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ISIS jihadist poses with severed head as Caliphate seize more key towns
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 6: Politix
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Senior Dutch gov't employee: ISIS a Zionist conspiracy
[IsraelTimes] A senior employee of the Dutch Justice Ministry said the jihadist Islamic State was created by Zionists seeking to give Islam a bad reputation.

Yasmina Haifi,
So her name wasn't Hildegaard Bruckner...
a project leader at the ministry's National Cyber Security Center, made the assertion Wednesday on Twitter, the De Telegraaf daily reported.

"ISIS (the former name of Islamic State) has nothing to do with Islam. It's part of a plan by Zionists who are deliberately trying to blacken Islam's name," wrote Haifi, who described herself on the social network LinkedIn as an activist for the Dutch Labor Party, or PvdA.
How leftist of them...
Haifi later removed her original message, explaining, "I realize the political sensitivity in connection with my work. That was not my intention."
Sure it was. And removing it didn't remove it. But that's okay since she'll always have a job with the Labor Party...
Two right-wing politicians, Joram van Klaveren and Louis Bontes of the VNL faction, asked the ministry how one with such views reached a prominent position in the ministry and if Haifi's employment constituted a security risk.
'Right wing' means they aren't card carrying members of the Labor Party...
A series of rallies supporting Islamic State, which is considered a terrorist organization in many Western countries, were held in the Hague in July and earlier this month. Some demonstrators called for violence. The demonstrations on July 2 and 24 featured calls to kill Jews.
That's how you know they were Zionists...
When anti-Islamic State demonstrators tried to march through the heavily Mohammedan neighborhood of Schilderswijk on Aug. 10 to express their disapproval, a crowd of approximately 200 men barricaded the main street and staged an illegal counter-demonstration in support of Islamic State.

Some of the protesters hurled stones at police who tried to remove the obstacles. Six people were placed in durance vile
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  I guess it's a bit comforting to know that our government isn't the only one with complete morons in office.
Posted by: gorb || 08/15/2014 0:16 Comments || Top||

#2  As the Exhalted and Absolute Ruler of ZOG, I declare her staements as B.S.
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2014 3:57 Comments || Top||

#3  .......created by Zionists seeking to give Islam a bad reputation.

The "bad name" was established long, long ago I'm afraid.



Posted by: Besoeker || 08/15/2014 4:06 Comments || Top||

#4  And how have little Jasmin became a senior employee---ability?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/15/2014 6:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Strange how the Dutch don't want to deal with their internal Muslim rioters the same way they dealt with the South Moluccans in the 70's. (i.e. called in an air strike, right there in Holland)
Posted by: ed in texas || 08/15/2014 7:58 Comments || Top||

#6  So the Dutch have shot themselves in the foot also and have eh,er their internal problems? Have all the governments in the West some secret desire to be lemmings and signed a collective suicide pact?
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/15/2014 8:49 Comments || Top||

#7  Yes.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 08/15/2014 11:16 Comments || Top||

#8  I second Frozen Al.
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2014 17:15 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Moroccan Leftist Dies after Two-Month Hunger Strike
[An Nahar] A leftwing student in jail in Fes in central Morocco has died after more than two months on hunger strike, a local NGO said on Thursday.

Mustapha Meziani, 31, died on Wednesday night in a Fes hospital after refusing food for 72 days, Youssef Raissouni, a leader of the independent Moroccan Association of Human Rights, told Agence La Belle France Presse.

The student had been placed in durance vile
You have the right to remain silent...
during an inquiry into festivities between Marxist and Islamist students at a university campus in the town in April that left one Islamist dead.

Meziani, accused of taking part in "premeditated murder", was admitted to hospital on July 19 and his health worsened on August 4 when he was "placed on life support", according to prisons authority DGAPR.

"The prison's management did everything possible to convince him to stop his hunger strike," the DGAPR said, adding that he had been given permission to carry on his university studies while in prison.

Meziani's family said the body had been taken to Casablanca for his appointment with Doctor Quincy.

Swords and knives were used in the April 24 confrontation on the campus at Dhar El-Mehraz, the last stronghold of the radical left in Morocco.

