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[Maninthemirror]

http://theweek.com/articles/532648/isis-terrorists-find-unexpected-new-enemy-iraq

After enduring several months of a U.S.-led air bombing campaign and defeats on the ground in Iraq, ISIS, the terror organization, has turned against the very people that it claimed it was protecting: Iraqi Sunnis.

Iraq's Arab Sunnis, who make up 20 percent of the population, have ruled the country since it gained independence from the U.K. in 1932. When American forces toppled Sunni President Saddam Hussein in 2003, many Sunnis joined the insurgency that has since claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Yet, over time, ISIS has managed to alienate some of this population.

Now, the Iraqi Sunnis are the critical swing group for the U.S.-led alliance to defeat ISIS in Iraq. If the Sunnis turn against ISIS, the alliance's mission would be accomplished. If not, the Iraqi front will be lost.

Major loyalties have shifted since this summer. Many Iraqi Sunnis welcomed ISIS victories in June 2014. They considered Shiite former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki a corrupt sectarian. But within a few months, ISIS's brutality towards all groups, its extreme interpretation of Islam, its failure to provide public services, its displacement of 2 million Iraqis — largely Sunnis — and the vast destruction of public and private properties in the country's Sunni areas caused many ISIS sympathizers to turn against the terror group.

One turning point among the Iraqi Sunnis was the recent annual celebration of the birth of the prophet Muhammad. It is considered one of the most important days in the Islamic calendar. But while Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, also a Shiite, participated personally with the Sunnis of Baghdad in their celebration, the residents of the ISIS-controlled city of Mosul were prohibited from arranging a similar ceremony.

ISIS's increasing brutality toward Sunnis is a show of weakness. The real calling card of the terrorist group is violence and intimidation, and when the organization is threatened, it adopts harsher tactics. Public executions are meant to shock communities into obedience, and where ISIS is able to hit citizens hardest is in tribal areas. On a recent Saturday, ISIS militants reportedly executed 15 men of the Sunni al-Jumaila tribe. The execution took place in public in al-Garma, a town located near the ISIS stronghold of al-Fallujah in al-Anbar province, 25 miles to the west of Baghdad.

The largest public executions to date occurred two months ago, when ISIS killed hundreds of men, women, and children of the Albu Nimr tribe in the city of Hit, 130 miles west of Baghdad. The execution was a show of revenge after the tribe's fight against ISIS throughout the last year. It was also the first time that ISIS committed mass murder against Sunnis. Now, it is feared that 45 other men who were arrested from the al-Jumaila tribe will face the same fate.

Kidnapping Sunnis has become another regular tactic. ISIS members have kidnapped 170 Sunnis of the al-Jobour tribe from two villages about 120 miles to the north of Baghdad in Kirkuk province. They were kidnapped after burning ISIS flags in the villages. "Al-Jobour tribe is subjected to a genocide by ISIS," said Marwan al-Jbara, a local leader of the tribe. Local tribal leaders in the area managed to convince ISIS to release them, except for one man believed to be the person who burned the ISIS flag.

And the arrests and brutality keep coming. Even as 169 people were being released in al-Hawija, ISIS members arrested 80 men of another Sunni tribe in a village to the east from the city of Tikrit. The residents there had expelled ISIS members from that village three months ago.

The largest public executions to date occurred two months ago, when ISIS killed hundreds of men, women, and children of the Albu Nimr tribe in the city of Hit, 130 miles west of Baghdad. The execution was a show of revenge after the tribe's fight against ISIS throughout the last year. It was also the first time that ISIS committed mass murder against Sunnis. Now, it is feared that 45 other men who were arrested from the al-Jumaila tribe will face the same fate.

Kidnapping Sunnis has become another regular tactic. ISIS members have kidnapped 170 Sunnis of the al-Jobour tribe from two villages about 120 miles to the north of Baghdad in Kirkuk province. They were kidnapped after burning ISIS flags in the villages. "Al-Jobour tribe is subjected to a genocide by ISIS," said Marwan al-Jbara, a local leader of the tribe. Local tribal leaders in the area managed to convince ISIS to release them, except for one man believed to be the person who burned the ISIS flag.

And the arrests and brutality keep coming. Even as 169 people were being released in al-Hawija, ISIS members arrested 80 men of another Sunni tribe in a village to the east from the city of Tikrit. The residents there had expelled ISIS members from that village three months ago.

Tide is turning if Sunnis turn against ISIS

 

[Valhelm]

That's awesome. It would be great to see ISIS crumble from within.

 

[Aaron Strife]

"What? You mean this terrorist organization that goes around killing innocent people might be bad for our society? Hmm can I have a few more days to think about this?"

 

[rrvv]

"What? You mean this terrorist organization that goes around killing innocent people might be bad for our society? Hmm can I have a few more days to think about this?"

TBF I dont think news regarding their brutality in Iraq is traveling as fast as western media

 

[sunofsam]

Everything's Sunni in Baghdad!!

 

[Stereogatari]

Tide is turning if Sunnis turn against ISIS

Most Sunnis in the world have been against ISIS from the start. I imagine the same is true of Iraqi/Syrian Sunnis as well.

 

[davepoobond]

Most Sunnis in the world have been against ISIS from the start. I imagine the same is true of Iraqi/Syrian Sunnis as well.

They just didnt care until now?

 

[Stereogatari]

They just didnt care until now?

Of course they didn't and they still don't.

There are roughly 1300 million Sunnis in the world.

24 million Sunnis live in Iraq and Syria.

The only people that would truly care, since it would affect their lives directly, are those 24 million in Iraq and Syria. The rest of the 1276 million Sunnis are like you and me. They just see ISIS on the news and are unaffected by events.

 

[cackhyena]

TBF I dont think news regarding their brutality in Iraq is traveling as fast as western media

 

[terrisus]

Non-clickbait title:
ISIS terrorists may face new challenges from within by Iraqi Sunnis.

 

[shinobi602]

Good. Remove this fucking scum from the Earth.