Wahabi, pegawai Iraq mendakwa ISIS mendapat aliran dana & sokongan daripada pengusaha politik terlibat, bekerja dari keselamatan Arab Saudi & sempadan US-dilindungi Qatar.

Seperti mana-mana perusahaan naik-dan-datang, publisiti baru-baru ini dan reputasi yang berkembang mungkin membentuk bulatan mulia, di mana ISIS akan menerima dana tambahan, utk melampiaskan feats lebih mengagumkan pemusnah utk meng-gembirakan penyokong itu.

Bagaimana ISIS berjaya menangkap wilayah begitu banyak?

Pada 10 Jun, kurang daripada seribu ISIS militan di trak pikap soka menduduki ‘occupied’ bandar Iraq utara Mosul dengan jumlah penduduk 1.8 juta orang.

Bandar ini sepatutnya berada di bawah perlindungan pasukan tentera Iraq US-terlatih kira-kira 30,000 ditempatkan di rantau ini. Ia dilengkapi dengan peralatan buatan Amerika Syarikat ketenteraan yg canggih - sebahagian daripada senjata & perkakasan yang dibekalkan oleh Washington ke Baghdad, yg tlh dianggarkan bernilai berbilion-bilion dolar Amerika.

Sometimes, it doesn’t have to be so elaborate. Its biggest single success was plundering a government vault in Mosul – captured last week – that reportedly contained more than $425 million. With the loot taken during its recent advances, ISIL’s estimated war chest now stands at over $2 billion.

But just as important is ISIS income from its unknown – yet easily guessed – backers from the Arabian Peninsula. As the WORLD’s foremost proponents of Saudi-style Wahhabism, Iraqi officials claim ISIS gets a steady stream of funds and support from politically engaged operators, working from the safety of Saudi Arabia’s and Qatar’s US-protected borders.

Like any up-and-coming enterprise, its recent publicity and burgeoning reputation is likely to form a virtuous circle, where ISIS will receive additional funds, to wreak more impressive feats of destruction to the delight of its backers.

How did ISIS manage to capture so much territory?

On June 10, less than a thousand of ISIS militants on soft-shelled pickup trucks occupied the northern Iraqi city of Mosul with a population of 1.8 million people.

The city was supposed to be under the protection of the US-trained Iraqi military force of about 30,000 stationed in the region. It was equipped with sophisticated US-made military equipment – part of the weaponry and hardware supplied by Washington to Baghdad, which has been estimated to cost billions of US dollars.

Imej yang disediakan oleh jihad Twitter akaun Al-Baraka berita mengenai 13 Jun 2014 didakwa menunjukkan Negara Islam Iraq dan Levant (ISIL) militan bertempur dengan tentera Iraq di lokasi yang tidak didedahkan berhampiran sempadan Iraq-Syria, di daerah daripada Sinjar, Iraq barat laut (An image made available by the jihadist Twitter account Al-Baraka news on June 13, 2014 allegedly shows Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants clashing with Iraqi soldiers at an undisclosed location close to the Iraqi-Syrian border, in the district of Sinjar, northwest Iraq (AFP Photo)

Walau bagaimanapun, Mosul jatuh dengan sebarang tentangan jelas sebagai puluhan tentera Iraq melarikan diri menjatuhkan pakaian seragam mereka dan meninggalkan perkakasan berharga di belakang. Militan disambut mendapat buatan Amerika Syarikat Humvees dan tangki - beberapa yang telah sejak menuju ke Syria untuk digunakan menentang kuasa-kuasa kerajaan - dan juga didakwa ditangkap sekurang-kurangnya satu helikopter Black Hawk.

Kekurangan semangat am dan kesepaduan dalam tentera Iraq telah dinamakan punca kerugian memalukan ini dan bandar-bandar lain - termasuk bandar strategik Tal Afar dekat dengan sempadan Syria dan tempat kelahiran Saddam Hussein Tikrit.

Membantu perbarisan ini kemenangan ISIS telah sokongan yang didakwa menyapu daripada penduduk Sunni tempatan, yang sebelum ini disokong regim Sunni Saddam Hussein digulingkan oleh tentera yang diketuai.

