NYT interview with man who survived an ISIS massacre

NYT

This is a story of a #e Iraqi man who escaped an ISIS massacre and was helped by Sunni's.

DIWANIYA, Iraq — Ali Hussein Kadhim, an Iraqi soldier and a Shiite, was captured with hundreds of other soldiers by Sunni militants in June and taken to the grounds of a palace complex in Tikrit where Saddam Hussein once lived.

The militants, with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, separated the men by sect. The Sunnis were allowed to repent for their service to the government. The Shiites were marked for death, and lined up in groups.

Mr. Kadhim was No. 4 in his line.

As the firing squad shot the first man, blood spurted onto Mr. Kadhim’s face. He remembered seeing a video camera in the hands of another militant.

“I saw my daughter in my mind, saying, ‘Father, father,' ” he said.

He felt a bullet pass by his head, and fell forward into the freshly dug trench.

“I just pretended to be shot,” he said.

Just thought it good to post something with a good outcome and fellow man caring for fellow man.

Sorry, do not know how to embed this vid.

Here's the video on Youtube:

And I wish I could use everything in my power to help him.

ISIS are a bunch of pansies when they face determined and well trained soldiers.
There's a video online that has captured ISIS militants crying their eyes out as they are
subdued by Iraqi Special Forces.

That is a fight I find worth while. I would love to deploy to Iraq and kick ISIS ass.

I heard about this earlier today and was surprised to find that the Sunnis helped this Shiite man. Goes to show that our preconceived notions of people can be broken by acts of kindness.

a reply to: sheepslayer247

Sunnis don't want this ISIS crap any more than Shiites.

originally posted by: projectvxn
a reply to: sheepslayer247

Sunnis don't want this ISIS crap any more than Shiites.

I agree, but there is a bitter rivalry between the two Muslim sects and the Shiites are said to be much more radical. So I find it cool that they helped this man.

a reply to: sheepslayer247

That may be true. All I know is that this Iraqi man is pretty obviously not radical. He's just a regular Joe who joined the Iraqi Army to help his people and maybe help himself in the process.

It would be my honor to help him hand ISIS their asses on a platter.

a reply to: sheepslayer247

Shiites aren't more radical - almost all the extremist groups in the world are Sunni based and the Shia generally don;t go for the suicide attacks. That's not to say they don't have radicals, but the Sunni's certainly take the cup.

As for the OP, I felt for the lad and he was extremely lucky to be alive. I also feel sad for the 1,700 other Iraqi Soldiers murdered by ISIS and anger at the Iraqi Army officers who (yet again) abandoned their men.

a reply to: projectvxn

Why? Why would you want to deploy there?

I think the news in the US has been directed in a way that hopes to make vets of the Iraq war feel exactly that.

I agree that they are terrible and I hope they are stopped, i just hope vets aren't pulled into another clusterf*** in hopes of redemption. I do think this is a more noble fight, but still...

I think that this man's experiences go to show that even the Sunni sect in the region is not loyal to ISIS. I mean they were willing to possibly risk their own life to help out a Shiite whom they didn't know. Obviously someone did tell ISIS about him, otherwise they never would have come looking for him, but the majority of people he encountered seemed to help him. If they were loyal to ISIS, and supported ISIS because they are members of the same sect of Islam, then I would not have expected them to help this man.

Although another possibility is that they may support an Islamic state, but don't care for ISIS' methods and brutality, and knowing what they would do to this man they decided to help him. Maybe these Sunnis were not in danger of being killed, as it seems ISIS has not been killing them, but rather making them "repent." So perhaps they never were in much danger, I don't know. What I want to know is how people can tell the difference between Sunni and Shiite...? How did they even know this man was not Sunni? I will have to go look that up I suppose.

a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

Because you don't deal with evil people by ignoring them. You don't deal with them by diplomacy. you don't deal with them by appeasement. You kill them.

Secondly, I'm not an Iraq war vet. I'm an Afghan war vet. I've dealt with people who believe and do as ISIS believes and does. I know what they are capable of.