Islamist student Abderrahim Hasnaoui, 21, died in the festivities.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm gonna miss him. I'll bet nobody else goes on a hunger strike for a while.
Posted by: gorb || 08/15/2014 0:12 Comments || Top||

#2  "The prison's management did everything possible to convince him to stop his hunger strike,"

"Sandwich?"
"Nah, I'm good."
"OK"
Posted by: SteveS || 08/15/2014 2:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Shoulda tried bacon on the griddle. Works every time.
Posted by: gorb || 08/15/2014 8:54 Comments || Top||

#4  31 yr old leftwing student?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2014 11:04 Comments || Top||

#5  Still un undergrad...
Posted by: Steve White || 08/15/2014 14:04 Comments || Top||

#6  If Meziani would have taken that ham sandwich from Mama Cass, they'd both be alive.
Posted by: GORT || 08/15/2014 14:29 Comments || Top||

#7  :)

My Dell 286 had the Mama Cass virus, the mayo leaking from the 10 Meg Winchester was the tell.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/15/2014 20:24 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Top Saudi cleric calls for code of conduct to curb violence
[TODAYONLINE] A top Saudi Mohammedan holy man called on Friday for a global code of conduct for leaders, scholars and young people to halt a further slide into violence and "terror" in the Middle East.

The U.S.-allied kingdom has grown increasingly alarmed since Death Eaters from an offshoot of al Qaeda captured large areas of neighboring Iraq and Syria and declared an Islamic caliphate.

At his Friday sermon in Mecca, the imam and preacher of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Sudais, decried "mass massacres against humanity" in Gazoo, Syria and Iraq.

"All of this happens under the sight and hearing of the international community ... which raises fear that a generation would come to believe only in violence, terror and the clash of civilizations," Saudi state news agency SPA quoted Sudais as saying.

He said "there was an urgent need to prepare a global code of conduct in which the leaders and scholars would deliver their messages and in which the youths would set their thoughts right and the path of the new media is set right," SPA added.

The report did not go into details of the contents of such a code of conduct.

Militant groups regularly use websites to spread messages from firebrand
...firebrands are noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments...
holy mans and publicize attacks.

The conservative Islamic kingdom has kept a close eye on sermons for evidence of militancy since al Qaeda staged attacks that killed hundreds in Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
a decade ago.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 12:23 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Salafists

#1  At his Friday sermon in Mecca, the imam and preacher of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Sudais, decried "mass massacres against humanity" in Gazoo, Syria and Iraq.

And one doesn't have to explain the Wahhabi definition of "humanity," right?
Posted by: Pappy || 08/15/2014 16:01 Comments || Top||

#2  'Code of Ethics': ROFJMAO!
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2014 17:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Make the ROFLMAO, my glasses are being repaired, seriously.
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2014 17:48 Comments || Top||

#4  code of conduct to curb violence

Is that like a secret handshake or something?

I thought they already had one that goes:

1. Wink, wink
2. Nudge, nudge
3. "Say no more."

Posted by: Hupolush Grundy1293 || 08/15/2014 18:24 Comments || Top||

#5  Efforts to curb violence is no joking matter.

Ever trip over one of those things holding four bags of groceries.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 08/15/2014 18:34 Comments || Top||

#6  On my second I got the curb pun/joke!

Good show 'Old Man' as Btits would say!
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2014 23:38 Comments || Top||


Amnesty slams Saudi Arabia over Shia cleric verdict
[Iran Press TV] Amnesia Amnesty International has slammed Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
for handing down a harsh verdict to a leading Shia holy man in the country.

Amnesia Amnesty International said on Thursday that the harsh sentence of Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amr shows the disturbing pattern of harassment against the Shia community in Saudi Arabia.

A court in the Saudi kingdom has given the Shia holy man an eight-year jail term and a ten-year travel ban. He has also been barred from delivering religious sermons.

"Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amr is the latest Shia holy man to pay a very high price for refusing to be silenced," said Said Boumedouha, Amnesia Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.

The holy man has been charged with criticizing the country's ruling system and calling for political reform.

"Daring to peacefully criticize Saudi Arabia's rulers is no reason to end up behind bars. He must be released immediately in connection with these charges," Boumedouha added.

Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer has been tossed in the clink
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
several times over his calls on the Saudi government for giving Shias further freedom to exercise their religious rights.

"The conviction of Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amr by a special security and counterterrorism court reveals the extent to which the Saudi Arabian judicial system is arbitrary and unfair. Had the holy man signed a pledge not to deliver religious sermons, he would have currently been a free man. Yet the authorities seemed concerned about one thing alone which is how to punish him harsher for not obeying them," said Said Boumedoua.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


The Grand Turk
Hundreds of Syrian Refugees Leave Turkish City after Clashes
[An Nahar] The Turkish authorities were moving hundreds of Syrian refugees Thursday from the southern city of Gaziantep to camps, after three nights of violent protests by locals angered by their presence, reports said.

Tensions between Turkish residents and Syrian refugees in Gaziantep have flared in recent days since the murder of a Turkish landlord allegedly stabbed to death by his Syrian tenant.

Some 50 Turkish residents in Gaziantep have been incarcerated
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
over the violent protests, which started on Monday night and have seen anti-riot police fire tear gas to quell the unrest, NTV television said.