Faktor mazhab, tetapi juga cara selepas pencerobohan Iraq PM kerajaan Nouri al-Maliki telah mengendalikan konflik agama dan sosial di negara ini, sudah tentu menyumbang kepada tentera Iraq yg tdk popular di kawasan-kawasan yang diduduki ISIS.

Rupa-rupanya, menggantikan beberapa komander Sunni dengan Syiah tempatan tidak membantu, dan cara ISIS memenangi sokongan dari puak-puak tempatan melalui rundingan telah menunjukkan betapa sedikit kerajaan pusat baru bernilai di utara Iraq luar bandar.

However, Mosul fell with no apparent resistance as scores of Iraqi troops fled dropping their uniforms and leaving the precious hardware behind. The militants celebrated getting US-made Humvees and tanks – some of which have since headed to Syria to be used against the government forces – and even allegedly captured at least one Black Hawk helicopter.

General lack of morale and cohesion in the Iraqi army has been named the cause for the humiliating loss of this and other cities – including the strategic city of Tal Afar close to the Syrian border and Saddam Hussein’s birthplace Tikrit.

Aiding this parade of ISIS victories has been the allegedly sweeping support of the local Sunni population, who previously supported the Sunni regime of Saddam Hussein overthrown by the US-led forces.

Sectarian factors, but also the way the post-invasion Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki’s government has handled religious and social conflicts in the country, certainly contributed to Iraqi army being unpopular in ISIS-occupied regions. Apparently, replacing some Sunni commanders with Shiites locally did not help, and the way ISIS won the support of local tribes via negotiations has shown how little the new central government is valued in northern rural Iraq.

Walau bagaimanapun, kita juga perlu sedar bahawa ISIS ada sekumpulan samseng pelampau kurang terlatih. Dengan tahun-tahun pengalaman di medan perang Syria, kumpulan itu mempunyai kem-kem latihan menghasilkan pejuang cukup bersedia, dan ia telah disertai oleh puluhan tentera upahan di luar negara secara profesional terlatih.

Jurucakap ISIS Syaikh Muhammad Adnani telah menerangkan kejayaan semasa kumpulan itu dengan kehendak Allah, yang berkata bahawa "Negeri [Islam] tidak wujud dengan bilangan, mahupun peralatan, mahupun senjata, mahupun kekayaan, sebaliknya ia wujud dengan kurniaan Allah semata-mata, melalui fahaman "dalam satu kenyataan baru-baru ini disiarkan di YouTube.

Ia masih tidak jelas berapa lama polisi kejam dan menindas ISIS akan menjamin sokongan mereka di atas tanah di Iraq, semasa mereka cuba untuk memenangi hati penduduk tempatan 'dengan propaganda agama dan impian yang khalifah merentas sempadan yang besar.

However, one also has to realize that ISIS is no bunch of poorly-trained extremist thugs. With years of experience on the Syrian battlefield, the group boasts training camps producing well-prepared fighters, and it has been joined by scores of professionally trained overseas mercenaries.

ISIS spokesman Shaykh Muhammad Adnani has explained the group’s current success by the will of God, saying that “the [Islamic] State has not prevailed by numbers, nor equipment, nor weapons, nor wealth, rather it prevails by Allah’s bounty alone, through its creed” in a recent statement posted on YouTube.

It remains unclear for how long the brutal and repressive policies of ISIS will guarantee their support on the ground in Iraq, while they are trying to win the locals’ hearts with religious propaganda and dreams of a huge cross-border caliphate.

Ia adalah ironik bahawa kumpulan Islam tegar akan menggunakan peralatan yang disediakan oleh Washington ke Baghdad dalam pemberontakan yang disokong Barat di Syria, tetapi pada masa yang sama mungkin berhadapan oleh Barat di Iraq, di mana militan kini bertanding terbesar di negara ini medan minyak ‘oilfield’.

It is ironic that the hardcore Islamist group will be using the equipment provided by Washington to Baghdad in the Western-backed insurgency in Syria, but at the same time may be confronted by the West in Iraq, where the militants are now contesting the country’s largest oilfield.

