Sunday, March 17, 2019

I do not believe Daesh formed as a splinter group from al Qaeda. I believe al Bagdadi was in control all along.

In 2014, ISIS controlled more than 34,000 square miles in Syria and Iraq, from the Mediterranean coast to south of Baghdad. At the end of 2016, ISIS territory had shrunk to about 23,320 square miles, according to IHS Jane's.

The map to the left is from an article about the mass graves found in Daesh territory. The report that accompanies these maps are from IR Society of NYU.

Over 200 mass graves (click here) left by the Islamic State (ISIS) have been discovered in Iraq, according to a joint report released Tuesday by the United Nations and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It is estimated that 6,000-12,000 victims are buried at the sites, including women, children, people with disabilities, the elderly, foreign workers, and members of the Iraqi security forces....

It is a stark reminder that the world was in a terrible state from the years 2014 to 2018 when Daesh is considered to be vanquished. The remnants of this tyranny are holding out, but, what other chance to they have. The women and children, as I understand it, are being used as human shields.