After World War II ended, various Nazi leaders were tried for war crimes. In fact, their transgressions were so terrible that they were call crimes against humanity. ISIS is showing today that such crimes have not ended. In just the last few days we have seen mass graves uncovered across Syria and Iraq with up to 15,000 people in them, all killed by ISIS. Nearly all of these people were killed only because they were Yazidis or Shiites or Christians. Then some new places were uncovered where ISIS kept women captives as sex slaves and then murdered them when they were no longer wanted. Today, we see ISIS atrocities in the city of Qayyarah in Iraq. Qayyarah is a town a little more than 30 miles from Mosul in northern Iraq. The government forces have been slowly closing in on Mosul and ISIS has been pushed back on a number of fronts towards that city. Right before the Iraqi troops took Qayyarah, however, ISIS smashed the oil pipeline that runs through the town, used the oil from the pipeline to flood the city and then set it on fire. ISIS burned the entire town by burning the oil and letting it spread the blaze. There is no possible military reason for burning the entire town. It has no ability to support the government offensive. All that ISIS has done is to deprive and entire town's people of all of their possessions, of all of their means for supporting themselves or even eating. It's beyond barbaric.
Besides smashing the pipelines, ISIS also set many oil wells nearby on fire. This is reminiscent of what Saddam Hussein did in Kuwait when his forces lost the Gulf War. It made no difference then, and it will make no difference now. All that the fires will do is create environmental hazards for people in the region for many years. ISIS may claim to be a religious group, but they act more like a cult of death.
As we watch all this monstrous stuff play out, we have to wonder how the US government could have such a lackadaisical response to all this suffering. In Syria, half a million people have now died in the civil war, including a large number killed by ISIS. America has no role in stopping that war and only a very limited participation in stopping ISIS in that country. In Iraq, the numbers killed are lower, but still extremely substantial. There too, however, president Obama has kept major limits on what American forces can contribute to the fight against ISIS. It's a disgrace.
Besides smashing the pipelines, ISIS also set many oil wells nearby on fire. This is reminiscent of what Saddam Hussein did in Kuwait when his forces lost the Gulf War. It made no difference then, and it will make no difference now. All that the fires will do is create environmental hazards for people in the region for many years. ISIS may claim to be a religious group, but they act more like a cult of death.
As we watch all this monstrous stuff play out, we have to wonder how the US government could have such a lackadaisical response to all this suffering. In Syria, half a million people have now died in the civil war, including a large number killed by ISIS. America has no role in stopping that war and only a very limited participation in stopping ISIS in that country. In Iraq, the numbers killed are lower, but still extremely substantial. There too, however, president Obama has kept major limits on what American forces can contribute to the fight against ISIS. It's a disgrace.
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