Seth Hamblin@Seth_Hamblin

Pertempuran dengan militan di Iraq bermain di luar medan minyak berhampiran, saluran paip, kilang penapis. Berikut adalah petanya (Battles with militants in Iraq play out near oil fields, pipelines, refineries. Here's a map). http://on.wsj.com/1iqkR6B 

7:30 AM - 14 Jun 2014

Setelah menghabiskan berbilion-bilion di Iraq dan perang ke atas keganasan untuk mendapatkan kepentingan sendiri di rantau ini, Amerika Syarikat & sekutu-sekutunya telah tidak bersedia untuk mengakui 2003 serangan yang paling dahsyat ‘bloodiest’ adalah satu kesilapan dengan kesan2 bencana bagi rantau Timur Tengah keseluruhan.

Walaupun 2013 telah ditandai dengan keganasan sektarian paling berdarah di Iraq dalam tempoh 5 tahun, ia kebanyakannya pergi tanpa disedari dengan "masyarakat antarabangsa." Baru-baru ini, bekas Perdana Menteri UK Tony Blair memilih untuk menyalahkan ‘blame" sistem buruk politik dicampur dengan penyalahgunaan agama" sebagai punca segala masalah di Timur Tengah.

Having spent billions on Iraq and war on terror for securing its own interests in the region, the US and its allies have been unwilling to admit the devastating 2003 invasion was a mistake with disastrous consequences for the whole Middle Eastern region. While 2013 was marked by the bloodiest sectarian violence in Iraq in five years, it mostly went unnoticed with the “international community.”

Recently, the former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair chose to blame” bad systems of politics mixed with abuse of religion” as the root of all the problems in Middle East.

READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/fgza9d

OBAMA menghantar SEHINGGA 300 PENASIHAT Ketenteraan ke IRAQ

U.S. President Barack Obama (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Srikandi גבורה - Presiden Barack Obama berkata hari Khamis bahawa sehingga 300 kakitangan tambahan tentera Amerika akan menuju ke Iraq & mengambil alih peranan sebagai penasihat terdapat di tengah2 pemberontakan berkembang yang mengancam kerajaan pusat republik itu.

Bercakap dari White House, Pres. Obama berkata penempatan baru yang dimaksudkan "untuk menilai bagaimana kita boleh kereta api terbaik, menasihati dan menyokong pasukan keselamatan Iraq masa depan."

Pengumuman terkini datang hanya hari selepas Pres. Obama berkata awal minggu ini bahawa beliau telah menghantar 275 tentera bersenjata ke Baghdad sebagai langkah keselamatan selepas militan Islam mengambil masa dua bandar-bandar utama lain di rantau ini oleh ribut dalam masa beberapa hari sahaja.

Pada hari Khamis, bagaimanapun, presiden itu mengulangi bahawa tentera Amerika Syarikat tidak akan mengambil alih peranan pertempuran di Iraq, walaupun Pentagon bersedia untuk mengambil "yang disediakan dan sasaran" tindakan ketenteraan di luar negara jika perlu.

Baghdad telah meminta Washington untuk memberikan serangan udara, pengerusi Ketua Turus Bersama berkata pada hari Rabu minggu ini, tetapi Amerika Syarikat belum lagi menggunakan kekerasan di Iraq walaupun krisis cepat meningkat. Sebagai RT dilaporkan sebelum ini, kekurangan tindakan di pihak Pentagon telah dikaitkan sekurang-kurangnya sebahagian kpd ketidakmampuan masyarakat perisikan Amerika Syarikat setakat ini mengumpul maklumat yang mencukupi mengenai misi yang dilancarkan oleh Negara Islam di Iraq dan Levant (ISIL) militan.

Yang tidak lama lagi boleh berubah, bagaimanapun, selepas Obama Khamis bahawa Amerika Syarikat telah meningkatkan aset pengawasan, peninjauan dan perisikan dengan ketara di Iraq, yang akan "Beri kami pemahaman yang lebih besar daripada apa yang ISIL lakukan."

Awal minggu ini, ia telah melaporkan bahawa F-18 pesawat pengawasan ‘F-18 surveillance aircraft’ telah menerbangkan lebih rantau ini dan sedang berlabuh di sebuah kapal induk di Teluk Parsi.

Walau apa pun peranan Amerika dalam konflik setakat ini, Obama sekali lagi menggesa para pemimpin Iraq pada hari Khamis untuk menyelesaikan perbezaan mereka secara diplomatik dan "bangkit di atas perbezaan mereka dan datang bersama-sama di seluruh rancangan politik."

