ISIS militants not planning to stop in Iraq
WASHINGTON – Beyond Iraq, what is the intent of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria?
There appears to be short- and long-term goals, with a hint of those intentions in the name ISIS has chosen for itself.
Its real name is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham, meaning Greater Syria.
ISIS, morphing from the Islamic State of Iraq before it was excommunicated from al-Qaida central in Pakistan last year for its extreme Wahhabi brutality, appears to have intentions of re-creating Greater Syria into an Islamic caliphate, subject to strict Shariah law.
Historically, Greater Syria, corresponding to Greater Assyria, included all of the Levant and Mesopotamia, or modern-day Iraq.
The Levant incorporates the Eastern Mediterranean countries of Cyprus, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, parts of Turkey and northeast Africa, including the Sinai Peninsula.
Already, the terror group’s lightning attacks span from northeast Syria into western and central Iraq. It is knocking on Baghdad’s door and could potentially head further south to take over those oil refineries that provide oil to the world.
At that end, there’s also Sunni Kuwait, which deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein once referred to as Iraq’s 13th province as justification for invading the country.
At the same time, there’s concern that ISIS will move into Jordan where there is major dissatisfaction of the reign of King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein. The king’s concerns are so great that he has requested U.S. military assistance to prevent it from becoming part of ISIS’ Islamist caliphate.
There are reports that the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, already is meeting with his war planners to determine what it will do beyond Syria and Iraq.
…Sources say that after Iraq, ISIS may focus on Jordan, which shares borders with Iraq and Syria, making it easy to invade the country.
ISIS already has publicly called for the execution of Jordan’s King Abdullah, blasting him as an infidel and apostate.
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Beyond Jordan and the immediate Greater Syria region, there is concern among security experts that ISIS’ success will spawn spinoff groups similar to it in other countries.
That’s because ISIS’ rapid successes have inspired other jihadist groups to join its bandwagon and attract new recruits from young, unemployed youth in those countries, numbers of which are massive.
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With its initial success in Syria and now Iraq, there also is concern among the Gulf Arab countries of not only Kuwait but also Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that ISIS will take root in those locations.
…Beyond the region, what other goal does ISIS have?
An indication of that comes from Army Col. Kenneth King, who was commanding officer at Camp Bucca in Iraq where Al-Baghdadi was in a U.S. custody.
Upon his release through what observers say was under a general amnesty, King said that al-Baghdadi said, “I’ll see you guys in New York.”
King was with the 306 Military Police Battalion, a reserve unit from Long Island. The unit also included a number of members from the New York Police Department and the Fire Department of New York. The camp itself was named after FDNY Fire Marshal Ronald Bucca who was killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Already, security experts are taking seriously what King initially thought was a joke, until he realized what al-Baghdadi has done as the head of ISIS sweeping through Iraq.
“I’m not surprised that it was someone who spent time in Bucca but I’m a little surprised it was him,” King said. “He was a bad dude, but he wasn’t the worst of the worst.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the NYPD already are taking al-Baghdadi’s threats seriously.
“This guys on the move,” according to former FBI agent Manny Gomez. “He’s only gaining strength. He’s gaining more resources vis-à-vis weaponry, intelligence backing. His numbers are growing. His financial strength is growing Success breeds success and this guy, unfortunately for us, has been very successful.”
Full article: Major U.S. city next target for Islamic terror (WND)
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