About a dozen Syrian refugees were maimed in the violence. Four Syrian refugees have now been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murder of the Turkish landlord.

The authorities were moving 2,000 Syrians from 400 families on buses out of the city to nearby refugee camps, the Milliyet and Radikal newspapers reported in their online editions.

Gaziantep governor Erdal Ata confirmed that 400 Syrian families were leaving to camps, although he did not link the move directly with the violence.

"We found 400 Syrian families living in bad conditions, in abandoned buildings. We are taking control of the houses and sending them to refugee camps from now," he said.

They were taken to nearby refugee camps in the cities of Sanliurfa and Mardin, the Dogan news agency reported.

A Turkish official told AFP some Syrians hesitated to leave their houses because of the ensuing tensions and he could not immediately confirm how many left the city.

The mayor of Gaziantep, Fatma Sahin, urged locals to show tolerance, saying a new refugee camp was being built and it was wrong to blame all crime on Syrians.

"I see that there are people who want to provoke different communities," she said in televised comments. "We must react sensibly," she said.

Turkey is hosting 1.2 million Syrian refugees after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
, the incoming president, announced an "open door" policy for all those fleeing the civil war.

Many live in camps along the volatile border. But others are living in cities throughout the country -- including Istanbul and the big cities of the south -- and their presence has become an increasing source of social tension.

In a separate development, some 200 Turkish workers were protesting in the Aegean city of Izmir about the low-cost labor of Syrian refugees, reports said.

"The boss likes low-cost labor", "We don't want Syrian workers" they shouted in the protest.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The new Palestinians?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/15/2014 6:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Sandbacks, to use a modified crude term.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/15/2014 16:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Importing a virus? Think of Lenin on the sealed train to ST.Petersbug....
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2014 17:08 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
LHC declares PTI, PAT demands 'unconstitutional'
[DAWN] LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday issued its detailed verdict over the petition filed by a citizen against the marches announced by Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
(PTI) and Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) and declared the demands put forward by Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
and Tahirul Qadri
...Pak politician, and would-be dictator, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran and Pakistain Awami Tehrik. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him...
were "unconstitutional".

"We are convinced that demands raised by the chairman PTI and chairman PAT as mentioned in paragraph No1 herein above read with statement of learned counsel for respondent No 4 referred in para No 3 above are in violation of the Constitution of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Pakistain, 1973 and as such for resolving the important constitutional issue, we admit this petition for regular hearing."

The PTI and PAT demands which the verdict has referred to in the nine-page verdict are as follows:

"(a) The Prime Minister of Pakistain should step down; (b) The Parliament of Pakistain be dissolved; (c) Election Commission be re-constituted; and (d) Interim government of technocrats be formed and election be held.

And in case the above said demands are not accepted, they will continue with their Dharna (sit-in) in Islamabad D-Chowk and they will choke the entire system unless their demands are accepted."

The court observed that leaders and activists of PTI and PAT could face legal action in case the constitution was violated.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


PTI given permission to hold rally in Islamabad
[DAWN] Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture...
has given permission to the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
(PTI) to hold a rally in Islamabad. The PTI, however, will be allowed to hold the rally near Islamabad's Serena Hotel and not at D-Chowk.

Nisar has also ordered police and administration to remove containers and open road entries for federal capital. Several containers — including those placed near Faizabad Interchange and other entry points — have already been removed.

Nisar gave these orders after visiting various places in Islamabad along with the police chief, chief commissioner and other high ranking officials. The interior minister also directed police to make security arrangements for the PTI rally.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Thousands on the Road in Pakistan Opposition Rally
[ABCNEWS.GO] Thousands of opposition protesters on Thursday joined large convoys headed to Pakistain's capital Islamabad for a mass rally to demand the ouster of the prime minister over allegations of vote fraud, as police foiled a possible attack on an airport in the southwest.

The rally is seen as the strongest challenge yet to the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
, just a year after he took office in the first democratic transfer of power in a country long plagued by military coups.

The protesters set out on Thursday morning from the city of Lahore in cars, trucks and buses, while others walked or drove cycle of violences as they embarked on the 300 kilometer (187 mile) journey to Islamabad. Initially 5,000 protesters were on the march, but the number steadily increased. The slow-moving convoy covered just five kilometers in seven hours.

The convoy is led by Imran Khan
... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...
, a famous cricketer-turned-politician who heads the Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
party, the third-largest in parliament. The demonstration was called to coincide with Pakistain's Independence Day.

"I am going to Islamabad to seek resignation from Nawaz Sharif," Khan told supporters in a speech Thursday evening.