"Tentera memerangi Amerika tidak akan berjuang di Iraq sekali lagi," kata Obama, menambah kemudian bahawa "Akhirnya ini adalah sesuatu yg akan perlu diselesaikan dengan rakyat Iraq," termasuk khususnya Perdana Menteri Nouri al-Maliki.

Bercakap Maliki, Obama berkata tidak kira "sama ada dia adalah perdana menteri atau mana-mana pemimpin lain bercita-cita untuk memimpin negara ini," kerajaan pusat Iraq mestilah menerima pakai agenda di mana "Sunni, Shiaand Kurd semua merasa bahawa mereka mempunyai peluang untuk memajukan kepentingan mereka melalui proses politik.

"Sebelum ini, beberapa pegawai-pegawai di kedua-dua Amerika Syarikat dan Iraq tersirat pentadbiran Obama telah mengambil berat ‘concerned’ tentang pengendalian Maliki keadaan di negaranya, dan bahawa mereka akan mengalu-alukan peletakan jawatan Perdana Menteri.

"Ia bukan tugas kami utk memilih pemimpin Iraq," terus Obama. "Sebahagian daripada apa yang prajurit kita berjuang untuk semasa tahun yang dalam Iraq adalah hak dan peluang bagi rakyat Iraq untuk menentukan nasib mereka sendiri dan memilih pemimpin mereka sendiri.

Tetapi saya tidak fikir bahawa ada apa-apa rahsia, sekarang sekurang-kurangnya, terdapat pembahagian yang mendalam di antara Sunni, Shiaand pemimpin Kurdish."

OBAMA Sending up to 300 military ADVISERs to IRAQ . . .

President Barack Obama said Thursday that up to 300 additional American military personnel will head to Iraq and assume an advisory role there amidst a growing insurgency that’s threatened the republic’s central government.

Speaking from the White House, Pres. Obama said the new deployment is meant “to assess how we can best train, advise and support Iraqi security forces going forward.”

The latest announcement comes only days after Pres. Obama said earlier this week that he was sending 275 armed troops to Baghdad as a security precaution after Islamic militants took two other major cities in the region by storm in a matter of only days.

On Thursday, however, the president reiterated that no US troops will assume combat roles in Iraq, although the Pentagon is ready to take “prepared and targeted” military action overseas if necessary.

Baghdad has already asked Washington to provide air strikes, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday this week, but the US has not yet used force in Iraq despite a quickly escalating crisis. As RT reported previously, a lack of action on the Pentagon’s part has been attributed at least in part to the US intelligence community’s inability thus far gather sufficient details concerning the missions being waged by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.

That could soon change, however, after Obama said Thursday that the US has significantly increased its surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence assets in Iraq, which will “Give us a greater understanding of what ISIL is doing.” Earlier this week, it was reported that F-18 surveillance aircraft had already flown over the region and were being docked on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.

Notwithstanding America’s role in the conflict thus far, Obama again urged Iraqi leaders on Thursday to resolve their difference diplomatically and “rise above their differences and come together around a political plan.”

“American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again,” Obama said, adding later that “Ultimately this is something that is going to have to be solved by the Iraqis,” including in particular Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.

Speaking of Maliki, Obama said regardless of “whether he is prime minister or any other leader aspires to lead the country,” Iraq’s central government must adopt an agenda in which “Sunni, Shiaand Kurds all feel that they have the opportunity to advance their interests through the political process.” Earlier, multiple officials in both the US and Iraq implied the Obama administration has been concerned about Maliki’s handling of the situation in his country, and that they’d welcome the prime minister’s resignation.

“It’s not our job to choose Iraq’s leaders,” Obama continued. “Part of what our patriots fought for during may years in Iraq was the right and the opportunity for Iraqis to determine their own destiny and chose their own leaders. But I don’t think that there’s any secret that, right now at least, there is deep division between Sunni, Shiaand Kurdish leaders.”

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ISIS MENYERANG PENAPISAN terbesar IRAQ di BAIJI dengan TEMBAKAN, MORTAR . . . .

