IS Mega Discussion Thread

[JaDed]

RIP victims never knew about Shias in Bangladesh probably a quieter community than expected.

 

[Strike Rate]

RIP victims never knew about Shias in Bangladesh probably a quieter community than expected.

94% Bangladesh muslims are sunni and only 1% are shia.

 

[JaDed]

94% Bangladesh muslims are sunni and only 1% are shia.

Oh wow thats a massive difference i guess there are more Hindus than Shias.

 

[Strike Rate]

Oh wow thats a massive difference i guess there are more Hindus than Shias.

Yea but in Pakistan situation is totally different. 25% to 30% shia of the whole world live in Pakistan. There is no exact figure available but according to sources it's around 45 million to 55 million and thats makes Pakistan second largest shia country after Iran.

 

[JaDed]

Yea but in Pakistan situation is totally different. 25% to 30% shia of the whole world live in Pakistan. There is no exact figure available but according to sources it's around 45 million to 55 million and thats makes Pakistan second largest shia country after Iran.

Yup Pak does have a lot of them i think even India would have more Shias than Bangladesh.

 

[Strike Rate]

Yup Pak does have a lot of them i think even India would have more Shias than Bangladesh.

India have far too many and is second only to Pak and Iran when it comes to shia population.

 

[JaDed]

India have far too many and is second only to Pak and Iran when it comes to shia population.

Good to know but I sadly know only two personally although the richest Indian Muslim is Shia.

 

[Strike Rate]

Good to know but I sadly know only two personally although the richest Indian Muslim is Shia.

Azim Premji? He is an Ismaili shia. Ismaili shias are mostly rich and really soft and friendly people. Their 49th (current Imam) is Prince Karim Agha Khan and he himself is a very rich man. In Pakistan most Ismalilis live in Karachi and Agha Khan family have invested in many sectors in Pak like Aga Khan Health Services, Agha Khan Labs, Agha Khan Hospitals, Agha Khan University etc.

Many people don't know Gwadar was part of Oman and after the creation of Pakistan it was Agha Khan family who purchased Gwadar from Oman and gifted it to Pakistan.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Good to know but I sadly know only two personally although the richest Indian Muslim is Shia.

What is "good" to know that there are many shias in India?

 

[JaDed]

Azim Premji? He is an Ismaili shia. Ismaili shias are mostly rich and really soft and friendly people. Their 49th (current Imam) is Prince Karim Agha Khan and he himself is a very rich man. In Pakistan most Ismalilis live in Karachi and Agha Khan family have invested in many sectors in Pak like Aga Khan Health Services, Agha Khan Labs, Agha Khan Hospitals, Agha Khan University etc.

Many people don't know Gwadar was part of Oman and after the creation of Pakistan it was Agha Khan family who purchased Gwadar from Oman and gifted it to Pakistan.

Oh pretty silent people must say.Didn't know about any of it tbh.
Also wish India had such families may be we do but i don't know about.

 

[Strike Rate]

Oh pretty silent people must say.Didn't know about any of it tbh.
Also wish India had such families may be we do but i don't know about.

Yea they also have some special love for horses and horse racing and the family is in this field since 1904 they had one of the most expensive horses.

 

[JaDed]

Yea they also have some special love for horses and horse racing and the family is in this field since 1904 they had one of the most expensive horses.

This i know esp coz of Feroz Khan(actor) apparently he brought one to his classroom not sure how true is that but it was printed in the newspaper.

 

[Strike Rate]

This i know esp coz of Feroz Khan(actor) apparently he brought one to his classroom not sure how true is that but it was printed in the newspaper.

Feroz Khan IIRC was from an Afghan family right? btw what happened to his son? I remember he made some movies and the one i watched a long time ago was by him and kareena/amitabh on gujrat fasadat i forgot the movie name.

 

[Smiling Creed]

Feroz Khan IIRC was from an Afghan family right? btw what happened to his son? I remember he made some movies and the one i watched a long time ago was by him and kareena/amitabh on gujrat fasadat i forgot the movie name.

Movie was "Dev" directed by Govind Nihalani.

 

[Strike Rate]

Movie was "Dev" directed by Govind Nihalani.

yea correct that was the name is he still active or left showbiz?

 

[Smiling Creed]

yea correct that was the name is he still active or left showbiz?

Not active anymore.....watch his serial Tamas if it's available on you tube.

Sent from my LG-H502 using Tapatalk

 

[JaDed]

Feroz Khan IIRC was from an Afghan family right? btw what happened to his son? I remember he made some movies and the one i watched a long time ago was by him and kareena/amitabh on gujrat fasadat i forgot the movie name.

Dev that was that dude's Fardeen's only good movie,he married yesteryear actress Mumtaz's daughter and moved on.

 

[JaDed]

Not active anymore.....watch his serial Tamas if it's available on you tube.

Sent from my LG-H502 using Tapatalk

He meant Fardeen.

 

[Strike Rate]

Not active anymore.....watch his serial Tamas if it's available on you tube.

Sent from my LG-H502 using Tapatalk

He meant Fardeen.

Yes i mean Fardeen his son.

 

[Smiling Creed]

He meant Fardeen.

