Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham - ISIS - GRAPHIC PG. 15

[American Patriot]

Agreed. Not even military females in my book.

[vector7]

Islamic State video shows beheadings of Egyptian Christians taken hostage in Libya

Date February 16, 2015 - 4:24PM

82 reading now

David Kirkpatrick



A screenshot from the video shows men being led along the beach.

Cairo: A video released by the Islamic State appeared to show the mass beheading of a group of Egyptian Christians by fighters in a recently formed Libyan arm of the militant group.

Identical in style and details to earlier execution videos released by IS, this was the first video the group has released depicting a killing outside of its core territory in Syria and Iraq. It appeared to show much closer communication and collaboration between IS and its far-flung satellite groups than Western officials previously believed.

Concern is already growing in Libya and the West that IS might capitalise on the chaos that has engulfed the country to establish and expand a base of operations there. At least three groups of Libyan fighters have already pledged loyalty to IS, one in each of the country's three regions – Barqa in the east, Fezzan in the south, and Tripolitania in the west.
Relatives of the kidnapped Egyptians had protested in Cairo for the release.

Relatives of the kidnapped Egyptians had protested in Cairo for the release. Photo: Reuters

In Cairo, where the military-backed government has been working to defeat the Islamist factions in neighbouring Libya, supporters of the government cited the video released on Sunday as new evidence that those factions pose a growing threat to Egypt's own security.

Confirming that those killed in the video were Egyptian Christians taken hostage in Libya weeks ago, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi announced seven days of national mourning. In a televised address, he said Egypt would chose the "necessary means and timing to avenge the criminal killings."

The White House offered support to Egypt's government and condolences to the victims' families, condemning the "despicable and cowardly" killings.

IS promoted the video last week with a photograph from the scene that appeared in its English-language online magazine Dabiq.

The main difference from other execution videos it has released is that the new one appears to have taken place on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, on a rocky beach said by militants in the video to be in western Libya, much closer to Europe than sites previously depicted.

Fighters under the banner of the Tripolitania Province of the Islamic State announced last month they were holding about 20 Coptic Christians. A similar number of Egyptian Christians in Libya seeking work had disappeared in the mid-coastal city of Sirt. Officials of the Egyptian government and the Coptic Church confirmed that captives seen in a photograph with the announcement were the missing Egyptian Christians, and on Sunday confirmed they were killed in the video.

In the video, titled "A message signed with blood to the nation of the cross", masked fighters identified as from the Tripolitania province of IS, dressed in black with machetes at their chests, parade along a rocky beach towards the camera with a row of bound captives in orange jumpsuits.

The only sound is that of the crashing waves. The captives are made to kneel, and then one by one they are beheaded.

The lead executioner, who wears a brown mask over his face, thrusts his dagger at the camera. "O people, recently you have seen us on the hills of al-Sham and Dabiq's plain, chopping off the heads that have been carrying the cross for a long time," he says in fluent English with an American accent. "And today, we are on the south of Rome, on the land of Islam, Libya, sending another message."

The high-quality video, which bears the logo of al-Hayat, the official publishing arm of IS, is in stark contrast to the footage released in the past by affiliates of the group. The footage in those videos was shaky and grainy, suggesting an amateur production. By contrast, the five-minute clip released on Sunday is professional and cinematic, and is filmed in the same style as previous IS videos, including one that showed the mass beheading of captured Syrian soldiers last year.

New York Times, agencies

[vector7]

ISIS Sends Out This Message To All Christians: ‘You Will Soon See An Ocean Of Blood For All The Nation Of The Cross’

Walid Shoebat 8 hours ago

ISIS today sent out a "Coming Soon" documentary titled Warning: Message Signed In Blood Coming Soon To 'Nation Of The Cross.' It will be as ISIS promised, showing a wave of Christian blood which it has spilt. It is quite horrifying.

This morning I noticed some western speculation as to what ISIS had in mind for this sinister surprise which makes it obvious that from the beach wave mixed in blood as to another slaughter of Christians.



UPDATE: WE ARE POSTING THE VIDEO HERE:



Some social media in the west speculated that this has something to do with Denmark, for example:

"Speculation as to 'nation of the cross' spans from Denmark (flag with cross) to 'community of Christendom.' This announcement came after the Denmark attacks yesterday, so is not a reference to yesterday's attacks." (Weasel Zippers)

Westerners care more about Charlie Hebdo, a liberal who mocked Christ portraying the Virgin Mary giving birth to a pig. But all throughout the Middle East, the speculation is quite different, the beach and the waves shaped red, a reference to the blood was a clear message to the Copts in Egypt, a people who are rarely cared for and to Egypt it is about the slaughter of the 21 Christian Copts who were dragged to a beach front in Libya dressed in orange jump suits. The picture shows from ISIS magazine Dabiq, a group of Copts bowing on a beach, which can be linked to the image of the new promotional video issued by ISIS.




While ISIS did not issue any additional information about the nature of the video and what can be contained, the phrase "Cross nation," referred to in the Tweet, raises doubts about the fate of 21 Coptic Egyptian kidnapped by a group "Soldiers Of The Caliph" loyal to ISIS in Libya, and who had been abducted from the city Sirte, Libya.

And while the families anticipate the fate of their 21 sons in suffering, I am reminded of Christ's descending on earth. The two places in Scripture I find Jesus landing to rescue folks are Zechariah 14 and Isaiah 19.

