Sunday, August 17, 2014

Who is al-Baghdadi?



ISIS Leader a Jew? Conspiracy Theory Claims al-Baghdadi is Mossad Agent Born to Jewish Parents
August 6, 2014 17:50 IST


Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has become a target for several conspiracy theories of late.

Since the announcement of Islamic Caliphate in Iraq and Syria, several unproved theories have been doing the rounds. And recent speculations around the ISIS leader state that al-Baghdadi was born to Jewish parents in Israel. 

According to a report in Veterans Today, al-Baghdadi is a Jew and his real name is Elliot Shimon. It goes on to claim that the man is a Mossad trained operative, paid to pose as the ISIS leader. 

The conspiracy theory certainly seems to have been inspired from claims that al-Baghdadi was trained by Mossad.

Reports had appeared last month, claiming that evidence leaked by Edward Snowden found that the Islamic State leader was trained by Mossad, along with intelligence agencies of the US and the UK.


Several publications were quick to pick up the news, which seems to have been started by Gulf Daily News.

"Snowden said the intelligence services of three countries, namely the United States, Britain and the Zionist entity have worked together to create a terrorist organization that is able to attract all extremists of the world to a one place, using a strategy called 'the hornet's nest'," read their report.

But the authenticity of theory is debatable as the Snowden documents are understood to be safe with the Washington Post and the two journalists who first broke the story.

Snowden had told The New York Times in an interview that the NSA secrets are safe and that he had left all classified documents with the two journalists he met back in Hong Kong. 

al-Baghdadi Biography

While conspiracy theories around al-Baghdadi keep on growing, the ISIS leader still remains a mysterious figure to most people.

Based on information provided by the Islamic State supporters, the real name of ISIS leader is Abu Dua, Ibrahim bin Awad bin Ibrahim Al-Badri Al-Radawi Al-Husseini Al- Samarra'i.

al-Baghdadi  is a former teacher and holds a PhD. He is understood to be a good preacher and has extensive knowledge on Islamic culture and Sharia. He is reportedly married.

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has become a target for several conspiracy theories of late.

Since the announcement of Islamic Caliphate in Iraq and Syria, several unproved theories have been doing the rounds. And recent speculations around the ISIS leader state that al-Baghdadi was born to Jewish parents in Israel. 

According to a report in Veterans Today, al-Baghdadi is a Jew and his real name is Elliot Shimon. It goes on to claim that the man is a Mossad trained operative, paid to pose as the ISIS leader. 

The conspiracy theory certainly seems to have been inspired from claims that al-Baghdadi was trained by Mossad.

Reports had appeared last month, claiming that evidence leaked by Edward Snowden found that the Islamic State leader was trained by Mossad, along with intelligence agencies of the US and the UK.


Several publications were quick to pick up the news, which seems to have been started by Gulf Daily News.

"Snowden said the intelligence services of three countries, namely the United States, Britain and the Zionist entity have worked together to create a terrorist organization that is able to attract all extremists of the world to a one place, using a strategy called 'the hornet's nest'," read their report.

But the authenticity of theory is debatable as the Snowden documents are understood to be safe with the Washington Post and the two journalists who first broke the story.

Snowden had told The New York Times in an interview that the NSA secrets are safe and that he had left all classified documents with the two journalists he met back in Hong Kong. 






129 comments:

  1. The Times of Israel reported that the President of Israel, Mr al-Sisi is a Jew, his mother being Jewish.
    “His mother is called Mulaika Titani, and her brother was a member of the Jewish Haganah organization,”... “Thus, we see that this man, by any standard, is implementing a Zionist plan to divide Egypt.” (The Haganah was the pre-state precursor of the Israel Defense Forces.)

    This claim was also echoed by Kevin Barrett at Veterans Today ...
    Egypt’s new thug-in-chief, General Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi, is a Jew. (His mother, Malikah Titani, is a Moroccan Jew from Asefi, which makes al-Sisi a Jew and an automatic citizen of Israel.)

    Whose source seems to be And the truth shall set you free.

    For those interested (that is, if the information has not been deleted by the time you read this article) refer to a Moroccan on-line site called Hispress. On that site there is an attempted answer to a question raised by some quarters pertaining to the origin of General ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi’s mother. And the answer was that his mother hails from Moroccan Jews in the city of Asefi. The on-line site divulges the mother’s name as Malikah Titani; she married in 1953 and acquired Egyptian citizenship in 1958. She relinquished her Moroccan citizenship to make it possible for al-Sisi to be admitted to the (Egyptian) Military Academy in 1973.

    We are told that ‘Uri Sibagh or Sabbagh, the maternal uncle of General al-Sisi, was born in Asefi, Morocco. He studied at an institution in Casablanca; he also lived in the city of Marrakesh. He joined the underground Jewish Defense League (Hamagein) from 1948–1950. These types of news items are found in the Algerian newspaper al-Watan and many other electronic sites. We learn from them that the Sibagh or Sabbagh family joined the (Israeli) Mapai Party in 1951 and some made it all the way to its central committee in 1959. ‘Uri Sabbagh worked as a professional instructor in Bi’r al-Sab‘ (Beersheba) from 1957–1963. He worked as a supervisor of professional teaching from 1963–1968. From 1968–1981 he was secretary of the (Israeli) Labor Party in Beersheba. And from 1974 to 1982 he was a member of the Histadrut Coordination Committee.

    The name of the maternal uncle of General al-Sisi is listed in the registrar of the 10th Knesset as member of the ruling party at that time, Mapai, the founding party of the Israeli nation-state headed at the time by Ben Gurion. Further information about al-Sisi’s uncle can be obtained from the Knesset archives. By the time Sisi’s mother Malikah got married in 1953, her brother (al-Sisi’s maternal uncle) had made his ‘aliyah to Israel two years earlier (1951). So when General al-Sisi was born his maternal uncle was not only a Yahudi, he was also an Israeli belonging to the ruling party, after having polished his credentials as a member of Zionist organization(s) in Morocco.


    Now one could just dismiss this story, if it were not for the announcements and actions of the Israeli, themselves

    Israeli ambassador calls Al-Sisi a "national hero for all Jews"

    This, along with the claims that ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi, is a Mossad agent born to Jewish parents fits nicely into the machinations that the Israeli are famous for. It fits neatly into their "False Flag" operational profile.





    ReplyDelete
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    1. al-Sis has been groomed for his current position, having attended the US Army War College in Pennsylvania.
      The supported both the ouster of Mr Mubarak and then of Mr Morsai, clearing the path for al-Sisi to seize power in Egypt.
      The truth of US support for the entire political intrigue is evidenced by the continued production of M1 Abrams main battle tanks, by General Dynamics, in Egypt throughout the political turmoil. The money train never stopped.

      As for ISIS, it has never attacked Jewish Israel, while it slaughtered Christians, Alawites and Zoroastrians. The Israeli have supported the ISIS campaign in Syria and the Israeli Ambassador to the US, Mr Oren, did endorse their efforts.

      Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post that Israel so wanted Assad out and his Iranian backers weakened, that Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.

      “We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.”

      Even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated with al-Qaeda.
      “We understand that they are pretty bad guys,” Oren said in the interview.


      http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328

      Delete
    2. The Times of Israel reported that the President of Egypt is Israeli, Mr al-Sisi is a Jew, his mother being Jewish.

      Delete
    3. .

      Who gives a flying fuck?

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      If you think al-Sisi actions are influenced by the fact he is a Jew (if he actually is a Jew) you are nutz.

      The only things the Egyptian army thinks about is power, stability, and making a buck.

      .

      Delete
  2. Since the Zionist contributors, to the EB, have all claimed that "Jewishness" is not a religion, but an inherited trait that is derived through the maternal bloodline ...

    There is absolutely no reason to believe that either al-Sisi or Al-Baghdadi are not genetically Jewish.
    If there really is such a thing as a genetically transmitted religion.

    To describe any religion as genetically transmitted, well, it puts that religion on par with sickle cell anemia.


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  3. Amazing insanity you have as a blog....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Replies
    1. And Jews of that era were Hyksos Egyptians.
      Zionists of the modern era are Ashkenazi Europeans.

      There is no genetic connection between the two peoples.

      Delete
  5. You did say that it was vitally important that Israel be a Jewish State. Why is that? You said that the Jews who criticized Israel and Zionism were self-loathing Jews. In both conditions your premise made a distinction on the relevance of being a Jew. I have no idea who this guy is. We do know that Netanyahu, McCain and the CIA were very interested in supporting the Syrian rebels and the Neocons thought destabilizing Arab countries was to the benefit of the Jewish State of Israel. The Conga line and the US Episcopals believe that it is important for their to be a Jewish State as if the idea of a Jewish State is superior to a non-Jewish State.

    Jesus was a Jew. What is your point?

    In the US, we don’t do religious states. We have been told the the US is not a Christian State. The important thing is that it be an American State.

    If Baghdadi were an American, raised by Jesuits, would that be of interest to you? Not worthy of mention? Move along?

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Deuce ☂Sun Aug 17, 10:00:00 AM EDT
      You did say that it was vitally important that Israel be a Jewish State. Why is that?

      LOL

      Delete
  6. I have argued the basic unfairness of Eastern Europeans settling and occupying the lands of indigenous Palestinians. You hve argued that the justification for them doing so is the fact that they are Jews and as Jews and Jews alone are entiltled to the historic homelands of the Jews and that trumps all other claims. That is some strong magic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Zionist magic is super strong, it denies the science of genetics.
      It denies history, it is instead based on the occult knowledge of the Babylon Court of King Nebuchadnezzar II.

      It is based upon myth, deceit and lies.
      "O"rdure should know this, but is in denial.