Well honestly it's good that fardeen is also not active anymore. I had the misfortune of watching his debut movie in theatre.

Sent from my LG-H502 using Tapatalk

 

[TSA321]

Strong on-topic posts.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Strong on-topic posts.

Fardeen Khan won the best newcomer award for his movie Prem Aggan.

 

[JaDed]

Well honestly it's good that fardeen is also not active anymore. I had the misfortune of watching his debut movie in theatre.

Sent from my LG-H502 using Tapatalk

Sorry to know and below is just for u

 

[Yossarian]

Last night, on BBC Question Time, Ken Livingstone blamed Tony Blair for the 7/7 London bombings.

Mr Livingstone, who is co-chairing a review of Labour's defence policy, said: "When Tony Blair was told by the security services, 'If you go into Iraq, we will be a target for terrorism', and he ignored that advice, and it killed 52 Londoners."

He added: "If we had not invaded Iraq those four men would not have gone out and killed 52 Londoners. We know that."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34941658

And now Turkey (one of the good guys), who shot down a Russian plane (former bad guys, but now good guys), who are both bombing Isis (the really bad guys), have started a war of words, with the Russians (good guys) starting to put sanctions against Turkey (good guys). So now we have two "good guys" not only fighting against Isil (really bad guys), but also starting to fight each other.

Indian bookies have started taking odds on who will who attack who next.

 

[Markhor]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/07/isis-papers-guardian-syria-iraq-bureaucracy

Wow, fascinating leaked papers on how ISIS have ambitions of building state institutions from creating a civil service, setting up government departments and their financial details.

Clearly they're trying to set themselves up as an alternative government for the Sunnis of the region. Like I've repeatedly said, to defeat ISIS the Iraqi and Syrian governments need to reach out to the Sunni tribes and offer them political and economic inclusion as antagonistic sectarian policies as we've seen in the past will drive the Sunnis into the hands of ISIS who want to build a fascist state.

Their training of children in how to use weaponry is disturbing as well, we've seen them extensively use child soldiers throughout this conflict.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/07/isis-papers-guardian-syria-iraq-bureaucracy

Wow, fascinating leaked papers on how ISIS have ambitions of building state institutions from creating a civil service, setting up government departments and their financial details.

Clearly they're trying to set themselves up as an alternative government for the Sunnis of the region. Like I've repeatedly said, to defeat ISIS the Iraqi and Syrian governments need to reach out to the Sunni tribes and offer them political and economic inclusion as antagonistic sectarian policies as we've seen in the past will drive the Sunnis into the hands of ISIS who want to build a fascist state.

Their training of children in how to use weaponry is disturbing as well, we've seen them extensively use child soldiers throughout this conflict.

No sure why you're so fascinated by it all

Any group which can coordinate terror in Paris just hours after jihadi John dies is obviously very meticulous and coordinated

The planning is probably orchestrated by the Baathists who hold high positions within Isis and also by the Turkish and Saudi financiers who want to buy more Isis oil so that Isis can maybe build the next burj khalifa

If anyone can translate the Arabic documents shown on the website that would be nice

 

[Markhor]

No sure why you're so fascinated by it all

Any group which can coordinate terror in Paris just hours after jihadi John dies is obviously very meticulous and coordinated

The planning is probably orchestrated by the Baathists who hold high positions within Isis and also by the Turkish and Saudi financiers who want to buy more Isis oil so that Isis can maybe build the next burj khalifa

If anyone can translate the Arabic documents shown on the website that would be nice

The theory that the death of 'Jihadi John' and the Paris attack was coordinated is nonsense.

It would've taken weeks or months to plan those attacks, obtain the weapons, identify targets etc. It had nothing to do with Jihadi John.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

The theory that the death of 'Jihadi John' and the Paris attack was coordinated is nonsense.

It would've taken weeks or months to plan those attacks, obtain the weapons, identify targets etc. It had nothing to do with Jihadi John.

Very meticulous planning nonetheless

Similar to ajmal in Mumbai

 

[Markhor]

Very meticulous planning nonetheless

Similar to ajmal in Mumbai

Indeed, but I'm sure you can tell the difference between coordinating an act of mass murder and actually trying to install an alternative state, set up government departments and control a whole population - hence why that Guardian article is interesting in what it reveals.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Indeed, but I'm sure you can tell the difference between coordinating an act of mass murder and actually trying to install an alternative state, set up government departments and control a whole population - hence why that Guardian article is interesting in what it reveals.

No one has translated the Arabic for me yet

And yes true it is very revealing in revealing Isis are not just in Syria/Iraq for the heritage sites and the monuments
I suppose that's where the daesh acronym comes from

 

[Ironcat]

Azim Premji? He is an Ismaili shia. Ismaili shias are mostly rich and really soft and friendly people.

Met him in 2007. He had very strong(ly negative) view of Pakistan then.

 

[Ironcat]

ISIS/ISIL is a real deal when it comes to leaderless organizations. Very threatening to a lot of societal fabric. Part of their strategy is to turn the Western popular opinion against Muslims, hence the attacks. Or at least the claiming of.

 

[Strike Rate]

Met him in 2007. He had very strong(ly negative) view of Pakistan then.