"Get ready to win the match," said Khan, who is revered in Pakistain for leading the national team that won the 1992 cricket World Cup.

Sharif's ruling party has rejected Imran's demand, saying the elected democratic government would complete its term, which ends in 2018.

Thousands of coppers were deployed across Islamabad and along the convoy's route while the capital's entry points have been blocked since earlier this week with large shipping containers. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan
...Currently the Interior Minister of Pakistain. He is the senior leader of the Pak Moslem League (N) and a close aide to Nawaz Uncle Fester Sharif. He is noted for his vocal anti-American railing in the National Assembly. However (comma) Khan told the U.S. ambassador that he was in fact pro-American but he and the PML-N would have to be critical of US actions in order to remain publicly credible. Khan cited his wife and children's US citizenship as proof, which means he's lying to one side or the other and probably both. He wears a wig, but you probably guessed that. since hair doesn't grow naturally in that shape or texture...
told news hounds that the government had allowed peaceful rallies but that "anyone trying to disrupt peace would be dealt with an iron hand."

He said authorities had made arrangements to handle as many as one million people in Islamabad.

The protesters were moving slowly and were expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday, a day later than planned.

Khan's convoy got off to a colorful start in Lahore, with protesters dancing to the beat of drums and singing patriotic songs. Many women had the green and white of the Pak national flag painted on their cheeks, along with the red and green of Khan's party.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


International-UN-NGOs
U.N. Council to Vote Friday on Measure to Weaken Iraq Islamists
[An Nahar] The U.N. Security Council is set to vote on Friday on a resolution aimed at weakening Islamists in Iraq and Syria by cutting off funding and the flow of imported muscle.

The measure proposed by Britannia would be the council's toughest response yet to the jihadists who now control large swathes of Iraq and Syria, and have been accused of carrying out atrocities in their campaign.

Diplomats told Agence La Belle France Presse that a text had been agreed by all 15 members of the Council after nearly a week of negotiations and that the resolution would come up for a vote at 1900 GMT Friday.

The final text, seen by AFP, demands that Islamist State (IS) fighters in Iraq and Syria, and rebels from the Al-Nusrah front in Syria and other al-Qaeda-linked groups "disarm and disband with immediate effect."

It "calls on all member states to take national measures to suppress the flow of foreign terrorist fighters" to IS and Al-Nusrah and threatens to slap sanctions on those involved in recruitment.

It also warns governments and entities that trade with the jihadists, who now control oilfields and other potentially cash-generating infrastructure, "could constitute financial support" that may lead to sanctions.

As a concrete sign of its resolve to take aim at jihadists, the Council is to release a list of names of key myrmidon leaders who are to face sanctions for their ties to al-Qaeda.

The draft resolution states that the Council is acting under chapter VII of the U.N. charter, which means the measures could be enforced by military force or economic sanctions.
"There, that's fixed. Send for the drinks trolly, George -- I am absolutely parched after that bit of work."
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State

#1  A very stiff letter, I should expect.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/15/2014 15:30 Comments || Top||

#2  But won't that take vital time away from 'condemning Israel?
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2014 19:05 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraqi Sunnis lay out conditional offer to join unity government
[REUTERS] Tribal leaders and holy mans from Iraq's Sunni heartland said on Friday they would be willing under certain conditions to join a new government that hopes to contain sectarian bloodshed and an offensive by Islamic State Death Eaters that threatens Baghdad.
More and more it looks as if a fair bit of the Sunni rebellion is not in support of the ISIS but was against al-Malicki's government...
Members of the Sunni Mohammedan minority made their offer after Iraq's most influential Shi'ite holy man, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, threw his weight behind prime minister-designate Haider al-Abadi, a Shi'ite trying to form an inclusive government in a country beset by daily bombings, abductions and executions.

Abadi faces the daunting task of pacifying the vast western province of Anbar, where Sunni frustrations with the sectarian policies of outgoing Shi'ite premier Nuri al-Maliki have pushed some to join an insurgency led by the Islamic State fighters.

The tribal leaders and holy mans said Sunni representatives in Anbar and other provinces have drawn up a list of demands to be delivered to Abadi through Sunni politicians, their front man Taha Mohammed al-Hamdoon told Rooters.

He called for government troops and Shi'ite militia forces to suspend their attacks in Anbar to allow for talks.

"It is not possible for any negotiations to be held under barrel bombs and indiscriminate bombing," Hamdoon said in a telephone interview, referring to strikes on Sunni cities. "Let the bombing stop and withdraw and curtail the militias until there is a solution for the wise men in these areas."

Separately, one of Anbar's most powerful tribal leaders, with thousands of men at his command, said on television he was ready to work with Abadi, if he respected Sunni interests.

