40,000 Iraqis stranded on mountain as Isis jihadists threaten death

[babylonsister]

40,000 Iraqis stranded on mountain as Isis jihadists threaten death
Members of minority Yazidi sect face slaughter if they go down and dehydration if they stay, while 130,000 fled to Kurdish north

Martin Chulov

Link to video: Iraqis stranded on mountain under threat of death from Isis jihadists


Tens of thousands of members of one of Iraq's oldest minorities have been stranded on a mountain in the country's north-west, facing slaughter at the hands of jihadists surrounding them below if they flee, or death by dehydration if they stay.

UN groups say at least 40,000 members of the Yazidi sect, many of them women and children, have taken refuge in nine locations on Mount Sinjar, a craggy, mile-high ridge identified in local legend as the final resting place of Noah's ark.

At least 130,000 more people, many from the Yazidi stronghold of Sinjar, have fled to Dohuk, in the Kurdish north, or to Irbil, where regional authorities have been struggling since June to deal with one of the biggest and most rapid refugee movements in decades.

Sinjar itself has been all but emptied of its 300,000 residents since jihadists stormed the city late on Saturday, but an estimated 25,000 people remain. "We are being told to convert or to lose our heads," said Khuldoon Atyas, who has stayed behind to guard his family's crops. "There is no one coming to help."

more...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/07/40000-iraqis-stranded-mountain-isis-death-threat

[G_j]

1. Horrible!

it's the dark ages again..

[politicman]

2. its horrible, and I dont want to diminish it but can we use this horrible...

scenario to show just how horrible Bush and his cabal were.

Its horrible, its disgusting and it should be stopped.

But can we use this horrible scenario to show just how disgusting Bush's invasion of Iraq was:

If ISIS managed to reach these 40,000 Iraqis and slaughtered everyone of them, it would still pale in comparison to the amount of Iraqis that Bush slaughtered with his invasion.


I only point out this perspective because with time we end up forgetting or downplaying the crimes of American and Bush, so I wanted to use this horrible scenario (and everyone agrees it is an extremely horrible scenario) as a way to show just how inhumane the invasion of Iraq was.

[babylonsister]

3. Yes, we can use

this horrible scenario to remember idiot son and all the death and destruction he has wrought. We should never forget.

[Peacetrain]

4. Oh my GOD...

Will this madness never end.. these poor people.. where the hell is the UN?

[former9thward]

15. They are in their luxury condos in New York.

Safe and sound.

[Lurks Often]

22. Even if the UN was inclined to intervene

and the resolution authorizing the use of force wasn't vetoed by either China or Russia (not likely), with the UN's lethargic pace it would be a week to 10 days before it came to a vote and in the end it would be the US doing the vast majority of work.

We are probably the only country that can get a large enough force (be it aircraft or troops) to that part of the world in time to do any real good.

[sufrommich]

5. "a new Rwanda happening before our eyes"

The Yazidi wish to inform you that tomorrow they will be killed with their families. Actually, it may not be tomorrow. The 40,000 members of Iraq’s most ancient sect, who are currently huddling on the side of Mount Sinjar, might have a bit longer. If they stay there it will apparently take a few days, maybe a few weeks, before they die of thirst, malnutrition and sickness. If they don’t, their deaths at the hands of the butchers of Isis who have surrounded them will be quicker. Though not that quick.

Five hundred of their number have died in the last week alone, 40 of them children. Unfortunately the Yazidi don’t appear to have had access to iPhones, so you won’t have seen the harrowing images of their dead.

Think of the Hotel Rwanda. Or the Dutch UN compound in Srebrenica. That’s Mount Sinjar this morning.

The Iraqi army, who have the responsibility for protecting the Yazidi, are nowhere to be seen. Kurdish Peshmurga troops, regarded as a more potent fighting force, have also been forced to withdraw.


http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100282699/isiss-slaughter-of-the-yazidi-is-a-new-rwanda-happening-before-our-eyes/

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Eyewitness: Seven women and children have died since yesterday because of dehydration

We've been under siege for four days. We eat once a day - either in the morning or at night.