      Delete
    2. Nice parsing of words...

      The Jews of the Levant have been there for thousands of years and are as indigenous as your pals the "palestinians".

      Additonal arabs have settled there and as well additional jews have settled there.

      This does not in any way take away from the Jewish claim to self determination and liberation.

      You like to ignore the fact that there were Jews living in those lands continuously for 3000 years.

      The Jews of Israel accepted a 2 state solution in 1948, the arabs ? said no and started wars...

      that is the history..

      want to go back further?

      the league of nations recognized the right for Jews to have historic homeland in their historic lands.

      The arabs? occupy 899/900th of the middle east. with dozens of nations, the arabs (and palestinians) are indigenous of Arabia not northern africa, israel and such.

      where does "indigenous" begin??

      you say: have argued the basic unfairness of Eastern Europeans settling and occupying the lands of indigenous Palestinians.


      do you also say:

      I have argued the basic unfairness of Eastern Europeans settling and occupying the lands of indigenous Americans?

      Do you have a problem with the arab settlement of Lebanon? Egypt? Iran? Lands of Palestine?

      Or is your problem ONLY about Israel?

      The arabs and jews are old peoples. 2 sons from different mothers. Why should one son be entitled to 899/900th of the lands of the middle east and one son have 1/900th and be forced to share it's 1/900 with 20% of the other people as well?

      look at the split of the lands.

      as for your absurd statement: justification for them doing so is the fact that they are Jews and as Jews and Jews alone are entiltled to the historic homelands of the Jews and that trumps all other claims

      By your logic the Temple Mount would be bulldozed as well as all islamic and Christian sites under Israeli control. But wait!! INISDE israel jews, moslems and christians all have their rights and places of worship...

      It's interesting to see what your side of the coin would do to christians and jews by their very behaviors and actions..

      ethnic cleansing and murder.....

      Delete
    3. Ehnic Cleansing and Murder, the "Stock and Trade of Zionism.

      The Zionists murdered 252 Jewish refugees from Europe, on board the "Patra", in a "False Flag" attack, for propaganda purposes in 1940.

      The Zionists have ethnically cleanse large swaths of Palestine, as planned by David Ben-Gurion in 1938 when he said referring to Palestinian refugees:
      "We must do everything in our power to ensure that they never return."
      • Address at the Mapai Political Committee (7 June 1938) as quoted in Feuerlicht, Roberta, 1983.

      The Zionists continue their campaign of Murder and Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza, killing over 1,500 people there in the past month.

      "O"rdure continues to perpetrate fraud and disseminate lies. It is all that he has left in his intellectual quiver.

      Delete
    4. LOL

      Israel IS.

      Go and visit the great Jewish State.

      Now don't go and visit Egypt, Yemen, Sudan, Lebanon, Palestinian controlled lands, Gaza, Jordan, Iraq, Syria or Sudan.

      Nor Tunisia, Morocco, Mali or Libya.....

      Don't go to Iran or Qatar...

      LOL

      Delete
  7. An Iraqi security official said on Sunday Kurdish forces have taken over parts of the country’s largest dam, which was captured by the Islamic State (Isis) extremist group earlier this month.

    General Tawfik Desty told the Associated Press that peshmerga forces backed by Iraqi and US warplanes started the operation to retake Mosul Dam early on Sunday.

    Desty, a commander with the Kurdish forces at the dam, which was seized on 7 August, said they now control the eastern part of the dam and that fighting is still underway.

    The US launched airstrikes against Isis fighters more than a week ago, in a bid to halt its advance across the north. The extremists control vast swaths of Iraq and neighboring Syria.

    Kurdish forces supported by American warplanes have mounted an offensive to retake Iraq's largest dam, a formidable hydroelectric complex critical to both power supplies and irrigation in the region, from jihadi fighters, as reports emerged of another grisly episode of mass slaughter perpetrated by the extremists in a village in northern Iraq.

    US central command said on Saturday that fighter jets and drones had destroyed or damaged four armoured personnel carriers, seven armed vehicles, two Humvees and an armoured vehicle.

    The US engagement is aimed at helping the Kurds turn the tide against the Isis extremists who have swarmed through parts of northern Iraq from bases in Syria, seizing towns and cities and slaughtering opponents indiscriminately.

    Villagers said Isis militants drove into a settlement on Friday, rounded up men and teenage boys, lined them up and shot them. The reports came from several men who survived the massacre in Kocho. Senior Kurdish official Hoshyar Zebari said that jihadists "took their revenge on its inhabitants, who happened to be mostly Yazidis who did not flee their homes".

    Fear of an impending genocide against members of Iraq's Yazidi minority, whose faith is anathema to the Sunni Muslim extremists, was one reason Washington cited for air strikes it began on 8 August.

    Human rights groups and residents say Isis fighters have demanded that members of religious minorities in Iraq's Nineveh province, where Kocho is located, either convert or leave, unleashing violent reprisals on any who refused.

    Mohsen Tawwal, a Yazidi fighter, said he saw a large number of bodies in Kocho on Friday.

    "We made it into a part of Kocho village, where residents were under siege, but we were too late," he told Agence France-Presse by telephone. "There were corpses everywhere. We only managed to get two people out alive. The rest had all been killed."

    The German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, arrived in Iraq on Saturday to meet officials and assess what help is needed.


    GUARDIAN

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  8. Yasmina Haifi, who works for the Dutch Justice Ministry’s National Cyber Security Centre, made the controversial statement on Twitter yesterday, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported.

    Referring to IS by their former name, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), she tweeted: “ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. It’s part of a plan by Zionists who are deliberately trying to blacken Islam’s name."

    Ms Haifi later removed the original message and said: “I realize the political sensitivity in connection with my work. That was not my intention.”

    It is now believed that she has been suspended from her position.

    The country's Ministry of Security and Justice and the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) later said in a statement: “Security and Justice and the NCTV distance themselves from her remarks.

    “And since [the comment] relates to the work of the NCTV and the National Cyber Security Center, cause is shown to terminate her assignment NCSC/NCTV and outsource her work with immediate effect.”

    ReplyDelete
  9. {...}

    However, Ms Haifi said in a radio interview that she refused to withdraw her statements.

    She said: “Freedom of expression is apparently only for certain groups.

    “I have taken the liberty to express myself and obviously I have to pay for it. I do not know why I should take it down; this is what I think.”

    Dutch MPs Joram van Klaveren and Louis Bontes said that they believed that Security and Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten should take action against Ms Haifi.

    In a joint statement they said: “A person who propagates such ideas and is working with state secrets could be a threat to national security.”

    ReplyDelete
  10. “Freedom of expression is apparently only for certain groups.

    “I have taken the liberty to express myself and obviously I have to pay for it. I do not know why I should take it down; this is what I think.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yasmina Haifi, who works for the Dutch Justice Ministry’s National Cyber Security Centre, made the controversial statement on Twitter yesterday, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported.

      Referring to IS by their former name, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis), she tweeted: “ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. It’s part of a plan by Zionists who are deliberately trying to blacken Islam’s name."

      “Freedom of expression is apparently only for certain groups.

      “I have taken the liberty to express myself and obviously I have to pay for it. I do not know why I should take it down; this is what I think.”



      I think she is insane, an obsessed crazy bitch who is infected by Islam and Jew hatred. She should not take her words down, they should be tattooed on her forehead forever....

      Delete
  11. I like that:

    “Freedom of expression is apparently only for certain groups.

    “I have taken the liberty to express myself and obviously I have to pay for it. I do not know why I should take it down; this is what I think.”

    ReplyDelete
  12. From Patrick Coburn of The Independent:

    Fear of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis, who now refer to themselves the Islamic State) is the new uniting factor for states in the Middle East and beyond who normally hate each other.

    The sudden emergence of Isis’s still expanding caliphate, with its terrifying blend of brutality, bigotry and military effectiveness, provides a common enemy for the US, Iran, EU states, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and, in Iraq, Shia, Kurds and anti-Isis Sunni.
    It was the capture of Mosul by Isis on 10 June which ended the eight-year rule of Nouri al-Maliki, who withdrew his candidacy for a third term as prime minister last Thursday. A diversity of Iraqi politicians and parties, intermittently supported by foreign powers, have been trying to get rid of him for years, but they failed because of their disunity and his control of the Iraqi state. It was Isis gunmen in their captured Humvees patrolling the roads an hour's drive from Baghdad that created the determination to finally get rid of Mr Maliki.

    However deep the differences between Washington and Tehran, they were equally horrified by the prospect of Isis advancing on Baghdad and Erbil. Saudi Arabia has openly or covertly opposed Iran and Shia Islam since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, but is seriously threatened by Isis, whose ideology is not much different from Saudi Wahhabism but challenges the legitimacy of the house of Saud. Last Friday in Mecca, the influential imam and preacher at the Grand Mosque, Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Sudais, called for a code of conduct to stop leaders, scholars and young people supporting violence and "terror". An implication of this is that Saudi Arabia will suppress pro-jihadi propaganda on the internet and satellite television which it has previously encouraged.

    The Iranians are also facing a more menacing future as Isis fighters tighten their grip on Diyala province in Iraq, which is on the Iranian border. A year ago a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps explained how necessary it was for Iranian security to fight in Damascus although it is 870 miles from Tehran; but last week Isis, which considers Shia to be heretics worthy of death, captured the town of Jalawla, 25 miles from Iran. No wonder Iran was willing to say goodbye to Mr Maliki, whom it had so long defended, to end the political crisis in Baghdad.