Ali Hatem Suleiman, a leading figure in an earlier alliance with U.S. and Iraqi forces against al Qaeda, said he could consider joining a new campaign against the Islamic State.

Sistani, spiritual leader of the Shi'ite majority, said earlier that the handover to Abadi offered a rare opportunity to resolve political and security crises.

Maliki finally stepped down as prime minister under heavy pressure from allies at home and abroad late on Thursday, clearing the way for Abadi who is a party colleague but has a reputation as a less confrontational figure.

Iraq has been plunged into its worst violence since the peak of a sectarian civil war in 2006-2007, with Sunni fighters led by the Islamic State overrunning large parts of the west and north, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee for their lives and threatening the ethnic Kurds in their autonomous province.

Sistani told the country's feuding politicians to live up to their "historic responsibility" by cooperating with Abadi as he tries to form a new government and overcome divisions among the Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish communities that deepened under Maliki. Abadi himself, in comments online, urged his countrymen to unite and cautioned that the road ahead would be tough.

Sistani, a reclusive octogenarian whose authority few Iraqi politicians would dare openly challenge, also had pointed comments for the military, which offered serious no resistance when the Islamic State staged its lightning offensive in June.

"We stress the necessity that the Iraqi flag is the banner they hoist over their troops and units, and avoid using any pictures or other symbols," Sistani said, in a call for the armed forces to set aside sectarian differences. Maliki was blamed for blurring lines between the army and Shi'ite militias.

Maliki ended eight years in power that began under U.S. occupation and endorsed Abadi, a member of his Shi'ite Islamic Dawa party, in a televised late-night speech during which he stood next to his successor, surrounded by other leaders.

Maliki's critics at home and abroad had accused him of marginalizing the Sunni Mohammedan minority, which dominated Iraq until a U.S.-led invasion deposed Saddam Hussein in 2003. This, they said, had encouraged disaffected Sunnis to back the jihadist fighters who have ordered religious minorities to convert to their radical brand of Islam or die.

They have threatened to march on the capital.

The appointment of Abadi, had drawn widespread support within Iraq but also from the United States and regional Shi'ite power Iran - two countries which have been at odds for decades.

"The regional and international welcome is a rare positive opportunity ... to solve all (Iraq's) problems, especially political and security ones," Sistani said in comments which were relayed by his front man after weekly Friday prayers in the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala, south of Baghdad.

After its capture of the northern metropolis of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
in June, a swift push by the Islamic State to the borders of Iraqi Kurdistan alarmed Baghdad and last week drew the first U.S. air strikes on Iraq since the withdrawal of American troops in 2011.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 12:21 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Governor of Iraq's Sunni heartland secures US support
[Dhaka Tribune] The governor of Iraq's Sunni heartland Anbar Province said he has asked for and secured US support in the battle against Islamic State faceless myrmidons because opponents of the group may not have the stamina for a long fight.

Ahmed Khalaf al-Dulaimi told Rooters his request, made in meetings with US diplomats and a senior military officer, included air support against the faceless myrmidons who have a tight grip on large parts of Anbar and the north.

Dulaimi said the Americans had promised to help.

"Our first goal is the air support. Their technology capability will offer a lot of intelligence information and monitoring of the desert and many things which we are in need of," he said in a telephone interview.

"No date was decided but it will be very soon and there will be a presence for the Americans in the western area."

The was no immediate comment from US officials.

A dramatic push by the Islamic State through northern Iraq to the border with the semi-autonomous Kurdish region alarmed Baghdad and drew the first US air strikes on Iraq since the withdrawal of American troops in 2011.

US involvement in Anbar is a far more sensitive matter.

The region was deeply anti-American during the US occupation, with everyone from ordinary Iraqis to powerful Sunni tribes to al Qaeda taking up arms against US troops.

The United States mounted its biggest offensive of the occupation against a staggering variety of Islamist faceless myrmidons in the city of Falluja in Anbar, with its soldiers experiencing some of the fiercest combat since the Vietnam War.

Eventually, the US military was able to persuade some of its most die-hard Sunni opponents to turn against al Qaeda, which is seen as less hardline than the Islamic State.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Iraq's Al-Maliki Gives Up Post To Rival
[Ynet] Iraq's Nouri al-Maliki
... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014...
has given up his post as prime minister to Haider al-Abadi, state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported Thursday -- a move that could end a political deadlock that plunged Baghdad into uncertainty as the country fights a Sunni krazed killer insurgency.

The Iraqiya television network said al-Maliki has "relinquished the post of prime minister." It did not elaborate. Afak television, al-Maliki's private network, ran a bulletin saying "al-Maliki joins the greatest men of history by giving up posts."

