Oct. 9th, 2014

""I, you know, spent some time with the Shia militias north of Baghdad in Diyala. And they were very effective. They have managed to actually stop the advance of ISIS to Baghdad from the north and northeast. But what’s the price for that? You know, all those militiamen are the product of civil war in Syria. They are so radicalized. They’re so militant. They are, you know, keen on sectarian cleansing of the areas north of Baghdad, the mixed Sunni-Shia areas north of Baghdad. They are different from all the Shia militias I’ve worked with before in Iraq. Those are guys who—you know, they don’t differentiate between what is ISIS and what’s an average Sunni. So, your partner in this war against ISIS is basically a sectarian militia that is keen on ethnic cleansing. You know, they talk openly of killing the males, military-age people, who can threaten or can work as an incubator for an ISIS presence in the area. So that is the problem at the moment, is if you want to fight ISIS, you have to join hands with Shia militias of Iraq. These are no different from your average civilian militia."" - link
( bombing our way to freedom )




