Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis)

 The capture of Mosul by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) means a radical change in the political geography of Iraq and Syria. It is not just in Iraq that the balance of power is changing. The Iraq-Syrian border no longer exists for most practical purposes. In Syria Isis forces will become vastly more powerful because the movement can draw on fighters, weapons and money from its newly conquered territories in Iraq.
 

The US massacres in Fallujah in the immediate aftermath of the war, which helped radicalise the Sunni population, culminating in an assault on the city with white phosphorus.

 World View: New claims say Ankara worked with the US and Britain to smuggle Gaddafi’s guns to rebel groups

 
 
By Patrick Cockburn
 

 
by PATRICK COCKBURN                           Counterpunch
It is a chilling five-minute film made by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), showing its fighters stopping three large trucks on what looks like the main highway linking Syria and Iraq. A burly bearded gunmen takes the ID cards of the drivers who stand nervously in front of him.
“You are all Shia,” he says threateningly.

 
by PATRICK COCKBURN                          Counterpunch
(Damascus) - Islamic fundamentalists in Syria have started to destroy archaeological treasures such as Byzantine mosaics and Greek and Roman statues because their portrayal of human beings is contrary to their religious beliefs.