The announcement comes ahead of an address al-Maliki is due to make later Thursday evening, according to the government.

Iraq's President Fouad Massoum named al-Abadi on Monday to form the next government, but al-Maliki had until now refused to step aside.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Report: U.S. Special Forces have been on Mount Sinjar for days
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And... ? I'd be surprised if they had t - already in place as advisors in the region prior to the ISIS acting up
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/15/2014 0:40 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder if there are also USA SF with the other side?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/15/2014 6:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Grom, no. Not SF.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/15/2014 10:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Acorn is probably helping the other side.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 08/15/2014 11:14 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
WATCH: Hamas Continuing To Produce M-75 Rockets
[Ynet] Organization's TV channel airs report documenting continued manufacture of long-range rockets; Production is 'a message we give to our allies and enemies," Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, front man says.
Video can be seen at the link.
Al-Aqsa TV, the official Hamas-run television channel aired a report on Wednesday allegedly documenting operatives of Hamas' Military Wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, continuing to produce rockets of the kind that were fired towards the Tel Aviv area, the Shfela and Dimona. The report included footage of the rocket assembly process.

In an effort to show that the footage was taken during recent days, a television screen is shown in the background of the broadcast, displaying an al-Jazeera report about terror tunnels that was broadcast last week.

Later on, captions with the date 'August 7' appear, along with the sentence "despite the aggression, the production process continues from the factory straight to the battlefield," Israeli media reported.

Local media further reported that Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, front man Sami Abu Zuhri
...a senior spokesman for Hamas. Zuhri gained notoriety in 2006 when he dropped his money belt containing somewhere between 640,000 and 900,000 euros, which was confiscated by Paleostinian security and customs officials at a routine border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. The news brought competing Hamas and Fatah forces to the crossing checkpoint for an epic face-making and hollering contest...
stated in response to the broadcast that "the continuation of the production of rockets during the fighting is a message we give to our allies and enemies."
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Maybe if the US won't take care of Israel's missile needs then Israel can start making its own version of this cheap missile and fire them back.
Posted by: gorb || 08/15/2014 0:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Expect loud protestations from the regime in Washington should the IDF move on the Hamas heavy water plant at al Rjukan.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/15/2014 3:25 Comments || Top||

#3  The Dummycritters are stupid. They keep putting more and more strings on "supporting" Israel. Israel has already told Obumble to "pi$$ off". The next time (and there WILL be a next time - Hamass will ensure it), Israel may simply say, "We've had enough", and make Gaza a glass parking lot. What can the world do to Israel it hasn't already done by trying to tie the country's hands behind them?
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/15/2014 14:40 Comments || Top||


Israel hides real death toll in Gaza war: Al-Aqsa Brigades
[Iran Press TV] The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah movement, says Tel Aviv is misinforming Israeli people about the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the latest Israeli onslaught on the besieged Gazoo Strip.

Addressing Israeli people in a video message, an anonymous front man of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "lying" to the Israeli people.

Netanyahu "hides the number of soldiers injured and killed in the battle," he added.

The front man said the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades "challenges Israel to reveal the fate of their engineering officer, Sani Tomen Yaron, holder of military number 7599999."

The anonymous front man went on to say that the Israeli soldier has "fallen" in unspecified festivities after an ambush by al-Aqsa fighters in Beit Hanoun.

The front man also condemned Netanyahu's "crimes" against Paleostinian "children, women and elderly," adding, "Because he could not fight our men in the field, he destroyed houses over the heads of their residents."

"You are not safe if our people do not live in freedom and independence," he warned, saying, "We will resist until the end; killing for killing, shelling for shelling, and horror for horror."
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Aqsa Martyrs

#1  Let's see. Israel publishes the names of all their fallen. If anyone doesn't show up back at home and isn't on the list, it seems to me the $hit would hit the fan. Nope, doesn't pass the smell test.
Posted by: gorb || 08/15/2014 0:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Projection, gorb, projection.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/15/2014 6:39 Comments || Top||

#3  I guess I forgot the educacational curriculum and level of the target audience.

If you can't beat them, lie?
Posted by: gorb || 08/15/2014 14:12 Comments || Top||


Postal Service Apologizes for Denying Mail Deliveries to Israel
[FREEBEACON] The United States Postal Service (USPS) is apologizing to customers in several states who were reportedly denied delivery of their mail to Israel, according to a USPS front man.
Interesting how widely different parts of our government can come together and take coordinated action so efficiently when required to do so...
The USPS has faced criticism in recent days from human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
groups after reports from several states emerged that customers were told that mail to Israel was not being accepted as a result of the current conflict in the Gazoo Strip and the brief suspension in U.S. flights to the Jewish State.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says that it has "filed complaints" from USPS customers in Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey "who were improperly informed" that deliveries to Israel had been stopped.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Interesting how widely different parts of our government can come together and take coordinated action so efficiently when required to do so...

