Normal in Iraq and Syria

The killing grounds of the Middle East take their inexorable toll as Islamists ply their trade in jihad. Matching the fierce destructiveness of fanatical jihadis' attachment to brutality is that of some regimes fully capable of committing unspeakable atrocities on their own civilian population and that of other countries'. Mass atrocities appear a popular form of settling disagreement and dissent in the Middle East at any time; they have been indulged in by both non-government militias and the military regimes of countries like Syria and Iraq of late.

Syrian children wearing orange jumpsuits stand inside a cage placed near the debris of a building destroyed in bombardment by Syrian government forces on the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma Photo: AFP/Getty

In Iraq, some 40,000 people have been slaughtered since December of 2011. That's when President Barack Obama declared himself satisfied that the U.S. had done all it could for Iraq, and the Iraqi government was relieved to bid farewell to American troops, but for those who remained behind to 'train' and help equip the country's own troops. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, headquartered in Raqqa, Syria, is in a competition with the the Shia militias supported by Iran in brutal violence.

Around 300,000 people have died since 2011 in Syria, initiated by Bashar al-Assad's response to a non-violent uprising against his Shiite Alawite government by Syria's oppressed Sunni population. The actual reverse of the polarizing sectarian situation in Iraq. While President Assad's military was busy killing his own civilians with chemical attacks, barrel bombs and fierce fighting with the aligned Hezbollah terrorist group fighting the Syrian resistance, Assad was content to allow ISIL to massacre the Syrian Free Army as well

Syrians stand amidst the destruction in the eastern Shaar neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo  Photo: AFP

Over three million Syrians have become refugees, swelling the refugee camps set up as emergency havens in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Over half of Syria's remaining population of 24 million, according to the United Nations, are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. The Iranian Republican Guards Quds Force and Iran's proxy militia Hezbollah, aligned with the bloody tyrant of Syria have proven capable of atrocities and a huge death count, no less than ISIL's record.

Whereas ISIL is proud to publicize its gruesome execution techniques in horrifying detail, the Syrian regime and its Iranian partners prefer to shield the international community from viewing their handiwork. The crude barrel bombs packed with gasoline, dynamite, nails, scrap iron and chlorine gas does have its dread effect on the human anatomy, and makes no distinction between young and old, fighters or civilians. Deliberate privation and starvation yet another regime technique.

AP Photo/Raqqa Media Center, File   ISIL fighters parade in Raqqa, Syria.

ISIL is more carefully direct with its details, preferring to exploit its penchant for gruesome killing by the production of videos serving as popular public relations triumphs featuring its jihadi butchers, seemingly attractive to young daydreaming European Muslims who chafe at the distance and do their utmost to reach Raqqa to offer their heartfelt admiration and impressive martyrdom services as people of the faith.

The Associated Press files   ISIS fighters marching in Raqqa, Syria.

And then there's the Kurds of Iraq and Syria. The only significant and successful countervailing force, particularly with the backup obtained by U.S.-led coalition bombing of ISIL installations; those same participants in challenging ISIL, refusing to rescue Syrians from their bloodthirsty dictator's opposition-cleansing blueprint of mass murder.

The Middle East, where Islam, the religion of peace holds supreme court, and where hundreds of thousands of innocent people die agonizing deaths; Arabs, Kurds, Yazidis, and other ethnic and religious minorities. In response to which the United Nations wrings its hands and murmurs its distress over the unfortunate situation.

And then focuses its sanctimonious human rights magnifying glass minutely at the 'crimes' committed by the State of Israel against a Palestinian population used as a protective shield as it is governed by yet another Islamist terrorist group afflicting the only non-Muslim country in the region.

Which, if Iranian plans are allowed to proceed, will be solved sooner or later when the soil of the entire Middle East once again reverts to the righteous pride of Islamist conquest.