Monday, July 7, 2014

Douglas Ollivant's analysis of ISIL: Wikipedia

During the Iraq War, the US Armed Forces had never faced an organized militant force as effective. Douglas Ollivant, a former Army Cavalry officer who later handled Iraq for the White House National Security Council, said, "They were great terrorists. They made great car bombs. But they were lousy line infantry, and if you got them in a firefight, they'd die. They have now repaired that deficiency." Like other analysts, Ollivant credits the civil war in Syria for their striking improvement in battlefield ability since the Iraq War: "You fight Hizballah for a couple of years, and you either die or you get a lot better. And these guys just got a lot better."[82]
Another major weapon in the ISIS tactical armoury is control of rivers, dams, and water installations.[85]
ISIS runs a soft-power program, which includes social services, religious lectures and da'wah—proselytizing—to local populations. It also performs civil tasks such as repairing roads and maintaining the electricity supply.[86] Other armed opposition groups have turned against ISIS because the group considers itself a state with its own courts, not "a faction among factions", not allowing other opposition groups to take benefits from smuggling weapons and drugs between Syria and Turkey or to take penalties from border-crossers.
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - Wikipedia, the free ..

So, part of what is going on is that these guys are expert now at Guerrila warfare and trying to start their own state as well as not letting anyone else profit (extortion wise) from all the people under their control.

It reminds me a lot of someone like Al Capone telling people he was the Pope. I'm not sure there are many who will believe him. However, to Sunnis he brings results in that there is now (for however long) an Islamic State dedicated to Sunnis.

Al Capone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone
Wikipedia
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was a Chicago gangster who attained national fame during the Prohibition era. His seven year reign as crime boss ended when ...

 

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