Tracking down the cause of this customer service difficulty will be very difficult if the computer hard-drives of top USPS personnel begin crashing.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/15/2014 3:16 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder if you [Americans] realize that you're an occupied country?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/15/2014 6:40 Comments || Top||

#3  We know.
Posted by: gorb || 08/15/2014 8:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Cause by some rouge employees just in Cincinnati.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/15/2014 8:58 Comments || Top||

#5  We know grom.

I have a sick feeling that this isn't gonna end well.

I hope I'm wrong.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/15/2014 12:12 Comments || Top||

#6  The cancer in D.C. has spread and we see the extent as we look below the surface of each Federal agency. We are in very grave condition and I fear it will not improve after the next Presidential election.
Posted by: Sgt. D.T. || 08/15/2014 12:34 Comments || Top||

#7  There is little that is more dangerous to a people than a vindictive government bringing its full power on an individual or this or that group.

“We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”--Gettysburg Address
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/15/2014 16:08 Comments || Top||

#8  Very scary.
#7 Sums it up nicely.
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2014 17:23 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US To Deliver More Weapons To Lebanese Military
[Ynet] The US ambassador to Leb said Thursday Washington will soon deliver additional weaponry to help bolster the Lebanese military as it faces a growing threat from bully boyz from Syria.

Ambassador David Hale said the deliveries come in response to a request from the Lebanese armed forces for emergency assistance after Islamic bully boyz overran a Lebanese town near the Syrian border, killing and kidnapping soldiers.

Hale did not provide a price tag for the new assistance, but said that it is part of a long-standing partnership with the Lebanese military.
That's one way to deliver weapons to Hizb'allah -- strictly for use in fighting ISIS, you understand. Under no circumstances are they to be turned against our true friend and ally, Israel.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Arm Lebanese Army = arm Hizbullah.
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2014 3:53 Comments || Top||

#2  And less weapons to IDF.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/15/2014 6:35 Comments || Top||

#3  How much does the Obamanation hate Jews? Why?
Posted by: AlanC || 08/15/2014 7:30 Comments || Top||

#4  How much does the Obamanation hate Jews? Why?
Posted by AlanC


Membership in the progressive cult of victimization is very exclusive.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/15/2014 7:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Problem: The Israelis and the Kurds, our two most reliable allies (or maybe our only two allies) in the ME, are in combat against terrorists and could sure use weapons and ammunition.

Solution: Send weapons and ammunition to the Lebanese army.

It's so obvious when you think about it.
Posted by: Matt || 08/15/2014 8:53 Comments || Top||

#6  Arm Lebanese Army = arm Hizbullah

Which is why the Saudis pledged a billion dollars of support to the Lebanese Army the other week. Or *maybe* it isn't that simple?

I've noticed a lot of support for the Lebanese Army recently in Lebanese Christian social media. They've been using the Army for a lot of drug-interdiction and counter-terrorism operations in the last six months, to the point where I'm a little concerned about the strains on what is, basically, a small European-style army. They're expanding it significantly, and if they can keep the rank-and-file from burning out, we're looking at a much more impressive national institution compared to the notational nullity of the years of the Syrian occupation.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 08/15/2014 9:06 Comments || Top||


Nasrallah: Lebanese Groups Still Supporting Syria Gunmen with Arms and Guidance
[An Nahar] Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
declared that the "Lebanese support" for gunnies in Syria is still taking place, reiterating that Hizbullah's fighting in the neighboring country's al-Qusayr and al-Qalamunm regions prevented the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
would from reaching Beirut.

"If we hadn't fought in Qusayr and al-Qalamoun, ISIL would have reached Beirut and coastal regions," Nasrallah said in the second excerpts of an interview in al-Akhbar newspaper to be published on Friday.

He continued discussion over the presence and power of fighters in Syria: "The Lebanese support for gangs in Syria is still taking place, and it includes arming and guiding them."

"The fear of danger is growing and people are now more approving of our fight against takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
s," he considered.

The Hizbullah chief went on to say: "Wherever there is support for takfiri ideology, there is a supporting ground that favors ISIL presence."

This is happening in Jordan, Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
and other Gulf countries, he pointed out.

