What’s interesting in the news today?
1. What does ISIS want? Depends who you ask….
This one is long, but it’s worth it.
From NationalJournal/MSN “What is the Islamic State?
Where did it come from, and what are its intentions? The simplicity of these questions can be deceiving, and few Western leaders seem to know the answers. In December, The New York Times published confidential comments by Major General Michael K. Nagata, the Special Operations commander for the United States in the Middle East, admitting that he had hardly begun figuring out the Islamic State’s appeal. “We have not defeated the idea,” he said. “We do not even understand the idea.” In the past year, President Obama has referred to the Islamic State, variously, as “not Islamic” and as al-Qaeda’s “jayvee team,” statements that reflected confusion about the group, and may have contributed to significant strategic errors.
The group seized Mosul, Iraq, last June, and already rules an area larger than the United Kingdom. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been its leader since May 2010, but until last summer, his most recent known appearance on film was a grainy mug shot from a stay in U.S. captivity at Camp Bucca during the occupation of Iraq. Then, on July 5 of last year, he stepped into the pulpit of the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, to deliver a Ramadan sermon as the first caliph in generations—upgrading his resolution from grainy to high-definition, and his position from hunted guerrilla to commander of all Muslims. The inflow of jihadists that followed, from around the world, was unprecedented in its pace and volume, and is continuing.
Our ignorance of the Islamic State is in some ways understandable: It is a hermit kingdom; few have gone there and returned. Baghdadi has spoken on camera only once. But his address, and the Islamic State’s countless other propaganda videos and encyclicals, are online, and the caliphate’s supporters have toiled mightily to make their project knowable. We can gather that their state rejects peace as a matter of principle; that it hungers for genocide; that its religious views make it constitutionally incapable of certain types of change, even if that change might ensure its survival; and that it considers itself a harbinger of—and headline player in—the imminent end of the world.”
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2. According to the idiots at the State Dept. all they need are jobs.
From TheRightScoop “State Department Spokesperson Marie Harf told Chris Matthews tonight that we cannot win this war with ISIS by killing them. She said we have to get to the root cause of why people are attracted to Jihad — you know like poverty, jobs, etc…
“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 medium to longer term to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups, whether it’s lack of opportunity for jobs…””
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3. Some see the obvious danger.
From HSToday “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.””
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4. Oh yeah, great idea. 🙄
From ABCNews “Top U.S. counterterrorism officials say they worry a potential terrorist could be hiding among refugees who are looking to come to the United States after escaping the brutal war in Syria.
“It’s clearly a population of concern,” the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Nicholas Rasmussen, told the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.
Committee Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, went further, saying it would be a “huge mistake” to bring refugees from the conflict to the U.S. – even as an estimated 4 million children, women and men have been forced to flee Syria and another 7 million have been displaced from their homes there, unable to leave.”
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5. It’s moves like this that make me question the president’s efforts.
More from CNSNews “The United States does not support Egyptian and Emirati airstrikes against Islamist militias in Libya because the U.S. believes the crisis in Libya must be resolved politically and without outside interference, a Department of Defense spokesman said Tuesday.
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrying out airstrikes in Libya was different from U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant forces in Iraq, Pentagon spokesman Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby told a briefing, because the U.S. was acting in Iraq, in a “very targeted” manner, at the request of its government.
“This wasn’t some unilateral decision by the United States to strike targets inside Iraq.”
““We discourage other nations from taking a part in Libya’s issues through violence,” Kirby said. “We want the issues solved in Libya to be done peacefully and through good governance and politics and not violence.””
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6. Meanwhile, at the White House’s so-called terrorism summit the conversation is about the big threats posed by Christians. But Islamic terrorism? Not so much…
From CNSNews “A U.S. Islamic advocacy group says that Vice- President Joe Biden, addressing a White House summit on “countering violent extremism (CVE)” on Tuesday, referred to right-wing extremists and supremacists committing violence “in the name of the Bible.”
The comments did not feature in Biden’s 19 minute-long opening remarks, televised by C-SPAN, in which the vice-president focused on America as a nation of immigrants, the need for different communities to “see” each other, and for countries to engage with “marginalized” communities.
“Biden just talked about the right wing militias & supremacist groups that are violent in the name of the Bible,” the Washington-based Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) tweeted later in the afternoon.”
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7. Obama’s amnesty plan has suffered a setback.
From LegalInsurrection “In a decision which is to have a profound impact on both the immigration debate and the currently stalled funding of the Department of Homeland Security, a federal court judge in Texas has issued a Temporary Restraining Injunctive Order preventing implementation of Obama’s Immigration executive action. The Order and 123-page Opinion are embedded in full below.
From a political perspective, if Obama is enjoined from enforcing his immigration executive action, how can Congress fund an illegal act? Or if it were funded, thereby relieving the current continuing resolution stalemate, Obama could not enforce it. Either way, this may provide Congress a way out of the jam just days before the funding deadline.