FOTO ARKIB: penapisan minyak Baiji, 180km (112 batu) di utara Baghdad (ARCHIVE PHOTO: Baiji oil refinery, 180km (112 miles) north of Baghdad (Reuters/Thaier al-Sudani)

Srikandi גבורה - Militan ISIS telah melancarkan serangan ke atas kilang penapis minyak terbesar Iraq dengan mortar dan tembakan mesingan, pekerja kilang penapis katakan. Kumpulan pelampau telah bertapak di Iraq, merampas kawalan ke atas wilayah dalam misi untuk mewujudkan sebuah negara Islam.

Al-Qaeda cabang di Iraq serangan LIVE TERKINI (Al-Qaeda offshoot in Iraq offensive LIVE UPDATES)

Mengerikan kekejaman ISIS: Video menunjukkan tentera Iraq dihina, kemudian dilaksanakan (GRAPHIC) (Gruesome ISIS atrocities: Video shows Iraqi soldiers insulted, then executed (GRAPHIC)

Negara Islam Iraq dan Syria (ISIS) dikelilingi kilang minggu lepas kerana ia merampas kuasa bandar Iraq yang ke-2 terbesar Mosul. Sebagai tindak balas kepada peningkatan dalam keganasan, pengurusan di kilang yang dihentikan operasi di kemudahan dan pekerja asing yang dipindahkan pada Selasa.

Serangan terbaru telah melepaskan pada pukul 4.00 pagi (1.00 GMT) di luar 2 pintu masuk utama kemudahan tersebut, sumber-sumber kepada Reuters. Satu mortar melanda gudang alat ganti dan kepulan asap dilihat semakin meningkat dari bangunan itu.

Kilang itu adalah yang terbesar di Iraq dan memproses 300,000 tong sehari, menyediakan minyak bagi kebanyakan kawasan utara negara ini.

ISIS attacks IRAQ's largest refinery in Baiji 

with mortars, GUNFIRE . . .

ISIS militants have launched an attack on Iraq’s largest oil refinery with mortars and machine gun fire, refinery employees say. The extremist group has been gaining ground in Iraq, seizing control of territory in its mission to create an Islamic state.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) surrounded the refinery last week as it seized control of Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul. In response to the escalation in violence, management at the refinery halted operations at the facility and evacuated foreign workers on Tuesday.

The latest attack was unleashed at 4.00 in the morning (1.00 GMT) outside two of the facility’s main entrances, sources told Reuters. One mortar struck a spare-parts warehouse and plumes of smoke were seen rising from the building.

The refinery is the largest in Iraq and processes 300,000 barrels a day, providing oil for most of the northern region of the country.

FOTO ARKIB:  helikopter Amerika Syarikat mendarat di kilang minyak di Baiji, 180 km (112 batu) di utara Baghdad 25 Februari 2009 (ARCHIVE PHOTO: A U.S. helicopter lands at the oil refinery in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad February 25, 2009 (Reuters/Sabah al-Bazee)

ISIS telah mara di ibu kota Iraq Baghdad sejak minggu lalu, merampas bandar-bandar di utara negara ini dan mengembangkan bidang kawalannya. Bandar terkini jatuh di bawah kawalan militan adalah Tal Afar, yang mempunyai penduduk kira-kira 200,000 orang. Bandar ini telah diambil sebelum subuh Monday, Datuk Bandar Abdulal Abdoul disahkan AP.

Penduduk di kawasan yang diduduki kini bimbang mereka mungkin tertakluk kepada penganiayaan ‘persecution’ dari garis keras militan Sunni.

"Keadaan ini adalah bencana di Tal Afar. Terdapat kegilaan pertempuran dan kebanyakan keluarga terperangkap di dalam rumah-rumah, mereka tidak boleh meninggalkan bandar," kata seorang pegawai tempatan memberitahu Reuters pada hari Ahad sebelum bandar telah ditakluki. "Jika pertempuran berterusan, suatu pem-bunuhan beramai-ramai di kalangan orang awam boleh berlaku."

Pasukan keselamatan Iraq terlatih- Amerika Syarikat telah terbukti tidak berkesan terhadap ISIS, dengan banyak meninggalkan jawatan mereka dalam menghadapi kuasa-kuasa memajukan.

The ISIS has been advancing on the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad over the past week, seizing cities in the north of the country and expanding its sphere of control. The latest city to fall under the control of the militants was Tal Afar, which has a population of about 200,000 people. The city was taken just before dawn Monday, Mayor Abdulal Abdoul confirmed to AP.

