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ISIS Tag

Nancy Pelosi is upset that Trump didn't tell her in advance about the Special Forces raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Trump explained in his press conference that he informed countries, including Russia and others, over whose territory or through whose air defenses U.S. forces had to fly that an operation was underway, but did not inform them of the purpose. That was necessary to avoid fire on U.S. aircraft.

President Donald Trump received major backlash on Monday morning after the White House announced late Sunday night it will remove troops in northern Syria. This will allow Turkey to start its offensive, effectively leaving the Kurds unprotected. Officials told Fox News that Trump's decision "completely blindsided" those at the Pentagon. Others said the move betrayed the Kurds because Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan does not hide his hatred of the Kurds.

The number of individuals classified as Islamists by Germany's domestic intelligence service has crossed 26,000, German newspapers reported. The threat from Islamic terrorism in Germany "remains at a high level," the spy service disclosed. The Islamic State is "restructuring itself into an underground terrorist group" following its military defeat in the Middle East. The terrorist organization was particularly shifting towards a strategy of hitting soft targets, the intelligence report said.

John Walker Lindh, a man called the "American Taliban," left a federal prison in Indiana on Thursday after 17 years behind bars. He received a 20-year sentence after he joined the Taliban in Afghanistan after 9/11. Lawmakers tried to persuade against Lindh's release even though he "will have a set of heavy restrictions placed on him."

Every year we remember Johnny "Mike" Spann, the CIA special operations officer who was the first American killed in Afghanistan after 9/11. Each year we discover new facts and stories, including the letter from Afghan warlord Abdul Rahdis Dostum and the memorial he dedicated in Spann’s memory, interviews with his oldest daughter Alison, and the family’s reaction to the release of Bowie Bergdahl.

German police have arrested ten Islamists on suspicion of planning terror attacks. The suspects were plotting car ramming attacks and mass shootings with the aim to "kill as many 'non-believers' as possible," the prosecutors in the city of Frankfurt said.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona has released, under court order, the body camera footage of Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Wells, who stopped accused ISIS knife attacker Ismail Hamed the old-fashioned way—by demonstrating once again why it’s not a good idea to bring a knife to a gunfight. Hamed now stands charged by Arizona authorities with aggravated assault and terrorism. (As reported by AZ Central.) The events took place on January 7, but the body cam video and 911 recordings were only recently released under court order, in response to motions filed by media outlets for disclosure. (The body cam video footage is embedded below.)

Facts of the Case

The apparent facts of the case are that Hamed called 911 himself, stating:
My name is Ismail Hamed. I live in Fountain Hills, and I'm owing my allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. I just want a cop to come real quick and I want to deal with them.

The last time I mentioned Egypt, archeologists had uncovered the hidden tomb of an Egyptian royal priest that had been untouched for around 4,400 years. Since then, there have been further fascinating developments related to the land of the Nile. To start with, Cairo officials tried to prevent the airing of a CBS interview in which Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke of his country’s close co-operation with Israel in fighting ISIS militants.

[WAJ Note: Joe Truzman has become for me a must-follow on Twitter and through his GroundBrief newsletter for events happening in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon. I wanted to introduce him to readers, so I asked him to write a post about who he is and how he does what he does.] I am fascinated with the Middle East – particularly the security of the State of Israel in relation to its neighboring countries. There is always something happening of interest, whether it’s the militant groups in Gaza and West Bank, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iranian proxy militias in Syria or the Islamic State in northern Egypt. Israel is surrounded by enemies putting it in a unique situation where security-related events are constant. This is where I provide material and analysis that you don’t see covered by international news organizations and most news related sources.

German prosecutors have charged a 27-year-old ISIS bride with the murder of a 5-year-old 'slave' girl. The German national, named in the media as Jennifer W., traveled to Syria in 2014, where she and her husband bought the little girl as a slave.

Germany wants to introduce a "mosque tax" for German Muslims to fund mosques and Islamic religious activities. The measure proposed by the lawmakers of Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition aims to win the loyalty of Muslim clerics who receive generous funding from Islamic countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

I shed a few tears after reading this article. People in Mosul, Iraq, had to endure hell for three years under Sharia law was set in place by the Islamic State (ISIS). This meant women covered head to toe in black while men had to grow long beards. Without the terrorist group around, men and women have now dashed to salons for makeovers, plastic surgery, and dental treatments.

Federal authorities arrested and charged an Ohio man for planning an ISIS-inspired attack on a synagogue. The man allegedly told undercover agents that the attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue inspired him to the same thing. The Department of Justice stated:
Damon M. Joseph, 21, of Holland, Ohio, was charged today in federal court with one count of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, for allegedly planning an attack on a synagogue in the Toledo, Ohio area. Joseph was arrested Friday evening after he took possession of two semi-automatic rifles.