COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

US Jihadi, convert from Christianity, raised in Florida, Suicide bomber, Dead in Syria

Coming to a mall near you?

Douglas McCain









Officials: American fighting for ISIS killed in Syria

By Greg Botelho and Jim Sciutto, CNN
updated 6:48 PM EDT, Tue August 26, 2014


STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: "There's going to be more of this," ex-general says of Douglas McCain's story
McCain converted to Islam years ago; family saw Facebook posts sympathetic to ISIS
Group says McCain died fighting for ISIS against a rival extremist group in Aleppo
U.S. officials: McCain was among tracked Americans thought to be in militant groups

(CNN) -- An American man died last weekend in Syria while fighting for ISIS, two U.S. officials told CNN, the latest evidence of the reach of a terror group that's become increasingly powerful and feared in the eyes of Americans.

The man's uncle, Ken McCain, said that his nephew had gone to fight as a jihadi and that the U.S. State Department told the family Monday about the death.

Douglas McArthur McCain, 33, died in a battle between rival extremist groups in the suburbs of Aleppo, Syria's once-bustling commercial capital and largest city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group that monitors the conflict.

Like the U.S. officials, the group characterized McCain as an ISIS fighter and said he was killed battling al-Nusra Front, an al Qaeda-linked organization that the U.S. government has blacklisted as a foreign terror organization.

McCain is not the first American to fight alongside militants in Syria. Attorney General Eric Holder estimated this summer that there are 7,000 foreign fighters in the war-ravaged Middle Eastern nation, many from places like Europe and the United States. Last month, National Counterterrorism Center Director Matt Olsen surmised that about 100 of those who have flocked to join militants in Syria are American.


Nor is McCain the first of these American militants to die in Syria. Islamists touted the role of a 22-year-old man -- identified by U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki as Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, who grew up and went to school in Florida -- in a Syria suicide bombing conducted in coordination with al-Nusra Front.

Yet McCain's death takes on added significance, perhaps urgency, given that he's believed to be the first American killed while fighting with ISIS.
Until now, Washington largely has limited its involvement in Syria to diplomatic efforts and supporting "moderate opposition," as described by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey and others, that is fighting to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

That's the same goal as ISIS, which aims to rule a caliphate, known as the Islamic State, spanning Iraq and Syria.

Even so, the United States initiated airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq this month and signaled that it might next go after the group inside Syria.
The United States has started gathering intelligence on the locations of ISIS leadership and troops in Syria, two U.S. officials told CNN. President Barack Obama has OK'd reconnaissance flights over the war-ravaged nation, according to a U.S. official.


Who was Douglas McCain?

According to his uncle, McCain's journey to Syria began after he converted several years ago from Christianity to Islam.

The family wasn't alarmed by his conversion, but his Facebook posts sympathetic to ISIS got their attention. When they last heard from him several months ago, McCain said he was traveling to Turkey, according to his uncle.

The fact that McCain became a jihadi left his family  evastated" and "just as surprised as the country," said Ken McCain, who lives in Minnesota.

He described the nephew he knew as "a good person, loved his family, loved his mother, loved his faith" -- the latter being a reference to the Christianity he practiced before his conversion.

U.S. counterterrorism investigators had been looking into McCains activities for some time before his death, one U.S. official said.

He was on a list of Americans who are believed to have joined militant groups and who would be stopped and subjected to additional scrutiny if he traveled, according to the official.

Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, who had top roles in the State and Defense Departments in President George W. Bush's administration, said he expects more stories like McCain’s.

"The ability to travel into these countries demonstrates how porous the borders are," Kimmitt said. "I think we need to understand that there's going to be more of this rather than less of this.”


Fears over Westerners in terror groups

Syria's civil war has been brewing for three years. In the absence of a unified rebel front, many groups -- some moderate, some more secular, some extremist -- have tried to fill the void.

Much of the time, they've battled al-Assad's forces, though there has also been infighting among them.