Residents of the occupied areas now worry they may be subject to persecution from the hardline Sunni militants.

"The situation is disastrous in Tal Afar. There is crazy fighting and most families are trapped inside houses, they can’t leave town," a local official told Reuters on Sunday before the city was overrun. "If the fighting continues, a mass killing among civilians could result."

The US-trained Iraqi security forces have proved to be ineffective against the ISIS, with many abandoning their posts in the face of the advancing forces.

FOTO ARKIB: penapisan minyak Baiji, 180km (112 batu) di utara Baghdad (ARCHIVE PHOTO: Baiji oil refinery, 180km (112 miles) north of Baghdad (Reuters/Thaier al-Sudani)

Konflik ini juga telah mencetuskan ketegangan serantau antara Iraq dan Arab Saudi. Perdana Menteri Nouri al-Maliki mengeluarkan kenyataan, berkata Riyadh adalah bertanggungjawab untuk menggalakkan pembunuhan beramai-ramai di Iraq.

"Kami menahan mereka [Arab Saudi] yang bertanggungjawab untuk menyokong kumpulan-kumpulan kewangan dan dari segi moral, dan untuk hasil yang - termasuk jenayah yang mungkin layak sebagai pembunuhan beramai-ramai," kata kabinet Syiah yang dipimpin dalam satu kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh Perdana Menteri Nouri al-pejabat Maliki. Kerajaan Sunni sebelum ini menuduh kerajaan Iraq mencetuskan kon-flik dengan dasar-dasar mazhab itu.

PBB telah menyuarakan kebimbangan konflik yang semakin meningkat mengancam keutuhan wilayah Iraq.

"Pada masa ini, ia mengancam nyawa untuk Iraq tetapi ia menimbulkan bahaya yang serius kepada rantau ini," utusan PBB ke Baghdad Nickolay Mladenov berkata pada Selasa.

The conflict has also stoked regional tensions between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued a statement, saying Riyadh was responsible for encouraging genocide in Iraq.

“We hold them [Saudi Arabia] responsible for supporting these groups financially and morally, and for the outcome of that - which includes crimes that may qualify as genocide,” the Shiite-led cabinet said in a statement issued by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office. The Sunni kingdom had previously accused the Iraqi government of triggering the conflict with its sectarian policies.

The UN has voiced concern the escalating conflict is threatening Iraq’s territorial integrity.

“Right now, it's life-threatening for Iraq but it poses a serious danger to the region,” UN envoy to Baghdad Nickolay Mladenov said on Tuesday.

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MASA terdesak: Kerry berkata Amerika Syarikat BERSEDIA untuk BERALIH kepada IRAN, Serangan DRONE, untuk lawan ISIS . . .

Pejuang Negara Islam Iraq dan Levant (Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Reuters)

Srikandi גבורה - Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat John Kerry mengatakan bahawa Washington bersedia utk menggunakan langkah-langkah radikal untuk menghentikan serangan ISIS di Iraq - termasuk mendaftar bantuan Iran dan melancarkan serangan udara.

"Kami terbuka utk perbincangan jika ada sesuatu yg membina yg boleh disumbangkan oleh Iran, jika Iran bersedia untuk melakukan sesuatu yg akan menghormati integriti dan kedaulatan Iraq," diplomat memberitahu Yahoo News pada hari Isnin apabila disoal tentang menyertai tentera dengan Iran, yg menikmati hubungan agama dgn kerajaan ‘embattled’ di Baghdad.

Tetapi Kerry memberi amaran bahawa Amerika Syarikat perlu "melihat apa yang Iran mungkin atau mungkin tidak bersedia untuk melakukan sebelum kita mula membuat apa-apa pengumuman."

Kemudian, Jabatan Negara dan Pentagon menjelaskan bahawa apa-apa tindakan ber-sama akan menjadi politik dan bukan tentera.

"Sama sekali tidak ada niat dan tidak bercadang untuk menyelaras aktiviti ketenteraan antara Amerika Syarikat dan Iran . . . tidak ada rancangan utk mempunyai perundingan dengan Iran mengenai aktiviti ketenteraan di Iraq," kata jurucakap Pentagon Laksamana John Kirby.