Don't know about him but the Ismailis living in Pak are really soft and friendly people

 

[dashing_man]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hackers trace ISIS Twitter accounts back to internet addresses owned by UK Department of Work and Pensions <a href="https://t.co/4fWiZzvFeb">https://t.co/4fWiZzvFeb</a></p>— BLACK (@isthecolor) <a href="https://twitter.com/isthecolor/status/676701092579835904">December 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

so does this mean its time to bomb UK because it now shows where they are originating from

 

[habibi hayya]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hackers trace ISIS Twitter accounts back to internet addresses owned by UK Department of Work and Pensions <a href="https://t.co/4fWiZzvFeb">https://t.co/4fWiZzvFeb</a></p>— BLACK (@isthecolor) <a href="https://twitter.com/isthecolor/status/676701092579835904">December 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

so does this mean its time to bomb UK because it now shows where they are originating from

How much of an idiot do you have to be to believe that government employees are sitting there pretending to be ISIS. On top of that, they are dumb enough to get caught.

 

[speed]

Ibn Kathir said:
“If the Kharijites ever gained power, they would corrupt the entire land, Iraq and Syria.
They would not leave a boy or a girl or a man or a woman, for in their view the people have become so corrupt that they cannot be reformed except by mass killing.”
[Al-Bidayah wa Nihayah 10/584]

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Ibn Kathir said:
“If the Kharijites ever gained power, they would corrupt the entire land, Iraq and Syria.
They would not leave a boy or a girl or a man or a woman, for in their view the people have become so corrupt that they cannot be reformed except by mass killing.”
[Al-Bidayah wa Nihayah 10/584]

Not sure why they are linked to kharijiites who if anything were too literal and went against leaders like hadrat Ali RA for making small concessions in peace talks with hadrat muawiyah RA

The Isis are known for very unislamic acts like stealing oil, forcing married women to have affairs with them and taking drugs
The kharrijites for all their faults were not deviants in the same sense

 

[Gabbar Singh]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hackers trace ISIS Twitter accounts back to internet addresses owned by UK Department of Work and Pensions <a href="https://t.co/4fWiZzvFeb">https://t.co/4fWiZzvFeb</a></p>— BLACK (@isthecolor) <a href="https://twitter.com/isthecolor/status/676701092579835904">December 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


so does this mean its time to bomb UK because it now shows where they are originating from

From the link:

However, when Mirror Online traced the IP addresses obtained by VandaSec, we found they actually pointed to a series of unpublicised transactions between Britain and Saudi Arabia.

We learned that the British government sold on a large number of IP addresses to two Saudi Arabian firms.

After the sale completed in October of this year, they were used by extremists to spread their message of hate.

Jamie Turner, an expert from a firm called PCA Predict, discovered a record of the sale of IP addresses, and found a large number were transferred to Saudi Arabia in October of this year.

He told us it was likely the IP addresses could still be traced back to the DWP because records of the addresses had not yet been fully updated.

The Cabinet Office has now admitted to selling the IP addresses on to Saudi Telecom and the Saudi-based Mobile Telecommunications Company earlier this year as part of a wider drive to get rid of a large number of the DWP's IP addresses.

It said the British government can have no control over how these addresses are used after the sale.

 

[shaz619]

From the link:

Not surprised by the foul relationship between Britain and Saudi, or the deals which are made. Not sure what to make of the IP addresses being hacked and revealing to originate from Dept of Work and Pensions

 

[Markhor]

What kind of sick vermin would commit such an act against their own mother ? I detest these people who value their religion more than their own family or fellow human beings.

Islamic State militant 'executes own mother' in Raqqa

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35260475

An Islamic State militant carried out a public "execution" of his mother because she asked him to leave the group, activists say.

Ali Saqr, 21, killed his mother, Lena al-Qasem, 45, outside the post office in Raqqa, Syria, eyewitnesses said.

Raqqa has served as IS' de facto capital since the group captured the city in August 2013. IS does not tolerate any dissent and imposes brutal punishments, often carried out in public. The UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and the activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently reported the incident.

Lena al-Qasem had reportedly told her son that the US-led military alliance fighting IS would "wipe out" the group, and tried to convince him to leave the city with her.

Her son is then said to have informed the group of her comment, and they ordered her killed.

Ali Saqr is reported to have shot her outside the post office where she worked, in front of hundreds of people.

IS, a jihadist group which follows its own extreme version of Sunni Islam, took over large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014. Since then the group has killed more than 2,000 people for reasons including homosexuality, and for the alleged practice of magic and apostasy, according to the SOHR.

 

[dandapinda]

^ Brainwashed religious fanatic.

 

[street cricketer]

Just now read about the news. Even reading about it left such a bad taste. This act is so low and vile even by the standards of the ISIS. Don't know how hundreds have the heart to watch such vile acts.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

What kind of sick vermin would commit such an act against their own mother ? I detest these people who value their religion more than their own family or fellow human beings.

Islamic State militant 'executes own mother' in Raqqa

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35260475

Musab ibn umayr comes to mind

 

[Abdullah719]

Musab ibn umayr comes to mind

How so?

 

[chacha kashmiri]

How so?

