ISIS militants attack and take over Iraqi northern city of Mosul

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by FlameOn

They just released their expansion plan on Twitter

The Crimea and Isreal is part of their plan according to that lol.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

The Crimea and Isreal is part of their plan according to that lol.

Looks similar to the peak of the Islamic Empire around 750.

[PIMking]

I've said it before on here I believe, the next big global conflict is going to be western countries vs middle east.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

My guess is a long game where we arm the Kurds to the back teeth and they slowly grind Isis down, remember Isis has no civil infrastructure, they are running on whatever they have found, their big kit, tanks artillery etc will start to become inoperable due to lack of spares or trained mechanics etc, at which point they will be easy pickings for a better equipped force.
For all their success ISIS could cease to exist in a year or two just as easily

I hope the Kurds take this opportunity to declare full independence and separate themselves from the rest of the mess.

I also think that ISIS has a lot more "infrastructure" than you are giving them credit for. What separates them from other militant groups and gives them so much staying power is that they are actually stepping in and governing the places they are invading.

That being said, any modern army would wipe the floor with these guys. You can only get so far on rhetoric and soviet era AK47s.

[transplant99]

Obama has OK'd air strikes in Iraq.

[FlamesAddiction]

Obama has approved air strikes against ISIS.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/barack-...isis-1.2729911

[nik-]

Yeah, have they really beaten anyone on a large scale where the defenders haven't basically turned and ran? They've win a lot of small battles against disorganized forces. If they really did push those Kurd militias back though, that's another story.

[nik-]

It's still annoying that they delayed so long on this. Now ISIS is in cities with civilians. If they would have acted sooner they could have been airstriking the ISIS advanced instead of what they're stuck with now.

[Chill Cosby]

Originally Posted by blankall

That being said, any modern army would wipe the floor with these guys. You can only get so far on rhetoric and soviet era AK47s.

Their desire to invade Russia is almost mind blowing. I could see a countries like Spain and Greece being caused a little bit of grief by them, but taking on Russia is idiotic.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Obama has OK'd air strikes in Iraq.

[blankall]

Also, if a country like Iran is going to get involved, it's for it's own selfish reasons and to extend their borders. ISIS really has no hope of taking on a country like Iran. ISIS has a small armed force of about 10k at most that is armed with almost entirely small arms. They've been as successful as they have because they are largely invading Sunni areas where many of the residents welcome them. The governments in Iraq, Syria, and Kurdistan are faltering, as they simply lack the resources and/or support from their own populations.

As soon as they reach Iran #####e population, which has its own experience in guerrilla warfare, it'd be game over. Compared to ISIS, Iran is an ultra modern and organized military with 100s of thousands of soldiers.

If Iran was planning on stepping it, it also would have made a lot more sense to do it while there still appeared to be hope of keeping their ally, Assad, in power. Don't see why they would randomly do it now. If anything I see them waiting until things have fallen apart and then setting up a puppet state in the South East of the country once ISIS and the Kurds officially split off.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Chill Cosby

Their desire to invade Russia is almost mind blowing. I could see a countries like Spain and Greece being caused a little bit of grief by them, but taking on Russia is idiotic.

I think they are under the impression that they can continue to win the ideological battle. Currently they are taking over areas where many people want to be taken over.

Russia has also spent the last 1000 years of their history resisting an islamic invasion. I don't think they are about to cede anything now.

Russia is also in an expansionist phase. If ISIS got anywhere near Russia's borders, Russia would use that as an excuse to gobble up whatever land they could.

[Shnabdabber]

Originally Posted by blankall

Also, if a country like Iran is going to get involved, it's for it's own selfish reasons and to extend their borders. ISIS really has no hope of taking on a country like Iran. ISIS has a small armed force of about 10k at most that is armed with almost entirely small arms. They've been as successful as they have because they are largely invading Sunni areas where many of the residents welcome them. The governments in Iraq, Syria, and Kurdistan are faltering, as they simply lack the resources and/or support from their own populations.

They have acquired T-55 and T-72 tanks, with estimates of having 30 and 5-10 respectively, numerous humvees, M198 and Type 59-1 artillery, heavy machine guns and more RPK's, RPG's and M79 rocket launchers than you can shake a stick at. They are more than well armed and are gobbling up infrastructure and heavy weapons as they run over Iraq.

Having said that I think Iran would be more than capable of defending their borders against ISIS.

[VladtheImpaler]

Didn't Clancy write a book about this a couple decades ago? How does it play out?

[Arya Stark]

Do they have tanks as well? I thought I heard they pretty much stole all of the weapons America gave the Iraq army, but I could be wrong.

Even with all that, their plan is foolish and I hope they get wiped out sooner rather than later.

Edit: Yep, they do.

http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-...wn-2014-7?op=1

[malcolmk14]

Things are not good in Iraq right now (moreso than usual, lol). US airstrikes began earlier today and ISIS is getting very close to Erbil.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

The Crimea is part of their plan according to that lol.

The funniest part for me is that Western China looks to be part of their plans

[Arya Stark]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Things are not good in Iraq right now (moreso than usual, lol). US airstrikes began earlier today and ISIS is getting very close to Erbil.

Have they started?

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by Arya Stark

Have they started?

I assume you mean US airstrikes, yes they have.

[Arya Stark]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

I assume you mean US airstrikes, yes they have.

All I can find is that Obama authorized airstrikes but nothing has been fired yet.