We've managed to get some basic food supplies from neighbouring areas, but three children died today because of starvation. Seven women and children have died since yesterday because of dehydration.

A lot of the people here have disabilities or suffer from serious illnesses like diabetes. It's 50C here and we're being bombarded indiscriminately.

We need help. Until now, no humanitarian aid has been delivered and no help provided by aid organisations - not the Red Cross or the Red Crescent, or even the United Nations. The Iraqi government and the Iraqi president have not helped. Nothing at all.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28687329

[eissa]

7. They're wiping out minorities all over the region

They've emptied the Christian villages (whose inhabitants are the indigenous people of Iraq) and have slaughtered thousands. There is an actual genocide occurring and it's simply not getting the world attention it deserves.

It's a catastrophe, a tragic situation. We call on the UN Security Council to immediately intervene. Tens of thousands of terrified people are being displaced as we speak, it cannot be described.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11017976/Islamic-State-takes-over-Iraqs-largest-Christian-town.html

[CJCRANE]

9. Another reason why we should defund the warmongers.

Gaza, Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Libya are all examples of what the warmongers have wrought (and that applies to those who support both sides of the conflict).

[Rhinodawg]

10. Vienna fan group for Islamic State militants

The Islamic State (IS), which is viewed alongside al-Qaeda as one of the most dangerous jihadist groups, has a group of sympathisers in Vienna who have set up a Facebook group and are even selling fan merchandise online.

According to a report in the Kurier newspaper the most popular item for sale is a camouflage cap featuring a jihadist print and the IS icon.

The Facebook group, set up by an individual who calls himself Muslim Alhamdullilah, has 236 friends. He claims to operate from a mosque in Vienna’s Donaustadt but according to the Kurier no such mosque exists.

Images on the Facebook group page show individuals posing with the IS flag and in ‘battle dress’ in Floridsdorf and various other locations in Vienna.

http://www.thelocal.at/20140806/islamic-state-militant-group-has-vienna-fan-group

[CJCRANE]

13. It's interesting that they use Facebook and Twitter unhindered to recruit and propagandize.

[Rhinodawg]

12. "It's almost like Israeli has a Jihadist arm fighting to do their dirty work."

can you explain wtf that means ?

[former9thward]

17. Yeah, blame Israel for ISIS.

Of course you threw in the word "almost" so no one can call you on it.

[Vattel]

14. Where is Obama on this?

[Amonester]

18. Hate to break it out for you: Looks like Libya 2 in the making, for now...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014864762

Damn it.

[Vattel]

19. if he can get the supplies in and kill only those who pose the threat, he should go for it.

notice I say "if".

[Amonester]

20. Probably. He will not have time to build a coalition like Libya :(

and these poor people seem to abide to the "love your enemies" commandment, since they're not fighting back (as opposed to Libya).

[saidsimplesimon]

16. Help is on the way from Vienna.

There are a couple of negative posters to your alert on this humanitarian crisis. I don't see a future for them on a progressive website, do you?

Thank you babylonsister for the alert.

[Botany]

21. "They" just had to get into Iraq and get their war on.

bush, Cheney, Rummy, Condi, Wolfowitz, Powell, Card, Libby, and so on.

Less then 2 months before w started his war he didn't know that their was a difference
between Shia and Sunnis

And the Obama admin is left to try to clean up their mess.

[Peacetrain]

23. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

And the press who worked their butts off to make sure WE got in there.. will more than likely sit mute on the sidelines as to who actually got us into this never ending mess

[Botany]

24. I hope Obama drops the hammer on those bastards

Those people who shot unarmed prisoners by the side of the road need to feel some
heat.

God damn bush, Cheney, Rummy, and so on for going into Iraq and setting off this blood
bath.

[GeorgeGist]

25. Like he did on ...

Bush and Co.?