View Full Version : Iraqi Yazidis stranded on isolated mountaintop begin to die of thirst
Iraqi Yazidis stranded on isolated mountaintop begin to die of thirst
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iraqi-yazidis-stranded-on-isolated-mountaintop-begin-to-die-of-thirst/2014/08/05/57cca985-3396-41bd-8163-7a52e5e72064_story.html
"BAGHDAD — Stranded on a barren mountaintop, thousands of minority Iraqis are faced with a bleak choice: descend and risk slaughter at the hands of the encircled Sunni extremists or sit tight and risk dying of thirst.
Humanitarian agencies said Tuesday that between 10,000 and 40,000 civilians remain trapped on Mount Sinjar since being driven out of surrounding villages and the town of Sinjar two days earlier. But the mountain that had looked like a refuge is becoming a graveyard for their children..."
Ever notice how it becomes a humanitarian crisis only if the MSM decides it should be one. Bet the MSM can't even spell "Yazidis".
If Hamas were similarly stranded CNN, MSNBC and the like, would have 24/7 coverage...the WH would prolly have a #save our Hamas campaign.
It is amazing how the MSM has forgotten the fight going on in IQ.
You are probaly right that they can not spell their sects name......
There is surely evil in the world enjoying high carnival against the innocent. American MSM should be ashamed.
Another report. Map included in link.
40,000 Iraqis stranded on mountain as Isis jihadists threaten death
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/07/40000-iraqis-stranded-mountain-isis-death-threat
40,000 Iraqis stranded on mountain as Isis jihadists threaten death
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."
Another man, who is hiding in the mountains and identified himself as Nafi'ee, said: "Food is low, ammunition is low, and so is water. We have one piece of bread to share between 10 people. We have to walk 2km to get water. There were some air strikes yesterday [against the jihadists], but they have made no difference."
At least 500 Yazidis, including 40 children, have been killed in the past week, local officials say. Many more have received direct threats, either from the advancing militants or members of nearby Sunni communities allied with them. "They were our neighbours and now they are our killers," said Atyas.
"It's not like this is a one-off incident," said the Unicef spokeswoman Juliette Touma. "We are almost back to square zero in terms of the preparedness and the supplies. Enormous numbers of people have been crossing the border since June.
"The stresses are enormous; dehydration, fatigue, people sometimes having to walk for days. The impact on kids is very physical, let alone the psychological impact."
The Kurdish minority Yazidis have long been regarded as devil worshippers by Sunni jihadists who have targeted them since the US invasion. As the extremists' latest and most potent incarnation, the Islamic State (Isis), has steadily conquered Iraq's north, the small, self-contained community has been especially vulnerable.
(Cont.)
TOMAHAWK9521
08-07-2014, 08:13
That really sucks, to say the least. :mad:
My ODA worked out there and we broke bread with those people. They are a good bunch of folks. We had several of them as our gate guards and I don't recall ever having a problem with them.
Sinjar Mountain is definitely a bleak and barren place to try surviving on. It's too bad they don't have water up there to keep them alive because they could have inflicted massive casualties on any IS ground assault stupid enough to try and ascend that rock.
It is amazing how the MSM has forgotten the fight going on in IQ.
You are probaly right that they can not spell their sects name......
What with the "1000 liberal journalist club" thing going on, I wonder what role such things play in shaping mass media?
And combine that with the mere 5/6 companies in control of 90% of US mass media and how they play into special interest politics in the US.
I can't help but think of the poor reporting of the mass slaughter/genocide that occurred in Zimbabwe following the rise to power of Mugabe as an analog to this.
The west was fed a diet of white versus black, so maybe the black(Chinese backed) versus black(Russian backed or simply non-Shona tribe) violence was too complicated for people to understand how North Korean trained Zimbabweans of Shona heritage were slaughtering the Matabele people.
helicom6
08-08-2014, 00:57
Pardon me, if you please, but I am trying to understand the position of the MSM and the reporting of the Iraqi Yezidis, and the position, I believe, that something is remiss in this situation. I have read everyone's responses to the reports, over and over, and I am still trying to come to a clarification of opinion. Is there a general sense that what has been transpiring in the region taken a backseat to other conflicts, and not enough emphasis has been put on the situation? Is the WH slow in confirming a humanitarian situations exists, or if there is the feeling that this is not a humanitarian situation?
From my understanding the WH has made plans to assist the Yezidi with food and water drops, calling the possible intervention "Limited". I have to wonder, how far in do we go to help the Yezidi people, or do we go the route of beefing up the peshmerga to give them more capabilities to defend the Yezidi of Iraq?
Can we provide airstrikes, or other military action that will avoid a prolonged military effort. I am also fully aware that hard charging men with the motivation of ; "To Free The Oppressed", are ready to do their job.
I am just asking for clarification of your thoughts, opinions, and next course of action in a portion of the world that seems ever declining into deeper and deeper turmoil.
I honestly do not have any answers, but I have done my homework about the various conflicts of the regions surrounding Iraq, Syria, Iran; Tripoli, Lebanon, Gaza, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Kurdistan.....the issues are deep and wide. Navigating through every conflict, and the rise of this faction and that faction, sometimes feels futile.