    {...}

    ReplyDelete
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    1. {...}


      The realisation of the danger posed by Isis did not come immediately with the fall of Mosul and Tikrit. In Baghdad, and abroad, there was wishful thinking that Isis was the fanatical shock-troop of an insurgent Sunni community in Iraq; and that once Mr Maliki was gone and reforms acceptable to the Sunni were implemented, then traditional tribal and non-Isis military leaders would reassert themselves and get rid of the dangerous zealots.

      It was always a dubious argument, with much evidence to the contrary. Isis, after its experience in 2006 and 2007 when the Americans did succeed in splitting the Sunni insurgency, is wary of another stab in the back. It has taken precautions such as demanding a pledge of allegiance to the caliphate and, according to one account from Mosul, has seized 300 former Baathists and army officers as hostages. The lesson from Iraq and Syria is that in places it has conquered, Isis only shares power as long as it has to. So far, the chances of a counter-insurgency against it in Sunni provinces look bleak.

      But this does not mean that Isis has not created a host of enemies for itself, and it is losing the advantage of its opponents' disunity. Within Iraq, relations between Erbil, the Kurdish capital, and Baghdad were "poisonous", the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, told me in early July. But the victorious Isis attack on Kurdish-held territory in August has made the Kurds less over-confident and more willing to cooperate with the Iraqi central government against the jihadis. Among the Kurds themselves there was a closing of the ranks as experienced fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) raced to help the Iraqi Kurdish forces with whom they had previously had hostile or very frosty relations.

      With both the Shia and the Kurds feeling vulnerable, the US has restored much of its former influence in Iraq with a few air strikes. In contrast with American ignorance and arrogance in 2003, Washington is now much more knowledgeable and warier of the Iraqi quagmire. As states such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran find ferocious and battle-hardened Isis fighters on their borders, they are more likely to cooperate with each other and the US. In the words of Hillaire Belloc’s poem, they're keeping "a-hold of Nurse, For fear of finding something worse."

      {...}

      Delete
    2. {...}

      This coming together of old rivals and enemies in opposition to Isis is happening in Iraq, but not yet in Syria where the US, Europeans, Turks, Saudis and Qataris continue with their old bankrupt policy. This is to get rid of or least weaken President Bashar al-Assad by backing a moderate military opposition that is supposedly going to fight both Mr Assad and Isis. Unfortunately, this group scarcely exists except as a propaganda slogan and a consumer of subsidies from the Gulf. Isis dominates the Syrian opposition and that domination grew greater last week as it captured the towns of Turkmen Bareh and Akhtarin, 30 miles from Aleppo.

      The Sunni rebellion in Syria may soon be an Isis controlled project as it already is in Iraq. Given that Syria is 60 per cent Sunni Arab, compared to 20 per cent in Iraq, it is easier for Isis to increase its strength there. Any attempt to counter-attack Isis that focuses solely on Iraq is likely to fail because the caliphate straddles the two countries' border.

      The present US policy of leaving Mr Assad (backed by Hezbollah, Iran and Russia) to battle Isis alone poses high risks, says Anthony Cordesman, the national security analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. He writes that US policy only works so long as the Assad forces do not lose territory and key cities to Isis and the caliphate "does not make major economic, military, political and religious gains". He adds that the present stance of the US and its Arab allies assumes the existence of a moderate Sunni resistance not dominated by Isis. If Isis is able to maintain its "sanctuary" in eastern Syria, the caliphate will be able to reinforce its "capabilities in Iraq and steadily increase the threat to Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other neighbouring states".

      In practice, none of the conditions for a successful US policy in Syria have been met. Since Isis expanded its caliphate to cover almost all of eastern Syria, its neighbours have every reason to be frightened. The nascent unity and cooperation of the opponents to Isis forged by the Iraq crisis may be too little and too late.

      'The Jihadis Return: Isis and the New Sunni Uprising' by Patrick Cockburn, published by OR Books, is available at orbooks.com

      Delete

    3. In contrast with American ignorance and arrogance in 2003, Washington is now much more knowledgeable and warier of the Iraqi quagmire.


      A score of Hellfire missiles, a couple dozen Predator drones and a few SF 'A' Teams providing tactical advise.
      The US has learned that "Less is More".

      Lessons learned in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq may finally be taking hold.
      Those lessons were applied in Libya, where the thorn in the US side was removed and no one has been able to reconstitute the threat to US interests, there.

      While some here claim that the lack of stability in Libya is a sign of failed US policy, the reality is just the opposite.

      A decades long covert conflict has been ended, the enemy nation is in disarray.
      Instead of attempting to impose a 'Peace' or even a regime change, the US proxies toppled the head of government and then the US took a 'hands off' approach to the rest of the events that followed.

      Which is exactly what commentators, like Quirk and Ash, have advocated for.

      Delete
  13. “If you build the guts to do something, anything, then you better save enough to face the consequences.”

    Russia's state-controlled energy giant Rosneft has asked the Russian government for a $42bn (£25.2bn) loan, as it feels the impact of Western sanctions.

    The government said it will consider the request from Igor Sechin, head of Rosneft, in the next two weeks.

    Sanctions on Russia have limited Rosneft's ability to raise funds.

    Rosneft has requested the money from the National Wealth Fund, which finances state pensions.

    The US imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Novatek, Russia's second-largest gas producer, last month.

    The US and EU have restricted sales of technology to the Russian oil industry.

    'Reassess their self-sufficiency'
    Russia's exports are almost all raw materials and about 60% of these are energy products.

    David Spencer-Percival, chief executive of international energy recruitment firm Spencer Ogden, said: "[This is] the clearest sign yet that the Western sanctions are biting hard.

    "Given the West's reliance on the Russian energy industry, it is vital governments across Europe reassess their self-sufficiency. This is likely to prompt greater investment in renewable and alternative sources."

    The news was initially reported in Vedomosti, the Russian business daily. The paper quoted a letter from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, in which he asked officials to analyse the data.

    Mr Sechin, a close ally of President Putin, said the company needed the money to help it cope with a ban on US credits and loans with a maturity of longer than 90 days, a ban which European banks and investors have also agreed to.

    Rosneft has an outstanding debt of $44.5bn (£27bn) following its acquisition of TNK-BP in 2013.

    It was this deal that resulted in UK oil company BP taking a hold in Rosneft, in a deal worth $1.5 bn (£1bn).

    ReplyDelete
  14. Iraqi Kurds battle Islamic State fighters

    Peshmerga forces recapture towns near Mosul dam, seized by fighters earlier this month, as US air strikes continue.
    Last updated: 17 Aug 2014 13:57 - AL JAZEERA

    Kurdish peshmerga forces have retaken three towns on the way to Iraq's largest dam after a series of US air strikes.

    Officials told Al Jazeera that peshmerga forces captured Tel Skuf, about 15km east of the Mosul dam, from Islamic State fighters early on Sunday morning.



    The town is one of several seized by the Islamic State - a group of self-declared jihadists who have captured large swaths of land in northern Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

    Peshmerga forces have also retaken the towns of Sharafiya and Batnaya.

    The AP news agency quoted an unnamed peshmerga commander as saying that his forces were retaking parts of the dam, although that report has not been confirmed by Al Jazeera.

    Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, in Sharafiya, said: “US air strikes pushed Islamic State fighters back, but this is not going to be an easy fight,” she said. “Now that the group knows it faces a threat from the skies, it is changing tactics on the ground.”

    The progress came after the US hit targets near Mosul and Erbil to push back the fighters, but the scope of the air strikes has been limited.

    "The nine air strikes conducted thus far destroyed or damaged four armoured personnel carriers, seven armed vehicles, two Humvees and an armoured vehicle," the US said in a statement.

    Kurdish forces have also been slowed down by explosive devices, including homemade bombs and landmines, placed by the Islamic State.

    Al Jazeera’s Jane Arraf, reporting from Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region, said that while the US air attacks were able to hit infrastructure, they were ineffective in dislodging fighters around them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 20 minutes ago
      Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from the town of Tel Skuf in northern Iraq, said that Islamic State fighters have abandoned several vehicles near Mosul dam as they retreated from the advancing Kurdish forces.

      Our correspondent also reported that US drones and jets continue to target the armed group which is still in control of Iraq's largest dam.

      There have been fears that the Islamic State fighters would blow up the dam, but US intelligence sources told Al Jazeera that it is unlikely as it would also flood the city of Mosul, the stronghold of the Sunni armed group.

      Delete
  15. Obama heading back to DC in rare vacation break
    August 17, 2014 14:30 GMT
    By JULIE PACE AP White House Correspondent
    EDGARTOWN, Mass. (AP) -- President Barack Obama is getting off the island.


    In a rare move for Obama, he’s taking a break in the middle of his Martha's Vineyard vacation to return to Washington for unspecified meetings with Vice President Joe Biden and other advisers.

    The White House has been cagey about exactly why the president needs to return to Washington for those discussions.
    Part of the decision appears aimed at countering criticism that Obama is spending two weeks on a resort island in the midst of numerous crises.

    They turned the first week of Obama's vacation into a working holiday. He made on-camera statements on U.S. military action in Iraq and the situation in Ferguson, Missouri.

    He also called foreign leaders.

    Obama plans to go back to Massachusetts on Tuesday.

    ReplyDelete
  16. “Fighting is ongoing at the Mosul dam and we have caused big losses to ISIS and now more than 80 percent of the dam is controlled by the Peshmergas,” said Abdul-Khaliq Babiri, a senior member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), who is on the Mosul frontlines.

    “Within the next few hours we expect clean up the area from ISIS and fully control Mosul dam,” he told Rudaw.

    Meanwhile Ali Awni, another KDP leadership member, told Rudaw that the areas of Tilsqof and Batma are under full controlled of the Peshmerga forces. “The Peshmerga are advancing in these areas,” he said.