Among these rebel groups, one has emerged recently in the public's consciousness: ISIS. That's as much due to its brazenness and viciousness as to its success. The general command for al Qaeda -- itself responsible for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- went so far as to disown ISIS and blame it for "the enormity of the disaster that afflicted the Jihad in Syria.”



Yet the group has thrived.

It's taken more and more territory in Iraq and Syria, sometimes overrunning government forces while terrorizing civilians. ISIS's stature grew even more internationally with the recent beheading of American journalist James Foley, a killing it videotaped and then put online.

"They are beyond just a terrorist group," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said last week. "They marry ideology, a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess.

"This is beyond anything we have seen, and we must prepare for everything.”

These preparations includes tracking Westerners like McCain. In addition to whatever they might do against allies and civilians in the Middle East, U.S. officials worry that they could bring their groups' brand of terror back home.

Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said last month that gathering intelligence on such Americans fighting in Syria is a top priority."

"(Authorities) are taking whatever steps they can, under the law, to monitor and prevent those coming back from doing us harm," Carlin said.

39 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Radical Islam is definitely a problem.

      A major contributor to the pickle we are in is named: Barack Obama.

      Delete
  2. Just to prove a point. Rat/Farmer Rob is a liar...

    This is my complete post:

    What is "Occupation"Mon Jul 21, 09:33:00 PM EDT
    Social media war? I concede that Israel is losing that war....
    However 50% of Hamas's rockets are used or destroyed.
    I don't know the exact number, but I bet a good number of tunnels are destroyed.
    And I don't know the exact number but I bet a huge number MORE of Hamas fighters are dead than Israeli fighters.
    And of course, Hamas and Iran spent a very nice billion or two investing in both those tunnels and missiles and to what avail?
    After 1,800 terrorists fired rockets at the CIVILIANS (both arab and jews) of Israel Hamas can claim they KILLED two. Now of course having rockets rain down hundreds a day on all parts of Israel is a war crime but who cares? Hamas is the darling of the Jew hating/Israel denying crowd...

    I the end, Hamas and it's supporters will claim victory.. No matter reality...
    If there is one Hamas member still alive and spitting? Israel lost...
    reminds me of Monty Python's "its a flesh wound" skit...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4


    Now this is what the cut and edit asshole says I said:


    Farmer RobTue Aug 26, 06:48:00 PM EDT
    "O"rdure set the Standard, now he wants to run away from it

    What is "Occupation"Mon Jul 21, 09:33:00 PM EDT
    If there is one Hamas member still alive and spitting? Israel lost...



    Notice the edit? Editing someone's words like that is in fact lying....

    Lying like a cheap rug...

    A sick twisted narcissist who when cannot deal in facts? LIES....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      It has become such a pattern with the rat, you now have to wonder if he is really intentionally trying to obfuscate and dissemble or if he is just that 'special' that he lacks the ability to read a sentence and understand it.

      .

      Delete
    2. My Niece thinks it's a 'brain stem problem' at base.

      Delete
    3. .

      Unfortunate, you weren't here over the past couple of blog streams. I mentioned you a lot and even promoted you to General Bob at one point. The overall theme was how much your thought processes and views mirrored those of the rat.

      .

      Delete
  3. I still don't see the "problem."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some crazed psychopaths are running around Syria, and Iraq, cutting heads and raising hell.

      Okay.

      And, . . . . . ?

      Delete
    2. And at least one problem is dead. I know that's not much but it is better than none.

      I our government has been doing its job, any American traveling to that region should have had his passport red flagged. Upon trying to enter the US he should be detained for a LONG debriefing.

      Delete
  4. I sent a hundred or so of rat's comments on to my Niece for analysis. She does information flows in the brain. She looked them over and said it is almost exclusively reptilian brain area activity. She added he repeats himself a lot and this indicates no incoming is being passed through the brain.

    I also sent samples from Quirk, Rufus, Deuce and Ash for analysis. She has not started on most of these yet. After the initial analysis she plans to run the entire bunch through the computer program she created. This should give us a more in depth understanding of what is going on with various posters here. She did say Quirk seems really strange.....I have not seen anything quite like that before.