What this allows Republicans to do, is pass a 30 day spending bill without any limitations on the argument that the immigration plan cannot be acted upon anyway, and wait and see how the courts rule. IF the courts refuse to put the injunction on hold, or if the courts uphold the injunction on the merits, then there is no need to worry about defunding the executive action. If an appeals court reverses, then the Republican leadership can say that it has already been upheld as lawful so there is no legal basis for the claim it is unconstitutional. This could be a victory at least to get over the current impasse, although it may not be a long term solution.
The case involves 26 states (originally 17) led by Texas.”
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8. Shouldn’t liberals be shrieking about separation of church and state about now? Oh that’s right, the ends always justify the means.
From TheWeeklyStandard “In an effort to sign up as many consumers as possible for insurance under the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare), the Obama administration has gone to extraordinary lengths to partner with churches and other faith-based groups, even publishing sample church bulletin inserts, flyers, and scripts for announcements, as well as “talking points.” These materials are part of the “Second Sunday & Faith Weekend of Action Toolkit,” which is available on the website of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
From the beginning, HHS has sought to develop partnerships with faith-based organizations to promote the Obamacare. This “toolkit” has been available since 2013. However, the details of these partnerships have largely escaped the attention of the national media. The Second Sunday & Faith Weekend of Action program encourages churches to use the second Sunday of each month during open enrollment to hold informational meetings and sign-up events. “
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Wandering Views 
In a brief review of history, I can’t recall a war being won without killing people.
Phos, in a post yesterday posits that ISIS really wants the US to join in the fight in order to rouse all of Islam against the infidels. i.e. Another crusade.
That is a good point.
However, if left alone, they will spread across the entire Middle East. The alternative is Iran, which is no better.
There is something going on which none of us understand. Which our leaders need to know, but are just s dense about the real situation as the rest of us.
As I said before, I supported the war against Iraq at the beginning. But it was a big mistake. It was a mistake to remove Sadaam. It was a mistake to remove Quadaffi from Libya. It is a mistake to remove the dictators from the Middle East. Islam is a system that is, and must be ruled by a strong dictator. If it isn’t a secular dictator, as these men were, it is a religious dictator, as in Iran.
We have a few exceptions in the Far East, but they are not yet radical Islam.
I am not capable of doing this, but some Biblical scholar, who is also a historian should examine Daniel chapter 7f and compare it to the world situation today. The problem is that they come with preconceived notions that Antichious Epiphanes fulfilled this prophesy. Which, of course, didn’t happen.
Evangelical Christians are looking for the return of Christ. Jews are looking for their Messiah. Islam is looking for the Mahdi. The world is set for a deliverer.
We are living in interesting times.
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Chas, I don’t think it is a given that if the U.S. doesn’t get involved that ISIS will spread. Jordan and Egypt are thoroughly roused against them, and the other governments in the region are also seeking to oppose them. International support is being given to Baghdad, and so far that government has been able to hold its ground. The first article that The Real put up this morning is the same one I linked to last night, and the author mentions that because ISIS is emptying its territory of people, they are actually weakening themselves. Also their brutality towards fellow Muslims isn’t winning them the support of the common people, which would be the most dangerous group to support them, as the lower classes far outnumber the upper classes in the Middle East. Notice that other extremists, such as Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood (which ISIS calls apostate), are not joining them. The article points out that ISIS was not directly behind things like the Charlie Hebdo attack, which was an Al Qaeda backed operation. ISIS is not actively interested in international terrorism, although it approves of those who carry out such attacks. The one interviewee I listened to yesterday said he would rate the ISIS threat as moderate.
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In his book God’s War on Terror, Walid Shoebat a former Islamic terrorist himself, tells the situation in Islam. Various disconnected quotes, but the most accurate summation of the situation that I can give. I highly recommend the book, which was recommended to me by someone here; maybe Drives Guy or Bob Buckles, I don’t exactly remember.
P. 45: :…what Western experts fail to realize is that for many of these so called “moderate” Muslims, the only disagreement with Osama (ben Laden) is his timing. …..even the most “moderate” of Muslims, if they are religious, all believe in the coming of the Mahdi and the establishment of the Caliphate to rule the entire Globe by changing world laws to adapt the Islamic Sharia. The coming of the Mahdi to religious Muslims is as holy of a belief as the coming of the Messiah is to Christians and Jews”
Shoebat tell of a situation in New York where he goes to a restaurant owned by Muslims, accompanied by a Messianic Jewish rabbi and a Christian pastor. He strikes up a conversation with the Muslim waiter and ….”Once I gave the official Islamic greeting in perfect classic Arabic a degree of trust developed and we began our private chat in Arabic while the other two, who knew no Arabic were chatting alone. ….I asked him in Arabic. “Do you believe this, I am sitting here with a Christian pastor and a rabbi?” …..”So what do you think?” I asked him. “Is it valid then to kill Jews?” “No” he replied. “The time is not ripe.” Then he added, “We need to wait for the Mahdi.”
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Phos,
“International support is being given to Baghdad, and so far that government has been able to hold its ground.”