    Earlier, a commander had reported that Peshmerga forces had regained control of some villages, after an offensive backed by air strikes.

    He said "the attack will continue until the areas of Zumar and Shingal are fully under our control.”


    As mentioned a couple days ago, the Kurds would not be defending a 600 mile line, but would be on offense, at times and places of their own choosing. If they had air support.

    They now have that air support, and have gone on offense.

    The tide has turned, in the north of Iraq.



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/17082014

      Delete
  17. Deuce ☂Sun Aug 17, 10:15:00 AM EDT
    I have argued the basic unfairness of Eastern Europeans settling and occupying the lands of indigenous Palestinians.

    I reject your description of who settled the lands and who and what is an indigenous person.

    You are more extreme in your Israel/Jew hatred than most arab nations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The rejection of reality by "O"rdure, that is nothing new.
      He rejects science, he rejects history.

      He clings to myths.

      Delete
    2. I reject nothing BUT myths, invented histories and fiction.

      Israel IS.

      The arabs that call themselves "palestinians" have had 66 years to create a state, numerous times and have rejected it.

      The Jewish state lives. Like it or not? Don't really care.

      You can post all the pseudo science you wish it doesn't change anything.

      Israel LIVES. It's the jewish state.

      The only one.

      There are dozens of islamic states, many that the USA helped bring into existence.

      There are dozens of Christian states.

      But there is only ONE Jewish state.


      Delete
  18. Ash asked if the drone strikes 'took out' Mr Maliki. The answer ....

    “These air operations are for the sole purpose of helping the Iraqi military and Kurdish forces to defeat the militants around strategic sites,” Theodore Karasik, director of research at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai, said in a phone interview. “The U.S. must hit critical equipment and economic assets to weaken the Islamic State’s grip on territory.”

    Inclusive Government

    President Barack Obama tied expanded U.S. action to the formation of a more inclusive government capable of easing sectarian and ethnic divisions.


    http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-08-17/iraq-s-largest-dam-new-focus-of-expanding-u-dot-s-dot-airstrikes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You better believe it did.

      President Barack Obama tied expanded U.S. action to the formation of a more inclusive government capable of easing sectarian and ethnic divisions.

      Delete
  19. .

    al-Baghdadi a Jew and a Mossad agent?

    A conspiracy theory? Well yes, I guess you could say so. But printing it is like printing the stuff rat dregs up from Inner Space Watch. It amounts to the catch at the end of every program we see at the end of every conspiracy show. After a half hour of finding absolutely nothing, the group says 'well while we didn't actually spot a (bigfoot, mothman, hodag, nessie) we did (hear, see, intuit) a lot of interesting "evidence" (in there, down there, up there), at least, enough to continue our investigations during next weeks show.'

    If this info is based on documents from Edward Snowden, why not produce the documents or better yet ask old Ed himself?

    That would end the need for calling it a conspiracy theory.

    Easy peasy.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rat is a figment of your imaginationSun Aug 17, 01:09:00 PM EDT

      Part of Quirk's very own "Conspiracy Theory".

      Delete
    2. .

      Another inane observation from rat-world.

      .

      Delete
    3. Rat is still a figment of your imaginationSun Aug 17, 01:15:00 PM EDT

      If Quirk had taken the time and energy required to be "Up to Speed" on the Snowden Affair he would know the following ...

      NSA WHISTLEBLOWER Edward Snowden has given a long interview to Wired magazine in which he reveals that he has not read all of the NSA documents that he took with him when he left, but is shocked by the ones that he has.

      It will be said, again that Snowden
      ... has not read all of the NSA documents that he took with him when he left ...


      So 'asking him' about the contents of the documents would not shed light upon the disclosures made from those documents.

      Delete
    4. I have noticed that when ever 'Quirk' is flummoxed he summons the "Rat"

      Delete
    5. .

      Jesus, rat. Your last three posts clearly illustrate the points people make about you all the time.

      When confronted with a point you can't answer logically you throw out bullshit and non-sequiturs. In the first post, you make the point that Snowden hasn't read all the documents he stole but you ignore the first part of my suggestion for getting to the bottom of the truth of the matter. The fact that Snowden would just hand off more copies of the files willy-nilly stretches credulity. He has in the past said he no longer has copies of the files, that he has passed them on. If this is a legitimate claim on the part of these sites why don't they provide some corroborating evidence, if not copies of the evidence itself, then file names, who said what, what organizations were involved, something? I am not saying the documents do not exist. What I am saying is if they exist give me something that would corroborate it.

      Then as non sequitur you toss in a couple articles about Snowden that say nothing about the subject at hand. The first talks about a monstermind or some such and the other is a puff piece describing Snowden's lack of facial hair.

      .

      Delete
    6. .

      I have noticed that when ever 'Quirk' is flummoxed he summons the "Rat"

      :o)

      And I have noticed that you always respond, kinda like those rats they condition to push either the black button or the white button in order to be fed.

      When someone here says 'the rat' there is no doubt regarding who is being talked about. You prove it yourself by always responding to the name. Even you know who the rat is. If you don't like being known as the rat, don't respond.

      Easy peasy.

      .

      Delete
    7. Rat is a figment of your imaginationSun Aug 17, 03:27:00 PM EDT

      The name of anonymous posters does not matter, it is the content that is king, 'Quirk'.

      You avoid responding to content, so what difference does it make, who is addressed or who responds to the ad hominem responses about a fictional character, known as "Rat".
      Why should your diarrhea of the mouth be permitted to go on without being commented upon.

      As I said, you summon the "Rat" whenever you are flummoxed by the content of the discussions.
      You acknowledge the truth of that remark.

      Easier than Peasy.

      Delete
    8. .

      :o)

      Rat-drivel from rat-world. You are the Humphrey Dumpty of the blogosphere. You share the same intellectual lineage and like old HD, you too are a little cracked.

      .

      Delete
  20. Three points:

    * We get some interesting visitors from some interesting places
    * This story has been printed in at least two respeectable sources but the source is from an Islamic State
    * More than a few people want Baghdadi dead - I am grateful in any small way where I can be helpful

    ReplyDelete
  21. Another commander said Kurdish forces later were hindered by roadside bombs planted by He added that peshmerga forces had taken the nearby town of Tel Kasouf by Sunday morning.

    "They are advancing slowly. The obstacles are the roadside bombs. It's a Daash tactic," he said, referring to the Islamic State by an Arabic acronym. The commander spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.


    "They have reached inside the dam. There is no fighting, just the (roadside) bombs, and the abandoned buildings are all rigged with explosives," he said. "We will continue to advance and advance until we are given further instruction."


    He said the peshmerga are now waiting for 15 Iraqi military Humvees with mechanized bomb-disposal units. He said some of the explosives had been placed in abandoned buildings by Iraqi troops in an earlier bid to stall the militants' advance.


    On Saturday, the U.S. Central Command said nine airstrikes had been launched near the dam, destroying four armored personnel carriers, seven armed vehicles, two Humvees and another armored vehicle.

    All over but the "mopping up."

    ReplyDelete
  22. This "American Airpower / Iraqi "boots" tactic will work great until they get down South, and have to depend on Iraqi Army, only (no Peshmerga,) and /or hit the big cities. God only knows how long Fallujah, and Mosul will take - not that it should matter to us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      No problemo. We have the drones. they don't.

      .

      Delete
    2. When the extent of your warfighting commitment is sitting around drinking beer, eating barbeque, and flying model airplanes, or zooming around the sky in super-hot, fighter jets, lasting "longer" isn't necessarily a "bug." :)

      Delete
    3. When time and space are on your side, why give up the advantage?

      There is no need to hurry, the ISIS forces can no longer advance, and the Iraqi forces are being asembled, now that the politics have been 'ironed out'.

      False deadlines are not to the advantage of US interests. Whatever those interests may become, over time.

      Delete
  23. Think about this for a moment and let’s follow the current Kurdish train of thought to its logical conclusion. The US isn't going to intervene with "troops-on-the-ground". It would be political suicide here for any politician who voted for it, and the fearlessness of a second-term President alone wouldn't get it done. The most Iraqi-Kurdistan can expect from us is exactly what they asked for; satellite surveillance on Islamic State troop movements, limited air strikes and plenty of funding and equipment to match what the IS stole from Mosul.

    Now the purpose of the Peshmerga is not to combat radical militant Islam, it is to defend Kurdistan. This means western powers can use the Kurds as our pawns to fight the Islamic State since none of us want to commit our own troops; but we can only do that in a defensive capacity. The article quotes a Kurd admitting that the only reason the Islamic State is in Kurdistan is because they were reluctant to strike Baghdad; but arming the Peshmerga to the teeth and taking away the Islamic State's element of surprise with surveillance will make them retreat into their own territories; possibly reexamining their strategy and going to Baghdad. In that scenario the Kurds would no longer be obligated to fight them, as Baghdad, or whoever else IS attacks, isn't their concern.

    Even in the best scenario funding the Kurds alone will not solve the problem of the Islamic State.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's probably pretty much correct. A rough guess might be that the farther South you go, the more it will be up to the Iraqi Army (and, the Quds,) to do the "boots on the ground" thing.

      The bad news is, the Shia aren't very good at the whole "Army" thing.

      The Good news is, they don't have to be "really good."

      Overwhelming numbers + Home Field Advantage + Close Air Support + Time = oughtta get'r done.

      Delete
  24. I KNOW that the Israeli Defence Forces are famous in song and legend.

    Humanitarian, courageous, self-sacrificing, restrained, willing to give their own lives for the innocents among their enemies, etc, etc.

