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ISIS Tag

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 18, 2015 12 Comments
Wednesday, Bloomberg released a poll that captured national attitudes on America's commitment to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees. In the wake of Friday's Paris attacks, 53% of Americans polled opposed continuation of plans to assist in the resettling of Syrian nationals seeking refugee status. According to Bloomberg, "Just 28 percent would keep the program with the screening process as it now exists, while 11 percent said they would favor a limited program to accept only Syrian Christians while excluding Muslims, a proposal Obama has dismissed as “shameful” and un-American." Mirroring the sentiments found in the Bloomberg poll, a bevy of Republican governors also indicated unwillingness to accept a portion of Syrian refugees. As we discussed earlier this week, while Governors do not have legal authority to determine what individuals gain entrance into the United States, they can complicate the resettlement process by refusing to cooperate with federal authorities. Also at question is the vetting process. As with all visa or immigrant petitions issued by the federal government, the vetting process takes awhile. Applicants are run through FBI background checks, health screens, interviews, and other scrutiny before receiving an opportunity to request entry to the United States. For those seeking refugee status, the wait time clocks in at about 18 months. Caps are set on the number of refugees to be admitted by region. Similar caps apply to other visa types. According to the Department of State, 70,000 individuals were admitted under refugee status in 2013, only 36 of which were Syrian nationals. In 2012, only 31 of 76,000 refugees were Syrian. So why all the fuss now?

Posted by Amy Miller on November 17, 2015 7 Comments
A soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands has been canceled over the "concrete threat" of a planned bomb attack. Hanover, Germany is the latest site of two separate terror scares in the wake of Friday's massacres in Paris, France. French intelligence officials gave the all clear just moments ago (as reported in a Fox News live broadcast) after a fresh tip prompted law enforcement to evacuate the area following a previous false alarm. Fox News explains what happened:
"We had concrete evidence that someone wanted to set off an explosive device in the stadium," Hannover police chief Volker Kluwe told German TV. Referring to another bomb threat about an hour beforehand that turned out to be a false alarm, Kluwe said, "After the first object turned out to be harmless, we got a tip that had to be taken seriously that an attack was being planned." Investigators found a suspicious suitcase inside or near the stadium and a second suspicious device at the city's central train station, German media and Sky News report. Police closed off part of the train station.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 17, 2015 11 Comments
Today the Russian Federal Security Service confirmed that a terrorist bomb was responsible for the crash and destruction of a Russian passenger jet in the Sinai last month. 2.2 pounds of TNT explosives were used to bring the plane down in what officials are saying was "definitely a terrorist act." Alexander V. Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., told the media today that soon after takeoff an IED exploded, causing the plane to mostly disintegrate in midair. Reports show that "foreign made explosive" was found on what was left for investigators to examine.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 16, 2015 7 Comments
Over the weekend the U.S. military completed its second arms delivery to the Syrian Arab Coalition. The supplies were delivered to Erbil and then carried west. The Syrian Arab Coalition is an "umbrella group" consisting of 5000 Arab forces that have joined together with Kurdish fighters to take on the Islamic State, or ISIS. The first "drop" benefiting the Coalition signified the U.S. pivot away from a "train and equip" strategy and toward a strategy that relies heavily on using existing forces to cut away at ISIS strongholds. More via the Wall Street Journal:
The first delivery, consisting mostly of small arms ammunition, was conducted by air on Oct. 11. The arrival of the second batch of ammunition, this time by land, suggests the coalition is performing well enough against Islamic State that the U.S. is willing to continue the relationship. Although the coalition is comprised mostly of Arab groups, many work in conjunction with Kurdish forces, known to be some of the most effective fighters against Islamic State.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 16, 2015 10 Comments
French jets struck ISIS targets in Syria this Sunday night, destroying a jihadi training camp and a munitions dump in the city of Raqqa, where Iraqi sources say the Paris attacks were planned.
Twelve aircraft including 10 fighter jets dropped a total of 20 bombs in the biggest air strikes since France extended its bombing campaign against the extremist group to Syria in September, a Defence Ministry statement said. The jets launched from sites in Jordan and the Persian Gulf, in co-ordination with U.S. forces. Meanwhile, as police announced seven arrests and hunted for more members of the sleeper cell that carried out the Paris attacks, French officials revealed to The Associated Press that several key suspects had been stopped and released by police after the attack.
A review of social media records shows there were warnings that terror cells were about to launch a major attack on the iconic city.
ISIS claims of responsibility for Friday’s Paris massacre are being reviewed by US intelligence analysts Sunday morning, with a focus on the English-language version, which is delivered in American-accented English, Fox News has been told. It is now clear the plot included a rollout of ISIS propaganda, which was prepared in advance, including threats directed toward the Russian people, Rome, London and Washington DC. Separately, Fox News has learned that four credible, ISIS-linked social media accounts began sharing messages 72 hours before the Paris attack, including images of weapons, the Eiffel tower, as well as blessings for the attackers’ mission. A military intelligence source says the social media traffic is now seen as evidence the three teams had gone operational. The translations include “God bless you in your mission” and “Support the deployment,” as well as a reference to our “sister,” suggesting an operative, or member of the support team was a woman.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 16, 2015 10 Comments
Still reeling from that heinous terrorist attacks that shook Paris Friday night, here's the latest. Mincing no words, France remains devout to plans to, "destroy terrorism."

