Rukmini Callimachi, a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, has reported on the Islamic State group without holding back. Callimachi has exposed how the terrorist network mistreats women and children, including trafficking them as sex slaves, and her clear and informative journalism has helped Americans understand the dire situations ISIS has created in Iraq, Syria, and beyond.
After President Obama addressed the United States from the Oval Office Sunday night about the current terrorism threats to America and the world, Callimachi fired off a 19-part tweetstorm that breaks down the complex crisis created by ISIS.
Obama encouraged Congress to authorize the use of weapons in Iraq and Syria to fight ISIS. "The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it," Obama said in his speech. His remarks come after Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik fatally shot 14 people and injured an additional 21 people at a mass shooting in San Bernardino, CA, on December 2. Islamic State group media has reportedly called the couple "supporters" and "martyrs."
Read Callimachi's incredibly clear analysis of Obama's remarks — and the situation with ISIS in Syria and Iraq — in the tweets below.
1/Obama has done his homework when he says ISIS wants us to start a ground war, and will use our occupation of a foreign land to recruit
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 20152/ ISIS propaganda is rife with references to scriptural prophecy regarding the last great battle of our time which will begin when
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 20153/ The "Romans" (us) invade Dabiq, a town that still exists today in Syria. In scripture that battle sets the stage for the end of times
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 20154/ leading to a showdown between "Muslims" (they think this refers only to them) and their enemies, in which the enemies are vanquished
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 20155/ Remember it was in Dabiq that ISIS killed US hostage Peter Kassig, a former U.S. Army Ranger, as a way to underscore this point
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 20156/ While it's hard to get our heads around this, I have spoken to enough ISIS fanboys & members by now to believe that they mean this
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 20157/ ISIS *wants* U.S. boots on the ground, and wants us to engage them militarily. It would do wonders for their recruitment pitch
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 20158. Question is: Can fight against this group be won from the air & via proxy forces on the ground, ones which are divided ethnically?
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 20159/ Here is what I saw in Hasaka, Syria in July where I was embedded with YPG militia fighting ISIS & what I saw in Sinjar, Iraq last month
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 201510/ where I was embedded with the PKK and with the Peshmarga, two more local forces fighting ISIS: In both places ISIS folded quickly
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 201511/ In Hasaka, I saw frontline jump several miles in a few days; In Sinjar, I saw airstrikes & local forces take city in 48 hours
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 201512/ But here's the rub: The proxy forces *only* succeeded because of heavy U.S. air support & air support will need to continue indefinitely
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 201513/ If we let up the freed areas will be reinfiltrated. Already there are reports that Hasaka, which was declared liberated when I was there
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 201514/ has been re-infiltrated by ISIS cells. Second big problem: The proxy forces fighting ISIS are nearly all Kurdish (YPG, Peshmarga, PKK)
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 201515/ And they will only fight for historically Kurdish areas. Last month,
I went to a sandbagged position overlooking the city of Mosul, Iraq
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 201516/ Mosul was so close, were I wearing running shoes I could have jogged there and back. But the Peshmarga commander holding the position
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 201517/ explained to me that when invasion of Mosul occurs (believed to be many months away) he would only fight to roughly halfway in to city
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 201518/ Why? Because that is the ethnic faultline, and as a Kurdish commander he did not think it would be appropriate to go further in.
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) December 7, 2015Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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