We all know that Zechariah 14 is about rescuing the Jews and converting them to Him, but Isaiah 19 should shock some folks and get us to ask who and why is Christ coming for in Egypt:

"And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of the oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them." (Isaiah 19:20)

Here we have the "Mighty One" is the Messiah, who fights on the day of the Lord to fight the oppressors. Here, see for yourself your brothers and sisters in Egypt suffering from the oppressors and calling for Jesus to come down and save them:






Islamic State murders two “spies,” crucifies another, as children watch

February 15, 2015 11:33 pm By Robert Spencer 1 Comment
“Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this […]



Sisi vows revenge for Islamic State’s murder of 21 Christians

February 15, 2015 9:37 pm By Robert Spencer 56 Comments
“Safety for you crusaders is something you can only wish for.” Note that the Islamic State is here referring to Egyptian Christians — the indigenous people of Egypt — as “Crusaders.” Their ignorance of history is in service of their claim that Christians have no place in the Middle East. Their fanatical adherence to Islamic […]



Denmark: Police raid Internet cafe, arrest two Muslims in jihad probe

February 15, 2015 5:29 pm By Robert Spencer 9 Comments
This article describes Omar El-Hussein only as a “22-year-old, Danish-born man.” His identity, however, comes from the newspapers, as “police have not yet released information on the identity or motives of the attacker.” He didn’t commit these murders because he is 22, or because he was born in Denmark. He committed them because he was […]



Danish jihadi murderer freed from prison 2 weeks ago after knife attack

February 15, 2015 4:03 pm By Robert Spencer 15 Comments
“We do not have concrete knowledge of him being a traveller to conflict zones.” So he is just a believer in a belief system that all Western authorities insist has nothing to do with attacks like this one, although the attackers themselves continually point to it as their motivation. “Pictured: Danish lone wolf ‘jihadi’ who […]



Denmark: Muslim who fired on free speech event and synagogue is killed

February 15, 2015 8:38 am By Robert Spencer 23 Comments
After he opened fire on police — a salient fact that AP for some reason leaves out of its story. In any case, these events in Copenhagen yesterday were a conscious imitation of the Paris attacks last month: an attack on “blasphemers” followed by an attack on Jews. In response, Danish and European authorities are […]




Westerners join Iraqi Christian militia to fight Islamic State

February 15, 2015 11:10 pm By Robert Spencer 3 Comments
These individuals are doing what the governments of the post-Christian West have shown no interest in doing: protecting the Christians persecuted by the Islamic State. But since they self-identify as Christian, watch for them to be vilified and demonized by the mainstream media, and held up as the equivalent of the Islamic State: Christians committing […]

Conflict News @rConflictNews · 1h 1 hour ago
Several US Citizens have joined in the small Iraqi Christian militia to fight #ISIS @Aceeeeeed http://youtu.be/5r-P7vITDMc





Homeland Security Committee Chairman: Radical Islamist Extremism “Spreading like Wildfire”

By: Amanda Vicinanzo, Senior Editor

02/16/2015 (10:00am)

With estimates that 20,000 foreign fighters—including 3,400 Westerns— from 90 countries around the globe have traveled to Syria to fight for terrorist organizations, US counterterrorism officials are becoming increasingly worried that they will return to American shores to conduct an attack on the homeland.

“We need to accurately define the threat – violent Islamist extremism – and recognize it is spreading like wildfire around the globe,” said House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX). “These fanatics want nothing less than destruction of our way of life, and now their ability to match words with deeds is growing at an astonishing rate. In recent years, their safe havens have proliferated and their ranks have swelled.”

In the wake of the Islamic State’s (ISIS) barbaric display of the horrific murder of the Jordanian pilot, the House Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing last Wednesday to examine current efforts to thwart the dual threats of foreign fighters and homegrown terror.

“This evolving Islamist terror landscape has given rise to the ―dual threats of foreign fighter returnees and homegrown terrorism,” McCaul said. “The recent terror attack in Paris, and other attacks and plots in Belgium, Germany, the UK, Australia, Canada, and here in the US are proof that the threat has surged and that the enemy is dead set on attacking the West.”

Nicholas J. Rasmussen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said the rate of foreign fighter travel to Syria is “without precedent,” and is due in large part to ISIS’ demonstrated mastery of social media and online tools as mechanisms for spreading propaganda. In fact, since the first of this year, ISIS has already published more than 250 official ISIS products online.

McCaul agreed, saying, “Extremists do not need to travel overseas in order to become a threat to our homeland. Through Hollywood-like propaganda videos and social media, Islamist terror groups are inciting their followers and potential recruits to wage war at home.”

“ISIS social media also gives step-by-step instructions on how to get to the fight and how to return,” Mr. McCaul added.

Rasmussen indicated that curbing the threat of foreign fighters returning to the homeland to conduct an attack will be very challenging, since there is no single pipeline for foreign fighters in and out of Syria. However, most routes involve transit through Turkey, prompting Turkey to step up its efforts to deny entry to potential foreign fighters based on information provided by the fighters’ countries of origin.

In addition, in the wake of the attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, the European Union is discussing ways to enhance border controls, implement stronger watchlisting and improve information sharing.

To identify and stop foreign fighters at their borders, Rasmussen recommended countries begin “screening visa applicants; using Passenger Name Records or other data to identify potential foreign fighters; applying increased screening measures at points of departure; and a willingness to share information through INTERPOL, the UN and bilateral relationships."

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officialstold a congressional committee nearly a year ago that “the alarming number of countries that report very little -- and in some cases no -- lost and stolen passport data to INTERPOL for inclusion in the Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database” is “disturbing.”

Additionally, nearly 13,500 passports were issued by the US Department of State to individuals who used the Social Security Number (SSN), but not the name, of a deceased person. Another 24,278 passports were issued to applicants who used a likely invalid SSN, according to the results of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review last year of a 140-case generalizable sample and a 15-case nongeneralizable sample for these two populations, respectively.

Francis X. Taylor, DHS Under Secretary of Intelligence and Analysis at the US, testified that "we are unaware of any specific, credible, imminent threat to the homeland." However, he did express concern that Americans who join violent extremist groups in Syria "could gain combat skills, violent extremist connections and possibly become persuaded to conduct organized or 'lone-wolf' style attacks that target US and Western interests.”

