SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the tell-me-of-the-waters-of-your-home-world-Usul dept.
Water has long played a role in armed struggle, from the Allied bombing of German dams during World War II to Saddam Hussein’s draining of Iraq’s southern marshes in the 1990s to punish residents for an anti-government rebellion. Now Erin Cunningham reports in the Washington Post that Islamic State militants are increasingly using water as a weapon, cutting off supplies to villages resisting their rule and pressing to expand their control over the country’s water infrastructure. The Islamic State “understands how powerful water is as a tool, and they are not afraid to use it,” said Michael Stephens. "A lot of effort has been expended to control resources in Iraq in a way not seen in other conflicts."
The White House was so alarmed in August when Islamic State fighters briefly seized the Mosul Dam — located on the Tigris River that runs through Baghdad — that it backed a major operation by Iraqi and Kurdish forces to wrest it back. “If that dam was breached, it could have proven catastrophic, with floods that would have threatened the lives of thousands of civilians and endangered our embassy compound in Baghdad,” said Obama. Last month, the Islamic State used its control of the Sudur mini-dam north of Baghdad to cut off water to Balad Ruz, a predominantly Shiite area of Diyala province. According to the town’s mayor, the militants lined the roads to the dam with improvised explosive devices, and the government was forced to hire trucks to bring potable water to the residents. “They can threaten many parts of the country if they control the water,” says Abdul Majid Satar. "They want to control it at any price."
(Score: 2) by gallondr00nk on Wednesday October 08 2014, @10:13AM
Jihadists are used as a gravy train by commentators in the West.
Gaining control of the water supply, what a terrifying and novel idea! These Islamic State jihadists really are the worst threat we've ever faced.
(Score: 1) by SacredSalt on Wednesday October 08 2014, @07:15PM
They have moved on from just raising the bonko alert (keep the fear rolling guys!) over the water supply. Now they are trying to link I.S. to Ebola, and every day they paint a broader brush.
I call it the ISIS-EBOLA-VOMIT-CNN-ZOMBIE-ATTACK!@! Panic now! More fear, more fear, more fear! Muahaa...
ISIS has a website up for a few minutes -- now they are cyber terrorists! ISIS could have gained access to Assad's chemical weapons! ISIS has stolen a couple missiles -- now they are regional chemical weapons terrorists!@! Keep the fear going! ISIS could extract Ebola from dying Ebola victims!@! ISIS *could* send over Ebola victims and cause a pandemic in Europe/Asia/North America! ISIS *could* have a former French NATO officer working for them -- so we are going to launch 100 million USD worth of missiles at him to try to kill him, and fail! Oh now, ISIS *could* penetrate NATO and *could* be familiarized with our tactics!@! More fear!
I saw a really humorous story on CNN where the DHS official said "Ebola is the ISIS of viruses! We have to treat Ebola the same way we treat ISIS." So its ringing in my head; we are going to launch cruise missiles, bomb the hell out of west Africa, and demonize west Africans as ISIS-EBOLA-ZOMBIES!@!?
Aside from these guys generally being A-holes and trying to initiate another crusade -- the real threat is to investors in Kurdish territories ("The other Iraq!), pipelines, utilities -- and all kinds of other services that we so helpfully privatized for the Iraqi people whether they wanted it or not. ISIS is seeking to nationalize those resources (why does this sound familiar, eh?), thus they have to be removed. Its not about a few people getting their heads on pikes for display. They are perfectly willing to use fear as a weapon, and our press here is perfectly willing to sell it.
(Score: 2) by gallondr00nk on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:00PM
A good bit of history is the 1953 Iranian coup [wikipedia.org], where the elected leader was killed by UK/US agencies at the behest of oil companies who objected to his plan to nationalise the oil industry.