"France is at war."

Speaking to a joint session of Parliament Monday, French President Hollande declared, "France is at War." He encouraged Members of Parliament to extend the country's state of emergency for another three months. Calling the Paris attacks, "acts of war," Hollande the murderous acts represented an attack of aggression, "against our country, against its values, against its youth, and against its way of life." Hollande's speech is here (in English) and is worth a listen:

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 15, 2015 16 Comments
The first 20 or so minutes of last night's Democrat debate was devoted to national security with an emphasis on the terror attacks in Paris. It was a subject that made everyone on stage visibly uncomfortable. Jenna Lifhits of the Washington Free Beacon:
Hillary Clinton refused to use the term “radical Islam” to describe groups like the Islamic State Saturday at the Democratic debate, despite having used the term “radical Islamic jihadist groups” four days prior. When moderator John Dickerson asked Clinton whether she agreed with Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R., Fla.) statement that the Paris attacks show “that we are at war with Radical Islam,” Clinton said she would use a term other than “Radical Islam.”

Posted by New Neo on November 15, 2015 6 Comments
How the Republican candidates react to the vicious terrorist attacks in Paris tells us something about their attitude towards Islamic terrorism in general (for example, do they use the phrase?) and what to do about it. The first response I read early today was from Ben Carson. An excerpt:
I think America's involvement should be trying to eliminate them completely,' he said. 'Destroy them!' "There are those out there who have a thirst for innocent blood, in an attempt to spread their philosophy and their will across this globe... "I would be working with our allies using every source known to man – in terms of economic resources, in terms of covert resources, overt resources, military resources, things-that-they-don’t-know-about resources, in an attempt not to contain them, but to eliminate them before they eliminate us.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on November 14, 2015 36 Comments
As France and the world begins to get a clearer picture of yesterday's coordinated set of terrorist attacks in Paris, ISIS has claimed responsibility, and French president Francois Hollande has iterated his statement that ISIS is indeed responsible and has made clear that he wants to lead a swift and "merciless" response. USA Today reports on President Hollande's statement:
Speaking after the security meeting, Hollande said Friday's attacks were "committed by a terrorist army, the Islamic State group, a jihadist army, against France, against the values that we defend everywhere in the world, against what we are: A free country that means something to the whole planet.”
CNN reports on the ISIS statement issued today:

ISIS claimed responsibility for gunfire and blasts that targeted six sites Friday night in Paris, killing 128 people in one of Europe's deadliest massacres in recent years.