    Bear with me, I have a new computer and will try to get my google name up soon.......and I will report back on her research results.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She is getting a new USA visa so she seems to have made up her mind to continue her education here......whooopie yippie

      Delete
    2. She did say a full brain information flow scan might be really interesting with 'that Quirk fellow'.

      Delete
    3. .

      ...full brain information flow scan...

      Lord, you are a doofus.

      .

      Delete
    4. You have every reason to be worried, Quart.

      YOU will be the subject of the scan.

      :(

      It's possible you will finally be taken off the street because of it.

      I'd be worried too, if I were YOU.

      Delete
  5. Stratgerery matters. I hope we have one for Syria, otherwise...

    http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/INTO-THE-FRAY-Unfit-to-govern-371913%E2%80%8F

    INTO THE FRAY: Unfit to govern?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Allen, Not to be a Bibi apologist but I do think there are some things not being talked about in the public sector.

      1. Obama has threatened to cut off Israel resupply. (To me not an issue, just start using old fashioned artillery and do what every other army in the world does. Carpet bomb.)

      2. Qatar and Obama, Iran and Turkey are all working against Israel and Egyptian interests.

      3. The Gaza flare up is and was an Iranian (primary) Qatar and Turkey (2ndary) operation as a distraction not from ISIS/ISIL but from the talk going nowhere fast about Iran's nuke program.

      4. By Iran pressuring Hamas to cease fire Iran's stock goes up with Obama who is desperate to make a deal with the Mullahs, at any cost..

      5. Isis/Isil are the flame the sunnis around the globe need to fight jihad against primarily the Mahdi Iranians, the Alawites and of course Hezbollah...

      6. The cost in ground troops and deaths that would require a complete invasion of Gaza is EXACTLY the same thing that happened in 2006 with Hezbollah. Hamas, like Hezbollah failed to KILL and large amount of israeli civilians, even after Hamas shot off 3600 mortars and rockets they failed to pull off anything spectacular that would give the Israelis the Casus belli that is needed for a FULL ground invasion and complete occupation of Gaza. The same thing happened in Southern Lebanon, Hezboolah for all their attempts could not kill enough Israeli civilians to equal ONE GOOD suicide bomber.. And thus the IDF didn't go in for the kill as there was not the justification to do so.

      7. The Iron dome saved more palestinian lives that could be imagined. IF the rockets of Hamas had been even moderately successful and you had several thousand Jews dead and maimed, tel aviv and jerusalem in flames? It would be Dresden on the Med...

      8. The world expects Israel to be nano-specific in their abilities to remove a fly from a windshield without a crack... But the truth is that with hundreds of rockets and mortars being fired at the citizens of Israel a day? Israel needs to squash the hamas batteries ASAP with overwhelming force and it has not done so for the reason laid out above. In one word? OBAMA.

      Obama is a Hamas supporter (as well as a Moslem Brotherhood supporter) he doesn't care about the "people" he is concerned about the radical leadership....

      What will happen next?

      Bibi will fall or bibi will have the provocation that we dread... Dead Jews.

      The world will not give a shit, but Israelis will...

      The truth? Hamas has not given up on it's dream. Genocide of the Jews...

      Period.

      And the IDF? Should treat the threat with grave respect and KILL HAMAS ASAP.

      Delete
    2. WiO,

      Unless Israel acts like a sovereign state it will not be one for long. Hamas has succeeded in depopulating much of southern Israel. Normal human beings cannot live under that kind of constant stress. There is a good chance that Jews will begin leaving Israel.

      From a business perspective, investors are going to start looking at Israel like they do Detroit.

      Netanyahu had his 12 chances to bring this to a thundering halt. He did not. Israel needs a government that will. Not to worry, Hamas will give provocation in short order.

      Moments ago, I read a piece in the Jerusalem Post, laying a good part of the blame on the IDF! When a government's stooges resort to attacking its military, it is time for that government to go. Moreover, if the IDF was so ill prepared because of under funding, where lies the fault?

      There was I time when I respected Mr. Netanyahu greatly. With profound sorrow and regret, I no longer believe in him as a leader.