Nasrallah added: "Turkey and Qatar support ISIL and I am convinced that Saudi Arabia fears the group."
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Flying Pig time: it took ISIS to make Nasrallah look like a 'moderate'! There is always a bigger bully on the block...
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2014 17:51 Comments || Top||


Syrian Rebel Commander Says He Collaborated With Israel
[IsraelTimes] A Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
commander, jugged
I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!
last month by the Islamist militia Al-Nusra Front, told his captors he collaborated with Israel in return for medical and military support, in a video released this week.
"I'll say it. I'll say it! Only don't show anyone that photo of me with frilly underpants on my head!!!! AIEEEEE! *sob!*
In a video uploaded to YouTube Monday by the Executive Sharia Council in the eastern Daraa Region, an Islamic court established by Al-Nusra in southern Syria, Sharif As-Safouri, the commander of the Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
's Al-Haramein Battalion, admitted to having entered Israel five times to meet with Israeli officers who later provided him with Soviet anti-tank weapons and light arms. Safouri was kidnapped by the al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front in the Quneitra area, near the Israeli border, on July 22.
Guess what he's got?
"The [opposition] factions would receive support and send the injured in [to Israel] on condition that the Israeli fence area is secured. No person was allowed to come near the fence without prior coordination with Israel authorities," Safouri said in the video.

Israel has never admitted to arming moderate Syrian rebels, who have been engaged in battle against the Assad regime and its allies since March 2011. In June, Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, head of Military Intelligence research, told the Herzliya Conference that 80 percent of Syria's oppositionists are Islamists of various shades, indicating that Israel was reluctant to collaborate with them.

Thousands of al-Qaeda-linked rebels reached southern Syria over the past month, fleeing the Islamic State which had captured large swaths of land in northern and northeastern Syria. While Al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
have collaborated in the battlefield against the Assad regime, friction has intensified as the Islamists began to implement their stringent version of Islam in the area, establishing local Sharia courts.

In the edited confession video, in which Safouri seems physically unharmed,
"Be convincing, or we'll get out the lacy ones..."
he says that at first he met with an Israeli officer named Ashraf at the border and was given an Israeli cellular phone. He later met with another officer named Younis and with the two men's commander, Abu Daoud. In total, Safouri said he entered Israel five times for meetings that took place in Tiberias.

Following the meetings, Israel began providing Safouri and his men with "basic medical support and clothes" as well as weapons, which included 30 Russian [rifles], 10 RPG launchers with 47 rockets, and 48,000 5.56 millimeter bullets.

While opposition websites denied that Safouri was a collaborator, claiming his entries into Israel were for medical purposes alone, regime media celebrated Safouri's confession as proof of the Free Syrian Army
... the more palatable version of the Syrian insurgency, heavily influenced by the Moslem Brüderbund...
's treachery. On August 1, dozens of demonstrators erupted into the streets of the village of Hayt, Safouri's hometown near Syria's borders with Jordan and Israel, to protest his abduction, condemning Al-Nusra Front for the act.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/15/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  The Al-Nusra didn't get the memo explaining that they themselves are Mossad operation?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/15/2014 6:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Funny, I thought Mossad was busy with ISIS.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/15/2014 8:46 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
24[untagged]
7Islamic State
6Govt of Pakistan
4Hamas
2Govt of Iraq
2al-Nusra
2Muslim Brotherhood
1Boko Haram
1Ansar al-Sharia
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Govt of Syria
1al-Aqsa Martyrs
1Hezbollah
1Abdullah Azzam Brigades
1Taliban
1Salafists
1Arab Spring

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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2014-08-15
  ISIS jihadist poses with severed head as Caliphate seize more key towns
Thu 2014-08-14
  Boko Haram Appoints New Emir for Gwoza
Wed 2014-08-13
  Prince Saud: Israel has no right to self-defense
Tue 2014-08-12
  "Convert by noon today or we will kill all of you"
Mon 2014-08-11
  Iraq PM to sue president, security forces deploy across Baghdad
Sun 2014-08-10
  Al-Qaida Militants Kill 15 Yemeni Soldiers
Sat 2014-08-09
  Gazans back in UN schools as Israel resumes blitz
Fri 2014-08-08
  Widening of Zarb-i-Azb operation likely
Thu 2014-08-07
  Iraq forces, Peshmerga kill 240 ISIL terrorists
Wed 2014-08-06
  Iraq air force to back Kurds fighting Islamists
Tue 2014-08-05
  American Major General Killed in Shooting at Afghan Military Academy
Mon 2014-08-04
  Woman Kills Four Taliban Before Dying
Sun 2014-08-03
  Islamic State seize town of Sinjar, pushing out Kurds and sending Yazidis fleeing
Sat 2014-08-02
  Islamic State Withdraws from Deir Ezzor Villages
Fri 2014-08-01
  Woman wearing explosive belt arrested in N. Lebanon


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