DHS emphasized that strengthening local communities as the first line of defense against violent extremism. Taylor also asserted that developing partnerships on a state and federal level, as well as between nations, is crucial to improving information sharing on terrorist activities.

Taylor noted that, “Following the Paris attacks, DHS worked with some of these countries and the Department of State to link members of civil society and community stakeholders in respective countries so that they could coordinate and build grass roots responses to the attacks in Paris.”

To track foreign fighters, this fall DHS strengthened the security of the Visa Waiver Program through enhancements to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). The agency hopes these improvements will facilitate visa-free travel to the US while providing an additional layer of security.

As Homeland Security Today previously reported, the 38 VWP countries where a visa is not required for US entry have to provide additional passport data, contact information and other potential names or aliases in their travel application submitted via ESTA before they can travel to the United States."

Many of the leading visa-waiver countries are seeing their citizens going to Syria to join [the Islamic State] or Al Qaeda affiliates in that country and potentially returning home with training and new skills," a senior DHS official told the Washington Post.

Late last year, legislation was introduced to suspend participation in US Visa Waiver Program for countries that fail to share pertinent traveler info on terror threats.

McCaul also expressed concern over the State Department’s desire to resettle tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in the United States, fearing “ISIS could exploit this effort in order to deploy operatives to America via a federally funded jihadi pipeline.”

Last month, McCaul wrote a letter to the State Department urging them to consider the long-term security implications of terrorist groups exploiting the refugee resettlement process. While the US has a history of welcoming refugees, McCaul believes the Syrian conflict is a special case, since Syria is the home of one of the largest confluences of Islamist terrorists in history.

“The United States has historically taken a leading role in refugee resettlement and humanitarian protections,” said McCaul. “But we cannot allow the refugee process to become a backdoor for jihadists.”

This week the White House will be holding a Countering Violent Extremism Summit to discuss domestic and international efforts to counter violent extremism. As Homeland Security Today recently reported, the Obama administration has been criticized for omitting “Islamist” from the title.

"Calling our enemies what they are is vital," said retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn while speaking to a group of Special Forces members recently. "Many today don’t like that type of clarity. They want us to think that our challenge is dealing with an undefined set of violent extremists or merely lone wolf actors with no ideology or network."

"But that’s just not the straight truth," he stated. "Our adversaries around the world are self-described Islamic militants. And that means ... as the President of France has rightly said ... that our fight is with Islamic extremists using terrorism as their means to fight."

As part of the committee’s focus on counter violent extremism, McCaul has established a Task Force on Combatting Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel. The task force will review US government efforts to track foreign fighters and, ultimately, provide recommendations on how these efforts can be improved.

“We must keep those barbaric terrorists out of the homeland to protect the American people,” said McCaul.

[vector7]

ISIS killers were ‘high-fiving’ after execution – US volunteer with Kurdish troops

Published time: February 17, 2015 02:04
Edited time: February 17, 2015 05:51



A Florida native told RT that he followed ‘God’s call’ when he joined Kurdish fighters in the north of Syria to battle the Islamic State (formerly ISIS). He is one of dozens of westerners who have come to the region to fight against the terror group.

Dean Parker, 49, was a surfing instructor in Costa Rica with no prior combat experience when he saw the harrowing images of Yazidi refugees fleeing to Mount Sinjar before the IS onslaught last fall. “Overwhelmed with emotions” upon seeing a refugee child “with a look of sheer terror in his eyes,” he decided to enlist with the Kurdish militia fighting the IS in northern Syria.

Parker ended up joining the Lions of Rojava, a unit of foreign volunteers attached to the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG). Famously independent, the YPG began recruiting on social media in October 2014, when the Lions of Rojava Facebook page was created.

Read more
Int'l anti-ISIS brigade: Westerners flock to fight for Kurds

“Send terrorists to hell and save humanity” proclaims the page, asking for donations to a Germany-based Kurdish charity and volunteers for the fight against IS. The Lions of Rojava have been attracting a steady stream of Western volunteers.

The Kurds are “fighting hard and fighting strong,” but “they are fighting this war against Da’ash in Syria all alone,” Parker told RT, using the Arabic name for the Islamic State. Parker explained he came back to campaign for aid to the Kurds in weapons and supplies.

Even though the Kurdish fighters lack heavy weapons, boots and even elementary medical supplies, they have successfully defended the city of Kobani from IS attack and are holding the line. “They are doing all this great fighting… with so little,” Parker said. “They need help across the board."

Parker recalled a particularly harrowing experience of observing the Islamic State fighters abusing and killing a prisoner. He described “fair-skinned” IS fighters parading a captive before the Kurdish positions, beating him bloody, and then executing him. “After a few minutes of throwing him around like a ragdoll, one of them grabbed the guy by the back of his shirt, pulled him away from the group, and cut his throat.” After that, “they were all high-fiving each other and waving at us.”



Parker invested everything he had to go to Syria, and come back – but rather than returning to his home in Colorado, he decided to travel to Washington and seek help for his new-found Kurdish friends. “I owe them that,” he said.

“Dozens” of foreign fighters from Europe and America have joined the Kurdish militia in the fight against the IS. Meanwhile, the State Department has estimated that some 20,000 foreigners have flocked to the ranks of the terror group, including at least 3,000 Westerners.

Read more

20,000 foreigners have joined ISIS in Iraq, Syria – reports

However, Sean McFate, professor of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and author of “The Modern Mercenary: private armies and what they mean to world order,” told RT that it isn’t just people like Parker who are staving off the terrorists, it’s also America’s heavy reliance on private contractors or “hired guns.”

Describing military contractors as “cheaper and more efficient” than actual US military forces, McFate pointed out they provide the government with plausible deniability, don’t count as “boots on the ground,” and can be used on risky missions in order to avoid the politically problematic issue of US soldiers coming home in body bags. “The American public doesn’t seem to care that much about dead contractors,” he added.

