Day: September 15, 2014

ISIS Recruitment: Uncle Jihadi Wants You!

First I would like to rant just a bit……I cannot believe the lack of attention the American people are showing for the possibility of American troops returning to fight in Iraq (for the 3rd time)…..they are showing more concern for the future of a game……the NFL to be more specific…….they are concerned about its reputation over domestic abuse……..they are showing classic signs of denial over the armed conflict thing….ignore it maybe it will go away……..this, to me, is truly sad….sorry to me a person’s life is worth more than some game that the world would not miss if it disappeared.  It is just sad and a bit pathetic.

We have heard all the recruitment stories for ISIS….especially those from the UK, who may be doing all the beheading for the organization……everyone keeps saying that they have a cracker jack recruitment program…….mostly thanx to social media…….crazies are flocking to Syria and Iraq to join and be part of something big…….they have their disgusting tentacles in all aspects of society looking for their new breed of killers……but there is one group that surprised me at least somewhat……

America may now be at war with ISIS, but a handful of Americans are joining up with the Islamic extremist group—and not all of them are men. US law enforcement is looking into a recent spate of women allegedly seeking to join the jihad, Reuters reports. In the past six weeks, three families in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have reported missing female family members they suspect may be enlisting, one local Muslim community leader says. On Aug. 25, another 19-year-old from the area ran away from home, hopped a flight to Turkey, and joined ISIS in Syria.

“The nature of the recruitment of these crazy organizations is how they use the element of surprise. Now they have surprised us again by going for the girls,” the community leader says. The Twin Cities are a hotbed for such recruiting because they boast America’s largest Somalian population, but the problem isn’t entirely localized: In July, a 19-year-old Colorado woman was arrested for allegedly trying to join up.

In other ISIS news:  (For those that have been more concerned with the fate of the NFL to care about war)…….

  • State Department officials tell the New York Times that several Arab countries have agreed to help with the US airstrike campaign against ISIS—though some will only be providing supplies rather than running strikes of their own.
  • Iraqi officials say that France has agreed to carry out airstrikes of its own, and Australia has announced that it will be as well. Australia will also be sending 200 troops to Iraq to serve as military advisers.
  • Meanwhile, ISIS has been enjoying a PR boon of sorts among extremists online thanks to its string of grisly beheading videos, the Guardian reports. “The wannabe foreign fighters are excited by these killings,” the director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization explains. “People in Tunisia and Libya are particularly interested in the prospect of fighting American and now British enemies. This is turning on people who were radicalized before this conflict started but weren’t particularly excited by the Sunni-Shia battle.”

Women?  This could be their undoing if not handled properly……

Obama knows he can’t really ‘defeat’ ISIS. Americans need to wake up to that reality, too. – The Week

Americans have to have a winner and a loser…..sorry but that is not going to be possible in the newest war that we have gotten ourselves into…….

The best laid plans of mice and men will have No bearing on the outcome of the conflict with ISIS/ISIL/IS……

 

Obama knows he can’t really ‘defeat’ ISIS. Americans need to wake up to that reality, too. – The Week.

Will UK Finally Step Up?

Obama and his coalition is getting a lack luster acceptance……many have join the force but few want to truly involved with maybe some behind the scenes doings…….the r3eport is that we now have 40 countries signed onto the coalition deal…..France may help with airstrikes and Australia is commit troops, yes I said troops, about 600 total….so far the countires most in danger from an expanding Is, the Sunni nations, are not as enthusiastic as France and Australia.

The UK has been hinting around the fringe of helping but I think IS last act of horror may bring them on-board and in a big way…..

ISIS appears to have carried out its threat to behead yet another Western hostage, this time a British citizen named David Haines. The executioner who killed Steven Sotloff in the last video had threatened that Haines would be next. Britain’s foreign office said it is “working urgently” to verify the newly released video, reports the BBC. Haines, a 44-year-old aid worker, was captured in Syria last year, as were Americans Sotloff and James Foley. The video emerged a day after the family of Haines issued a public plea urging his captors to contact them.