You’re kidding right? They’ve held Bagdad, but that’s about it. Some of this is older, but ISIS still holds the territory mentioned in nearly all cases.
http://securitydata.newamerica.net/isis/analysis
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/12/crisis-in-iraq-insurgents-take-major-cities-live-blog
“Isis’ army, estimated to be some 6,000 strong, has advanced near Baghdad, where residents are preparing for the worst. Ba’athists and various militia groups have joined Isis’ fight against the government, and Isis reportedly took a town 56 miles north of the capital, saying “The battle is not yet raging, but it will rage in Baghdad and Karbala.””
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/18/lack-politial-process-iraq-renders-us-coalition-bombs-grave-mistake
“Allawi said the areas surrounding Baghdad – where Isis had made inroads even before the group overran Iraq’s second city, Mosul, last June – are now increasingly unstable and vulnerable.
“The Baghdad belt demonstrates the lack of strategy and reconciliation. There is widespread ethnic cleansing there, militias are roaming the areas. Scores and scores of people … have been expelled from their areas and they can’t go back because of the dominance of the militias.”
A senior Iraqi official, Dr Hisham al-Hashimi, who advises the government on Isis, agreed. “The areas around Baghdad are suffering from a lot of sectarian violence and the tribes there have started to reflect on the idea of joining Isis. The tribes believe that there are moves to deport them from their lands.”
Samarra to the north of the Iraqi capital and Sunni areas just to the south remain tense and dangerous, despite more than seven months of air strikes that have supported the embattled Iraqi military and the large number of Shia militias that fight alongside it.”
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http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/22167
“ISIS, which declared in June a “caliphate” over territory it seized in Iraq and Syria, was meanwhile described as the world’s wealthiest “terror” group, earning $1 million a day from black market oil sales alone.
ISIS has so far managed to control Mount Sinjar and large swaths of territory in Iraq’s Anbar province is under the control of the militant group.
Moreover, the group recently mobilized 2,000 militants in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq. They boarded hundreds of cars and brandished their guns as they held military parades, even though coalition planes were carrying out daily raids on the northern area.
In addition, the US-led airstrikes have so far failed to block the vital supply road linking militants in Syria’s Raqqa to those in Iraq’s Mosul.”
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And ISIS is/was al-quaeda. They may have had a breakup, but they grow from the same roots.
http://www.vox.com/cards/things-about-isis-you-need-to-know/what-is-isis
“The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) used to have a different name: al Qaeda in Iraq. They have and seek the same followers.
US troops and allied Sunni militias defeated al Qaeda in Iraq during the post-2006 “surge” — but it didn’t destroy them. The US commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, described the group in 2010 as down but “fundamentally the same.” In 2011, the group rebooted. ISIS successfully freed a number of prisoners held by the Iraqi government and, slowly but surely, began rebuilding their strength.
ISIS and al-Qaeda divorced in February 2014. “Over the years, there have been many signs that the relationship between al Qaeda Central (AQC) and the group’s strongest, most unruly franchise was strained,” Barack Mendelsohn, a political scientist at Haverford College, writes. Their relationship “had always been more a matter of mutual interests than of shared ideology.””
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The Real, my statement was that the Baghdad government is receiving international support (including air support and special forces training from my country) and that Baghdad had to this point held its ground. When ISIS first began its advance last year Baghdad’s fall seemed a matter of days (as your link from June 12, 2014 shows), but it is still standing. The distinction between ISIS and al Qaeda wasn’t my own, but made by the author of the piece in your first link.
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If you wonder why ISIS is important, read this
http://www.hughhewitt.com/read-right-now-really/
then click on “What ISIS really wants.”
This could be very important!
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Russell D. Moore on how we should pray:
http://www.russellmoore.com/2015/02/18/should-we-pray-for-the-defeat-of-isis-or-their-conversion/
” … The complexity of the Christian calling in the world was seen even in social media. One friend of mine posted that the slaughter of Christians overseas calls for the world’s only remaining superpower to take action. Another said, quoting singer Toby Keith, that it was time to ‘light up their world like the Fourth of July.’ To that, I say, ‘Amen.’ Another friend, a former student of mine posted, ‘Oh, that there might be an ISIS Saul standing there now, holding the cloaks, whose salvation might turn the Arab world upside down with the gospel!’ To that I say “Amen,” too.
“These are not contradictory prayers. …”
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Also from Moore’s link:
” … Jesus says to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Mat. 5:44). The Spirit of Jesus in the prophets and in the apostles also tells us that those who turn a blind eye to the killing of others are wrong. The fact that we feel contradictory praying both for justice against the Islamic State and for salvation for Islamic State terrorists is partly because we fail to distinguish between the mission of the state in the use of the temporal sword against evildoers (Rom. 13:4) and the mission of the church in the use of the sword of the Spirit against sin and death and the devil (Eph. 6). But that’s not, I think, the main problem.
“The main problem is that we sometimes forget that we are called to be a people of both justice and justification, and that these two are not contradictory. …”
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