Al-Qaeda cabang ISIS (atau ISIL) - Negara Islam Iraq dan Levant - telah ditolak dari kubu kuat ke atas sempadan Syria dan mengambil bandar-bandar utama Mosul dan Tikrit sejak minggu lalu. Militia yang kini ditempatkan di pinggir Baghdad, di mana kerajaan sedang menganjurkan serang-balas. Pada hujung minggu, ia mendakwa telah dilaksanakan 1,700 pegawai setia.

"Ini adalah satu cabaran kepada kestabilan rantau ini. Ia jelas satu cabaran kewujudan ke Iraq itu sendiri. Ini adalah satu kumpulan pengganas, "kata Kerry ISIS, sebuah per-tubuhan Sunni yang telah dieksploitasi ketegangan sektarian sebahagiannya menghasut oleh dasar Syiah garis keras daripada kerajaan sekarang.

Diplomat itu dikritik Perdana Menteri Nouri Maliki, tetapi berkata Amerika Syarikat tidak akan "mengeluarkan arahan atau perintah" untuk beliau meletakkan jawatan atau berkongsi kuasa. Dia, bagaimanapun, menyeru "orang Iraq untuk membentuk sebuah kerajaan yang mewakili semua kepentingan Iraq. Tidak satu kumpulan mazhab dengan yang lain"

Walau bagaimanapun, Kerry mengulangi kenyataan sebelum ini berkata bahawa Amerika Syarikat akan menimbang menggunakan serangan udara - sama ada dikenda-likan atau tanpa pemandu - untuk mengelakkan Baghdad daripada dibawa oleh pelampau.

"[pesawat] mereka bukan la jawapan, tetapi mereka juga boleh menjadi salah satu pilihan yang penting," kata Kerry. "Saya tidak akan menolak apa-apa yang akan mem-bina."

"Apabila anda mempunyai orang2 yang membunuh, membunuh dalam pembunuhan massa beramai-ramai, anda perlu hentikan ini dan anda melakukan apa yang anda lakukan jika anda perlu cuba untuk menghentikannya dari udara atau sebaliknya," tambah Kerry.

Desperate times: Kerry says US ready to turn 

to Iran, drone strikes, to fight ISIS . . .

US Secretary of State John Kerry says that Washington is ready to use radical measures to halt the ISIS offensive in Iraq – including enlisting Iran’s help and launching air strikes.

"We're open to discussions if there is something constructive that can be contributed by Iran, if Iran is prepared to do something that is going to respect the integrity and sovereignty of Iraq," the diplomat told Yahoo News on Monday when questioned about joining forces with Iran, which enjoys religious ties with the embattled government in Baghdad.

But Kerry warned that the US should “see what Iran might or might not be willing to do before we start making any pronouncements."

Later, the State Department and the Pentagon clarified that any joint action would be political and not military.

"There is absolutely no intention and no plan to coordinate military activity between the United States and Iran...there are no plans to have consultations with Iran about military activities in Iraq,” said Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby.

The Al-Qaeda offshoot ISIS (or ISIL) – the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant – has pushed from its strongholds on the Syrian border and taken the major urban centers of Mosul and Tikrit over the past week. Its militias are currently stationed on the outskirts of Baghdad, where the government is staging a counter-offensive. Over the weekend, it claimed to have executed 1,700 loyalist officers.

“This is a challenge to the stability of the region. It is obviously an existential challenge to Iraq itself. This is a terrorist group,” Kerry said of ISIS, a Sunni organization which has exploited the sectarian tensions partially incited by the hardline Shia policies of the current government.

The diplomat heavily criticized Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, but said the US will not be “issuing instructions or orders” for him to resign or share power. He did, however, call on the “Iraqi people to form a government that represents all of the interests of Iraq — not one sectarian group over another."

Nonetheless, Kerry reiterated previous statements saying that the US would consider using air strikes – whether manned or unmanned – to prevent Baghdad from being taken by extremists.

"They [drones] are not the whole answer, but they may well be one of the options that are important," said Kerry. "I wouldn't rule out anything that would be constructive."

“When you have people murdering, assassinating in these mass massacres, you have to stop that and you do what you need to do if you need to try to stop it from the air or otherwise," Kerry added.

Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat John Kerry (U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (Reuters/Gary Cameron)

Diplomat itu berkata bahawa Presiden Barack Obama sedang menjalankan "satu tapi-san sangat teliti setiap pilihan yang ada."

Obama sebelum ini berkata Amerika Syarikat akan mengelakkan campur tangan ketenteraan secara langsung di negara ini ia menyerang pd tahun 2003 & mening-galkan hanya 3 tahun yang lalu.

Kerry bergema kebimbangan oleh ahli-ahli politik Amerika Syarikat yang lain yang kekuatan yang semakin ISIS meningkat - yang merampas US $ 425 juta daripada bilik kebal kerajaan di Mosul minggu lepas dan menikmati pembiayaan murah hati dari Wahhabisme di Semenanjung Arab - membahayakan keselamatan negara Amerika.

ISIS "jelas tertumpu bukan sahaja di sana, tetapi mereka memberi tumpuan kpd untuk cuba membahayakan ke Eropah, ke Amerika dan orang lain, dan sebab itu kami percaya ia begitu penting untuk kita untuk terlibat."

Kerry berkata pertubuhan itu dikira pejuang dari Amerika Syarikat, Australia, Britain, Kanada, Perancis, Jerman, dan Belanda pada pangkat - dan bahawa mereka kemudian dapat kembali ke negara asal mereka untuk mengadakan bertindak pengganas.

Iran + US = pelan dibuat-buat ?

The diplomat said that President Barack Obama is conducting "a very thorough vetting of every option that is available."

Obama previously said the US would avoid a direct military intervention in the country it invaded in 2003 and left only three years ago.

Kerry echoed concerns by other US politicians that the growing might of ISIS – which plundered US$425 million from a government vault in Mosul last week and enjoys generous funding from Wahhabis in the Arabian peninsula – is endangering American national security.

ISIS “clearly are focused not just there, but they’re focused on trying to do harm to Europe, to America and other people, and that’s why we believe it is so important for us to be engaged."

Kerry said the organization counted fighters from the US, Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands in its ranks – and that those could later return to their home countries to stage terrorist acts.

Iran + US = a far-fetched plan ?

Presiden Iran Hassan Rouhani (Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)

Walaupun idea bahawa Washington dan Tehran boleh bekerja bersama antara satu sama lain adalah satu bukti kepada pencairan hubungan antara musuh baru-baru ini, ia kini seolah-olah tidak mungkin bahawa inisiatif itu akan menghasilkan buah.

Kedua-dua negara berkongsi kepentingan strategik tulen dalam menjaga kerajaan Maliki bertahan (walaupun motif mereka untuk berbuat demikian adalah berbeza) dan media Barat telah melaporkan bahawa Republik Islam telah dihantar elit Pengawal Revolusi tentera untuk penampan kerajaan Iraq, memetik Iraq dan pegawai-pegawai Amerika.

Tetapi Iran telah menafikan sebarang penglibatan tentera bercanggah jirannya itu, sebagai ketua Majlis Keselamatan Negara Tertinggi di negara ini, Ali Shamkhani, seca-ra umum rebuffed tawaran Amerika Syarikat, memanggil "tidak realistik."

Kedua-dua negara juga dikunci dalam rundingan lewat peringkat tegang atas program nuklear dan sekatan potensi bantuan Iran. Pada Isnin, Jabatan Negara mengeluarkan kenyataan mengatakan bahawa semasa ia akan membincangkan Iraq dengan pegawai-pegawai Iran di rundingan akan datang di Vienna, ia enggan untuk menghubungkan 2 isu bersama-sama.

While the idea that Washington and Tehran may work alongside each other is a testament to the thawing of relations between recent adversaries, it currently seems unlikely that the initiative will bear fruit.

The two countries share a genuine strategic interest in keeping the Maliki government afloat (though their motives for doing so are fundamentally different) and Western media outlets have reported that the Islamic Republic has already dispatched elite Revolutionary Guards troops to buffer the Iraqi government, citing Iraqi and American officials.

But Iran has denied any military involvement in its neighbor’s conflict, as the head of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, publicly rebuffed the US offer, calling it “unrealistic.”

The two countries are also locked in tense late-stage negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and potential sanctions relief. On Monday, the State Department released a statement saying that while it will discuss Iraq with Iranian officials at upcoming talks in Vienna, it is reluctant to link the two issues together.

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