[vector7]

Report: Obama Refused to Give Jordan, Egypt Information on ISIS Targets

jim hoft

Published on Feb 16, 2015





State Department’s Harf: “We cannot kill our way out of this war,” we need to give the jihadis job opportunities

February 17, 2015 11:17 am By Robert Spencer



In reality, it’s an unpleasant fact, but killing the enemy is indeed how wars have historically been won. Never in the history of the world has a war been won by alleviating the poverty of the enemy. And while even Chris Matthews finds this hard to swallow here, this is Obama Administration policy, and it was Bush Administration policy before that. The Washington establishment, both Democrat and Republican, believes that poverty causes terrorism, and that giving money to countries from which terrorists come will ultimately eradicate terrorism. There are three problems with this: first, study after study has shown that jihad terrorists are wealthier and better educated than their peers; second, this has been tried for years, with billions pumped into Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries, and it has failed: the problem of jihad terrorism is worse than ever; and third, the jihad terrorists believe they are warriors of Allah, the Lord of the Worlds — the noblest calling on earth. Does Marie Harf really think that they would give that up for a chance to say, “Would you like fries with that?”

“Harf: ‘We Can’t Kill Our Way’ Out of War Against ISIS,” by Ian Hanchett, Breitbart, February 16, 2015 (thank to Anne Crockett):

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf declared “we cannot win this war by killing them [ISIS], we cannot kill our way out of this war” on Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Hardball.”

Harf said that the video of ISIS murdering Egyptian Christians “underscores to people that it isn’t just a fight in iraq and in syria and that it’s not just a fight about dropping bombs on terrorists. It’s really how we stop the causes that lead to extremism in a place like Libya, the fact that there’s no governance, and there’s no opportunity for young people, it lets groups like ISIL grow there and flourish there, which is what you saw with this awful situation with these Egyptians that you just mentioned, but this is a longer fight, it’s fighting them on social media…they’re using social media to get converts to their cause and to spread their hatred all over the world. This week, we’re going to have over 60 countries here in Washington to talk about how do we combat this violent extremism together in the long-term, not just in the short-term fight.

She continued spelling out the fight against ISIS after Matthews declared “if I were ISIS, I wouldn’t be afraid right now…nothing we do right now seems to be directed at stopping this” Harf stated “I think there’s a few stages here. Right now, what we’re doing is trying to take their leaders and their fighters off the battlefield in Iraq and in Syria, that’s really where they flourish…we’re killing a lot of them and we’re going to keep killing more of them, so are the Egyptians, so are the Jordanians they’re in this fight with us. But we cannot win this war by killing them, we cannot kill our way out of this war. We need, in the longer term, medium and longer term, to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups, whether it’s lack of opportunity for jobs…”

At this point, Matthews cut Harf off and argued “we’re not going to be able to stop that in our lifetime, or 50 lifetimes. There’s always going to be poor people, there’s always going to be poor Muslims, and as long as there are poor Muslims, the trumpet’s blowing, they’ll join. We can’t stop that, can we?”

Harf responded “we can work with countries around the world to help improve their governance, we can help them build their economies, so they can have job opportunities for these people. You’re right, there is no easy solution in the long-term to preventing and combating violent extremism, but if we can help countries work at the root causes of this, what makes these 17-year-old kids pick up an AK-47, instead of try to start a business? Maybe we can try– try to chip away at this problem, while at the same time going after the threat, taking on ISIL in Iraq, in Syria, and helping our partners around the world.”

Matthews remarked “this sounds like we’re going to get rid of juvenile delinquency in America over time by erasing poverty, improving education. Sure, over time. But the American people, I think, are getting humiliated morally by this.”…

BREAKING: Islamic State Reportedly Burns 45 People To Death In Iraqi Town Of Al-Baghdadi…

Al-Baghdadi was overrun by ISIS last week, they’ve been using it as a launch pad for attacks on Al Asad air base, where 320 U.S. Marines are training Iraqi forces.

Via BBC:Jihadist militants from Islamic State (IS) have burned to death 45 people in the western Iraqi town of Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, the local police chief says.

Exactly who these people were and why they were killed is not clear, but Col Qasim al-Obeidi said he believed some were members of the security forces.

IS fighters captured much of the town, near Ain al-Asad air base, last week.

Col Obeidi said a compound that houses the families of security personnel and local officials was now under attack.
He pleaded for help from the government and the international community.

The fighting and poor communications in the area make it difficult to confirm such reports.

Earlier this month, IS published a video showing militants burning alive a Jordanian air force pilot, whose plane crashed in Syria in December.

[American Patriot]

Predicted this would happen.

Obama won't help, but Americans WILL...

ISIS killers were ‘high-fiving’ after execution – US volunteer with Kurdish troops

Published time: February 17, 2015 02:04
Edited time: February 17, 2015 05:51



A Florida native told RT that he followed ‘God’s call’ when he joined Kurdish fighters in the north of Syria to battle the Islamic State (formerly ISIS). He is one of dozens of westerners who have come to the region to fight against the terror group.

Dean Parker, 49, was a surfing instructor in Costa Rica with no prior combat experience when he saw the harrowing images of Yazidi refugees fleeing to Mount Sinjar before the IS onslaught last fall. “Overwhelmed with emotions” upon seeing a refugee child “with a look of sheer terror in his eyes,” he decided to enlist with the Kurdish militia fighting the IS in northern Syria.

Parker ended up joining the Lions of Rojava, a unit of foreign volunteers attached to the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG). Famously independent, the YPG began recruiting on social media in October 2014, when the Lions of Rojava Facebook page was created.

Read more
Int'l anti-ISIS brigade: Westerners flock to fight for Kurds

“Send terrorists to hell and save humanity” proclaims the page, asking for donations to a Germany-based Kurdish charity and volunteers for the fight against IS. The Lions of Rojava have been attracting a steady stream of Western volunteers.