His mum didn't agree with him becoming Muslim

 

[Abdullah719]

His mum didn't agree with him becoming Muslim

Yeah, and she also imprisoned him, etc. Don't really see the comparison.

Anyway, apparently the reason stated for the ISIS guy killing his mother is untrue. Not that it makes any difference.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Raqqa?src=hash">#Raqqa</a> the main reason that Ali Saker killed his mother he Accused her for Apostasy <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash">#Syria</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIL?src=hash">#ISIL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIS?src=hash">#ISIS</a> <a href="https://t.co/4L1njaBROg">pic.twitter.com/4L1njaBROg</a></p>— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) <a href="https://twitter.com/Raqqa_SL/status/685474914871197698">January 8, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[chacha kashmiri]

Yeah, and she also imprisoned him, etc. Don't really see the comparison.

Anyway, apparently the reason stated for the ISIS guy killing his mother is untrue. Not that it makes any difference.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Raqqa?src=hash">#Raqqa</a> the main reason that Ali Saker killed his mother he Accused her for Apostasy <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash">#Syria</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIL?src=hash">#ISIL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIS?src=hash">#ISIS</a> <a href="https://t.co/4L1njaBROg">pic.twitter.com/4L1njaBROg</a></p>— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) <a href="https://twitter.com/Raqqa_SL/status/685474914871197698">January 8, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

She became Muslim later one too like the rest of Mecca

 

[chacha kashmiri]

She became Muslim later one too like the rest of Mecca

I take this back

It was Abu hurayrah's (RA)mum who became Muslim

I'm not sure what happened to musab's(RA) mum

 

[street cricketer]

Yeah, and she also imprisoned him, etc. Don't really see the comparison.

Anyway, apparently the reason stated for the ISIS guy killing his mother is untrue. Not that it makes any difference.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-cards="hidden" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Raqqa?src=hash">#Raqqa</a> the main reason that Ali Saker killed his mother he Accused her for Apostasy <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash">#Syria</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIL?src=hash">#ISIL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISIS?src=hash">#ISIS</a> <a href="https://t.co/4L1njaBROg">pic.twitter.com/4L1njaBROg</a></p>— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) <a href="https://twitter.com/Raqqa_SL/status/685474914871197698">January 8, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What was the reason then?

 

[Abdullah719]

I take this back

It was Abu hurayrah's (RA)mum who became Muslim

I'm not sure what happened to musab's(RA) mum

There is very little known about her. She was mainly known for what she did in relation to Mus'ab. According to one source, she apparently died a disbeliever, but there's no reference to back that up.

 

[Abdullah719]

What was the reason then?

See the tweet. Apparently 'he accused her of apostasy'.

It seems like a horror circus. Free for all, do whatever the hell you want. Insane.

 

[street cricketer]

See the tweet. Apparently 'he accused her of apostasy'.

It seems like a horror circus. Free for all, do whatever the hell you want. Insane.

But aren't they one and the same, atleast according to them?

They had sentenced her to death for attempting to leave the caliphate.

 

[Abdullah719]

But aren't they one and the same, atleast according to them?

They had sentenced her to death for attempting to leave the caliphate.

I suppose the fact that the son killed her is more of a symbolic move by ISIS than anything else, if this is true. They somehow manage to keep finding more outrageous things to do as time goes by.

 

[Abdullah719]

Isis in Libya: Scores killed in a suicide bomb attack near Zliten police station

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-libya-scores-killed-bomb-attack-near-zliten-police-station-1536520

At least 50 people have been killed in and more than 100 wounded in a massive truck-bomb blast outside a police training camp in Zliten in Libya, the worst ever suicide attack in the country's history.

The Libyan state news agency LANA reported an initial figure of 50 dead and 127 wounded was expected to rise, quoting medical sources in the town. Reuters news agency, also quoting medical sources put the death toll at 65.

In the initial aftermath of the explosion, representative for Zliten Ezzedin Gewireb claimed more than 100 were killed and wounded in the explosion. In a written statement posted online, Gewireb said hospitals were suffering an acute lack of resources.

The Tripoli government's bureau for media affairs has confirmed the explosion was caused by a suicide attack but has not attributed responsibility to any one group, simply referring to the perpetrator as a terrorist. The attack is already being attributed to the Islamic State (Isis/Daesh), although the group has not claimed responsibility.

Witnesses to the blast said the residents have been moving the dead and injured to hospitals in their cars. Zliten's municipal head explained the blast took place as graduates were gathering for a graduation ceremony.

Libya's health ministry in the west of the country, under the control of the Tripoli government, has announced a state of emergency in the wake of the attack. Zliten's hospitals are already reportedly overwhelmed with the number of casualties and hospitals in the surrounding area are on standby to start receiving the injured.

UN envoy to Libya Martin Kobler has condemned the attacks, calling on Libyans to unite against terrorism. "I condemn in the strongest terms today's deadly suicide attack in Zliten, call on all Libyans to urgently unite in fight against terrorism," he wrote on Twitter.

Libya has been rocked by three days of fighting in two of its largest oil terminals at Sidra and Ras Lanuf between the Islamic State and government aligned forces. As many as 37 were killed in the clashes over the course of which half a dozen fuel storage tanks were set ablaze.

