Early last month with ISIS/ISIL/IS running amok in northern Iraq and leaving a trail of bodies in its wake, I argued there was a temporary coincidence of interest between the US/UK, the decaying apparatus of sectarian Iraqi state, the Kurds and the opportunities for labour movement and socialist politics in the region. Since then air […]
Posts Tagged ‘ISIS’
Why Islamic State kills hostages
Sep 25th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.As we know, one burgeoning income stream for the psychotic would-be caliphate is ransom payments. Despite a covenant between Western states to not pay out for the safe return of citizens kidnapped by terror groups of whatever persuasion, Islamic State has a tendency to release Danes, French and Germans who’ve fallen into their clutches. A […]
Share:
UK must not be sucked into yet another war in Iraq
Sep 19th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.After the Scots’ referendum, an even bigger issue is now rapidly coming down the line. As the US is being dragged remorselessly into what Obama likes to call a counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq-Syria – a war by any other name – it is vital that the UK doesn’t tamely follow suit as Blair did at […]
Share:
So what are UK objectives in Syria?
Sep 4th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.Here we go again. Cameron’s latest declaration from the NATO summit is clearly hinting his intention of joining the US on air strikes against ISIS positions in Syria as well as in Iraq. This stance is legalised by claiming that the Iraqi government has called for these strikes, which is true, and that president Assad’s […]
Share:
Cameron, over-hasty as always on rhetoric, has to retreat over action on ISIS
Sep 3rd, 2014 by Michael Meacher.Cameron on Friday was waxing bellicose about a “greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before” because of ISIS. Compared with Hitler in 1939? Compared with the IRA during the 1980-90s? But Cameron’s statement to the House yesterday was remarkable not only for the way he has been forced to backtrack […]
Share:
Rushing into new anti-extremist powers has a troublesome history
Aug 30th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.Here we go again. The undoubted threat represented by ISIS and the return of its recruits to the UK is leading to calls for new banning orders for extremist groups, new civil powers to target extremists, and measures to target persons even when they have actually not broken the law. It has also led to […]
Share:
What to do with British IS fighters?
Aug 21st, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.The execution of James Foley by a British-accented Islamic State (IS) fighter is utterly sickening. The murder of non-combatants is a war crime, but for ISIS, ISIL or whatever this bunch of barbaric thugs are calling themselves today, killing for mere propaganda underscores their nature as the world’s most socially regressive movement. Historical parallels with […]
Share:
What is to be done in Iraq?
Aug 18th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.As ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), following on from overrunning a third of Syria and Iraq, is now trying to encircle Baghdad which could make the survival in its present borders untenable, there are very few options left. Western airpower alone cannot halt ISIS except temporarily, and neither the US nor any […]
Share:
On bombing ISIS
Aug 9th, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.War is politics by other, violent means. Proving the axiom right now is the arc of slaughter carving a great bloody crescent out of the Middle East. Start from the Mediterranean coast and move gradually in. The racist hysteria in Israel has found an outlet in the carefree pounding of the Gaza Strip. Civilians? Children? Collateral, Guv. […]