    Leon Uris’s Exodus — a racist, fictional account of the birth of Israel in which Arabs are rarely mentioned without the adjectives “dirty” and “stinking” — was one of the best pieces of Socialist-Zionist propaganda that Israel could have sought. Even Ben Gurion agreed, claiming that it was “the greatest thing ever written about Israel”, although he correctly dismissed any literary qualities this nonsense might have possessed.

    But when the Israeli ambassador to the US told us (after almost 2,000 Palestinians had been slaughtered, most of them civilians) that the Israeli army should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its “unimaginable restraint” in the Gaza war, I had to glance at the calendar. Was it April 1, perhaps? Was this some kind of gargantuan joke, so obscene, so grotesquely inappropriate, that it contained some inner meaning, some kernel of truth, which I had missed? The Nobel Prize for “unimaginable restraint”, according to Ron Dermer, should have been solemnly handed out to an army which much of the world believes guilty of war crimes.

    Of course, Ron was talking to a Washington summit of Christians United for Israel, and his audience, despite a bit of heckling, was receptive enough.

    After all, Christian fundamentalists in the US believe all Jews must convert to Christianity after the Battle of Armageddon, so they could certainly support a Nobel prize or two for the Israeli army’s “unimaginable” restraint.

    Oddly, I find myself more in awe of the word “unimaginable” — what does this mean, for heaven’s sake? — than the “restraint” which the West always begs of Israel when it is flattening villages and cities (along with their occupants) in its various civilisational wars.

    Besides, if the Nobel Peace Prize can be awarded to President Barack Obama — presumably for public-speaking — why not hand the wretched thing to the IDF after another bloody war?

    {...}

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. {...}

      Is Dermer, one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most trusted advisers, simply delusional? At one point in his extraordinary address, he even referred to the carpet-bombing of German cities by British warplanes in the Second World War — as if this was the template for Israel’s “restraint”. It was like the old Blair refrain that whatever mistakes we made in Iraq, we weren’t as bad as Saddam.

      Well, I should hope not. But then Dermer went on: “I especially will not tolerate criticism of my country at a time when Israeli soldiers are dying so that innocent Palestinians can live.”

      These soldiers, according to Dermer, were being sent “into the hornet’s nest of Palestinian terror” — but were trying to save “innocent” Palestinian lives.

      Is the man delusional? Well, don’t jump to this conclusion too fast. At the height of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza two weeks ago, its embassy in Dublin posted images on its official Twitter feed of the statue of Molly Malone in Dublin’s fair city — dressed in a niqab, the long black Muslim headscarf, but this was either racist or monumentally childish. Over the image — Malone’s statue stands outside my old university, Trinity College in Dublin — were plastered in capitals the words: “Israel now, Dublin next”.

      In case you think this was only for Irish consumers, another picture, addressed to Paris, depicted the Mona Lisa in a hijab and holding a missile.

      For Italy, the Israelis provided a picture of Michelangelo’s David with a skirt made of explosives. Denmark received a picture of the Little Mermaid holding a huge gun. “Israel is the last frontier of the free world,” was written on each.

      This is surely beyond delusional. This is insane. A week earlier, the Israeli embassy in Dublin tweeted a picture of Hitler with the words “Free Palestine Now!”. These insulting tweets were taken down, but not before the Israeli ambassador to Ireland, Boaz Modai, had uttered the imperishable remark that “we are now in the middle of a war and I have other things to deal with”.

      {...}

      Delete

    2. {...}

      Well, you would have thought so, wouldn’t you? But alas, Modai, who has been a diplomat in London and the Holy See, was ambassador in Dublin more than two years ago when, at Christmas, his embassy’s Facebook page carried a post which said that if Mary and Jesus were alive today, they would “probably end up being lynched by hostile Palestinians”.

      Accompanied by a picture of Jesus and Mary, the embassy’s comment read: “A thought for Christmas... If Jesus and mother Mary were alive today, they would, as Jews without security, probably end up being lynched in Bethlehem by hostile Palestinians. Just a thought...”

      Among the comments condemning this outrageous message was one which read: “Have you no regard for honesty whatsoever? If Jesus and Mary were alive today, they would be protesting against the Israeli occupation of Palestine, along with all the Palestinian Christians living in Bethlehem.”

      The embassy later took down the Facebook post, explaining that it was made “without the consent of the administrator of the page”, and cheerfully adding:

      “Apologies to anyone who may have been offended. Merry Christmas!”

      I personally know several Israeli diplomats, one of whom — an experienced and retired ambassador whose family champion Palestinian rights — must be appalled at this tomfoolery. So are these ambassadors delusional?

      On balance, I fear not. I suspect they accurately represent a truly delusional government which is shaming the state of Israel.

      Canada toes Netanyahu’s line: Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, more pro-Israel than Netanyahu it seems, announced to his people that Canada would react to a “terrorist” in just the same way as Israel.

      After the US condemned Israel for shelling a UN school sheltering 3,000 Palestinians, Harper, as my old friend Haroon Siddique wrote in the Toronto Star, “showed no compassion”. Instead, Harper announced: “We hold the terrorist organisation Hamas responsible for this. They have initiated this conflict and continue to seek the destruction of Israel.”

      It might have come from the pages of Leon Uris’s old paperback. Maybe it did, because even Canadian Liberals under Pierre Trudeau’s son, Justin, have pathetically lined up behind Harper’s Conservatives. But given the exchange rate for casualties this past month — around one Israeli for every 28 Palestinians — I suppose it is only a matter of time before someone recommends the rocket-firing and corrupt Hamas for the Nobel Peace Prize, on account of its “unimaginable restraint”.

      By arrangement with The Independent

      Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2014

      ROBERT FISK

      Delete
    3. There was no such thing as a "palestinian" arabs at the time of Jesus, the arab hoards had not invaded until 637 ce.

      Islam still had yet to be invented and arabs still lived in arabia.

      Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the "west bank" were all Jewish lands, occupied by the Romans.


      Delete
    4. "But given the exchange rate for casualties this past month — around one Israeli for every 28 Palestinians"

      Wow, what is interesting is that Palestinians, Hezbollah and Hamas all demand 1,000 arabs in exchange for one Jewish captive, alive or dead.

      So the Arabs are assessing the value of a Jew, alive or just his dismembered body parts as worth 1,000 to one....

      If it's now 28 to 1, the value of Jewish prisoners and killed has dropped...

      Delete
    5. "If Jesus and Mary were alive today, they would be protesting against the Israeli occupation of Palestine, along with all the Palestinian Christians living in Bethlehem.”

      If jesus and mary were alive today? they'd be jewish settlers just like the rest of the jews...

      Delete
    6. (after almost 2,000 Palestinians had been slaughtered, most of them civilians)


      Now that's a joke.

      MOST were terrorists....

      But you can get your numbers from Hamas and believe them, but please deduct the couple of hundred palestinian kids that were killed by Hamas that were digging tunnels, the dozens executed by firing squads for protesting and of course the Palestinians shot execution style for collaborating... Then deduct those "civilians" that were listed 2- 3 times. Then deduct those names of the civilians that were actual Hamas members...

      Delete
    7. .

      Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the "west bank" were all Jewish lands, occupied by the Romans. (1)


      (1) Ref. pg 376 WiO and Allen's Alternate History of the Universe.

      .

      Delete
    8. .

      So the Arabs are assessing the value of a Jew, alive or just his dismembered body parts as worth 1,000 to one....

      All depends on how you look at it. The Arabs would like to get all their people for a single Israeli if they could whether that was 100 or a 100,000. It is Israel that ultimately sets the price in the negotiations. Now if you argued that Israel believes one Israeli life is worth 1000 Arabs your argument would be on firmer ground.

      .

      Delete
    9. QUirk, either way...

      But the reality is the Hamas, Hezbollah, Syrians and PLO have demanded 1000 to one... or in some cases 1000 to a piece of one...

      Delete
    10. QuirkSun Aug 17, 07:04:00 PM EDT
      .

      Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the "west bank" were all Jewish lands, occupied by the Romans. (1)


      (1) Ref. pg 376 WiO and Allen's Alternate History of the Universe.

      .

      Quirk, really get a grip, Judea and Samaria Jerusalem, Galilee, Bethlehem were all Jewish towns, cities and villages that were occupied by the Romans, have you no real history in your brain?

      Delete
    11. .

      Don't be stupid, WiO. By the same token you use we could be talking of all the Cannanite lands occupied by the Jews. Jerusalem was a 'town' a thousand years before a bunch of marauding sheep herders arrived there and conquered it while declaring all the land around it a friggin 'promised land' and proceeded to conquer it.

      Give up the historical homeland bullshit. It could inevitably lead to talk of Cannanite towns sacked and destroyed, of rape and pillage, and of the genocide of a people.

      .

      Delete
    12. Then the myths of Arab as indegious people are vacated as well

      Then it's about who holds the land.

      Israel is

      Palestine us not

      Case closed

      Delete
  25. As mentioned above, the Iraqi / Kurdish relationship will not bring the Kurds into Tikrit.
    But they will roll on to Mosul.

    14June2014ATHENS (Reuters) - Baghdad will cooperate with Kurdish forces to flush out militants from Mosul, Iraq's foreign minister said on Wednesday, a day after an al Qaeda splinter group seized the country's second biggest city.

    "There will be closer cooperation between Baghdad and the regional Kurdistan government to work together and flush out these foreign fighters," Hoshyar Zebari said on the sidelines of a EU-Arab League meeting in Athens.

    He called on all Iraqi leaders to come together to face the "serious, mortal" threat to the country. "The response has to be soon. There has to be a quick response to what has happened," he said.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/r-iraq-says-to-work-with-kurdish-forces-to-retake-mosul-2014-11#ixzz3AghFP82O

    As the Kurds put pressure on the ISIS forces in the northern Tigris basin, the Iraqi Army will begin to move on the Euphrates River towns and villages. The twin offenses should strain the logistic capability.