The Kurds are “fighting hard and fighting strong,” but “they are fighting this war against Da’ash in Syria all alone,” Parker told RT, using the Arabic name for the Islamic State. Parker explained he came back to campaign for aid to the Kurds in weapons and supplies.

Even though the Kurdish fighters lack heavy weapons, boots and even elementary medical supplies, they have successfully defended the city of Kobani from IS attack and are holding the line. “They are doing all this great fighting… with so little,” Parker said. “They need help across the board."

Parker recalled a particularly harrowing experience of observing the Islamic State fighters abusing and killing a prisoner. He described “fair-skinned” IS fighters parading a captive before the Kurdish positions, beating him bloody, and then executing him. “After a few minutes of throwing him around like a ragdoll, one of them grabbed the guy by the back of his shirt, pulled him away from the group, and cut his throat.” After that, “they were all high-fiving each other and waving at us.”



Parker invested everything he had to go to Syria, and come back – but rather than returning to his home in Colorado, he decided to travel to Washington and seek help for his new-found Kurdish friends. “I owe them that,” he said.

“Dozens” of foreign fighters from Europe and America have joined the Kurdish militia in the fight against the IS. Meanwhile, the State Department has estimated that some 20,000 foreigners have flocked to the ranks of the terror group, including at least 3,000 Westerners.

Read more

20,000 foreigners have joined ISIS in Iraq, Syria – reports

However, Sean McFate, professor of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and author of “The Modern Mercenary: private armies and what they mean to world order,” told RT that it isn’t just people like Parker who are staving off the terrorists, it’s also America’s heavy reliance on private contractors or “hired guns.”

Describing military contractors as “cheaper and more efficient” than actual US military forces, McFate pointed out they provide the government with plausible deniability, don’t count as “boots on the ground,” and can be used on risky missions in order to avoid the politically problematic issue of US soldiers coming home in body bags. “The American public doesn’t seem to care that much about dead contractors,” he added.

[American Patriot]

You know.... I don't condone going over to help foreigners with their problems any more.

Except in this case.

I sincerely condone violence against ISIS. A lot of it. Deadly, radioactive, bloody, pink mist violence.

[Toad]

BREAKING: Islamic State Reportedly Burns 45 People To Death In Iraqi Town Of Al-Baghdadi…

Nothing is beneath them. Nothing.

[American Patriot]

It is being confirmed by FNC now that the people were burned to death... and that our own people watched it via satellite (from satellites, not satellite TV) live, as it happened, but the Pentagon and Intelligence community won't confirm that information at this time.

Sheppard Smith, God Love his liberal ass, is begging for "someone to do something".

I say.... this is war. You declare war on us, we come in and stomp your ass into a mudhole, then glass the place. No one else will fuck with us for 2 more centuries.

[American Patriot]

Reporter, Daily Caller News Foundation

• See All Articles
• Send Email
• Subscribe to RSS
• Follow on Twitter

Sunday’s release of an ISIS video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya prompted a swift military reprisal from Egypt, despite a messy civil war and potentially limited fighting capacity.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, a former head of the army, vowed Sunday evening to “punish these murderers” and retaliate in self-defense. Since then, Egypt’s air force claims to have killed at least 64 ISIS fighters at three separate sites in Libya. (RELATED: Who Were ISIS’s Egyptian Christian Victims?)
But the payoff may not be as strong as anticipated. A common joke among Washington’s Middle East insiders is that the Egyptian air force can’t fly at night — or in cloudy conditions.
David Schenker, a former Pentagon official who directs the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Program on Arab Politics, agrees that Egypt’s military can come up short of expectations. “They’d much rather build tanks they’re not going to use,” he told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview, noting that with millions of dollars in annual American military aid, Egypt could have elected to strengthen its border with chaotic Libya years ago. Instead, Egypt has recognized that “in terms of popular perception, it’s important that they be seen as protecting their citizens,” so like Jordan before it, Egypt rushed to authorize airstrikes against ISIS targets.
But Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, points out several crucial differences between Jordan’s reaction to the immolation of pilot Muadh al-Kasasbeh and Egypt’s response to the latest offense. Kasasbeh “was a military man representative of his government,” he told TheDCNF, “not a random foreign worker.” And while it was unclear whether Jordan would be intimidated or provoked by the attack, Gartenstein-Ross says that the beheadings in Libya were clearly “designed to provoke intervention,” and, by their own twisted logic, provided ISIS with 64 new “martyrs,” dying at the hands of secular-led Egypt, to use for recruitment purposes.
ISIS’s Libyan franchise may also be attempting to maneuver against other Islamists in the country. The two main factions in the civil war, a secular-led coalition called Libya Dignity and a grouping of Islamists called Libya Dawn, may soon reach a truce. ISIS’s Libyan operations have involved more flashy one-off attacks than retention of territory. By denouncing the talks between Dignity and Dawn, it would then distinguish itself as Libya’s “irreconcilable” jihadi brand, attracting more supporters impressed by its unwillingness to compromise with “infidels and apostates.” (RELATED: Libya, Torn By Rival Factions, Struggles To Govern)
Egypt has had its own ISIS-related problems since before the 21 Copts were abducted and killed in the coastal city of Sirte. A group called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has killed over a thousand Egyptian police and soldiers in the Sinai peninsula for years. In November, it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and was designated Sinai Province (Wilayat Sinai).
As Schenker puts it, for better or worse “Egypt has bigger fish to fry,” and it’s unlikely to wade much further into Libya. But one serious option may remain: the United Arab Emirates has been using Egypt as a staging ground for attacks on ISIS in Libya for months. “They’re not going to fix Libya,” but a renewed UAE-Egyptian joint effort to enforce border security and support the Libya Dignity anti-Islamist campaign may help tip the balance in Egypt’s favor.