In the video, the group threatened to kill another Briton. Both British men were dressed in orange jumpsuits against an arid Syrian landscape, similar to that seen in the Foley and Sotloff videos. The SITE Intelligence Group, a US terrorism watchdog, reported the video, which was also posted online by users associated with the Islamic State group. The video was entitled “A Message to the Allies of America.” Haines’ purported killer, who appeared to be the same man speaking with a British accent as in the previous videos, tells the British government that its alliance with the US will only “accelerate your destruction” and will drag the British people into “another bloody and unwinnable war.”

Lots of back and forth…….and then Cameron made his move………

David Cameron emerged from an emergency meeting this morning with harsh words for Islamic State militants in the wake of yesterday’s video that purports to show the beheading of British aid worker David Haines: Calling the execution—which hasn’t been officially verified, though a UK Foreign Office rep tells the Wall Street Journal that “all signs are that the video is genuine”—”an act of pure evil,” the BBC reports that Cameron vowed “we will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes.” In the video, Haines singled out Cameron thusly: “I would like to declare that I hold you, David Cameron, entirely responsible for my execution.” ISIS militants threatened a second British hostage, Alan Henning, with the same fate

Looks like the UK is now ALL IN……….Glad to see that our allies will step up when needed but what are they stepping up to do?

Kerry insisted it was not only “premature” to talk about what, if anything, the coalition allies will do, but was even “inappropriate” of people to be talking about how little commitment many of the members seem to have.

Over the weekend 26 nations came together to plot a course through the ISIS thing……..

The world is discussing the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Paris today, with President Francois Hollande opening a conference attended by leaders and diplomats from 25-plus countries by saying “there is no time to lose. Iraq’s combat against terrorism is also ours.” Or so hopes Iraqi president Fuad Masum, who urged those in attendance to expand the fight against ISIS to Syria, reports the New York Times. “We must not allow them to have sanctuaries. We must pursue them wherever they are.” The Times notes that, thus far, the US has OKed only intelligence gathering over Syria. More on the ISIS front:

  • Not in attendance at the conference: Iran. Though France “initially opened the door to a possible role” by the country, per the Times, John Kerry put the kibosh on the idea over fears it would dissuade Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern states from participating. Iran, for its part, says that Syria should have been invited to the table.
  • Though it was announced yesterday that several Arab nations have agreed to join the fight against ISIS, with the BBC reporting that the anti-ISIS coalition now stands at about 40 countries including 10 Arab states, specifics remain in short supply. A BBC analyst describes a “scramble to craft a coherent plan from contributions offered” by the countries. The Wall Street Journal reports that while no officials have named which Mideast states might also conduct airstrikes, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar likely have the ability to join the US campaign.
  • As far as those airstrikes go, five weeks of them (150 strikes since President Obama’s speech last Wednesday, notes the New York Times) have halted the militants’ progress, US officials tell the Journal, but the paper points out that ISIS has reacted by becoming more “stealthy.” Equipment isn’t moved in open convoys; electronic communications have been curtailed; tarps and foliage are increasingly used to shield militants from drones; and militants are hiding among locals. The upside is that “ISIS has not gained any land since the airstrikes started,” per one official. The downside is that they may be tougher to track.

Sorry dude but it is the exact time for these people to step forward and say what they will do and not do……I fear that we are in for another Iraq War…..edition 3.

Contractors Ready To Cash In On ISIS War

Most of my readers know that I am NO fan of war….after living through one I cannot stand the thought of more Americans dying in far away lands for no other reason than geopolitics…..

In war there are usually winners and losers…..who will be the big winner in this newest war?  The saame people that are the big winners in ALL wars………

 

Contractors Ready To Cash In On ISIS War.

Iraq: Mr. Kerry, The Plan Sucks!

The following is the story of the week and yet it is not important enough for the MSM to be concerned……….

First, the debate of the last couple days has been settled……..it is now officially a WAR…..gone is the “counter-terrorism operation”.  We can rest easy now….we have an answer to the question.

One of the selling points for this war is that there will be NO American troops on the ground, right?  It is perfectly fine to kill from the air put no one wants us to do it from the ground.

The prez has laid out his plan for action…..and one of those articles of engagement is that we will work with the ‘moderate’ rebels to assist and handle fighting the IS on the ground……said in the prez speech….