      Delete
  6. .

    Regarding the terrorist problem and more importantly the threat to the US. The following link is to an article that IMO expresses the threat level to the US more clearly than the King/Lindsay/McCain hair-on-fire meme.

    http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/18/opinion/bergen-does-isis-pose-threat-to-us/index.html

    There are two questions actually being discussed, the threat from ISIS and the general threat from all terrorists to the US.

    ISIS

    To the first question, regarding ISIS, there is some confusion as to how many Americans have joined ISIS overseas. There seems to be some intermixing of the number between all terrorist groups and just ISIS members. But if we take the largest number quoted by hawks like Peter King, we are talking 100 US members. This number jumps by a couple thousand if we add in the Europeans and Brits that have joined ISIS.

    IMO, the threat here is potential and also minimal. I base that on the history of those Americans that have left to join these type conflicts and returned with no subsequent terrorist activity. The conflict in Somalia was an example mentioned in the link. More importantly, we seem to be able to track these guys pretty well. We ought to be with the billions we spend on it each year. While I have minimal faith in our intelligence establishment being able to 'prevent' a dedicated and well planned terrorist attack in the US, this is a different situation. We know who these people are. The Brits have already identified the guy who executed James Foley. With the huge intelligence bureaucracy we have, 16 separate groups, we ought to be able to track these guys.

    The General Threat of Terrorism in the US

    The following link lists the terrorist plots in the US including those plots alleged, proven, and actually executed.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States

    You will note that the list goes back to the 1800's. It includes diverse groups ranging from the KKK to PETA, it includes Christian, Muslim, and Jewish groups, it includes whites, blacks, and Spanish, the rationales run the gamut from racism, to nationalism, to various political issues. The US is no stranger to terrorism. Since 2000, there have been quite a few Islamic extremist plots (most domestic) in the US but a minimum amount of actual successes with the 9/11 attack being the big one.

    Looking at the history, would I be surprised if the US was hit by a terrorist attack tonight? No. Would I be surprised if we were hit by a terrorist attack in the next year? Even less so. Would I be surprised if we weren't hit by some sort of terrorist attack in the next few years? Very. However, do I think a policy of 'killing them over there so we don't have to kill them over here' will make a difference. Absolutely not.

    As I recall, since 9/11, there have been over 17,000 terrorist attacks and plots worldwide and the US has had 16 of them. The US is lucky in that it sandwiched between oceans and doesn't have enemies sitting on its other borders. In addition, we spend billions trying to protect ourselves from terrorists. Will this guarantee we won't be hit? No. Can we expect to be hit? Of course. Will the attacks when they come be of the size 9/11? Doubtful.

    The only point is that we are a country of 320 million and the chances of any particular person being injured by a terrorist attack is infinitesimally small. There is no reason to go batshit crazy worrying about it; yet, IMO, that is exactly what some in our government want us to do with their color-coded alerts, the WOT, the growth in the intelligence bureaucracy, and talk of fighting them over there before we have to fight them over here.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitions matter. MANY of those fighting in the ISIS that COME from America are not being called "American". This includes scores of those from Dearborn, Ohio, MN and other moslem/somolian, Sudanese, Palestinian/Jordanians. These are not counted as "Americans" but are called "foreign fighters"... In England they have a different issue, native born Brits, who convert and become fighters, that group is sizable and again not the same as the Pakis and others from north Africa who have lived in England are now fighting as "foreign fighters"

      As for the number of "terrorist" attacks, there have been scores in the USA but due to Obama's justice dept many are not classified as terrorism.

      Terrorists are already here, within the sizable minority communities that hide them.

      One day? They will awake... maybe one at a time? maybe a lot at once.. who knows...

      But the more honest, decent, law abiding citizens that carry concealed the better!

      A well armed and intelligent citizenry can do amazing things to stop the Jihadists in their tracks....

      Delete
    2. What is "Occupation"Tue Aug 26, 10:41:00 PM EDT

      Definitions matter....


