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ISIS Tag

Posted by Amy Miller on July 22, 2015 10 Comments
The 2016 elections will boil down to cause, and effect---and when it comes to foreign policy, the Democrats will have much to answer for, especially when it comes to the rise of ISIS. The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, which began in 2010, remains one of Obama's more controversial foreign policy orders to date. The war wasn't popular, but then again, neither was the idea of letting go of a country we fought so hard to clean out and control before that country was ready to stand on its own two feet. Still, Obama persisted, and the rest is history: large parts of Iraq crumbled, and the chaos gave rise to the Islamic State's brutal, terrifying brand of terrorism. Outgoing Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno spent more time in Iraq than any other U.S. General; he was an architect of the Surge, and spent half his time overseas as a top commander---and he says the chaos we're seeing today could have been prevented if only the Administration had agreed to follow recommendations regarding the pace of troop withdrawals, saying, “If we had stayed a little more engaged, I think maybe it might have been prevented... I've always believed the United States played the role of honest broker between all the groups and when we pulled ourselves out, we lost that role.” Via Fox News:

Posted by Mike LaChance on July 22, 2015 30 Comments
Mark Halperin of Bloomberg Politics recently interviewed 2016 Democratic Party presidential candidate Martin O'Malley. Their discussion covered a wide range of topics, but when talk turned to foreign policy, O'Malley suggested that climate change was behind the rise of ISIS. Transcript and video via Real Clear Politics:
Martin O'Malley: Climate Change Created ISIS MARTIN O'MALLEY: One of the things that preceded the failure of the nation state of Syria and the rise of ISIS, was the effect of climate change and the mega-drought that affected that nation, wiped out farmers, drove people to cities, created a humanitarian crisis that created the symptoms — or rather, the conditions — of extreme poverty that has now led to the rise of ISIS and this extreme violence.
The interview is approximately six minutes long. To hear the segment on ISIS and climate change, skip to the 3:40 mark:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on July 21, 2015 3 Comments
The threat of ISIS has spread from Syria and Iraq, to Egypt, and even to Europe and the United States. Islamic militants are using both ground operations and digital campaigns to infiltrate new territory, and recent reports show that now India's government is alarmed at the recent inroads made by ISIS, especially in the country's northern regions. India is home to the world's second largest Muslim population. Numbering roughly 180 million, Muslims make up for about 14 percent of the country's population, and ISIS is taking full advantage of the opportunity to seize control of new ground. Not only have young Indian Muslims joined the ranks of ISIS combatants in Syria and Iraq, they are also acting as influential jihadi propagandists online. In December 2014, Britain’s Channel 4 uncovered the identity of a Bangalore-based man allegedly operating ISIS' most influential Twitter account. ISIS’ influence in India is not limited to just talk anymore. Supporters of the terror outfit in Muslim-dominated regions are feeling emboldened to show their support outside the realm of cyberspace---and it shows. Nowhere is the support for ISIS stronger than in the northern Indian State of (Jammu-) Kashmir. In early 1990s, widespread anti-Hindu pogroms in Kashmir drove about half a million people from their ancestral homes. Having cleansed large parts of Kashmir from the native Hindu population, the Islamists are now fighting to carve out a separate, Islamic country.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 21, 2015 8 Comments
Today Britain's Crown Prosecution Service revealed that it has charged two Muslim relatives with plotting to commit terror attacks against US military members stationed in the United Kingdom. Junead Khan, 24, and his uncle Shazib Khan, 22, were arrested after authorities discovered that the two men were planning on traveling to Syria with the goal of joining Islamic State fighters there. More via Fox News:
Sky News reported that the men were arrested a week ago in a joint operation between Bedfordshire Police and the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorist Command Unit and that armed police were involved in one of the arrests. Police say searches were carried out at two addresses in the Luton area as part of the operation which forms part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist-related terrorism. "We have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to charge Junead Khan and Shazib Khan with the intention of committing acts of terrorism," said Deborah Walsh, of the Crown Prosecution Service. "It is alleged that Junead Khan and Shazib Khan had been planning on travelling to Syria to join the proscribed organization Islamic State in Levant.