In an online statement distributed by supporters Saturday, the terror group said eight militants wearing explosive belts and armed with machine guns attacked precisely selected areas in the French capital.

In addition to the people killed, 180 others were injured, according to the Paris Police Prefecture. More than half of them are in critical condition.

Among those wounded are an as yet unconfirmed number of Americans.  Also from CNN:

Posted by Amy Miller on November 13, 2015 3 Comments
Late yesterday the Pentagon announced that it launched a drone strike against Islamic State terrorist Mohammed Emwazi, the man who served as the "face" of the group's gruesome and infamous beheading videos. Emwazi, also known as "Jihadi John," was wounded a year ago during airstrikes in Anbar Province that killed 10 terrorists and wounded at least 40 others. Emwazi had joined tribal leaders from around the region in a bunker near the Iraqi-Syrian border to pledge their allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. Intelligence following the strikes was muddied, but officials believed that Emwazi was taken to a local hospital before being returned to ISIS headquarters. Over the past year, western officials have conducted extensive surveillance in an effort to determine Emwazi's whereabouts---and if reports are correct, they finally found him. Yesterday's strike hit outside of the de facto ISIS capital of Raqqa in northern Syria. Officials have yet to confirm whether or not Emwazi died in the attack; Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said, "We are assessing the results of tonight’s operation and will provide additional information as and where appropriate.” A U.S. senior official told CNN that authorities are confident that the strike was successful; a second source said that authorities positively identified Emwazi before they launched the drone at the vehicle Emwazi was riding in.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 12, 2015 11 Comments
Investigators sifting through the remains of a Russian jet that crashed in the Sinai last week have uncovered intelligence about a "two hour timer," and are connecting it with their working theory that an ISIS affiliate in the region planted a bomb on the plane's fuel lines before it left the popular Sharm el-Sheikh resort area for St. Petersburg. A source told Fox News about the discovery of the timer, but wasn't clear whether or not investigators found physical evidence, or were able to decipher communications between terrorist operatives. This new information supports the involvement of an "airport insider," and investigators are now interviewing ground crews and baggage handlers who had access to the plane before it left Egypt. More from Fox News:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on November 09, 2015 9 Comments
While European leaders and the mainstream media continue to defend open border policies, millions of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa have embarked on an unstoppable march towards Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been the leading proponent of Europe’s policy of unrestricted migrant intake, and she is firmly backed by the EU’s powerful bureaucracy. Before the year ends, Germany alone is expected to take in as many as 1.5 million migrants. Despite repeated calls by the Islamic State to target European countries on their own home soil, EU leaders continue to brush aside the growing fear of terrorism and Islamic radicalisation in Europe. Faced with opposition from a few Eastern European member states, the EU has decided to double down on its open border policy. Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano has joined the chorus, assuring Italians that there is no need to worry about Islamic terrorists posing as migrants; but the latest high-profile arrest in Italy of a known ISIS operative once again shows how out of touch European politicians really are with the grim realities of mass migration from predominantly Muslim countries.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 04, 2015 12 Comments
Last Saturday, a Russian jet carrying 217 passengers crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. The Metrojet flight was making its way to St. Petersburg from a popular Red Sea resort when it went down in a remote, mountainous region of the Sinai. Almost immediately, two European airlines suspended all travel over the region where the jet crashed---and for good reason. According to the Associated Press, the Hassana area where the wreckage was found has played host to clashes between Egyptian forces and a group of Islamic militants who recently pledged their loyalty to the Islamic State. A local ISIS affiliate declared responsibility for the crash (now, attack), but the claim was quickly scuttled by both Egyptian and Russian officials. Now, however, US intelligence reports have revealed that it is likely ISIS or one of its affiliates planted a bomb on the plane. Via CNN:
"There is a definite feeling it was an explosive device planted in luggage or somewhere on the plane," the official said, stressing that no formal conclusion had been reached by the U.S. intelligence community.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on November 01, 2015 7 Comments