    Iraqi military advancing against IS(ISIS), reportedly retakes Ramadi

    While most of the media's attention has been focused on northern Iraq and IS(ISIS) advances there against Iraqi Peshmerga forces, the Iraqi military has been attacking IS positions in central Iraq.

    This has partly been to keep IS forces in central Iraq occupied so that they couldn't be transferred to northern Iraq.

    Today there are reports that Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar Governorate ~100 km west of Baghdad, has been retaken by the Iraqi military.

    There are also reports that the Iraqi military is making progress in other areas of the Anbar Governorate and in Tikrit.

    The Iraqi Air Force is also bombing locations near Mosul and Jalawla in support of Peshmerga forces.

    I have also been hearing interesting news from Syria.

    Reportedly IS is once again pushing towards Azaz, the town north of Aleppo where Sen. McCain met with 'rebels', and may be less than 10 km from the town.

    Their aim is to retake control of the border crossing just north of Azaz, this would reduce the number of 'rebel' controlled border crossings on the Turkish-Syrian border to one.

    I have also been hearing that IS has been suffering setbacks in the parts of Syria east of the Euphrates under their control as Syrian Kurdish forces have been able to defeat IS attacks on them and some Arab tribes have begun to rebel against IS in these areas.

    ReplyDelete
  26. HAMAS REJECTS 'FINAL' CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL: 'DEATH FOR ALLAH IS OUR MOST EXALTED WISH'

    JERUSALEM - Hamas reportedly rejected a comprehensive, 11-clause long term ceasefire proposal on Saturday. Egypt has warned that this proposal will be its final effort to secure a lasting end to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
    According to details leaked by Egyptian newspaper al-Shorouk, the 11-clause proposal contained several key concessions to the Palestinian delegation, including the opening of border crossings between Israel and Gaza, the elimination of the so-called "buffer zones" along the Israel-Gaza border, the extension of the fishing zone to 12 miles off the Gazan coast, and the assistance of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in rebuilding the infrastructure of the Gaza Strip.
    The proposal also called for negotiations to resume after a month of quiet, at which time the issues of a seaport and airport in Gaza would be discussed. Egypt has warned that its latest proposal will be its final effort, Israel Radio reported on Friday.
    Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said the Egyptian proposal did not meet the needs of the Palestinian people.
    "Israel must agree to the demands of the Palestinian people, or it will face a long war of attrition," Hamdan wrote in a Facebook post.
    Another member of the Palestinian delegation, Bassam Salhi, said progress was being made in the negotiations but put the chance of a long-term ceasefire agreement at "no greater than 50%," according to Ynet News.
    The armed military wing of Hamas, the Iz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, tweeted the following message on Saturday night, vowing to "continue the struggle."
    We are continuing our struggle. ALLAH IS OUR GOAL, THE PROPHET IS OUR LEADER, JIHAD IS OUR WAY, AND DEATH FOR ALLAH IS OUR MOST EXALTED WISH
    — Al-Qassam Brigades (@Qassam_English) August 16, 2014

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hamas will fight to the death of every Palestinian baby, woman and child...

      Meanwhile Deuce will blame Israel, Bibi and the Congaline and Zionist...

      Delete
  27. They are not stupid. They want freedom from the Israeli controlled compound. Israel just totally wrecked the area and they do not want to go back to the same old occupation and humiliation from their tormenters, the IDf and the settlers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Totally? Naw, but you just cry wolf, we are used to it..

      When Hamas starts shooting rockets and the IDF responds, you have already claimed Israel already "Totally" wrecked the area, you should have nothing more to bitch about..

      Delete
    2. Maybe Israel should just occupy the Gaza Strip again, arrest and execute the terrorists and treat the people of gaza like the Americans treated the Nazis and their kids...

      Delete
    3. .

      Maybe Israel should just occupy the Gaza Strip again...

      Do it. Not only that but them them take over the West Bank as well.

      The Palestinians would be better off than living in an open-air prison.

      But it won't happen. It is cheaper for Israel to run an open air prison than to absorb the cost of managing Gaza. As for the West Bank, the additional costs including the security challenge would bankrupt the country.

      I've said it before. Hamas is stupid and their rockets attacks are counterproductive. From day one, they should have sought remedy through a non-violent approach; peaceful protests, general strikes, boycotts, etc. They would have had their country years ago. Not only would they have an economic hammer to wield but they would also have greater moral authority behind them and even more public support.

      .

      Delete
  28. Of course, I blame Bibi and that phony national existential threat over the three missing teens that he manipulated to destroy huge parts of Gaza, displace 100,000 people and kill 2000. He is a criminal and the UN has deemed the entire Gaza compound as an Israeli illegal confinement. ...and the IDF...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SHHH...

      HAMAS started the Gaza War by shooting rockets...

      But you keep defending Hamas.... Says a lot about your point of view...

      BTW, Hamas are terrorists as defined by the UN as well as Europe, the USA, and most of the world...

      Yep you support Hamas.

      I support Bibi, the IDF and Israel

      Delete
    2. You don't appear to have been following the events closely enough. Three Jewish students were kidnapped and murdered, almost immediately after their abduction. The Israeli government knew this and yet supported a campaign to "Bring Back Our Boys". They proceeded to round up, arrest and (even) kill Palestinians they considered to be affiliated with Hamas. They ransacked West Bank homes, stole property and demolished two suspects homes. Netanayahu claimed he had irrefutable evidence Hamas were involved but has never produced this evidence. An Israeli spokesman has admitted that they now do not suspect Hamas of involvement.
      It's fair to say that this was really an attack on the unification efforts of Hamas and Fatah and the searches for the three abducted students was bogus because they knew they were dead. The attack on Hamas was responded to with rocket fire. The Israelis then proceeded with the disproportionate attack on Gaza, killing 70% civilians. In response, rocket fire killed 1 Israeli Bedouin Arab (unprotected from rocket attacks, no shelters for Bedouin), a Thai worker and a person supplying food to checkpoint soldiers (I think in military circles it's called logistics). So, the Gaza resistance killed almost exclusively enemy combatants. Israel flattened many parts of Gaza knowing that many innocent civilians would die.
      Hamas could have surely used some of their many tunnels to attack civilians but decided instead to attack military targets. The defined 'terrorists' it seems can teach the most moral army (self proclaimed) a thing or two about safeguarding civilians (a statistical fact).

      Delete
  29. Meanwhile, I've been fishing and haven't missed a thing....

    Cordelia X reporting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We were hoping for something a liitle longer than a fishing trip... but home is where when you have to go there they have to take you in ...welcome back.

      Delete
  30. What's Quart's take on all this?

    A fifth or a half gallon?



    ReplyDelete
  31. <<<>>> The Zionists thought the division historically unfounded and unfair. They would have resisted, but they were moved by the mortal threats Jews were facing in Germany at a time when the haven of the United States was largely closed to them. Desperate for any program to save Jews, the Zionists reluctantly accepted the commission's partition plan. Not so the Palestinians, who rejected partition and instead initiated an armed revolt. They vowed to drown the fledgling Jewish state in rivers of blood.

    For the next 75 years, a Zionist willingness to compromise was met by Palestinian rejection embedded in a deep-rooted hatred of Jews. So much so that Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the most powerful leader of the Palestinian people in the 1930s, became a Nazi collaborator. He promised to aid the Nazis by stirring up the Arabs to fight the British and overseeing Arabic language Nazi propaganda that spoke of the affinities between the hatred for Jews of Islamic people and the Nazis.<<<>>>

    http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/hate-israel-article-1.1905354

    <<<>>>

    If you don't know history, you don't know anything. Too much of the commentary on the relations between the Palestinians and the Israelis testifies to the validity of the late author Michael Crichton's dictum.

    The ignoramus is a leaf who doesn't know he is part of a tree, and the hooligans parading in Paris, London, Seattle and Calgary with "end the Nazi occupation of Palestine" and Hamas-Hezbollah banners are part of an odious history of anti-Semitism.<<<>>>


    I'd add the ignoramus is a leaf that doesn't know he is out of his tree.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      The Palestinian leadership has never put forth comprehensive proposals aimed at reaching a compromise, but instead has stated only impossible goals and never budged from them, remaining inflexible on its demands for territory, Jerusalem and refugees. When the dust settles, it always finds a way to blame Israel.


      My response,

      The Israeli leadership has never put forth comprehensive proposals aimed at reaching a compromise, but instead has stated only impossible goals and never budged from them, remaining inflexible on its demands for territory, Jerusalem and refugees. When the dust settles, it always finds a way to blame the Palestinians.

      There is plenty of blame to spread around from both sides. Only an ignoramus would not recognize that fact.

      .

      .


      Delete
    2. The Israeli leadership accepted the 2 state solution in 1948 and offered a 2 state solution numerous times after the Arabs declared war and lost.

      In the real world, the arabs keep starting and losing wars and still will not accept reality, they want 100%, no compromise.

      In the real world, offers for peace are not good forever.

      Hamas, the Palestinians? Have declined offers for peace and have decided to go to a "phased solutions" for the elimination of the Jewish state..

      Delete
    3. .

      Believe what you want. Yet, all one has to do is hear what the various prime ministers say to know they will do whatever they can to prevent a two state solution. When a prime minister is serious about actually negotiating a two-state solution, he is assassinated. When another makes a bid for a solution he is voted out of office.

      The latest Kerry round of 'peace talks' is a perfect example. Bibi demanded that both sides enter the talks with 'no preconditions' then he quickly established his own red lines, Jerusalem remains the capital of Israel, the IDF will continue its military occupation of the West Bank including the Jordan Valley for 'security' purposes, and the PA must recognize Israel as a Jewish State.