Posted by Amy Miller on July 20, 2015 4 Comments
Even before the bloody beginning of July, U.S. defense authorities had at least one eye focused on Egypt's Sinai peninsula---and now, they're stepping in to make sure that ISIS doesn't gain a more solid foothold in the region. Late last week, a militant arm claiming loyalty to the Islamic State took responsibility for a missile attack on an Egyptian frigate in the Mediterranean. The group claims it used a missile to blow the ship up, but as Time magazine reports, that claim is disputed by Egyptian officials who have said that the frigate was merely set on fire and saw no loss of life. SITE Intel Group posted pictures of the attack to Twitter: Footage, allegedly released by ISIS and showing the attack on the frigate, can be seen here.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 26, 2015 7 Comments
Early this morning, we reported on the brutal terror attacks near Lyon, France that left one person decapitated and at least two others wounded. An ISIS flag was spotted over the scene of the attack---but the extremists didn't stop there. Terrorists went on a three continent killing spree today, also attacking sites in Tunisia and Kuwait. Popular Tunisian coastal town Sousse was soaked in blood earlier today after terrorists opened fire on a beach. 37 were killed and 36 injured, some of them tourists. Meanwhile in Kuwait, 25 people are dead and 200 are injured after a mosque bombing:
ISIS claimed responsibility for what it called a suicide bombing at the Shiite-affiliated Al-Sadiq mosque. The group put the number of dead and injured in the dozens. Cell phone video posted to social media and apparently shot at the mosque showed worshippers walking and stumbling through a dust- and rubble-filled interior, many with their white robes splattered in what appeared to be blood.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 23, 2015 12 Comments
Since last year, Obama Administration officials have been internally debating whether or not to continue with their existing policy banning the payment of ransom to terrorists in exchange for hostages. In the United States, the law specifically bans the aiding of a terror organization; however, debate over the diplomatic effects of this policy rose to the forefront last year, when ISIS terrorists demanded ransom in exchange for the life of a 25 year-old American woman. The US policy of denying ransom---either paid by the government, or private parties---caused tension in the international community. Switzerland, Spain, and France, among others, all permit negotiations with terror organizations, with all of Europe contributing at least $125 million to Al Qaeda and its affiliates in the last 5 years. Last month, the Administration signaled that it was ready for a shift in policy by discussing the possibility of creating a "Hostage Czar," who would be responsible for guiding families through the ransom payment process; and now, the White House is ready to announce an official change in policy that would allow families to pay ransoms to terror organizations without fear of prosecution.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 22, 2015 1 Comment
Another day, another opportunity for domestic terrorists to begin their work on US soil. Today, the FBI arrested 19 year-old Justin Nojan Sullivan after an extended investigation revealed he may have been plotting ISIS-style attack here in the US. Officials aren't yet sure (or haven't yet revealed) exactly how large of a safety threat Sullivan posed; he was arrested after law enforcement discovered a silencer in the North Carolina home where he lived with his parents. Sullivan had asked a private dealer---in reality an FBI agent working undercover---to build the silencer for him, and bragged to the agent about what he planned to do with it:
...an undercover operative made contact with Sullivan, who allegedly told him, "I liked IS from the beginning, then I started thinking about death and stuff so I became a Muslim." The FBI says Sullivan talked about buying an assault rifle from a gun show in North Carolina and shoot people last weekend "because his parents would be out of town at the time." He did not buy a rifle before he was arrested Friday but allegedly planned to purchase one at the Hickory Gun Show last weekend.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 19, 2015 2 Comments
Today, federal prosecutors charged 21 year-old Samuel Rahamin Topaz with attempting to assist ISIS, and with conspiring with three other Americans to join the fight in the Middle East. He was arrested Wednesday after officials discovered evidence that led them to believe Topaz was providing material support to a terror organization. One of his alleged co-conspirators, Munther Omar Saleh, 20, was arrested earlier this week on similar charges, and another, Fareed Mumini, 21, was arrested after attempting to stab an FBI agent during the execution of a search warrant. Topaz appears to have panicked after Selah's arrest, and may have been planning to move forward with plans to travel to the Middle East. The New York Times has the background:
Earlier this year, a friend of Mr. Topaz’s began talking to the authorities. He told them several people, including a man who fits Mr. Saleh’s description, were “trying to recruit” Mr. Topaz for overseas travel by “preying” on his insecurities, according to a criminal complaint prepared by an F.B.I. special agent. In a text message in May to the alleged co-conspirator who fits Mr. Saleh’s description, the complaint says, Mr. Topaz wrote: “And bro I’m not sure how much longer I can take not being in the dawla honestly,” referring to the Islamic State. They discussed traveling to Turkey and then the Islamic State, and Mr. Topaz described efforts to raise money for the trip. Mr. Saleh replied at one point: “Then ur gonna enter the land of no music, and no Preverts taking girls out to violate them, no intoxication, no Filth, period! Allahu akbar!”