A Russian airliner "broke up in mid-air," according to the head of Russia's Air Transport Agency, Aleksandr Neradko, who stated that "all signs attest to the fact that the aircraft disintegrated in the air at a high altitude."  All 224 people on board were killed. CNN reports:
A Russian passenger plane crashed early Saturday in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard, officials said. Russian state media reported that many of the 217 passengers on Kogalymavia Flight 9268 were Russians returning from vacation. The passenger manifest included 17 children but Russian officials said there were 25 aboard. There were seven crew members. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin tweeted that four victims were Ukrainian nationals. The cause of the crash still is unknown, but it is most likely due to a technical failure, and there is no evidence of any terrorist action, Egyptian Airports Co. chief Adel Al-Mahjoob told CNN Arabic.
Early reports indicated that an ISIS-affiliated terrorist group claimed responsibility for the crash on Twitter, but Russian and Egyptian officials dismissed these claims, stating there is no evidence of terrorism, but there are questions about whether or not the pilot indicated any problems prior to the plane breaking apart.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 27, 2015 9 Comments
Defense Secretary Ash Carter has laid out a new plan for U.S. forces sent overseas to "degrade and defeat" ISIS. The Obama Administration has fielded several month's worth of criticism over the ineffectiveness of current strategy; Carter's changes reflect a growing need to take a more active role. From ABC News:
The changes are intended to build on the Obama administration’s strategy to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria where the tactical fight against the terror group has stalemated. “The changes we’re pursuing can be described by what I call the 'three R’s': Raqqa, Ramadi, and Raids,” Carter said in testimony today before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The idea of more raids builds on Carter’s previous comments a Pentagon news conference Friday that there would be more raids similar to the one where American special operations forces assisted Kurdish troops in the rescue of 70 hostages held by ISIS.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 26, 2015 6 Comments
Last week, U.S. Forces teamed up with Kurdish Peshmergas to rescue captives held at an Islamic State compound in northern Iraq. The mission freed around 70 hostages, but led to the death of Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler---the first U.S. service member to die in combat in Iraq since 2011. After the mission was complete, the Kurdistan Regional Government---the same body who requested the raid and the help of U.S. forces---released footage from a helmet cam worn by one of the Kurdish soldiers. Watch (the footage is intense, but not NSFW): According to CNN, a U.S. military official has confirmed the authenticity of the video.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 23, 2015 12 Comments
The Pentagon has identified 39-year-old Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler of Roland, Oklahoma as the first US service member to die in the ground fight against ISIS. Wheeler was part of a mission aimed at rescuing captives held at an Islamic state compound in northern Iraq. Officials received intelligence that led them to believe that the captives faced imminent mass execution, prompting the Kurdish Regional Government to request the raid. US special forces teamed up with the peshmerga (the Kurdish regional militia) and freed 69 hostages during the approximately 2 hour-long mission. According to Reuters, US officials have said that special forces' involvement in the mission was not tied to suspicion that there were any Americans amongst the captives; instead, US forces acting as advisors were "sucked in" to the battle when the Kurds came under heavy fire. More from Fox News:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on October 20, 2015 10 Comments
British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced new measures to tackle the rise of Islamic extremism in the UK. With this new set of measures, the government wants to counter the influence of Islamic thinking on government-funded institutions, private charities and businesses. Britain is home to about 3 million Muslims, and many Brits have become concerned about the radicalisation of young Muslims taking place in schools and mosques. Today, some 500 to 1000 British Muslims are fighting in the ranks of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. Additionally, Britain faces the threat of home-grown Islamic terrorism, as highlighted by the London bombings of 2005 that killed more than 50 people in the London public transport system during the rush hour. According to the domestic security service MI5, the home-grown terror plots are now at an all-time high. British broadcaster Channel 4 News quoted Prime Minister Cameron as describing Islamic extremism as "one of the great struggles of our generation."
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