Completely missed this in the news yesterday. I guess it was because of the knife-wielding clown in Paris.

 

[JaDed]

Sad i can never go back to Libya anymore coz these clowns.

 

[chacha kashmiri]

There is very little known about her. She was mainly known for what she did in relation to Mus'ab. According to one source, she apparently died a disbeliever, but there's no reference to back that up.

Maybe it was because Musab RA went way to Abyssinia and was then martyred at uhud that she doesnt figure in any narration from that time

 

[dayvancowboy]

Da'esh have claimed responsibility for the murder of a Bengali Christian convert:

http://news.yahoo.com/islamic-state-claims-murder-christian-convert-bangladesh-online-111516379.html

Mashallah, these people are doing a great job making Islam a barbaric religion with their actions. Yet these Muslim mobs who get so gung-ho over any alleged blasphemy in the region are nowhere to be found dragging Da'esh supporters for what they have done.

 

[Markhor]

Interesting interview from Obama in The Atlantic. He criticises Britain and France for failing to handle the aftermath of the 2011 campaign in Libya, privately calling it a "sh!t show" and how intelligence underestimated the internal divisions in Libya which has allowed Daesh to gain a foothold there.

He even labels some of his European and Middle Eastern allies "free riders".

But what sealed Obama’s fatalistic view was the failure of his administration’s intervention in Libya, in 2011. That intervention was meant to prevent the country’s then-dictator, Muammar Qaddafi, from slaughtering the people of Benghazi, as he was threatening to do. Obama did not want to join the fight; he was counseled by Joe Biden and his first-term secretary of defense Robert Gates, among others, to steer clear. But a strong faction within the national-security team—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice, who was then the ambassador to the United Nations, along with Samantha Power, Ben Rhodes, and Antony Blinken, who was then Biden’s national-security adviser—lobbied hard to protect Benghazi, and prevailed. (Biden, who is acerbic about Clinton’s foreign-policy judgment, has said privately, “Hillary just wants to be Golda Meir.”) American bombs fell, the people of Benghazi were spared from what may or may not have been a massacre, and Qaddafi was captured and executed.

But Obama says today of the intervention, “It didn’t work.” The U.S., he believes, planned the Libya operation carefully—and yet the country is still a disaster.

Why, given what seems to be the president’s natural reticence toward getting militarily ensnarled where American national security is not directly at stake, did he accept the recommendation of his more activist advisers to intervene?

“The social order in Libya has broken down,” Obama said, explaining his thinking at the time. “You have massive protests against Qaddafi. You’ve got tribal divisions inside of Libya. Benghazi is a focal point for the opposition regime. And Qaddafi is marching his army toward Benghazi, and he has said, ‘We will kill them like rats.’

“Now, option one would be to do nothing, and there were some in my administration who said, as tragic as the Libyan situation may be, it’s not our problem. The way I looked at it was that it would be our problem if, in fact, complete chaos and civil war broke out in Libya. But this is not so at the core of U.S. interests that it makes sense for us to unilaterally strike against the Qaddafi regime. At that point, you’ve got Europe and a number of Gulf countries who despise Qaddafi, or are concerned on a humanitarian basis, who are calling for action. But what has been a habit over the last several decades in these circumstances is people pushing us to act but then showing an unwillingness to put any skin in the game.”

“Free riders?,” I interjected.

“Free riders,” he said, and continued. “So what I said at that point was, we should act as part of an international coalition. But because this is not at the core of our interests, we need to get a UN mandate; we need Europeans and Gulf countries to be actively involved in the coalition; we will apply the military capabilities that are unique to us, but we expect others to carry their weight. And we worked with our defense teams to ensure that we could execute a strategy without putting boots on the ground and without a long-term military commitment in Libya.

“So we actually executed this plan as well as I could have expected: We got a UN mandate, we built a coalition, it cost us $1 billion—which, when it comes to military operations, is very cheap. We averted large-scale civilian casualties, we prevented what almost surely would have been a prolonged and bloody civil conflict. And despite all that, Libya is a mess.”

Mess is the president’s diplomatic term; privately, he calls Libya a “**** show,” in part because it’s subsequently become an isis haven—one that he has already targeted with air strikes. It became a **** show, Obama believes, for reasons that had less to do with American incompetence than with the passivity of America’s allies and with the obdurate power of tribalism.

“When I go back and I ask myself what went wrong,” Obama said, “there’s room for criticism, because I had more faith in the Europeans, given Libya’s proximity, being invested in the follow-up,” he said. He noted that Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, lost his job the following year. And he said that British Prime Minister David Cameron soon stopped paying attention, becoming “distracted by a range of other things.” Of France, he said, “Sarkozy wanted to trumpet the flights he was taking in the air campaign, despite the fact that we had wiped out all the air defenses and essentially set up the entire infrastructure” for the intervention. This sort of bragging was fine, Obama said, because it allowed the U.S. to “purchase France’s involvement in a way that made it less expensive for us and less risky for us.” In other words, giving France extra credit in exchange for less risk and cost to the United States was a useful trade-off—except that “from the perspective of a lot of the folks in the foreign-policy establishment, well, that was terrible. If we’re going to do something, obviously we’ve got to be up front, and nobody else is sharing in the spotlight.”

