Essential Reading on the ISIS conflict

If there’s one thing I wish I knew more about these days, it’s what is going on in the Middle East, specifically Iraq, involving ISIS. As an uninformed white male my brain immediately goes to Archer and how their organization was called I.S.I.S. and no, that’s not it at all.

Thankfully, a friend of mine on Twitter linked me to a collection of links on the subject matter so that myself and others could get educated on the matter. I’m still in the midst of reading it all up but I don’t really feel like this is coming from a bias. This is education on the content to get a better understanding of something horrific happening in a place we’ve been predisposed to not think much about. Or at least, think in very specific terms.

Hope you learn something. Hope I do too.

Ranked in order of importance

1. The Short, Violent Life of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
   How a video-store clerk and small-time crook reinvented himself as America’s nemesis in Iraq
2. THE SHADOW COMMANDER
   Qassem Suleimani is the Iranian operative who has been reshaping the Middle East. Now he’s directing Assad’s war in Syria.
3. Saudis, Syria, and “Blowback”
   People are saying that the Saudis are asking for big trouble by backing jihad against Syria’s President Assad.
4. Bashar Al Assad: An Intimate Profile of a Mass Murderer
5. The Rise of Greater Kurdistan
   Growing Kurdish autonomy in Syria could shake up the region—and Washington is on its heels.
6. The Unraveling
   How Obama’s Syria policy fell apart.
7. Assisted Suicide
   How two presidents and a band of jihadists killed Iraq.
8. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Has a Consumer Protection Office
   A guide to how the militant group overrunning Iraq actually governs
9. Political reform in Iraq will stem the rise of Islamists
10. Assad’s fatal strategic mistakes
    Bashar al-Assad’s support for armed groups might lead to his regime’s demise.
11. Enter the Ayatollah: Sistani calls on Iraqis to enlist in Fight against “Terrorists”
12. A NEW DAY FOR ISIS
13. America’s Allies Are Funding ISIS
    The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), now threatening Baghdad, was funded for years by wealthy donors in Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, three U.S. allies that have dual agendas in the war on terror.
14. Kurds Poised to Benefit From Baghdad’s Failures
15. Kurds realise dream as Baghdad loses grip on north Iraq
16. Iranian Proxies Step Up Their Role in Iraq
17. U.S. Treasury says Iran helping Al-Qaeda in Syria

The Wikis are always good reference material

ISIS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic…and_the_Levant
Iraqi insurgency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_i…S._withdrawal)
Syrian Civil War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Civil_War
Al Qaeda http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Qaeda
Iraq War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War
Al-Anfal Campaign http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Anfal_Campaign
Islamism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamism
Takfirism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takfirism
South (Iraqi) Kurdistan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Kurdistan
Ba’athism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba%27athism
Arab Nationalism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Nationalism

Photo via Twitter from Daily Mail article.

Contact me on Twitter @AaronWrotkowski or send me an email aaron@wrotkowski.ca Have a good one.