[American Patriot]

Why ISIS in Libya Has Western Leaders Worried
By Jack Phillips, Epoch Times | February 17, 2015
Last Updated: February 17, 2015 3:01 pm
An ISIS militant is seen gesturing. (Epoch Times/ YouTube screenshot of alleged ISIS video)

An ISIS militant is seen gesturing. (Epoch Times/ YouTube screenshot of alleged ISIS video)

More in Asia & Pacific
Doctors treat injured people at the emergency room of the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, early Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. ( AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
Float Accident at Haiti Carnival Parade Kills at Least 20
Japanese animated film director Isao Takahata speaks about his latest film "The Tale of The Princess Kaguya" with its poster during an interview at his office, Studio Ghibli, in suburban Tokyo, Feb. 12, 2015 (AP/Shizuo Kambayashi)
Hand-drawn ‘Princess’ stands apart from other Oscar nominees
Japan's Government spokesman Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga speaks during a press conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo Friday, Jan. 23, 2015 (AP/Koji Sasahara)
Japan to Give $15.5 Million for Anti-Terror Efforts

The recent release of a video that purportedly shows the beheading 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians has revealed an unpleasant truth for many: The Islamic State (ISIS) is in Libya.

While the Islamic State took over cities and areas in the North African country over the past year or so, the executions could represent a turning point for Libya, which has both a weak central government with two main rival factions and simultaneously a hotbed for extremists. After the beheadings, Egypt carried out bombing missions on suspected targets controlled by the Islamic State, which is best-known as ISIS, in Libya.

Of note, the video published by the Islamic State-affiliated group in Libya issued a threat to “conquer Rome,” suggesting possible attacks in Europe. The execution video, perhaps in a symbolic gesture, was filmed on the Mediterranean coast. As the video ends, the footage cuts to ocean water running red with what appears to be blood.
The locations of Derna (R), Nawfaliyah (C), and Sirte (L) in Libya (Google Maps)

The locations of Derna (R), Nawfaliyah (C), and Sirte (L) in Libya (Google Maps)

In recent weeks, the Islamic State has made gains in Libya, with its militants taking over the town of Nawfaliyah in Sirte province, while they posted propaganda photos online showing a convoy of trucks and armed militants, according to the Long War Journal. There’s been conflicting reports over whether the city of Sirte is still controlled by the group, while Derna, a city of 150,000, is considered the group’s main headquarters.

Unlike Iraq and Syria, the group’s control of a coastal area could pose problems for Europe and vessels in the Mediterranean Sea.

And that has some Western leaders worried, writes analyst John Pearson for the National newspaper.

“The war offering the same chaos and dislocation found in Iraq and Syria. Western leaders worry that Libya offers the one thing not available in either Iraq or Syria—access to the coast,” he writes. The group’s “bases at Derna, Sirte and Nawfilya are all close to the shore offering the chance for units to set sail across the Mediterranean to attack Europe.”
MORE:

ISIS Burns ’45 People’ to Death in al-Baghdadi, Iraq: Reports
ISIS Execution Video Shows Just How Messed up Libya Still is

The Islamic State “will have expected Egypt’s air strikes and may hope the bombing brings further chaos to an already war-torn country, and with it fresh chances to expand,” he adds.

The two rival Libyan government factions aren’t likely going to take action against the Islamic State, either. After the two factions were began fighting last year, there was no concerted efforts to push back against the waves of foreign militants coming into the country. Libya had been unstable since the collapse of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime in 2011, but an all out civil war broke out last year.

“As all the attention of the two sides was on fighting the other side, this kind of group prospered in the political and military void,” Karim Mezran, who is a Libya expert at the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC, reported the Wall Street Journal. “There are no good guys or bad guys there—both sides have been acting in bad faith.”

This means it’s likely up to the United Nations to consider stepping in. Following the release of the beheading video, Egypt called for a UN coalition to draft a Security Council resolution.

“The worsening situation,” said Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Paolo Gentiloni in a statement, “now calls for extraordinary engagement and a greater assumption of responsibility along the lines that the parliament will begin to discuss on Thursday 19 February. Italy endorses this extraordinary political commitment and is ready to do its part in Libya within the framework of the decisions of the United Nations.”
Category: World Asia & Pacific
You may also like

ISIS Execution Video Shows Just How Messed up Libya Still is

[American Patriot]

UN to hold emergency meeting on Islamic State in Libya crisis

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi makes a statement after militants in Libya affiliated with the Islamic State group released a grisly video showing the beheading of several Egyptian Coptic Christians. (AP Photo/Egyptian Presidency)








February 17, 2015
The U.N. Security Council will meet in an emergency session Wednesday on the crisis in Libya, which comes as Egypt presses the council to take action after the Islamic State group posted a video of the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians.
Egypt said Monday it has launched airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Libya following the release of the video, marking the first time Cairo has publicly acknowledged taking military action in neighboring Libya, where extremist groups seen as a threat to both countries have taken root in recent years.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a Tuesday radio interview that creating a U.N.-backed coalition was the best course of action to rid Libya of Islamic extremists. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and the U.N. envoy to Libya are expected to brief the council Wednesday afternoon in a public meeting.
U.N. diplomats said there had not yet been a proposal for a course of action for Wednesday’s meeting. They also said Libya would need to submit a letter requesting any U.N. support. The British deputy ambassador to the U.N., Peter Wilson, told reporters that his country had not seen such a letter.
“We’re waiting to see what Foreign Minister Shoukry has to say,” Wilson said.
Shoukry was meeting separately with several Security Council members at the U.N. on Tuesday.

[Ryan Ruck]

Sheppard Smith, God Love his liberal ass, is begging for "someone to do something".

Someone WAS doing something and the press couldn't wait to jump his shit for doing it.

And then the electorate decided they wanted someone who wouldn't do anything.

So, here we are...

[American Patriot]

Smith was saying how the King of Jordan did a few sorties himself and now "nothing" from Jordan.

I'm not sure that's true, but that's what FNC is putting out there.