      And yet, you talk of the Palestinians as being unwilling to compromise. You're a joke.

      As I've said, you can blame the PA for not negotiating in good faith all you want. There might even be some truth in it. However, if you actually think the Israelis have been bargaining in good faith, you have lost it.

      .

      Delete
    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    5. The issues of refugees is absurd. The arabs want to flood the land with their people. you know that.

      Jerusalem is more complex.

      Arafat should have taken that which was offered and which was more than reasonable but no, his wife. a Mossad agent, so it is rumored, said no. Arafat is dead and she is, last I heard, still living the high life in Paris, France.

      I call Mrs Arafat a 'woman of the world'.

      "As I've said, you can blame the PA for not negotiating in good faith all you want. There might even be some truth in it."

      Yuppers, might well be......

      ;)

      Quart is progressing. He is currently working on political bumper stickers for the Hillary Campaign, and simply needs more time, and perhaps a good tutor.

      Delete
  32. For Quart -

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b69LG2Uggg

    -- on me !

    ReplyDelete
  33. I'm too apprehensive to even inch up the page and see what others have said......

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hatred of Jews, or hatred of those that took their land, and their lives?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Comments just like yours......a leaf that doesn't know it is out of its tree...aka ignoramus

      ;)

      Delete
    2. Why is it the palestinian's land?

      They stole it from the Jews...

      Delete
  35. I'm becoming terrified of reading anything.....

    Holder Orders Second Autopsy for Ferguson Teen's Death...

    Witness Conversation Unknowingly Captured at Scene 'a Game-Changer'...

    Black Panthers Lead Massive March...

    PROTESTER CARRIES WOODEN CROSS...

    Convenience Store Manager Terrified of Being Murdered...

    NYT: White flight suburbs retain white power structure...

    Unrest Shows Poverty Grows Fastest in Suburbs...

    Media Draws Map to Home of Cop...

    HUFFPO Reporter Mistakes Foam Earplugs for Rubber Bullets................drudge

    With this:

    KAREEM: Coming Race War Won't Be About Race...

    Picture here


    CURF-U

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is that the river calling again.....?

      I'm too old for all this.

      Delete
  36. The Mosul Dam fell under the control of Islamic State militants earlier this month. Control of the dam, Iraq's biggest, could give the Sunni fundamentalists the ability to flood cities and cut off vital water and electricity supplies.

    The U.S. Central Command said on Sunday the United States conducted a second day of air strikes against Islamic State fighters near the dam, using a mix of fighter, bomber, attack and remotely-piloted aircraft. Central Command said the 14 strikes on Sunday damaged or destroyed 10 armed vehicles, seven Humvees and two armored personnel carriers of the Islamic State as well as one of the militants' checkpoints.

    The strikes followed nine U.S. air strikes on Saturday. "All strike aircraft exited the strikes areas safely," Central Command said in a statement.


    ReplyDelete
  37. Iran Tells UN Nuclear Chief No Talks on Missiles
    TEHRAN, Iran — Aug 17, 2014, 10:29 AM ET
    By Nasser Karimi Associated Press
    Associated Press

    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told the visiting head of the UN nuclear watchdog on Sunday that Tehran will not discuss its long-range missile program as part of talks aimed at resolving a decade-long nuclear dispute, official media reported.

    "Iran's missile power is not negotiable at any level under any pretext," Rouhani told Yukiya Amano, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the official IRNA news service reported.

    The president added, however, that Iran is prepared to cooperate with the IAEA's probe into whether its civilian nuclear program has a military component, "Since there is no room for using a weapon of mass destruction in Iran's defense doctrine."

    Western nations have long suspected Iran of covertly seeking a nuclear weapons capability, accusations denied by Tehran, which insists its nuclear program is only for civilian purposes like power generation and the production of medical isotopes.

    Iran's long-range missile program is of major concern for Israel, which fears it may one day mount nuclear warheads on the projectiles and has not ruled out military action to prevent that from happening. Iran insists the missile program is a vital deterrent to a possible Israeli attack.

    "We only accept those legal inspections by the agency that are in the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and safeguards," Rouhani was quoted as saying. "Any inspection beyond the legal framework will harm entire developing countries."

    Amano's visit comes as world powers continue to negotiate with the Islamic Republic in hopes of reaching a permanent deal to curb its nuclear ambitions in exchange for the lifting of crippling international sanctions.

    The IAEA is trying to investigate allegations that Iran secretly worked on nuclear weapons -- something Tehran denies. The US and its allies insist that any overall nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic must include a conclusion by the agency that Iran has fully cooperated with its probe.

    Amano also met Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the head of its nuclear agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, who said the two discussed exploding bridge wire detonators, which can be used to set off nuclear bombs but also have civilian industrial applications.

    "Our colleagues today answered all questions on this," Salehi was quoted by IRNA as saying. He added that he hoped Amano would "take important steps on the issue and close the case, which is being finalized."

    An IAEA report in May said Iran provided information and explanations that "the simultaneous firing of EBW was tested for civilian applications."

    During his meeting with Rouhani on Sunday, Amano was quoted by IRNA as saying "the trend of the talks with Iran over the past year has been progressive and positive."

    He added, however, that the agency was concerned about the slow pace of the nuclear talks, saying he hoped the outstanding issues could be settled in a “logical time span.”
    -------------------------------

    Israel has demonstrated to the World that Iran needs a deterrent system that would prevent a ruthless unprovoked attack by the Israelis. Netanyahu, the Israeli political establishment and the brutal attack on urban Gaza, Saudi support for ISIS and Israeli air attacks on Syria should be proof enough of the wisdom and need for an Iranian nuclear deterrent. A militaristic Israel simply cannot be trusted.

    ReplyDelete
  38. VOA News
    August 18, 2014 3:04 AM

    Israeli troops have demolished the homes of two Palestinians suspected in the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teens in June, which helped sparked a war that has left more than 2,000 people dead.

    The army said it demolished the homes Monday and sealed off the home of a third suspect.

    One of the men, Hussam Kawasma, was taken into custody in July, while the other two remain at large.

    The demolitions come as the two sides near the end of a five-day cease-fire during which negotiators have not been able to agree on a lasting end to the fighting.

    The truce runs out at the end of the day Monday.

    Israel has been seeking the demilitarization of Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, while Palestinians want Israel to end its eight-year blockade of Gaza.

    ------------------------------

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. wow they KILLED 2 homes...

      it's home genocide...


      Israel has been seeking the demilitarization of Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip as per OSLO, while Palestinians want Israel to end. PERIOD

      Delete
    2. .

      It is collective punishment since whole extended families are punished not just the perps. It was SOP until 2005 and was meant to teach a lesson. After 2005, the practice was stopped as it was judged counterproductive. Now with Bibi running the show...well...he is reliable.

      .

      Delete
    3. maybe Israel should do what America does and bomb the house full of that extended family?

      Delete
    4. amazing standards of bullshit quirk...

      really...

      Delete
    5. .

      Although it doesn't conform to your distorted view of history or for that matter your reality, mine was merely a simple statement of fact. This case has been going through the courts for the past couple weeks. The last I had heard the courts had put a stay on the destruction of the homes.

      If the story Deuce posted is true either the courts reversed themselves or Bibi ignored them.

      Whether the story is true or not, Bibi's intent is clear.

      Your first response is unsurprising. Your second is I assume a rhetorical hypothetical. The third is just plain stupid since all I did was state a couple of facts. You can either deny the facts or react to them. If the latter, I would suggest you stick with your first answer. Instead of making you look stupid, it merely makes you look 'reliable'.

      .

      Delete
    6. What is "Occupation"Mon Aug 18, 09:19:00 AM EDT
      maybe Israel should do what America does and bomb the house full of that extended family?

      Delete


      If this is not representative of the definition of an Israeli-firster, the term has no meaning.

      Delete
  39. I always think distrustfully of the Israelis when I hear their leaders yammering on about bringing about the end of the world as we know it. and initiating a new world era of eviternal peace through the creation of chaos and mass death.

    :(










    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meanwhile in Nigeria -

      Boko Haram abduct dozens of BOYS in northeast Nigeria.......Drudge

      Delete
  40. No need to be proven guilty in Israel. Being a “suspect” will get your home bulldozed by the occupiers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No need to be guilty of anything, Hamas, the PLO or Hezbollah will get your home blown up with you in it if you are a Jew.

      Delete
    2. No need to be guilty of anything, Palestinians will shoot you, blow up your school bus, or attack you while eating at a restaurant. Let me correct that, if you are a Jew you are guilty and as per the Hamas Charter? Should be killed on the spot.

      Hamas and the PA both murder Israelis as policy. It's their set goal to murder innocents on purpose.

      And you are bitching that the IDF demolished 2 houses belonging to the very terrorists that executed 3 boys in the back of the head while their arms were tied behind them?

      Get real.

      Delete
  41. The Democratic Party's War On Women In Montana

    'Sacrificial Lamb' Chosen

    <<<>>>The national Democratic party will not pour much money into this race, and most of their big donors will avoid it too. Curtis is a sacrificial lamb being led to the slaughter.<<<>>>

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/08/montana_democrats_choose_unknown_state_legislator_to_replace_walsh.html

    F..king Democrats letting a woman shed her blood..........

    ReplyDelete
  42. Activists protesting military actions and the blockade of the Gaza Strip have set plans into motion to shut down ports along North America’s West Coast to stop an Israeli cargo ship from docking and unloading its cargo. “Block the Boat” began devising strategies after a Palestinian union put out a call to hold Israel accountable for alleged violations of human rights in Palestine.