Second, we will increase our support to forces fighting these terrorists on the ground.  In June, I deployed several hundred American servicemembers to Iraq to assess how we can best support Iraqi security forces.  Now that those teams have completed their work –- and Iraq has formed a government –- we will send an additional 475 servicemembers to Iraq.  As I have said before, these American forces will not have a combat mission –- we will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq.  But they are needed to support Iraqi and Kurdish forces with training, intelligence and equipment.  We’ll also support Iraq’s efforts to stand up National Guard Units to help Sunni communities secure their own freedom from ISIL’s control.

Now we can rest comfortably knowing that all effort will be focused on training and arming the ‘moderates’……good plan….if it would work……and?

The problem is that it WILL NOT work.  Why would I say that?

I reported on the possibility in a slight flaw in the prez plan in my post …”Counter-Terrorism Operational Briefing” of three days ago…….but for those lacking the foresight to read my report let me reiterate……..

Today, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that ISIS and other significant rebel factions, including both Islamist and “moderate” groups, have signed a mutual non-aggression pact in a Damascus suburb.

The pact was said to have been brokered by al-Qaeda’s Jabhat al-Nusra, and agrees that all sides will respect a truce until the destruction of the “Nussayri” regime, a pejorative term for Alawites.

That small piece of news will pee all over the plans of the prez.  So far I have heard NOTHING along these lines from the MSM….why?  This is more important than worrying about what to call the situation.  And yet, so far NOTHING!

Then the question is if not those ‘moderates’ which ‘moderates’ were the administration speaking of in their nice little speech?

Tell the American people just who be the ground force fighting IS………not Turkey….not Saudi Arabia…..not Egypt……….then who?  So far it still looks like it will be Americans (again and for the third time).

 

When Is A War Not a War?

I wrote this draft the other day after hearing John Kerry answer a question at a news conference……but I was beaten to the punch on the definition of war….but I still would like my opinion heard or in this case read.

The prez has spoken the words and the US is on its way to its third incursion into Iraq in 25 years……this time we will do it right….at least that seems to be the promise that the administration is making……Kerry is meeting all of our so-called allies in the region working on putting together a coalition to handle the situation with ISIS/ISIL/IS….fore now we are talking to Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia……..with more talks to come…….

The talking points worked and worked well….the American public is in support of the US going after IS….the media worked us well and now we are all standing around smiling and thumping our chests……Now the prez and the boyz will have to keep the talking points coming …..cannot let the American people losing confidence….now can we?

One of my pet peeves is the use of the term “boots on the ground”…..it is a de-humanizing term when used people do not think of young men and women being put in harm’s way….it is used to focus the public’s attention anywhere but on the Americans that will die and be maimed…….it is a term I will NOT use.

Then we come to the term of WAR.  Let’s ask  our Sec of State to see if he has something to say on this……….

“We’re engaged in a major counterterrorism operation, and it’s going to be a long-term counterterrorism operation. I think war is the wrong terminology and analogy but the fact is that we are engaged in a very significant global effort to curb terrorist activity,” Kerry told CBS News State Department Correspondent Margaret Brennan in an interview from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he is traveling as part of American effort to build a global coalition to battle ISIS.

“I don’t think people need to get into war fever on this. I think they have to view it as a heightened level of counter terrorist activity…but it’s not dissimilar to what we’ve been doing the last few years with al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and in Yemen and elsewhere,” Kerry said.

So we are not fighting a war but rather a counterterroism operation, right?

Let’s go to the dictionary for a definition of the word “WAR”……….

The dictionary defines war…..noun……”a state of armed conflict between nations or states or different groups within a certain state or area”……..

That is what we Americans do……re-define words to fit our narrative…….very similar to the re-packaging of the word ‘jungle’ into ‘rain forest’…..less intimidating.

I would think that Kerry after serving in Vietnam would know that if it sounds like a war, looks like a war, smells like a war….there is only one accurate conclusion….IT IS A WAR!

Once again an attempt to control the narrative and remove any negativity from the talking points.  Just like the term I do not like….it was used enough that the media joined the ranks of promoting war by removing any negativity from its reports.

Yes, that is correct…it is propaganda to keep the support for war high among us gullible Americans.

Please do not let them do this again…..think of the vets we have that the country is ignoring……..do we want more people to suffer?