[American Patriot]

U.S.: Iraqi forces repel attack on al-Asad air base

By Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press 11:33 a.m. EST February 13, 2015

(Photo: Sabah Arar/AFP)

WASHINGTON — Eight Islamic State fighters were killed when they attacked an air base where U.S. and coalition forces are training Iraqi forces.
Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said that initial reports Friday showed that all of the IS attackers were killed by Iraqi troops at or inside a gate to al-Asad air base in the western province of Anbar.
There are about 400 U.S. troops at the base, but Warren said none of the American forces were involved in the fighting. He said the U.S. troops were about two miles away, in a different section of the sprawling air base.
U.S. unmanned surveillance aircraft and Army Apache attack helicopters were sent to the scene from Baghdad, but the attack was over before they arrived, so they did not engage in fighting.
There are currently nearly 2,600 U.S. forces in Iraq. Of those, about 450 are training Iraqi troops at three bases across the country, including al-Asad. Forces from other coalition countries conduct the training at the fourth site, in the northern city of Irbil.

[American Patriot]

Just hearing:

Italy has closed their embassy in Tripoli. Apparently ISIS is now using Libya as a jumping off point. Italy has several (*three) scenarios where ISIS will attack them. One is a land attack at, say Sicily by go-fast boats, and this appears to be the least likely. Most likely scenario involves the infiltration of escaping refugee boats and attacks on the Italian Navy when they go to assist the boats (as they have been doing a LOT lately).

It is 109 miles from Libya to the nearest Italian Island in the Med. That can be crossed in a couple of hours by fast moving boats full of armed men.

Italy is hot to stop these guys and have "joined" whatever "coalition" happens to be forming (not headed by the United States apparently).

[American Patriot]

Oliver North on slaughter of Christian Coptics 720 loud

[American Patriot]

[vector7]

Islamic State is funding its terror operations by brutally harvesting organs, UN is warned

THE ISLAMIC State is bankrolling its terror operations by harvesting organs, the UN Security Council has been told.

Published: 09:10, Wed, February 18, 2015 By Aaron Brown

GETTY•REUTERS
Corpses with surgical incisions have bee found piled up in shallow, mass graves in Iraq

Dozens of bodies have been discovered with surgical incisions as well as missing kidneys and other vital organs, Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations Mohamed Alhakim briefed a security council.

We have bodies. Come and examine them. It is clear they are missing certain parts
Ambassador Mohamed Alhakim

The corpses were found piled up in shallow, mass graves over the last few weeks.

Ambassador Mohamed Alhakim yesterday urged the UN Security Council to investigate the allegations of organ harvesting.

"We have bodies. Come and examine them," he said.

"It is clear they are missing certain parts."

Ambassador Alhakim claimed a dozen doctors were "executed" by the Islamic State in Mosul, in northern Iraq, for refusing to harvest organs for the terror group.

Mosul, which was seized by Islamic State militants in June last year, is the third largest city in Iraq and home to more than a million people.

GETTY
An Iraqi man inspects the remains of members found in a mass grave of bodies killed by Islamic State

The Iraqi ambassador also accused the Islamic State – also referred to as IS, ISIS and ISIL – of "crimes of genocide" by targeting certain ethnic groups.

Nikolay Mladenov, the outgoing UN envoy to Iraq, reported that 790 people were killed in the country by terrorism and armed conflict in January alone.

Mr Mladenov confirmed there have been an increasing number of reports of ISIS using organ harvesting to finance part of their operations.

But he said that "it's very clear that the tactics ISIL is using expand by the day."

UNIVERSAL
Islamic State beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians in a shocking new propaganda film

The black market for human organs is growing rapidly, revealed a major investigation by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2012.

Some 10,000 black market operations involving human organs take place each year across the globe – more than one an hour.

Desperate patients will pay gangs more than $200,000 (nearly £128,000) for a kidney, WHO concluded.

"There is a growing need for transplants and big profits to be made. It's ever growing, it's a constant struggle," Luc Noel, a doctor and WHO official, told The Guardian.

"The stakes are so big, the profit that can be made so huge."

Islamic State currently hold a third of Iraq and neighbouring Syria – imposing strict Sharia law.

"Especially worrying is the increasing number of reports of revenge attacks committed particularly against members of the Sunni community in areas liberated from ISIL control," Mr Mladenov added.

Related articles

• 'Their only words were – Jesus, help me' Pope speaks out over Islamic State mass beheading
• 'I do not regret sending British troops to overthrow Gaddafi' says David Cameron

Earlier this week, Iraqi prime minister Haider Abadi confirmed plans are underway to liberate the city of Mosul.

"I'm pretty sure that we can liberate Mosul with the minimum of casualties and costs," Mr Abadi said.

The news of Iraq's show of force against Islamic State in Mosul came hours after Egyptian media reported killing '64 jihadists' in a series of aerial assaults launched as a retaliation for the beheading of 21 Egyptians at the hands of ISIS extremists.

Egyptian warplanes bombed Islamic State targets in Libya including weapon storage sites and training camps.

Pope Francis denounced the merciless beheading – branding it a "barbaric assassination".

Obama defends the ‘true peaceful nature of Islam’

By Chris Perez

February 18, 2015 | 10:10am



ISIS prepares to behead 21 Coptic Christians -- or, as the terrorists label them, "people of the cross" -- on the beach in Libya.

President Obama defended the “true peaceful nature of Islam” on Wednesday — saying terrorist groups like ISIS promote a “twisted interpretation of religion that is rejected by the overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims.”

In an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times, the commander-in-chief provided a possible preview of a speech later at a White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, in which community leaders from across the country gathered to discuss how to protect people from “extremist ideologies.”

“The world must continue to lift up the voices of Muslim clerics and scholars who teach the true peaceful nature of Islam,” Obama wrote.

“We can echo the testimonies of former extremists who know how terrorists betray Islam. We can help Muslim entrepreneurs and youths work with the private sector to develop social media tools to counter extremist narratives on the Internet.”