    In the first such protest yesterday in Oakland, California, approximately 500 people marched from a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in west Oakland to that city’s port. They later claimed victory, saying news of their protest made its way to the ship’s captain, who ultimately decided not to dock as scheduled on Saturday afternoon. As of Saturday night the ship remained approximately 100 miles south, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monterey. Reem Assil, of San Francisco’s Arab Resource Organizing Center, said he and others involved “were really proud of this victory.”

    Attempting to create a link between the current rampages and subsequent police response in Ferguson, Mo., and the difficulties in the Gaza Strip, the crowd recited chants claiming that police brutality in Ferguson is the same crime as the what has been happening in Palestine. At least one local member of the local International Longshoremen and Warehousemen Unions (ILWU), Clarence Thomas, believes that people in Ferguson and those in Gaza have become connected. “This must be repeated elsewhere,” he said. Jennifer Sargent, a spokeswoman for the ILWU, said that her union “is not involved with any actions regarding incoming Zim ships.”

    The non-support of ILWU contrasts with its actions of 2010, when the union cooperated with activists at the Port of Oakland to stop an Israeli freighter from unloading. That action was a response to the international blockade of the Gaza Strip.

    Members of Block the Boat said their intent in keeping the Israeli-owned ZIM Lines ship from unloading was to protest Israel’s recent military operations in the Gaza Strip and also their contention that Israel is an occupier of Palestine. Israel disputes the claim that it is an occupier of the Gaza Strip, arguing that such occupation stopped when it disengaged from the area in 2005.

    Saturday’s blockade occurred as a response to a July 31 press release from The Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), which called upon “all governments and international bodies” to stop Israel from warring against Palestine. Describing Israel as a “heartless machine,” the document blames the country for unspecified crimes.

    A Palestinian in California, Monadel Herzallah, said that he and other protestors want to hold Israel responsible for “the genocide” in Gaza. Attempts to receive comment from the Israeli consulate were not successful. Similar protests are anticipated in the coming weeks in Vancouver and Seattle and attempts to receive comment from an Israeli consulate in the U.S. were not successful.

    With North American headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Limited is the world’s tenth biggest shipping company and Israel’s largest. Protestors desire nothing less than a complete lock-out of commercial shipping from Israel along the west coasts of Canada and the U.S.

    A spokesperson for the Port of Oakland could not confirm that the non-docking of the Israeli ship was related to the activists’ protest against the problems in the Gaza Strip. Police assembled in a line in front of Berth 57 to restrict access to the property. Oakland Police did not make any arrests or issue citations.

    By Gregory Baskin

    Sources:
    Oakland Tribune
    KTVU
    The Jerusalem Post
    Aljazeera
    Palestinian National Information Center


    Read more at http://guardianlv.com/2014/08/gaza-strip-protests-to-stop-israeli-ship-from-docking-in-u-s-and-canada/#KZdlFl5uO5fHTeb8.99

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Palestinian in California, Monadel Herzallah, said that he and other protestors want to hold Israel responsible for “the genocide” in Gaza.

      Maybe Israel should listen and just cause that "genocide" they are being accused of?

      Then what?

      A Palestinian in California, Monadel Herzallah, said that he and other protestors want to hold Israel responsible for “the REALLY REAL genocide” in Gaza?

      So Sorry 2000 people killed, 1/2 terrorists does not make a genocide.

      Just crying wolf...

      Delete
  43. August 17, 2014
    Islamic State massacres 700 Syrian tribesmen
    By Rick Moran

    Seven hundred members of the al-Sheitaat tribe in Syria have been massacred by Islamic State forces, according to reports from the Syrian Human Rights Observatory.

    Many of the executions were beheadings.

    Reuters:

    "Those who were executed are all al-Sheitaat," Observatory director Rami Abdelrahman said by telephone from Britain. "Some were arrested, judged and killed."

    Reuters cannot independently verify reports from Syria due to security conditions and reporting restrictions.

    Proclaiming a 'caliphate' straddling parts of Iraq and Syria, Islamic State has swept across northern Iraq in recent weeks, pushing back Kurdish regional forces and driving tens of thousands of Muslims, Christians and members of the Yazidi religious minority from their homes, prompting the first U.S. air strikes in Iraq since the withdrawal of American troops in 2011.

    The insurgents are also tightening their grip in Syria, of which they now control roughly a third, mostly rural areas in the north and east.

    An activist in Deir al-Zor who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters that 300 men were executed in one day in the town of Ghraneij, one of the three main towns of the al-Sheitaat tribal heartland, when Islamic State stormed the town earlier this week.

    Another opposition activist from Deir al-Zor said residents of al-Sheitaat towns had been given three days to leave.

    "Those who were executed during the storming of the al-Sheitaat area are around 300. The rest were killed in the course of the battles," he told Reuters on condition of anonymity to protect his identity.

    Civilians fleeing al-Sheitaat towns had either taken sanctuary in other villages or travelled to Iraq, he said.

    More than 170,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war, which pits overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim rebels against President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Shi'ite-derived Alawite minority, backed by Shi'ite militias from Iraq and Lebanon.

    The Islamic State will never be defeated in Iraq until it is defeated in Syria. This has led to some bizarre suggestions.There are some real politik pundits who have suggested that we make an alliance with Syrian President Bashar Assad in order to defeat Islamic State.

    That's not going to happen, but it points up how desperate the situation is becoming for the Syrian opposition.They've been fighting Islamic State as well as Hezb'allah and Assad's regular army and, have not been doing well.

    Assad may end up fighting Islamic State anyway, but if things keep going the way they have been, the rebels will become more of a non-factor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/08/islamic_state_massacres_700_syrian_tribesmen.html

      Delete
  44. >>><<>><<<

    Culture counts.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/08/independence_day_in_india_and_pakistan_.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. <<<>>>While democracy flourished in India, Pakistan’s history has been punctuated by coups, military dictatorships, widespread corruption, assassinations, and jihadist attacks. The ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence agency, though it captured some 9/11 terrorists, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, has played a double game, sheltering Bin Laden and continuing to support the Taliban. And the Pakistani Army was responsible for one of the great post-World War II genocides, when the Bengali Muslims of East Pakistan sought independence in 1971. Estimates of the killings range from 300,000 to 3 million, with 6-8 million refugees. Revealingly, while Muslims represent almost 15% of India’s population, 177 million people, Hindus are less than 1.5% of Pakistan’s.

      Not quite the nation of parliamentary democracy and the rule of law, any more than India is a network of little, peaceable ashrams, where the spinning wheels hum and the Gita is chanted.<<<>>>

      Culture counts.

      Delete
  45. .

    Missouri's governor ordered the National Guard onto the streets of Ferguson early Monday after another night of violence following the shooting of an unarmed black teen by police in the St. Louis suburb. "Tonight, a day of hope, prayers, and peaceful protests was marred by the violent criminal acts of an organized and growing number of individuals, many from outside the community and state, whose actions are putting the residents and businesses of Ferguson at risk," Gov. Jay Nixon said in a statement. "Given these deliberate, coordinated and intensifying violent attacks on lives and property in Ferguson, I am directing the highly capable men and women of the Missouri National Guard to assist ... in restoring peace and order to this community.”

    The St. Louis suburb has been roiled by unrest following the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown last weekend. Earlier, the Highway Patrol captain appointed to oversee security in Ferguson defended using tear gas as part of the police response violence which erupted Sunday night. Capt. Ron Johnson said law enforcement "had to act to protect lives and property" in the hours before a state-imposed curfew that had been due to take effect at midnight local time. Shooting was reported at 8:25 p.m. local time (9:25 p.m. ET), Johnson said. Shots were later fired at police, Molotov cocktails were hurled at officers and makeshift barricades set up, he added. Johnson said police "deployed tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd." Looters also targeted a Domino's Pizza outlet, a Family Dollar store, an auto-parts retailer and a self-storage business. Employees of a McDonald's restaurant hid in a storage room after it was "overrun" by a large crowd. At least two people were injured amid the chaos but no officers were injured, Johnson said. At least seven arrests were made by early Monday. Authorities also announced that schools in Ferguson would be closed on Monday.


    VIDEO

    http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/national-guard-ordered-streets-ferguson-missouri-n182826

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you realize that all these National Guards are unconstitutional usurpations of the people's power.

      What is needed is the Arizona militia to get in there and clean up the mess.

      There is a transcript of a short conversation between two young black youth at the time of the shooting that tends to back up the police view of events. I hope the autopsy report includes toxicology results. The transcript basically reads as the victim charged the police and just kept on charging the police. "The police are missing" or some such language is heard, meaning not shooting well......

      Delete
    2. Here's the article -

      http://www.ijreview.com/2014/08/168698-eyewitness-recalls-important-detail-background-video-mins-ferguson-shooting/

      Delete
  46. .

    UK papers are reporting.

    Heavily armed gunmen attacked a convoy of diplomatic vehicles belonging to a Saudi prince in the north of Paris on Sunday evening.

    The eight attackers armed with Kalashnikovs forced the convoy to stop around 9pm near Porte de la Chapelle.

    They stole €250,000 (£200,000) and what were described as "sensitive documents" belonging to the Saudi embassy purported to contain information on Saudi involvement in the forming of ISIS and the funding of al-Baghdadi this before hijacking one of the vehicles and taking occupants hostage.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  47. The dam in Iraq is back under Iraqi control - at least the big one is, there is a smaller one, according to Fox. Due to our air strikes.

    There seems to be a move in Congress of both parties for a new coalition of the willing to stop ISIS and 'stabilize' the situation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ISIS has seen its best days. One day it may be ISN'T.

      Delete