I agree that they are terrible and I hope they are stopped,

You can hope all you want. But it is men like me and the brave Iraqis who stand against them that will make it happen.

That video hit me harder than any I had seen previously concerning ISIS.

Absolute scum. Vile, wretched human beings.

They make me ill.

Whatever end ISIS members meet is far too good for them. I almost hope that Allah is real so that these monsters will get the punishment they truly deserve.

For the first time as a member of ATS I wish the T&C allowed me to curse. This post would have made Pulp Fiction look tame in comparison. Sometimes the only way to properly express true anger is via the full spectrum of expletives. I could just scream. How could people be so evil and subhuman? I can't even begin to comprehend.

It's time to whip out a Dalai Lama book so that maybe, just maybe I can calm down.

a reply to: Osiris1953

I know how you feel.

Only I'm in a position to do something about it and all I can do is wait.

originally posted by: stumason
a reply to: sheepslayer247

Shiites aren't more radical - almost all the extremist groups in the world are Sunni based and the Shia generally don;t go for the suicide attacks. That's not to say they don't have radicals, but the Sunni's certainly take the cup.

As for the OP, I felt for the lad and he was extremely lucky to be alive. I also feel sad for the 1,700 other Iraqi Soldiers murdered by ISIS and anger at the Iraqi Army officers who (yet again) abandoned their men.

Thanks for setting me straight. Sometimes I get things mixed up.

a reply to: seabhac-rua

Thank you for the you tube. Wish I could see the vid you speak of but it is all I can manage emotionally to keep up with current events.

originally posted by: projectvxn
And I wish I could use everything in my power to help him.

ISIS are a bunch of pansies when they face determined and well trained soldiers.
There's a video online that has captured ISIS militants crying their eyes out as they are
subdued by Iraqi Special Forces.

That is a fight I find worth while. I would love to deploy to Iraq and kick ISIS ass.

This is the only fight I have found worth while. Not Afghanistan, Iraqi, Vietnam.

Have reservations about WW2 and don't know about Korea.

a reply to: projectvxn

I commend you brother.

I truly do. Thank you.

originally posted by: projectvxn
a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

Because you don't deal with evil people by ignoring them. You don't deal with them by diplomacy. you don't deal with them by appeasement. You kill them.

Secondly, I'm not an Iraq war vet. I'm an Afghan war vet. I've dealt with people who believe and do as ISIS believes and does. I know what they are capable of.

Still.. I think the media has been aimed at vets, but Iraqi war vets in particular. It's basically giving a chance to really help the people the Iraq vets were fighting (that they felt wrong about and became disenchanted with war from). They are really pushing displaying IS/IS as unstoppable, a swarm like locusts. I have no doubt that they are evil, but I am not sure they are that unstoppable. I think it's just the thing the people if Iraq might need to actually work together and I think they could stop IS/IS (although honestly, we armed IS/IS just months ago so we might as well just send weapons to the Iraqi's). We have been talking about how the country can't get together and may split into three, what better than this external threat to pull them together?

I agree that they are terrible and I hope they are stopped,

You can hope all you want. But it is men like me and the brave Iraqis who stand against them that will make it happen.

originally posted by: liveandlearn

originally posted by: projectvxn
And I wish I could use everything in my power to help him.

ISIS are a bunch of pansies when they face determined and well trained soldiers.
There's a video online that has captured ISIS militants crying their eyes out as they are
subdued by Iraqi Special Forces.

That is a fight I find worth while. I would love to deploy to Iraq and kick ISIS ass.

This is the only fight I have found worth while. Not Afghanistan, Iraqi, Vietnam.

Have reservations about WW2 and don't know about Korea.

Think about why this is the only fight you have found worth while. I thought that at first, but I have had to ask why since it's all framed by the same media. I think these guys are evil for sure, but as far as us going in.. i don't know. It seems they have consistently portrayed them as unstoppable and painted the image of a swarm. I don't know how accurate that is.