      The Court jester, "O"rdure, jokes about himself again!
      Telling flagrant lies about himself, in search of mirth perhaps?

      Delete
  7. What is "Occupation"Mon Jul 21, 09:33:00 PM EDT

    If there is one Hamas member still alive and spitting? Israel lost…



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


    "‘When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone,
    ‘it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.'

    ‘The question is,' said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things."

    ‘The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master—that's all.'"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OOOOOoooo, you're so deep, rat.


      My Niece says you have a brain stem problem......

      She is probably closer to the truth than all the other analyses of your ignoble self offered here.

      Brain stem problem......

      Delete
  8. Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, promised to rebuild homes destroyed in the war and said Hamas would rearm. "We will build and upgrade our arsenal to be ready for the coming battle, the battle of full liberation," he declared, surrounded by Hamas gunmen.


    I suggest Israel target and destroy them once and for all. No more 1/2 measures.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Just to prove a point. Rat/Farmer Rob is a liar...

    This is my complete post:

    What is "Occupation"Mon Jul 21, 09:33:00 PM EDT
    Social media war? I concede that Israel is losing that war....
    However 50% of Hamas's rockets are used or destroyed.
    I don't know the exact number, but I bet a good number of tunnels are destroyed.
    And I don't know the exact number but I bet a huge number MORE of Hamas fighters are dead than Israeli fighters.
    And of course, Hamas and Iran spent a very nice billion or two investing in both those tunnels and missiles and to what avail?
    After 1,800 terrorists fired rockets at the CIVILIANS (both arab and jews) of Israel Hamas can claim they KILLED two. Now of course having rockets rain down hundreds a day on all parts of Israel is a war crime but who cares? Hamas is the darling of the Jew hating/Israel denying crowd...

    I the end, Hamas and it's supporters will claim victory.. No matter reality...
    If there is one Hamas member still alive and spitting? Israel lost...
    reminds me of Monty Python's "its a flesh wound" skit...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4


    Now this is what the cut and edit asshole says I said:


    Farmer RobTue Aug 26, 06:48:00 PM EDT
    "O"rdure set the Standard, now he wants to run away from it

    What is "Occupation"Mon Jul 21, 09:33:00 PM EDT
    If there is one Hamas member still alive and spitting? Israel lost...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What is "Occupation"Mon Jul 21, 09:33:00 PM EDT
      ...
      If there is one Hamas member still alive and spitting? Israel lost...

      Delete
    2. Sound editing of a "Sound Bite". "O"rdure.

      Take it to class with you, provide the others with a lesson in strategic speaking.
      or ...

      “Think before you speak.
      Read before you think.”

      ― Fran Lebowitz,

      Delete
    3. .

      ...strategic speaking...


      :o)


      Childish prattle is a closer definition.

      .

      Delete
    4. Hold off there, Quarto. rat is a self proclaimed 'military expert' along with a self proclaimed 'professional asshole'.

      A kind of Patton for our times......

      And you? Nothing but a self proclaimed supersalesman.....

      Delete
  10. Doesn't anyone else think it passing interesting that we seem to be totally unconcerned about Syria's Air Defense Systems?

    It seems like that would make Iran, and, possibly even Russia a bit concerned.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Syria's Air Defense System over eastern Syria, betcha an Amero that it is pretty skimpy over there, the Syrian Anti-Aircraft capacity.

      Delete
    3. Yeah, probably so, but damn.

      This is just one of those things that I would love to know more about. I bet there's something interesting there.

      Delete
    4. Ain't nothin' "dead solid perfect."

      Remember the Yugoslavs shooting down an F-117?

      And, in 1960, the Russians weren't supposed to be able to shoot down a U-2, either.

      If O'bomb'em wakes up some morning, and ISIS is parading one of our pilots around at knifepoint, THEN he has a "problem."

      Delete
    5. .

      I don't think anyone is unconcerned about Syria's air defense systems. They have talked about the issue in most stories I have seen since we first started talking of expanding to Syria.

      .

      Delete
    6. You'll never get your Amero if you win the bet.

      A man's a fool to bet with rat.

      Delete