WTH Just Happened In Iraq Exactly?

Below is a series of links to articles and opinions about a rather small band of primitives that managed to take control of a large area that was, according to local legend, being protected by entire trained army divisions. These have been sent in by a wide variety of people, Richard, M, ST, Don L, Oz-Rita and others who have in common that something is rather fishy in the state of Iraq.

1. Iraq army capitulates to Isis militants in four cities

The extent of the Iraqi army’s defeat at the hands of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) became clear on Wednesday when officials in Baghdad conceded that insurgents had stripped the main army base in the northern city of Mosul of weapons, released hundreds of prisoners from the city’s jails and may have seized up to $480m in banknotes from the city’s banks.

2. Iraqi Army

3. Crowd Gathers to Show Support of ISIS Takeover of Mosul

4. Video: Muslim ISIS psychopath death squads killing innocent civilians in driveby shootings

5. This is apparently Iraqi soldiers getting ready to fight ISIS

6. Iraq June 2014

7.  New York Times: Iraq Militants, Pushing South, Aim at Capital

By SUADAD AL-SALHY and TIM ARANGOJUNE 11, 2014

Families fleeing violence in Iraq’s Nineveh Province gathered at a checkpoint west of Erbil in the autonomous region of Kurdistan. Credit Safin Hamed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

BAGHDAD — Sunni militants consolidated and extended their control over northern Iraq on Wednesday, seizing Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, threatening the strategic oil refining town of Baiji and pushing south toward Baghdad, their ultimate target, Iraqi sources said.

8. Iraq Isis Crisis: Medieval Sharia Law Imposed on Millions in Nineveh Province

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (Isis) has imposed a strict set of Sharia laws on the citizens of Nineveh province just days after capturing the provincial capital of Mosul.

In a document circulating on social media attributed to the group, Isis warned tribal leaders and sheikhs not to “work with [the Iraqi] government and be traitors” while proclaiming that women should only go outside if absolutely necessary.

(There is a great deal more material available that I need to go through before posting. But things appear to be moving fast. Makes one wonder if the media circus around the Bergdahl Swap wasn’t to distract from this rather tectonic level geopolitical event, doesn’t it? Grab yourselves a latte and some extra ammunition. Its gonna be a long summer for those who survive it.)