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 13, 2015 9 Comments
As a direct result of Obama's amateurish, quasi-idealistic, and completely ideological failings in Iraq, we will almost certainly end up sending ground troops back in order to undo the damage wrought by the failed Obama doctrine. Obama knows this, of course, and his plan is to run out the clock rather than make the decision that needs to be—and will be—made by the next president.  The National Journal reports:
On using U.S. combat troops? In a detailed interview with The Atlantic, Obama made his view clear. "If they are not willing to fight for the security of their country, we cannot do that for them," he said, but added that he's committed to training Iraqis over a "multi-year" period. How many, exactly, is "multi?" State Department official and ISIS expert Brett McGurk laid that out on NPR: "It's a three-year campaign to degrade the organization." Three years marked from mid-2014, of course, falls after Jan. 20, 2017, the date Obama leaves office. Translation: The strategy is to avoid sending ground troops for the remainder of his term. So stop asking.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 10, 2015 5 Comments
State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke has confirmed that American man and paramilitary fighter Keith Broomfield was killed fighting ISIS alongside Kurdish forces in Syria. More from NBC News:
Idris Nassan, Kurdish co-deputy foreign minister of the Kobani district, also confirmed to NBC News that an American who had joined Kurdish fighters died in a battle with ISIS in his area. It was not immediately clear when Broomfield was killed. Broomfield's mother, Donna, said she had learned from her other son that Keith was dead. "I didn't want him to go but I didn't have a choice in the matter," she tearfully told NBC News over the phone from Westminster, Massachusetts. She said that her son had left to fight around four months ago and that while there was "a little bit of texting" after he first arrived, lately she had heard "nothing." "I'm waiting for his body to come back," she added.
Social media accounts belonging to Kurdish fighters were the first outlets to leak his death, confirming that Broomfield was killed in the Syrian countryside surrounding Kobani.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 09, 2015 19 Comments
Yesterday, President Obama stood in front of an international press pool and admitted that "we don't yet have a complete strategy" to defeat ISIS. It was a great moment for American foreign relations. After that disastrous press conference, officials from the Administration slid into a slow meltdown, walking back Obama's painfully telling comments with explanations of what he really meant. From last night, via Mediaite:
State Department spokesman John Kirby was on CNN earlier tonight, speaking with Wolf Blitzer. Blitzer brought up the remark and asked, “What’s taking so long?” This was Kirby’s response:
“What the president was referring to was that the training and equipment strategy that we have been executing isn’t complete yet because there still have to be commitments from the Iraqi side. You need trainees, you need more trainees, and we’re working with them on that.”
But he pointed out the U.S. has already been training and equipped plenty of Iraqi forces already.
You can watch the segment here.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 08, 2015 21 Comments
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you already know that the Obama Administration is and has been under fire over what critics cite as a lack of commitment to defeating ISIS in the Middle East. Last September, Obama laid out a bare bones plan that he believed would help defense officials "degrade and ultimately defeat" ISIS; but since then, the effort to destroy the insurgency has met with setback after setback, causing analysts and critics to label American efforts in the region as "timid" and doomed to fail. Today during his closing remarks to the G-7 conference in Germany, President Obama hedged once again against questions about what, if any, plan the US has to help Iraqi forces defeat ISIS:
President Barack Obama said on Monday his top national security advisers were still working to solidify training plans for Iraqi defense forces battling ISIS in their own country. "We don't yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis," Obama said during concluding remarks at the G7 conference in Germany, citing recruitment as a key stumbling block facing the central government in Iraq. Critics of the administration's strategy in Iraq seized upon the president's comments Monday, claiming they indicated a policy failure and referencing similar comments Obama made in August.
Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on June 06, 2015 12 Comments
In September of 2014, President Obama addressed the nation and described the counterterrorism strategy that he claimed would be used to "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS in the Middle East. Since then, the fight to destroy the Islamic State has encountered setbacks that have caused both seasoned military analysts and casual observers to question whether or not the Administration's policy mandating the prevention of civilian casualties is an effective tactic to destroy an enemy whose strategy depends on the use of civilian infrastructure as a shield. High-profile critics like Senator John McCain (R-AZ) have put Administration officials on defense, and yesterday, US Central Command air force leader Air Force Lt. Gen. John W. Hesterman III did his best to get out in front of the debate:
In a news conference he said was called to counter misconceptions about the use of air power in an unconventional war, Air Force Lt. Gen. John W. Hesterman III asserted Friday that pilots are killing more than 1,000 militants a month while avoiding civilian casualties and Iraqi government forces. As the Islamic State has made territorial gains in Anbar province, including the capital Ramadi, critics have accused U.S. commanders of being too cautious, missing opportunities to kill the militants and disrupt their supply lines.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 04, 2015 8 Comments
After being maligned by the press for "inviting" violence by taking a stand for free speech at her Garland, Texas "Draw Mohammad" event, Pamela Gellar was target of a beheading plot. Usaamah Rahim, who was being investigated by the FBI, was shot and killed by Boston police Tuesday. Rahim and an alleged co-conspirator, planned to behead Pamela Gellar.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 03, 2015 8 Comments
When he withdrew troops from Iraq, Obama himself proclaimed, "we are leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq."  That was in 2011.  Flash forward to now, and Iraq is none of those things; indeed, Iraq is now an ISIS strong-hold, part of their declared caliphate. Throughout Obama's presidency, we've heard him blame President Bush for everything from the still-flailing economy to the rise of ISIS.  His supporters within the media have ensured that this message is the one that Americans hear most often, and for (too many) years, (far too many) Americans have believed what they were told. No longer. A CNN poll found that, for the first time, more Americans blame Obama than President Bush for the instability in Iraq:

[N]early the same percent of people blame President Barack Obama's policies for the current situation in Iraq as those who hold President George W. Bush responsible, the survey showed.

Overall, 44% say they blame Obama's policies for the problems in Iraq and 43% blame Bush; 11% say both are equally responsible.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 02, 2015 1 Comment
Late last month, Fox News broke an exclusive story about how the dramatic uptick in social media use by ISIS militants and their supporters has led to problems in the intelligence community. Due to a recent increase in online activity, ISIS has been able to effectively clog the pipes with so much content and discussion that analysts are having a hard time distinguishing rhetoric from legitimate threats. Not only is ISIS really good at propaganda, they've also been incredibly effective in getting people to play along. Their social media game is strong, and recently, the extremist organization has made moves to up the quality of their presence on more traditional mediums---namely, TV and video. It's all part of a tactic to reach beyond their strongholds in the Middle East and into the homes of young men and women in the west. Al-Bayan, the ISIS-controlled public radio network, is described as sounding similar to NPR; similarly, videos posted to YouTube and various ISIS websites display a marked increase in production value, all aimed at catching the attention of people who are used to being fed quality propaganda, as opposed to the grainy, shaky offerings of a few years back.

Posted by Amy Miller on May 30, 2015 5 Comments
They came. They saw. They protested without hurting themselves or others. I promised a round of applause for Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton if he and his city management and law enforcement teams managed to keep the peace between protesters and counterprotesters at last night's free speech/anti-Islam/whatever you want to call it rally. The verdict? They managed! Mr. Stanton, this one's for you. USA Today explains how things played out:
Police presence increased by 6:30 p.m. to physically separate the two sides outside the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix. About 20 cars and 15 motorcycles traveled from a protester meeting point at a nearby park to the mosque around 6 p.m., where people from the two sides used megaphones to yell at each other and were at times nose-to-nose. A large group of counter protesters held signs reading "Love not Hate," as others waved American flags and one man ripped the Quran in half. Counter protesters wearing blue lined the side closest to the mosque. They said they came from Redemption Church in Tempe and wore the color to be a peaceful presence. Few people showed up for the mosque's scheduled prayer service.
Supporters on both sides of the issue took to Twitter to speak their minds---and air their grievances:
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