Elsewhere in the Middle East

[LouiseBrooks]

I defy anyone to watch this Iraqi MP without weeping.

That is heartbreaking. I am absolutely terrified of what ISIS is doing. They are butchers who need to be stopped but my fear is that they have been encouraged and supported by very rich/powerful people who want to see turmoil in the Middle East. It is too horrifying for words.

But nobody seems to care, certainly not here. I can't believe one moron in the Parliament was actually trying to shush that poor woman!

Yes, Isis are terrible and our human rights champions all over the world are doing nothing muc to stop their barbarity. Their funding still seems to flow in, no sanctions for the funders, nothing much done at all.

ISIS are absolutely barbaric and I'm really concerned about the lack of interest in what they are doing.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/thousands-of-minority-yazidi-iraqis-marooned-on-mount-sinjar-face-the-choice-of-dying-of-thirst-or-surrendering-to-the-isis-fighters-9652646.html I really hope that the Kurds manage to create a safe passage.

It's shocking that so little of the mainstream media is reporting about the horrors of ISIS and the expansion they are making into Lebanon www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-brings-its-war-to-lebanon--and-it-could-be-a-key-part-of-a-masterplan-9648009.html and the support they are getting in Jordan www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/jordan/10931859/Jordan-may-be-next-in-line-for-the-Isis-extremists.html.

With Libya and Yemen being so unstable I really am scared for the stability of the ME and the future of minorities there

I can't over the way people are ignoring it, both the media and people generally. I really feel that while everyone is looking at Israel and Gaza, ISIS are taking over more and more of the Middle East. They have already said they have some forces in Gaza, which may of course just be braggadocio but I wonder when the world will wake up? Maybe when they really get into Jordan - or even Israel?

Meanwhile the Yazidis on that mountain, and indeed plenty other people too, will be long dead.

The Independent has had some good coverage on ISIS and panorama did a half hour documentary but you seem to have to go digging for information.

I hope the west are in talks with Iran about ISIS. If Iran has nuclear weapons then ISIS cannot be allowed to get a foothold in the country. I believe Russia would help to defend Iran against ISIS but I'm just scared if Iran is attacked it could start world war 3.

I really don't understand how ISIS have seemed to come from nowhere to being such a strong force.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2718918/Thousands-Christians-flee-Islamic-militants-pulling-church-crosses-Iraq-biggest-town-overrun-ISIS.html it's getting more worrying

They've taken advantage of instability and a power vacuum. Iraq has been a total disaster since we invaded in 2003, and Syria recently descended into civil war.
It does seem to have gone under the radar. I complain enough about the lack of coverage of Palestine unless there's a crises, but at least that gets media attention (rightfully of course) if there's a flare-up. This? Almost nothing.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2719203/US-weighs-airstrikes-humanitarian-aid-Iraq.html

I don't understand why they are referring to this as a possible genocide- what ISIS are doing to minorities is genocide.

I really hope the US do more to support the Kurds they have done far more to defend Iraq then the government or army

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2719460/Apocalypse-ignored-As-Gaza-grabs-headlines-epic-slaughter-engulfs-rest-region-But-protests.html fairly balanced article from the dm

Wannabe - it has been fomenting for some time now. The power vacuum created by GWB and TB after the invasion in 2002/3 has allowed the tribalism and the Sunni / Shi'a divide to spiral out of control.

It is completely horrifying and I have just heard on R4 that Obama has authorised controlled air strikes (although no troops on the ground). Lord have mercy upon those people.

I feel like this is something so bizarre and dreadful it is almost biblical. People starving to death on a barren mountainside in 45 degree heat as an alternative to being beheaded by religious fanatics. You couldn't make this stuff up . God help them.

So the UN and the various other authorities are doing nothing to assist those refugees trapped in the mountains, so The Great Satan has stepped in with humanitarian aid air drops.
Threats of air strikes against the militants as well, but if I was terrified and watching my children dying of thirst, I'd be thanking the USA for acting.
No doubt their will be much nehgative press and speculation, but until we have a useful international force who can get off their arses whilst there are still people alive to protect, there doesn't seem to be any alternative.

Sorry I wasn't quite clear (dam being inarticulate) I get the power vacuum but it's the becoming so organised and becoming so adept at pr and making money I don't understand/scares me.

www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/iraq-crisis-how-saudi-arabia-helped-isis-take-over-the-north-of-the-country-9602312.html (apologies if you've read before) this explains some of it but their organisation makes them seem far more of a threat to me then Bin Laden

www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/16/terrifying-rise-of-isis-iraq-executions

The world is a terrifying place right now, that clip is heartbreaking to watch and even more terrifying to digest.

oh my goodness this is just awful. I bet she was just seen as an over emotional women.

I think unless their is a big attack on the west again or energy prices rocket more not much will be done.

My heart just breaks for their suffering, i've really become quite depressed over the last while about all this.

Apparently the USA has started airstrikes on ISIS artillery. I'm still not sure if any aid has reached the Yazidis on the mountain but the RAF are going to do humanitarian relief drops but they will not join in airstrikes.

Of course even if the people on the mountain are saved (and children have already died) where the hell will they go? Their homes have been destroyed and ISIS are marching inexorably onwards.

Glad to hear that about the RAF LouiseBrooks, I wrote to my MP yesterday saying we should be helping with aid and was very encouraged by her enthusiastic response. I would like to see our forces carrying out airstrikes as well (I think that's the first time in my life I've said those words) but given past events I can understand the reluctance of the government to intervene in a military capacity.

I think the drops with supplies have arrived

Sky news are reporting that hundreds of woman have been kidnapped.

news.sky.com/story/1315654/hundreds-of-women-captured-by-isis-fighters

God that is awful Anya, I wonder if the US military will help out with rescue operations or if that's too much involvement for them? (Not being snarky, I can fully appreciate why they wouldn't want to get involved with a battle on the ground.)

Glad to read that 11,000 have been rescued though (from the same article) - I'd be interested to know how, as I was under the impression that they were completely surrounded.

Awful. Isis should be stopped and destroyed by everyone in order to stop their barbaric acts against innocent people all over the Middle East. But I doubt it will happen. Google the conspiracy theories about Isis.

Poor Kurds, too. I remember a university friend telling me about the Kurdish situation about 27 years ago. I want to post a little sad face, but it's way beyond sad.

Those poor women they must be terrified. The Kurds have been incredible in the fight against ISIS ignoring differences between themselves to fight lSIS. I think the US really need to relook at classifying the PKK as a terrorist organisation