“This week, we’ll be joined by people of many faiths, including Muslim Americans who make extraordinary contributions to our country every day,” he added.

“It’s a reminder that America is successful because we welcome people of all faiths and backgrounds.”

The president once again refused to utter phrases such as “Islamic terrorism” or “Islamic extremist” — instead referring to ISIS militants as “individuals from various religions” who practice “hateful ideologies.”

“Our campaign to prevent people around the world from being radicalized to violence is ultimately a battle for hearts and minds,” Obama said.

“With this week’s summit, we’ll show once more that — unlike terrorists who only offer misery and death — it is our free societies and diverse communities that offer the true path to opportunity, justice and dignity.”

When describing the cold-blooded murder of three young Muslim students near the University of North Carolina last week, Obama explained that Americans of all religions must “insist that no one should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship.”

Authorities have claimed that the primary motive for the killing stemmed from an argument about a parking space, but the father of two of the victims called the slayings a “hate crime.”

In his op-ed, Obama said “we do not yet know why” the students were killed.

“We know that many Muslim Americans across our country are worried and afraid,” Obama wrote. “Americans of all faiths and backgrounds must continue to stand united with a community in mourning.”

The president says that while the US has “decimated the core al Qaeda leadership, strengthened homeland security and worked to prevent another large-scale attack like 9/11,” the only way groups such as ISIS can be brought to justice for barbaric killings and ruthless acts is if the world can “stand united internationally.”

“We know that military force alone cannot solve this problem,” Obama wrote. “Nor can we simply take out terrorists who kill innocent civilians. We also have to confront the violent extremists — the propagandists, recruiters and enablers — who may not directly engage in terrorist acts themselves, but who radicalize, recruit and incite others to do so.”

Obama’s op-ed was a more carefully crafted version of a message that State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf tried to deliver Tuesday, when she drew fire for saying on CNN that jobs were at the core of the global terror threat.

“But we cannot win this war by killing [terrorists],” she said. “We cannot kill our way out of this war. We need in the medium to longer term to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups, whether it’s a lack of opportunity for jobs or …,” she trailed off.

[vector7]

Obama Blames Islam Critics For Rise Of ISIS



February 19, 2015 - 8:41 am

President Obama told a gathering of international dignitaries today that “all of us have a responsibility to refute the notion that groups like ISIL somehow represent Islam, because that is a falsehood that embraces the terrorists’ narrative.”

He also called on Muslim clerics and organizations to “push back not just on twisted interpretations of Islam” but “on the lie that we are somehow engaged in a clash of civilizations.”

“Obviously, there is a complicated history between the Middle East, the West, and none of us I think should be immune from criticism in terms of specific policies, but the notion that the West is at war with Islam is an ugly lie. And all of us, regardless of our faith, have a responsibility to reject it,” the president said.

“At the same time, former extremists have the opportunity to speak out — speak the truth about terrorist groups. And oftentimes, they can be powerful messengers in debunking these terrorist ideologies. One said, ‘This wasn’t what we came for, to kill other Muslims.’ Those voices have to be amplified.”

Among other components of his anti-extremism plan already outlined, including jobs and good governance, Obama stressed ensuring “that our diverse societies truly welcome and respect people of all faiths and backgrounds, and leaders set the tone on this issue.”

He noted “acts of anti-Semitism” in Europe, “or in some cases, anti-Muslim sentiment or anti-immigrant sentiment.”

“When people spew hatred towards others because of their faith or because they are immigrants, it feeds into terrorist narratives. If entire communities feel they can never become a full part of the society in which they reside, it feeds a cycle of fear and resentment and a sense of injustice upon which extremists prey,” Obama continued. “And we can’t allow cycles of suspicions to tear at the fabric of our countries.”

“So we all recognize the need for more dialogues across countries and cultures. Those efforts are indeed important. But what’s most needed today, perhaps, are more dialogues within countries, not just across faiths, but also within faiths. Violent extremists and terrorists thrive when people of different religions or sects pull away from each other and are able to isolate each other, label them as ‘they,’ as opposed to us, something separate and apart.”

So, Obama said, “let’s share the truth of our faiths with each other.”

He announced a program named after murder U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens “to connect 1 million young people from America and the Middle East and North Africa for dialogue.”

“In some of our countries, including the United States, Muslim communities are still small and, you know, relative to the entire population. And as a result, many people in our countries don’t always know personally somebody who is Muslim. So the image they get of Muslims or Islam is in the news. And given the existing news cycle, that can give a very distorted impression,” he said. “A lot of the bad, like terrorists who claim to speak for Islam, that’s absorbed by the general population; not enough of the good — the more than 1 billion people around the world who do represent Islam, and are doctors and lawyers and teachers and neighbors and friends.”

“So we have to remember these Muslim men and women, the young Palestinian working to build understanding and trust with Israelis, but also trying to give voice to her people’s aspirations; the Muslim clerics working for peace with Christian pastors and priests in Nigeria and the Central African Republic to put an end to the cycle of hate; the civil society leaders in Indonesia, one of the world’s largest democracies; parliamentarians in Tunisia working to build one of the world’s newest democracies; business leaders in India with one of the world’s largest Muslim populations; entrepreneurs unleashing new innovations in places like Malaysia, health workers fighting to save lives from polio and from Ebola in West Africa and volunteers who go to disaster zones after a tsunami or after an earthquake to ease suffering and help families rebuild, Muslims who have risked their lives as human shields to protect Coptic churches in Egypt and to protect Christians attending mass in Pakistan and who try to protect synagogues in Syria.”

Obama reminded all that a Muslim police officer was killed in the Charlie Hebdo massacre and a Muslim employee saved Jews at the kosher grocery store.

“It’s not a question of Jews or Christians or Muslims,” he said. “We’re all in the same boat, and we have to help each other to get out of this crisis.”