Obama also blamed internal Libyan dynamics. “The degree of tribal division in Libya was greater than our analysts had expected. And our ability to have any kind of structure there that we could interact with and start training and start providing resources broke down very quickly.”

Libya proved to him that the Middle East was best avoided. “There is no way we should commit to governing the Middle East and North Africa,” he recently told a former colleague from the Senate. “That would be a basic, fundamental mistake.”

Early in 2014, Obama’s intelligence advisers told him that ISIS was of marginal importance. According to administration officials, General Lloyd Austin, then the commander of Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, told the White House that the Islamic State was “a flash in the pan.”

This analysis led Obama, in an interview with The New Yorker, to describe the constellation of jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria as terrorism’s “jayvee team.”

But by late spring of 2014, after isis took the northern-Iraq city of Mosul, he came to believe that U.S. intelligence had failed to appreciate the severity of the threat and the inadequacies of the Iraqi army, and his view shifted.

And to think there are those who think Amreeka is behind everything, hard to believe when such rank incompetents are commanding senior intelligence positions.

 

[Saqs]

Interesting interview from Obama in The Atlantic. He criticises Britain and France for failing to handle the aftermath of the 2011 campaign in Libya, privately calling it a "sh!t show" and how intelligence underestimated the internal divisions in Libya which has allowed Daesh to gain a foothold there.

He even labels some of his European and Middle Eastern allies "free riders".




And to think there are those who think Amreeka is behind everything, hard to believe when such rank incompetents are commanding senior intelligence positions.

Interesting. Have you got a link to the full interview?

 

[Markhor]

Interesting. Have you got a link to the full interview?

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/

 

[saeedhk]

It's easy to blame others.The US is fully responsible for the chaos that we witness in Libya today.

The west and its Arab puppets destroyed such a peaceful and progressive nation.

Sent from my Lenovo A6000 using Tapatalk

 

[Adijazz1706]

Why should other countries handle the aftermath of the 2011 campaign in Libya primarily driven by the US? O'Bomber spouting rubbish as always.

 

[JaDed]

Why should other countries handle the aftermath of the 2011 campaign in Libya primarily driven by the US? O'Bomber spouting rubbish as always.

Wasn't primarily driven by US but it was responsible for it for sure,France and England were responsible primarily for it.

 

[JaDed]

Personally because its Libya what hurts the most about the interview is that these guys treat Libya like some "video game" ,they played on their consoles detesting to say the least.

These Western powers have destroyed a beautiful country!!

 

[LastManstanding]

To keep the sex trade running, ISIS fighters are aggressively forcing birth control on their victims so they won’t get pregnant as they are raped repeatedly while being passed among them, the New York Times reported Saturday.

The paper said more than three dozen Yazidi women who recently escaped ISIS captivity described in interviews the numerous methods the militants used to avoid pregnancy, including oral and injectable contraception and sometimes both.

In at least one case, a woman was forced to have an abortion in order to make her available for sex and others were pressured to do so, the Times reported.

In its warped view, ISIS believes it’s okay for a man to rape a woman he enslaves, but it is not okay to rape a woman he enslaves who is pregnant, according to the paper.

The methodical use of birth control could explain why doctors caring for the recent escapees at a United Nations-run clinic in northern Iraq have seen so few pregnancies.

Of the more than 700 rape victims from the Yazidi ethnic group examined at the clinic just 5 percent became pregnant during their enslavement, a gynecologist doing the exams told the Times.

“We were expecting something higher,” Dr. Nezar Ismet Taib, who oversees the clinic, told the paper.

A 16-year-old with the first initial M told the Times that during her 12 months of captivity, she was forced to swallow a red pill in front of the ISIS fighter who bought her.

“Every day, I had to swallow one in front of him,” she said. “He gave me one box per month. When I ran out, he replaced it. When I was sold from one man to another, the box of pills came with me.”

She learned months later she was being forced to swallow birth control pills, the Times reported.

 

[Saeed]

Turkish Military, U.S.-Led Coalition Warplanes Launch Anti-ISIS Operation In Northern Syria

ISTANBUL, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Turkish special forces units supported by warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition have launched an operation in northern Syria to wipe out Islamic State elements along the Turkey-Syria border, state-run Anadolu Agency said on Wednesday.

The Turkish army begun firing artillery rounds into the Syrian border town of Jarablus at around 0100 GMT, Anadolu said.

Turkey had vowed on Monday to “completely cleanse” Islamic State militants from its border region after a suicide bomber suspected of links to the group killed 54 people, including 22 children, at a Kurdish wedding in southeastern city of Gaziantep.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/turkey-syria-isis_us_57bd0d7ae4b0b51733a6a766?section=&#comments

Took some time for Turkey to do this. Recent bombings have probably made Erdogan realize he has to control the other side of border too.