I do feel that these factions, ISIS for example, are being given their heyday in the eyes of the world through the media channels they tend to eventually recruit as the reporters of their extreme actions. It gains the MSM readership, viewers, and ratings. Of course, that translates into big bucks for advertisers and investors.
I am not saying the two entities of extremism and MSM are in cahoots, but they definitely feed off of each other.
This is my opinion, and I feel true, about this WH and many others prior; assets are most often utilized to bring the most benefit to the national or political interests of the US.
These are complex times in the world, and I feel most Americans would rather turn on their TV's, live their blissful lives while the remainder of humanity kill each other, and we can just go to our malls, and beautiful parks, watch baseball, and celebrate.
It is much harder for some that have a sense of freedom, believe all of humanity deserves the same, believes in justice, and the to have to decide who gets what. This is my intrapersonal struggle, at times; and that is painfully honest.
WarriorDiplomat
08-08-2014, 06:49
That really sucks, to say the least. :mad:
My ODA worked out there and we broke bread with those people. They are a good bunch of folks. We had several of them as our gate guards and I don't recall ever having a problem with them.
Sinjar Mountain is definitely a bleak and barren place to try surviving on. It's too bad they don't have water up there to keep them alive because they could have inflicted massive casualties on any IS ground assault stupid enough to try and ascend that rock.
The Yazidis and the kurds are ferocious warriors some arming and a little advising would go a long to destroy Isis/Isil.
(from LINK below) "Britain, along with the Americans and others, is encouraging the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to pursue more inclusive governing arrangements.
His behaviour is seen as partly responsible for many of Iraq's current problems, and its difficulties in confronting the Islamic State challenge."
No shit, Sherlock. (The Brits have a passion for understatement.)
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-28701642
British forces are to drop food aid for members of the Yazidi community and others under threat from militants in Iraq, the defence secretary has said.
Michael Fallon said the UK's main focus would be supporting the US in its planned air strikes on militants with surveillance and refuelling.
But Britain would also "add to it" with "food drops of our own".
David Cameron welcomed US air strikes against the Islamic State militants but ruled out any UK military action.
The prime minister said the world must help religious minorities in Iraq who are under threat from the militants "in their hour of desperate need".
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised Britons not to travel to those parts of Iraqi Kurdistan affected by fighting and to leave areas close to the conflict.
(Cont.)
The Kurds and Yazidis are going to need something more than water bottles and MREs. C-130 gunships and A-10s would be nice, but without Baghdad growing at least a small pair of nuts (how about a Government?) the outlook seems merely postponed. God speed, Team.
TOMAHAWK9521
08-08-2014, 07:35
Pardon me, if you please, but I am trying to understand the position of the MSM and the reporting of the Iraqi Yezidis, and the position, I believe, that something is remiss in this situation. I have read everyone's responses to the reports, over and over, and I am still trying to come to a clarification of opinion. Is there a general sense that what has been transpiring in the region taken a backseat to other conflicts, and not enough emphasis has been put on the situation? Is the WH slow in confirming a humanitarian situations exists, or if there is the feeling that this is not a humanitarian situation?
From my understanding the WH has made plans to assist the Yezidi with food and water drops, calling the possible intervention "Limited". I have to wonder, how far in do we go to help the Yezidi people, or do we go the route of beefing up the peshmerga to give them more capabilities to defend the Yezidi of Iraq?
Can we provide airstrikes, or other military action that will avoid a prolonged military effort. I am also fully aware that hard charging men with the motivation of ; "To Free The Oppressed", are ready to do their job.
I am just asking for clarification of your thoughts, opinions, and next course of action in a portion of the world that seems ever declining into deeper and deeper turmoil.
I honestly do not have any answers, but I have done my homework about the various conflicts of the regions surrounding Iraq, Syria, Iran; Tripoli, Lebanon, Gaza, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Kurdistan.....the issues are deep and wide. Navigating through every conflict, and the rise of this faction and that faction, sometimes feels futile.
I do feel that these factions, ISIS for example, are being given their heyday in the eyes of the world through the media channels they tend to eventually recruit as the reporters of their extreme actions. It gains the MSM readership, viewers, and ratings. Of course, that translates into big bucks for advertisers and investors.
I am not saying the two entities of extremism and MSM are in cahoots, but they definitely feed off of each other.
This is my opinion, and I feel true, about this WH and many others prior; assets are most often utilized to bring the most benefit to the national or political interests of the US.
These are complex times in the world, and I feel most Americans would rather turn on their TV's, live their blissful lives while the remainder of humanity kill each other, and we can just go to our malls, and beautiful parks, watch baseball, and celebrate.
I'm amazed the report was put out, let alone accurate as far as the numbers and geographic details. I recall reading an MSM news reports of horrendous casualties in my area of operations while I was on the ground in Sinjar and asking "WTF?!!" It turned out, the report came from some self-gratifying, so-called "journalist" (I'm sorry, "War Correspondent") who was sitting in a hotel room in the Green Zone, quoting a tale from a "local" informant. The incident wasn't nearly as bad as reported and was a hell of a lot closer to Mosul (suburb) than way the hell out in my AO.
TOMAHAWK9521
08-08-2014, 07:39
If there is any wisdom in the planning of these aerial support missions, they'll do it in a two-pronged approach. While the resupply birds are making their drops, CAS will bomb/strafe the IS positions, thus significantly alleviating the pressure on the Yazidis.