The Appeal of ISIS

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Many Sunni leaders inside and outside Iraq have criticised or derided al-Baghdadi’s declaration of a new caliphate, but it will have a deep appeal for millions of young Sunni men for whom the political and economic status quo promises nothing but joblessness and poverty.

Mr Sheikh said the establishment of the caliphate would increase “the recruitment of jihadis” into Isis. “They will get more recruits from abroad.” One piece of evidence for this is the celebrations and waving of the black Isis flag in the strongly Sunni and tribal town of Maan in Jordan, far from any Isis strongholds.

The Islamic State has a large territory from which to draw recruits and money. In the past, the Iraqi security forces found that when al-Qaida in Iraq took over an area, it could recruit between five and 10 times the original attack force. If it had used 100 men then it could expect to recruit 500 or 1,000 fighters. These might not be shock troops, and many would have joined to protect their families, but the numbers fighting for Isis have grown rapidly.

As the Iraqi Sunni, which number about five or six million, find they have joined a new state, the country as a whole is about to get a new leader. It is now considered that there is no chance of Nouri al-Maliki retaining the job he has held since 2006. Although his coalition of parties did well in the parliamentary election of 30 April, he has been discredited by the loss of Mosul and the collapse of the army in northern Iraq. He was acting as Defence Minister, Interior Minister and supreme commander of the army, so it is impossible for him to avoid personal responsibility for the debacle.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/07/01/the-appeal-of-isis/

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1. Over a million Iraqis have fled their homes, says UN

More than one million Iraqis have been forced from their homes to date this year amid fighting between armed militias and government forces, the United Nations has said.

UN officials said on Tuesday that the exodus could only be expected to increase as the conflicts continue.

Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Humanitarian Affairs Agency, told a press conference at the UN office in Geneva on Tuesday that 650,000 people had fled their homes in June alone.

Iraq saw a marked increase in sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims in June, with a coalition of armed opposition groups led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant having taking control of large swathes of the country's predominantly Sunni provinces.

http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/352688--over-a-million-iraqis

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2. Iraq crisis: Key players in Sunni rebellion

Finally a name for it: "The Sunni Rebellion".

Iraq's government is fighting a rebellion which has seen it rapidly lose control of predominantly Sunni Arab northern and western parts of the country.

The militant group Isis is widely perceived as leading the uprising, but it is not acting alone.

Here, jihadist groups analyst Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi looks at who is taking part in the insurgency.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28053496