 

[Saeed]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iraq?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Iraq</a> captures 5 key Daesh leaders during <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OperationRoundup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OperationRoundup</a>. The arrest is a significant blow to Daesh & demonstrates close coordination between <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISF?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ISF</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SDF?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SDF</a> in their fight to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/defeatDaesh?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#defeatDaesh</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/CJTFOIR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CJTFOIR</a> is committed to lasting defeat of Daesh & setting conditions for stabilization.</p>— OIR Spokesman (@OIRSpox) <a href="https://twitter.com/OIRSpox/status/994568144797696000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Map below shows the situation in Syria. Currently SDF is trying to capture areas South East of Deir Ezzor & across the Euphrates from ISIS. Regime and allies are also trying to capture Yarmouk camp from ISIS in South Damascus.

Few days ago Russian Ka-52 crashed in SE Syria. Afterwards Regime&allies started an operation to clear the desert area south of Deir Ezzor.

 

[Abdullah719]

IS 'leader' al-Baghdadi appears in first video in five years

A man believed to be the leader of the Islamic State group has made a rare camera appearance vowing to seek revenge for its loss of territory.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has not been seen since 2014, when he proclaimed from Mosul the creation of a "caliphate" across parts of Syria and Iraq.

In this new footage, he acknowledges defeat at Baghuz, the group's last stronghold in the region.

It is not clear when the video was recorded. IS says it was shot in April.

The footage was posted on the militant group's al-Furqan media network.


What does he say?

According to news agency Reuters, Baghdadi says the Easter Sunday Sri Lanka attacks were carried out as revenge for the fall of the Iraqi town of Baghuz.

He also says that he has had pledges of allegiance from militants in Burkina Faso and Mali, and talks about the protests in Sudan and Algeria - claiming that jihad is the only solution to "tyrants". Both countries have seen their long-term rulers overthrown this month.

However, Baghdadi's image disappears towards the end of the video and an audio recording of him discussing the Sri Lanka attacks is played instead, suggesting that this part was recorded after the main video was filmed.

Baghdadi - an Iraqi whose real name is Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim al-Badri - was last heard from in an audio recording last August.

At the time, he appeared to be trying to shift attention away from his group's crippling losses, BBC Middle East correspondent Martin Patience says.

But this latest 18-minute video addresses the losses head on.

"The battle for Baghuz is over," he says, before adding: "There will be more to come after this battle."

He also reportedly says the group is fighting a "battle of attrition".


What happened to the 'caliphate'?

At its peak, IS ruled over 88,000 sq km (34,000 sq miles) stretching across the Iraq-Syria border.

But by 2016 it was a group in retreat. The next year, it lost Mosul in Iraq, depriving Baghdadi and his followers of the city where they had declared the caliphate's creation.

In October, they were driven from Raqqa, in Syria.

They continued to lose territory throughout 2018, culminating in the group retreating to Baghuz.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared they had taken control of the town, announcing the end of the five-year "caliphate" in March 2019.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48098528

 

[sweep_shot]

Turkey has begun deporting foreign nationals alleged to be linked to the Islamic State group, even though some European countries are reluctant to take back their citizens.

Germany, Denmark and the UK have stripped people of citizenship for allegedly joining jihadist groups abroad so as to prevent their return.

But Turkey says it's in the process of sending back more than 20 Europeans, including Germans, Danes, French and Irish nationals.

So what happens to these people once they are expelled from Turkey?

What is Turkey's position?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says many hundreds of foreign fighters are currently being held in prisons in Turkey.

Earlier this month, the government in Ankara indicated that it would send back these militants even if their citizenship had been revoked in their countries of origin.

"The world has come up with a new method now: revoking their citizenships," Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.

"They are saying they should be tried where they have been caught. This is a new form of international law, I guess. It is not possible to accept this."

What's the process for dealing with foreign nationals?
Foreign nationals abroad are entitled to consular assistance and this would normally require direct contact with the individuals involved.

This can be facilitated by international agencies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which tries to help by identifying those held in detention.

In the case of camps in Syria holding suspected IS members and their families, some governments have argued it's simply too dangerous for their officials to make contact because of the security situation.

It's not clear if those being sent back by Ankara were detained inside Turkey or were seized in Syrian territory.

Some European countries have been reluctant to take back citizens who joined IS, worried about public opinion and the legal challenges of dealing with these citizens.

But the UN has been very clear that countries should take responsibility for their citizens.

"Foreign family members should be repatriated, unless they are to be prosecuted for crimes in accordance with international standards," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has said.

She added it was up to the countries themselves to take responsibility if their citizens "are suspected of committing serious crimes in another country, or detained on any grounds".

Under international law, it is illegal to deprive nationals of citizenship if to do so would leave them stateless.

What's happening to those expelled from Turkey?
Three IS jihadist fighters, citizens of Germany, Denmark and the US, were deported from Turkey on 12 November with many more soon to be repatriated, Turkish authorities have said.

The US citizen was stranded on the land border with Greece, as he wanted to go there rather than return to the US. Greece however refused him entry and he's now reported to be back in Turkish custody.

The Danish national is now reported to be in custody after being arrested on his arrival in Copenhagen.

Germany says Turkey has informed it about its plan to deport more German nationals.

In the past, Germany has taken back IS members and either prosecuted them or placed them in rehabilitation programmes.

France has insisted that citizens captured inside Syria or Iraq should face trial locally. Earlier this year, four Frenchmen were sentenced to death in Iraq in a judicial process that was heavily criticised.

However, it's also reported under an arrangement with Turkey dating back to 2014, France has quietly taken back a number of jihadists, who were arrested once they arrived on French soil.

Some foreign governments have revoked citizenship to prevent the return of suspected IS members - for example in the case of Shamima Begum from the UK, who has been held at a camp in Syria.

The UK decision was based on the belief that she could claim Bangladeshi citizenship through her mother, although Bangladesh has denied this is the case and insists she is the responsibility of the UK government.

Legal and official limbo
It's clear that in some cases there may have to be an arrangement involving third parties, if Turkey expels foreigners whose home countries will not take them back or if the individuals do not want to return to those countries.

The US, which has criticised European countries for not taking back jihadist fighters, has had its own difficulties with suspected IS members who are US citizens.

A man captured in Syria and then held at a US military facility in Iraq for over a year was eventually freed in Bahrain, where his family lives, after the US authorities cancelled his passport to prevent him returning to the US.

And it's possible there could be other cases where such arrangements have been made but not publicised.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/50396607.

 

[sweep_shot]

JALALABAD: Security forces have “obliterated” fighters of the militant Islamic State (IS) group in Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday, hours after a prisoner swap with Taliban insurgents raised hopes of a lull in violence in the country.

More than 600 fighters from IS, locally known as Daesh, have surrendered with their families to the Afghan government in past weeks. Officials said air strikes by Afghan and coalition forces, lack of funds and low morale have forced the group to give up.

“No one believed one year ago that we would stand up and today be saying we have obliterated Daesh,” Ghani told a gathering of elders and officials in Jalalabad, the main city of eastern Nangarhar province that saw a wave of suicide attacks in past years claimed by the jihadists.

“Now that Daesh militants have surrendered, I ask authorities to treat their families humanely,” Ghani added.

The government said among fighters in its custody are foreign nationals from Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and the Maldives.

However, the Afghan Taliban, which has been battling IS and the government for control of the country, disputed that.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s official spokesman, described Ghani’s announcement as “absurd”.

“Kabul admin had 0% role in defeat of Daesh and the proud people of Nangarhar are witnesses,” he tweeted.

The Taliban controls more territory than at any point since the US invasion in 2001, including sections of Nangarhar province.

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1517687/afghanistans-president-claims-victory-over-is.

 

[sweep_shot]

MANILA: Philippine troops have killed a high-value but little-known Filipino militant who acted as a key link of the militant Islamic State group to local jihadists and helped set up a series of deadly suicide attacks in the south that have alarmed the region, military officials said on Saturday.

Talha Jumsah, who used the nom de guerre Abu Talha, was killed on Friday morning in a clash with troops in the jungles off Patikul town in Sulu province, which has been rocked by three deadly suicide bombings this year, including the first suicide attack known to have been staged by a Filipino militant.

One by one, we will hunt you down, Maj. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., the commander of military forces in Sulu, said in a warning to the militants. I am reiterating my appeal to them to surrender and live a normal life instead of being hunted down as fleeing criminals.

Jumsahs body was found by troops on Saturday nearly a kilometre (about half a mile) from where troops clashed with his group near the mountain village of Tanum in Patikul, provincial military spokesman Lt. Col. Gerald Monfort said.

US and Australian anti-terrorism units have been helping monitor Jumsah, who had laid low but played a key role in plotting attacks, training militants and arranging the entry of Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian militants to the southern Philippines, military officials said.

Military units had specifically targeted Jumsah along with Abu Sayyaf commander Hajan Sawadjaan for their roles in recent and planned suicide attacks.

A member of the brutal Abu Sayyaf militant group in Sulu, Jumsah was one of a handful of Arabic speaking local militants who developed strong contacts with the IS group, helping the Middle East-based militant network to establish a presence in the southern Philippines after major battle defeats in Syria and Iraq.

Jumsah served as a bomb-making instructor and arranged the transfer of foreign funds and movement of foreign militants for the suicide attacks. He also acted as an Arabic translator for militant ceremonies joined in by foreign militants shortly before they set out to die in suicide bombings, a military combat officer said.

Jumsah and Sawadjaan, who remains at large, have been blamed for plotting the Jan 27 suicide bombing by a suspected Indonesian militant couple at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Sulus main island of Jolo that killed 23 people, including the bombers, and wounded scores of other churchgoers and soldiers.

The Jolo cathedral attack renewed terrorism fears across the Philippines and Southeast Asia. President Rodrigo Duterte ordered troops to destroy the Abu Sayyaf following the bombing, leading to a renewed military offensive in the south.

In July, two suicide attackers separately detonated explosives on a military combat base in Indanan, killing the two militants. Authorities later confirmed through DNA tests of the remains of the attackers that at least one was a Filipino, the first known local militant to carry out a suicide attack.

A suspected Egyptian female militant perished in the third suicide attack in Sulu that she staged in September outside an army encampment in Sulus Indanan town. Regional military chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said then that the bomber failed to enter the encampment and the blast failed to cause injuries because alert troops took cover when she refused to back away.

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1518533/is-linked-philippine-militant-behind-suicide-attacks-killed.